Fury of a Phoenix (The Nix Series Book 1)

by Shannon Mayer

  A knife went into each of the sheaths inside the tops of my boots. I attached the two flash bangs to my waist, then adjusted my shoulders. The feeling of anticipation grew in my belly with each passing second.

  The sensation was the same no matter what job, no matter who, I’d been set on.

  I turned to the wall behind me. The electrical paneling for the restaurant was here in the office, one more strike against this place. Flipping the panel open, I stared at it, then opted for making sure it didn’t come back on. I flicked the breakers off; the restaurant went up in a bunch of shouting. I pulled Dinah and put two silent rounds into the panel to be safe.

  I walked to the door and waited for whomever would come and check on the panel. I didn’t have to wait long.

  The manager Tony, a chubby little abnormal with a flair for pastries, who had his head so far up my father’s ass I was surprised he could even see, waddled in. He took two steps, and I shot him in the side of the head.

  He crumpled and I stepped into the darkened Hallway. My father’s voice was above everyone else’s.

  “Tony’s got this, everyone just calm yourselves. Bambi, come here, darling, and sit with me.”

  I strode through the hall and into the restaurant where the light coming in from the street outlined people. All those around my father were his friends, those who were on the fringes of society. Some abnormal, some human.

  People I’d killed for in the past as my father handed my skills around.

  I pulled up both guns and started firing. Five of the twelve were head shots, down before anyone else realized what was happening.

  The rest woke up through their alcoholic haze and dove under tables, no doubt going for their own guns. I stood, silhouetted, waiting for the gunfire.

  “Luca Romano,” I said, “you killed my husband and son.”

  A weird urge to tell him ‘prepare to die’ came over me but I bit it back. The Princess Bride had been one of Bear’s favorite movies. He would have loved if I’d spit that at his killer.

  “Phoenix?” He sat up, clearly not understanding I was going to kill him. “Phoenix, you . . . what the fuck did you do with Dad’s money?”

  Always the money, it would never be about lives, or death, or pain. Just money.

  Wait . . . I stared hard at him, really seeing him. Realizing my mistake. “Dad’s money?” Worse, though, was I was taking too much time.

  One of his men popped up on my left with a gun raised, and I spun, let off a shot that slammed into his shoulder and flipped him over his table. I strode forward, kicking a chair out of my way. No one else had shot at me.

  Distantly, I wondered why, and then I knew.

  They thought I was still being controlled by my father, that I was here on his orders.

  I started to laugh. “I’ll give you ten seconds to clear out. After that, I’m killing you all, regardless of who and what you are.”

  The scramble was instant. I saw the man I’d thought was my father going with them. I pulled a knife from my boot top and threw it, hitting him in the shoulder. “Not you. You and I are going to talk.”

  He went to his knees as he cried out, clutching at the knife. His date screamed and bolted, stumbling in her six-inch high heels.

  Seven seconds passed and the room was indeed clear. My brother was on his knees. He glared up at me. “You turned out to be quite a faithless bitch. You think you’re going to get more money out of Dad? He’ll kill you now, for sure.”

  Fury rippled through me. “Tommy, why isn’t he here? Where is he?”

  He spit a gob of saliva at me that landed near my boots as he touched the ruby ring on his finger, no doubt calling the Stick Man to him.

  Time was ticking, but I needed answers.

  I lifted a foot and pressed it against the hilt of the knife as his face paled and he gasped. “Don’t. Piss. Me. Off,” I said softly.

  I stared at him, at my oldest brother who looked and sounded so like my father that I’d mistaken one for the other. Luca wasn’t here. I couldn’t kill him and end this as I’d planned.

  My brain ticked over what Simon had said in the park that afternoon. That we could work together to take things from my father, to take money from him.

  Zee had said something similar on the call. That there were other ways to make things right. Other ways of hurting my father. My jaw clenched and the mother bear in me roared with frustration, with anger and hurt. He was so close, he was so close somewhere in this city, and if I found him, I knew I could kill him and walk out without looking back.

