by Amber Riley
“Nothing has changed between those two,” Sullivan observed. He was standing by the door, ready to leave. He held Lyn’s jacket out in front of him so she could slip into it.
She walked over and turned her back to him. Her big brown eyes found me, and she smiled. What happened with her? She was almost too all right with us being monsters now. I knew it was what I had hoped for, but something was strange. No one becomes that okay with it that quickly.
“No,” I said absentmindedly. I flinched as Stu missed a ceramic statue by an inch. “I don’t think they ever will.”
We watched their fight for a few moments in silence while Lyn adjusted the scarf Flo had given her. It was impossible that anyone had missed the bruises on her neck, but I was grateful that none of them had actually said anything. Alex would get over it, and no one else would hold it against me.
Lyn glanced nervously at the fight happening on the other side of the room, confused that no one was reacting to it. She leaned over to me and whispered, “I only have sneakers.”
I looked down at her white running shoes. “What’s wrong with them?”
“Your dress code,” she said.
I smiled. I couldn’t help it. “Don’t worry. I know a guy who knows a guy who can get you in.”
“All right,” Stu yelled. “Uncle. You win. Let’s go.” Flo stopped behind him and kicked the back of his knee so he fell forward. He stumbled but didn’t fall. He chuckled, taking off after her.
It looked like we weren’t taking a car. I looked awkwardly at Lyn. I was going to have to carry her, but I wasn’t sure how she would like it. It would be fast. Very fast. There was only one way to find out.
Sullivan waited in the alley behind The Amaryllis with me while Lyn threw up. I winced each time she gagged. By the time she was finished, I thought she had left all of her intestines on the cement, but she said she felt much better. I couldn’t imagine anyone feeling good after that, but she looked less green around the gills than when I set her back on her feet.
Inside, The Amaryllis was filled to capacity with scantily dressed women and men wearing too much cologne. The music was vibrating through the floor, and some of the Halloween decorations were still up from the night before. There were a few new faces working. A pair of platinum blonds were working with Max behind the bar, and there was a muscular man at the door checking IDs.
With Jessica gone, I had been a little nervous that my cover would be blown. Somehow, Max had managed on his own though. I suppose that meant I needed to promote him or give him a raise. I folded my arms and leaned against the back wall. It could be tricky if he didn’t stop running away from me all the time.
With Flo dancing and Stu chatting up girl after girl, it was no wonder we weren’t getting much done. At least Sullivan was checking the perimeter. Lyn was doing exactly what she was supposed to be doing: staying in my direct line of vision. Her roommates had shown up. Strangely coincidental if you ask me, but she seemed happy to see them.
I, on the other hand, was miserable. There were so many people—warm people with fast heartbeats and pulsating veins. It was harder than usual for me to be around them. I had tasted real blood after such a long time. Now that goop I used to get from Merv made me gag, and with my senses peaked again, I had to force down twice as much. It still didn’t seem like enough, but I needed to try to ration the supply in the mini-fridge.
A girl with black hair and too much cleavage caressed my arm as she walked by. I gave her a cold look and walked away before she could talk me into taking her somewhere else. Max spotted me and rushed to the other end of the bar. I rolled my eyes. I just didn’t understand.
“I don’t see any enemies,” Sullivan stated, meeting me near the back door. “I believe we’re alone tonight.”
“Probably.” I glanced at Lyn. She was fine as long as she stayed inside. There wasn’t anything supernatural inside but us. “I’m going up to the roof for a minute. Do you want to come?”
He nodded, following me outside and up the ladder attached to the wall. The atmosphere of the city surrounded us. It was a giant buzzing energy. It was what most people were attracted to and what I hated most about the city.
“Is there any particular reason for this?” Sullivan asked.
“To make sure the alleys are clear,” I lied.
“You have to do that from up here?”
