Ravenous

by Forrest, V. K.

  Mai peered over his shoulder. “See what I mean? There’s no place to hide diamonds.”

  Kaleigh, leaning over his other shoulder, reached out and closed her thumb and forefinger around the edge of one wall of the box. “It’s just one piece. No hollow wall. What about the bottom?”

  Liam placed the box back on the dresser and squatted so that he was eye level with it. Prince approached again, as if he needed to examine the box more closely, too.

  Liam ran his finger along the front. On the bottom, there were two drawers. Each had a knob, but the outlines of the drawers were merely carved into the wood and painted over; they were obviously fake drawers, an illusion created for decorative reasons. There was no break in the wood.

  “Fake drawers,” Mai explained. “This one handle comes off all the time.” She reached out, pulled it, and it popped off. “I just superglue it back on.” She shoved it back in again.

  Liam flipped the box upside down, then right side up. Still studying it, he reached under the pant leg of his jeans and took a knife from its holster. It wasn’t his ceremonial knife; he wasn’t permitted to carry that except when he was sent out to do the High Council’s bidding. But it was a good knife and he kept it well-sharpened.

  “Guns. Knives. You’re a scary guy,” Mai said, only half-kidding.

  Kaleigh frowned, shaking her head. “He’s really not all that scary; he just wants us to think so,” she said in a pseudo-whisper behind his back.

  Liam drew the knife along the indentation of the drawers, cutting through the paint. “Come on,” he murmured. “There’s got to be a drawer here.” He dug deeper with the tip of the knife.

  Mai looked at Kaleigh. “I don’t think there’s a drawer,” she said, sounding defeated again.

  “There’s got to be a drawer,” Liam insisted. He had truly believed the diamonds would be here. He had thought he would find them and save the day. Save the girl. But there was no fake drawer. No diamonds.

  “Break the damned thing!” Mai cried angrily. Reaching past Liam, she grabbed the box from his hand and slammed it as hard as she could on the hardwood floor.

  At the sound of the shattering box, Prince yipped and sprinted for the door.

  The thin wood splintered, leaving nothing but a pile of red velvet and black lacquer. “See? No diamonds,” Mai said, tears running down her cheeks.

  Kaleigh stood beside Mai, staring at the mess at their feet. She was wearing a pink knit hat with a pom-pom on top that moved with her. Slowly, she squatted and picked up one of the drawer pulls. “How big are these diamonds?”

  “Not big. Around a carat each.” Liam started to sheath his knife.

  “Gimme that thing.” Kaleigh opened and closed her hand. When Liam didn’t respond at once, she flashed him a look that surprised him. It was one of authority. Authority he dared not challenge.

  “Be careful,” he warned. “You could—”

  Kaleigh put the drawer pull on the dresser and, holding the flat side of the blade, hit it hard with the handle of the knife. The wood shattered and diamonds shot across the dresser.

  “Oh, God! Oh, God!” Mai screamed, shaking her hands, then covering her face. “It’s the diamonds!” She spun in a circle. “I can’t believe it’s really the diamonds.”

  As astounded as Mai, Liam picked up the other drawer pull from the ruined box on the floor and handed it to Kaleigh.

  “You want to do it?” the teen asked, offering the knife to Liam.

  “No. I think you deserve the satisfaction.”

  Kaleigh broke open the other drawer pull and Mai threw herself into Liam’s arms. “Please tell me you can make this work. Please tell me you can save my father. Please, Liam. I don’t care about the other stuff.” She gazed into his eyes, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. “You know what I mean. I don’t care.”

  Meanwhile, Kaleigh scooped up the diamonds, dropping them into the velvet tray they had left on top of the dresser.

  Liam pulled Mai close to him, his heart pounding. “I can do this, Mai.” He was so overcome by emotion that he could barely speak. He told himself it wasn’t real, this ache he felt for the human in his arms, but it was real, all right. Painfully real.

