by Jami Gray
His smile was wide, his eyes bright, the picture of sincerity. ‘Their hearts are open and willing to assist their fellow citizens, be it by helping with the land, or assisting with your house, or by serving as breeder. They understand their duty and have chosen to be here today. What will you offer for such blessings?’
Unable to process the twisted proceedings, she yanked against Havoc’s hold. He locked her arm in place and she turned with a hiss. ‘What the fuck, Havoc?’
His grip shifted, jerking her into his side, before he quickly wrapped an arm around her shoulder, his fingers digging into the upper muscles of her arm, turning her away. ‘Auction for Solamere breeders.’ His arm shifted, and his palm pressed between her shoulders, forcing her forward.
She shoved her way through the crowd even as the sick in her gut rose to the back of her throat. She breathed through her nose in a desperate effort to keep the contents of her stomach in place. Solamere was home to Preacher, a twisted freak who ran a religious commune north of Salt Lake and the same piece of shit Dog mentioned yesterday.
Preacher managed to convince his followers that he was the mouthpiece of God and their only path to salvation was his. Unfortunately, he didn’t need to force anyone to come to him because he was a damn good salesman and they willingly joined his brainwashed flock. Mercy didn’t begrudge anyone their beliefs, but there was something just wrong with the inhabitants who called Solamere home. Not to mention, she had issues with a man who made a profit selling women and their potential offspring, like Preacher did with his breeders. Hiding greed behind the curtain of religion and misogyny was wrong on too many levels to count.
Unfortunately, no-one looked twice at the practice of supplying breeders. After the rash of plagues during the Collapse, viruses remained a constant threat to humanity. Enough that those with natural immunities were highly prized. Add in the smaller communities always on the lookout for new blood and a new market opened—hence the Solamere breeders. Something Preacher managed to capitalise on, which meant auctions, like this, happened on a disgustingly regular basis.
Preacher droned on, bids were shouted, and his smile grew sharper with each successive offer. Mercy kept her gaze averted as they worked their way around the crowd, unable to watch as teens were sold and handed off. Judging by the tension radiating from Havoc, she wasn’t the only one upset with the spectacle.
They finished pushing their way through the crowd and broke free on the other side. Havoc’s hand went from between her shoulders to the base of her spine, then curled around her hip, pulling her close. At his strangely possessive action, she looked up. He caught her gaze and jerked his head to the left. Following his silent prompt, she saw a narrow green door set against dark wood and in elegant script the word ‘Enigma’ stretched in an arc. Solar lanterns hung against the dark wood, spilling soft light over the wood, revealing a beautiful raised, hand-carved scene.
Havoc moved in front of her, leading the way. He pulled the door open, getting a jingle from the bell tacked on the inside, then he held it as she passed under his arm. A few feet inside, she came to a halt and tried to figure out what they were doing in a damn bookstore. Shelves covered the back and side walls, not to mention the free-standing cases scattered throughout. Worn cushioned seating and solid tables filled the rest of the space. A long wooden counter stretched in front of the back wall of shelves, with enough room for a couple of people to wander behind it. Currently, the only one back there was a man perched on a stool, who looked up from whatever he was reading to watch them enter.
Havoc stepped around her and headed to the desk, and as he got closer the man behind the counter straightened, coming off his stool. Taller than Havoc, but leaner, he wasn’t the type Mercy would associate with a book store. His overly long hair was a mix of browns, blacks and golds, holding just enough curl to make a woman want to touch. He wore a faded t-shirt with a little boy and what looked like a cartoonish tiger on it. ‘Ah, hell no, Havoc. Get out!’
Havoc hit the desk and placed his hands on the top. ‘Calm, Dante.’
Mercy came up behind Havoc noting that Dante looked more like he was going to try ripping Havoc’s throat out than calm his ass down. Dante mirrored Havoc, his hands bracing against the desk, light flashing off the thick silver on a couple of fingers and his arm muscles flexing against the leather bands wrapped at his wrists. ‘Fuck that. I just got shit back to normal after your last visit, man. No way in hell I want a repeat.’
