Burned

by Karen Marie Moning

  We’re a competitive bunch at Chester’s. We don’t take kindly to being called second best. It’s why we don’t poach each other’s pussy. We get territorial, even if we screwed ’em just once. Level 4’s turnover is the highest in the club.

  She’s looking straight at me, catches her lower lip with her teeth. “I never let Ryodan do this to me,” she says breathlessly.

  Wise woman. Not so wise now.

  Score one for Lor. I’m doing something the boss didn’t do.

  I’m about to do a few other things I guaran-damn-tee Ryodan didn’t do, too.

  27

  “Are you in the firing squad or are you in the lineup”

  MAC

  Being invisible in a closed elevator with Barrons and Ryodan is quite possibly one of the most stressful experiences of my life. It nearly ranks up there with being tortured by Mallucé.

  You don’t think about the many ways your body has of announcing your presence until it’s absolutely essential you remain one hundred percent silent. I could sneeze. Hiccup. Pass gas. If I forget to walk with my feet slightly apart, my jean-clad legs will swish against each other. One of my joints might pop. I may be young but my bones keep getting broken and occasionally my knuckles remind me of it. A single belly growl would out me in an instant. These are men with dangerously acute senses.

  I make a mental note to forgo eating when I decide to go sleuthing next time so I won’t have to worry about my stomach gurgling as it digests. Then I realize if I don’t eat, it might growl from hunger. I conclude I’ll have to eat frequent, small, easily digested meals to minimize the likelihood of either from happening while I scout the restricted half of my world.

  I press back in the far corner opposite them, trying to be as small as possible, holding my breath and praying it’s a short ride.

  Although it feels interminable, we stop after only two levels. Ryodan stalks off the elevator with Barrons behind him. Again I have to run to keep up.

  A few doors from the end of the hall, Ryodan slams his palm against the wall and roars, “Get the fuck out here now, Lor!”

  I catch up to them as the door whisks open and stand behind them, peering in.

  Ryodan storms into the room. And stops. Mid-step.

  I lean forward and—Oh. Wow. Oh. Looks like Jo took my advice. Plunged into it with alacrity and abandon.

  I wonder irritably how many times I’m going to have to watch Lor have marathon sex this week. The universe seems to be taking some kind of perverse pleasure rubbing my face in his carnal abundance and my lack thereof.

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  The three of us stand, staring.

  Jo and Lor are frozen, staring back. Then again, Jo’s pretty darned well restrained so I’m not surprised by how immobile she is.

  Barrons laughs softly. “Didn’t see this one coming. ”

  Jo is tied to the bed, spread-eagled, with Lor straddling her. They’re not actually having sex at the moment, but by the tangled sheets, how sweaty Lor is (gotta love a hardworking man), and Jo’s bed-head, it’s obvious this isn’t their first go-round.

  I’ve seen way too much of Lor naked lately. I scowl at Barrons, wishing we’d had sex more recently. Like five minutes ago.

  “Get the fuck out of here,” Lor growls.

  “You’re a dead man,” Ryodan says softly.

  Straining futilely against the scarves—even from my limited perspective I can see Lor knows how to tie knots right—Jo says, “Ryodan, it’s not his fault! It’s mine. He didn’t want to sleep with me, I forced him—”

  “Where the fuck do chicks get that phrase?” Lor growls. “No man wants to sleep with a woman. He wants to fuck her. And nobody forces me to do shit. ”

  “—to do it. I heard he was Pri-ya. I took advantage of him. ”

  “He’s a dead man because he lied to me, Jo. Not because he fucked you. Though I’d rather not have seen it. ”

  I peer at Ryodan from the side. He’s watching Jo through narrowed eyes and I realize it really does bother him seeing them together but it’s not emotional. It’s purely territorial. Still, that’s something and I’m glad Jo got the satisfaction.

  Jo meets his gaze and says quietly, “I didn’t mean for you to see it. ”

  “He’s not Pri-ya. He’s faking. That’s what he lied about. ” Ryodan drops the bomb casually and watches it detonate.

  Jo blanches and her gaze flies back to Lor’s face. “Is that true? You’re not Pri-ya?”

