Sealed With a Hiss

  Sealed with a Hiss

  (Supernatural Enforcers Agency)

  E A Price

  Copyright ©2015 by Elizabeth Ann Price

  All rights reserved. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.

  Disclaimer

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  March

  “Congratulations, Gerry.”

  “Well deserved.”

  “To Gerry!”

  Gerry Sanders shrugged, nonchalantly. He was pleased with his promotion. He wasn’t ‘cut the throat and climb over anyone who got in my way’ aggressive when it came to his career. But he was, in his own way, quietly ambitious.

  He had worked at the SEA – Supernatural Enforcers Agency to anyone who enjoyed a mouthful – for almost fifteen years, having been recruited away from his job as an insurance investigator. Los Lobos Insurance was sorry to lose him – no one defrauded them on his watch. He once staked out an alligator shifter for seven days straight until he caught the a-hole throwing down his walking sticks to play golf - of all things. By that point, Gerry was about ready to give up and believe the gator was telling the truth, so the fact that the male gave up the façade all for golf was mind-boggling. Walking miles after a tiny freaking ball – what the fuck was up with that? But then to Gerry, who had zero interests outside his work, he saw any kind of hobby as a waste of time.

  The fact that he didn’t play golf and schmooze with his superiors on the Council of Supernatural – who oversaw all supernatural matters – usually would have worked against him. But the fact that he worked ridiculously long hours and generally only ever went home to sleep for a maximum of six hours a night meant that promotion snuck up on him, and he was given the directorship of the Los Lobos investigative teams. Essentially, he held the second highest position at the Los Lobos branch of the SEA.

  The highest position belonged to his boss, Juliet. Who may look like a sweet young woman in her early twenties, but was, in fact, a centuries old vampire who pretended to be a sweet, young woman until she was pissed off and the fangs came out to play.

  Juliet smiled at him, and if Gerry didn’t know any better, he’d have sworn she had just wandered over to him from a University campus and was about to ask him directions to the library. She emitted a weird milk and cookies wholesomeness that was unnerving. Especially when her eyes turned red.

  “Congrats, Gerry,” she purred in her strange, accentless voice. She’d lived all over the world but didn’t seem to belong to any country anymore.

  He murmured his thanks, his inner beast pleased.

  “No, Edith tonight?”

  Gerry maintained an expression of blank disinterest. His inner animal was hissing with rage. “No, she couldn’t make it,” he replied, neutrally.

  Yes, he was married to a female called Edith, who like him, was a python shifter. They didn’t get along. If their marriage were a car, they would have sent it to the scrap yard already. It started spluttering after the first six months, became impossible at the one year mark, and then finally died a couple of months ago. Now, it was scrap heap time.

  It was an arranged marriage. Gerry’s eyes flickered over to his father-in-law, Grant Collier – the arranger of the marriage. The older python shifter was sneering at an uncomfortable looking hedgehog shifter. Yes, if Gerry had to guess, Grant was bullying the poor woman. Grant was a bully. But he was a wealthy bully and a clever bully, so he got away with it. It was also the reason Grant managed to maintain his position on the Council of Supernaturals, despite none of the other members being able to stand him.

  Hester, a new member of the SEA team, raised a glass to him before turning back to harangue Wayne, a laidback alligator shifter. Wayne appeared to be looking for an escape route. Hester was a lawyer and had been recruited to advise on legal matters. She was a cheetah shifter and had previously worked for the DA’s office. But given her overly aggressive attitude and policy of ‘everyone’s guilty of something’ it hadn’t been a good fit. Instead, she had been offered a job with the SEA where aggressiveness was a way of life with most of their employees. She appeared to be berating Wayne with her theories about getting rid of the death penalty and bringing back torture. She was an acquired taste.

  Gerry caught the eye of Barry Sayles, another director at the Los Lobos SEA. The huge rhino shifter scowled at Gerry, who in turn graced him with a chilly smile. His python harrumphed as the rhino’s florid face turned bright red. The stocky male slammed down his drink and stomped out the door.

  “Barry doesn’t look too happy,” commented Juliet. She said it in a non-committal voice, but she couldn’t hide the way her eyes glittered with glee.

  “No,” agreed Gerry, ignoring the snicker from his own beast.

  “Perhaps he’ll transfer somewhere else.” A hint of wistfulness crept into her voice.

  No small wonder.

  Barry was a nightmare. If Grant was a bully, Barry was an uber bully. Grant finessed his way into getting what he wanted. Barry blackmailed, berated and threatened. He had been a mediocre investigator but the rhino member on the Council of Supernaturals had absolutely insisted that he be given a directorship in Los Lobos. He was the director of the technical staff. And since the rhino member of the Council was a well liked and just female, a lot of them supported her. They assumed she knew what she was doing. Although, now they were all starting to wonder what Barry knew about her that she didn’t want to get out. Given his standard of work, blackmail was their only conclusion.

