by Sadie Moss
They wanted to keep us dumb and scared. And for the most part, it was working.
I pulled my copy of Julius Caesar out and headed to the bathroom.
While the tub filled up with water as hot as I could get it, I stripped off my clothes. I winced when the fabric of my pants slid over my knee, revealing a blooming purple and blue bruise right under the kneecap. A few more bruises decorated my ribs, and my hand was sore from punching both Gerald and his date.
Wiping off the steam gathering on the mirror, I stared at my reflection.
Fuck. I did look rough. My face looked paler than usual, my normally fair skin almost ghostly. Dark circles were visible under my eyes, which had a slightly glazed look. My head still pounded.
Was I getting sick? Or was it just the adrenaline fading from the night I’d had? I didn’t normally feel this wiped out after a job. Although, to be fair, most of my jobs went a lot smoother than this one.
Running a finger over the simple quartz necklace I never took off, I stepped into the bath. It was several degrees cooler than I would’ve liked, but I considered myself lucky to have hot water at all. Sinking into the tub, I let out a low moan of contentment.
I read for a few minutes, careful to keep the book well away from the bathwater. But I was having a hard time keeping my eyes focused, and the pages kept dipping dangerously close to the water’s surface as my head lolled. Finally, I gave up and set the little volume safely on the edge of the sink. I didn’t want to accidentally soak one of my favorite books.
Letting my hands float gently on the surface of the water, I spun the copper and tungsten ring around my right middle finger. I slipped it off and peered at the inscription on the inside of the band, reading the numbers I knew by heart.
This was how I knew my twenty-fifth birthday was tomorrow. Or at least why I thought it was.
Twenty years ago, two-thirds of the magical population had suddenly died, wiped out by a plague of unknown origin. The magic users who survived blamed nonmagical people for the plague, assuming that, because they hadn’t been struck by the Great Death, they were somehow responsible for it. I’d grown up in a Blighted settlement in the Great Plains of Wyoming, one of dozens of orphaned human children left to fend for ourselves after our families were killed by Gifted lynch mobs.
I didn’t know how I’d gotten to Wyoming or who had brought me to the settlement. Though I’d made a family for myself in the Great Plains settlement, I never knew my real parents.
But I thought this ring must have belonged to one of them.
And the numbers inscribed on the inside must be my birthdate.
“Or… maybe I just found it on the ground somewhere when I was a kid and have been carrying it around all my life for no reason,” I muttered, shoving the ring back on my finger and cursing my stupid, sentimental heart.
It was entirely possible I’d scavenged the ring, and the numbers inside were meaningless. I could be turning thirty instead of twenty-five. Hell, my body felt about a hundred right now.
I sighed, sliding down in the tub until my chin hit the top of the water.
What did it really matter if tomorrow was or wasn’t my birthday? It wasn’t like I was going to throw a party or anything. Still, I liked having a birthdate to mark on the calendar every year.
Even a made up one.
My lids drooped, the headache pounding a steady rhythm in my temples.
Gray eyes.
Eyes just like mine. Older though, and wet with tears.
A man’s large hands engulfed my much smaller ones. His hands shook, which made me afraid. This man shouldn’t be scared of anything, but he was frightened now.
His eyes stared straight into me, the gray of his irises seeming to shift and swirl like storm clouds.
Then, like storm clouds heavy with thunder, they lit from within, radiating a piercing white light.
It washed over me, blocking everything else out, almost burning in its intensity.
Water went up my nose.
I sputtered, sending a small wave over the edge of the tub as my whole body jerked upright. My heart thudded almost painfully in my chest, and I gripped the edges of the tub as I hacked and coughed, clearing my lungs. I wasn’t sure how long I’d dozed, but the water was cold.
Snippets of the dream floated through my still fuzzy mind as I stood up, the cold air on my body making my already chilled skin break out in a riot of goose bumps. I yanked my towel off the rack and wrapped it around myself, stepping out of the water on shaky legs.
