by Dannika Dark
“Call Christian up here to ask her,” I suggested.
Her eyes widened at the threat.
On cue, the basement door swung open. “We may need to borrow your fire pit later, Novis,” Christian said in a jovial tone. “Someone help Justus get some answers from the fang while I work my magic on the damsel in distress.”
Logan moved straight through the room like a match racing along sandpaper on the verge of igniting. The basement door slammed behind him and I shuddered.
Christian lifted a footstool and swung it around in front of Cheri. He took a seat and didn’t seem to take notice that Adam was sharpening his light in vain as his fingers flexed.
“Let Christian question her,” I said. Adam was reaching to take her hand and he glared at me. In that moment, he knew that I was the one leading the witch-hunt. “I’m not doing this to hurt you, Adam. But you need to see that she’s lying to you and to everyone.”
“How did the Vampire get in, Cheri?” Christian lightly held her small wrist and drew in her gaze. Within seconds, her expression went blank and the confession began.
Her entire story was a ruse. During captivity, Nero broke her will to resist. Cheri was weak in spirit, so he left her behind for a reason. After the raid, Nero got in touch and offered her a substantial amount of money to work as a spy. She helped plan the explosion by exposing the security weaknesses and left the house just in time to avoid any danger. The attack was a statement of protest against the Mageri. When Nero found out that Novis had taken us in, it pissed him off and he sent in a Vampire assassin.
Adam struggled with hearing the truth. Especially the part where she kept a guard distracted with a handjob while the Vampire slipped through the security checkpoint. One soon-to-be-fired guard.
The Vampire had already been hiding upstairs before anyone arrived. She warned the Vampire to remain quiet in the bathroom because Christian was invited. No one would have suspected that an assassin was in the house. So she created a diversion.
Circuit breakers? That’s exactly what Cheri was. She placed her finger over a socket and reversed the electricity flow until it puffed out like a flame. That was a rare gift. She also confessed to meeting up with a couple of Nero’s contacts in the previous weeks to relay information. Cheri mentioned Adam getting into a fight and jeopardizing her relationship with Nero. Adam gave a barely perceptible nod as if he understood something. Novis looked concerned, but after a few more questions, Adam was cleared of any involvement.
That bitch lied to me.
When Christian broke eye contact, she sprang to her feet and Adam caught her hand.
Cheri’s lips peeled back into a snarl and she jerked her arm away. “Let go of me, you freak!”
Adam’s neck turned a deep shade of blush. When his square jaw slackened and he angled away—I lost it.
Cheri moved gracefully in my direction and I slapped her so hard that the sting radiated up my wrist. She cupped her face in shock and flashed out the door. Novis made a call to the guards to detain her and it seemed that once again, incarceration would be in her future.
Adam’s energy shifted and it scraped against my skin like an abrasive wire brush.
“Adam, wait. I didn’t do this on purpose.”
The same man who once held a warm tenderness in his eyes when he looked at me now held nothing but resentment. I had taken something away from him—hope that a good woman could love him for who he was.
“We’re done,” he said, cutting the air with his hand.
That short sentence demolished me. Adam left me torn in a million pieces by my own guilt. I may have had reservations about Cheri, but it was great to see him lavish his affections on another woman. From his perspective, I was out to sabotage his happiness. He stormed out of the room in one direction and I went the other.
I fled the scene and ran clumsily in my heels until I reached the tree. Gripping the rope, I hurled the swing violently at the trunk. Novis was a fair Creator, but I was appalled that he expected Adam to show up at this party and be social. Where was his empathy? Dirt covered the bottom of my dress and I cursed. It was too beautiful to be ruined.
“I hope you aren’t crying; there’s nothing duller than a woman who snivels all the time.”
“Were you socialized as a child?”
Christian leaned against the tree, looking as relaxed as a cat in the midday sun. “You suspected her before tonight?”
“Yeah,” I admitted. “Something she said rubbed me the wrong way.”
He smirked. “Rub a cat the wrong way and the claws come out.”
“Can I be alone?”
“Now that hurts my feelings.”
The air between us stilled and an owl hooted in the distance. Christian peeled away a plastic wrapper from a butterscotch candy and tucked it inside his cheek. He wadded the wrapper into a tight ball and stuffed it in his pocket.
“Why didn’t you eat dinner?”
“Not hungry,” he replied.
“Are they spiked?” I learned firsthand that Sensors could spike candy with samples of emotions.
His black eyes studied me. “Remember I told you about the whole toilet experience we care to do without?”
“That’s a topic I could do without.”
“Suffice it to say our dinner the other night was lovely, but I won’t be eating pork chops again any time soon.”
I groaned in disgust.
“Novis wants us to meet with someone.” Christian spoke as if he plucked it from the news headlines.
“Why do you say that?”
He tapped his finger to his ear. “I can hear them arguing, but I’ve only half been listening.”
“So if I clap my hands really loud, that would hurt?”
“Afraid not. Amplified sounds are muted down; it’s an internal self-defense mechanism. Feel free to give me a standing ovation, although most women do it after and not before.”
