by Erin Embly
Noah smiled at me, his mouth still full of eggs. Then he hopped out of his seat and burst forth into Etty’s room, and if I’d had more coffee in me I would have laughed at the commotion that ensued.
Fifteen minutes later, I’d put on clothes and twisted my hair into a messy knot at the back of my neck. I sent off texts to Kiri and Mitch telling them I’d be getting to the club late today; hopefully they could coordinate with each other so no one would be locked out of the building.
When I opened the front door to leave, I almost tripped over a rectangular box at my feet. It was made of aged wood, beautifully polished—definitely not something dropped off with the mail.
Curious, I brought it inside and set it on the kitchen table. Dark velvet peeked out from the inside as I opened it, and atop it lay a handwritten note.
I think you dropped this.
I stopped reading after the first line, a lump forming in my throat as I lifted the velvet to reveal what was beneath it.
The axe I’d brought with me last night and then promptly lost before I could use it to do any actual beheading. It was covered in gore despite its lack of use, all from the vampire I’d exploded outside of Soma’s bar before fleeing the scene with Kat.
I sighed, knowing I would need to find a way to make things right with Soma. I hoped he would forgive me once he found out I’d eliminated his rival.
But when I picked up the axe to put it in the sink, I noticed another lump of fabric underneath it.
It was so stained with blood I didn’t recognize it until I spread it out, and then my whole body filled with rage.
My t-shirt. The one I’d used to wrap up and carry Simeon’s head until I’d needed to stash it so I could sneak back into the club.
The one that should still be wrapped around Simeon’s head, in Miriam’s possession, waiting for me to come incinerate it.
My vision blurred as I pulled out my phone and smashed my thumb over Miriam’s name.
“You’re up bright and early!” Miriam chirped into my ear, and I ground my fist into the kitchen table so hard I felt the skin start to rub away from my knuckles.
“The head.” I managed to get it out without yelling, but just barely.
“Excuse me?” she said, but I knew damn well she knew what I was talking about. She might not be in my head this instant, but she—
Fuck, I thought, realizing just now that she hadn’t been in my head during my encounter with Simeon. She had put her squishy on me and taken it off so many times in the past couple days that I’d lost track. I felt sick to my stomach now as I remembered her taking it off in the alley, while I was worlds away in Adrian’s arms, mind still half melted from our kiss.
She’d only put it on me again when we’d parted ways, after I’d asked her to go back to get the head for me. She’d agreed, but she hadn’t understood the importance of the request. For all she knew, Simeon’s head was just a grotesque battle trophy I was determined to mount on my wall.
And I’d gotten so used to not having to tell her things that I’d taken for granted her willingness to fulfill my unreasonable-sounding requests.
I squinted to keep the tears of frustration from flowing as I heard Etty and Noah emerging from her room. I’d disappointed myself many times over in the past year or so, and even before that, but this was the first time I was so angry at myself that I wanted to hurt something.
“Darcy?” Miriam questioned through the line. “Are you alright, dear?”
I let out a slow, shaky breath as Noah ran into the kitchen, and I carefully shut the box Soma had sent so he wouldn’t see the bloody fabric inside.
“Why is there an axe in the sink?” Etty asked from my side. I shook my head slightly before turning away from her to try to hide the distress in my face.
“Did you go back and get the head like I asked?” I said as steadily as I could manage into the phone, even though I already knew the answer. “The one I was carrying around.”
“Oh, that!” Miriam said it so brightly that for a split second I almost wanted to believe she had just gotten rid of my shirt from around the head and taken it home with her in something more sensible. But then she said, “It was gone when I went back. Probably washed away in the water. I’m sorry, dear, but I couldn’t waste time searching for it when Adrian was down there all alone.”
I hung up on her, even though I knew I should really say something like “That’s okay, I understand, of course, don’t worry, you did your best . . .” I buried my face in my hands instead. It wasn’t Miriam’s fault, but it was fucked all the same.
