by Dannika Dark
I stopped in my tracks when I noticed a faint light seeping through the edge of a bookcase. Not bright enough for the human eye to detect, but enough that it made me go in and check it out. There were hinges on the left side, so I thought about it like a door, assuming something functioned as a lever. In the place a doorknob might be, I noticed a dragon-shaped bookend. I pulled the head and heard a click.
The heavy case quietly pushed open, and I entered a small room. Pale light skimmed across the floor from another bookshelf to my right, and that was when I realized that someone had done a masterful job at constructing a secret room within a secret room. I drew in a deep breath of stale air, looking around at the two sitting chairs, thin carpet, and wood paneling.
Unarmed, I searched for something sharp or heavy. The only items that fit the bill were a pair of toenail clippers and a floor vase that looked heavier than a small cow.
Didn’t matter. Whoever was in that room was about to die.
Chapter 26
I surged into the secret room, coming face-to-face with an empty leather chair. The light hurt my eyes, and I noticed my shadow stretched in front of me to the right, joined by another. I turned, taking a few steps back from Darius, who stood beside a tall floor lamp. The door quietly closed, leaving us alone in this confined space.
“What treachery is this?” he asked calmly, quietly. “We had an arrangement. How dare you bring them here… to my home!”
Darius had on gym attire: black pants, no shirt, and white gauze or cotton wrapped around his hands. By the looks of the sweat still dripping from his hair, we’d definitely taken him by surprise. My eyes flicked up to a longsword on the wall behind the lamp.
Darius kept his eyes steady on mine. “You foolish child. You could have had everything.”
“If you wanted to know what an imbecile looks like, all you had to do was look in the mirror. Oh, it doesn’t seem like you have any here in your hidey-hole. You’re a courageous man, Darius. Truly.”
He advanced, forcing me to step back. “I value my life. It doesn’t look like you can say the same.”
“You got that right. I’m here because it’s not just my life I value, but the people you threatened to harm.”
I flashed around him, but he caught me by the waist. Darius flung me against the wall, and I fell hard on my back. When he came at me, I kicked his leg and he stumbled, giving me enough time to scramble to my feet. The few maneuvers Niko had taught me were defensive tactics for escaping, and when Darius seized my wrists, I had reason to test their effectiveness.
I twisted my arms and broke his grasp, then kicked him in the stomach. Before I could withdraw my leg, he grabbed it tightly and swung my entire body around. When he let go of my leg, I crashed into the chair, scooting it several feet across the floor before landing on my side.
Darius fell over me, striking my face twice before I shielded myself from the attack with my arms. I tried to buck his weight, but it was useless. I had the wind knocked out of me, but I was in survival mode and not ready to give up the fight. When he made the mistake of resting his left arm against the floor to prop himself up, I lurched forward and sank my fangs into his fleshy bicep.
He shoved my head away, scrambling backward to put distance between us.
I stood up and tested my jaw to make sure it wasn’t broken. “Why do men like you exist?”
He swiped the blood trickling down his arm and sneered. “And what makes you so superior? A congenial smile?”
I withdrew the sword from the wall and sliced the air between us. “Nope. But I’m really awesome at playing piñata. Never tried it with a sword.”
He crawled backward on his elbows until he reached the far wall. Darius lifted the tufted chair, using it as a shield.
“Are you kidding me?” I shouted.
It wasn’t a large room—maybe twelve feet one way and twenty the other. Acting on impulse, I swung the sword and struck the lampshade. The bulb shattered, throwing us into darkness.
I held my breath, moving aside as I waited for my eyes to adjust. With my Mage light concealed, the only way he’d know my location was by sound.
Grainy images slowly came into focus. Darius held the chair, his arms trembling from the weight of it.
He suddenly tossed the chair at me and I dodged it with ease. Darius squatted on the floor, his eyes drawn upward and head cocked to the side. I squeezed the grip of the sword, angling the blade over my left shoulder.
