by Laken Cane
“Percell,” she told Lex. She answered, although she’d rather have let him go to voicemail. “Yeah?”
“Rune! Mitch Percell here. As soon as you’re finished with Willowburg, come back to the office. I need to meet with you and your crew.”
She groaned. “What’s going on?”
He ignored her groan. “I’ll explain when you get here. See you in a few!” He clicked off, so jolly she wanted to reach through the cell and poke him in the eye just to make him chill the fuck out. Whatever was making him so happy was pretty much guaranteed to make her mad.
She didn’t bother calling the crew to tell them the change of plans. Percell would, she was sure, take great delight in doing that himself.
Having Lex by her side when she strolled into his office seemed to turn down his happiness dial just a little. He looked up with a wide smile, lost it for a second, then put it firmly back in place. But his eyes promised Rune chastisement when the Other was not present.
She widened her eyes innocently and shrugged. “Sorry, Mitch.”
All the crew had arrived but Raze, and he was notoriously late for everything. Mitch was not a patient boss.
“Where is your missing crew member, Rune? I requested they all be here.”
“Raze. He’s doing perimeter checks,” she replied, straight-faced. “He’ll be along.”
Raze chose that moment to stride in, and though Mitch had met all the employees, he still had trouble keeping the awe from his face when he looked at the big man.
“I swear,” Mitch said, mollified by Raze’s timely entrance and Rune’s outright lie. “Per capita, Spiritgrove has to have more extremely large people than any city in the country.” He looked at them expectantly.
The men shuffled uncomfortably, then glanced at each other. Rune grinned. “Per capita, Mitch, I’m sure you’re right.”
He shuffled some papers and cleared his throat, and Rune realized he was the uncomfortable one. She almost felt sorry for him.
But then he made her want to rip his head off again just by opening his mouth.
“So. I have a couple of reasons for wanting this meeting. Three, to be exact.” He cleared his throat again, and Rune started to get nervous. “First of all, RISC has sent over a man to help out at SCRU for a while. We’re in the process of hiring more law enforcement workers—Spiritgrove is growing and so is the…er…” He glanced at Lex. “Other community. To keep things safe for all in this city, we will of course be looking into bringing more men and women aboard.
“Now, second thing up is—”
Rune raised her hand.
“Er, yes, Rune?”
“I was wondering,” she said, politely, “who RISC is kind enough to lend us.”
He sniffed, then yanked at his nose. “Well, I don’t see any reason not to share that information. After all, he will start tomorrow. It’s, uh, Mr. Strad Matheson.”
Rune jumped to her feet. “The fucking berserker? Jeremy’s lackey?”
“Now Rune—”
“You realize he is Jeremy’s spy, don’t you? He’s not going to work for us. He’s going to spy on us. He’s just Jeremy’s fucking tool, Percell.”
“Sit down, Rune. We can calmly discuss this.”
She clenched her fists but sat. “Doesn’t matter how we discuss it. I don’t trust the berserker, and he’s not coming into Shiv Crew. Take him on as your boy if you want, or give him to one of the other departments.” She leaned forward and stared him down. “He is not going to be Shiv Crew.”
“Rune, I—”
“You want to fire Lex, who isn’t all brawn and no brains like Jeremy’s monstrous minion. She has talent and skill like you wouldn’t believe, but you refuse to keep her on.”
“Now—”
She stood, unable to sit like a good girl, and pointed at him. “No. Just, no.”
He stood as well, his face flushing. Putting his palms on his desk he leaned forward. His carefully coifed hair never moved. “I am the director of SCRU, missy, and I will not be talked to by one of my employees as though I am a bug to be stepped upon.”
“Did you just call me missy?”
His jaw dropped. “No. No, certainly not.”
She saw Z rub his chin from her peripheral vision and recognized the tell. He was trying not to laugh. Probably they all were.
She turned to stomp from the room until she could calm the hell down and almost fell over her own feet when she spotted him—the berserker—leaning against the doorframe.
