Hidden Danger

by Amy Patrick

For some reason his inebriated state irritated me. “Yes. I did have some friends over because I wanted to have someone around to talk to. You’re never here. Is this how you always live—or are you avoiding me?”

  He spun around to face me again, knocking himself off balance then gripping the counter edge to steady himself. “Now why would I do that? What kind of drongo would avoid you?” He gave my pajama-clad figure a lecherous once over. “I mean, with a loving fiancée waiting at home, a man would have to be a fool to stay out all night.”

  What was going on with him? He was acting so weird. And he didn’t seem to be under the influence of drugs. I’d seen my fair share of drunk people, and Culley was a classic case tonight.

  I stepped forward, putting myself directly in front of him, squarely in his line of vision, so he couldn’t avoid the question. “Why do you stay out so late? What are you doing every night?”

  He grinned again. “Are you worried about me, love? Come here.” He dragged me closer with a big warm hand. “I’ll show you what I’m not doing out there.”

  And then his hand was at the base of my spine, pulling me in to his body. He let go of the counter, and his back fell against the refrigerator door, leaning against it for support. Through no choice of my own, I went with him.

  Before I could protest, Culley’s mouth descended to mine, and he administered an alcohol-flavored but very skillful kiss.

  My hands went to his chest to push myself off of him, but he clamped a hand on the back of my head and deepened the kiss. My heart rate tripled. Wow. This was... this was unexpected. And he was a great kisser. It was confusing. I’d felt abandoned, hurt by his complete lack of attention, and now here he was giving me every ounce of his attention and shocking me with the pleasure of it all.

  Ripping his lips from my mouth, Culley moved to my neck, traversing the length of it with hot, wet kisses that stole my breath and all the strength from my legs. He spoke in between the strokes of his tongue on my skin. “I’m not out there doing it because all I can think about is being here doing this with you. You’ve ruined me... ruined me. And you don’t even want me.”

  A desperate laugh escaped his throat as his fingers wrapped around my shoulders and set me away from him. “Every other girl in this stinking, overcrowded city wants me—and you think I’m shit. Well, you’re right.”

  Pushing me to the side, he staggered out of the kitchen and down the hall toward his bedroom.

  I watched him go, thinking about his statement. He was wrong. I didn’t think he was shit. I was surprised by how much I’d grown to like him. And after that kiss—well, he was surprising me in all sorts of ways.

  But I couldn’t talk to him when he was in this state. And I couldn’t stay with him.

  Could I?

  Would he consider coming with me? Helping me? He said he thought about kissing me all the time. He said I’d “ruined” him. Maybe it was enough. I didn’t love him, which would have been a nice prerequisite to marriage and bonding, but I did like him, and we were in similar situations—both lonely—both miserable under his father’s thumb. Maybe the two of us could set out on our own... together.

  I’d wait for him to sober up then present the idea in the morning. The worst he could do was laugh in my face. No—check that—the worst he could do would be to tell Audun I planned to desert the Dark Court. But I didn’t think Culley would do that. He’d already proved his unwillingness to expose me to his father’s legendary wrath.

  I’d be asking him to go one step further—and choose me over his name and position.

  * * *

  That conversation did not happen the next morning or even the next day. I had a modeling job and left the apartment before Culley woke up. At least I assumed he was sleeping. His door was still closed. No doubt it had been a rough night—he was probably hung all the way over and feeling horrible. I’d tried to avoid clanking dishes in the kitchen and tiptoed out, shutting the apartment door gently behind me.

  When I got home from work, the apartment was empty. There was a note on the counter, scribbled in Culley’s handwriting.

  Sorry about last night. Bombed out drunk. Didn’t mean it. I’ll be out late—don’t wait up.

  The air whooshed from my lungs, and I sat hard onto the bar stool. Well, it was a good thing I hadn’t proposed my let’s-run-off-together plan. I read the words again.

  Didn’t mean it.

