Send my uncle my regards, Rehv drawled. Ornot.
Pickthemup.
Youre either bending over to get that bag, or youre leaving it behind.
The princesss eyes flashed with the kind of nastiness that made murderers so much fun to spar with, and they glared at each other for long, hostile minutes.
The princess cracked. Just as hed said she would.
To his ever-loving satisfaction, she was the one who did the retrieving, and her capitulation nearly made him come again, that barb of his threatening to engage even though there was nothing for it to lock in against.
You could be king, she said, holding out her hand, the velvet bag with the rubies lifting from the floor. Kill him and you could be king.
Kill you and I could be happy.
You will never be happy. You are a breed apart, living a lie among inferiors. She smiled, true joy reflecting in her face. Except here with me. Here, you can be honest. Until next month, my love.
She blew him a kiss with her hideous hands and dematerialized, dissipating in the manner his breath had outside the cabin, eaten up by the thin night air.
Rehvs knees gave out and he collapsed to the floor, landing in a heap of bones. Lying on the rough-hewn planks, he felt everything: the twitching muscles of his thighs, the tickle at the tip of his cock as his foreskin eased back into place, the compulsive swallows which were caused by the scorpion venom.
As the warmth in the cabin leached out, nausea rolled into him on a fetid, oily tide, his stomach curling into a fist, a whole lot of were-outta-here tightening up his throat. His gag reflex followed orders and he popped open his mouth, but nothing came out.
He knew better than to eat before he had a date.
Trez came through the door so quietly that it wasnt until the guys boots were in front of Rehvs face that he noticed his best friend was with him.
The Moors voice was gentle. Lets get you out of here.
Rehv waited for a break in the heaving to try to push himself up off the floor. Let meget dressed.
The scorpion poison was barreling through his central nervous system, jamming up his neuro-highways and-byways, making it so that dragging his body over to his clothes involved an embarrassing display of weakness. The trouble was, the antivenin had to stay in the car, because the princess would have found it, and showing a core weakness like that was like handing over your loaded weapon to the enemy.
Trez clearly lost patience with the show, because he went over and picked up the coat. Just put this on so we can get you treated.
Iget dressed. It was whores pride.
Trez cursed and knelt down with the coat. For fucks sake, Rehv-
No- Wild wheezing cut him off and took him flat on the floor, giving him a quick close-up of the knots in the pine boards.
Man, it was bad tonight. The worst it had ever been.
Sorry, Rehv, but Im taking over.
Trez ignored his pathetic attempts to fend off help, and after the sable was wrapped around him, his friend picked him up and carried him out like a broken piece of equipment.
You cant keep doing this, Trez said as his long legs took them quickly to the Bentley.
Watchme.
To keep him and Xhex alive and out in the free world, he had to.
NINETEEN
Rehv woke up in his bedroom in the Adirondack Great Camp he used as a safe house. He could tell where he was by the floor-to-ceiling windows, the cheery fire across the way, and the fact that the footboard on the bed had putti carved in the mahogany. What he wasnt clear on was how many hours had passed since his date with the princess. One? A hundred?
Across the dim room, Trez was sitting in an oxblood club chair, reading in the dim yellow light of a goosenecked lamp.
Rehv cleared his throat. What book is that?
The Moor looked up, his almond-shaped eyes focusing with a sharpness Rehv could have done without. Youre awake.
What book?
Its The Shadow Death Lexicon.
Light reading. And here I thought you were a Candace Bushnell fan.
Howre you feeling?
Fine. Great. Perky as shit. Rehv grunted as he pushed himself up higher on the pillows. In spite of his sable coat, which was wrapped around his naked body, and the quilts and throw blankets and down comforters on top of him, he was still cold as a penguins ass, so Trez had obviously hit him with a lot of dopamine. But at least the antivenin had worked, so the wheezing and shortness of breath were gone.
Trez slowly closed the ancient books cover. Im just getting ready, sall.
For going into the priesthood? I thought the whole king thing was up your alley.
