Gaslight (Crossbreed Series Book 4)

by Dannika Dark

  I opened my armoire and slipped on a pair of jeans, a black hoodie, and my lace-up boots. Next, I brushed my teeth. I still had to clean them, but it was nice to know that immortals didn’t have to worry about things like cavities or tartar buildup. I couldn’t imagine going to the dentist for all eternity.

  After living on the streets for so long, I’d grown accustomed to not brushing my hair, so I combed my fingers through it and headed downstairs. Old habits die hard, and I still got ready in the morning as if I were about to make a run for my life.

  When I turned a corner, Wyatt smacked into me and gripped my arms, spinning us around.

  “You scared the crazy out of me!” he huffed out, his knit cap askew.

  “What’s the hurry? Did a freshy get in?”

  He headed toward the stairs. “I’m as hungry as a hippopotamus.”

  “For breakfast… or for Kira?”

  Wyatt jogged ahead of me. “Mee-yow. Someone sounds jealous.”

  “I’m not jealous.”

  “Okeydokey!” He disappeared at the second landing, but I kept my slow pace.

  It hadn’t escaped my attention that Wyatt had put on his nice jeans—the ones that always got him attention when we were out walking the streets. Instead of a T-shirt, he’d actually selected a grown-up shirt with buttons. Albeit the material was a brown plaid, but he’d still made an effort to look especially spiffy this morning.

  Okay. So maybe I was little jealous. Kira’s entry into Keystone was greeted with enthusiasm and puppy-dog eyes, whereas mine had been trial by fire. Granted, she wasn’t a hostile rogue who’d killed men for sport, but what did we really know about her?

  She probably couldn’t even boil water.

  When I veered right and entered the dining area, my jaw nearly unhinged. Blue’s peregrine falcon was perched on the back of Viktor’s chair. Steel-grey feathers spread from her crown to her wings, horizontal markings running down her cream-colored breast. Bird or not, Blue had a gaze that could make the toughest of men shiver in their boots.

  I scratched my neck. “Is she allowed to eat at the table like that?”

  Viktor gestured me over. “Come and sit. I cannot force her animal to change if she does not want to. We also have an agreement to eat together, so she is welcome at our table in any form.”

  “Just as long as she doesn’t poop on my plate,” Wyatt said, moving his dish a few inches away.

  Blue’s falcon twisted her head toward Wyatt and gave him a baleful look.

  When I strode up to the table, Claude’s nostrils twitched. He shifted in his seat from the opposite side and watched me. “What are you so frustrated about?”

  My jaw set as I circled behind Christian’s chair and sat next to Viktor. “That I wasn’t born with perfect hair.”

  Amused, Claude dropped the interrogation. I had to make more of an effort to suppress my emotions around him, and I was still flustered after my morning fantasy.

  Claude sat up, the height difference between him and his partner comical. He rubbed his hand down the front of his white tank top and groaned. “I have a long day ahead of me.”

  I tapped my black fingernail against the edge of my plate. “Don’t you get sick of cutting hair all day?”

  His golden eyes swung up, and he arched a brow. “It’s a trade I’m good at, and it’s rewarding to transform a female or male with something as simple as hair. But don’t get any ideas that all I do is sit around and sniff bleach. I was late to the party last night because a local official on the Shifter Council was speaking privately about a murder he ordered to his second-in-command. It’s illegal for a Councilman to put a hit on someone—that’s not how the system works.” Claude lifted his fork and blew a heated breath on the utensil before polishing it with his napkin. “Viktor and I are pondering what to do with the information.”

  Shepherd cleared his throat. “Smart move.”

  I slid my gaze around the table, waiting for someone to explain.

  When Shepherd looked up at me, he elaborated. “Sometimes we can use information to our advantage by not turning them in. Favors.”

  “Blackmail.”

  He rubbed the dark stubble on his face. “Semantics. Maybe the guy he killed had it coming, but it helps to have people high up on the ladder owe us for covering their ass.”

  “I can see that.”

