by Dannika Dark
“Was that before or after your first kill?” Wyatt quipped.
I glanced over my shoulder. “What about you, Christian?”
He gave me a frosty look. “Pepto-Bismol.”
Viktor entered the room in dark slacks, loafers, and a pressed grey shirt.
“What about you, Viktor?” Blue fumbled with a pocket on her black cargo pants. “What’s your breakfast of choice?”
He sat down on a weight bench, and we shifted to face him. “Your scrambled eggs.”
“Nothing from your homeland?” While she was pressing him for an honest answer, his compliment lit up her eyes.
“Breakfast was vodka in my boyhood,” Wyatt answered in an exaggerated Russian accent that made Gem cringe.
Everyone else chuckled. Everyone except Viktor, whose mind was clearly elsewhere.
He ran a hand over his short beard. “I have accepted an important assignment.”
Shepherd took a seat on the floor beside me. “What about the shit we’re working on now?”
Viktor always had us working on smaller projects. Gem and Wyatt handled a large bulk of that work, so they stayed busy day and night. The rest of us fought like jackals over whatever we could get between big assignments. Sometimes it was investigating crime scenes, other times it was tracking criminals. I preferred the latter. But we also looked into extortion, fraud, and once a case of stolen identity. A Mage had murdered his Creator, who just so happened to be his twin brother.
“Gem will continue with her special project,” Viktor said.
Gem held the rope with one hand. “Do you still want me to translate that recent book I found?”
“Nyet. That will be next. My contact is still waiting on the first two books. Many important details are in them.”
“I’m solving a murder case that’s eight hundred years old,” she boasted to the room.
“Based on a book?” I asked. “What if the author lied?”
Wyatt chortled. “They made a false accusation against someone in a book, hoping it would be discovered almost a thousand years later? Talk about a patient man.”
“No, silly.” Gem let go of the rope and sat cross-legged in front of me. “We usually have at least two sources to corroborate facts, and when names are mentioned, the higher authority can open an official investigation and charm witnesses. I love solving cold cases.”
“If you say so, Agatha Christie. I’ve seen you in action at crime scenes.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t want to actually see dead bodies. There are other methods to solve a crime. After eight hundred years, there’s no body left to look at anyhow.”
“Why did you call us in here instead of the dining room?” Blue didn’t waste time getting to the point, especially since we had a tendency to drift off topic when we were all put in the same room.
Viktor wrung his hands. “I did not want to risk the boy overhearing this discussion. Or Switch. This is a very sensitive topic to Shifters in particular. Because of our living situation, I must be more careful about where and when we hold our important meetings.”
With his hands in his pockets, Christian strode over and stood near the wall.
Viktor scratched his ear. “My contact has reason to believe there is a fighting ring in the Breed district. Not the Bricks, but right in the middle of good society.”
Blue’s eyebrows popped up. “Someone has a lot of gall to do that in city limits.”
I’d heard of cage fights, pit fights, and illegal rings where Shifters were forced to fight against each other. Some watched for entertainment, while others engaged in gambling.
“These fights are illegal and immoral. The higher authority punishes offenders to the fullest extent of the law, and that is why most are held outside city limits. Those are difficult to track.”
I sat cross-legged. “If the higher authority thinks there’s fighting going on, why haven’t they sent in Regulators to bust everyone?”
Viktor clasped his hands. “It is more complicated than that. We cannot make arrests based on assumptions. Slander is against the law, so we need to gather hard evidence on who is behind the operation. A smart criminal will go to great lengths to hide their identity. Regulators might break up a fight, but what good will that do if they have no evidence of who is in charge? If you want to kill bees, you cannot smash the hive. You must capture the queen.”
Wyatt put on his faded green shirt. “You shouldn’t go around killing bees. I read that if bees ever go extinct, so will everything else. Plants and trees won’t get pollinated, and people will”—he snapped his fingers—“disappear off the face of the earth.”
“What are the clues we have to go on?” Christian asked, ignoring Wyatt’s remarks. We’d grown used to him injecting random facts or wild speculation into a conversation.
“We have linked three bodies,” Viktor said. “They were dumped in human alleyways where juicers hang out, but none of these women lived or worked in the area where their bodies were found. It is possible they went there for other reasons, but when we discovered the second victim worked at the same club as the first, we suspected something more than a random attack.”
“How do you know they worked at a club?” Blue asked.
“They had a tattoo that linked them to the establishment. We can’t always tell someone’s Breed right away, but all three had a Creator’s mark.”
“Juicers might have done it,” Claude pointed out. “Remember that Creator we recently caught who was giving every random Joe Blow his first spark? Who knows how many he made, and unclaimed Learners are targeted by juicers more than anyone else. They’re weak, and it’s possible to kill a young Mage if you take too much light. I don’t see how a few bodies connect to a fighting ring.”
“None of these women were Learners,” Viktor stated. “Two were ancients.”
I shook my head. “Then how did they die? You can’t juice an ancient to death, can you?”
