“I’ll tell you what is happening, Shug, yeah? I’m going out — for a very fucking long time. You are going to get your shit together and stop acting as though you’re having some sort of psychotic delusional episode. Then you are going to imprison the thief that we have been paid to find, and when I get back you and me will deliver the little troublemaker to our employer, take his fucking money and get out of this shithole. Am I clear, Lieutenant?” With that, Xavier got up, marched past Shuggie, and slammed the door nearly off its hinges as he left.
Chapter Thirty Eight
Alicia checked her watch. In over just over half an hour’s time she had a play date with her new friend!
She was feeling freer than she had in a long time. For one, Hugh knew of her identity and she was finally able to talk to one of her own kind, and two…she’d had a heart to heart with her Madre. The talks Alicia had with the headstone always left her feeling better.
Tying her hair into a loose ponytail, she was ready to head off into town to where Hugh asked her to meet him. She grabbed the carrier bag that was sitting on the entrance hall table and flashed back to Mexico.
Appearing from an alleyway behind a busy bar, she popped a lolly into her mouth and walked out onto the busy street, her brown eyes scanning for Hugh.
****
Xavier knew he was being tailed.
Belcastro goons were about as subtle as a kick to the balls, but they were easily lost as he led them a merry dance weaving in and out of traffic, taking sharp exits and doubling back on himself. The benefits of having his bike back in full working order was that he could pull manoeuvres that the wheeled cages couldn’t and now the hunted had become the hunter. Xavier was following behind the Belcastro men’s car smirking as they led him straight back to Snr Belcastro’s mansion.
Stupid motherfucking idiots, he thought to himself as he parked the bike a mile from the mansion and started walking up the hill.
The diversion of the chase was enough to almost lift his mood and take his mind off of how unbelievably stupid Shuggie was, although he was troubled by his true reaction to the intel he had been given.
He had warned Shug that the only interest he had in the thief Alicia Carberletti was to hand her over to Belcastro and take the reward money, but it was far from his true feelings. For some fucked up reason, the thought of Alicia being handed over to that ball bag made him murderously angry. There was a need deep within him to protect her and he didn’t know where the fuck that had come from or why. He’d never ever felt like this about anyone, but the feeling was almost primal and overwhelming.
Chapter Thirty Nine
Instead of walking in through the main gates, Xavier snuck into the grounds of the mansion and easily disabled the alarm systems, he had organised the installation himself, after all. Belcastro was playing dirty by clearing out his bank accounts and not paying him, as well as having him spied upon.
It would have been churlish, he mused, if he didn’t do a little spying of his own. Fair’s fair in love and war, after all.
And he did love war.
Once inside the mansion, gaining access undetected by using the workmen's entrance at the back of the property, Xavier loosened the fixings at the air conditioning vents and crawled in, slowly edging his way through the matrix of pipes until he reached his destination. The air vent in Snr Belcastro’s office was located almost directly above the desk, and from there he had a bird’s eye view to the meeting between him, Martinez and Ricardo.
He had arrived just as they had been talking about him, so he settled in to hear exactly what the bitches were saying when Snr Belcastro was interrupted with a call. Just as it was beginning to get interesting, he heard some clangs and rumbles.
Cursing under his breath he realised that some fucker had just switched on the air conditioner, and if he didn’t get out of there fast he was going to be blasted with a wall of cold air. It wouldn’t be a good look on him. He was torn between saving his fuck handsome self and hearing more about Snr Belcastro’s dodgy business dealings. In the end knew he had to get the fuck out of there, so started to crawl back to the exit he had come in through.
“Sounds like the twisted bastard is getting involved in people trafficking.” Xavier’s frown furrowed as he walked away from the mansion, back towards his bike. And if his suspicions were true, then there was no way in hell he would continue working for Belcastro, much less hand over Alicia to his mercy. He may be a trained killer and skilled soldier, but he had standards and his own moral code from which he never strayed.
