Chapter 2
After pretty much everyone filed out of Sloan’s office, Kane, King, Charger, Damon, and Sloan remained.
“Okay, Kane,” Charger said, cranking his neck back and forth. “What’s up?”
“I’m going to be missing for a few weeks or more,” Kane said, glancing at his phone.
King’s growl was low and lethal. “That Griffen fuck back?” His eyes flickered black, his barely restrained fury rolling off him like smoke.
“No, but the longer this goes, the harder it’s going to be,” Kane said evenly. He met King’s gaze, his tone sharpening. “We’ll get Griffen, King. You have my word.”
One thing about Kane was his loyalty to his brothers. King may be a Warrior, but Kane considered these men as much brothers as he did the Dark Guardians. Yeah, the assholes had grown on him and had actually saved his ass a few times.
“Has that woman, Monica, given you this lead?” King asked, his tone a little calmer.
Kane’s mouth twisted into something between a grin and a snarl. “Not exactly.”
Charger let out a low whistle. “Don’t tell me she gave you the slip. Damn, Kane, the human played you?”
Kane’s grin turned darker, dangerous. “She tried.” His voice was even but edged in steel.
“I warned her what would happen if she crossed me. Guess she didn’t believe me.
I’m heading out tonight to start what I’d like to call a unique partnership.
It also has come to my understanding that her sister hasn’t been missing for ten years, but a little over two. ”
“Why in the hell would she lie about that?” King frowned, his eyes narrowing. “And what else has she lied about?”
“Is that why you were questioning Adam’s power?” Charger cocked his brow.
“Yeah,” Kane replied, then shrugged. “Jinx did some deeper intel on her and found the newspaper articles about her sister’s disappearance.”
“It would surprise me if Adam read her wrong,” Sloan said from his desk. “Even if she was trying to throw you off for whatever reason, Adam should have picked that up.”
“Yeah, well, as I told him, I’ll be finding out soon.” Kane glanced at his watch. “I’ll keep you informed when I can.”
“I take it you’ve done this before?” King asked finally, his tone steadying though his dark eyes still burned with restrained fury.
“Undercover work?” Kane gave a slight, knowing smirk. “Once or twice.”
“Once or twice?” Charger snorted. “Try every damn time we’ve needed someone to walk into hell and not just survive it but take names while he’s there.”
“That’s what we need,” Sloan said with a deep sigh. “My guys are too well known around here to do any undercover work.”
“Kane’s the guy we send when no one else can get in. Kane disappears into whatever role he needs like it’s nothing.” Charger admitted with a hint of respect.
King grunted, crossing his arms. “You’re saying he blends in with the monsters.”
Kane’s smirk faded, his expression turning serious.
“Sometimes you have to, if you want to understand how they move. To stop them, you’ve got to think like them.
” His voice lowered, rough with quiet conviction.
“I’ve been knee-deep in trafficking rings, blood dens, and illegal feeding houses.
I’ve seen things that’d turn your stomach, but every time I walk out, it’s with enough intel to burn them all down. ”
“That’s why he’s the best at what he does. He doesn’t just go in; he becomes the monster. They never see him coming until it’s too late.” Charger replied with a grin. “Just the way we like it.”
King studied Kane for a long moment, then nodded once, respect cutting through his anger. “And you think she is going to go for it?”
Kane’s grin returned, slow and dangerous. “She has no choice.”
“Ah, sweet, you haven’t left yet,” Jinx said as he strolled into Sloan’s office, grinning like he hadn’t just walked into a room of irritated warriors. “Steve said you were here.”
“What are you doing here?” Kane asked, glancing down at his phone to make sure he hadn’t missed a call from Jinx.
“Do you ever answer your phone?” Jinx fired back, without answering Kane’s question. “Let me answer that for you—fuck no, you do not.”
Kane didn’t respond. He just stared. Jinx was damn good at his job—an expert hacker and could dig up buried secrets faster than most people could open Google, but he was also a smartass Kane wanted to punch in the face on many occasions.
