by Laken Cane
Ellis had dressed her in a hospital gown, and it hung precariously from her shoulders. She felt light, as though she’d dropped fifteen pounds.
Usually after a period with Jeremy she was stronger than ever the next day, strong and full of life. But now, though her mood was high, her body was weak.
“Let me ask you something.”
She squealed at the sudden intrusion of Ellis’s voice, then laughed.
“You startled me, Ellie.”
“Why are you up?”
“I am tired of lying in bed. I was coming to find you.”
He pulled her into his arms, gently, and as always she let him hold her. She rarely had the heart to reject Ellis’s hugs. She owed him much more than to stand still for a fucking hug.
Tired lines decorated his face and dark circles lay like half-moons under his sad eyes. “Do you feel up to eating a little?”
“I could.” Anything to make him happy.
“Come into the kitchen. But first, I want to show you something.”
She smiled. “What?”
He led her to the dresser. “Look in the mirror, Rune.”
“No, thank you.”
“Rune. Look.” His voice was quiet, but firm.
She sighed, then looked.
Stunned, she gasped. Her legs weakened, and she grabbed the edge of the dresser to keep from falling.
She was disfigured. Her face was cut and swollen and black. There were many bruises, and they bled into each other to make one huge bruise. Her throat bore a ring of colors—purple, blue, red, yellow.
They disappeared into the top of her gown, but she didn’t want to see what that bit of fabric covered.
Her arms were more of the same—bruises and long, healing cuts. Jeremy liked the shiv.
“He carved you up like a roast chicken.” He shuddered. “Whoever you have doing this to you is full of evil, of hate, and you let him take that hate out on you, Rune. How could you?”
She started to speak, but he held his hand up to stop her.
“This time you nearly died. I think you did die. I don’t know how you came back. Do you remember what I said to you about getting help?”
She nodded.
“I found a clinic for you. It’s exclusive, secluded, and the best in the country. They owe my father a favor.”
“I can’t, Ellis. I can’t tell people what I am. What I do. How fucked-up—”
“Everything. You will tell them everything.”
“Tell them I killed my parents? Tell them that?”
“Yes, sweetheart.”
“They’ll report me.”
“Not these guys. You know I wouldn’t recommend a place that wasn’t safe for you.”
She stared at her image, forcing herself to look. What if they could help her? What if they could help her accept herself? Not likely, but what choice did she have? Ellis was right. She was being selfish. He was right about something else too. If she didn’t get help, she was going to die.
“Okay, Ellie.”
For one second he looked almost comically surprised. He hadn’t expected it to be that easy. “Oh, Rune. Thank you.”
“Thank you, baby. You just keep saving my life, even if I don’t think I want it saved.”
“I want to know his name.”
“Who?” But she knew who he meant.
“The one who does this. I want his name.”
“I can’t tell you that.” If Ellis so much as looked at Jeremy the wrong way, Jeremy would destroy him.
Right now she was feeling great, but she knew the routine. She’d fall back into those lows, into that darkness, and it would all happen again.
Unless by some miraculous chance, she really was fixable.
“You have to start feeding, Rune. That alone might—”
“No.” She went cold. “Do not.”
“I just don’t see the difference in…” His eyes widened, and he put his fingers over his mouth.
“Don’t, Ellis.”
“Oh my God, why did I never see it before?”
She didn’t want to know. “What?” she bit out. “What?”
“Part of the reason you do this is to get the blood. You can get the blood while you’re out of it, guilt free and without a choice.”
“That’s crazy.”
“No,” he said, the spark back in his eyes. Ellis with his projects. He thought he could fix the world. “You refuse to feed, but your DNA insists that you do. What if most of your…illness, and these episodes, is because it’s your way of getting to feed?”
“I don’t—”
“You’re starving yourself, sweetie. You need blood, but you refuse to take it. You refuse to feed. You have to accept yourself. It’s the only way you’re going to live to see your twenty-fifth birthday.”
Her birthday was in March. While the times with Jeremy were coming closer together, they weren’t that close. She wasn’t declining that fast. She wasn’t.
She turned away from her hideous image. “Help me get a shower, and then you can catch me up on work.”
He helped her into the bathroom, talking all the while.
Apparently a hell of a lot had been happening in her absence.
COS was back in the news.
New branches had suddenly started popping up all over the country. They were keeping a low profile and had publically distanced themselves from Karin Love, but it was just a matter of time before they started doing the two things they were created to do.
Destroying Others and killing the humans who loved them.
Chapter Eleven
Monday morning at eight o’clock exactly, she walked into the SCRU building.
“Good morning, Ellis.” She winked at him—not that he’d see her eyes behind the dark sunglasses she was wearing—and strode into her office.
Her crew waited. The twins stood together by the window, discussing something quietly. Lex pitched a softball with Jack, who hooted with glee each time the blind girl caught his toss. Z sat in her chair behind her desk, and Raze leaned against the wall, reading something on his phone.
She stood quietly in the doorway for a long moment, watching them. God, it was good to be back. She missed the place, the work, her people. She felt like she’d been MIA for much longer than a week.
Z spotted her. “There she is. Ms. Slacker herself.”
