Rohan knelt down and handed Halston a wet towel. Halston wiped Galena’s face clean. She winced and jerked away. Like a frightened animal, she crawled far from both of them. Her eyes darted around the safe house.
“Did they follow me?” Galena’s voice came out ragged and almost too soft to hear.
Micka ran up with a bottle of water and paused when she saw Galena with her back pressed against the wall. Galena saw Micka and grabbed the small, older woman, by the leg. Micka looked to Halston questioningly.
“Don’t let them hurt me anymore,” Galena begged.
Halston sighed and came to his feet. He didn’t move closer to Galena. She was too afraid, and he didn’t want to make the situation worse. He stood there and thought about what to do. She had been missing for about a week now. There was no telling what she had been through. He put his hands in the pockets of his trousers and looked down at Galena.
“Galena,” he said. “We won’t hurt you. You are safe. We are the only ones here. Rohan, Micka, you, and me.” He knelt down and looked at her with a small, friendly, smile. “I’m Halston. You do remember me, don’t you?”
Galena tilted her head and stared at him. Her eyes were as big as saucers and for a moment, Halston doubted that she recognized him. Her shoulders slumped and she slowly nodded. “Yes. I remember you, Halston.”
Halston nodded. “Good. Good girl. You remember that I am your friend, and that I care about you, right?”
Galena let go of Micka’s leg. She ripped the black stockings the woman wore with her ragged nails. Halston noticed that her fingernails had blood caked into her cuticles. Micka adjusted her glasses but ignored her ruined stockings.
“I remember,” Galena said. She folded her legs and rested her head on the wall. She looked exhausted.
“What happened?”
She shook her head and her bottom lip trembled. “I’ve been through a lot in my life, Halston,” she said in a wavering voice. “But nothing like this.”
Halston nodded. His eyes were concerned. He wanted her to trust him and go on.
Galena looked from Rohan to Micka. “I will tell you,” she said. She met Halston’s eyes. “And only you.”
Micka and Rohan got the point. They both collected the files that they had been working on, and took them to one of the back rooms of the safe house.
Halston stood and walked over to Galena. He sat down beside her and looked towards the secret hatch door at the far end of the safe house. He didn’t want to sit right in front of her. Whenever someone did that, it just made the conversation feel like an interrogation. He wanted Galena to feel comfortable.
He reached for her hand and she flinched but didn’t run. Halston had a soothing effect. He took her hand and cradled it in his own. Somehow, that relaxed her.
Galena took a deep breath. “It was last Monday.” A tear fell from her eye. Halston gently brushed it away. He pulled her hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “I found the man you had me look for. Bund. I was surprised that he was a young guy, but that also made me feel a little more comfortable around him,” she said and looked to Halston. “You know what I mean?”
He nodded.
“But once he got me inside, he changed on me.” She hugged her arms and shifted her weight. Her brows furrowed. “There were so many of them, Halston. I told them, I would only sell my blood to the one you sent me for.” She closed her eyes. “But they didn’t listen.” Her voice lowered. “They locked me in there. Somehow, Bund knew I was coming. He knew you had sent me. He punished me.”
Halston clenched his jaw. He should have never sent her alone. He couldn’t understand how Bund could have known that Halston had sent Galena. Halston had to remember, Bund was smarter than he appeared. Like Halston, Bund was a great deal more than he appeared.
He didn’t say anything. He waited for Galena to go on. He knew it was hard for her, but he needed to know what they were dealing with.
She took a while to continue. She kept looking at the portal to make sure no one was going to step through.
“I might as well spit it out, right?” Galena asked the question, but Halston could tell that she was speaking to herself.
He nodded anyway. “Go on. It’s just the two of us. Whatever you tell me will stay between the two of us. I won’t tell a soul.”
Galena gave him a look. Her pale gray eyes narrowed. She pursed her lips and examined his face. “Not even Koa?”
Halston’s eye twitched, not because he was lying, but because Galena seemed to have suspicions about his relationship with the young vampire. He knew that would be a problem if people suspected that he and Koa were more than professional associates. He would have to find a way to eliminate such suspicions.
He swallowed and shook his head. “Not even Koa.”
Galena looked unsure. She watched him for a while longer and sighed. She looked down at her feet. “You know…it’s all right if you like her. We all like Koa.”
Halston pulled away from Galena.
She watched him. “You don’t have to go all pale on me. We all see it.”
He didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing.
Galena slumped against the wall and stared at the portal again. “Well, there were so many of them that I lost count, but they raped me, fed from me, and kept me locked in a cage.”
There was a long stretch of silence. Halston held her head to his shoulder and she started to weep again. It was unnerving to hear that woman cry. She was always so strong, even cold. She had been broken.
