by Holly Day
Ivan nodded and grabbed the bag. Zev hurried into the bedroom and came out with a black suit and a white shirt that he handed over to Raine right as the water turned off in the bathroom.
“Go.” Zev more or less pushed them toward the door.
Raine grabbed the bag. “So you can melt if we run into someone.”
Ivan nodded, and together they jogged down the flight of stairs. When they came to the ground floor, Ivan spotted a vampire standing outside. Luckily, he chose that moment to turn to look down the street. They hurried past the door and down the next flight of stairs toward the basement door.
“He must’ve heard us,” Raine whispered.
Ivan nodded. He should have heard their footsteps. No need to dwell on it. He opened the white metal door, and as Zev had told them, the first thing they saw was a utility room. “Okay, there’s the door.” Ivan jogged past the bikes and up to the door. “Wait in here, I’ll knock when the blue Chevy arrives.”
He slipped out and melted into the concrete wall. He shivered as the cold wrapped around him, his body becoming one with the surroundings. One minute slowly turned into two. What if he wasn’t coming? What if Zev had set them up and was handing Malik over to Remi right this minute? But then, wouldn’t he have handed them over, too?
As he was about to go back in, a blue Chevy truck turned into the parking lot. The driver, possibly Jim, put it in reverse, drove forth, reversed, and turned. Was he parking? He didn’t look like he was, and yet he was messing around.
Ivan was about to knock on the door when two vampires came running into the parking lot. Jim never stopped his turning and reversing, driving forward, turning, reversing. The truck was aiming at the exit, and his backing and going didn’t change the angle more than an inch to the side only to change it back the next time he turned the wheel.
Ivan held his breath as the vampires aimed their guns and shouted for Jim to get out of the truck. He pretended not to have noticed them before now, though Ivan suspected he knew exactly what he was doing.
Jim was tall and broad-shouldered. Ivan couldn’t see his face clearly where he stood inside the concrete wall, but he’d bet his right foot he was a shifter. One of the vampires pushed him against the truck and searched him. It went on for a while until Jim snarled at them.
Ivan almost chuckled—definitely a shifter.
The vamps gave him some space but were still talking to him. Jim flashed teeth and was gesturing at Raine’s building. As he did, Ivan spotted Zev running across the lawn outside the apartment building dressed in running gear. Malik was nowhere to be seen, and Ivan’s heart beat uncomfortably fast. Where was Malik?
Two vampires approached Zev, who was moving away from them. Ivan held his breath as Zev turned and snarled—snarled in a way Ivan had never seen. He hadn’t spent much time with shifters. Most shifters were homophobic bastards, relying on their size and strength to intimidate people around them.
Watching Zev now made him realize he’d only encountered a mild version of shifter-growling. His eyes glowed, teeth grew out of his mouth, and hair slowly crept over his skin. It wasn’t pretty, and more and more vampires came running toward them.
It took a few more seconds, then the vampires interrogating Jim focused on what was happening across the yard, too. They exchanged looks, and one of them said something more to Jim while waving his gun.
As they hurried over the lawn toward Zev, Jim opened the truck door closest to Ivan, only to round the truck and get in on the driver’s side.
Ivan stepped out of the wall, the cold clinging to him like sticky syrup, and he shivered. The growl coming from the car had the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end, but he knocked on the door, and Raina came out. He motioned for her to go first, that way she’d sit closest to Jim.
“Hi.” She grinned, and Jim gave her a confused look.
“What are you?” The question was directed to Ivan, but it was Raina who answered.
“I’m Zev’s neighbor, or you know, there’s a floor between us, but he climbed the balconies to get to me.” She chuckled, and Ivan shook his head.
“I asked what you are.” Jim got them rolling, but his now yellow eyes were more focused on Ivan than on the road.
Ivan sighed. “We’re of the Charna bloodline.”
Raina glared at him. “Not even Zev knows.”
“I think he does.”
She frowned at him. “How would he?”