The Moor put the tome on the low table next to him and rose to his full height. After a full-body stretch, he came over to the bed. You want food?
Yeah. Thatd be good.
Gimme fifteen.
As the door shut behind the guy, Rehv fished around and found the sables inside pocket. When he took out his phone and checked, there were no messages. No texts.
Ehlena hadnt reached out and touched him. But then, why would she have?
He stared at the phone and traced the keyboard with his thumb. He had a striking hunger to hear her voice, as if the sound of her could wipe away everything that had happened in that cabin.
As if she could wipe away the past two and a half decades.
Rehv went into his contacts and fired up her number on the screen. She was probably at work, but if he left a message, maybe shed call him on her break. He hesitated, but then hit send and put the phone up to his ear.
The instant he heard ringing, he got a vivid, vile image of him having sex with the princess, his hips pounding away, the moonlight casting obscene shadows on rough floorboards.
He ended the call on a quick punch, feeling as if his body were coated in shit lotion.
God, there were not enough showers in the world for him to be clean enough to talk to Ehlena. Not enough soap or bleach or steel wool. As he pictured her in her pristine nurses uniform, her strawberry blond hair back in a neat ponytail, her white shoes unscuffed, he knew that if he ever touched her hed stain her for life.
With his numb thumb, he stroked the flat screen of the phone, as if it were her cheek, then let his hand fall down onto the bed. The sight of the brilliant red veins of his arm reminded him of a couple more things hed done with the princess.
Hed never thought of his body as any particular gift. It was big and muscular, so it was useful, and the opposite sex liked it, which meant it was an asset of sorts. And it functioned all rightwell, except for the side effects it kicked out from the dopamine and the allergy to scorpion venom.
But really, who was counting.
Lying in his bed in the near-dark, with his phone in his hand, he saw more hideous scenes of his time with the princessher blowing him, him bending her over and fucking her from behind, his mouth working between her thighs. He remembered what it felt like when his cocks barb engaged and the two of them were locked together.
Then he thought of Ehlena taking his blood pressureand how shed stepped away from him.
She was right to do that.
He was wrong to call her.
With deliberate care, he moved his thumb around the buttons and accessed her contact information. He didnt pause as he erased her out of his phone, and as she disappeared, an unexpected warmth filled his chest-and told him that according to his mothers side, hed done the right thing.
He would ask for another nurse the next time he went to the clinic. And, if he saw Ehlena again, he would leave her alone.
Trez came in with a tray of oatmeal, some tea, and some dry toast.
Yum, Rehv said without enthusiasm.
Be a good boy and finish that. Next meal Ill bring you bacon and eggs.
As the tray was settled over his legs, Rehv tossed the phone on the fur and picked up a spoon. Abruptly, and for absolutely, positively no reason at all, he said, You ever been in love, Trez?
Nah. The Moor returned to his chair in the corner, the curved lamp illuminating his handsome, dark face. I watched iAm give it a try and decided it wasnt for me.
iAm? Get the fuck out. I didnt know your brother ever had a chippie.
He doesnt talk about her, and I never met her. But he was miserable for a while in the way only a female can make a guy.
Rehv swirled around the brown sugar that was sprinkled on the top of his oatmeal. You think youll ever get mated?
Nope. Trez smiled, his perfect white teeth flashing. Why the questions?
Rehv brought the spoon to his mouth and ate. No reason.
Yeah. Right.
This oatmeals fantastic.
You hate oatmeal.
Rehv laughed a little and kept on eating to shut himself up, thinking the subject of love was none of his business. But work sure as hell was.
Anything happening at the clubs? he asked.
Smoothing sailing so far.
Good.
Rehv slowly polished off the Quaker Oats, wondering to himself why, if everything was going fine and dandy down in Caldwell, he had a sinking feeling in his gut.
Probably the oatmeal, he thought. You told Xhex I was okay, right?
Yeah, Trez said, picking up the book hed been reading. I lied.
Xhex sat behind her desk and stared up at two of her best bouncers, Big Rob and Silent Tom. They were humans, but they were smart, and in their low-hanging jeans, they gave off the perfect, deceptively laid-back vibe she was looking for.
