Chapter 1 #2
“For him.” He slid his finger across the screen and answered. “Yes?”
I didn’t need to listen to the conversation to know where our next stop was. I let myself be distracted by the world flying by and the rocking of the train. The conversation continued while I sat there comfortably.
Andreas made a hum in the back of his throat, then glanced out the window. “We’ll be there in ten.” Without another word he hung up.
I gave him a sideways glance. “That’s gonna be expensive.”
“For him.” He gave me a half-smile. “He’s meeting us at MSG.”
“Aren’t they performing tonight?” I shook my head as the train jerked to a stop below Penn Station.
Andreas nodded. “Yep.”
“Tempting his own fate I see.”
“For sure.” The door slid open and we shot to our feet. “And ours.”
“So let’s keep our heads on a swivel.”
Humans flooded toward the platform, but they moved so slow compared to us.
With our vampire speed we darted through the crowd on our way up the stairs and into Penn Station.
There was something comforting about the bustle of the station.
People hustled so quickly in all different directions that they didn’t notice when something supernatural moved around them.
The scent of donuts, pizza, the underground, and piss all mixed together.
The air was both cool and stale at the same time.
We ran by the board that displayed all the trains coming and going.
People stood in huddled groups watching for when the board would show the track their train was on.
Everything felt gray and cold, but the people were colorful and full of life.
I understood why the Virtues and the other angels wanted to protect First Realm.
We turned down another hallway that led us toward the famous Madison Square Garden.
The food stands were in full swing and the sound of screaming fans and music bounced through the halls a little too loud for my heightened sense of hearing.
Judging by the faces of people around us, I was definitely making one hell of a grimace.
We made our way to the stairs, and I pumped my arms running up them.
The stairwell was all concrete and metal surrounded by large windows that overlooked the bustling street below.
When we reached the floor where the suites were located, we didn’t slow or stop.
The hallway and people blurred by until Andreas stopped in front of one of the suite doors.
Without knocking, he turned the knob and shoved the door open.
The suite was luxurious with a buffet table set up to our right and a bar to our left.
The smell of warm, fresh food permeated the room.
Directly across from us were two rows of cushioned private seating.
In front of the seating was a floor to ceiling glass wall.
Three large suitcases stood against the wall next to the door.
The suite was empty except for one lone man.
He sat in the center of the empty row watching the world’s largest pop group, Chanegan, perform.
Lights flashed and the music vibrated the entire building.
Fans were dressed in all their merchandise.
Regan and Chanel’s faces were plastered on shirts and across the big screens that were positioned high above The Garden.
Fans even went so far as to dye their hair pink like Chanel or turquoise like Regan.
They sang the words to the songs at the top of their lungs, unfortunately for me.
I strolled to one side of the open row while Andreas moved to the other. We moved in unison until we reached our client. I dropped down into the seat next to him as Andreas took the one on his other side.
I motioned to the show down below. “Interesting choice of venue, Christopher.”
“They won’t attack me out in the open, not with an audience.” Christopher Thompson, vampire turned CEO, shrugged like we were discussing baseball stats. Money was no object when it came to what he wanted, and what he wanted was usually very against the rules.
“Bold of you to think so.” Andreas scoffed.
Christopher’s brows furrowed, then he waved a dismissive hand at Andreas’s words. “I’m sure you can surmise why I’ve called.”
“Third strikes aren’t something you can take back.”
Christopher was a vampire who liked to dabble in stocks, high-powered mergers, and thievery from humans.
The first two were profitable, but the third was troublesome.
Usually we would be able to get him out of trouble if he called us.
The problem was he didn’t always make that call.
He was too rich, too powerful in the human world, too handsome by human standards.
It gave him an ego the size of MSG. He was a blond-haired, blue-eyed fuckboy, but a rich fuckboy nonetheless.
Christopher rose to his feet and strolled by me.
He moved toward the bar and poured himself a glass of whiskey.
I glanced toward Andreas and raised my eyebrows. “Thoughts?”
He rolled his amber eyes and rose to his feet as he muttered for only me to hear, “All these dramatics are for nothing.”
“Let’s just see how much nothing buys us.” I jumped up and walked over to the bar where Christopher stood taking a deep drink. “I see you’ve got your bags packed.”
Another deep sip of whiskey and he hissed out a breath. “I’ll be running in just a few moments.”
