by K. N. Banet
“No fucking way,” I mumbled, realizing that was it. There was no other information on the case. I checked the location and raised an eyebrow—Albuquerque, New Mexico, one state over.
My email dinged, and I realized it had to be the information Paden must have already dug up. He had the exact same link in his email I was reading. This human, for whatever reason, either killed six of his friends or watched six of his friends die. Paden also had links and attachments for his birth certificate, social security number, and any official documentation from schools, the American military, and more.
None of the documents were dated in the last ten years.
“He’s right. This is an odd bounty.” I tilted my head as I tried to think about what Paden hadn’t done yet. Whatever feeling he had about this one was pretty on the money. Ten million, one human, six dead people, and who knew what else because the man hasn’t existed for the last ten years. We didn’t even have a current picture.
I sent Paden a quick text, asking why everyone decided to start their hunts in Phoenix. Maybe that would offer me a clue what this was. I added that if I didn’t find anything in a week, I was done.
I’m not going to lose sleep over this. Not my job to deal with these types of things, and I don’t like messing with bounties that deal with humans.
He didn’t text back, so I clicked around, falling into endless searches and different directories, wondering if I could stumble on anything he hadn’t found.
The sun started coming up, casting a warm glow over the world. My back porch faced west, so I couldn’t see the sunrise or feel it. I enjoyed the hotter afternoons, lying out on my porch under the intense sun. Mornings were always cold, and seeing the sun come up, I decided it was time for me to get some sleep. Closing the laptop, I grabbed the bounty and took all my things back inside, dumping them on the coffee table in my living room without breaking step.
I fell into my bed and closed my eyes, letting sleep take me fast.
My phone woke me up, blaring with my midday alarm. I groaned and fumbled to get it, hoping to turn it off before it woke me up completely.
If I get it soon enough, I can get back to sleep.
I was too late. By the time I was able to figure out how to hit the button properly, I was wide awake. My white hair was in my face, a reminder of complicated problems and things I didn’t want to deal with. Stumbling into my bathroom, I grabbed a brush and tried to get it out of the way, glaring at myself in the mirror as I pulled it up into a ponytail.
“Why am I awake right now?” I asked my reflection. “Do you know? Why do I keep that stupid alarm?”
My reflection said nothing in return, only offering me a good look at myself, exhausted from a lack of proper sleep after long flights and late night researching because I was too antsy to relax. At that point, I realized I should clean up and get my day moving.
An hour later, I was out of the shower, my hair was dry, and I was ready for a day dedicated to nothing. Well, it should have been nothing. I was off duty, and there were no bounties out I legitimately cared about enough to do for extra cash.
I knew what that meant for my day.
Walking down the hall to my second office, I punched in the keycode and stood still as the retinal scan read my eye. When the lock disengaged, I walked in and locked it behind me. My second office was my sanctuary and one of two safe rooms I had on the property—both necessary. I had lost count of the number of people who had tried to kill me decades ago.
Considering the whole Raphael Alvarez thing was a dead end, I wanted to work on something important.
I stopped at my secondary desk and turned to see the wall by the door. There, my pride and joy and eternal nightmare, The Board. I’d lost dates, friends, and colleagues because of The Board. At some points in my life, I’d lost nearly everything, thanks to it.
Dozens of photos were thumbtacked on with strings and small bios written of different people under mug shots or crime scene photos. Companies and shell companies. Phone numbers and addresses from all over the world. It stretched over the entire wall, slowly building up over the years as new pieces came to my attention.
After two weeks of not seeing it, I felt almost relieved it was in front of me again. Even though I’d had no real breakthroughs in nearly five years, The Board and the information on it kept me remembering, kept me on task. Every day I was home, I came in and looked at it, wondering if I would see something new, something I missed that I had tacked up years earlier but didn’t think was important.
Today, something was bugging me.
I started on the left, looking through different people and places. Whatever was bugging me wasn’t apparent, but I had a need to look over everything, carefully analyzing small things I wrote and clippings of articles. I subscribed to every supernatural publication possible, always on the hunt for more information, more connections.
I lifted a piece of the picture and read what I had underneath, frowning. Was this what had stuck with me?
Five years ago, I had read about a rich vampire bragging about her snakeskin bag in an article on a supernatural dark web fashion site. To most people, it was innocuous, innocent. Snakeskin was readily available for most people, and they hadn’t paid her love for the bag much attention. I had paid attention.
I knew naga skin when I saw it.
I had broken into her home and stolen the bag, leaving a note—a warning—that owning parts of other supernaturals was illegal. She never went public with the theft, and when others noticed the bag was missing and she no longer spoke about it, she had claimed it had been ruined. She had known what it was, which was why she had loved it so much.
She was lucky I didn’t kill her, and she knew that too.
I had put her face on The Board, along with any possible ties she had in the supernatural world.
“There it is,” I murmured. “Her brother is a high-ranking board member of Mygi Pharmaceuticals.” I sighed. Doesn’t help me any. I’m not chasing down this human. I did what Paden asked, and I have a feeling there’s not much more information to find.