  “Now what do we do?” Kaleigh asked cheerfully, checking behind the lamp for wayward diamonds.

  “First things first. We’re taking you home. Then I’ll contact the Weasel.”

  “Taking me home?” Kaleigh picked up the tray of diamonds. “I’m not going home.”

  Liam stared at the jewels; there was barely more than a thimbleful. It was hard to believe they were worth so much money, let alone human lives.

  “You’re going home.” Liam walked into Mai’s bathroom and came out with a medicine bottle from an old antibiotic prescription. “You’re going home and then I’m making a phone call to Brooklyn.”

  “You have a number?” Mai asked.

  “He called me. The Weasel.” He took the lid off the bottle, took the tray of diamonds, and began to carefully dump them into the bottle.

  “And you didn’t tell me?”

  “I didn’t want you to be upset.” He screwed the lid on tightly and added the bottle to the pocket already holding Corrato’s finger. “Let’s go,” he barked, suddenly anxious to get this over with. He wouldn’t be able to sleep until he got rid of the damn diamonds, until Corrato was safe. “Kaleigh, get the dog.” He walked out of the bedroom, flipping the light switch off as he stepped into the hall.

  Kaleigh and Mai followed him.

  “I can’t believe you’re making me go home, Liam McCathal,” Kaleigh argued, cradling Prince in her arms. “I swear, you’re going to owe me for this one.”

  Liam took the steps two at a time. “Put it on my tab.”

  Chapter 28

  Mai stood in the doorway of Liam’s bedroom, watching him reassemble the pistol that lay in pieces on his bed. It was late afternoon, but not dark yet. He was meeting the Weasel at four, in the park in the middle of town. There, he would exchange the diamonds for her father.

  Mai held her father’s dog to her chest and stroked his sleek, silky-soft back. She hated guns. They scared her. To her knowledge, growing up, there had never been one in their house. But maybe that wasn’t true. Right now, it seemed as if her whole childhood had been a lie. She clung to the idea that her father hadn’t known about any of the incidences he had recorded in that crossword puzzle book. She told herself he’d written it all down long after the fact, maybe just in the last few months. But she didn’t really believe it. She knew he had known about some of that stuff, even if he’d never actually participated. So maybe her childhood hadn’t been a lie, but it had certainly been a life based on deception. Corrato Ricci was not the man she had believed he was.

  Even knowing that, she still loved him. No matter what he had done beyond the walls of their home, he had never been anything but good to her. She knew he loved her and she still wanted him safe in her arms, reunited with his little dog.

  Mai watched Liam. “You said this was going to be a peaceful exchange. You’re doing it in the park. Anyone could drive by. See you. See them. I don’t understand why you need that if you’re not expecting any trouble.”

  “I’m not expecting any trouble. The Weasel just wants his diamonds back. But just because I’m not expecting any trouble doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be prepared for it.”

  “I wish you would let me go. I feel awful, allowing you to put yourself at risk this way.” She walked into his room, still cuddling the dog. “I’ve been thinking—I should make the exchange.”

  Prince whined and she set him on the floor. He seemed to sense something important was about to take place. Instead of sitting, or jumping up on the bed, he began to pace, his nails clicking on the hardwood floor.

  “There’s no way I’m letting you go, Mai.”

  “But this isn’t your problem. And . . . and it might be safer for everyone if I go. If I take the diamonds. They’re not going to hurt me because I’m n
ot physically a threat.”

  She took a deep breath, painfully afraid of what was coming. What had been coming since the day they met. No matter what happened, whatever she and Liam had found together would soon be over. She could feel it in the air . . . in her heart. “You should let me do this and then we’ll just go home, Babbo and I.”

  “You’re not going.” The gun reassembled, he pushed an ammunition clip into it and chambered a round. It made an ominous click.

  She flinched at the sound. “I’m scared, Liam.”

