by B. B. Hamel
But I couldn’t act like that was going to happen.
Darkness above and darkness below, and me floating in the middle with nowhere to go.
11
Chika
Charleigh leaned back in her executive chair and steepled her fingers. She frowned at the screen mounted above the fireplace.
“He’s late.”
I checked my agenda. He was indeed late. It was not my fault, of course. I triple-checked this with his assistant.
But I had no power over Oligarchs.
It was a hard lesson to learn. One I did not enjoy.
Erin frowned down at her phone. “Give him a moment, Mother. You know how he can be.”
“You’d think he’d respect my time better than this.”
Erin only shrugged, already tapping away at something. That girl always looked at her phone, but it was a mask.
This house was full of masks.
She hid her attention. It was smart. Erin was a very smart girl—too smart. She kept that closed away from the rest of them, but I got glimpses, peeks.
I was invisible in the house. Charleigh’s assistant, her creature. Nobody cared much about me.
I was well paid and loyal.
Still, I watched. I paid attention. And I knew Erin was a brilliant person, maybe the most terrifying of all the Servants.
And they all scared me back to the pits of Hell.
My parents, they came here from Nigeria when I was a baby. They gave me all the opportunities immigrant parents want to give their children. All their money went to my schooling. I learned Judo as a little girl and excelled. I ran track, played volleyball. I got a scholarship to a prestigious school called Blackwoods College.
There, I was recruited by the Servant family.
I have been with them ever since. My parents, they think I work for a Fortune 500 company.
They are very proud.
They would not be proud if they knew the extent of that lie.
It ate at me, but I could not disappoint them. It would kill my mother. She was frail enough as it was.
The screen flickered, but the picture was fuzzy. A man’s face, pixelated.
“Chika.” Charleigh’s tone was sharp.
As if I could control the technology.
But I got up and tried anyway. I had to try. It was part of my job. I poked at the back of the television until Kaspar’s connection strengthened and he appeared.
His smile sent a shiver along my skin.
“Hello, Chika. I love seeing your beautiful face first. Would you like to come work for me?”
“No, thank you,” I said and returned to my seat.
Charleigh scowled at him. “How many times do I have to ask you not to try to poach my assistant?”
“A few more might do it.” He showed his teeth. It was meant to be a smile. It was not quite right.
Erin put her phone down and stared at Kaspar’s image.
Charleigh let out a dramatic sigh. “It’s nice of you to join us. I appreciate you taking time.” Always polite. Smart woman. I worked for her for a reason.
Erin’s eyes were like a hawk.
“I’ll admit, I’ve been very curious about your proposal.”
“Have you given it thought?”
Kaspar shrugged. His face moved off screen. In the background, books covered shelves. He was in a library then. Who knew where. Could’ve been anywhere.
“I have. You know me, Charleigh. Always weighing my options.”
Which meant he was an untrustworthy snake and we all knew it.
“Where did you come down then?”
“I still have some problems I’d like to nail down.”
“Namely?”
“Payment.” His not-smile never faltered. His eyes darted across the screen like he was taking in every detail he could see.
He stared like Erin did. Engaged, intense.
Of all the Oligarchs I’d met, he scared me the most.
I begged Charleigh not to do this. She wouldn’t listen. She said Darren wasn’t the only person with power in this family.
Though he was the only Oligarch.
Going behind his back was not smart. I knew it, Erin knew it, but Charleigh was determined. I didn’t know why Erin went along with it.
I went along because I had no other choice.
Games within games. The house was a nesting doll of shifting alliances and political machinations.
I thrived in this place.
I did not know what that said about me. Nothing good. No respectable woman was her best in a hornet’s nest.
And yet there I was, dutifully taking notes.
“We discussed that already,” Charleigh said with an edge of impatience. They’d been going back and forth about this deal for weeks. She was tired of him always finding a new reason to hold back. “I have private accounts and connections within several quality accounting firms. I’ll see that nobody can follow the money.”
Kaspar waved that way. “You know I don’t care about that. Erin and I spoke of an alternative.”
Charleigh stared at her daughter with outright shock.
I did not move. I felt heavy, my limbs like tombstones.
“You did what?” Charleigh asked.
Erin did not look at her mother. She did not smile or make any sign that this was a distressing thing to have done.
“He’s amenable to my proposed alternative payment schedule,” Erin said in a quiet, clipped tone.
Passionless and devoid of emotion. Incredible, how she could turn it all off.
Assuming there was anything to begin with.
“And what is this alternative?” Charleigh glared at Kaspar. “You weren’t supposed to negotiate with anyone but me.”
“I apologize, Charleigh, you know I do, but she came to me with a suggestion that I found… tempting.”
Charleigh’s jaw worked. “And? What?”
“You don’t want to know, mother.” Erin turned her head. “It’d be best if you were left in the dark.”
I nearly choked. I truly did. Erin had never done something like this before. She was smart—too smart—and this was too far.
“Erin.” Charleigh seemed too shocked to muster up anger. “What are you talking about?”
