by Kim Faulks
The words came out louder than I wanted, filled to the brim with false bravado. I was no better than those punks on the streets, all front and a trembling, fucking mess inside.
“No, it’s my fault. You were right. Not only did I railroad you into this, I failed to take proper care of someone who’s bent over backwards to help me.”
Only then did he lift his gaze. Only then did he let me in.
My heart thundered, driving a damn stampede through my body. I didn’t want this…not his scrutiny, not his damn sympathy…Ha! Wasn’t that his damn line?
“So, The Circle. They pay on a case-by-case basis?” He reached over and moved the wine glasses aside as a young woman came from the back carrying a tray with a carafe of cold water.
“Yes, the color reflects the status assigned. The biggest cases are paid the highest…”
“And those are what color?”
He kept his voice soft and pliable, drawing my attention to the splash of water in the bottom of the glass.
“Gold, those are gold.”
“And the job last night with the demon, that was gold?”
A hard bark of laugher ripped from my chest. I shook my head and answered. “No, that wasn’t gold. That was a red.”
His brows narrowed, sending a crease along the middle of his forehead. “And red is where, exactly?”
“Red is the lowest.”
Glasses clinked, cutlery clattered, and from the back a deep tenor resounded as Mario belted out a song in Italian.
“And you had another job yesterday before the demon one?”
I reached for the glass and took a sip. Cold water slid down the back of my throat and settled in my belly. “The shifter…yeah. Too much testosterone. I had to drag his ass to the infirmary to be treated. Can’t be smashing up a car in the middle of the day, not with your damn fists, anyway.”
“Jesus, if those are a red, I’d hate to see what damage a gold is.”
I stilled, and slowly licked the bead of water from the corner of my lips. “Gold are for the prestigious. There’s no fighting, and no death. They’re for the fae and the leaders. It’s basically a bodyguard service.”
He jerked his head up as Mario hit a high note. The restaurant rang with the throaty sound, and as crazy as it seemed, I felt more at home here than I had anywhere for a very long time.
“So you’re telling me, those who get the gold duties chauffeur the fae and the damn movie stars of the supernatural world around and they’re paid more than those who risk their lives?”
He had no idea. “A lot more.”
“So what’s a red job pay, I mean, asking for a friend?”
I swallowed and dropped my gaze. There was no shame…none whatsofuckingever. And yet here I was, stupid and naive, and stepped boldly into a trap.
That damn check reared in my head and Melanie’s voice came with it…They do this on purpose, you know that, right?
They did, and any other time I could handle it.
“Lorn?”
Any other time it didn’t smart, not like this.
“Lorn?”
“Ten dollars and sixteen cents.”
I expected him to laugh. Hell, I would’ve.
“So, you did two jobs yesterday for a grand total of twenty-dollars?”
“And thirty-two cents,” I chimed in, sounding like a damn idiot. “Can’t forget that.”
“And you did how many jobs last week?”
“Five.”
He sat back on his chair as Mario’s song ended. “Five jobs to last all week. That’s not even minimum wage, Lorn. Have you ever had a job other than a red?”
And here was the kicker, wasn’t it? Here was the real truth. The Circle looked after their own—only I wasn’t one of them. “No.”
The muscles of his jaw flared as pots clattered in the kitchen.
“Maria!” Mario bellowed. “Order is up!”
A minute later the young waitress stumbled out and it was only then I realized we hadn’t ordered. Two massive plates filled the tray, steaming, swirling towers of spaghetti drenched in meat and tomatoes, with thick shavings of parmesan cheese.
“Mario does one dish very well, best in the city…actually.”
“Best in the state!” Mario bellowed from the back.
Best in the state…I stared at the mountain and reached for my fork. This was going to be bad, might even change our relationship for good. My hand shook as I hovered over the food, and yet Titus never moved, only stared at me with those solemn blue eyes.
“Eat,” he murmured. “Eat, Lorn, eat.”
