The Beloved, page 27
Out the far end, he came up to V’s glass box, and paused before he knocked. Inside, a tall young male with a shock of black hair and a lanky frame was staring over the brother’s shoulder. The two were talking about something neither of them was happy about, their identical frowns the kind of thing you might see in a movie that spanned an entire lifetime, one the boy, the other the man.
Vishous glanced over and motioned for entrance.
“Another night in paradise,” the brother said as Z came through the door.
“Always.” Z waved at Allhan who, as usual, appeared surprised that there was someone else with them. The kid always looked surprised. “What’s good, Al.”
Vishous’s protégé stammered something, then went back to looking at the four screens that were obstructed by a privacy filter. The flush that hit that lean face was another as-usual. His social anxiety was so crippling, it was a wonder he could acknowledge anyone.
“Whatta we got about the Bathe parking lot shooting? Anything?” Z asked.
V shook his head. “I sent a representative down there as soon as they opened tonight. Management said there was no footage, that the system’s ‘malfunctioning.’ ” The air quotes were mimed with a dry look. “When the human’s brain was investigated, it was a lie—big surprise. But the club hadn’t followed up with the CPD and there’s nothing in the papers or the news. I’m guessing that rear entrance sees a lot of illegal activities and they don’t want any trouble.”
“And no bodies showing up anywhere.”
“Nope. And no mention of a Mercedes full of bullet holes in the CPD impound, or at any of the major tow services. Right, Al?”
The kid stuttered a response that was in the general range of affirmative.
“Okay, good.” Z stepped in behind so he could see what was on the monitors. “Can I watch the tunnel footage from that office building?”
“You got it.” V leaned forward and tapped on one of his keyboards at lightning speed. “Here it is—Al, you can go.”
Allhan nodded like a bobblehead on the dashboard of a car, and disappeared out the glass door.
“Lessers freak him out.” V sat back as the screens changed what they were showing. “So we avoid exposing him when we can.”
“He still living with you?”
Those diamond eyes swung up and around. “Why wouldn’t he be?”
Z put his palms out. “Just making conversation.”
“Luchas House is too noisy. He doesn’t sleep well there.”
“You’re really good to take him in.”
V frowned. “He’s just staying with us. His utility here is invaluable, and without a stable environment, he’s not able to function at a high level.”
“So it’s just about work, riiiiiight.”
Those diamond eyes narrowed. “It’s just about work. Don’t complicate a critical member of the team’s efforts with sentimentality.”
Even though it wasn’t in Z’s nature to submit to anything, he put up his palms, all don’t-shoot-me. ’Cuz the shit was fucking amusing.
“I wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing.”
As the brother went back to the monitors with a determination that bordered on a temper tantrum, Z had to smile a little. But he knew better than to keep ribbing the guy, even though, as Lassiter always said, Vishous could use the exercise.
And then it was time to focus on the screens and the various images of the induction site with all those buckets.
“Infrared… a thing of beauty,” Z murmured.
“You had a great idea. Those micro-cameras are highly effective, and we got really good angles.”
“I want in that tunnel.”
“You’re getting no argument from me on that.” V sat back in his chair and stroked his goatee with his gloved hand. “But you’re gonna have to talk to Tohr about it—and it’s gonna be an uphill climb. You know how much he hates unfamiliar tunnels. Hard to control egress and ingress, no coverage, it gets him antsy—”
“We need a drone.”
V’s brows popped. Then he sported a that’s-not-actually-ridiculous expression. “Except we can’t hide that as well. Something flying around in there? The lessers are just going to use it as batting practice.”
“You’re going to get us through that combination lock somehow. And then we use a nano-drone. Just slip it in and let it go to town.”
“That’s what she said,” V muttered with distraction as he stared at the screens.
“Have our cameras picked up anything?” Z asked.
“One lesser came through, looking twitchy. He checked out the elevator, headed up the stairs. No Lash, though. No inductions. Al set up a screening program for the feeds, but went through all the footage himself anyway.” There was a lift of pride in that deep voice. “He trusts, but verifies, especially when a brother is waiting on something.”
“He’s a good kid.”
V grunted and changed the subject. “The encryption on that vault’s locking system is impressive. Haven’t seen much like it.”
Zsadist glanced out through the glass walls. Al’s desk was set away from the others, in the corner, facing the wall. As always, the kid’s dark head was lowered, his thin fingers flying over his keyboard.
“I’ll bet Al could get through it.”
Vishous immediately shook his head. “I am not putting him in that basement.”
“I’d protect him.”
“No.”
“I’d have backup.”
“No.”
“You could be there.”
“Fuck no.” Those eyes glared over. “And you can stop asking. That is never going to happen.”
Zsadist popped a brow. “But if he’s just an employment asset, what do you care. Even if he’s a good one, there will always be other boy geniuses—”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but fuck you, true? For real.”
Z gave it a minute. Then, even though he told himself that it was none of his business, and they really had no reason to get tangled in personal shit, he had to go there. Maybe because what was wrong in his own life was an echo of what V was facing while refusing to acknowledge it.
