by Holly Day
Malik swayed while sitting, blood seeping out of his chest and wrists, but in one ungainly motion, he got to his feet. His ankles looked fine, no spikes going through the bones there.
“Go out on the balcony.” Ivan rushed over and opened the balcony door. It was too far down to jump.
Raina rushed out after him and leaned over the railing. “Zev!” When nothing happened, she called again. “Zev!”
The sound of a door opening below reached them and a dark-haired man peeked up at them from the small patio at ground level.
“Help.”
It only took a second, then Zev was climbing. There was nothing human about the way he moved, the strength and agility awe-inspiring. Ivan rushed in and grabbed Malik’s arm. He swayed and staggered as he walked toward the balcony.
When Ivan got out, Raina was already over the railing, Zev having wrapped an arm around her middle and was helping her down to the balcony below theirs.
“Can you help him, too?” Ivan met his gaze with a pleading one of his own.
“What the fuck have you been doing?” The words were spoken in a growl, but Ivan heard him.
“No time to explain. Save them. I’ll come after.”
“Where will you—”
“No time!” The door handle rattled. “They’re here.” He stepped inside and shut the door behind Malik. The towel had fallen to the floor on his walk to the balcony and he was standing naked in the July sun with blood all over his body.
Ivan walked over to the closest wall, and right as he was about to melt into it, the vamps broke through the door. With one last glance at the balcony where Malik straddled the railing while Zev kept him from falling, Ivan melted all the way into the wall.
Remi didn’t curse or shout as he took in the mess they’d made of Raina’s living room. He simply stared at the blood, the chains, and the stake. “Find them. They can’t have gone far. Jack is hurt.”
“Master.” One of the vampires ducked his head. “If he fed—”
“They haven’t had the time. How many minutes since the stake was triggered?”
“Seven.” It was another one speaking.
Remi nodded. “They haven’t had time to feed him.”
Ivan held his breath as one vampire neared the wall he was hiding in. He took several short breaths as if scenting the air.
“I smell blood over here, but I can’t see any.” He stared right at Ivan, but Ivan was sure he couldn’t see him. His eyes were similar to Malik’s, and he wondered if they were related.
“Jack’s blood?”
Ivan did a mental eye roll. If he called everyone Jack, then how would they know which Jack he was talking about? Though he guessed only one of the Jacks were bleeding.
“Move out. Guard the building.”
Another Jack turned to Remi. “What do we do if we see them?”
Remi narrowed his eyes, and Ivan waited. “Capture them. Kill Jack, but capture Snow and his sister. Wenior is willing to pay good money for him.”
Wenior? Ivan hadn’t heard the name before. He’d have to call Ibine. She knew of all the wizards around here.
“Move out.” Remi went toward the door, and Ivan moved inside the wall to get closer to the balcony.
“There is blood on the door handle.” One of the Jacks pointed at the balcony door. Remi turned around and went to open it. He leaned over the railing with a frown.
“Search the area.”
Chapter 8
The world swam before Malik’s eyes. He couldn’t remember ever being in this much pain. His entire chest burned as if on fire. His hands weren’t working, and there was a constant buzz in his ears.
“Come on.” Raina pulled him through a door. Malik wasn’t sure where they were, but it smelled of werewolf.
“What’s going on, Raina?” The growly voice came from next to him, and he studied the dark-haired man. He’d helped Malik climb down the building, but his gaze was still too hazy to be able to make out his features. Dark hair and werewolf were all he could say.
“Long story and I don’t want you to get into trouble, Zev. I appreciate the help, though.”
“What trouble?”
Malik swayed and would’ve fallen if Zev hadn’t grabbed him. “Sit.” Zev pushed him toward a sofa along the wall. The blinds were down and the room dark. The fabric was soft against Malik’s bare skin.
“You don’t want to know. Do you have any clothes? Neither mine nor Ivan’s fit him.”
Malik blinked to clear his vision enough to see Raina motioning in his direction.
“You’re stealing a vampire?” Zev crossed his arms over his chest.