“That’s it,” I muttered, sitting on the tub’s edge and pressing my hands to my temples. “No more baths after midnight.”
Chapter 4
My head still hurt when I woke early the next morning, but it had settled into a dull ache that was entirely ignorable. Which was exactly what I planned to do. I had a job to take care of, and I was determined to make this one go smoothly to redeem myself from the clusterfuck of last night.
I threw on a pair of dark jeans and a long-sleeved black top, then wandered into the kitchen to grab a piece of cold pizza from the ancient, buzzing fridge. How I had survived the first eighteen years of my life without pizza was a mystery. Since I’d come to Denver, it had become a staple of my diet.
Ivy was right where I’d left her, watching a show that toured the houses of the Gifted rich and famous, showing off all their extravagant luxuries.
“Morning, Ivy,” I called, holding the pizza slice between my teeth as I crouched under the table to fish out my keys. Shoving the last few bites in my mouth, I sat on the wobbly folding chair to slip on my boots.
“Good morning.” She glanced over at me, her brown eyes wide. “I heard you in the bath last night. You were screaming. Or crying. I couldn’t be sure. I thought maybe you were dying.”
I looked up, pulling my hair back into a rough ponytail. “Really? Why didn’t you come check on me?”
She shrugged. “I couldn’t have done much to help. Besides, if you died, you could keep me company forever.”
My eyes widened. “Um, Ivy? I don’t have to worry about you trying to kill me in my sleep, do I?”
“No, silly! I do think we’d be good friends if you were a ghost though. We could spend whole days together. You’re always rushing off to do something or see someone or… I don’t know. Whatever the living do.”
“But you know not all people who die turn into ghosts, right?” I asked, still a little wary.
Ivy sighed. “I know. A girl can dream though.”
“Okay. Just so long as we’re clear.”
I might have to start locking my bedroom door at night, though it wouldn’t really do much to keep her out. I rolled my eyes. Just another thing ghosts and cats have in common. You never know if they’re secretly plotting to kill you.
“Well, speaking of rushing off to see someone, I gotta go. When I come back tonight five thousand dollars richer, we can watch whatever show you want and celebrate. How about that?”
She nodded exuberantly, her blonde bob flapping. “Yes, please!”
I grabbed my jacket from the back of the couch and slipped it on as I left. The TV volume spiked as soon as the door shut behind me. Funny how she could always manage to use the remote when I wasn’t around to do it for her.
The drive to Akio Sun’s house took nearly thirty minutes. I rolled past it without slowing down, then pulled to the curb a block away. He lived in Cottage Hill, an area that was nice but nowhere near as extravagant as a lot of the Gifted neighborhoods.
Adjusting my rearview mirror, I kept my eye on the house behind me. It wasn’t huge but looked well kept. That made sense. Incubi were known for being incredibly appearance conscious, so even if this Akio guy couldn’t afford a giant mansion like the Gifted had, he’d want his place to look nice. It was built in a modern style, with sleek lines and large windows.
And best of all, it didn’t appear to be warded.
Gerald’s home had been locked down tight with magical wards, but not everyone could afford t
o do that. If all that stood in my way was a simple deadbolt, this job would be easier than I’d hoped.
I spun the ring on my middle finger idly as I scoped out the house. It didn’t look like anyone was home, but I’d still have to play it safe. Slipping on my gloves, I popped the trunk, then hopped out of the car. A mop and a bucket stuffed with rags lay among the various other pieces of equipment in the trunk. I grabbed both and walked straight toward Akio’s front door. If any neighbors were watching, hopefully they wouldn’t give a second thought to the Blighted housekeeper coming to do some cleaning.
My body tense and alert, I rapped on the door.
No answer.
I waited a minute and knocked again, just to be sure. Still no answer.
The longer I stood on the doorstep, the more suspicious I looked, so I pulled my lock picks from my sleeve and got to work. The deadbolt and the lock on the knob were both ridiculously easy to pick. I’d practiced long enough to be able to pick most standard locks in about the same time it took someone to use a key. As long as I did it confidently enough, I could pick a lock in broad daylight with no witnesses the wiser.