  He could have fooled me. It certainly sounded and felt like he meant it last night. This topic wasn’t closed yet. There was more going on between us than a mutual living space and fake life-bond. And the next time I saw him, I planned to make him admit it.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Reporting for Duty

  Over the next few days, Culley was a ghost, coming in after I’d fallen asleep and disappearing from the apartment before I woke. I only knew he’d been there because food had vanished from the refrigerator. The night before Thanksgiving he didn’t come home at all.

  I got up before dawn Thanksgiving morning, grinning, because I knew his effort to avoid me was at an end. Today he’d have no choice. We’d been booked to shoot a commercial together for a jewelry company—an engagement ring ad, actually. The backdrop would be the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

  The two of us would spend the day acting like a couple in love enjoying the parade. I was sure the casting agent thought he’d made a brilliant choice of models because our real-life engagement had made it on to some of the entertainment shows and online sites. Little did he know we weren’t even speaking to each other.

  I’d just gotten out of the shower when my phone rang. It was Audun’s secretary, asking me to come to his office for an early meeting.

  “I have a shoot today,” I explained.

  “He’s aware of that. It’ll be quick. He says it’s important.”

  There was no way to say no. Not if I valued keeping my secret—and my life.

  I assured her I’d be right over. “Of course. If it’s important to him, it’s important to me.” Good little soldier, reporting for duty.

  This time after I checked in with the receptionist I walked back to his office alone, stepping inside when the doors opened. Hopefully we’d stay indoors today to discuss our business. Hopefully he wouldn’t dangle me over the edge of the building when I had an on-camera job in an hour. And hopefully he’d give me something I could use so I could get the hell out of this city and away from him.

  “Ah, Ava. Come in dear.” Audun rose from his perch behind his desk and approached me. Gesturing toward the sofa in front of the lit fireplace, he said, “Let’s sit over here and chat. It won’t take long. I have a new job for you.”

  Great. I followed his instructions and sat at one end of the sofa, working to keep my expression neutral, my posture confident.

  “How are things with Culley?”

  I couldn’t lie. Things weren’t that great. But I was hoping they would be. “I haven’t seen enough of him lately, but it’ll be good to do a shoot with him today. I’m looking forward to it.” Whew. That was true. Just not for the reason Audun thought it was.

  “Very good,” he said. “When you have finished with that, I’ll need you to stop by the New York Police Department.”

  “The police?”

  “Yes. There’s a detective named Ballard working in the 19th precinct. You’ll ask to meet with him, tell him you have some pertinent information on the S ‘scourge.’” He rolled his eyes at the dramatic label. “When you get into his office, you’ll remove any memories he has of his investigation. And erase his files.”

  I sat for a moment, stunned. “Okay... so... you don’t want the police to bust the S dealers.”

  He laughed. “Of course not. Why would you think that?”

  “Well, my roommates—my former roommates—told me you’d warned them against using it. I thought you weren’t a fan.”

  He grinned widely. Though his face was extremely attractive, the effect of that smile wasn’t beautiful. It was
frightening.

  “Oh I’m more than a fan. S is my baby. It’s a miracle. It’s the answer we’ve been looking for. Who cares about controlling human minds with fan pods when we can wipe out huge numbers of their race with overdoses and drug addiction? It’s the most addictive substance in existence—it’s already on its way to replacing cocaine and heroin and oxycodone in the cities where it’s available. And we’re making it available in as many places as possible as quickly as possible. Soon there’ll be so few humans left alive or sober enough to fight us, they’ll have no hope of resisting when we re-establish our reign. The world will return to us once more with just enough humans remaining to serve our needs.”

  He said it matter-of-factly, as if it were all so obvious. And so desirable. Maybe it was—to him and his devoted followers. To me it was revolting. There was no way I could be a part of this. He had to be stopped. I needed information to do that. Apparently now that I was “eternally bonded” to his son, he trusted me enough to hand it over.

  “So you plan to take S distribution worldwide then.”

