by K. A. Linde
That man.
Reyna flipped the small device Beckham had given her over in her hand. It was about the size of her palm with a screen on one side. She pressed the button to turn on the display, which revealed the empty living room and a little red dot to record.
She only had to wait a few minutes before Beckham entered and took a seat in an overstuffed armchair. He sprawled out, completely at ease in the place. Her mind drifted off to all the reasons he’d been here in the past. She truly hated to think about the fact that he and Penny had been together. Whether it was pretend or not, he’d drank her blood and had sex with her. Those things had happened in this apartment. And now he was here. Looking pretty damn comfortable. Her stomach turned.
Penelope entered the room wearing a sky blue silk robe that was nearly sheer in the dim lighting. Reyna chewed on her lip to keep her disgust from erupting out of her and clicked the damn red button.
* * *
—
“I really didn’t think you’d come,” Penelope said. She held a glass full of amber liquid in her delicate hand. Faux delicacy now that she’d been turned. Reyna knew she was about as delicate as a diamond.
Beckham shrugged a shoulder.
Penelope fidgeted. “Want a drink?”
“You know what I like.”
Penelope grinned like a pleased little kitty cat and strode to a bar in her mile-high heels. She poured Beckham two knuckles’ worth of whiskey and handed it to him. He took a slow sip before setting it down. So much for not eating or drinking from the enemy.
“I’m so happy to see you,” Penelope said. “When you said you were coming…”
“You didn’t tell anyone?”
“Of course not. I wouldn’t do that. I wanted to see you and make sure you were okay. After you woke up at that morgue…” Penelope shuddered. “I’ve been a wreck ever since.”
Yeah, and Penelope had helped put him there.
Reyna closed her eyes against the image of Beckham’s head snapping to the side and him slumping to the ground. It was and always would be the most traumatic experience of her life.
Penelope continued on when Beckham didn’t respond. “But now you look so good. I’ve really missed you. It’s been so hard doing all of this alone.”
“Doing what alone?” he asked.
“Living this double life.”
Beckham shifted forward. “I thought you ended that.”
“Are you kidding? Of course not,” she gushed. “I still want the same thing you do.”
“And what is that?”
“Equality.”
Reyna almost snorted. She was pretty certain that Penelope wanted far from the same thing as Beckham. Let alone equality between vampires and humans. She’d been made into a vampire as payment for turning Reyna in. Her priorities were seriously skewed.
Penny sank in the chair next to him. Her robe fell open and revealed inch after inch of perfectly smooth long lean legs. “You have to believe me when I say that I’m still on your side. And I’m so sorry about what happened. I know I could never take that back, but it was never my intention for you to get harmed or for anyone to get hurt. I still want to see vampires and humans live and work together. I think it’s even more important to me now that I’m a vampire.”
“Really?” he asked, somehow managing to keep the incredulity from his voice.
Reyna knew she wouldn’t have been able to. She leaned against the wall and waited to hear more of the bullshit Penny was spitting.
“Absolutely. Elle has been so scattered after Harrington destroyed the headquarters. God, I still can’t even think about what happened to Sydney.”
Beckham swirled his drink in his hand and pretended not to look interested. “Sydney?”
Reyna swallowed, terrified to hear the news. Oh God. No…no, not Sydney.
“Fuck, you probably haven’t heard,” Penelope said. She stood and walked away from him as if she couldn’t bear to break the news to him. “She’s dead.”
No.
Reyna took a few deep breaths in and let them out, trying to slow her racing heart. And to stop the tears threatening to escape.
“In the fires?” Beckham asked. As always, completely unaffected by death.
“No. I guess they sent in a SWAT team to break the doors down to bomb the place. Sydney went to meet them, giving some Elle members enough time to escape. She tried to stop the attackers, but they gunned her down until she couldn’t move and then snapped her neck.” Penny sighed. Her voice got really soft. “Harrington had a video and made me watch it.”
Reyna put her hand over her mouth to keep back the choked sob. She hated to admit that she’d always held out some hope that Sydney would come charging out of the ether and save the day. That she had just been waiting for her moment of glory. She was the indestructible leader of Elle. The voice behind all of this. The original mastermind. It was impossible to think that she was gone. That she’d been gone for weeks and no one even knew. Another tragedy of Visage.
“Sounds like his style,” Beckham said passively.
“It was awful,” she whispered. “And then I didn’t know who to get in contact with. All the comm lines were down. I couldn’t reach anyone. Where have you been?”
“Around,” he said evasively.
“Just around? That’s it? I told you Sydney’s dead and I’ve been trying to reach you or the rebellion to come back in and your response is around?”
“You almost got me killed, Penelope. What did you expect?”
“I know,” she whispered, going suddenly still. Then Reyna saw her shoulders slump and start to shake. Oh dear God, she was crying. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. I never would have jeopardized you. I thought we’d be together. That’s what Harrington said. He used me, Beckham. And he’s been continuing to try to use me ever since.”
“I know.”