  Of course, Barry, who was aggressively ambitious, had wanted Gerry’s new job. And now that it had been given to Gerry, he was incredibly pissed, blamed Gerry entirely and had started looking at Gerry like he was Satan incarnate.

  Barry had attempted to start rumors that the only reason Gerry got the job was because of his father-in-law. No one believed them, though, and Gerry didn’t even bother to address them. If Grant wanted to help his son-in-law’s career, he would have been trying to edge him into Juliet’s job. If anything, Grant went out of his way not to help Gerry – because he knew his son-in-law wouldn’t like it. No, if anything, Grant was more interested in what Gerry could do for him than the other way around. Such as helping out every time his son was arrested – which happened more often than anyone could feel comfortable with.

  Gerry said hello to a few more Council members and
said a few words to Gunner Christiansen. The massive polar bear shifter had been his deputy when he was the lead investigator for the Alpha Team. But since he was being promoted, the job now fell to Gunner. The polar bear seemed more nonchalant about the news than Gerry had been about his own promotion. The bear was neither pleased nor anxious. He reacted the same way that he would if someone told him his coffee was ready. Mildly interested but still unconcerned.

  “I suppose I should be going,” announced Gerry. He wasn’t overly keen on socializing but knew that it would be rude to duck out of there and do some work. Besides, he hadn’t even moved into his new office yet. He technically didn’t have any work to do, and that made him antsy.

  Grant slapped him on the back. “So soon? How’s Edith? I haven’t seen her at the club recently.”

  Gerry smiled automatically. The dreaded country club. Gerry was a member, too, but had only stepped foot there on two occasions, and one of them was for his wedding reception. He couldn’t see the appeal of just lounging around at an overpriced club, doing nothing and eating tiny portions of disgusting food. Apparently tasteless food was a sign of being wealthy. Growing up, his parents had been fairly affluent, but his father was king of their den of snakes, and all their money was distributed throughout the den. Wasting money was out of the question when a den mate was going hungry.

  “She’s been busy,” replied Gerry. Although, he wasn’t sure with what. Edith didn’t work – she shopped. But, communication was at such a level that he never asked anymore. “I really must go.”

  “Back home to the little wife,” chuckled Grant, nudging him in the ribs. Grant was a snake stuck in the dark ages. Even if Edith had ever felt like working, her father certainly wouldn’t have approved.

  “Indeed.”

  *

  Gerry sipped at his whiskey, ignoring the rhythmic thump and giggles of the occupants of the room above him. His python urged him to do something, preferably to go up there and tear them apart, but Gerry merely continued drinking his whiskey.

  He was sitting on the couch, staring out the window into the darkness of the night. He hadn’t bothered with the lights; he preferred the darkness – it matched his black mood.

  He knew this day was coming. He’d seen the signs and a part of him was even glad of it, but another part of him still had a problem with another man touching and taking something that belonged to him.

  He leaned his head back against the cushions and closed his eyes. His snake continued to hiss at him, but he wasn’t interested. Getting violent wasn’t going to accomplish anything. He was mad. Mad at her for her behavior, for the way she went about this whole affair, but he’d get over it.

  He dozed a little before he realized they were coming downstairs. He stirred and strolled into the hallway as they were sharing a sloppy kiss.

  Gerry leaned against the archway, watching them for a few seconds. “Edith,” he said, blandly.

  She jumped away from her lover as if scolded. The young man looked as if he wanted to be anywhere else on the planet at that moment – and that included the eye of a hurricane.

  “Gerry! What are you doing home? You said you wouldn’t be home before ten!”

  He raised an eyebrow as his beast sneered. “Yes, forgive me, dear, I am early.” He strode forward and shook the hand of the young man currently gaping at him. He flinched a little in surprise, and Gerry scented he was a bull shifter. Big, muscled, but generally lacking in the brain department. “Nice to meet you. I’m Gerry, Edith’s husband.”

  “Uh, Lowen, uh, Edi… Mrs. Sanders’ trainer.”

  Gerry took a step back and gave him a sardonic look. “My, you do work long hours. And your training technique is interesting to say the least.”

  Lowen shuffled from foot to foot and looked to Edith for help. She rolled her eyes and told him to leave. He was out the door as if someone was shooting at him. Rather than just shooting him dirty looks.

  Edith stared at her husband for a few beats before brushing past him to get a drink. She didn’t bother with the lights either. She threw back a gin minus the tonic and quickly poured herself another. She eyed Gerry as he casually sat on the couch and crossed his legs.

  “Say something,” she demanded.

  “There’s nothing to say.”

  “There never is with you,” she huffed. “This can’t be a surprise to you.”