  “No need to be scared.” He got off the bed, pushed the gun into the rear waistband of his jeans, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’m going to get your dad. You’re going to stay here. If anything goes wrong, if your father and I don’t come back in a reasonable amount of time, you call the number I left on the table. That’s Aedan’s number. Just tell him I told you to call him and that you need to get out of here.”

  Their conversation was becoming surreal. Was this really happening? “Get out of here?”

  “You don’t need to worry. Nothing bad is going to happen. Promise.” He slipped on his leather jacket. “I should go.”

  “It’s still early. You’re not supposed to be there for an hour.” She heard the panic in her voice. “I don’t want you to go.” She bit down on her lower lip. She wouldn’t tell him again that she loved him. What was the point? She’d said it. He knew it. It would only make the inevitable harder. Maybe for both of them.

  “Come here.” He opened his arms.

  She fought tears as she wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest. She could feel the heat of his body through his shirt; she could feel his heart beating steadily. She also felt the handle of the pistol he’d hidden under his coat. “There’s no way I can thank you for what you’ve done.” She lifted her head, opening her eyes to look into his.

  He shifted his gaze to something distant in the room. “I need to go, Mai. I’ll be back in a little more than an hour.” He wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb and kissed her hard on the mouth.

  Mai clung to him, fearing this would be their last kiss. She took his mouth hungrily, never wanting it to end.

  He pushed her arms down. “I have to go,” he said firmly. “I want to get there before they do. Get my bearings.” He hesitated. “This is what I do, Mai. I’ll be fine.”

  She hugged herself, feeling more lost and forlorn than she had ever felt as a child. “I’ll be right here,” she told him. “I’ll be waiting.” She followed him out of the room, down the hall to the door.

  “Lock it behind me,” he said.

  And then he was gone.

  Liam felt a nervous energy as he went down the steps. He shook out his hands. This was a familiar feeling, one that went through him every time he went out on assignment for the sept. Despite the possible impending danger, it felt good. This, he could handle: the adrenaline rush of apprehension, the risk of threat to himself and others. This was far easier than dealing with the feelings that coursed through him every time he took Mai into his arms . . . every time she smiled at him.

  Once this was over, once the diamonds had been returned to the Weasel and Corrato was safe, Liam decided he was going to go before the Council and demand to be heard. He was going to demand that he be granted his hearing. Immediately. And he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. He was tired of their bullshit, of the stalling. If they weren’t going to give him his job back, then he had a right to know.

  What would he do, if that was their decision? He didn’t know. The punishment would last a hundred years. This lifetime and the next. Maybe he’d become a mercenary for other vampires. It wasn’t permitted, but there were ways around being officially sanctioned, if the operation was for a good cause. As in the human world, some things in the vampire world didn’t fit neatly into square boxes. There would always be garbage that needed tending to.

  But that would never happen. He had the highest kill count, the highest success rate in the sept. They’d be idiots not to let him go back to work. And it wasn’t as if the Gaudet brothers hadn’t deserved to die. . . .

  Liam took his time navigating the snowy street. They’d gotten about ten inches, and though the county snowplows had come through the day after the storm, there wasn’t much activity in the town, even two days later. The Kahill vampires were all nestled in their cute little bungalows, drinking hot chocolate and playing Scrabble, enjoying the freedom the winter brought them. Without human tourists around, they were all relaxed. Almost carefree. At least as carefree as any vampire could be.

  The park was about half the size of a city block. Arriving, he drove the perimeter. He and the Weasel had agreed to meet at the fountain near the southeast corner of the park. It could be seen easily from the road, especially this time of year when the greenery had died back. There were benches around the fountain, which had been drained for the winter and covered with tarps.

  Liam decided to park on a street running perpendicular to the street where he assumed the Weasel would park. The guy was old. He wouldn’t want to walk far, especially in the snow.

  Liam was just getting out of his car when his phone rang. “Shit,” he muttered. If it was the Weasel, if he wanted to change the meet—

  It was his mother. He ignored the call.

  She called again.

  Then a third time.

