“I’m calling a doctor.”

  “No.” Winnie held up a hand, wishing he were lying on a cold floor instead of carpeting. “Call Dr. Bjord. His number is in the phone you confiscated from me.”

  Wallace opened one of his desk drawers and pulled out Winnie’s phone, handing it over. Winnie used facial recognition to get into it. He looked up the doctor’s contact info and handed the phone back to Wallace as he curled into a ball.

  While Winnie wished the stomach cramps would go away, Wallace talked to the doctor. Seconds later, Dr. Bjord and his assistant were in Wallace’s office. Winnie was too messed up to ask how the fuck that had just happened.

  One second Wallace had been talking to the doctor, the next the doctor was in the room.

  “Hey.” Dr. Bjord knelt next to Winnie. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  Winnie told the doctor how he felt. “I think that pork chop isn’t agreeing with me.”

  “Why don’t we get you onto the couch and I’ll have a look?”

  What was the doctor gonna look at? His fever? His headache? Maybe his cramps? Winnie didn’t argue when Wallace picked him up and laid him on the sofa.

  The doctor asked Winnie a bunch of questions, like what he’d eaten in the past few days, the kind of medication he’d taken, which was none, and if he’d ever experienced this before.

  The assistant smiled at Winnie as he knelt next to the doctor. “Mind if I touch your forehead?”

  “What for?” Wallace asked. “He clearly has a fever. His cheeks are flushed, and his clothes are damp.”

  Winnie heard the worry in Wallace’s voice as he nodded. “Go ahead.”

  Wallace paced, his hands tucked behind his back. His gaze never left Winnie as the assistant… What was his name? Winnie racked his brain until he remembered. Gavril. The guy pressed his palm over Winnie’s forehead.

  Then he looked at the doctor. “He’s been poisoned.”

  “How the hell can you tell that by touching him?” Wallace demanded.

  Winnie looked at the clock on the wall. It was four exactly. He blinked, and then it was 4:10. Where the hell had ten minutes gone? Dr. Bjord and Gavril were no longer kneeling next to him. They were over by Wallace’s desk. Stranger was the fact that everyone was looking at Winnie.

  Except Wallace, who had an odd expression on his face as he stared at Gavril.

  “I was just explaining to your mate how I know you were poisoned,” Gavril said. “You needn’t concern yourself with the details.”

  Winnie sat up. He felt much better. The symptoms were magically gone. “Why don’t I feel like crap anymore?”

  “I got the poison out of you,” Gavril explained. “Though you may feel a bit weak for a while.”

  God, he was hot as fuck. Winnie felt like scum for checking the assistant out. Then again, when he’d gone to the clinic a few weeks back when one of the dogs at the vet clinic had bitten him, he’d been checking Gavril out then, too.

  But Gavril words sunk in, and Winnie did feel exhausted, like he’d just run a marathon, and his muscles were sore. He also didn’t like the fact that everyone shared a secret he wasn’t privy to. “Okay, explain to me what the hell is going on.”

  “He’s an angel,” Wallace said.

  “Who?” Winnie frowned.

  “This guy.” Wallace chucked a thumb at Gavril. “I didn’t even know they existed.”

  Gavril narrowed his eyes, as if he was pissed that Wallace spilled the beans. “What you need to be figuring out is who poisoned your mate,” he argued.

  Wallace clutched his arm to his chest, wincing. He also looked ready to murder everyone under his roof. “I’ll find out, and when I do, the person will wish he was never born.”

  “What’s wrong?” Dr. Bjord approached. “Your arm. Why are you holding it like that? Would you mind if I took a look?”

  Wallace jerked back, his lip curled. “Yes, I mind.”

  Winnie had a suspicion that his mate didn’t want the doctor to see the missing muscle. He was embarrassed by it, and Winnie was somewhat astounded that Wallace had even let him see it.

  “Silver poisoning,” Winnie provided.

  Wallace glared at him.

  “What?” Winnie splayed his arms. “He’s a doctor. He’s seen everything.”

  Dr. Bjord wrinkled his brows. “How long ago did it happen?”

  “Five years,” Winnie said.

  “I can talk,” Wallace argued.

  “Only if he makes you,” Winnie countered. “Maybe he can help with the pain. It wouldn’t hurt to let him have a look.”