I walked to the edge of the building and looked down the street. It was lined with bright lights and glowing signs. Vehicles drove by honking their horns at each other. Drunk girls were cackling from the sidewalk. I wasn’t going to get any peace and quiet here, but the air was fresher.
“No,” I answered. “I just wanted to get away for a minute.”
“Things will work out. They always do.” He stuck his hands in his jeans pockets. “You shouldn’t think on it so much.”
“They don’t always work out. And I’m not.” I shrugged. “I’m not really worried about myself. I’ll be all right even if we lose. I can get away again when the time is right. If we lose …” I couldn’t finish the sentence.
“If we lose,” he continued for me, “you will go back to Spain and resume your duties. We will survive as best we can and wait for your return.”
“I won’t come back to New York. It won’t be the same after they get their hands on it. I’ll go somewhere else. Somewhere remote.”
“And Lyn?”
I stared across the sleepless city and cracked my knuckles. “If she doesn’t get killed, then she will be dead of old age before I could come back for her.”
“If we win?” He paused. “Would you still like me to erase her mind?”
“Yes,” I answered softly. I listened to the hustle and bustle of the street below. “As soon as we can.”
“Well, as they say, one bridge at a time,” he told me. There was a strange edge to his voice. I wanted to ask him for his honest opinion, but I was too worried that it would be something I didn’t want to hear. “It’s just about closing time. Shall we?”
I didn’t want to go back inside. I knew I’d start to feel real hunger soon, and I didn’t want to be confronted with it. My body could handle only so much under stress.
But I had to go, and when we got into the building, I noticed that Stu’s hand was very close to being inappropriately placed on Lyn’s hip. I checked my temper. There was nothing worse than acting irrationally and making a fool out of oneself.
“I promise to bring her home later,” he was saying. I crept closer and saw her two roommates trying to pull her toward the door. Stu kept his hand around her and winked at the girls. “I promise.”
The tattooed roommate let go of Lyn’s wrist. “As long as you promise.”
“I do,” he insisted, smiling. They practically skipped to the door. “Let’s find Kaden so we can get you—”
I popped up in front of him. “Thanks.”
“What just happened?” Lyn asked.
Stu grinned. “I can hypnotize humans with my voice. Pretty cool, huh? I tried to show you earlier, but I got pelted with a spoon.”
“So…” She paused and thought for a second. “What can you do?” she asked me.
I glared at Stu. He still needed to learn how to keep his mouth shut. “Let’s go home.” The crowd was starting to thin, and I didn’t want to be overheard. “Go get Flo. We’ll meet them outside.”
Stu saluted me before walking away. I didn’t understand how he could be that happy and energetic all the time. It was unnatural.
Sullivan was near the back door, watching Max curiously. I wondered if Max had scurried away from him too. Perhaps he was sensitive to supernatural things and unconsciously avoided us. It would make sense.
“He’s just a little highly strung,” I said. “Don’t pay any attention to him.”
Sullivan’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not that.”
Before I could ask what he meant, Max was walking toward me. For the first time, he was actually moving in my direction and not the other way
. “You’re not leaving, are you?” he called from behind the bar.
He had my full attention—that was for sure. “I was planning on it. Why?”
“Can I talk to you in the office first?”
I shifted on my feet. “Two minutes.”
“There’s been an officer here asking questions about you,” he said as he fumbled with the key to the office door. “An Officer Gorski.”
Gorski. That was Lyn’s ex-boyfriend. He really didn’t give up. What is he looking for? I wondered. He wouldn’t find anything that would hold up in court. Things that could make him suspicious, yes, but solid evidence of any crimes, no.
“Questions about what?” I asked.
“Jessica.” His face was red and blotchy, and his heart was pounding. He shrugged his big shoulders and fell silent. Something was rotten in Denmark.
“All right, Max,” I said slowly as he shut us into the office. “You’ve been avoiding me since you started working here. What’s going on? You wanted to talk, so talk.”
