by Patti Larsen
But no longer. At least I hoped that was the case.
“I know there are some still falling through the cracks,” Piers said, frowning, his concern as real as mine. “And it will take time for us to organize and figure out how to track new wakers. But, once we do, we’ll make sure the Brotherhood recruitment drive comes to an abrupt and painful halt.” He grinned at me around another mouthful of pizza. “Can’t wait.”
Any word from Zoe? I sent that privately, gently, knowing how much he worried about the young Oracle. Zoe Helios may have lost her ability to see the future, but, as it turned out, my son’s ability to open Gateways to anywhere in the Universe gave her and the Fates the chance to see the future again, if only for a little while. She’d left the last time Gabriel used his power, out of worry for her family. Piers’s concern for the woman he loved showed in his gray eyes and in the way he slowed his chewing before putting on a false face of bravado and cheer just like always.
Not yet, he sent. But you’re right. I know she’s fine. Doing what she needs to do. He looked away. Family first, Syd.
How many times had I heard that? How many times had I said it?
Piers set aside his pizza before prodding Charlotte. They were old friends, too, though there were times I thought he got away with much more than I ever could with her. She glared at him, but he just leaned in and kissed her noisily on the temple.
“All righty, then, sweet cheeks,” he said in his best arrogant accent. “Tired of all the bollocks. Spit it out or forever hold your little weregirl peace.”
She grunted at him, but Sage’s hand tightened on hers and she finally sighed. When she looked up, she met my eyes first.
“Femke ordered Danilo to stand down,” she said.
I nodded. I knew that already. He was told in no uncertain terms to stay away from the vampire blood clans.
Her teeth gnawed at the inside of her cheek a moment before she shook her head.
“He didn’t listen,” she said.
Why was I not surprised?
***
Chapter Ten
I stared my werefriend down as she went on.
“I take it you haven’t heard,” she said, normally stoic nature stirring with anger. I opened my mouth to tell her I had, about the drug arrests and the trafficking. But Charlotte stopped my agreement in its tracks. “About the deaths in Europe?”
Deaths? What the hell was Danilo up to? And why hadn’t Femke… “Femke knows?”
Charlotte nodded. “She’s the one who told me,” she said. “Vampires, Syd. Going missing.”
I almost corrected her. Missing vampires wasn’t necessarily the fault of her brother. But Charlotte went on as though unaware I was ready to reassure her.
I wished she hadn’t.
“Bodies,” she said. “Tortured and quartered.” Charlotte looked away. “Drained of blood and left as husks. Some with souls still inside, but without enough left to resurrect.” She rubbed her arms with both hands, the red leather crinkling under her touch. “Brought out to madness if they are revived at all.”
Okay, so not the spirit magic issue, then. “You’re sure it’s Danilo?” Sage might have said they had no proof, but this was Charlotte. She wouldn’t come to me, betray her brother, if she wasn’t sure.
Charlotte’s worry grew visibly, which meant this was serious trouble. “I think…” she choked on the words before going on. “I think he has help.”
What kind of help could Danilo possibly need? He was king of the werenation. All the pieces clicked together in my head when Sage took his turn.
“The Russian mafia,” Sage spoke up when Charlotte fell silent. “We fear he’s renewed the associations the weres used to have with organized crime.”
That was… unfortunate. And stupid, though it explained Simon’s intel, didn’t it? Only problem was, if Danilo had gone to the mafia, that meant it wasn’t just werewolves at stake anymore. If he turned the mafia onto vampires…
Normals with more information than was good for them could lead to a war none of us were prepared to fight.
“The mafia knew all along about us,” Charlotte said, defensive but angry enough I knew she wouldn’t stand with her brother on the issue. “And about the Black Souls, though only a fraction of what they could do. And only the most senior of the organization understood the wereguards they employed were not just berserker warriors but actual werewolves.”
