Penumbra (The Midnight Society #2)

by Logan Patricks

  Shadow

  The last time I’d seen Reiko was eight years ago, during a formal dinner party hosted by the Academy. She had looked stunning in her form-fitting red gown that clung tightly to the curves of her petite body. She’d turned the heads of every male that passed by her.

  Reiko always had been a conservative dresser, wearing thick sweaters, turtle necks, and long jackets that concealed her figure. But that night, she surprised us all—me especially. I didn’t think anything Reiko wore could have shocked me more.

  That was up until ten seconds ago, when Cairo opened the door of their penthouse condo which overlooked the water in Kwun Tong district.

  “Uhhh…” were the only words I had.

  Eight years had changed Reiko significantly. Her long hair, flowing past her shoulders, was gone, replaced with a short spiky look, decorated with red highlights that streaked through her natural black like a fiery blaze. Reiko never used to wear make-up, preferring to go with a natural look, but now her lips were a deep ocean blue, matching the shade of mascara painted on her eyes. Her ears showcased a multitude of piercings, capping off her gothic ensemble.

  What really surprised me was what she was wearing. It looked like a cross between a kinky school girl outfit and something out of a smutty Japanese cartoon. My eyes gravitated towards the angel wings on her back.

  This was weird. I had caught her while dressed up in some type of sexual role play costume.

  Reiko stared at me like a deer caught in headlights.

  Not knowing what to do, I turned and looked at Cairo, who himself looked embarrassed.

  “It’s not what it looks like,” he stammered.

  I raised a brow. “I’m sure.”

  “Shadow,” Reiko said, her eyes wide with surprise. She made no effort to conceal herself, her breasts practically spilling out of the schoolgirl outfit “It’s been a while.”

  “Hi Reiko,” I said, doing my best to ignore the fact that probably only twenty percent of her body was actually clothed.

  “I wasn’t informed that we’d be having guests,” she said, her eyes flashing Cairo an angry glance. “As you can see, I had something else planned for the evening. I’ll change into something more appropriate.”

  She walked slowly down the hall towards the bedroom area.

  “You’re in trouble,” I whispered to Cairo, my eyes fixated on Reiko’s gorgeous body.

  “Don’t I know it,” he sighed, turning to me. “Hey, are you staring at my girl?”

  “You’ve done very well for yourself,” I said, watching as Reiko entered into a room and closed the door behind her.

  “Fuck, after tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if she tossed my sorry ass out onto the streets of Hong Kong,” Cairo said.

  I walked over to the couch in the living room and collapsed onto it, gently touching the side of my cheek. It still felt tender.

  Cairo took the seat across from me.

  “So Reiko’s outfit,” I began

  “Let’s not go there.”

  “Fetish?”

  “You didn’t see nothing.”

  “Was she supposed to look like a Japanese cartoon? What do they call them again? Anime?”

  “Get out of my condo.”

  “This is actually my condo,” I heard Reiko holler from the bedroom. “And yes, Cairo has a thing for anime girls.”

  Cairo looked up at the ceiling and shook his head. “For the love of…”

  “You learn something new every day,” I grinned.

  Reiko returned to the living room, wearing a grey t-shirt and a pair of jeans. She left her urban-goth style make up intact.

  “Want anything?” she asked.

  I shook my head, leaning forward.

  “I need your help Reiko,” I said, getting straight to the point.

  I explained everything to her. I told her about the events of that night at the Inferno, and how Calisto had betrayed the Midnight Society, murdering the entire council—our fathers—destroying the Midnight Society, and forming the Revenants.

  I told her my plan of drawing out Elena Zhao, Calisto’s right hand, and using her to get to my bitch sister. I explained how I needed Reiko’s skills in order to transform the Triad into a legitimized corporation. I gave her all the details of how to syphon funds from Elena’s business holdings and deliver it into a hidden, protected account.

  I finished my pitch by giving the same spiel to Reiko as I did Cairo, about being selfish and abandoning her dad when he needed her the most. How in the end, all he wanted from her was to come home.

