Chapter Five
The phantom hands whispering a trail down my skin weren't real. I couldn't actually feel the heat of his breath on the curve of my neck. The sound of his dark laugh was only an illusion.
I spent six months curled in his shadow, part partner but mostly pet. He found my newfound power fascinating and I quickly learned the dangerous allure of dark magic. I was cruel and terrifying.
I understood the horrible danger that the Blooded represented because I almost became one of them. Valentine was their leader, after all.
I forced my mind back to the present. Darius sipped his latte and I caught the smirk he hid behind the ceramic mug. He knew the effect his words would have on me. Valentine's name was like an incantation, summoning its bearer from the wastelands.
Nancy rubbed circles on a nearby with a washrag. She glanced our way with a friendly smile. I dropped my eyes to avoid her gaze.
"Valentine wouldn't send you for me," I said, my voice pitched low.
"You don't think it's true love?" Darius winked Nancy and slipped a tip, a folded bill wrapped around the receipt, into her back pocket as she walked past our table. If a phone number was written on it, I hoped she had the good sense never to call it.
Darius turned back to me with a twisted smile. "You are the one who got away."
I did get away. I got away by fleeing into the night and never looking back.
"No." I drummed my fingers on the table. "Valentine isn't the type to pine."
"I shouldn't think so," he agreed affably.
"What is it, then?" My finger clenched on the edge of the table. The next words out of his mouth would seal my fate.
"You still owe bloodprice for Ceres's life." He stretched like a cat. Muscles tightened and corded in places where no human would have them. "How much did it come to again?"
"Two hundred thousand." I spoke softly. If I couldn't hear the words than maybe they weren't real. It may as well have been two hundred million for all the likelihood that I'd ever get that much money together at one time. Ceres's worth far eclipsed mine by anyone's reckoning, which was how these things were decided.
"That much?" Darius made of show of widening his eyes in mock surprise. "Mommy and Daddy can't help you?"
"You know they can't," I said through clenched teeth.
"Not for murder, that's right. You have to earn the money on your own, no gifts allowed." He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze appraising. "That really is too bad."
Tension sang through me. I clenched my hands together in an effort to keep them still as shivers ran down the lines of my body. I could feel the heat of fire and smell acrid smoke. The sound of Ceres screaming rang in my ears.
Leno's seemed suddenly quiet. We were the only customers, save for the kid in the hooded sweatshirt still hunched over a booth.
"It's only a matter of time now." A small smile played along the corners of his lips but Darius spoke with deadly seriousness. "I found you and others will follow. The Abell family isn't known for their forbearance."
My back stiffened. "Is that a threat?"
"I don't need to threaten you." Darius leaned forward so both elbows rested on the table, his hands clasped under his chin. "I just want you to understand your position. For bargaining purposes."
We had finally come to it. I eyed him warily. "What do you want?"
"I have served my master for longer than you can imagine."
"Always a bridesmaid, huh?" I couldn't resist the barb.
"That's where you come in, my dear." Darius leaned back and draped one arm over the chair behind him. The movement was casual, but the force of his gaze betrayed him. "This is politics in its simplest form. Valentine stands in my way and I want him gone."
"Gone?" The incredulity in my voice made it a question. "As in dead?"
"Correct." Darius said the word slowly as if he spoke to a young child.
"Good luck with that," I scoffed. "I doubt killing him is even possible."
Valentine was a mystery. Months with him and I never came close to unraveling it. He wasn't a witch or a shapeshifter. He didn't follow the rules that bound demon magic.
"For your sake, I hope that's not true," he said with a laugh. "You're going to be the one to do it."
My heart skipped a beat. "If you're trying to get me killed, you could save a lot of time by taking care of it yourself."
"No trick." He spread his arms wide as if I could ever believe he was harmless. "Valentine is older than memory and he has never once revealed a weakness. Until you."
I was suddenly cold. "We had some fun together for a while. That doesn't mean anything."
"On the contrary, it means everything." Darius played with the lid of his coffee cup and a smirk twisted at his lips. "I won't call it love—infatuation perhaps. He opened himself up to you in a way that I've never seen before."
Valentine's hands slid down my skin. His voice whispered through my mind as power raged through me like a storm of fire.
I forced the memory away with an effort.
"That's ancient history." I said, finally. "I couldn't get near him now if I tried."
I snuck away from Valentine like a thief in the night. I could only imagine his anger at that betrayal. There was a good chance he would kill me on sight just for embarrassing him.
"Ah yes, the spurned lover," Darius mused. "Going to him now would be ill-advised."
"I guess I'm no use to you then." I pushed away a mutinous surge of regret. The fact that I was still taking part in this conversation made me certifiable. Or at the very least, unwilling to make any sudden moves around the coiled panther across from me.
"You can't go to him," Darius said with a careless shrug. "But he might just come to you."
"What does that mean?"
"Here's how it's going to work: I pay your blood price, payment in advance for services rendered, and you go home."
"You have that kind of money?" My voice was skeptical.
"I have my resources."
"So, I just go home?"
"That's right. You go back to your family—back to life as you knew it." His gaze was calculating. "When Valentine comes for you—which he will—you make good on our bargain."
"And how am I supposed to do that?"
"We all saw what you did to Ceres. I'm sure you can think of something."
I pushed to my feet even as a wild voice inside of me screamed for me to stay. Darius offered me a chance to make the fear go away. No more hiding. No more running.
The magic licked and curled inside of me like a living flame. It would be so easy to be safe again.
Darius eyed me warily as I suddenly towered over him.
"No deal."
"You're joking." Shock and anger contorted his features into something ugly, barely human. "It's me or the noose, girlie."
"I'll take my chances. Find someone else to do your dirty work for you." The door was a hundred feet away and I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other to get there.
"You won't make it out of town alive." Darius appeared in front of me and I took an involuntary step back. As I stared at him, I heard the distinct clatter of his wooden chair hitting the floor. He moved too fast.
"Get out of my way, Darius." Traitorous whispers promised that I could make him move. It would take little more than the touch of my fingers to his skin. I gritted my teeth against the dark temptation. "I can't help you."
Darius lifted his hand. A business card was held between two of his fingers. He tucked the card into the front pocket of my leather jacket. "In case you change your mind."
I fished the business card out of my pocket and read it. The front listed only his first name and a phone number. I flipped it over. The back was blank.
When I looked up he was gone.