There was a reason normals didn’t know about us. Too many years of fear fed by the propaganda and dogma of the Brotherhood through organized religion and fairy tales. All meant to make paranormals seem like monsters and instill fear of other races. Normals might not have had access to the powers we did, but they had weapons that could kill us, more powerful weapons and more numbers than we could easily fight.
“I have no idea how much Danilo has told them,” Charlotte said. “The Czar of the Black Souls kept the mafia leaders in check, under control. He refused to answer their questions and blocked their attempts to recreate our race by making revenants.” Humans bitten by werewolves no longer went mad and turned savage or soulless, but that didn’t mean it was legal. Aside from Sage and the California pack, making werewolves was still against the law. Even the insane former leader of the Black Souls knew better than to give too much to the mafia. What was Danilo thinking? “I worry my brother doesn’t have the foresight to contain his need for vengeance and has given up too much already.” She dropped her hands to her lap, anger gone, sadness brimming. “If the mafia leaders finally see just what paranormals there are, they will stop at nothing to acquire and use those powers for their own gains.”
Exactly what we couldn’t allow to happen.
“Damned idiot,” I snapped before unclenching. “Sorry, Charlotte. I adore your brother. But he’s going to get himself killed.”
Because I could be sure Femke wouldn’t allow the mafia to do anything of the sort. And if Danilo was involved in such a scheme as part of a plan to gain allies, his head would be on the chopping block.
I stood, chair legs making a scraping noise on the tile floor, the sound grating in the quiet of the house. “Let’s go,” I said. “Before Danilo does something we’ll all regret. If he hasn’t already.”
Charlotte joined me, silent and still a moment before she hugged me tight. I would have come to you sooner, she sent. But I honestly only found out just now.
I hugged her back. I believe you, I sent. And I love you, Charlotte. I’m sorry this is happening. I’m grateful you came to me.
She blinked away the wolf in her eyes and nodded.
“Mind if I join you?” Piers was already scooping Sassafras into his arms. “Hear Ukraine is pretty this time of year.”
“I have somewhere else to go first,” Charlotte said, exchanging a look with Sage. “Someone who asked to see me.” Sage nodded and stood, heading for the door, his power gathering.
“I’ll keep an eye on Danilo,” Sage said, waving to us as he left. “Just don’t leave me hanging too long.”
It would be the middle of the night in Ukraine. Hopefully Danilo could keep his nose clean a little while longer.
“Where are we going?” I offered my hand to Charlotte who took it firmly in hers.
“Maybe into a trap,” she said. “Or, to help an old contact. I’ll know more when we get there.”
That sounded optimistic. I jabbed one finger at Sassafras.
“I need you to stay home.” Really did, too. The coven was quiet, the power of the four girls running through it, watching over everything. But we could be a while, and every time I left I felt the stress on the family. Leaving Sass here, especially with me being gone at night when they felt the most vulnerable, would help. He was the backbone of the coven, after all, the one, steady constant.
Sass sighed and nodded as Piers set him down again.
“I knew you were going to say that,” he grumbled. “Be safe. Don’t break anyone.”
I shrugged. “We’ll see.” Piers came to joi
n Charlotte and me. “Haven’t broken anyone in a while. Might be good practice.”
My usual humor fell flat, even in my own ears. Sass huddled on the table, whiskers sagging. I hugged him with power. It’ll be okay, I sent.
Danilo could ruin things for all of us, Sass sent. Syd, this is terrible news.
We’ll take care of it, I sent. I promise. I’ll keep you posted.
The best I could do. I took second seat as Charlotte’s power swelled and she led Piers and me into the veil.
Again, so odd to be out of control, to allow someone else to take the lead. Especially here in the veil. Travelling on the Enforcer fire was weird enough, but at least it was unfamiliar to a point. The veil was my second home. It reached for me, asked for my attention, but this was Charlotte’s show and I held back, as hard as that was.
Power freak.
Charlotte delivered us to a quiet street that smelled vaguely of gasoline and rotting food. I scanned the darkness past the streetlight at the end of the alley, following with firm steps as Charlotte strode out into the light and turned right without hesitation. Her confidence gave me confidence and I was glad I didn’t have a chance to change from my power suit and heels. At least I looked the part of person of position.
