“The Prince is weak,” Jacine continued, composed once again. “There hasn’t been a trace of the darkness in a long time. There would be no danger to the Empire if the Queen lifted this ridiculous quarantine and let us all come home early. This little punishment has gone on long enough, and nothing has come of it. Don’t you think I’ve suffered enough? I want to go home.”
“The Queen has a long memory. Nobody in that first wave of indifference is allowed to re-enter the Empire. She wants subjects who take action, not those who idly watch while innocents are slaughtered. When the dark disease spread, nobody protected her creations. They let it play out. The Game is her way of teaching you all a lesson.”
“It’s not a lesson; it’s a prison.”
“Yes, well. It doesn’t change the fact.”
“I watched over them well enough when I had the chance.”
Laughter burst from my mouth. “Watched over them? The last time you were allowed to watch over them you ended up with cults named after you. People still remember the name Aphrodite.”
“Shut up. Don’t say that name.”
I chuckled. “Why? Ashamed?”
“Never. I’ve just come a long way, that’s all. I have self-control now. Like I said, I haven’t had an orgy in over a century—”
“Shame.”
“Could you be serious for one moment? Have you even asked the Queen? Have you put forward our petition?”
“I have. Not in person though. She’s not seeing anyone, you know that.”
Jacine slouched into her chair and dropped her head in her hands. She scrubbed her fingers through her baby pink strands. Peculiar fashion trend that one. She appeared to have silky fairy-floss attached to her head.
Her voice was muffled. “But it’s been an eternity. How are we supposed to get out of this if she won’t even hear our petition?” She lifted her gaze to lock with my own, the iridescent blue a genetic trademark of the gods. “I’ve remained loyal. Despite the Prince and Urser campaigning for an army—yes I know that little secret—I’ve passed on all inside knowledge to you and remained impartial. I’ve remained loyal, damn it. Maybe I should finally give in and save myself a place with them. I should join their rebellion.”
“Codswallop,” I snapped, fury souring my tongue. Her threats were wasted on me. I cared less about her switching sides than I did about coffee. She was all talk. “The Game is nearing its end. Motions have been set into play. The wheels are turning, love. Don’t get caught up in them and stumble. Stay out of the way, else I won’t be able to protect you from the Queen’s wrath.”
“I’m not sure if I can wait any more. I’ve heard things. People are talking, making plans.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I narrowed my eyes at the treasonous talk. “What are you not saying, Jacine?”
“I’m saying that there’s a way out of this for us. There are those back home who are working to free us.”
“How would you know that? It’s impossible for you to know anything from the Empire. I’m the only one who relays information. I’m the only one who can travel there and remember everything, so whatever you heard must be false.”
“I’m sorry, darling, but that’s simply not true.”
My blood turned cold. “Who? How?”
Jacine got up and snaked closer, hips swaying from side to side, until she fiddled with my collar. “So strange, how you hide behind a coat of illusion, but it feels so real.”
I swallowed. It felt real because it was real. An illusion-construct made from dust and discarded life. It was connected to me. Constructed from me. And she was touching it, me. I was in danger.
A coldness crept into the room. Shadows felt darker, the light less pure. A movement in the air behind Jacine caught my attention, but when I looked, I found an empty corner. Blue plastered walls and mahogany carpet with a pattern that made me want to vomit, but nothing else unsettling.
“Is there someone else here?” I asked.
“It’s just you and me, Marc.” She drew my face back to her with her finger on my jaw.
“I could’ve sworn I felt someone else’s aura in here.”
“You still haven’t given me anything, Egnatius. What’s so special about the boy? What is the hunter’s Seraphim name?” Sensation rippled through me at the mention of my name, this time hitting me squarely between the legs, setting me on fire. Her voice was hypnotic, and my hair stood on end. I swallowed hard through the humming heat under my skin.
I resisted. We battled silently until I finally drew a mantle of strength around me. “He’s none of your business. Pull yourself together, woman.”
Jacine did. She smoothed her dress, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, she picked up a small remote from the table and clicked at the glass doors behind me. The clear glass frosted, hiding us from the world. She latched onto me like a predator, pushing me down into my chair and towering over me.
“You’re hiding something from me. Something about the hunter. You know I have strong instincts about such things. Does he know how to get us home? Is he the hunter?”
I laughed. My fingers twitched. “No. He’s not.” Rotten liar. “And even if he was, he’s thousands of years from his original self. As if he’d still have what he took from the gate.”
“Maybe we don’t need it anymore.”
“Right. Good luck with that. The technology here is light years away from getting you back.”
She’d asked about Samson. The woman had powerful instincts, or someone must be pulling her strings, feeding her information, promising her a way out if she cooperated.
She bent forward until her breath tickled my neck, her pert breasts half exposed, straining against the captivity of her white dress. Her nipples hovered perilously close to my face. She cocked her head and ran her nail lightly down my cheek. “Surely we can come to an arrangement. A virile god like yourself, a goddess with needs like myself…” She lifted a knee and nudged it between my legs. I almost whimpered and scooted as far back as my chair would allow. “Dah-ling. You know I’ve always liked you. Remember that time we spent three glorious nights in Barbados? We can say each other’s names over and over again. I’ll give it to you any which way you want; just say the word.”
