Darkest Night: Mercenaries and Magic: A scorching enemies to lovers romance

by Alessa Thorn

  "Get off him, Athena! We are waiting on you two," Dante said through the door.

  "What's happened?"

  "Iz thinks she might have found something," Athena replied, slipping from his lap. "Kissing you and talking about your family was more important."

  Kon's chest swelled dangerously, and he had to fight not to pull her back into his arms.

  Downstairs, Dante was pouring more coffee for Leo. He looked up and saw Kon and pulled out another cup. Kon contemplated the coffee before passing it to Athena and making himself tea instead.

  "I hope Athena woke you up the nice way," he teased.

  "If you hoped that, you wouldn't have interrupted," Kon replied.

  Dante looked utterly unapologetic, and Athena nudged him with her shoulder. "Don't be jealous because I'm getting some, and you aren't."

  Dante snorted. "Just for once, Cubbie. Although now that I've met Turkish Delight, I can see why you've turned down everyone else after you met."

  Kon knew his smile was smug as shit by the way Athena's ears went red. "Is that so? Tell me more, Dante."

  Athena's eyes zeroed in on Dante and went ice cold. "If you want to keep your manhood, you'll shut your gob, Hill."

  "Don't be touchy because Kon was probably still getting nailed, and you weren't."

  "Mio Dio, we have other things to talk about than Kon's penis," Leo complained.

  "Like talking about yours?" Dante retorted with an innocent smile.

  "We don't have all night," Leo countered.

  "Will you lot stop talking about dicks and get over here," Silas called from where Izabella had connected her laptop to the TV screen.

  Kon waited until the other two men had left the kitchen before snagging Athena's hand and nibbled at her wrist. "There was no one else for me either, güzelim."

  Her ears went even redder. "Stop talking, or I'll stab you."

  "Keep threatening me with a good time, and see where it gets you."

  "Oh my God, stop," Athena begged.

  "Words that have never come out of your mouth when you've been in bed with me."

  "Shut up." Athena was bright red as she pulled her hand free from his grip. Kon finished making his tea before they went and joined the others.

  Izabella waited until everyone was settled before pulling up an old black and white photo of a man in a garden.

  "Time for a brief history lesson. This white guy you see is John William Brodie-Innes, a lawyer by profession and the founder of the Amun-Ra chapter house of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in Edinburgh in 1893," she began, before flipping to an old map of the city. "Now, we couldn't find any official place registered for the temple in all of the data we dug through. Nothing came up in any kind of deeds or land titles. What we did find was a list of the forty-eight members that were inducted into the temple from the years 1888 to1896."

  Leo pushed his glasses on the top of his head and took the lead. "We started to cross-reference any rental properties under the names that were down as members. Many of them that came up were residential properties, family homes, etc., but one particular name jumped out at us. Drummond."

  Izabella clicked again, and lists of names popped up on the screen. "Emily and Edith Drummond, a mother and daughter, were both inducted into the Amun-Ra house and made it a Second Order which allowed them to use practical magic. Emily's husband, William Drummond, was also a lawyer and could have been acquainted with Brodie-Innes."

  "But he wasn't a member of the Amun-Ra?" Kon asked, not seeing his name on the lists.

  "No. He didn't seem to share their interest in the Golden Dawn, theosophy, or Freemasonry, which they were also fascinated by," Izabella replied. "The reason we bring him up is that we found his name on a receipt for a basement area in Edinburgh's Old Town. The documents were a part of the heritage listings of the development of the area, and they were scanned. It was not an expensive rental, something that on the records looks like it was leased as a storage space. The interesting thing is that William Drummond died in August 1915, but payments kept getting deposited until January 1924."

  "So who was making the payments?" Silas asked, frowning at the date.

  "If I had to guess, it would be Edith. One of the strange things we discovered is that both Emily and William named Edith and Florence as executors of their wills, not their son Charles," Izabella replied. "Going back to our good old founder, John William Brodie-Innes. He died in December 1923."

  "A month before the payments to the basement stopped," Dante commented. "So who or what was still there? And why did she keep paying for it?"