  While I laid on a thick layer of guilt trip, I hoped to see tears, or angst, or some look of remorse on her face.

  Nothing.

  She was watching at me as if she were watching an uninspired infomercial on TV. Complete ambivalence.

  I needed to play it a different angle.

  The Reiko I knew, back at the Academy, took pride in being the best and being needed. Whenever there was a complex calculus problem or an assignment that boggled our minds, we turned to her for the answers and she always took her time explaining it to us. I could always tell from the glimmer in her eye, that she was proud of herself giving us the answers when the rest of us were lost.

  “I need you,” I stated. “I’m going to rebuild the Midnight Society, and I need you on the council.”

  A look of amusement washed over her face, but she kept silent.

  “You were always the smartest out of all of us. After all this is finished—after I’ve taken down Calisto—I’ll need your help creating a new financial infrastructure for the Midnight Society as well as advising me on all important decisions. I can’t imagine a Midnight Society without you Reiko.”

  She pursed her lips. Trying to read the expressions on her face was like shooting arrows while blindfolded. As far as my pitch was concerned, it was a wild Hail Mary pass.

  “But first, we find Calisto and make her pay for the deaths of our fathers,” I added, just in case the idea of revenge was more pleasing to the ear.

  “Count me in,” Cairo said, his voice filled with enthusiasm.

  I looked at Cairo and shrugged. I actually didn’t have much need for him anymore, now that he led me to Reiko.

  “I’ll call you if someone needs to be punched,” I said.

  “What?”

  I sighed. How could I put this delicately? “Look, you’re big, tough, mean and all, but running Midnight Society is all about intellectual finesse.”

  “Are you calling me stupid?”

  “No,” I replied. “I’m just saying that your skills are better served punching people in the face rather than working out numbers.”

  “Hey man, I have other skills too you know,” he said.

  “He does,” Reiko chimed in. Those were the first words she said during this entire conversation.

  I looked at Cairo and shrugged my shoulders. “Fine, whatever,” I said. “You can have a seat at the council too, if it makes you happy.”

  He seemed satisfied by that and nodded his head with a grin.

  I turned my attention back to Reiko. “So, are you with me?”

  She yawned. “Let me sleep on it,” Reiko said as she stood up from her seat and stretched. She turned to Cairo. “You coming?”

  “I’m not sleeping on the couch tonight?” he asked, surprised.

  “That spot is reserved for Shadow, unless your intent tonight is to snuggle up with him,” she said as she began walking towards the bedroom, her hips swaying seductively.

  Cairo shook his head. “Nah girl,” he said, rising to his feet and following her close behind like a horny puppy. “Did I tell you he sucker punched me?”

  Once I heard the door to the bedroom close, I stood up and peeled off my jacket. I smelled rank and could do with a hot shower.

  I helped myself to a towel in the linen closet and then entered into bathroom, closing the door behind me. I stripped down.

  I examined myself in the mirror, staring at my cheek which
was now puffy red. By tomorrow, it was going to turn into various shades of purple.

  My arms were sore from trying to squeeze the air out of Cairo’s massive neck during the fight and I stretched them out, feeling the ache run along my triceps.

  A hot shower was definitely what I needed.

  The second the water hit my skin, I felt relieved as the knots in my tight muscles began to unravel themselves. I stood there for what felt like hours, letting the water wash over my entire body, through every ridge, melting away all the aches and pains.

  After I was clean and satisfied, I went into the kitchen, opened up the fridge and grabbed myself a beer, just before plopping back down on the couch and unleashing a long sigh.

  What a night.

  And that was when Reiko’s moans of pleasure began.

  The walls of Hong Kong condominiums must have been made out of paper, providing absolutely no sound barrier between the bedroom and the living room.

  “Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!” her cries of delight reverberated through the condo. I downed the entire beer in one single swig, and laid the empty bottle on the coffee table. Meanwhile, the sounds of Cairo and Reiko, fucking their brains out, grew louder from the other room.