My heart raced. She’d been ridden more times than the town bicycle. But I could smell her heady perfume and it made everything inside me leap to attention. I was in trouble. She would have my tongue loose in seconds. Before I could stop myself, my hands were kneading her curves, angling upwards. She kissed my jawline, sending shock waves of pleasure through my body and I groaned, trembling. Of course I wanted to go there, she was the most wanted woman in the world, known for her ability to turn any man into screaming puddles of ecstasy, including me. The way she said my name. She was pleasure incarnate, a goddess of love, experienced in extracting information from bodies, male and female alike. My brain screamed—run, escape!
Quick. Think of something else. Something I wanted more. I had to want it more.
My thoughts flittered to the girl.
Little Red.
I blinked and shook my head. But her face became a beacon—something for me to latch onto. Refuge. I conjured the sweet smell of her, the feel of her aura, the pleasure of her soft skin when I’d hugged her tight that night at the hunter’s home. I’d wanted more.
“Love, that’s a cheap shot.” I chose a spot across the other side of the table, unbound the magnetic field surrounding my atoms and moved in the blink of an eye.
Jacine fell forward into the space I had vacated. She thumped her fist madly on the chair’s surface and screamed in frustration. “How do you do that? You must teach me, or at least take me with you. It’s simply not fair you are the only person in the entire Empire who has that skill.”
Not the only one. Little Red could do it too. Sort of. She’d borrowed the ability from me. But that was our little secret. One amongst many.
“Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t move y
ou with me, Jacine. Your atoms would tangle and by the time we reached our destination, you’d be destroyed. Forever. Not asleep. Not resting. But gone—G-O-N-E—gone.”
She rounded on me and palmed the marble table between us. “Then give me a child with your D.N.A.”
“What?” I stepped back as though she’d struck me. My hands hovered over my exposed privates. Bloody side effect.
“You heard me. I want a child.”
“You’ve had children before. Plenty of them.”
“They were half-breeds. I want a full Seraphim child that has the ability to traverse through space like you. If you can’t take me with you, then maybe a child with half my D.N.A. can.”
I swallowed, the heat rising from my body was not a reaction to my preferred mode of transport.
“There’s no guarantee my child would have the same skills, and it can take millennia to develop.”
“I’ll tell you everything I know about the darkness.” She licked her lips. “Dove, if our child has your abilities, you will be released from your service. The Queen will no longer require your loyalty because there will be a new messenger. You will be free to pursue a life of your own making.”
Freedom.
“Let me think on it, yeah?” I worm-holed my ass out of there.
I barely caught Jacine’s words as they vibrated through the atmosphere and were lost in the wind: “But the souls in Purgatory…”
Cash
“There you are.” Roo strode through the door to James’s room, cheeks and nose pink from the cold, red hair tousled around her shoulders from the wind outside. “We’ve been looking all over—”
“I’ll deal with you later,” I growled.
I vaulted the fire-escape railings to land on the level below. One more jump took me to the ground.
My nose told me the boy had run west so that’s where I went. But the further I ran, the less sure I was. The breeze and rain, an arctic thief, had stolen the scent. After fifteen minutes of canvasing the block, I cursed and jogged back to the orphanage, phoning the office as I went. No answer.
When I shoved back through the window of the heated dormitory, I gave Roo a maddened glare. She’d cost me precious seconds, and I’d lost the boy and the witch. She disobeyed me and Jed had let her.
I should have been infuriated, but, strangely, I felt lighter. Confused at my body’s reaction, I stalked towards her, and the tightness in my chest loosened even more. I wanted to be angry. But I couldn’t.
Jed dragged in behind Roo, his face pinched.
“Why are you—” I started.
“Shut up.” She waggled her finger at my face. “Look, I know you’ve got a super important job doing super important stuff, but you can’t walk out without a word after what happened this morning. I’m sorry but you can’t. And don’t blame Jed, he had no choice. I said I would fry his insides.” She moved her hands to the curve of her hips. Her jeans burned as her fingers heated with power, a tendril of tiny smoke lifted from her touch. Chagrined at her actions, she shook her hands, then returned her gaze. “I told you your mother called,” she said. “You haven’t spoken to her yet. We’re here for your brother’s funeral, not for you to work. You need to call her back.” She allowed a beat of silence as she took a breath. “Besides, we might be able to help. What’s so important that you had to run ass over tit away from us?”
Peculiar expression.
My lips twitched with the need to smile, but I pushed the urge down and gathered my resolve. I opened my mouth to respond when I heard the high-pitched voices of children downstairs. Seconds later, thunder shook the staircase and little feet spilled into the corridor outside the bedroom.
Roo froze and watched the boys with large, liquid eyes—their little faces mirrored her emotion, gazing back with gaping jaws. The smallest ginger-haired, freckle-faced boy slowed down completely to stare at the red hair cascading down her shoulders, a more vibrant version of his own. She smiled at him slowly and gave a timid half wave. He grinned back.
