“Ha! The kid has spunk,” the thug on the right said and stepped closer to me. Close enough for a roundhouse kick if I timed it right.
Abe thrashed and fought the noose hard, keeping their attention half on him. Thug on the right got closer, and I spun, putting everything I had into the kick my mother had taught me. The toe of my shoe hit the side of his face, spinning him away from me and creating an opening.
From the phone, I could hear Uncle Zee yelling. “Run, Bear. RUN!”
I hated to leave Abe, hated to think what they would do to him but Uncle Zee was right. I bolted away from the men, running for all I was worth, while they yelled and hollered. Leaving Abe behind was the hardest thing I had to do, and tears streamed down my face, making my sight blur.
“Kid, what are you doing back here?” I whipped around. Snake Eyes stared at me. “And where’s your dog?”
“They took him. My grandfather’s men took him and Uncle Zee told me to run.”
“Shit, Zee Preston?” Snake Eyes reached out and grabbed me, pulling me down until I was crouched beside him. “Don’t move, kid. They won’t see you.”
I shivered next to him, more out of fear than actual cold.
He didn’t put an arm around me, just sat there with his sign out. “Kid, you belong to the Phoenix, but who are you running from?”
“My grandfather,” I repeated the information.
“What’s his name?” Snake Eyes asked softly.
We both went silent as the thump of feet drew closer. Rooster and his men ran right by us, dragging Abe along behind.
His eyes found mine as he passed, but he didn’t make a sound, he didn’t give me away. I covered my face and stifled a sob.
“Your dog save you?”
“Yes. I . . . I had to run.”
Snake Eyes blew out a sigh. “Resourceful. My name is Jake, but I go by Jake to my friends. What’s your name?”
“Bear,” I said softly. “Why are you helping me?”
“Zee is an old friend of mine. We go way back, both being Hiders.”
I blinked up at Jake. “Hiders?”
“You don’t know much about the abnormal world then? I’m guessing your momma kept you from it to keep you safe.” He shook his head. “Well, then. Let this be your introduction. The world of the abnormals is a world of magic and danger. Your mother was the Phoenix if your blood is true.”
Shivers of uncertainty rippled through me. “What does that mean, she was the Phoenix?”
“She policed our world in a way. Killed the bad abnormals.” He sniffed. “We fear her. She is our boogeyman. Or she was, for a long time. And then she disappeared. Some people say she died, some say she was put out of business, killed by a mark stronger than her, seeing as she was a normal.”
“No, that can’t be right,” I said. But then there were the things my mother had been teaching me. The fighting moves, how to tell if someone was lying, the use of weapons, even training the dogs with her to be better than herding dogs, but to be guard dogs, as well.
I didn’t really want to believe my mother was a killer. But . . . a police officer of the magical world . . . that I could accept. “She’s looking for me,” I said.
“No doubt. She was a fierce one, even young. I only met her once and she scared the shit out of me then. She was just nineteen.” He handed me a half-eaten chocolate bar and I took it.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. So, you going to tell me who was after you, your grandfather’s name? I’m guessing not Mancini. I want to be sure I know who you are dealing with.”
I sniffed and took a bite of the stale chocolate bar, forced myself to chew it down. He knew who my mother was, so how did he not know my grandfather? Something about this conversation made me wary. “Does it matter?”
“Kind of. There are four main players in controlling the abnormal world. Mancini, Fannin, Genzo, and Romano.”
I jerked when he said the last name and he nodded. “Got it. I needed to be sure it was Romano. Assumptions in this world will get you killed.”
I shivered. “Which one is the worst of the four?”
He barked a laugh. “All of them, kid. Just depends what they’re doing and who they’re doing it to. Maybe today it’s Romano. Tomorrow, Fannin. Next day, Mancini.”
I frowned. “Uncle Zee said I should go to Mancini.”
“That’s surprising. They had a falling out before he went over to Romano.” Jake rubbed his chin. “What to do? What to do?”