She grinned and walked into the room, worried, despite the enormous dark glasses and caked-on makeup, they’d spot her healing wounds. She dropped her bag on the desk and kicked the chair. “Out of my chair, dude.”
Once she was ensconced behind her desk she started talking, all business. “I’ve been brought up to speed, guys.” She spun in her chair to eye Lexi. “But first, how are you doing, Lex?”
“Great.”
“Ellis has decided to teach her to dance,” Levi said. “Giving her exercise through training is not the easiest thing to do.” He pointed to a bruise high on his cheek. “She kicks our asses.”
“Okay. So the vampire who implicated Llodra and his kiddies in the disappearances of the humans is making deals, I hear. He’ll give us Llodra if we give him his freedom when the vampires have all been destroyed.”
“Yup,” Z said. “He doesn’t seem to understand that he’ll be destroyed right along with them.”
“He’s a new vampire,” Jack said. “Wandered in from North Carolina.”
“Spiritgrove has more than its share of vampires,” Rune noted.
“Not for long.” Raze moved out of his corner at last, slipping his cell into a pocket. “It’s open season on the River County vampires. Once we’ve purged them we’ll not see another one for a while.”
“Maybe once upon a time,” Rune argued. “But now they seem to be crawling out of the woodwork, looking for a city to own.”
“Now, if the shifters and wolves attack, Spiritgrove could ban the Others completely,” Z said. “The only other city I’ve known to put that into practice was in Indiana, two years ago.”
They were silent for a moment, thinking about his words. It was true. The law stated that if a city was attacked or traumatized by the three major groups—shifters, wolves, and vampires—it could vote to ban them from the city.
Any Other caught inside city limits after the ban could be killed immediately, no matter what kind of trouble the Other rights groups tried to start.
Rune leaned back in her chair, realizing with some disbelief that the thought of a ban did not appeal to her. She glanced at Lex, the Other who’d been tormented for most of her life, and felt a spark of connection.
And she was Other.
She and Jeremy never talked about her monster. He must have understood that was something she wouldn’t tolerate. She couldn’t have borne it
Or maybe…maybe he simply didn’t know.
Thinking about Jeremy was making her head hurt. She fished in her desk drawer for the pills she’d hidden away for hard times, swallowing them dry. “Whatever, we now have to take all the vampires out.” Except for her father. She’d talk to him and try to get him out of the city before he was killed.
She grieved for her mother’s second death, but not as much as she’d thought she would. Maybe because she’d come to terms with Mama’s death years ago—even if she hadn’t come to terms with how it had happened.
As though they knew where her thoughts were taking her, her men shuffled uncomfortably, and Z cleared his throat. A sure sign they had some news they didn’t want to tell her.
“Out with it,” she said.
“Percell has set up his office down the hall. He wants to see you.” Jack hesitated.
“Go on.” Fucking Percell.
Z took up the story. “He sent out memos. You’ll see when you log on. From now on, he’ll do the hiring and firing, and he’s already decided Lex isn’t going to be Shiv Crew.”
She remained calm. “We’ll see about that. What else?”
“He said all vacation time will go through him.”
Which meant if she was in need of some time to get under control, she was out of luck. Might not be a bad thing, really. That could be her excuse not to go to Ellis’s exclusive clinic. Of course, if she went crazy on the job, Mitch would be eager enough to toss her into a nut house.
“Okay,” she said. “So far the worst thing is that idiot Percell. What’s going on with the monsters?”
“A group of Others have moved into River County. They say they’re just passing through, not planning on staying long.” Jack stared down at her, but his gaze was distant, as though he saw something else. “I don’t like them here, but Cross says to leave them be unless they start some shit.”
Ellis had already told her. These Others were random stragglers from various groups, not one vampire among them. “And if they do, we’ll handle them.”
“Ellis calls them the Dark Others,” Lex said. “He’s afraid of them.”
Rune spun in her chair to look at the girl. “What about you, Lex? Are you getting any bad vibes from the Dark Others?”
“Maybe if I could meet them…”
“Not doing that,” Denim said.
“We need more people,” Z said. “If not in Shiv Crew, then in SCRU for emergencies. Last we heard there were an estimated one hundred Dark Others.”
Rune’s jaw dropped. “Fucking seriously? Where are they all gathered?”
“In Hawthorne Forest.”
“Cross said he talked to their leader. They’re made up of outcasts from several groups…no one else will have them for whatever reasons, so they’ve created a group for themselves.”
“Dark Others,” Levi said. “Good name for them.”
“I’m sure Percell will take care of them.” She couldn’t help but sneer when she said his name. Bastard. “Besides, it’s not like SPD and the rest of SLE couldn’t handle a gun.”
“SLE?” Lex asked.
“Spiritgrove Law Enforcement,” Denim told her.
“Der,” she said.
Rune wanted to bring up the latest news about the newly reformed COS but not in front of Lex. Later. She needed to talk to fucking Percell first anyway, and get all the info he had.
“Rune, what’s up with the shades?”
Casually, she looked at Z. “Light makes my headache worse. I partied too hard my week away.”
