by D. N. Hoxa
Well, they had certainly deserved to die. I was just going to have to work with what I had.
***
I was taken to a room I hadn’t seen the last time I was in that Base. It was bigger than my old one, so I wasn’t complaining. I was going to meet with the heads of the other Bases in the morning, and from what I’d heard, Edison wanted to be there, too. It sure was going to be a long morning. I asked Aaron to come spend the night with me and have me, but he refused. He said he had many things to take care of, and he would be lucky if he could get at least a couple of hours of sleep. It was okay, though. I had the rest of eternity to spend with him by my side each night.
My father came to meet me, too. He cried when he saw me, which was less weird than it sounds, because I now apparently had that kind of effect on people.
When I was finally alone in my new room, I took the sun-shaped necklace in my hands and admired its beauty. I was a second away from manipulating its essence and turning it into a book once again, when I felt something.
I’d always been able to feel other supernaturals. It was like being pierced with needles all over my skin—not an entirely unpleasant sensation. But this time, it was different. Like the needle had changed. I didn’t realize why until I saw the portal appear on the wall to my left. Huh. I could feel portals now, too.
I sat on my bed and waited for whoever was going to drop in front of me—totally uninvited, I might add. When I saw Kyahen’s surprised face, I smiled brightly. His wide, black eyes reminded me of my own—and of those of Nijara—and I wanted to rip them apart just as much as I had the first time I saw them.
A heartbeat later, he spoke.
“You’ve changed.”
He wasn’t exactly surprised to state the obvious, but he wasn’t completely unimpressed, either. Still, I had to hand to him. He was the only one who could see it so far, better than anybody else I knew. That was exactly why I needed him.
“And you’ve become smarter,” I teased with a grin.
“I see.” He started to walk toward me with that brilliant velvet black suit he sported, cut to perfection for his flawless body. “Who have you become?”
I lazily stood up and walked over to him, deep into his personal space.
“Stronger,” I whispered against his lips.
He leaned in even closer. His lips practically touched mine now, and I could feel the energy of his magic, drawing me in. It was weak, to say the least. But a tickle on the surface of my skin. Couldn’t imagine why I ever thought I couldn’t handle him.
“You’ve crossed to the other side.” He no longer tried to hide his surprise.
“Tell me, Kyahen, what does your service really cost?” My fingertips touched the corner of his mouth. His cold skin chilled my bones for a second. And then he took a step back.
“I am here to about your upcoming meeting in New York,” he said, almost completely stunned.
“What about it?” I asked, smiling evilly.
“After your presentation at the SKO conference ended with success, I am here to declare my full service for whatever needs you may have, to help with the issue in hand.”
“Which is?” Games were still my favorite sport.
“The potion. The war against Samayan and his followers. Dividing the Council and building our army.”
Suddenly, as if I had awoken from a long sleep, the pieces clicked together in my head.
Holy shit, Kyahen was right! I had to go to that meeting. I had to manipulate the SKO into working for me. If I could do that, taking Samayan by the balls was going to be so goddamn easy, it was ridiculous!
“You offer me your services, so I’m going to ask you again. At what cost?” I knew that even I wasn’t strong enough to outlive a debt to the fey. Some rules made by the universe itself were meant to stay unbroken forever.
“No cost. I offer my services for the greater good. I do have honor.”
For the first time since he got there, a smile touched his lips. A smile I was all too glad to wipe off again.
“Honor is for the weak,” I said. “I will call for you when your assistance is needed.”
I blew him a kiss and got into bed. A second later, the air in the room was released from the tension of Kyahen’s magic, and I immediately fell soundly asleep.
6
——————————
The next morning, I woke up humming some tune to myself. The day was good and new, and my plans were soon going to be set in motion. I even bothered to put on some makeup before I turned for the door, smiling. It opened before my hand even touched the knob.
Red, curly hair made my blood almost freeze. Audrey greeted me with a bright, fake smile plastered on her face.
“You survived,” I mumbled and didn’t even try to hide how unhappy that made me feel.
“I did, and if it wasn’t for Aaron, you wouldn’t have.” She even raised her chin at me.
“Good thing it was me that got taken and not you. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered.” Audrey wasn’t worth my time, sure, and I should’ve probably just dropped it. But like I said before, games were just too much fun. And I loved to watch her smile falter.
“Listen, Star,” she said my name like it was a deadly virus, and she might have been closer to the truth than she thought, “you may think you have him now, but I’ve been with him all my life. We both know who he’s going to end up with.”
“You know, delusion is a mental illness. Just saying.” I was unable to keep the smile off my face, especially when she walked over to me and raised her finger right in front of my face.
“Listen to me, you bitch. I know you only want him because of what he is, and it won’t be long until he figures it out. Everybody knows it, too!”
“And what makes you think so?” I was trying my best to keep from laughing.
“Because I’ll tell him!” was her wise reply. “I’ll tell him who you are. I’ll tell him…” She stopped, as if she was suddenly afraid of her own words.
“Tell him what?”
“I’ll tell him you threatened me.” She grinned. “I’ll tell him you beat me.” She was getting closer and closer to what was about to actually happen.
