“Sweet.” Asher had a way of making dangerous situations seem as exciting as trips to the amusement park. “Count me in.”
As if he’d give me any other response. “Good.” The text alert went off on my cell and I reached across the counter to grab it. A message from Lorik popped up and I swept my finger across the screen to read it in its entirety.
“What is it?”
Ash was as curious as a kitten, leaning in to read over my shoulder. I swatted him away and locked the screen. “That was Lorik. We’re on for tonight. Eleven p.m. at Atlas.” The super-secret, supernatural club was harder to get into than Fort Knox. Mithras was certainly connected. “Have you ever been?”
“Are you kidding? You have to be royalty, or damned high on the food chain to get in. But I heard you have to have some kind of code word or enchanted item to get in.”
“I’ve got that covered.”
“All right. So, whaddya want to do until then? I don’t know about you, but I could use a good work out. I’d like to be warmed up before we go.”
“Good idea.” I’d been so busy chasing leads over the past couple of weeks that I hadn’t done a lick of training. It would be nice to bring my A-game tonight. “I need to hit The Pit first and drop something off for Levi. How ‘bout I meet you in the gym after?”
“Or, how ‘bout I go with you to The Pit and we head over to the gym after.”
“Fine. Think Xander will let me back through the door or should I sneak in?”
Asher pursed his lips. “Get real. Like he’d keep you locked out for more than a couple of hours.”
Good to know. “Okay, we’re on, then. Let’s get moving, though. We’ve only got about twelve hours.”
“Hey, I’ve been ready for a while,” he teased. “I’m waiting on you.”
Smart ass. “It’ll only take me a few minutes to get changed.” I gave him a pointed look. One that wandered from where he sat to the elevator gate. “And I don’t want an audience so GTFO.”
Asher hopped down from the bar stool and headed for the elevator. “You’re going to be bossy all day, aren’t you?”
“Yep.”
“Good. I like you better when you’re bossy.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Asher was seriously weird.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Can I trust you, Levi?” I held onto the signed and notarized power of attorney, unwilling to let Levi take possession. “More importantly, can Tyler trust you?”
“Relax, Darian.” Levi sounded a little hurt at the insinuation, but Ty’s letter had planted a seed of doubt in my mind. One that was quickly sprouting. “I’m loyal to Ty. You don’t have to worry about me screwing him over now or any time in the future.”
I still couldn’t let go of the paper. My fingers wouldn’t disengage. What did Levi know? How much had I spilled in my stupid search for answers? And would he fold under pressure from the Synod? I just didn’t know how much faith I could put in him…
“Darian.” Levi’s tone got my attention and his gaze locked with mine. “I owe Tyler my life. He saved my ass. Literally. He wouldn’t have signed this stuff over to me if he was worried that I’d screw him over. Right?”
Yeah. Sure. It made sense anyway. Ty wasn’t stupid. I forced my fingers to loosen and Levi took the paper from my grasp. “Asher said there’s a hearing scheduled for three weeks from today. Tyler asked me to keep my distance from this one. Will you go?”
“Of course. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you went too, Darian. Why don’t we go together?”
It was a nice offer. But was it simply a friendly suggestion or something more? Was Levi trying to keep me close so he could spy on me for the Synod? Maybe to find out more about Nys’Asdar? Good lord. My overactive imagination and paranoia were getting the best of me. I really did need to stop overthinking everything. “Thanks, Levi,” I said, forcing myself to calm the fuck down. “I’d really like to be there. Even if I can’t do anything for Ty.”
“Moral support is always appreciated,” Levi agreed.
Levi’s eyes slid to the side and I followed his gaze to find a man sitting at the end of the bar, watching us. His youthful appearance belied his age, obviously a supernatural. A thrum of energy resonated deep within me, vibrating the tendons in my body like guitar strings. How had I not noticed him the second I walked into the bar? And who in the hell was he?
