Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Hunter on breaking into apartments, safes, and hearts
I hung out at Pinkie’s all afternoon, finally pulling a fresh T-shirt from my duffel before I set up for karaoke night.
Every crescent moon, Pinkie’s Bar became a mecca for supernatural beings wanting to travel through the portal.
Something about the moon’s gravitational forces weakening the veil between realms. When those nights converged with karaoke nights, the bar would fill with both supernatural beings and drunk Shania Twain wannabes.
Julian had retreated to the office for a nap. I was sure his skepticism regarding the supernatural would take a major hit tonight. The guy would need his rest.
Pery came in, eyeing me warily.
“Abraham filled me in. I brought your car—it’s parked in the lot.” He handed me the keys. “What’s the plan?”
I went back to stacking napkins behind the bar. “Abraham is here, keeping the peace downstairs. Arial is coming in to help tend the bar. Cobb and Ziggy will be here to separate church and state.”
“Church and state?”
“Humans and others.” I checked the condiments, popping a cherry into my mouth.
“We need to Tom Cruise our way into Julian’s apartment, get the deed, and get out.
Who knows when the cartel will show up, so we need to go tonight.
” I straightened the glasses and turned the labels out on the liquor bottles.
Julian emerged wearing dark jeans and a cream-colored hoodie. The bruises around his eyes had almost vanished. “Abraham lent me some clothes,” he said, looking a little sheepish.
He seemed to know Pery already but was surprised when the wolf asked about Nigel.
“He feels like a memory but an elusive one you can’t quite picture. It’s familiar but not. Seems he’s pretty fond of Hunter. And Regge.”
“Did someone speak of me?” Regge came down the hallway from the back door, his professional smile on.
The one that bar patrons overtipped and females fluttered their lashes for.
I turned away quickly, catching Julian’s gaze on me.
I tried to focus on my chores, but I felt Regge’s presence in my bones.
“Julian is going to help us with the hotel.” Pery said. He sounded hopeful.
“Is he now?” Regge pulled up a stool. The dark slacks stretched tight across his thighs as he sat down. “Tell me, why the sudden altruism?”
Julian sighed. “It’s not altruism. I need money to disappear—in order to survive. But… I seem to have a fondness for the place. I can remember every damn notch and scratch on the front desk. Maybe this is Nigel’s influence, but I don’t want the organization to get their hands on it.”
Regge straightened at the mention of Nigel, his look confused and astonished at the same time.
“Sucks, doesn’t it? Being the last to know something.” I couldn’t help it. As soon as I said it, I knew I was being a dick.
Julian hesitantly explained about Nigel’s new home. Being that it was his own body he was talking about, he seemed pretty chill.
Regge’s eyebrows furrowed, rose, fell and furrowed again, all in a second’s time. They had a language all their own, and my fingers ached to soothe them.
Abraham returned from the basement. “Okay, everything’s set downstairs. Marlowe is coming tonight to help so Pery will be with you. Pery’s mate, Skylar will help too. Cobb’s on duty tonight.” Abraham said. “Julian’s security in the building is tight. You’ll need someone to run interference.”
“Not my security anymore.” Julian handed me a slip of paper. “The code to get in through the garage is 1126. Here is the combination to the safe. Just clean it out.”
I slipped the paper into my pocket. “What about the medallion? Who has that?”
Abraham frowned, then shrugged. “I don’t know.” He looked at Regge, who shook his head and scowled at Julian.
“I was busy dying, remember? When I woke up, I didn’t spend a lot of time searching around for things. It must still be in the hotel if none of you picked it up.” Julian’s gruff voice sounded as tired as I felt.
Abraham sighed. “Probably not the sort of thing to be just lying around. I’ll have the guys keep an eye out for it.
Everyone be careful. Regge’s been there before, but I’m giving Julian my phone if there’s a question.
Hunter, you okay to back up Regge on this?
” His brown eyes flashed their fiery amber glint, but I knew it was concern, not anger.
“Sure.” I nodded, avoiding Regge’s gaze.
Pery slid off the barstool. “I’ll get the car. Skylar will meet us there.”
My gaze slid to Regge. Dressed in his work outfit of white shirt, black pants, and black Vans, he’d added a gray zipped hoodie. On the stool next to him was a small backpack. He noticed me looking. “Hunter, can we talk?”
No. I didn’t want to talk, because it would hurt. Whatever Regge had to say it would hurt, and I’d had enough pain for a good long while. He sucked in a deep breath, waiting.
