by Dannika Dark
By the time we made it back to Keystone, everyone had already eaten. I felt guilty that Viktor had to cook breakfast on my week, but I trudged upstairs and decided to worry about it later—after I took a hot shower.
With my hair still wet, I put on a workout hoodie, jeans, and thick socks. I used cotton swabs to clean out the dried blood from inside my nose, and once I finished that delightful task, I felt like myself again. My blue eye was a little puffy from rubbing it, but no one would ever know to look at me that I’d fought a Mage, dodged a sword attack, escaped an explosion, gone on a subway chase, traipsed around the Bricks, and slept on Christian’s lap.
When I knocked on the door to Wyatt’s office, no one answered. The lights were out, which was unusual.
“That’s a first,” I muttered, heading to the staircase. Why wasn’t anyone monitoring the black market website?
When I reached the first floor, I steered toward the dining room to see if maybe they were eating. Voices overlapped from the adjacent gathering room, and a log crackled and snapped within the hearth on the wall opposite the entryway.
“Hold your ponies!” Wyatt said, clearly flustered. “I have to put in the right amount. Don’t break my concentration.”
As I entered the room, I glanced up at the massive window on the left, admiring the way it sprayed colors onto the floor. The fireplace glowed, Niko sitting beside it with his back to the wall and one leg drawn up. I stepped behind Gem’s chair and faced the group. The long wall to my right dividing the gathering room and dining room had small archways in the middle that allowed those sitting in the booths to peer into the room. The couch was against it, Blue sitting next to Wyatt, who had a MoonPie in his mouth, laptop on his legs, and was wearing a grey T-shirt that said: NO BONES ABOUT IT and depicted a skull and crossbones.
I leaned against the back of Gem’s chair, Viktor sitting in the chair that faced the sofa. “What’s going on?”
Gem and Viktor were in the middle of a conversation, only I didn’t understand a word of it. Gem had an arcane knowledge of ancient languages, but that didn’t exclude everything in between, including Russian. When he swung his gaze up and said something, I shook my head.
“In English,” Gem said.
He cleared his throat. “The baby is on the auction block.”
“How do you know it’s the same one we’re looking for?”
“The child is a Sensor and of the same age. Babies don’t go up on the market every day.”
Gem peered up at me with wide, expressive eyes. “There’s a bidding war going on.”
My gaze darted around the room. Christian was on the far end with a glass of alcohol in his hand, Claude nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Shepherd?”
Viktor stroked his beard. “Resting.”
“He can rest on my fist,” Christian muttered from a distance.
Viktor wagged his finger at him. “Remember what we talked about.”
“He knows something,” Christian bit out. “I’d stake my life on it.”
I stayed quiet, uncertain how much Christian had revealed about our night in the Bricks. Wyatt folded his arms, his eyes centered on the screen.
I sauntered over to the liquor cabinet in front of the stained glass windows where Christian was isolating himself. “What did you tell them about last night?” I whispered.
“Viktor knows,” he said, implying they’d had a private conversation.
I ran my hands through my damp hair and thought about Christian’s remark. Shepherd’s meltdown happened after Wyatt showed him the picture. If he knew something about our guy, then why wasn’t he helping?
“You should eat something,” Christian suggested.
“I’m fine.”
His dark eyes lingered on me for a moment.
“Blast!” Wyatt kicked the table in front of him.
“Another five,” Viktor said calmly. “Small increments. The bidder will try to raise it high in the end, so let’s not push it too early.”
Blue stroked one of her grey feather earrings, eyes glued to the screen.
I nodded at Christian’s empty glass. “Isn’t it a little early for alcohol?”
“It wasn’t too early for Shepherd.”
“Did something happen between you two?”
“I haven’t seen him yet, so the jury’s out. But mark my words, that man is keeping something from us.” Christian leaned against the table, hair slicked back from a recent shower. The sleeves of his charcoal shirt were pushed up, and it fit his body so snugly that I could see the outline of his abs and chest.
