by Dannika Dark
Either Hooper had a sharp memory of a trip Christian and I had taken to his club, or Gem had told him about Christian’s habits.
“Hooper’s a wine aficionado,” Gem gushed. “He wants to have his own vineyard someday.”
Hooper shifted in his seat and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You don’t have to tell them that. It’s just a pipe dream.”
Christian tried to stay engaged, but his gaze wandered down to the napkin littering the floor. “What a coincidence, because Gem loves—”
I kicked him under the table.
“Grapes,” Hooper finished. “That’s her third glass of grape juice.”
Gem laughed brightly, and I knew what she must have found attractive in him. It certainly wasn’t his lip rings, but Hooper had a sense of humor, and sometimes that trumped everything else.
“Hooper knows I don’t drink alcohol,” she confessed. “That’s how we met. I was looking for something alcohol-free at that party, and Hooper fixed me up with the most delicious virgin drink. What was it called again?”
Hooper swept her hair behind her shoulder and cupped the back of her neck. “Love spell.”
With a sudden lurch, Christian bent out of sight and then rose to his feet. “I need to take a walk before I get a clot in my leg.”
When my antisocial Irishman sauntered off, I noticed the wadded-up napkin in his hand. Seeing his odd quirks made me smile.
As I got up to follow him, Gem suddenly hooked her arm in mine and tagged along. “What do you think of Hooper? He’s so charming and funny, don’t you think?”
We stopped just outside the doorway to the main room. “He seems like a nice guy, but I have shitty taste in men. Remember the good detective I went out with who turned out to be certifiably insane? You’re better off not asking my opinion.”
I’d graduated from dating a serial killer to a Vampire, so in comparison, Hooper was Captain America.
She pinched her chin, a serious look on her face. “I’m pretty sure Hooper’s not diabolical.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy, and that’s saying a lot. Especially after witnessing how excited you get building a snowman.”
She twisted her mouth to the side. “Until the boys decided to pour gasoline on him to see if they could set snow on fire.”
I decided not to tell Gem how that had been my idea. I liked Gem, but I also had a penchant for mischief and dares.
I searched the busy room for Christian but didn’t see him. “I’m going to wander around. I’ll join you guys in a little while.”
When I strode past a mirror, I stopped to check myself out. Wow. Did I really think I was going to tempt Christian in my baggy sweatshirt? Disastrous. I’d left my jacket at home so I wouldn’t have to lug it around, and I’d decided against sexy clothing since I didn’t want to appear desperate, like I was throwing myself at Christian’s feet. Our relationship was currently drifting into uncharted waters, and I wasn’t sure whether to put my sail up or down.
I elbowed past a cluster of women who were going on about the travesty of women’s fashion, while another group was discussing the political hierarchy of Sensors. A group of Chitahs parted like the Red Sea to let me through to the seated areas, which were easier to walk through since most people gathered near the oval bar to watch the bartenders put on a show. Maybe it was my mean strut or lack of skimpy attire, but no one paid me notice, and that was the way I liked it.
After circling to the other side, I concluded the only logical place Christian might be was in one of the private rooms in the back. Clubs usually segregated soundproof rooms in a private hall, and they were open to anyone. Using them for extended periods or for large parties sometimes came with a fee, but most Breed places offered them to give customers a reason to come. Sometimes people wanted to talk business without Vampires eavesdropping.
When I reached the hall, I swung right and headed for room number seven—the one where I’d caught him during a sexual rendezvous.
What the hell am I about to do?
I’d walked in on him once before, and seeing him with another woman didn’t do anything but pique my curiosity. We’d barely known each other at the time, and as far as I was concerned, he was just another Vamp on a power trip.
Now he was my Vamp.
This should be interesting, I thought, approaching the door.
