I huffed out a defeated breath. I could usually get my way with Aurev, but this was different. I knew this tone. I knew this demeanor. I couldn’t disobey a direct order.
“I just got my new assistant trained!” I mourned under my breath before whispering, “Shit.” Then looking back at my dark angel, I said, “I had this planned out. So, I’m dead now?”
Aurev looked at his smartwatch. “Hazel Richards died in a car accident twenty minutes ago. There’s a new coroner, we can’t die without a body anymore. It’s suspicious. This is an age of digital tracking.”
I sunk into the chair, my head in my hands. “Aurev? I wish you’d talked to me about this before now. I can’t believe you’d spring this on me.” Aurev wasn’t heavy handed with things like this. My suspicion rose, but I knew he’d keep tight-lipped, whatever the issue.
“I’m sorry, but the opportunity came up, and I decided it’s what is best.” He pulled out a plastic card and handed it to me. “Here’s a Chronos Corp credit card in your new name; you can use it for expenses until you get your own accounts re-setup. Buy new clothes… and change your hair. I’ve also hired a moving company to contact you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “A moving company?”
“I want you out of the building by the end of the month—out of your Chronos apartment and New York.”
My hands flew protectively to my hair. “What’s wrong with my hair?”
He shook my question off. “I’m doing this for your own good. It’s time to reinvent yourself, Hazel. You need to stop living in the past and join us in the twenty-first century. Starting with this.” He motioned, and the double doors opened to admit a pair of medical techs. One carried a silver tray covered with a blue towel and the other a locked case.
The one on the left opened the case and pulled out a small tube that contained an RFID capsule.
I narrowed my eyes. All Chronos Corp employees and Clan members had this embedded in their hand. I’d been able to talk my way out of having an implant. As any person, I had my quirks—fear of needles, fear of blood and the fear of having something inside my skin—to name the top three.
I shook my head. “No, Aurev. I’m not getting a Chronos Corp chip just after I’ve been fired. I’m fine using my badge until I leave.” I held up my chip-embedded ID that hung around my neck and blinked my eyes in a gesture that reminded me of Sarah.
“Hazel, you are not fired. You’re simply taking a sabbatical.” He sucked in a breath. “The chip is for your protection. For your own security. Give me this peace of mind.” He held his hand out to me, as familiar as my own.
My dark angel’s voice whispered softly across the small gap between us. “You’re still part of the Clan. Besides, I know you’re coming back. Do this one thing.” Pausing, he tilted his head. “For me?”
Our gazes locked for a moment until I finally gave in and I allowed him to take my arm. He steadied my wrist for the tech.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I clenched my fingers into a fist. Trembling, I sucked in a breath when Aurev’s warm hands held me tighter.
The female med-tech asked in a quiet voice, “Are you ready?”
Keeping my eyes closed, I breathed out. “Do it.”
I felt a quick sting where her scalpel cut my skin, then pressure in the fleshy part between my thumb and index finger.
Afterward, I opened one eye to see a tiny line of blood under the clear tape.
“It’s done?” I asked.
“Yes.” Aurev pulled me from the chair and held me to him, my head on his chest. He smelled the same as he had for almost a hundred years—like rain and comfort.
Letting me go, he made his way around the desk to sit down. I settled myself and gazed at him with resignation.
Neither of us spoke until the medical techs closed the door and left us alone again.
“You love trying to throw me off my game, don’t you? What have I done? Why are you trying to shake me up?” I asked.
“You’ve done everything right. And I wasn’t trying to shake you up, I’m trying to bring you into this century. I’m trying to help you have a fuller life. I think you’re trying to do the same. So, your new name, Ellie?”
I nodded, hesitating. “You didn’t answer me. Did I mess up somewhere?”
His eyes smoldered with something I didn’t understand. “It’s what I’ve done… I’m not your jailer. If after a while, you want to come back, I want you to.” There was more, something left unspoken.
Aurev’s left eye twitched, something I’d never seen on him before—a twitch.
