I wanted to ask him what he meant but held my tongue, not wanting to ruin this moment of closeness with questions.
I missed the heat of his form pressed to my back as we slept. There’d been a time when he’d stayed with me night after night. Watching over me, soothing away the nightmares, but there was a distance between us now. One I didn’t understand or like.
I closed my eyes with a ragged sigh. “My family is no longer exempt from the Hunt.”
“I heard.”
“Is that why you came?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know what to do.”
“There is nothing you can do. You must let events play out. You can’t interfere. You mustn’t risk yourself.”
“But if one of the girls is chosen…”
“Then you let them go.”
I turned to him in anger. “How can you say that? They’re my sisters.”
“What choice do you have?”
I hated that he was right. I fucking hated it. I was weak. I was nothing, we were nothing against them.
“Your brother made it home,” he reminded me.
“Only because he lost a leg. He survived, and they rejected him. If Joti gets the red letter, she has a good chance of making it through the night and being chosen. But Nina…she won’t make it with her leg.”
“But if she does, then they’ll reject her,” Killion pointed out.
But the odds weren’t in her favor. “And what about the stories of the chosen? How come no one ever sees them again? They just disappear.”
Killion was silent, but it was a pregnant silence filled with possibility, as if he was pondering revealing something.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing. Get some rest. Spend quality time with your siblings. Lend them your strength. That is all you can do.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. “They probably won’t even get picked.”
I had to believe that. In the meantime, I needed a distraction. I needed a mission that I had control over.
“I’m going to hit the warehouse next week. They’ve changed shipments, and it could be the last haul we get before they tighten security. Will you come with me?”
I waited for the objection. For him to tell me just how ridiculous my idea was.
“When?” he asked.
The breath rushed out of my lungs in relief. “At the end of the week, when the new shipment arrives.”
“I’ll be there.”
I spent the weekend with my family, not expecting to see Killion, but when he didn’t show on the Monday or the Tuesday, anxiety began to nibble at my confidence. There were no guard or library shifts, so I took time with the girls. Showing them maps and pointing out cool hidey-holes in the district. We even went for a few walks and jogged a little. I told them it was to stretch our legs, but I needed to test their stamina. I wish I hadn’t. My sisters were sorely out of shape, and my nerves about the Hunt grew worse.
Thirteen children were picked each year. Thirteen out of hundreds. The chances my home got hit were minuscule. But there was no harm in being prepared.
Killion didn’t show all week. It was the longest I’d ever gone without seeing him. My stomach was in knots as I made my way to work on the day of the heist.
What if Killion didn’t show up?
Fuck it. I’d do the job solo.
It was the last chance to stock up.
The last chance to make sure my family’s stores were stocked up to last through the price hikes to come.
The streets were filled with people headed to the daily grind. The factory at the edge of the district was the main employer where weapons and armor were forged for the guard. Iron wasn’t the toughest of metals in its natural form, and even when bonded with other metals, it didn’t last too long up against the bleak. Same with the armor. The factory made sure the guard was kept supplied.
The market was the second-largest source of employment. Baba said the inner districts were run by night denizens. He said creatures called baku roamed the streets at night to keep the peace.
I’d seen pictures of the huge beasts; they looked like a cross between a hyena and a wolf, but three times larger. The shining ones loved them, kept them as pets, and used them to hunt. Guards in Sector A were allocated baku when on duty because they kept the trade routes clear, and we, in Sector B, kept the tourist routes safe.
I passed the bakery, inhaling the delicious aroma of freshly baked bread, and then cut down an alley and onto the street beyond. Streets that were squished together, giving the district a sense of claustrophobia.
My boots splashed in icy pools of water. The snow had already melted, but there’d be a fresh shower tonight, no doubt.
My stomach rumbled. Breakfast was never enough. No meal ever completely filled me. The library appeared up ahead, gray, dull, and forbidding. No wonder no one ever visited. That and the fact that we didn’t stock any decent books, just the drivel the council allowed.
I pushed open the door and entered the chilly interior of the building. Heating this place fully was impossible, so I kept a mini heater at reception and spent all my time behind the desk chatting to Gwen, the other lowly paid librarian who’d been allocated this position.
Speaking of which. “Hey!” I raised a gloved hand in greeting.
Gwen looked up from her book, her frown of concentration melting at the sight of me. “Hey!” She grinned. “Guess what I got a hold of?”
The smell hit me, and my stomach clenched in anticipation. “Oh, God. You didn’t?”
She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and nodded. “I so did.”
The aromatic scent of coffee hit me again. I shrugged off my coat and followed Gwen into the tiny kitchenette. The coffee pot she’d grabbed in a garage sale was bubbling away, filled with dark, fragrant coffee. Coffee was impossible to get hold of. Stupidly priced and a luxury reserved for the inner districts, coffee was…well, like gold.
She poured two cups and added sugar before handing me one.
“Gwen, I think I love you.” I took a sip and almost died. “Oh, God. So fucking good.”
“Right?” She slurped hers and then opened the drawer and pulled out…a packet of chocolate biscuits.