She looked up and rubbed her face. She threw her hands up. “Bund didn’t even feed from me! You know what he said to me? He said that I was too old. What the hell?”
Halston shook his head. He knew Bund’s preferences. He was a sick creature.
“Bund just watched the others with a stupid grin on his face!” She slammed her fist into her thigh so hard that Halston feared she’d bruise herself. “I hate that man more than anything in this world,” she said through clenched teeth. “Please, tell me how to kill him.”
Halston took her fist and gently opened it. He took her hand into both of his. “You don’t worry about it, Galena. I’m terribly sorry that I put you in that situation, but I can’t even kill him.”
Galena’s shoulders slumped. She looked defeated.
He tilted her chin up. “But, I know someone who can get rid of him…forever.”
Galena frowned. “Well, I want to be there when you do it, so that I can spit in his face.”
Halston nodded. “I’ll try to arrange that.” He smiled for her, hoping it would soften her angry face. Tonight…his smile wasn’t working.
“If it wasn’t for one of the dumber vampires, in his drunken stupor, forgetting to lock the cage, I would still be there. I might be dead now.”
Halston patted the back of her hand. “It’s all in the past now. I don’t want you to worry. I can erase this event from your memory, if you’d like.” He came to his feet and held a hand out to her.
Galena took his hand and pulled herself up, but she held tight to his hand. Her eyes were serious. “No, Halston.”
He tensed. The tone of her voice was unexpected. She sounded like herself again, cold and serious. She looked…ready to hurt someone.
“I don’t want to forget. I need to remember this. You’re not getting out of letting me spit in his face when you kill him.”
Halston nodded and tried to take his hand back. She held steady.
“Listen,” she said. “There’s more.”
Halston sighed. “What else?”
She leaned in close to him. Her eyes were hardened. Her grip was unyielding. “He knows about Koa.”
Halston felt his face pale. There was little in this world that would make him react recklessly. He would have to restrain himself while he listened to what the Russian woman had to say.
Chapter 5
Koa met Halston at the safe house. Their meeting place was an unassuming abandoned warehouse that
Halston had purchased decades ago. The entire strip of land was abandoned. Once a power plant, no one dared come near it for fear of radiation exposure.
Koa had the suspicion that Halston probably had a dozen or so safe houses. Whenever one was compromised, he always had a backup, and he didn’t always tell her his plan. He was clever. People tended to assume that such an attractive man couldn’t possibly be such a genius. They didn’t know that he was always at least ten steps ahead of them, and that his brain functioned at a superhuman level. They could never guess that he was not in fact…human.
She walked into one of the secret entrances in the back and covered her head with her hand. The exposed pipes still tended to drip cold water onto her head. It was dark and silent, except for the incessant drips. She rolled her eyes and lifted herself a few feet off the ground to avoid stepping into the black puddles that covered the flooring.
Halston was good. This was all a diversion, in case anyone dared come inside. They would see the oil spills and the oozing green gases that seeped into the air from cracked pipes along the wall. Anyone would be discouraged from going any further, but Koa knew better.
She ignored the mutated rats and followed the labyrinth-like tunnels to a small door. One might never have noticed since it seemed to blend into the darkness. The door was rusted and covered in a slimy film of green goo. She pulled the hidden lever and pushed. With a creak it opened, and her eyes were affronted by bright lights.
Koa groaned and hurried inside. She pushed the door closed and set the lock on the digital keypad attached to its back.
“Glad you finally decided to join us,” Halston called.
Koa sighed and turned to face him. With clean, white walls, the sterile space reminded her of a lab or a hospital. The constant buzz of electronics hummed in the background. The sleek, white desks, and long, bare tables, were spaced apart like a study hall.
Halston’s love for technology was apparent at first glance into that room. He had flat screens everywhere and prototypes for weapons and various gadgets and devices. Everything was neat, and tucked away into its proper place, and then she saw it, locked away in its glass case.
Halston’s infinity gun.
Koa shivered as she looked at it. She loved that weapon. She almost wanted to trade in her Lyrinian sword, just to wield that shotgun one time. She’d only ever seen Halston use it a handful of times, and each time she had been appalled by its power. He refused to let her touch it.
She shifted her gaze to Halston and Galena, a female assassin from their Russian office. She gave Koa a forced smile and returned her attention to Halston. Koa felt the tension in the room. Galena looked as if she had been crying. Her dull blonde hair looked dirtier than normal, and she had suspicious cuts on her arms that she were barely hidden by a bunch of bangles.
Galena had first been seen by Al, their recruiter, and later brought into the Netherworld division by Halston. She was a charge, or ‘pet’ for hire, similar to Ian in that she sold her blood to paying customers, but Galena worked with the most notorious of them all. Now, she went undercover for the organization and sought to expose the most evil of the vampires and kill them.