What can we do for you, boss? Big Rob asked.
Leaning forward in her chair, she took out ten folded bills from the back pocket of her leathers. She was deliberate in revealing them, splitting them into two piles, and sliding them toward the men.
I need you to do some off-the-books work.
Their nods were as fast as their hands on those Benjis. Anything you like, Big Rob said.
Back over the summer, we had a bartender who we fired for skimming. Guy named Grady. You remember him-
I saw that shit about Chrissy in the paper.
Fucking bastard, Silent Tom chimed in for once.
Xhex was not surprised they knew the whole story. I want you to find Grady. As Big Rob started cracking his knuckles, she shook her head. Nope. The only thing you do is get me an address. If he sees you, you nod and walk it off. We clear? You do not so much as brush his sleeve.
Both of them smiled grimly. No problem, boss, Big Rob murmured. Well save him for you.
The CPD is looking for him as well.
Bet they are.
We dont want the police to know what youre doing.
No problem.
Ill take care of getting your shifts covered. Faster you find him, the happier Ill be.
Big Rob looked over at Silent Tom. After a moment, they took the bills shed given them out of their pockets and slid them back across the table.
Well do right by Chrissy, boss. Dont you worry.
With you guys on it, I wont.
The door closed behind them, and Xhex ran her palms up and down her thighs, forcing the cilices on her legs to go deeper into her flesh. She was burning with the need to get out there herself, but with Rehv up north and the deals that were going to be made tonight, she couldnt leave the club. Just as important, she couldnt do the legwork on Grady herself. That homicide detective was going to be watching her.
Shifting her eyes to the phone, she wanted to curse. Trez had called earlier to let her know that Rehv had made it through his business with the princess, and the sound of the Moors voice had told her what his actual words had not: Rehvs body wasnt up for much more of the torture.
Yet another situation she was forced to ride out, sitting on her ass, waiting.
Powerless was not a state that worked for her, but when it came to the princess, she was used to feeling impotent. Way back over twenty years ago, when Xhexs choices had put them in this situation, Rehv had told her he would take care of things on one condition: She let him handle it his way without interfering. Hed made her swear to stay away, and though it killed her, shed kept the promise and lived in the reality that Rehv had been forced into that bitchs hands because of her.
Goddamn it, she wished hed lose it and lash out at her. Just once. Instead, he kept on putting up with it, paying her debt with his body.
Shed turned him into a whore.
Xhex left her office because she couldnt stand to spend any more time with herself, and out in the club she prayed for a skirmish in the general pop, like a love triangle imploding, where one guy bitch-slapped another over a chick with fish lips and plastic tits. Or maybe a bathroom tryst gone sour in the mens room on the mezzanine floor. Shit, she was so desperate shed even take a drunk getting pissy about his Patrón or some deep corner grind that crossed the line into penetration.
She needed to hit something, and her best chances were with the masses. If only there were-
Just her luck. Everyone was behaving themselves.
Miserable fuckers.
Eventually, she ended up in the VIP section because she was making the floor bouncers mental as she prowled around, trolling for a throw-down. And more to the point, she had to play muscle on a major deal.
As she walked past the velvet rope, her eyes went right to the Brotherhoods table. John Matthew and his buddies were not there, but then, this early, theyd be out hunting for lessers. Deep-throating Coronas would come later in the night, if at all.
She did not care whether John showed.
Whatsoever.
Walking up to iAm, she said, We ready?
The Moor nodded. Rallys got the product ready. Buyers should be here in twenty minutes.
Good.
Two six-figure deals for coke were being executed tonight, and with Rehv down for the count and Trez up north with him, she and iAm were in charge of the transactions. Although the money was going to change hands in the office, the product was going to be loaded into the cars in the back alley, because four kilos of pure South American dust wasnt the kind of thing she wanted dancing through the club. Shit, the fact that the buyers were coming in with cash in briefcases was enough of a problem.
