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9

THE COMPANY

T he black, wing-shaped structure had a tree-filled park between twin buildings, surrounded by an outdoor lot that must have capacity for nearly a thousand cars.

Black stopped at the security gate long enough to flash his I.D. and for the security guard to call someone inside to verify permission for their visit.

Once he got the okay, the guard handed over three badges. He also gave Black a yellow laminate with a barcode and “Visitor” printed on it in dark script. The security guard explained that the yellow laminate had to be placed on the dashboard on the driver’s side, and that it connected directly to his license plate number, so couldn’t be used for any other vehicle.

“Fairly restrictive access,” I muttered, glancing at Nick.

“Hmm,” my old friend commented.

From the flash of Black’s gold eyes when he glanced at us, he agreed.

To the guard, Black only nodded.

“Don’t take the badges off,” the guard warned. “You’ll be escorted out. They’ve got names on them, so make sure you’re wearing the right one. Oh, and never come here, to this building, without your badges, official IDs, and the parking pass… not even if someone working here tells you it’s all right, or claims they’ll come out to meet you and bring you in. You’ll be denied access. There are no exceptions, whatever the suits inside might tell you. Security has strict rules here.”

Black gave him a faint smirk. “Guess you don’t get a lot of tour groups.”

“No,” the guard deadpanned back. “We don’t. And we work directly for Mr. Rucker, not for Prometharis. We answer only to him.”

Again, I exchanged wordless looks with Nick.

The gate opened, the barrier rose, and Black took the SUV out of park. He drove through the narrow opening and closed his window before he looked back at us.

“This is primarily a research facility,” Black explained, as he handed the badges and their lanyards over to me to sort out.

I glanced down at the names, handed one over the seat to Nick, looped a second one around my neck, and held Black’s in my lap for when we stopped.

“…Their admin buildings are downtown,” Black added. “Not far from the Ferry Building. That’s where Rucker’s main office is located. I suspect security is tight there, too, and at his personal residence, but from what the two bozos who hired me said, everything at this facility is the reason why. Luc was insanely protective of everything that went on here. That’s probably why he oversaw security himself.”

That tracked. Rucker undoubtedly had his fingers in a lot of pies. I probably needed to dig up a few more detailed bios, articles, and interviews, and look for videos online to try and get a sense of the full scope of his businesses.

At this point, I assumed Black didn’t only want a profile from me.

He seemed to want me on this full time.

“Of course I want you on it full time,” he muttered from next to me. “You think I gave them your name and had them run a security check on you… or would risk you being involved at all… just to bring you down here to talk to a few people?”

He gave me a sideways look with his tiger-like eyes.

His black hair fell down over one side of his forehead, somehow emphasizing his high cheekbones and his long jaw. The sunlight lit up one side of his face, making him look even more inhuman, even more beautiful.

“Grumpy,” I scolded mildly.

He snorted, glanced at Nick in the rearview mirror, and didn’t answer.

Black brought the car around to a row of parking spaces between the two buildings. A sign by the path said the registration desk was straight ahead.

I read the green writing that marked the row as “badged visitor” spaces. Presumably they had a place for non-badged visitors as well, but that wasn’t us, and anyway, from what that guard said, they didn’t get a lot of casual visitors here.

“Those two assholes who came to the office this morning were cagey as fuck,” Black muttered, likely in response to at least some of what I’d been thinking. “But they were clear about one thing. They believe Rucker’s murder has something to do with a new breakthrough tech he was working on… something they think is so valuable and unique, others would kill him for it. Whether or not they’re right, they made a big fucking deal about this new wonder-gadget of theirs, and said it was being worked on primarily at this facility.”

“What is it?” Nick asked. “The tech?”

Black lifted a shoulder. “No idea.”

I frowned. That definitely hadn’t felt true.

Black cleared his throat. If he heard me, his expression didn’t change.

“You’ll both have to sign a bunch of crap before they let us in,” he went on, his voice gruff. “They made it pretty clear they don’t want us knowing anything about what they’re working on here, and don’t plan to tell us anything, or let anyone else tell us anything, but they’re worried we might figure something out on our own, anyway, if we so much as darken the doors of their precious labs. So it’s NDAs all the way down.” He gave me a sideways smile. “Along with generous threats to sue if we so much as talk in our sleep about anything we saw.”

