“So, did you go out and look for it?”
“The hell am I gonna do, fight with some bastard over a throne made of rubies?” Dale shook his head and sipped straight from the tequila bottle. “Nah, I got everything I need right here.”
“Wish I shared your philosophy.”
“It ain’t for everyone, that’s for sure.” Dale tipped the bottle a little bit too far back, and tequila dripped down his scraggly beard. I nursed the water and made small talk until I heard the growl of what could only be one of Aldric’s monstrous SUVs. A quick glance at the road told me that my ride had arrived.
“That’s me,” I said. “I’ll get the guy in the car to pay you.”
Dale waved his sun-beaten hands. “Nah. There are things better than money.”
“Such as?”
“I’ll let you know when I find them,” he said with a grin, and then went back to drinking.
26
Thankfully, one of Moreland’s faceless goons had been sent to retrieve me, which meant I could nap on the hour-long ride back. I dreamed of nothing, which was preferable to any of the ghastly scenarios my imagination could no doubt conjure up from the depths of the shit show this week had been.
The driver beeped twice to wake me up and then said, “I’ll be waiting here.” The undertone was not to keep him waiting. He didn’t want to take flak from Aldric for my pokey ass. Good thing for us all, then, that I had no desire to procrastinate. The sooner I got the vampire warlord of my back, the sooner I could figure out how to dispatch him for good.
Oh, and save my own butt from a vengeful devil goddess. Were those a thing? If they weren’t a thing, Lucille was certainly trying to make them a thing, from the way the sea looked. Waves crashed and churned beneath a black sky as thunder rippled over the swirling ocean. Guess I was getting my rain dance. And it was going to be a friggin’ tsunami.
I hurried up the black sand, listening as the jungle critters scattered and voiced their displeasure about the impending storm. Maybe I should’ve followed their heed and hurried inland. But, somehow, taking me out with a storm didn’t really seem like Lucille’s style. She liked up close and personal, which was why she’d chased Dante to the end of the earth.
Two men from Moreland’s security detail greeted me at the marble stairs to the villa. That was a good sign: if Lucille had paid a visit, both of these men would probably have their decapitated heads stuffed up their own butts. As I went inside, however, I was still in for an unpleasant surprise.
“What the hell is this?” I stared at the couch, where a bloodied man sat gagged and bound with his shirt off. Next to him was Khan, who was not bound, but did have a muzzle on his face. The man looked up, and I recognized him as Kai Taylor, the FBI Agent who had come to my door with Rayna earlier in the investigation.
His gentle, calm eyes looked up at me as I entered the living room. The bamboo hardwood had taken a beating, looking like a scratch pat. No doubt from Khan, who was growling—or trying to—and wriggling his head, trying to get rid of the muzzle.
One of the men strode up next to me and said, “We found the man searching your house.” He glanced at the cat. “As for the cat, he was disagreeable and ornery.”
“Sounds accurate.” I went over to the leather couch and sat down next to Kai. He’d taken a sharp punch to the head, which was where the bruising and blood had come from. Otherwise, he looked largely uninjured. I worked at the cloth gag—which was actually one of my dirty T-shirts—and removed it from his mouth.
He looked at me with his gentle eyes the whole time, but said nothing once the gag was removed.
“So, what were you doing here?”
“The search warrant is still valid.” He wasn’t defiant, merely explaining that he had come legally. With a nod of his head, which made his shoulder-length black hair touch his back, he gestured toward his back pocket.
I worked my fingers into his pocket and took out the piece of paper.
“He said all this, ma’am,” the talkative guard said. “We didn’t want him looking around.”
“You know I’m out on bail, right?” I skimmed the warrant, which was indeed valid.
“All the more reason to get rid of this particular problem.” A slide racked, and I looked up to see the man raising his pistol. “If you’d step aside, ma’am.”
I got up and put my body between mine and Kai. “What are you, drunk?”
The guard seemed taken aback. “Eliminating a threat.”