“And the turtleneck,” Jack said. “I’ve never seen you in a turtleneck. Hell, you’re even wearing gloves.” He grinned. “It’s not that cold.”
She’d fooled them before, but with her previous sessions the damage hadn’t been so severe that it’d lingered when she’d gone back to work. Not past a couple of fading bruises.
Not much showed other than her mouth, her chin, and part of her cheeks. But so much coverage drew more attention than if she’d walked in naked. She shrugged. “Hangovers make me cold.”
She jumped when Lex glided up behind her and placed her small hands on Rune’s shoulders.
Shit. “Lex, back off.”
Lexi took her hands away, but Rune had a feeling she’d gotten too much information from her brief touch. She pushed her chair back and stood. “I’m going to talk to Percell. I’ll get the schedule from Ellis, and we’ll go to work as soon as Mitch gets tired of hearing himself talk.”
“I’ll be right back, Ellis,” she said, and sailed past him. She didn’t look at him but could feel his stare on her back as she left the reception area.
Percell’s new office was much too close to her own—only three doors away from hers. Bastard would be listening to every word she and her crew said.
He already had a large, gaudy sign on the outside of his closed door.
MITCH PERCELL
DIRECTOR
SPIRITGROVE CRIMINAL RECOVERY UNIT
She growled, then tapped on the door. She’d try to get through the meeting without losing her job. Or tossing her cookies.
Soon as she got a moment she’d put up her own sign.
“Come,” he called. Even his voice grated on her nerves—cheerful and loud and irritating as hell.
She pushed open the door and strode in, not about to let him see her resentment. That’d make him even happier. “Percell.”
He stood quickly, his toothy smile wide and white. He came from behind his desk, freckled hand extended. “Rune! So nice to see you again.”
Right. Even through her gloves she could feel his moist warmth. Everything about him repulsed her. Sure, maybe some of it was just because he was now her boss, but he was a pompous blowhard, and she’d have taken great pleasure from punching him in the gut. “You wanted to see me.”
He pursed his lips and ran his hand over the carefully styled strands of his wheat-colored hair. “Have a seat.”
She sat carefully in one of the two chairs before his desk, then waited for him to sit before she spoke. “Percell, you have to know I’m not happy with this change in SCRU. But if you let me do my job and you do yours, we’ll be fine.”
He nodded. “Sure, sure. Now, Rune, I don’t plan to deliberately step on your toes or make any abrupt changes without letting you know.”
“That’s not exactly reassuring.”
He sighed mournfully and steepled his fingers under his chin. “I’ve been hired to do a job, Rune. I will do this job to the best of my ability. If I make decisions that you don’t agree with, we can certainly discuss them.”
“There was a message from COS?”
He blinked at her abrupt change of subject. “Yes. They wanted to make public the fact that they’re regrouping. They say they’re not doing anything illegal and only wish to be left alone. With, of course, their hatred of Others.”
“I don’t trust them. It might take a while, but they’re going to get right back into the evil.”
He shrugged. “Nothing can be done about them as long as they’re just forming a group and leaving the Others alone. Right now they’re just spouting hate messages online and gathering members.”
“And trying to get laws passed to take away
the couple of puny rights Others have managed to get.”
He inclined his head. “Yes, but again, not illegal. They’re being watched closely.”
“I have a bad feeling about COS.” Maybe a little of that had to do with Lex and the twins, but COS was bad news. “We don’t know it yet, but you wait. Soon we’ll find out about shit they’re doing. By then it’ll be too late for the ones they’ve hurt. Other and human.”
“Yes.” He sighed. “Humans known as fervent supporters of Others.”
“Fucking Church of Slayers.” She shuddered, aware that every time she said the name aloud she had that same reaction. She could only imagine how this news would affect Lex and the twins. “What about the Dark Others?”
He slid a pair of bifocals onto his nose and peered at her. “Beg pardon?”
“That’s the name Ellis has given the outcast Others who’ve gathered in Hawthorne Forest.” She shrugged. “It seems fitting.”
He nodded. “RISC is keeping an eye on them. Cross will let us know if he needs us. They seem to be resting before traveling on and haven’t caused any trouble.”
She pursed her lips. “Maybe I should take the crew and go talk to them.”
“No, you shouldn’t. Jeremy specifically warned against doing so. Leave them alone, Rune.”
Fuck you, Percell. “Seems a little odd that you guys don’t want the strangers questioned.”
“RISC thinks it’s best not to stir up trouble. They’ll move on.”
Jeremy thinks it’s best. That all by itself set off little warning bells in her head. Jeremy didn’t need much of an excuse to harass Others. Strangers? Not long ago he’d have been all over them. “Doesn’t make sense,” she murmured.
“What else would you like to discuss, Rune?” He leaned back and folded his hands over his stomach, but to give him credit, he didn’t once glance at his watch.
“We need to talk about a decision you’ve made that I don’t agree with.”
He gave a sharp nod. “Shoot.”
“I’ve hired Alexis Love into Shiv Crew.”
“Yes, yes, poor thing. I feel sorry for the child too, Rune, but we can’t have people in law enforcement just because we pity them. Help her in some other way. She’s not suited for the job you do.”