  “Of course. It won’t even be that hard. They can’t get enough of it—of course making it cheaper than chips doesn’t hurt. The money is of no consequence.” He waved his hand through the air as if shooing away gnats. In this case, the gnats were human lives.

  As long as he was spilling information so freely, I might as well get some details. “I never even heard of S before a couple weeks ago. Where does it come from? What’s it made of?” I asked.

  Audun’s eyes narrowed in an assessing gaze. Apparently he didn’t trust me completely. “You are certainly taking an interest in the family business. And while I’d love to discuss it with you further, I know you need to go. There’s a cab waiting for you downstairs to take you to the shoot location. Pay detective Ballard a visit this evening and report back to me tomorrow.”

  Understanding I’d been dismissed, I stood and walked to the door.

  “Oh and Ava,” Audun called.

  I twisted to look back at him.

  “Enjoy the parade.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  An Open Door

  The cab ride to the shoot location took about three times longer than it should have because of the insane parade day traffic.

  “All these tourists,” the cab driver yelled, throwing a hand up in frustration toward the pedestrian-packed street in front of us. “Which streets aren’t blocked off?”

  Taking advantage of the delay, I placed a call to Lad. He and Nox needed to know what Audun’s plans were regarding S distribution and how he intended to use the highly addictive drug to decimate and control the human population.

  I knew as soon as Lad answered the phone he wasn’t in Altum. For one thing, he couldn’t get a signal underground. For another, the smooth voice of Frank Sinatra sang in the background, and I heard women’s voices laughing.

  “Hi Lad. It’s Ava. Where are you?”

  “I’ve been invited to celebrate American Thanksgiving with Ryann’s family. We’re all in the kitchen. I’m... chopping things.”

  I giggled to myself, picturing the King of the Light Court slicing and dicing celery at the kitchen counter. Like my clan, the Light Elves didn’t celebrate the holiday. But the homey mental picture almost made me wish we all did. I’d seen it portrayed on TV and in movies, and it always seemed rather idyllic to me—a large family gathered around a bountiful table, expressing gratitude for the good things in their lives.

  “Can you step outside for a minute or something? I have some information for you.”

  “Yes. Sure. Hold on.” All I heard was his breathing for a minute then a door closing. The chirp of a bird on his end of the line pinged my heart with a sudden sweet sadness and a sense of homesickness for the place, which was crazy. I’d spent all of a week there.

  “Okay, what’s going on?” he asked.

  “I know what Audun’s plan is—he’s distributing a new drug—it’s highly addictive and use of it is spreading really fast. It’s called S. I’ve seen reports on the news about mass overdoses. His goal is to spread it far and wide and let the humans basically kill themselves off with it or become weak and helpless because they’re addicted. That way no one will fight back when he launches his plan to overtake them.”

  “That is bad news. But it’s good to know. Thank you Ava. I hope you didn’t endanger yourself to get this information. Do you know where it’s coming from? Where it’s made?”

  “Not yet. But later today I’m going to speak to a police detective who’s been looking into it. I’m supposed to erase his memories about it, but I’ll gather all the information I can from him first. I’ll let you know as soon as I find out something useful.”

  “Good job. Thank you. I’ll inform Nox and Vancia and Ryann.” There was a creaking noise and a muffled voice then Lad came back on. “Hold on, Ryann’s here. She’d like to speak with you a minute.”

  There was a pause before she came on the line. “Ava? Hi. Are you okay?”

  “Yes. I’m fine. I’m making some progress. I’m sure Lad will tell you everything.”

  “Well, I hope you’re safe. And I wanted to tell you... the minute you finish there, we want you to come here—to Altum. There’ll be too much danger after this for you inside the Dark Court, and we’ve already prepared a place for you—”

  “No,” I blurted. “I mean, thank you, but I couldn’t.”

  There was no way I could leave New York without telling Culley what his evil father was up to. Once he knew the truth, he’d feel the same way I did. He’d want to get away and never look back. He might even want to leave with me.