“Something catch your eye?” he said, amusement in his voice.
Before I could retort, Shepherd moved into the room.
Covered in sweat.
He hiked up his grey sweatpants, which left nothing to the imagination, and wiped his face off with a wadded-up T-shirt. He lingered by the doorway and watched with trepidation. “What’s going on?”
Christian rocketed forward and ate up the distance between them. “You’re going to tell us the name of your friend,” he barked out, pointing his finger. “That’s what’s going on.”
Both Viktor and Niko rose to their feet, but Christian veered left and shoved Gem’s chair a foot before lunging at Shepherd.
When they began throwing punches, I jogged across the room for a closer look.
Shepherd circled around Viktor’s chair. “Lay off,” he snarled.
Christian ignored the obstacles in his way. “Do you want to know where Raven and I spent last night? After going to pick up your car, we chased down the Mage in the photograph.”
Shepherd blanched and stepped back, Niko wedging himself between them.
Christian restrained himself when Viktor grabbed his shoulders. “That’s right. And we almost got blown to smithereens. I’m sure you wouldn’t have shed a tear for a Vampire like me, but you would have had to use a spade to scrape Raven off the floor. Whatever secret you’re keeping almost cost us our lives.”
Energy crackled in the room, raising the tiny hairs on my arms.
Gem appeared as curious as I was to see what might happen next. Blue and Wyatt were too engaged with the ongoing auction to steer their attention away. I tugged on the drawstrings of my hoodie, noticing the guilt on Shepherd’s face. Guilt was a look I was quite familiar with from my former line of work, and he wore it like a mask.
“Start talking,” Christian ordered. “Or I’ll charm it out of you.”
“Don’t you fucking threaten me!” Shepherd spat.
Niko put his arm in front of Shepherd, holding him back.
I edged closer for a better look. “If we lose the auction, we lose the baby. Maybe that doesn’t matter to you, but this guy will keep doing it again and again. We need something to go on. I have his face, but we need his name. Do you want to support his murderous rampage on women?”
Shepherd turned away and planted his hands against the fireplace.
As the tension dissipated, Viktor exchanged private words with Christian, who reluctantly backed down and scooted Gem’s chair back in place.
“Sorry about that, lass.”
“No sweat. That was better than a soap opera.”
Viktor smoothed out his silvery hair, trying to regain his composure. “If everyone has calmed down, let’s focus on business. You and Raven will have new phones this evening. I just need Wyatt to program them, and that means you’ll need to sit with Blue and help me with the bidding.”
Then the strangest thing happened. Niko rested his hands on Shepherd’s shoulders as if consoling him. Christian took notice but remained apathetic. Gem, however, looked like a woman who knew a secret.
“Her name was Maggie.” Shepherd’s choked words made everyone look up. He moved away from the hearth and wiped his face with the T-shirt he picked up off the floor. When he sat down in Viktor’s chair, I rested my arms on top of a chair facing Gem.
Shepherd hunched over, hands in his lap. “Years ago, I used to work
for the higher authority in the evidence room. On short notice, they transferred me to a security job at a hospital—not the most ideal job for a Sensor. I kept an eye out for immortals in the morgue and emergency room. It wasn’t so bad. You pick up a lot of useful shit by watching what goes on there, like how to stitch wounds and perform basic medical care. I finally got to practice some of that knowledge on you guys.”
Shepherd held everyone’s rapt attention.
“Maggie worked at the hospital. She was a Relic who specialized in human medicine, so she didn’t work directly with Breed. She loved her damn job, even though most people looked down on her for helping humans. I wasn’t allowed to fraternize with anyone at work, and neither was she. So we had to keep our relationship a secret. She also had a strict family who was all about keeping the bloodline pure, if you know what I mean. They would have disowned her.”
We all nodded. A lot of folks didn’t like interbreeding. If children could be conceived, they were often born defective—devoid of all the inherent knowledge or abilities that are unique to one Breed or the other. Not every mixed couple could even have kids, so a person risked losing their family, status, and even their job.