I gave him a curious look.

That part felt true.

I could feel his genuine annoyance with Rucker’s people’s lack of transparency.

Why hadn’t he just read them for the information, if that was case?

Again, I distinctly got the feeling there was something he wasn’t telling us.

Maybe a few somethings.

Not now, doc, whispered through my mind. Wait and see if I’m right first.

I blinked, then let my eyes slide from his face.

He’d turned off the car.

Without giving me a direct look, he snapped the latch on his door and exited out the driver’s side, pulling himself off the seat and stepping down in one fluid movement.

Nick grumbled under his breath, but he’d already unbuckled his seatbelt, too. He shouldered on a black trench coat while I watched, shoved dark sunglasses on his face and a hat on his head, before putting on leather gloves and snatching a thick, black umbrella off the floor by his feet. He opened it right as he opened the door.

Despite everything he had to do before he could emerge into the sunlight, Nick still managed to beat me out of the car.

I sat there a few seconds longer, wondering why I felt so uneasy suddenly.

It wasn’t about my decision to work for Black––I felt fine about that

It was the case.

But why? It was just a murder case. We’d worked dozens of those before.

And yeah, the clients were stupid not to involve the cops from the get-go, but I knew Black could probably use his sight to move us out of the spotlight for that.

Compared to what we’d faced the last few years, pushing a few cops was practically nothing, almost mundane, despite the ethical issues involved. The victim might be famous, but this was ordinary human darkness. No vampires, no fanatical seers, no ancient, god-like beings, no inter-dimensional portals. Shouldn’t I feel at ease with all of this?

Shouldn’t it have felt almost good to have a human case again?

Was it the illegality that was bothering me?

I wanted to believe that’s all it was, but somehow, I didn’t.

Black was looking at me through the windshield, though, and I could feel him waiting for me, wondering what I was doing. I released a breath. I gave him a half-smile and an eye roll, and reminded myself I’d signed up for this.

Then I slid over the seat and opened the passenger door.

B lack had been right; Nick and I had to sign boilerplate N.D.A.s.

We had to read and sign before they’d let us past the reception desk on the first floor of the building, maybe twenty yards from the revolving doors that dumped us into the massive, steel-colored lobby dotted with rust-colored couches and burnished metal tables.

The fire, metal, and darkness motif definitely extended to the inside of the building, as well as its outside.

Once we’d completed all our paperwork, the receptionist, a twenty-something, model-looking woman with blond hair falling in soft curls down her back, led us into a private lounge filled with more leather couches, these dyed forest green. That room was painted a dark copper color, with copper fountains and what looked like original art.

Most of the paintings depicted mythical naked people in unnatural poses, either on fire, or with burning wings or burning swords clutched in their hands.

“No paperwork for you?” Nick muttered to Black, once the door clicked softly shut.

Black pulled his eyes off a painting that depicted a disturbingly realistic image of a centaur having relations with something that might have been a biblical angel. Both of them were on fire. Well, that was my guess as to the subject matter, anyway, given the wings and all the blinking eyes. I noticed the ceiling moving and looked up. The morphing, metallic-colored expanse made me feel queasy.

Everything about this place struck me as vaguely menacing.

What was even the point of a ceiling like that? Was it a projection? Or some kind of sound-stimulated liquid?

“The latter, I think,” Black commented to me. He glanced at Nick. “I filled out mine at the office. When I agreed to take the case.”

“Why did you agree to take the case?” I muttered, more for his ears than for Nick’s.

Nick was a vampire, though, and heard everything. He grunted.

“Good fucking question,” he muttered.

To call this whole thing a legal liability was an understatement in the extreme.

And sure, they had plenty of seers to clean this mess up if it went south, but why take the chance? Why do anything to make us more visible than we already were?

There had to be a reason.

There had to be a Black-specific reason, something that mattered to him.

I guessed it must be the thing he still hadn’t told us, likely something to do with this mysterious tech breakthrough Prometharis was working on. Black was a pragmatist, despite his quirks. He wouldn’t put me, Nick, himself, and his entire company at risk of legal scrutiny and even jail without a damned good reason.