We approached the front of what I guessed was a restaurant, a sign over head illegible to me, though the icon of a steaming bowl gave me that much info. Charlotte ignored the two giant bodyguards, while I purposely gave them the once over, letting them see my disdain. Maybe a bad idea but I was tired and cranky and no one glared at me like that, especially not some hulking dudebros in black jackets trying to look intimidating.
The interior of the restaurant was empty of patrons, save for a round faced man sitting alone at a central table. I followed Charlotte to the middle of the room where the rotund, balding man with a stringy dark comb over dressed in a pinstripe suit waited. His giant gold ring clanked against the side of his glass, smoke puffing nervously from his thick lips as he watched us approach. I could tell from the way he looked at me he knew exactly who I was.
Danilo had a lot to answer for.
“Iosif Greshnev,” Charlotte said, “may I introduce Sydlynn Hayle and Piers Southway?”
The mafia man dropped his cigar with a soft curse before hurriedly fishing it off the table, too late to save the white cloth from scorch marks. The small pile of ashes left behind released a curl of smoke before going out as he clamped the cigar firmly between his trembling fingers. He was doing his best to put on a front, but I could feel right past him. Normals had no idea how to mask their emotions from us. His fear pulsed along with his overly active heartbeat.
“What took you so long, Sharlotta?” Iosif’s voice shook, masked by a veneer of anger. As though we were late or something. I grinned at him and crossed my arms over my chest while Piers smirked and casually bumped me with one shoulder.
Scared witless, that one, he sent.
I’m going to kill Danilo, I sent back.
Might as well have some fun with it in the meantime. Piers’s gray eyes sparkled and I almost laughed. Pushing normals around wasn’t my usual fare. But if this Iosif could give us the information we needed… who was I kidding? He already had. His reaction alone told me Charlotte was right to worry.
That took the humor out of the moment.
“I came as soon as I could.” The faintest trace of her Ukrainian accent broke through Charlotte’s tone. She only ever slipped when she was upset. “Tell me what you know.”
He fidgeted with his cigar, his glass, his napkin. Looked everywhere but at Charlotte. “I owe you nothing,” he said, harsh with fear. “You owe me a boon. That is why I summoned you.”
Charlotte leaned forward, both hands on the table. Iosif shrank back from her, finally meeting her eyes. I had no idea the typical dynamic between the two, but had the impression from the way he spoke to her the odds were usually in his favor. Did he sense the change in her? Or was my presence and that of Piers enough to tip the balance? Regardless, he seemed more amenable to talking with her simple gesture.
“I can’t help you unless you p-promise to protect me,” he stammered, hands shaking openly now. He dabbed at beads of sweat on his upper lip as the door behind me opened and closed again. I felt the presence of his bodyguards, noted them and their crude weapons. Freed my demon to use her power to seize the working parts on their guns with her fire as I returned my focus to Iosif. “They will kill me if I tell you anything.”
“Your leaders.” I couldn’t help but interrupt. He nodded to me, eyes huge.
“They say,” he whispered, “you can do anything.” Was that hunger behind his fear? He licked his lips quickly, gaze darting to Charlotte and back to me. “Perhaps we can work out our own arrangement. In exchange for protection.”
I laughed out loud, dropping my arms to my sides, honestly amused. “You’re not serious.”
This is the only language he knows, Charlotte sent. You help him, he helps you. For a price, always.
Iosif sank back into his seat, suddenly pale. I wondered if he was going to upchuck the deep red soup he’d eaten, half a bowl still in front of him, and felt my own bile rise in reaction.
