Tears welled in Toni’s eyes. “There’s nothing special about me, Rob. I’m just as much of a monster as anyone else. The things I’ve done in my past…the awful things…they just prove it.”
“No, my dear, you are far from being a monster. You feel remorse for everything you’ve done, and that makes you more human than you will ever realize. It’s the very reason Drake loves you, and why the Ancients are so drawn to you. You are everything they once were, and everything they wish they could still be.”
Toni’s mouth turned into a sharp frown just before she started crying. And when she felt Robert’s arms wrap tightly around her, all she could do was hold onto him. No one had ever told her that she wasn’t the monster she thought she was. But now Robert had told her, and Drake had shown her. And for the first time, she wondered if the notion could actually be true.
“You are something very special, Toni. All you have left to do is realize that your past has made you exactly who you are now. I know it hurts. I know the death of your family still haunts you, but from enduring that pain you’ve become a more beautiful person than you will ever know. You don’t look at the world as something you can exploit. And you don’t overlook the little things, like telling someone to have a good night. I have yet to see you take anything or anyone for granted.”
She looked up at Robert. “It meant that much to you?”
“More than you will ever know.”
She drew a deep breath then went back to her chair. “Can I ask you something, Robert?”
“Of course you can.”
“Is there anything that makes him happy?”
Robert considered her question for a moment. “Yes, actually there is. The sky makes Christian quite happy.”
Toni frowned. “The sky? Why the sky? The sky is where the sun is, and I can’t imagine the sun would make him happy.”
Robert chuckled. “No, the sun doesn’t make him happy. Let me try to explain. When you left Chicago and came back, things were mostly the same, correct?”
She nodded. “Yeah, for the most part.”
“Well, because of Christian’s advanced age, he isn’t able to simply return home to reconnect with his human side. His actual home doesn’t even exist anymore, and the land it was in no longer looks the same. However, the night sky is still very much the same.”
She blinked at him. “I don’t get it.”
He grinned. “Over the thousands of years that Christian has witnessed, the only thing that’s remained almost as unchanged as him is the night sky. No matter where he is, he can still look up at the stars and remember home.”
“Oh, I get it. Wow. I would’ve never thought about it like that. Maybe it’s because I’m still young enough that I can see my home whenever I want. All I have to do is drive down there.”
“And that’s the very reason why Christian made sure your home remained untouched.”
Toni slowly narrowed her eyes on him. “He’s the blond man?”
“And I’m the old guy,” Robert laughed.
Toni shook her head. She’d completely missed it when Tonya said it. And she never would have thought Christian would do anything like that for her after what she’d done. “I can’t believe you and Christian took care of my house.”
“It’s not that Christian didn’t understand why you did what you did, Toni. I assure you, he understands in a way most never will. But as the Lord, he above all else needs to follow the rules of the city. He chose to exile you because he knew he would have done the same if he were in your shoes. For as much as he’s lost his connection to the world, he still has moments I take great pride in. Keeping your home in the same state you remember is one of them.”
“What about giving Tonya Christmas presents?”
Robert nodded. “Yes, that too. Believe it or not, Christian was a father once, and he was the spoiling type of father. Tonya finds herself with presents all the time. Her mother often takes ill, and her father left when she was young. So when they are short on the rent or can’t afford clothes, Christian steps in and takes care of them.”
Toni smiled at that. “I always thought he was a good guy who just tried to hide it from everyone. I guess I was right all along.”
“Personally, I’m just glad the traits he had as a young man still shine through on occasion.”
“Me, too,” she said as she stood up. “Well, I guess I better get back upstairs before Dominic wonders what happened to me.”
“You probably should. Have a good night, Toni.”
Toni waved as she headed for the elevator. “You too, Rob.”
***
“Stryker! Are you here? Stryker! Where are you?”
“I’m in the office,” Stryker yelled in response to Jayson’s panicked voice. When he appeared in the doorway, she didn’t even bother to look up at him. “Did you need something?”
“Everyone is dead… What the hell happened? Who killed them?”
She shrugged. “Must have been something they ate.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you? Don’t you even care that all your servants are dead?”
She looked up from her monitor and locked eyes with him, watching closely for even the faintest hint of deceit. “Not really, I have other things to do. Where were Dominic and Toni when you saw them last? You have been keeping an eye on them, right?
He withered under her heavy scrutiny. “The last time I saw them they were at Locke’s hotel downtown.”
“Do you know if they plan on going anywhere else?”
He wanted to lie to her; she could see the urge flashing behind his dark eyes. But just as he opened his mouth, he must have thought better of it. “They plan on checking out some alley after they finish going over some information they got from Lord Locke.”
“Really? Do you know when they plan on doing this?”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t. I don’t know what information they’re looking over or how long it’s going to take.”
Stryker scribbled an address on a piece of paper then held it out towards him. “I want you to go to this address and wait in your car, but hide yourself from view. I’m going to need your help with something a little later.”
He took the paper, gave it a quick once over, and then shoved it into his coat pocket. “Okay, anything else?”