“Yes, we’ll just bury an FBI Agent in my backyard.” I put my hand over my eyes to convey my displeasure. “Just—just go outside.”
“Ma’am?”
“Actually, go wait in the car. It’s on the service road.”
He gave me a confused look, like he couldn’t process the orders correctly. “But…”
I dropped my hand and held up a finger. “And, you can save me a trip. Wait here.” I glanced at Kai, giving him what I hoped was an I’ll free you once these idiots are gone look, then hurried up the glass stairs two at a time. I cut into the bedroom nearest the stairs and ran my hand along the small space beneath the window. With my touch, the illusion magic disappeared, revealing a safe.
I punched in the code and grabbed the seven souls I’d collected over the week that were lining the top shelf. I left the eighth one for a rainy day and then shut the door. After running my hand over the wall again, the illusion returned. I tapped the space beneath the window with my knuckle and felt plaster.
Satisfied everything was in order, I jogged back downstairs and handed them to the guard. His confused expression deepened. “In front of—him, ma’am?”
“I’ll sort him out.” I gave the guard a shove toward the door. “Go on and deliver Aldric the good news.”
“I’m not sure—”
“Go. And give me back Agent Taylor’s service weapon, please.”
The guard gave me a funny look, then removed the black, standard-issue Glock 22 from his waistband and handed it back to me with a begrudging look of defeat. Good thing I was apparently higher on the totem pole than these two idiots. If I’d tried to get Moreland to give me back anything, the warlock would’ve laughed in my face.
I watched as the man scurried out of the villa, his partner hurrying from the kitchen to join the hasty escape. The front door slammed shut with a decisive thud. I looked out the living room window, seeing them both hurrying up the beach. After I was satisfied they’d left, I turned to Kai.
Khan wriggled in disgust next to the muscular man. I went over to the cat and removed his muzzle.
“Finally, stupid human.” He arched his back in disgust and bared his teeth. “It is as if you cannot take a hint.”
The broad-shouldered FBI agent blinked twice and stared at the talking creature as if this experience had to be a hallucination. I knew the feeling. My whole life was starting to feel that way, and before this week, I’d been harvesting souls. You think you’ve seen weird, and then a nasty cat starts to talk.
Khan glanced at our house guest and said, “Yes, stupid man. I am capable of speech. It looks as if I have your tongue, though, do I not?”
The cat looked pleased with his insulting pun. I was less amused, and showed it by snapping my fingers in front of his face. Khan snapped, but it was a half-hearted effort.
“Did the agent find anything before those two showed up?”
Khan arched his back and hissed, baring his fangs. “I am not your butler. I do not watch over unexpected house guests.”
“Jesus fucking Christ, I don’t need you to be the concierge.” I clenched both fists and stared at the ornery cat. “I just need to know if found anything.”
The cat’s ears flattened against his head, and he slunk to the ground. I would’ve apologized for wounding his inflated ego, but the simmering rage—and desperation—coursing through my veins prevented me from making any peace offerings.
Khan wrinkled his nose, causing the white stripe on his face to bunch up. “The boy scout was waiting for
you to arrive before executing the search.”
I glanced at Kai, who still said nothing.
“All right,” I said, and nudged the cat with my knee. “Go somewhere else.”
“I will not.”
“Then shut up.” From the corner of my eye, I could see a small glimmer of a smile spread across Kai’s lips. It vanished once the agent knew I was looking. Without saying a word, I took out my Reaper’s Switch and flicked out the blade. No fear registered in his gentle eyes. I reached behind him, pressing against his back to wordlessly get him to move forward. I could feel the strong muscles shift as he adjusted his weight.
With a single swipe of the blade, I cut through the zip cuffs. He returned his hands to the front of his body, but didn’t rub feeling back into them or have much of a reaction.
“If you could give me my shirt, that would be helpful, Miss Hunter.”
“Eden.” I didn’t repeat the old joke about Miss Hunter being my mother. After locating his torn shirt in the corner nearby, I returned, holding it out. “Why’d they try to strip you naked, anyway?”
