Page 201 of Shadowblood Souls: The Complete Series

Twenty-Six

Riva

I wake up too early, with only the faintest trace of sunlight seeping through my window from the impeding dawn.

A strange energy is humming through my body. My bones tingle with it.

Maybe Griffin would be able to tell me what I’m feeling, if he were in the room for me to ask. He’s experienced the emotions of hundreds if not thousands of people, and I only have my own for reference.

I can’t even tell whether the energy is an impression of something good or bad. It has the flavor of anticipation and a tremor of urgency, shivers of both hope and dread.

And it niggles at me, as faint as the pale dawn light but undeniable, insisting that there’s something I need to do.

I try to open my mind up to the idea of what that would be, but nothing occurs to me. I don’t know anything more about Rollick’s plans than the almost nothing I did before. The same with Balthazar’s.

We’re still locked into our manacles, still trapped within the boundaries of the villa’s grounds until we’re sent out on another closely monitored job.

If some part of my brain has figured out a way to deal with any of this situation better, I’d really appreciate if it’d tell me.

I put out that appeal silently into the universe. No such luck.

Sighing, I roll over and bury the side of my face in my pillow. But the nagging hum won’t let me relax enough to drift off again.

I push off the covers and go to the closet, deciding I’ll take a dawn prowl just in case something turns up that’ll clarify my feelings. But I’ve only just tugged on a hooded sweatshirt and matching leggings when a quiet knock sounds on the door.

My body tenses automatically with the knowledge that it isn’t any of my guys. I’m aware of four of them in their own rooms, not stirring, and Griffin would tell me it’s him alongside the knock.

Bracing myself, I ease open the door.

Toni is waiting outside, as coolly vigilant as ever. “Since you’re up now, this is as good a time as any. Mr. Balthazar has agreed to provide more information.”

My pulse stutters. Just like that—now, so early in the day it’s barely even morning?

She knew I was awake. My fingers brush over one of the slim metal bracelets.

I hate feeling this monitored. But maybe Balthazar’s agreement is what my mind picked up on—a chance to understand him better and therefore how to escape him.

I nod and step into the hall after Toni. Then a more frightening thought occurs to me.

What if it’s the opposite? What if I was wrong, and he has been watching for me to form the inexplicable connection with Zian or Griffin?

What if he wasn’t, but some data from the manacles tipped him off that what happened between me and Zee yesterday was more than just getting off?

Neither of us said anything about the supernatural element. I was careful about how I talked afterward. But who the hell knows what he’d already heard from the other guardians…

Shit. Should I have turned Zian down? Not taken the chance?

Getting to be there with Zee while he broke down the barriers inside him and let loose his passion was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced. I can’t wish it hadn’t happened for both of our sakes… but indulging in the moment could have been an epic screw-up as well.

By the time we reach the drawing room, my stomach has knotted. As the screen rises from the table at our entrance, a sour taste laces my mouth.

Toni closes the door and stands on guard in front of it. I sink onto one of the armchairs arranged in the semi-circle facing the screen, welcoming the extra bodily support.

Balthazar might not have realized very much. If he asks questions about last night, I’ll have to deflect them convincingly. Show no signs of stress.

The screen snaps from black to a now-familiar view of Balthazar sitting behind his desk in what must be his office. I instinctively scan his surroundings for any new clue about his exact whereabouts in the villa, but I still can’t even say whether he’s on the first floor or the second.

Hell, that light could be artificial and he’s down in the basement somewhere.

He seems to wait a beat longer than usual before he speaks, his piercing gaze inspecting me just as closely as I am him. My heart gives another lurch that I conceal as well as I can.

Then he smiles—weirdly soft and somehow more unnerving than the crueler, sharper smiles I’ve seen from him before. “I understand you’ve uncovered a few things about my business dealings that you’d like me to explain.”

I hesitate, hardly able to trust my relief. Is this meeting really just about the demand I made and nothing else?

I sit up a little straighter, hoping my surprise wasn’t obvious.

