“Ooh, I had one of those,” Mayra said as she paid for the drinks. “It was on a shaman called Agamar Periwinkle. He was about twenty years older than me and helped me get through the schoolhouse. He never looked at me that way, but I did him. A lot.” She fanned herself. “I got over it though. And you will, too. It’s Cole, remember? Overbearing, frustrating, annoying.”
“Sexy, gorgeous, powerful, and when he looks at me with those eyes,” I shook my head. “I need to shut up. I really, really need to shut up.”
“Let’s have a drink and then go dance for a while.” Mayra pushed the drinks our way. “And there’s a group of sexy warlocks over there who we will be dancing with before the night is out. Mark my words.”
“I’m not dancing with a bunch of random guys. I have enough problems.”
“Tell her, Rosie.”
Rosie laughed. “We have to do everything Mayra says tonight. Apparently, it makes her happy and she feels better.”
“You’re blackmailing us into having fun?” I turned on her in disbelief. Mayra just winked and took a huge sip of her drink.
“You’ll thank me later.”
That was all I was allowed to say on the matter, apparently. Two minutes later, the Indigo Velvet was my only concern. I knew that my head was so going to hurt in the morning—I didn’t need to be psychic to know that. But right at that very moment, I guess didn’t really care.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
A restless night’s sleep had followed after our night out. It had been the result of a thumping headache and the need to hydrate every five minutes.
I’d even crossed Rosie a few times during the night doing the same thing. But she was Fey, so two hours in and she was snoring her head off. Not me, though. My body was not happy with how many Indigo Velvets I’d shoved down my throat. The nagging side of my brain had given me a reoccurring lecture on how stupid I’d been to not know when to stop. And then I’d gone and told my brain to go screw itself a few times before trying to sleep with the pain sailing through my head. In the end, I’d resorted to taking the Black Tar of Death potion Mayra had given me to help with the hangover. It wasn’t really called that, but that’s exactly what it tasted like. It was horrible, with side effects of nausea lasting for about an hour afterward while it sped up the healing process. But I’d decided that the potion, and a few extra hours in bed, would be the lesser of the two evils when I needed go into work later.
I felt better when once I woke. So I decided to take advantage of having a few hours at home. The night out had been a success, and we’d watched Mayra stumble into her living space above her shop a lot lighter than she’d been before. The warlock triplets had helped with that. Not that they were related, but they’d looked very similar: black hair to their shoulders, rustic tunics and long draping cloaks. They also had the same moves: cheesy and handsy. I’m sure one of them would have a sprained wrist this morning after I yanked it away from feeling up my ass for the fifth time. But Mayra had enjoyed the attention, so good for her.
After eating a huge breakfast/lunch, I vegged out on the couch and watched Hologram TV for a couple hours. There were a few Earthside programs that transmitted over here, and so I caught up on some of my favorites. Once that was over with, I showered and dressed to meet Kaleb.
When I stepped off the monorail platform, my partner greeted me with a knowing grin. I didn’t look that bad. But then again, after seeing my face in the mirror earlier, I didn’t look that good either.
Arriving at The River Blue club, we decided to stay hidden in the shadows for a brief observation of the place before moving in. It was after eight, so Rudolf should be there, ready and ripe for the picking.
The club itself filled a three-story beige building on a street corner. It had glass pillars on the outside immersed into the brick wall, filled with blue crystal energy. The pillars provided a natural glow for the orderly queue already forming near the door. They were standing on a red carpet that covered the sidewalk outside the club; a red rope hooked on intermittent brass stands bordering it. The words THE RIVER BLUE were lit up in blue neon lights above their heads, and the thumping music could be heard from the outside. Two burly men who were easily identified as shifters of some kind manned the doors.
“Everyone wants to get on the VIP list,” I murmured as we casually watched it all play out. Kaleb laughed.
“The River Blue is a club for second rate shifters. Rudolf knows his market. And he likes those he can control with the fake perception of prestige and status. Now, if you want to mix it in a good shifter club, I need to take you to Pandora’s Box. That’s the place to be seen. It beats The River Blue club hands down.”