Havoc’s voice remained level. ‘Left Vex and Ruin behind, it’s just me.’
The angry lines on Dante’s face notched down. Mercy settled in next to Havoc and leaned a hip against the counter. Dante’s gaze shifted to her before going back to Havoc. ‘Fine, since you left the twins from hell at home, what do you want?’
‘Need to know if anyone’s sharing stories about the Cartel.’
Dante pushed off the counter and folded his arms over his chest as he frowned. ‘You know if I did, I’d share, man, but I haven’t heard jack shit about those slimy bastards.’
Havoc kept on. ‘Heard any whispers about an attack on the Navajo City dam?’
Dante’s face tightened, and his voice went frighteningly cold. ‘What kind of attack?’
‘The kind that would wipe out Navajo City and compromise the water supply,’ Mercy supplied helpfully.
‘That is fucking whacked.’ Dante shook his head, one hand rubbing his chin. He looked beyond Havoc, his eyes narrowed in thought. They gave him time and he finally said, ‘Don’t know about an attack on the dam, but I’ve heard whispers that things are shaky in the putrid depths of the underworld.’
Mercy fought not to roll her eyes. Shit was always shaky in the underworld.
Before Havoc could ask for more, Dante gave it. ‘Problem is those whispers have whispers themselves. Seems one of the power players isn’t happy with the status quo, wants more, and is making deals with known devils to get it. No-one’s sure which player is making moves because the whispers can’t decide.’
Havoc’s jaw flexed and his voice took a rough edge. ‘Which player’s on top?’
‘Varies with telling, but Lilith and Michael are head to head.’ The bell at the door rang out and Dante’s attention shifted. A professional smile slipped in to place as he caught sight of the trio of teens coming in. ‘Be with you in a minute.’
Two of the teens jerked their chins in acknowledgement, the third didn’t even bother looking up before all three began wandering the shelves, voices low as they kept their discussion going. Satisfied the teens posed no threat, Dante went back to them, dropped his arms and set his palms on the counter to lean in close, his voice low. ‘There’s another whisper, softer than the others, of a new player, one with a vendetta but those whispers are damn near indistinct. To the point I have to wonder if it’s not just wishful thinking on someone’s part.’
Hearing that, Mercy felt the air lock in her chest and her heart give a painful thud. Son of a bitch! She needed to share this with Math. There shouldn’t be whispers, indistinct or otherwise. Not yet. It was too soon. Difficult though it was, she managed not to reveal the earthquake rocking through her. Thankfully, neither Havoc nor Dante seemed to notice her minor freak out.
‘Maybe,’ Havoc said. ‘Maybe not, but whispers aren’t going to get me what I need.’
Dante rubbed the back of his neck and looked down, probably in an attempt to hide his grimace. It didn’t work. ‘What is it you need?’
Havoc’s fingers drummed on the counter. ‘If I wanted to unearth a Cartel roach, which stone do I turn over first?’
‘You want to make sure you catch that roach before it scurries away, so you have two options—University Hill or the Avenues. Either will probably send a bunch running for cover.’ With that, Dante marked the end of Havoc’s Q&A by walking from behind the counter and heading over to the teens. ‘Something I can help you find?’
* * *
Back at their bikes Mercy went into a showdown with Havoc. Th
e two locations were miles apart, but she needed to convince him it was in their best interests to split and do the searches. Not only because it really was a better use of their time, but because her meet with Math was set in the Avenues. Sometimes she wondered if Math had some kind of psychic ability because his tendency to be in the right place at the right time was downright uncanny. She wasn’t sure how she managed it, but she finally got Havoc’s agreement to take University Hill and leave the warren of the Avenues to her.
Set to head out, she straddled her bike and was unprepared when Havoc wrapped a hand around her neck and pulled her close for a hard kiss. When he lifted his head, he ordered, ‘Meet back here by three. You’re late by even a minute, I’ll tear apart the Avenues until I find you, got it?’
An unusual warmth bloomed in her chest and left her shaky. The hand she pressed against his chest for balance curled into his shirt, and she gave a small yank, keeping his attention on her. ‘Same goes, babe. Watch your back.’