Grabbing my bucket and mop, I slipped inside, my spirits buoyed. This was already going ten times better than last night. Taking down a mark in public was always iffy—my preferred mode of operation was to wait for them somewhere private or follow them home. It wasn’t always possible if their house was protected by heavy wards, although there were ways around those if I had the time and money to prepare for them.
I locked the door behind me and drew the rags out of the bucket, revealing my stash of weapons beneath—two small daggers, a nightstick, and a garrote. Rat had said to make Akio’s death look accidental if possible, but all my methods of attack were a lot less subtle than that. I’d have to go with option number two and make it look like a botched robbery.
It took less than a minute to arm myself, and then I stuffed the rags back into the bucket and surveyed the house. It was bright, clean, and orderly. The decor was minimal but stylish, with not a single item out of place. This wasn’t even close to the smoke-filled sex dungeon I had imagined an incubus would live in.
Or maybe the sex dungeon was in the basement?
I decided not to find out, and instead crept upstairs to the second level. This floor housed a master bedroom, two smaller bedrooms, and a bathroom. I poked my head into each, assessing what would best sell the robbery angle. The whole place was so neat and tidy I cringed at the thought of messing it up.
It probably didn’t say anything great about my moral code that I was more ambivalent about destroying a man’s possessions than I was about killing him.
“I need to get out of this fucking city,” I muttered. Even if I couldn’t go back to Wyoming, I needed to make a fresh start somewhere else—soon. I wasn’t sure I liked the person I’d become in Denver.
Grimacing, I began methodically creating chaos out of the perfect order of Akio’s house. I ripped clothes out of the closet and threw them on the floor. They were all expensive-looking, with a pleasant spicy smell. Next, the comforter came off the bed, tossed haphazardly on the floor. I repeated the actions in the two other bedrooms. They seemed less lived-in than the master bedroom, so there was less to work with, but I did what I could.
I left the first floor as I’d found it, stashing my bucket and mop in the upstairs bathroom. I didn’t want Akio to notice any warning signs that something was amiss when he got home. The element of surprise was the best weapon I had.
Patting the daggers at my thighs, I settled in to wait for my date with an incubus.
It was nearly dusk when Akio returned.
Fucking finally.
I was leaning against the wall just inside the front door when my ears perked at the sound of a car idling outside. A door slammed, and muffled voices floated in from the street.
My headache, which had been mild this morning, was gripping my skull like a vice again. I pressed hard on my temples, trying to quell the throbbing pain. I was definitely getting sick. But there was no time for that now. Once I had five thousand dollars cash in my hand, I could go home and sleep for three days. First, I had to earn it.
The car roared away, and I tensed. A moment later, the lock turned with a snick and the door swung open. Akio walked inside, kicking the door shut behind him. Before he could even turn to see me, I leapt on his back, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck.
“Wha—!”
The incubus’s shout of surprise was cut off as I gripped the bicep of my opposite arm with one hand, squeezing tight across his throat and cutting off his air supply. He let out a low sound, twisting his body to try to shake me off, but I latched on tight, feet hooked together in front of him and arms locked like a vice around his neck.
Now all I had to do was keep my grip on him until he went down.
Akio, of course, had other ideas. Backing up, he slammed me into the wall so hard the plaster cracked. I grunted in pain, my bruised ribs screaming in protest. But I gritted my teeth and tightened my grip on his neck, refusing to let the pain win. His strong hands wrapped around my forearm, trying to pry it free, and for a moment it struck me that he had the same pleasant spicy smell as the clothes in his closet. The scent surrounded me as I clung to him like a burr.
But any thoughts about how good he smelled were driven from my mind as he slammed me against the wall again. Bits of plaster and dust filtered down over me.
