by Jack Porter
There was a hint of sarcasm in her tone, and I understood why. It wasn’t possible that I could have access to Megadeath’s thumb. I mean, the man was dead, left to rot in an abandoned industrial plant.
Nor was it like I’d kept trophies of my victims stored in the freezer back at my apartment. And even if I had, what were the odds that one of those trophies were the exact thumb I needed to get into Megadeath’s home?
Even if it had been, I certainly wouldn’t have thought to bring it along with me when that apartment became uninhabitable.
Would I?
Of course not. Such a wild, random chain of events could simply never happen.
Except, I had dumped a whole bunch of my points into luck.
I’d started doing that from the very beginning, before facing Megadeath in a battle to the death, and it had served me surprisingly well. But I hadn’t stopped there. Sure, the random girls I’d met from the online dating apps had enabled me to level up in the vanity department, with many of their points going to my looks, height, and associated attributes.
But I’d always added a bit extra to the luck attribute as well. Because, why not?
When it came down to it, one lucky break could be more valuable than all the other skills in the world.
Such as when the four of us were trying to get into Megadeath’s house.
I looked at Piper with a broad, shit-eating grin. Without saying a word, I walked back to my car and opened the trunk.
I hadn’t taken much from my apartment. Just the guns and a few personal things, the sort of thing Sandy would have liked to take from hers.
But one of those items was a small, plastic container that I’d kept in the freezer.
Inside that container was an assortment of fingers, taken from the people I’d killed.
Not all of them. Just the significant ones. Like Chad, the Moss cousins, a couple of others. I’d placed them in separate plastic bags and dated them with a permanent marker.
Quite by chance, the digit I had removed from Megadeath when I’d killed him was his thumb.
I took the appendage out of its container, and still without saying a word, strode to the door.
The thumb was frozen solid. Hoping that wouldn’t make a difference, I took it out of its plastic bag and pressed it against the sensor.
The door clicked open. I turned to Rachel, Sandy, and Piper. “Ladies, the house is ours.”
Damn, bonding with a demon had its perks.
Chapter 27
After putting the thumb back in its container, I joined the girls in looking around inside.
The main floor was as you might expect any modern, top-end home to be, filled with wide-open spaces, a kitchen fit for a professional chef, high ceilings, multiple living areas including one with a piano, and several large, well-appointed bedrooms that looked as if they’d never been used.
The basement was a revelation. It was like a panic room, armory, and control room all in one. The toys Megadeath had on display would have burned a Hollywood prop department jealous, but that wasn’t half of it. There was also a training area, complete with padded floors, old-style martial arts equipment, and a punching bag. Alongside that was a fully equipped shooting range, complete with an automatic target setting device.
But what caught my attention more than anything else was the control room.
It was no more than a nook, really, a small area set apart from the rest. But the entire wall was covered in a bank of monitors, and I realized there were cameras hidden everywhere. I could see every part of Megadeath’s grounds, from the end of his driveway to inside the mansion itself. And, as I’d expected, I could also see along the approaching road as well.
But the camera feeds were only part of the story. One of the monitors displayed an app labeled ‘Defense,’ and within a few moments of playing around with it, I saw that Megadeath’s mansion was everything Piper had implied.
It came fully equipped with heavy-gauge steel shutters that could drop in place in an instant and protect the whole place against heavy weapons. There were mines spread throughout the woods surrounding the house, and a matched pair of high caliber weapons set on the roof that could be controlled remotely.
By a video game controller. Just like the one I used back at the apartment.
There were two of them sitting on the control room desk, ready and waiting for battle.
With this setup, I thought, Megadeath could have fought off an approaching army.
I would have liked to play around with it a little, and maybe let off a few rounds into the trees. Just to get the hang of it. But the girls had followed me down, exploring as well, and Rachel didn’t seem to be as impressed with the setup as I was. She was standing just outside the control room with a concerned look on her face.
“Okay, so now we’ve explored Megadeath’s home. What’s next?” she asked.
Chapter 28
“First of all, are we safe here?” Rachel asked.
We had all gathered back at the kitchen, where Piper, Rachel, and I had settled ourselves on the barstools next to the marble-topped island. Sandy had trawled through Megadeath’s pantry and fridge and had brought out a selection of cured meats, rice, and an assortment of frozen veggies. She had declared most of the rest of Megadeath’s food beyond saving, having been ignored since he’d met his end at my hands. And when Rachel and Piper both offered to help, she had chased them away, saying that cooking calmed her.
It seemed to be working.
“This place,” I said, shaking my head almost in disbelief. “It’s like a fortress. If there’s ever a zombie apocalypse, if we can’t get to an island, this is where I’d choose to hole up.”
Sandy found a pot and partially filled it with water before measuring two and a half cups of rice into it. But she paused after I’d spoken and looked at me.
“But there are still contracts out on us, aren’t there?” she asked.
Piper answered. “Yes, there are,” she said.
“So we are not safe.”
