by Dannika Dark
I snorted. Viktor had a dry sense of humor I could appreciate. “Fine. But I’m not paying for any damages if I strip his gears.”
Niko rose from his seat. “I’ll drive.”
Chapter 26
Luckily, Shepherd’s Jeep had only stalled twice. I’d never bothered learning to master a stick shift, but Viktor had a point. With all my learned talents, it seemed ridiculous to avoid familiarizing myself with a manual transmission. Maybe one day, I’d be able to drive one without putting it in the wrong gear.
If anything, the kid had a giggle about it. Patrick remained quiet despite the lurching and sudden stops. He must have had too much weighing on his mind about our newfound knowledge. No doubt he was plotting. It didn’t seem fair that powerful men were so protected, but it now made sense why corrupt men sought political positions. It allowed them to create laws that offered them more protection than the average Joe.
Patrick had packed a travel bag for his stay below the church, and when we arrived at his mansion, he told me to grab it.
“If only I had my dagger,” I grumbled when he got out of the Jeep.
Niko touched my shoulder from the back seat. “Careful, Raven.”
“Do I look like a bellhop?”
I flung open the door and jumped out. While I opened the rear door to get the bag, Niko slid out the other side with the sleeping boy cradled in his arms. Something sloshed around inside the bag—probably ten bottles of fancy wine.
I wondered how Christian was faring with organizing everyone’s safe return. Electricity instilled a sense of normalcy. It threw lights on dark shadows and made people feel secure. What worried me were the remaining names on the list Henry had given me.
I let the suitcase drag on the concrete as I neared the front door.
“That bag is worth more than your salary,” Patrick informed me while checking his phone.
“Quit your bellyaching. Hauling luggage isn’t in my job description.”
“Now is that any way to speak to an official of the higher court?” He spun dramatically on his heel and looked at Niko. “Your obstinate friend will get you in trouble one day.”
Niko stared vacantly toward the door. “Apologies, Mr. Bane. It’s been a long night, and Raven is weary and not thinking straight after risking her life for countless officials.”
Niko delivered that statement in earnest, but I was certain that Patrick read between the lines and felt the full meaning.
As soon as the door opened, Patrick switched on a lamp. “The bag goes upstairs to my room. Second floor, third door on the right.”
“Where are your guards?”
He cocked his head, probably using his Mage ability to tell the time. “They should be here within the hour. Otherwise, they can look for a new job.” He set down the keys on a small table and looked around.
Niko carefully navigated over the threshold and took slow, careful steps inside. “What shall I do with the boy?”
The kid was knocked out like a light. He looked adorable as hell in Niko’s arms, and it made me sad this innocent little child would never know what it was like to have someone truly care about him.
“The servants usually handle him,” Patrick said, staring at the boy as if he were an inconvenience. “I need to make sure all the rooms are secure since I still have a hole in my kitchen. The boy’s bedroom is on the third floor. It’s the fourth door on the left, but you need to take the hallway on the west wing. Do you know which side that is?” Patrick noticed the way Niko never met his gaze. “Can you even climb stairs?”
Niko’s face tightened, and he made a slow and defiant walk straight ahead. We’d been in Patrick’s house enough that he knew there were two curving staircases on either side of the room, so he veered left.
I grabbed the suitcase and hurried to his side, noticing he wasn’t going far enough to the left and would miss the stairs. “Hey,” I said, lightly tugging his sleeve. “Follow my trail.”
Since Niko could see energy, I moved ahead of him and stopped as soon as the stairs began. This would be his cue. The bag thumped on every step as I dragged it up.
When we reached the top, I led him to a central staircase that ascended to the third floor. “Are you good from here?”
“I can manage stairs,” he said. “Have you seen the boy’s room?”
“Yes. It’s exactly where Patrick described. The bed is on the left side of the room, but I can’t remember which end the pillow was on. If you can’t figure out which way the covers turn down, just cover him up from the sides like a burrito. There aren’t any toys on the floor you’ll trip over. It’s an open space.”