Xhex was just at the office door when she caught sight of Marie-Terese easing up to a guy in a suit. The man was looking at her with awe and wonder, as if she were the female equivalent of a sports car someone had just given him the keys to.
Light glinted off the wedding band he wore as he reached for his wallet.
Marie-Terese shook her head and put her graceful hand out to stop him, then pulled the rapt guy to his feet and led the way to the private bathrooms in the back, where the cash would change hands.
Xhex turned around and found herself in front of the Brotherhoods table.
As she looked at where John Matthew usually sat, she thought about Marie-Tereses most current john. Xhex was willing to bet that SOB, who was about to shell out five hundred dollars to get sucked or fucked or maybe a thousand for both, didnt look at his wife with that kind of excitement and lust. It was the fantasy. He knew nothing about Marie-Terese, had no clue that two years ago her son had been abducted by her ex-husband and she was working off the cost of getting the kid back. To him, she was a gorgeous piece of meat, something to be played with and left behind. Neat. Clean.
All the johns were like that.
And so was Xhexs John. She was a fantasy to him. Nothing more. An erotic lie he called to mind to jerk off to-which actually wasnt something she blamed him for, because she was doing the same thing with him. And the irony was that he was one of the better lovers shed ever had, although that was because she could do whatever she wanted to him for however long she needed to get sated, and there were never any complaints, reservations, or demands.
Neat. Clean. iAms voice came over her earpiece. Buyers just walked in.
Perfect. Lets do this.
She would get through both of the deals, and then she had a private job of her own to do. Now, that was something to look forward to. By the end of the night, she was going to get exactly the kind of release she needed.
Across town, in a quiet cul-de-sac in a safe neighborhood, Ehlena was parked in front of a modest colonial, going nowhere fast.
The key wouldnt go into the ambulances ignition.
Having gotten what should have been the hardest part of the trip over with, having delivered Stephan safely into the arms of his blooded relations, it was a surprise that getting the goddamn key in the frickin ignition was more difficult.
Come on Ehlena focused on steadying her hand. And ended up watching really closely as the slip of metal skipped around the hole it belonged in.
She sat back in the seat with a curse, knowing that she was adding to the misery in the house, that the ambulance parked right outside was just another loud, screaming declaration of the tragedy.
As if the familys beloved sons body werent enough of one.
She turned her head and stared at the colonials windows. Shadows moved around on the other side of gauze curtains.
After shed backed into the driveway, Alix had gone inside and shed waited in the cold night. A moment later, the garage door had trundled up, and Alix had come forward with an older male who looked a lot like Stephan. She had bowed and shaken his hand, then opened the ambulances rear bay. The male had had to clamp a hand over his mouth as she and Alix wheeled the gurney out.
My son he had moaned.
She would never forget the sound of that voice. Hollow. Hopeless. Heartbroken.
Stephans father and Alix had carried him home, and just as at the morgue, moments later there had been a wail. This time, though, it had been a females higher-pitched mourning call. Stephans mother.
Alix had returned as Ehlena had pushed the gurney into the ambulances belly, and he had been blinking fast, like if he was facing a stiff headwind. After paying her respects and saying good-bye to him, shed gotten behind the wheel andnot been able to start the damn vehicle.
On the other side of the gauze curtains, she saw two shapes cleave together. And then it was three. And then more came.
For no evident reason, she thought of the windows in the house she rented for her and her father, all of them covered with aluminum foil, sealing out the world.
Who would stand over her wrapped body when her life ended? Her father knew who she was most of the time, but he wasnt connected to her more than rarely. The staff at the clinic were very kind, but that was work, not personal. Lusie was paid to come when she did.
Who would take care of her father?
Shed always assumed he would go first, but then, no doubt Stephans family had thought along the same lines.
Ehlena looked away from the mourners and stared out the ambulances front windshield.
Life was too short, no matter how long you lived. When it was their turn, she didnt think anybody was ready to leave their friends and their family and the things that made them happy, be they five hundred years old, like her father, or fifty years, like Stephan.
Time was an endless source of days and nights only for the galaxy at large.