Unsatisfied, I sat down at my desk and stared at The Board, wondering if there was anything I could do. What if the human was somehow connected to it all? I knew better than to go down rabbit holes—they always sent me spiraling—but there I was, staring down the dark hole that accounted for most of my worst choices in life.
I haven’t even been back for twenty-four hours. Do I really want to jump into this?
It was an addiction, the need to connect the dots and discover the secrets behind it all. An addiction, like many others, that destroyed my life every time I dabbled in it.
I can’t get answers if I don’t follow every lead.
I texted Paden again. He should be awake by now or getting up soon.
Kaliya: What do you have on Mygi Pharma?
Then I pinned Raphael Dominic Alvarez’s bounty to The Board.
3
Chapter Three
I walked into The Jackalope that night with only one thing on my mind. Paden had texted back, saying he could have something by the time business opened, and I was resolved to be there. I didn’t much care about the human who was in trouble with a large bounty out on his head, but I did care about anything he might know or his connection to The Board. He wasn’t my problem, but what he potentially knew was.
“Paden!” I called out as I walked down the stairs into the Underground. “Do you have anything for me?”
It was early for a Saturday, and the Underground was practically empty. Licking my lips, I caught the species of the six supernaturals who were around. Henley was there, working the bar as he always was. Two vampires talked in the back corner, their heat signatures cooler than everyone else’s, and three fae were commiserating over pints at one of the tables in the middle of the room.
I saw Paden walk out of his back office, and he waved me back without a word. I walked fast, ducking into his office, and let him lock us in.
�
��Mygi Pharmaceuticals,” he said, picking up a file from the top of his filing cabinet and dropping it on his desk. “That’s all public information. If you want to break into their backend systems and steal information, you’ll have to do that on your own.”
“I looked at all their public shit already,” I said, feeling a bit peeved. “I was hoping you could hunt something down I couldn’t.”
“You’re good at finding things most never could. I’m not going to risk my security to look into a giant like Mygi.” Paden shrugged. “Last night, you were barely interested in this. What got your attention?”
“Nothing,” I answered softly. Paden hated The Board. He figured it was going to get me killed one day, and he was probably right. “You wanted me to look into this, so I am. Mygi put this bounty out. They didn’t even bother with a shell company or a subsidiary, which is bold. It means they aren’t worried about Tribunal backlash. Doesn’t that seem strange to you?”
“It was strange to me the moment it went live. Information is more valuable than gold, and I deal in information when I’m not running this bar. This came out of nowhere, and whatever this human might know about Mygi is obviously worth something if they’re willing to give up ten million to get him back in their grasp.” Paden crossed his arms as he sat down. “Would it surprise you that I don’t want you looking at it because I feel bad for this guy? I want to know what he knows.”
“It doesn’t surprise me at all. Humans are easy and vulnerable targets for anyone looking to strike at a weak point in a company or who needs blackmail information. Or you could expose something and watch the world burn. What’s your agenda on this, Paden?”
“I hope you learn something that will help me,” he said, smiling. “I don’t really care about Mygi, but someone might, and they’ll be willing to pay me a pretty penny for the information you could get from this human.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Poor thing is stuck in the middle of forces he probably has no business being involved with. Did you hear anything last night after I left?”
“Yes, but you won’t like it,” Paden answered. “Mygi hired a private guy to come in since the public bounty isn’t getting them results fast enough. A lot of people are going to be pissed, thinking Mygi is going to try undercutting everyone, so they never have to pay out the ten million they promised to whoever finds and catches this human.”
I frowned, considering that. “The bounty has only been up for a week, maybe eight or nine days, tops,” I said, finding a seat in his office. This obviously needed more thought. “And if they’ve hired a private bounty hunter or worse, a hitman or assassin, they’re definitely paying him more than ten million. That skyrockets the worth of this human. By double, at least. They want this fixed, and they want it fixed right now.”
“I came to the same conclusion. Whatever is happening is big. Very big, Kaliya.”
“It’s going to get messy. Are you sure you want me digging deeper into this?” There was a line I had to draw. This was the loosest connection I ever had on The Board, and it was a company name that could be pure coincidence. Mygi was huge; of course, some of their members would have hands in different pots. Raphael could have nothing to do with my personal investigation.
But I wanted to chase it anyway. That’s why I was asking Paden to pull me back, to tell me to leave it. I could feel the call of the hunt, beckoning me to go after another dead end, lose more friends, and risk my life.
“I think you don’t have an option anymore,” he whispered, his light grey eyes boring into me. “Do you?”
“There was a name on The Board. I saw it this morning. Five years ago, naga skin bag. Her brother was employed at Mygi,” I answered, swallowing.
Paden shook his head. “You have to let it go, Kaliya. Chasing the answers to those questions is going to get you killed.”
“Easier said than done,” I reminded him. “So, yeah, there’s a tenuous connection between Mygi and my…my personal case. It’s got me sniffing for a better one. Maybe this human knows something.”
“Gods…” Paden groaned. “I should have known you would find some way to connect it to that fucking board of yours, you paranoid bitch.”