  “No,” he admitted as he gazed at her, moonlight illuminating her slim figure and blonde hair. In spite of his snake’s fury, just gazing at her, he realized he felt nothing. Sure there was the natural outrage of being made a cuckold, but there had never been any love between them. And any regard they had for one another had withered as quickly as it had grown. Even her beauty didn’t incite any feelings of lust anymore.

  “I’m not the only one to blame for this.” Edith perched on the edge of a chair. “You haven’t even asked to come to my bedroom once in the past two months.”

  Gerry gave her a hard look. “And you were faithful before I lost interest, were you?”

  “Maybe if you wanted to be with me more often…”

  “Maybe if you weren’t too tired from fucking all the meatheads from your gym,” he shot back.

  Edith stared at her hands. “Can we be civilized about it?”

  “I see no reason why the divorce has to be acrimonious.”

  She looked up and blinked at him. “Must it come to that?”

  Gerry chuckled hollowly and soothed his snake who desperately wanted to be free. “What else is there to do but get divorced?”

  “We could come to a new arrangement…”

  “I don’t want an arrangement,” he growled.

  Edith scoffed. “This whole marriage is an arrangement, one that neither of us had any choice but to accept.”

  He frowned at her, but it was true. Almost three years ago, Edith’s father, Grant, had made a deal with him. Marry my flighty daughter and I will save your family’s business. Gerry wasn’t involved in the business, but he was the only eligible single male in his family, and he had a family tree of pythons that could be traced back for generations - a fact that enticed Edith’s father to make the offer in the first place. Yep, Gerry was wanted for his genes and the fact that he had a decent job in the supernatural community.

  At forty, Gerry had begun to believe he wouldn’t find a love match and had, although reluctantly, agreed to it. Arranged matings were nothing new in his family, and had been going on for centuries. Even his parents came together by an arranged mating. Although, they were hardly the epitome of happily married life.

  Gerry and Edith's life together had started awkwardly but fairly amicably. They had agreed to separate bedrooms, but at the start of the marriage, their sex life had been filled with frequent if a bit perfunctory couplings. However, Gerry and his snake soon tired of his shallow wife. And Edith grew bored of her stern husband. Soon enough, Gerry was spending more and more time at the office and Edith at the gym or with her phony friends.

  Although Gerry’s physical interest in his wife had waned, he had not strayed. Edith, as evidenced, could not say the same.

  Edith snorted in disgust as he glared at her. “The reason we married each other was money. My father would have cut me off if I didn’t marry a sensible python shifter, and your family would have lost everything if not for my father’s money.”

  “So what?”

  “So, he made a deal with me. If I stay married to you for a minimum of five years, he’ll give me half of my trust fund.”

  Gerry’s upper lip curled. “Only half?”

  Her eyes darted around the room. “I’d get all of it if I gave him a grandchild.”

  He barked out a laugh. “Well, it wasn’t for lack of trying on Lowen’s part. The ceiling fan almost fell down.”

  “It would have to be your child, and even I’m not interested in money enough to bring a child into this,” she flicked her finger between them, “mess of a marriage.”

  His snake grumbled
. The idea of this creature bearing his young was not pleasant. He cleared his throat. Time to change the subject. “Five years? Seems an arbitrary amount of time.”

  “Maybe he figured it was long enough for me to either give in and get a divorce or actually stick with the marriage.”

  Gerry shook his head. “Clearly he doesn’t know you very well.”

  “Or maybe he thought that you wouldn’t want to stay married to a woman who… who…”

  “Fucks around?” he supplied, acidly.

  “I said I was sorry.”

  “No, you didn’t.”

  “Regardless, if you stay married to me I can make you a very wealthy man.”

  His snake sneered – clearly she didn’t know him at all. “I’m not interested.”

  “But what about your family? As I understand it, my father gave them a zero interest loan to save your little hotel. If you divorce me, he might just call up that loan immediately, and when your family can’t pay, he’ll take the hotel and fire all the loyal staff out of spite. Doesn’t the hotel support your entire den?”

  Gerry narrowed his eyes. “He can’t do that.”

  “Daddy’s a genius at finding loopholes,” she said, bitterly. “Just look at my trust fund – it was supposed to be mine, a gift to me from my mother on my twenty-first birthday. But thanks to him, I’m now thirty-two, and he’s still holding the purse strings.”

  Gerry shifted uneasily as his snake slithered in his head. Grant Collier was definitely a slimy bastard – and not just because he was a python shifter. He was a successful and ruthless businessman who currently, despite strong opposition, managed to hold onto a seat on the Council of Supernaturals. And he didn’t get that seat by campaigning and kissing babies.

  Edith sat next to him on the couch and offered him a tentative smile. “Look, I’m not a monster… well, in comparison to my father I’m not a monster, and I won’t try to force you to do this, but think about it. All we have to do is make it to the five-year mark, and when I get my money, I will happily gift you enough to pay off my father’s loan. Then you can divorce me to your heart’s content. I won’t contend the divorce in the least.”