  He wanted to get off the couch, but when he attempted to, the room spun, so he sat back down.

  “Five years?” Dr. Bjord seemed puzzled. “The pain shouldn’t still be this intense. May I have a look?”

  Gavril had taken a seat at Wallace’s desk, looking through his phone as if he were now bored. A freaking angel. Winnie’s mind was sufficiently blown. He studied the guy, as though he would see wings and a halo sprout at any second.

  When he turned his attention back to Wallace, his mate wouldn’t look at anyone as he removed his shirt.

  Winnie wanted to hug Wallace. He’d never seen his mate as anything other than strong and in control. But at that moment, he looked vulnerable and ashamed.

  His heart hurt for Wallace as the doctor examined his arm. “Gavril, can you help me?” the doctor asked. “Full body scan, please.”

  “He can do that?” Winnie’s brows shot up. Of course he could. He was an angel. Winnie didn’t think there was anything Gavril couldn’t do.

  “Gonna touch you,” Gavril said in a surly tone. “Don’t ask why. My mate already told you.”

  The two glared at each other as Gavril touched Wallace’s chest. He closed his eyes and fell silent. Everyone had. All Winnie wanted was for Wallace’s pain to go away. It had to be miserable to suffer migraines all the time, as well as a hurting arm.

  Gavril’s eyes flashed open. He scowled as he looked at the doctor. “He’s been poisoned, too, but for much longer and in smaller doses.”

  “Lucky,” Wallace snarled.

  “But he didn’t have access to me,” Winnie argued. “How could he do that to both of us if I just met him?”

  Gavril hadn’t removed his hand. Wallace started coughing in fits, gripping the edge of his desk. Winnie shot up, swayed, and dropped back down.

  “What’s going on?” he demanded, wishing he could get to Wallace.

  “I’m removing the poison,” Gavril said. “It’s been in his body so long that it’s pretty painful coming out.”

  Wallace dropped to his ass, rubbing his chest as his eyes watered. “You did that shit on purpose.”

  From the look on Gavril’s face, the angel had. Winnie wanted to slug the guy. He wanted to punch an angel. How fucked up was that? Was he going to go to Hell for those thoughts?

  In that moment Winnie didn’t care. He got onto his hands and knees and crawled to Wallace. His mate pulled Winnie into his arms.

  “I’m okay. It’ll take more than a surly angel to keep me down.”

  Dr. Bjord hunkered down next to them. “I think my mate is right. You need to figure out who did this to both of you before he or she succeeds in killing you guys.”

  “Thank you for coming,” Winnie said.

  The doctor winked at him. “I’ll send you the bill.”

  Winnie chuckled.

  “Seriously, you’ll get it in the mail.” Dr. Bjord stood, and Gavril grabbed his mate’s hand. They were gone. Poof, just like that they’d vanished.

  Winnie grabbed Wallace’s discarded shirt and handed it over, assuming his mate wanted to hide his arm. Instead, Wallace just held it in one hand as he curled his arm around Winnie.

  “Poisoned,” Wallace snarled. “I will find out who did this to us.”

  Winnie hoped so, because now he was afraid the person would try again, and as the doctor said, they just might succeed the next time.

  Chapter Ten

  Once Wallace had fallen asleep, Winnie slipped from the bed. He stilled and grimaced when the floorboard beneath his feet creaked. Why did that always happen when a person was trying to sneak around? Squeaky floorboards weren’t noticed until a person had to be deathly quiet.

  He scooped his clothes from the carpet and dressed, looking at the French doors and noticing how dark it was outside. The moon was full, making the room somewhat glow with light as Winnie tiptoed from Wallace’s bedroom, hurrying into his own.

  His stomach growled, reminding Winnie why he’d gotten up in the first place. He could’ve just woken Wallace and asked his mate to go to the kitchen with him, but Winnie wanted to use the passageways.

  Fernando had said the house had tons of hidden corridors. Winnie wished he could explore them all in one night, but just going to the kitchen to find something to eat would do for now.

  With a killer on the loose, he didn’t want to take any chances. He slipped his pajamas back on then went to the wall. To be honest, he was excited and scared to go sneaking around. His heart was racing, and he was starting to realize that he liked adventure.

