by Sarah Fine
“How long had she been gone?” I took another drink of orange juice—it felt like the toast was caught in my throat.
“She was gone maybe four years, I think? So much time, and yet my master welcomed her back with open arms. She claimed that she had been captured by the boss of Chicago, and that she had finally escaped. Volodya has been quietly at war with Zhong Lei ever since.”
So Theresa had disappeared at the end of 1982 and had returned in 1987. The timeline was eerily accurate. Asa was about two years older than Ben, who was thirty-one and had been born in 1985. She could have returned to the United States, married their father, had the boys, and then . . .
“What was she like when she returned?”
“She was so happy to be back. When we found her, she presented the Sensilo relic to Volodya as a gift. It was good—until she disappeared again thirteen years later. And this time, she was gone for good. Volodya went after Zhong with much brutality. He thought maybe he had stolen his precious magic sensor yet again. But Zhong did not have her. He had a sensor of his own.”
I thought of poor Tao on his hands and knees in Union Station, practically begging Asa to kill him. “So what does Volodya think happened to her?”
“A few years ago his grief pulled him under. That is when things began to fall apart. He is not the same man he was . . .” He slapped the table, now cluttered with five shot glasses. “He was a man without hope. Until a few days ago.”
“When you heard that the Sensilo relic was here.”
He nodded, his mouth full of sandwich. Bits of corned beef fell from his lips as he chewed sloppily, clearly an effect of the alcohol. “Marcus Franko contacted one of our operatives to see if we wanted to make a bid for it. At first we did not believe him. Then he sent us a picture.” He smiled as dressing dribbled from the corner of his mouth. “A picture taken by the seller, Benjamin Ward.”
I closed my eyes, the betrayal crashing down on me yet again. “But didn’t you think it might be a counterfeit?”
“Of course. People do this all the time, amateurs who try to sell fake original relics. But this one . . . it was so perfect. It looked exactly like the one in Volodya’s collection. And we do not have a reliable sensor, sadly, so we had to determine its authenticity another way. We did a little experiment. Here I will tell you a secret about original relics.” He downed a sixth vodka and leaned forward conspiratorially. “The magic will go into a reliquary, assuming it doesn’t break them. But to get it out . . . ?” He clucked his tongue.
The splinter inside me jabbed mercilessly in time with the hammering beat of my heart. “Yeah?”
“That magic is not like any other magic.”
“No kidding. And? How do you get it out?”
“Volodya was able to transfer the magic in his golden relic—a lump of gold said to encase a piece of the original sorcerer’s body—into another relic. And that was when we knew it was not authentic.”
“How? What happened? Would original magic not have transferred? How do you get original magic out of a reliquary, then?”
The frantic edge in my voice seemed to sharpen his suspicion. “You are very inquisitive little person.” He put his head in his hands. “And giving me a headache.”
Defeat and frustration twisted the knife deeper. I had been so close to what I needed to know. “I think I need the restroom. Do you mind if I go?”
He absently waved to the bar, as if that were the location of the toilet. “By all means.”
I slid out of the booth and headed for the back, wondering if I could find myself an exit and run. But just as I reached a hallway at the rear of the room, our waitress caught up with me.
She held up a metal mallet—a meat tenderizer. “I’m going to smash myself in the face with this if you try to get away,” she said cheerfully. “He said I shouldn’t stop until I couldn’t breathe anymore.” She was shifting from foot to foot, looking kind of excited at the prospect.
“Give me the mallet.” I held out my hand.
“He said if you asked for it, I should do this.” And she hit herself square in the mouth with the mallet. Blood spurted from between her lips and gushed down her face, and I cried out. No one in the bar even turned to look. Arkady was influencing them, too.
I held up my hands and took a few steps back. “Okay. I’ll be right out. I won’t try to escape.”
She nodded and grinned, revealing a broken front tooth.
I walked into the bathroom and barfed up orange juice and peanut butter.