“I guess we are, but that’s not the main thing. I’m sorry, Zev. I am, but we’re gonna have to skip town, and I don’t want you to get in any trouble.”
“If you’re in trouble, you should have come to me in the first place.”
Raina laughed. It started low but gradually grew more hysterical. “Your hacksaw is up there.”
The werewolf, Zev, turned his way. Blood kept trickling from his chest and wrists, and the buzz in his ears grew louder.
“He needs blood or he won’t heal.”
“I know. Ivan offered, but he refused.”
“Phantasm.” Malik didn’t think they’d understand, but he couldn’t drink dead blood.
Zev groaned. “Vampire lore. He’s been taught never to touch the blood of a phantasm.”
Raina huffed. Malik would’ve tried to explain had he had the energy, but he didn’t. He’d pictured the rest of his life with Ivan, but he’d never believed fate would be so cruel as to make the one he wanted to make his mate a phantasm.
“It’s stupid. There is nothing wrong with Ivan.”
For a few seconds, they quieted. Steps sounded on the staircase.
“They’re leaving.” Raina got to her feet, but Zev stopped her.
“They won’t leave without the vampire. They’re worth a lot of money. My guess is they’re guarding the building.” Zev walked over to the window. “They’ll be able to scent the blood.”
Malik swayed while sitting. Every part of him ached and burned.
“He needs blood or he’ll collapse.”
“I’m sure Ivan will be down soon.” There was worry in her voice.
Zev sighed and soon the couch dipped next to Malik. “Here. Drink. I’m not human, but it won’t harm you.”
Malik grabbed the offered arm and sank his fangs into it. Hot, coppery blood filled his mouth, and he drank in big gulps. It tasted foul. Or foul was the wrong word, it tasted different from any blood he’d ever had. It was, he’d say thicker, though the texture was the same.
The buzz in his ears ebbed away, and warmth spread in his chest.
“That’s enough.” Zev’s voice was more growl than anything else, and Malik took one last pull before letting go of his arm. He noted the way Zev shuddered, but he didn’t think it was because he was cold.
“Thank you.”
“I did it to save my couch. You’re bleeding all over it.”
Malik shot to his feet. He hadn’t thought of that. Turning around, he met Raina’s gaze. “The blood, they’ll know where we landed on the ground and that we went in here.”
“We’re not leaving without Ivan.”
She was right, they weren’t leaving without Ivan, but they had to have a plan. His gaze swept over the walls. Ivan was always the one with the plan.
“You need to tell me what’s going on.” Zev crossed his arms over his chest, his dark eyes changed into a glowing yellow.
“All right, all right. But I want you to remember I never wanted to involve you. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
“I have a bleeding vampire in my apartment where someone has removed his cuffs and stake. I’d say I’m already in trouble, but I don’t know why I’m in trouble.”
“A couple of years ago, I was in a bar.”
Malik listened. He’d never heard the entire story.
“I had a
drink, and this creepy guy was hitting on me.”
Zev growled.
“I bought more drinks, and I wouldn’t say we argued, but the more he bragged about his estate and his harem of vampires, the more obnoxious—and drunk, I’ll add—I got. When he bragged about his security system, I said I could steal one of his precious vampires, and he’d never know I’d been there.”
Zev groaned.
“I know.” Raina waved a hand. “But the guy’s a creep, and I didn’t mean right then. If I’d had time to plan it, I could steal one of his vampires without him noticing, but I hadn’t gone in there. I’d sent Ivan. I can’t melt into my surroundings.” She shrugged. “One day, I’m gonna steal all his vampires just to get back at him. Bastard. Anyway, I guess he saw his chance. I don’t think he’d planned it, he’s not smart enough to orchestrate something like that, and he couldn’t know what I’d say, but I presented an opportunity, and he took it.”
“What happened?”
Raina shrugged. “He took me to his house and told me to break in and steal a vampire.”
“If he was there, he’d catch you.”
“I know. Or I guess, I was drunk enough to think I could make it past the alarm.”
“Did you?”
“I did, but then the alarm went off.”