My eyes almost fell out of their sockets. Even Ned hadn’t had any chocolate biscuits in his haul. How the heck… “Gwen?”
She tore open the packet, avoiding my eyes. “Hmmm…”
“How did you get these?”
She shrugged. “Oh, they were a gift.”
“A gift? From who?”
She placed the packet of biscuits on the counter. “My fiancé.”
“Your fiancé? Since when? Who?”
She swallowed and met my gaze. “Ned.”
“Ned? As in creepy, rapey Ned?”
Her expression hardened. “Don’t call him that. He’s not so bad. The new shipment of goods arrived from the inner city, and he came around this morning with loads of stuff for the family. He’s been asking me to marry him for months now.”
“You didn’t say anything…”
“Because I know what people say about him. I know what you think about him.”
“Yeah, it’s all true.”
“I said yes, okay. I’m marrying him, and…And my family will never go hungry again.”
She was sacrificing herself to the wanker for her family. How could I be mad at her about that? Everything was changing, and soon, I wouldn’t be able to help anyone. Ned was a creep, and Gwen was the sweetest, kindest woman I knew. Beautiful too. She deserved so much better. Telling her that right now wouldn’t help her. We all made sacrifices for the people we loved.
“Gwen…” I placed my mug on the counter and held out my arms to her.
With a strangled sob, she fell into my embrace. Damn it. Fucking damn it to hell.
It was almost closing time when the shining one walked into the library. There was no mistaking what he was even with his shine muted, cos
, yeah, the fuckers could do that.
But no human male had hair as golden as his, and who the fuck had amethyst eyes? Shining ones, that’s who. His ears were hidden by a beanie hat and long hair, but there was no hiding the ethereal glow of his alabaster skin. No muting the cliff edge peaks of his cheekbones or the inky black sweep of his thick lashes. He’d dressed in jeans, a leather jacket, and biker boots. Trying to blend in, no doubt, except those clothes were clearly designer, and even though I despised his kind, the sight of him made my heart lurch with longing.
Beside me, Gwen stiffened, and a small squeak fell from her lips. I shot her a sharp look that said pull it together even as my heart hammered too fast in my ribcage.
The shining one stopped at the entrance and looked around at the stacks of books. I said stacks, but the shelves were pretty light. The council decided which books made it to circulation, and many classic texts were banned, particularly ones with supernatural themes.
He spotted us and strode over, his gaze skimming over Gwen to settle on me. His smile was so dazzling it almost took my eyes out.
I returned it with a polite, restrained one of my own. “How can we help you?”
“I’m looking for a book,” he said.
“Then you’re in the right place.”
Gwen made that strange squeak again, but the shining one kept his attention on me. Weird. Gwen was gorgeous with creamy skin and hair so blond it was almost white. Everyone knew shining ones loved beautiful things, so why was he staring at me as if I were an exhibit in an art display?
I tucked my dark hair behind my ear and cleared my throat as a prompt.
He grinned, and yeah, it was a disarming grin that made my stomach go all gooey. Fuck him and his even white teeth.
“So, what’s the book?” I logged into the computer and typed in my password. Anything to not have to look at his perfect face. “Author name, title?”
He leaned in conspiratorially. “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.”
My brows shot up, and my stomach clenched. “Is this some kind of test?”
He blinked at me in surprise. “I’m sorry?”
It was a question, but I took it as a statement. “You should be. Coming in here and requesting a banned book. And you’re not fooling anyone with your disguise.”
He looked down at himself. “Disguise?”
“The hat to hide your ears, the jeans, and jacket, not typical clothing for a shining one, is it?”
He bit the corners of his mouth. “And what do you think a shining one wears?”
I grabbed a book from the shelf under the counter on court fashion and opened it at a random page. “This.”
He studied the outfit of tightly fitted slacks and embroidered tunic, then nodded, his mouth turned down. “Yes, very nice. And yes, those are court fashion, but they’re reserved for formal events, not everyday wear. We happen to enjoy human fashion very much. Jeans are extremely comfortable, particularly the low-rise ones.”
Damn my outer district ignorance.
He opened his jacket and lifted the hem of his shirt to showcase toned abs, a delicious V, and yep, low-rise jeans.
Gwen squeaked again.
I swear, she’d lost it.
I tore my gaze from his six-pack and fixed it on his face. “Are we done?”
He dropped his shirt and sighed. “I really did want a copy of that book, you know.”
“Yeah? And we really don’t stock it.”
“Really?” He looked genuinely surprised.
I rolled my eyes. “What did you think? You’d come to the outer district where all the rule breakers and riff-raff live and find a forbidden text?”
He winced, telling me that was exactly what he’d been thinking.
“Yeah, figured. Sorry we couldn’t help. Now, if there’s nothing else, we’re about to close up.”
His smile faltered, and he nodded. “Of course. It was nice meeting you…”
He was waiting for my name, and part of me wanted to leave him hanging, but this was work, and customer service and all that, plus, he was one of them.
“Danika.”
“Danika.” The smile was back, and my heart flipped. “It was nice to meet you, Danika.” With a final smile in Gwen’s direction, he turned and strode out of the building.
