Authors: Trina M Lee
“Well yeah. You and Sinclair bagged yourselves a human. Nice change. Can’t say I mind. Although I’m not too keen on him being your tag team partner.”
“I don’t want to hear it.” I flashed him a vicious warning look, one that he didn’t ignore.
Arys held his hands up in mock surrender. “Hey, if you and Kale want to use a job as your excuse to kill shit without a guilty conscience, feel free. But, I can see where this is going even if you choose not to.”
“No, you can’t. It was one human kill. One.” I argued for the sake of refusing to allow Arys to be right. It was useless.
“Just one? Come on, Alexa. You’re not that naive, just incredibly stubborn. It’s never just one. Not for us.” He reached to stroke a lock of my hair back from my face, and I leaned into his touch. “Already it’s burning inside you, the hunger for more. I can feel it.”
I shook my head vehemently. “I’m not going to be a slave to the bloodlust, not while I still live and breathe.”
I knew he was thinking that I was living in denial. Thankfully, he was sweet enough not to say so. It had been a while since I’d killed a human, almost a year, and it felt better than I remembered. I had to shake myself out of that frame of thought. Remembering was not going to help crush the hunger taking root in my core.
I turned to head back into the heart of the club. The Kiss was already busier than it had been just minutes before. Damn blood junkies.
Arys gave the club interior an intense once over. “Do you get a lot of demons in here?”
“What? No. Never.” I followed Arys’ gaze to the front entry.
“Well, there’s one.”
I’d had little experience with demons, and all of it was bad. I didn’t know why one would come to The Wicked Kiss, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
It hit me all at once. The sinister power that crept towards us was stifling. For a moment I couldn’t breathe. It was strong, like cold bitter coffee. Black. It was just so black. I had no better word for it.
The humans were none the wiser, but the vampires in the club quickly withdrew to the farthest corners of the building when the demon entered. Like all of the demons I’d seen, he looked human, Japanese to be precise. Average height with shining blue-black hair, he was quite attractive. I found that most demons presented a handsome façade, but it wasn’t their true face.
Even from where I stood I could make out how inhuman his intense red eyes were. That gaze landed on me, and he smiled. Adrenaline crashed through me.
Oh, shit.
He made his way across the room, and I watched him, my mouth as dry as cotton.
Arys stood calmly next to me. His expression revealed that he wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with this demon.
The demon stopped a few feet away. I was relieved that he stayed out of my personal space. His power was so unbearably strong that I fought to shield against it.
“Alexa O’Brien.” He greeted me with a nod. “I believe we have a mutual acquaintance, Veryl Armstrong.” His voice was like a dark, somber melody, immediately mesmerizing. He didn’t offer me a hand so much as he helped himself to mine. “My name is Shya. I’d like a few minutes of your time if that’s alright.”
We all knew the uber polite act was for show. He fully expected me to cooperate. He was one of the people Veryl had said I didn’t want to deal with. So much for that. I had no intention of pissing the guy off if I could help it.
His hand on mine was warm as his power slithered up my arm like a snake. I wanted to jerk my hand from his but resisted. “Sure. There are a few tables behind the bar where it’s a bit quieter.”
Shya shocked me by holding up a hand before Arys. “Sorry, Mr. Knight. I’m afraid this is a private matter. And, since you’ve turned down our offer, you’ll have to sit this one out.”
I held my breath and waited for Arys’ response. He never told me that demons had asked him to work with
them
. Why would he choose not to mention that?
Shya never gave him the opportunity to reply. He turned his back on Arys without a second glance and indicated that I should lead the way. I hesitated just long enough to see the fury flash through Arys’ midnight blue eyes. Hoping to avoid trouble, I quickly led the way to an empty table behind the bar. I almost laughed with relief when Arys stayed put. It wasn’t like him, which told me more about Shya than I wanted to know.
I sat down across from the demon, uncomfortable with the way he looked me over with those creepy red eyes. The snake-like pupils betrayed the lie that his human form projected. I met his gaze directly and concentrated on staying calm but alert. As far as eyes go, this guy had the eeriest I’d seen, including Kale’s and my own. I fought hard to keep from falling into their crimson depths.
“I apologize, Alexa. This meeting is long overdue.” Shya beamed a pearly white smile at me. “I think it’s time we get acquainted.”
“Alright.” I smiled, hoping it didn’t look as wary as it felt.
“I’m going to cut to the chase. I’d like to give you the chance to rise up in the ranks of our organization.” He spoke with authority, easily holding my attention with his charming manner. “What we do isn’t about good and evil, human or otherwise. It’s about power and maintaining an order that was established over thousands of years. I’m sure you understand why a mass public exposure of the supernatural world would be horrific. However, you must know that many beings out there dedicated to just that: full exposure.” He paused, giving me the opportunity to form a response.
My tongue felt like a useless slab of meat. He’d just thrown a lot at me. It took me a moment to put a response together. “I’m very aware of how ugly things could get. The last thing I want is to end up on the wrong end of a worldwide witch hunt. I can’t imagine why any supernaturals would willingly expose themselves.”
“Some believe that by exposing us all, we’ll in turn have more control over the human race. I don’t agree with this philosophy. We maintain influence over humans when they believe most of us to be a myth. That’s where our power lies, especially for creatures like you.”
I mulled over what he’d said. Existing in the guise of myth and folklore was necessary. Going public was a suicide mission. “I completely agree.”
