Page 15

FIFTEEN

Micha

Needing to strike out at something, I swiped everything off my desk with one smooth motion. I leaned back in my chair, not wanting to look at the mess I’d just made. I’m pretty certain I’d heard my laptop’s screen crack when everything fell. Or maybe that was my cellphone. Either way, they were both replaceable.

Unlike my Ashley.

Kiam had stuck around for a few days to keep me company before he took off for God knew where—he said he had business to attend to. But not before he’d dragged me out several times trying to get laid. He’d met with success, but I done nothing more than consume copious amounts of blood wine. When he came back, I was doing slightly better, but I still wasn’t the same. When you’ve tasted heaven, nothing else would do.

Josiah was beyond furious with me for making him leave Della thousands of miles away to deal with my “completely unnecessary” issues, as he’d called it. He said I’d risked our reputation on multiple levels and cheated a guest out of a promised event, leaving him humiliated.

Ashley had stolen from us on my watch, which made everything entirely my fault and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to justify my feelings for her. In the spirit of not hurting my relationship with my best friend any further, I’d tried my best to forget the woman. I hadn’t even looked for her or sent out any feelers. Nobody was watching her, least of all me. She could be dead for all I knew.

I would’ve given anything to have her beneath my desk again, drowning in a puddle of tears.

Yes, I was an asshole, but those tears were for me—no one else. I’d owned every single part of her. No woman had ever cried more beautifully for me than my little angel. No pet had ever been able to shun my advances or block their aura from me the way my slave had. No one had ever captured my attention and fascination in the same way. She’d always be irreplaceable.

Leaning forward, I slammed a button on the desk phone. When the new receptionist picked up, I barked at her, “Send someone in here immediately to clean up this mess. And get me a new phone and laptop, now.”

I never should’ve followed Ashley that night I caught her downstairs pilfering the medication. If I hadn’t, I’d still be able to wander the halls watching her, pretending to be busy, and who knew but maybe something would’ve worked out where I could’ve made her mine just as I’d originally planned. Now, I’d never get to find out.

Despite her absence, she remained my weakness, and I missed her so much it was ripping me in half and interfering with my work.

The cleaning team came in and began to make my office spotless again. They were probably grateful for the lack of biological material an unscheduled visit normally entailed. Although we had designated rooms for messier activities, there was always the chance occasion we didn’t make it that far when speed of demise was of the essence. When that happened, it wasn’t papers and electronics the janitors had to deal with.

If I remembered correctly, Della had termed Josiah’s office chamber a “murder room”, which was an apt descriptor. I had a lesser one, tucked into a corner of my apartment here at Ipomoea. Mine hadn’t seen nearly as much action but if my mood and fury remained on track, change was afoot.

Just as the cleaners were finishing up, a couple more men stepped in and unboxed a new laptop and cellphone. I transferred my data to the new device and stood, grabbing my suit coat from its hook before adjusting my cufflinks.

I had an appointment to keep.

* * *

We met at Augustine’s, a quiet bar at the end of an unmarked dead-end road. The establishment didn’t appear on any maps and never would. I’d arrived first and sat at the same table where Kiam had joined me the week before.

He entered and joined me, sitting down before holding two fingers up to the waitress who quickly returned with a glass of whiskey for him. She left a bottle of plain cabernet for me upon my request.

“I believe Fulgere will leave you alone for now. Josiah’s strengthening relationship with Alastair was incentive enough,” Kiam stated before lifting his glass to his lips.

“Boring. Who else is there, I wonder?” I needed a distraction before I lost my mind.

He laughed. “Josiah is top dog here, now. Fulgere’s founder was killed in the Fourth—at least that’s what they say. Ilya, who I mentioned to you a couple weeks ago and you said stopped by, he’s at the helm and he’s powerful, but Josiah is probably his equal after what went down in the Second. I doubt Alastair will ever come back to this area of the world, but he was always more of a gangster than anything. He’s not the corporate type. Funny how he has so much control over the clan up there.”

The Fourth was a Realm filled with mainly humans, but some demons hung out there as well, along with the odd witch or other being. It didn’t interest me, and neither did the gossip about others. I was well aware our activities in the Second, with the killing of Ezra, were ground-breaking and that’s all that mattered to me.

“I know Josiah isn’t interested in a partnership with the man, but I wouldn’t mind acquiring Mores,” I mused, referencing a pharmaceutical company Kiam had talked about in the past.

“That would keep you busy. Fulgere is still working on finalizing a deal so you two could always make a move and beat him to it.” Kiam sat back, giving me a pointed look. “If you really want to piss someone off, take over Angels.”

“What?” I placed my glass down.

“The strip clubs. You know, naked people?”