“Yes. I know you have something to do with a company called StreamCycle Enterprises, and that it creates technology for providing clean energy. And I know that at least a couple of the people you’ve sent us on jobs against are also involved in the energy business one way or another. ”

“Very canny of you,” Balthazar says, sounding approving rather than annoyed that I figured out so much. His whole vibe strikes me as oddly upbeat today.

Has he gotten some kind of good news—has something we did advanced his plans in a major way?

Just because he doesn’t seem to care about Zian and me doesn’t mean there’s nothing to fear in this conversation.

I fix him with my most determined look. “So, before I take on any more jobs, I want to know how it all fits together. How are you associated with StreamCycle Enterprises? Why are you messing with other people in the same industry?”

Surely he hasn’t set this whole operation in motion simply so he can make his business more successful and bring in more money? But then, I never would have thought that Clancy’s speeches about making the world a better place were a cover for nothing more than financial greed.

Balthazar looks almost amused. He must suspect what I’m thinking. “I’d appreciate it if you’d give me more credit than assuming my goals are on such a small scale that they’d revolve around one company.”

My forehead furrows. “What’s the connection, then?”

He gives a careless wave of one broad hand. “Through StreamCycle Enterprises, I get information about the activities of other people who hold sway in various arenas. So it offers a useful starting point. But I’m already reaching far beyond that scope.”

“Toward what?” I can’t help asking. “What are you even trying to do? You told me before that you’re not happy with how things are—what things? What do you think you’re going to do about them?”

How have any of the jobs the guys and I have done for him helped him toward those goals?

Balthazar pins me with his penetrating gaze. “You’ve talked to Ursula Engel. You know what the Guardianship’s purpose was. And you’ve seen the monsters in this world firsthand, haven’t you? From what I understand, they nearly killed you more than once.”

A chill washes over my skin. He’s obviously talking about the shadowkind, even though I’d count the guardians as more monstrous than them.

But yes, some of Rollick’s associates did try to kill me. Multiple times.

I cross my arms over my chest, absorbing his words. “But you’re not working with the Guardianship anymore. At least, that’s how you made it sound.”

Oh, fuck, have we still been supporting them and their sick agenda all this time?

Balthazar gives a light snort, though. “Those imbeciles couldn’t carve their way out of a paper bag. I tried—I thought it could be something good?—”

He shakes his head and gives me another softer look that sets my nerves on edge. “You’ll come to realize that the more people become involved in working toward a goal, the more their efforts get muddled. I do much better working on my own, making the hard decisions that need to be settled.”

His answer doesn’t make me feel any better. “But you—all of the work you’re doing is about destroying the sha—the ‘monsters’ still?”

Balthazar’s voice resonates with intensity. “I’ve tangled with them too, far more than you’ve had the opportunity to. They’ve taken more from me than you can imagine. They’re a poison in this world, and someone needs to be willing to step in and eliminate them for good.”

I restrain a shiver. I can believe he’s met some cruel shadowkind—they definitely exist.

But so do beings like the perky succubus Pearl, who befriended me with so much eager curiosity about the human world. Like her friend Billy the faun, who was willing to stand up for me and the other shadowbloods against beings so much stronger than him.

And what Balthazar is saying doesn’t even fit with what I’ve seen in my time here at the villa.

“You have at least one of those ‘monsters’ working for you,” I have to point out.

“I use every resource I have at my disposal. That doesn’t mean I like the fiends. If I can use them as weapons against each other, so much the better.”

I suppress a shudder at his chilly tone. “But none of the jobs you sent us on have anything to do with monsters. It was all human beings.”

Balthazar lets out a gruff sound of dismissal. “There are too many of the creatures. They’re everywhere, with their claws sunk in, twisting us to their purposes… It’s going to take a consolidated effort, more than any tiny secret organization can accomplish, even with tools like you.”

I frown at him, both because he’s still being annoyingly vague and because of the way he referred to me. “So you left the Guardianship to do something totally on your own? You have even fewer people!”

On the other side of the screen, the leonine man’s eyes shine with a predatory gleam. “Fewer people I speak to directly. When I’m done, I’ll have the strength of every government and military behind me.”

I stare at him for a moment, the pieces clicking into place but my mind not quite willing to accept it at first. But then, I’ve known our captor was insane from our very first conversation.