  The heavy thuds, of what I assumed was a bedframe slamming against the wall, were loud and vicious. It wouldn’t have surprised me if I saw the two of them crashing through the drywall and spilling onto the living room floor, naked and still attached to each other.

  I sighed, kicked off my shoes and spread myself out on the couch, hands behind my head. I closed my eyes while the sounds of sex reverberated around me.

  “Oh fucking Christ, I’m coming, I’m coming!” Reiko screamed.

  “Yeah, come for me baby, come for me. Look me in the eyes when I’m talking to you and tell me what you are.”

  “I’m your dirty slut.”

  “Damn straight girl. You’re my dirty, slutty angel.”

  This was damn awkward.

  While I listened to the two of them climax—screaming like sexual banshees—my thoughts turned to Aria.

  Beautiful Aria, who was perfect for me—or that was what Calisto made me believe.

  I thought about our time in Cambodia and that hot passionate night we experienced, just shortly after I danced the Macarena—which I still can’t believe I did.

  I remembered the taste of her mouth while our tongues locked together in a sensual dance, and the feel of my hands against her warm, soft skin. I remembered my mouth, finding her hard nipples, and my hands slipping inside of her, exploring her wet folds.

  And I remembered the glorious feeling of being inside her, the euphoric warmth as I thrust my cock in and out of her. It was the look in her eyes that turned me on the most, the innocent look on her face that told me that we were both experiencing something new and pleasurable.

  The sex we had was powerful, passionate, and hungry.

  The thought of Aria, naked and pressed against my body while I came inside her left me with a massive erection.

  The door to the room suddenly opened.

  Fuck.

  I grabbed a cushion on the couch and smothered it over my crotch, hiding my boner.

  “Sorry, was that too loud?” Cairo asked as he walked into the kitchen, shirtless, beads of sweat glistening on his body, grinning like a goofy child who thought he had just done something good.

  “A little annoying at first,” I said. “But you didn’t last long, so no worries.”

  He grabbed a glass from the dish strainer and filled it with water from the tap.

  “Whatever man,” he said, just before chugging the water.

  “You think she’ll help me?” I asked.

  Cairo shrugged. “Beats me man,” he said.

  “Can you influence her?” I whispered, just in case she was listening in on our conversation.

  He laughed. “Reiko is her own entity,” he replied. “I lost my ability to influence her shortly after we moved in together. I kept forgetting to put the toilet seat down.”

  “Terrible,” I said.

  “She’ll make a decision soon though,” Cairo said. “She just needs to think about it for a bit.”

  I nodded.

  “But I’ll help you see this thing through,” he said. “Your sister needs to pay.”

  “I agree.”

  “You’re still an ass monkey, make no mistake about that,” he said as he set his glass down. “Alright man, take it easy. I’m going to bed.”

  When he was gone, I took the pillow off my crotch, my erection now subsided, and my thoughts returned to Aria.

  It hurt remembering Cambodia and how happy we were together only a few weeks ago. Every time I thought about the circumstances surrounding our love—Calisto’s fucking brainwashing—I felt a surge of pain as a blinding white light flashed across the back of my eyes. Were these headaches all a part of the after-effects of my sister’s brutal mind-fuck?

  Fuck.

  Forget about Aria. I was better off that way. No good would come from the two of us being together. Forget about her beautiful soft eyes, and her lovely skin. Forget about her radiating smile when she talked about her dreams. Forget about her delicate hands that could enchant the world with her lovely music, the same hands that knew how to pleasure me.

  Forget about it all.

  Fuck, who was I kidding?

  I couldn’t get that girl out of my mind. I loved her.

  I tried picturing a life with her—once all this was over—and the prospect seemed welcoming. But I just couldn’t shake the feeling that our road to a happily ever after was paved with broken glass and razor blades, and, at some point, one of us was going to stumble and fall and paint the dirt with our blood.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Aria

  “It’s a beautiful Saturday you two love birds! Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey.”

  The boisterous enthusiasm coming from Beau, this early in the morning, felt like nails driving into the side of my skull.

