by E. S. Moore
I raised my eyebrows at her. I wasn’t sure if I should be amused or irritated by her. She appeared to be in her twenties, but I wondered if perhaps she was still in her volatile teenage years and life on the streets had prematurely aged her.
“Mira . . .” Nathan tried to calm her but she was having none of it.
“Whatever. Fuck off.” She waved a hand in Nathan’s face. I was surprised he didn’t bite it off. She glanced at me. “And fuck you, too.” She stormed off.
I watched her go, amused despite myself. If she’d done that to me a few months ago, I probably would have knocked her flat on her ass. Then again, most of her anger seemed to be targeted at Nathan. Maybe I’d have applauded her instead.
“New recruit?” I asked, turning to face the scowling were. He waited until the girl vanished and the door slammed before turning tome.
“No,” he said, crossing his arms. He leaned against the banister and glared at me. “What do you want?”
“Who is she, then?” I asked, pressing the point. “She doesn’t seem to be too happy to be here.”
“Mira,” Nathan said, glancing toward the door she went through before turning stonily back to me.
“Mira who?”
He shrugged. “Pablo’s girlfriend.”
I very nearly choked. “What? Pablo has a girlfriend?” I tried to sort it out in my head. I suppose their anger issues were similar, but otherwise, I couldn’t imagine them together.
Nathan ground his teeth. “We do have lives here.”
“I . . .” I what? It seemed strange to be thinking of anyone inside the Cult having a life outside it. I mean, these were werewolves and werewolf worshippers. I couldn’t see any of them being domestic.
“So, what were you two fighting about when I came in?” I asked, unsure I could continue down the other line of thought. Pablo and Mira? Wow.
“Pablo’s birthday.”
“His what?”
Nathan’s eyes flared. “Are you just here to irritate me or do you have something important to say?”
I shook my head. First I learn Pablo had a girlfriend and then that he was having a birthday. That was another one of those things I never even considered. These were people inside the Cult, people who had lives.
I took a deep breath and glanced toward the door Mira had gone through. I guess I could still learn a thing or two about how the Cult operated. My opinion of the Cultists had always been of people who had no real direction in life. They worshipped werewolves and I’d thought that was all they did. The ones on the streets were thugs.
But even they had lives back home; mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers. Some had wives and husbands and kids. Even the vampires and werewolves I killed on a regular basis had families.
It was the first time it really hit me. I mean, I should have thought about it before. My family had been killed by a vampire count and his werewolf thugs. Just because I’d lost everyone, didn’t mean it was that way for everyone else.
“What do you want?” Nathan’s voice broke into my reflections. He looked beyond annoyed now. He looked downright hostile.
“I need to speak to Jonathan,” I said. I could think about Pablo’s birthday later. Maybe I should get him a present of some sort. Then maybe he wouldn’t spend all his time glaring at me.
“He’s busy.”
“He’s never too busy to see me.” I smiled sweetly, knowing it would irritate the big wolf.
He surprised me by smiling. “Tonight, he is.”
I couldn’t tell if he was just being difficult or if he was serious. I frowned and took a step toward the staircase.
“I need to see him about something important,” I said. “Whatever he’s doing, he won’t mind the interruption.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Nathan said, his smile turning almost sinister.
He was finally getting to me. I narrowed my eyes at him. “Let me pass.”
“If what you have to say is so important, you can tell me. I will make sure he gets the information when he’s done.”
I crossed my arms. “No,” I said, taking another step forward. “What I have to say, I have to say directly to him.”
Nathan straightened and put himself between me and the staircase. The only way I was going to get up there was if I went through him.
As much as I wanted to, I didn’t punch him. Instead, I stopped about a foot in front of him and glared up at his smug face. If it came down to a battle of brute strength, there was no way I was going to win. Nathan could pick me up and break me in half without breaking a sweat.
It was a good thing I had my weapons. Brute strength didn’t mean much when someone was shoving the barrel of a gun up your nose.
“Nathan,” I said, warning in my voice. “Move.”
“I cannot do that,” he said, still smiling that dangerous smile of his. “I have orders that no one is to disturb him.”
“I’m not just anyone.”
“But you are the one person I am sure he doesn’t want to see right now.”
There was a glimmer to his eye that almost made me break down and take that swing at him. He was enjoying this far more than he should. While he’d always been difficult before, he’d never been this bad about it.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked, taking a step back just in case he really was looking for a fight. “I need to see Jonathan. You do know the Left Hand is out there right now, killing people, right?”
His smile slipped the tiniest bit. “Do you have information on them?”
I hesitated. While Adrian and I had followed a Left Hand member, we had nothing to show for it outside the case, and I’d given that to Ethan when I’d gotten home last night. There wasn’t anything in it that the Cult didn’t already know.
“Not exactly,” I said.
Nathan grunted and the smile returned. “Then why bring them up?”
“Because I really need to talk to Jonathan and you’re being an ass about it.”
He huffed and shook his head. “You are so damn stubborn. I . . .” He frowned and his eyes clouded over for a moment before clearing. “I knew someone very much like you once.”