Shaking badly from weakness and pain, I rinsed out my mouth, gave the back exit one last, longing look, and headed into the bar, walking past our bleeding waitress without looking at her face.
Arkady had gotten me a glass of water, as if he’d known I was going to be sick. He smiled and pushed it toward me, and I glared at him as I gulped it down gratefully. I sighed and leaned back as the water sailed down my throat. Nothing had ever tasted so good. And suddenly, the pain in my chest ebbed, like a fire being extinguished. I groaned with relief.
“It seems as if you are feeling better.”
“So much better,” I said, and meant it.
“Perfect. I think it is about time for us to go. But do you think we should leave a calling card for this little town, just to make sure the authorities are properly engaged?”
Something approving stirred inside me, but it was quelled by a throb of panic behind my breastbone. I glanced at the empty water glass and then up at Arkady, who was watching me intently.
“It really is less bothersome if I influence you directly.”
“You . . . you put . . .” I rubbed my chest. The pain was gone. And so was my defense against his influence.
“I availed myself of the stores of Ekstazo juice when I was keeping company with the Headsmen, this is true. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to slip it into your drink. I would have hated to force it down your throat.”
“Yeah,” I said. “That would have sucked! This was so much better.”
No. Don’t let him do this to you. The voice was so quiet I could barely hear it. And frankly, kind of annoying.
He stood up, swaying only slightly as he offered me his arm. “Shall we?”
I got to my feet and took his arm. “Let’s blow this joint.”
His eyes glittered with intrigue. “Yes. Let’s.” He glanced over at the bartender and smiled, then handed me the car keys. “You drive. I am little bit—how do you say? Tipsy.”
“No problem.”
We walked out to the parking lot. I got behind the wheel, and he gave directions. I hadn’t gone more than a quarter mile when my rearview mirror lit up orange and yellow, tongues of fire spinning into the night sky as the bar went up in flames.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Tell me about you and your fiancé,” Arkady said as I drove up the two-lane country road that would take us to our meetup with Ben.
Don’t tell him, whispered the tiny voice that seemed to be emanating from somewhere in the vicinity of my heart. “We worked together. He’s a veterinarian.”
“He is not a natural?”
“Nope.” I pulled over to the side of the road as two fire trucks, a police car, and an ambulance sped by in the opposite direction, sirens screaming.
“And you? When did you learn of your special abilities? Did your grandfather tell you?”
“Well, it started about a year ago, when Ben was kidnapped by Frank Brindle, and I went looking for him—”
“Ah, Frank Brindle,” said Arkady, his voice turning gravelly. “Here is one who likes to pretend nice, but in action he is as ruthless as any Strikon.”
“Yeah. I kind of got that vibe. Anyway, in the process of trying to figure out where Ben was, I fell—no, literally fell—onto a conduit and ruined one of Asa’s transactions by absorbing the magic. He’s the one who first told me what I was.”
“Benjamin and Asa are brothers?”
I fidgeted in my seat. Don’t tell him don’t tell
him. But it felt so good to talk this whole complicated mess through. “Yes, but they’re not close. I think things were always hard for Asa. Ben had it easier. He fit with what his dad expected of him. He fit with what society expected of him. Asa didn’t.” I told Arkady about how Ben had broken Asa’s nose at his father’s command, and how Asa had gone to jail for a year after they lied and claimed he’d tried to rob them.
Arkady grunted. “And Asa could not defend himself from his younger brother?” He sounded contemptuous. “Perhaps what I have heard about him is an exaggeration.”
“That was fifteen years ago. Asa’s all grown up now.”
I could feel Arkady staring at me from the passenger seat. “You admire him,” he said quietly.
“It’s more than that.” My fingers tightened over the steering wheel.
“How much more?”
Don’t tell him don’t tell him don’t tell him. “I’m still trying to figure it out.”
“How intriguing,” Arkady murmured. “And how does he feel about you?”
“I don’t know. We have a . . . thing.”
“A thing.”