  Even if it was the scary kind. Winnie was about to walk inside the walls, maybe passing the killer on the other side because he was hungry and wanted to get to the kitchen without being seen.

  The clock on the wall said it was well past midnight. Winnie looked around his room, at the two trash bags that had yet to be unpacked and put away. This was going to be his life, there, in the mansion with the secret walls, untrustworthy staff, and…he smiled. He’d never have to a work another crappy job a day in his life.

  That was the kind of life a lot of people dreamed of, and Winnie was about to have all that. Not that it mattered. He would’ve loved Wallace regardless of his financial status.

  Winnie’s thoughts froze. Had he just thought those words? Had he just said he loved Wallace? His tiger shifter who was brave, fierce, sometimes vulnerable, and also cranky. Winnie couldn’t forget about that. The guy definitely had a temper on him, but he didn’t frighten Winnie like his dad had. Wallace’s temperament was like a quiet, rolling storm, unlike Winnie’s father who had been like a destructive hurricane.

  He started to open the wall and remembered he’d stuffed a flashlight in one of the bags. The plastic was too damn noisy as he rummaged around in it.

  Ha! Victory. Winnie held the thing like it was a sword and then hurried back to the wall. He slipped inside, turned the flashlight on, and made his way down the concrete steps, refusing to look at all the cobwebs filling the corners and around the exposed joists.

  Socks would’ve come in handy since the steps felt so cold under his bare feet. Winnie had no clue why, either. It was balmy outside. That was one reason he’d wanted Fernando to take him out at night.

  Shit. He’d forgotten about the bodyguard. Winnie wasn’t going anywhere with Fernando until he knew for certain he could trust the guy. He wasn’t going to be lured into the woods and killed.

  Seeing the stars wasn’t worth his life.

  He made it to the bottom of the steps and cut his flashlight off when he heard murmured voices. Winnie pressed his ear to the wall as he held his breath.

  “I had to kill him,” Chapman said with a growl. “He caught me putting the elixir in Wallace’s tea. He flipped out and attacked me.”

  Winnie slapped a hand over his mouth to stifle his gasp. He recognized that growly voice. It had been the same one in the wine cellar. Why hadn’t he known it was Chapman?

  Because his tone is deeper right now. He’s usually soft-spoken around you.

  Who was Gorilla talking to, and who had he killed? Winnie was dying to find out, but he wasn’t leaving the safety of his wall, not when the killer was on the other side.

  Had it been Gorilla who’d poisoned Winnie? Clearly he’d been the one doing it to Wallace all these years. The angel had said that there’d been a buildup in Wallace’s system.

  Maybe because his mate wasn’t human it didn’t have the same effect as it had on Winnie. Well, it had, but for Wallace, it had been at a much slower rate.

  Winnie wanted to leave his hiding place and beat Chapman with his long-handled flashlight. Why would he betray Wallace?

  “You need to get rid of the body.”

  Holy crap! Gibson was in the kitchen with Chapman, the ancient butler who’d prepared all of Wallace’s meals.

  With his heart pounding, Winnie spun, ready to race back upstairs and tell Wallace what he’d heard, but the flashlight slapped against the wall.

  Winnie froze. It was so quiet that he heard the blood pulsing in his ears. The wall flew open, and Gorilla snatched Winnie out.

  “Get off me!” Winnie swung his flashlight, using it as a weapon, but his strikes didn’t seem to faze Chapman. He was a big guy with a lot of muscles. The flashlight just bounced right off him.

  Gibson bared his blunt teeth. With his lips pulled back, and his pale skin, he really did look like a corpse. “You,” he spat. “You’re the reason our plan is falling apart!”

  Winnie looked toward the floor. Tears sprang to his eyes when he saw Fernando lying there. He was the one Chapman had killed. Now Winnie felt bad for doubting the guy.

  Gibson curled his boney fingers around Winnie’s shirtfront. “I’ll take care of this meddlesome cunt while you dispose of Fernando’s body.”

  Winnie tried to yank free, but the old corpse was stronger than he looked. His hold was made of steel as he dragged Winnie through the kitchen.

  “Wallace!” Winnie smashed the flashlight over Gibson’s arm, but the guy kept dragging him. “Wallace!”

  “He can’t hear you,” Gibson said. “His room is too far away.”