As I thought it, Black glanced at me, a faint smile touching his lips. Behind that, a different look grew visible in his eyes. Like he was studying me. Maybe he really was worried this wasn’t the best way to spend my first day back working for his company.

The door to the lounge opened.

A new assistant stood there, this one a dark brunette with a deeper voice, but also twenty-something and equally gorgeous.

“Mr. Wicker will see you now,” she smiled.

Her blue eyes flickered between the three of us. I saw them pause on Nick, then spend a few longer seconds staring openly at Black. She actually licked her lips.

She caught my stare and her eyes flinched a little, which told me something about the way I was probably looking at her.

She led us down a carpeted corridor to a narrow elevator with burnished copper doors. Her hips swished inside a short, clingy skirt as she walked, her feet carefully balanced on five inch heels. The elevator required both her badge and a security code she keyed into a panel once we’d all stepped inside.

I don’t know if it was fully conscious, much less a real decision, but I found myself positioning myself between the assistant and Black. I also, mostly out of habit, memorized the code she inputted into the elevator door.

That second part was probably Black’s influence.

As for the first part, and my twinges of jealousy, I blamed that morning’s conversation, and the unwelcome reminder of our time in New York. Had Black even picked up on my reaction to that? Or was he too focused on the new case to notice?

I noticed, doc, Black’s mental voice murmured in my mind. I always notice… and I always notice you. A breath of warmth swam over my skin. And it’s not just you, by the way. Although I wish you’d stop worrying about toddlers… all it’s doing is getting me wound up.

A touch of longing tinged his thoughts. Heat lived there.

I swallowed.

He was right.

It wasn’t just me. That was another way we’d both been struggling lately.

The only time things felt remotely normal between us now was when we were––

Fucking, Black interjected, finishing the thought for me. When we’re fucking. That coil of intensity in him grew hotter. Things feel normal when we’re fucking, doc, and right after. I’ve noticed that, too.

Liquid fire swam over and through me.

It felt disconcertingly sexual in the cramped space of the elevator.

It’s making it damned hard to keep my hands off you. Maybe we need to talk about that… instead of work shit, and instead of dealing with it by basically ignoring one another whenever we’re around other people, and then fucking until we’re exhausted when we’re alone…

My face grew uncomfortably hotter at his words.

It struck me that the sex and awkwardness thing might be a lot of why I’d resisted working in the same building as him. Some part of me was trying to keep at least part of my professional life… well, professional. Or maybe I was just trying to keep myself from being too distracted by him, and by whatever the hell was going on with us.

The thing going on with us is that we’re seers, we’re married, and we’re trying to adjust to a major change in our light, not to mention our lives, Black murmured, seemingly incapable of not eavesdropping on my every thought. I don’t see that getting resolved without us actually talking about it, doc… and maybe we can’t do that while avoiding one another. Maybe now that we’re starting to adjust individually again, we can start to adjust as a couple. Maybe we really should do that bonding trip thing. Or maybe that’s what the new house is for, if we can find something soon enough––

What bonding trip? I murmured in his mind.

The one Jem keeps going on about, telling me we both need. Black grunted audibly under his breath. But alone this time. Not with every fucking person we know along with us, like we did on our gaos- damned honeymoon.

I thought about that.

But you just took this job, I pointed out.

Yes, he conceded.

You said it’s probably a big job, I added. One that will likely go on for weeks. Not to mention, it’s an extremely dodgy and potentially dangerous job.

Yes, he admitted, sighing inside my mind. It is all of those things. But my point still stands. He paused. After, maybe?

Why did you take this job? I pressed.

Because it’s important, Miriam, he said, making me shiver like he always did when he used my full name. And you were right before… my reasons aren’t about Archangel or murder clubs. I think they’ve developed a brain implant that allows humans to block seer minds.

He paused, maybe so that part would land.

I want to know exactly what they’ve made, and what it does, he added next. I also want to know why they made it. If they know about seers, and it’s designed specifically to block seer light, then that’s a problem for us. If it’s part of that weird-ass obsession a lot of these fuckers have with artificial intelligence, then we still need to know about it, but the issue is less dire. I’ll still want to limit or have some say in how the tech is developed.