  “What the fuck’s the difference? You wanted to fuck me. You asked me to get the boss’s taste out of your mouth. I did. ”

  “Taste out of your—” Ryodan says. “Christ, Jo. ”

  “It’s not like I thought the idea up all by myself,” Jo says defensively. “Mac’s the one who—”

  “Get off her, Lor,” Ryodan orders.

  Great, now Ryodan has one more reason to dislike me.

  “—told me to do it because she thought it would be—”

  “Don’t go getting pissed about it now,” Lor cuts her off. “I’m the one that should be pissed. This didn’t have a damned thing to do with me. Just my dick. You know how many times you told me how glad you were I wouldn’t remember this? Well guess what, Jo? I remember every goddamn detail. Etched into that puny-ass little brain you think I have. ”

  “She thinks you have a puny-ass little brain. And she told you that,” Barrons marvels.

  “Apparently. She also thinks I’m not dangerous. ”

  “Ah. I see why you tied her up. ”

  “You’re faking?” Jo says again, like she just can’t wrap her brain around it. “The whole time I’ve been saying and doing anything I felt like because I thought you were—”

  “Been right here with you, babe,” Lor says with a savage smile. “Whole. Time. Every bloody word, every confidence, every howl of pleasure. Want to tell me some more how perfect my dick is and how hot I am?”

  I study Lor, realizing I might be seeing a little more than a mere territory dispute on his face. Did Jo get under his skin?

  Jo pales. A parade of expressions stampede across her fineboned features: embarrassment, fear, self-consciousness, wariness. It takes mere seconds for her emotions to march to the beat of a different drum as she concludes the thought she began a few seconds earlier. “Wait a minute,” she snaps. “Does Mac know you’re not Pri-ya?”

  Aw, shit. That was never supposed to come out because no one was ever going to learn about our little pact. Glad I’m invisible.

  “Sure does,” Lor says flatly.

  Why does everyone rat me out so fast?

  “Get the fuck off Jo. Now,” Ryodan says.

  “Jealous, boss?”

  “Don’t push me. In the corridor. Unless you prefer we air our business in front of Jo. In which case she dies. ”

  Jo gasps.

  Ryodan turns and stalks from the room so suddenly I almost don’t get out of the way fast enough. I flatten myself back against the wall outside the door and hold my breath again, but not too long because that can result in a huge, noisy exhale. I ease it out slowly when Jo demands, “Untie me. ”

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  “Not a chance,” Lor snaps. “I’m not done yet. ”

  Then Lor joins us in the corridor. Naked. Still hard, too. He slaps a palm against the door, and as it slides closed, I hear Jo yell, “Hey! I said untie me! I never would have come here if I’d known you weren’t Pri-ya!”

  “Not scoring any points with me, honey,” he says over his shoulder.

  “You can’t leave me like this!”

  “Sure can,” he says. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll be back to finish what I started. ”

  “That’s not what I—” The door closes, cutting off the rest of Jo’s words. The rooms around here are seriously soundproofed.

  “The fuck you will,” Ryodan says.

  “Because she’s yours?” Lor says. “She’s
done with you. ”

  Ryodan glances at the door, making sure it’s closed. “I was done with her months ago. Kept waiting for her to move on. Just not with you. It seems you’ve forgotten two of our critical rules: we don’t fuck one another’s women. We don’t lie to one another. ”

  “It wasn’t as if I went looking for it. She came in and sent all my babes away and she was crying, for fuck’s sake, and you know damn well I can’t stand it when chicks—”

  “Dani’s back. She looks five years older. Possibly more. She’s taken over the abbey. ”

  Lor goes motionless. “How the hell did that happen?”

  “We don’t know,” Barrons says. “She’s not talking to any of us. ”

  “So encourage her,” Lor says.

  “She’s more difficult to encourage than she used to be,” Ryodan says.

  “How is she? What happened to her? Is she okay?”

  “Get your fucking clothes on. In my office in five. ”

  “What about Jo?”

  “I’ll take care of Jo,” Ryodan says coolly.

