“He’s right, Callie,” Cain quickly cut in. “Nate is still an asshole, but he’s got a point.”
I slowly glanced over my shoulder and dipped my chin at Cain. Callie’s face was a thunderhead of anger mixed with bitter understanding. She opened her mouth to talk, but I cut her off.
“I don’t want to hear your apologies. I will hear his. When you bring a sword to the warriors’ table, be prepared to die by the sword,” I growled, turning back to the man. “I want to make sure that he remembers that lesson.”
The man stared at me, seeming surprised by my words. His eyes were deep and wise, as if he was genuinely considering my words rather than trying to reassure me so he could flee the torture. I saw no fear in his eyes, for he was fearless. I saw pain in those eyes, but he acknowledged it no more than he acknowledged the rain pouring down upon us.
Finally, he nodded intently. “I am Ryuu. I lead the Shinobi now policing Kansas City for the White Rose. I ask your forgiveness for my disrespect,” he said, lowering his eyes. Surprisingly, I thought I caught a faint flicker of amusement in those eyes before he lowered them. “Ironically, your response to my disrespectful act has earned you much respect in my eyes—if that matters to you. I accept full responsibility for my actions,” he said, keeping his eyes lowered.
I lifted his chin with my finger. He grimaced at the sensation of diamond-crusted skin touching his chin, but he did meet my gaze. “My name is Master Nate Temple. Welcome to St. Louis, Ryuu. And welcome to the warriors’ table. I’ll save you a seat.”
A slow smile stretched across his face, as if he had found great honor in my words—which only proved he was a lunatic. Luckily for him, I liked lunatics.
I yanked the katana from his grip and flung it into a puddle. “No need to keep showing us how tough you are, Ryuu. I already smell your burned skin. See to it before I decide to play doctor, which will both heal and hurt. Most patients say that my healing feels worse than the injury.”
He nodded, his eyes flickering to the sizzling, warped katana. “Would you be opposed to me keeping that? As a reminder of your lesson?”
I blinked at him and then let out a laugh, shaking my head. “Fine.” He smirked back, and I extended a hand, pulling him to his feet. I held out his squirming Shadow Skin. “Scale of one to ten,” I asked him.
He took the Shadow Skin, frowning down at it thoughtfully. “Eight.”
I grunted. “That’s…hardcore, man. I heard it feels exactly like being skinned alive.”
He met my eyes and finally nodded. “Accurate.” Then he began walking back towards Callie, scooping up the ruined blade on the way.
“For the record, I heard it hurts more putting it back on. Maybe let the pain fade before replacing it.”
He stared down at it for a long moment. Then he closed his eyes and held a corner of the folded shadow to his skin. He gasped and hissed as it whipped back around him, smoking as it settled back into place. His knees wobbled and he almost fell, but he caught himself with a groan, and slowly straightened. His fingers were shaking as he met my eyes. “Right again,” he rasped.
But he was smiling.
Okay. He was definitely bodyguard material.
Alucard had strategically placed himself off to the side, perfectly positioned to counter any attack on my person.
I turned to address Callie, Cain, and the bone guy, hating myself for this next part. It needed to be said for multiple reasons—one of them I couldn’t afford to talk about. The fox was still sleeping, seemingly totally unaware of the drama that had taken place. I cleared my throat, “You three stood there, talking to me like old friends, and silently watched—even distracting me with conversation—as you waited to see if the new guy could pull a fast one on me. If Ryuu had attacked me before we began speaking, that would have been a different matter. An instinctive reaction to a theft, I would have tolerated. But we had already moved beyond that point. That makes you all complicit. And I’ve got enough on my mind already without having to be concerned about my friends testing me.”
Even though I was partially right, I hated to say it so harshly. Especially to Callie.
But…
I was the leader of the New Horsemen, and all our lives might one day depend on the chain of command. Potentially, a day that was sooner than any of us hoped.
Chapter 3
Ryuu spoke up. “They don’t always see me when I use my Shadow Skin.”