Housed in a renovated warehouse, the SCRU building had enormous doorways. It was a good damn thing. She was pretty sure she heard an ominous creaking as he leaned there. If Raze impressed Mitch, Strad must have given him the vapors.
Strad looked at her, his expression bland, his eyes calm.
She wasn’t embarrassed. She hadn’t said anything she wouldn’t say to his face.
Striding up to him, she waited for him to move. He blocked the entire doorway.
“You always manage to be in my way,” she said. “I’d like to get some water so you’ll have to move. Or maybe you’d like to fetch it for me. A guy like you always needs an ass to kiss, right?”
She disliked him because he did all Jeremy’s dirty work. Because he allowed himself to be a pawn. But most of all, she disliked him because he disliked her. It made her all kinds of defensive.
That’s a lie. You hate him because he’s the one man you’re afraid of.
Well, yeah, there was that.
Jeremy had told her several times of the berserker’s comments and attitude about her. Of course she’d asked Strad about it. She was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but only once.
He’d shrugged at her accusations, raising that perpetually arrogant eyebrow, and refused to so much as acknowledge her words. It’d gone downhill from there.
They rubbed each other the wrong way. She couldn’t stand him and imagined that when he looked at her, his stare was full of contempt.
Work together? No way.
“Well?” she bellowed. “Out of my way, Berserker.” She was getting a sore neck having to look up so far.
“Rune,” Mitch called, “Please hurry. I have another matter to discuss with you all. You wouldn’t want to miss this.”
“Oh,” she said, “I’m sure.”
And she no longer wanted the water. The berserker finally hauled his body out of her way, but she simply turned and walked back to her chair. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“Good,” Mitch said. “Great. Okay. So we’ve established that Strad—Mr. Matheson—is on loan to us from RISC. And Rune, before you decide this is a terrible thing, let me assure you we have our reasons for bringing him in.”
“Would you mind letting us in on those reasons?”
“The Dark Others,” he said, “for one. The Church of Slayers, for another.”
The words were so abrupt and ill-omened they sent a chill of fear down her spine.
She shot a worried look at Lex. “Save that for last, please.”
“Fine,” he said. “Whatever you want, Rune.”
She lifted an eyebrow at his sarcastic tone. She hadn’t thought he had it in him.
He looked around at them all. “Okay, next item…this one I hope will be greeted with a little more…acceptance than our borrowing of Mr. Matheson. I plan to create a new department—a new specialty, if you will—in SCRU.
“I realize Shiv Crew is monsters and blades.” At Rune’s look of surprise he added, “I read the business card.” His smile was quick. “Anyway, I’m creating a department for men—and women of course—who specialize in explosives.”
Rune pursed her lips. “We already have a bomb department.”
“Yes, but it has two people and little direction. I’m going to create a large department with approximately fifteen people. I’ll merge our two specialists right in.”
“That’s fine. Just don’t ever think about doing that to me, Mitch.”
He held up his palm. “No,
no. Shiv Crew is amazing. I wouldn’t think of changing that. Adding a few more people, but I wouldn’t change it.”
She didn’t want to waste time arguing. “What else?”
“Guns,” he said. “I know Shiv Crew has some of the finest shooters in the country, but I want a department efficient in not just guns and handguns. I want sharpshooters. Snipers. I want men I can put on roofs around town and feel secure knowing they can take the head off a monster a mile away.”
“You’re really worried,” Z said.
Mitch nodded. “I’m worried that if this county has an emergency, we’ll be sorely lacking in capable…soldiers, if you will. Before I came in I was blissfully unaware.” We exist to protect our people. We will protect our people.”
“And our Others,” Rune said, as surprised as the rest of them that she’d uttered that sentence.
Mitch’s stare was determined. “Certainly our Others.” He gave them a hard smile. “We will certainly take care of our Others.”
For the first time since meeting him, Rune could understand why Mitch Percell had been put in such a position of authority. He wasn’t as silly and pompous as she’d thought.