  Claude hooked his arm over the back of his chair. “I have to be careful about turning people in. If my customers got wind that I was snitching, I’d be out of a job, and that doesn’t help Keystone. If we do decide to report him, it’ll take a little work to get the evidence we need. Shouldn’t be hard, but it might be easier to just squeeze the little man for a favor. People in his position fear getting caught; their crimes aren’t taken lightly.”

  Gem leaned forward to get Viktor’s attention. “Blue told me something last night about Kira.”

  Viktor unfolded his napkin and snapped it before laying it across his lap. “And what have I said about gossip?”

  Gem looked genuinely insulted. “It’s not gossip if she flaunted it in front of Blue.”

  Wyatt perked up. “Flaunted what?”

  Gem ignored him. “What do the symbols mean? I’d ask her myself, but she doesn’t speak English. And by the by, I went through all my books on dead languages in Bulgaria. What you two were speaking didn’t fit any of the patterns I’ve seen.”

  Viktor had a few whiskers on his beard that were sticking out in odd directions, begging for a trim. A faded smile touched his lips. “Wyatt and Shepherd have tattoos. Are you going to question them on the meaning?”

  “Well, if you’re going to be all enigmatic about it, I’ll just sit here and eat my plate of air.”

  Niko rocked with laughter. “Speaking of which, is Kira acquainted with using modern appliances? Perhaps that is the reason for the delay.”

  Gem chortled. “I gave her the full demonstration early this morning. You should have seen her expression when she saw what a blender could do. I couldn’t turn around for one minute. When I came back from the bathroom, she was trying to light firewood in the oven.”

  Viktor smiled warmly and got that distant look of nostalgia in his eyes. “Wood stoves were once commonplace. It adds a smoky flavor to the food that I miss with all these electric stoves. So much has changed over the years.”

  Gem elbowed Shepherd. “If it were up to the new girl, she’d probably have Viktor convert the entire kitchen back to ancient times. The poor woman would be cooking all day. There’s something to be said about modern conveniences,” Gem said matter-of-factly. “A food chopper can add minutes to your life.”

  “Microwaves changed my life,” Wyatt added, his green eyes swinging up as he disappeared into the past. “I still remember the summer of 1981 when I picked up my first—”

  “Woman?” Shepherd finished.

  Everyone laughed at Wyatt, who scowled.

  Christian’s hand suddenly brushed against mine beneath the table. Without Blue beside him, no one could see as he locked his pinky finger around mine for a good minute before resting his elbows on the table.

  Steepling his fingers, Christian eyed the kitchen entrance. “Should we send in a search party?”

  My knee bounced with nervous energy as thoughts about my Vampire assignment rattled around in my head. Though I didn’t have an appetite and wanted to head out to the club, I decided to sit with the team long enough to satisfy Viktor.

  In the open doorway behind Wyatt, Kira appeared. She held a foil-covered pan between two red oven mitts. Her red locks were tied up in a messy bun, and I guessed Blue must have lent her the long dress that she wore beneath her white apron. Shepherd and Gem branched apart so Kira could set the pan on a trivet. When she snapped away the foil, Claude growled, his eyes widening.

  There were so many omelets on the tray I couldn’t begin to count. They were beautifully garnished with tomatoes and some type of green sprig. Omelets were something I could take or leave, and eggs were th
e last thing I wanted after a night of drinking.

  “Holy Toledo, pass that down!” Wyatt exclaimed, drool wetting his lips.

  Kira used a wide spatula to fill Viktor’s plate before she returned to serve Shepherd and Gem.

  Claude wasn’t having it. He stood up and took the utensil from her hand. “Never serve me, female.”

  “Yeah, well, serve me,” Wyatt demanded. He hooked his finger over the corner of the pan to pull it toward him and hissed, snapping his arm back.

  Kira thumped him on the head with her oven glove before returning to the kitchen. It didn’t take long for Wyatt to get over his boo-boo and fill up his plate with not one but three omelets.

  Gem’s eyes widened after one bite. “This is divine. Was she a professional chef?”