“The name tells me enough to stay away from the place knowing where your tastes lie.”
“Hey,” he replied, “only the best of the best get into Pandora’s. You wouldn’t be able to enter without me getting you on the guest list, even if you were a shifter.”
Shifters were as bad as humans in regard to their stupid prejudices. They always managed to find ways around the laws that stopped judgment of any kind happening through the lands. But then again, they weren’t the only species to do so. Both the Fey and the vampires looked after their own, and us humans were at the bottom of the food chain. It didn’t matter that I was a Sapphire Citizen—even in that regard, I was lower in the banding. Wizards and witches tended to see themselves as the higher profile members of the Sapphires. Psychics, clairvoyants, mediums, we were all add-ons so to speak. But it still felt better than being an outsider on Earthside. At least over here, I didn’t have to hide what I was.
“Time to go,” Kaleb said breaking my train of thought, and I followed him as we sauntered over to the two doormen. We heard the murmurs of unrest from the waiting crowd as they assumed we were jumping the queue. The doormen must have thought so, too, because the largest one with a balding head took a few steps forward to block us from walking any further.
He put a hand in front of Kaleb then leaned forward to sniff me. “This is a shifter-only club, sweetheart. You’re not welcome here.”
A few chuckles from our audience drifted over, and so I took a little bit of pleasure in flashing my badge in front of his face.
“I’m an EFA, sweetheart. And I’m sure there is a law in place that states we must not discriminate against any race or species of Portiside’s citizens or its visitors. Want me to look further into it for you?”
His smile dropped as he caught sight of my badge.
“We need to speak to your boss,” Kaleb demanded. “Now.”
The doorman said nothing as he dropped back into position. He uttered something into the comms he wore around his wrist, and two minutes later we were being ushered into the club. The place was already crowded enough to make me nervous. Being around this many shifters at one time didn’t exactly make me feel comfortable. To me, predators always looked the same no matter their heritage. From their movements, their vibe, their gaze, everything about them screamed hunter. And, right now, the club was full of them.
Blue spotlights hung from a mirrored ceiling as the same color shimmered through the place. The drinking glasses, all the way down to the leather seating were all blue. Podiums decorated with mirrored tiles were popular with shifters checking out their dance moves, making the word ‘cringe-worthy’ come to mind.
I wasn’t a regular club-goer myself, so I guess bright lights and headache-provoking music was all you needed to get people through the door.
One of the doormen pointed to a set of transparent glass stairs, and I thanked my lucky stars that I wasn’t wearing a dress. “Go up the stairs and turn right. You’ll see a manned door. Flash your badge and you’ll be let through.”
We followed his orders and pushed ourselves through the writhing bodies that had already hit the dance floor. Kaleb moved through the crowd as smooth as silk as he charmed the female shifters who had instantly taken a liking to his presence. I had to deal with a few groping hands and snarls as the shif
ters sniffed the air realizing I wasn’t one of them. Any other time I would have been offended and reacted as such. But a grope in a den of lions (which was pretty close to the truth) was just a grope. This wasn’t like the Victorian Quarter where I’d blend in because of the way I looked. Here, I was betrayed by my human scent making me easy pickings in their eyes. Here, I was the weaker prey, so sometimes it was easier to just rise above it. Like now, when we were outnumbered a hundred to one.
After surviving the crowd almost unscathed, we climbed the polished glass stairs. I had to admit, it was a pretty cool effect when each step flashed blue beneath our feet as we applied pressure on it. But I still wasn’t convinced that whoever was standing underneath wouldn’t have gotten an eyeful if I hadn’t been wearing my jeans.
As soon as we reached the top, another doorman, or guard dog of some kind, greeted us. He led us through another manned door that led into separate living quarters above the club floor itself.