“We are as safe as can be, given the circumstances. The Syndicate doesn’t know where we are,” Piper said. “If it did, there would already be men approaching, getting ready to attack.”
Sandy looked momentarily horrified.
“If there were, we would already know,” Piper insisted. “Megadeath has a security system you wouldn’t believe.”
Of the four of us, Sandy had shown the least interest in the arsenal downstairs and hadn’t stayed very long. She hadn’t really seen the control room.
But Piper’s words seemed to mollify her. Sandy went to the fridge and brought out a carton of eggs. “So, we’re safe-ish,” she said. “What do we do?”
It was the fifty-million-dollar question.
“Ideally,” I said, “I’d hunt down Dario Gambetti, feed him his balls, skin him alive, and then cut his head off.”
All three women looked at me.
“What?” I asked. “Too far? Because I don’t think so. The fucker Dario Gambetti went too far. He never should have threatened you.”
Sandy shook her head. “I know, Simon, but it just feels very real at this point, and to hear you talk that way”—her face went pale again—”I’m afraid for you and what you’re getting into, that’s all.”
“You know what I’ve been doing all this time,” I pointed out, feeling like she was changing her mind about things. “And you’ve seen quite a bit for yourself at this point. What’s the problem?”
Rachel frowned. “The problem, Simon, is that we care about you. So don’t dismiss Sandy’s concern when you make statements like that. We know the cost. We know what you do, and we’ve been used to the idea. But sometimes, and especially after a day like today, it’s still a bit shocking.”
“Right,” I said. I really needed to put more points into sensitivity or something.
“Agreed,” Azrael said in an amused voice. And of course all three women heard him even though they didn’t know what he was responding
to.
But Piper looked amused and went back to preparing the food. “Why can’t you do that to Gambetti? What’s stopping you from feeding him his balls?”
“He has a device,” I said. “An amulet of some kind. Azrael said it is of demonic construct.” I shrugged. “I emptied half a clip at him when he set his goons on me back in his office, but the amulet protected him. I might as well not have bothered.”
Both Rachel and Sandy seemed astonished by this, but Piper looked suitably impressed. “I’ve heard of that sort of thing before,” she said. “It’s something you have to worry about in this business. But I’ve never seen it.”
“If it’s demonic in nature,” Rachel said. “Is there anything Azrael can do about it?”
“Azrael?” I asked.
“Were I at the height of my powers, it would be a trivial thing. But for the moment, it is impossible.”
It was as frustrating an answer as I could imagine.
Sandy’s shoulders slumped a bit. “So, what does that mean? Are we stuck here, hiding until one of his men stumbles across us? Or do we run away and set up in a new city somewhere?”
Even before she finished speaking, I was already shaking my head. “It wouldn’t be forever,” I said. “Just long enough for Azrael to regain some of his power. Enough so that the amulet can’t protect Dario anymore. And then I feed him his balls.”
Even the thought of the steely-eyed asshole was enough to make my blood boil. I loathed the man as I hadn’t loathed anyone for a long time. Only Chad had managed to get close, and that was because he was a world-class douchebag.
Then again, maybe I should have loathed Dario Fucking Gambetti even more than Chad. After all, the mob boss had tried to kill me and the women I cared about.
Chad had just been a dick.
“There are other options,” Rachel said quietly. She seemed surprised when all three of us turned toward her. But she responded with her normal calm. “Well, sure, it would be nice to, you know, rip out his heart and sacrifice it to Azrael under a full moon. I get that. But, really, there are other ways to hurt someone like him. And to begin with, that’s all we need, right? To hurt him enough that these contracts go away?”
“Go on,” I said.
“Well, he’s a mob boss, right? A corporate climber? What does he value? I’m guessing, in his own way, he is an Ascender as well. He values money, power, and status. Or else why would he be in the position he is?”
I nodded, smiling. Rachel was right.
“So, what are you suggesting?” Sandy asked.
“Well, it’s not difficult. Hit him where it hurts. Take away his power, his money, and his status.” Rachel looked pointedly at me and Piper. “You’ve got the physical skills. Both of you. And even if they disabled my login, I’m familiar enough with the Syndicate’s systems that I can probably get back in without too much trouble. Shouldn’t be too hard to figure out the best targets to cripple Dario’s part of the business, should it?”
She said it with casual aplomb, as if discussing nothing more serious than where to eat and what to watch on TV. Yet there was a twinkle in her eye that suggested she was enjoying the idea of taking Dario down.
At this point, I was grinning very broadly. For the first time since meeting Dario Fucking Gambetti, the world looked like a fun place again. Rachel was right. Between us, we had everything we needed to really put a dent in Dario’s operations.
Without even thinking, I left my barstool to grab Rachel up in a hug and give her a kiss. She seemed slightly startled, but mostly because she hadn’t finished.
