The burn of the whiskey hit my mouth, searing its way down to my stomach. I exhaled, and smokey sweetness flooded my mouth. A hint of a vampire’s cotton candy flavor lingered on my tongue. I stared at my empty shot glass. “That’s something else, Sully.”
“If you end up staggering drunk, I’ll make sure you get home safe and sound. You’re not staying at your apartment anymore, are you?”
It’d take a hell of a lot more than one shot to get me staggering drunk, but I wasn’t going to let him know that. “I’ve been staying with Rob.”
“Good girl. You’re moving up in the world, aren’t you?”
“Wait until you find out I’ve been roped into working with the police,” I muttered.
“Oh-ho. You are an Empress for certain. How the hell are you planning on pulling that off?”
“Very carefully.”
“Tip a dae off if you hear anything good, would you?”
“If I can,” I promised.
“Good enough for me. Tell me everything you know about Rob’s disappearance.”
I did, beginning from when the first of the discs had appeared.
Sullivan’s liquor packed quite a punch, but while it hit hard and fast, I could still function, although my words slurred a little more than I liked. The vampire had the good graces to ignore my intoxication, keeping the discussion strictly to business.
After hearing my story and asking enough questions to make my head spin, he headed into the back, returning several minutes later carrying a slender case, which he set on the counter. “You’ve already figured out what I have in the back and basement, so I’ll cut to the chase. Kenneth isn’t the only one running ops in Baltimore, although he likes to think he has the best outfit here.”
“I knew you were in the market,” I confirmed.
“You have some choices to make. First, you need to decide who you’re hunting. The top suspect would be Kenneth Smith. He has every motivation to want to get rid of Rob. Rob has the connections, the international sway, and the government acknowledgement to be a real problem to his operations. Smith lets us smaller operators get away with our work because he doesn’t view us as a risk. Rob, however, is. Rob doesn’t run black market ops in the way folks like you think. He uses information to get what he needs, and he uses his connections to trade internationally. The international trade market makes him a top mark for folks like Smith, who’d do anything to get in on that network.” Sullivan drummed his fingers on the counter.
I liked the impersonal and informal way of addressing Kenneth by his last name alone. “Smith would have the resources,” I acknowledged.
“And the motivation, if my understanding of the situation is correct. You’re one of Smith’s best assets, and Rob stole you right out from under his nose. If he eliminates Rob from the picture, he has a chance of making you his asset again.”
“Who else benefits from taking Rob?” To contain my desire to go pacing around the parlor, I grabbed another tattoo book and flipped through the pages without really seeing any of the designs. “Smith is obvious—almost too obvious. Who else would want him gone?”
“Whoever it is wanted him alive.”
“Could it be one of those portal dae?”
Sullivan scowled. “He told you about us?”
“He came out of my refrigerator, Sully. It was obvious he wasn’t from around here. He told me some of it. Could it have been one of the portal dae? Rob and Minangi were discussing something about wishes.”
Sullivan flinched. “Do yourself a favor, Alexa. Don’t tell anyone you know about the existence of portal dae or anything about the nature of wishes. Knowledge is the most dangerous power you can have.”
“Is that why someone went after Rob? Because he knows so much?”
“I won’t lie to you; that’s probably part of it.”
“How do we find him?”
“My price is one vial of your blood. Are you willing to pay it?”
“Wear gloves,” I replied, thrusting my arm out. “Just don’t tell Rob. He’ll get upset with both of us.”
“We’ll deal with filling the vial later—after delivery. I may be a crook, but I’m straight up, and you’re Rob’s girl. I’ll put up before you pay up. No owed debts on my end, not when your blood is worth so much. Your advance payment can be a promise to only deal with me until my end of the work is done.”
The arrangement seemed reasonable—and would give me time to figure out just what was so valuable about my ordinary blood. “Deal. I was serious, though. Rob can’t find out about our arrangement. He’s prissy enough as it is.”