“The first victim had blood on her but no marks. That investigation was handled poorly, and they cremated her body. When a second girl with the same tattoo showed up dead, they called me, and I sent Shepherd to examine the body.”
“Ah. So that’s the case we’re talking about.” Shepherd bent his knee and draped his arm over it before filling us in. “The first girl I looked at died scared and fighting. It was a long battle, and it didn’t take place in that alley. The residual emotions on bodies fade, so the fresher they are, the more I can read. Pride was a big one, and that particular rush I’ve only felt when someone accomplished something in front of a cheering crowd. She had a few significant injuries. Same on the third girl, except not as much fear. Mostly exhaustion, so she must have fought for a long time. The full sensory experience is long gone after a person dies, but sometimes what’s left is enough for me to put two and two together.”
“We found no weapons at the scene,” Viktor added. “The higher authority sent Regulators to the club after hours to speak to the manager who overlooks the staff.”
“Oversees,” Gem said, correcting him.
“Spasibo. She told them that just before two of the victims went missing, they mentioned quitting the club because of a side job. She thought it was unusual since the club pays well and customers tip very high. People in those positions will work multiple jobs and rarely quit one for another. She said they weren’t the only ones who had mentioned quitting and were secretive about the second job. Shortly after this meeting, the higher authority decided it would be prudent not to send in Vampires for questioning.”
I jerked my head back. “Why not?”
“The Regulators’ presence in the club got out, and it spooked a few of the girls. They disappeared.”
“Disappeared?” I parroted. “Suspiciously?”
“Aren’t all disappearances suspicious?” Wyatt asked.
“No. If you pack all your stuff and leave town, that’s not as suspicious as vanishing in the night and leaving your cat behind.”
�
�Guess how long cats can live without food?”
“Longer than you.”
Viktor cleared his throat. “We think they were involved.”
Blue shook her head. “Why run? They could have cooperated and helped take down the ring. People only give a shit about themselves.”
Viktor nodded. “Tak-tochno.”
Gem smiled. “In English.”
“Never mind,” he said with a wave of his hand. “Admitting the truth would implicate themselves. The higher authority does not show leniency, especially if they were paid and participated of their own free will. A crime is a crime.”
“They were fighting each other?” Christian dipped his chin.
“I do not know. This would be the first I’ve heard of Mage fights. All the women appeared strong and capable, so the person hiring them is looking for fighters who can hold the attention of a crowd. You cannot just scoop people off the streets and expect that to be good enough for wealthy customers. They want something special. Where do you think one finds such a woman?”
Wyatt bit his fingernail. “Not the library.”
“A bondage club,” Viktor replied.
Was he for real? “What would a dominatrix know about fighting?”
Christian chuckled darkly. “Sweetheart, this isn’t the same world as the one you grew up in. I think Viktor is referring to an adult entertainment club. It’s not just BDSM. The women there have to deal with some real wankers who don’t know how to control themselves. They’re tough women, to be sure.”
I tilted my head up at him. “And you know this how?”
His gaze drifted off. “A friend of a friend.”
“You don’t have any friends.”
Now I was curious what in the world had attracted Christian to a club like that. Did he participate? Did he watch? Did he take his dates there? Maybe he paid one of the workers to flog him with her leather panties. Suddenly I was feeling like a woefully inadequate lover. He had a century’s worth of practice on me.
“Christian is right,” Viktor said, snapping me out of my fantasies. “Women who work in these clubs are required to know how to protect themselves. Owners prefer hiring Mage for that reason.”
“Why not hire Vampires?”
Christian strode toward the wall next to Niko and leaned against it. “A female Vampire in a fantasy club? That’ll be the day.”
Blue stood up and brushed off the seat of her pants. “I bet Mage women like the empowerment of being in charge. A lot of the older ones came into immortality as sex slaves or worse.”
Claude frowned. “What’s worse?”
Without hesitation, I answered. “Having your Creator juice all your light or bind with you against your will.”
That put a stake in the discussion.
I swung my attention back to Viktor. “What’s our job exactly?”
Viktor sat up straight and planted his palms on the bench. “The owner is cooperating and dealing strictly with my contact. He does not want his club shut down; it would set a precedent for similar clubs, and he feels they are a fundamental right. Those were his words, not mine, but I have to agree. Immortals get bored easily and need an outlay.”
“Outlet,” Gem said.
He muttered something to her in Russian, and the only word I picked up was coffee.
“You want us to visit the club and have a look around?” Christian asked.
I leaned back on my hands. “Don’t look so excited.”
“Nyet. I need Raven as bait.”
I shook my head. “I thought you said some of the employees disappeared? Why not just send in a Vampire to question everyone?”
“Someone is getting their women from this club. Why would we want to tip them off?”
“Don’t you think the person running this ring will get their women elsewhere? They might have heard about the raid.”
“It was not a raid. The Regulators were discreet,” Viktor assured me. “After they questioned the manager, they scrubbed her memory of the conversation. The owner does not want to jeopardize his business with a formal investigation. His workers would leave, his customers would quit coming in, and he might seek compensation from the higher authority for slandering his business.”