“Really?” I said, anger flaring. “Did she kick your ass like I’m about to?”
He shrugged with one shoulder. “In her own way, yes, she did.” The smile was gone. He stared at me with a mixture of hatred and something else I couldn’t place. It wasn’t love or longing, thank God, but something entirely different.
I took another step back, feeling suddenly uncomfortable.
“What is Jonathan doing?” I asked. “Can you at least tell me that?”
“I can,” Nathan said, the smile returning, but this time, it wasn’t as spiteful. “But you won’t like it.”
“Try me.”
“He’s with Keira.”
My breath caught in my throat. My gaze instinctively rose toward the top level. I couldn’t see the gilded doors that led to Jonathan’s rooms from where I stood, but I imagined them.
“What are they doing?” My voice hitched on the words.
Nathan chuckled. “You figure it out.”
My entire body went cold. I dropped my eyes to stare at Nathan. He looked smug, almost happy that he was able to deliver the news. In fact, I think he’d been relishing the idea of telling me since I’d walked in, but wanted to make me work for it first.
“I see.”
“They could be a while,” he said. “If you’d like to wait, you could sit in the office. I’m pretty sure you won’t be able to hear what’s going on above you.”
My fingers twitched. I wanted to draw my gun, put a hole in the middle of Nathan’s head, and march right up the stairs to confront Jonathan. I didn’t trust Keira. She could be working for the enemy and I was almost positive she’d been the wolf who’d attacked me when I’d followed Nathan.
My eyes narrowed, but I didn’t draw. “Did you put her up to this?”
He looked confused for a moment before
chuckling wryly. “I had nothing to do with it.”
I was really starting to wonder. Maybe it was my own wishful thinking, but I wondered if perhaps Nathan and Keira were working together against Jonathan. If she’d been the one to attack me while I was following Nathan, did that mean she was protecting him? Could Nathan have been the one to convince her to come to the Den? Had they been in contact before then?
Were they slipping information to the Left Hand?
As much as I wanted to believe it right then, I just didn’t see it. I knew Nathan was up to something and the guy was a royal pain in my ass, but that didn’t mean he would turn against Jonathan. Add to that the fact he’d saved my ass more than once. It just didn’t add up.
But that didn’t mean I trusted Keira. She could still be the enemy.
I almost came out and asked Nathan directly about what he’d been doing and how much Keira knew about it. If he wasn’t working with the Left Hand and was merely hunting, he knew it would hurt his standing with both Jonathan and me, but I doubted he would deny it. Nathan wouldn’t lie like that. He’d probably turn hard and glare more than usual, but he wouldn’t lie to his Denmaster. He wasn’t the type.
“What do you know about Keira?” I asked instead. It seemed the safest way to start.
“She’s a werewolf,” Nathan said. “She came to us recently. She has ingratiated herself to Jonathan—as you can see.”
“Do you trust her?”
“Do I trust anyone?”
He had me there. “Do you think she could . . . ?” I trailed off, hoping he’d get the idea without me having to say it.
Nathan only shrugged. “I haven’t spent enough time with her to know.”
“But you’re okay leaving her alone with Jonathan.”
There was a hint of doubt in his eyes before he answered. “He trusts her. I have no say in it.”
“And that makes it okay?”
Nathan gave a nervous chuckle. I heard him laugh more in the last few minutes than in all the time I’d known him. A part of me wasn’t so sure he was enjoying this as much as he put on, that something else was going on and the laughter was some sort of defense mechanism.
But what was he hiding?
“Jonathan can take care of himself,” he said. “I do recall someone else repeatedly telling him the same thing when he tried to take care of her.”
I bit back a retort and let out a frustrated breath. I wasn’t going to get anything out of Nathan. Confronting him about what he’d been doing would only result in a fight. Jonathan was “busy” with Keira and I had no idea how long that would take. There was no way I was going to stand around waiting for them to finish.
I felt my face grow hot and turned away, not wanting Nathan to see it. I wasn’t sure why I was so upset over this. I’d turned Jonathan down more than once. It was only right for him to seek comfort in someone else’s arms.
But it felt too soon. How well could he really know Keira? If she was the reason the Left Hand had gotten so close to the Den, she could be setting him up for a major downfall.
“Would you like me to tell him you stopped by?” Nathan asked. I glanced back to see him still standing at the stairs, but he wasn’t smiling. There was a look of concern on his face that vanished the moment he saw me looking at him.
I nodded and looked away. I felt sick. I didn’t want to be there anymore. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to come back if I could help it. I was wasting my time at the Den, always had been.
But I wouldn’t turn completely away from the Cult—not while the Left Hand was killing them.
“Tell him I was here,” I said, venom in my voice. “Tell him I have some questions for him when he isn’t too busy fucking his girlfriend.”
I started for the door.
“Kat,” Nathan said, sounding almost apologetic.
I kept on walking.
“It isn’t what you think.”
Sure it was. That’s why he enjoyed it so much.
I pushed through the doors and stormed away. I didn’t look back. As far as I was concerned, I was done with the Den and the Cult’s games.