  “You’re not killing her,” Lor says sharply.

  “Never said I was. But that’s the third rule you seem to be forgetting: I run this place. I run you. If you don’t like it, too fucking bad. You’re not leaving, so I suggest you get back on the program. Fast. ”

  Ryodan stalks off. Looking amused, Barrons heads off after him.

  Fascinated by the perks of my new state—my own personal reality TV, I’m getting all the juicy dirt!—I hurry after them.

  28

  “Don’t play with me ’cause you’re playing with fire”

  MAC

  When we reach Ryodan’s office, Barrons says he’s got things to do and I’m abruptly divided, but I make a snap decision to stick with Ryodan. Although I’m dying to know what kind of “things” Barrons does when he goes off by himself (and intend to fulfill that fantasy very soon), I’m also riveted by the intimate look I’m getting at the man behind Chester’s, who I’m beginning to realize is far more complex than I thought.

  He protected Jo’s feelings. He was done with her months ago and waited for her to dump him without ever betraying it. That’s hard to pull off in any relationship. I can’t reconcile the ruthless, bottom-lining man I know with the one who went out of his way not to hurt a human woman.

  When he steps into his office, I follow, realizing only after the door slides shut that I’m stuck in here until he decides to leave again. When he pulls out his cell phone that shouldn’t work and taps a number, I hope he’s not summoning a woman to get the taste of Jo and Lor out of his mouth because I really don’t want to watch Ryodan have sex.

  Well, okay, so maybe I wouldn’t be entirely adverse to that, if I didn’t know him and have to see him all the time, but really. Not in the mood for more of the sex everyone else is getting to have at the moment. Between my new invisibility and extreme irritation at the only man I want to have sex with, my prospects are slim.

  “Fade, get your ass down to Lor’s room and untie Jo. ” He’s silent a moment. “It’s none of your fucking business why Jo’s tied up there. Just do it. And I don’t care what that woman says or does, I don’t care if she’s suddenly snatched up by a tornado and dropped straight on your dick, you will not fuck her. ” Another silence. “Yes, she’s naked. No, that’s not ‘cool. ’ Fuck you, Fade. Forget it. Take one of the waitresses down. You will remain outside the door while she goes in and unties her. Then tell Jo she’s fired. ” Silence. “I don’t care what the waitress thinks. Fire her, too. ”

  Page 101

  He ends the call, shoves the cell phone in his pocket, drops down into the large leather chair behind his desk, picks up the dark blade and starts toying with it again. I’d really like to know what his deal is with that knife.

  When the door swishes open I debate leaving while I can.

  While I stand there, pondering options, the Unseelie that Dani called “Papa Roach” stumps in, and I shiver with revulsion. I totally get why she nicknamed it that. Papa Roach is segmented, made by thousands and thousands of roachlike creatures clambering up on top of one another to form a larger being. They are the same bugs the waitresses permit beneath their skin to feed on their fat. Papa Roach, the collective, is purplish-brown, about four feet tall with thick legs, a half-dozen arms, and a head the size of a walnut. It jiggles like gelatin when it moves as its countless individual parts shift minutely to remain coalesced. It has a thin-lipped beaklike mouth and round, weirdly lidless eyes. As it moves into the room, a few of the roaches skitter off. I press back against the wall, creeped out by the nasty things, in no mood for a few of them to scurry over the toes of my boots. I imagine they’re small enough to turn invisible, which could be a problem if anyone was looking.

  Ryodan barks, “Keep your shit together when you’re in my fucking office. ”

  The bugs scurry back up Papa Roach, scale a leg, and settle into a knee.

  I don’t heave the sigh of relief I feel.

  When Papa Roach speaks, I shiver again. Its voice is pretty much exactly what I’d expect a roach to sound like: a dry, malevolent, insectile rustle. “The one you call Jada has left the abbey. We lost her a few blocks from here. ”

  “Kasteo. ”

  “Hasn’t spoken a word. The woman has only just begun to talk to him. ”

  I wonder, What woman?