  But that wouldn’t hurt him like I’d been hurt.

  Tommy stared up at me and began to laugh. “You can’t do it, can you? You never had the ability to kill. I knew it was someone else doing the dirty work, and you were just taking the fame.”

  I crouched down to him as I put Eleanor’s muzzle against his temple. “Oh, Tommy, Tommy. You have no idea, do you?” I tightened my hand, my finger itching to squeeze the trigger.

  Even now, he thought I was weak, that I was a little girl to be pushed around. “What will make Luca bleed, do you think? Will he care if I kill you, or will he just fill your spot with another bastard child of his?” I tipped my head. “One day, I’m sure I’m going to kill you, Tommy. You’ll cross me and force my hand. But for now, I’m going to let you live because I want you to deliver a message for me.”

  I sat back on my heels but didn’t put Eleanor away.

  “And what’s that, cunt?”

  I shot him in the kneecap, hardly moving to do it. He screamed and grabbed at his knee. I pushed his hands away and jammed a thumb into the bullet wound.

  “Tell Luca I’m going to make him suffer for killing my husband and son. I’m going to make him pay the highest cost that he will understand.”

  “You stupid little bitch! You shot me!”

  I dug my thumb in harder and he screamed again. “Did you hear me? Repeat it.”

  He tried to push my hand off but I put Eleanor to his belly. “Really, I can find another messenger if I have to.”

  “You’re going to make him suffer.” Tommy glared at me, his mouth twisted with pain as he spit the words at me. I couldn’t see his eyes but I knew what look they would hold. One of disdain, one of distaste, one of condescension.

  I took a step back. “I am going to be this family’s worst nightmare, Romano.”

  I squeezed the trigger, hitting the table behind him. He screamed and fell sideways, covering his head. I wanted nothing more than to put him over my shoulder and take him somewhere I could make him truly suffer. Where I could show him how very ugly I could be.

  But Zee was right. There were other ways.

  That my father would know it was me coming for him, causing him pain and costing him money, that would have to be enough.

  For now.

  I let myself out of the restaurant through the kitchen. The staff cowered and I ignored them. The abnormals glimmered with a light all their own, but none tried to stop me.

  The night air was cool on my skin as I walked away from the restaurant.

  Sirens bellowed in the distance.

  Breaking into a jog once I was clear of the restaurant, I made it to Abe and the truck in no time. He saw me when I was still half a block away, leapt from the truck and met me with his tongue hanging out and his tail wagging hard.

  “Come on, Abe. We’ve got work to do.”

  I let him back into the truck and started the engine. I didn’t know exactly where I was going, but I needed to move. My father knew I was here. He knew I was after him.

  He would be sending all three of his guardians after me.

  A smile slid over my face. I was going to make him pay, make him suffer like he could never have imagined, and I knew just how I was going to do it.

  While I sat at a stoplight, I fished around in my bag until I found my jeans and in the back pocket, a card with a single number on it.

  It looked like it was time to give Simon a call to see what
he had to say.

  And just what kind of skills the abnormal had.

  Chapter Twenty

  The idea of working with an abnormal, who’d been hired to track me down and kill me if he couldn’t drag me back to my father, would bother most people. In my mind, if Simon had skills Luca Romano thought were comparable to my own, then he could be an asset. Especially if he had intel on my father. Intel would be crucial not only to getting Simon his money, but for cutting the legs out from under Romano and making him bleed. Making Romano suffer was the new goal, and Simon was going to be key to that happening.

  I stopped at a box store and bought another new cell phone and a SIM card with a stack of minutes. I’d have to switch phones again later to be safe, but for now this would work.

  Simon answered my call on the fourth ring. “Hello?” His voice was thick and groggy with either sleep or booze.

  “You better not be drunk,” I said.

  There was the rustle of material. “Phoenix?”

  “We need to discuss how we are going to get you your money.” I kept my voice even. “Meet me at the Lounge in thirty minutes or I will assume you no longer want to get paid. Ask for Nix at the bar.”