I sagged in relief. “What the fuck is a shining one doing so far from the inner city? A book? No way did he come all this way for a fucking banned book.”
Gwen blinked as if snapping out of a trance, and then rushed off.
“Hey? Where are you going?”
She returned a moment later clutching a magazine, which she slapped onto the desk and flipped open. A face stared back at me. Alabaster glowing skin, golden tresses, and amethyst eyes.
“It’s him. What? Is he famous? One of the celebrity shining ones?”
Gwen made a strangled sound. “Dammit, Dani, that wasn’t just any shining one.” She tapped the headline, and the words jumped out at me. “That was the bloody crown prince.”
7
“The crown bloody prince,” Ma said for what seemed like the hundredth time. “What is he doing here, huh? He come to see how the other half live, huh?”
She was pissed. It was evident in the flare of her delicate nostrils and the frenetic manner in which she scrubbed the pots and pans.
I swear that sink just produced dirty dishes for her to take out her anger and frustration on.
Baba puffed on his pipe by the back door, allowing the smoke to curl out into the night air. The girls were in the lounge doing homework in preparation for their return to school in a few days.
The Hunt.
No, don’t think about it.
My stomach churned.
Focus on the heist.
Only a few hours before my biggest heist, and my mentor was nowhere to be seen.
“Maybe he’s come to monitor the shipment?” Baba said. “Maybe he’s part of an escort?”
“They send a prince with food?” Ma said incredulously. “Pah, like they’d do that. No, he’s here for something else. He must be here for the Hunt.”
I was going to be sick.
Baba caught my eye, and his expression was somber. “You intend to go out tonight?”
I nodded. “Gwen invited me over to watch movies.”
The lie sat heavily on my tongue, and the sickness in my stomach intensified.
Baba simply nodded. “Come with me.” He shut the back door and padded out of the kitchen.
I followed him into his study to find him prodding the fire in the grate. “Shut the door, sweetheart.”
I did as told and stood uncertainly by his small writing desk. A closed notebook and a fountain pen sat on the surface of the wood alongside several of Baba’s favorite books. But I was distracting myself from the unease that bubbled inside me, from the slowly growing conviction that Baba was about to impart some wisdom that would change my life.
He faced me. “I know where you’re going,” he said with a sad smile. “I know what you’ve been doing for some time now.”
Blood hammered at my eardrums, but I affected an air of confusion. “What? I’m headed to Gwen’s house.”
He sighed. “You’re the Black Raven.”
My heart tried to punch its way out of my chest.
I let out a sharp bark of laughter. “Very funny, Baba.”
He stared at me flatly. “I’m proud of you. I don’t know how you pull it off, but I’m proud of you every time, and I’ve kept my peace because you’re helping a lot of people. But I have to speak up tonight. I have to ask you not to steal from the main warehouse.”
He knew. He knew the truth. I was done lying. I met his gaze and raised my chin, neither confirming nor denying.
“It’s too dangerous, sweetheart. The greedy men and women you took from have been nothing compared to stealing directly from the shining ones. If you go, you’ll be caught.”
He didn’t know what I was capable of. Not really. “I can handle myself.
”
“I know you can. Trust me, sweetheart, I’ve known you were special for a long time. When we found you out on the trade route, mere miles from the wildlands, barely alive, your Ma and I knew you were special. So small, so frail, yet fierce. How had you stayed alive? How had you evaded the bleak and the wulven that roam the fringes of the trade routes? We debated this for days and concluded that you were blessed. That a force we couldn’t understand was watching over you. I am so very proud of everything you’ve done for the district, but it’s time to take a step back.”
My gut quivered in warning. Maybe he was right. Maybe I shouldn’t go. Killion had been AWOL for days. Maybe that was a sign? But if I didn’t do this, if I didn’t take what I could now, then the food would be shipped to the market, and it would be too late for us. Even with Baba’s and my income combined, we struggled to pay rent and put food on the table. This haul would set us up for months.
“I have to do this, Baba. We need this.”
“The shining ones will be adding security to the warehouse soon. Umbra will be patrolling in a few weeks,” he warned.
Security on the warehouse would only get tighter. The heist had to go ahead. “I’ll only take a few things.”
Baba closed his eyes and shook his head. “Danika, please.”
“You know I’m right. You know we need to do this. You said yourself that prices are going up, and security is increasing, and it’s my fault. They’re doing this because of the Black Raven, so let the Black Raven do one more sweep. Flour and rice. That’s all. One final gift for the district.” I approached him and took his hands in mine. “I can do this, Baba.”
He nodded and placed a hand on my head. “My blessings go with you. Be safe, and come home to us.”
The warehouse was a monolith structure on the edge of the district, surrounded by a huge floodlit carpark and electrified fencing.
Nice.
I should have been inside already, but I’d loitered, waiting for my mentor to show. Killion had said he’d be here. He’d never let me down.
Long minutes ticked by as I crouched behind bushes and watched the deserted parking lot for signs of activity.
Taste My Wrath (The Iron Fae Book 1) Page 5