I clenched my fists at my sides. Mostly to avoid straightening the hoodie slouching off his shoulder. “We should just get this done.” I moved past him.
“Take care!” Julian blurted out, looking surprised that he’d said it. “Sorry, Nigel says be careful.”
The outburst broke the awkward tension. I relaxed as we headed out to where Pery waited. I drove. He rode shotgun. Regge’s silence in the back seat was brooding and loud. I concentrated on getting us there in one piece.
The code got us into the parking garage, and I parked in a guest space.
Skylar, dressed in skintight jeans, long boots and a bulky sweater, was waiting for us.
About the same height as Pery, she had darker skin than his, lighter eyes—an unnerving gray.
Tucking a strand of highlighted hair behind her ear, she smiled and fell into step with us.
We took the stairs to the main lobby, ducking behind a freestanding wall near the elevators.
Right here, we were out of sight of the security desk and the two burly guys standing next to it. Pery fidgeted beside us.
“The lifts need a key card.” Regge frowned. “Eskridge gave us half the information, great.”
“You think this is a trap?” Pery’s tone pitched high with tension.
“No.” Somehow I trusted Julian. “The guy’s been through it. He probably just forgot. Pery, we need a distraction, can you…?”
Pery gave me a feral smile and sauntered away.
Regge grumbled. “Julian’s flat is on the sixteenth floor. Don’t tell me we’re walking.” His lowered octave gave me shivers. I remembered that tone. The breath against my neck, his body pressed against mine.
My nails creased my palm. “Okay, I won’t tell you.” I headed for the stairwell door.
With an outlay of breath, he grabbed me, jerking both of us out of sight.
The stairwell door opened, and two men emerged, moving toward the lobby.
Regge’s body covered mine, pushing me against the wall.
And he smelled good. So good it took me a minute before I could protest. He moved away, following the men.
I watched as he whipped a baseball cap out of his hoodie pocket, pulled it low over his head, and jogged toward the men.
He jostled one and called out an apology as he hurried by to disappear around the corner.
I lost sight of them in the jungle of leafy decor and couches in the lobby.
Then I heard them chatting with the security guard.
A short whistle had me turning to find Regge at the elevator, a grin on his face and a stolen key card in his hand. Oh yeah, pickpocket in his past life. That’s why we needed him. We rode up to Julian’s floor, game faces on. My phone vibrated with a text.
“Pery says coast is clear.”
Julian’s place was around a corner from the elevator. We stopped in front of the numbered door I’d seen in my vision the night we met him. Regge punched in the code. The door unlocked with a whirring click. “He uses the same code as the parking garage? That’s not smart.”
“Let’s just get in and find what we need.
” I pushed Regge gently into the foyer. “Wow. Fancy.” The place was sleek, modern, and spare.
White leather in the living room, black marble in the kitchen, a couple of large abstract paintings.
I approached a long credenza and slid a panel aside to reveal an impressive vinyl collection.
Mostly jazz. “He’s going to miss these.”
“Yeah. The guy knows how to live.” Regge moved through, checking the bedroom. The bathroom. “Okay, we’re clear.”
“How is it that you’ve been here again?”
“Abraham and I came to retrieve the necromancer. Julian had taken him.”
“You mean me?”
Regge looked at me, regret in his expression. “No. No, you were safe back at my flat. But Julian had the necromancer’s body. We needed it so…”
“So he could return to his own body. Right.” I sighed. “Why didn’t you just tell me?” After a few seconds of silence from Regge, I waved my hand. “Never mind. Let’s get on with it.” I put some space between us.
“Hunter, I’m sorry. I—”
I ignored him and walked to a closed mahogany door next to the fireplace. “Regge. Here.” I rattled the knob. “Julian didn’t have the key on him.”
Regge came over, inspected the lock, and smiled up at me. “This is not a problem.” Still crouching, he pulled a zippered case out of his pack and went to work.
Leaving Regge to pick the lock, I headed for the bedroom. Large, with a king-sized bed and two elaborate nightstands—a stack of reading on one. I lifted some new diet book off the top. Put it back.
Across the room, a glass-topped desk was clear of clutter—only a notebook and a laptop. A white leather desk chair angled into the room. Behind it were built-in bookshelves. More weight loss and nutrition guides, plus some self-help gurus on anger management, live your best life kind of things.
Julian was not someone I’d want to go up against. He was built for knocking heads and burying bodies, but suddenly he became a real person with issues and insecurities.