  I clicked End on the mobile phone and then dialed Zee.

  He picked up, not groggy in the least. “Talk to me, Nix.”

  “You were right.” I paused and let those words I said very seldom sink in. “There are better ways.”

  A sigh slid out of him. “What are you going to do then?”

  “There is one city that keeps coming up, Zee. Over and over. Hollywood. That’s where Justin and Noah were going for their big score. That’s where a new merger is happening between Romano and Mancini, that’s where a new acting studio is opening for Romano. We know there is money flowing if Mancini is involved.” I thought about Barron. He had been my friend, and he had good connections there. Or he had connections. I wasn’t even sure he’d still be alive.

  “Mancini is beyond dangerous. He is the king of the abnormals, Nix. Avoid him if you can.” Zee cleared his throat. “You want me to come?”

  I smiled to myself. “No. Stay in Wyoming. I’ve got a potential helper.”

  “Who?” There was no jealousy in his voice, which gave me a surprising amount of relief.

  “The guy Romano paid to find me. Didn’t get paid and wants his money.”

  “Can you trust him?”

  “I don’t trust anyone but you and Abe. But this possible help . . .he’s an abnormal and he’s got skills.” I put a hand on Abe’s back as I said his name and his tail thumped against the far door of the truck.

  “Smart, doll face. You think you can bust up Romano’s business then, make him bleed out in more ways than one?”

  I was grateful he didn’t call him my father.

  “Yes. Based on what Gabe and Romano discussed, I think there are spells being created and sold, perhaps on the black market to normals. The amount of money flowing through, what else could it be?”

  He barked a laugh. “A few things, if I remember Romano’s business right. Could be weapons. Could be other kinds of trafficking in death magic that’s been twisted.”

  I gritted my teeth. The reason I’d left my father’s business employ was simple. I’d seen just how twisted he was. I saw the underbelly of the underbelly. Death was one thing, torture another, and trafficking people was a level of ugly I couldn’t—and never would—understand. Especially when those being trafficked were kids, even if they were abnormals.

  I tapped a hand on the steering wheel. “I faced Tommy down, Zee. Gave him a message for Romano. He knows I’m coming for him.”

  There was a heartbeat of silence before he exploded. “Goddamn it. Why would you do that?”

  I shrugged even though he couldn’t see me. “I was going to kill Tommy. I thought it was Luca Romano. But I realized that you were right. To make him suffer is a far better thing, to make him bleed out until there is nothing left.”

  “Nix, be careful. If he knows you’re alive and coming for him, he’ll send the guardians. The demon gave him—”

  “He’ll think I’m in New York. I’m going to hit him where he least expects it.”

  A sigh slid through the connection. “Just . . . be careful. He may be a psychopath, but he’s a smart psychopath, and that deal was no small thing.”

  I laughed softly. “They didn’t call me Flaky Phoenix, Zee,” I pointed out and he laughed, the reaction I’d been hoping for.

  “Damn it, just . . . do what you do best, then. And stay alive.”

  “That much I think I can manage. See you later.” I hit the end button a second time, then turned the phone off. Ten minutes later, I pulled into the parking lot for the Lounge and shimmied out of my killing clothes. On went my jeans and long-sleeved shirt over which I settled my leather holsters on my upper thighs once more, and knives back into the tops of my boots. I didn’t bother to hide the weapons on me, but left my coat off so the holster and guns were clearly visible.

  “Phoenix,” Eleanor said my name for the second time maybe ever, “your father’s contract with the devil prevents him from losing his power and money. You could take one thing from him, and another would fill its place.”

  I dropped my hand to her holster. “What I’m doing is going to piss him off, Eleanor. He’ll make a mistake. The contract was about power and money, not life and death. This will draw him out. This will make him come to me.” It would put fear into him and make him sloppy. “I’m going for suffering, not a quick death.”

  “I see,” she said and fell silent.

