“I won’t beat around the bush, Ryker,” Silas began. “My sister was stabbed four days ago. There was sulfralite residue in the wound.”
Ryker stilled, his face showing the slightest lines of worry. “Sulfralite? Are you quite certain? That is a substance even I have trouble obtaining.”
“Quite certain,” Silas said. “Grateful was able to negate the effects, but when our sister woke up, she said it was a dragon who stabbed her.”
Ryker picked up a pen and tapped it rhythmically on his thigh. “I haven’t felt a dragon’s presence in this city for some time. Not since Nickelova.”
“Exactly. That’s why we’re here,” Jason said. “Do you still have her heart?”
“You’re afraid her heart was reunited with her body and that she is the one who stabbed your sister?”
Silas spread his hands. “Do you have the heart or not?”
“Nickelova’s heart is in a safe place. A safer place than this. I can assure you that it is nowhere near Nickelova.”
“Where is it?”
“In a safe place,” he drawled. “That is the only explanation you need. If I told everyone who asked where it was, the place would no longer be safe now, would it?”
“You’re sure, though?” Jason asked.
“I held it in my hands as recently as yesterday. The heart is safe.” Ryker tapped the pen harder against his leg. “It has not been returned to Nickelova’s chest.”
Silas lurched forward and grabbed Ryker by the collar. “You’re lying. Tell me where the heart is.”
Ryker’s eyes blazed with internal fire.
“Knock it off, Silas,” Jason said, tugging at his shoulder. “This isn’t necessary.”
Ryker wrapped his hand around Silas’s wrist. “Unhand me,” he said in a steady, calm tone. “I am not your enemy.”
There was something other than denial burning in Ryker’s eyes. It was almost like… pity. Yes, pity. A chill rippled through Silas’s body. He released Ryker and backed away. “It was you, last night.”
“What was him?” Jason asked, looking between the two.
Ryker tilted his head to the side but said nothing.
Silas’s gaze roved around the room, coming to rest on a bit of red sticking out from one of the shelves. He pushed the clutter aside. A mask. A silky red mask, splattered with blood. It didn’t make sense. Soleil hated Ryker. She’d mentioned on multiple occasions how draining she found the incubus. There was so much he wanted to say, but only one word came out of the fog of his befuddled brain. “Why?”
Ryker stood and opened the door to his office. “The heart is safe. Any other information you wish to know, you’ll have to find out somewhere else. As for last night…” He leveled a knowing look on Silas. “It is not my story to tell.”
Feeling dazed and confused, Silas allowed Jason to usher him from the office, past the line that had formed at the counter. “What the hell was that all about?” Jason asked. “What happened last night?”
“Can you go check on Laina?” Silas asked Jason. “I need to follow up on something.”
“Seriously? You’re not going to tell me what’s going on?”
“Please.”
Jason nodded. “Fine. I’ll see you back at the hospital.”
Silas split from his brother in the darkening twilight and headed in the direction of the bordello.
Silas arrived at Maison des Étoilles without any idea of what he intended to say. He only knew that he needed to confront Soleil. He needed to hear from her own lips why she’d come to him, trying to reconcile, only to do what she did with Ryker immediately afterward. He didn’t want her back. He had crossed that bridge and burned it behind him months ago. But there was more to this. Something was off about the situation. He felt it down to his soul.
“Mr. Flynn! Is Madam Soleil expecting you?” The fae holding the door wore a gown of stars. Her name was Astrial. Silas knew her well.
“No. Is she available?”
Astrial smiled sweetly. “We have strict instructions to show you back at any time.” She turned her body and gestured toward the hall. “I trust you remember where to find her.”
“I remember,” Silas murmured.
He strode down the dimly lit hall to Soleil’s room, remembering the many times he’d been here before. The door opened before he had a chance to knock, revealing the bright décor that seemed to magnify Soleil’s glow: a white marble floor, a bubbling fountain, walls of windows. The room was crowded with plants that thrived from the light she put off.
“Silas!” she said excitedly. She tossed her arms around his neck and pulled him into the warmth of the room. “Come in. I’m so glad you came. I was going to call you.”
He staggered forward, blinded by her bright glow. She was overwhelming, the heat, the intensity, the fresh smell of her skin. The door closed behind them. He pushed her away.
“Soleil, we need to talk.”
“Sounds serious.” She smiled and backed toward a padded bench near the fountain. Her white dress fluttered against her golden skin. It was impossible to think of her as the same woman who’d done the things he’d seen her do. She looked sweet, innocent. But he knew better.
“I saw you,” he murmured.
“What?” She sat down, crossing her legs and patting the seat beside her.
“I saw you last night. With Ryker.”
Soleil’s face fell, her eyebrows sinking in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“I followed you to the club and watched what you did from the observation area. I saw you with Ryker.”
“Wh… why? Why would you do that? Why did you follow me?” She pressed her hands to her heart.
“They found a substance in Laina’s wound—one only a demon could obtain. I’d heard you were dating a demon. I knew he couldn’t use the substance on you, but I wanted to make sure he wasn’t manipulating you in another way.”
