Mark of Cain (Immortal Mercenary Book 1)

by Conner Kressley

  “What do you need from me?” she asked, lips smacking on the gum.

  “Mostly shut up and follow my lead,” I said. “Once we get in there, you let me do the talking. I’ve dealt with gypsies before, this clan specifically. Albeit, most of the individuals I had any personal relationship with are likely long dead, but stories take on a life of their own with the Romani. I wouldn’t be surprised if I was some kind of folk hero or something to them.”

  She snorted a chuckle.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

  “Nothing,” she said, still giggling a little. “I’m sure you are. I’m sure your John Wayne and Abe Lincoln all wrapped up in a ginger shell.”

  “Right,” I muttered, purposefully ignoring her mocking tone. “You are also to stay close to me at all times. And, no matter what happens, you are-under no circumstances — to broach the subject of your daughter without my express permission.”

  “But how am I supposed to get her any help if I can-”

  “These people are very territorial, Merry. They don’t like to share their toys. And their blood, more specifically the magic in their blood, is the biggest toy of all. If they knew there was a half breed out there running around loose in the world, failing kidneys would be the least of Amber’s problems.”

  “Be serious,” Merry said. “She’s a child. There’s no way these peo-”

  “I’ve seen it,” I answered without missing a beat. “I’ve watched defenseless kids get put down just for being on the receiving end of one of their secrets.” I cringed as Merry’s face paled. I hated to bring this particular bit of nastiness to her attention, what with her being a mother and all. But at least now she knew what we were up against.

  “They live in a shadows for a reason,” I said. “And they’ll do whatever it takes to keep it that way.”

  “Fine,” Merry answered, her voice finally faltering a bit. Maybe I was getting through to her after all. “Not a word about Amber.”

  “Good girl,” I said. “One more thing. If this goes south, and you’re left standing after both Andy and I have fallen, don’t run.”

  “Don’t run?” She seemed flabbergasted.

  “You’d never find your way back out of that place on your own. It’s like the most complicated maze you’ve ever seen when they want it to be,” I answered.

  “Of course it is,” she said.

  “Don’t fight them either. It would just make things worse.” I took a deep breath. “If you feel like you’re beaten, like it’s over, drop to your knees and say these three words, I invoke sanctuary.” I shook my head. “The Romani are old school. They won’t break ancient laws of conflict.”

  “What the hell are you doing?” Merry asked, spitting out the gum and coming toward me. “Are you trying to save my life?”

  “Is that a problem?” I countered, admittedly confused.

  “Yeah. When it stops you from doing what you need to, it sure as hell is a problem,” she scoffed. “You think I give a damn what happens to me in there? I’ll make it or I won’t. Get the kidney. If I don’t get out of there, make sure Amber gets it. That’s what I’m here for; that’s the job. Anything else is icing, and I don’t expect much of that.”

  I looked at her for a long moment. I had seen a lot of liars in my life, and I lot of people who didn’t want to be liars. They’d try to convince themselves that they could be selfless, that they could do the right thing without regard to the personal cost.

  They all had something extra in their eyes though, a hint of hesitation that always bled through, regardless of how much they tried to hide it. And, without fail, every time that hint of hesitation won out. It stopped them from making good on all those selfless intentions, on all those noble inklings in the forefront of their mind.

  But Merry, there wasn’t even an echo of that in her eyes. She might have lied to me. She might have been satisfied to offer me up on a silver platter to feed me to my enemies. But, when it came to her daughter, she was the real deal.

  And, personal issues aside, I could respect that.

  The diner door swung open. Andy came strutting out, a toothpick pressed between his lips.

  “Seven dollars for eggs.” He shook his head.

  “It’s just money, Andy,” I answered, finally taking my gaze off Merry.

  “Says the guy who isn’t a couple of years away from having to send his second daughter to college,” he scoffed. “Whatever, where to now?”

  “Now?” I asked, turning back to Merry. “We get what we came here for.” I leaned in closer to her. “With extra icing.”

  18

  “This is a mall,” Andy said, looking up at the two story building from beside me in the parking lot.

  “I know that,” I said, my arms folded.

  “Like, a shopping mall,” he clarified.

  “I know that, Andy,” I answered. “I can read the sign.”

  “Right. Of course you can,” he said, shaking his head. “So, my question to you — of course — is, what the hell are we doing at a shopping mall?”

  “Yeah,” Merry said from the other side of me. “I’ve gotta admit, I was wondering the same thing. Seeing as how you promised to take me to some magically hidden gypsy cove.”

  “Keep your voice down,” I snapped, glaring up at the big butterfly sign plastered across the entryway of the Augusta Mall. “And don’t say the g-word. They don’t like to be called that.”

  “Gypsy?” Andy asked, his brows furrowed. “They don’t like to be called gypsies? Why the hell not?”

  “I don’t know, Andy,” I huffed, throwing my hands. “Say it a little louder. I’m sure they’ll come out and answer you.”

  “Come out of where, Uncle C? The food court? We’re at a goddamn shopping mall.”