He gave a subtle shrug.

I was hoping to talk about this back at the office, he added, thoughts subdued. Or over lunch. I thought I’d let you and Nick go into this with fresh eyes, but after, I fully intended us three to have a detailed discussion on where to go from here. He gave me a bare glance. Also, if you think they’re setting me up for Rucker’s murder.

I stared at him. Wait, what? Why would they do that? I thought for a moment. And why only you? Why not the company?

No one else in the company is supposed to know Rucker is dead, Black sent, matter-of-fact. Didn’t I mention that?

No, I sent testily. You didn’t. Black, I just signed an N.D.A.––

Yes, he cut in. But it makes no mention of you knowing anything about a murder, or about Rucker being dead. I was extremely clear about the wording with them, and made them rewrite your agreement before I’d agree to sign my own. The N.D.A. you signed only mentions nondisclosures around technology and proprietary information… and mentions you will be aiding me to investigate Rucker’s disappearance … nothing about his death. I added an indemnify clause to my own contract that specified I won’t risk my staff by allowing them to engage in willfully illegal behavior without prior approval.

I opened my mouth, closed it.

But you didn’t do that for yourself? I asked, incredulous.

I didn’t want it for me, he sent. I want access.

But aren’t all three of us going to see his dead body right now? I asked, exasperated.

You’re not going to see anything of the kind, he corrected, a touch sharper. I know you hate dead bodies, doc.

At my scowl, he shrugged.

And I might be going to see a dead body, doc, but you won’t be in the room for that. You’ll be talking to Rucker’s people, and hopefully reading them for information. I’ll also insist they turn the cameras off in any room where I’m looking at Rucker, and I plan to read everyone I can in every room I enter. I’ve already been doing that, in fact… including with these human assistants you’re being ridiculous about.

He motioned subtly towards the admin with the shocking blue eyes.

I felt my jaw harden, but only folded my arms.

What about Nick? I asked. What’s he doing while I read people and you look at dead bodies?

Black hesitated, but I could already feel his answer.

I need Nick with me, he admitted. He’s got that creepy vampire smelling thing, and he can get a hell of a lot more information off a dead body than I can. He’ll know if they’re lying to us about a number of things around cause of death, drugs, time of death, etc. He signed the same N.D.A. I did. We discussed this before you got back to the office, and he agreed.

Nick can smell that? I asked, incredulous. Whether the person was on drugs?

He can, Black confirmed. You’d be completely disturbed and blown away at what that deviant little fucker can smell.

I snorted an involuntary laugh.

I turned it into a cough and covered my mouth.

Black’s gold eyes flickered towards mine.

I saw heat in them briefly, right before they grew serious.

I was very clear with these people about how much I wanted you to know, he sent, softer. I also plan to erase any trace of Nick being in that room with me, if it’s at all possible. Neither of you will be told anything specific about the police’s involvement or non-involvement with any of this, not by any of Rucker’s people. Not by me in front of Rucker’s people. Not inside this building, where they’re likely to have surveillance inside every room. If they break any of that, I call the cops. There’s a damned good chance I’ll call the cops anyway.

A pulse of anger left Black’s light.

I don’t trust them, he continued, blunt. In case that part’s not incredibly clear. For the same reason, do not talk about any of this while we’re here. Nothing about Lucian’s death, the fact that no one called the police, or anything that could be used against one of us later. I’ve already warned Nick the same. As far as you know, Lucian Rucker is missing right now. Not dead… missing … and that’s all you know.

I grunted, but didn’t argue.

Black continued to stare straight ahead as the elevator descended.

This is all just temporary, doc, he repeated, quieter in my mind. We’ll regroup when we leave here and decide. I figured it made sense to have me and Nick looped into this from the outset. It would be harder for either of us to claim we simply “didn’t notice” the police hadn’t been involved, given he’s ex- homicide and I’ve worked contracts with the S.F.P.D. and the F.B.I. There’s enough documentation that I know procedure––

I can’t deny I know procedure, either, I pointed out. I worked for the cops for years.

True, Black conceded, without missing a beat. Which is why you won’t be in the room with Lucian’s corpse, but handling a different part of the interrogation. Seeing my doubtful look, he added, Look, if it comes down to it, I’ll just erase fucking everyone, doc. I’ll send in a team, and we’ll remove every trace. Problem solved.