When Xavier got back to the base, he avoided Shuggie like the plague, grabbed a couple of bottles of Scotch and barricaded himself in his quarters. Too much was happening, too fast and he wasn’t in control of one iota of it.
Unfuckingacceptable, he thought to himself as he started work on emptying the contents of the amber liquid straight down his throat.
If he could just get himself drunk enough to fall into a coma, let his body relax, and not have any of his usual nightmares or worse — the dreams he seemed to be getting more and more frequently starring the new bane of his existence, Alicia ‘Friera’ Carberfuckingletti. Yeah, he agreed with himself as he belched loud enough to cause avalanches half way across the globe, one dreamless sleep would let him sort his head out. Tomorrow he would start sorting all the shit out, just as soon as he could. Xavier’s hand let the almost empty bottle slip out of his hand as he fell sound asleep, slouched at an awkward angle in his chair.
“No, no, not again - fuck!” Even in his subconscious state, Xavier could feel the dreams gaining on him. This wasn’t part of the deal - the dreams weren’t playing by the rules!
In his dreams, Xavier could feel the fresh air hitting him like a brick in the face. Almost as though he was experiencing it for real. Lately, the dreams were becoming more like remembered memories, so palpable, he could almost touch them. But that was madness, because they were just dreams, weren’t they? As Xavier inhaled, his lungs burned with the cold. Fucking perfect. His body jerked in the seat where he slept as his dream made him feel as though he felt all of his bones cracking, muscles and veins contorting, but by fuck did the pain feel good to him. His adrenaline was pumping, and all his senses enhanced as he padded about, the undergrowth damp under his paws.
Wait. What?!
Looking down, Xavier seen that he had huge grey paws, instead of feet. It was only then that he noticed he was on all fours, and covered in fur. In his dream he had shifted to his wolf form. But instead of panicking, he merely sniffed the air and picked up a familiar scent in the wind, coming from the North.
“Mine.” The only word he was capable of thinking, but instead of verbalising it he could only lift his head up, stretching his throat and howling into the night sky.
The hunt was on.
Xavier felt good stretching his limbs, the cold air through his ‘fur’ pushing him on as he ran at full pelt towards the scent. It was getting stronger the nearer he got to it. Instinctively, he slowed and kept his belly low, running stealthily through the forest. Seeing a female in his sights, he stopped dead.
Xavier, still in wolf form, kept his movements quiet, never taking his eyes off of the mysterious female. Just as he was about to pounce on her and mark her as his, he heard other voices — human voices — which startled her and she began running away from him.
“No. Mine. Protect. Mine!” As Xavier’s dream intensified, his body twitched and he was muttering under his breath, in between noisy snores. The dream was quickly turning into a full on nightmare, as panic gripped Xavier in his wolf form.The female, his female, was in danger from unseen men.
He had to protect her.
He knew that he would give his life to save her, even though he still couldn’t make out her features. As the men who were chasing her came into view, he let the female run ahead and lunged onto them, pinning both down with his front paws on their backs. Baring his razor sharp fangs he snarled a warning, before realising that the men were a
rmed and both reaching for their weapons.
Xavier’s eyes were darting behind his closed eyelids, and his heart rate had gone tachycardic as he entered this part of his dream. He could sense the fear and loneliness within the female and that was all the indicators he needed to draw his muzzle back, baring his teeth, and bite down ferociously into his two captives. Tearing into their flesh, ripping them apart — skin, muscle, sinews all being pulled from their bones.
The threat to his female must be neutralised.
As his blood-stained fur clung to him, he gave a triumphant howl before padding through the undergrowth of the forest, the need to console and comfort the female almost overwhelming him. As he looked up through wolf eyes, he saw the female turnaround ahead of him. She was moving as though she was in slow motion.
And then he recognised her.
Alicia.
Chapter Forty
Xavier was awoken by someone shouting, but in his disorientated state he realised that the shouting was coming from his own mouth, and the word he had been shouting was ‘Alicia’ over and over again. He didn’t know whether it was the fact he had woken up with abruptly, or the fact he had caught himself shouting her name, but he fell out of the chair hitting his ass off the floor with a thud — and narrowly missing landing on the discarded empty bottle of scotch.