“Good afternoon.” His voice was as smooth as buttercream frosting, hinting at the slightest accent. European, maybe. He gave a slow, pleasant smile and his whiskey brown eyes crinkled at the corners, completing the expression.
I gave an equally pleasant—albeit slightly cooler—smile in response, unwilling to engage him in conversation. He continued to openly stare, studying me like I was some sort of rare tropical insect on display in the Smithsonian or some shit. That pesky paranoia gripped me and I turned toward Levi, putting my back to the stranger. The world had turned into a friend-or-foe place for me. And anyone who wasn’t already an ally automatically became a potential enemy.
“I’m wrapping up a job for Ty tonight,” I said low. “I’ll be bringing you the proof of death when it’s done. Is that all right?”
“Sure. Ty gave me the scoop so I know what’s up. Call me if you need any help, though.”
Somehow, I doubted that Ty would be thrilled if I brought the very human Levi into a supernatural melee. I tilted my head toward the doorway where Asher was waiting for me. “I’ve got that covered. Using the buddy system tonight.”
“Good idea.” Levi flashed me a million-watt smile. The one that turned heads and made knees go weak. Was he trying to reassure me? Charm me? Or maybe even distract me? “Be careful out there tonight. I’ll see you later.”
“Yep. Later.” As I pushed myself away from the bar I cast one last tentative gaze at the man whose eyes had been riveted to me and Levi for the past few minutes. He inclined his head, the same pleasant, enigmatic expression on his handsome visage. I had a feeling that whoever he was, he was planning to stick around town for a while. My first impression of this newcomer, based on our very brief interaction: Enemy.
I snuck through the main floor of Xander’s house as quiet as a freaking mouse. Tiptoed down the stairs into the vast basement and eased the gym doors open without making so much as a squeak. Ash rolled his eyes as he unhelpfully tromped behind me, conveying his opinion on my overly dramatic display. He could scoff all he wanted to. I did not want to run into Xander or Raif while I was here.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a little melodramatic?” Asher asked as the gym door closed behind us.
I expelled a slow breath, glad that we were the only two people here. “Pretty much everyone I’ve ever met.” No use pretending I didn’t possess a flare for the dramatic. Asher ventured to the far wall and chose a couple of practice weapons. “Let’s not get too crazy,” I suggested as he handed me a pair of daggers. The blades weren’t deadly, the edges left dull. “I don’t want to be too tired for tonight. Only warmed up.”
“I’ll warm you up.”
Chills broke out over my flesh as Xander’s voice echoed through the gym, the velvet softness swathing me in warmth. Damn it. The words weren’t spoken with his usual innuendo and it earned him a point or two that he wasn’t trying to soften me up with his arrogant charm. It was foolish to think I could avoid Xander in his own damned house, but it’s not like I’d tried to talk Ash out of coming here, either. “Asher said this was okay. That you wouldn’t mind my being here. I didn’t come to argue or overstep my welcome. We can go somewhere else. There’s no need for you to—” The job tonight demanded every ounce of focus I had. Starting shit with Xander wasn’t going to do anything to maintain a level head.
“Trying to avoid confrontation with polite words, Darian? This might be a first.” Xander held out his hand and Asher deferred to his king, handing over the practice daggers he’d chosen for himself.
Ugh. I wasn’t going to engage, but he was seriously t
rying to push my buttons. “Fine.” It did little good to argue with the High King of Aggravation, especially in his own home. “If you want to work out, let’s work out.”
I turned my back on Xander and took a few moments to stretch. Ash gave me an apologetic smile. Right before he headed out of the gym, leaving us alone. Had Xander asked Asher to bring me here? If so, I was going to kick his ass. Later. After I took down Mithras. And I’d make sure the little shit felt it for days.
The last time I’d sparred with Xander in this gym, he’d used it as an opportunity to get his flirt on. I hoped he had the good sense to keep that flirtatious streak in check today. When my muscles were nice and warm, I faced Xander, adopting the defensive stance Raif taught me, and waited.