“You do know that he can sense truth, don’t you?”
What I didn’t expect her to do was laugh.
“Don’t be stupid, Star. Like I said before, I’ve known Aaron all my life. I know how to get around his powers.” Her mischievous smile suited her face perfectly. “If I actually believe that something happened, there is no way he can know if it’s a lie, because as long as I believe it, it’s a truth.”
Well, would you look at that? Audrey wasn’t as stupid as I thought she was. That was actually a grand idea! I should’ve thought of it myself.
I took a step closer to her. “Oh, Audrey, what kind of an enemy would I be to you if I let you lie?” Her red brows raised in confusion. “No, you won't have to lie to Aaron. You can tell him all of that because it’s going to be the truth.”
She didn’t expect my fist to connect with her face because she didn’t react, and I knew she could’ve at least tried to block me. I’d seen her fight. It wasn’t going to matter, anyway. Maybe that’s why she didn’t bother to even put her arms up.
“You think you can come in my room and threaten me with empty words? You think you scare me, you little shit?” I shouted as I grabbed her curls and threw her against the door. “You actually thought that I won't beat the hell out of you, just because you’ll tell Aaron I did?” Did she think I was a kid?
She started to scream after that, but it was fine. I didn’t care who could hear. No one could deny me the right to make her bleed. She came into my room, she tried to threaten me, she said outright that she was going to manipulate Aaron into thinking that I was just using him. Which was a pity, because I wasn’t. He was one of the few that I would never hurt.
I don’t know how long I threw her against walls and took her breath away with my fists, but soon the door op
ened and a wide-eyed Aaron jumped forward to stop my feet from kicking Audrey, who was now lying face first on the floor.
“What the hell are you doing?” he hissed at me.
I took a step back.
“She started it,” I said calmly.
He grabbed Audrey by the shoulders and pulled her to her feet. As soon as she could stand on her own, she started to cry hysterically and ran out the door.
“Audrey, wait!” Aaron called and actually wanted to go after her. Un-fucking-believable.
“Yeah, go ahead, run after her. Leave me again and run after her again!” I shouted at him, angry as hell.
He turned to me. “What the hell has gotten into you, Star? What—”
“She threatened me! She came in my room and threatened me. What the hell was I supposed to do, hug her?” Had I not had the thick walls around my feelings up, he would’ve felt the truth of my words. But now that I could hold them, he could only judge by what he heard.
“She’s no match for you, Star! You knew that. Did you have to—”
“Yes, I did!” Was he serious? “I did have to beat her. Go ahead, run after her, Aaron. Maybe I’ll just call Arturo to keep me company while you tend to her broken heart and bones.” My words were laced with venom, and I hit him right where it hurt.
Aaron came to me so fast, I didn’t have time to stop him before he slammed my back against the wall and grabbed my face in his hands.
“Don’t you dare say that again. Do you hear me? Not ever,” he hissed against my face and watched my lips as if he were going to tear them apart any second now.
I felt a longing in my stomach, a warmness that spread through me instantly, as I looked into his troubled eyes.
“No one is going to keep you company but me. Say it.” He tightened his grip around my chin, igniting the fire in my center, as twisted as it might sound. “Say it! You’re mine.”
“I’m yours.”
It was no secret, and he knew it. There was no denying that. What I didn’t understand was the stab of guilt inside my chest that suddenly wouldn’t let me focus. He gave me a quick, almost hateful kiss on my lips and let me go.
“You’ve gone too far,” he whispered and turned to the door again, leaving me alone and completely stunned. “This isn’t over, Star.”
***
I looked for Jack for about half an hour before I finally found him taking a shower in his room. I opened the door to his bathroom just as he turned the water off.
“It’s called privacy, you know,” he said, not even bothering to wrap the towel around his hips. Well, I didn’t mind either.
“Where is Marie?”
“Well, good morning to you, too. I heard about what you did to Audrey.” He spit dryly and stepped out of the shower. I followed him to his room while he got dressed. “That was fucked up, Star. That girl has suffered enough.”
“Look, I really don’t have the time to tell you how she came into my room and threatened to manipulate Aaron away from me if I didn’t walk away first. Where is Marie, Jack?”
I was bored out of my mind already.
“You know why Audrey left here? We grew up together, the three of us…”
“I don’t care.”
As if I hadn’t even said anything, he continued to speak.
“We were best friends. Until she saw her family get ripped apart right in front of her eyes.” When he had a pair of jeans on, he stepped in front of me. “Everyone. Her parents, her brother, her two sisters.”
“Jack, I really need to see Marie, right now.”
“What the hell happened to you?” He took a step back to look at me like I’d just become a three-headed alien.
“Where the hell is she?!”
I was losing it fast, and I was pretty sure he could see it. For a second, Jack was as still as a statue, and then he flinched.
“She and Arturo are coming in today with the heads of the other Bases,” he whispered.
Was that so damn hard?
“Good. Send her to me as soon as you see her.”
I made for the door, but he spoke again.
“You’ve changed, all right. But think about it, Star. What would you have done if Ella was killed right in front of your eyes and there was nothing you could do about it?”