“Kaspar and I will figure out the details. This alliance will work because I am making it work, Mother.” Erin turned her body to face her mother. I felt bile rise in my throat. “Do you remember what you said to me the day after Liv died?”
Charleigh’s face turned white.
Nobody spoke about Liv. She was gone, gone, gone. Erased from the world.
Charleigh hated that name. Not because she hated Liv—but because she loved her so much.
Her dead daughter. The chasm through all their hearts.
“I remember,” Charleigh whispered.
But Erin spoke anyway. “You said, you’ll never be enough. Do you remember that?”
Charleigh closed her eyes. She grimaced as if slapped.
Kaspar watched all this in mute boredom.
“Why are you doing this right now?”
“Because I am more than enough, Mother. I will handle Kaspar from now on and you will back me up. Do you understand?”
“Erin—”
“No more, Mother. Kaspar won’t deal with you any longer.”
Charleigh opened her eyes. I felt my life hanging in the balance.
“Sorry, Charly,” Kaspar said, grinning wide. “Just the way it goes.”
Charleigh stared at her daughter, the betrayer, then stood. She walked to the door.
I stood as well.
Erin held up a hand.
“Stay, Chika.”
I looked at Charleigh. Looked at Erin.
Charleigh shook her head slightly. “Do as she says.” Then she left.
I sank back down into my seat.
“That went well,” Kaspar said cheerfully. “Now, where’s your pretty younger sister?”
“Busy. You wi
ll honor our agreement and help my brother with his problem, yes?”
“I swear on my life.” Kaspar looked giddy with excitement. He was a beautiful man, handsome and unpredictable.
I felt my world sinking into mud.
“Then I will make sure you’re paid per our agreement.”
“Lovely doing business with you. If this little coup is any indication, I suspect the family Servant is on the rise.”
Then Kaspar’s face disappeared and the screen went black.
I sat, unmoving.
Years of service to Charleigh. And now, what? Her daughter?
Her horrible daughter?
“Chika, do you believe in love?”
I frowned. Tilted my head. Stalled.
“Yes, I do.” I decided to be honest.
“Why?”
“Because I have seen it in others.” My parents, what they did for me. The long hours they worked. The sacrifices. That was love.
Erin stood up. “Love is a luxury. If my family wants to afford love, we’ll have to do some very bad things. Will you help?”
I had never experienced love. Lust, yes, of course. I was human after all.
But never love.
Only loyalty, which was a kind of love, or as close as I would get.
“Yes, miss. I will do what is asked of me.”
“Good.” Erin smiled. I hated that smile. She looked back at her phone. “Go make sure Mother’s okay.”
I stood and left. I had a new employer now, it seemed.
I would not forget that. I had learned things, living with these people.
Hard things.
How to survive.
12
Darren
Our caravan parked outside of an old hotel at the edge of the downtown district. It was built around the turn of the century when Chicago shifted from a two-bit trading port to a substantial urban center, driven by access to the Great Lakes and increased trade with the western frontiers.
“Secure the area,” I said to Anthony as I marched up the stairs with Winter. “Make sure there aren’t more surprises.”
My brother nodded. His arm was bandaged, but he’d manage.
Winter lingered close. Her taste was stuck in my throat and permeated every inch of my body.
That kiss was like ripping my chest open. It came over me like a storm rolling over the horizon. I couldn’t stop myself as soon as she looked at me with those wide eyes, right on the verge of panic, looking so luscious and vulnerable, but still so strong.
Most people, after surviving a shootout like that, would be incapacitated. That sort of thing scarred a person for life.
She’d seen things. Blood, bodies, ripped limbs, torn hands. Fingers left lying in the road like garbage.
And she’d come through the other side still herself.
I wanted to rip her to pieces like a wolf.
Tear her clothes off, feast on her skin. Bite her nipples, tongue her clit, make her scream.
Fuck her, ravage her. Take her then and there.
That call lowered the tension—but it hadn’t broken.
It still swirled between us.
We entered the hotel. The main hall had marble floors. Large green ferns and plants lined the walls. Everything was gold and gleaming, and the bellhops hurried forward to take our bags. My men handed them over.
“I’m here for the arbitrage party,” I told the woman at the front desk.
She stood up straighter. That was a code name we used when interacting with the public.
“Yes, sir. They’re in the main conference room. Do you need an escort?”
“I know where it is.” I walked off with Winter on my heels. She seemed nervous, uncertain. I led her down a series of halls and to a room with a large oak door. Guests and patrons wandered the halls, looking for the pool, for the sauna.
I knocked once. Maeve answered. “You’re late.”
“Roman tried to kill me. Can I come inside?”
Maeve stepped aside.
She was tall. Her striking red hair was swept over one shoulder. She pursed her lips at Winter, but said nothing. The rest of my men stayed outside.
Kaspar sat in a leather easy chair next to Old Bern. Nobody else would show, but they’d all hear of what we decided soon enough.
Maeve glided over toward the men. She an ageless look about her—no doubt from highly skilled surgeons plus the easy life of the incredibly wealthy. I didn’t let that distract me. Maeve was powerful and dangerous, and controlled the Turkish crime family with an iron fist.