“Yeah, a thing. I mean, I know he likes me. Sometimes. And when we’re doing a transaction . . .” I leaned on the headrest. “He’s just . . . I don’t even know. He’s hard and ruthless, and then a minute later he’s the most gentle . . .” Don’t tell him don’t tell him. “Somehow, he knows how to take care of me better than anyone else. Knows what I need before I do, even. And when I do something good for him, just little things, it feels like I’ve really accomplished something major.” I chuckled. “And every once in a while he says, ‘Dammit, Mattie’ in this certain kind of way, like I’ve gotten to him. It feels rare, I guess. Special.”
I was totally rambling, finally saying aloud the thoughts I’d been trying to ignore for months. And my conversation partner was a freaking assassin controlling my brain. It just figured.
“So Asa must hate his brother, if you are to marry him.” Arkady’s voice was sharp with curiosity.
“No. I think he wants to hate Ben, and sometimes he’s mad at himself because he can’t quite manage it.”
“This is fascinating. Asa Ward is very sought after as a sensor and ignores offers of millions of your dollars from those looking to employ him. He is very hard to find and refuses to make any deal for his services if he is not in charge. These stories have begun to defy belief. And yet, suddenly he has been revealed to me as a man like any other. With weaknesses like any other.”
“Eh. That’s kind of oversimplifying it.”
“I am a man. I understand men’s hearts.”
I glanced over. “Okay. Maybe you could explain them to me, because—”
“This is going to be marvelous,” Arkady said quietly, a smile playing across his lips.
I steered Dolores’s car into a parking lot behind a dark building with a sign outside that said “Fleeger’s.” Asa’s van was parked right in the middle of the gravel expanse, under one of the bright overhead lights.
“Pull the car over here.” Arkady pointed to a spot about twenty feet from the van.
I obeyed and handed Arkady the keys to the car. We were in the middle of freaking nowhere, surrounded by thick woods on all sides.
“Ah, here he is,” said Arkady. “Are you ready, my dear?”
I looked over and saw Ben get out of the driver’s seat of the van and close the door behind him. He had the Sensilo relic clutched in his hand. His face was mottled with bruises from his fight with Asa, including two black eyes, and he had a bandage over the bridge of his nose. He looked nervous as heck, his gaze shifting from us to the surrounding woods to the building and back again.
We got out of Dolores’s car, and Arkady came over to stand beside me.
“Hello, Dr. Ward,” Arkady said, not trying to conceal his Russian accent.
Ben frowned. “You’re not Agent Winslow.”
“How astute. But aren’t you glad to see your lovely fiancée again?”
Ben’s expression smoothed over. “So glad.”
Arkady turned to me. “And you, Mattie. Aren’t you overwhelmed with joy at seeing your Benjamin again?”
Happiness tingled inside of me. “That’s an understatement.”
Arkady smiled. “I think a passionate reunion is called for.”
No sooner had he said it than I was running to Ben. He met me in the middle, scooping me up. My legs were around his waist, and my arms were around his neck in an instant. Our mouths melded with a ferocity that left me breathless. His hands were on my rear, holding me against him, the relic locket clanking as it dangled from his grasp.
“I missed you so much,” he murmured as he nuzzled my throat.
I tangled my fingers in his wavy hair. “Not as much as I missed you.”
“Carry her to the van, Ben.”
Ben obeyed immediately, opening the sliding side door with one hand as he held me up with the other, kissing me hungrily the whole time. My body was on fire, desperate to feel his skin on mine.
“Hand me the relic and lay her down.”
Ben shoved the locket at Arkady and laid me on the floor between the front seats and the rear bench.
“Mattie, unbutton his shirt.”
Oh, yes. My fingers tore at the buttons while he pressed his hips between my legs. I moaned and pulled his shirt open, then yanked up his undershirt to feel his abs.
Arkady chuckled. “This is beautiful.” A glimmer over Ben’s shoulder caught my eye. Arkady had pulled out a gleaming knife from a sheath beneath his shirt. “Ben, you will make love to Mattie one last time. And after that, we will leave something very special for your brother to find when he retrieves his vehicle.”