I knew without having to be told that Simeon’s body would no longer be where I’d left it. Neither would the bodies of the other vampires I’d left down there beheaded. The icy bitch from the alley must have gotten to them before Miriam had gone back, and I should just be grateful she hadn’t found Adrian along with her fellow vampire witch wannabes.
At least I’d managed to kill Gary once and for all.
But Simeon was still out there. And probably still entangled with an evil god who was officially out to get me now that I’d joined forces with his rival.
Etty tapped twice on the top of my skull with her fingernail, and I looked up at her sleepy glare of disapproval. She had no idea why I was upset, but she wasn’t impressed by my sullen mood.
“I know you didn’t make these cinnamon rolls,” she said as she stuffed a piece of one into her mouth. “They’re amazing.”
“That was Dirk,” I said, thankful that Etty was refusing to indulge my emotions right now. I knew I could talk to her about it later if I needed to, but not now—not with Noah around. “You know he’s an asshole, right?”
Etty just shrugged, licking the sweet sauce from her fingers. “I know,” she said with a grin. “But assholes are fun to play with. And he can cook?” She let out a dramatic sigh with a shake of her head, like that was all that needed to be said on the matter.
And with that, I sat back in my seat and resigned myself to the fact that they would probably be together forever.
I blinked, eyes landing on the note that had come with the box. I hadn’t finished reading it.
I picked it up, focusing on the fancy script. Underneath the first line, it read:
Be at Bite in one hour. Ellis will take you to my crypt. -S
I crushed the note in my fist, smashing pieces of crusty blood into the paper.
I’d hoped I would have some more time before I’d have to face Soma. But disobeying a clear order like this would not be a great start towards trying to repair our relationship.
“What’s that?” Noah sang as he climbed up into my lap.
I winced at the pain of his sharp knees digging into my sides. Pushing the box away, I said, “Not anything good.”
But Noah wasn’t looking at the box anymore. He was staring straight into my eyes, one tiny hand on my cheek. “You feel sad.” I could hear the emotion reflected in his voice. “Want me to make you feel better?”
Heat rushed into my face. I bit my tongue as I squeezed my eyes shut, both to keep Noah from looking too deep and to keep myself from crying.
I wasn’t sad.
Or maybe I was. Maybe I was still mourning the new loss of Simeon, who had resurfaced in my life just long enough to open the wound he’d left me with and cut it even deeper.
But more than that, I was mad. Mad that I couldn’t wash my hands of him yet. Couldn’t stitch up the wound and let it heal. Not until I could find him and give him the permanent death he deserved.
“No,” I said to Noah, opening my eyes and forcing a smile. “But thanks for asking.”
I would need all this anger, or sadness, or whatever it was, to fuel me when I met with Soma. Because he might be inclined to help me go after the vampire who had fucked over us both.
22
I leaned against the darkened windows outside of Bite and closed my eyes as the cool breeze ran over my bare arms. The sun was out today, and I’d taken the opportunity to go with
out a jacket.
For the first time in years, I didn’t have a single weapon on me.
I wouldn’t need any today. If things got squirrely at Soma’s crypt, no amount of steel or silver could save me.
But I hoped things wouldn’t get squirrely. Soma had seen me explode one of his blood smugglers with my bare hands. If he was smart, he would take my naked arms as either the white flag they were or a credible threat.
Now that I’d given in to my godly benefactor, I wasn’t above taking advantage of the power that leant me. I didn’t know if the phoenix’s magic could turn a vampire as old as Soma into confetti, but I would damn well find out if he tried me.
A dark van pulled up to the curb in front of me.
Ellis was late, as I’d expected. Vampires always moved slower on sunny days.
He said nothing to me when I got into the backseat, and I spent the thirty-minute drive staring into the black windows trying not to worry about the fact that I had no idea where we were going.