  Izabella shrugged. "My guess is loyalty. We know Brodie-Innes was a mentor to Edith and, allegedly, the one and only Dion Fortune. Also, another woman. At that time, women weren't allowed into any academia or clubs, but the Golden Dawn did. That alone could have secured the support of someone like Edith who wrote and published articles on Scottish freemasonry amongst other things."

  Athena got up to pace. "Okay, so Ryker said that the last time he saw Liddell was at the Amun-Ra. What is it now? I'm assuming it's not still just a basement in Old Town."

  "A basement night club to be precise," Leo said, clicking the mouse and bringing up a photo of a black and gold sign that said 'Earthly Delights.' "It could be that Liddell likes to go there to be close to the history of the order."

  Kon shook his head. "No, Ryker mentioned he was breaking one of his toys. Leo, can you look into any reports of assaults that have happened there? If Liddell hurt someone while he was there, maybe they complained or went to the police?"

  "I'll look, but I doubt it. For one thing, Earthly Delights is a gay bar. Statistically, even though assaults on LGBT people are four times higher, half the time they’re not reported," Leo replied, the muscle in his jaw throbbing.

  "Also, if Liddell is 'breaking toys,' I'll be surprised if anything comes up because he's a rich, entitled white guy, and they usually pay for problems to go away," Izabella added.

  Athena ran her hands through her hair and unraveled her braid. "Even so, please have a look. Ryker wouldn't have mentioned it if he didn't think there were breadcrumbs to follow."

  "You're assuming Ryker was trying to be helpful," Silas argued.

  "I had a knife to his dick, so he was invested in being helpful," Athena replied.

  "Also, Ryker is greedy. We said that we would reward his help like we agreed to reward Altun. Ryker could have stopped us from leaving his warehouse if he wanted to. Instead, he let us go and put on a show of trying to go after us," Kon added. He toyed with the pendant around his neck and looked at all the information on the screen. "I definitely agree with Athena on this; Ryker was helping. We just need to figure out how."

  22

  Athena took a small blade from her boot and started twirling it idly through her fingers. Izabella and Leo were tapping away on their laptops. Dante and Kon had gone out to buy some ingredients for dinner. Beside her, Silas was cleaning a gun.

  Athena stared at the pictures that Izabella had left up, and the corkboards of information Kon had put together and added to over the past few days.

  "What are you thinking, Cub?" Silas asked.

  "There's something that I'm not seeing," she replied, the knife sliding through her fingers. "Did anything pop up about Gadal while I was in Germany?"

  "Nothing worth mentioning. Izabella thinks it's a code name like Liddell. There was a French guy called Antonin Gadal. He was a historian and a mystic who was obsessed with the Cathars, their history, and spiritual beliefs. It seems to fit the theme of magic and mystics," Silas said. He leaned back on the couch beside her. "What do you reckon about this magic business?"

  "It's legit. I've seen Kon do it more than once. It feels like a dangerous thing to have someone like Liddell using it however he likes. Especially because normal people wouldn't believe that he's capable of it, to begin with."

  "It's a weird old world," Silas said in the most Silas way. Athena didn't think anything could fluster him.
She always wondered if he kept a level head so she would keep hers.

  "Yeah, it is, and I think the further we go down this rabbit hole, the weirder it's going to become."

  Kon and Dante came back in, arms full of bags from the markets. Dante was laughing at something Kon had said, and Athena's heart did its strange flutter.

  "God, you are pathetic. I didn't think anything but a sword could make you get that look," Silas teased her.

  Athena tried to be cool about it, lifting her shoulder in a half-assed shrug. "He gets me, I suppose. It's weird, but I like it. I don't have to wear my polite face, and he doesn't want me to."

  Silas hummed. "Yeah, I guess I can see the appeal in that. Still, if he breaks your heart, I'll cut his out."

  "Thanks, Dad," Athena said, dropping her head to his shoulder.

  "How's the search going?" Dante asked as he came to look over Leo's shoulder at whatever was on his screen.

  "Police reports," Leo replied, his voice distant. His eyes refocused. "What smells so good?"

