Chapter 1 #2
The moment we reached the highest floor and the doors opened, it was as if someone placed a dozen bricks on my shoulders, clawing at every last bit of energy I had.
“Whoa!” Mykel and his guards grabbed me, my legs caving underneath me, bile burning up my throat. “Brexley?”
All I wanted to do was close my eyes and sleep. Each step felt like I was pouring lead into my muscles.
“I’m okay.” I forced my legs to support me, my hand clutching the rail in the elevator, trying to stop the spinning in my head. “Must still be from the chloroform.”
Mykel held out his arm. “Let me help you.”
“No.” He may have been my uncle, but I didn’t know him, and I learned from the man who had been my guardian for years to never show weakness. And don’t trust anyone.
“I’m fine.” I cleared my throat and rolled my shoulders back. “Got a little dizzy.”
I wanted to vomit. I wanted to cry. I really wanted to sleep. Instead, I lifted my chin and walked out of the elevator, trying to fight against the notion I was going to pass out.
What the hell was going on?
It was palpable, as if hundreds of mouths were latching on to me, chewing and nibbling, sucking the energy from my skin. Stubbornly I rammed against it, not willing to be fragile in front of anyone.
Mykel escorted me into his office, which was basic with a desk and three chairs.
It had no cupboards or cabinets to keep files that I could see.
Again, a place he could leave if found and not worry about the enemy finding anything worth the effort.
I didn’t doubt every secret plan or document he had was somewhere in a portable briefcase or something he could grab and run with.
“Please.” Mykel motioned to the chair opposite his desk. “Have a seat.” His attention went to one of his guards. “Please have Oskar bring in tea and something to eat for Brexley.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m fine.” It was an automatic response. I collapsed onto the seat, my legs shaking.
Mykel ignored me, flicking his head for his guards to leave and do his bidding. Once they closed the door, he sat in his chair, gazing at me for several moments, sadness flickering in his eyes.
“You look so much like him.” He shook his head. “But you have your mother’s eye color and her beauty.” Mykel’s eyes were the same warm honey-brown as my father’s.
“You knew my mother?” I had my father’s almond-shaped eyes from his Russian roots, but the color of my irises, the pigment of night, so dark you almost couldn’t see my pupils, were hers.
“Only in a picture your father carried.”
My father had one worn and blurry picture of my mother, always keeping it in his pocket next to his heart.
I used to stare at it for hours, trying to see if I could find anything I had in common with her.
But it was too worn and faraway to pick up any real details.
I really had no clear image of what my mother looked like.
My father would share only vague descriptions.
It seemed she was elusive to even my father’s closest friends and family.
“Well, seeing you was like a stab in my gut,” my mouth said before I could think about it. Exhaustion did that to me.
Mykel flinched, his head dipping. “I can imagine.”
Sucking in all the strength I could, I leaned forward in my seat.
“I know you didn’t kidnap me because you thought after five years of my father being dead, this was a good time to start playing uncle to an orphan.” I clapped my hands on my lap. “So, let’s cut the bullshit and get to the real reason I’m here and how you want to use me.”
“Use you?”
“Everyone has so far.” I tilted my head. “I’m not going to believe you are any different. You said so earlier.”
He leaned back in his chair, an amused expression in his eyes, a smile twitching under his beard. “Blunt and to the point.” He dipped his head.
“We don’t have the luxury in this country to be anything else.”
Mykel’s eyebrows danced up his forehead, his head bobbing.
“Definitely your father’s daughter.” He tapped his lips. “Benet always wanted to cut the bullshit, act instead of talk. It’s a Kovacs trait, but I’ve had to learn to curb my impulses. I would not have gotten this far if I hadn’t taken time to research my enemy and plan for every outcome.”
That was why Andris and my father worked well together. One was the planner, the other ready to put those plans in action.
“Are you studying me then?” I challenged.
“As you are me.” He laid his wrists down on the armrests. “Like you said, I didn’t take you because I was ready to raise a full-grown child now.”
“Why not? I’m potty trained and everything.”
Mykel smirked. “Sarcasm. Not a Kovacs trait.”
He was right. My father was kind and strong, but he didn’t really have a sense of humor. He was serious and guarded most of the time. Maybe because of his job, losing my mother, or because of me, but he didn’t laugh or tease a lot.
“Get to the point, Mykel.”
“You may call me that only in private.” He sat up with a snap. “Otherwise, I am Kaptain.”