“What the fuck is wrong with me and my fucked up dreams?”
Getting up, Xavier headed towards the bathroom. He needed a shower, and wanted to shake off the ghost of his dream so that he could focus on the real shit that he had to deal with. As he turned on the spray, he caught sight of himself in the mirror.
His beard was almost at ‘Brian Blessed’ proportions and the second that thought popped into his head, he started singing “Flash Aaaah - Gordon is Alive!” Reaching for his sorely neglected razor, he started to lather up his face, scraping off the hairs but still singing that damn song. The steam from the shower was fogging up the mirror, but Xavier was used to shaving without having to see his fuck handsome reflection. Once the beard had been slayed, he walked into the shower and stood with his hands flat on the cold tiles letting the hot spray hit off of his body, his head bowed, and eyes closed.
That was his biggest mistake because the minute he closed his eyes that damned stubborn, argumentative — beautiful — female appeared in his mind’s eye. Alicia had somehow found a way to hijack not only his dreams, but his waking thoughts. Maybe she had put a bloody spell on him or something? Which was nonsense because vampires can’t do that. Xavier’s eyes opened and his body tensed. No, vampires can’t spell-cast, but they were capable of mesmerising victims. Getting into their heads and placing their own thoughts in there, so that the victim didn’t even know it was happening!
“Fuck!”
Xavier’s hand slammed against the tile but then he started to rationalise. No vampire had ever been able to do that to him. Shuggie once remarked that he must be immune to it, due to his father’s Werewolf DNA. If that were true, it was the only fucking thing the bastard had given him that was worth a shit, and the only benefit to having tainted blood in his veins.
As his thoughts started to meander down the nostalgia route, he reckoned that the reason he was now dreaming of being a bloody wolf was because of his heritage, and maybe some sort of yearning to be what the rest of his family had been, and what he never was — a werewolf.
If asked, Xavier would have denied until he was blue in the face that it had ever bothered him being the “runt” who was mortal and unable to change. Deep down, if he was being honest with himself though? Yeah, that was a different matter. His life would have been so much easier if he had been like the rest of them. Maybe Alicia would have respected him if he had been able to shift. She could probably sense on him that he was defective and that’s why she seemed to hate him on sight.
With a heavy sigh, he bowed his head back under the spray and blindly reached for the shower gel. The scent of cherries filled his nostrils as he lathered up his sculpted, war-scarred body.
She was getting closer.
He didn’t know how, but he just knew she was on her way to him. Or Shuggie. The two of them seemed to be getting helluva buddy buddy lately, hadn’t they? Unaccustomed to jealousy, that sucker punch caught Xavier off-guard.
“Get a fucking grip you stupid fuckwit,” he berated himself as he finished his shower, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around his hips as he walked back through to the bedroom. He pulled out his kitbag from under his bed and rummaged around, grinning with satisfaction as he found what he was looking for.
Holding the white bottle in his hand, he just nodded smugly. “Wouldn’t fucking hurt to smarten up for once, yeah?” Denying to himself that it had anything whatsoever remotely to do with the fact he was sure Alicia was about to pay them a visit. Splashing some of the liquid into his palms, he slapped his hands on his face. Xavier’s eyes almost bugged out of their sockets as the aftershave stung every goddamn pore in his skin. Inhaling sharply, before checking himself out in the wardrobe mirror. “Old Spice, the mark of a fuck handsome man!”
Chapter Forty One
Shuggie reckoned that as soon as Xavier had left he would have went straight towards the Belcastro mansion. He tidied up the place quickly before changing his clothes and flashing to the alley at the side of the restaurant which was now becoming ‘The Meeting Place’ for him and the little vampire. He smiled as soon as he saw her and bowed reverently.
“Ah hope ye huvnae been waiting long, youngling, ah kin only apologise.”