  "That's me," Dante said and placed a paper bag on the table beside Leo. "Or it could be this. It's called Lokma; it's like doughnut balls that are sweet enough to make your eyes water."

  "Grazie, grazie, grazie," Leo hummed, opening the bag and putting one of the sticky balls into his mouth, and made a happy groan. He offered the bag to Dante. "You want some?"

  "No, I'm good," Dante replied with a downright filthy smile on his face.

  Athena shook her head. She had seen Dante flirt with everyone he met, but it was the first time he went out of his way to get treats for someone.

  "I've found some reports of incidents at the club or near it," Izabella said, pulling her headphones off. "A lot of them are theft, an argument that resulted in fistfights. Some of them are strange, like this one two years ago where a French tourist was found in Holyrood Park with no clothes on, covered in scratches and babbling about the devil chasing him."

  "Stick to the weird ones," Athena replied.

  Izabella got up. "Not until I stretch. I feel all cramped and bunched up. Who's up for some yoga on the roof?"

  "I was going to help Kon cook," Silas said, getting up and retreating. Iz watched him go, eyes narrowed even if they went straight to his ass.

  Athena sheathed her knife. "I'll come, Iz. My brain isn't working properly. I know there's something I'm missing."

  "I'm in if you lead it," Leo added, closing the bag of dough treats.

  "If you're up for a real workout, Iz, I'll be happy to join you. Yoga is just stretching," Dante said.

  "Fine, stay down here and be an alpha male cliché," Leo said, giving him an arched look before pulling his shirt off and following Iz towards the roof stairs. He had leaner muscles than Athena would've guessed on his tall frame. Surprisingly, he also had hidden tattoos.

  "Yeah, you're right. I should definitely give the stretching thing a go," Dante babbled.

  "Try to keep your tongue in your head, Hill. You're getting pathetic."

  "Fuck off, Cub. You're the one that's spent the last three years getting frothy over your nemesis."

  Athena glanced sideways to Kon. He was rolling up his sleeves, ingredients spread out on the counter in front of him. "Still getting frothy over him."

  "Ew, Athena. Get focused. We have stretching to do," Dante said, steering her up the stairs.

  "Just don't set up right behind poor Leo like a total creeper."

  "Come on, give me a bit of credit." Dante pushed open the door, and Athena couldn't help but notice Leo's slightly smug smile. He already knew what buttons to press with Dante, and Athena would have a good time watching him twist the merc up in knots.

  Athena found a space where she wouldn't accidentally crash into anyone and toed off her boots. Izabella was already folding herself into graceful moves that Athena knew she could never do.

  "Alright, you rabble, let's start in a mountain pose," she said, and Athena got ready.

  Closing her eyes, Athena let Iz's instructions wash over her, her body obeying as her mind went elsewhere.

  What aren't I seeing? There was something about the club, and toys, and Ryker's smug words that she wasn't getting. She went back to her memories of the fight and going up to see Ryker afterward.

  The last time I saw Liddell was at the Amun-Ra House in Edinburgh. He was having fun breaking his toys as he is prone to do… Ryker's bored voice came back to her. Athena rolled her body into a downward dog.

  Be careful of hunting on a full moon, Liebling. It's when predators are strongest. Athena's hand slipped, and she almost toppled out of the pose.

  "Son of a bitch!" she exclaimed.

  "What is it now?" Iz asked irritably.

  "The full moon. When Kon and I were leaving the fight club in Germany, Ryker told us to be careful hunting on the full moon because it's when predators are the strongest. I thought he was just a bit obscure and threatening, but what if it's more than that?" Athena said, pacing the roof. "What if he was trying to tell us that's when Liddell searches for new toys to break?"

  "Sounds like you're reaching to me," Dante commented as he straightened up.

  "We need to check those police reports for any incidents that happened on a full moon. My gut tells me—" Both Iz and Dante groaned.

  "What's wrong with your gut?" Leo asked from a side-angle pose.

  "Athena has a thing about her gut always being right," Dante said.

  "And the worst part is that it usually is," Iz added.