  “I know we’re at a shopping mall, Andy! But shopping malls are just like any other building. And, like any other building, there was a time when it wasn’t there.” I started toward the entrance, reasonably sure the others would follow me. “And, before there was a mall on this piece of land there was something else… something much more magically inclined.”

  “You’re telling me the gy — the people we’re looking for used to live here?” Andy asked, pulling the door open.

  “Used to and still do,” I responded, letting Merry go in ahead of me because, even though she still wasn’t my favorite person in the world, I was still really old and that sort of thing came naturally to me.

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” Merry said, hesitating a little as she saw me open the door for her. She walked through, looking at the ground as though people didn’t do that sort of thing for her often. “You said these guys liked to keep to themselves, right? That’s the whole reason I’m having such a killer of a time finding them. And now you say they live in a mall. Those two things don’t go together. Why wouldn’t they just move away?”

  “They did,” I answered, entering the food court. “Just not in the way you think.”

  “Does he always do this?” Merry asked, looking past me to Andy. “Talk around stuff like he’s reading from a fortune cookie?” She set her jaw at me. “You probably think it’s cute, don’t you?”

  “No, I know it’s cute. That’s not the point. And, I’m usually an irritatingly direct person,” I answered.

  “I can attest to that,” Andy said, snatching up a sample of orange chicken as we passed a particularly funky looking Chinese food kiosk.

  “Then what is the point?” Merry asked.

  “It’s more complicated than I’m able to explain to you,” I said, keeping my voice down and watching the people who passed us. Gypsies were people and they looked like people. Still, they had a certain flair about them. They liked to carry themselves with a little more bravado than the everyday mall goer. So, if one of them was around, I needed to be aware. If they overheard, if they saw me coming, they locked me out. And I couldn’t have that.

  “Try,” Merry said.

 
I took a hard left past the Orange Julius and tried my best.

  “The world is a bigger place than anybody really knows. It has pockets and shadows and different planes of existence, at least, cosmetically. There are supernatural creatures who can travel within these pockets. The Romani aren’t one of those creatures, but they have other skills. And they barter those skills for that ability. So, while we are standing in a shopping mall, we’re also not.” I skidded to a stop in front of my destination. “And while they aren’t here, they also are. Does that make sense?”

  “Not even a little,” Merry answered.

  “Well, it will,” I said, pointing to the place we needed to go in order to get to our destination. “As soon as we get in there.”

  “The Gap?” Merry asked, looking at the sign.

  “The Baby Gap,” I clarified. “Now let’s get going. We haven’t got all day.”

  From behind me, I heard Merry muttering. “I think I was better off with the witches.”

  I turned around and took her hand in mine. “That might be true, but you’ve got me now.” I could tell that the forwardness of the motion took her aback as she glared at me with narrowing eyes. “Also, we’re married now.”

  “Excuse me?” she balked.

  “The Romani usually have at least a few people around the precipice of any of their entrances. I don’t want us to draw any attention to ourselves. Especially since, if they gave me anything other than a cursory glance, they’d probably get an eyeful of the magical mojo surrounding my curse. It’s basically a giant freaking signal flare, and we can’t have it. So, to keep the eyes off of me, I need to blend in. And what better way to blend in with the people at a baby clothing store than to pose as young newlyweds.” I glanced over at Andy. “Unless, of course, you two would rather play the trophy wife/midlife crisis thing.”

  “I’ll pass,” Merry answered. “This will be fine.”

  Andy snorted. “Probably for the best, it’s not like marriage is my strong suit anyway; real or fake.”

  That brought up a flurry of hurt in my chest. I cared about Andy. I cared about his family. I wanted him to be happy and whole. I wanted him to have a reason to not want to go rushing headlong into danger with me.

  But there was no time for me to lament about that. We were already headlong into danger. There was no turning back now.

  So, instead of trying, I plastered on a fake ‘soon to be first time dad’ smile, and marched into the most dangerous place I could think of.

  The Baby Gap.

  I heard Merry’s breath speed up as we crossed the threshold into the store.

  The whole place smelled like baby powder and there was a soft ‘wheels on the bus’ type preschool song playing in the air.

  “What do we do now?” Merry whispered, her hand tightening around mine.

  “Act natural. It’s been decades since I’ve been here and the entire layout of this whole area has changed since then, let alone this store. Just shop with me until I can manage to remember where the transport point is,” I said.

  She took a deep breath, and for whatever reason, seemed lightyears away from the cool and collected woman who managed to kidnap me and hold me hostage. She was shaky, off her game.

  “It’s going to be fine,” I told her, keeping my voice steady and indifferent. In my experience, the more routine you treated something, the calmer those involved in it were likely to be. So, while breaking into gypsy territory wasn’t exactly an everyday thing for me, there was no reason Merry needed to know that.

  “Maybe,” she said.

  “You don’t sound convinced,” I answered, moving along a table of onesies and taking stock of the room.

  It all looked so different, so turned around. Still, the transportation point was here somewhere. But, if I couldn’t remember where it was, I was going to have to feel it out, tune in to the rhythmic frequency coming off the magic surrounding it.

  That would be difficult though, hard to pin down; especially since I had no idea what sort of being they used to set it up.