Ivan shrugged, but the last hour or so must’ve been an eye-opener for him.
Jim hummed, but his muscles relaxed a fraction. He turned down the street, and Ivan held his breath as he saw the crowd surrounding Zev, only to spot Malik, or who he suspected was Malik, slip out through the door and hurry in the opposite direction.
“What are they doing to Zev?” Raina leaned over Jim to better see out the window. “Stop! We have to help him.”
Jim ignored her.
“I think it’s all part of the plan, Raina.” Ivan spotted the figure he believed was Malik move farther and farther away.
“You don’t know that!”
“No, hence the think in there.” A building blocked their view now, and Jim sped up.
Chapter 10
Malik didn’t know where to go. Zev had told him to go in the opposite direction, slowly jog as soon as he’d gotten out of the yard, but where too? He’d done something to get their attention. He’d heard the growls and the snarls and had wanted to stay to make sure they didn’t hurt Zev.
His heart was beating fast as he ran down the street, away from the block of apartment buildings. He could keep going. Could run and never come back. There was no stake in his heart, no chains around his wrists. He could leave, disappear, grow out his hair and try to blend in as a human. He could…but it would mean leaving Ivan. He couldn’t. Phantasm or not, he had to stay with Ivan.
Ivan was his.
“Why are you slowing down? Come on.” Zev slapped his shoulder and he ran out in front of a car.
“Are they following you?” Malik chanced a glance over his shoulder as he sped up. “Where is Ivan?”
“I saw Jim leave. As soon as the Chevy drove down the road, I stopped growling at them.”
Malik nodded and increased the tempo to keep up with Zev. “Won’t people think it’s weird when we’re running this fast?”
Zev slowed a fraction. “Soon we’ll be outside the city, then we can run faster.”
Malik nodded, enjoying the lightness of running without chains weighing him down.
“Redwood, is he gonna let them go?” Zev glanced at him before crossing another road right in front of a car.
Malik shrugged. He didn’t think Master ever would let Ivan go, but perhaps Raina, and he suspected it was her who Zev was worrying about. “I think he’ll kill me, sell Ivan, and maybe let Raina go…or not. Depending on how much he wants to hurt Ivan.”
Zev growled. It only lasted a second or two, but it had Malik’s muscles tensing. He did not want to fight a werewolf.
“Stealing the diamond is to buy your freedom.” He didn’t make it a question, and Malik didn’t answer. He wasn’t sure stealing the diamond would help the situation.
“Through the woods here.” Zev motioned off the road and into the forest. Malik had never been in a forest. The scents and the sounds filled him with a sense of freedom he’d never experienced before. Zev increased their speed. They jumped over rocks, ducked under branches, and ran until sweat was coating Malik’s skin.
“Do you think it’s possible to steal the diamond?” Zev was a little out of breath, perhaps not as much as Malik, but running hard got to him, too.
“I have no idea. I’m never there when he plans the hits. Master sends me in to die in his place should there be trouble.”
“Master?” Distaste was dripping from Zev’s voice.
“Redwood.” Heat climbed Malik’s face.
“I understood who you meant, but if you’re gonna be free you can’t refer to him as Master.
”
They were quiet for several minutes, running deeper and deeper into the woods.
“I know of a small place down south.” Zev glanced at Malik over his shoulder. “It’s nice. I could find a house there without a problem. Maybe a ranch. I’ve always wanted a ranch.”
“You’re moving?” Malik wiped sweat off his forehead. They must’ve run close to twenty miles now. His clothes were soaked.
Zev chuckled. “Maybe, but you definitely are.”
He nodded. If they made it out of this alive.
“He’s your mate?”
Years of practice had Malik maintaining a blank face. No one knew about mates, not even shifters. Or he guessed they did since Zev asked about it.
“He is right, but you’re spooked because of his eye color.”
“I don’t have to mate him.” There was no mate or die thing with vampires. With some people there was a special connection, a bond. It was rare, and few let it go when they found the person they fit together with, but nothing forced them to mate with each other.
