At her apartment door, she paused on the threshold and sniffed deeply several times. Something was very wrong.
“What is it?” Adrian asked.
She tiptoed to the hall closet door and flung it open. “Someone’s been in my apartment!” she cried, twisting her head from side to side and sniffing some more.
“What makes you think that?”
“I can smell them,” she said, wrinkling my nose.
Adrian kissed her on the tip of her nose. “You’re so cute when you do that. Are you a bloodhound? What makes you think you can smell someone’s trail?” He went to the living room window and checked behind the curtains. “No broken glass, no signs of forced entry. I don’t think you have to worry.” He poked his head in the bedroom. “Nothing here either.”
“I don’t know. This guy smells like sweat and some kind of cheap cologne. I’ve smelled that combination before. Here in the apartment, once before, and—” she put a finger to her mouth. “I know I’ve smelled it somewhere else, but I can’t remember where.” She squinted. “Can’t you smell it?”
Obligingly, he sniffed, but shook his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t smell anything unusual.” Then a lazy smile crossed his face and he teased, “Except for that wasabi and cumin bean dip you made yesterday.”
She made a face at him. “Don’t be silly, Adrian. I can’t smell that one at all anymore.”
He laughed and playfully took her face in his hands. “Can you smell me?” He brushed his lips over her nose and kissed her again, trailing across her cheek and down her throat. She closed her eyes and almost forgot to breathe.
Gasping, she put her hands on his chest to push him away. “You don’t believe me, do you?”
“Elisa,” he said, taking both her hands in his and steering her to sit down on the couch, “let’s look at the evidence. Are there any signs of forced entry? Is anything missing?”
“That doesn’t matter!” she cried. “Why don’t you believe me?”
He reclined on the couch and ran his hands through his hair. “I—” he said and then stopped. His confident smile faded. Wrinkles gathered on his forehead and he stared at her, the skin around his eyes bunching.
She’d never seen him like that. “Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry.” He grimaced. “I think I pulled a muscle at the gym today.” His face smoothed out and his voice gentled. “I wanted to say I do believe you. I’m sorry for doubting you.”
She reached up and hugged him, but he still seemed distracted. “I don’t see anything missing,” she said.
The pictures of Carlos were undisturbed, and they were of the most value to her. She glanced around one more time, but before she could say anything, Adrian’s hands went to either side of her head. “So it’s settled, then. Let’s not talk about this anymore,” he murmured. “I have a better use for that fine mouth of yours.” He fisted his hands in her hair, tilting the bones of her jaw back with his thumbs, skimming her mouth with his lips over and over until the most delicate areas of her skin quivered and sparks of pleasure fired in her core. She arched into his kiss, straining to meet his lips and tongue, and this time, she forgot everything as the world went away.
Adrian
Driving away from Elisa’s apartment, Adrian rubbed the back of his neck. He felt extremely strange. And it was perplexing enough in itself that he would articulate to himself the word “feel.” He hadn’t allowed himself to feel for years. Emotion got in the way of doing what needed to be done. Even a moment of weakness could be fatal. It almost had been, that one night. Afterwards, as he had staggered away, bleeding and terrified, darting and weaving from shadow to shadow, he had sworn to himself: never again.
But this was worse than simple emotion. He felt... distress. It was becoming distasteful to lie to Elisa, to use her the way he used everyone around him.
He had never felt this way before.
Everything about her fascinated him. The expression of bliss on her face whenever she ate sweets, her absurd compassion, the way she twirled her hair around her index finger just like Adrian’s sister used to, how she cried every time she read a romance novel. She was so different from everyone he had known, unbelievably innocent. How could she have lived so long and remained so untouched? It made him want to touch her all over, to lay his tracks through fresh-fallen snow. He wanted to explore that unblemished skin, pale beneath his fingers, softer than silk against his mouth.
Foolish.
She was foolish.
She was beautiful.
He wanted her, but not just as a conquest. He wanted something more. Much more.
But for only the second time in his life, Adrian Salas had no idea how to get what he wanted.
11
Lonnie
LONNIE GRUMBLED TO HIMSELF as he slunk through the bushes on the way to his target. This was a boring and stupid job. Hadn’t he done enough of these to demonstrate how skillful and clever he was? When was he going to be given a chance to earn real money? He gave a quick glance to his left and right. The streets were quiet in the thin early afternoon sunlight.
“It’s a fucking easy job,” Mario had told him, “but you gotta obey orders exactly, and make sure no one sees you.”
“I got it, I got it,” Lonnie said. “But—”
Mario’s eyes were flinty. “Shut the fuck up. No questions. Now get on it. It’s gotta be done by three today.”
There was a rustle nearby and Lonnie held his breath, hand moving to the knife at his belt. He peered into the shadows behind the leaves surrounding him, caught a glimpse of movement, and froze.
“Lonnie!” came a whispered voice from behind a particularly leafy cluster of branches. “Is that you?” A figure squeezed out from under a branch and sidled up to him.
“Kim?” asked Lonnie, his mouth falling open. “Whatcha doing here?” He immediately straightened and threw his shoulders back. Kim was super hot, and hung out with all the top-ranking members of Tenebras. Way out of his league. How did she even know his name?