What would my reaction be if I caught him screwing some other woman? Anger? Relief? Laughter? Was it just straight sex, or did he sometimes drink their blood? The disturbing part was I didn’t know which of those two would upset me more. It wasn’t that I wanted to catch him philandering about, because I most definitely did not. But that annoying little voice inside my head kept whispering to brace for the inevitable. How monogamous could a Vampire be? Especially when our relationship status was currently sexless. I didn’t want to rush it as some desperate attempt to hold on to him. That wasn’t what we had agreed to.
I decided against knocking and turned the knob.
“I thought you’d never come,” he purred. “Close the door, Precious.”
Niko sat stiffly in his chair, remaining polite for Gem’s sake. It wasn’t her attentiveness for Hooper that bothered him but the small inflections in her light that were out of character. Energy was unique to each person and reflected hidden emotions. Hooper was gregarious and got along with everyone, but something felt amiss. Niko had difficulty reading his light since he didn’t know him very well.
Gem sparkled like few people did. And though she was far from being a child in their world, her blind trust would always place her in harm’s way. He didn’t know much about her past, only that she was different from other immortals her age.
Niko often found the swell of energy in a crowded room overwhelming. He couldn’t distinguish one stranger from the next, but he recognized the people closest to him. Their energy was a unique fingerprint of color, texture, and movement. Niko didn’t understand colors in the sighted world. Having never been a sighted person, all he could do was use common color names to describe the variations. He understood texture—that was something he could feel with his hands. Some energy was smooth like polished stones and some crackled. Some had light that bounced off objects around them the way water does in the shower. It had taken Niko centuries to recognize the differences and categorize them.
So it was easy to spot Claude’s smooth sage light as he entered the room. Hard to miss energy like his that towered at six and a half feet.
“Claude!” Gem called out. “Over here.”
The heavy tread of his footsteps approached. “Sorry I’m late. Someone wanted a last-minute perm. What’s shakin’?”
Though Claude must have washed his hands, Niko could still pick up the faint scent of chemicals.
“Claude, I’d like you to meet Hooper. Hooper, this is my dear friend Claude.”
Claude’s light flickered with Gem’s introduction. Most Chitahs were innately protective of women. It was harder to conceive girls among their kind, so one could assume that large families of brothers with one sister nurtured that behavior. But Niko had learned that some traits were simply instinctual.
“How’s it going?” Hooper said in greeting. “I’ve heard nothing but good things about you. Well, you and everyone else here. Gem hangs out with a motley crew.”
Claude’s energy moved lower as he seated himself in Raven’s empty chair. People often remarked that Niko was missing out on people’s subtle facial expressions and body language, but Niko had the ability to pick up a lot of information from a person’s light.
Like the fact that Shepherd was no longer engaged with the group. His energy grew dimmer by the minute.
“Hooper was just telling us about his trip to Peru,” Niko said impassively.
Hooper cleared his throat, his light pulsing with excitement. “It’s the closest you’ll ever be to God, or whatever you believe in. We hiked up to the ancient ruins on Machu Picchu. Tall mountain peaks, trees as far as the eye
can see, and in the morning, a veil of fog surrounded us and lifted with the sun.”
“Morning?” Suspicion rose in Claude’s tone. “Isn’t that a tourist place with set visiting hours?”
“Yeah, but I know a guy. They have hotels where the tourists stay, but we camped off trail—away from all the humans. If you ever want to go, give me a call and I’ll hook you up. You’ve never laid eyes on anything like it.” Hooper hesitated for a minute. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude or anything.”
Niko didn’t need to guess that the comment was directed at him. He gave a curt nod, a gesture he’d learned to avoid addressing the subject further. People accepted physical cues, one of many things his old sensei had taught him. The sighted world often felt guilty when describing things he couldn’t see, but Niko was over a thousand years old and had relinquished his envy a long time ago.
“So what are your plans with my girl?” Claude asked, a growl lingering in the back of his throat.
“Just chillin’ tonight,” Hooper said. “If she likes me enough, I might ask her out to the library.”
“Library?” Claude chuckled. “Doesn’t seem like your kind of place.”
“I spend all day working behind a bar,” Hooper explained. “It’s good to get out and do something different. Plus Gem likes books.”
