by Laken Cane
He looked at her then, a quick glance full of surprise and recognition.
“Good,” she said. “You do know him. Where he is tonight?”
“I don’t know.”
“What’s your name?”
He hesitated. “Alice,” he whispered.
She lifted an eyebrow. “I really doubt that.”
He twisted his hands together, then rolled his eyes up to look at her. There was something desperate in the light brown depths. “My master renamed me. I am Alice.”
For a second, she was sure she heard a spark of rage in his low voice. But his admission and his haunted, hollow eyes broke her heart. “You need a new leader, kid. Now tell me your name. Your real name.”
He swallowed, but kept his gaze glued to hers, seeming to find comfort in her calm dominance. Again, he licked his lips. It did no good. His lips remained dry and peeling. He opened his mouth, then shut it.
Whoever he belonged to had done a number on him. He was afraid to say his own fucking name. “Kid—”
“Epic,” he said, then without waiting for her to speak, he repeated the word, louder. “Epic. My name is Epic.”
She grinned. “Awesome name.”
“With a K,” he told her. “E-p-i-k.”
“Tell me about Gunnar, Epik.”
He continued, as though he hadn’t heard her. “I am Epik.” He smiled at her then, and it took her breath. He was beautiful when he wasn’t scared. Even with at least three of his top teeth missing.
She was nearly certain Epik wasn’t the name he’d been born with, but she wasn’t going to question his answer. If he’d renamed himself Epik, that was his right.
“Tell me what you know about Gunnar,” she prompted, gently.
His smile fell, and the light went out of his face. “Once he gave me candy. I wasn’t supposed to eat, but he…” He shook his head. “He insisted. And I was so hungry.” He glanced over his shoulder, as though to make sure his bastard fuck of an alpha wasn’t standing there.
“Gunnar’s a good guy,” she said. “Please, Epik. I could use your help.”
He twitched. “Can I stand?”
It took her a minute to realize he was asking her for permission. “You can do anything you want.” Only he couldn’t. His pack was his family. He had no one else. Even those pack members who weren’t so submissive and beaten down wouldn’t go against their alpha—unless they wanted to fight for position and likely die.
Epik didn’t have a chance. He was owned, and it was his bad luck to be owned by an asshole.
She gave herself a few long seconds to regain control of her emotions. “What’s your alpha’s name?”
He scuttled a few feet away from her, then rose to his feet. Still, he remained bent over. Cringing. Afraid. “There’s a human. He’s as scary as anyone I’ve ever seen and if you knew the scary ones I’ve seen, you’d understand what that means. He’s bad. Too bad for the Others to mess with. Even those in Wormwood.”
“What does he look like?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t gotten close enough to see much of him. Both times I saw him he was wearing a black mask. You have to kill him. The Others are afraid. He has too much power, this man.”
“He’s human,” she said. “How much power can he have?”
He swallowed hard. “The first time I saw him he was walking the path by Poison Pond. One of my people stepped out to challenge him, since he was a strange, lone human. Brian—my packmate—felt no threat. If he had, he would have called the pack for backup.”
Epik’s skin dried a little more even as she watched. Patches of peeling skin appeared on his face, his chest, and his arms. As he continued speaking, tremors of pain flashed over his face as though his voice hurt his throat. “Brian opened his mouth and the human filled it with a knife blade. Buried it in Brian’s open mouth.”
“God,” she murmured. “That’s a hardass human.”
Epik scratched at his forehead with trembling fingers. “It’s a hardass world.”
No shit. “What happened the second time you saw him?”
He turned away from her, ready to bolt. “The second time I saw him, he was dragging an Other through the mud. The Other’s hands and legs were restrained by something I couldn’t see. He’d been staked with a black blade. Another blade had been shoved through his forehead.” Epik held a hand to his throat and backed away as he continued.
“He didn’t move or struggle. The human had tied a rope around his feet and was using the end of that rope to pull him along. I don’t know where he took him.”
“The Other,” she murmured. “Who was he?”
But she knew. Of course she knew.
“It was your ghoul,” he told her. “It was Gunnar.”
Chapter Four
She searched the graveyard until dawn had come and gone, but found no sign of Gunnar. He’d disappeared. She hoped it was because he’d escaped to another graveyard. She didn’t want to believe that Epik was right and her assassin had captured the ghoul.
“Dammit, Gunnar.” She’d search again another time. She needed food, coffee, and blood. And not in that order.
When she left Wormwood she checked her phone. Strad had called once, and left a voicemail. Elizabeth had called twice.
She groaned. She’d be lucky to get coffee—forget food and blood. She listened to her messages as she drove to the Annex.
“Call me,” the berserker said. There was a slight hesitation, then, “Damn you, Rune.”
She sighed. He needed to accept the fact that she was a grown monster who could look after herself. She’d never reported her every move to another person, and that wasn’t going to change.
Elizabeth wasn’t calling her into work—there were ops for that who’d have sent the crew a page, a radio call, or a phone call. The Annex had ops for everything.
Which meant Elizabeth was calling her about something personal, and Elizabeth didn’t do that often.