Chapter Seven
The Seven Levels wasn’t much to look at, especially from the outside. The towering seven-story building had once been an apartment complex, until it was bought and renovated by a Thander North.
There wasn’t a lot I knew about Thander, other than he was a screwed and mysterious ghoul. My belly swayed as Titus braked and pulled into the parking lot.
“Just need to sit for a minute…can we do that? Just for a minute?”
My fingers splayed across my belly. There was a rise…a baby of pasta and meat. I just wanted to sleep, smile and sleep and hold onto this feeling.
There was a slight chuckle from the man next to me as he switched off the car and sat. “Yeah, we can do that.”
The tension had bled away under the shoveling of food. I wondered how I hadn’t resorted to hands to speed up the process of plate to mouth. But I'd maintained a resemblance of decorum by leaning over and heaping it in.
And now it felt like bliss. Utter bliss. Titus ate in an almost excruciating way, swirling the long, perfect strands of pasta around the end of his fork before scooping his spoon underneath and easing it between those lips.
But he seemed mesmerized by my efforts, which was pretty damn good by all accounts.
“So this Thander North. What do we know about him?”
Titus reached through the space between us, warm shoulder pressed against my arm. All I had to do was turn my head and lean in…and make the same mistake of kissing him all over again.
But it’d be worth it. It’d be so worth it, and if, by chance, he not just let it happen, but opened his mouth to mine… The memory of his lips filled me, soft and pliable, the hard, perfect ridge of his teeth…and so warm. God, he was so warm, like the sun, burning me up from the inside.
“Hello?”
I dragged my focus free and turned my head. “Yeah?”
And those lips curled. “Where the hell were you just now? I’ve been having a damn conversation with myself for the last five minutes.”
“Nowhere…nothing,” I winced.
“Nowhere and nothing. Dreaming of pasta, I bet. Mario seems to have taken a real shine to you. I feel responsible for that, a match made in heaven, I think. He cooks, you eat.”
I forced a smile and nodded. “Sounds good to me. Thander…okay. I don’t know much about him. A bit of a dark horse from what I know. He was once the commander of the Jeweled King’s army, but then gave it up to live in the mortal realm.”
Titus stared at the gray concrete facade and voiced the same question everyone had. “Why would someone leave the only world they knew to live in a place like this?”
“Have no idea, everyone says the same. Doesn’t make sense, but here he is, playing bed and fucking breakfast to any supernatural with the ability to pay.”
I didn’t like ghouls. Shape-changing, slippery sonsofbitches, and yet the ones I dealt with where honest and forthcoming. I was hoping this was a trait amongst their kind. I glanced at the gun in Titus’s holster and sighed.
I’d feel better walking in there with a pyro. Bullets were made for the human world not ours. Still, we were a team…the thought stuck as I reached for the handle and leaned into the door.
How had it become us and we so soon? The doors creaked and moaned, before the thuds of their closing echoed. I stared at the concrete building and watched the windows.
Darkened, hardened w
idows covered the front. There had to be at least twenty rooms along the front, climbing three stories high. There was a gap running along the top over each window. Steel girders, I was betting, ones that would lock into place, providing protection and darkness for the undead night dwellers.
“We doing this?” Titus murmured, and eyed the building.
I felt sluggish and exhausted, wanting sleep more than I wanted another fucking dead-end of information. So far, all we had were snippets of a long-ass trail that led us nowhere. Drugs, witches, demons, and now a shifter on the run. “Yeah, let’s do this.”
I strode for the entrance. A doorman stood outside, a young ghoul with long arms and skinny legs, and wide, dark eyes that fixed on me as I neared.
He bowed his head as I mounted the first stair. He was dressed in a deep red bellman uniform, with black top hat and pure black gloves. He gripped the handle and opened the front door as we neared. “Welcome to the Seven Levels. The reception is to your right, please enjoy your stay.”