Penelope swiped under her eyes. “I’m sorry. Really, I can’t say this enough. Tell me what to do. Tell me how to make this up to you.”
“Do you think you can make it up to me?” Beckham asked. He stood and moved across the room with the purpose of a predator. She could see the anger in the set of his shoulders. She was sure that Penelope didn’t miss it.
Penelope crossed the room to him, placing her hand gently on his arm. Her voice was low and husky when she said, “I want to try.”
Reyna held her breath and she watched the tension visibly leave Beckham’s shoulders. But his eyes weren’t on Penelope. They were on Reyna. They were staring her down in the darkness. As if preparing her for what was to come. She didn’t like that look one bit.
“I know you, Penny,” Beckham said. He turned his back on Reyna to face a distraught Penelope.
“Can we just move forward? Figure out who we are from here?” She looked up at him from under her lashes with a coy smile on her face.
“There’s nowhere to move but forward.”
Penelope placed her hand on his chest, looked up at him hopefully, and parted her lips. Reyna felt a dragon crawling out of her chest about to breathe fire. Fuck this recording shit. She couldn’t get through this. She knew that Beckham was doing this to get information, but fuck. He didn’t need to do this.
She was about to take a step forward when he walked out of Penelope’s touch. He returned to his chair and took another sip of his drink. “So if you’re still living this double life, then you probably have information about Harrington.”
“I don’t want to talk about him. I want to talk about us.”
Beckham didn’t say anything for a minute and then his voice was low, “Has he hurt you?”
“Threatened,” she said. “I’m fine. Rowland deals with the brunt of it and I avoid that creep as much as I can.”
“That’s a smart move.”
“Yeah. I stopped co
unting how many Permanents he’s killed. He keeps Sophie for the sex and gets a second one for fun.”
“That sounds like Rowland,” Beckham said bitterly. “And he’s with Harrington? Do you know where they are?”
“Ugh, Beckham, I don’t know. I try to stay out of the crossfire. That’s an easy way to get shot.” She spat the last word as if the very thought of getting shot was a trigger. “Let’s talk about something else. Oh, I know!” She clapped her hands together twice. “Do you want a treat?”
Before Beckham could answer, Reyna heard footsteps approaching from the direction they had entered. Reyna slipped deeper into the shadows of the office and angled her camera to follow the person. It was a man, probably a couple years younger than Reyna with pale skin and blond hair. He was pretty and almost looked distinguished in black slacks and an open-collar shirt.
He stepped into the room. “You called?”
Penelope giggled. “Beckham this is my Permanent, Lance.”
Beckham’s face was passive, but rage simmered under the surface. “You bought into the system?”
“As if I had a choice,” Penelope said. “Anyway, he’s O negative like us. You can have a taste if you like.”
“I’m not hungry,” Beckham said casually.
“I don’t mind,” Lance said.
Beckham held his hand up before Lance could step toward him. The boy was smart enough not to push the subject.
“Don’t be a spoilsport, Beckham,” Penelope said.
“Miss Sky?” Lance said.
“What is it?”
“I wish to be polite to your guests. Should we offer as well to the girl in your office?”
Chapter 26
Shit, shit, shit.
He’d seen her. There was nowhere to go and nothing to do about this. She was totally fucking screwed.
Reyna flipped off the recording device and tucked it into the pocket of her jacket. There was no way she could outrun a vampire. The only thing she could do was face what was about to happen.
She took a deep breath and exited the office. Beckham had said stay in place, but they hadn’t had a contingency plan for Penelope realizing that she was there. And by the look on Penelope’s face…she wasn’t too pleased to see her.
Considering that the last time they’d been together Reyna had shot her, she didn’t blame her. There was no love lost on her part either.
“Hey, Penny,” Reyna said with confidence she didn’t feel.
Anytime she’d been around really pissed-off vampires, things hadn’t gone her way.
“You brought her?” Penelope asked, turning around to glare at Beckham.
He released a breath. Decision made. “Yes. She’s mine. So step away from her.”
His stance shifted into predatory and he began moving in a circle around Penelope. Analyzing her like the threat she most definitely was, to get closer to Reyna.
“She’s yours,” Penelope spat. “I cannot believe I fell for your bullshit. You came here under false pretenses.”
“As if you have no ulterior motives.”
“Right now I’m thinking about having my first kill,” she snapped at him.
“If you touch her, it will be the last thing you do.”
“And just think…you’d die in that hideous robe,” Reyna said with an unapologetic shrug.
Penelope’s eyes were fire. “God, I hate you.”
“Feeling’s mutual.”
“I was going to have Harrington kill you once you turned yourself in, but no, I think I’d rather do it myself.”
Penelope rushed toward Reyna in a fit of anger, jealousy, and fierce rage. Reyna moved on instinct. She knew that there was no way she could outpace a vampire. It wasn’t even possible. But she couldn’t keep her feet from launching away from Penelope.
Beckham lunged toward her and she felt him finally open himself up to her. She felt everything all at once. An overwhelming melee of self-hatred. So much all at once that she could hardly tell her fear from his fear or her anger from his.