“So, you didn’t?”
She frowned. “I’m not sure, I was drunk and maybe a little too triumphant, but I think I made it past the alarm only to have someone trigger it after I’d made it inside.”
“He knew you were coming.”
“Yeah.” She shrugged. “I’ve never told Ivan, but sometimes I suspect it was him he was after.”
Malik tried to think back. He never knew what Master was planning, but the jobs had changed after Ivan started working for him. Before Ivan, it had mostly been guard duty, after Ivan it had been thefts. “Does he know what Ivan can do?” Malik hadn’t.
Raina shook her head. “Ivan hides it pretty well, but he’s an adrenaline junkie.”
Malik narrowed his eyes. Ivan never took any stupid risks when he was with Malik.
“He gets a kick out of fooling people who underestimate him, so before he worked for Remington—”
“Remington Redwood?” Zev’s voice bounced off the walls of the room.
“Yeah, Ridiculous Remi. Even before Remi, Ivan would steal things just to prove he could.”
It didn’t fit the picture Malik had of him. “To prove he could?”
“Perhaps not to prove, but you know how he is.” She waved a hand. “He’s a scrawny little thing, no question he’s queer, and people like to pick on him.”
Zev’s eyebrows were climbing his forehead. “Your brother is…queer?”
“Don’t you dare say something condescending about it.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Oh, please, I know how werewolves are. Homophobic bastards.”
A smile tugged at the corner of Zev’s mouth. “Generalizing?”
She rolled her eyes. “As a group—”
“Yeah, yeah, as a group, but I’m not a group.”
“Fine!” She threw her hands in the air. “Anyway, so many people pick on him, you know? So, he steals something from them. Most often he gives it back, preferably with a crowd around so there’s an audience when they lose face. It’s not the best way to make friends.”
Zev chuckled.
“And Master knew?”
Raina frowned. “I don’t know. But someone killed a vampire while I was in the house, not on the same floor I was. Remi blamed me and had me work off the debt. Ivan stepped in and said he’d do the work instead since I’m not good at…melting in. Remi added interest, and here we are two years later.”
“I still don’t see how you ended up stealing a vampire.” Zev gestured at Malik.
“Oh, Ivan has the hots for him.”
Malik coughed. Ivan what?
“But stealing his boyfriend?”
“It’s more complicated than that.” Raina sighed.
“Tell me.”
“Ivan’s contract is up. He’s to do a job today, and it’s the last one. Only Remi told Malik—” She gestured at Malik. “—to hand him over to someone once he’d stolen the queen’s diamond.”
Zev widened his eyes. “He’s stealing the queen’s diamond?”
“Yeah, and normally when he does a job, he has a vamp who he puts on the lookout, and then he does the job himself. This time Remi placed trackers on them and told Ivan they had to stay together. Taking the stake and cuffs out wasn’t about stealing Malik, it’s because Ivan is afraid he’ll get caught when they crawl through vent shafts and stuff.”
“But he’ll never fit in a ventilation tunnel. We’re about the same size.” He gestured at himself.
Malik shrugged.
Zev sat and cradled his head in his hands. “And who were you to hand Ivan over to?”
“I don’t know. His name began with a W.”
Shadows moved outside the balcony door, the blinds were down so Malik couldn’t see who it was, but there was movement. “There’s someone there.” He gestured at the windows.
With a snarl, Zev shot to his feet. He pulled the door open but blocked the doorway.
“Oh, hi.”
Malik blew out a sigh of relief when he heard Ivan’s voice.
Chapter 9
Ivan stared at the snarling werewolf and tried to calm his racing heart. Did werewolf sense fear as dogs did?
“Get in.” Zev—Zen?—pulled him inside, and looked around before closing the door.
“They’re surrounding the building.” Ivan looked at them one at a time.
Zev nodded.
Ivan frowned at Malik. “You fed.”
He nodded, and Ivan didn’t know why, but it annoyed him Malik had fed from someone when he’d refused him. He shook his head. “Wenior. Remi said Wenior was willing to pay good money for me.”
