“I want you to take care of him. He’s not cooperating, and I’ve given him plenty of time to change his mind.” It was a commanding voice, smooth and controlled.
“Don’t you think someone’s going to make a connection?” the second guy asked. “Maybe we should space it apart like the others. Two human club owners in one week—if the higher authority gets wind of it, they’re going to hire someone to investigate.”
“I don’t give a damn,” the first man replied. “It’ll send a message to these humans that I mean business. They can either pay for my protection or risk one of the local gangs torching their club.”
The second guy chortled. “Yeah, but we’re the gang. The new ones always want proof or else they think it’s just a rumor. Why don’t we have a couple of guys go in, rough up the patrons, make threats, and vandalize the place to make it look real?”
“Because we’re dealing with humans, and humans like to involve the police. You’ll end up with witnesses who will ID my men, and that’s too much cleanup. Let me worry about the details. You just do as you’re told.”
“You got it, Darius.”
“Make it clean. No witnesses, no fingerprints, no surveillance cameras. Torch the place.”
“Whatever you say, boss. I need to go pick up some gasoline, but it’ll be done by morning.”
I heard a long, drawn-out sigh before Darius spoke. “They have no right to be here.”
Hinges on the door squeaked, and then it grew quiet. What the hell were these guys doing, messing around with humans?
Footsteps strolled in my direction, and then I heard the sound of unzipping in the stall to my right. The door hadn’t opened again, so I presumed one of the men stayed behind to drain his pipe.
I stayed absolutely silent.
Until my stomach growled like a mountain lion.
I grimaced, hoping he hadn’t heard. But when the stream of urine abruptly stopped, I had only seconds to prepare.
His footsteps retreated, and my door kicked in with a crash.
I smirked at a man with a bad comb-over. “You’re not all that scary.”
Before he could open his mouth, I dove forward and slammed into him. The force of my attack caused him to stumble backward into the sink. He gripped my shoulders and threw a blast of energy into me.
I fell onto my back, energized. Mage energy only worked as a weapon against other Breeds, but throwing your energy into another Mage only juiced them up.
“Ah, shit,” he said, realizing his folly. “You’re supposed to flare in a public place, Mage.”
“Don’t you think that’s an archaic tradition? Seems like I’m not the only one in here who forgot to flare and make their presence known.”
The pungent smell of bathroom soap hung heavy in the air as I rose to my feet to face this idiot. He looked like an out-of-shape mobster in a cheap black suit.
The Mage chewed on his bottom lip as if he couldn’t decide what to do with me. We were in a human club, and that complicated matters. There wasn’t much of a crowd, but I’m sure in that walnut head of his he was wondering if someone might be able to ID him if he left a corpse in the bathroom. Breed didn’t get involved with human law enforcement, and if he got arrested and his boss found out, he might leave him to rot in a human jail for the next twenty years before breaking him out.
With my shoulders squared, I stood with my weight forward, prepared to fight. “I don’t care about you or your boss, but you’re talking about killing humans, and that’s where it gets personal.”
He snorted. “You’re not even human. What the hell do you care what happens to these termites?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I used to be one? Their lives are short enough; what gives you the right to take it away?”
He smoothed back his stringy hair. “Immortality gives me the right. They’re nothing but parasites, destroying the planet and getting all the power. You’re obviously not old enough to appreciate how insulting it is to live like a cockroach beneath a weaker species.”
“Do you really want to start a war with a species that outnumbers us by the billions? We still haven’t won the war against fire ants.”
The door swung open and we both looked up as two girls breezed in with a jaunty step.
“Get out,” the Mage said. “I’m about to fuck my woman.”
Their eyes swung over to me in surprise.
I shrugged. “Don’t worry, we won’t be long. He never lasts for more than forty-five seconds.”
“Ugh,” one of them groaned as they turned to leave. “Let’s go check out that other place up the street.”
“You didn’t have to say that,” he growled.
Was this guy serious? “Didn’t mean to deflate your ego. I was just under the impression that you didn’t sleep with the parasites you were plotting to exterminate. But maybe you like sleeping with bedbugs.”
I should have moved sooner and put my back against a wall, but faster than a heartbeat, he flashed behind me and shoved me against the sink.