“Callie did,” I said.
Callie nodded almost imperceptibly. Her eyes flicked to Ryuu as if to make sure he was alright.
He waved a hand dismissively. “Injured pride and crippled ego. Both build character.” He turned to me. “For what it’s worth—and definitely not to diminish my apology—I was only taking a defensive position.”
I smiled approvingly, nodding at him.
Callie studied me, definitely not pleased by my tone or the situation, but also knowing that she had brought the extra drama on herself. The moment she’d seen it was me, she should have called off Ryuu, but she’d let him creep up behind me. What the hell was that all about?
Ryuu had positioned himself closer to her than the others, not even seeming to be aware of it. He also no longer seemed to be paying attention to our conversation but keeping his eyes vigilant to our surroundings.
“Why was all of this necessary, Nate?” Callie asked, her eyes drifting to Alucard’s package.
“Again,” I muttered, trying to fortify my defenses under her frustrated—and guilty—stare. “We aren’t going to talk about it. In fact, it’s best if you leave. No offense, but I’m in the middle of something important.”
Callie studied me thoughtfully, reading between the lines. Despite her obvious frustration, I could see the intelligence in her gaze as she attempted to remove her emotions from the equation and see the situation from my perspective. Knowing how intelligent she was, I was certain she picked up on the multiple layers of the conversation. That I wasn’t just speaking as Nate, but as her new boss—the Horseman of Hope chastising the Horseman of Despair.
She finally nodded. “Understood. Next time just ask. I am vigilant in my protection of Kansas City. Just as you are here in St. Louis. Open communication would have prevented Ryuu from overreacting,” she said calmly.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the right response, and I hated myself for what I needed to say next. Ryuu had accepted his guilt with honor, not attempting to justify himself before his apology. Callie needed to do the same.
I shook my head, keeping my face calm. “Ryuu was just doing his job. He’s a stranger and acted accordingly. Others should have known better and called him off. Open communication,” I added—repeating her choice of words—feeling like I had just pulled the trigger on a loaded pistol.
Callie’s lips thinned and she nodded very, very slowly. “I see. I apologize.”
And right there, I knew certain dynamics of our relationship had just changed between us. Not significantly, but noticeably. I could tell that Callie knew I was both right and wrong—in different ways. Similarly, I knew I was both right and wrong, in different ways.
Cain’s eyes looked about ready to pop out of his head. “Anyone else smell that?” he asked gently, sniffing at the air. “Smells like awkwardness…” he murmured.
Alucard murmured his agreement, much quieter.
Skeletor sniffed at the air, his face somehow shifting as if it wasn’t made of bone.
The ensuing silence was pregnant with tension. I sighed, relaxing my shoulders as I refocused on Callie, wondering how much I could safely say without ruining my secret operation with Alucard—because that was the primary motivation between my choice to dismiss the Ryuu situation and to make a glaring spectacle out of it.
The Horseman angle was important. But I could have given her a private, verbal warning without an audience.
But…handling it the way I had served multiple purposes. I had chosen to use the opportunity like a blade for a very important reason. And now I ha
d to figure out a way to tell her enough that she would stay far away from St. Louis without jeopardizing my plans with Alucard and his package.
“Odin doesn’t want anyone learning it was stolen,” I lied, indicating the plastic package Alucard held. “He asked me to discreetly retrieve it.” I shot Alucard a pointed look. “I obviously picked the wrong man for the job.”
“I do not think discreet means what you think it means,” the bone guy suggested somberly.
I turned to look at him, and I instantly found myself biting back a smile as I realized how adorably innocent he actually was. He didn’t even understand how snarky his comment had been. How precious. “Sweet tattoo.”
He dipped his chin at me, and I thought I caught a faint spark in the air, but the rain made it hard to be certain. “Balloons are badass.”
I blinked at him, wondering if he was joking. He stared back, the dark smoke in his eye sockets shifting and twisting of their own accord. “Right.”
This guy and Carl, I thought to myself, would probably make the best buddy-cop movie ever.
