by Dannika Dark
“Like I said before, some nosy bitch in the bathroom heard everything. I had no choice but to take care of her.”
“And yet you didn’t.”
“She wasn’t normal.”
Darius put his palms on the edge of the desk and tried to release the tension in his shoulders. Whoever this woman was, she posed a threat to Darius and could undo everything. “What did you come in here for?”
Salvator released a breath and rubbed the side of his nose. “I came to talk about the woman. I still don’t know who she is, but a tracker owed me a favor and found out where she’s staying.” He ran his fingers through his stringy black hair, one section falling out of place. Salvator looked like a balding Mafioso in his suit, with bushy eyebrows and a small mouth.
“And?”
The chair creaked when Salvator scooted to the edge as if he wanted to bolt. “In a mansion. A big fucking mansion with so much red tape around it that I can’t find out who the hell lives there.”
Darius frowned. “It should be public record.”
“Should be, but I searched the records and couldn’t find it listed. I’d need your permission to hack into—”
“No,” Darius interjected. “I don’t want my fingerprints all over the place. You’ve already proven your ineptitude.”
Salvator wiped his nose with the cuff of his sleeve. “You haven’t heard the best part. Want to know where it’s located? Remember that piece of land you were looking at last week? It’s next door.”
Darius thought Salvator was exaggerating when he’d said it was a mansion, but that neighborhood? If this woman was staying in one of those homes, she was well protected, and that meant big problems if he wanted to take her out. Even if she had no interest in who Darius was, it wouldn’t be long before she might see an opportunity to blackmail him.
Darius took a slow stroll around his desk and sat down in the chair, his thoughts scattered. He’d been saving his money in hopes of buying a magnificent piece of real estate to live on—something that would impress Patrick and make him forget about how Darius had lost everything. He’d never be able to acquire the land Patrick had given him now that humans controlled it, but he was going to milk those greedy little humans for every red cent until he accumulated enough to show everyone how successful he was.
Salvator tapped a small pendulum on the table beside him, initiating the swinging action. “Another five grand was deposited into your account. The new guy is cooperating.”
“Yes,” he murmured, thinking about how difficult all this was becoming. He had to be careful about how much he took because of their tax laws and how closely they were watched.
Extortion wasn’t the business it used to be back in the forties. In those days, men were easily bought off, and the law was equally corrupt. Times had changed. Now humans had wiretaps, could snap pictures and record conversations with cell phones, and had information at their fingertips thanks to the Internet. It wouldn’t take long to discover that Darius wasn’t listed on any business pages or social profiles. He only used his alias with humans, but it had become increasingly difficult to intimidate business owners.
“Well, if you don’t need me anymore….” Salvator said, rising from his chair.
Darius opened a drawer. “Hold on. I want you to finish off Mr. Bassett. He still hasn’t paid. Don’t go through with the original plan—we need to be more careful. Make it look like an accident. Once you finish the job, we’re going to find out how protected this woman is. I want her dead.”
“You and me both. That’s one thing you can count on, boss.”
Darius stood up and handed Salvator a file. “These are the signed documents. Give them to my secretary, and tell her I want them sent off tonight. Have her contact my architect.”
Salvator’s caterpillar eyebrows rose. “For?”
Darius glanced up at the photograph on his wall, feeling a sense of nostalgia in owning things instead of turning them over for profit. “I think I’ve outgrown this house. Don’t you?”
Salvator shook his head. “You’re one crazy son of a bitch.”
Chapter 14
After putting away all my new clothes, I changed into a pair of grey shorts and a long-sleeved violet shirt, courtesy of Gem, who’d tried to fill my wardrobe with as much color as she could. I ventured down to the gym, hoping to get in a little exercise since I was used to walking all day and climbing buildings. I could have paced the halls, but it felt intrusive since my footsteps would continually draw attention, and my housemates might start wondering if I was neurotic.
As I reached the stairway to the basement, someone gripped my arm.
“I wouldn’t go down there,” Blue said.
“Why not?”
She coaxed me in another direction. “Shepherd’s working out, and he likes to be left alone.”
“The room is huge; he’ll never know I’m in there.”
“He wouldn’t like that.”
“Not a very friendly guy.”
Blue’s eyes skated off to the side. “Shepherd’s a reticent man when it comes to his personal life. He likes his alone time. It’s just his way.”
I could relate since there were times I liked my privacy, but part of me still craved the companionship of others. Life on the streets had been a lonely experience.
Blue noticed a lock of hair that fell in front of my face. “He cut off a lot.”
I touched the ends. “It’s cleaned up now, that’s for sure.”
She gave me an impish grin. “You can’t imagine how badly he wants to get his hands on my hair and how I torture him by trimming the ends with a blunt pair of scissors.”
“You’re a cruel woman.”
Blue’s locks fell past her breasts—the kind of hair most hairdressers dream about.
She held her index finger in front of her lips. “Shhh. Don’t let him know how much I enjoy it. Besides, they always take off too much, and I love my hair long. Have you seen the courtyard?”