  "That's right, it is, so chop chop! Let's go and look."

  "It can wait fifteen minutes for me to finish my flow. Get your ass back into position. You can finish it up too."

  Athena muttered under her breath, but there was no getting around her when Iz had made up her mind.

  Kon was rubbing spice into chicken pieces in the kitchen and trying not to feel intimidated by Silas watching his every move. Kon hadn't made this particular recipe in a long time, but talking about his parents with Athena had made him crave it.

  "You got any family hanging around?" Silas asked, sipping his beer on the other side of the counter.

  "Not that I know about. After the fire, I took off because I was scared of Liddell finding me."

  "And you never tried to find relatives?"

  Kon shook his head. "I never met any of my parent's siblings, if they had any. I don't even know my own last name. I didn't want to bring anyone else into my revenge plots anyway."

  "And look how that turned out," Silas said with a glimmer of amusement in his green eyes.

  "Athena put herself into my revenge plot. It's not my fault she dragged the rest of you in." Kon sliced up a lemon. "I did try and deflect Liddell's attention from her. He talked about recruiting her, and I didn't want him anywhere near her."

  "It wouldn't have been a problem if you had killed her. Thanks for not going down that road," Silas said. He toyed with his beer bottle. "If we do take down Liddell, what then? Have you thought about what you would do?"

  "I've been trying to. I like the idea of working as an actual historian for a while, and I want to be able to use my magic again. I want Athena. That's as far as I've gotten," Kon admitted.

  There was no point lying to Silas about it. He did want Athena. And after an afternoon of touching his magic again, the thrill it gave him, he wanted that too. He remembered what it was like to look at the world with…wonder.

  A part of him would always be the Basty, the nightmare monster, but this new Kon that cooked for people and used magic could also work out for him if he didn't fuck it up.

  It was almost as terrifying as being in love with a woman who, until two weeks ago, he thought of as a rival.

  "If you take out Liddell, he's going to have a big collection to sort through, and a lot of that is magical from what you've said," Silas said thoughtfully, picking at the label on his beer. "Athena… she's big on giving things back to traditional owners. Maybe you can use that historian degree and your magic skills and help her fi
nd where they belong."

  Kon stopped chopping. "Are you playing matchmaker?"

  "No," Silas said unconvincingly. He rubbed at the stubble on his chin. "Look, Kon, I know my daughter, and underneath the swagger and her focus on getting this job done, she's panicking that you won't want her once it's over."

  "But that's the complete opposite of what I want. And what I've been telling her that I want."

  Silas chuckled. "Yeah, Athena can be a bit tricky. She doesn't really process emotions like other people, and she was raised around a group of hard-ass guys that didn't talk about feelings. It takes her a bit to figure it all out. Maybe if you give her something to think about, like tell her you want her help re-homing all Liddell's stuff, she might chill out a bit."

  "Hmm, I see. We can't forget about trying to find Gadal too."

  Silas's smile vanished. "Only if Athena decides she wants to go down that path. It'll mean going back to that place, and it'll dredge up her nightmares all over again."

  Kon looked at the knife in his hand. "Maybe if she slits his throat, she won't have any more nightmares."

  "Well, you let me know how that works out for you once you kill Liddell, and then we can pitch it to her," Silas replied.

  Kon slid the chicken into the oven as Athena came thumping down the stairs barefoot and flushed. "Kon, I've had the best idea."

  "Uh oh," Silas said, his grin back. Athena took his beer and had a mouthful before passing it back.

  "You remember how Ryker got all 'Predators hunt on the full moon’ at us? What if he was trying to tell us when Liddell likes to go out and pick up?" she said, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet.

  "Maybe. I thought it was a bit strange, but then Ryker was strange all round," Kon replied. "What do Iz and Leo think?"

  "They are going to look through the police reports and cross-reference them to the full moon."

  "I dunno, Cub, lots of crazies tend to come out on the full moon," Silas said. Athena opened her mouth to argue, but Kon beat her to it.

  "That's true, but you didn't see Ryker, Silas. He was making a point; otherwise, he wouldn't have said it at all."