When the car stopped, I walked out into an enclosed garage, already sealed off from the daylight. Ellis led me into a mirror-lined hallway, which opened out into a sitting room filled with modern furniture, all elegant and simple at the same time.
Soma sat on a black couch, a woman resting across it with her head laid on his lap. Her wrist was clutched tightly in his hand and pressed to his lips.
He opened his eyes after a moment to meet my gaze, taking the wrist away and licking the excess blood from his teeth.
“Darcy. Please sit.” He gestured at the white suede chair across from him. “Can I get you anything?”
“I’m good,” I said, stepping forward to do as he said.
I wasn’t good. Seeing him licking at his meal in front of me had turned my stomach. I’d never been squeamish about blood, but there was something about the lethargic state of the woman on his lap, so close to death and so powerless to do anything about it . . .
Nothing about that would ever be appetizing to me.
“Let’s get right to it, then,” he said. “I’ve heard our mutual friend is on the run.”
My eyebrows lifted. “Friend isn’t exactly how I’d put it, but sure.”
At Soma’s unamused stare, I sighed. I needed to ease up on the attitude and remember I should probably be begging for forgiveness after I’d run off with all the blood this man had hired me to steal.
I tried to relax into the comfortable chair before I said, “I took off Simeon’s head again, but I lost it before I could burn it.”
Soma dropped the wrist he’d been holding, and the woman shifted sluggishly on his lap. The frown on his face unnerved me.
“Simeon was trying to frame you—overthrow you,” I continued. “I thought you would want him truly dead.”
“I know.” Soma tapped a finger on his knee. “And I do. But I thought you would want him alive.”
I shifted my eyes, confused for a moment, before I heard Soma’s words in my head. “You’ll always be his.” It was what he had said to me at the club. What Simeon had always made me believe.
Ah. So that was why I was here. Soma thought I would know where Simeon was. Maybe he thought I’d been helping him all along.
I breathed out through my nose, the harsh sound cutting through the silence. “No,” I said. “Not after what he’s done.”
“Wonderful.” Soma smiled, his fangs still tinged with a small amount of blood. He tapped twice on the head of the woman on his lap. “Get up, darling.” To me, he said, “I had intended this as something of a bribe, but now I hope you’ll accept it as a peace offering.”
I pursed my lips, not sure what he was talking about. “What exactly—”
I stopped when the woman sat up and looked at me, her glazed-over eyes meeting mine with vague recognition.
“Minnie?”
She blinked, then gave me a childlike smile. “Hello, love.” Her red hair was loose around her face, long strands sticking out in every direction, her skin ashy from the blood loss.
I snapped my eyes back to Soma. “I don’t understand.”
“You will.” He reached over and pushed a strand of Minnie’s hair away from her face. “Go on, darling. Show her.”
Minnie reached into her lap and pulled out a phone, pushing the button to turn on the screen. She handed it to me, and I found myself looking at a photo album.
Wedding photos. Minnie and her wife, an attractive blonde—
I looked up, my heart jumping.
“Recognize anyone?” Soma asked innocently.
I dipped my head back down, zooming in on a photo to get a closer look. It couldn’t be her.
Tall, slender, light hair and light skin . . . wearing a slinky ivory gown that I couldn’t help but imagine covered in blood. Simeon’s blood.
It was her. The woman who had taken off his head in the first place. The assassin with the ward. The one who had taken us by surprise, whom I hadn’t been able to stop.
The woman who had bested me and ruined my career in the process.
“Isn’t she beautiful?” Minnie asked lazily.
I gaped at her, too shocked to respond. My lungs ached as I thought back to the way Minnie had so expertly butchered the vampire I’d killed in her kitchen, how calm she’d been at the prospect of disposing of a body, how adamant she’d been that we not involve the police.
Marrying an assassin would do that to anyone, I imagined.
“Very beautiful,” I finally replied. If I’d seen these photos a few days ago, I would have said she was the most beautiful woman in the world. I would have been ecstatic to see her, to hunt her, to finally get my revenge.
