“My comm’s busted,” I said.
“How in the hell did that happen?”
“Well, things didn’t go exactly as planned,” I said.
“You’re damn skippy they didn’t,” he snapped. “What went on here?”
I opened my mouth, but he shut me down.
“No, you know what? Don’t even try to answer me here. We’re going back to base. You can give me a full debrief there. I don’t want to take a chance on your mark seeing us together.”
Not likely. But I decided against telling him that for now.
We hurried through the fog toward the castle, and I was surprised to see that a crowd had gathered on the back lawn. Most of the couples tucked away in the dark corners had come forward to join the others. A large portion of them had even removed their masks, and everyone stood around as if waiting for something to happen.
Rigo ignored them all and hurried me toward a side door standing open just ahead. I wondered if he’d noticed the blood on me yet or if it was too dark and foggy to tell.
Above us, a pop sounded in the sky. I looked up in time to see fireworks exploding in an array of glittery colors. The crowd gasped and then oohed and ahhed as the bursts of color continued to light up the sky. It really was beautiful.
My mind drifted back to the masked stranger. He’d known the fireworks were coming. Was he somewhere out there watching them now? Would I ever see him again? Part of me wanted to run back and look for him. Make him tell me his name.
I glanced down at Rodrigo still tugging me along. A deep frown had settled on his mouth, and I knew from the way he walked, head down, shoulders hunched, that he didn’t give two shits about fireworks.
God, this debrief was going to suck.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The staging room was exactly as I’d left it right down to the tablet still lying on the edge of the counter. I glanced around at the space and then down at myself—no hiding the blood now. It was beginning to dry on my skin, and I had to resist the urge to scratch at it.
Rigo stood before me, also taking in the mess I’d made of myself.
I cleared my throat, hoping to divert his attention. “How did we get back?”
A few seconds ago, we’d passed through the side door that led into the castle—and we’d ended up here. I wasn’t sure how Rigo had managed a portal without the proper permits. Then again, stranger things had happened. Tonight, especially.
Rodrigo stood with his hands on his hips. “We’re safe, and that’s all that matters. Now, did you get the package?”
No mention of the blood on my legs.
“I did.”
“Well?” he prompted.
I sighed and dug the computer chip out of my dress, ignoring the awkwardness of having Rigo watch me do it. I handed it over and glared at his raised brows and quirked lips.
“Don’t even think about making a comment right now,” I muttered.
He took the chip and wisely kept his mouth shut. I watched as he peered at the tiny black square I’d given him, holding it up to the light as if that would yield its secrets.
“Good work,” he said before pocketing the thing.
A small sliver of triumph surged inside me, but I tucked it away and braced myself for the rest of his questions.
Rigo reached for the tablet on the counter and swiped the screen. It lit up and displayed a menu. I waited while he tapped a few buttons that pulled up a voice recorder app. He hit the record button and then set it aside, looking up at me.
“Now, walk me through what happened,” he said. “Don’t leave anything out.”
I left plenty out—mostly anything involving Jax McGuire or the masked stranger—but I did tell him about Kristoff and Feldspar dragging me into the soundproofed hallway to rough me up. And about the mystery liquid Kristoff had drugged me with.
I was still pissed about that.
“How in the hell did he know you were an agent?” Rodrigo demanded when I told him about Kristoff grabbing my comm unit from inside my ear.
“I was going to ask you the same thing,” I countered.
Rodrigo shook his head, muttering a string of curses and threats against whoever had sold me out. “So he knew what you were after, and he knew the SSF were the ones who wanted it? Dammit. We need to brief a team on damage control.”
“Actually,” I licked my lips, and then forced myself to say, “I don’t think it’ll be a problem for us. He’s not going to leak it or anything.”
“Of course he’s going to leak it. Probably to someone who has it out for SSF. Not to mention the fact that we used an untested agent for the op—”
“Trust me, Rigo. The op is safe.”
His eyes narrowed as my words struck home. “What do you mean?”
I bit my lip and then made a face when I tasted blood. Angel above, I must look like a hot mess. “Look,” I began. “Before I tell you, I want to remind you that my mission was to retrieve the data chip and deliver it to you. I did that. So, I’ve officially passed my test.”
“Keep talking,” he ordered.
I sighed. “The mark has been eliminated.”
Rodrigo’s eyes widened, and his mouth opened a full three seconds before any sound came out. “Are you fucking kidding me? You were instructed, no, ordered, to keep him alive!”
“It was him or me, Rigo. He knew who I was, and he wasn’t—”
“He couldn’t have actually harmed you. Not with the magic in that castle spelled against it.”
“That magic doesn’t have anything against wounds, even fatal wounds,” I shot back. “Or did you not notice that I’m covered in blood?”
“We were getting to that,” he said.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “Kristoff’s hound wasn’t going to let this go. You know how a hellhound works once he’s scented his own bloodlust. If he hadn’t finished me tonight, he would have just been waiting in my apartment when I got home. He knew me, Rigo. My real name. What the hell was I supposed to do? Just wait for him to come back and finish the job?”