The door opened behind me and I quickened my pace. I didn’t know if it was some random Cultist leaving for the night or if it was Nathan. I only knew that if I saw anyone from the Den, I’d probably end up hurting someone. I didn’t want that on my conscience.
I nearly ran to the Cult garage. As soon as I was there, I threw myself onto my bike and revved the engine. I was breathing hard and my head felt full of cement. I couldn’t think; wasn’t sure I wanted to.
I tore out of the garage and sped off into the night. My cheeks were wet, but I refused to wipe them dry. To do so would be to admit I cared.
14
Home sounded really good by then, but as much as I wanted to vanish into my room and melt into a sappy puddle, I still had a job to do. Thanks to Countess Baset, I had one more chore to worry about. Just because I was pissed, didn’t mean I could blow it off. I needed to get information on the name Henri had given me so I could hurry up and kill the guy. The faster I finished off my target, the better.
I pulled into the Bloody Stake parking lot, mildly surprised to see business had begun to pick up again. While the lot wasn’t as full as it used to be, it was a lot busier than the last time I was there. I guesstimated that a little over half the parking spaces were filled.
I shut off the engine and started for the front door, ready to get this over with. I knew Mikael was going to ask about how I got the name—he always did—and I wasn’t ready to tell him. I suppose I should be happy he was asking, because the day he stopped would be the day he already knew.
A trio of men stood by the trash bins at the end of the parking lot. They were swathed in shadow, almost as if they were trying to hide. They watched me as I strode toward the bar, only looking away when I opened the door to step inside. I didn’t know if they were weres or vamps, but I was pretty sure they weren’t Purebloods. They had that look about them that spoke of danger. Their attention made my skin crawl.
Bart looked up as I entered. He gave me a brief nod before moving to the other end of the bar where he went about serving a couple that looked a few years from being legal. The guy might be able to pull it off with his scruffy cheeks and stress lines, but to my eyes the girl looked to be no older than fifteen.
It wasn’t my place to judge. I figured Bart knew what he was doing. Just because they looked young, didn’t mean they were. Werewolves and vampires did age, but not nearly as fast as Purebloods, thanks to our ultra-healing genes. Those two could be over fifty for all I knew.
I found Mikael sitting in his usual booth with a girl. Before I even took a step his way, he was motioning for her to leave. It looked like he had figured out my Monday routine as well. He didn’t take his eyes off me as I crossed the room and slid into the booth across from him.
“It’s good to see you again, my sweet.”
I grimaced at the pet name, but didn’t tell him to stop. Mikael did what he wanted to do. I wasn’t sure if all Swedes were like that or just him, though I was betting on the latter. There wasn’t anyone in the world like Mikael.
“Been keeping busy?” I asked, glancing around the bar.
As I’d noticed outside, it wasn’t as busy as it used to be, but most of the tables had customers. The empty seats actually made me long for the old days, back when there wasn’t as much fear going around and the place would be packed. There was something soothing about a bar full of people who wanted to do nothing more than sit back and relax. I knew there were always a few who were there to pick up their next meal, but that knowledge didn’t detract from the atmosphere. In fact, it only enhanced the charm.
Mikael grinned. “It depends on what you mean by ‘busy.’ ” He ran his fingers through his greased-back hair and sat back.
I rolled my eyes. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
He chuckled before sighing. “It is good to see you back more regularly, my sweet. Ther
e is something to say for normalcy, yes?”
I nodded, wondering if he might have been reading my mind. Hadn’t I just thought the same thing?
“But I imagine that isn’t why you have come to see me.”
“It’s not.”
“Business, yes?”
“Of course.”
Mikael studied me a long moment and then surprised me by waving over to the bar. He raised two fingers once he caught Bart’s attention before sitting back to study me again.
“You look as if you could use something to drink,” he said. “You look stressed.”
“I feel stressed.”
Bart appeared at my side and set two bottles in front of me. He hesitated, looking mildly confused, before turning and walking away.
I picked up one of the bottles and started to shove the other across the table to Mikael, but he shook his head.
“They are both yours,” he said.
I didn’t argue. I was definitely in a two-beer-minimum mood.
“So, why have you come to me this fine evening?”
I took a drink to delay the inevitable. While I knew what was coming, I dreaded it. He didn’t know about Baset, that I’d become her assassin. He’d eventually figure it out and when that day came, I was sure he’d pack the information away to use against me someday. Just because we got along, didn’t mean I could trust him completely.
“What can you tell me about Boris Stevenson?” I asked.
Mikael’s eyebrows rose. “Boris?”
“Yeah.”
He laughed loudly. No one in the bar even glanced our way. I wasn’t sure if it was out of fear of Mikael or if something else was preventing them from hearing him. Either way, it was odd that I seemed to be the only person who’d noticed.
“Boris is not a good man, yes?”
“I suppose not.”
“But he seems . . . strange for your interests.” He leaned forward. “I take it you will not be telling me how you came across his name?”
“Nope.”
Mikael nodded and sat back again, smiling. “I figured not. You have secrets of your own. But someday . . .” He waved a finger at me. “Someday, I will figure it out.”