Shepherd took a deep breath and sank in his chair. “I didn’t like keeping it a secret, but I also didn’t want to do anything to hurt her. Maggie was the best woman I ever had. Smart, funny, beautiful—I can still remember her laugh.”
My gaze drifted up to the large stained glass image behind Gem. The colorful display depicted wolves and people living in harmony, surrounded by flowers and greenery. It seemed a stark contrast to the reality of our world.
“What happened?” Blue asked when he fell silent.
His hands were shaking when he reached up to rub his eyes. “Working at that hospital taught me how to shut off the emotional pathway. I became unaffected by pain and suffering so it wouldn’t ruin me. That job gets to a lot of people no matter what your Breed is, but it’s especially tough for Sensors. You see a lot of suffering in those places. Anyhow, we couldn’t hang out at work, so sometimes we’d meet up at my place or go on a date.” He wiped his hand across his mouth as if struggling with his emotions.
“You don’t have to talk about this,” Viktor said. “They know enough.”
“No,” Shepherd said tersely, swinging his brown eyes up. “They don’t know shit. If I’m telling the story, I’m telling the whole fucking thing.” He cracked his knuckles before continuing. “She was supposed to meet me at the coffee shop one night. I sat around and waited, then I got worried. She didn’t call, so I knew it wasn’t work related. I thought maybe she was sick or hurt. Relics can catch the flu and all that, so I headed to her house to check on her. I noticed an unfamiliar car parked nearby. Didn’t think much of it then. When I neared the door, something was off. There was a strange emotional print on the knob. I peered in through the window and saw a light coming from the hall, so I went inside. The door wasn’t locked. That’s when I heard a muffled scream.” Shepherd launched to his feet and paced behind his chair.
I had a feeling I knew where this story was heading: a one-way ticket to Traumaville.
He lifted the fireplace poker out of the tool rack and jabbed the log in the hearth until the flames were roaring even higher. “They were killing her. I tried to get in the room, but a man guarding the door knocked me down and took out a knife. I didn’t feel anything when he began stabbing me. I kept trying to get to Maggie. The next thing I knew, I was lying on the floor in the hallway. My attacker was a Mage, and he’d blasted me with enough energy to put down a horse. I could barely move, but I could still see her on the bed. I held up my arms to block the knife attack, but—” Shepherd’s voice cracked. “I watched the second man murder my woman.”
When I heard a quiet gasp, I realized he was crying.
“That green-eyed bastard you tracked down is the one who killed her. That maniac destroyed the only thing in this world that mattered to me, and he savored it. That fucking animal put on a show.”
Shepherd’s face reddened, the lines deepening in his forehead as he mentally relived what must have been the most horrific experience of his life.
Gem’s eyes glittered with tears, and she shielded her face with one hand.
“That’s not the worst of it,” he continued.
Viktor strode to the window and put his hands in his pockets.
The iron poker made a loud clang when Shepherd tossed it to the floor. “She was nine months pregnant.”
A thunderstruck silence followed.
Stone-faced, Shepherd stood as tears slipped from his eyes like raindrops down a window. “I was bleeding out, unable to move. After he stabbed her through the heart, he… cut her open. Then I realized he wasn’t just killing her; he was killing our baby.” Shepherd sat down on the hearth, knees bent as he stroked the Celtic tattoo on the back of his neck. “They left me for dead. I woke up in a hospital, but not the same one I worked at. It took the higher authority three days before they realized I was missing. They transferred me to a clinic where two Relics healed me.”
I looked down at his scarred fingers, hands, and arms. The ones on the back of his left hand were worse than the right, but most of them were defensive wounds—from blocking the dagger that had left scars on his chest and back. Jesus. I figured he picked them up over the years doing criminal work; I couldn’t have imagined that they were all from one attack.
“Did the baby survive?” Gem asked through sniffles.