The room where Rudolf River was reputed to be was filled with so much animal and cheetah memorabilia that it actually hurt to look upon it. From the faux fur-covered stools positioned next to the gaudy pictures and paintings that hung from the deep red walls, I could already feel a headache brewing.
From a small bar in the corner of the room, a man wearing leather pants and a white shirt unbuttoned halfway, rose up from his seat and came walking over to us. His mousy brown hair worn down to his shoulders matched the color of his pencil thin mustache.
He’d obviously dressed and preened himself to try and look as seductive as possible. But between the smarmy dress sense and the over-the-top cologne, I wasn’t buying it. If there was one thing I couldn’t understand, it was why people developed such poor taste because something had status attached to it.
“Agents,” Rudolf greeted us with his hand extended. I ignored it and Kaleb saved the day by greeting him in my stead.
“We have a few questions for you, Mr. River,” Kaleb told him. “We won’t take up much of your time.”
“Kaleb, you’re practically family. Your dad is like an uncle to me. You can drop the formality.”
My eyebrows rose as I glanced over at Kaleb. But he didn’t even look my way. Instead, he smiled and addressed Rudolf with a reserve I’d never seen in him before.
“Mr. River …” I turned around when the door clicked shut behind us. One of his doormen decided to join the show. “We would like to ask you a few questions about your investment into SQR Ground Patrol. It won’t take long.”
“SQR?”
“Star Quality Rangers,” I explained, not buying his ignorance when that twinkle in his eye contradicted him. “They’re funded by Tempa Holdings. You do own Tempa Holdings, I believe?”
“Honey, I own a lot of places. You would need to speak to my financier to find out more about that. I have more interesting things to think about.” He checked me out, assessing me from top to toe. My brow furrowed with confusion when Kaleb stepped in front of me. I subtly moved back to stand by his side.
“I know you and your family, Rudolf,” Kaleb told him. “I know how you like to track every bit of currency as if it was your god damn child. Don’t make me go over your head with this.”
“With what?” Rudolf asked with his arms open as if innocent. He appeared to be thoroughly enjoying himself. “I don’t know where all my money goes.”
“A Ground Patrol company isn’t cheap change. You sure it’s something daddy knows about?”
This time, the humor melted from Rudolf’s smug expression. “You sure you want to prod that button, Kaleb Cipher?”
“Let’s drop the dominance games,” I told them as shifter testosterone filled the room. “Mr. River, all we want to know is if you have invested in SQR and what your intention is behind it. They’re not exactly known to be the most profitable of investments. Not like this place.”
“Now, I like her,” Rudolf said as he pointed at me. “She knows how to play the game right. And thinking about it, I do remember something about Ground Patrol. It’s coming back to me now.” He stared up at the ceiling as if he expected us to buy his phony recollection. “SQR. Yes. Rings a bell. My financier said I had some currency to throw around. Asked whether I wanted to invest in protection. He said that we could start up small in the Victorian Quarter and then build up a tight reputation, expanding into Indicium where all the money is. I figured, why not? I’m always one for benefiting the shifter community. And a lot of shifters become disheartened when they don’t make it as an EFA.” He walked closer toward me. “I’ve got to admit, it’s kind of hot that a human like you made it through.”
He went to touch my cheek but my hand latched onto his wrist in time to stop him in his tracks. He laughed, and my brain was telling me to let go of him as his eyes filled with mirth. But I couldn’t. Against my will, I held onto him as a repertoire of images hit me hard. One after the other. Faster and faster. I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t let go.
An image formed of a blue circle with the letter R printed in its center. It swirled out of an image of a warehouse with a yellow sign outside warning trespassers to stay away. Through the haze I heard whining and growling.
On the outer most edges of my consciousness I could hear Rudolf asking what I was doing while he tried to yank his hand away. Then another image formed.
Rogue shifters. That was all I could see. Chained up, hanging from a wall, whining as they suffered with pain and hunger. They bled, while a man in blue clothes walked up to them, swaying meat in their faces.