He lifted his head as Titus neared, one glance at him and then me, and I could tell what was racing through his head. How many visitors used this place as a charge- by-the-hour motel more than the sanctum it was intended to be?
“Sir,” the ghoul murmured and dropped his gaze.
I stepped through into the darkened foyer. Soft yellow lights were aimed against the concrete walls, leaving the foyer in faded gloom. I headed for the desk and the stiff ghoul behind the polished concrete counter.
Power swirled in this place, bleeding out of the rooms to flank me like a hungry beast.
“Ma’am,” the ghoul at the counter tipped his head.
But there were no smiles here, no warm greetings, no hive of activity you’d expect in the human world. This place was created for the supernatural; steel, concrete, and a fuck-load of control.
The Seven Levels was common ground; a place for not just refuge, but also for seven of the most well-paid mercenaries in the mortal realm. And they ruled this place with iron fists.
I turned my head as Horcrux stepped from the darkness. He moved without a sound, gliding along the polished concrete floor, head down with a lazy, almost bored, expression on his face.
If you didn’t know the guy, your first impression was no threat. You’d turn your back on him, and that was just the thing Horcrux wanted. Dressed in Armani and a killer smile, the sorcerer sighed and slipped one hand into his pocket.
And it was just that move that put me on edge. I slowed my steps, waiting for Titus to catch up; the human oblivious that there was a viper in our midst.
“Horcrux,” I murmured and gave the sorcerer my undivided attention.
“Lorn, fancy meeting you in a place like this,” he answered and the corner of those lips curled a little harder. One quick glance to my left, and he added, “With a human, no less.”
Heat raced, lashing my cheeks. He wanted to unsettle me…strike one to him, wasn’t it? I forced a laugh, and then shook my head. “Worried I’ve switched sides?”
“Yes.” The answer was cold and straight to the point, as he slowed in front of me. “That would be a damn shame, indeed.”
He reached for my hand, a move so innocent. It was a show of respect, one humbling show of decency, until his power flared, racing across my skin like wildfire, before he sank unseen fangs into my mind.
The invasion stung like a needle, driving deeper. I wrenched my hand, but it wouldn’t move. His fingers wound tight, crushing like a vise. Steel barriers slammed down. I panicked, locking, holding on with all I could.
He hit me hard, power stabbing my barriers, searching for a way inside my mind. Bones crunched, grinding, as his grip on my hand increased. And there was that lazy smile again, the unarmed look of innocence. Let me in…he growled inside my head.
Steel shuddered, weakening as he unleashed. His power was a beast, clawing, biting. A voice tried to force its way inside, filled with urgency and anger. I clenched tight, nails clawing into the metal barriers. Don’t let him in…never let him in.
Desperation shifted, turning into something else now, something darker, something that didn’t just want to keep my secrets inside…something that was lowering my defenses…something that wanted the sorcerer to slip inside…something that was hungry.
My heart thundered, shuddering my body with every powerful beat.
Let me, Lorn…
And out of that ash-filled blackened storm came the feeling of falling…of hate and rage, and laughter with teeth bared to this world.
And in the dark depths of space inside me, something stirred and woke.
So much power…
Death breathed burning kisses along my spine, wanting to take the lead in this dance, and, in that moment, I saw it all…everything that would happen.
The darkness would let Horcrux inside…and inside my mind he’d find his own end. The darkness would steal his mind, his power, and leave only a shell behind.
A shell to walk this world for eternity.
Lorn…Lorn…Horcrux called inside my head, his voice filled with fear. Lorn…Lorn let me go…but it wasn’t me who had hold of him. It was the power, and it was already rising…already spilling over, reaching out with claws to drag the invader inside.
I couldn’t hold it, couldn’t control it.
It was controlling me.
The abyss inside me reached out, sending a lash into the air.
Lorn!
The scream pierced my head. Pain lashed, pain and terror and…Titus… His name was a knife, cutting, cleaving, wrenching me from that feeling of being utterly controlled.