That earned her a lip twitch, then they started up their bikes and roared out. A couple miles east, she veered off leaving him to continue on. It was closing in on eleven when she began weaving her way through the narrow streets that made up the Avenues.
Interestingly, Salt Lake’s roads were built on a grid system, but the ravages of time and humanity shifted parts of the grid, which meant navigating around sinkholes, rusted remains of cars, and collapsed homes. It wasn’t fast, and it was far from easy. The majority of the neighbourhood once consisted of family homes but while there were still small enclaves of livable homes, many were left to rot. There were a few bigger buildings scattered throughout, most of which once served as churches. Now their purposes were far from holy. In fact, they tended to be flophouses where addicts holed up.
It had been awhile since she cruised through the Avenues, but she remembered two of those flophouses, one on the north end and the other towards the east. Roaches tended to congregate in dark disgusting places, so those spots were up first. Deciding to start from the outside end, she used an old trailhead to bypass the interior streets. Tucking her bike in an abandoned shed that was still standing, she hoofed it to her intended target. By the time she cleared the flophouse and its tenants, it was closing in on noon. Frustrated by the lack of coherent responses and leads, she pointed her bike to J Avenue and prayed she’d get better results after her meet with Math.
Since the streets were quiet and her obscenely loud engine drew unwanted attention, she stopped a couple blocks out and again stashed her bike in a run down, barely standing upright, vegetation encrusted shed. Stepping back out, she took a moment, unable to shake the feeling of being watched. Scanning her surroundings she tried to pinpoint the culprit and came up empty. Without the luxury of time for further investigation, she moved forward, turning into one of the better maintained cluster of homes. Trees decorated in purple, green and yellow leaves lined the streets and stood witness to the carefully tended yards. Mercy strolled along the cracked sidewalks, and just before J and Tenth, she turned into a narrow alley between two homes. Using their cover, she hopped a fence into a large yard hoping to lose whoever might be following. A couple more fences and a few gates later, she hit the overgrown and obviously abandoned basement apartment.
It didn’t take her long to find the loose board on the side window and slip inside where she lost the daylight to hazy gloom. Palming her blade, she picked her way through the layer of Mother Nature’s debris carpeting the front room. She hit the pitted half wall separating what, based upon the rusted tap and cracked sink, was left of the kitchen and inched into the hallway filled with shadows. Peeling paint curled from the walls like dull earth-toned feathers and the warped wooden slats made for tricky footing. An opening gapped to her right and a glance inside identified it as a bathroom. Just beyond it, standing opposite of each other, were two openings. Ignoring the one blocked by a crooked door speared by a tree branch, she kept her attention on the murky opening to her left.
She took one step, then a second when a deeper shadow pulled away from the others and took shape. That shape being man size and pissed. ‘What the fuck, Mercy?’
‘Hello to you too, Math,’ she snapped as she jerked to a halt, her hand tightening on her blade before she forced her grip to relax. Her temper, already riding a thin line thanks to last night’s conversation with Havoc and the weight of this meeting, ignited, adding a sarcastic bite to her, ‘Fancy meeting you here.’
‘Don’t be a smartass.’ He shifted out of the shadows, but ended up creating more because at just over six foot with a set of shoulders Atlas would envy, he made the small hall downright miniscule. With long pitch black hair, matched by an equally dark goatee and moustache, his steel blue eyes stood out against his gold touched skin and the entire picture screamed sinister bad-ass.
Undaunted, she met his pissed off glare and shot back, ‘Don’t be a dick.’ Greetings out of the way, she narrowed her gaze, not missing the fury tightening his face. ‘You need to check that anger you’re wearing.’
He didn’t move except to fold his arms over his chest. ‘You want me to check it, then start explaining why your face is appearing on bounty notices.’
At least that one was easy. ‘We can thank Felix, Suárez’s lieutenant for that shit. Give me another day and it’ll be over.’
‘Start explaining,’ he growled.