  “The black hole at the church. ”

  “Is minutely larger. ”

  “The Unseelie Princes. ”

  “Plot to take the spear from the woman and kill R’jan. ”

  My hand goes instantly to my spear. This time, however, I’m not assaulted by images of death and destruction. My Book is oddly still.

  “Their fortifications. ”

  “Remain unchanged. They grow lax since meeting with you. Believe you think them leashed. Think they have an edge you don’t know about. Believe you’ve overestimated yourself. ”

  I expect Ryodan to press that issue but he says only, “R’jan’s location. ”

  “Three days ago moved into McCabe’s old house and is fortifying it. It appears he plans to stay. ”

  “Bring me precise details on his defenses. Within the hour. Sean O’Bannion. ”

  “Spoke last night at Temple Bar. Offered jobs rebuilding the pubs and stores for pay, and made it clear he will accept only currency in exchange for goods. ”

  “The Unseelie Princesses. ”

  “So far we have seen only the one. Met recently with Jada. They conspire to trade services. ”

  “For. ”

  “Jada offered to kill the Unseelie Princes in exchange for the location of the Crimson Hag. The princess is considering it. ”

  “Take the princess a message. She will trade services with me, not Jada. I will make it worth her while. The Highlanders. ”

  I thought he was worried about her! Why the hell did he force me to stick around if he’s willing to meet with her without me present?

  “R’jan has provided them with three sifting Seelie to help them search in exchange for protection against his various enemies. Seems they have Fae lore he finds useful. ”

  I listen, gaping. Ryodan’s network of spies is standing right in front of me in a single entity comprised of thousands and thousands of sentient “bugs. ” He literally has the whole freaking city bugged. Papa Roach divests various “roaches,” sends them scurrying beneath doors and into cracks to eavesdrop on everything that happens in Dublin and report back. No wonder Ryodan knows everything all the time!

  “The Unseelie King. ”

  “Does not appear to be in Dublin. ”

  He’s wrong about that.

  “Mac. ”

  “As if she’s vanished. ”

  I smirk.

  “Dancer. ”

  “Succeeds in evading us occasionally. Not certain how. He spends a great deal of time in the labs at Trinity perfo
rming various experiments. He has taken recent interest in a female musician. ”

  “In what capacity. ”

  “We have not seen them fuck. ”

  “The cavern beneath the abbey. ”

  “We are no longer able to enter. The doors have been closed. Not so much as a crack left to us. ”

  Page 102

  Okay, what the heck? We tried and tried to close those doors. Who closed them, how and when?

  “Recently you neglected to mention details of significance. If the environ at the abbey or either of the princes’ lairs alter in any way, no matter how small, you will report it to me instantly. ”

  “Understood. ”

  Papa Roach waits, and when another demand isn’t forthcoming rustles, “Our servitude is nearly up. If you wish to renew our contract again, it will cost you more. There are others who value our services now. ”

  “For the first time in millennia you can walk among humans in your natural state, only because the Fae have come out and the world thinks you’re one of them. Piss me off and I’ll drive the Fae from this world, sending you back into the cracks and crevices and trenches of war in which you’ve scrounged for rotting carcasses since the dawn of time. You will renew your contract for the same terms. I have always seen to your needs. ”

  I blink, stunned. Papa Roach isn’t Fae? What the hell is it, then? What a vast, complicated world Ryodan manages!

  Then I have a worse thought: Criminy, have all roaches since time immemorial been spies? Or only certain ones, and that’s why every now and then you find one in your bathtub that just won’t die no matter how much hair spray you coat it with or how hard you try to squish it?

  Papa Roach makes a dry, grinding sound deep in its throat that’s creepy as hell.

  “Our needs have increased. ”

  “You enjoy parasitic relationships with humans that were never permitted before. ”

  “We wish it to be required that all humans host one of us. ”

  I shudder.

  Ryodan picks up the dark blade and toys with it. “We will discuss it at your next contract renewal. ”

  Papa Roach’s round eyes fix on the black blade, and its beak parts, revealing rows of tiny sharp teeth.

  I suddenly think I know what the blade does. Kills whatever Papa Roach is.

  “As you wish. ”

  When Papa Roach leaves, Lor walks in.