He stayed silent. His heartbeat sped up even more, and sweat broke out on his forehead. I wasn’t going to stand there in that tiny, dimly lit room and give the man a heart attack. I was going to go home and deal with real issues. I reached for the door handle.
“My name is Maximilian Accorsi,” he shouted before I could touch it. His Southern accent had been replaced with a faint Italian one, and the blood drained from my face. “I’ve come here on behalf of the Iustitia to ask for your help.”
My breath caught in my throat. The man who had been avoiding me for months really had been a vampire’s worst nightmare. The five families of the Iustitia had been around since the late thirteenth century. They had been contracted by the pope himself, and from the time they could walk, they were trained with the sole task of killing vampires. They were the faces of death to us. Chances of escape were slim to none. I was looking my biggest enemy right in the eyes, and neither of us dared to make a move.
“Iustitia?” I breathed.
“Newly ordained,” he replied. His face was blazing red. “We don’t have enough manpower to handle the infestation in Rome. There seems to be something larger going on than we expected, and we need you to come to the Holy City for assistance.”
“You’re asking me for help?”
I couldn’t believe my ears. The church had sent a brand-new hunter all the way to New York to ask a vampire of my caliber for help? I was dumbfounded. Did they really expect him to return? He hadn’t even seen any action. There wasn’t a single battle wound anywhere that I could see.
“I know that we’ve always been enemies, but if you’d just listen to—”
“Shut up,” I snapped. “Be on the next plane home, or you’ll go back in a box.”
I flung the door open, almost ripping it from the hinges. Everyone was waiting by the back door for me. Good, I thought. We needed to get out of there before we ended up piles of ash.
“We’re leaving,” I growled as I pushed through the crowd. “Right now.”
“Whoa—” Stu stopped in mid-sentence. “What’s the matter with you?”
I grabbed Lyn around the waist and kicked the back door open. “The Iustitia are here.”
Chapter 17
The Iustitia had no qualms about playing dirty. They had to get the upper hand somehow, and the best way to do that was to hunt during the day. Burn down a house, knock down a wall … With all their training, it wasn’t that difficult. They started to teach their kids to shoot a crossbow before they were even out of diapers.
Needless to say, none of us got much sleep. Well, Alex did. He seemed to find the whole situation amusing. I didn’t quite grasp why. If they had tried anything, then he would have had to jump in and probably would have died himself.
I was tired. I was cranky. I was not in the mood to go meet with Francesca. Piles of crap kept falling into my lap, one right after another. None of them apparently wanted to kill me, except Christopher, but I wasn’t worried about him. Not yet. I’d handle it if I managed to stay out of Europe.
We had to leave or be late to The Amaryllis, but Sid and Reece still weren’t there. If they wanted to come, then they would have to hurry up. I didn’t want to be the last one to the party.
I sat in the leather armchair facing the front door and tapped my foot against the hardwood floor. Everyone was sitting so quietly that each tap seemed to echo off the walls. Even Flo and Stu were sitting side-by-side without making a peep.
“All right, let’s go,” I said, hopping up from my seat.
Alex scowled at me even deeper than before, if that was possible, and got up along with everyone else. He put his hand on Lyn’s back and started to guide her toward the door. I cracked my knuckles but kept my mouth shut. It wasn’t anything that should upset me.
Sullivan snuck up behind Lyn and gently moved Alex’s arm away. I wasn’t sure if he did it because of my reaction or if it was because he really had the urge to tie Lyn’s hair up for her. His long fingers wove through her silky hair with sureness. He wove it up into a French twist and stuck a hair stick into the center.
She reached up and touched it, giving him a sideways look. It was obvious that she was still unsure of Sullivan. It was understandable, but she was misreading him. He was a broken man. It was as simple as that. But I was a little concerned with his sudden interest in hairstyling.
“Sullivan?” I asked.
“To show that you’ve staked a claim,” Flo grumbled. “You didn’t want to give her as a present, did you?”