“Well, there he is,” Old Bern said and banged his hands on his chair. “I wondered when I’d see you. What’s that you said about being attacked?”
“Roman waylaid my men on the way over.” I walked toward the group. They sat around a low coffee table covered in cigar boxes. Old Bern chewed one, but didn’t smoke.
Kaspar watched without comment.
“Waylaid how?” Maeve asked in a slow drawl.
“Blew up my lead car and ambushed us from a cornfield.” I waved a hand in the air as if it were no big thing. “I suspect he’s still unhappy about my drowning his little bunker.”
Old Bern snorted. “That’s putting it mildly.”
“I’m here now.” I took a seat across from Kaspar. Maeve remained standing. She wore a simple business casual outfit, perfect fitted, her nails newly manicured.
Winter stayed hiding in the corner. I left her there to stew for a bit.
“Now we’re all here,” Maeve said. “I haven’t done one of these meetings in a long while. I’m not sure I remember how they go.”
“I’ve been to two now and I don’t enjoy it.” Old Bern waved his cigar in the air. “You’d think we’d stop trying to kill each other.”
“That’s exactly what I wanted to talk about.” I leaned forward, elbows on my knees.
Kaspar’s eyes were uncomfortably intense.
“It’s interesting because I was under the impression that all you wanted to do was murder Roman and burn the world down.” Maeve came around her chair and sat perched on the edge.
“I can see how you’d think that.”
“You came directly here from a firefight. What makes you think I’d believe anything you said regarding peace?”
“Maeve’s got a point,” Old Bern said.
I held up my hands. “I know you all are aware of my feud with Roman, but this goes much deeper than that. This is about the future of our group. It’s about the future of our world.”
Maeve’s lips flattened. Old Bern seemed amused.
Kaspar was the only one that didn’t react.
I pressed forward.
“Roman is amassing too much power. His view of what the Oligarchs are supposed to be conflict with my own. I believe we can be a proactive force in this world, but he wants to keep us squabbling in the shadows against each other.”
“That’s how we’ve always acted,” Maeve said. “We keep each other in check and we all prosper together.”
“I think the world should prosper along with us. I’m sick of the shadows. I’m tired of having all this strength with no way to properly use it.”
“What would you have us do?” Old Bern asked, scoffing. I never expected him to believe in what I said. He was too much the old guard—but he was ancient himself, and his son might be more amenable to my ideas. “You want us to start running the government?”
“We could shape policy,” I said, nodding in agreement. “More realistically, we could influence politicians and push business leaders in the right direction. We could keep the world together, if we tried.”
“Big words,” Maeve said. “And yet so far all you’ve done is try to kill Roman. From my perspective, you’re as stuck in the old ways as the rest of us.”
She had a point. I gestured at Winter, beckoning her over.
All eyes turned to stare.
She hesitated. Blood was splattered at the hem of her shirt. I didn’t think she’d noticed that. I
t made her look vulnerable and gorgeous. I glanced at Kaspar—he seemed hungry.
Winter drifted closer.
“Everyone, this is Winter, but you know her better as Spring Kane.”
Winter flinched. “Don’t call me that,” she said automatically.
Maeve’s eyebrows rose. Old Bern coughed with surprise.
Again, Kaspar didn’t react. What the hell was with him?
“I thought you were dead, darling,” Maeve said.
“You were supposed to.” Winter glared daggers at me. Despite everything, the girl still had a temper. I had to admire it.
“What does Spring—” Maeve stopped herself. “Sorry, what does Winter have anything to do with what we’re discussing?”
“I plan to marry her.”
All eyes locked on me again. Including and especially Winter.
Her mouth fell open in outrage.
“Why would we care if you marry this girl?” Old Bern asked.
I locked eyes with Winter. I wanted her to hear this. I wanted her to feel it.
She must be losing her mind. It almost brought a smile to my lips.
Torturing this girl was a new pleasure. I hadn’t expected it when I took her—but each passing moment made it more and more delightful. The beautiful rage, the gorgeous shock. The way she fought and fought and fought and still wanted more.
Delicious. Tempting.
“Her father is an important man in the finance world. I’d bring his business into my fold.”
“Good for you,” Old Bern said, laughing. “That’d be one hell of a marriage. But it still doesn’t explain why any of us would care.”
“She’d soften him.” Kaspar spoke quietly and Maeve stared at him with a deep frown. Even Old Bern seemed surprised.
“Soften him?” Maeve asked.
“I know how you all see me.” I pulled their attention from Kaspar. I didn’t want him to steal this from me, not when I felt like it was seconds away. Winter’s gaze was a shadow cast across my chest, but I bulled forward regardless. “I’m the young one, the newest Oligarch. You all think my hatred of Roman is arrogant and foolish. But it goes so much deeper than petty family grievances.
“I believe the Oligarchs should be more ambitious, and I want to prove that by taking a good wife. I want to settle down and let marriage soften out some of my more aggressive wedges. I believe Winter can do that for me and much more. With her father’s money and influence added to my own, I will counter Roman and destroy the old ways. He’s the past, and I want to move into the future.”