He was right of course, speculating wouldn’t help Brett. Best to give him the time he needed to move forward. My heart ached at the loss too, but it was barely a fraction of what my friend must be feeling.
My eyes grew hot and I cleared my throat, blinking away the threat of tears. “So what news do you have for me on the luma front?”
Lauren leaned forward again, his gaze intense. “I’ve had to stop digging.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I enjoy living, Kenna.” He sighed in exasperation. “My questions haven’t gone unnoticed, and the other day I came home to find things had been moved around.”
“You think someone was in your home?”
“I’m sure of it. I’m not saying I’m dropping the enquiry, just that I’ve passed it on to someone more equipped at getting information. I suspect that the people who want to control the luma are pretty powerful. The fact that they merely rifled through my belongings tells me that they don’t see me as a direct threat. Not yet. But if I keep digging that could change.”
I covered his clasped hands with my own. “No, of course you need to back off. I couldn’t bear it if you got hurt.”
He dropped his gaze to our hands, his throat working. “Thank you.”
There was a deeper undertone to those two words that I couldn’t decipher.
I pulled back my hand and smiled. “I need to get going, but I’ll check in soon, I promise.”
He smiled wistfully. “Yes, you always do.”
I left with that damn ache in my chest again, and a feeling that there was so much about Lauren I simply wasn’t seeing.
CHAPTER13
“H
ow’s Brett doing?” Kev asked me as I topped up on my daily dose of caffeine—I liked it milky and sweet. The coffee lounge was empty except for us. It was a cosy space, with a couple of sofas, a table and chairs, kettle, ice box, and sink. Recently I was hiding in here more and more. My workspace next to Brett felt lonely and tense, even with the big guy sitting right there.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. He doesn’t talk about it. It’s like Danny never existed.” It was like I didn’t exist half the time. He’d also been coming in late on a regular basis, looking like shit, and reeking of booze. Blane wanted to have a chat with him but I’d begged him to cut Brett some slack. If things carried on like this though, even my sweet talk wouldn’t be able to stop Blane following through on his threats. Fearless didn’t have the luxury of grieving, because if we fell apart people could die.
“Ah, shit. I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, me too.” I really missed my best friend. “They were good together. Just makes me shy off relationships even more.”
“Nah, you can’t stop loving just cos it might be taken from you.”
A couple of months ago I would have said the same thing, but seeing the light die in Brett’s eyes, seeing the essence that made him the man he was eaten away in the aftermath of his loss, had changed my world view. If Blane hadn’t been Fearless I would probably have broken it off.
Kev was watching me curiously. “It’s why the Fearless dating Fearless rule is dumb.”
“There’s a rule?”
Kev smirked. “Have you not read the handbook?”
“Yeah, of course I read the 800-page tome.” I rolled my eyes.
Kev leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms. “Yeah, it’s in there, just so you know.”
He was hinting at Blane and me. No wonder Blane was so anal about us not being affectionate at work. I’d just thought dating the boss was a no-no. I hadn’t considered the possibility that it was an actual rule.
I cleared my throat. “Yep, it’s a dumb rule. At least dating a Fearless means you know they won’t be taken from you by the tithe. If they die you’ll know exactly what killed them”
“Closure.”
I drained my mug and rinsed it out at the small sink.
“See you at the ball tonight?”
He shook his head. “Beta isn’t on duty.”
“Aw, I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “I went a couple of years ago.” He shuddered. “Trust me I don’t need to go again.”
Every couple of years the government threw a ball in honour of Erebus and his clan. The elusive creature himself was always in attendance, as were four Fearless units in plain clothes. You know, just in case. Alpha unit had drawn the short straw this year, and I had mixed emotions about the whole thing; and by the whole thing I meant Brett.
He’d been so closed off since Danny had been taken two months ago that I was afraid he was overdue for an explosion of some kind. I just hoped it wasn’t at the ball. Tonight we had to be ready for anything.
Leaving Kev to his ministrations I made my way back onto the main floor. My plan was to get home early, take a long bath, and then doll myself up for the event of the year. But otherworld denizens waited for no man, and just as I reached my desk my radio crackled to life.
Brett looked up from his laptop screen, his dead eyes flaring to life. “Let’s go kill something.”
I followed him out to our rides, my chest tight with fear over what my friend was becoming.
***
“Wow!” Blane’s brown eyes glowed with appreciative warmth as they raked over me.
Warmth unfurled in my belly. “If you keep looking at me like that people might get the right impression.”
But that didn’t stop him of course, and my cheeks grew uncharacteristically warm. Blane knew how to make me feel wanted with just a look. That look told me that the midnight-blue evening gown that mum said brought out the silver highlights in my white blonde hair, had been worth every penny. For a moment I forgot that I had Frieda strapped to my thigh, or that I was on duty. For a moment I allowed myself to be a woman basking in the admiring gaze of her lover.
We were hovering on the edge of the ballroom. I’d been people watching; doing my job as undercover Fearless, but Blane was here in an official capacity. He looked pretty hot in his uniform of dark trousers, crimson shirt, and dark blazer. His chest was decorated with badges that signified his position on the force.
