by CoraLee June
Beside me, Tomb’s gargoyle tensed, his cool, hard arm touching mine. “If you touch her, I will kill you,” he said, his voice a growl of gravel and threat.
“Your skin is indestructible, but hers sure as shit isn’t,” the other trainer replied. “How many relics burning into her skin at one time before she passes out from the pain, do you think?”
It was such bullshit. We were some of the strongest supes in the world, but the sight of those glimmering, glorified quarters had me trembling.
The other hybrids shifted on their feet, watching nervously, probably wondering if I was about to get everyone punished. Crow stepped forward, slipping next to me, as if he was ready to intervene. I heard some of his birds flying over my head, ready to protect me at all costs.
When the trainers formed a circle around us, the tension in the room spiked, and my palms twitched, ready to send out webs to snatch up every damn coin and trainer in this room.
Shit was about to go down.
“Trainers, stand down.”
The sudden voice took everyone by surprise. I whipped my head over to see heavily armed guards marching toward us, and one man wearing a suit. Tomb and I exchanged a look. This was bad. Really bad.
The suited official had an earpiece in his ear, and the guards flanked him while he spoke to someone. “Yes, sir. Of course, sir. I’ll bring her up immediately, sir.”
The guards formed a row in front of us. Crow placed his fingers on my lower back in silent reassurance, and Tomb placed himself in front of me, ready to fight.
Once the Suit was done appeasing whoever was speaking to him over his earpiece, he turned his attention to Oz. “President Belvini wants to speak with the Black Widow immediately. He says no one is to harm her, or there will be consequences.”
My mouth dropped open in shock. President Belvini wanted to see me? What could he possibly want?
Oz blanched. “Victor, you can’t be serious. She used her powers against me! You know the rules; she needs to be punished. I deserve to be the one to do it,” he said through clenched teeth.
The suited man looked unamused. He was a thin man with cold eyes and thinning hair. I sniffed the air. Was he...human?
“President Belvini makes the rules around here. The only thing you deserve is a demotion for not knowing how to handle your trainee.”
Oz’s cheeks mottled a furious red, and he looked like he wanted to argue more, but it was a bit hard to take him seriously with the raging boner still poking through his slacks.
Luckily, Lowell came forward from where he’d been observing the entire thing. “Of course, Victor. Miss Coven can be taken there immediately. And please let President Belvini know that we will have the reports he requested on his desk in three hours,” the brown-nosing scientist said.
“Better make it one hour, Lowell.” Victor slid his eyes to me before continuing. “Due to recent developments, we are pushing up the timeline for our plans. I suggest you have your team ready.”
Lowell turned pale but nodded his head. “Of course.”
“Come along, Miss Coven.”
I hesitated, watching Victor warily from around Tomb’s body. “What does he want with me?”
The man sighed and looked up at the ceiling, either to appreciate my roped web or out of impatience. “You are in no place to be asking questions.”
Crow’s hand was still at my back, and he gave me a little brush of his fingers to comfort me, but Tomb was still a statue standing sentry in front of me. I stepped around him, reaching down and squeezing his hand once in reassurance. He looked down at me, worry and disagreement warring over his features. “It’s okay,” I told him.
Afraid that he might try to haul me up over his shoulder and carry me out of here, I quickly slipped out of his grip and stepped toward the guards. “Lead the way,” I said, sounding way more relaxed about it than I really was.
I was quickly shuffled out, walking in the middle of guards boxing me in from every side. We went out of the training room and into an elevator, where we went up at least a few floors. The guards were straight-faced, silent, and tense, while Victor was talking on his earpiece the whole time, bossing people around.
“No, no, no. Get the Howell files for the noon meeting, and the Howl files for the soonest meeting! Honestly, it’s like I’m talking to an imbecile.”
The short elevator ride brought us up to a floor I’d never been to before. I couldn’t see much between the guards’ bodies, but unlike the thick concrete walls and white tiled floors, this part looked more like an executive building in a high rise than a military bunker. There were even paintings hung on the wall, as if an interior designer came in to spruce the place up.