“If you think about it, it even makes sense to do that,” she continued. “I mean, what’s all this about anyway? Status, right? None of this would have happened at all if you, Simon, weren’t looking for some way to ascend. But here’s the thing. Straight-out killing Dario won’t help. Sure, he’s a fat target, and he might be worth a few points in the short term. But without him, without the Syndicate backing you, that can only mean you’ll have to find some other option to keep Ascending.”
I sat back down and looked at her. “So?” I asked, prompting her to keep going. I liked where it was heading.
“So why don’t we make Dario’s business our own?” she continued. “Why don’t we carve it up and turn it into our own little empire?”
Rachel offered me a quiet grin. “Two birds with one stone,” she said. “You make Dario suffer at the same time as improving your own status.”
It was perfect. The best possible solution to our immediate problem. I felt buoyed by the prospect and wanted to begin right away. But there was at least one assumption.
I turned to Piper. “What do you say? Are you in?” I asked.
Piper considered me for just a moment.
“I’m still under contract to kill you,” she said, grinning broadly. “I’ve never failed to fulfill a contract before. But for some reason, not only do I not want to complete that contract at all, but I’d be quite happy following you wherever you went.”
The way she said it, she didn’t sound at all bothered by the change. She understood as well as I did that her new inner succubus effectively joined her to me. And she seemed to be okay with that.
I didn’t say anything. I just waited.
“Sounds like it could be a lot of fun,” she finished. “And you might need someone with my skills. I’m in.”
It was all I needed to hear. I looked at Sandy.
“Of course I’m in,” she said. “Let’s kick his ass.”
And just like that, we had agreed to a plan that could change everything.
I felt like celebrating and brought my hands together in a spontaneous clap. “Right,” I said. “Sounds like a plan. But first, I’m hungry. What needs to be done?”
Chapter 29
But Sandy was still refusing help, so while she cooked, Rachel pulled a tablet from her handbag and booted it up. Within minutes, she’d connected to Megadeath’s network and forced her way into the Syndicate’s system.
“I’m in,” she said matter-of-factly. “Let’s see what we can find.”
She started with Dario Gambetti himself. She had put together a small file before, but now she fleshed it out.
I already knew his age (fifty-five, a match for his illegal status), height (a trim five-foot-eight) and family information (divorced, no current wife or girlfriend, three adult children).
Now I found that he’d spent his entire life working for the Syndicate. And he was good at his job. Even though he bore the family name, he was only a distant cousin to those who really controlled the business. He’d had to work to make a name for himself.
Dario Gambetti had started in extortion. Protection rackets, mostly, and swiftly proved himself more than capable in that area–and showed a talent for numbers as well. So he moved into money laundering, and from there his business interests grew, until now he oversaw all the Syndicate’s interests on the south side of El Diablo. And he was starting to flex his muscle elsewhere in the city.
Under his control, the Gambetti Syndicate had gone from a minor player in the region to one of the bigger concerns, and he had diversified into just about every form of organized crime I could think of, and then some.
I was starting to wonder if the complexity of Dario’s interests might make it harder for us to enact our plan when Sandy added a new thought into the mix.
She had turned the assortment of ingredients she had into a pan full of fragrant fried rice, complete with onion, diced omelet, vegetables and cured meats. It smelled spicy and delicious, and I couldn’t wait to taste it.
“Simon,” she said as she stirred the pot with a wooden spoon. “How does this demon thing work, exactly?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, I was talking to Rachel. She said she intended for you and her to be just a one off.” She colored just a little and dropped her eyes to the pan. “A ‘sympathy fuck.’” Then she looked at me again. “And Piper. She said something similar, i
n that she’s known you for, what, less than a day? And she’s already committed to stand by your side wherever it might lead.”
I could see where Sandy was heading. “But the girls I’ve met through the dating apps,” I said. “They haven’t exactly hung around.”
She bit her lip and agreed. “Do you think they would if you asked them?”
I thought about it. “I think so, yes.”
The blonde woman nodded. “Is that how it works, then?” she asked.
I knew what she meant but asked the expert. “Azrael?” I asked.
“The succubi within you are linked to me,” the incubus said. “With that comes a certain loyalty.”
None of the woman seemed at all concerned by his answer. Sandy was simply searching for information.
“And what about if those other girls, or us, for that matter, went out and scored with someone else? Would Azrael’s gift raise other demonic entities within them as well?”
Again, it was Azrael who answered. “Of course,” he said. “There is no limit.”
“And they would then pass on that loyalty, as well?”
“It would.”
Still stirring the rice, Sandy smiled. “Then I think we might have a way of building our empire in addition to murder and violence.”
I understood where she was going. “You’re saying that I can seduce my way into developing a loyal workforce?”
“Exactly! And not just you.”
I looked at her, uncertain. “You mean, you?” Perhaps I was being selfish, but I didn’t like that idea at all.
Sandy smirked a bit. “Only if you want me to, but in all honesty, I’d rather not. I was thinking more of those women from the dating site. There are three of them now, aren’t there? Maybe they would be interested in taking a more active role.”