“Nothing could have survived that.” He wiped his face wearily. “They buried Maggie before the Relics released me from their care. The higher authority discharged me, said I was neurotic and incapable of performing my duties. They didn’t like my involvement in the case, and when they didn’t have enough information to go on, they dropped it… just like that,” he said, snapping his fingers. “She wasn’t important enough in their eyes to waste time on. I spent years on the streets looking for that man. Viktor saved my life. If he hadn’t come along, I’d probably be dead or living in the Bricks.” His eyes shifted to Viktor, who remained facing the window. “I want him dead. He deserves nothing less than what he inflicted on my woman and child. I gotta be fucking honest about it—if we can’t catch him, I don’t know if I can work here anymore. He’s become my white whale, and there’s nothing else right now that matters. I don’t have his name or anything else that will help you find him. What I do have is fifty-three scars. The Relics said it was a miracle I survived, but it feels more like a curse. I’m here for a reason… and now I know what that reason is.”
Viktor turned to face him. “We cannot kill for revenge. Until we find out this man’s name and whether or not he’s a declared outlaw, we cannot murder him in cold blood.”
Shepherd rose to his feet. “Speak for yourself.”
Chapter 16
Viktor wasn’t sure how long the auction would last. To prepare, he sent three of us into the city. That way if the auction closed early and there was a drop-off location, we would be first on the scene. The lucky candidates were Christian, Claude, and yours truly. Christian and I received new phones, and Viktor instructed us to stay in close contact.
Claude followed us to Ruby’s Diner so we could establish a base camp. I’d spent so many years going there that I knew the staff’s schedules better than they did. Betty was ending her shift soon, but she made a point to check on us even though we had another waitress. The lunch crowd had already dispersed, and we lounged in my favorite booth while Claude amused the staff with his bottomless pit of a stomach.
I finished the last bite of grilled cheese and licked my fingers. “Shepherd’s a liability.”
“She’s right,” Christian said. “I’d be willing to wager that Shepherd’s sharpening all the knives in his drawers. Better we find this Mage before he does.”
“What does it matter who kills him?” Claude asked with a mouthful of fries.
“The higher authority assigned us the case, you dolt,” Christian reminde
d him. “They’re invested, and they’re not going to pay unless we provide enough evidence and facts to support a murder. Unless they say they want him dead or alive, Viktor has to follow protocol.”
I pushed my plate forward. “What protocol?”
“The one that forbids us from dismembering suspects. If our lives are at stake or all hell breaks loose during a raid, they’re more likely to turn a blind eye. But if Shepherd picks him up, drives him out to a cornfield, and feeds him to the crows, that might not work in our favor. Especially if the Mage turns out to be someone important or is proven innocent.”
I played with the straw in my glass. “Shepherd’s going to murder him. I know all about that kind of hate.”
Claude finally sat back and heaved a sigh.
I chuckled softly. “You’re going to ruin your figure with that appetite.”
He patted his stomach. “Someone should have told me about this place before now. I haven’t had a milkshake that delicious in decades.”
I studied him for a moment. “Exactly how old are you?”
He winked. “Centuries.”
Claude was a good five or six inches taller than Christian, towering over most men like a giant. I’d seen Chitahs over seven feet before. They usually stood out when mingling with people of normal height, which was pretty much anyone outside of their Breed. One brunette had walked to the bathroom twice just to get his attention, and Claude gave it to her. He was suave and flirty without being obvious or egotistical. The magic was in his smile and the way he’d lean back and use his body language to convey interest.
Claude Valentine was so handsome that he didn’t need to flirt. He could put french fries up his nose and still attract women with his sexy hair and kissable lips. He possessed the perfect male form with a V-shaped torso and strong collarbones. Not muscular like Shepherd, but I’d seen him climb the rope in our training room with Gem on his back.
Personality-wise, Claude was too sweet for my taste. I’m not sure what that said about me, but I didn’t feel chemistry when I looked at him—not the way other women did.