“You know that won’t help you. The Virtues will find you.”
He glared through the glass wall toward the stage. “Such a ridiculous thing, world-famous pop stars hunting down other supernaturals to banish them back to their realms for such small transgressions.”
Andreas joined us at the bar. “You have to admit it’s a good cover.”
Christopher shrugged. “They’re still in my way.”
“You got a set of balls on you to say something like that out loud.” After the night we’d already had, I wasn’t in the mood for this back and forth.
“There are no games here, and I will pay for your . . . time and discretion”
Andreas sighed. “Get to the point. What do you want, Christopher?”
“I want my name off their list by any means necessary.” He pulled out his phone and opened the calculator app, then typed a number in. “I don’t care if they live or die. I just want them off my back. I’m willing to pay this much up front.”
We usually only took half up front and half once the job was complete. I peeked down at the number, then he turned the phone toward Andreas. His eyes shot to mine for a split second before he gave a nonchalant shrug.
I forced myself not to smirk. “Add two more zeros to that number and you have a deal.”
“Deal.” Christopher turned his phone back to himself and hit a few more things on his screen before the phone in my pocket buzzed with an alert of the transfer.
Andreas pulled his phone out and glanced down at the screen. He gave me a small nod, confirming the money was in our account.
Christopher gulped down the last of his drink and smacked the glass down on the table in front of him. “You know how to contact me once it’s done. Remember, you have limited time before they find me.”
“What makes you think we’ll be able to pull this off?”
“I’ve seen you both do a number of shady things, especially with those pretty gold eyes.” He shrugged and turned for the suitcases. “Why not this?”
“I’m flattered.” I think.
“Very well, gentlemen. I’ll be seeing you.” He collected his bags and headed straight out the door.
When it fell shut behind him, Andreas grabbed two clean glasses off the bar and poured us both a new drink. “Good chunk of change.”
“I’ll say.” I took the glass he offered me and turned back to stand behind the two rows of empty seats.
Andreas moved to stand beside me. “Any ideas how we get him off their huntin’ list?”
“None at all.” My eyes were drawn to Chanel and the way her pink hair swayed with each sway of her hips. The big screen focused on her face as she winked at it. Just perfect timing. The crowd went wild for her. “But who says we have to?”
Andreas chuckled. “You mean if he did get exiled back to Fourth Realm . . .”
“He can’t demand a refund if he can’t get back here.” Getting paid for doing no work wasn’t sounding too bad right about now.
“It’s not like he was a good vampire.” Andreas sighed. “Would save us from gettin' rid of him later.”
“It is such a thin line of who should stay and go.” I paused. “Plus, it is easy money. We got paid and he got sent away. Might actually save us future stress. Done deal.”
“Easiest money we’ve ever made.” He held his glass up and I clinked the rim of mine against it.
“I didn’t like him anyways.”
“Such a douche.”
“I always wanted to smack him around a bit, ya know?”
Andreas nodded. “Same.”
“I’m sure Riven would let us watch—”
He threw his head back and cackled.
The stage went black and everyone started cheering.
Bright flashes of light came across the big screen, and it started to play the background of one of their most famous music videos.
Jungle trees covered in bright flowers played on the screen, and the lights exploded as Chanel and Regan shot straight up from the stage in brand-new costumes that matched the jungle theme playing behind them.
“It’s a lot of money though.” Andreas was captivated.
“It is.” I took a sip of my drink. “It would be interesting to go up against the Virtues. You know, to see if we could.”
“Very.” He nodded. “I wouldn’t mind dabbling with it.”
Chanel and Regan moved on stage, dancing and twisting in unison like two witches weaving a captivating spell on the audience. Except, they weren’t witches. They were angels in plain sight of the world.
“They would put up a good fight. It’s been a long time since we had one of those.”
Regan playfully stuck her tongue out and swished her hips back and forth.
Andreas cleared his throat while adjusting his tie. “And we have already gotten paid.”
“To do a job.” The corner of my lip pulled up. “That we haven’t done yet.”
“I mean we should at least try.” Andreas tapped his toe to the beat of the next song.
There was something about Chanegan that I just couldn’t put my finger on. It was the reason why everyone loved them. They had a certain factor that just drew people in, including us . . . apparently. “I hate to say it, but it could be . . . fun.”
He snickered. “Or stupid.”
I could hardly drag my eyes away from the stage. “Or very, very stupid.”