The Scarlet Dagger (The Red Sector Chronicles, #1) (34 page)

Angel dropped by once, to check in on me. But even she didn’t seem to be her normal, cheerful self.

“
It’s unreal, isn’t it? All that’s happened lately…” She was sitting across from me, staring forlornly at her hands. It was New Year’s Eve, and I was home alone. Despite the trouble at the Holiday Ball, Frost insisted upon throwing their 2
^nd
Annual New Year’s Eve Celebration. Mrs. Knight had left for the base earlier to oversee the decorations, and Aden hadn’t been home all day. Though I wasn’t ready to admit it out loud, I was really starting to miss his company.

I took a sip of my iced tea. “Yeah, it’s been pretty crazy.”

Angel looked adorable. Her hair had been done up, and she had on a cute black cocktail dress with tall black boots. Seeing as it was nearly 9 p.m., I assumed she had been on her way to the party. I was a little disappointed at having to ring in the New Year alone, but under the circumstances, I guess I should just be thankful to be alive.

Oh, well. At least one of us will have some fun tonight.

“
You look great, by the way,” I said, smiling. “Another date with Rook?”

Angel shook her head, staring into her glass. “No. He’s on guard duty tonight. At the party, that is. I’m just going to mingle for a little while, then probably head home.”

“
You don’t sound very excited,” I remarked quietly.

She sighed hard. “I have a lot on my mind.”

I frowned. That sounded very heavy for carefree Angel. “Like?”

Her pink lips spread into a small smile. “It’s nothing.” Her face paled slightly as she suppressed a cough, and I narrowed my eyes in concern.

“
What is it?”

Angel set her glass down on the coffee table. It was still over halfway full. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen her take more than a sip or two. “I should get going,” she said. She stood and wiped her palms against her dress.

I rose with her. “Okay. Uh, have fun at the party.”

She stopped at the door. “Somehow, I don’t think that will be possible,” she muttered softly. She turned her head as a violent cough erupted from her throat, rattling her entire body. When she started to open the door, I put a hand on the frame to block her path.

“
Hey,” I said softly, trying to get a good look at her face. “You sure you’re all right? You’re white as a sheet.” I mean, Angel had always been pale as porcelain, but her complexion was a little blue tinged.

“
Yeah. I just have a bit of a cold, that’s all.” Her voice trembled as she spoke. Then she took a deep breath and looked up at me, a bright smile on her face. “Don’t worry about me. I’m going to be just fine.”

I quirked a brow, but didn’t argue. “Take care of yourself, okay?”

I stepped out of the way as she opened the door and stepped outside. “You, too.” Though the smile remained on her face, her eyes saddened. “Goodbye, Sloane,” she whispered.

I watched her leave, not closing the door until she disappeared from sight. Frowning, I leaned against the door.
That was strange. I hope she’s not too ill to be out.

Maybe I was overreacting. I did have a tendency to read too much into things. If Angel said it was nothing, it was nothing. She was probably just acting weird because of her cold, that’s all.

I was about to walk away when someone loudly knocked. I walked back to the door, thinking maybe Angel had forgotten something, and peered through the peephole.

It was one of the guards – Nathaniel, I think his name was. He was a colossal man; I almost couldn’t see his face through the hole, he was so tall. My brows immediately knitted together when I caught his expression. It was pinched, like he was anxious for me to open the door. I wondered if something was wrong. What if the killer had come for me?

“
Ms. McAllister,” he boomed, knocking loudly. “I need you to come with us, now.”

Fear racked my body. So something
was
wrong.

Without thinking it through, I jerked open the door and stood face to face with Nathaniel. He was teetering, and his skin was covered in sweat.

An eerie sensation crawled down my arms and legs as I sniffed the air, which smelled faintly metallic. The slightest trace of spices threaded through the draft blowing on my face.

Nathaniel’s face twisted in pain. Before I could ask, his eyes locked with mine.

“
Run,” he whispered.

Then he fell over, stone cold dead. A knife protruded from his back, shining red with his blood. I blanched at the color of the blade.

“
Scarlet Steel,” I breathed.

There was a rustling to my left, and my eyes snapped up as two men dressed entirely in black grabbed for me, their faces covered with black ski masks.

I immediately went into the offensive, knocking away their hands and spinning around, clipping both of them in the jaw with the heel of my boot. They fell back as three more men came at me. I backed away, retreating into the interior of the apartment. A flurry of shots rang out and I dove over the couch as it was torn to shreds by the machine gun.

“
Stop shooting, you idiot!” one of the men cried. “He wants her alive!”

He
? Who the hell was
he
?

The smell of spices clung to their clothes, the same smell I had picked up on in the lab and on the glamoured drink. The puzzle pieces clicked together in my mind, and I could’ve smacked myself for not making the connection sooner.

Nero. The Emperor had sent these men to kidnap me. Which also meant it really was Imperial Guards trying to shoot me at the arcade. It had been Nero all along.

I gritted my teeth, feeling my fangs elongate.
Well, they can try to take me
.
No way am I going without a fight.

The moment the firing ceased, I sprang toward the gunman. I was faster – so fast, I surprised myself – as I caught his arm and hyper extended it. His bones snapped as he dropped the gun, crying out in pain. Snatching up the weapon, I nailed him in the head with it as hard as I could. He collapsed, unconscious.

“
Get her!” someone shouted.

I raced for the kitchen, careening into the cabinets as I flung open the knife drawer. Footsteps thundered toward me. Whirling around, I hurled one knife after the other as the men came through the doorway. Blades embedded themselves in their chests and foreheads, spraying blood along the wall. When I ran out of knives, I grabbed the biggest fork I could find and launched myself at the final man blocking my way. When he first saw the fork, he laughed –

Right before I shoved it into his open mouth, so hard the prongs dug into the back of his skull. I slammed my palm upward, catching him in the chin and busting several teeth as he flew backward, landing on the dining room table. The legs broke under his weight, and he toppled to the floor in a bloody heap.