I understood. His name, if leaked or overheard outside the barracks, could end everything.
Just like Andris.
“After the explosion at Halálház, I lost your whereabouts. Kek was sure you survived, but it took me a while to locate you. Track you. I thought when you got back to HDF, it was over. You were home. But I should have known better. You disappeared again, but then out of the blue, you popped up on my radar at a place I wasn’t expecting. It gave me hope for you.”
I kept my expression blank, not wanting to give him anything until he said it first. I had no idea who I could trust inside or outside these walls.
“Sarkis’s army.” His fingers drummed against the metal of the chair. “Your father’s best friend, who faked his own death to live with his fae lover, then became a revolutionist himself.”
I sat still, saying nothing. If it came down to my “uncles,” I had no doubt who I’d pick.
“Cautious.” He nodded. “That’s a good quality.”
Silence.
“We might share the same blood, but it doesn’t mean I trust you either.” He sat up. “I know about your stay with the fae leader, Killian.”
Heat rushed up my neck, and I had to force myself to not react in any way.
“You grew up in HDF, survived Halálház, been inside Killian’s palace.”
“How do any of those things help you here in Prague?”
His gaze met mine.
“If we hurt Budapest, Prague suffers as well. Our city benefits from many imports from you guys, both fae and human. Weapons, fae drugs, human trafficking.”
“I doubt my knowledge will bring them down.”
“Look at the big picture. Start to cut off the hand that feeds them, and you weaken their hold. Make them desperate. We chip away at their power while we work on the real plan.”
“And that is?”
A knock rapped on the door, and an older man with gray hair stepped into the room with a tray.
“Tea, Kaptain?” The man set down the tray with a chlebí?ky, an open-faced mini sandwich, a few cookies, and a teakettle.
“Thank you, Oskar.” He nodded at the man, watching him leave quickly.
Mykel’s hand motioned at the food. “Please eat. You need your energy.”
Refusing would only hurt me. I was almost sliding out of my chair; my body was barely able to move.
Picking up a cookie, I shoved it into my mouth.
The treat was dry and bland compared to the ones I ate at HDF, but the sugar tasted good on my tongue.
I devoured another two before I turned my attention to Mykel.
“What is the real plan?”
The door opened again, and Kek stepped in.
“Kaptain?”
“Kek, take Brexley—”
“X,” I replied, taking Birdie’s nickname for me. I didn’t want my name being used either.
“X.” Mykel dipped his head, repeating it. “Take her to the bunkers. She needs to rest. Room 418 is now vacant.”
“Across from mine.” Kek lifted a blue eyebrow. “What fun.”
I was being dismissed.
Rising from the chair, I grabbed the sandwich, staring at my newly found uncle.
“I gather you aren’t going to tell me the plan,” I said.
“You haven’t earned that yet. The person who attacked me in the elevator was my right-hand man. I don’t have the luxury of trusting anyone, including my own niece. Especially because you were under Istvan’s thumb for so long.”
I could understand and respect that.
Heading for the door, his voice paused me just as I stepped out.
“When the time comes, you will understand your role here.” He stared intently at me, flicking his chin at Kek. “Welcome to Povstat. Do not disappoint me.”
With that, Kek shut the door, leaving me hoping the same thing about him.
The cookies and sandwich must have helped my blood sugar because as Kek and I descended into the belly of the base, I started to feel better. The weight and clawing sensation ebbed slightly, letting me breathe fully and walk on stable legs.
When we reached the bottom level, the demon exited the elevator, strolling down the corridor without a glance back.
“Come on, little lamb. Keep up,” she purred.
This time I could feel the power in her, the seduction and command of a demon.
Imprisoned fae were blocked from their power in Halálház, so they couldn’t use their “gifts” to escape or kill guards.
Humans still weren’t on even ground, and even without their powers, demons had full command and dominance over us.
My gut instinct was to be wary of why a demon helped me when my own human colleagues wanted to destroy me, but after a few weeks, I started to believe she did like me.
I should have trusted my gut.
“Now you are cautious of me?” Her pale navy-blue eyes peered at me from over her shoulder. The color indicated she was powerful, but not the most dominant of demons. Didn’t matter if they were blue, red, yellow, or chartreuse, she was still stronger than me.
“I’ve always been cautious of you.” I stepped out of the elevator, my tone firm. “Now I see I had a reason to be.”
Her bow lips pressed together, her head swinging back. For as petite as she was, she covered ground quickly, rushing after me to keep up.