“Off you go now, Mr. Michaels. Unpack your bag and begin your homework.” A tall and rosy-cheeked, round-faced woman stepped onto the landing and gave the boy a gentle nudge toward the dorms. She eyed the three visitors in James’s room.
Mrs. Merriweather.
“As you can see, Mr. Samson, James is not with me. I’m afraid he’s still missing. Nobody knows where he has gone.”
We follow her downstairs where she held the door to a meeting room open for us.
“The police have issued a warrant for his arrest and, because he’s almost of age, I’m concerned this will affect his life more than he knows. We can talk more about it inside so the children can’t hear.”
“I’ll be just a moment,” I said and walked into the room. I slid out a chair for Mrs. Merriweather. When she sat down, I returned to the hallway with my misguided progeny and closed the door behind us. Before I could start, I clamped my jaw shut and frowned. Roo had an odd look on her face, one she’d never directed at me before, as though my reason for being here was suddenly viable in her opinion. It suddenly dawned on me what that face meant and I stepped back.
“No,” I said. “No, no, no. Don’t look at me like that. I’m not that guy, La Roux, I’m not.”
“But this is your orphanage—your name was on the door,” she gushed with twinkling eyes. “I can’t believe I didn’t put two and two together. You’re here to help the little boys?” She stepped towards me. “No wonder you had to leave. This really is important work. The children. I’m so sorry I yelled at you, I had no right.”
Jed, still in the hallway covered his smile with his hand.
Bastard’s enjoying this.
“Stop.” I was not the good guy. I was going to leave her. Abandon her. I almost preferred it when she was afraid of me. “Go back to my apartment and do as you were told.” I shot Jed a withering stare. “What were you thinking? I would’ve thought an officer of the law had better crowd-control experience.”
“Pffft.” She blew a raspberry at me. “When do I ever do as I’m told? I’m coming in with you. We’re a team, remember.”
A ping sounded on my phone. When I checked, Nell had given me a series of factories that might be of interest according to the chemicals I supplied. When I turned my attention back to Roo, she watched me like a hawk.
“I mean it, Roo. Go home. Work on your training and I will be back later tonight. You can’t help here.”
“But… what happened to us sticking together? What happened to us trusting each other?”
“You can’t fix everything.”
“No, I can’t. I know that. But I thought together we stood a chance. I guess I was wrong. You were wrong.”
I heard her accusatory words, but ignored them. Even though I’d said something similar to her only a few days ago, I left the two in the hall so I could discuss James’s murder charge with Mrs. Merriweather.
An hour later, while driving home from the orphanage, I thought about James. He was the first kid I’d rescued from the clutches of a witch. It had happened years ago, but the horror of James’s emaciated figure, starved and huddled into his sister’s corpse had been irrevocably burnt into my memory. The boy had been only nine. His sister had given up all of her meals for him and died herself from malnutrition. All because a witch had possessed their mother and the unintelligible being had no idea how to care for children. She’d locked them away with only a second thought to feed them every other day. They weren’t the first orphans of witchcraft to be found and certainly weren’t the last.
Back then, I had seen to the welfare of displaced children because it was the right thing to do. There was no emotion involved. It was pure logic. Leave the kids to suffer, they would die. Provide safe housing for them when no one else could, and they would live. I had money to burn. Too much from the government for my sanctioned witch-hunting sessions. It made sense. The children looked up to me, and I hadn’t even tried. Now, I realized I could’ve done a hell of a lo
t more. Money wasn’t everything. If I’d been more of a role model to the boy, James wouldn’t be in this mess. I had to find him before the police did.
The notion spurred me to change directions and take a detour toward the latex mattress factory Nell had suggested. Roo and my mother would have to wait. The funeral would have to wait. I had to find James.
I cut the engine as I pulled up to the factory’s curb and coasted silently until I could conceal the car under the shadows of a not-too-distant tree. Then I checked my weapons: a handgun from the glove compartment, and a few knives I’d tucked under seats, just in case. After I had enough support of the metal kind, I crept passed the main office to the rear factory entrance, where I huddled against the wall, ignoring the dropping temperature.
The scent I’d found on James’s shoe leeched into my nose. I edged closer to the back door and listened. At least three distinct heartbeats thrummed inside. One was slightly faster and lighter than the others. James? Yet there was something off about it. Something erratic. This was the place all right. The sweet, pungent smell confirmed that a witch was either inside or had been recently.
Good enough for me. I scanned the area for lurkers before pulling my gun from my belt. The door was unlocked. Idiots.
I turned the knob and, once inside, crept through the concrete factory room past aisles lined with stacks of plastic-covered mattresses that reached the roof. At the end of the first section, I flattened my body against a stack and tried to make sense of the sight before me. A mattress had been tossed onto the floor and two men crowded over a body.
James.
He laid face up, his eyes rolled back and his lips curved in mindless pleasure. One man held him down and the other injected a dark substance into the crook of his arm. Drugs.
A red haze coated my vision as rage broke the barricade holding my demons at bay and I lunged forward to confront them. I bit my tongue to restrain my temper and narrowly avoided squeezing the trigger on my gun.
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