“Sounds perfect,” Ben said, sliding his hand up my leg, pushing up the hem of my skirt.
I thought so, too. I pulled him down on top of me, needing his mouth on mine again. Ben groaned and thrust against me. Hard. I winced at the pain. Stop this, Mattie. This is bad bad bad, whispered the voice inside me. My fingers froze, curled into the collar of Ben’s shirt, grabbing at awareness before it sank beneath the surface again.
“Harder,” I said.
Ben’s hands turned to steel on my thighs. He ground against me, pressing my back against the unforgiving floor of the van, making my bones feel like they were about to snap.
“You feel it, Benjamin—do you not?” Arkady said silkily. “That she has not been completely faithful to you. Perhaps you want to punish her a little bit.”
Ben lowered his head and bit my shoulder, not hard enough to break skin, but hard enough to clear my head even more.
“I think your brother is never far from her thoughts. You want to erase him from her memory. Only then will she be yours.”
Ben kissed me savagely as I struggled beneath him, unable to breathe.
“Tell him, Mattie. Tell him how you’ve thought about Asa.”
The pain had erased Arkady’s control over me, but I couldn’t let him know my mind was my own again. Tears sprung to my eyes. “I’ve thought about Asa,” I whispered.
Ben’s fingers closed over mine, and he nearly crushed my hand as he raised it, shaking it as he glared at my engagement ring. “Doesn’t this mean anything to you?” he shouted.
“It does. It always has.” I placed my free hand on his cheek. “Come here.”
He collapsed on me again, his mouth ravenous, his hips bucking, and I squeezed my eyes shut. “Let me be on top, okay? I want to show you how much I love you.”
I was surprised and grateful when he obeyed. As he did, I did my best to give Arkady a look drenched with lust and longing, even though I was screaming on the inside. He grinned, twirling the knife. “By all means, Mattie. Show him.” He inched closer, leaning on the van’s doorframe, obviously enjoying the show.
I reached for Ben’s belt. He lay on his back, his hands on my hips, rocking against me while I unfastened the buckle and pulled the strip of leather free inch by inch. His brown eyes were o
n me, so full of adoration that it made me want to sob. “Tell me you love me, Mattie,” he murmured. “I’ve been so scared you didn’t, not anymore. I’ve been so scared that I’d lost you.”
“I love you.” I pulled the belt free. Leaving the buckle hanging, I wrapped the very end around my hand. “Part of me always will.”
I pivoted and swung the buckle at Arkady, hitting him square in the face. He went stumbling back and lost his footing, shouting and cursing as he hit the ground. Without losing momentum, I swung the buckle down at Ben, leaving a dark red mark on his face. “Snap out of it,” I screamed, trying to free myself from his grip. “He’s going to kill us!”
“You little bitch,” Arkady roared. Gravel crunched as he lurched to his feet. With Ben still blinking in shock beneath me, I turned to see Arkady’s blade slice through the air.
I had no way of defending myself. I couldn’t get the belt up fast enough. I opened my mouth to scream, but a dark blur tackled Arkady, and the blade passed within inches of my chest. The two men landed in the parking lot, a tangle of hatred. I stared, my mouth literally hanging open. “Asa?”
He was bleeding from a gash on his arm, but the knife was lying several feet away, knocked clear by the impact of his collision with the Russian assassin. Arkady was whispering to him as he elbowed Asa and tried to grab his arms. Asa gritted his teeth as he kneed the older man in the side.
I moved to help but found I was cemented in place. Ben’s hands were still clamped over my hips as I straddled him. “He wants me to kill you now,” he said in a calm voice. “He wants me to show your dead body to Asa.”
I slapped at him with the belt, but he caught it on the downswing and yanked it out of my hand. “Thank you. This will work just fine.”
Terror exploded inside me, no longer a whimper but an inferno. “Ben, let me go.”