Page 25 of The Vampire Kingpin (The Vampire Syndicate #7)
Spider
I almost left. I almost believed Lark’s crap.
I mean, it fit.
The background check we’d run had been enough to prove she had a checkered history.
With the aid of a facial recognition app, Monster had found multiple aliases: Lark as a fancy thrall in a tight red dress, her hair dyed blond and piled on top of her head.
Lark as the down-to-earth girl-next-door in a T-shirt and jeans, hair in a long red braid.
Lark as a high-ranking member of a San Francisco syndicate.
But six months ago, around the time she showed up in New York? Nada.
It was like she’d dropped off the face of the earth when she’d joined Grimclaw’s lair.
So it fit that Lark was playing me. Like my mama used to say, leopards don’t change their spots.
But…this show she was putting on seemed fake. I’d stake my life that Lark was lying—that everything she’d said since I’d walked into the cell was a lie.
She needed my help, dammit, but was too stubborn—or proud—to ask me for it.
Lark released a ragged breath. “Just go, Spider,” she told me. “Don’t make this something it’s not.”
“Shut up.” I backed her into a corner. “Just shut up, will you?”
Her mouth opened in outrage but her gaze flicked past me.
I gently gripped her face and gave her a soft kiss, mindful of her hurt mouth, before she said something we’d both regret. She pressed her lips together, refusing to kiss me back, and when I released her, glared at me like I was the bad guy.
“Don’t…” She wiped a hand across her mouth like I’d left a bad taste. “Don’t make me hate you.”
I eyed her, feeling at a loss. Why couldn’t I get through to her?
There. That flicker again as she looked over my shoulder like someone else was in the cell with us.
The dots connected like a string of Halloween lights.
Troll.
He could’ve circled back in the shadows and darted inside. Jacko and Zayne had left the Cavern door open when they’d rushed to my aid.
And here I’d been wasting time trying to have a heart-to-heart with Lark.
I swung around, pushing Lark behind me so Troll—or whoever the fuck it was—would have to go through me first, and pulled my dagger from its holster. “Show yourself, you motherfucker.”
Behind me Lark made a small, agonized sound. “Spider…”
“Tell me someone’s not in here,” I snapped back. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
“Nobody’s—” Her hand touched my back. “Be…careful,” she whispered. And even softer, “I’m so sick of the lies.”
Troll dropped out of the shadows—and staggered. He slumped against a wall, a hand to his injury, clearly out of juice.
I stalked toward him, not even caring if he might have valuable information. I just wanted to end him. The gods knew what he’d said to Lark before I arrived, but I’d bet a year’s tributes that he’d threatened her in some way.
Troll held up his hand, breath sawing in and out. “Wait,” he rasped. “We can split the money, okay? A million for you and a million for me. But stake me and you won’t see a penny.”
Two million?
“Alright,” I told him. “I’ll bite. What money?”
He glanced from me to Lark.
“Don’t worry about the bitch,” I told him. “I can handle her. And if she’s got my lair in the middle of some shit, I wanna know.”
Behind me, Lark made a small sound of disbelief, like she really thought I’d sell her out to Troll. The woman still didn’t trust me. But I suppose I deserved that, because I hadn’t trusted her fully, either.
Troll didn’t seem completely convinced, so I encouraged him with a jab of my dagger. “Talk or I’ll forget why I didn’t stake you as soon as you dropped out of the shadows.”
“A syndicate out West. Some dude is jonesing for her.”
“Let me guess—his last name is Darkman?”
Troll jerked a shoulder.
“That’s what I thought,” I said.
“You knew ?” Lark whispered.
“A guess,” I returned. “Your parents bought it in Vegas, the Darkmans’ town, right? Go on,” I told Troll. “So there’s a hit on Lark?”
He shook his head, clearly exhausted. “Not a hit. They want her alive. The heir—Jared.”
I nodded, starting to get the picture. Jared Darkman wanted Lark as his plaything, and apparently, she’d objected.
“He’s here in the city?”
Troll’s chest jerked. He tried to straighten but couldn’t manage it. “That’s all I’m sayin’ for now. But you need me, understand? They’ll only talk to me.”
“He’s here,” Lark muttered.
I grunted agreement. She’d escaped Jared once. He’d want to make sure it didn’t happen a second time.
I studied Troll. “He’s the one who split your lip?” I asked Lark.
“Yeah.”
“And he’s also the reason why you were sleeping outside the lair.”
It wasn’t a question, but Troll’s start of surprise told me I was right.
“Yeah,” she said lowly. She was right behind me now.
Troll shifted from one foot to the other. “You gonna believe that bitch over me?”
Darkness edged my vision. My knuckles whitened on the dagger.
Lark touched my back. “Hey. I’m outta there now.”
I shook her off to get in Troll’s face. “You treated her like shit,” I said, my voice harsh with fury, “when you had her in your lair. And now you think you can come into my lair and smack her around? A woman under my protection?”
He raised his hands, palms out. “I’m sorry, bro. I didn’t know.”
“I’m not your goddamned brother, and you did know. You were Grimclaw’s fucking lieutenant. And you’re the same lying piece of shit as he is.”
My hand flashed forward and for the second time that night, I staked a member of Grimclaw’s lair. He arched his back, his agonized groan filling the small cell, and scrabbled desperately at the dagger. His stunned gaze met mine.
“You…need me.”
I snorted. “I think I can find the Darkmans without your help. And by the way,” I said as I jerked the dagger back out. “I staked Grimclaw, too. You’re the new alpha. Congratulations.”
He fell to his ass, blood and smoke spurting from his chest. “Fuck. You.”
“Get on your knees and warm me up first.”
Behind me, Lark stifled a giggle, which almost made the whole night worth it.
I found a clean patch on Troll’s T-shirt to wipe off my dagger with, then shoved his smoking body out of the way with my booted foot.
“You.” I jerked my chin at Lark. “Come with me.”