And in a heartbeat, I was back in that hotel lobby, staring into Horcrux’s eyes, only that’s where it ended. There was a gun pointed at his head, point-blank range, as Titus wrenched a terrified gaze toward me. “Hey! Say something for fuck's sake. Lorn…Lorn!”
“I’m here,” the words slipped from my lips. I could hear them, taste them…but I couldn’t feel them.
“Drop her fucking hand!” Titus punched the muzzle against Horcrux’s temple and tightened his finger around the trigger. “Or I’ll blow your fucking brains all over this shiny floor.”
Horcrux was pale, eyes wide, staring at me with a different kind of need now. His throat muscles worked, clenching and releasing, his hand trembled against mine as he whispered, “I can’t.”
And something inside me smiled. Like a beast that’s slipped it’s chain, that darkness lingered, claws still in its fists.
“Lorn…” Titus glanced at me. “What the fuck do I do here?”
And that was all the beast inside me needed, that subtle shift of power…like an owner that exerts control. And that hunger inside me owned everything.
The sudden release of power had Horcrux stumbling, wrenching his hand against his chest. Titus never wavered, tracking the sorcerer with the sight of his firearm. “Touch her again like that, and I’ll rip that fucking arm off and beat you to death with it.”
Boots thundered around us as the room was filled with some of the most dangerous creatures on the planet.
“Horcrux?” Steele murmured and stepped closer. The vampire cut a cold stare my way and bared his fangs. I opened my hands, no fight here… “What the fuck happened?”
The sorcerer tried to straighten, tried to find that cocky demeanor once more. But there was fear in his eyes as he glanced at me, gut-clenching, middle-of-a nightmare kind of fear where your heart crawls out of your chest and into your throat.
“I’m okay,” he murmured. “I’m fine.”
“What the fuck were you doing?” The savage growl came from behind me.
The concrete shuddered with his steps as Mr. North himself strode across the foyer.
Horcrux shook his head and winced. “Not me…it was her.”
Titus shifted his stance, moving closer with one small step. But there was no macho bullshit, no stepping in front of me…it’d be like stepping in front of a locomotive, as he scanned those left in the room and
took up position beside me. Desire flared, sexiest fucking thing I’d ever seen.
Thander North turned those white, ghoulish eyes on me. “Lorn, what’s going on?”
“I came here for information. I came because I expected to be treated with a little respect…as a hunter, that is,” I snarled, as desire was crushed under the hell of rage. “Not to be fucking violated.”
Thander jerked his head toward the sorcerer. “That true?”
“I…she…” Horcrux shook his head. “I couldn’t stop myself. I wasn’t in control. Help me…”
And in that moment, the mighty fell. “Lorn, I’m sorry…I didn’t mean…”
“Thander,” Steele murmured, and turned his attention to me. He was beautiful, fucking flawless, really…for a bloodsucker. “Do you feel that?”
The ghoul drew in a breath and rose to his full height, and the bastard was big, towering over the both of us. Those inhuman eyes searched mine, searching for something. “What’s changed here, Lorn?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I came here for information.”
“And yet you have six of my most highly trained men on fucking edge. Look around you, hunter. See for yourself,” he lifted his hand and motioned around the room.
I followed the motion, making sure Titus had my back. And he did. The human was rock fucking solid, gun drawn, muzzle now aimed at Thander himself. There was no disrespect, only the need to survive.
Vampire, sorcerer, wolf, ghoul, unseelie, and harpy all stood around me, hands by their sides, shoulders curled, ready to fight.
And all for little ol’ me.
Thander motioned for his men to stand down. “So I ask you again, Lorn. What’s changed?”
I came here for the wolf. I came here to close a case and earn some fucking money, and yet this whole day seemed determined to change my focus. “Sigil,” I growled. “What do you know about it?”
There was a glance to the others, one so fast a human would be none the wiser. But I knew. I knew, and I felt the change.
Doors opened and closed on the floors above.