“I have to try,” I said, steeling myself for his words.
“If you think Mygi is part of that world, you are in for a battle you cannot win, Kaliya.” Paden shook his head again, hitting his hand on his desk. “How many times has this obsession of yours nearly gotten you killed? Are we going down that road again? I thought it ended five years ago when everything went cold.”
“It never ended,” I snapped. “I’m a patient hunter, and I’ll get what’s due to me in the end, even if it kills me.” I stood up and started for the door. “I’ll look into Mygi. If there’s any information I think you’ll be interested in, I’ll send it to you encrypted.”
I marched out of his office and went to the bar. Henley looked up and sighed, pouring me a scotch before I had to ask. Once I had it in hand, I realized I forgot to ask Paden if he had any idea on who Mygi hired to clean up their human problem. Turning to look at the bar, I realized I didn’t need to ask. He was walking in.
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
Five hundred and thirteen years old, Sinclair was the vampire everyone called when a dirty job had to be done. He lived in and practically ruled Las Vegas but stayed away from Phoenix. I tried to keep him out of Arizona, but that was impossible. He was too good at what he did and too dangerous for most to toy with.
He saw me from the bottom of the stairs, and the cold smile he gave me would have terrified others. For me, it was a daring challenge. He knew he was in my space, in my city, and there was nothing I could do about it. Three times in eighty years, Sinclair had stood in front of the Tribunal and walked away, declared innocent of all crimes. Everyone knew he was a monster. He made no attempt to cover it, but he found loopholes. He exploited situations and let others take the fall for him.
And each time, he laughed in my face as he walked away. There was more than a small rivalry between us. I wanted him dead. He wanted me to know I couldn’t kill him—not legally.
If I did, everyone would know it was me. I would find myself on the same chopping block he walked away from so many times.
“Kaliya,” he crooned, walking toward the bar. “It’s very good to see you.”
“I bet,” I snapped. Of all the faces I wished was on The Board, his was the one I could never find any connection for. Maybe this was finally the chance I had to connect him to everything else.
“Now, now. I’m only here on a short trip. Mygi said the locals weren’t helpful in their pursuit of an errant human.”
“I figured you were the guy they hired,” I said, sipping my scotch. He was taller, but I was never intimidated by Sinclair. I had run into him too many times over the last eighty years to be afraid of him. I knew him, understood him, and he knew and understood me.
“You know, I always wondered why you never go solo, get out of the Tribunal’s grasp. You could probably find this bounty in a few days. You might be an Executioner, but you have the mind of an Investigator. The Tribunal doesn’t know what they’re wasting with you, do they?” He was complimentary, sounding innocent, but the look in his eyes told me otherwise. He was looking to get a rise out of me. He always was.
“I don’t pretend to assume what the Tribunal does or doesn’t know. I think you missed out on a good thing by never trying to join up with them.”
“What do they pay you? A million a year? That’s not worth my talents,” he retorted. “It’s not worth yours, either, but if the last nagini wants to sell herself short, then what business of it is mine?”
“Exactly. It’s not,” I replied, hating how he brought up what I was. Some days, I felt like I couldn’t escape the fact I was the last female of my kind. I sure as fuck didn’t need Sinclair reminding me. I didn’t need anyone reminding me. “Get your business done, if you can, then get out of my city, Sinclair. I don’t like your kind here.” I fini
shed my scotch and started toward the door. I only made it two steps before he and I were shoulder to shoulder, looking in opposite directions.
“And what kind would that be?” he asked softly, leaning down to invade my space further as I tried to pass. “The kind that wins?”
“The kind that makes me want to sink to your level,” I hissed back, stopping to face him again.
“We both know you already have,” he taunted. “I’ll be out of Phoenix soon enough, though. Mygi gave me some private information they weren’t willing to share with the public. I’ll be out of your hair before the week’s over. Stay, enjoy your little shithole bar, and have another drink. I’m not staying.”
“Why did you even come here?” I demanded, not moving.
“To see how my favorite Executioner was doing,” he said with that cold smile he was known for. “I figured if you saw me here first, you would be less inclined to try to kill me on the streets and lose your job. Consider it a courtesy call. I’m in Phoenix for work and would like to finish it and leave as soon as possible.” He turned and walked out of the bar, leaving me standing alone, everyone watching me.
“Kaliya…” Paden’s warning tone came out. “Maybe you do need to just head home and stay out of this.”
“Funny. I was thinking I needed to join this little hunt for a stupid human. Ten million is good money.” I grinned over my shoulder. I never gave Sinclair a free pass. He was in my city, and I was going to win this time. Less than twenty-four hours back in Phoenix, and things were getting interesting. This seemed like it was going to be the most fun the supernaturals of Phoenix were going to see for at least a decade.
Sinclair, The Board, Mygi Pharmaceuticals, and one human stuck in the middle of it.
“You could lose your job,” Paden reminded me, walking close to say it under his breath. “Kaliya, they warned you off Sinclair fifteen years ago, the last time Cassius was able to get him to stand in front of the Tribunal.”
