Blood Match

by K. A. Linde

  “If I can get it, I will,” she said, handing him back the hot cocoa and squeezing his hand.

  Gabe nodded and motioned for her to follow him now that she was warm. He showed her to a bedroom in the back of the safe house.

  “He’s in there. We’re going to mic you so that we can hear everything that’s being said. There’s already a video camera in the room. And there’s nothing that he can use to hurt you. But if he tries, I’ll be on the other side of this door.”

  “Okay.” She swallowed.

  “Beckham will be watching from another room, because I don’t trust him not to barge in at the slightest provocation.”

  Reyna nodded. That sounded reasonable.

  “How…how did Everett find me?” she asked. “Like…how did he get here and everything?”

  “He didn’t find you. He found me. I guess he did see me that night. He’s been piecing together who I am and finally tracked me down. I nearly blew his brains out when he approached me. Idiot did it when I was alone in a dark alley. All I can say is that he seems desperate.”

  Reyna quelled her fear. She couldn’t show any to Everett when she walked into that room. And she didn’t need it now, thinking about how exactly Everett had been able to track her down.

  “All right. Let’s do this.”

  Tony, Elle’s resident techie, hooked her up to a microphone, and when he was done Gabe nudged her with his elbow. “Knock ’em dead.”

  Beckham appeared in the doorway and Gabe made himself scarce. “Are you ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be. Who was on the phone?”

  “Work.” His entire demeanor said to let it go. So she did.

  “I think I’m ready,” Reyna said.

  “If he harms you, I will kill him,” Beckham said menacingly.

  Reyna reached out and ran her hands up into his dark hair. “Nothing is going to happen to me.”

  His kiss was urgent and chaotic. It made her entire body tremble with need. Her bones ache with desperation. Her lungs burn to breathe him in. She could have gotten so lost in him. And maybe he wanted her to.

  Abruptly, she pulled back. “Wish me luck.”

  “Luck is rarely on your side, Little One.” He brushed back her hair. “But I am on your side.”

  “Even better,” she whispered.

  She managed to disentangle herself from him and stepped back into the hallway. Gabe gestured to the door and she nodded. The door swung open and there sat Everett in a wooden chair in the center of the room. His hands were handcuffed in front of him, and it looked like someone had already tried the torture tactic on him. He glanced up and his hazel eyes sparkled at the sight of her.

  “You came,” he said earnestly.

  She took a deep breath and stepped into the room.

  Here goes nothing.

  Chapter 27

  “I didn’t think that you’d come,” Everett said.

  She raised her chin an inch, taking him in like an eagle before it devours a mouse. His boy-next-door good looks were bedraggled. His chestnut hair was mussed, one eye swollen, blood dribbling out of a cut on his lip. The clothes they’d given him didn’t quite fit. His frame was swallowed in the oversized T-shirt and sweats that replaced his crisp valet uniform.

  And yet…he wasn’t downtrodden. His spirits were high. His smile was that same friendly grin she had known for so long. The one that she had foolishly trusted. That had backfired in her face.

  “Yes, you did,” she finally said.

  His lips quirked downward. “I wasn’t sure.”

  “Don’t try this act on me. I believe we’re past that.”

  “It’s not an act.”

  She laughed brusquely. “Everything with you is an act. So, let’s skip the pleasantries. I’m here. That’s what you wanted. Why don’t you tell me the information that you’re withholding?”

  Everett straightened in his seat. “Why don’t you take these handcuffs off me?” He held his hands out in front of him. “Then we’ll chat.”

  “Yeah. Not happening.”

  “You don’t have to be afraid of me.”

  “I’m not afraid of you,” she spat. Her anger was fuel to a fire.

  “If you’re not afraid of me, then I don’t need these.”

  Reyna rolled her eyes. “Okay. So, you’re not going to tell me. I guess I don’t need to be here.”

  She turned around and started walking back toward the door. Her hand was on the handle before he called out, “Wait.”

  She stilled. Forced herself to wait. To draw out his unease. Then she faced him once more. “I’m not here to play games with you. I’ve done that enough.”

  “Okay,” he said evenly, leaning his elbows on his knees. “Can I start at the beginning?”

  “Start wherever you like. Just get started.”

  “Will you sit?” He gestured to the seat before him.

  She wondered if it had been Gabe who had done the interrogating first. She knew he was good with his hands. A fighter at heart. It couldn’t have been Beckham. He didn’t want Everett to know he was part of Elle. Plus, he wouldn’t just be bruised; he’d be bloody.

  She swung the chair around on its back legs and straddled it with the back as a barrier between them. Then she rested her arms on top of the back of the wooden chair.

  “I’m sitting. Get started.”

  Everett grinned. “You always were a surprise.”

  She sighed heavily as if she were totally bored with him.

  “Let’s start with—how long have you been a spy? Is that a good place to start?” she asked.

  “Awhile,” he said with a shrug. “Long enough.”

  “Do your friends know?”

  “No. They are exactly as they seem.”

  “Why were you spying on me?”

  “Well, I wasn’t spying on you,” he said nonchalantly. “But I have spied on many others before.”