  “Ma, I’m busy,” he said into the phone, halting on the sidewalk in front of Elly and Mac Hill’s house. Someone had built a snowman. With fangs made from twigs. “That’s why I didn’t pick up.”

  “You should have called me. You promised to call me and tell me what happened at the Council meeting.”

  He watched a female cardinal flutter from one icy elm branch to another in the Hills’ front yard. “You know very well my case hasn’t been heard. Your spies keep you up-to-date. I figured I didn’t need to.”

  “I don’t like hearing news about my son from other people. Your brother calls me.”

  He rubbed his temple. “Ma, I can’t do this now.” Hearing a car, he stepped behind the Hills’ pickup, parked on the street. He recognized the vehicle. He continued down the sidewalk. “Can I get back to you?”

  “You won’t.”

  He exhaled, suddenly feeling tired. Worn out right to his bones. “I will, Ma,” he said gently. “In a couple of hours.”

  “See that you do.”

  Liam hadn’t taken ten steps when the phone rang again. “Ma!” he snapped. “I said I can’t talk.”

  “I’m sorry. Expecting a call, sonny?”

  It was the Weasel. He knew the raspy voice.

  It took Liam a split second to change gears and refocus. “Is there a problem?”

  “No problem,” the Weasel said. “I just wanted to make sure you had the girl with you. The daughter.”

  “No. No, that wasn’t part of the agreement. There’s no need for her to get involved. She never knew anything about her father’s dealings with you.”

  “His dealings?”

  “You know what I mean.” Liam eyed the fountain and the surrounding area. He saw no unfamiliar cars. Nothing was not as it should be.

  “I want the girl there. With you. Just so you don’t get any crazy ideas in your head about keeping my merchandise.”

  Liam heard mumbling in the background, then a different voice on the phone. It was an old man, but not the Weasel this time. It was Corrato.

  “Liam, that you?” Corrato said in a faint voice.

  “Corrato. You okay? I’ll be waiting for you. You understand? I’ll be here.”

  “You’ll be there.” Corrato’s voice cracked. “Take care of Mai. Don’t let anything—”

  “That’s enough.” The Weasel came back on the line. “Four o’clock, at the fountain. With the girl.”

  Liam stood staring at the phone for a second and then turned to walk back to the van. He didn’t like this, but honestly, he was surprised the Weasel hadn’t said to begin with that Mai had to
be present for the exchange. The bastard knew very well that Corrato’s daughter was as important to him as he was to her.

  Fifteen minutes later, he was back at the park, this time with Mai. She wore a puffy yellow ski jacket and multicolored knit gloves. They didn’t talk on the way. There was nothing to say.

  He pulled in front of the Hills’ house again and they got out.

  “No, you have to stay,” Mai said, when Prince tried to hop out. She grabbed him and sat him on the passenger seat. He tried to jump out again and she had to hold him back with one hand and close the door quickly, pulling her hand out at the last second.

  Prince began to bark.

  She walked to the rear of the van and looked back. The farther she got from the van, the louder Prince barked.

  “Shut him up,” Liam ordered, glancing around. They didn’t need a vampire audience when this went down.

  “I can’t.” She went back to the van window. “Prince, hush.”

  Liam watched from the sidewalk as the rat terrier put its paws on the window and barked wildly. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” he swore. He unlocked the door, using the remote on the key. “We’ll have to take him with us.”

  Mai opened the door, grabbed the dog, and hurried after Liam. “Sorry,” she murmured, tucking him under her arm. “He won’t be any trouble. I swear it.”

  “We should have left him at the apartment.” Liam pulled on his thin leather gloves.

  “But my dad will want him.” She didn’t look at him when she spoke. “I don’t expect you to understand.”

  They walked in silence for a few steps. “You stay behind me. You understand? They let your father out of the car, you don’t go running through the snow toward him. This isn’t a movie.” He hadn’t meant it to come out so harshly, but maybe it was just as well. Maybe it would make the good-byes a little easier.