by M. Malone
It wouldn’t do to attract that kind of attention. People tended to remember those sorts of things and I had no doubt that someone would be asking questions soon.
A cab finally pulled over and I got in carefully. After giving the driver the address to the motel, I finally let out a sigh and thought about everything that had happened. By the time we reached the motel, I was pretty sure that I was going to be shipped home first thing in the morning.
Bloody hell, I thought. But it wasn’t my fault. No one had told me that the target was so well trained. I’d only been told no one would stop me and that he’d be alone. I’d expected a middle-aged, balding, out-of-shape desk jockey.
After the cab dropped me off, I entered my motel room and immediately grabbed the small ice bucket on the desk. The last thing I felt like doing was walking down the hallway looking for an ice machine, but with the way I felt, ice was a must.
Ten minutes later, I eased out of my vest and got my first look at the kaleidoscope of bruises on my torso.
With one hand, I scooped ice into a small plastic bag. Every movement was excruciating but I couldn’t risk calling anyone to come help me.
I was on my own.
“What the hell was that?” I muttered aloud. The longer I thought about that clusterfuck of a mission, the angrier I got. All I’d been told was to obtain the target, make it look like a death, and then deliver him to ORUS. I’d assumed the target was a civilian.
No one had said that I’d be fighting another ORUS agent. Especially not one that was older and more experienced.
“Shit,” I hissed as the ice bag made contact with my ribs. Bloody hell, every inch of me was going to be swollen by tomorrow.
Who the hell was that guy?
He’d moved like water, every limb so fluid that watching him fight had been like watching a dance. It would have been beautiful if the end result wasn’t me being beat to shit. It had been too dark to see much of his face but he’d definitely been older. No one could fight like that without years of experience.
Worse, he’d been ready for me. Ready for a fight. Almost like he’d been tipped off. Had I been double-crossed?
Was Orion working some other agenda?
I stretched out on the bed, trying not to think about how many disgusting things I was lying on before picking up the burner phone. I raised it and dialed the number I’d been given to report back to Orion.
If my theory was correct, he’d already know that I’d failed.
“Are you en route?” Orion didn’t bother with a greeting.
“No. I’m at the motel trying to figure out why no one bothered to tell me the target was an ORUS agent. I was lucky to get out of there alive.”
A muttered string of curses on the other end of the line was the only thing that told me Orion was there. Silence hung in the air, rife with possibilities.
Finally he spoke. “I’d hoped for a different outcome, but apparently the element of surprise wasn’t as much of an advantage as I’d hoped. What makes you think the target was ORUS trained?”
“Are you serious right now? I bloody fought him. I should have known there was trouble when I was sent to a security firm.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end. “Where did you say they sent you?”
“A place called Blake Security.”
Silence. And then one shouted “FUCK!”
“What the fuck is going on? You could have warned me! I would have gone better prepared. Like, maybe with a rocket launcher.” I shifted slightly to keep the phone between my shoulder and my ear. The new position sent a stab of pain through my middle so sharp I almost lost consciousness. “That guy was unreal. I’ve never seen anyone move so fast.”
More calmly now, Orion asked, “What was his build?”
“Tall. Very tall. Lean but muscled. British.”
“Son. Of. A. Bitch.”
“Pardon me, sir, but what the fuck are you on about?”
“Perseus is a legend for a reason. I want that target more than ever now.”
I almost stopped breathing. “Perseus. The Perseus?”
Orion made a noise that warned me to tread carefully. “The one and only.”
“I’m lucky to be alive then,” I muttered. If Orion was telling the truth, then it truly was amazing that he’d left me alive. Just like any organization, ORUS had its cliques, outcasts and celebrities. Even I knew the story of how Perseus had been liberated along with his mentor, Leo. Mainly because usually the only way to leave ORUS was in a body bag. My own mentor, Andromeda, had cautioned me not to get any bright ideas about getting out.
Joining ORUS was like being reborn. Once you were in, there was no way out of the life unless you died again.
Which made me suddenly even more curious about the man I’d fought tonight.
“You know the legend of Perseus. I want him back.”
Easier said than done. “Look. Tonight was a bust, but I think I know another way in. Blake Security provides protection, but they have a whole section on their website dedicated to domestic violence. That’s my in.”
I held my breath and waited. Finally Orion spoke.
“You plan to pose as a victim?”
I could hear the skepticism in his voice. “By this time tomorrow, I’ll be black and blue. The bruises will only make my story more believable. Once I’m in and they trust me, I’ll have unrestrained access to the target.”
“Do you think the Family will give you the additional time?”
It was something that I’d been worried about also. What if they called me off and sent in someone else? This was more than just a job. I had to do this. More than just my ORUS career was on the line here. Sabine was counting on me.
I ignored the little part of me that was excited at the thought of meeting the famous Perseus in the flesh.
“Go. If the Family authorizes it, then proceed with our plan as usual. As long as you bring Perseus to us after you send them something to convince them that he’s dead.”