I was a hair away from blowing all the air of this place at him and breaking every single bone of his cold body. I didn’t. I walked out and closed the door instead.
The thoughts of the weaker me were growing stronger every time someone thought I gave a fuck and they tried to lecture me. But Ella was fine. She didn’t get killed in front of my eyes. And if anyone tried today, I would move heaven and earth to stop them.
Still, for a whole minute, my own mind screamed at me. It told me that I was going to regret what I was doing, and that I shouldn’t in any way try to get to Samayan or find that potion he’d fed me. It told me not to try and make the damn mind-controlling potion myself and give everyone a little dose of it, just enough to make them human.
It told me that I was going to lose Ella and Aaron.
It knew nothing.
As soon as I drowned that stupid voice out, I realized I needed to get more of the red potion inside my system asap.
I opened the door to Kyle’s room without knocking and found him hunched over his laptop. He jumped back, startled.
“Samayan. I need his whereabouts,” I said in a rush. His eyes widened, and then he let out a girly scream that I’m pretty sure was supposed to be a laugh. I ignored it. “How fast can you come up with it?”
“That’s not possible, and you know it, Raven.” He flinched. “Star. I mean, no one—not one person, supernatural or otherwise, has ever been able to locate Samayan.” Kyle shrugged like that was all there was to it. “It’s impossible.”
“Everything seems impossible until it’s done,” I said, grinning.
“I know the saying, but it still doesn’t matter. This is impossible. I can’t…I can’t say that I can do it. I can’t promise…”
Impatience made my hands pull up in fists, but unfortunately, I’d promised Ella that I wouldn’t hurt Kyle, so I had to bite my tongue and hold myself. I took a piece of paper and I wrote my old friend Arsenal’s name on it, along with the few details I knew about him.
First name John, master in observation spells, lacks his right leg, and so on. He was my only hope now. Since I wasn’t going to have time to go talk to him personally before the meeting with the SKO, I asked Kyle to arrange a video chat with him if possible, kind of like the one I had with Vladimir.
And at the thought of Vlad, the hairs on my arms stood up. A smile spread across my face. God, I’d completely forgotten to think about how pleasurable his torturing was going to be. My, my. I could see him, right that second, sitting in Horatio’s wonder chair, while silver sprayed all over his torn face, and he screamed and screamed and screamed…
“I have news from Samuel.” Kyle’s voice brought me back to the present. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t talk to him since my hardware was destroyed—something you told me would never happen.” My eyes rolled because he, too, thought I gave a fuck, and honestly, it dawned on me that people just expected too much from me. “But I got some words.”
He handed me a small piece of paper with only a paragraph written on it.
Apparently, Sam had manned up and spoken to his daughter Amber Hawk, one of the original SKO members, and managed to get her to talk. She’d had told Sam that they still didn’t believe me personally but that the proof I’d presented at the conference got them closer to the edge.—the edge being the line Samayan’s little puppets had to cross to my side. Because that’s what this was. My side.
And, the funniest thing, he mentioned Everett Hapsburg, too. The Council’s one and only werewolf. Amber had gotten word from him that he was going to be present, too. I could already imagine how that was going to look. He would no doubt take twice as many soldiers with him than last time. But I had Marie and I was going
to use her the best possible way.
“Great. Now, find Arsenal as soon as you can. I’ll be back soon. I have people who think they’re important to meet,” I said reluctantly and headed for the door.
“Wait, Star. I…I wanted to say that…you know, Ella and I—”
“Tell me something, did you approve of her turning into a vamp?” His eyes widened.
“No. Yes. I mean, I don’t know. I guess I just…” He shook his head, completely at loss for words.
“You know, I did promise her that I wouldn’t hit you. With anything: hands, feet or weapons. But I will tell you this, and of course, it is absolutely not a threat, since she forbade me to do that, too, so do not take it as one. But, if you go further than second base with her, I will crash your balls with my fists and chop your dick off and feed it to someone. Or something. I haven’t really figured that part out yet. So, keep your dick in your pants until she gets bored of you and dumps your ass. Okay?”
I didn’t think he was even breathing at that point. But it was my job, as the older sister, to make sure that my little sister didn’t get screwed by nerdy computer freak guys. Even more so now that she was a vampire. She needed to be careful.
“And remember, not a threat. At all, ‘kay?”
Since I was sure he wouldn’t have anything to say for about five more minutes, I turned around and left the room.
As if I didn’t know exactly how boring and time-wasting my morning was going to be, Jack found me, no hint of amusement in his dark eyes. He took me to a room, which wasn’t much except for a couple of old recliners and some half-broken chairs. It was filled with people I’d never seen before, and Aaron. No, wait! Old master Smith was there, too, looking as old as always.
“Star, these are the representatives of the six RR Bases across the country,” Jack said.
I moved forward without hesitating and took my seat in one of the two recliners.
“Well, sit down,” I said to the others, all of them men. Typical.
When Aaron dragged a chair to come sit next to me, I smiled at him. That’s until I saw the cold look on his face. What was his problem?
“Present yourselves,” I said when I realized that they weren’t going to speak themselves any time soon. It was actually the first time that they weren’t looking at me like they couldn’t believe how young I was, so that was refreshing.