“We need to talk, Darian.” Xander approached with careful steps, his own daggers held in a relaxed grip. He twirled them in his fists, an almost unconscious act that made me think he had a great deal of practice fighting this way.
“There is nothing for us to talk about.” I lunged with a right jab, nearly catching Xander in the ribs. He danced away with ease, shifting his weight on the balls of his feet. “I need to warm up for a job tonight. If you don’t want to help me, then get out and let me work out with Ash.”
He deflected my attack with ease and came at me with a sweeping left that brought his own dagger mere inches from my face. I stabbed upward and our blades met with a scrape of metal as I blocked him. “You have to realize that my intentions are not to cause you pain, Darian. I would never intentionally hurt you, no matter what you might think to the contrary.”
Oh, I knew that. Asher had pleaded his king’s case, and so had Raif. This wasn’t about me, not really. This was about dominance. Xander needed to assert his, but that didn’t mean I had to sit back and be happy about it. In a flash of movement he attacked, blades crossing and cutting upward near my throat. I became one with the light, regaining my corporeal form at Xander’s back. He spun the instant I cut down, blocking my attack and sending me a step backward from the force of the parry.
“Use my distraction as an opportunity.” He put a little distance between us as he paused to give me instruction. “Stab here.” With the point of his dagger he indicated a spot high on the left side of his ribcage. “With an upward cut to puncture the lung. Your opponent’s arms will drop in an instant. And then,” he walked toward me and raised his arm, bringing the point of his right dagger down until the tip made contact with the flesh at my pulse point, “stab here. A quick, forceful slice through the jugular.”
“Got it. Thanks.”
“Are we ever going to have a real conversation, Darian? One where you don’t run off or throw me out before I can say all of the things I need to say?”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know. Xander, I have to focus and I can’t think about that right now.”
I raised my weapons, ready to resume where we’d left off. Xander did the same, and then came at me with all of the skill of a highly trained warrior. The assault exhausted me, pushing me nearly to the breaking point. I didn’t have the skills necessary to keep pace with Xander and my anger mounted like a coming thunderstorm. I needed to warm up, not expend every ounce of energy in my stores. If he didn’t slack off, I’d be useless tonight. “Take it easy.” I blocked a sweeping cut from my left and a stab to the right. “Xander, knock it off.” He ignored the command, simply came at me again, this time swinging low at my torso. The rubber gym mat tripped me up as Xander forced me further back onto the varnished hardwood floor. “Jesus Christ, Xander, are you trying to kick my ass?”
He didn’t respond, just continued to keep me in retreat. I was so damned flustered, I couldn’t concentrate enough to leave my physical body. A familiar sense of helplessness and panic began to swell inside of me like a rising tide. No longer capable of performing even a basic offensive maneuver, my arms flailed as I fought off Xander’s steady attack. My lungs seized up and my heart slammed against my ribcage with the force of a jackhammer. When the wall stayed my progress, I pushed my back flat against it. Xander froze mere inches from my face. My chest heaved with heavy breath and the daggers fell from my grasp, echoing as they smacked down on the floor.
He towered over me, his huge body blocking out everything but him. He braced an arm on the wall above me and leaned in, his own chest rising and falling with his rapid breath. A long moment of silence stretched out like a cavern between us but I refused to meet his gaze. Xander’s head dipped toward mine, so close I could feel the heat pulsing from his body like a solar flare. Tension constricted the air between us, choking the air from my lungs. In one forceful shove, Xander used the wall for leverage, spinning away from me. With a strangled shout, he released the daggers from his grip and they embedded in the opposite wall from the force of the throw. I slumped to the floor as Xander strode to the double doors, threw them open with enough force to tear them off their hinges, and left me alone in the gym.
Jesus. What a fucking mess.
I don’t know how long I sat there with my back against the wall, staring blindly at the ceiling before Raif walked into the gym. He slid down beside me and stretched his long legs out, crossing them at the ankles. For a while we stayed like that, sitting side by side in companionable silence, each of us lost in contemplation.