  Viktor sliced into his omelet and folded it into his mouth. “People from the old country know how to cook real food. They raise their own animals and farm the land. Mmm.”

  When Kira returned, she set down a bowl of mixed fruit and a deep pan. Inside were large pieces of steak and roasted cherry tomatoes. Shepherd practically knocked over his glass when he went for the steak, putting a whole piece on his plate.

  Gem tapped her fork on the pan. “Uh, I think you’re supposed to slice off pieces of that. Not the whole thing.”

  The moment the meat touched his lips, his eyes closed. “Speak for yourself.”

  Christian found a green lollipop in his pocket and popped it into his mouth. “Always loved the smell of fresh carcass.”

  “You’re hardly a vegetarian,” I pointed out. “I bet you’d love to try some of that.”

  “Aye, but then where does it end? You indulge in one piece, then another. Next thing you know, you’re going to the toilet on a regular basis.”

  I began to wonder if that was the only reason Christian avoided eating. Not using the bathroom must have been a real time-saver for someone who used to be on guard duty twenty-four hours a day. Vampires didn’t need food to sustain them, nor did they require blood. They were immortal by means of their maker’s blood, and that magic threaded its way into their DNA. But Christian’s refusal had me speculating that it was a form of self-control, the same way he was compelled to collect litter from the ground.

  Or maybe I’m wrong and he just wants to punish himself for all the wickedness that lives inside him.

  I stared at my empty plate, feeling a smidge of guilt for psychoanalyzing Christian. I wasn’t a shrink. In any case, his peculiarities piqued my interest more than they had before.

  I stood up and pushed my chair in. “No offense, Blue, but I can’t eat with you watching me like a hawk.”

  Her falcon twisted her head, blue eyes wide and watchful. Usually birds had yellow eyes, but both Viktor and Blue retained their natural eye color in both human and animal form.

  Viktor dropped his knife onto his plate. “What have I said about skipping meals?”

  “Look, I’m not going to starve myself and lose all this muscle tone. But my body doesn’t need to eat as often, and sometimes I just can’t. That’s the way it is. I’ve got too much on my mind this morning, and I’m still hungover.”

  I wanted to remind him I was half-Vampire and to just accept it, but I hadn’t accepted it myself. Not really. So the words caught in my throat, and I swallowed them down.

  I snatched Christian’s lollipop from his mouth. “Come on, Vamp. I need a chauffeur.”

  “You need a lobotomy.”

  “Mind if I join you?” Niko asked, rising from the table.

  Viktor wiped his short beard with a napkin. “If you feel justified treating Kira rudely by leaving all this good food on the table, then by all means go.”

  Niko bowed. “Please tell her I mean no offense. And I have my suspicions there won’t be a crumb left to complain over.”

  “More for me,” Wyatt cheered around a mouthful of food. “Bye-bye now. Shep, why don’t you join them?”

  But Shepherd was eyeing a second piece of steak as he finished his first. And these were thick cuts not meant for any one man to consume in such a short time. Then again, Shepherd was no ordinary man.

  In one day, Kira had won over the team. I wasn’t sure where Blue stood, but no one raised any questions about Kira’s past or why she wanted to seclude herself from the world. She proved she could be invisible, doing her job quietly and stepping away. I wondered how much Viktor had told her about Keystone, but it wouldn’t take her long to figure out what we did for a living.

  Only then would we have the answer to our question—could she be trusted?

  Chapter 7

  Club High Jinx wasn’t especially busy at noon. Humans didn’t party day and night like Breed, so the early crowd showed up for lunch and a little music. What I liked about it were all the dark corners that made it easier to hide and watch people. The lights remained low, and every so often, laser lights would flash from the ceiling. It must have been a busy place during peak hours. Tables surrounded three sides of the dance floor. People didn’t come here for the food. They came to grind against each other like animals in heat.

  We settled down at a tall table to soak up our surroundings. I glanced over at a group of women having drinks at a nearby table. They were clearly into mysterious men who wore mirrored sunglasses in dark clubs. Niko was uniquely handsome. I was certain he was of mixed Japanese descent, if his blue eyes were anything to go by, and most women couldn’t take their eyes off a man with long hair.

