Chapter Twenty-Two – Wren
Chapter Twenty-Two
Wren
I stand at my workstation in the underground laboratory, staring at the ingredients spread before me. It’s early, but I couldn’t sleep, and since Dale is undead and was waiting for me in the hotel lobby anyway, I figured… why not?
My mind won’t stop circling back to Zeth and what happened at the party, remembering how he shut down the moment he saw Olivia Kyzer.
Every time my thoughts drift there, I force them away.
The last thing I want is for him to know I’m becoming obsessed with this issue and can’t stop thinking about the woman who traumatized him.
He’s inside me right now, merged with my body, and my constant thoughts about Viktor’s wife must be disturbing him.
I focus on the five ornate boxes sitting on the counter instead.
Each one is made of ebony wood decorated with gold filigree, and inside each box is dark velvet cradling a single phoenix feather.
The feathers glow like they’re made of fire, casting warm orange light on the surface around them.
I trace the edge of one box with my finger, appreciating that Viktor Kyzer knows how precious these feathers are and made special boxes for them.
I hate that I have to use them to make drugs, though. It is what it is.
The door to the lab bangs open so suddenly that I jump and press my hand to my heart.
Roman strides in carrying a laptop and a stack of papers under his arm. He’s practically vibrating with energy, cocky and excited, like he has it all figured out and this is finally his moment.
“Good morning, partner!” he says cheerfully.
“Partner?”
He doesn’t answer, just walks straight past me toward the bedroom.
I follow him, confused, and stop in the threshold.
My eyes widen. The room has been cleaned out overnight.
The bed and dresser are gone, replaced by a long table with chairs arranged around it.
It’s been turned into a sort of conference room.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Roman sets down his laptop and papers.
“My father has decided that this new Flame operation is of utmost importance and top secret. I’m to work from here now, so I can keep an eye on you and also make sure no information about the Flame escapes these walls.”
I blink at him. He’s going to work in here? With me? I never saw this coming. The bedroom was never my personal space, just a place to sleep when they locked me in, but I would’ve never guessed their next move would be this.
“But what about the cameras?” I ask.
Roman laughs. “What cameras?”
I frown and look at the ceiling where I know the cameras are positioned. There’s not even one in sight. I turn and walk back into the lab, scanning the corners and ceiling. They’re all gone. Every single camera has been removed.
Roman walks past me and pinches my ass like the idiot that he is.
I sneer at him, but he ignores my reaction.
“Top secret!” he says.
I groan and pinch the bridge of my nose. Roman is already giving me a headache, and the workday hasn’t even started yet. How am I supposed to work when he’s here? He’s driving me crazy.
He looks over my workstation with fake interest.
“Have you started yet? What are you waiting for? Chop-chop.”
I blink at him slowly, staring like he’s the bloody eighth wonder of the world.
“Where’s the Crimson? I thought your father wanted me to turn it into Flame.”
“Change of plans,” Roman says. “The old man decided to sell all that since it was right there and all. You can cook more, right? And turn it into Flame.”
I can’t hide my exasperation.
“What was the point of that? Why sell the Crimson for its regular price when he could’ve waited a few more days and introduced the new drug to the market?”
Roman wags his finger at me.
“Nope, that’s a no-no. You are not to criticize my father’s business decisions. Now, where were we? Ah, right. Chop-chop.” He claps his hands at me.
The gesture positively infuriates me, but Zeth sends a rush of calm through my body before I can snap at Roman. I force a smile and reach for my apron and gloves.
But inside, I’m seething. I’m not criticizing Viktor’s decisions.
I’m upset because the Crimson I cooked is now out there on the streets, causing harm.
I’d hoped that if I introduced him to the Flame, he’d let me work with what I’d already cooked, and that would delay the drug hitting the streets.
By the time the batches of Flame were ready, maybe I’d have something substantive to take the organization down.
Now that plan is out the window, not that it was a plan at all, more like a stray shred of hope.
“You couldn’t have known what he would do,” Zeth says in my head.
“This job sucks,” I tell him. “I love it, but it sucks. It comes with a lot of guilt and very little reward.”
“Not to mention the danger,” Zeth adds.
I focus on my work, pulling on my gloves and reaching for the basilisk venom, but the peace doesn’t last. It’s not even ten minutes later when the door to the lab bangs open again.