  Winnie jerked forward and kicked his leg backward. It landed against Gibson’s knee. He heard the sickening crack before the butler went down.

  “No you don’t.” Chapman dropped Fernando and raced after him. Winnie had almost made it to the steps when the front door swung open and Lucky walked in.

  Before Winnie could get away from either man, Lucky grabbed him and threw him behind him. Chapman’s chest rose and fell in deep pants as he bared his canines.

  Holy fuck. Why hadn’t Wallace told Winnie that Chapman was a shifter? Wait. Had Wallace told him? Winnie couldn’t remember.

  “What in the hell is going on?” Lucky demanded. “Why’re you chasing Winnie through the house?”

  “He’s the killer!” Winnie stuck his arm out and pointed a finger at Gorilla. “He’s been poisoning your brother for years. He even tried to kill me. He killed Fernando in the kitchen.”

  Lucky gave a low growl. “Is that true?”

  Chapman curled his lip. “And if it is?”

  Lucky pulled out a gun, which Winnie hadn’t seen tucked in his waistband, and shot Chapman.

  Winnie screamed as he backed away. This entire house was filled with lunatics. The only sane people were Winnie, Wallace, and poor Fernando. Wallace was gonna flip when he found out it had been Gorilla and Gibson behind all this.

  Lucky tucked his gun away. He turned and faced Winnie. “What did Chapman say to you?”

  “Nothing.” Winnie pressed himself against the front door. “Gibson was the one dragging me away to kill me. I got away, but Chapman came after me. If you hadn’t come in and killed Chapman, I’d be dead.”

  Winnie was still freaked out that he’d seen someone killed in front of him, but he was thankful Lucky had arrived when he did. He’d thought the guy shady as fuck, but it was obvious Wallace’s brother wasn’t the bad guy.

  “So it was Gibson and Chapman behind this?” Lucky looked down at Chapman. The guy had a hole in his head, and blood was pooling around him.

  Winnie wanted to vomit. “Yes.”

  Lucky nodded. “I’ll have to get rid of the bodies.”

  Get rid of them? Shouldn’t Lucky call the cops? But why had Lucky killed Chapman? The guy hadn’t come at him, hadn’t threatened Lucky in any way.

  Winnie eased away from the door and moved slowly toward the steps. He needed to get to Wallace. Why hadn’t his mate heard the gunshot? Wallace should’ve come running by now.

  Gibson had said Wallace’s room was too far away, but the damn neighbors should’ve heard Lucky firing his gun. Why hadn’t Wallace?

  A really bad feeling sank into Winnie’s stomach.

  Lucky narrowed his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

  Winnie swallowed, or tried to. His mouth was bone-dry. “Nothing.”

  His gaze snapped behind Lucky when Gibson hobbled into the foyer. He glared at Winnie as he used the wall for leverage. “Why haven’t you killed him yet?”

  Winnie raced for the steps, but Lucky tackled him. He turned his head and snarled at Gibson. “Because he didn’t know I was involved until you fucking just told him.”

  Lucky was too strong for Winnie to get free. The guy had him pinned on his stomach against the floor. He bucked and wiggled under the man’s weight, but he was trapped. “Why?” he asked. “Why are you doing this to your brother?”

  Lucky looked downright evil as he turned his glare on Winnie.

  “Money. It’s just that simple. I want his fortune, but I’m not strong enough to go up against him.”

  “So you had his staff poison him?”

  Lucky let out a long-suffering sigh. “It was a brilliant plan, but leave it to my dear brother not to fucking die. He kept getting sicker, but the son of a bitch kept on breathing.”

  How could anyone be this cold and heartless? “Why not shoot him?”

  “The life insurance policy,” Lucky stated. “I had to make it look like natural causes. I know my brother changed his will, but he forgot about changing his beneficiary for the policy. I stood to gain millions.”

  Could siblings do that? Take out insurance on each other? Winnie wouldn’t know since he was an only child and too poor to afford the premiums it must’ve cost Lucky to keep the policy in force.

  “You’re not gonna get away with this.” Fuck, Winnie sounded like a cliché, like this was some movie and he was talking to the villain.

  Which he was.

  Lucky’s gaze snapped upward. Winnie followed it and saw a huge tiger at the top of the stairs. Wallace! Winnie’s heart soared at the sight of his mate.