  Nymph magic was different from witch magic, which was different from demon magic, which was different from angelic energy. And the list went on like that into eternity.

  Last time, they were using a sorcerer’s spell, some old relic from the Gilded Age, but that magic was undoubtedly used up by now.

  They’d have needed something else, and since Romani had loyalty to no one but their own, it could have literally been anyone or anything.

  “I’ll sound whatever way I need to sound, so long as I can get what I need," Merry answered.

  I kept my mouth shut. I’d already told her how slim the chances of getting the Romani to talk to her, let alone to get her baby daddy to fork over an organ were. If that didn’t work, restating it sure as hell wouldn’t help now.

  “How far are you along?” A chirpy woman buzzed up from beside us.

  Merry shuddered. “Sorry,” she breathed. “I’m just-I’m a little jumpy.”

  “Oh, I understand that,” the woman said, grinning so wide that I could have counted her teeth had I been the type of weirdo who got off on that kind of thing. “When I was pregnant with my son, I was as skittish as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.” She shook her head. “Still hasn’t gone away. So, how about it? How far along are you?”

  “Two months,” I answered, grinning as wide as I could to match her mammoth smile. “It was during our trip to Cancun.” I wrapped an arm around Merry’s shoulder and squeezed, just to complete the look. “We’re thinking about naming his Cosmo.”

  “We are?” Merry asked, looking over at me.

  “Sure,” I answered. “After all, that’s the reason he’s here.” I leaned toward the chirpy woman. “You get a couple Cosmopolitans in this lady and she can’t keep her hands off me.”

  Merry slapped my shoulder, suppressing a grin.

  There we go. Get into it.

  “Don’t listen to him. He’s cheeky,” she said, finally seeming to settle into the ruse a little more.

  “Aren’t they all?” the chirpy woman chuckled. “Well, if I can help you or the soon to be grandfather find anything, please let me know.” She waved back at Andy, who didn’t seem too thrilled to be confused for someone’s granddad.

  “Will do,” I answered.

  The chirpy woman moved closer and patted my hand. Hard. She must have been really into her job.

  “It does my heart good to see young people starting their lives together.” She smiled even wider somehow, and nearly skipped as she moved away from us.

  “I can’t believe people like that actually exist,” Andy huffed as we moved through the store. I ran through my internal list of magical frequency settings, trying to find something that pinged.

  No luck.

  “She’s sweet. You’re just mad because she thinks you’re ancient,” I said.

  “I am ancient,” he answered. “Which makes you mummified. And I don’t like her because she’s fake. Nobody’s really like that.”

  “Somewhere along the line, the kid I played catch with has turned into an old fogey. You’ve gotta start seeing the good in peo…” My eyes fell to my hand and I saw it.

  A pinprick of blood sat right below my finger. She had cut me. The chirpy woman, the one I was just standing up for, drew blood.

  It could have been an accident, but I knew better than that. If she had drawn blood, it was because she wanted it. And there was only one reason she’d want my blood.

  “We’ve got to get out of here!” I said, pulling hard on Merry’s hand and starting out of the store.

  She pulled away from me. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “She made me,” I said, looking from Merry to Andy, and then back to the desk the chirpy woman disappeared behind.

  “She made you what?” Andy asked.

  “No. She made me. You were right. She’s one of them. She’s Romani. She must have sensed my presence the minute we walked in here.” I lifte
d my hand. “She took blood to prove it.”

  “To prove it?” Merry asked, confused.

  “There’s magic in my blood, the curse the Big Guy leveled down on me. It’s unique. It has a specific signature. She went to verify that it was there,” I said.

  “My God,” Andy muttered, feeling around for the gun at his hip. Not that it would do any good if this woman turned on us. “How long until she knows for sure?”

  “Not long enough to keep standing around like this,” I said, reaching again for Merry’s hand. She pulled away from me again. “Merry, I am not playing around. We’ve got to get out of here.”

  “Not when I’m this close,” she answered. Turning, she darted off through the store.

  She had no idea where she was going, of course. Even I didn’t know where the transport was anymore, and given that I was the only one who had been through it before, I was the only one of us who could actually use it.

  Still, she was going to get herself killed, and that would mean that not only would her death be on me, but the life of her little girl would be too. And that wasn’t a cross I was willing to carry right now.

  So, I turned to Andy, told him to “Get the hell out of here!”, and against my better judgement, I ran after her.

  By the time I made my way to her, I could feel the shift in the air. There was an energy around, a crackling thing that lit up the air in a way that —judging by the way the customers here thought me chasing this woman around the store was the strangest thing going on — was probably perceptible only to me.

  I grabbed her arm. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I asked, my teeth gritted.

  A man, all muscles and barbwire tattoos came rushing up to us.

  “I suggest you get your hands off the lady!” he said in his best meathead voice.

  “I suggest you step back, sir!” Andy said, walking up to meet us and flashing his badge.

  The muscle guy wilted away when he saw that he was dealing with the police, shooting Merry a look and moving back to his corner.

  “I told you to get out of here,” I said, my eyes darting to Andy.