There were other officials here too: government officials, law enforcement officials, and the rich and famous. They mingled and made small talk while waiting for the star guest.
Erebus.
“Does he always like to make an entrance?” I asked Blane.
Blane smiled. “He doesn’t need to. That creature could stop traffic with a look.”
I glanced at the main entrance.
“Oh, he won’t come through there.” Blane looked up to the balcony. “That’s where he’ll be.”
“So, he won’t be mingling with the little people?”
Blane chuckled. “Hardly. Besides, there’s some official business that needs to be discussed.” He cleared his throat and fingered his collar.
He was hiding something.
“Has this got anything to do with these meetings you’ve been going to?”
Blane pressed his lips together.
“Oh, come on!”
He sighed. “Yeah. Some decisions have been made.”
“What kind of decisions? Commander-type decisions?” I hadn’t had the pleasure of Commander Raines’ company yet, but Blane had met him on a handful of occasions. Usually spur of the moment meetings that had clashed with our plans to meet up. So yeah, I wasn’t a big fan.
He locked eyes with me. “You really do look beautiful. When this is all over I’m taking you on a proper date.”
“Promises, promises.” But dates weren’t in our future. Not with the rules against us. It wouldn’t stop me dreaming though, or holding on to him, to the illusion of us, for as long as I could. Who knew, maybe the rules would change some day.
A ripple of excitement skimmed over the gathered guests. I set down my flute of champagne—it had been merely for show anyway. My eyes scanned the balcony area and then my heart skipped a beat as the creature we had all been waiting for appeared.
Erebus stood at least seven feet tall. His dark upper body was a mass of indigo muscle, his eyes shards of silver in an awful feral face; all harsh lines and dispassion. His hair was completely white, falling down his back in a tight braid. I noted the paper-thin scars that criss-crossed the left side of his face. He looked nothing like the depictions in the old texts I’d seen.
“Oh, lord . . .”
Blane snorted. “Yeah, I didn’t think djinn would look so human either.”
Human? I glanced sharply at him before comprehension dawned. I had my veil down. He didn’t see what I saw. I focused on pulling up the veil to see what lie Erebus showed the world. My vision blurred and I caught a flash of a tailored suit, short silver hair, and pale eyes. The dark skin was replaced by a dusky complexion, and his whole physique was smaller and more compact.
Why would he present himself in such an unassuming form? Surely he wanted us to cower before him. It made no sense for him to hide his ferocious appearance.
I dropped the veil again, needing to see the real Erebus, needing to see what we were dealing with, and then four more djinn stepped out of thin air behind him. They were half a foot shorter but fearsome nonetheless, with varying degrees of darkness to their skin. Two had hair of the deepest crimson and eyes like molten lava. The other two had inky black tresses and obsidian irises. Their chests heaved as their deadly regard roved over the crowd gathered below them.
I averted my gaze, not wanting to be caught looking, and that’s when I saw him—a short wiry man in a cheap grey suit. There was nothing to flag him, aside from his shitty taste in clothing, but alarm bells went off in my head regardless, and a queasy feeling kicked up in the pit of my stomach.
“Just stay close to the exits,” Blane said. I felt him leave, but I was fixated on the little man. He was standing by a floor decoration—one of those bust things that are supposed to lend the room an opulent air. A small smile played on his lips.
I focused, trying to see past the facade, trying to see if he was who he seemed to be.
Nothing.
He was just a man. An ordinary man. And then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a plain wooden box with a silver clasp.
Bile crawled up my throat and I gulped it back.
Wrong.
Something was wrong.
Movement above me on the balcony.
But I wasn’t thinking. I was already in motion, weaving toward the man as he made to undo the clasp. The wrongness was a screech in my mind as I took the last few feet at a run, tackling the man to the ground and knocking the box from his grasp.
It clattered across the marble floor.
“What are you doing? Get off me!” His eyes were wide with desperate fear.
He thrashed beneath me, tangled in the folds of my very expensive designer dress. What had I done? This was crazy. He was just a guy. I opened my mouth to apologise but a shadow fell over us and the little man froze. I scrambled off him and straightened, turning to address the owner of the shadow, but my words withered on my lips under the intense scrutiny of the djinn that held us all captive.
CHAPTER14
“W
hat is your name?” Erebus’s voice was a rumble that vibrated through my bones.
“Kenna.” It was all I could manage. My chest felt like there was a weight sitting on it. I couldn’t breathe. He was too close, too cosmic.
Behind him the other djinn moved round to flank me.
Shit, what had I done? I wanted to look away. Look for help. But he had me trapped in his silver sights.
“May I kill the man?” asked the djinn to Erebus’s left. His words broke my paralysis, and I took a step in front of the small man, mustering my best glare for the dark-haired djinn who had just spoken.
“No, you may not kill him.”
Erebus reared back, his nostrils flaring.
I held up my hands in a placating gesture. “It’s a party. Surely it would be in bad taste?”
Erebus’s djinn moved in tighter and the air began to grow thin. The dark-haired djinn leaned in to Erebus to whisper something I didn’t catch. Erebus rewarded him with a slow blink. The djinn stepped back into position.