Sitting there I knew there were so many questions I needed to ask, but the gears in my brain seemed to get stuck on the incongruity of the situation.
After several moments of quiet, my dark angel broke the silence, “Well, Hazel, you need to pick a place—that’s not the East Coast—and enroll in high school.”
“High school?” I scoffed, “This was my backup ID. This will make me only seventeen!” I protested.
Aurev set his jaw in that sexy way he had. He nodded again, while looking at his laptop screen, obviously moving on from our meeting. I picked up my briefcase, stunned, and I began to leave.
When I got to the door, he called out to me, “Oh and Hazel?”
Turning, I answered, “Yes?”
“Vasiliev approached you a few months ago?”
“The bounty hunter?”
“Yes. You should go. Ms. Smith suggested that it could be a good start for you.”
I shrugged, my lip trembling. “I’m not going. I have to take care of my new death,” I told him with a tinge of exasperation in my voice.
“Yes. That chapter of your life is closed. I’ve had the paperwork for your move sent to your apartment.”
My stomach sank again.
I’d lived in the Chronos Corp, New York Clan building for decades, now I was leaving?
Holding on to my emotions, in a daze, I wandered into the elevator. Exiting on my level, I tumbled through the hallway to my apartment. I went through the motions with my lanyard on the electronic lock. I faltered into the entryway and kicked my heels off, hanging my bag on its familiar hook.
The city through the tall windows beckoned me to my living room, where my eyes overflowed, and tears streaked their way down my face.
Aurev had actually killed me. I was being sent away.
What had I done?
I was the fixer. Why was he trying to fix me? What was he hiding? Why was he trying to get rid of me? At this moment?
It hurt not to be trusted. It hurt when I had plans, and he’d come along and knocked down my carefully crafted death. I’d planned to have a heart attack after several weeks of “episodes.”
Snorting, I wiped my face.
I wasn’t sad, I wasn’t beat.
I was furious.
I hated that I cried out of frustration.
Aurev wanted me to go with Vasiliev?
Fine. I would go, and I would figure this puzzle out.
Methodically, I began to pack my two antique Louis Vuitton bags.
Change my hair, Aurev tells me, change my clothes!
Pfft!
Suits and heels have been in fashion in one sort or another for ages! I wasn’t about to change my life on a whim. Nothing good ever came out of rash decisions, and I wasn’t about to start now.
Flicking the black business card across my thigh, I hesitated.
What was Aurev involved in?
The ancient clan leader was known to be incorruptible, honorable, and fair.
I knew my newly made moroi, Sarah, had been problematic, but I’d set her straight, hadn’t I?
I’d been one of Aurev’s closest advisors, and yet he’d just dismissed me like I was garbage.
What had happened? Why hadn’t he just talked to me?
There was something he hadn’t told me, volumes of unspoken thoughts in his mind. That look he’d given me…I’d known that look, but what did it mean?
Pursing my lips,
I eyed the name and number on the card.
Alexei Vasiliev—his woodsy scent with a hint of exotic spices had stirred something in me. Even the thought of him brought warmth to my belly and unease to my mind.
Picking up my phone, I punched in the foreign number and it rang through in the European fashion.
“Vasiliev vot,” Came the bounty-hunter’s husky voice over the line.
I hesitated, not really wanting anything to do with this man. “This is Hazel Richards.” I began. “My clan leader suggested I assist you.” I wanted him to know that I was not a willing participant in this adventure.
“Ahh, yes. Hazel,” he all but purred my name, making my knees a bit weak. “I knew you’d call.”
I interrupted him in a deadpan tone, “Not by choice.”
“Yes, well I think we all know that the Butcher has caused too much trouble—for the New York Clan especially—and all of us would like to see the end of her.” He hesitated for a moment, and I filled in the gap.
“And pick up the hefty bounty?”
“Ahhh, yes, yes, yes. But I do it for the good of all moroi society.”