Come on, come on…
He couldn’t last much longer. But he didn’t seem any more inclined to give up than I was. Charging toward the open kitchen, he bashed me against the fridge, the cabinets, the counters. The edge of the counter jabbed into my side and I bit back a scream as pain exploded through my ribs. Broken now, definitely.
Keeping one arm tight around his neck, I scrabbled for my thigh holster with the other and pulled out a dagger, plunging it into his side. His body jerked, and he went to his knees with me still wrapped tightly around him. Leaving the blade in his abdomen, I tightened my chokehold. Grabbing for the dagger had temporarily loosened my grip on his neck, allowing him to pull in small gulps of air. But it had been worth it. I could feel his strength flagging, his body weakening.
There was only one problem.
Mine was too.
Baring my teeth, I tried to push through my exhaustion and the blistering pain in my skull, pouring all my effort into tightening my hold.
But I felt like I was dissolving, melting like a piece of ice on a hot sidewalk. I was having trouble maintaining my grip at all, let alone squeezing tight enough to choke him. My entire body felt hot and numb at the same time, and a sudden wave of nausea swept over me.
Dammit, no! I’m so close. Just go down, you fucker!
Akio was breathing heavily.
Which meant my chokehold was no longer doing anything. Shit.
From somewhere outside myself, I was vaguely aware of sliding down his body, my legs and arms unable to hold me up or support their own weight. The whole room seemed to darken, and Akio had a strange sort of halo around him as he scrambled to his feet, looking down at me, one large hand clasped around the blade still lodged in his side.
“Akio!”
It was a new voice. Male. Panicked.
A broad-shouldered figure joined the incubus over my limp body. Or was it two figures? Or three? My vision was hazy, spots dancing across my eyes.
“Shit, Akio, what did you do to her?” one of the men asked, his voice shocked.
“What did I do to her?” the incubus gasped. “What about what she did to me? She tried to kill me.”
“What? Fuck!”
There was a tiny part of my brain that knew how bad this was. A Blighted woman had broken into the home of a Touched man and tried to kill him. If he and his friend—friends?—didn’t kill me right now in retribution, I’d be tried and sentenced to death anyway. That part of my mind screamed at me to get up and fight, to run. To do something. Anything.
/> But the little voice in my head was getting smaller and smaller. I couldn’t form a complete thought through the pain and disorientation in my mind.
“Sent by the Representatives, you think?” one of the voices asked grimly.
“Possibly. We need to question her. You two, grab her. I’ll heal Akio.”
The figures standing over me began to move, and I slurred something. I wasn’t sure if it was meant to be a plea or a threat, but it hardly mattered; nothing came out but an incoherent moan.
My body blazed with heat, as if I was lying on coals.
Blackness narrowed my vision to a pinprick.
Then everything exploded into white light.
Chapter 5
“I say we kill her.”
Words filtered into the vast black space I was floating in, echoing like they came through a tunnel from a great distance. I didn’t want to leave this dark place yet. It was peaceful and calm here, not terrifying and loud and ugly like the real world so often was.
So I didn’t. I just drifted.
“We need to find out who sent her before we do anything else,” someone responded. “If it was just an angry husband, that’s one thing. If it was the Representatives, that’s an entirely different problem.”
“Fine. Then can we kill her?”
“Give it up, Akio,” a third man said. “You’re just salty because she totally got the drop on you.”
“Yes.” The incubus’s voice was smooth and hard. “Being attacked in my home, choked, and stabbed does have the effect of making me a bit salty.”
“Well, she hit us all with something too,” the third man argued. “What the hell was that, Jae?”
“I don’t know. I can’t get a read on her power.”
The men continued to speak, and every word that penetrated the darkness of my mind dragged me further away from the safe, quiet place. Instead of floating weightlessly, I was plunged back into the heaviness of my body. I lay on something firm and padded, and my arms were above my head, tingling in a vaguely uncomfortable way. My mind felt fuzzy and sluggish, making it hard to piece together what happened. How had I gotten here?