“From the windows.”
Blue placed her hand on my back and led me away. “Come on and I’ll show you.”
We moved through a magnificent room with high ceilings and a fragrant array of flower arrangements. I could only imagine how beautiful the mansion looked when the sun was shining. Nothing about it was garish or showy, and every room was pleasant and homey in its own way.
Blue opened the french doors, and we entered a veranda with beautiful stone archways that ran in both directions. She drifted through an opening that led to the courtyard. The walkway expanded in some places and narrowed in others, curving around and creating space for the lush landscaping. Some areas had grass while others were covered in ivy or moss. There were a couple of trees, but not a lot as they would have obscured the scenic view and prevented sunlight from getting in.
The house that enclosed us seemed imposing, as if it were somehow a living entity that was watching us. Or maybe it was the voyeuristic reality that there was no privacy out here, and anyone within the house could see us through the windows.
A breeze picked up the ends of Blue’s long hair, and it floated like ribbons of silk. Her tall black boots clicked on the path, and nearly every time I’d seen her, she was wearing a hood of some kind. While one was attached to her shirt, she didn’t bother to cover her head, even when a little drizzle began to fall.
“How much did all this cost him?” I asked.
She found shelter beneath a tree and approached an old statue. “This estate has been in his family for over three hundred years—long before humans colonized this area. Viktor comes from a line of wolves, so his pack once lived here.”
I wondered if Blue was also a wolf. She didn’t seem to have the same mannerisms I’d seen in Shifter wolves. “Where are they now?”
She circled the statue while I sat on the bench, the air chilly against my legs. “Who knows? People move on. Shifters wage private wars and slaughter families for land. Viktor doesn’t talk about it, so I haven’t asked. Some
times it’s better to let a scab heal than to keep picking at it.”
“That would be a pretty tragic story. This house could easily fit a hundred.”
“You have unusual eyes,” she said absently, not looking directly at them.
“Kids teased me with all kinds of names, but eventually I hit high school and liked standing out. People thought they were cool. Most adults don’t say anything, but they stare. I never wanted to hide them behind sunglasses until I became a Mage. It was like reliving elementary school all over again. I learned how to avert my eyes or show someone my profile so they don’t notice them right away. I didn’t realize how prejudiced immortals could be over something so superficial. It’s not like I have a nose growing on my forehead.”
“Some of the ancients are superstitious, but most are looking for anything that makes you inferior to them.” Blue looked up thoughtfully. “My tribe believes that people born with mismatched eyes were meant to be someone else—that their body was given one soul, which was quickly replaced with another.”
“So I wasn’t supposed to be here? That’s uplifting.”
“It means you were chosen for a reason—to serve the fates. Anyhow, that’s just what my tribe believed. Everyone has a different story.”
Blue draped herself over the back of the kneeling statue—another winged man, only this one had his face in his hand, as if grieving. “Isn’t he handsome?” She pressed the side of her face against the back of his head, her arms spread out as if she were embracing him from behind. “I think this is my favorite thing about this place.”
“He looks broken.”
Blue slowly stood up. “Maybe that’s why I like him the most.” She circled around it and sat to my right. “Is it true what Viktor says, that you’re a killer?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer that. While it was true, I was finally coming to terms with how other people saw me because of it. “He speaks highly of me.”
She turned to face me, bending her left knee. “Do you think the blade on my axe has never been stained?”
When she lifted her shirt on the right side, I noticed a short handle and a black sheath against her belt.
Blue covered it up and sat back, crossing her legs and putting her arms over the back of the bench. “You either carry the guilt for your sins or you don’t. I do whatever I can to avoid bloodshed, but I still know how to protect myself. Just be sure you’re not doing it for pleasure, or you’ve crossed a line you might never return from.”
This conversation was treading into uncomfortable territory, so I quickly stood up and folded my arms. “Does your family know where you are?”
She uncrossed her legs and looked skyward. “If any of us had family, would we really be here?”
“Has anyone ever left Keystone?”
“We’re the originals,” she said. “I suppose someday, if we live that long, we’ll eventually want to leave. I can’t imagine that far off—this is the only future I see when I dream at night.”
“Why?”
She stood up and reached for a low branch. “For the same reason you’re still here. Viktor has a way of channeling our talents into something that’s helping people. Every criminal we take down is saving future lives.” Blue’s feet lifted off the ground as she swung. She laughed, looking up. “This old tree puts up with me, but one day he’s going to drop his limb on my head for tugging on him so much.”
“It might if you put enough weight on it.”
She set her feet on the ground. “Our cultures are so different. My tribe believes everything has an awareness of its surroundings. Has Niko told you that he can see most living things because of the energy?”
“Yeah, so?”
We strolled toward the veranda.
“Energy is a real thing. Plants don’t think the way we do because they obviously don’t have a brain, but on some level, they’re aware of positive and negative energy. They react to it. People who talk to their plants aren’t crazy. Some believe the extreme weather in this city is driven by all the Breed energy.”