“Asher said you’re going out on a job tonight. Mithras?”
I nodded. A verbal response didn’t seem possible yet. My throat was still too clogged with emotion to speak.
“I know you’re taking Asher along, but if you’d consider it, I’d like to go as backup.”
Damn you Raif and your honorable nature. I was trying so hard to hold on to my selfish anger. “I’d love to have you along.” My voice was nothing more than a ragged whisper, the perfect reflection of my emotions. “But Asher is the better choice. He’s as good as invisible. You’ve got too much notoriety, Raif. You’d be recognized in a heartbeat.”
“I’ll stay in the shadows,” he suggested. “Cloaked.”
It was tempting, but Asher was still the safer bet. I had no idea what to expect inside Atlas, and my knowledge of Mithras was limited. He might sense Raif’s presence whereas Asher could climb right inside the guy’s mind and convince him that he wasn’t even there. “No, Raif. You need to stay here with Xander. He seems a little on edge.”
Raif followed my gaze to the far wall where the practice daggers were embedded almost to the hilts. “You think?”
“This has to stop, Raif. I know what’s going on with his regent. Can’t you make him go home? Force him to make a stand now before the situation gets any more out of hand?”
“You know as well as I do that there is no making Alexander do anything. He refuses to leave the city unless one condition is met.”
“Then give him whatever he wants.” Surely it was that simple. Everyone here doted on Xander. How hard could it be to give him the one thing he wanted so he’d go home and make a stand for his throne?
Raif turned to look at me, one of his tawny brows cocked over his sapphire eyes. “He refuses to leave the city unless you leave with him.”
Well, crap.
I might have considered tagging along with his stubborn ass if he dropped the charges against Tyler. But going with Xander back to his kingdom would only encourage him to try forcing a relationship between us and I refused to play with his emotions ever again. “You know I can’t do that.”
“I do. Which is why I wanted to accompany you tonight. Fires are beginning to crop up. Fires that I’ll be required to put out. It’s very likely I won’t see you much for a while.”
So much had changed over the past six months. I’d missed so much. “I’m sorry I ran away, Raif. I never should have gone to O’Anel. I was gone for way too long and—”
“Nonsense. I know your time there was short in comparison, but I’m grateful that you had a place to go and time to heal. And if my daughter had any part in that, it warms my heart even more.”
I couldn’t deny that Brakae’s presen
ce was a balm for my soul. “She’s amazing, Raif. When the smoke settles, I’m going to take you there to see her again.”
“A kind offer considering the time you must sacrifice to do it.”
When had our relationship become so damned…formal? I wasn’t talking to my friend right now; I was having a polite conversation with a member of the royal family. This flat-out sucked. “You’d better go check on him,” I said after a while. I needed a few minutes alone to clear my head and I needed to get home soon and get ready to meet Lorik.
“I suppose I should,” Raif said on a sigh. I wondered if he ever tired of looking after his older brother. Xander certainly was a handful. “But before I go…I asked around about Mithras to see if I could learn anything that might help you in your mission.”
Mission. He made it sound so tactical and civilized. Not like I was going out to murder the SOB for a paycheck. “Oh yeah? Come across any juicy tidbits of gossip?”
“Those who serve him are fanatics. Acolytes. It doesn’t matter if he’s a god or simply thinks he is. The faith and belief of his followers is what makes him powerful.”
His words confirmed Ty’s assertions. Raif pushed himself up off the floor and held his hand out to me. I took it and let him haul me up beside him, grateful I didn’t have to stand on my own steam. Xander had unintentionally worked me out a little too hard. “Acolytes, huh? Sounds intense.” Knowing what I did and having already seen the evidence that Mithras had a cult of eager worshipers following him around, his growing power was going to make killing him a little tricky. Still, I was committed to seeing an end to this tonight. If I had to off him in a room full of glassy-eyed devotees, so be it.
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