He blew out a breath. “Good. I would never drop him, just so you know.”
Niko didn’t need to explain. He would probably use his ninja skills to spin around and take the brunt of the fall, but I could tell that Patrick had rubbed him the wrong way by questioning his abilities.
We parted ways, and when I located Patrick’s bedroom, I slung his suitcase inside without switching on the light. I had no urge to see if he had tassels on his bedspread or a chamber pot for the servants to empty each morning. Nothing about him interested me. That aristocratic monster had ordered a child to be ripped from his mother’s womb. It didn’t even matter that it was Shepherd’s kid. Shit like that would have earned Patrick a spot on my hit list back when I used to take down men for fun.
I jogged down the stairs, eager to head home and relax. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten a decent meal, and I still hadn’t washed up since taking a bath in Igor’s blood. Just thinking about it had me reaching in my pocket for an elastic band so I could tie up my bloody hair and get it out of my face.
When I reached the marble floor, I cocked my head to the side. At first, I thought Patrick was on the phone, but the longer I listened, the more certain I was that at least two people were speaking. It could have been his guards, but I concealed my light just in case. With the house unguarded and the giant hole in the kitchen, anyone could have broken in.
Unarmed, I grabbed a small marble vase. The voices came from the back, but they were distant.
I moved down the rear hall and turned left before taking another right toward the kitchen. My sneakers allowed me to move around stealthily, and when I reached the kitchen entry, I peered inside.
The plastic tarp covering the hole flapped from a gust of wind, and the outside chatter grew louder again.
I tiptoed through the room and dodged the windows over the sink before positioning myself by the back door. The wind carried their voices inside, but I couldn’t tell how many were out there. Through the glass in the door, I counted two figures. Patrick was easy to identify with his pale complexion and slim figure, but the other I couldn’t see.
Patrick set a candle on a glass-top table and faced the man standing to his right. “You killed good men.”
“Says who?”
I squinted, trying to identify the other man, but the beveled glass created distortions.
“You deviated from the plan,” Patrick chided.
When I heard the rustling of clothing behind me, I turned sharply and shushed Niko. “Stay low,” I whispered, setting the vase on the counter.
Niko ducked, one arm extended as he crept toward me. I led him to the other side of the door.
“That’s Cyrus,” he said matter-of-factly, staring through the glass. “I recognize his light.”
“Do you see anyone else?”
Niko gripped the pommel of his sword and turned sharply.
“We meet again,” a man said, announcing his presence.
I looked over my shoulder at three familiar faces, each man holding his sword on the offense.
Niko anchored himself in front of me. “Kallisto, Arcadius, Lykos. We’re here by invitation.”
“We know,” one of them replied.
“You don’t get paid for mistakes,” Patrick continued, seemingly oblivious to our presence. “There are a dozen other men who would gladly do
the job.”
“Is that so?” Cyrus countered. “Let us call them and see who is interested. You hired us without regard to our past. Do you think we’re street trash who will do anything for money? You’re not the one who holds the power in this situation—I am. You know this to be true.”
“You’re wasting time! I want them gone. We’ll discuss this later. Hurry, before they leave.”
One of the men facing us smiled. Patrick didn’t intend for us to leave alive. The longer Christian and I drew breath, the greater the odds we would divulge his secret plan to assassinate parties of the higher authority. I bet he’d plotted this whole thing while I drove him home from church, afraid I’d tell Viktor. No wonder he was so damn quiet after sending messages on his phone.
“Outside,” one of the men ordered, raising his sword. “Three against two, and your girlfriend doesn’t even have a weapon.” He clucked his tongue.
My best weapons were my gifts, but I kept that to myself. I reached to open the door, and we moved outside.
Patrick looked startled but quickly regained his composure. “I see you’ve found our guests.”