My heart skipped a beat when the door cracked open, and we both turned to look. Before I could see who was coming in, Darius charged at the door, slamming it partially shut as someone roared in pain. A penlight toppled onto the floor, spraying a narrow stream of light across the room in a cartwheel of motion.
“Son of a ghost!”
The door surged open, and Wyatt stumbled into the room. Darius threw a burst of energy into him, and Wyatt’s feet came off the ground as he absorbed what could have been a thousand-volt shock of electricity.
I ran forward and swung my sword, but Darius ducked out of the way. It sliced against the open door, wedging deep into the wood. I tugged, but I couldn’t dislodge it fast enough.
Darius exploded into action, charging toward me and slamming his hand into my chest before I could free the sword. He was testing to see if Mage energy affected me.
My feet came off the ground, and I hurtled backward in the short space until my back hit the wall with a sickening thud. I toppled over to the floor, clutching my chest and wheezing for breath. The energy blast hadn’t put a dent in me, but he’d hit me rather hard with his palms.
Darius pivoted around, gripped the sword, and wrenched it out of the wood. My eyes widened when the flashlight glinted on the metal as it sliced through the air. I rolled across the floor, the tip of his sword nicking my arm, right below the gunshot wound.
I surged to my feet and flashed around him, going for the metal penlight on the floor. The beam of light spun about the room as I raised my arm and drove it into his back with all the force I could muster. One might believe a penlight could never penetrate skin, but that would be a misconception.
Darius roared in pain.
He flung his sword backward and let go. I turned to watch the tip of it stab the floor right between Wyatt’s legs, just inches from his…
Wyatt shrieked, holding his crotch as the sword bowed back and forth. “I don’t get paid enough for this shit. You hear that, Viktor?” he shouted. “I want a raise!”
Darius fell to his knees, desperately trying to grasp for the light, which was centered out of his reach.
I sauntered over to Wyatt and pulled the sword out from the wood. As I approached Darius, I smirked when a thought crossed my mind. “I guess the pen really is mightier than the sword.” With my fingers around the grip of my blade, I circled him, aiming for his neck. “Can’t win ’em all.”
He was still reeling from the pain in his back—the light beaming onto Wyatt’s face and climbing up the wall as Darius hunched over, trying to reach for it. “I’ll give you money.”
“If I wanted your money, I wouldn’t have brought backup. Don’t you think?”
I’d never done this before—beheaded a man. I knew immortals saw it as a necessary means to an end, but the image was strikingly gruesome. I leveled the blade across his neck and drew back like a batter about to hit a home run.
“Wait! Raven, wait,” Wyatt sputtered, still struggling from his injuries. “We have evidence.”
I glanced over my shoulder. “So?”
Shepherd filled the doorway, a file in one hand and a slim cord in the other. “You don’t have to kill him. We’ve got everything we need to take this son of a bitch down.”
Seeing the relief on Darius’s face filled me with inexplicable rage.
Shepherd stepped forward and shouted, “Don’t do it!”
I’d positioned the blade against Darius’s neck, power surging through me.
Wyatt tried to stand but fell over. He gripped
Shepherd’s ankle. “Get me out of here. I can’t be around to watch this.”
I stared at Darius long and hard, contemplating in those seconds which choice was the right one. When I thought about sending him to Breed jail so they could execute him for his offenses, an unexpected feeling of satisfaction swept over me. A quick death seemed far too merciful compared to the humiliation of jail, court, and then facing his peers as a broken man.
“I never thought I’d say this, but cuff him.”
Shepherd didn’t just cuff him, he hog-tied the man so he wouldn’t be able to use his Mage energy. When Shepherd finished, he assessed Wyatt’s injuries and discovered a few broken ribs from when Darius had slammed the door on him.
“Sit down,” Shepherd ordered me, setting the leather chair upright. He tore the bottom off Wyatt’s shirt and held it between his teeth. “Looks like a clean shot. Didn’t hit a major artery. That gash is a problem.” He skillfully wrapped the cloth around my arm and tied it tight.