I liked that he was treating me like an adult, and at the same time, it freaked me out a little. I was supposed to make a decision and I didn’t know what was right, or better. What if Mancini was bad, and what if Zee was wrong? I only knew I couldn’t go back to Romano.
“Is there one . . . not as bad as the others?”
“What are you thinking, kid?”
I chewed my bottom lip. “Maybe if there’s one not as bad as the others, that’s where I should go?”
“Hmm. Sound reasoning. Word on the street is that Romano and Genzo are in cozy, so that eliminates Genzo.”
I watched his face and the way his eyes narrowed as he thought over my question. “What about Fannin?”
“Fannin is the youngest of the bunch, and can be just as ruthless as the others . . . but you’re probably right. He’s the best of the bunch to take you to. He likes an underdog, being one himself.”
“You’re going to come with me?”
“Want to make sure you get there in one piece, otherwise, Zee might come looking for me. Or worse, your mother.” He gave a little shiver. “Nobody hides from the Phoenix, Bear. Nobody. If she’s coming after you, there’s nothing anyone can do to stop her.”
He stood and motioned for me to stay inside the cover of his raggedy cloak. “Let’s go find us an Irish gangster.”
Chapter Thirteen
Phoenix
Our first few steps into the Jungle were met with absolute silence. Which was not good for so many reasons. Like who the hell was scaring away all the wildlife, because even in an urban jungle like this underneath a freaking highway in the middle of Seattle, there should have been birds, small animals, the scrape and slither of frogs and snakes and bugs of various kinds.
There wasn’t so much as a fly buzzing around our faces.
“Not good, Nix,” Simon said softly. “If they have someone who can clear out the wildlife like this, they’ve got some strong myst going on here. That does not bode in our favor.”
Irritating as it was, he was right, and he didn’t need me to say anything to point that out.
“Keep close,” I said. “We don’t want to be separated in here.”
He put a hand on my belt and tucked his fingers through it. “You got it.”
Another time I would have smacked him and told him to keep his hands to himself, but here, the connection was warranted. The Jungle was thick as though we were in the fucking Amazon rainforest and not three thousand miles north.
“I could still find Talia. She could break the code. We could have a nice lunch while she goes over it.” Simon spoke softly, his voice just above a whisper.
I didn’t look at him as I spoke, but instead kept my eyes scanning the thick vegetation in front of us. “This is a straight shot. If it doesn’t yield at least one Ikimono dealer, then we’ll go to Talia.” I hoped I was right, that indeed this would be the straight shot I wanted it to be.
If not, we were putting time and miles between us and Genzo, and worse, between me and Bear.
I kept moving forward, step after step, into the weirdly silent Jungle. A waft of rotting meat slowed my feet. I held up a hand to Simon, slowing him.
I pulled Dinah and Eleanor from their holsters and tapped my index finger on them so they would know to be silent.
Dropping to a crouch, I moved forward again, sliding through the undergrowth as quietly as I could. Not an easy thing to do in a crouch, but better than having my head at shooting height if someone drew down on us.
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Simon put a hand on my back and grabbed my shirt, stopping me. He leaned close so he could whisper into my ear. “Let me go first.”
I shrugged and let him slide past me.
If he wanted to take on whatever smelled worse than death, he could be my guest.
The rustle of leaves was louder the farther he got from me. I knew he was capable, and being an abnormal might keep him from getting killed on sight.
His voice rose above the vegetation. “Looking for some myst to buy. Any dealers?”
A grunt answered him. “You’re not a regular. You a cop?”
“’Course not. I’m a killer.”
A smile tripped over my lips. Another grunt from whoever he was talking to. “Yeah, sure you are. You look like the fucking Phoenix to me. Come on.”
“I got a nervous friend with me. She’s a real pansy, never lifts her eyes, never says a word. Think she can come, too?”
Dinah snickered. “Oh, he’s naughty. You going to give him a flesh wound, too?”
I tucked the girls back into their holsters under my coat. I had to give Simon credit. He knew when to use his positon in his favor.
“A girl? Yeah, sure, she got money, too?”
“Yup. And she’s dumb with it. Why do you think I’d bring her?”