“Actually, yes. This time when you leave, try not to be such a treacherous child and run straight to Christian. Go to the address and wait, or this time…I will kill what remains of your family. And that includes your sister, her husband, and your newborn niece. Do you understand me?” She smiled when his eyes went wide. “Please tell me you understand me.”
He nodded. “I understand you.”
“Good, I should be at that address within the hour. And please, take what I just said to heart. You’ll be watched to make sure you adhere to exactly what I’ve told you. Right now, your sister is marveling at the beautiful dog that’s found its way onto her front porch. I would hate to see it attack her. Now go and do exactly what I’ve told you.”
Stryker smiled when Jayson scurried out of her office with his shoulders slumped. It really was a pity that he didn’t take more pride in her work. If he had, he would be the one sitting to her right when she assumed the throne of Chicago.
Her attention was drawn away from her pathetic excuse for a Child by her ringing cell phone. She picked it up. “Hello?”
“The device has been retimed. What do you want us to do now?”
She grinned with no small amount of satisfaction as she looked over at the clock. It was 2 a.m. This was going to be perfect. “Shut it off and let it sit. I want you and the twins to meet me in the alley at 3 a.m. At exactly the same time, I want your pack mates to assault Lord Locke’s office. We’re going to make sure everyone gets what they deserve tonight.”
“What are you talking about?”
Stryker chuckled into the phone. “Not only am I taking over the city tonight, but I’m going to serve you Alexander’s only survivi
ng Children on a bloodstained silver platter.”
Chapter 23
As Toni approached her room, she couldn’t help but to laugh. All she heard coming from behind the door were growled swear words and curses in the sound of her brother’s voice. If she had to guess, she’d say that whatever he was looking for…he hadn’t found yet.
She opened the door and peeked inside to see Dominic stomping on the dog bite report. She just couldn’t resist. “What did it do to you? Did you not like the black ink? Or is it the paper?”
He turned around, brown eyes fixed on her. “You’re lucky you’re my fuckin’ sister. If you were anyone else, you’d be a grease stain by now.”
“Ya know,” she said as she closed the door behind her, “one of these days your temper is gonna get you killed.”
“I could say the same thing about your fuckin’ mouth.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “I’m rubber, your glue.”
“You’re fuckin’ insane, that’s what you are. How can you not be frustrated right now?” He rubbed his forehead. “I know I keep telling you it’ll take time, but we’re running out of leads.”
“Oh, I’m frustrated,” she admitted. “I swear I live in the state constantly. Do you know how much I’ve been through over the last couple days?”
Dominic sank into the corner of the couch. “I never did get around to asking what’s been going on with you.” He patted the spot next to him. “Sit down and tell me what’s up.”
She sat down next to him. “Well, for starters, I met this really great guy when I came back to Chicago. And let’s just say it went good for awhile, but then it kinda went to hell in so many ways…”
Dominic scowled. “Did he hurt you? If he did I’ll kick his ass!”
“No, well…kinda, but we worked it all out. It’s just that he’s best friends with Oktober, which is kinda hard for me to take.”
Dominic blinked at her. “You’re dating Drake?”
She smiled at the mention of his name. “Do you know him?”
“Yeah, I fuckin’ know him. You sure know how to pick ‘em. He’s one bad motherfucker. How the hell did you meet him?”
“I was talking to Brick and 8-Ball when I got here, and then Drake showed up…and when Brick got a call about someone getting caught feeding on Rush Street, Drake said he’d stay with me until they were finished cleaning it up. But then they left and Christian showed up…and he told Drake he had to stay with me…so he did and, well…Drake had a protection contract on me anyway, so…things just kinda happened.”
“I can’t believe you hooked up with Drake…”
Toni squirmed as a feeling of doom settled in her stomach. It never seemed like anything good ever came out of what someone else had to say about Drake. “What? Please don’t tell me you know some secret about him that’s gonna make me even more crazy.”
“No, Drake’s a good guy. I’m glad I don’t have to beat his ass.”
She stared at him. “What are you not telling me?”
“It’s not about Drake.” He sat quiet for a moment then cocked his head. “Did Drake have a contract on you when you first got here? Or did he show up later?”
“I met him probably an hour or so after I got here. Why?”
“Because if Drake had a contract on you when you got here…that means nobody else could have one on you. And that means whoever hired Oktober to kill our family couldn’t hire him to kill you since there was already a contract on you. I told you I did some work for Oktober, right?”
She nodded. “Yeah, you did.”
“I ain’t exactly proud of it, mostly ‘cuz I take a certain amount of pride in workin’ with my own hands, but I’ve inquired about his services before. Now, don’t get all judgmental over there, because I never used him. But somebody owed me a lot of money once, so I asked Oktober about him and he told me the guy had already been marked so he couldn’t do anything.”
“So you’re telling me someone put a protection contract on me so that Oktober couldn’t take a different contract to kill me?”
“Somebody knows exactly what’s goin’ on here,” Dominic said as he stood up and began pacing, “and you’re on this investigation for a reason. This shit didn’t just fall in your lap. I just can’t figure out if Locke has anything to do with it. I mean, yeah, he put you on it, but that doesn’t mean someone didn’t tell him to.”