Koa swallowed and silently took a seat a few feet from them. She glanced at Galena and saw that her eyes were red and swollen.
Koa didn’t like to see that. Koa looked at Halston with questions in her eyes. He gave her a look that begged her not to ask any questions.
“Right. Here’s the plan. Galena, want you to go home, clean up, and rest. Let me know if you need anything. I want you to consider this a vacation.” He looked to Koa and then held up a holograph device that showed her a small, shabby, building. “Koa, you and I will visit the Oracle.”
Galena stretched her long legs and took a long breath. “What if he finds me?”
Halston clenched his jaw. “It’s not you he wants. I will take care of it.”
Galena’s voice cracked. “I don’t know, Halston. He seemed different from the others.”
Koa tensed. Galena was frightened, which made her feel worried.
Halston sat before Galena and his face softened. Galena looked at him with fresh tears in her eyes and Koa felt a tug at her heart. Halston knelt and took her hands inside of his. Halston could be the most serious man she’d ever met, and he could also be surprisingly tender.
He spoke to Galena and Koa leaned forward to hear him. She couldn’t wait to find out what had happened to their most trusted informant.
“Listen, Galena,” Halston said. “I will not let anything happen to you. Wear the earrings I gave you and I will track your location. I have two of my best Shadows following you. They will be like body guards and they will defend you if anyone tries to hurt you again. I don’t care if they’re human, vampire or whatever, the Shadows will provide a defense for you if you need it. And if someone tries to hurt you again.” He handed her a vial.
Koa’s brows lifted. This must be serious. Vials could only be bought in the Netherworld, from the Alchemist.
“You throw this, and you run like Hell.” He gave her a pointed look. “Got it?”
Galena nodded and looked down at the black vial that Halston had placed in her hand. She curled her fingers around it and attached it to the holster underneath her skirt. She wiped her eyes but smiled. “Thank you, Halston.”
Halston nodded and wiped the tear from her cheek. “Don’t mention it.”
Galena gave a confident nod. She obviously felt better about what she now had to do and came to her feet with her head held a little higher than before. Koa watched Halston sweep his hands behind Galena and two Shadows emerged from the floor. They were translucent beings that walked in unison behind the woman.
Koa never liked Shadows. She sat back in her cold metal chair and watched them vanish. They might have vanished from their sight, but they still lingered unseen, and would follow and protect Galena. Koa shivered. She remembered when Halston had attached Shadows to her one time. She could always feel their cold, unearthly presence. Sometimes Koa would look behind her and frown, wondering if they were still there.
Galena didn’t seem to mind. She was comforted by the knowledge that they would always be with her.
Galena nodded. “I’ll be at my cottage in Greece.” Halston nodded and came to his feet. He folded his hands behind him as she gathered her bag and headed for the exit.
Galena gave Koa a look. Koa tensed at the look in the woman’s gray eyes. “Good luck out there, Koa.” Her voice lowered. “Watch your back,” she said and left the room.
Once the door was secured, Koa shot a glance at Halston. “What happened? Tell me?”
Halston sighed and leaned back against one of his computer stations. He shrugged and looked off towards the door that Galena had just went through. “We have a problem, Koa.”
Koa frowned. “Obviously.”
He gazed at her. He looked paler than usual. Koa sat on the edge of her seat. Something was definitely wrong.
“I think something is brewing. A war perhaps. Someone is letting nephilim out of the Netherworld at an alarming rate. They are gathering and mobilizing.”
Koa felt her face flush. “More Syths,” she whispered.
Halston shook his head. “Not just Syths, but the Netherworld vamps and even demons.”
Koa fell back in her chair. “Why do you think that, Halston?”
Silence.
Koa saw that Halston was holding back. She sat up. “What is it?”
Halston ran his hands through his hair, making it messy. “You remember who killed your father?”
She could feel herself shaking. She ground her teeth. “How could I forget? It took us a long time to find out who did it.”
Halston sucked in a breath. “Well, Bund has returned.”
Koa put both hands over her lips, as if in prayer. One of her deepest fears was being realized. “He is free? From the Netherworld?”
Halston’s silence answered her question. Koa whimpered and felt acid from her
stomach enter her throat. She felt fear wash over her like hot water. She covered her mouth. “No, Halston.”
Halston held his hands out to calm her down. “Did I tell you to start worrying? I have this under control.”
“Halston, he killed my father.”
Halston sighed in exasperation and turned away from her. He slumped into his chair at his computer station and began typing away. “I have a plan, Koa. Don’t I always have a plan?”
Koa nodded. Her throat felt dry. When Halston had found Koa and recruited her, it had been only weeks after her father had been killed in a Parisian alley. Koa had only been seventeen, and returned from a nightmare that she couldn’t remember, to find her father, have him killed, and find her mother had been cursed to live as a cat.