  “You didn’t spy on me? Explain that to me.”

  “I didn’t have to spy on you, Reyna. You were so desperate for someone to notice you that you would have made the easiest mark in the world.”

  She flushed at the comment. That had been true. She had been that girl. Out of her depth and in need of a friend. No wonder he had been so kind to her. The only person who had.

  “But you weren’t the mark,” Everett added calmly.

  “You turned me in to Harrington and I wasn’t the mark?” She had to fight to keep her anger in check.

  “Why would Harrington give a shit about another blood whore?”

  Reyna bit the inside of her cheek. “Then why did you turn me in?”

  “Because Beckham was the mark.” His handcuffs jingled as he pointed toward the door. “He’s out there, isn’t he?”

  “Then why did you turn me in?” she repeated, ignoring his question.

  “I did what I was told. I was to report on anything interesting in Beckham’s movements, changes in his demeanor, differences in his schedule. That sort of thing. He’s a rather boring and predictable person, to be honest. That is, until you came along.”

  Reyna swallowed. “What changed when I showed up?”

  Everett cocked his head to the side. His eyes were bright as if he found the question interesting, or maybe hilarious. “Everything.”

  She knew that she shouldn’t feel excitement at that thought, but still it curled inside of her.

  “Didn’t you ever wonder why I never turned you in for all of your obvious rebellious behavior? That camera?” He laughed. “If I could figure out that you were the Perspective website in a half second, did you think no one else was going to find out? Do you know how many times I covered your tracks?”

  Reyna sat motionless. He was manipulating her. He was trying to get to her like Beckham and Gabe had said. T
here was no way to know whether he had covered for her. Beckham had set up the website and he knew what he was doing. Everett didn’t have enough power to do more than Beckham had. If he wanted her to sympathize with him because of this, then he had another thing coming.

  “So?” She narrowed her eyes. “Do you think that absolves you from your part in my kidnapping?”

  “Reyna, I didn’t even know that was going to happen to you. I called in the bite as it was out of character for Beckham,” he informed her. “I thought this would result in Beckham’s arrest finally. Even though I was spying on Beckham, Harrington somehow trusted him against all reason. Until you…”

  “Yeah, well, he didn’t come for Beckham. He came for me.”

  “And now you’re out,” he said breezily. As if this whole thing had been a walk in the park.

  Reyna jumped up from her chair and kicked it to the side. She stormed toward him, grabbed him by the collar, and bent down low into his face. “Do not ever talk so flippantly about what happened to me. You have no idea what I went through. The fact that I’m out doesn’t make it better. Nothing is better.”

  Everett’s eyes widened in shock at her aggression. If he thought that he was going to get the doe-eyed, manic pixie dreamgirl she had once been, he was sorely mistaken. He’d played his cards wrong. She might have once been that girl, but now she’d grown teeth.

  He held up his hands in supplication. “What did they do to you?”

  She threw him away like a piece of trash. “Ripped away my innocence.”

  She prowled back to her overturned chair. She righted it, adjusted her dark hair, and then took a seat. “Now…about that information?”

  “They have someone that I love too.”

  Reyna wanted to not care. But between her and Jodie, she didn’t have it in her. “Who?”

  “My brother, Edmond. We were in the same program. He washed out and they kept him as my collateral. I haven’t heard from him in three years.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I truly am sorry. When I called it in, I thought it was for Beckham. When they said they were coming to get you, I didn’t know where they were taking you. I just knew I was protecting my brother.”

  “I really don’t want to hear your tale. It seems everyone has someone. This world hasn’t been kind. But it didn’t turn us all into sniveling snitches.”

  “No, but it seems to have done the best to harden even the best of us.”

  Reyna ignored his comment. Was she harder? Sure. She had to be. But part of that was his fucking fault. If she hadn’t gone through what she had at Visage, she might have still been that daydreamer. She might still be looking for the good in everyone. Hoping that they could right the world through her photography and helpful programs for the poor. Visage was a last resort for a lot of people, including her. She knew that there should be some other way. She didn’t know if she believed it was possible any longer.

  “Why did you want to talk to me?” she asked.

  “Because you know me.”

  She scoffed. “Yeah. Okay.”

  “I thought you would understand.”

  “No, you thought I’d be an idiot. When you saw me at Ferrier House, you saw the same frightened girl that you always knew. I was so shocked to see you that I freaked out. I’m not afraid anymore and I’m not an idiot. So, if we’re going to keep going around in circles, then I’ll leave.” She flung her hand toward the door. “There’s someone else out there who will be happy to get the information in a different way. I’d think it’d be much less pleasant, but hey, that’s your call.”

  Everett’s eyes dropped to the floor. It was as if all the bluster and bravado slipped right off of him. She saw him for exactly who he was and not the person he had always appeared to be. Broken. Kicked down by the system just as she was.

  Her heart went out to him. She had seen that same expression from Jodie time and time again. From everyone that Visage had hurt. Even herself.

  Yet, she guarded herself against it. Everett was a spy. It was his actual job to manipulate people like this. His first tactic hadn’t worked. Maybe this one would.