He buttoned up the oxford shirt, leaving the top two unbuttoned. “They ripped it off in our fight.”
“Not much of a fight, by the looks of it.” I watched as he rolled up the sleeves, revealing his tattoos once more. “That how they got your Glock, too?”
“I didn’t want to hurt them.” It wasn’t machismo, but truth.
“So you just like getting tied up?” I asked.
“Not so much in these circumstances,” he said, matching my gaze. From hanging with Dante, I expected Kai to wink. But he just looked calm, which made it so I couldn’t tell if it was a joke or not. After a minute, I gave up and sat down next to him on the couch.
“I didn’t kill Roan Kelly,” I said.
“The evidence to the contrary is persuasive.” Kai didn’t move. On the other part of the couch, Khan snorted, like trying to reason with this man he called the boy scout was futile. But while Kai might not have been corruptible through lies and illusions, I did have one thing going for me—for once.
The truth.
“You read my file?” I asked.
“Above my clearance,” Kai said.
“Well, then you’re in for a long story.” With a deep breath, I launched into it all. I wasn’t sure if this was the move, but I was out of allies, and there were too many suspects to investigate on my own. And the FBI might have been the only entity powerful enough on the island to help save me from Lucille and Aldric.
Or maybe they’d get wrapped into the vortex and thrown out to sea along with me.
I didn’t leave anything out: the bargain I had struck with Lucille my first night on the island to save my sister, my past with Roan, how Dante and his crew had ripped off the island’s most powerful warlord in search of an ancient treasure. Everything except the mayor’s little…side hobby, since I didn’t really feel like being charged as an accessory after the fact. It felt odd unburdening myself to law enforcement, but Kai was a good listener.
Even Khan was silent, aside from the occasional really and I can’t believe you told him that.
By the time I had finished, it was well past three in the afternoon. A gamble both in time and trust.
I bit my lip and said, “I feel like I’ve been talking for a while.”
“You’re a good storyteller.” Kai scratched at his tattoo sleeve, right near the spear tattoo.
For some reason, this sounded like the highest compliment. I looked away and said, “Well, I’ve had a lot of practice.”
“Might I see your—you call it a Reaper’s Switch?”
I hesitated. The blade was part of me, now—and I hadn’t realized it until that moment. Like a little extension of my physical being. I took it out of my jeans, feeling the duct-taped handle against my palm.
Then I placed it in the FBI agent’s hand. He flicked it out. “You killed a werewolf with this.” Kai held the blade up to the light, the obsidian and silver flecks glimmering.
“It wasn’t easy,” I said.
He snapped his wrist with a deft motion, and the blade closed seamlessly. The knife lingered for a moment in his palm, like he was trying to ascertain something from its weight. Then he offered it back to me, and my heart beat a little slower having it back in my possession.
What he did next surprised me, and caused Khan to hiss in displeasure.
Kai pulled out his service weapon. The cat, who must’ve liked me far more than he’d let on, was on the FBI agent’s head, perched atop the flowing black hair like a bad hat. With a strong hand, Kai simply picked the cat up by the scruff of his neck, and placed Khan on the floor.
When the cat tried to scale his jeans, the agent said, “I’m losing patience.”
Khan flicked his tail, and apparently satisfied that he’d done all he could to save my life, pranced into the kitchen. I glanced warily at the service weapon, wondering if I’d done the wrong thing by returning it.
Then I heard Kai say, “Take it.”
“Another trial,” I said. “I’m good at those.”
I reached for the gun, grabbing it by the rubber grip. My skin began to sizzle, and I could feel a blister beginning to burn. But I hung on until I was certain it would leave a mark. It felt like I was clutching a pot of boiling water with my bare hands. Finally, the gun clattered to the floor and I stood up, cursing profusely. My hand was bright, scorched pink, with white patches streaking through.