Toni shook her head. “No way. Christian runs the city. There’s no one here who could make him do anything he didn’t want to.”
Dominic just stared at her. “You still got a lot to learn.”
“Then we have to go tell Christian that Stryker’s the one behind the werewolves,” Toni said as she jumped up from the couch. “Proof or not, if what you’re saying is true – he needs to know.”
When she moved for the door, Dominic grabbed her arm. “We gotta get proof first, and we gotta find out who her target is before we can even think about goin’ to Christian. I wanna bust the bitch as bad as you do, but Murdoch said we gotta follow the rules on this or you’re gonna get kicked out again. Now, why don’t you take a minute to calm down then we’ll go check that alley, all right?”
Toni fisted her hands as anger rolled through her. She didn’t want to wait to tell Christian what they’d learned. Her gut instincts told her everything led back to Stryker, and she just wanted it all to be over so she could get on with her life. But Dominic was right. If she didn’t follow the rules this time, she’d lose her home for good.
And Drake’s here, too. She took another deep breath in response to the thought. “Okay, I’m good. Let’s go.”
***
Toni followed closely behind Dominic as he pulled into an abandoned parking lot about a block away from the alley. She watched when he got out of his car then walked over to hers and opened the door for her.
“Your alley is the one between Mutt’s Pub and that redbrick warehouse next to it. At least that’s what this piece of paper says.”
Toni pressed her lips together when she realized she’d been in that alley. At first she hadn’t recognized it because they were on the opposite side, but it was the same alley that she and Drake had…
Heat burned her cheeks as her mind flipped through the steamy memories of what she and Drake had done there.
“What’s wrong?” Dominic asked.
“Nothing,” she said as she twisted her fingers together. “I was just thinking about Drake.”
Dominic rolled his eyes. “And you called me the moody one. Fifteen minutes ago you were pissed, now your fuckin’ smilin’ and thinkin’ about your mountain of a boyfriend. After this, don’t ever call me a girl again.”
She shoved him forward. “Just shut up and walk.”
He shoulder blocked her as they walked down the sidewalk behind Mutt’s pub. “You’re in looooove.”
“And you’re a duuuuumbass.”
She meant to follow up the comment with a smile, but frowned when she saw a scowl cut deep across Dominic’s face. And before she even had the chance to ask, he pushed her back against the building, his strong arm like a steel bar across her chest.
He pressed his index finger to his mouth.
Toni nodded, and then strained her senses to hear whatever had gotten her brother’s attention. The voices were distant and muffled, but after a few seconds she picked up on the conversation.
“Now that the device is set, has everything been secured?”
Toni growled low in her throat. She’d know that smarmy, high pitched voice anywhere. That voice belonged to Stryker.
“Yes. All we’re waiting for is the mark to arrive.”
Toni leaned closer to Dom. “Is that one of the wolves?”
His fingers closed tight around her hand as he slowly inched towards the corner of the building. He leaned forward then jerked his head back.
He looked at her and nodded. “Thomas,” he mouthed.
Toni closed her eyes and concentrated on the voices again.
&
nbsp; “Excellent. This is going far better than I planned. And as I said before, the northern woods will be returned to you and your pack as payment for your service.”
“Were you able to secure your back-up plan?” Thomas asked.
“Oh, yes,” Stryker laughed. “If something goes wrong tonight, he won’t make it past daybreak. Oktober will be waiting for him.”
Toni shivered. She wasn’t so sure that Oktober was the bad guy anymore. She still hated him for what he’d done to her family, but Stryker was becoming worse and worse by the minute.
“Then we should leave. Whoever’s been investigating us is getting close, and I don’t want to be out here any longer than we have to. We’ll go back to the zoo and wait to hear from you.”
“Very well then,” Stryker purred. “Just think, when he ventures out to the Planetarium tonight, he’ll see more stars then he ever dreamed he would.”
Toni slapped one hand over her mouth and used the other to pull Dominic back from the alley. She broke out into a run, practically dragging him behind her, and didn’t stop until they were half way back to the parking lot.
“I know who the target is, Dom,” she said. “It’s Christian.”
He scowled at her. “How do you fuckin’ know that? She didn’t say anybody’s name.”
Toni grabbed his shoulders. “It’s Christian, trust me.”
He studied her for a moment, then took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. I say we go down to Prudential Plaza. We’ll stop him before he leaves his office.”
Toni shook her head. “We have to split up. You go to Christian’s office. I’ll go to the Planetarium.”
Anger flashed behind his eyes. “No! We need to stay together.”
“We don’t have time, Dom. If Christian isn’t at his office…we’ll never make it to the Planetarium in time. And if he isn’t at the Planetarium, we’ll never get to his office in time. We don’t really have a choice. And I’m not gonna let Christian die because we picked the wrong place to go!”
Dominic growled then slammed a fist into the concrete wall next to them. “Fine, I’ll head to Christian’s office. But do you even know what to do with a bomb?”
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