  “You do realize I’m risking Edmond by telling you this.” His eyes slid up to hers, piercing and terrified. Eyes of someone who was putting their life on the line…and the life of everyone they cared about.

  “You haven’t told us anything yet.”

  “I’m risking it all just by being here. By talking to you and admitting there’s even something to talk about.”

  “Then why are you here?”

  A chill ran through her at the haunted look in his eyes. As if he’d just seen a ghost pass before his very eyes. “Because I couldn’t ignore what I discovered.”

  “Then spit it out.”

  He shook his head. “I need some assurances.”

  “What kind of assurances?”

  His eyes shifted to her chest, where the microphone lay against her bra strap. It was as if he knew it was there even though there was no way he could see it. “Did they get that? I want assurances for my safety. That I’m not going to be killed off as soon as they get what they want. That they’ll look into Edmond too.”

  Reyna bared her teeth. “I don’t even know what you have. It might not even be worth my time.”

  “It is.” His confidence was unwavering. “Go talk to them. Get my assurances and…and I’ll start from the beginning.”

  “Fine,” she spat. She vaulted out of her chair and burst through the door. She slammed it shut behind her, frustrated by the entire ordeal. She’d naively thought she’d be able to walk in there and he’d tell her everything that she wanted to know. Fuck, she should have known better. Nothing ever went her way that easily.

  Gabe rounded the corner and dragged her away from the door. “Great job so far.”

  “What? He hasn’t told me anything.”

  “He’s told you a fuck ton. A spy for Harrington himself? Beckham as his mark? We’re getting so much out of this.”

  She entered the second room and found Tony leaning over a series of monitors. Gabe moved to stand next to him and give her privacy as Beckham scooped her up. She threw her arms around his neck and buried herself into his chest.

  “You’re okay,” he said soothingly. He traced lazy circles into her back. Then he kissed the top of her head and pulled back. “You’re okay.”

  She swallowed and nodded. “Gabe said I did good.”

  “You’re doing brilliant.”

  “He was spying on you.”

  “I heard.”

  “Motherfucker,” she spat.

  “You’re almost done.” He grinned and kissed her again.

  “Well, what should I tell him? Do I meet his demands?”

  “They only have to be met if he cooperates,” Tony said, not even bothering to look up from the computer. “If he delivers, we toss him in a prison cell and let the bastard rot away forever.”

  “Then how are we any better than Visage?” she demanded.

  Tony looked up at her and blinked. He was clearly used to living in a world of zeroes and ones. What she was suggesting didn’t compute.

  “Reyna, we can’t let him go,” Gabe said.

  “I didn’t say we should. But if we imprison him, then how is it any better than what happened to me?”

  “He turned you in,” Beckham growled.

  “And he turned himself in for this. For the beating he got and the interrogation. He did it knowing that someone he cared about could be killed. Could you imagine making that same sacrifice?”

  “He’s manipulating you,” Gabe said with a sigh. “Are you suggesting we rehabilitate him? A man who admitted to being a trained spy?”

  “No. I don’t know.” She shook her head. “I’d be happy if he was gone. I don’t want to lose focus of the reason we�
��re fighting against Visage. We don’t want to become as bad as they are.”

  “Give him the assurances,” Beckham said.

  “Beckham,” Gabe grumbled.

  “Thank you,” Reyna said. “I’ll get what we need. If he doesn’t deliver and this is really a trap…I don’t care what you do to him.”

  Beckham nodded. She knew the bargain she’d struck with him. Everett could be dead by the end of the night. The option was entirely up to him.

  She left the guys in the room and strode back to Everett. She heard someone call behind her, but she was already inside. Everett grabbed her and wrapped his handcuffs around her neck, cutting off her air supply. She gasped for air and knew she had only seconds to react before he had complete control of her.

  She stomped her foot onto the top of his. Something crunched and Everett howled. But he didn’t release her. She tried to jab at his kidneys or do anything that could incapacitate him, but he dodged her arms. Still cursing her for his foot.

  With an instinct she’d mastered over hours and hours of training with her brothers, she grasped Everett’s arm, bent forward, and jerked him over her shoulder. Unprepared for the momentum that she had, he rolled up onto her hip and then she slammed him down onto his back. Her foot landed on his throat.

  “Don’t fucking move,” she growled.

  Gabe dashed into the room, holding a pistol in his hands. His eyes widened in shock at Everett lying flat on his back and Reyna on top of him. She knew that she wouldn’t have been able to deliver that so effectively if Everett hadn’t completely underestimated her. But it didn’t matter, because it had fucking worked.

  “Well, I guess you handled that,” Gabe said, lowering his weapon.

  “Why the hell would you attack me?” she shouted at Everett as Gabe manhandled him into the chair again.

  Once Everett was seated, he shrugged. “No one wants to be a prisoner. You would have been good leverage.”

  Reyna shot him an exasperated look and stalked away from him. He had only made things worse for himself by underestimating her. What an idiot!

  A few minutes later, Everett’s hands and feet were tied to the chair and Gabe finally left. Everett’s eyes were on her. They still hadn’t quite lost their shock.