“Rune.” Elizabeth’s voice held a small tremor. The only time Rune had heard her sound weak was after she’d been attacked and nearly killed by Nicolas Llodra.
“God,” Rune said. “What now?”
She didn’t want to listen. Shit was about to get real fucking deep and she wasn’t in current possession of a ladder.
Elizabeth’s voicemail continued, whether Rune wanted it to or not, and all she could do was listen.
“I met Lane at the hospital. She brought Stefanie in to visit with George. We didn’t want her to forget him. She’s so young…” She trailed off as though she’d forgotten what she wanted to say, but finally, she went on.
“What?” Rune muttered. “What?”
“Stefanie tried to kill him.” Elizabeth’s voice broke. “Fie tried to kill her brother. She said she…she breathed him. I don’t know what she meant. She said she breathed him to try and set him free. She sounded ancient. But she wasn’t sad. In her mind she was doing a good thing.”
“Fuck me,” Rune whispered.
“George isn’t dead, but they took Fie. She didn’t cry. She watched me as they led her away. Wondering…” She paused to take a deep, shaky breath. “Wondering why I didn’t save her. Why I didn’t grab her and run with her. But I couldn’t. She’s where she needs to be. Someday she’ll understand.”
Rune frowned. She’s where she needs to be. What the hell did that mean? Who had taken the child? She punched in Elizabeth’s number, not bothering to leave a message when she got the other woman’s voicemail.
She called the berserker.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She told him about Gunnar and pulled into the Annex parking lot as she was finishing her story. “Where are you?”
“I’m at the Annex.”
“I just arrived. I need to talk to you.” The berserker had a soft spot for little Fie and she didn’t want to tell him what had happened over the phone.
But he already knew. As she got out of her car he walked from the building, a
nd though he’d buried the sorrow deep, he couldn’t hide it.
Not from her.
She walked into his arms. “It never ends, does it?”
He tightened his arms around her. “I still have her dog.”
She pulled back to look up at him, acknowledging the way his penetrating stare ate up her face. The berserker could be overwhelming in his intensity. “Who took her?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “Elizabeth came back to speak with Parish, then left again. Rice doesn’t seem to know anything more than we do.”
“Eugene is here?”
“He’s been here for a couple hours.”
Their cells beeped at the same time. The superintendent of the Annex was calling them in.
“He wants a meeting,” she said. Every time Eugene showed up he called a meeting, so that wasn’t a surprise.
“Yeah.”
“Dude likes his fucking meetings,” she grumbled, and walked into the building with the berserker.
Raze met them as they walked down the hall to the main conference room. The new building was still unfamiliar to them. Unfriendly.
Hurried footsteps clicked on the polished, shiny floors, and booming voices alternated with the shifty whispers and murmurs of strangers.
The Annex was too new. Too large.
The rest of Shiv Crew, along with a dozen or so other crews, sat behind the long tables in the conference room. The room had a small platform built against one wall, with three steps leading up to it.
Eugene Parish stood on the platform, his hands on the lectern. Iris stood behind him, her slim body stiff and still. She almost faded into the wall and was so quietly unmoving that it was easy to forget she was even there.
Eugene watched Rune, Raze, and Strad as they found seats, then began speaking. He didn’t waste time with niceties.
Eugene wasn’t anyone who’d stand out in a crowd. He was medium height, slim, and calm. His salt and pepper hair was short and neat. He wore a dark gray, beautifully tailored suit.
He appeared perfectly bland until you saw his eyes. They were cold, gray, and completely emotionless.
“There are two groups that concern us.” He glanced around the large room, his flinty gaze landing briefly on Rune. “One is known as the Shop, headed by a madman named Orson Blackthorne. The other is called the Next. It was started by a woman named Lee Crane.”
The room remained silent, all eyes forward, completely absorbed. Eugene had that effect on people. He commanded attention like no one she’d ever met.
“They are scheming, unscrupulous killer bees,” he continued. “They are the enemy. Not only are they lethal barricades of Other equality, they are traitors to their own kind.” He pinned Rune with his cold stare and made her believe, for one moment, that his next words were only for her. “You think the slayers are serious adversaries? COS is nothing compared with the Next and the Shop.”
Her breath stuck in her throat as he held her captive to his penetrating regard. It wasn’t fear, exactly. It was a strange sort of recognition.
Knowledge that he was, in some way she couldn’t entirely grasp, similar to her. “That’s it.” And suddenly could breathe again. Jack looked at her with raised eyebrows, but she gave a slight shake of her head and put her attention back on the superintendent.
“The Next is composed of Others.” He paused to allow his words to sink in. “Others who do not believe they, or their kind, should be equal to humans. How do you like that?” His jovial words and lighthearted grin fell flat.
Rune stood. “Why would Others fight against Other equality? That doesn’t make sense.”
He stared at her for a long, tense moment. “You can’t think in logical terms, Alexander. Not when it comes to the Next. You cannot ascribe your own beliefs to them.”
She crossed her arms. “Why, if they’re so powerful, weren’t they helping COS in their attempts to destroy Others?”
He smiled. “Who says they weren’t?”
