CHAPTER 14
Ferro watched Mia in the parking lot beneath the sodium lights. Judging by her anxious pacing, he suspected the conversation had not gone well with her brother. He still couldn’t believe Kade fell for a target, after everything he’d been through with his father. And a Castanega, no less.
Mia lowered her hand, her face full of tension, and slowly walked into the building. He waited for her knock.
“Come.”
She shored her shoulders as she came in, brimming with confidence. “My brother isn’t romantically involved with the target.”
“And you know this how?”
“He told me. I believe him, considering how much he disdains the Fringers, especially that family. Sir, my brother hasn’t been emotionally involved with any woman for as long as I’ve known him. He told me that being a Vega means sacrificing long-term relationships. He asked me to tell you that he’s undercover, working on something big. He’ll report to you when he can.”
Ferro nodded, putting on the same kind of mask she was. “Very well. Thank you, Kavanaugh. If you hear anything else, you’ll let me know?”
“Of course.”
“You may go now.”
Relief crossed her features. “Thank you, sir.” She spun on her heel and left.
He picked up his phone and scrolled down the list of Vegas. His finger pressed on a name he knew well. “It’s Ferro,” he said, though he was sure his name appeared on the screen. “Report to me immediately.”
“On my way.”
Vegas were always on call.
Ferro pulled the map from the drawer where he now kept it out of sight. If the Castanega woman hadn’t seen this, things might have gone differently. If she hadn’t busted into his office like a crazed animal. Dispatching her was no big deal.
He now had marked the map rather than using the pins. There should be enough deaths to start the clans fighting. Why was it taking so long for them to retaliate in a bigger way? Not just a revenge kill here or there but full-out war?
Ferro felt the presence of his sire. What was he doing, coming here to his workplace? Ferro knelt as the Dragon god materialized in the usual way, opening a window to Ferro’s dimension. Drakos was all Dragon, truly every bit the beast. His scales were the darkest of dark, his head as large as Ferro’s desk. Whiskers trailed from his lips, and fangs speared down below his chin.
“Sire,” Ferro said.
“Stand. I grow weaker by the day and need your reassurance that things are progressing on schedule.”
The gods didn’t reveal their secrets or their weaknesses, but Drakos had come to him in confidence. He was dying.
Ferro stood. “They are, my sire. I have Breathed a Dragon nearly every day these past three months. Some strong, some weak, but I’m gathering power all the same. My dear Onyx is gaining power as well, and when the war in the Fringe erupts, we’ll swoop in and take the most powerful. That should be enough to sustain you. I have, however, encountered a small complication—”
“Complication?” The word was like a gavel pounding on the table.
“Nothing worrisome. I am in the process of remedying it now.”
Ferro had enjoyed the rare relationship he had with his sire. Most of the gods who’d created progeny disdained them. Crescents were, after all, an inferior mix of human and god. Drakos had been one of those gods, too, back in the days of Lucifera.
“We don’t have much time,” Drakos said. “The death of a god is like that of a star. We flicker for some time, and then…poof.”
His chest tightened at the thought. “We’ll be ready.”
Drakos smiled, though it was weak. “I am putting my life in your hands.”
“We are your honored servants. We will be ready to Breathe our accumulated power into you. You’re certain this will work?”
“Very. Just as I am certain about your reward.”
True immortality. Crescents lived long lives, but they weren’t immune to death and injury. Unless they had the help of a god. It was a secret Ferro kept with great pride.
Drakos started to say something else, but he flickered and disappeared. Ferro held back the fearful call of Drako’s name. No, he wouldn’t believe the god was dead, not when they were so close.
A knock on his door jarred him from his thoughts. “Come.”
Dune walked in, his muscular body holding the posture of a soldier reporting for duty. “You have need of me, sir?”
“I do. I have a matter of a sensitive nature. When I tell you about it, you’ll understand why I chose you.”
His chest puffed. “I appreciate your confidence, sir.”