Lucien and Cesar stroll in, each carrying a laptop and more papers. I cock an eyebrow and observe what’s about to unfold, because I can feel the tension in the room, and I know it’s going to be good. I’m munching on imaginary popcorn.
Roman loses his shit immediately.
“What are you doing here? Get the fuck out. This is my operation. Dad put me in charge of it.”
“Dad changed his mind,” Lucien says, unbothered.
“He does that a lot, doesn’t he,” Cesar adds. “He can’t be trusted.” As he says that, he winks at me and slips into the office.
I blink, confused by the wink. Is he threatening me somehow? Warning me? But why would he?
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask Zeth.
“A den of vipers,” he growls.
“To put it plainly, Romy,” Lucien continues, “Dad doesn’t believe you can see this through, so he sent us to help.
Don’t worry, we’re not here to steal your precious chemist. We won’t bother her, you have my word.
But everything that needs to be discussed about the Flame has to stay in here, so come, join us. Let’s get started.”
Roman is fuming, his face red with rage. As he stomps toward the office to join his brothers, he yells:
“I am in charge of the logistics and distribution. I’m in charge of everything. This is my thing, and you better not mess it up.”
He shuts the door behind him hard, and their voices become muffled.
I stand there frozen, unable to believe what’s happening. The three Kyzer sons are cooped up in here with me. They’ve brought their laptops with them, and documents that could contain exactly what the FBI needs. And the cameras have been removed.
“What the hell?” I say to Zeth. “Do they want to be caught?”
Zeth laughs. “No, they have no idea. They think you’re for real.”
“They’re serving this to me on a silver platter.”
He turns serious, then. “Maybe, but we have to be careful.”
I start putting the ingredients together for the first batch of Crimson, measuring out the base chemical compounds.
“You’re right. I’ll keep my head down, pretend like I don’t care about what they’re doing in there. Logistics are boring to me. I’m just the chemist, and all I want is to get paid and order room service at the Ritz-Carlton.”
“A solid plan,” Zeth says.
I start cooking, fully immersing myself in the work. The familiar process grounds me and gives me something to focus on besides the fact that three members of the Kyzer family are arguing in a room twenty feet away.
For the rest of the day, I hear them coming out of the office and going back in, their voices rising and falling as they argue.
Dale brings them food at regular intervals, then later, an entire espresso machine.
He also brings me food, and I thank him warmly, but I spend the day pretending that I don’t care about what’s happening in the office.
My apparent lack of interest encourages the guys to argue even more openly in my presence.
Roman is especially careless, his voice carrying through the door as he shouts about distribution routes and profit margins.
I start humming to myself while I work, a tuneless melody that gives me an air of disinterest and contentment. Soon enough, they act like I’m not even there. They talk freely, argue loudly, and treat me like I’m part of the furniture.
This becomes a routine for the next several days.
Dale brings me to the lab each morning, I cook batches of Crimson and then transform them into Flame.
The guys go in and out of the office constantly, arguing about distribution and logistics.
Names start slipping during their heated discussions.
I figure out these must be corrupt officials and cops on the Kyzer payroll, people who look the other way or actively help the organization.
I do my best to memorize every name and detail they let slip.
I hear bits and pieces of their plans, networks, and operations.
Every evening, when I return to the hotel, Zeth unmerges and goes to report to Tom while I shower and try to process everything I’ve learned.
I start wearing a USB stick, tucked safely into my bra. Even though I have my phone back, I leave it at the hotel every time. No one has been searching me for a while, so I can afford to risk the USB stick in case someone leaves me alone with a laptop.
They all get progressively more careless as the days pass, their arguments growing louder and more detailed. By day six, they’re barely lowering their voices at all. By day seven, they leave the office door open while they argue.
Nothing significant happens until day nine.
I’m at my workstation, carefully measuring out vampire blood for another batch of Crimson, when I hear shouting that’s louder than usual. The office door slams open and Lucien and Cesar storm out, their faces dark with rage. They’re carrying their laptops, moving fast toward the exit.
Roman bursts out after them, yelling.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going? We’re not done here!”
But they’re already at the door. Lucien throws curses back at Roman over his shoulder, and then they’re gone. Roman chases after them, still yelling, and the door to the lab slams shut behind him. Their voices echo down the corridor, growing fainter.
I find myself staring at the open door to the office. Roman’s laptop sits on the conference table, still open. Its screen glows in the dim light.