“You’re good at this,” I said, noticing how he doctored my wounds as if he’d done it a million times before.
Viktor entered the room with a flashlight. “Shepherd, take the vermin out of here. I’ve made a call to the higher authority; they’re sending in Regulators for an official investigation.”
Shepherd stood up, clearly exhausted, but he didn’t rest for a moment before dragging Darius out of the room by his feet.
I looked myself over for other injuries but only noticed a few bumps and bruises. I’d never taken on anyone who was armed with a sword, so I was lucky to have made it out alive and with all my limbs intact.
Viktor knelt in front of Wyatt and patted his leg. “You did a good job finding those documents. Selfish men always make stupid mistakes, like keeping records of the money transactions from the people they’re extorting. It makes them feel accomplished to look at the numbers and add to them.”
Wyatt clutched his chest and grimaced. “And making a list of their victims so they can cross out the ones they disposed of. Why is it that most of the guys we catch get caught because they did the most inane things?”
“You found them,” Claude said, making his way into the room.
Wyatt lazily looked up. “The trick doors automatically close. I just happened to walk by when I heard someone yell. It took me a minute to figure out how to open that blasted thing.”
Viktor rose to his feet. “Where’s Christian?”
A loud scream came from upstairs, and we all simultaneously looked at the ceiling.
“He’s, um… indisposed,” I said.
Claude’s piercing yellow eyes locked on my blood-soaked bandage. I tensed when his fangs descended and a creature who was my mortal enemy approached me. One bite with all four canines was all it would take to end my life.
“Come here, female,” he said, lifting me into his arms.
His purr was hypnotic, resonating in his chest and calming me almost immediately. I pressed my ear against him, curious about the bizarre reaction it elicited.
I heard Gem giggle. “Someone made a new friend.”
Claude turned around, clutching me tighter.
Gem put her hands on her hips and erupted with laughter when she looked at Wyatt. “I love the crop top look. I just happen to know a fabulous Relic who’s looking for a new friend.”
He stared daggers at her.
A little embarrassed by the coddling, I drew back from Claude. “Why are you purring?”
He looked between Gem and me. “My girls are safe.”
I’d never been anyone’s girl, but the inclusive sentiment—sincere or not—kept me from sliding out of his arms and walking out the door. I had no excuse to lie in his arms like some helpless woman. My legs weren’t injured, and I was perfectly capable of helping the men clean up.
But damn if I didn’t let that Chitah carry me all the way out to the van.
Niko had his work cut out for him. Wyatt’s ribs were so bad that he couldn’t tolerate the constant pain whenever he took a breath, so Niko used his healing light to mend those breaks. Wyatt periodically gripped his crotch as if checking to make sure the boys were still there after his close encounter with the sword. Viktor had been shot three times, but he’d shifted into his wolf during the fight and then back. Exhausted, he sat in the passenger seat and napped while Claude took the helm and drove us back to Keystone.
No one stayed behind to give a statement. Viktor said the Regulators were given specific orders to collect the evidence left on the coffee table downstairs and document the scene. His contact with the higher authority would take care of the rest. Christian stayed behind for other reasons.
It was the first confrontation I’d ever walked away from victorious where I didn’t want to vomit because I’d ingested blood or dark light.
The van hit a big bump, and everyone shouted and groaned at Claude’s driving.
Niko wrapped his hands around my arm, gathering up his energy and forcing it into me with a snap of light. He leaned against the van, breathing heavily as if he’d run a marathon.
“Thanks, Niko. You didn’t have to.”
He laughed. “Women.”
I rubbed my hand over the healed skin. “Why were they all armed with guns instead of stunners?”
“Guns work on everyone,” Niko said. “It’s a quick weapon that will either immobilize a man or slow him down. Then they can figure out what Breed they’re dealing with and how to capture or kill them.”
