Chapter 15

15

I t turned out that Galen Murphy had a smile for Nicola that vanished as soon as he spotted Thor looming behind her.

"Christ on a bike, what trouble are you in now, Nicola?" The sorcerer's Irish brogue was particularly strong when he was scolding.

"Surprise! It turns out that Thor is my mate." Nicola smiled her most winning smile. "We need to come in and retrieve that item that I left in your care."

Galen ran his hands through his thick black curls. "I knew something bad had happened to you. I didn't realize it was Thor Halfdansson-level bad, though."

Thor's grin widened enough to show his fangs. "I am the least of my mate's problems right now. I am, however, about to be yours unless you move aside and let us in. We have people that are after us."

Galen got out of the doorway, and they moved inside the dark interior of his club, The Circle Eight . He shut and bolted the door behind them before a sigil glowed to life and activated his security wards.

"When do you not have someone after you, Thor? Nicola, however, is a sweet girl that I can't imagine anyone hating." Galen waved them into the club's kitchen. "Except maybe that steaming pile of shit alpha that can't take no for an answer."

Nicola froze. "Has he been here?"

"Aye, he was around yesterday. Turns out he's been busy tracking you through CCTV from a few months ago. They saw that you came here," Galen replied.

Nicola crossed her arms. "And what did you tell him?"

"I told him that I had asked you out for a drink, and you were kind enough to say yes." Galen lifted a bottle of scotch from one of the cabinets. "Is this a social call? Or is it merely a pickup?"

"Just to pick up. Sorry, we need to go to other places today, and the longer we stay here, the greater the chance Kaleb has of tracking us down. I will take a mouthful of that scotch, though." Nicola took the bottle from him and had a gulp before handing it back. Galen offered the bottle to Thor, who only shook his head.

"Suit yourself," Galen said and poured himself a glass. "Are you sure he is your mate? Blink twice if you are being held against your will."

A deep growl echoed out of Thor. "If you were so concerned she was being held against her will, why did Kaleb keep her in a basement for the past two months without you doing anything about it?"

Galen turned angry blue eyes back onto Nicola. "Is that where you've been? Christ. Do you have time to tell me what the fuck has happened?"

"No. Take me to the vault. We need to get out of here, or we are going to put you in danger." Nicola reached out and took Thor's hand. "He is my mate. He is also the one protecting me from my old pack right now. We can catch up after this is over, and Kaleb is dead."

Galen cursed in Gaelic before picking up his scotch and draining it. "I swear this city gets weirder every day. Come on then, let's get this over with."

Nicola held onto Thor's hand, and they followed Galen into a freezer room. He pulled back a set of shelves, and with a pulse of his magic, he disabled the protections on another door. It opened with the chiming of bells, and they were in a corridor full of safety deposit boxes.

Nicola moved past him to the box that read 563 and bit her finger until it bled. She touched her dripping finger to the number, and the deposit box pushed out. Inside was a small USB stick that she quickly tucked into her bra.

"Is that all?" Thor asked over her shoulder, his warm breath ghosting against her neck.

"When you see how much is actually on here, you will realize why I had to go digital." Nicola turned to find Galen holding out a clean pocket square for her. She took it with a grateful smile and wrapped it around her bleeding finger. "I owe you, Galen. When all this is over, I promise you a full explanation of everything."

"You're Thor's mate. You owe me nothing. Believe me, it's better to have no favors anywhere near the Blood Wolf," the sorcerer replied.

Thor reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "That is the smartest thing I have ever heard you say. You have my thanks for helping Nicola when she needed it."

"I like her so try and keep her alive."

Thor looked at Nicola, and his expression softened. "Don't worry. Nothing is ever going to hurt her again. If Kaleb's pack tries to hire you for a fight in the next few days, tell them no. I would hate to have to kill you when I'm only starting to like you."

Galen threw back his head and laughed. "I would rather pull on a dragon's tail than go against you in a fight. There's nothing in Inferno that they could promise me. Now, get out of here and get back to your territory before they realize that you're not in it."