  I must have finally fallen asleep during my struggles to fight off my own self-inflicted horniness while lying next to Lincoln. He was awake now too and looked as if he wanted to slap the lips right off of Beau’s grinning mouth.

  “You damned well better have some eggs and bacon,” he said as he sat up on the sofa bed, rubbing his eyes with the base of his palms.

  “Cereal and milk?”

  “What kind?” Lincoln asked.

  “Captain Crunch.”

  Lincoln seemed to nod with approval. “Good man.”

  “You two better eat fast. I just landed us a meeting with Mr. Friday at noon, right by Jackson square,” he said, still smiling as if he had just performed a miracle. “Kind of poetic, if you think about it—we’re meeting Mr. Friday on a Saturday.”

  I gave Beau a puzzled look. “Seriously?”

  “I admit, I’ve always enjoyed a bit of corniness in my life,” he smirked. “My lady always said that I could feed a field of crows with all of my corn.”

  I grimaced at the very mention of crows.

  “When’s the meeting?” Lincoln asked, in between a yawn.

  “Two hours.”

  “I guess we best get ready then. We wouldn’t want to keep Mr. Friday waiting.”

  Beau nodded in agreement. “No you do not,” he replied. “You’re better off burying a knife in your gut now if you’re thinking of pissing him off.”

  “You’re making him sound like a monster,” I said.

  “Why darling, you don’t even know the half of it,” Beau said. “Mr. Friday might just be the devil in disguise.”

  I shivered.

  The sunshine and liveliness of Jackson Square lifted my spirits, and for a moment I forgot that we were meeting with a man who was described to me as the Anti-Christ.

  Rows of eccentric works of art, displaying various colorful flavors of New Orleans, hung from the steel gates bordering the square. A few pieces in particular caught my eye—black and white silhouettes of jazz
musicians painted against the backdrop of a bright orange sky; various renditions of the fleur-de-lis constructed from leaves and twine; and large scale portraits of Bourbon Street painted with brilliant water colors.

  Meanwhile, the music continued to play. It seemed like music was always playing here.

  I turned my attention to the center of the square where there was a magnificent bronze statue of a man, who I presumed to be Mr. Jackson. He was riding triumphantly on a horse, while holding his hat and giving a salute to the entire city. St. Louis cathedral was a magnificent backdrop, making it all seem perfectly picturesque.

  “Well, that’s a pretty picture if I ever saw one,” Beau said as he walked over to me.

  “It is,” I replied. “Jackson Square is quite the lovely tourist attraction.”

  “I was talking about you,” Beau said with a grin.

  I shook my head and smiled. “You try this with all the ladies?”

  “Only the ones that pique my interest,” he replied.

  “I’m with –” I was about to say Shadow, but I caught my tongue just in time. I wasn’t with Shadow anymore. He no longer wanted me.

  And then Lincoln strolled over, cool and calm, as he always was.

  “I’m with him,” I said, tilting my head towards Lincoln.

  Beau shrugged. “You can’t blame a lonely soul for trying.”

  Lincoln seemed to have caught the tail end of the Beau’s sentence. “And what are you trying?” he asked, amused.

  “This here gal sure has her loyalty in order,” Beau said. “I tried tempting her with my southern charm, but she turned me aside like a Jehovah Witness.”

  Lincoln looked at me and nodded. “Yes, her loyalty towards her lover is absolutely unflinching. I love her for it.”

  I thought about Lincoln’s touch—that dark animalistic magnetism that pulled at me—and I felt myself blush almost immediately. A smoky warmth kindled within my heart and slowly spread across my body.

  “What a shame she can’t be tempted,” Beau sighed.

  Lincoln shrugged. “It’s an endearing quality about her,” he said. “Now, if we’re done fantasizing about getting into Lucy’s pants, let’s concentrate on finding Mr. Friday.”

  Beau shrugged. “Yes sir,” he replied. “Apparently, the instructions were to find the woman with the three eyes to her name and give her exactly four dollars and forty-four cents.”