I turned to Callie, unable to find a way to continue my conversation with the skeleton without snarking him to death. “If it was for anyone else, I would have asked. Now, I really do need you guys to leave. I have a meeting I can’t be late for,” I said, shooting a glance at the plastic covered book Alucard was still holding.
Callie studied me silently for a few moments. “Sure. I’ll let Starlight know. I’m sure he will understand, but he might want to talk to you later about theft.”
I sighed. “Fine. But you might want to let him know why I kept it under wraps. Probably in his best interest, too. Plausible deniability.”
Callie shook her head. “I’ll let you handle that. I would hate to get involved in something over my head. Plausible deniability.”
Then a Gateway screamed open behind her. She didn’t even look at it. Ryuu leapt through before her, making sure the other side was clear. Callie calmly stepped back, staring me in the eyes the whole time.
Then that little fox in her arms suddenly lifted its head and stared at me. The hair on the back of my arms stood straight up. The thing had no eyes! Just craters caked with crusted silver as if someone had melted them away with a soldering iron.
But that wasn’t what shocked me. I felt an ancient, merciless power within that eyeless gaze, and I instantly knew what it was.
A Beast.
Callie was walking around with a Beast. Holy crap.
“Those things are dangerous,” I warned, not taking my eyes off the creature.
Callie smirked, petting the fox. “I think they’re cute,” she said. Cain and the skeleton hopped through after her and the Gateway snapped shut, leaving Alucard and me alone in the rain.
“What the hell, man?” I demanded.
“Yeah. I forgot to tell you she picked one up at the shelter,” he said, shivering at the thought of the Beast. “Why do you think I so wisely kept out of your little lover’s quarrel?”
I blinked. “No! I was talking about your fumbled robbery. And that was not a lover’s quarrel. I’m trying to keep my ass in one piece.”
He arched a dubious eyebrow at me. “By attacking her invisible ninja and almost burning his hand off? Or was it provoking her new skeleton friend, Xylo? Or maybe it was when you talked down to a fellow Horseman in front of non-Horsemen? Which one of those was you trying to keep your ass in one piece? Because it looked like you were floundering, trying to find any way you could keep Callie out of danger.” He leaned forward, jutting out his jaw. “Newsflash. We’re fucking Horsemen. It’s probably the most dangerous job in the world. And even before that, Callie was doing just fine kicking ass and taking names.”
I scowled at him. “I wasn’t trying to keep her safe. You—and only you—know what I was really doing and why I had to make a scene. Was I wrong to trust you with my secret?” I snarled.
He shook his head. “No, but I can still call you on your bullshit. I know what you did was necessary, but that was way more than you trying to keep her away with a lie. That was deeper. And I think you know it. I think that’s why you’re clenching your fists right now and turning into a human glow stick.”
I frowned, opening my mouth. Then I realized that he was right. I was turning into a human glow stick. My veins were glowing with golden light beneath my skin—either a sign that a god was nearby or that I was losing my grip on my self-control. It was probably the latter, but I suddenly wished it was the former. Some creature I could really sink my fists into—an immortal being who was designed to withstand a long, drawn-out beating.
Because Alucard was right. Seeing Callie had…well, it had been different. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but it wasn’t the same between us—and I was pretty sure that was even before our little spat. Granted, I was under a lot of pressure at the moment, and lying to Callie that I had stolen the Bioloki on Odin’s behalf had been necessary, but…
Something was different about Callie. Or about me. And I hadn’t particularly liked the way I had seen Ryuu looking at Callie either. Not necessarily in a predatory way or anything, but in a very…intimate way. Professionally intimate, but still.
I shook off the thoughts. My love life could wait until I took care of this other crap. I needed to hurry before I got caught up in my own lies. Or before my lies grew too deep too fast, causing irreparable fractures between me and my friends, who I trusted and respected more than I openly admitted.
I wasn’t trying to keep Callie safe by lying. I was trying to prevent Ragnarök.
If such a thing was possible.