“It’s all so much bigger than what you see with Veryl and his pitiful office.” Shya continued, a smile of approval on his handsome face. “We do what has to be done to ensure our freedom and protection. As for those who stand against us, their numbers are large enough to pose a problem, which is where you come in. The more people I can trust to trim their numbers, the better.”
“Ok. So someone like Abigail Irving, could just one woman like her really be a threat?” I was already afraid of him. I figured I didn’t have anything to lose by asking what was really on my mind.
“She was a feisty one, wasn’t she?” He chuckled, and I immediately went cold. “That one knew things. Killing her was the safest way to make sure that what she knew never got out.”
“What kind of things?” My eyes were dry. I hadn’t blinked in a while because I couldn’t pull myself away from his entrancing stare that long.
Shya studied me closely, a simple perusal. He made no attempt to test or touch my power the way so many others had upon a first meeting; he didn’t have to. He already knew far more about me than I did about him. Of that, I was certain.
“She knew how to access powers rooted in the pits of hell. I hope her zealous talk didn’t convince you otherwise. That woman went mad decades ago. She was a disaster waiting to happen. The demons she was consorting with are now just as dead as she is.”
Lilah.
One of my coworkers’ names popped unbidden into my mind. I’d seen her kill a demon with very little effort.
“I’m always going to be in the dark, aren’t I? Never really knowing who I’m hunting or why.”
“Oh, you will know. You already do. You know as much as you need to know.” The smile suddenly vanished from Shya’s face causing his sharp features to seem more pronounced. “You have immense power over vampires and werewolves. You are both and yet somehow neither, all at the same time. The creatures of the underworld are constantly in conflict. The battle for control of both the human and the supernatural world never ceases. You have an opportunity to play an important role here.”
I swallowed hard. He really did know an awful lot about me, maybe more than I did.
When I failed to respond, Shya continued. “I like you already. You’ve proven yourself to be professional and discreet. And, from what Veryl tells me, you have no qualms about speaking your mind.” The serpentine smile returned.
“I don’t appreciate being lied to or having information withheld from me when it directly involves my personal life and business.” I didn’t mean to come across as bitchy, but demon or not, he needed to know where I stood.
Shya’s expression didn’t change. He seemed completely unmoved by anything I’d said so far.
“Understood. You’ve outgrown working with Veryl. You’re capable of so much more. All I want from you is the same loyalty I expect from anyone who works with me. I’m prepared to offer you much more than money.” He gave the rest of the club a cursory glance, and I could almost see what he was thinking. He didn’t seem to think any better of it than I did.
A waitress dumped her drink tray on a customer with a crash. The tirade she followed up with indicated he had it coming. I shrugged and did my best to tune it out.
“Look, Shya. I can just imagine what Veryl has told you about me, let alone whatever else you might know. You want a fair kill, I’m your girl. All I ask is that you don’t ask me to hunt any innocents.” I was dealing with a demon. I had to amend that. “What I consider innocent.”
He leaned forward, a brow raised. “Tell me, Alexa. What do you consider to be innocent?”
I had no easy answer to that. I didn’t need someone like Arys or Shya to convince me that the inhabitants of the earth, both human and otherwise, were far from innocent. That still didn’t make them all worthy of slaughter.
“I know that’s a trick question. There’s no way to answer it without contradicting myself somehow.” I paused, trying to form my words in a manner that he wouldn’t be able to twist on me. I wasn’t a demon expert, but I wasn’t born yesterday. “Prove to me a target is dangerous, a threat, anything like that, that’s all I ask. Just don’t send me in blind. I can’t live with a guilty conscience.”
Shya didn’t miss a beat. “Dangerous? But, even you are dangerous. Some would consider you a threat. It is never so simple.”
Dammit.
So much for not contradicting myself. “Alright. Point for you.”
“I don’t claim to understand where your hesitance comes from. You are a killer. It’s in everything you are. However, you won’t be forced into anything.”
“Understood.” I knew what he meant. I could refuse a kill, but that wouldn’t stop someone else from doing the job.
The weight of Shya’s gaze made me fidget. I struggled hard just to sit still. His wicked power was deep and murky, like a bottomless pit that sought to draw me in.
“If you choose to accept the opportunity to advance from hunter to personal assassin, I think you will find there are many perks to having power like yours. That being said, I would like to propose something to you.”
The glint of anticipation in his blood-red eyes had me chewing my lower lip anxiously. I wasn’t going to like what I was about to hear. He enjoyed that. Fucking demons.
I gestured for him to continue. The noisy din of the nightclub seemed to fade away as I waited to hear his proposal. My heart began to pound. I feared the worst.
Demons were true evil. Despite his professional and almost friendly demeanor, I didn’t forget that. I wasn’t surprised that pure amusement shone on Shya’s face when he said, “I want you to kill Veryl Armstrong.”
I took a few moments to let the echo of that request play in my ears. My reaction was delayed. I was conflicted. Part of me was immediately ready to refuse though something deeper down was intrigued.
“Why?” I deserved to know that much at least. I’d known Veryl for years and this demon for all of a matter of minutes. Did he really expect me to say yes?
Shya pursed his lips and regarded me with a curious expression. “He’s taken to meddling in the affairs of others, you included. Of course, I don’t have to tell you that. Once it came to my attention that he was blackmailing one of my own, his days were numbered.”
Blackmail huh? That didn’t come as a surprise. I wouldn’t put anything past Veryl. But, did I want to kill him?
“I need to think about it.”