The image blurred. Replaced by a white rabbit that transformed into a man wearing a white jacket and pants. The man was pleased with himself as he looked at a packet of blue pills in his hand. He then pocketed them before heading off into the night.
I jumped slightly when I saw a knife come out of the dark and slash against the man’s throat. His white jacket was now sprayed with his own blood. I watched in horror as he fell, lifeless, to the floor. The blue pills taken from his hands. The image swirled again.
The tug of Rudolf yanking his wrist away was enough to pull me out of my vision, and then the nausea hit. Rudolf rubbed at his wrist. He was furious.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he snapped and the doorman, or should I say bodyguard, appeared next to him.
“I’m sorry,” I managed to choke out, between retches. Next thing I knew, Kaleb was standing between us trying to calm Rudolf down as he ranted on about brutality. All I could hear after that was Rudolf’s dull voice tossing about ‘did I know who he was’ among every other word. I had to take a few breaths to steady myself.
“I’m sorry,” I said again wiping the sweat from my brow. “I zoned out for a moment. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Hurt me?” Rudolf demanded, his pride hurt. He took a step closer to us both, and his bodyguard moved in sync. “How the hell could a human hurt me? You didn’t hurt me. You just—” he cut off and studied me for a moment before turning to the shifter who worked for him. “What was on her badge?”
“What do you mean?” the shifter asked, a little confused.
“Her banding, idiot. What was on her badge?”
“N-nothing,” he stammered. The nervousness of his tone didn’t look right coming from someone so big and scary. “It read EFA. That’s all.”
“And her citizen badge?” He glared in my direction. “Show it to me.”
This time Kaleb didn’t hesitate to step in as he urged Rudolf back. “Like you said, she’s human. And by law, we don’t have to show you that. You’re crossing a line, and you know it.”
“I’m crossing a line?” he asked in disbelief. “You dare to come in here with your arrogance and eagerness to throw your pack status in my face. And then this little bitch grabs me.”
“Hey,” Kaleb snapped. “Watch your tone.”
“I’ll watch nothing.” He stared at me. “I’ll have your damn badge, you stupid, little—”
Before he could say anything more, Kaleb
had Rudolf by the collar and was holding him up against the wall. He’d moved so fast that even the bodyguard hadn’t been able to stop him in time.
“Kaleb! Let him go.” I rushed over to where Rudolf was trying to fight unsuccessfully out of Kaleb’s white-knuckled grasp. The bodyguard finally gathered his wits and shifted part of his arm so his claws extended to attack, but I snapped, “Put your claws away or I’m taking you in.” He looked at his boss for help. “I mean it. I don’t care what your boss man says. You use them and I’m taking you down. Do you hear me?”
The shifter whined as he again sought the approval from his boss, who was now gasping for air. I yanked on Kaleb’s arm. “Drop him, Kaleb. Now!”
Kaleb’s arm shook as he tried to rein in his own animal. Then, suddenly, he dropped Rudolf as though he were toxic.
“Come on,” I said, pulling him away from where Rudolf had slumped on the floor. Kaleb was glaring at him still, so I backed us both toward the doorway.
“You, you have, five … five minutes to get out of … here,” Rudolf gasped between his gulps for oxygen, “or I’m … calling the whole club down on you.”
“Come on,” I urged Kaleb one last time, yanking hard on his arm. His eyes had changed, and I could feel the anger vibrating through him. I was grateful that he let me pull him out of the room and through the club without too much trouble. I didn’t stop until we were outside and a good half-mile away. As soon as I let him go, he raged, his golden eyes flaring.
A roar left Kaleb’s lips as he released all the anger pent up inside of him. It impressed me that he’d been able to keep it in for this long. When a shifter’s natural instincts were provoked, it took all they had to go against them. Rudolf had threatened me, and part of Kaleb saw me as his—in a friendly partnership kind of way—and his wolf had reacted. Now, he needed to come down from that.
“Kaleb,” I said gently when I could see him start to come back around. “You with me, buddy?”
Death Be Blue (The Terra Vane Series Book 1) Page 17