The grunter gave a low raspy laugh. “Yeah, the dumb ones are the best. I don’t like smart girls.”
I stood, made myself not do more than that even though I wanted very much to show the creature just how dumb I was. I knew it was a game Simon was playing to get us in deep, to get us to the dealers. That didn’t mean I had to like it.
A moment later, he pushed through the brush and motioned for me to follow him. He didn’t look happy for having just essentially put me in a place of subservience. “Seriously, let me do the talking here. Something is off, even for the abnormal world. He’s afraid of something.”
“No shit,” I muttered, and then clamped my mouth shut. Head down, it was hard to keep an eye on things, but seconds later, it didn’t matter. The Jungle opened into a small section that had been cut back with a machete by the angle of the cuts through the bush and trees. From the clearing, multiple paths shot off in all directions. The maze, just like the junkie Topsy had warned me about. I’d really hoped he was wrong about that bit of information.
In the center of the clearing was something that looked like a blob of pink bubblegum that had enough arms that it could have reached down each of the multiple paths and had appendages left over. Meaning multiple long arms that waved here and there, drawing my eyes despite trying to keep them down. In the middle of the pink blob were three eyes spread evenly across the girth, and a large beaked mouth. I dropped my eyes so the creature didn’t see the disdain in them.
“What’s your name?” the pink blob asked.
“I’m Sam. This is my girl, Nicki.”
I bobbed my head and lifted a hand half-heartedly before letting it drop to my side.
A grunt from the blob, and from the corner of my eye, I watched one of his arms shoot forward to touch me. I took a few steps back.
“Sam, you said they wouldn’t touch me.” I was a little worried that on contact Pink Blob Boy would know who I was. Wouldn’t be the first time an abnormal had surprised me with their abilities or skills.
“Yeah, no touching. She’s a weirdo like that,” Simon said.
Another grunt. “Fine. But we’ll kill her if she steps out of line. Don’t matter to us if she’s normal.”
I gave a shudder that I hoped displayed something like fear.
“Got it, kill her if she’s naughty.” Simon stepped to the side and then pointed. “So, this path here?”
“Yeah.” Pink Blob Boy shimmied as if he could settle deeper into his flesh and let out a rumbling noise that was wet flesh bubbling against itself. Fucking disgusting.
I followed Simon, and let him take the lead. Because he was right, this was a good place for him to do that. Abnormals looked out for each other, and trusted one another enough to let him in.
Me, on my own, would have had to kill Pink Blob Boy, and then fight my way in. I could do it, but I wasn’t stupid. The quieter we could keep this, the better. If Genzo didn’t know we were coming, then he wouldn’t be prepared for us which would work in our favor.
The walls of the Jungle were tight on the pathway, making it feel like we were in a poorly made tunnel as opposed to outside in nature. I shook my head and fought not to cringe away from the greenery. It had a feeling of being alive and the sensation made my skin crawl.
“Ready?” Simon asked.
I nodded, and a moment later, we stepped into what had to be the communal living space of the Jungle.
Put together like a small village, there were tents set up all around the edges of an odd-shaped clearing. It looked like the underbrush had been knocked back just enough to leave space for the tents in no particular order, and then the inhabitants had set up under the biggest trees for additional coverage and protection. It wasn’t a bad idea based on my knowledge of backcountry survival and the fact it rained in Seattle more days than not.
A few sets of eyes turned our way. Most were abnormals with clear signs they were exactly that. Feathers, claws, strange-textured skin, extra limbs. I didn’t need to smell them to know what they were. But I also saw a human here and there. I paused mid stride behind Simon. The humans were all leashed to poles driven into the ground near tents. Slaves? Or pets? Or worse . . . food?
Fuck me sideways, that was why Pink Blob Boy had let me in so easily. He thought I belonged to Simon. I reached forward and tucked my fingers through Simon’s belt loop. If that was the game we had to play to get the information we needed, then I would play it.
I kept my head bowed and my eyes on the ground in front of me. I didn’t know if Simon had noticed the humans, but he didn’t protest my hand on his belt. ’Course not, he was probably hoping I’d grab his ass.