“You won’t get away with this,” I promised him. “Viktor will never believe your lies.”
“But you protected me against vagrants. You’ll have a hero’s funeral to honor your bravery.”
I shook my head. “Christian won’t let you live. He’s a man who doesn’t give a fuck. If you kill me, he’ll plaster your secrets on every billboard in town.”
“What makes you think I’m not already taking care of him?”
Cyrus laughed, his slim eyes curved like crescent moons. Just like the other times I’d seen him, he had on a regular T-shirt. I suspected he might be a Thermal. Either that, or he loved showing off the bold tattoos on his brawny arms, regardless of the weather.
Patrick steered his attention back to Cyrus. “Only the names on my list. That was the agreement. I pay you, remember? Your sophomoric mistake has put me behind schedule.”
“We have killed those you have asked us to,” Cyrus replied, his tone as apathetic as his expression. “Why should I care about the others? Why should one name be any different from the rest? You are all the same in my eyes.”
I looked between them, confused.
“Because, you fool, not only did you kill my allies, but your attack on the church heralded a change that will now offer more protection to all the officials. They’re assigning each member a Regulator, and that includes me!”
I stared, slack-jawed. “You’re the one responsible for the church attack?”
“No,” Patrick snapped. “It was this moron!” He raised his arm and pointed at Cyrus.
With a move so swift I barely saw it happen, Cyrus swung his blade and severed Patrick’s finger. It fell to the ground and jutted out of the dead grass.
Patrick recoiled, his eyes wide with shock before he moaned in pain.
“I cannot respect a man who disavows his role in a plot of his devising,” Cyrus declared.
Niko suddenly flashed in front of Patrick and faced Cyrus. “He doesn’t realize who he’s dealing with, Cyrus. But I do.”
Cyrus cocked his head to the side. “You would protect a man who was going to slaughter you? Time has changed nothing. You are still the fool you always were, Nikodemos.”
“Death is not punishment,” Niko informed him. “It’s a means to an end. Humiliation is the best revenge. Wouldn’t you rather watch your enemies suffer?”
Cyrus considered it for a moment as Patrick clutched his bleeding hand. “His capture will implicate my men.”
“He doesn’t know your real names,” I reminded him. I wasn’t sure why, all of a sudden, I was Team Patrick, but despite my hating the man, Niko had a point. I wanted to see this guy jailed and publicly shamed. Not to mention he hadn’t revealed to us the names of those working with him, plotting against the higher authority in cities nationwide.
Cyrus gave Niko a loaded look. “Bane has connections. Even in jail, he will pay bounty hunters to track us down. I do not wish to spend my life looking over my shoulder. He will extend his life by making deals. I know his plans. He has access to facilities that experiment with human viruses. Did you know his goal is to create a supervirus to wipe out all humankind?” Cyrus belted out a laugh. “It is what weak men do when they fear battle. If they cannot assemble an army to fight for them, they create an army of microscopic organisms. I care nothing for his plans. He was simply a means to get more information on you, my friend. And then I seized an opportunity to eliminate your leaders. It doesn’t take long for chaos to erupt in this pathetic kingdom of yours. Is this the life you prefer?”
Niko never wavered, his sword ready to strike. “You will never have what you came for.”
Cyrus lifted his chin. “I will baptize your city in the blood of innocents until you bow before me. And you will.”
He nodded in my direction, and I suddenly felt a pinch at my throat and nape. Flanked by two of his men, each with his blade positioned against my neck—one in the front and the other in the back—I had no way to escape. One wrong move, and their swords would remove my head like scissors snipping a label off a new jacket.
Niko looked my way. Maybe he couldn’t see the position of the swords, and maybe he could, but he sensed my life in peril.
Cyrus straightened his shoulders and lowered his sword. “Step back and allow a man to negotiate with his boss.”
Niko backed away slowly.
“It’s not too late to prove what kind of a man you are,” Patrick said through clenched teeth.