“That’s because he knows your value. He probably doesn’t want to share your blood with anyone else.”
“He’s not a vampire, Sullivan.”
“No, but he’s a hungry dae, just like the rest of us. A vial of your blood is worth a great deal to those who have realized killing their bonded was the biggest mistake of their lives.”
“Show me what you’ve got, Sullivan, then we’ll finish negotiations. Blood’s a renewable resource. Rob can’t be replaced. If one vial isn’t enough to get him back, then I’ll give you more. No matter what it takes, I will find him.”
Sullivan smiled. “You trust me far too much, Miss Daegberht.”
I pulled down the shoulder of my shirt to reveal the tattoo he had given me. “No, Sully. You kept your word when there was nothing preventing you from taking everything you wanted. You helped me when I needed it. Trust is earned, and until you violate that trust, you have it. The question is, do you trust me?”
“I think I understand why he likes you so much. When you decide to do something, you do it, don’t you? You’re willing to throw everything away for him, aren’t you?”
“I’d have to have something to lose in order to throw anything away. I don’t. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.” I had Rob to curse and to thank for the knowledge there was more to life than caste rank and cold comforts.
“You’re one hell of a woman, Alexa. Come knocking at my door if you ever get tired of Rob’s shit.”
I’d been tired of Rob’s shit the instant he had stormed into my life, but instead of saying so, I chuckled. Fortunately for both of us, Rob more than made up for the annoying facets of his personality. “You’ll be waiting a while, Sullivan.”
“An eternity, if I must.”
“I wouldn’t count on it if I were you. Humans like me don’t live forever.” I turned my attention to the case the vampire had brought out from the back, trying not to think too hard about what would happen to Rob once I grew old and died. “What’s that, and how can it help us find Rob?”
“It’s a weapon, and it won’t help us find him—it’ll just give us the firepower to take him back when we do. I hope you’re not squeamish, Alexa, because when the stakes of the game are this high, so are the costs. Your blood won’t be the only blood shed by the time we’re done. I only have one good piece of news for you.”
“What’s that?”
“Whoever went through all the trouble to take him wouldn’t kill him. He’s worth far too much alive. The question is finding him and hoping we have the firepower to get him out.”
“Let’s ask Colby for its help.”
“Mommy?” my roommate asked behind me.
I was pretty sure the entire city heard my high-pitched scream. I whirled around to find my sentient casserole friend near the door, which had a glowing hole big enough for it to squeeze through. “Damn it, Colby! Don’t do that.”
“Mommy,” it scolded, hopping up onto the counter. “Food?”
“Not food,” Sullivan hissed, snatching the case from the counter and clutching it to his chest. “Do you know how hard it is to get one of these things?”
Colby bounced in place, its noodles squishing against the glass.
“How did you get here?” I muttered.
The tap on the glass drew my attention to the front door, and I flinched at Analise’s scowl.
“Sh
it.”
“Who is she?” Sullivan demanded.
“One of Rob’s employees, and apparently the one in charge of my security detail.”
“Shit, indeed. If she’s Rob’s, and he trusts her enough to put you into her care, she’s not someone to fuck around with. Let her in before she brings my shop down around our ears.”
Obeying, I unlocked the door and stepped aside to let Analise into the tattoo parlor. The woman circled me, looking me over head to toe. “You’re okay?”
“I’m fine. This is Sullivan, a friend of mine.”
Analise turned her full attention to Sullivan, stepping to the counter to look him over. “I’ve heard of you. You’re a vampire.”
“A vampire, Miss? I’m hurt. I’m the vampire, I’ll have you know.”
Paling to a greenish-gray, Analise recoiled several steps. “Impossible.”
“You knew he went to see Minangi and his daughters.”
“They never left Earth,” the woman replied through clenched teeth. “Your joke is not funny.”
Colby plopped off the counter and oozed its way to me before sitting on my foot. “Mommy.”