Dune was an overachiever who enjoyed his job a little too much. As he’d never overstepped his bounds, that was fine with Ferro.
He came around his desk. “Yesterday I sent Kavanaugh on a kill mission. He was to take out the woman who came here demanding we investigate her brother’s death.”
“The Fringer that Kavanaugh allowed to walk into your office? If I’d been closer—”
“Never mind that. It appears that he cannot complete his mission. That, in fact, he is refusing to. As you know, insubordination cannot be tolerated in the Guard.”
Behind the swirling mist, Dune’s eyes were as dark as his skin. He already understood. “Of course not.”
“Kavanaugh has apparently reverted to his wild days. That in itself would only be grounds for firing. However, I believe he has allied with the target, and that makes him dangerous. I know there is no love lost between you two, so you will not falter in eliminating both him and Violet Castanega. And anyone else who might become involved in the altercation.”
Dune’s mouth cracked into a grin that revealed his white teeth. “Consider it done.” Before he closed the door behind him, he said, “I’ll report as soon as I’m finished.”
Ferro allowed himself to feel a moment’s regret at wiping out one of his better Vegas. Even in his undisciplined days, Kavanaugh was skilled and efficient.
Ferro pushed aside his regrets and called Onyx. “How are you feeling?”
“Better.” Her voice, though, sounded frail. “I should be ready to continue today.”
“Take time to heal. I’ve sent another Vega to eliminate the problem. It’s best if you regain your strength today. Then, tomorrow, you’ll be ready.”
“We’re running out of time. The full effect of the solar storm hits us tomorrow. We’ve got to have enough power by then.”
Ferro felt the urgency as much as she did. “We are very close, my dear. Perhaps close enough. But no, we’ll not take any chances. For my hunt, I have a lead on an old Dragon who’s hiding out in a church. Acting as a priest, after two hundred years of preying on the innocent. Preying, and now praying.” He allowed himself a laugh.
“Be careful.”
He heard the old fear in her voice, the one that paralyzed her in her weak moments. She had lost so much in her life. He was all she had now. It was a position he rather liked, just as he liked the way she looked up at him as though he were a god.
“I’ll be fine. I’ve been hunting right along with you. No one has defeated me yet.”
Her laughter was tremulous. “And soon…soon no one will defeat us.”
“Tomorrow we step things up. So far our actions haven’t incited the war. Curious, considering the brutal nature of the Fringers.”
“I think it’s Violet. So far she’s kept her own family from acting on Arlo’s murder. I saw her going to the Augusts after I took out Butch. She also met with the head of the Peregrine clan. She must be persuasive, desperate to keep peace. I know how to push them over the edge. I need to kill a child, an innocent. Fringers hate when the children are targeted. Then things should finally heat up.”
They’d left the blindfold off. That was the good thing. The only good thing. Kade tried to summon his magick, flexing his fingers until they cramped. No deal. He figured they had some Lucifer’s Gold in the cuffs, but knowing that didn’t help.
In the distance, he heard the sounds of people calling out to each other, engines starting. Business as usual. But he could see no one. Jessup had threatened to watch him, but if he was, he was well hidden.
There were plenty of places to hide, but here Kade was, in full sight of the Vega sent to kill him. He struggled again to free himself. Maybe Violet’s brothers would be able to protect her. Maybe not. Idiots thought just because they could swing through the trees that they were invincible. If Kade weren’t distracted, weren’t caught up in dealing with Mia or emotions that were tying him in knots, no one would have caught him off guard.
“Violet, if you’re out there, talk to me. Someone’s going to come kill me. Then he’s going to go after you. Maybe you can live with me dying in a defenseless position, but think about yourself, your people.”
Nothing. He’d seen her break, just a little, when she stood in front of him. Then doubt clouded her face. She’d walked away, leaving him to die. F*cking irony. The real irony was how her distrust cut into him. Her turning away hurt him in a way no woman had before.
He heard the footsteps first. The crackle of pine needles beneath a boot. Kade zeroed in on the sound, staring into the woods. Waiting like a lame duck. Hell.