She stood very close, her skin dappled by shadow. She smiled, and a quiver went through his body. She had a killer smile. Not to mention boobs that didn’t quit. “Mario told me to catch up with you and give you some new orders.”
“Oh yeah?” Maybe this job wasn’t so bad if someone like Kim got sent after him.
Kim drew her shoulders together so the cleft between her breasts deepened. “Mario said to tell you that girl’s not under our protection anymore. So if you want to trash her apartment, have some fun, go ahead.”
Lonnie tore his eyes away from Kim’s cleavage. “Huh? Orders were not to touch anything.”
Kim frowned. “Things have changed. Besides, why do you care? You know what I heard her say, last time she was with the Captain?”
“What?”
“She tried to get him to stop moving slip. Said she was tired of all the ‘illegal’ crap he was doing.” Her fingers made air quotes around the word.
Lonnie squinted. “No fucking shit?”
“Biggest haul we’ve ever made, and she’s fucking trying to get us to give up all that cash. Pinching off your cut.”
“What the fuck she up to?”
“Dumbass bitch,” Kim spat. “Anyway, that’s the word. I gotta go.” She squeezed through the branches and was gone.
Lonnie squinted after her. What should he do? Now he had two different sets of orders. He didn’t dare trash the apartment or do anything obvious. The orders said to clean everything out, leave it all apparently untouched. But maybe he could do something to get even. Make that girl pay.
He hesitated in the quiet living room after emptying the contents of the stuffed blue dog into his trash bag. A row of canisters standing on the tidy kitchen counter caught his eye. Perfect.
He pulled out a packet of white powder and carefully emptied it into the tin marked “Sugar.”
Keisha
The first bell rang, and Keisha checked up and down the third floor hall. No one in si
ght. She unlocked a nondescript door and slipped inside. It was a windowless supply closet, but it was private.
It had been a frustrating couple of days. She had heard plenty of rumors about gang operations at Rockton High, but nothing other than hearsay.
Principal Robson had given her the names of a few kids he thought might be gang members. Ben Lancaster was at the top of the list.
A key rattled in the lock, and Vince Devore slipped inside. The tattoos on his arms rippled as he closed the door.
“Hey. What’s up?” Keisha asked. “Any leads?”
“Not much, but I did make contact with Lancaster and Fonseca.” Vince rubbed his jaw. “A couple of hot-headed assholes with short fuses.”
Keisha tugged at her Hello Kitty necklace. “Lancaster’s the only one I’ve been able to get to open up even a little.”
“This is the tightest I’ve ever seen a school sealed up. The entire student body’s scared—no, terrified—of Tenebras.”
Something meowed from behind a stack of boxes at the back of the room. Keisha immediately cleared her throat.
“I thought I smelled tuna fish,” Vince groaned. “Don’t tell me you ‘rescued’ another stray cat, Keisha. That’s completely unprofessional in the middle of an operation.”
“I didn’t have any choice! She was so thin.” She sent him a half-pleading, half-threatening glance.
“You’re gonna blow our cover, if Robson finds out you’re violating school rules by allowing animals into the building. Maybe you’ll even get expelled from high school.” He winked.
“Shut up,” Keisha snapped. “Let’s get back to work.”
“All right, all right, if you say so,” he grumbled, shaking his head. He sat on an open box of filler paper. “I got more info here.” He tossed her a small notebook. “The lieutenants of the gang are called Blades.”
“Any word on if the leader, the Captain, is a student or an adult?”
“Rumor says he’s a student, but shit, the extent of his reported activities scares me. He’s gotta be an adult. A student would’ve been awfully young when the gang first appeared.” He scratched his head. “There’s a lot of talk about Rapture, and how fast it’s spreading. Rumor says that Tenebras is controlling the distribution, but other rumors say that they don’t have the organization to peddle hard drugs.” He shook his head. “I’m not sure what to believe. The gang actually has what you might call PR agents spreading disinformation.”
“Kind of sophisticated for a high school gang.”
“Makes me think there are adults behind it. I’ve sent a request for a check of departmental records of organized crime in this neighborhood to see if I can scope something out.”
“Heard anything?”
“Not yet. We’re down two officers in our division. But Rapture’s spreading faster than expected, so there was no way we could’ve just sat back on this one.” He scratched under his muscle shirt. “We’re in a precarious spot. This Captain, whoever he is, is extremely well-organized, and from our intelligence, highly dangerous.”
Adrian
In another room at the opposite end of the school, Adrian sat behind a desk, wearing headphones, listening to the two cops’ conversation. Cesar and Rory sat in front of the desk, waiting for him to finish. The corners of Adrian’s mouth crooked upward slightly as Vince pronounced him “highly dangerous.” He removed the headset and placed it on the desk.
“Cesar. Perfect placement with the new bugs,” he said. “Signal strength is five by five. And it looks like they really are untraceable.”
Cesar’s voice was stern. “Good. That means Robson didn’t try to double-cross us and give us the wrong room.”
“He doesn’t dare defy us at this point.” Adrian reclined in his chair. “No chance of it.”