She felt a shove as if Beckham had pushed her across the room. One minute she was standing in front of Penelope, knowing she was about to rip her head off at any second. Then the next minute she’s standing across the room, out of harm’s way.
Her head was spinning. Her legs felt like Jell-O. The entire fiber of her being felt unsettled and discombobulated.
What the hell had just happened?
She put a hand to her ears to try to stop the ringing as she regained her balance. She was so busy trying to stand up straight, she didn’t see Lance until he was nearly on top of her.
“Stay away from my Sponsor!” he bellowed as he held a lamp over his head.
Reyna ducked with a screech. “What the fuck? She was trying to hurt me!”
“You’re human!” Lance said with wide eyes.
“Uh, yeah! Idiot.”
“You just…you didn’t…”
Reyna ignored his confusion and turned back to the real matter at hand. Beckham circling Penelope. She couldn’t believe he hadn’t already ended this. It was as easy as subduing her and getting out. And by the way Penelope had been talking about Reyna turning herself in…it seemed like now would be the time.
“Becks, it’s a trap. Let’s go,” Reyna called.
“You just realized that?” Penelope muttered.
“What did he offer you?” Beckham spat out.
“You, of course.”
“In exchange for Reyna, again?”
She shrugged. “Good deal to me. Even if you left now, you wouldn’t make it out of the building.”
“And you were going to turn me in?”
“Why not?” she asked with a maniacal laugh. “You never chose me. You always chose her. You both deserve to suffer.”
“You’re insane,” Reyna cried.
“Don’t worry,” Penelope told Beckham in a soft, gentle tone full of utter madness. “After I break you, we’ll have a great life.”
Beckham laughed. He actually laughed. “You could never break me.”
“Would have been fun trying,” she said.
“Becks, we have to go,” Reyna said again, gesturing to the door.
Beckham moved as quick as lightning. Penelope tried to veer away from him, but Beckham had years and years of training as a vampire on her. She was no match for him. No vampire was a match for him.
In seconds, he had Penelope’s back pressed into his chest. His hands on either side of her head.
“You were better than this,” he told her.
“Beckham,” she said, fear finally breaking through everything.
“Now you’re just a loose end.”
She didn’t even have time to call out before Beckham twisted her head at an unnatural angle and let her lifeless body fall heavily to the carpet.
* * *
—
Reyna’s jaw nearly hit the ground at the sight before her. Lance fell to his knees at Penelope’s feet and began sobbing uncontrollably. His cries were loud and obnoxious, and at the same time she understood them. Death was the real monster on this journey called life.
Beckham didn’t give Penelope another glance before walking to Reyna and lifting her into his arms. “Hold on to me.” Her body awoke at his nearness and she curled into him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Head in.” She did as he said and then soon he was racing away.
Away from the living room with a dead woman and a forever broken escort.
She had to close her eyes as she moved at the superhuman speed that Beckham employed. She barely was able to concentrate on her own thoughts, let alone process what had just happened. One minute he’d been seducing information out of Penny and the next she was dead at his feet. It had been so easy. So unbelievably easy.
Beckham set
Reyna down just inside the entrance to Penny’s building, keeping her body obscured by the large metal door. “Don’t move.”
She couldn’t argue. She had no reason to. She could barely function after the way that his speed muddled her. She just latched onto the door handle and tried to remain upright.
Beckham glanced out the door to access the situation and then slipped out. Reyna peeked through the opening and saw Beckham moving like a blur as he attacked Visage’s men. An elbow to the chin, legs swept out from under, a rifle snapped in half, the butt of another gun smashed against a temple. Over and over every member of the team Harrington must have sent was taken down by Beckham’s martial prowess.
If he’d been human, he’d already be dead. Bullets pierced his skin, lodging in his body. Vampire adrenaline must have kicked in, because he never even wavered.
Soon his chest was rising and falling at a rapid rate as he stood over a plane of bodies. They lay like carrion awaiting the vultures. Beckham the unstoppable beast, riddled with bullets, and master over all. Nothing could touch him.
Reyna slowly inched the door open. “Are…are they dead?”
He shook his head sharply once to the right. His eyes were lost in the distance. A force raging through him that she couldn’t possibly harness.
She chewed on her lip and waited for him to get under control. She could tell he needed a minute. Finally, his bottomless eyes turned to her and he extended a hand.
She moved toward him. The lamb stepping into the wolf’s circle, expecting the slaughter.
“You fear me?”
“Never,” she whispered.
Beckham snarled as if her answer infuriated him instead of soothing him. But he didn’t give her another chance to respond. He scooped her back up and raced away from the scene. She tucked her chin in again and tried to ignore her brain rattling in her skull.
She couldn’t even believe he was still moving at top speeds. But a helicopter was beating overhead. Spotlights closing in around them. Other Visage vampires would be drawn to their trail. He couldn’t stop. They couldn’t stop. If they were caught, they were both dead and they both knew it. Beckham could only take so much more of this.