With the loud motor going and everyone half-asleep, I looked up at Niko and lowered my voice. “I think it’s pretty shitty that they put the best warrior on roof patrol.”
A smile touched his lips, and he inclined his head.
Maybe Viktor chose the best man to guard the roof in case Darius or his men fled the scene, but I couldn’t help but think how spectacular Niko would have been, hunting and fighting those men in the dark hallways.
My body jerked when something heavy crashed on top of the van.
Gem looked up. “Why do you always have to do that?”
The back door swung open, Christian hanging on the edge. He reached for the roof and slung my duffel bag onto the floor. “I tripped over this in a hallway,” he said, casually stepping inside and closing the door behind him. “You shouldn’t leave behind things at the scene of the crime… like evidence.”
“What took you so long?” she asked.
He waggled his brows. “I never turn down a free drink. What’s wrong with Spooky?”
Gem glanced over at Wyatt, who was fast asleep on the bench across from us, his head practically in Shepherd’s lap. “He almost got a vasectomy.”
“Shame I missed that.” Christian tossed me my dagger, and I almost shot out of my seat. “You left that upstairs.”
“I had another in the basement.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Shepherd said, arms folded. “Viktor’s guy returns weapons left behind.”
I glanced up at Niko, who had his eyes closed. Since the bench was long enough to lie on, I stood up and told him to rest. He curled up on his side, utterly exhausted, with one foot on the floor to keep him from rolling off the bench.
I moved toward the back doors, stepped over Christian’s legs, and sat on the edge of the bench, putting Niko’s other foot in my lap. It was a roomy van, absent of any windows.
I leaned against the door. “If your group gets any bigger, you’re going to need a boat.”
Christian wiped a smudge of blood off his wrist. “We’ll just strap them on the front like a hood ornament.”
He groomed his beard, acting as if we’d just left a fancy restaurant instead of a bloodbath. I wanted to ask him what he did to the Mage, but something told me I didn’t want to know all the details. The look of gratification on his face was answer enough. Christian was a paradox—on one hand making remarks about my unethical behavior and knowing myself, and yet he relished his own kills.
Which just reaffirmed my belief that you can’t trust a Vampir
e.
Sirens wailed behind us, and the van slowed to a stop.
“Oh for feck’s sake,” Christian spat. “I hope you have an extra set of plates for the van; he’s going to call it in.”
Claude rolled the window down, and I had to laugh at how ridiculously suspicious this looked.
“Is there a problem, Officer?”
Shepherd snorted.
A flashlight shone on Claude’s face. Viktor roused from his sleep and sat up but didn’t speak. Perhaps he thought someone with a Russian accent would appear suspicious to a cop.
“Your taillight’s out,” the human said.
Claude rested his arm on the van door. “Is that illegal?”
“I need to see your license and registration.”
“This is bullshit,” Shepherd muttered quietly.
Gem made a facial gesture that told him to shut up. The cop hadn’t aimed his light in the back and didn’t seem to know there was a vanload of immortals.
“Step out of the van,” the cop said.
When Claude got out, Christian turned around, facing the rear.
The back doors popped open, and the officer shone his light in Christian’s face. Then he aimed it to the left, and Wyatt lifted his head from Shepherd’s lap, wiping the drool from the side of his mouth. His cropped shirt exposed his belly, and I barked out a laugh at the cop’s bewildered expression.
His light beamed in my face and I winced, holding up my bloodstained arm to shield my eyes.
Christian leaned to the side, blocking the cop’s line of vision. “Guard, let’s you and I take a long walk.” He slowly got out, keeping his eyes on the officer, who looked entranced.
Gem took a seat across from me. “This should be interesting.”
“Is he going to kill him?”
Wyatt laughed. “If he’s lucky. The last time Christian took a cop for a walk, the poor guy came back believing that we were fairy godmothers on our way to a ball. I bet they locked him up in a padded room.”