It made her wonder: What the hell was she doing with the time she had? Her job gave her a purpose, sure, and she took care of her father, which was what one did for family. But where was she going? Nowhere. And not just because she was sitting in this ambulance with hands that shook so badly she couldnt work a key.
The thing was, it wasnt that she wanted to change everything. She just wanted something for herself, something that made her know she was alive.
Rehvenges deep amethyst eyes came at her from out of nowhere, and like a camera pulling back, she saw his carved face and his mohawk and his fine clothes and his cane.
This time, when she reached forward with the key, the thing went in steadily, and the diesel engine came awake on a growl. As the heater blasted cold air at her, she turned down the fan, then put the gearshift in drive and left the house and the cul-de-sac and the neighborhood.
Which no longer seemed quiet to her.
Behind the wheel, she was driving and out of it at the same time, caught up in the image of a male she couldnt have, but at the moment needed like crazy.
Her feelings were wrong on so many levels. For Gods sake, they were a betrayal of Stephan, even though she didnt really know him. It just seemed disrespectful to be wanting another male while his body was being mourned by his blood.
Except she would have wanted Rehvenge anyway.
Damn it.
The clinic was all the way across the river, and she was glad, because she couldnt face work right away. She was too raw and sad and angry at herself.
What she needed was
Starbucks. Oh, yeah, that was exactly what she needed.
About five miles away, in a square that was home to a Hannaford supermarket, a flower shop, a LensCrafters boutique, and a Blockbuster store, she found a Starbucks that was open until two a.m. She pulled the ambulance around to the side and got out.
When shed left the clinic with Alix and Stephan, she hadnt thought to bring her coat, so she huddled into her purse and hotfooted it over the sidewalk and through the door. Inside, the place was as most of them were: red wooden trim, dark gray tile floor, with a lot of windows, stuffed chairs, and little tables. Over at the counter there were mugs for sale, a glass display of lemon squares and brownies and scones, and two humans in their early twenties manning the coffee machines. The smell in the air was hazelnut and coffee and chocolate, and the aroma wiped the lingering herbal bouquet of the death wraps from her nose.
CI help you? the taller guy asked.
Vente latte, foam, no whip. Double cup, double sleeve.
The human male smiled at her and lingered. He had a dark brush-cut beard and a nose ring, his shirt splashed with graphics that spelled out TOMATO EATER in drops of what could have been blood or, given the bands name, ketchup. You like anything else? The cinnamon scones totally rock.
No, thanks.
His eyes stayed on her as he worked her order, and to keep from having to deal with the attention, she went into her purse and checked her phone in case Lusie-
MISSED CALL. View now?
She hit yes, praying it wasnt something about her father-
Rehvenges number came up, although not his name, because she hadnt put him in her phone. She stared at the digits.
God, it was like hed read her mind.
Your latte? Hello?
Sorry. She put her phone back, took what the guy held out to her, and thanked him.
I double-cupped just like you wanted. The sleeve, too.
Thanks.
Hey, you work at one of the hospitals around here? he said, eyeing her uniform.
Private clinic. Thanks again.
She left quickly and didnt waste time getting into the ambulance. Back behind the wheel, she hit the locks on the doors, started the engine, and turned the heater on immediately, because the air coming out was still warm.
The latte was really good. Superhot. Tasted perfect.
She got her phone again and went into the received-calls log and fired up Rehvenges number.
She took a deep breath and a long pull on the latte.
And hit send.
Destiny had a 518 area code. Who knew.
TWENTY
Lash parked the Mercedes 550 under one of Caldwells bridges, the black sedan indistinguishable from the shadows thrown by the mammoth concrete supports. The digital clock on the dash told him that showtime was getting close.
Assuming there had been no fuckups.
As he waited, he thought about the meeting with the head of the symphaths. In retrospect, he really didnt like the way the guy made him feel. He fucked chicks. Period. No guys. Ever.
That kind of shit was for cock jockeys like John and his weak-ass crew.