She nodded and grinned at him. “It’s what we do.”
His eyes crinkled at the corners as he grinned back. “Damn right it is. Okay, I have nothing else to say about the department changes, although there will likely be more in the future. It’s going to take a while getting the right men, etcetera. But it’ll happen.”
He picked up a pile of papers, banged them on the desk, then set them back down with a sigh. “Now, this bit is going to cause an uproar. I can already hear it. But it’s going to happen, and it’s going to happen next week. So don’t waste time arguing with me about it.”
Rune looked to the heavens. It had been going so well. “Lovely. Fresh hell.”
“I know we mostly talk in terms of this city—Spiritgrove—but we’re just headquarters. The county seat. We have an entire county to care for. And this is for the morale of River County. For the good of River County.”
The twins, at the same time, shifted in their chairs, and Jack smothered a yawn. Realizing he was losing them fast, Mitch continued valiantly on.
“River County is about to get some movie stars, kiddies. Celebrities.” He beamed.
The crew traded mystified looks.
“You’re bringing in Brad and Angelina?” Rune asked.
“No, Rune, but when we’re finished with you and Shiv Crew, you’re going to be Spiritgrove’s version of Brad and Angelina.”
For the first time since he’d entered the room, Raze spoke. “Explain.” He didn’t sound happy.
Mitch’s fingers fluttered nervously at his tie as he eyed the big man. “Er. Yes. In two weeks TV is coming to film you as you walk, red-carpet style, into a questions and answers session held at River Run Hall.”
No one said a word.
“I will be working to build you up before then. Newspapers, radio, Internet. Your light has been hidden under a bushel the size of a mountain, and I’m about to blast that bushel to bits. River County needs to know about each and every one of you and what it is you do.” He waited, but still got nothing from the crew. “So, there it is. I’m going to make Spiritgrove, and Shiv Crew, famous.
“Oh, not just Shiv Crew,” he hurried on, as though they’d argued, “but all of SCRU. I just want to start with the most together department we’ve got, and that’s you. So. That’s it. What do you think, people?”
Rune looked at Jack, who looked at Z, and abruptly they burst into laughter. Raze stood against the wall, a sparkle in his eye. For Raze that was equal to rolling around on the floor laughing hysterically.
Levi and Denim laughed as well—they knew Shiv Crew. Movie stars? Just…no.
Z stood and high-fived Rune. “Meet at your place in an hour,” he said, between chuckles. Then he pointed at Mitch. “Movie stars!”
They broke into fresh laughter and started to file out the door.
Mitch’s voice brought them back in a hurry.
“The Church of Slayers,” he said, and waited for them to once again give him their full attention. He looked at Rune. “Did you tell them?”
Raze pushed himself away from the wall and dropped his crossed arms. “Tell us what?”
Shit.
“Not yet. I haven’t had time.” She looked pointedly at Lex. “I will. Later.”
Mitch glanced at Lex and away just as quickly.
The twins slid forward in their chairs, stares suspicious and hard.
“Tell us, Rune,” Levi said. He nodded toward Lex. “You can talk in front of her. She’s not a child.”
She sighed. Speaking the word COS aloud was like deliberately punching Lex in the face. Especially after Lex had sort of opened up to her earlier. She closed her eyes for a second.
“Rune, you’re scaring the fuck out of us,” Jack said, his voice harsh. “Out with it.”
She nodded and crossed her arms. “COS is regrouping. Branches are being started all over, and you know they’re all connected.”
Lex moaned and even though she’d been expecting it, the sound sent shockwaves of pain through Rune’s entire body. The moan was full of a darkness and horror that even Rune had trouble comprehending.
The twins were quick to kneel at her side, taking her hands. “Lex, nothing will happen to you. We will protect you,” Denim said.
“Always,” Levi added.
“Not just them,” Raze said. “But Shiv Crew too. None of them are going to get close to you.”
Lex shaped her hands into claws and raised them, batting senselessly at something none of them could see. “They’ll get me,” she cried. “They’ll get me.”