I panted as I looked around. Though the apartment was empty, I would be foolish to believe the fight was over.

The Scarlet Dagger.

I rushed upstairs, taking them two at a time, and burst through the door of my room. There it was, right on the night stand where I had left it. Just as my fingers closed around the hilt, the door slammed shut behind me and I turned, unsheathing the dagger. A handsome man who looked vaguely familiar stood there.

Shock ran through me. “You’re one of Aden’s men.” I glared at him. “Does Aden know you double-crossed him?”

He cocked his head to the side, a smug smile on his face. “We all have our parts to play in this war, princess. Mine is done, now that Nero has you.”

“
He doesn’t have me yet!” I growled, charging.

I grossly underestimated my opponent. He dropped before I could ever lay a finger on him and plunged something sharp into my shoulder. I cried out, stumbling backward.

The man rose, grinning. “I win.”

The world fell away and I collapsed to my knees, patting along my shoulder for the needle buried in my skin. I ripped the dart out, hurling it into the wall. As I sank to my side, I glared at the man. My head slammed against the floor as he walked up to me, blurring in and out of my vision.

The last thing I saw was him lowering a blindfold to my eyes.

***

I hissed as the strip of duct tape was ripped from my mouth, leaving my skin feeling raw. The blindfold followed shortly after and I groggily looked around.

I was seated in an elegant wooden chair, with my hands tied off with rope behind my back. My feet had also been bound, and a long length of rope had been wrapped around my chest several times, forcing me to sit up straight.

Rope I can stand. At least it’s not Scarlet Steel.

The room around me was massive. Two of the four walls were completely made of glass, which overlooked a dark “skyline” of glittering lights and small fires, while the other two walls were made from a dark wood. A gigantic fireplace blazed in front of me, so large ten of me could stand in it, side by side. A simple desk with a pitcher of water and a few glasses stood off to one corner, and the floors were checkerboard burnt orange and brown tiles. A stately grandfather clock with gold Roman numerals stood sentinel in the corner, its pendulum ticking away what was sure to be the last few minutes of my life. A rug made out of some animal’s hide stretched out before me, while Carl Orff’s
Carmina Burana
played on an old record player in the background. Spices burned my nostrils, so strong and heady I could taste the cinnamon and cloves on the air.

Nero. I must be in his office.

And I was completely alone.

I kicked and struggled against my binds, but it was no use. All I succeeded in doing was getting rope burn.

A door creaked open behind me, echoing around the room, followed by the click of heels. A few seconds later, someone jerked my head down. “His exalted Excellency, Emperor Nero,” the man announced. “You will bow in his presence.”

I saw the polished tips of men’s dress shoes step in front of me, and I spat on them. The man behind me yanked my head back and smacked me hard across the face. I blinked, stunned, then laughed.

“
He may be your emperor,” I hissed. “But he is not mine.”

“
Actually,” said the garbled voice, “you’d be surprised how closely you and I are related.
Sister
.”

That last word sent a chill through me, and my eyes rolled down to see a young face severely marred by scars. I recognized his voice from the lab, when I overheard him speaking to Paris. The spice scent – almost palpable, it was so strong – finally jarred a lost memory from the recesses of my mind:

It was the night of our first formal high school dance. We were sort of using it as a celebration, since Orion’s acceptance letter for Winchester Thurston had come earlier that day. My brother turned to me in his collared shirt and slacks, smiling. “Well, sis, how do I look?”

“
Pretty good, bro,” I beamed. “You’ll have to beat the girls away with a stick.”

“
Well,” he said, looking me up and down. “That makes two of us. Only, you’ll be beating away the boys, or rather, I will.”

I laughed as our father called from downstairs. Excited, we bounced down to the first floor and paused on the porch long enough for him to take our picture. I sidled up to my brother, smelling his cologne.

Cinnamon and cloves.

I smiled up at him, full of pride and love.

All the air left my lungs in one giant whoosh as my gaze found a pair of hauntingly familiar brown eyes.

“
Orion,” I whispered.

Chapter
32

The rest of the world faded away, leaving only my brother and me. “You’re alive,” I whispered again, still not believing it. “I thought… how?” The records, Aden’s testimony; they all had led me to believe that Orion had been viciously murdered. And yet, somehow, I knew without a doubt that it was truly my brother standing in front of me, smiling sardonically and not looking a day over fourteen.

His intelligent eyes sharpened, drinking me in. “Leave us,” he said, nodding at the guard. He released his grasp on my hair and I fell forward. I heard him walk away, and a door closed. As far as I could tell, my twin and I were alone.

Orion paced in front of me. “I was saved by a guardian angel,” he explained calmly. His voice sounded like broken glass, so distorted I almost couldn’t make out what he was saying. Judging from the twisted scars around his jaw and neck, the Rogue had almost ripped his throat out. “By a shot of luck – or perhaps by some cruel twist of fate – the Rogue left me alone to die, once it had gorged itself on my blood. As you can see –” he gestured up and down his sleek black business suit – “I am lucky to be alive, a walking, talking miracle.”

“
So someone found and changed you? Who?”

“
I did.”

The floor dropped out from under me for the second time tonight as Angel, all made up for the party, walked into the room. Like a dog that’s afraid of being struck by its owner, she meekly walked up to my brother. Tears shone in her eyes as I gawked at her. “I’m so sorry, Sloane,” she said. “But he made me promise not to tell you.”