“Some of those girls who took off might have told the ringleader.”
“No one knows why the Regulators were there. They went after hours, but someone must have seen them coming or going from the building. It would be enough to make the employees gossip but nothing more. The owner has pacified his people with a fake story about his lease or some such nonsense. Only guilty people run, and those girls probably left the city. Would you stay here for an illegal job if you knew there was a bounty on your head?”
“I’d be long gone,” Shepherd agreed.
Viktor stood up. “We have no reason to believe the person soliciting these women to fight knows about our investigation. In the meantime, the club needs replacement workers, and Raven is perfect for this job.”
Christian glowered and stepped forward. “Over my rotting corpse.”
“What I decide is my choice.” Viktor met eyes with him. “The position is for bartender.”
“He or she might approach the other girls instead,” I said. “What then?”
Viktor paced the floor. “We have considered different scenarios.” Viktor regarded me for a moment. “None of the victims had similar traits, so this is not about a physical preference. You must stand out. I want you to watch the other women in the bar. I’m told that the three victims were strong-willed and… What is the word I seek? Butch.”
Wyatt snickered. “You picked the right man for the job.”
“What about me?” Gem gave Viktor her best puppy dog eyes. “I’m a Mage.”
Viktor shook his head. “This is why I hired Raven and Christian. You are not what these people desire, and I need you working on books.”
Realizing there was no way out of working in a sex club, I sat forward and muttered, “This wasn’t in the brochure.”
“Claude will also be working undercover. He can provide backup if something goes wrong. It is better to work in teams.”
Christian cleared his throat to draw attention to the obvious fact that he was my partner.
Viktor shrugged at him. “They have a no Vampires policy. What can I do? Vampires are known to cause trouble in such clubs by charming the workers to do their bidding.”
“Apparently they’re not banned in all clubs,” I said, smiling at Christian. “Isn’t that right, honeybun?”
Viktor put his hands on his hips. “It is very important that you do not show anyone your Vampire side. They are looking for a Mage, so keep your fangs out of sight.”
“Got it.”
“Do whatever it takes to stand out and show your strength,” he continued. “Wyatt, I want you to put a device on Raven that follows her every move. She’s prohibited from going anywhere but the hotel and club unless she is invited. If she travels through the human district, monitor any security cameras and document vehicles, plates, and faces. Any place she goes, research who owns those properties. This will require twenty-four-hour surveillance on your part.”
“I can just call and let him know if I’m going out for a bite,” I suggested.
“Nyet. Your phone stays here. I cannot risk the wrong person accessing your contact list or overhearing your call. We will do this right. Claude will relay any messages. And do not go wandering. It will make Wyatt’s job difficult if he is researching property records when you are only going out for ice cream.”
“So if someone approaches me with an offer, I relay that to Claude and then you guys bust him?”
Viktor shook his head. “Suspicion or names are not enough for such a prestigious case. We must go deep enough to get into the fights.”
My jaw slackened. “You want me to fight?”
“I do not want you involved in actual fighting, but we need to know who is running the operation. You must be certain of that, because the per
son who approaches you might not be who we want. I want locations. I want names. I want the identity of everyone involved, including customers. You must get close enough to see the fights. We cannot rely on hearsay. If we have insufficient evidence, they go free and we lose our chance. To fail would mean losing the confidence of the higher authority. We have just enough evidence to build a solid case, so it is up to us to uncover this crime ring.”
I waited for Christian’s rebuttal, but he quietly listened with everyone else.
“Shepherd, I want you in the club as a customer, but not every night. It is important that we do not reveal our cover.”
“Blow our cover,” Gem said. She was never rude about correcting Viktor, and he seemed to appreciate it since she had helped him fine-tune his English over the years.
“Talk to bystanders,” he went on. “Express interest in watching a girl fight. Portray yourself as a wealthy man, but do not wear a suit. This would make you stand out. You can use your gifts to read people and find suspects.”
Shepherd stood up, his arms hanging at his sides like dead limbs. “You want me to go into a sex club with my gloves off? Fuck that.”
“Who else can sense a liar except for Claude? He will be doing his own undercover work by talking to customers to see what their fantasies are.”
Claude shuddered.
“Touch their glasses,” Viktor instructed him. “Or the table. Whatever it is you do. We must narrow down suspects. Anyone you find curious, find out their name. Wyatt will search for a criminal record. We must be cautious. If too many of us are together in one place, someone might make a connection. We go as a group to bars.”
“Not lately,” Wyatt complained. “Seems like forever since we had a good time.”
“Niko is still recovering.” Viktor rubbed his neck as if he’d slept on it wrong. “I want him on a mandatory vacation for at least three more weeks.”
“I can help,” Niko insisted. “I can read light.”
“You only just woke up from a long coma.” Viktor walked back to the weight bench but remained standing. “It will take time for you to fully recover. Your body is still weak.”