“You order me to find something, put me on a timer, and if I miss the mark, I get threatened with an ass-kicking or death,” Jinx continued, oblivious to Kane’s narrowing gaze. “And when I call, you don’t fucking answer your phone or return a text.”
“You already gave me what I needed,” Kane said, voice calm but edged with warning.
“Yeah, I know. Because I’m the fucking best.” Jinx puffed up his chest. “And the best always deliver, even when their ass isn’t on the line, which is unheard of around you guys. How the hell Steve has survived around you guys is a miracle.”
“Will you get to the fucking point?” Kane bit out. “Why do I have six missed calls from you?”
“Nine, if you count the unanswered texts,” Jinx corrected, smirking.
“Jinx.” Kane’s tone dropped low enough to make Charger glance up from where he leaned against the wall.
“No appreciation,” Jinx complained to Charger, jerking a thumb toward Kane.
“He’s a dick,” Charger replied, lips twitching.
“Truth,” Jinx muttered, then took a step back when Kane straightened, his towering form was a clear warning. “Okay! Okay!” he said quickly, hands raised. “Monica’s sister was found.”
Kane froze. “Where?”
“In the river,” Jinx said quietly, pulling out his phone and scrolling. “That’s why Monica’s in Kentucky. The viewing’s tonight and the funeral’s tomorrow.”
Kane took the phone and read the short obituary. He handed it back, jaw tight. “How’d you find this?”
“Because he’s the fucking best,” Charger said before Jinx could, his grin wide.
“Truth,” Jinx agreed with Charger in that smug Jinx kind of way.
“When all that crap was going down with King and his girl, I got curious why Monica bailed on the big and bad scary Dark Guardian. I also wondered why she would lie about how long her sister had been missing. So, I dug. Followed a few rabbit holes. I found out why she bailed, but not why she lied about the timeframe...yet.”
“Can you find anything on anyone?” Charger asked, grinning at Jinx’s characterization of Kane.
“No one can hide anything from the Jinx,” Jinx said, smirking again as he scrolled. Then his face sobered. “I went after the autopsy report next… but it’s sealed.”
“Sealed?” Kane frowned.
“Aren’t those supposed to be public?” King asked, glancing between them.
“Normally, yes. You might find some that have redacted information, but not completely sealed from the public.” Jinx replied, pulling up a file on his phone.
“You need to get this guy on the payroll, Sloan.” Charger nodded toward Jinx.
“The Jinx is a free man and not held down by the normal standards of having a job,” Jinx said, puffing his chest out a little. Then he cut Sloan a nervous glance. “Also, he scares the absolute shit out of me, and I mean that in the most respectful way, Sir Sloan.”
That earned a bark of laughter from Charger and a grin from Kane. Sloan, however, didn’t look amused.
“Damn, that’s got a nice ring to it,” Charger said with a smirk. “Sir Sloan. I like it.”
“I will kill anyone who calls me that,” Sloan growled, eyes narrowing to dangerous slits as he pinned Jinx with a look.
“The Jinx apologizes, Sir… uh… sir,” Jinx stammered, paling as he fumbled with his phone.
“Stop talking in third person before I pay Damon to decapitate you,” Sloan snapped.
“No pay needed, boss,” Damon said from his place against the wall as he stared down Jinx.
Kane decided to save the poor bastard before Sloan followed through with his threat. “Jinx, the autopsy report—what did you find?”
Jinx stared at his phone as he swallowed hard. “The report listed the cause of death as massive blood loss. No external wounds consistent with an animal attack, no weapon marks, no defensive injuries. Just… drained.”
Kane’s jaw clenched as a muscle ticked in his cheek. “Drained?”
“Yeah,” Jinx confirmed. “Her body was found downstream near a shipping yard. Skin pale as paper, organs collapsed from lack of blood volume. The medical examiner noted punctures, but not fang marks. More like medical-grade extractions. Two entry points along the femoral and subclavian veins.”