“You’re right,” Cyrus agreed. “How much is your life worth to you?”
Patrick was doubled over, but he managed to stand up straight and look Cyrus in the eye. “I’m an official of the higher authority. If anything happens to me, you’ll have men hunting you down for the rest of your life. I’m giving you an opportunity to be a part of something bigger.”
Cyrus approached him and shook his head. “You mean nothing to me. You’re just another rung on the ladder.”
The whistling noise I heard next made my skin crawl. It was the sound of Cyrus’s sword cutting through the air. He executed the maneuver so swiftly and with such incredible precision that I initially thought he’d missed.
Until I saw a ring of blood around Patrick’s neck. He actually reached up for his head as his legs gave way, and I shut my eyes before I saw something that might give me nightmares for the rest of my life.
When it was quiet, I risked a glance and quickly averted my eyes from the body slumped on the ground.
Cyrus wiped the blood from his sword onto his pant leg. “Never underestimate how far I’m willing to go to get what I want. Plato was a loyal brother, which is more than I can say about you. Even in death, he served me well, relaying information to a Gravewalker about your plans. Only one church had enough weaknesses for us to conquer; the rest were impregnable. Had I received their locations sooner, I would have shared that information with more people.”
“Have you no respect for what the authorities do to protect us?” Niko asked harshly.
Cyrus studied his sword. “How can you serve leaders who care nothing about you? The only thing they protect is their ever-growing wealth. Do you really believe you’re one of the good guys? You’re only one thread away from lawlessness.”
The blade across my throat pinched my skin, and blood trickled down my neck. Their shaky hands weren’t doing me any favors.
“Join us,” Cyrus offered. “This world won’t be for long. War is coming. Maybe in a few centuries, a few months, or a few days. But it rides toward us with the fury of a thousand wild horses.”
Niko looked toward the house. “Someone’s coming.”
Cyrus tapped his sword against Niko’s. “Another day, brother. Another day.”
I clutched my neck when the blades moved away, afraid they might have pulled the same stunt on me as they had Patrick. The men flashed off, and I breathed a sigh of reli
ef when I found that my head was still attached. A small bit of hair from my ponytail had been sliced off and was lying at my feet.
Niko sheathed his sword and hurried toward me. He cupped my neck in his hands, his shoulders sagging. “You’re all right.”
“I can’t believe he was going to kill us.”
“If Cyrus wanted us dead, it would have happened.”
“I meant Patrick. How stupid can he be?”
Niko furrowed his brow. “Why would he give that order? Why was it so imperative it happen tonight?”
I worried my lip. “He might have suspected that Christian and I knew he was behind the murders.”
“And what gave him that idea?”
“He saw the picture of Cyrus on the phone.”
Niko’s eyes hooded the way they sometimes did when he was reading my light. “I won’t ask anything more on the matter.”
“Best you don’t.”
The plastic tarp ripped away, and we both turned as Merry strode outside, brandishing his sword. When his eyes tipped down to Patrick’s body and then to Niko’s sword, I froze. I couldn’t imagine this looking any more damning.
Merry approached so unhurriedly that his energy rippled. “Who perpetrated this dastardly deed?”
I tried not to laugh at his flair for the dramatic. “It wasn’t us.”
“I can see that. Your friend’s steel is pristine.”
“He hears that a lot.”
Merry’s lip twitched for a moment before his expression went grim. “I assume you drove Mr. Bane home since he left with you. I was assigned to guard him until they closed the investigation on the murders.”
“I heard Mr. Bane confess to the crimes,” Niko blurted out. “Raven was inside, putting the boy to sleep.”
I stared up in confusion at him.
Merry looked genuinely startled. “Are you referring to the plot against the higher authority?”
“Yes. I can give you a full account of everything I overheard between him and his hired men.”
“They’re responsible for this?” Merry asked, gesturing toward the body.