“No, I know, but you want to. Does he know?”
Malik shook his head.
“You know the different eye color could be something as simple as a birthmark, right? You can get them in the eyes, too.”
“He can melt into walls. He’s not of this realm, not fully.”
Zev nodded. “I can melt into an animal. Am I of this realm?”
Malik didn’t respond. Shifters were shifters, they didn’t have dead blood.
“Every culture has stories; it doesn’t make them true.” Zev slowed and looked at him.
“Some are.”
He sighed but nodded. “Right. Through here.” He pointed at an area filled with bush wood. Walking through it took a few minutes but Malik’s breathing got back to normal again.
A square cabin came into view, and there was a blue Chevy truck parked outside.
The cabin door opened and a large man stepped out on the small porch. He sneered at Zev. “What the hell have you gotten yourself into?”
Zev’s face remained impassive, and Malik took a step closer as Ivan and Raina appeared in the doorway.
“Thank you for your help, Jim.”
Jim shook his head. “You’re risking your life and reputation for a faggot.”
For several seconds, Zev didn’t move a muscle, then he slowly pursed his lips. “A what?”
Jim grimaced. “Man, I know your brother is…But there is no need to…” He gestured at Ivan, and anger bubbled up inside of Malik. He hissed and flashed fangs, and Jim’s eyes widened.
“What the fuck, Zev? A vamp?”
“Thank you for your help, Jim, but I think you should leave. If you could keep your mouth shut for a day or two, I’d appreciate it.”
Jim nodded and climbed into the truck.
Ivan stepped out on the lawn as Jim turned the truck around and drove out on a narrow gravel road. “Is he gonna be a problem?”
Zev shrugged. “Not actively, but after a beer or two he has a tendency of talking too much.”
Ivan sighed. “We have to leave tonight anyway.”
Zev nodded and headed for the cabin. “Let’s clean up and head into town again.”
Chapter 11
Ivan grimaced as he watched the entrance to the Grand Hotel. The plan was flimsy and the risk too high, but it was the only way. Without the diamond, he wouldn’t be able to keep Remi from hunting Raina and him, and there was no way he’d let Malik go unless they paid for him.
It had to work, there was no other option.
“I’m going in.” Raina reached for the door handle, ready to leave the car. Zev had an old, but roomy Volkswagen by the cabin—not the kind of car Ivan would’ve assumed he’d drive, but they all fit in, so it was all good.
“Wait.” Ivan halted her motion. “We don’t know what’s waiting.”
“I’m going in through the side door. Luis is waiting for me.”
Ivan had a knot in his belly. He didn’t want Raina anywhere near the building. Remi would be there, he’d recognize her. He’d recognize Malik, too, despite Malik looking dashing in a suit. He blew out a breath. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
Zev hummed a reply. “I can go in first.”
“Do you know what he looks like? And you won’t be able to tell which vampires are his vampires.”
“I’ll be able to tell.” Malik frowned at him. “They’re my family.”
Damn. “Of course.” Family or not, Ivan wasn’t sure it would keep them from attacking him. Remi ruled by punishment and starvation.
“We’ll go.” Zev opened the door and stepped out. “Malik and I will have a quick look around and see if we spot any familiar faces.”
“But—”
“They’re looking for you. Perhaps they’ll let it slide if they see Malik with me instead of you.”
“Remi won’t.”
Zev nodded. “We’ll make sure not to get too close to him.”
Ivan pressed his lips together then he turned to Malik. “If he gets you, do what you can to stay alive. I’ll get you out.” He would. He wasn’t leaving Malik. He’d get him out or he’d die trying.
“I’ll keep him safe.” Zev nodded and closed the door.
“Isn’t he hot?” Raina sighed.
“You know his hearing is excellent, right?” Ivan chuckled as Zev winked at Raina through the window.
“Oh, God.” This time she whispered. She was silent for a few seconds before focusing on him. “So how big are our chances?”
“Minimal.”