I fought not to roll my eyes.

Why don’t you just turn them in now? I sent, finally asking the thing that had been bothering me. Do you really think you’ll learn more this way? You could be working directly with S.F.P.D. on this, not covering up a murder and helping Rucker’s flunkies destroy and tamper with evidence. You know their reasons for not reporting this are suspicious as hell.

Black adjusted his shoulders, his arms folded.

He conceded my words with a bare shrug.

I could have turned them in this morning, he agreed somberly. I thought about it. And there’s a damned good chance I’ll turn them in later today, doc, like I said. That N.D.A. won’t hold up in court if it requires me to act illegally, even if they find out it was me who blew the whistle. I’d just like to know more about what game they’re playing first. I’m also hoping they’ll tell us more if they think we’re on their side.

Black––

We’re not in real danger unless we see a bunch of irrefutable shit about illegal behavior and don’t report it by the end of today, he sent, a touch warningly. This is our first contact with them outside of the California office. After we check out this place, and maybe Rucker’s house, we’ll make a decision. I’d just like to get a first look at whatever Prometharis is screwing around with before the police start digging around everything.

I snorted, half in disbelief.

We’d finally come to the real crux of the issue.

So this has nothing to do with Rucker’s murder at all, I accused mildly. You just want a look at their proprietary tech before they start to bury it all once the police get involved. This is about that brain implant. Which I’m guessing you think might’ve been developed using seer organics. Which means Charles.

Black’s gold eyes glowed in the strange lighting of the elevator.

I never said anything about seer tech, he sent flatly.

I rolled my eyes. Right. But that’s what you mean, isn’t it? You want to know if Charles gave them organic machines. And if so, you want to know why.

Black exhaled shortly, still staring at me, now with a mixture of exasperation and affection. Yes. You maddening creature.

I looked back at him, and suddenly, I understood something else.

Goddamn him.

You really do think they’re setting you up. You think they’re setting you up for Lucian’s murder. I felt my anger worsen. You think someone here did it. You think they murdered their own boss and they’re going to try and pin it on you.

Black let out another frustrated exhaled.

I think it’s possible, he admitted.

Before I could respond, he sharpened his mental voice.

Doc, I’d really like you to assess this situation on your own while we’re here. He gave me a serious look. I don’t trust that I’m not being irrational and paranoid about this. Charles is gone. His followers are gone. Even if Lucian Rucker got seer tech from him, that doesn’t mean he ever knew anything about the existence of seers, or how the tech could be used to block seer sight. It’s very possible it’s just next-gen artificial intelligence, like I said. Something meant to merge A.I. with the human brain to make people “smarter.” But I think we should that know for sure, shouldn’t we?

I read the subtext behind that, too.

He was less worried about Prometharis marketing potentially dangerous brain chips to humans, and a lot more worried about other bad actors using those chips to control seers.

Like vampires.

It wasn’t hard to imagine what Brick might do with a device like that.

The elevator let out a low, musical tone.

I hadn’t really paid attention to where we were going until then.

I’d known, vaguely at least, that we’d been traveling down, not up, like I’d assumed we would be. I hadn’t tracked just how long we’d been moving in that direction. Now, thinking about both things, I realized we were deep beneath the Prometharis building. I hadn’t counted the number of floors, but I knew it was more than it should’ve been.

The copper-colored doors slid open.

I exchanged looks with Nick.

I could tell immediately that he’d noticed me and Black talking amongst ourselves, mostly because he looked annoyed. Before I could mouth an apology, his jaw hardened, right before his eyes landed pointedly on the panel to the right of the elevator doors.

I followed his gaze and saw a number stating “S03-9.”

Was that for sub-level nine?

Or Sub-Level 03, and nine floors beneath that?

Gods.

That wasn’t possible, was it?

Black was already following the admin with the blue eyes out the open elevator doors, so I didn’t see much choice but to follow.

Nick fell into step behind me, and the hair on my arms rose from his silent presence there, presumably because his vampire-predator thing had already kicked into overdrive because he didn’t trust the situation.

I didn’t blame him.

I didn’t trust it, either.