He was a slippery bastard, not really answering her questions, but batting them away like annoying mosquitoes.
“What is your opinion? Why is the Next trying to deny their own kind a right to be equal in this world? And why should we believe you?” She clenched her fists as her anger grew. The crews of RISC weren’t a bunch of mindless drones to do as the Annex commanded with no questions and no answers.
Rice, from his seat at the back of the wall behind Eugene, stood quickly. “Rune—”
“No, no,” Eugene said, holding his palm up. “Sit down, Bill. I expect questions.” He looked at Rune. “But I will not tolerate disrespect.”
“Neither,” Rune replied, “will I.”
Finally, a spark of emotion showed as his pale skin flushed. “Ms. Alexander. I’ve been told you have an assassin attempting to take your head.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Yeah?”
He smiled. “Who do you think is behind your assassin?” He leaned forward. “I can promise you it’s either Crane or Blackthorne. You’re on their radar now that you’ve joined their greatest opponent. This agency will do what it can to protect you but you are not safe. No matter how immortal you may believe yourself.”
She swallowed. She wasn’t worried about herself—she was worried about the ones she loved. “Do you have more information on the Shop? What’s their agenda?”
“Oh, the Shop,” he said, his voice dark. “As you know, the Annex has the desire to create Other equality. The Next believes that should never happen. And the Shop…”
He hesitated, spearing the audience with his sharp, somehow empty stare. “The Shop…they don’t care who wins this war—Others or humans. They just want to build monsters.”
His words made Rune shudder and clutch her stomach as some secret, lost thought flittered through her mind.
Build monsters.
She shook off her sudden fear, suddenly furious. “They’d better worry about this monster,” she snarled.
“Be careful, Alexander,” Parish said. “And don’t ever believe you’re safe. Death would be a blessing compared with what either of those agencies would force upon you if they captured you.”
Chapter Five
The berserker stood and padded to her side, his fingers close to his blades. “Her crew will protect her.” He ignored her sigh and continued. “If those agencies are behind the assassin, we’ll shut them down and neutralize the threat.”
“Where are they?” Jack asked, standing as well.
Eugene’s stare lingered on Strad’s scarred face. “Their locations are unknown. They would have been shut down long ago if that were a possibility. They are as covert as the Annex headquarters. More so, even, in Orson Blackthorne’s case. He has disappeared.” He hesitated. “The Shop is our main concern because they have something we don’t have.”
“What?” Rune asked, when he paused.
“They have some sort of…magic.”
Magic? An image of Damascus flashed suddenly in her mind.
“But we have you, Rune Alexander. And I think that levels the playing field. I’d really like you to try to stay alive. ”
“Why would they want me dead?”
“Because you are a powerful Other. Worse, you are a powerful Other working for a group that seeks the very thing the Next wants to hinder. As for the Shop…” He shrugged. “Perhaps because they fear you. Or maybe they want to capture and use you.” He paused, and once again his cold stare raked her face. “Most likely both.”
“They’re trying to kill Rune because of you,” Jack said. “You made them aware of her by taking control of RISC.”
Eugene inclined his head. “Maybe, but it doesn’t matter. If they weren’t already on her trail, they soon would have been. Annex or not.”
No one said anything as they thought Eugene’s words through.
Finally, the boss spread his fingers and gave them a little smile. “I am not the enemy. You’re my people now. I and my colleagues will do everything in our power to make sur
e the injustice done to Others is not only stopped, but that those responsible for past horrors are held accountable.” He looked at Bill and something heavy and secret passed between them. “We want a world where Others no longer have to live in fear. Where their murders and torments are no longer overlooked by humans in command.”
He jaws knotted as he clenched his teeth. “We are not there yet and must continue to tread carefully. But we will have equality for Others. I swear that to you. Nothing will stop us. Not magic, or assassins, or rival groups.”
Despite her distrust of Eugene Parish, a thrill of hope and belief sparked inside Rune’s mind. It could happen. Parish made her believe it could happen.
He was unwavering in his conviction.
But his desires were suspect for one reason. Eugene Parish was human. Why was his biggest wish to see Other equality?
She asked him.
“It pains me that you have to ask that question. No, I am not Other, but that doesn’t matter. I want it because it’s right. Simple as that.”
She wasn’t so sure.
A door at the back of the platform opened and Elizabeth stepped through. Her face was pale, her eyes overly large and dark. She glanced at Rice, then Eugene.
“That’s all,” Eugene said, almost hastily. “Now you know more about what we are up against. Be careful, people, and never forget what we’re working for.”
He strode to Elizabeth and Rice, and the three of them disappeared through the doorway Elizabeth had just entered.
“What the fuck,” Jack murmured, “is going on?”
“You heard about Fie and George?” Rune asked the crew.
“Yeah,” Lex replied, as the others nodded. “And I don’t believe a word of it.”
Rune pressed her fist into her stomach. “What do you mean?”
The other crews filed past them, and Lex waited until the room was empty of all but Shiv Crew before she answered. “Everything that’s happening right now has something to do with the Annex and the other two groups. I feel it. I don’t think little Fie tried to murder her brother.”
“What do you think?” the berserker asked.