Rigo didn’t answer, but his glare spoke volumes about his opinion. “How in the hell did you manage to actually kill him?” he asked finally.
Shit. This was the delicate part. “The magic only extends to the edge of the grounds,” I said lightly.
Rigo’s eyes bored into mine.
I forced my hands to my sides, standing at attention when all I wanted to do was stomp my foot. Finally, I said, “He went over the cliffside, okay?”
“You mean, you pushed him over.” His voice was deadly quiet.
I nodded, my eyes locked on a spot on the floor rather than on him.
“And his second? Feldspar?” he prompted.
My head snapped up. “You knew he’d brought his guard, and you didn’t warn me?”
“I can’t hold your hand in the field,” he snapped. “Much as you might like me to.”
I shook my head, trying to ignore the revulsion. Even now, he wasn’t above innuendos. Asshole. “Both of them went over the cliff. It was me or them, and I made a choice.” My chin came up, and I added, “I don’t regret it either.”
Rodrigo ran his tongue over his front teeth—something he only did when he was too pissed to actually say words.
Dammit.
Temper leaked out of me because the bottom line was that I’d screwed up. I’d been ordered not to harm the mark, and I’d done a lot more than harm him. Now, all I could do was stand here in silence and hope I hadn’t totally fucked myself out of graduating.
The silence between us stretched.
Finally, he reached out and hit the button on the tablet to end the recording. I had a feeling that wasn’t a good sign considering we weren’t officially done with our debrief.
I waited, but Rigo didn’t say a word to me. Instead, he slid his cell out of his pocket and made a quick call. I listened, impatient and a little sick, trying to decipher what was happening based on his end of things.
“Carter?” Rigo barked
into his phone. “Yeah, I need a cleanup crew in the ravine behind the party site.” He paused, flicking an angry glare at me before saying, “Actually, this one’s a double.”
Then he turned his back and began pacing as he said, “One more thing. You have any openings over there?”
My stomach tightened.
Rodrigo listened to the response on the other end and then said, “Uh-huh, I see. Fine. I don’t give a shit about that. Make it happen.” A pause and then, “We’ll talk Monday.”
He ended the call and spun to face me. A slow smile spread over his face. I had no idea how, but it managed to exist there even through the cold fury that remained underneath. “Congrats, Hawkins. You’ve officially graduated.”
I blinked, trying to decipher what the hell had just happened. “Then why does it feel like I’m getting expelled?”
“Why would you be expelled? You said it yourself, you passed the mission.”
His words were way too casual. My heart rate sped. My palms went clammy. This was way too easy—which meant this was bad.
“Rigo, what’s going on? Who was that on the phone, and why did you ask if they had an opening?”
His smile widened, revealing way too much teeth to be genuine. “Now that you’re an agent, you’ve been assigned an official post.”
“And what post is that?” I asked even though I was fairly certain I didn’t want to know.
“Cleaner. You report first thing Monday.”
“What the hell is a cleaner?” I asked.
But the words were bitter on my tongue. Whatever it was—it wasn’t a detective. And that was all that mattered.
“Exactly what it sounds like.” Rigo’s eyes narrowed. “The mess you made out on that cliff tonight? It’ll have to be cleaned up before any humans can stumble upon it. And that doesn’t just happen by magic.” He snickered at his own bad joke. “You know what it does take?”
In the short pause that followed, I didn’t answer, but he didn’t want me to. He was enjoying this way too much to let me get a word in now. “It takes hard work. Grunt work. And that work falls to someone in the SSF. Starting Monday, that someone will be you.”
My heart sank straight into my knees. Everything I’d worked for had been for this. Becoming an agent. No, not just an agent. Detective.
I had to get to headquarters. And this cleaner position sounded a long way off from that. Too long. In fact, considering the fact that I’d never even heard of the job, I had a feeling cleaners weren’t exactly moving up the corporate ladder.
“You can’t do this,” I said.
“I can, and I did,” Rodrigo snapped, his smile vanishing.
In its place was grim satisfaction, and I had to swallow the surprise in seeing it so blatantly displayed. He’d despised me all this time, and now he wasn’t doing anything to hide it. At least before, there’d been a semblance of professionalism—well, when he wasn’t hitting on me anyway—but now there was only disgust and dismissal.
“I completed the mission,” I argued. “I deserve to be promoted to detective—”
“You deserve to be expelled. Or maybe even memory-wiped.” I twitched at that, my jaw going slack, but he went on before I could respond. “You were ordered to keep your hands off Rasmussen, and you disregarded that order. No detective would get away with that, which means you’re clearly not top agent material. You are, however, great at making messes.” The smile ghosted its way back to his lips. “It only makes sense you learn to clean them up.”
I fought the urge to scream. This was not happening.
“This is bullshit,” I said quietly. “It’s revenge, plain and simple. You don’t give two shits about Rasmussen.”
Rigo’s answering glare said it all.
His response was slow and calculated. “You know, there is a way you could reinstate your status. Maybe even promote yourself here and now, and we can forget this whole cleaner business was even discussed.”
If he suggested a date or anything remotely similar, I was going to deck him. “What?” I snapped.