“Hey ho, what we got here? Some greenies?”
I fought to keep my eyes down. The voice sounded familiar, which could either be very good, or very bad. I was betting on bad.
“Looking for some hot new stuff.” Simon drawled the words as if he were half-cut already.
“Hmm. What kind? We have limited supplies of certain myst.”
Damn it, where did I know that voice from? I hadn’t spent a lot of time on the West Coast for my father, which meant if I knew the voice, he was likely from good old New York.
“You got any Diva left? It makes my girl a wild one in the sack.” Simon reached back and tugged me forward with an arm around my waist, his hand sliding to slap me on the ass. I jumped but managed to keep my eyes down. Cheeky fucker was going to get a punch in the nose later for taking liberties now.
Laughter boomed around us at that. “Oh, yeah, the pets go wild for Diva. Nah, we’re all out. Sold the last of it a couple days ago, but a new shipment should be in next week.”
I dared to raise my eyes just a little, peeking out from under my lashes. If we could get closer to the abnormal speaking, maybe I could catch a glimpse of his legs and torso. Might be all I needed to figure out who the fuck he was and if I needed to pull Dinah and Eleanor on him.
“Hmm.” Simon tightened his arm around me as if he knew what I was thinking. “What else have you got? I heard about a new one on the market. Iki something or other? Japanese I think? Is it any good?”
The quiet that descended on the group was all I needed to know that Simon had stepped in it well and good.
“What do you know about Ikimono?” that oh-so-familiar voice drawled.
Yup, he’d stepped in it. Which meant that while we knew about it, and the name was floating around, the drug was not known enough for a random person to walk in and ask for it.
I had Dinah and Eleanor out as I launched forward, driving the speaker to the ground with my knees. A flash of red hair, a widening of bright blue eyes, and a body that was lean as a whip told me everything I needed to know about thi
s abnormal. I did know him.
He stared up at me as I straddled his chest, Dinah pressed under his chin, and Eleanor held out to my right at the abnormals who’d stepped closer as if they’d rescue him.
I smiled down at the face that I knew from an old case, right before I’d left Romano’s employ. “Lars, lovely to see you again.”
He groaned. “Fuck me, I thought you were retired. Or better yet, dead. I didn’t do nothing wrong, Phoenix.”
A gasp rippled through the crowd. I pushed Dinah harder into his jaw. “Ah, you shouldn’t have named me. I don’t want anyone knowing I was here, Lars.”
His hands were up, above his head. I had to trust Simon had my back on this one, because Lars was one slippery fucker.
“You still do that melting thing when you get scared?” I grinned down at him.
A few snickers in the crowd told me I was right on track. Lars could literally melt into whatever surface he was touching. It made him an ideal thief, right up there with ghosters.
“I don’t do it when I get scared,” he snapped. “Since when did you start back working for your father?”
“I didn’t.” I kept my smile plastered on my face. “Tell me about Ikimono. Who is dealing it?”
He looked away from me and I jammed Dinah harder yet against him. “Talk to me, Lars, or I will find someone else who will.”
“I don’t know the dealer. He’s a big guy, always cloaked. He’s only brought in small amounts to be used on the pets.” Lars sighed. “We only tried it once, on one pet.”
“Why?”
He closed his eyes, and didn’t answer. What the fuck was this shit now? This . . . sadness in his face. I stood and spun to look at Simon, then at the crowd. “Why have you used it only once?”
“Because we don’t like that we’re different.” A woman with four arms stepped forward. Each arm ended in a different appendage. Claw, paw, hand, and stump with lips. She had long hair that trailed on the ground, and it took me a second to realize her hair was moving on its own. I made myself look her in the eye despite the Medusa effect she had going on. Her eyes were incredibly normal compared to the rest of her, and they dripped with tears. “You think it’s easy being an abnormal? We wouldn’t willingly confine someone to this life, no matter what we’re threatened with. That one usage turned a human into a raving abnormal. We had to kill him.”
Blood of a Phoenix (The Nix Series Book 2) Page 14