“I was afraid you’d say that.” She ran a finger along the seam on the outside of her thigh. “I’ll die dressed in black and white.” She gestured at the clothes Luis had given her.
“You won’t die.” Ivan shook his head. “The moment you suspect things are going south, you run.”
“Where to?” For the first time in years, fear shone in her eyes.
“You grab Zev, and you run. I’ll do my best to get the diamond. If I succeed, I’ll trade it for Malik’s freedom. If he’s caught, I’m going there to get him out.”
“They’ll kill him if they catch him. And you.”
Ivan nodded. He didn’t think Remi would kill him, but a crazy wizard would. Hopefully, they wouldn’t kill anyone while at the hotel, and if they waited, there was time to escape.
Ivan rolled his head to crack his neck. This was the worst mission ever. They didn’t have a plan, not a detailed one, he had no idea where the necklace was, and should he manage to get it, handing it over to Remi might get him killed. And then there was the whole Wenior thing.
It was too badly planned, too much going on, too risky.
“I’m going in.” Raina reached for the door handle.
“Don’t you want to wait for them to come back?”
She glanced at the clock. “I would, but I have to be there now. Luis is expecting me and showing up late isn’t going to work in our favor.”
He nodded, reluctant to let her out of his sight.
She looked at him and gave him a watery smile. “It was fun while it lasted, brother dear.”
“It’s not over yet.”
She nodded but Ivan noted the resignation in her eyes.
“It’s not. We’ll get out of this. We’ve always gotten out before.”
She nodded again. “Sure.”
“Dammit, Raina!” Her eyes widened at his sharp tone. “It’s not over. Go in there, figure out where the necklace is, but don’t get caught. I’ll deal with the rest.”
She nodded and exited the car. Ivan regretted his words. What if it was the last thing he ever said to her?
Zev came walking toward the car. It had only been a minute or two since Raina had slipped into the building. When Malik wasn’t with him, Ivan’s heart jumped to his throat.
“Where’s Malik?” Zev hadn’t more than opened the car door before Ivan asked.
Slipping into the driver’s seat, Zev turned to him. “Inside
. Someone mistook him for belonging to the staff and has him carrying bags to their suite.”
“What?”
“Yeah.” Zev grimaced. “But we figured it better than telling them he didn’t belong there.”
Ivan took a second to breathe. “Yeah, sure, okay…good.”
Zev grinned at him. “I thought you were used to this.”
“I work alone.”
“Not with Malik?”
Ivan shrugged. “I get a mission, I plan it, I go to Redwood’s estate and get a guard, most often Malik but not always. Then we go to where we need to go, and I leave him in a strategic place and do my thing.”
Zev nodded. “There are people everywhere, too many strong perfumes for me to sort out scents properly.”
Crap. Ivan didn’t have any plans for Zev’s nose, but still.
“Remi?”
“Couldn’t see him, and Malik didn’t recognize anyone, but the night is still young and…” Zev put a hand on Ivan’s knee, which had him jumping. Werewolves were known to be touchy-feely, but it still surprised him when Zev voluntarily touched him.
“I know this will sound strange, but I like Raina…a lot.”
Ivan frowned. “I love her, I don’t see why liking her would be strange.”
Zev gave him a pained look. “No, I…really like her. I was biding my time since she’s a bit skittish, but…”
“Now when we’re leaving or dying you want my blessing to bone my sister? Maybe there is time for a quickie in the elevator, I don’t know.” He shrugged.
Zev jerked back, teeth flashing at Ivan for half a second, then his expression smoothed out as if he was thinking Ivan’s words over. “You talk like that about your sister?”
“Of course not.” He had, hadn’t he? And it was nothing compared to what came out of Raina’s mouth.
Zev frowned again. “You’re one weird dude.”
“Because I’m a faggot?”
Zev growled. “Don’t say that, and no.”
Ivan chuckled. Teasing the werewolf wasn’t a good idea, but he was nervous. “By now, you have to know Raina does what she pleases, right?”