“Ryker didn’t use any substance on me.” She tucked her chin and looked up at him with an expression of betrayal. “I went of my own free will. I wasn’t manipulated. Is that what you want to know?”
“You don’t owe me an explanation. You can do what you want. But after all the times you complained about Ryker, I wondered why. Does he have something over you?”
“He isn’t holding anything over me.” Soleil’s voice wavered with her words. Tears like liquid fire carved bright paths down her cheeks. “You stupid bastard. You have no idea what you saw.”
“Enlighten me then.” Silas sat down beside her.
“Ever since you told me Alex was back, I’ve been working to find him for you. I’ve sent you every scrap of information that comes through these walls.”
“Thank you,” he said. “But I have to be honest. The names haven’t panned out. It’s always like Alex is two steps ahead of me. Do you share the names with anyone other than me?”
“No,” she said firmly. “It became clear to me that we were missing a key factor. The type of help Alex is getting isn’t only from one healer or one vampire. There’s something else going on here. Something much bigger.”
“I have the same sense. Alex is acting strangely, running when he could fight. And now Laina and the sulfralite—”
“Sulfralite?”
“That’s what they found in her body. That’s why I suspected the demon.”
“Ryker had nothing to do with the sulfralite.”
“So he says.”
She brushed back a blond tress from her face. “Listen to me, Silas. I wanted to help you, but it became clear to me that there’s only one person who has the power to find Alex before he’s completely healed and it’s too late.”
“Who?”
Soleil sighed and strode to a particular square in the marble floor. “The one person who knew Alex best. The one who planned and schemed with him. The one creature strong enough to fight him and knowledgeable enough about his power to make a difference for us.”
She waved a hand over the til
e and the heavy marble popped from the floor. She slid it aside. Her delicate, long-fingered hands dipped into the opening and retrieved a purple velvet sack.
“No,” Silas muttered.
“It’s been perfectly safe here. The floor is impenetrable as long as I’m alive.”
“Is that what I think it is?”
“I cannot help you find Alex. He’s too careful. The only one who can track him is the one from whom his power comes. Nickelova.” She reached into the bag and pulled out a giant ruby the size of a large fist. It throbbed with an inner light from the cradle of her palm.
“Ryker gave that to you? I thought you said that a demon wouldn’t give up a dragon’s heart for anything?”
She snorted. “No, Ryker did not give it to me.” Her face grew quite serious. “An incubus feeds on sex and sexual energy. I traded him what you saw last night for a few weeks with the heart. It’s a loan, not a gift. He thinks I’m using it to bolster the energy here. He thinks it will remain locked in my floor.”
Silas wrapped his hands around the dragon’s heart. “You had public sex with Ryker to get this for me?”
“Yes.”
A deep, hostile anger flared behind Silas’s breastbone. “You shouldn’t have done that,” he said through his teeth. “It’s not fair for you to put that on my shoulders.”
“I’m not blaming you. It was nothing for me to do it. I am what I am. And it needed to be done.” She stood, stepping in close to the dragon heart cradled in his hands. “I had the currency Ryker wanted. I used it to buy you what you needed... because I care about you.”
“Soleil, I’d never want you to do that.” He scowled at her, bile rising in his throat.
“Why? Why do you care what I do?”
“I care for you as a friend. You know I care. It’s not what it used to be, but I still care.”
She backed away. “But only if I play by your rules, right?”
“No. I’ll always be your friend. Even though we’re not together anymore, I still want what’s best for you. And Ryker is not what’s best for you.”
She stopped, her hands balling into fists. “Can’t you see I did this for you?”
“I can, but you shouldn’t have. I don’t know what you expected would come of this—”
“I wanted you!” she said. “I wanted to prove to you that I still love you.” She blinked her blue eyes at him.
He shook his head. “It’s not like that anymore for me. We were at a crossroads, and we both went in opposite directions. There’s no going back.”
She wept in earnest. He reached out a hand to comfort her, but she shook her head. “Take the heart. Wake Nickelova. Find Alex. And then think long and hard if you are willing to lose me forever.”
“Soleil…” Silas slipped the heart back into the purple bag and backed toward the door. He didn’t feel good about this. It was like she was hanging on to some hope that wasn’t there. “Good-bye, Soleil.”
She turned away from him, her eyes fixating on her fountain. He left before she could say another word.
Chapter 11
By the time Silas reached his brick bungalow, Logan was waiting on the porch.
“You could have let yourself in.”
“After last time, I thought I’d play it safe.” He rubbed his chest where Silas had stabbed him. “Actually, I just got here. What’s in the bag?”
Silas looked both ways and let him in the front door before answering. “Nickelova’s heart.”
“You’re kidding. How did you manage to pry that from Ryker’s demon fingers?”
“I didn’t. Soleil did. She traded herself for the heart.”
Logan whistled through his teeth. “Ryker was the demon she was seeing.”
“Yeah.” Silas rubbed Maggie’s ears. “So, I need you to protect the heart while it’s here. Do you think Polina can put a stronger enchantment around the house?”
“I’ll make sure of it.”
Silas scratched behind one ear. “No exception for Soleil this time, okay?”
“Afraid she’s going to change her mind?”