Lyn was watching us carefully with wide eyes. I walked up to her and lifted her up by the waist. She made a small sound of surprise and grabbed my shoulders. The two pink puncture wounds stood out against her pale skin. My stomach lurched, but I forced myself to smile at her. “Ready?”
“No,” she squeaked.
“Don’t get sick again,” Stu said brightly, throwing her a wink. “Flo”—he snapped his neck to look in her direction—“isn’t that hair stick she’s wearing the one you wore to the banquet in Russia?”
She glared at him. “Yes. I let Sullivan borrow it.”
“I remember it like yesterday—” he started.
Flo took a deep breath. “Shut it, Stuart.”
“Are you okay?” I whispered in Lyn’s ear as Sullivan tried to end the fight before it started. “You’re a little pale.”
“Come on already.” Alex pushed through the door and stomped down the stairs without looking back. That was our cue to leave. We didn’t have much time.
Lyn’s face was buried in my chest. I tried to go a little slower than I had when we went to the club the night before. She had been even sicker after the trip home. Apparently it was something you had to get used to. Thankfully, when we got into Manhattan and I put her on her feet again, she didn’t look ill. She swayed a little, but it was a vast improvement.
I unlocked the front doors to The Amaryllis and flicked on the lights. “We’ll stand over there,” I decided. There was no exit on the far side of the dance floor, so there was no chance of them sneaking in behind us. On the flip side, there was no quick way out if we needed it.
“Hey,” Reece called. He and Sid came through the door wearing dress shirts and ties. “Sorry we’re late. We had to finish something really quick.”
They exchanged a look, followed by the slightest of smiles, and made their way across the club. It made me wish I had asked what they were up to the other night. “Finish what?” I asked. It was better to ask late than not at all.
“This.” Francesca came out of nowhere. Her hair was frizzing around her face, and her eyes were blazing. I gaped at her for a second before registering the strong scent of blood with a hint of decay. “All of my wolves are dead,” she shrieked so loudly that her voice vibrated off the walls.
The next thing I knew, a severed head was rolling toward my feet. When it stopped, the face was looking away from us. Flo reached over with her foot and rolled it so we could see who it was. Bene
ath the bruises and gashes, he was almost unrecognizable. I knew him though. He had been Phoenix’s pack leader when I was still in the family. It looked like Francesca hadn’t sent all of the wolves she brought with her on that bus trip.
Lyn was clutching the back of my shirt. “Kaden?”
“You did start killing my people first.” I tried my best to ignore Lyn’s shaking and control the surprise in my voice. I wasn’t sure how it was a problem that he was dead. It wasn’t a problem that Jessica and Merv had been killed. “It seems like an okay form of retaliation to me.”
She bent over and took a few deep breaths. Her hands were balled into the fabric of her skirt. I had to fight the urge to back away from her. Francesca had never been very stable, but I had never seen her that upset.
Everyone was falling into a line beside me. Francesca was alone, but probably not for long. Davis and the Marquis couldn’t have been far behind. Even if they hadn’t followed her, there was really only one place where she would have been going.
I eyed Sid. He looked at me from beneath his mop of curls and shrugged. I had to wonder what rules he had broken to get it done, and what new problems it was going to cause. “What did you do?” I whispered.
“I didn’t cross any boundary lines,” he explained. “I called in a few favors, and I owe some now. It was a small price to pay.”
Francesca straightened herself back up, laughing hysterically. She licked the blood that was caked on her hand slowly, making eye contact. My eyes narrowed in response. I didn’t want to fight her with Lyn there, but I would if I had to.
“She’s lost her mind,” Stu said, crossing his arms.
“What are you doing?” Davis yelled, appearing next to her. “Save your anger for the fight I’m sure we’re about to have. Things are obviously not going to be figured out peacefully,” he said, looking at me from the corner of his eye.
“Why bother waiting?” she breathed. “We can just take them out right here. Right now.”