“Why did you tackle him?” Erebus asked me.
Because I’m a dick? Fucking hell I went gaga over a box, why the hell had I done that? It didn’t matter now. I had to come up with a viable excuse or risk looking like the idiot I was. “I thought he had a weapon, but . . . it was just a box.” I pointed in the direction the box had clattered.
One of the crimson haired djinn broke away from the group and went to retrieve the box. He carried it back between index finger and thumb, his lip curled in disgust, his lava eyes flashing with rage.
“See, just a box.” I turned to the small man. “So sorry for, erm . . . attacking you.”
But the small man wasn’t paying me any attention. His gaze was fixed on Erebus, his body trembling like a leaf.
He fell to his knees. “Forgive me oh great entity. Forgive my transgression. I was coerced and seduced. I am a fool. A helpless fool grovelling for his life.”
Erebus took the box. He held it easily in the palm of his huge right hand. I noticed the cuff at his wrist; thick, silver, and plain, yet somehow mesmerising. He flipped the lid with a finger nail of his left hand.
My stomach cramped and I almost lost my supper.
A curl of purple smoke rose up into the air. It hovered for a moment and then dissipated, taking my nausea with it. Erebus snapped the box closed and dropped it on the ground. His expression was calm, almost dispassionate, but his eyes were incandescent pools of fury.
When he spoke, his voice was an icy wind that ripped at my skin. “Assassination attempts are in poor taste,” he lifted his chin to glare up at the balcony.
Assassination? I followed his gaze to see a couple of well-known government officials, including the head of Fearless division, back away from the railing.
“Your magicks and concoctions won’t work on me, so save yourselves the trouble.”
Shadows rose off his shoulders, winding around his torso. I kept my eyes on his face, not wanting to give away what I could see.
The Fearless Senior Official stepped forward, his face a pale smudge of guilt. “Erebus, believe me, we knew nothing of this. This man does not work for us. Guards seize him!”
The little man began to whimper.
Erebus’s wicked lips curved in an equally wicked smile. “No, please. Allow me.” His arm shot out, the thick silver cuff at his wrist winking in the light as his fingers wrapped around the man’s throat. A sharp crack echoed around the room. Erebus opened his hand and the man fell to the ground.
I stared at the dead body then back up at Erebus, too stunned to speak.
Erebus took a step toward me, his eerie pale eyes raking over my face. “All humans blend into one. They all look the same, but I will remember your face.” He stepped back, taking his djinn guards with him. “Until next time.” He swept out the main doors, his entourage of djinn clinging to him like menacing shadows.
Silence lay over the room like a comforter for the space of two heartbeats, and then the gathering erupted into a cacophony of sound. Someone gripped my elbow and tugged. I blinked up at Blane and allowed him to pull me across the floor and into a side room filled with books. Blane shut the door and rushed back over to me, his hands on my shoulders, his gaze attempting to lock on mine, but I was seeing Erebus; his blazing eyes and his ferocious face. He still filled my vision like the corona of the sun.
“Kenna? Kenna! Are you okay?”
I shook my head to clear it, inhaling and exhaling to reclaim my equilibrium. As I did, the events of the night fell into place like a neat puzzle, the meetings Blane had been going to, the discussion he said the government would be having with Erebus, and finally the poor unfortunate man who had tried to assassinate a monster with nothing but a box of purple smoke.
“You planned this. They planned to kill him? What were you thinki
ng?”
“Shhhh! Fucking hell Kenna keep it down!” He reached for me with trembling fingers.
It was the first time I’d seen him truly scared. I blew out a breath and asked again in my inside voice. “What were you thinking?”
Blane began to pace. “It was a powerful incantation, uttered for thirty days straight by thirteen shamans. It was supposed to bind him. We need to take back control Kenna, and if we could make him work for us for free, stop the tithe, then maybe we’d get somewhere.”
Somewhere like dead. Like the poor man with a broken neck, who I now knew had simply been a delivery boy.
Blane turned to me. “What the hell made you attack him?”
I wasn’t about to tell him that the guy had made me literally sick. “He looked shifty, and when he put his hand into his coat I thought he was going for a weapon.”
Blane stared steadily at me for a long second, and I schooled my face into innocent sincerity.
He sighed. “Well, it’s over now. We won’t be getting a chance like that again. He probably won’t come to the next ball.”
“Can you blame him?”
Blane shot me a sharp look. “Whose side are you on?”
“Not the side of stupidity.”
“What?”
“Your plan was stupid. Simple.”
“Maybe. But he wouldn’t even have caught on if you hadn’t rugby tackled the delivery guy.”
I opened my mouth to retaliate then snapped it shut. It was a pointless argument. What was done was done.
Blane rubbed his hand across his face. “Look, there’ll probably be repercussions to all this so we need to be prepared. After what we just tried to do, if he is keeping shit at bay, he’ll probably sit back and let it come on over.”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t work that way. He signed a treaty. He gave us his word.”
“We just tried to bind him.”
“Djinn 101, babe, their word is their bond. Literally. If that treaty was worded precisely then there’s little he can do to break it, as long as we keep up our end.”
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