“Or he will.” He sighed. “We’re obviously not on the same page anymore.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
With a nod of his head, Silas handed Logan the heart and moved into the kitchen to feed Maggie.
“About that protective enchantment…” Logan leaned against the doorjamb. “Do you want an exception for Meredith?”
Silas glanced at the clock. “Oh fuck, Meredith! I gotta go.” Silas ran his hand through his hair. “I was supposed to meet her.”
“At Valentine’s?” Logan gave him a pitying look. “She was in earlier. Hate to tell you, but she was pretty upset when she left.”
“Fuck!”
“I would have called, but I had no idea it was about you.”
“I need to go to her. Can you watch the heart?”
Logan held up the bag. “I’ll take care of it. What else do I have to do? Just run a restaurant and help Polina with her duties as an immortal witch. Babysitting your heart is exactly what I wanted to do with my night. “
“You’re the best.” Silas slapped his friend on the shoulder and jogged for the car.
Meredith blotted under her eyes with a tissue. “Stupid. I’m so stupid. Why did I think this would work out?” She poured herself a glass of wine and tried to forget how beautiful Silas’s ex-girlfriend was. He was probably there now, laughing at how dumb she was to believe she might have a date with the alpha.
She dialed her mother and was relieved when she picked up on the first ring. “Mom, it’s Meredith. You won’t believe what I did tonight. Total foolishness on my part.”
“This isn’t a good time, honey,” her mother said. Her voice sounded subdued, depressed even. Meredith had hoped she’d have snapped out of the funk she’d been in by now, but instead, the depression she’d suffered since Alex murdered her father only seemed to grow deeper by the day.
“Mom, did you eat today?”
“Of course I ate.”
“Oh, good. And you got out of bed, right?”
“Seriously, Meredith, I don’t have time for this. I simply have other things I need to do.”
“Okay.” She frowned. It sounded like her mother wanted her off the phone. Maybe she did have somewhere to be. “I was thinking of coming home to shift this month during the full moon. I don’t want to shift at Rivergate.”
Her mother blew out a deep breath. “I won’t be here.”
“What?”
“I’m taking a trip. You know, it’s time for me to move on. Maybe I’ll visit the ocean.”
“A trip? With who? When did this happen?”
“Oh, just some friends. Don’t worry if you can’t contact me. We may be out of reach for a few days.” She paused. “It’s time for me to do this.”
“Mom, I’m so happy. I think this will be good for you.”
“I certainly hope so. Now, I really have to go.”
After a hasty good-bye, Meredith hung up the phone. Great. Even her mother had better things to do than talk to her.
Still weeping, she undressed and wrapped herself in her fluffy pink bathrobe. Why couldn’t she stop crying? Was it because she was thirty-four, never married, and desperately wanted to be? Was it the fact that her dreams of having a family were drifting away on the tide of estrogen that flowed daily from her body, leaving her with one more wrinkle, one more potential gray hair? She didn’t have any yet, but she could feel them, right below the surface of her scalp, ready to burst forth and transform her from Spiderman’s Mary Jane to Aunt May overnight.
Or was it because she liked Silas? He was strong, sometimes gruff, but ultimately kind. His loyalty to the pack and his family was something any woman would want to be part of. He was honorable and intelligent, all wrapped up in a tight ass and broad chest. Goddess he was attractive. The kiss they’d shared had seemed so authentic. But then, why had he stood her up?
She tucked a box of
tissues under her arm, grabbed her wine glass and the bottle, and headed for the bathroom. A long soak in the tub and a few glasses of chardonnay and she’d be as good as new. She turned on the water in the bathtub, then rested her wine on the sink while she blew her nose. She refilled her glass.
Maybe she’d get a cat. She’d been thinking about getting a cat. A rescue. One that no one else wanted—like her. She drank again. Blew her nose again.
She was about to refill her glass a third time when a strange sound made her turn the water off and listen. The sound came again. Doorbell. Oh fuck. Someone was at the door.
Chapter 12
When Silas pulled up to the tiny yellow house that matched the address Manahan gave him, he had to smile. For Meredith’s hardheaded attitude, her home was ultrafeminine. Freshly planted pansies lined both sides of the walk, and a wreath of grapevine and huckleberry graced her door. The front porch was tastefully decorated with potted plants and trees. He pressed the doorbell next to the cherry red door.
He heard shuffling and then the lace curtains moved aside. A muffled curse came from somewhere behind the peephole. The door didn’t open. He imagined her standing there, hoping he’d go away.
“Meredith, I’m so sorry,” he said through the door. “I should have called, but I was distracted. I had a break in the case today.”
After a short beat, her voice called back, “Just a minute.” There were running footsteps, scrapes, and a loud thunk. She cursed.
“Are you okay?”
A few seconds later the deadbolt gave way.
The puffy pink bathrobe she wore was stained at the collar with the remnants of what he thought was mascara, but Meredith must have washed her face because she wasn’t wearing a stitch of makeup. Only her red-rimmed eyes gave away the truth that she’d been crying. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, the ends still curled as if it had been done earlier. And her shoulders slumped.
Vengeance: A Knight World Novel (Fireborn Wolves Book 3) Page 8