“Follow me. We’re set up inside the one closest to the water. Everything is ready.”
Alucard nodded, following my brisk pace. “Why that one?”
I shrugged. “It’s close enough for us to make our next appointment without anyone getting suspicious. And it’s closer to water in case we start a fire.”
“You expecting a fire?”
I glanced at him. “How the hell should I know? I’ve never tried to snare a god.”
Chapter 4
Alucard stood back near the entrance to the warehouse, playing lookout.
I sat before a ring of candles—since fire was an element of my target’s lore—sipping an energy drink. The Bioloki that Alucard had stolen from Starlight—Loki’s prison for the last few centuries—sat beside me with a stone now stuck to the front by a wad of packing tape.
The ring of candles was interspersed with other items as well. Two glass jars of spiders, a wolf figurine, a garden snake coiled up in a small aquarium, a combination lock I had picked up at a convenience store, a fishing net, a knotted hemp rope that I had found in the back of the warehouse, and a perfectly intact spider’s web stretching from two pegs glued to a small wooden base. The web had taken me the longest to acquire, since I’d had to set up a moveable apparatus in a place where spiders typically lurked, hoping one would choose my wooden posts to make a web.
Like I’d told Alucard, I’d set the place up ahead of time, knowing I had to get this over with as fast as possible—before anyone thought to ask questions about my absence. The Callie situation had eaten up a chunk of that time, so I had to wrap this up quickly.
I couldn’t afford any of my well-intentioned friends asking too many questions. Because I would be forced to lie to them, and I wanted to limit that as much as possible. Only Alucard knew the full story, and I’d put him through rigorous oaths before deciding to accept his help.
It was time.
I took a deep breath and pulled out a piece of paper from my pocket. I had no idea how authentic the scribbled prayer was, but after hours of research, I decided it suited my needs. If it wasn’t accurate, at least it matched my intents. I’d also tweaked it to make it more personal. I opened my mouth and began to read the prayer out loud.
“Hail Loki. Trickster. Web-weaver. Father of beasts.
Odin-kin and fortune-bringer.
Word-smith and fire-singer.
You know the songs that shall remain unsung.
You do not mince your words, bite your tongue, or promote kindness over honesty.
For you are the master of lies, and speaker of harsh truths.
And your songs reveal that which we would wish to hide from ourselves.
We are all chained to the masks that we wear,
Slaves to the sheep that our society commands us to be.
I pray to you, Loki, Black Sheep, chaos-bringer.
May your fires of change set us free.”
My words echoed in the space of the warehouse, and I waited a few moments.
“And I’m sorry for kicking you in the balls,” I added for good measure, recalling our last encounter during my fight with Mordred. “It was a dick move,” I admitted, smirking at the double entendre.
Dark laughter suddenly erupted from the center of the ring of candles, and a tall, dark-haired figure suddenly materialized before me. Unlike the last time I had seen him, he was not a portrait of burned, melted skin. He had healed in the weeks since then, and my stomach was eternally grateful for that. Unless…he really was still burned and merely using an illusion to disguise his injuries from Mordred’s fire.
Loki stared at me, shaking his head as his laughter slowly began to subside. He spent a few moments considering the objects surrounding him, nodding pensively.
Then he turned to look at me, and faint flames danced in the depths of his blue eyes. “I hope you know this circle cannot protect you, Nate Temple.”
I nodded, shrugging carelessly. “I never use protection, Trickster.” He cracked a toothy smile, shaking his head. “I wanted to show you some respect. You’ve been imprisoned for a long time, so I thought a prayer would be appreciated.”
He cocked his head suspiciously, as if wondering whether or not I was lying.
“Are you actually healed, or is this an illusion?” I asked.
He smirked, and between one moment and the next—with no noticeable effort on his part—he was suddenly Alucard. Not just mimicking Alucard, but a hauntingly uncanny doppelgänger. Then he was suddenly Ganesh. Then Achilles. Then Callie.
Ascension: Nate Temple Series Book 13 Page 2