The guards led me all the way down to the end of another hallway, where there was a prim looking secretary typing away, while two armed guards stood by a pair of frosted glass doors.
As soon as the secretary saw us coming, she jumped to her feet. “Finally! He’s been waiting for a full four minutes!” she hissed, looking distressed. “Hurry up and get her in there before he blows a gasket.”
My nerves shot up. From her reaction alone, I already knew what kind of man President Belvini was, and I wanted to meet him even less than I did before.
A stern hand at my back pushed me through the doors, and my feet stumbled as I tried to straighten myself. The last thing I heard from Victor was a hissed behave before the door was shut, locking me inside.
The room was modern and sleek. A cleared desk with a single file folder on top of it sat near large, expansive windows. I nearly gasped at the sight of the bright sun and lush greenery. I hadn’t seen the outside in what felt like months. I had to physically stop myself from walking over to it and placing my fingers against the glass.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” a masculine voice in a clipped accent said to my left. I turned my attention toward him and felt my spider revolt.
I’d been in some fucked up situations since signing my life over to Spector, and my spider had reacted accordingly. But I’d never felt such an intense scattering within myself as I did right now. I took in his pressed suit and tall stature. Lorenzo Belvini’s face was smoldering handsomeness made up of sharp angles. You could have cut stone with his jaw and pointed chin. His cheekbones were high and defined, accenting the way the rest of his face seemed hollow and sunken in.
I took a deep breath, trying to scent him and pick up on what sort of supe he was, but the only thing I inhaled was sulfur. No woodsy shifter scent. No cool vampiric blood. No deadly musk of a necro or the sickly sweet magic of an elemental.
This man was one hundred percent demon.
“Are you done scenting me?” he asked with an arched brow as he stood up from behind the desk. “I’m guessing by the look of terror on your face, you’ve figured it out. I’m impressed. Most take longer to determine what I am.”
He took a step toward me, and I felt wave after wave of his dark energy course through me. Even my spider was uneasy. “Why am I here?” I asked while fixing my face in a stern, unconcerned expression.
He chuckled, a dark sound that made my stomach clench. “Brave little thing. I wonder...is it you that’s so hardened, or is it your demon? It’s such a beautiful phenomenon, the blending of powers. I do like to see what mixture comes out of it.”
He sauntered over to me with an outstretched hand. I looked down at it with trepidation, not sure what sort of demon he was or what a simple touch could do.
He smirked and instead gestured to the chair. “Please, have a seat.”
He walked back around his desk to sit behind it, and I took a moment to look around his office as I sunk into the chair. Minimalistic shelves hung on the wall to my left, and on top of them were gems and strange metals spaced perfectly apart.
“I’m a collector of sorts,” he said smoothly, as he unbuttoned the front of his suit jacket, like it would help him seem more casual.
I swept my eyes up and down his body. “I noticed. The dozens of hybrids down
stairs sort of tipped me off.”
At my words, he tipped back his head and laughed. It was better than him killing me on the spot for mouthing off, but I still flinched at the sound, while he revealed his dazzling white teeth and sinister grin. “You’re a delight, Miss Coven,” he said, his laughter tapering off. “It will be such a shame to have to destroy your spirit.”
I tensed, my fingernails digging into the black leather of the armrests.
“Let’s get down to business, shall we?” he asked, flipping open the file in front of him.
My eyes flicked down, and I saw my school picture and basic information on the first page. The page on the other side had pictures of me in my cell here at Spector, as well as surveillance photos of me feeding off various humans.
“I was intrigued by your demonic rebirth,” Belvini said, flipping through the pages. “I’ll admit, some of my hybrids are favored more than others. But yours has a certain allure to it.”
“If sexual cannibalism is your thing, then I guess you can say it has tons of allure,” I deadpanned.