“You and Jane are going to see him through the change, aren’t you. That’s the real reason he’s with you guys after hours.”
V didn’t even look shocked at what should have been a non sequitur. Which told a guy how much the male was thinking about what was coming for Allhan.
Worrying about it.
There was a long silence. Then V put his head in his hands. “We did a blood draw on him a couple of nights ago. The transition is a freight train heading straight for him.”
“He couldn’t be in better hands. Who’re you using for a vein?”
“The Chosen Sahsa.”
Z whistled under his breath. “Can’t get much more pure than that. He’s getting his best chance.”
“He’s just an employee.” V dropped his palms and fumbled for his stack of hand-rolls. “I mean, he’s not my responsibility. He just happens to have a knack for computers, and no family.”
“Mm-hmm.”
After V lit up, the brother all but poked Zsadist in the eye with his cigarette as he emphasized, “Okay, see, this is why I don’t tutor. You go to Luchas House, because Rhage’s shellan asks you to, and no one says no to fucking Mary, and the next thing you know, you’ve got some kid sleeping down the hall from you and your mate, and you’re all like worried about his scrawny ass and the fact that he doesn’t talk about where his parents are or what happened to them—oh, and you’re not asking him about that bullshit because you want him reunited with them.” V pinwheeled with that lit tip of his. “Nooooo, you’re asking because you’re terrified that they’ll show up and it won’t be like Ruhn and Bitty and Rhage and Mary, no, you’re shitting yourself because what if the parents take him home—wherever the fuck that might be—and if that happens, you’re going to have to pick your shellan up off the ground because she’ll be fucking heartbroken, over something you told her you two shouldn’t do in the first place.”
The last part was said with emphasis on every syllable, that hand-rolled going aerobic with the jabs. And then V kept going.
“My Jane is going to get fucked in the head if that kid leaves us, or dies during his transition, or”—furious eyes pegged Z in the face—“some asshole like you gets a bright idea about taking him out into the field. Which is never happening, got it? I’ll try that lock a thousand times over before I let him get slaughtered in that fucking nasty-ass basement full of lesser blood.”
The brother paused for a deep breath, then took a drag that was so long and deep, it was a wonder smoke didn’t start coming out of his ass.
“And fuck you, Z, with your perfect family, okay. Just because it worked out for you, doesn’t mean anybody else is going to be so lucky with their young. Not that he’s mine. Fuck.”
Zsadist glanced over his shoulder again at Allhan. Then he sat down in the vacant chair next to the desk. “Nalla isn’t speaking to me, I think she’s moved out of our house, and she’s dating Nate.”
Cue the whiplash.
Then V leaned forward. “Say… what?”
“Don’t make me repeat it. You heard the shit right the first time, and it was hard enough to get through once.”
“Jesus.”
“My point is, don’t romanticize anybody else. And I get how much it drives you crazy when you think something is wrong with them or about to happen to them. Or when they seem farther away than the Old Country when they’re still physically in the same zip code as you.”
“Nate?”
“Kill me now.”
Vishous sat back in his chair. Then picked up the little porcelain dish of fresh hand-rolls and extended it forward.
“No, thanks.”
“You sure?” The brother put the thing back. “It’s easier than homicide and at least vampires don’t get cancer.”
Zsadist rubbed his tired eyes. “I haven’t slept for two days, and no matter how much I run the conversation through in my head, I’m not coming up with any great ways to patch things up. I still think that male is a total loser, and she is always going to believe that I hate everyone she’s going to be with.”
“Well… don’t you?”
“Of course I hate them. But she doesn’t need to know that.”
V tapped his cig over his ashtray. “It is entirely possible, my brother, that you overplayed your hand with protecting her against males.”
“Yeah, if that was your daughter, would you want her to date someone like us?”
“Fuck no.”
Z motioned a there-ya-go. “And here’s the only thing I’ve learned about being a parent: It’s too late for us.”
“Well, that’s encouraging,” came the dry response. “Please tell me more.”
“The instant they come into your life, whether they’re born to you, or adopted by you, or somehow their paths cross yours, it’s too late. No going back. A piece of your fucking heart is out in the world running into things, getting run over, falling off heights, getting sick, falling in love with the wrong person. And you can’t stop them from living. So I guess you just have to suck it up, I don’t know. I really don’t.”
Vishous stared off into space. “Can I ask you something? While we’re talking about this subject—which, P.S., we will never talk about again. Ever.”
“Hit me.” Shit knew he couldn’t feel worse.
“Was it true that you threatened to castrate Bronwyn the Younger’s kid at the Winter Festival eight years ago because he was going to ask Nalla to dance.”
Z ground his molars. “Absolutely not.” When V cocked a brow, he shook his head. “No.”
Silence. Except for smoking.
But fuck knew that raised eyebrow was talking at him.
“I was just going to break his leg, okay?” Z went all hello? “Broken bones heal. It’s not like slicing off a nut sac.”