Kai retrieved his service weapon from the bamboo hardwood and placed it on the leather sofa. “I’m sorry, Eden. I had to be sure.”
“No hard feelings,” I said as I shook out my hand. He disappeared from the living room, moving surprisingly quietly for cutting such a large figure. A minute later, he returned with an ice tray. Without a word, he took one of my shirts from the floor and wrapped the fabric around the ice. I took it with gratitude and pressed it into my palm, feeling cool relief flood over my skin.
“Too bad we don’t have Warlock’s Lemonmint.”
I raised my eyebrow. “You really listened to everything.”
“I’d be an idiot not to.” Kai gave his service weapon a once over—as if checking to make sure it wouldn’t burn him, too—then slid it back into the holster adorning his hip. “You mentioned your sister.”
“I did.”
“I think I might know her.” Kai took out his phone and tapped a few buttons, pulling up a photo of a club taken from a stakeout car. “Have you heard of Alkemy?”
You’d think someone who once lived for the party would be on the pulse of the local club scene. Sadly, once you turn off Instagram and whatever apps are blowing up your phone, you’ve basically committed self ex-communicated. It’s like the mob: either you’re all-in, or all-out. There were no half-measures.
I shook my head and said, “Haven’t been there.” I’d heard of it, naturally, but my work hadn’t made it a necessity to swing by.
“There’s a girl matching that description that works the VIP lounge.”
“And how would you know that?” I asked, suddenly suspicious of the boy scout. No one could be this clean. Maybe he blew off steam by snorting mountains of cocaine in the bathroom of nightclubs and then hitting on the staff.
His gentle eyes didn’t change. “It’s my job to know things.”
“That’s not an answer.” I crossed my arms, still clutching the ice, which was beginning to melt through the fabric. “I told you everything.”
“It’s against protocol.”
“Oh, well in that case.” I got up in his face, so that my lips were only inches from his. “That’s not how sharing works, buddy.”
Kai didn’t move, but his body tensed with a small amount of discomfort. Good to know he could be rattled. Here I was thinking that he was just a rock that had been animated. The tension mounted, neither of us breathing.
Finally, he said, “We think your sister might be a killer, Eden.”
27
Word to the wi
se.
Whenever you think your week can’t get any worse, here’s a free tip: you’re absolutely wrong. Be thankful for the shitty life you have, because unknown forces could always take you out at the knees and laugh over your legless corpse.
Maybe that was an overdramatic way of looking at things. I didn’t care. When you hear oh, the FBI thinks your sister might be a murderer, you tend to have a lot of competing emotions. Some combination between no way and oh my god, what if? Then again, they’d thought the same about me and been wrong, so it was hardly open and shut.
Kai didn’t slow down as the government sedan fishtailed into the downtown club district. I could practically smell the desperation, testosterone and red-bottomed heels from here. He slammed on the brakes about three feet before we had to stop. I kept myself from going through the windshield with a well-timed hand against the dash.
He gave me a look. “You should really wear a seatbelt.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” He undid another button on shirt, exposing more of his smooth, muscular chest. With the tattoos and shoulder-length hair, he looked more like a jet-setting rebel entrepreneur than an agent. The gentle, understanding stare and perpetual urge might give the truth away, though.
I got out of the car and stared looked at the glittering sign.
“It’s not love, it’s Alkemy.” A line wrapped around the block, even though it wasn’t even four in the afternoon. I scanned the rest of the street, taking stock of the other clubs. All the bouncers looked sad and alone. “I don’t think they’re here because the tagline’s so catchy.”
The whole place was suspicious. I’d been to more than a few clubs, and I’d never seen this kind of turnout before the sun went down. Unless they were giving out free handjobs inside, I couldn’t really explain this on a Friday afternoon. My money was on the supernatural element. Wouldn’t be the first time someone had used magic to bolster their business ventures. That usually backfired. There were always assholes like Aldric lurking in the background who already owned the turf. And they didn’t like sharing.
Rain Dance (Sunshine & Scythes Book 1) Page 21