Visions of dirty, seedy, sticky dance bars filled my mind. “That’s disgusting. I’d have to throw away my shoes.” It took me a minute before I remembered I’d joined Josiah for a meeting at one of the high-end titty bars; it felt like a hundred years ago.

I laughed. “Expensive lust. I forgot about that place.”

Kiam shrugged. “Just an idea. I’ve got some surveillance jobs coming up. If there’s anything I can give you I will.”

The temptation to ask for his people to keep tabs on Ashley was strong but I bit my tongue. “Thank you.”

“I would just take her. Just grab her and go hide in the Fourth, or some other Realm,” he said. I glanced up; he knew exactly where my head was at. “Many of us have been very sheltered but there’s a million places you could go; you’d never be found,” he added.

He was suggesting treason. By our laws, I should end him where he stood. But I wouldn’t, my own morals rapidly dissolving every day I was away from the woman I knew he was speaking of. He had a good point—there were plenty of places to hide. Realms I’d never thought to give any consideration to.

But I couldn’t do that to either of us. Living in fear of discovery for eternity was a burden no one should bear, and I knew if I disappeared, Josiah wouldn’t give up searching until he found me.

“I couldn’t do that to her,” I said quietly.

Kiam scoffed and took a swallow of his whiskey. “Well, you have to do something. You’re fading before my eyes. You’re pale and your eyes look crazy.”

“I’m always pale,” I snapped at him.

“Paler than usual, asshole.”

Ashley always called me that. That was her name for me, she’d even had it in her phone. Before he knew what hit him, I had a knife to Kiam’s throat. “What did you call me?” I growled at him. “You don’t have the privilege.”

He shoved me away. “Get the fuck off me, moron,” he barked. “People are watching. Get your shit together.”

Grabbing the back of his neck, I pushed him forward and his hands slapped against the tabletop. “Remember my words,” I warned.

I straightened my back and met the other patrons’ stares head on, until they looked away and minded their own business again. My cufflinks had twisted and after I adjusted them, I slid the blade back up my sleeve into its holder and sat back down in my seat.

“I honestly don’t know what to do,” I muttered softly. It was as close to an apology as the man would get.

“Sorry man, love bites.”

“Is that your attempt at a joke?” I let out a sigh.

His eyes shuttered. “No, not intentionally. Look, you need to get out more. You can’t stay shut in your lair forever. Tonight, my treat.”

“I’m a vampire, my lair is where I’m supposed to be,” I retorted.

If anyone had a true lair, it was Kiam. The crumbling cluster of rocks that made up the exterior of his house was the perfect camouflage for what laid below the surface—a comfortable dwelling with extensive technology and every comfort a creature such as he could possibly want. Vampires just didn’t do poverty or lack.

“Whatever.” He changed the subject. “You two still working on your magic?”

He was referencing the time the three of us spent at his dilapidated fortress in the Second Realm. He’d encouraged Josiah and I to seize our true heritages, due to being novel crossbreeds—vampire and demon, and utilizing the magic that came with the pairing. Our demon halves came with a natural affinity for the magical arts, it was in our DNA. The Collective had stolen much, but it was retrievable.

Utilizing our full capability was what helped Josiah free Della from the clutches of the Collective and Kiam had taken the time to tutor us briefly.

“Not lately. But not for any particular reason,” I answered. If he was suggesting I use magic to make Ashley mine, he would be disappointed. Obtaining the woman via artificial means was not an option, I wanted an organic pairing.

Kiam rested his hand on the table and lifted his index finger, pointing it at my drink. I glanced down to watch it slowly lift a few centimeters from the tabletop. When he lowered the finger, the glass followed.

“Great party trick,” I mocked.

“Jealous, much?”

I laughed. “Of you, never.” The man did have an uncharacteristic affinity for magic, being a full-blooded vampire.

He shrugged. “All I’m saying is you have more power than you realize. Is Josiah really going to stop you from acquiring what’s yours?”

“What makes you think I’m going to listen to a pure blood?” I shot back. “You know nothing of mine and Josiah’s relationship, or of our kind.”

That wasn’t entirely true, as we’d been getting acquainted for months now. Kiam was not a natural born vampire, though I was ignorant of how he’d been made. Labeling him as a pure may not have been fundamentally accurate but he was more vampire than I due to my own ancestry.

When we’d first met, he’d suggested he were better than us while at the same time encouraging our rebellion. More than once, over the course of our acquaintance, I’d wanted to end him. The urge had returned with full force, as evidenced minutes ago.

“Perhaps your loyalties are too fluid to understand but I am not going to betray him,” I said when he stayed silent.

Ignoring my insult, Kiam stood and shoved his arms into the jacket he’d hung from the back of his chair. “I’ve got some things to do. I’ll see you later. Pick me up around ten.”

He threw some large bills on the table and exited, leaving me alone with my turbulent thoughts. There was simply no way I’d betray Josiah; it wasn’t an option.