King’s expression darkened. “That sounds like collection work. Not feeding.”
“Exactly,” Jinx said, eyes still on the screen.
“And here’s the kicker...the report mentioned trace amounts of anticoagulants in her blood.
Not something random. That’s prep work, professional and clean, so that they can drain the blood without the inconvenience of clotting.
The examiner noted there is no medical reason she’d have that in her system. ”
Kane stared down at the data on Jinx’s phone, his voice rough when he finally spoke. “Someone bled her out and took it.”
“And then sealed the file,” Charger added grimly. “Which means somebody high up doesn’t want this seen.”
“Yeah,” Jinx said, voice low. “She was definitely harvested.”
The word hit the room like a blow, heavy and wrong. No one spoke for a beat.
“The chatter on the dark web is calling it the harvesting season.” Jinx broke the silence. “Seems human blood has become a high commodity.”
“Or they are draining them dry, looking for people with Golden blood, since the list has been wiped from the search engines.” King frowned, glancing at Jinx. “They still trying to upload the lists?”
“Almost every damn day. It’s probably driving them crazy.
” Jinx frowned, looking irritated. “But don’t worry, the Jinx won’t let it happen.
” As if he realized he referred to himself in third person again, his eyes shot to Sloan and then Damon, who had a sinister grin on his lips as if just waiting for Sloan to order the beheading.
Kane glanced at his watch. He needed to leave now if he wanted to make it to the visitation on time. “I need to get out of here,” Kane said as he grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. Then he looked at Jinx. “Find out if there have been any other deaths similar to hers in the last month.”
“Planned on it,” Jinx replied, putting his phone in his back pocket. “Should I call, text, email, send it via United States Postal Service, UPS, or FedEx any results I find?”
“I’ll keep you guys informed.” Kane ignored Jinx as he headed for the door.
“Sooo… just to confirm, we’re not mad at me, right?” Jinx asked Sloan, which had Kane grinning. “I can keep my head?”
“Get out,” Sloan growled.
Jinx bolted, nearly tripping over his own feet as he scrambled for the door. “Jesus, working with you guys is gonna get me killed,” he muttered, sounding equal parts terrified and impressed.
Kane couldn’t help but chuckle as he followed the kid outside. “Hey, Jinx,” he called after him as he made his way toward his bike. “Good job.”
Jinx froze, blinking like he wasn’t sure he’d heard right.
Kane meant it, though. The guy might be a pain in the ass and talk too damn much, but when it came to digging into the dark web and pulling information out of nowhere, he was the best there was.
He wasn’t officially on the payroll—just paid per job—but still, he’d proven himself an asset.
“This world’s a fucked-up place,” Jinx said suddenly, his tone losing the goofy edge it usually carried. “If I can do my part to help you guys stop this kind of shit, I’ll do it. What happened to that girl… nobody deserves that. If I can help stop it from happening again, then I’m in.”
Kane studied him for a second, then gave him a nod—his version of respect. “Good to know, Jinx. Just remember, I appreciate you…” His lips twitched. “Even when you piss me the fuck off.”
That earned a shaky grin from Jinx. He took a step backward, still clutching his phone like a lifeline. “Hey, uh, does the big guy in there really decapitate people?”
Kane swung a leg over his bike, strapping his bag down before looking up with a smirk. Instead of answering, he revved the engine—loud and mean—letting the sound speak for itself.
Jinx’s eyes went wide. “I’ll take that as a yes!” he shouted over the roar as Kane pulled away.
The laughter faded with the wind as Kane hit the open road. The humor, the banter—all of it vanished as his thoughts darkened. Someone had drained that girl like she was nothing more than a resource. Someone had sealed the file, covered it up, and buried her story.
Not for long. The Guardians didn’t walk away from something like this. Demons weren’t the only evil the Dark Guardians hunted.
Kane’s jaw tightened as he sped down the road, the rumble of his bike echoing his resolve. Shit was about to get real, and whoever was behind it had no idea what kind of storm was coming for them.