That wasn’t entirely wrong, but what Hooper probably didn’t know was that most of the books Gem read were ancient language books. She didn’t devour the latest fiction from the bestseller lists—not unless she did it secretly. Based on all their conversations, Gem was fascinated by history and linguistics.
“Anyone up for a game of darts?” Hooper asked.
Gem’s chair scraped against the floor before she stood up, her light now taller. “I’m on your team.”
“I’m afraid I’ll have to decline,” Niko said.
Claude rapped his knuckles on the table. “Shep? You up for a game?”
“Not tonight.”
“Oh, come on,” Gem insisted. “We can’t play teams with only three.”
“Don’t you know I count as two?” Claude announced, his green light moving toward the dartboards.
For a moment, Gem and Hooper’s light merged, the colors rippling together like two streams converging. Niko sensed they had exchanged a kiss, and his stomach knotted. Why would a Sensor have any interest in a Mage, who could kill him during intercourse? Sexual light pooled in a Mage’s hands when aroused, and only another Mage or Vampire could handle that energy. Aside from that, a Mage couldn’t have children.
Once alone, he steered his attention toward Shepherd. “You haven’t been yourself since our last case. I’ve never seen you so sullen.”
Niko recognized the familiar sound of a match striking.
“You read into things too much,” Shepherd grumbled. “You should turn that shit off and give yourself a break. I do. You think I like constantly feeling people’s emotions?”
The smell of onion rings wafted by their table, trailed by the faint floral scent of a woman’s perfume. Then both smells were obliterated by Shepherd’s cigarette smoke.
“If I may speak plainly, your attitude changed at Patrick’s party. I’ve never seen light so black, so… infinitely layered.”
“I don’t know what the fuck that’s supposed to mean.”
“You can fool the others, but there’s no point in lying to me when I can see past your words. Does Mr. Bane have anything to do with it?”
“Keep your voice down.” Paper crackled as Shepherd pulled in another drag. “You can’t ask me that.”
Niko rose from his chair and pressed his fingers firmly against the table, knowing his Sensor friend would feel his frustration skating across the surface. “Get your jacket and follow me outside.”
Shepherd needed to get something off his chest, and Niko was growing concerned about his despondent behavior. Viktor had assembled an unlikely crew of vigilantes, but he’d never accounted for how complicated it would become to keep them out of trouble. Having a partner helped, but something told Niko that Shepherd wasn’t sharing his problems with anyone, including Wyatt.
He left the game room and turned down the hall where the restrooms were, carefully dodging people and hoping no one had placed any obstacles on the floor, like a beer bottle or purse.
Niko drew his hood over his head and exited through the back door into an alleyway. Aside from being able to smell the trash in the bins, he could also estimate the space around him by the proximity of sound and how it reverberated. Moments later, the door opened behind him and Shepherd’s familiar light emerged, crackling more intensely.
Niko harnessed his Thermal gift and increased his body temperature to take the chill off. “Is there somewhere we can sit?”
“They salted down the alley for the garbage man, so unless you want to sit in a puddle of sludge, we’re standing.”
Niko tucked his hands in his coat pockets. “Perhaps it won’t mean much, but I owe you my loyalty. I pretended to take this job seriously, but not enough to support you when it mattered. I’ve not forgotten the job where we left you behind, and it presses on me like a weight. We all carry the burden of the past on our shoulders, but what good are we to one another if we can’t be more than just a team? We’re a brotherhood, and that’s more than a tattoo on our body; it’s a vow. I can’t fix your problems, but I can listen, and maybe that’ll lift the heavy weight off your shoulders.”
Shepherd’s boot scraped against the cement and made Niko think he was stamping out his cigarette. “If you tell Viktor, I’ll be out, and you and I will be done.”
Niko gripped the pommel of his katana. “You have my word.”
After a moment of silence, Shepherd heaved a sigh. “Remember the story I told you about my woman?”
“Yes.”