Another smirk broke across his face. “Indeed,” he agreed. “As it were, I think you can do great things here at Spector, but unfortunately, you do not seem to be acclimating. Instead, you are headstrong and belligerent, fighting my employees at every turn.”
I swallowed, but it was becoming harder and harder to remain stoic in his presence.
“You have a choice, Miss Coven. Fall in line and take your new role as a Spector employee. Follow orders. Be what our supernaturals need us to be—guardians to propel us into the future.”
“And if I don’t?” I asked, my hands shaking so badly that webs were spreading across my thighs.
He tsked at me. “If you don’t see reason and follow your new role as Spector’s employee, we will have to use other means to ensure you do what is required of you.”
He grabbed something from the file and flung it on the desk in front of me. I stared down at the photograph of Aunt Marie, and I forgot how to breathe. My ears started to ring, and my fangs punched down, puncturing my bottom lip as I raised glassy eyes back up to the demon.
“What did you do to her?” I couldn’t even recognize my own voice. There was shock, hurt, and dark menace lacing my words.
“Nothing. Yet,” he answered, watching me with his cold, fathomless eyes.
Stuck in terrified fury, I glanced back down at the photograph. My aunt’s red hair was blowing around her face as she walked from the mailbox back to the front door of our home. She looked gaunt and fragile, like she’d just come out of a bloodlust haze and it had taken its toll on her.
“So if I don’t follow orders and be a good little hybrid, you’ll hurt my aunt?” I asked boldly, crossing my arms in front of me like I was putting on a breastplate of armor.
He had the audacity to chuckle. “Of course not,” he said, surprising me. “I’ll simply have one of my employees tip off the council about a possible vampiress living near the city who’s gone mad with bloodlust.”
Horror made me jump to my feet. “No. You can’t.”
President Belvini looked at me coolly. “I assure you, Miss Coven, I can. And I will,” he promised. “Tell me, what do you think they’ll do to her once they see how far gone she is in the disease? Do you think she’ll be executed by the council immediately? Or do you think they’ll imprison her?”
The thought of either of those scenarios happening to my aunt made bile rush up my throat. “P-Please,” I stammered. “Please don’t do that. I’ll do what you want,” I blurted, the promise both giving me hope for my aunt’s life while damning my own.
President Belvini’s eyes flashed with victory before he got to his feet and came around the desk. When he got closer, I noticed a silver chain hanging from his neck, with an amber amulet hanging from it. It glowed slightly as he came nearer, and my spider shied away from it. This male had a serious obsession with strange gems. Bringing my eyes back to his face, I was forced to lift my chin since he was at least a foot taller than me.
“Let’s see how reformed you are, shall we?” he asked rhetorically. “Use your lure on me.”
I blinked at him, thinking I’d heard him wrong. “What?”
“I don’t like to repeat myself, Miss Coven,” he said, his expression leaving no room for patience.
Swallowing, I prodded my spider, though she didn’t want to come out. I’d never seen her so apprehensive before, but it was clear that President Belvini frightened her. That knowledge in itself was disconcerting. My spider was never afraid of anything. Which meant that this male was far more dangerous than he looked.
After a bit of coaxing, I was finally able to get my spider to emerge, and I squeezed my eyes shut in concentration. Lure was the very last thing I wanted to put out. Every instinct was screaming at me to get him away from me, not lure him in closer. But he’d found the perfect carrot to dangle over my head, and I had no doubt that he would do exactly what he threatened to Aunt Marie.
Which is the only reason I was able to push through and force lure to seep from my skin and push toward the demon in front of me.
As soon as it was out, President Belvini breathed in deeply, letting out a long sigh. “Ah,” he said, his voice dropping lower and his dark eyes flickering with newfound hunger. “So it does work on me,” he mused. “How utterly perfect you are.” He smiled down at me like a wolf baring its teeth to a sheep. “I have a job for you, Miss Coven.”
My spider recoiled back into the center of our shared soul. I wanted to recoil right along with her.