  “You should take a short walk to the table behind you and talk to those girls,” I said to Niko. “They keep checking you out.”

  He sipped his tonic water. “I have no interest in humans.”

  “You have no interest in anyone,” I muttered, turning the page of the newspaper we’d bought on the way over.

  Christian, still standing, rested his forearms on the table to flex his biceps. His painted-on black T-shirt with a wide V-neck showed off his flawless skin, its warm undertones, and the light dusting of dark hair on his forearms. If you looked at his complexion long enough, it was all you could do not to touch it.

  “I didn’t think they made those anymore,” Christian remarked at the busty waitress who sauntered by.

  “Implants never go out of style,” I remarked.

  I could feel his look.

  He tapped his finger on the table. “I meant the fecking newspaper. Thought all you modern kids read your news on the phone.”

  “As it so happens, I love newspapers. The smell, the feel—the way the paper sounds when you turn the page. My dad used to let me read the comics, but I always liked the obituaries.”

  “You’re an oddity.”

  Maybe I was, but my father had written the best obituary ever for my mother. I hadn’t known about it until I was snooping through his things and accidentally found the clipping. After that, I began reading the obituaries. But no one had ever written anything as genuine and real as what my daddy had written for his one and only love.

  “Say what you want, but I like all the nice things that people say when someone dies.”

  He leaned over and peered at my paper. “See anyone you know? I’d wager you put half of them in there.”

  “These are the classifieds. I’m looking for a car. Something that speaks to my soul.”

  He pointed at an ad. “This one has no transmission. You’re practically soul mates.”

  While I couldn’t hear it over the music, a vibration rumbled in my stomach. “I should have ordered the mozzarella sticks.”

  Christian abruptly got up and left the table.

  I played with the ruby heart around my neck and stared at Niko. He’d kept his cloak on the whole time to conceal the katana on his waist.

  I pondered over what he had revealed about his past. An early life enslaved, a slain Creator, and no choice but to band with murderers as a means to survive. I recalled how surprised Cyrus was to learn Niko had become a capable, independent warrior. What in the world was life like a thousand years ago? A blind
man would have been lost without guidance.

  Years of struggle I’d never fully understand.

  Christian reappeared with a basket of mozzarella sticks and set them in front of me.

  “Where did you get those?”

  “Leftovers,” he said, pointing to a table filled with empty glasses and food baskets.

  It wouldn’t be the first time I’d eaten unwanted food. Besides, I had bigger concerns at the moment than cooties. I took a bite and wrinkled my nose. “They’re cold.”

  “Jaysus wept. Children are starving, and you want your cheese heated up.”

  Niko reached across the table and then cupped his hands around the breaded sticks. Moments later, they were steaming.

  Christian’s jaw set. “Well, isn’t that astonishing?” He briskly turned away and muttered, “Show-off.”

  God love that man. He was just as bullheaded as I was.

  “Niko, can I ask you something?”

  He smiled with closed lips. “Has anything ever stopped you before?”

  I chuckled. “Nope. Why don’t you invite those women over to our table?”

  “I wouldn’t know what to say to them.” Niko lifted his glass and swallowed a sip before setting it back down on the napkin. “I can’t see them to compliment them, and I can’t dance. You tell me what the conversation starter is.”

  “Hi, I’m Niko. I smelled your perfume and couldn’t resist coming over. Would you ladies like to join me for a drink?” I hopped out of my seat and tugged on his shirt. “Come on. You’ve spent so much time around Breed that you’re out of touch. Do it for me.”

  The redhead perked up when she saw Niko rise from his seat. Her eyes were as green as shamrocks, and when he turned to face the women, a blush tinted her fair complexion.

  I stood behind Niko, my voice low. “There’s one round table between you and them. All the chairs are pushed in except the one on the left, so go around the right side. That’ll take you closer to the girl who’s paying special attention to you. I’d tell you she has red hair, but that wouldn’t make a difference.”