Rory grinned. “He belongs to you completely, Captain. Ain’t that fine?” He scratched an ear. “How long are you gonna let these cops run loose?”
Adrian shrugged. “They won’t find anything we don’t give them. But I think it’s time to spring our little trap.” He rested his chin on his knuckles. “Cesar, carry out the plan we discussed last week. Don’t forget the changes I made yesterday. I want it to come to fruition on the night of the Halloween Ball.”
Cesar nodded. “I’m on it.”
“Captain?” Rory said. “You’ve been keeping everybody busy lately with all these sudden changes to our operations. Might I ask if—”
“It’s your job to keep everyone in line.” Adrian’s voice was cold. “My orders are to be obeyed without question. Is that clear?”
Rory dropped his eyes. “Of course.”
“Do we have any preliminary reports on profits from the new operation?”
“They’ll be ready tonight,” Cesar responded. “Looks like all lines are up by over 300%.”
“Excellent. Rory, I want you to make contact with Keisha Huston as we discussed.”
They nodded and rose. As they reached the door, Adrian spoke again. “One more thing. Bring Kim Lugo here at once.”
Rory raised his eyebrows. “What did the bitch do now?”
Adrian gave him a level stare.
“Sorry,” Rory said, lifting his hands. “I’ll get her right away.”
The two left the room. Adrian shifted in his chair. It was irritating to have to deal with Kim, but necessary. His network of informants had been buzzing even more than usual lately.
His mind circled back, as it so often did these days, to Elisa, with her flood of thick auburn hair, her smooth skin and extravagant curves, her hesitant and soft voice that could turn to steel at unexpected moments. Simply thinking about her felt like traveling in unknown territory.
He had been putting her in danger.
Thoughtlessly.
It had never mattered to him before if he put any of his chess pieces at risk. If they survived, they became stronger. He had helped them to grow. If they failed—well, there were always others to lure in and put to use.
He had learned on that long-ago day that it was a terrible weakness to care for another living being, that it brought nothing but unbearable pain. He had sworn he would never make that mistake again.
But now… all of a sudden, it occurred to him that a human life might be irreplaceable.
12
Elisa
SUMIKO GRABBED Elisa’s arm. “What do you mean, you’re not going to the Halloween Ball in costume? You have to!”
“Sumiko, my mom hates Halloween. I’ve never worn a costume in my life. I’m only going this year because, well, you know.”
“Are you serious?” Chloe asked. “It’s not like it’s a religious event. Besides, isn’t your mom out of town?”
Elisa squirmed. How could she tell them it was against one of her mother’s Rules? And although she didn’t really believe in those rules anymore, it was hard to get away from ideas that had been beaten into her head all her life. “The whole Halloween thing is kind of creepy, isn’t it? All those skulls and witches and bad things. Reminders of death.”
Sumiko and Chloe exchanged a glance.
And Hell, Elisa thought but didn’t say. She didn’t believe in Hell any more, but sometimes Halloween gave her nightmares. She remembered the revival tent her mother had taken her to when she was just a little girl.
“Imagine,” the preacher had bellowed, his amplified voice echoing across the tent. “Have you ever brought your hand a little too close to a fire? You remember how it burned, how your skin heated up and turned red, maybe even blistered. Maybe you put some ointment on it but it still hurt. The painful scalding seemed to linger inside your hand long after the fire was gone.
“Now imagine the heat of the hottest bonfire you can think of. Then imagine yourself in the center of that fire, not only your hand but your entire body, your skin peeling off your flesh. Now imagine that ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times worse.
“If you commit a sin, disobey God, that is what you are dooming yourself to.
“Hell. Yes, you will go to Hell. You will roast in hellfire, not for a year, not for a thousand years, but for eternity. Eternity! In the most vicious, corroding, burning pain you could ever possibly imagine.”
She shuddered, remembering the lesson her mother had given her that evening. Elisa’s skin had blistered and bubbled as her flesh roasted in the fire. She put her hands behind her back. It had taken a long time to heal and she could still see some of the scars.
Chloe was still chattering about how much fun it was to dress up.
Sumiko peered closely at Elisa. “Are you okay?”
Anger bubbled up inside Elisa. It was time she stopped letting her mother’s rules dictate her life. She was different now. She was an adult.
“I’ll do it,” she announced.
“You’ll go in costume?” Chloe asked.
“Yeah. Adrian said it was up to me whether or not we dress up.” Feeling reckless, she said to Sumiko, “What should we go as? What’s a typical Halloween thing we could dress up as?”
Warm arms slipped around her from behind.
“Adrian!” She twisted around to return his hug. “We were just talking about costumes for the Halloween Ball. Want to dress up?”
A smile spread across his face. “I’d love to. Got any ideas?”
Chloe jumped up and down. “Ooh, I have the perfect costume idea for you two!” She elbowed Sumiko in the ribs. “Want to get together and do some sewing at my place today?” She whispered in Sumiko’s ear and both girls doubled over in laughter.
Elisa ignored them and bent to pick up some books from the bottom of her locker. “Oh, Adrian, are you free after school today? I wanted to show you something.”
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