Setting the case down on the counter, Sullivan leaned in Analise’s direction, licked both of his fangs, and whispered, “We’re back.”
Chapter Nineteen
Analise and Sullivan put their heads together and pored over a map of Baltimore, discussing strategic locations throughout the city. For whatever reason, Sullivan advocated checking within the fringe while Analise was adamant Rob’s kidnapper likely held him somewhere within the elite’s district of town.
Arguing with either one of them wouldn’t get me anywhere. It didn’t matter where they thought Rob was without any evidence of who had taken him.
I slapped my hand on the counter, startling Analise and Sullivan into jumping. Colby squeaked and splattered to the floor. “Enough. You can argue about where you think they’d hold him all day long, but it doesn’t matter until we figure out who took him and why. Someone used a flash-bang and sedative on me, one strong enough to knock Rob out, too. That’s the only fact we have. What sort of device did they use? How strong would it need to be to knock Rob out?”
Colby hopped back on the table, mumbled a word too soft for me to understand, and ate the map.
Considering the fact my sentient noodle casserole was quickly becoming the most normal part of my life, I needed to get a grip on things and fast. “I think Colby agrees with me.”
“We need to be out looking for him,” Analise grumbled, drumming her hands on the glass countertop. “Someone among the elite has the most motive to take him.”
“Arthur Hasling isn’t elite, and he has motive.”
“If it was Hasling, wouldn’t he have taken you?”
The woman had a point, but Rob was worth far more than a walking meal ticket. “I’m only useful in the short term. Rob’s the juicier target. If they took me, it’d be a lot harder to catch Rob later. I’m the easier target. I can’t really fight back too well, now can I?”
All three of the dae flinched.
“That had crossed my mind,” Analise admitted.
Sullivan made a thoughtful noise in his throat. “That would eliminate Arthur Hasling as the culprit, wouldn’t it? He has no reason to go after Rob.”
I could think of a few reasons Hasling would want to get rid of Rob, but it was dependent on if he had figured out Rob had helped me secure my freedom. I didn’t enjoy thinking about my time in the townhouse basement and my weary flight across Baltimore.
Hasling had plenty of motive. I had escaped him and had chosen to stay with a rival dae. Revenge made people do terrible things, and I was a good example of how far someone would go to even the scales. Maybe few people knew my plans to bring down Kenneth Smith and Dean Lewis for their crimes, but I’d crossed the line between seeking justice and chasing revenge long ago.
The laws benefited wealthy men like them, and there’d be no justice for the murdered women—or for me, either. Ensuring neither dae would hurt anyone else was my goal, and I wasn’t above destroying everything they held dear in the process.
Analise grumbled something under her breath before saying, “He’s a fire breather, though, and a strong one. He already has a history with Miss Daegberht, who has kept Rob company ever since her rescue. He’s not an elite, this is true, but he has personal reasons to want revenge. He has plenty of reasons to go after Rob—and after Miss Daegberht, too.”
Leaning over the counter, Sullivan stared Rob’s employee straight in the eye and grinned. “Which fully supports my reasoning we should check the fringe first.”
“The type of device used is beyond the reach of someone from the fringe,” Analise countered, sliding out of range of Sullivan’s sharp, pointy teeth. “I’m not on the menu, Mr. Sullivan. Please take your teeth elsewhere.”
“You probably taste sour.”
“Mr. Sullivan, I assure you, if you got a single taste of me, you’d be unable to let me out of your sight for fear someone else would get a hold of me.”
Groaning, I slumped over the counter and covered my head with my arms. “You two are sweeter than vampire blood. Find Rob first, then go into the back room and flirt or do whatever you dae do with each other.”
“How would you know vampires are sweet?” Sullivan blurted.
I canted my head so I could glare up at the vampire. “Don’t ask. Rob was considering starting up a protection racket to keep your sweet, sweet blood out of my greedy little hands. Also, I’ll take a bottle of that liquor home as your first payment. For your safety, you know.”