  And the one place we couldn’t go together was Altum. Not after what he’d done to Lad and Ryann. The ancient underground kingdom wasn’t where I belonged anyway. I was too used to modern conveniences and interacting with the human world. I dreamed of a nice sunny spot somewhere I could grow that little vegetable garden of mine.

  “I’m going to do some traveling before settling anywhere,” I told her. “I’m not sure where I’ll land after that.” In all honesty, there was nowhere I wanted to travel more than back to Deep River, Mississippi. Its dark, rich earth and slow, easy pace of life called to me somehow.

  And then of course there was...

  “Asher was asking about you,” Ryann said.

  My heart started pounding. “You saw him?”

  “Yes. He’s worried about you. He wanted to know where to find you. The boy’s got it bad.”

  Oh this was bad. So why did it make my heart so happy to hear her words?

  “What did you tell him?”

  “Not much. I mentioned you were in New York City, working, but no details or anything. The last thing we want is for someone innocent like him to get involved in all this, right?”

  “Right. Absolutely,” I said quickly.

  There was a pause on the other end of the line. “You sure about that? You sound kind of—”

  “Listen, Ryann, I’ve got to go. I’m late for a job, and my cab just got here. I’ve got to pay the guy and get out.”

  “Okay then, but if you ever change your mind...”

  “Bye,” I wheezed and opened the cab door.

  A cacophony of noise filled my ears. Car horns, voices, tubas, and drums all mixed together in bright, happy anticipation of the parade beginning. Wrapped up in my conversations with Lad and Ryann, I hadn’t really paid attention to the sights outside the moving cab, but now I looked up and gasped.

  Television coverage hadn’t done the balloons and floats justice—the vivid colors, the massive size, the attention to detail—it took my breath away and made me feel like I was walking through a dreamscape as I made my way through the crowd toward a small restaurant the production company had rented out to use for hair and wardrobe and a general shoot headquarters.

  Sometimes on location shoots we’d have a trailer for that kind of thing, but this one was unique. And there was no way anyone would be squeezing a trailer ont
o the parade route today. I reached the glass door of the deli and pushed it open, breathing a sigh of relief as I stepped inside.

  I was actually only about five minutes late, though you wouldn’t have known it from the over-the-top reaction of the director.

  “Oh my gawd,” she squawked. Her crazy gray hair bobbed up and down as she stalked toward me. “The princess has arrived everyone. Let’s all take a minute to curtsy and then get some freakin’ wardrobe and makeup on her. The parade doesn’t last all day people. Nice of you to join us, Miss Morten. If it wasn’t for your gorgeous fiancé over there talking us down from the ledge, I’d have fired your narrow ass already and picked some girl out of the crowd for him to ‘propose’ to—he’s the only thing anyone will be looking at anyway.”

  “And the ring,” a man piped up from the back of the room. He wore a suit and tie that screamed “ad agency” and held a small velvet box.

  “Right,” the director growled. “The ring—of course.”

  Tables and chairs had been pushed from the center of the room toward the walls to make room for clothing racks and equipment. No doubt the portable set lights were already set up wherever it was we’d be filming out on the route. I scanned the room, looking for Culley.

  When my eyes landed on him, he raised one hand in a lackluster acknowledgement without taking his gaze from his phone, scrolling over the screen as the hair stylist worked on his already-perfect platinum locks.

  Okay, so he won’t even look at me. Fine. Two could play at that game. I could tell he was affected by my presence whether he wanted me to know or not. His free hand was clenched on the chair arm, making the muscles in his forearm and hand stand out in sharp relief. His jaw was tight, too, in that way I’d observed during our long road trip whenever I hit a nerve with my questions. And the fact he wouldn’t look at me and had avoided me altogether since our inebriated kiss—that had to mean something.

  I would find out, and I’d do it today, because tomorrow would be too late. If all went according to my new plan, I wouldn’t be in this city come nightfall.