“So if we all start singing happy songs, the sun will come out?”
She laughed and touched my shoulder. “You first. My voice could shatter windows. Do you want to hang out with me in the rock-climbing room?”
“Sure.”
Blue closed the doors behind us. “It’s one of my favorite things to do.”
Blue had a smooth, matter-of-fact way of speaking. I could sense the wisdom she must have acquired from her tribe, but she seemed to blend really well with the modern world considering she was a transplant. From what I knew, Shifter tribes were steeped in tradition and culture, often separating themselves from other Breeds. Where was her tribe now, and why wasn’t she with them?
“I need to speak with you,” Viktor said, approaching Blue and putting his arm around her. “It’s about a job.”
She peered over her shoulder and nodded at me as they walked off. The axe handle subtly bobbed against the side of her jacket, something I’d never paid attention to before. I couldn’t imagine why Blue would arm herself in the house, but it made me consider going upstairs and retrieving my weapons.
Despite all the amenities, I was confined to the property. Without a car or the city nearby, I couldn’t leave like everyone else. They all had something to do—assignments. Not that my status diminished what I’d already done for them, but it still left me wandering the halls aimlessly.
I jumped when a shirtless Shepherd emerged from the adjoining room, his body encased in sweat. He moved past me without a word, his muscles taut like a thoroughbred just after a race. I flicked a glance at a few scars on his chest.
Only two people in the house gave me nervous butterflies: Shepherd and Christian. Shepherd looked like a hardened man just released from prison. His dark eyes carried a haunting emptiness that I’d seen in my own reflection, except that his was too far gone, as if every sense of innocence and goodness had been stripped away from him. His buzz cut showed off rich, dark hair that matched his pensive eyebrows. He was over six feet of ripped muscle, with a warrior’s face and a penetrating gaze that could strike fear in anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path. Even the tattoo of a phoenix on his right arm and across his shoulder was intimidating. It spread across his chest and looked like it stretched to his back, but I didn’t turn around to watch him going.
Christian, on the other hand, was a Vampire. That alone earned him a spot on my “Do not trust” list. Most immortals spoke without a filter, but Vampires were cunning at masking their emotions with humor and indifference, when in truth they were plotting your demise. How does a man go from being a killer, to a bodyguard, and then back to hunting killers? Clearly Christian hadn’t quite figured his shit out.
Viktor pairing me up with a Vampire was like the universe giving me the finger.
As I turned down another hall, I overheard voices coming from behind one of the closed doors. I didn’t have exceptional hearing like a pureblood Vampire, so I tiptoed over to the door. Viktor had mentioned that some of the rooms were soundproof, but not this one. I recognized Viktor speaking.
“Are you familiar with this area?”
“I think so,” Blue said, her voice more distant. “Do you think he’ll have poachers?”
“Nyet. He does not come from the Old World. In my time, men were always prepared for spies. Get as close as you can without putting yourself in danger.”
“Are you sure your source is reliable?”
“Whether Darius changes his mind is another matter, but we cannot dismiss an opportunity.”
“And if he moves?”
“Follow,” Viktor said tersely.
“If he leaves the property, do you want me to call in for backup?”
I could tell Viktor was pacing around the room by the way his voice shifted direction and volume. “He has reservations at a Breed restaurant. I cannot initiate an execution in such a public place. We have an end goal, but you must always consider how you choose to
reach that goal.”
I pressed my ear closer to the door.
“Do we have enough evidence?” she asked.
“Sufficient. Wyatt gave me an update and linked all the businesses to an area of land that once belonged to Darius. His motive for extortion is evident. It was no secret to me that Darius was arrested many years ago, but after Wyatt’s discovery, I called a close friend of mine. He knows this area well and said it was commonplace that those who served time in Breed jail had to relinquish their land. The higher authority must have noticed the growing human population and wanted to create more division since many locations were a mixture of the two.”
I heard Blue’s boot heels as she trod across the room. “Wow. So the authorities stripped away his land, and once free, he couldn’t get it back because they sold it to humans. What was he in jail for?”
Viktor laughed, and it was a warm, sonorous sound. “What do you think? The very thing he is doing now. Extorting people for money. That is how I received the tip to open his case. Darius was acquiring money too quickly, and it caught the attention of the higher authority when he was buying and selling expensive properties. They suspected he was back to his old habits but had no proof. There were rumors of wealthy humans turning up dead, but the higher authority couldn’t question the victims’ families because it goes against our laws.”
“What do you want me to do if he moves to a more private location? There’s always that possibility.”
It sounded like someone was tapping their foot on the floor.
“Nyet. It will be daylight. Too much risk,” he said, his accent heavier.
“Too much opportunity,” she suggested.
“If we’re caught and endanger the reputation of the higher authority—who is paying us—we will be cut off like a necrotic limb. Just follow. We need to confirm if the information Raven gave us is correct—that he’s staying in this house. Follow the vehicle and identify him. When you get to the restaurant, shift back and call me with an update.”
“Are you sure, Viktor? We could surround him and—”