“Should I be worried?”
“Not if you make a bottle of that whiskey just for me.” I grinned and fluttered my lashes at him.
“I would like to file an official protest. He’s corrupted her, Analise. He turned sweet, shy, and utterly innocent Miss Daegberht into a fiend.”
“I’m pretty sure he only gave her the confidence to say what she’s been thinking all along, Mr. Sullivan. I’ve seen security footage of the tricks she’s willing to pull, especially on men like Kenneth Smith. Don’t underestimate her.”
“Mommy,” Colby agreed.
“What’s wrong with my confidence?” I clenched my hands and glared at all three dae, clacking my teeth together.
“Don’t bother denying it, Miss Daegberht. You’ve been under the heels of so many elite over the years you flinch when one of us looks at you wrong.” In Analise’s glare, I saw her daring me to challenge the truth of her statement.
“I play it safe. I’ve worked too hard to get kicked back to the fringe now.”
“But it’s a risk you know is there.”
“I’ve always known it’s a risk. Just like I’ve known the risks of working with Kenneth Smith. I just haven’t had a choice until now.”
Analise sighed. “No one ever has a choice. No one has in the past, no one does now, and no one ever will. Circumstances might change, but people do not.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“Is it? Take a look around you, Miss Daegberht. I’m not a portal dae. I have an internalized dae, and little has changed for me. I have new strengths, but it has done nothing to tip the scales. There’s one nice thing about it, though. Instead of receiving orders through an intermediate, my boss has decided to make his home here in Baltimore. I have you to thank for that, I suppose. Still, little has changed. My rank remains the same. Very few of the fringe dae were elevated to elite status. Most, at best, were shifted to the middle castes and given the homes of those who were killed during the Dawn. Everyone has returned to their jobs, and life goes on. Your classes have resumed as though nothing has happened.”
I flinched, recognizing the truth of her words. The potential for so much upheaval and change had been there, but no one had truly taken advantage of it. In his twisted way, Arthur Hasling had tried.
The reformed government could have fallen, brought to dust and ruin, but too few had tried. No one had though
t outside of their circumstances. I was as guilty of that as everyone else. Survival had driven me. It probably had driven many others, too.
I, however, still clawed my way towards the top, although my motivations had changed. I didn’t want Rob lifting me up. I wanted to make my way to his level, challenge him, and stand as an equal by my own strength.
It’d probably never happen, but I’d try. I wanted—no, needed—to make the attempt with as little help as possible.
Rob had been right about that, too. I’d never be anything more than an unawakened, if unobtainable wishes did, in fact, cause a dae’s creation. I needed to earn my way, and in my life, there was no room for unobtainable wishes or dreams. I needed to grab what I wanted with my hands and make it mine.
I stared at Analise, and I wondered what she had dreamed for—and if she’d ever be able to get it.
If Rob was right, if he had told me the truth about the nature of the dae, she never would. Were the portal dae the same way? If so, what had Rob lost to become what he was? Would he ever tell me?
Unless I found him, I’d never have a chance to find out.
The police called Analise a little after two in the morning, informing the woman my tracking cards had been located on a bus. Analise grinned, leaned against the counter, and said, “She dropped her purse on the bus while we were headed on a little evening jaunt. We thought she had picked up all of her cards. They’re so new she must have forgotten them in the scramble. Wouldn’t be the first time a new holder has done it, won’t be the last. Have someone drop them off at her home.”
They spoke for a few minutes longer before Analise pocketed her cell. “Be glad you’re not under the jurisdiction of the middle caste, Miss Daegberht. The elite forces are rather lazy when it comes to wayward fringe rats in their care.”
Sullivan stiffened at the slight while I laughed. “I didn’t need a manual to figure that out. They only care about the fringe rats who look like they’re after their cheese. The less they’re on my back, the better. I have things to do, and not all of them are legal.”
Unawakened Page 20