  I let Abe out of the truck. “Fuss, Abe. And don’t stray.”

  He gave me a woof and I dropped a hand to his head, taking a small amount of reassurance from him just being there, from the connection to the life I’d lost.

  With ground-eating strides, I headed to the front door. The bouncer saw me coming, and his eyes widened.

  “No weapons!” That was the standard deal. If you knew you belonged in the Lounge, you walked right in with weapons showing. If you didn’t belong, you handed them over to the bouncers.

  I pulled Dinah on him before he could so much as twitch. “One way or another, I’m going in with my weapons.” I flicked the safety off with my thumb. He swallowed hard but otherwise didn’t move.

  “No dogs,” he said.

  “Fuck off.” I lowered the gun and shouldered past him. Though he was twice my size, by his reaction he’d never had a gun pulled on him. He was literally shaking in his boots.

  Pussy.

  Abe and I walked through the upper part of the Lounge. I half-hoped Gabe would be there. He’d recognize me now, and I wanted another shot at his face with my fists.

  But luck was not on my side and my brother was nowhere to be found. The weight of so many pairs of eyes on me didn’t bother me. This was my world. This was where I knew my way in the dark.

  I went straight to the elevator and hit the button. Over my shoulder, I spoke. “Tank in tonight?”

  The bartender continued to clean a glass. “Just got here.”

  “Excellent. I have a friend coming. He’ll ask for Nix. Send him down.”

  “You got it.”

  I wasn’t worried about the bartender calling me in. This place was used for Mancini’s crew. People and abnormals came through all the time with weapons, and attitudes, on full display. And I wasn’t hiding what I was, or what I was packing. Which in a weird way meant I wasn’t the threat I could be. By their codes, I had been more dangerous when I’d come in before, hiding what I was behind the frilly dress.

  I stepped onto the elevator and Abe kept tightly to me. The doors slid shut and we rode down to the third basement level where Tank had taken me only a few days before.

  The doors opened and I stepped out into the hush of a room. Hushed except for the audible clicks of several guns.

  I laughed. “Please. You think that would stop me from wiping the room with all of you?”

  “Phoenix?�
� Tank stepped forward.

  I nodded. “I have a guest coming to speak to me.”

  Tank’s tiny eyes opened about as wide as they could, which meant they looked almost normal in size. “You want a room?”

  “Yes. And then you and I are going to have a chat.” I stepped forward and dropped a hand on his shoulder, pulling him forward so my mouth was close to his ear, no easy feat with his size against my own. “You talked about me to the wrong person, Tank. I thought we were friends.”

  A shudder slid through him. “We are friends.”

  “Friends don’t rat on each other. Especially when we are some of the few normals here.” I gave him a little push away from me as the elevator dinged behind me. Abe gave a woof of recognition and I half-turned to see Simon step out. Apparently, Abe liked Simon. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

  For now, I would take it as a sign to go forward with my plan. I crooked a finger for Simon to follow me deeper into the basement level.

  “Third door on the left is open,” Tank called after me.

  I followed his instructions, flicked on the light as I went into the room and Simon walked through after me.

  “You friends with Mancini?” His eyebrows went up. “That wasn’t in your dossier.”

  “Luca Romano didn’t care how I made things happen, only that I did it well and quickly. He was buddy-buddy with those who ran business in line with his. I took that as a nod to use those I could.”

  “Why are you telling me so much?” He frowned at me.

  I smiled back. “Because you want money from Romano. And I want to make him suffer.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “A partnership then?”

  “Temporary. One job only, enough to get you the money owed to you.”

  “And what do you get out of it?” He circled around the one table in the center of the room and pulled up a folding chair.

  I sat across from him in a similar chair. Abe sat beside me, his eyes locked onto Simon. Though he might like the tracker, he wasn’t trusting him.

  Good boy, Abe, I thought.

  “I make him hurt.” I said. “I’m going to make him bleed, Simon. The offshoot of that is I’ll be taking what is most important to him. Money and standing with the Collective.”