“How did you get up to that window?” I looked up at the house and when I turned back to Christian, he was gone.
“Shadow walking, lass,” he yelled from above. Christian stood on the lower branch and in the blink of an eye, he moved like liquid around the tree.
“What the hell?”
“As long as there is a shadow devoid of light, we can move through it for short distances. We are creatures of the night only because we have an advantage in the dark, but like your power, it has limitations and not everyone seems to have mastered it. I heard the Vampire blabbing on with you in the room. Good thing you were on the dark side of the house. He should have kept quiet; now my shirt is ruined.”
“Don’t do me any favors next time.”
“Might I say that your social skills have been greatly exaggerated?”
“Not as exaggerated as your skills.”
***
“This is a stupid idea,” I complained.
“Are you questioning your new employer?” Christian mused.
I adjusted the vent in the car. “We were interrupted this evening by a killer for hire and now he wants me to be a messenger. Justus didn’t look happy, either. Did you see the look on his face?” I squirmed in my seat.
“Hardly. I was too busy looking at that pet cat of yours with the big teeth.”
Information had been extracted from the Vampire using torture techniques. He was to meet with his contact if the assassination against Novis was successful. The city park in Cognito was a breeding ground for sociopaths and rogues, so I wasn’t thrilled when Novis asked me to deliver a message to the man paying off the Vampire.
“Considering your past with Nero, the message is better coming from you.”
“No,” I argued. “A guard should be doing this, not me. How did you get that Vampire to talk?”
“You can commend your boyfriend for that.” His grin was toothy and he scratched at the bristles on his jaw. “That’s a man with experience in the world I come from. Chitahs don’t give empty threats and when he got out the kerosene, Justus had to
stop him before he set the whole fecking house on fire.”
I sharpened my senses when the car eased to a stop by a long row of hedges.
Christian cracked his window. “We’re here,” he said with disinterest.
“Do you hear anyone out there?”
“Aside from the murderer lurking in the bushes with the machete? No.”
I peered out the back window. “That’s not funny,” I murmured.
“What the blazes do you keep looking for?”
“You’re not going to drive off and leave me here, are you?”
He tapped his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel.
“Hopefully this won’t take long,” I said, getting out. Christian slumped in his seat and I slammed the door.
It was my first official task working for Novis and it didn’t take long for me to see the inherent dangers that came with the position. Novis had lent me a long, black coat and I flipped the hood over my face.
My heels clicked on the sidewalk and I opted against sitting on the damp, dirty park bench. Someone had spray-painted obscene graffiti on a statue of two children carrying flowers. What a shame. It could be such a beautiful park if they cleaned out all the riffraff.
It was going to be a relief when I got my assigned guard. Simon mentioned that he had trained a few of them himself, so that offered some comfort. But tonight I was on my own.
The black coat covered me from head to shoe. The only sound was a few random chirps from a listless bird who refused to bed for the night. A frosty chill tightened the air and everything glistened with a layer of midnight dew. Time slipped away as fifteen minutes elapsed.
Someone was running.
I whirled around just in time to dodge a wooden stake cutting through the air toward my heart. My hood fell back when I lifted my head and astonishment spread across Merc’s face like oil paint on a canvas.
I always knew he was dirty, but working for Nero came out of left field.
Merc was a large man with a broad chest. His blond hair had that grungy look like it hadn’t been washed in weeks. He looked like a misplaced rock star hooked on steroids.
“Traitor!” I spat.
His nose wrinkled. “If you are here, then Novis is still alive. Do you have a message for me?” he asked.
My fingers plucked the envelope from my deep pocket and he reached for it with a loaded expression. Merc impatiently tore open the letter with his teeth. He scanned the message and wadded the paper into a ball, tossing it on the ground.
“Novis is a fool. Doesn’t have a clue what’s going on beneath his own nose. It’ll make his death easier than I thought.”
“How can you do this to one of your own?”
“His decisions hold too much weight, and he stands in the way of what I want. Nero is more than happy to take the credit for his death. Win-win.” He punctuated the last two words, and the animosity he felt for Novis was unmistakable.
The minute Merc began his confession I knew that I wouldn’t be leaving the park alive.
“The night of Samil’s challenge you asked if I was a hybrid. What do you really know about me?”
His gazed lowered. “That you are an abomination.”
The air chilled.
“If you’re tangled with those people, then your hands are just as dirty as theirs,” I said.
He lifted his hands as if to look at them in shock. “You’re right!” His laugh made me want to drive my knee into his groin. “You are truly gifted at pointing out the obvious. Years ago, I had a notion to wage war against humans and joined their group. The original plan was to create a contagion that would spread among humans like a virus. After their repeated botch jobs, I could no longer fund them. It disgusts me that they continue making genetically unfit specimens like you when there’s nothing to gain. They attempted to make a crossbreed that would spread Breed DNA with everyone they slept with. Can you imagine?” He laughed. “That would be my kind of slut. Then the idea was to make it transmittable by blood and they would contaminate the blood banks. The vision became clouded when their interest in the science took over the original purpose of war.”