He saw the tall figure, nearly camouflaged by the tight-knit pines. Then the distinct shape of a man, tall, dark, with broad shoulders.
Double hell. Dune. Yeah, Ferro wanted Kade out. Permanently.
Dune checked the surroundings as he advanced, but mostly his eyes were on Kade. He wore the smile of a man about to cut into an aged filet mignon. That smile widened as he approached, taking in Kade’s predicament.
“Kavanaugh,” Dune said in what might have passed as a greeting in any other situation.
“Dune.”
“Ferro thinks you’ve gone rogue over a woman.” He surveyed the situation. “Looks like you’re into some kinky stuff.”
Kade forced a laugh. “Not hardly. I was ambushed. If you’ll cut me down—”
“Why haven’t you Changed? Used your magick to cut yourself free?” Dune reached out to touch the cuffs, then drew his fingers back as though he’d been burned. “Lucifer’s Gold. Interesting that Fringers would have such a thing. I’ll have to take these with me.” Dune stepped back and jerked his arm. It took Kade a second to realize he was slamming his fist into Kade’s stomach.
Kade couldn’t physically double over, but he coughed and sucked in a breath. “What the hell was that for?” he managed.
“Where should I start? Being a hotheaded a*shole who skipped past me up the ranks because of his daddy, even as he broke all the rules.” Dune hit him again, but this time Kade was ready and tightened his stomach muscles. It still hurt but didn’t take his breath away.
“Wasn’t it enough that I got demoted?” Dune had sure rubbed it in enough.
“No, it wasn’t. But you know what was enough? Being the one who terminated your daddy.”
Rage burned through Kade, but he gritted his teeth and swallowed it back. “You were only following orders.” The hardest words he’d ever had to utter, and yet, that was a Vega’s job. Didn’t matter who it was.
Now the target was Kade.
All these years, Dune had never once hinted that he’d been the one to take out his father and the prisoner. It carved him into pieces, but Kade held it in. Dune was playing with him first. Kade was not going to play back.
“Some jobs I enjoy a lot more than others.” Dune grinned, the smug smile Kade hated. “Like that one. And this one. I like taking down the high and mighty.” He took in Kade again, his derisive gaze sweeping over him, and laughed. “Well, the once high and mighty. This is almost too easy.”
Kade knew better than to appeal to Dune. He’d been given an opportunity to wipe Kade, and he wasn’t going to be talked out of it. It was no use appealing for Violet’s life either, not when she was the original target.
“You can hate me all you want,” Kade said, “but you have to admit I’m good. Look what Violet and her clan did to me despite my skills. They’re tough and clever and fast. And there are a lot more of them than you. They’ll flatten you.”
Dune summoned his dagger from his arm, running his long fingers along the edge. Sparks of blue arced between them, reflecting off the blade. “Thank you for the warning. If that’s what it was. I can manage. See, I’m not distracted. I saw the way you were looking at the Castanega girl at Headquarters. I hope you enjoyed your piece of trashy Fringe ass, since you threw your life away to get it. Just like your father.”
Kade fought back the words that wanted to charge out. Don’t let him get to you.
Dune lifted the blade and held it inches from Kade’s face. He drew it down, making the magick crackle from it. Every shard cut and burned across his skin like tiny razor blades. Dune paused at the waistline of his pants. “Is it a genetic thing? Are you Kavanaughs just stupid for women? Maybe I should have a taste of her, see what it is that’s got you upside down. Before I wipe her.”
“Bastard. Leave her out of this. She doesn’t deserve to be a target. Ferro’s got an agenda, and Violet was smart enough to figure it out. I stopped being a Guard pawn and started thinking for myself. Wanna give it a try?”
Dune chuckled. “And end up where you are? I don’t think so. No, I’m going to do my job and report in, get my nice, fat paycheck, and move on to the next assignment. The girl, I won’t think twice about. You…I’ll have fond memories of you for a long time.”