“And the bomb Cristo dropped about my baby being alive?” Shepherd’s light pulsed. “I know where he is.”
Niko’s jaw slackened. The black market made it nearly impossible to track down victims, especially years after the fact. “And you’re thinking of rescuing him,” Niko concluded.
“I don’t know.”
Niko stepped forward. “What does that mean?”
Shepherd’s voice grew tight. “It means I don’t know. Going after him puts his life in danger—puts your lives in danger. The buyer threatened to take down Keystone if I make a move.”
“He knows about Keystone?”
“It’s Patrick Bane. He’s the one who has my kid.” Shepherd’s light flared with the admission, and Niko could read the truth in it.
“Your child… is Patrick Bane’s little boy? The one you saved that night when he was thrown over the banister?”
“The very one.”
Niko lowered his head, thunderstruck by the revelation. “What is your intention?”
“I don’t know.” It sounded like Shepherd kicked the wall behind him. “He’s got me in a tight spot. If I go after him, he’s going to bring us down for good, arrest me for treason, and keep my kid. If I somehow manage to kidnap my own son, I’ll spend the rest of my life on the run from Patrick’s men. He threatened to kill the boy. That arrogant pissant doesn’t love him. He’s using him like a slave.”
“Does he have special abilities?”
Shepherd sighed. “He’s both a Sensor and a Relic. His gifts didn’t cancel out. But that motherfucker wants him for something else. Maggie had a lot of knowledge about human genetics. She wouldn’t cooperate for him, so the next best thing was her kid. The boy’s too young to give him what he wants. He’s not mature enough to understand his own knowledge.”
“But soon he will be, and Patrick will have earned his loyalty as a father figure. Are you sure it’s Relic knowledge that he wants?”
“Pretty sure. For now, he’s using the kid to read people he does business with. Sensor shit, like feeling a lie. Now that I think back to those parties, I remember how Patrick would make him take empty glasses from business associates. There were plenty
of waiters to do that shit, but he was using the kid to read people. Nobody thinks twice about it because he’s told everyone the kid’s a Relic. How much you want to bet he also does it in private meetings?”
“Did he do it during the dinner he invited you to?”
“Nah. It would have been foolish on his part to try to trick a Sensor. I didn’t feel he was lying when the kid appeared from underneath the table.”
Niko considered the situation. A man like Patrick would have covered his tracks and acquired forged adoption papers. Even a DNA test to prove Shepherd was the father wouldn’t implicate Patrick in any wrongdoing. A man like him had access to private records, and he’d probably altered the documents about the child’s mother and how she died. The man who killed her was now dead, and there weren’t any other witnesses to the crime. Going after someone without sufficient evidence was slander.
Going after a member of the higher authority without proof was treason.
“Why haven’t you shared this with Viktor?”
Shepherd’s energy swirled. “He’ll think I’m unstable and cut me from the team. And he’d be right. If I were in his shoes, I’d do the same. I can’t afford to take that chance. This is all I’ve got that’s keeping me sane.”
“Viktor should know the kind of man he does business with.”
“He’s got his guard up with most people he deals with—he’s not stupid. I’ve already thought this through. If Patrick even suspects Viktor knows about the boy, he’ll get paranoid. And paranoid men are dangerous men. What if Viktor threatens him? He’s got my kid, Niko. I can’t have anything happen to that boy. He’s all that’s left of Maggie.” Shepherd’s voice broke, and he cursed under his breath.
“What good will your silence bring if this secret consumes you?”
Bright flashes in his light revealed his anger. “It’ll buy me some time. If I steal him, I’ll have to leave Keystone and spend my life in hiding. What’ll my kid think about me if I snatch him away from a big mansion where he’s got everything he could possibly want? I won’t have two pennies to rub together, and we’d be living on the streets. Patrick is the only father figure he’s ever known. You think that kid will warm up to a guy like me just because we share the same blood? He’s too young to understand. I’ll be the bad guy, and he’ll grow up hating me for taking away all his opportunities. He’s better off where he is for now.”