“I have had my eyes opened, Sharlotta,” he said, voice so low I had to take a step closer to hear him. “I was shown what is truly out there, what creatures of the night, once thought myth.” He shook his head, crossed himself. Like his belief would save him if a vampire decided to take his life. “My babusya knew better, warned me as a little boy of the undead and their blood thirst.” Definitely vampires. Which made sense. Danilo was after revenge, after all. “I should have believed her.” He looked up at me again, sagging, sinking in on himself as his fear stole his courage. “The world has gone mad and I wish I lived yet in the dark.” He paused, set down his cigar, ran both pudgy hands over his thin hair. “Will you save me if I help you?”
Taking on the weight of the paranormal world was bad enough. No way I was shouldering the fate of all normals, too. I shook my head, feeling my temper heat up.
“No deal,” I snapped. “You chose this life, Iosif Greshnev. Live with it.”
Syd, Charlotte sent. We need him.
Screw that, I sent. We have what we came for. Your brother crapped the bed and now we have to clean up the mess.
She flinched from me as I did my best to rein in my temper.
The two bodyguards moved in closer, their fear as rank as Iosif’s. He ignored them, as though they didn’t exist, desperation growing by the moment. He struggled to his feet, came toward me. Piers tried to block him but I waved him away.
“Please,” the round bellied man said, hands wringing before him. “I’m a simple mafia soldier. I never asked for any of this. Just a life of peace and quiet among a people I’ve learned to adore.” Charlotte’s subtle nod told me he was telling the truth. I felt no duplicity in him so I let him go on. “Ambition has led me to a place I can never return from. But I have information that can help you, I swear.” He closed the last step between us, smile vibrating on his trembling lips. He barely reached my height, belly in my personal space. He stank of cigars and cabbage, a sweet taint over shading the deeper scents making me feel nauseated. “If you will only take me from here.”
It might be worth hearing what he has to say, Piers sent.
Fine. Whatever. “Disclosure first,” I said. “Then, we’ll see.”
Iosif shot a look at Charlotte who rolled her shoulders in a casual shrug, grinning at him like this was funny. “I trust her,” was all she said.
The round mafia man sighed so deeply I thought he might collapse in on himself before he met my eyes once more. “I have been ordered to hunt two people. Of your kind.” He winced as he said it. “And kill them both.”
Interesting. “Targets?”
“The first is like the Black Souls of the old days,” Iosif said. “A sorcerer?” He said the words like a question, unnatural from his lips. I nodded. “Liander Belaisle.”
Well no
w, that was interesting. “What does the Russian mafia have against Belaisle?” Not that I cared if someone else was hunting him. Keep him busy. Only that if they managed to find him first, I’d be very, very disappointed.
Iosif and his masters wouldn’t like to see me disappointed.
“His organization has been encroaching on our territory.” He shivered and shrugged. “I’m to have all my resources dedicated to finding and killing him.”
Good luck with that. They’d never catch him.
“And the second?” Piers’s casual tone made me nervous. Did he know something I didn’t? The stiff way his shoulders sat under his longcoat, the tightness of his hands as his forced smile didn’t reach his snapping gray eyes.
Who was the second target?
“A woman,” Iosif said, “also a sorcerer and a compatriot of Belaisle.” The word came out easier this time.
Oh. Crap. On a crapstick.
Piers raised his eyebrow at Iosif, showing his teeth as he smiled. “Her name?”
I already knew her name. And so did Piers.
“Eva Southway,” Iosif said.
***
Chapter Eleven
I’m sure he was expecting to hear his mother’s name spoken, but that didn’t keep Piers from lunging for Iosif. The rattle of guns being drawn didn’t faze me. My demon had dealt with the bully boys already. And I had absolute faith Charlotte could handle them physically from that point on. In fact, I felt her move past me, the whisper of her wolf emerging at the same moment I reached out and grasped Piers by the shoulder of his longcoat and pulled him sharply back and to my side.
He snarled at me but caught himself, straightening up while Iosif cowered away from my friend like he expected to be killed. I kept a firm hold on Piers as I spoke to the quivering mafia man.
“Eva Southway isn’t Brotherhood,” I said, letting some outrage creep into my voice if only for Piers’s benefit. He must have been thinking the same thing, because his whole body relaxed somewhat at the tone I used.