He hung up and I tossed the phone on the bed. It wouldn’t be long before my contact in the Family was calling for an update so I put the SIM card in my other phone. Sure enough, that phone rang five minutes later.
“Status?”
“Not complete. Target was harder to kill than anticipated. I need more time.”
“No more time. Mission objective has changed.”
My heart sank. Were they pulling me off the job? If they sent someone else on this assignment then Sabine didn’t have a chance. I couldn’t give them any reason to decide that we were expendable.
“No, wait! I can do this. I already have a plan to get back in there.”
At least after outlining the plan to Orion, I was better prepared to explain it this time. However, my contact didn’t seem too impressed either.
“Proceed. However, Father has authorized us to tell you the target is part of a rival organization. He is an enemy of the Family along with several others that are close to him.”
“Do I have more than one target now?” My fingers tightened around the phone. If they asked me to take out multiple agents, this was going to be a problem. Orion had authorized me to go after the target because he needed him. If I was ordered to kill others, would he ask me to fake those missions, too? Or worse, kill them? I didn’t kill innocents.
“No. Target has not changed. However, the Family needs you to deliver a message to the target. From the shadows comes the sun.”
I repeated it to myself several times.
“You have one week,” the robotic voice continued. “Or your mission is aborted.”
“I understand,” I responded. “One week and I’ll send proof of death.”
“Do not fail again.” The line went dead.
I closed my eyes. After putting the phone down on the bed next to me, I allowed my head to fall back against the pillow. The events of the night had finally caught up to me and now that the adrenaline was wearing off, I felt like I’d been hit by a tr
uck.
But the pain was going to keep my mind on the task at hand. Because I couldn’t afford to be caught off-guard again. This was my last chance. Tomorrow, I would show up at Blake Security and pull off the acting job of my life.
I had to convince them to take me on as a client. Otherwise, I was just as dead as they were. The Family didn’t tolerate loose ends. If I couldn’t deliver, then I’d become just one more thread they planned to clip as they continued on their mission.
5
Matthias
For the last twenty-four hours, I had been trying to figure out what the hell had happened. You know what happened. Your past finally caught up to you. There’s someone better, and they got in to your system.
I shook my head to clear it and shored up all potential access points into the system again. Since yesterday, no more attacks, but I was ready… on edge. Everything that happened yesterday was my fault. I knew it. The guilt gnawed at me every time I looked at Isabella. Because I’d been hell-bent on revenge, someone had almost gotten her.
Yeah, but who? And how?
I was one hell of a hacker. There was a time when the name Matt would have someone shaking in their boots and doing whatever they could to protect themselves. But you haven’t been Matt in a long time. Maybe you’re losing your edge.
It was possible. When I’d been at my best it was when I’d been next to starving… desperate… in survival mode. No one was denying me food now. No one was trying to kill me. Maybe I had gone soft. Maybe someone had exploited that. But to come after Isabella, that made no sense. How would the Family even know about her? How would Father even know about her?
Father knows everything. I’d learned that the hard way a long time ago. That lesson had cost Gigi her life. And now my family was in danger.
But that was a lie. Father didn’t know everything. Because for years, I’d been costing the Family money. Disrupting business.
I was all too familiar with the head of the Family. And since being sold into ORUS, I had tried several times to find out the guy’s true identity. But to no avail. But likely the previous Orion had helped Father bury his identity. ORUS was one of the few organizations that had that kind of power.
I had only ever known him as Father. I’d only ever seen him twice, maybe three times, in my whole time with the Family, and I’d been born into that world… the underground of the underground… the disenfranchised, the thugs, the criminals.
The Family ran the part of brassy, dingy London that nobody wanted anyone to see. Yeah, well, not anymore. I would do what I had to do to take them down. Even if that meant leaving my new home and the people I cared about. I would do anything to protect them. But I had to do this. I had to take the Family down because of the kind of people they were. But if that fight was going to touch my family, I would leave.
Surprisingly, that thought made my heart squeeze. I frowned at that.
“If you’re frowning, we’ve got trouble.”
I glanced up from my laptop to see Ryan Delaney walk in. Delaney was only a year or so older than me. But somehow, I always looked at him as the kid, the younger one. He and Dylan were the newest recruits that had passed all their certifications. But they were more legitimate recruits, the kind that had gone to Uni and served their country. That sort of thing.
Not the kind that were bought and sold like cattle. Not the kind that had spent a lifetime killing. Our newest recruit, Tyce, was still being tested out. Only time would tell if he would last here. He was still having some extensive training, so he’d missed out on all the fun and excitement of yesterday. He was due back in a couple of days.
I nodded at Ryan. “Just trying to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
The guy studied me closely. “So you don’t think it was a one-off? You think someone’s after Isabella?”
I shrugged. “Not my job to speculate. It’s my job to find out how and fix it.”
Ryan seemed to sigh for a moment. And I knew I’d gotten that response wrong. This was the part where I was supposed to engage in conversation, to speculate and see if we could come up with some wild theories. We were supposed to bro it up here. I wasn’t really good at that. Dylan walked in the conference room next, followed by Rafe and then Noah. Noah’s face said it all: a mask of no nonsense and what the fuck.