Zev snorted. “He’s crazy.”
“You know him?”
He shook his head. “No, but there was a thing a few years ago. He sacrificed several people in some rite or other. To gain immortality is what I heard.”
Ivan’s blood chilled. Did Remi know what he was? He never left his home without his lens in, but he knew what kind of rites wizards believed they could use his blood in.
“Phantasm, the bridge between the living and the dead.” Malik sounded spooked.
“I’m not dead!” Yet. He whirled around and gestured at Malik. “I don’t know what they’ve told you, but it’s a fairytale. There is nothing wrong with me, and I’m not dead in any way.”
Malik gave him an impassive look.
“Stop being stupid. You could’ve bled out up there, and you refused to drink my blood because of the color of my eyes.”
“You have brown eyes.” Zev looked between them.
“No, I’m wearing a lens. I have one brown and one blue—same color as Raina.” He gestured at Raina.
Zev rubbed the stubble on his chin. “You’re in trouble.”
“I told you so.” Raina got up from the couch. “Do you have any clothes Malik could borrow?”
Zev lingered by the table and frowned at Ivan. “If I were you, I’d stay away from Wenior. He’s…not reasonable.”
Ivan nodded. He didn’t plan on letting himself get caught. “We still need to get the diamond.”
“Why?” Raina curled her fingers in frustration. “It won’t matter, we’ll be hunted either way.”
“Yes, but with the diamond, we can buy Malik.”
Malik grew stock still, so Ivan turned to him. “No matter where we go, you’ll be hunted unless we can prove you’re free.”
“Dammit!” Raina grabbed the bag and pulled out the file Remi had given them. “How do we get there when they’re guarding the building? How do we get into the hotel with people on the lookout? How will you steal the diamond when we don’t know where it is? How will you give it to Remi without getting us all killed? How will we be ab
le to leave town without getting stopped?”
Ivan didn’t know. “One thing at a time. First, we need Malik to clean off the blood and get dressed. Then we need to leave.”
“We need to leave soon. I hear footsteps on the stairs again.”
Ivan stared at Zev. “You don’t have to…We never meant to get you in trouble.”
Zev grinned. “I’m not letting Remington Redwood anywhere near my girl here.” He gestured at Raina who, to Ivan’s astonishment, blushed.
“Bathroom is over there.” Zev gestured at a door across from what Ivan guessed was the kitchen. “I’ll find you some clothes.”
“Black if you have.” Ivan didn’t want to be a bother, but black was best to blend in.
“You want a suit? It might not be a perfect fit, but close enough.”
A suit? A vampire in a suit. People would assume he belonged to the hotel. “Yes, a suit would be great. Question is if we can keep him clean on our way out of here.”
Zev nodded, gestured for Malik to go to the bathroom, and picked up his phone. “Jim, it’s Zev. I need a favor.” Zev paced the apartment, glanced out between the blinds while he talked to Jim. If Ivan understood it correctly, Jim would come and pick them up.
When Zev hung up, Ivan spoke. “They’ll notice a car coming.”
Zev nodded. “I figured we’d split up.”
“And meet where?”
“I have a cabin. Living in the city all the time is killing me, I have to get away now and then.”
Ivan nodded. You didn’t normally run into shifters in a city.
“You and Raine go with Jim. He’ll drive you there. Malik and I will get there on foot.”
“On foot?”
Zev shrugged. “We’re not human.”
“Malik is gonna run in a suit?” People would notice a man running in a suit.
“No, you bring the suit. We’ll put on jogging gear. We’ll put a cap on Malik to hide that he’s shaved. Hopefully, they’re looking for the two of you together.” He glanced at his clock. “You should leave.”
Leave? Malik was in the shower, if they left now, he wouldn’t get to say goodbye. “Where will he pick us up?”
“There’s a basement. You go down the stairs and in through the white metal door. First, you’ll pass a utility room, then you’ll come into a room where all the residents park their bikes. There’s a door leading out into the parking lot. He’ll park there, a blue Chevy truck.”