Fuck you, Karin Love. “Get her out of here, boys.” Rune could barely draw a deep breath, more helpless than she’d ever been in the face of the little Other’s torment.
Mitch put a fist to his mouth, his eyes wide and horrified. “Jesus Christ.”
Rune glared at him. “If there is more, Mitch, we can talk about it later.”
“Yes, yes.” He made a shooing motion, eager for them to get Lex out of his office.
Quietly, with Lex’s haunted sobs providing their exit music, they left the room.
Chapter Fifteen
Rune’s house was set back from the street, had rooms large enough to support the hugeness of her friends, and the big backyard was surrounded by a privacy fence.
The paint was peeling and faded, its color a cross between an old lemon peel and a cyanotic toe. There were four very tall, grim windows at the front, hiding inside the deep shadows of the porch.
The screen door, a leftover from another era, hung listlessly from one corner, swaying with precarious abandon when a good breeze struck.
Neighbors had sworn they’d seen pale, frightened faces in the high attic window and heard screams coming from the ancient and rarely used basement. Perhaps they’d only caught sad echoes of previous and long-dead inhabitants.
The house was hideous, but it was hers.
The crew knew where she kept the spare key, and when she arrived Jack and Z were already inside.
Denim was en route. Levi was staying behind to care for an upset Lex. Ellis was going to swing by for the rather impromptu meeting. He might not work the field or know how to wield a blade, but he was as Shiv Crew as any of them.
Rune couldn’t shake her worry over Lex. She had a bad feeling, and her gut was right more times than it was wrong.
Z stood staring at the dust on her bookshelf when she came in, his normally calm face dark, his eyes worried. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and feel the warmth of his chest against her cheek, but Rune wasn’t the hugging kind.
“You okay, Z?”
One of the men had spotted her MP3 player in its dock. It contained a diverse playlist since every single one of the crew had added a song or ten to it. Right now it was in the middle of some Metallica. Jack’s music.
“No. Not reall
y.”
“You need to find someone to love.”
He stared down at her, serious. “I have.”
She withdrew immediately. “Z—”
“Relax, sweet thing. We all love you.” He grinned at her, but there was a spark of regret in his eyes.
“Don’t call me sweet thing.” She smiled, then got away from the awkwardness by changing the subject. “I have a bad feeling about…everything, I think. About every fucking thing.”
“Lex?”
“Definitely. And the Church of Slayers. Who’s the new captain of that evil ship, I wonder?”
“Even from death row Karin can pull some strings.”
“Yeah. She needs to die.”
“She’ll probably die of natural causes before she’s executed,” Jack said from his place on the couch. “Slow sons of bitches.”
She sat down on the couch beside Jack. He leaned toward her, his big body dwarfing her furniture.
“Are you doing okay?” he asked her.
“Yes. Better than I’d expected.”
“If you need to talk about your father, I’m here.” He patted his shoulder. “I have a big one.”
She widened her eyes. “I’m happy for you, but there’s no need to brag. You might give Z a complex.”
Z snorted. “Not likely. Mine’s as big as his.”
She pursed her lips. “Are we still talking about shoulders?”
Z frowned. “Were we ever?”
Jack laughed. “I was.”
She was almost sorry when the door opened and Raze, followed by Ellis and Denim, walked in. Time to get serious.
“We need to talk,” she began.
Raze shut down the music. After a doubtful look at the biggest chair in the room he leaned against the wall. She really did need to get bigger furniture.
“First of all, we need to figure out who is extorting money from the Others.”
“Preston,” Jack said. “At least we have a name.”
“Yeah, the name is a clue, but it’s not going to tell us much. What we need to do is find someone willing to talk.”
“Who?” asked Jack. “One of the vampires?”
“Llodra. I meant to stop by Club Kiss tonight, but that didn’t work out.”
“I don’t think you’ll find him at the club,” Denim said. “He’s not going to take a chance we’ll be waiting for him.”