When Merc quieted, the wind raced through the trees and chilled my arms. His eyes were cold—a man without a heart or conscience.
“You know what you are, Silver? A monkey. Nothing more. All of you should be euthanized.”
“If you’re so against them, then why don’t you shut them all down? Or would raising hell in Europe draw suspicion?”
His brow arched. “Europe? That ended years ago. The project relocated and they monitored the children at first, but soon began dropping them off outside fire stations. It was becoming like a fucking daycare around there. Samil was packing up and probably going after that damn woman he became obsessed with.”
“You knew Samil?”
“We worked together. They used him in some of their experiments because they had a theory that Creators could do some kind of special shit to DNA,” he said, waving his hand. “None of us knew what they were really brewing in those labs.”
“How did Samil get mixed up with Nero?”
“He was arrested for turning humans without permission from the Mageri.”
“That’s not a law, is it?”
His eyes narrowed. “No, it’s a fucking courtesy. And when you have a Mage as old as he is suddenly making new Learners, it raises suspicion. Nero showed up out of nowhere and bailed him out. That man has an interesting way of appearing at just the right time, forcing you to be in his debt. Nero took a keen interest in the girl that Samil changed over and he paid good money for her. After that, we went our separate ways. Samil had a list of names and I knew what that arrogant fool was up to.”
“Why are you helping Nero?”
“He’s the wealthiest man I’ve ever met.” A gleam flashed in his eye.
Merc had the ability to pull the core light and all power from a Mage—including their gifts—for a period of a day. If he found an Infuser and Nero paid him enough, I could only imagine what kind of power could be given to one man. I hoped that wasn’t the reason why Nero was keeping Samil’s progeny captive. Perhaps Nero knew nothing of Merc’s gift.
“What did you do with Samil’s light when you took it?” I asked cautiously, remembering the night of the challenge.
When Merc advanced, I backed up and he snatched the sleeve of my coat with a tight fist. “Did you really think I would let you go?”
The idea of him pulling out my core light petrified me and I struggled against him like an animal caught in a trap. My shoes flew off and Merc grabbed a chunk of my hair. He swung me around and I clawed him on the arm as he grabbed my collar with his other hand.
“Hold still, monkey,” he growled, giving my head a violent shake.
Dizzy, I lost my balance and twisted out of the coat. I yelped from the sharp pain of my hair ripping out as I flew toward the ground. My forearms hit the cement and I looked back, noticing wavy strands of my black hair blowing from Merc’s fist.
“I’m a hell of a lot stronger than you,” he said, dropping to his knees. I flipped onto my back and Merc straddled me. He slammed my shoulders against the concrete and we fought. But it was my light he wanted, and the bones in my fingers pressed as he tried to pry my fists open with his strong hands. His body was so heavy and I struggled to breathe when he sat down on my chest, feeling the blood rush into my head.
He managed to get one palm open and Merc grabbed my chin with his left hand.
“I’ll be sure to lay your body down on the hood of Justus’s most prized car. What do you think?”
I scratched his face and drew blood. Merc bellowed and raised his arm to strike me with a closed fist. I could barely breathe with him sitting on my chest. Desperately, I clawed at his neck as his arm swung down.
In an instant, Merc was thrown off. I blinked at the canopy of dark tree branches above and sat up, looking down the length of my legs. Christian was sitting on Merc and plunged a stunner into his c
hest.
“You may be stronger than her, but I’m a hell of a lot stronger than you,” Christian muttered.
Merc’s chest became a makeshift chair as Christian pulled out his phone and sent a message.
“Is Novis coming to get him?” I asked, looking at my scraped elbows.
“Your Council is sending someone.” Christian patted Merc’s cheek. “Looks like you’re in trouble, big boy.” He pinched the wadded-up piece of paper from the ground and stuffed it into Merc’s open mouth. “Never did like a litterbug.”
I stood up and blew out a breath. “I’m outta here. Keep him company and try not to squash him. I’ve had enough drama for one evening.”
Chapter 27
“Where do you think you’re off to?” Christian yelled out.
My tattered dress dragged along the wet concrete and the chill nipped at my bare feet. With our testimonies, they had enough to arrest Merc, but I was uncertain what the Mageri would do when they got wind of the full story. It wouldn’t be in their best interest to expose this kind of treachery among high-ranking officials. It would shake the confidence people had in their governing law.
“Silver, stop!”
Christian stomped across the grass, kicking up droplets of water behind his heels.
“Get back over there before he figures out how to remove that dagger!” I shouted, pointing my finger.
“Come with me. I can’t let you leave alone.”
“You don’t have to let me do anything. I think I’ve had my fill of chauvinistic insight for one evening.”
“I’m only asking you once more.” His tone lowered.
“Don’t threaten me, Christian. The only person who can legitimately bark orders at me is Justus. Watch Merc, because if he gets free then you’re putting my employer’s life in danger.”
When I reached the car, I peered in the window to see if the keys were in the ignition. “Dammit!”
A loud crashing noise came from the hood and almost caused me to stumble on my ass. Christian stood on the car with his arms folded.