I groaned, and he laughed, making me wonder how I could be attracted to such an arrogant man. “Where do you want to meet? Is she still in Russia?” I picked at a loose string on my skirt.
“No. I’m in Iquitos—Peru, she’s here in South America.”
I knew where Iquitos was and rolled my eyes. “In the middle of the Amazon jungle? Fine. Just tell me where to go.” I took a sweater out of my suitcase; it would be warm in the jungle and humid.
“I’ll pick you up! Text me your flight information.” He told me with a jaunt in his voice before ending the call.
I tossed my phone onto the bed and sucked in a breath, thinking about what I should pack.
Chapter Three
Pulling up to JFK international airport, I looked around for Forest. He was the in-house P.I. of the Clan. When the driver opened my door, my luggage was already being set onto a baggage trolley by an airport porter.
Following him, I realized the porter was the man I’d been looking for. Touching his arm, I smiled. “Forest?”
He slowed his pace and said with exasperation, “I’m meeting with y’all because I owe you, but I sure as hell ain’t going to let you pull me into some kind of mother freakin’ conspiracy. Stop being an amateur detective. Go lay around in some snooty spa and leave Chronos bisnatch to me. You bein’ straight up stupid. Aurev told you to leave New York for a reason.”
Pursing my lips, I raised my eyebrows at him and sighed. “I’m trying to protect him. I need to know what’s coming down the pipeline so I can get ahead of it. Aurev’s never been this secretive with me before….” I thought for a moment. “He’s a patient man. I’ve seen him wait decades for the right time. I want to know why he rushed and killed off my current identity a month early. He killed Hazel Richards off, did you know that? I’ve had this identity for almost forty years. What was one more month? Were you involved?” I eyed him above the rim of my purely decorative glasses. I knew it made lesser men squirm.
“Yeah...” He stretched out the word. “I...”
Walking close, I huffed out a breath. “Don’t hem and haw. I know Aurev put you up to this. Your chip ID was used to visit him a few days ago. So, don’t lie to me.”
We walked in silence for a moment. “Quid pro quo,” Forest said, and I narrowed my eyes at him.
Pulling the trolley away from the PI, I pushed it over to a secluded corner.
“You know I can’t tell you anything if attorney-client privilege is involved.” I raised one eyebrow.
“That’s some bullshit excuse to keep shit from me.” He eyed the surroundings before pointing to the ground. “I tol’ you already, I don’t know nothin’ and even if I did, you got nothin’ to trade. This my Clan also, I ain’t ‘bout to go around flapping my gums like some dumbass.”
Forest shook his head and took a step away.
I grabbed his sleeve and whispered, “I’m just looking for answers.” I slumped against the cart. “Why is he sending me away? Tell me what happened when he called you into his office.”
Pursing his lips before answering, he asked, “I got a text to come in. He asked me to do shit, I did it.” He hesitated before speaking again, “He just lookin’ out for you. That’s all.”
Watching the swarming people rushing back and forth, I sucked in a breath. “Don’t act like this is normal. It’s not. Aurev doesn’t keep things from me. I’ve got his back, I’ve always had his back.”
Our gazes met, and he shrugged off my words. “Why you going to Lima?”
I examined his face, biting the inside of my cheek. Info was power, but if I gave Forest something, he would reciprocate. “I’m meeting up with a bounty hunter to go after Amy.” Shaking my head, I laughed. “I don’t think it’ll do any good. The girl has no love for me.”
“Bounty on her, the Butcher, just went up to 50 million euros—but there’s a catch—she has to be alive. It’s only ten-mil dead—with proof. Global Council wants her locked up.”
“Yeah, I saw that. It’s about time, I guess.”
Stepping away and up to the airport first class counter, I hefted my suitcases onto the scale. “Thank you,” I told Forest. Meeting his gaze, I whispered so only he could hear, “Remember where your bread is buttered.”
I knew the PI would think about that one. I’d been his handler for Chronos. I was the one who’d found him, recruited him and integrated him into the Clan.