Switching tracks in his mind, Lash smiled in the darkness, thinking he couldnt wait to reintroduce himself to those motherfuckers. In the beginning, right after hed been brought back by his real father, hed wanted to rush it. After all, John and his boys no doubt still hung out at ZeroSum, so finding them wouldnt be a problem. But timing was everything. Lash was still figuring shit out with this new life of his, and he wanted to be solid when he crushed John and killed Blay in front of Qhuinn, then slaughtered the fucker whod murdered him.
Timing mattered.
As if on cue, two cars pulled up between some pylons. The Ford Escort was the Lessening Societys, and the silver Lexus was Gradys wholesalers car.
Sweet rims on the LS 600h. Very sweet.
Grady was the first to get out of the Escort, and when Mr. D and the other two lessers followed, it was like watching the evac of a clown car, given the amount of meat that had been stuffed inside.
As they approached the Lexus, two men wearing slick winter coats got out of the 600h. In sync, the human males both put their right hands into their jackets, and all Lash could think of was, Better guns than badges coming out of those breast pockets. If Grady had fucked up and those were undercover cops pulling a modern day Crockett and Tubbs, things were going to get complicated.
But nono CPD shields, just some conversation on the part of the coats, no doubt along the lines of, Who the fuck are those three ass-wipes you brought with you to a private business transaction?
Grady looked back at Mr. D with out-of-his-league panic, and the little Texan took the reins, stepping forward with an aluminum briefcase. After he put the case on the trunk of the Lexus, he popped it open to reveal what appeared to be stacks of hundred-dollar bills. In reality, they were just bundles of ones with a single Benji on the top of each stack. The coats looked down-
Pop. Pop.
Grady jumped back as the dealers hit the ground like mops, and his mouth opened wide as a toilet bowl. Before he could get a whole lot of oh-my-God-what-did-you-do rolling, Mr. D stepped up into his grille and bitch-slapped his lid shut.
The two slayers put their guns back into their leather jackets as Mr. D closed the suitcase, went around, and got behind the wheel of the Lexus. While he drove off, Grady looked up into the faces of the pale men like he was waiting to get plugged himself.
Instead, they just headed back to the Escort.
After a moment of confusion, Grady followed in a sloppy jog like all his joints had been overoiled, but when he went to open the back door, the slayers refused to let him get in the car. As Grady realized he was getting left behind, he started to panic, his arms flopping, his mouth shouting. Which was pretty fucking dumb, considering he was standing fifteen feet away from two guys with bullets in their brains.
Quiet would be good right about now.
Evidently one of the slayers thought the same thing. With a calm hand, he outted his gun and leveled the muzzle at Gradys head.
Silence. Stillness. At least from the idiot.
Two doors shut and the Escorts engine turned over on a crank and a wheeze. With a buzz of tires, the slayers took off, speckling Gradys boots and shins with frozen dirt.
Lash hit the Mercedes lights, and Grady spun around, arms going up to shield his eyes.
There was the temptation to mow him down, but for the moment, the guys utility justified his heartbeat.
Lash started the Mercedes, pulled up to the SOB, and dropped his window down. Get in the car.
Grady lowered his arms. What the hell happened-
Shut the fuck up. Get in the car.
Lash closed the window and waited while Grady flopped into the passenger seat. As the guy put his belt on, his teeth were doing the castanets, and not from the cold. Fucker was the color of salt, and sweating like a tranny in Giants Stadium.
You might as well have killed em in broad daylight, Grady stammered as they headed out onto the surface road that ran beside the river. There are eyes all over the place-
Which was the point. Lashs phone rang, and he answered as he accelerated up a ramp and onto the highway. Very nice, Mr. D.
I think we done good, the Texan said. Cept I cant see no drugs. Must be in the trunk.
Theyre in that car. Somewhere.
We still meetin back at Hunterbred?
Yes.
Hey, ah, listen, yall plannin on doin anything with this here car?
Lash smiled in the darkness, thinking greed was a great weakness for a subordinate to have. Im getting it repainted and buying a VIN and tags for it.