Now, though, I only wanted to forget her.
I looked up at Soma again. “You want to make peace with me by offering up the woman you hired to kill him in the first place?”
Soma shifted his shoulders in what might have been a shrug. “Like I said, it was meant to be more of a bribe.”
“For what? What do you want from me?”
“After what I saw last night, I’d like to have you on my side. And . . .” He ran his tongue over his fangs once more, his hand lifting to idly touch his throat. “I’ll need you to keep our secret.”
There it was. I’d almost forgotten. After I’d so easily cut the heads off three scarred vampires last night—one of them twice—and after hearing the fear in Kat’s voice as she’d tried to persuade me there was one secret she really couldn’t tell without forfeiting her life . . .
I knew my life would be just as forfeit if I didn’t agree to Soma’s request.
Never mind that I’d already told Dirk the whole thing. Never mind that he might have already told the Guardians decapitation didn’t really kill vampires, but it did make them vulnerable as hell.
Never mind that I was agreeing to an impossible task. I’d never let that stop me before.
“Alright,” I said smoothly. “But I’m keeping this.” I clutched my fingers around Minnie’s phone, more for show than anything else. The Guardians might make a good spy of me yet.
“I’m glad we could come to an agreement,” Soma said, his expression unreadable. He tilted his head towards Minnie. “What would you like me to do with her?”
“Put her back where you found her.” I glanced back at Minnie. Even with what she had done to my mind, and even with the proof in my hand that she had lied to me, I didn’t want her dead. Not yet, at least. “I don’t want to alarm her wife.”
“Of course.” Soma raised his head to look behind me, and Ellis stepped forward. I supposed that meant our visit was over. But then the ancient vampire leaned in, extending his hand towards me.
I took it, expecting a simple handshake. To a casual observer, a handshake was what it would have looked like. Until Soma’s thumb nail sliced into the delicate skin at the top of my hand, blood welling up underneath it.
I winced as he dabbed his thumb carefully in the red liquid before releasing my hand. He brought his thumb to his mouth and touched t
he drop of my blood to his tongue, closing his eyes for a moment before setting them back on me.
“I’m glad to have you, Miss Pierce,” he said.
I couldn’t suppress the shiver that came over me at his words, which vibrated in my ribcage the way they had when I’d met him at his club.
It was intentional. There was magic in those words. The way he saw it, I belonged to him now.
I knew better than to tell him he’d better get in line.
It was afternoon by the time I got to Ray’s, and my head was a mess.
The buzzing in my scrye had gotten steadily stronger as I’d gotten closer to my brother’s townhouse, that effusive fire of magic charging through my nerves at the ready. It felt as unwieldy as every other weapon I’d ever touched before training with it, and I didn’t like the fact that I still didn’t know exactly what it could do.
On top of that, I couldn’t stop digging my thumb into my back pocket to feel for Minnie’s phone. It sent a heaviness through my body every time I touched it.
My own phone buzzed soon after I’d rung the doorbell—a text from Ray.
Let yourself in. Be with you soon. You can wait in my study.
I shrugged and pushed open the door, enjoying the faint smells of hot chocolate and toasted tortillas that greeted me. But the kitchen was empty, their breakfast already cleaned up and put away, so I just made my way up the stairs.
I couldn’t help stopping by Carina’s room to check on her, but that was empty too.
Ray’s study, however, was not.
When I pushed open the door, I immediately knew why Ray had sent me there.
Adrian sat at my brother’s desk, reading glasses sliding down his nose and a thick book cracked in front of him. He looked fucking fantastic for someone who had almost died last night, and I almost opened my mouth to tell him so.
But mixed feelings fought for space in my chest as I looked at him. I was tired of this, done with playing the ridiculous game of wanting Adrian and fearing him—and not actually knowing him well enough to make any of that worthwhile. It had distracted me to the point that I’d made a critical mistake and let Simeon’s accomplice escape with his head.