“Well good evening Hugh a pleasure as always to see you fine self.” Alicia smiled at her new friend then thrust the carrier bag she was holding in her hand up at him. “I got you a gift!”
Taking the bag that was thrust at him, Shuggie looked inside and a wide smile formed on his lips.
“Ye shudnae huv done that, lass,” looking back up at her, “thank ye, I’ll keep it fur a special occasion.” Shuggie was truly touched by the little vampire’s kindness, even though he had a good idea that she had procured it without the owner’s knowledge! “Its mah favourite, how did ye guess?”
“The mortal in the shop told me it was seventy years old, making it the joint oldest whiskey in the world and since you’ve been alive for eons. I thought you’d appreciate it.” Alicia smirked at Hugh but her eyes were full of playfulness. “It’s custom to take wine or flowers when invited on a playdate but you don’t come across as the mushy type Hugh.”
“Oh, I dinnae ken aboot that lass, I’m partial tae some thistles an heather.” Giving a wink and a smile, Shuggie offered his arm to Alicia. “Now, would ye like tae accompany me tae my dwellings?”
“Why Sir, I would love to accompany you to your fine abode.” Alicia hooked her arm around Shuggie’s and tried to keep up the best she could as his long legs strode, leading them away from the tourist location. “I’d never have thought a Scotsman would be living in Mexico.” In the next breath she blurted out, “Aren’t thistles prickly?”
Shuggie looked down at the little vampire, and flashed a grin. “Ach, they’re jist a wee bit jaggy, but like anythin’ bonnie - ye handle them wi’ care, ye willnae get hurt,” he laughed a little as they crossed the road towards the deserted park.
Once there, he ensured no one was around to see them, and flashed back to the base. “Hame’ll dae us, eh? Although ye huv tae understan’ that this is jist temporary, its oor workplace.” Shuggie didn’t know why he had to make that distinction to Alicia, he just didn’t want her to think that he and Xavier lived like homeless tramps.
Shite, Shuggie thought to himself. Alicia doesn’t know that he works and is best friends with the Commander.
As difficult as the conversation he had earlier with Xavier was, broaching the subject of ‘Xavier’ with Alicia had the potential to make that earlier one look like a breeze. Deciding to keep Xavier’s name out of the conversation for as long as he could, he offered Alicia a seat.
“A wee dram?” holding up a bottle
of Scotch, and indicating the glasses on the side table.
Alicia took the seat that was offered to her by Shuggie and sat down with ease, with a slight nod of her head
“That what be lovely, thank you Hugh. You mentioned ‘us’? Is your wife going to be accompanying us this eve?” Alicia smiled as Shuggie handed the glass to her, trying to act discreetly as she checked it over for cleanliness, even if it was just a temporary dwelling. It wasn’t exactly the Ritz! Satisfied it looked clean enough, she took a small sip, her eyes taking in the surroundings.
“Wife?” Shuggie laughed and shook his head. “Nae lass, ah huvnae got a wife.” Holding his glass up “Tae friendship” and took a drink before sitting down beside her.
He had taken them into his own quarters, since Xavier was less than pleased at hearing he had invited her over to spend the evening with them.
“How are ye likin’ Mexico, youngling?” Shuggie found Alicia’s company relaxing, easy. There was something quaint and old fashioned about her. She had impeccable manners which indicated a good upbringing, and she had no vanity or airs and graces about her. He liked the simplicity of her viewpoint, and admired that she was very much her own person, even though he suspected that her life had not been an easy one by any means.
Placing the glass down on that table that sat to the side of where Alicia was seated, she looked over at Shuggie, a relaxed look on her face. Shuggie had made her feel welcome and she truly enjoyed his company.
“It’s hot, that’s for sure! I love the architecture. The houses are beautiful and the art galleries are simply stunning. Although I did have to reprimand an art dealer. Can you believe he got the year and origin of a painting wrong? I left with that painting as an apology!”
The Heist Page 12
