4. Chapter Four
Chapter Four
Damyr
I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to focus on tuning out the noise that was currently invading my office at The Crypt . I understood why Vlad and Aleksey were arguing. There was still no sign of Charlie or my ledgers and fuck knows whatever else the guy stole as leverage. He’d got cocky. Skimming off the top and Vlad had found out when he did a check on the accounts for me. Something had been bugging me the last couple of months. Maybe it was the new suits. I didn’t pay Charlie enough to afford a custom three piece. One I might have overlooked. But three…
I didn’t know how long Charlie had been skimming, and I think that was what pissed me off the most. That it was going on right under my nose and I had no fucking clue. Now the guy had somehow stolen my fucking ledger and was no doubt going to use it to blackmail me.
Maybe I should just leave. I had enough money put away to last me several lifetimes. Did I really want to spend the rest of my life dealing with problems like this?
Had the world finally lost its flavour?
“You’re the one who let him get away,” Aleksey growled. He was tall, lithe, with blonde hair pulled back into a messy bun, and chiselled features permanently pulled into a scowl. If he smiled, the guy looked like an angel and far too pretty, but he was always frowning or looking like he was chewing glass, which harshened that soft elfin face.
Vlad was built like a fucking tank. Broad shoulders and back, tapered waist and muscles always coiled and ready for action. “I wasn’t the one who was careless enough to get shot.”
No, that idiot was Byron. The other man in the room. As silent as a shadow, and just as dark.
“Dear Lord,” I muttered, running a hand down my face. I needed to get a handle on this, or there would be blood everywhere. These guys were loyal to the family, but they were hot-headed, violent, and prone to impulsiveness. We might not all be brothers born, but we were brothers in blood and that meant a hell of a lot more.
We were also all vampires. Except Byron. He was human and a complete psychopath. Probably why he fit in with us so well, to be honest. He’d come recommended by an old friend and I had yet to be disappointed by the guy. He was very good at taking out the trash, just not so good at interacting with people. Which was why he was sitting at the table watching Vlad and Aleksey fight with a wolfish grin on his face. The guy got off on violence.
“Don’t stop them, Boss,” he said softly and adjusted himself in his pants. “It’s about to get to the good bit.”
Vlad glared at Byron. “Oh, fuck off.”
Byron simply grinned wider. “Don’t forget to tell Damyr about the little bird.”
My ears perked up at that. “What’s he on about, Vlad?”
“Just some human that was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Vlad grunted.
My jaw involuntarily clenched. “A human?”
“It’s fine. I wiped his memory,” Vlad said, brushing off my concern. I was right to be concerned. Vampires and other supernaturals had been undiscovered for centuries, thanks to Three Families. All of whom were supernatural. Misthaven gave us the space to be who we were, what our natures made us, and we’d survived here for a long time with humans none-the-wiser. It was part of the deal with the monarchy. They gave us the city, and we remained in the shadows. Naturally, Misthaven became a safe place for all supernatural creatures, but they all had to follow the rules. Otherwise, we might find ourselves on the receiving end of riots and pitchforks.
“Good. I don’t want to wake up tomorrow to stories of vampire sightings.” I turned to Byron. “Did you get patched up?”
“Yes, Boss,” he replied with a grimace. “The doc smelt like cheap beer and whisky. Couldn’t even put my stitches in properly.”
“Well, we don’t have much choice.” Our resident medical man was a drunk, but he was well versed in both human and supernatural anatomy. “You find me someone to replace him with, and I’ll get rid of him. Until then, you’ll have to deal with him.”
“Or not get shot,” Vlad crooned.
Byron bared his teeth like an animal. I was already in a shitty mood, and this wasn’t helping. I needed a distraction, and, luckily for me, I had a nightclub full of them. “I’m going for a drink. Vlad, reach out to Dara Rowan and see if she will help us locate Charlie.”
“I don’t think you’ll need a spell for that,” Aleksey said.
“What? Why?”
Aleksey peered closely at the CCTV monitors on the back wall. “Because he’s sitting at the bar.”
“Nobody’s that stupid,” Vlad said, his eyes widening.
But clearly Charlie was because he was sitting at my bar, glass in hand, chatting away to a guy and smiling like he didn’t have a care in the world.
I fixed Vlad with a firm stare. “Let’s go have a chat with him.”