When everyone was seated, he turned to me first. “Where are we now?”
I responded with a direct stare. “I’ve got all routes blocked. Attacks are stopped for now, but they’ll come back. I’ll need some more processing power to really lock it down. And honestly, like I’ve said before, I think it’s time we go to a completely offline network. It’s much harder to hack and if they want to hack us, they’ll have to come directly here. It’s a lot more expensive, but it’s safer. Right now, they hit us hard.”
I left out the part about how they’d been coming for us for weeks. That I’d managed to stave off all other comers. I also managed to leave out that I knew exactly who the attack was coming from. There was nothing Noah or anyone could do about it anyway. When the Family wanted you, they usually got you.
Well, not this time. I was going to protect this family. No matter what it took.
Noah pondered this for a moment. “Okay let’s do it… whatever the expense. We can afford it, but it worries me having a self-contained unit. More secure, but if we’re off-site harder for us to affect the outcome out in the field.”
I nodded. “This is true. We’ll need mobile command units every time we go out. It’ll be a little riskier for those who are in the field, but overall, you’ll be more protected.”
Noah nodded. “Fair enough.”
As the meeting went on, I could feel the tension vibrating around the table. They were all looking at me, wondering why I hadn’t been able to protect us from the kind of attacks we’d seen. They were wondering if I’d lost my touch.
They should be worried. Maybe I had lost my touch.
No. You didn’t lose your touch. They’re just coming for you with everything they’ve got.
After going over our open cases and trying to determine if it was best to temporarily move the women and Isabella out of the penthouse to somewhere safer, the meeting adjourned. I stayed for a moment longer, finishing up some of the work I had. But when I was done, I bypassed the living room and was walking past the kitchen when I heard Rafe and Noah talking.
“You can’t say you’re not concerned.”
“He’s got it together. He’ll be fine.”
It was Rafe’s voice that said, “Are you sure about that? You guys get all on my case about, you know, the not-killing-people-thing. He’s barely restrained, Noah. He’s hanging on by a thread. I think we’re past the point of thinking that everything will just turn out okay. You should have seen him. It’s not that he’s a trained killer. We all are. It’s not that I don't think he’ll protect every one of us with his life. Well, except me, because he’s already proven that he will. It’s in his eyes, Noah. His monster is ready to come out to play. And when it does, I’m not sure we’ll be able to stop him.”
Noah’s voice was harsh when he answered. “I seem to remember not so long ago when that was you. Your monster came out to play lots of times. As a matter of fact, you, brother, nearly killed me.”
Rafe’s voice went low. “That was different. I was under control. I was protecting my sister. Matthias is different. Look, I don’t know what deal you made to get him out of ORUS, and trust me, I understand where the kid is coming from. I understand that pain. I understand the killer inside him. But we can’t pretend anymore, Noah. Pretending is dangerous. He needs to see someone.”
My heart hammered against my ribs. I was certain that at any moment, I would feel the internal splintering of my bones. I wasn’t sure what was worse; knowing that Rafe could see that I didn’t have control anymore (if I ever had), or knowing that Noah was defending me without knowing the truth.
I was losing control. Everything I’d been doing—the lies of omissi
on I’d been telling, my need to go after Father and the Family—it was putting everything at risk. And the only person who could see it was the person most like me.
In the kitchen, I heard Noah’s low, “Fuck off, Rafe. He saved my daughter’s life. He stopped some psychopath from taking her.”
“I know. I was there. I watched him do it. He did everything he could to protect Isabella, and I’m grateful for that. All I’m saying is that we’re getting to that point. The kid needs more help than we can provide. Otherwise, it might not be safe to have him here.”
“End of conversation, Rafe.”
“You really think it’s safe having him just down the hall from your daughter? My niece?”
“The kid is loyal. He would never hurt Isabella.”
“What I’m saying is he might not know it if he did.”
Despite the pain dancing through my gut as I made it the rest of the way down the hall to my room, I knew one thing; Rafe was right about me. I was dangerous to have around.
It was only a matter of time before I lost control of the monster inside me.
Gemma
Was this outfit demure enough?
I certainly hoped so. I glanced down at myself. The skirt was made of polyester and rayon. Not an A-line, but not form fitting. It was just a skirt, plain in color —navy blue, slightly boxy. I’d worn a white shirt primly tucked in, one of the buttons missing in the middle deliberately, with the sleeves of the blouse rolled up.
Demure would work. It was what I needed. I needed to be plain, nondescript. If I was facing that killer again, I could show nothing of who I really was. It would be an amazing feat if I could walk into this den of killers and pull this off.
My jaw still smarted, and I gently worked it as the elevator lifted me floor by floor. My head was still ringing from the fight yesterday. He’d gotten in several hits. I’d gotten by without any sewing, but I’d needed glue stiches on my cheekbone. He hadn’t broken any bones, but bugger, everything hurt.