My flight to Lima was uneventful. Once there, I’d decided to take a cab to the beach until my plane to Iquitos later in the day. So, I found myself leaning against the concrete sea wall, my stilettos in one hand, stockings rolled up and in my purse. The air temperature was cool and the beach deserted in the early morning breeze.
Taking out my wallet, I examined my new New York driver’s license again.
Ellie Richards.
Seventeen.
It was as if Aurev had hit the restart button on my life.
My mind wandered to thoughts and possibilities of what I should do next, where I should go. I spoke five languages, I could go abroad. Spain maybe?
After a while, I became tired of watching life around me. The runners and cyclists on the roadway and sidewalk behind the sea wall kept up their constant stream of traffic. The cars flew speeding next to the cliff face in a blur. The breeze of fresh air and background chatter cheered me.
The smell of food finally tempted me from the sunny beach. A street vendor had opened up on the sidewalk, and fresh warm pastries beckoned me.
Taking the steps up to the sidewalk carefully, I swept the sand from my feet and slid my heels on.
“Hola,” I greeted the woman inside the stand, “Coffee con leche…y...” I pointed.
“I don’t have coffee. I have sodas and water.” She told me in Spanish.
Pursing my lips, I pointed to a neon yellow soda. “Inca Cola. Gracias.”
Taking my change from her and my treat, I walked a bit before sitting on a wide concrete ledge.
Still relatively young for a vampire at a little over a hundred years old, I’d seen moroi made too young like Amy—it never mattered how long they lived, they never really grew up and matured to adulthood. It was illegal to change anyone under eighteen for a reason, and Amy had been no exception. However, Amy had been made nearly four-thousand years ago in ancient Egypt and had survived on cunning, pity and manipulation. She was pure trouble, but at 80 pounds soaking wet, many underestimated her. The final straw hadn’t come after she’d experimented and murdered hundreds, maybe thousands of humans and moroi, but when she’d created OVC, a deadly disease nicknamed the Vampire Plague. This terrible affliction was a death sentence to those who contracted it. Chronos Corp is a pharmaceutical company, and we’ve known about the disease for about five years, researching and working to combat it.
Sweeping the crumbs of the pastry from my charcoal wool suit-skirt, I stoo
d and strolled along the ocean.
When the sun’s afternoon rays began to beat down on me, I called a cab to take me back to the airport.
The plane landed as the sun began sinking behind the never-ending forest.
Two sets of stairs were wheeled up to the plane. I stepped into the breeze, the humidity clinging to my hair and skin like a fine film.
There, near the tarmac doors, he stood. Tall, well over six and a half feet and longish wavy dark hair that he pushed behind his ears.
Alexei.
A cigarette glowed between his fingers as he watched me descend the staircase with a veiled expression.
“Well, well, well. Hazel Richards, as I live and breathe.” His ice eyes assessed me shrewdly. I felt disheveled in my charcoal woolen suit after the long plane rides and layover in Lima.
I shrugged, “I’m here. Is the hotel nearby? Do you have a car?”
“Do you have a bag?”
A smile quirked the corner of my lips as I dismissed his question. “I need a beer. Can we get something to drink while we wait for my luggage?”
“Not here, you’ll have to wait until we get to the camp.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Camp?”
“Lodge.”
“Camp, as in we’re camping? In a tent?”
“It’s fine, you’ll see.”
He gestured me to lead the way, and so I followed the signs inside to the baggage claim.
After I pointed out my second, large, antique suitcase, the bounty-hunter pulled it from the lineup of luggage.
“Is this it?” His “th” sounded more like a “d.”
There was dirt beneath his fingernails, and it had been several days since he’d bathed judging by his greasy hair.
“Is this everything? I hope you have some practical clothes in there.” He tapped one case with his foot before pulling my designer bags outside.
A Peruvian man began strapping my bags onto the back of a vehicle comprised of part motorcycle in the front and passenger chair in the rear supported by two wheels.
Shades of Red Page 44