Chapter 14
For the first time since being kidnapped and taken to Spector’s headquarters, I was finally getting out of here—temporarily.
After my meeting with President Belvini, the high-strung Victor came to collect me, and then I was escorted to a new suite where there was a team of female supes waiting for my arrival. Two drop dead gorgeous blonde vamps, a dark-skinned water elemental, and a shifter with hair down to her knees were all talking animatedly as I was led through the sleek black doors.
The space was modern, decorated in reds and whites, with a wall of mirrors, clothing racks, and an entire wall dedicated to what looked like cosmetics and hair products.
As soon as I stepped inside with Victor, all four of the supes stopped talking and looked over at me assessingly. Their sharp eyes ran over my Spector issued clothes and messy topknot, and one of the vamps shook her head like the sight was truly pitiful.
“Ladies, this is Miss Coven. You’ve already received your orders,” Victor said, looking over at me and then visibly shuddering. “I don’t envy your jobs. Just...do your best,” he said, as if he had zero faith in the matter.
“Don’t worry, Vick, we’ll make her look at least passable,” the elemental said.
“Good luck.” He turned and fled the room, leaving me with the foursome of model lookalikes.
Immediately, the four of them swarmed around me like flies to shit. They started brushing their fingers along different parts of me, tugging lightly on my hair or tilting up my chin to get a better look as they all circled around me and offered notes.
“Her brows need more arch.”
“She’s got tangles for days.”
“Exfoliation is a must.”
“She’ll need to be practically scrubbed raw.”
“Her lips look like a rabid dog has been gnawing on them.”
“She’s a bit pasty.”
Round and round they went until I felt a bit like Dorothy stuck in the middle of a tornado, except instead of gale-force winds, I was surrounded by feminine appraisers.
“Umm…”
“Alright.” The vamp clapped. Actually, now that I was getting a better look at them, I realized that the gorgeous blondes were actually identical twins. “Let’s get her into the bath. We can’t work our magic until the layers of grime are washed off her anyway.”
The other twin nodded in agreement. “Mm-hmm.” She looked over at the elemental. “
Jules?”
“Yeah, yeah,” the woman said, flicking her wrist in the direction of the open door that I guessed led to the bathroom. “Already way ahead of you. The bath is ready.” She said that last part to me. “Do you need assistance?” she asked.
“Uh, no. I can bathe myself.”
“Excellent,” she smiled. “We’ll be pulling some looks together for you. Just holler if you need us.”
I gave her a nod before turning and heading toward the bathroom and closing myself inside. As soon as I was alone, I rested my back against the door and closed my eyes. I felt like my mind was spinning, unable to catch up with all the changes in the last hour.
I’ve been around a lot of very powerful people. I’ve been around a lot of cruel assholes too. But none of them were anywhere near the level of dominant force like President Belvini. I wasn’t even in his presence anymore, yet my skin still felt itchy with nerves.
I looked around the bathroom, noting a huge circular tub with steaming water rising out of it. There was a wraparound bamboo bench, with stairs built into it to easily climb into the tub, and all over the bench were various soaps, oils, razors, and towels.
I looked over, noting the huge window letting in light at the far end of the room. It would be all too easy to shatter the glass and attempt an escape. I wanted so badly to be out of Spector’s grasp. But right now, someone on Belvini’s payroll was probably watching my aunt’s every move. One tip. That was all it would take, and then enforcers would overrun her and take her away forever.
Gritting my teeth, I turned away from the window and stripped off my clothes before settling into the tub. I immediately hissed at the heat, but that hiss turned into a sigh as my skin got used to the temperature. I dunked my head under and then relaxed back, letting out a sigh as the hot water soothed my exhausted muscles. I was already feeling better after the training, since both my vamp genes and my hybrid side made me heal super fast. But Oz had pushed me way over the limit today, and I was still sore.
As I washed, scrubbed, shaved, and oiled, I thought about the job that President Belvini was making me do.