“Oh, yeah.” V leveled a stare. “Totally different.”
“It is! That other shit is permanent.”
Vishous’s eyes narrowed. Then he glanced pointedly at his own crotch. “No, really. Tell me more.”
Crossing his arms over his chest, Zsadist looked away. “Sorry.”
“Why did you come here again?”
“I have no idea.” Something about work. But who the fuck cared. “Anyway, I hope Al makes it through the change. I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose… whatever. I shouldn’t have brought up the subject.”
After a moment, V stabbed his cigarette out. “And I hope you and Nalla work your shit out. You love her so much. She’s gotta know that.”
“I hope so. I’ve made mistakes, but I’ve done my best.” Z laughed a little. “Look at us. Who’da thought you and me would ever be talking about our kids, huh.”
“Allhan is not my young.”
As Z shot the brother a little brow action of his own, V rolled his eyes. “Fuck.”
“That just about covers it.”
“Yeah.” There was another stretch of silence. “But Nate really is an asshole. No daughter of mine would be allowed to date something like that, true?”
Zsadist nodded gravely. “True. Too bad I can’t kill the motherfucker. Just my luck, the one male on the planet I can’t put in a grave also happens to be the off-the-chain idiot she falls for.” He wiped away his words with his dagger hand. “Not that I would do that.”
“Of course you wouldn’t. Nah. Not at all.”
Zsadist frowned and lowered his voice. “I’ll tell you this, though. If he breaks her heart? I will find a way to destroy him. I don’t care what it takes.”
Vishous stared across his desk. Then he nodded. “And the rest of us’ll help you. She’s our baby girl, too.”
Z inclined his head once, and almost felt sorry for the cocky sonofabitch. Almost.
It was good to have ride-or-die brothers, wasn’t it.
They came in handy in all kinds of situations.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
All Nalla had to do was follow the signal of her own blood in Nate. And as she flew in a scatter of molecules through the night, she was aware of a tingling anticipation that threatened to make her lose her concentration and go solid in mid-flight. Which was not the kind of outcome she was looking for, so she battled back the sexual charge and kept herself going.
When she sensed that he had landed, she re-formed in front of a…
Okay, so where he lived was no castle. She hadn’t expected it to be. But she was a little surprised at how run-down the log cabin was. The one-room hunter’s crib looked like a stiff wind could knock it into pick-up-sticks condition, and as she checked out the barn off to the side, she wondered why he didn’t live in the other structure. At least that seemed to be a little sturdier.
“This way,” he murmured as he held out his hand.
Oh, who the hell cared about real estate anyway?
Taking what he offered, she practically floated over the snow as he drew her under the shallow entry and opened things up.
It was just as cold inside as outside, but as he spun her around and drew her against his body, like she needed any extra heat? She could have been in an ice pack and felt just frickin’ fine.
“I’m about to fucking lose it,” he growled before he kissed her.
The feel of his lips against hers was an explosion of raw sexual sensation, and she was no more gentle than he was as she grabbed on to his shoulders and dragged him to her. As her breasts rubbed against his chest, she curved into him, and felt the hard length at the front of his hips. And when his tongue entered her, all she could think of was what he’d done with it before—where it had been on her, how it had felt to be licked by him on her nipples.
What else he’d been looking to lick up.
As she moaned and didn’t have to hide the sound, he started walking her backwards. She hadn’t had much impression of the cabin’s interior as they’d come inside—she hadn’t seen a bed, but like she cared? He could fuck her on the bare floor if he wanted to.
Or maybe… standing up, her backed into a corner, her legs around his waist—
Nate broke the seal of their mouths, and leaned to the side. To a keypad of some kind.
There was a series of soft beeps, and then a mechanical shifting.
Light pooled in the floor, illuminating a set of stairs that went down into the earth. And they were nice stairs, carpeted in a neutral, with a handrail.
“After you,” he said.
Nalla took the descent slowly, not because she was worried at all about what she was going to find, but because she wanted to savor the experience of seeing his personal space for the first time.
And now, she wasn’t disappointed.
It was just an open area, like the cabin above, but his sleeping quarters were clean and warm, and they smelled like fabric softener, as if he’d recently put something through the stackable washer and dryer set up in the corner. The bed was on the far wall, and though it didn’t have a head- or footboard, it was perfectly made up, with white sheets and a cream comforter and an extra roll of something soft and blue at the base.
For a kitchen, there was a small stretch of countertop with a hot plate next to an inset bar sink and a little dorm refrigerator with a microwave on top. A short stack of bookshelves was where he kept his food and the single plate, glass, and set of steel utensils—and the safe beside it, which was the largest thing in the place outside of the bed, had to be where he stowed his weapons.
As a whirring registered overhead, she glanced up. The panel that had rolled back was easing into place once more, locking them in. Safe.
Locking the world out. Entirely.
“The bathroom’s through there,” he said as he pointed to a closed door. “ ’Scuse my clothes.”