She wasted no time doing so, keeping it short and simple—how Felix killed Tavi, set her up for the fall, her run in with Havoc, thwarting the attack on the dam, the resulting meeting with Istaqa including her take on the possible alliance, and ending with the deal she made with Suárez. While she drifted on her loyalty line, in an effort to convince Math teaming up with the others was a smart move, she kept the personal details to herself. Unfortunately, as she spoke, she couldn’t miss the fact that his temper went from red-hot to ice-cold. When she finished he stared at her, the air nearly vibrating with his rage. If she hadn’t spent years dealing with his temper, she’d never do what she did next, but since she did, she snapped, ‘What?’
He closed in before she could take a breath, forcing her to crane her neck back so she could hold her glare. He leaned in, his hair shifting to fall forward. ‘You fucking hooked up with a goddamn Vulture.’
It wasn’t given as a question, but an accusation. The volatile mix of emotions storming through her drowned out the logical voice pointing out she’d be better off taking a step back. Instead, she rose on tiptoe until they were nose to nose, and drilled a finger into his hard chest. ‘That goddamn Vulture saved my ass, otherwise I’d be feeding the real ones somewhere between here and Page, so fucking deal.’
‘Deal?’ he growled. ‘Are you fucking kidding me? You partner up with the one group I told you to steer clear of after blowing a cover you spent months building and I’m supposed to deal?’
The sneering disdain in his voice ripped along her temper, leaving behind a caustic edge. ‘Yeah, deal, Math, because the storm barrelling towards us is bigger than we thought. Found out today someone’s talking about our plans, not loudly, but enough to worry me. I don’t know what your issue is with the Vultures. Hell, I don’t want to know, because it’s not my fucking business.’ She held his burning gaze, her lips curling into a sneer, her voice icing over. ‘What I do know is if you want to finish what we started, this is our chance to do it once and for all.’
‘How do you figure?’
‘We’ve been going at this alone, but they’re teaming up. If you’re smart, you’ll do the same, because there is strength in numbers. Something you’d realise, if you would just pull your head out of your ass. If you don’t, what happened eight years ago will be a goddamn walk in the fucking park to what he’ll do to us next.’
‘Goddammit!’ He jerked away from her, stalked the scant few feet left in the hall, his hand running through his hair. He hit the end of the hall, his head bowed, his hands locking on his neck, the dim light glinted off the silver rings on his fingers.
&nb
sp; She stood there, fists clenched, as worry and anger coursed through her, and tried to ignore the sting of frustration against her heart as she impatiently waited for him to find his way beyond his stubbornness. Not only was Math her boss, he was a rare friend, one she knew would break something in her if she lost.
Finally he turned, his face hard, unreadable. ‘You’re walking a thin fucking line, Mercy.’
Hearing the warning, the same one Havoc issued, she swallowed. ‘My balance is good.’
‘Is it?’
‘Yeah.’
‘It better be.’ He stopped, looked away, whatever was working in his head not penetrating his mask. When he finally came back to her, her heart seized. There was a distance, a distance she’d witnessed with others, but never with her. When he spoke, what he left unsaid landed with a brutal blow. ‘You share who I am and I’ll bury you.’
It killed, that look and what it meant. She managed to squeeze out a harsh whisper. ‘Don’t do this.’
Unrelenting steel stared back, his voice empty. ‘You’re not giving me a choice.’
And there it was, he was drawing his fucking line in the sand and the blowback of his action sent the line under her feet swaying. She tried to steady it. ‘You always have a choice, Math.’
‘And you made yours.’ His voice matched the cold, arrogant stare that seared deep, freezing her from the soul out.
Her foot slipped, and she closed her eyes to stem the hot pressure as the one solid relationship in her life fractured. What did you expect, idiot? She didn’t bother answering, instead, she took the wound he dealt her, and buried the damage under layer after layer of ice. Only then did she open her eyes. With no other choice, she continued forward, employee to employer. ‘Didn’t get a name for the partner, but got you a location. Warehouse District, New Seattle. Felix’s initial meet was supposed to be four days from today, but chances are good he’s moved it up. If I miss him here, it’s your best chance to get a face.’ Not waiting for a response, because she didn’t expect one, she turned and left Math behind in the shadows, unforgiving silence nipping at her heels.