“Tell me who helped you.”
I blinked, caught off guard.
“You couldn’t have known about the magic’s loophole without help,” Rodrigo added. “Tell me who told you, and I’ll consider promoting you to permits.”
“Permits?”
That job was paperwork, pure and simple. Maybe he considered it a step up from cleaner, but glorified secretary wasn’t good enough.
He took a step closer. “Who told you about the loophole, Gem?”
I thought about the masked stranger. About those eyes that had seen right through my artificial exterior. Unlike Rigo and so many others, he hadn’t cared at all about my physical appearance. He’d looked right past it and saw the real me.
“No one helped me,” I said firmly.
Rigo frowned. “Look, if you’re protecting someone, I get it, but you should think of your own—”
“I’m not protecting anyone,” I insisted. “Is it so hard to believe I could figure out something like that for myself? You did train me to think outside the box.”
He cleared his throat and picked up the tablet, heading for the stairs. “So be it. You’ll pack your things and report to your new post first thing Monday. Oh and leave the dress and your comm unit with Starla. Nothing here is yours to keep.”
I bit back a nasty response, hating that it had come to this—with my fate in the hands of someone like Rodrigo Garcia.
Someday…
I promised myself that one word just like I’d done for the past three months of training. Only now, someday sounded a lot farther off.
A cleaner.
I had no idea what the job entailed, but I was positive I wasn’t going to like it.
At the top of the stairs, Rigo turned back, looking down on me with that same disgusted satisfaction. “If it makes you feel any better, you were one of the most entertaining recruits I’ve ever had,” he said. “Tonight was a shitshow, but at least no one can ever say you’re predictable.”
I scowled. “You know, I thought they said what happens at The Monster Ball stays at The Monster Ball.”
His smile was so smug, I had to clasp my hands together to keep from rushing up the stairs and smashing them into his face. “For you,” he said, “It’s more like what happens at The Monster Ball haunts you for life. Good night, Gem. I’ll see you at the annual Christmas party. Hopefully, you’ll have cleaned up by then.”
The last thing I heard was his laughter echoing off the walls of the elevator shaft as he stepped inside. And I knew I hadn’t earned the future I’d wanted so badly. All I’d done was trade one prison for another. Someday, I vowed, I’d find my father’s killer, and then I’d break free. And when I did, Rodrigo would be the first casualty of my escape.
The End
Book 2 Coming April 2020
Pre-Order now!
Gem’s graduated. Sort of.
With her training days behind her, Gem can finally get down to the real work of being an agent. And while cleaning up other people’s messes isn’t exactly what she had in mind, she’s determined to use her new position to its full advantage.
That is until a pregnant demon shows up and derails her best laid plans.
Suddenly, Gem’s juggling a lusty panther shifter who things he’s her baby daddy, a hot-as-sin Nephilim she wouldn’t mind working late with, and a city overrun with demons so powerful, they defy reality.
Somewhere in the midst of the chaos is a clue about who really killed her father.
This is one mess Gem’s going to need help cleaning up.
Knock Em Dead releases 4/27/20
About the Author
Heather Hildenbrand was born and raised in a small town in northern Virginia where she was homeschooled through high school. (She's only slightly socially awkward as a result.) She writes paranormal and contemporary romance with plenty of abs and angst. Her most frequent hobbies are riding motorcycles and avoiding killer slugs
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You can find out more about Heather and her books at heatherhildenbrand.com.
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Other titles by Heather Hildenbrand:
The Girl Who Cried Werewolf: Bookstagrammer Romy Cartelli discovers book boyfriends are real. But not every supernatural creature come to life is one of the good guys. Get it for Kindle!
Goddess Ascending: In order to save her family and the one she loves, she’ll have to ascend—if the darkness doesn’t get to her first. Get it now!
The Monster Ball Anthology: 13 bestselling paranormal romance authors bring you a night you won’t forget! One night a year, the supernatural elite all gather for a party like no other. And remember, what happens at the ball stays at the ball… Get it now for Kindle!
The Girl Who Called The Stars: A fierce heroine far from home and the army she left behind must reunite to save the galaxy from utter darkness. Get it now for Kindle.
Remembrance: She’s the cure that could save him… if only she could remember how. “Witches, Werewolves, and WTF?!” Get it for Kindle now.
Bitter Rivalry: Two long lost sisters are reunited and forced to compete for the alpha role in their pack. The winner has been promised to the vampire prince. One sister wants to kiss him; the other wants to kill him. Can siblings survive rivalry and forbidden love? Get it here.
A Risk Worth Taking: A New Adult Contemporary Romance with southern charm and a hippie farmer capable of swoon and heartbreak in the same breath. To get it for kindle, click here.
Dirty Blood: A Young Adult Paranormal Romance about a girl who falls in love with a werewolf, only to find out she’s a Hunter, born and bred to kill the very thing she means to save. To get it for Kindle, click here.
Imitation: A Young Adult SciFi Romance with life or death choices and a conspiracy so deep, even a motorcycle-riding bodyguard can’t pull you out. To get it for Kindle, click here.
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