Chapter 16
In a way, Violet knowing the truth was much better than having that heavy rock of a secret in his chest. Kade popped his trunk and pulled out a clean shirt.
He did a quick cleanup, treated the cuts, and shrugged into it.
Now he could let go of any illusions that he could have her.
And he had to face it: after giving in and making love with her, he’d been doing just that, building the illusion of a future.
He had to focus on finding out what the hell was going on and making sure she was safe.
Later he could pull himself out of the rubble that would be his life and figure out what to do.
Without Violet.
Who’d ignited his magick.
All those beautiful, adventurous Deuce women he’d been with and not one had done that. Not one had reached in and wrapped her long, capable fingers around his heart.
He got in the car and texted Ferro a simple message: DONE
A few seconds later: EXCELLENT. REPORT IN IMMEDIATELY.
Facing the man would be difficult. Maintaining his cool when all he wanted to do was kill him, even harder.
yes, sir. on my way back.
Sometime later, he pulled past the employee parking lot and left his car in a busy restaurant’s lot.
When no one was around, he summoned Dune’s visage and stepped out of the car.
He could easily take on the arrogant swagger, the square shoulders…
because Kade had those, too. When you’re the best of the badasses, you absorb it into your body, your personality.
Kade was no longer one of them. He felt the glimmer of the man he used to be, the one who didn’t fit into the Vega mold. Nor did he fit into the Kavanaugh mold. He didn’t know that guy anymore. For twenty years, he’d been stuffed away, chastised and humbled.
He used Dune’s card to enter through the employee entrance.
A long time ago, they’d used magick to prove their identity.
In the way Dragons could no longer fly because of population and technology issues, Deuces had to limit their use of magick in public.
Now it was a card. A sorry exchange, though it worked well for Kade at the moment.
He nodded at another Vega and ignored the Arguses, like Dune did. Holding on to the illusion this long took all of his effort. The magick pinched every muscle and organ in his body. Dune was an easier illusion to pull off than, say, a Dragon, but it was still work. Could he sell it to Ferro?
Taking a deep breath, he knocked on Ferro’s door. After his customary “Come,” Kade stepped inside and closed the door behind him. If Ferro made him, Kade would fight. Ferro might be more powerful but he was out of practice as far as combat went. Another reason Kade eschewed the higher positions.
Ferro took him in, his eyes shrewd. He scanned Kade’s body. He knew. Already, in the first seconds, he knew. Damn it.
Kade prepared for him to Catalyze, but Ferro kept his cool. Even the flames in his eyes weren’t wildly flickering. Kade had seen enough Dragons gearing up to fight to know the signs. Maybe he didn’t suspect after all. Yet.
Ferro stepped around from behind his desk. “Not one scratch or cut? Not even a bruise? Kavanaugh’s good. I find it hard to believe you could kill him and the woman and not sustain any injury.”
Kade gave him Dune’s most arrogant smile.
“Because I’m better.” He ducked his head.
“But I have to confess, it was far easier than I thought. Kavanaugh was trussed up. As he was trying to convince me to release him, he told me that the woman’s brothers ambushed him.
I took him out right there, and then went after the woman. If that’s all, sir—”
“What else did he say?”
Psychological stress made the illusion even harder to hold on to.
Kade’s muscles were cramping now. “He spouted some nonsense about a conspiracy.” He laughed.
“Even accused you of being in on it. Once his head was no longer attached to his body, he had nothing more to say about it.” He took a step back toward the door.
“How did the woman die?”
Kade had prepared for all of this, but Ferro was usually content to hear the end result. Why was he so curious now? Because he has a personal stake in it. “She must have heard Kavanaugh’s screams. I punched a hole through her chest the moment she came around the corner.”
That’s what Dune would have done. The thought of that weakened Kade and made it even harder to hold the illusion.
He waited impatiently for Ferro to dismiss him.
He’d get suspicious if Dune was in too much of a hurry to leave.
Dune enjoyed his kills and loved to regale anyone who would listen with every nuance of his fight.
“Good job,” Ferro said, turning toward the desk.
Kade fought a sigh of relief as he gripped the doorknob.
“Wait.”
Kade had to pry his fingers off the knob and hide his grimace as he turned his pain-wracked body back to Ferro.
“You said Kavanaugh was trussed up. But he was conscious. Why wasn’t he using his power?”
Hell, he didn’t want to go there. “I touched the rope they used to hold him. I think it had Lucifer’s Gold threaded in it.”
“And you didn’t take it? I don’t like the idea of Fringers possessing something like that.”
“I could hear others coming, having heard the screams as well. I decided it was best to retreat than engage an unknown number of enemies.”
Ferro held his gaze, then gave a quick nod. “Understood. Retrieve it at your earliest convenience but tell no one. Give it to me.”
“Yes, sir.” He barely held on, praying that Ferro wouldn’t stop him again as he reached for the doorknob.
His fingers were stiff, fumbling. He stepped out and closed the door just as his illusion flickered.
He shot a look at the pit, people going about their business.
Did they know that one of their own had gone rogue?
Would he be detained on sight? Or worse, shot?
Mia sat, staring off into space, her expression bereft.
Hold on for one more minute.
Kade walked awkwardly to Dune’s office, happy that Guard policy dictated no locked doors.
He collapsed to the floor the second the door closed behind him.
The illusion pulled out of his cells the same way a needle pulled out of the body.
The dark skin vanished, his body went from the bigger, bulkier physique back to Kade’s lean state.
He lay there for several minutes, blocking the door with his body. Illusions like Changing were one of the most intense and laborious of the Deuce magick abilities. For Dragons, it was natural to Catalyze, or so he’d been told. Not so, Deuces.
He watched the minute hand of the clock tick away, until five minutes had passed.
His head throbbed with each tick of the second hand, no doubt the effects of being knocked in the head.
It was two fifteen. Ferro should be gone now.
Kade had to use the desk to help him to his feet.
Once more he’d have to conjure the illusion.
He pulled Dune in again, repulsed at the reflection in the mirror—vain bastard—hanging on the wall. It flickered.
Hold on. Your life depends on it.
He walked out and headed to Ferro’s door. In the event that Ferro had changed his plans, Kade came up with some other tidbit to give him about the assignment. He knocked. No answer. He opened the door and walked in, closing it behind him.
Seeing no one inside, he released the illusion, this time pushing past the exhaustion.
No time for that. He started looking through the desk drawers.
He found the map, with a yellow dot in August territory, next to the red one.
Written beside it was the name Kaitlyn. Beneath that was a calendar with names written in each box of the last three months.
The same time frame as his daily two o’clock sojourns.
Sometimes it wasn’t a name but a note like Unk dragon in Opa Locka and a number.
Most of the numbers ranged from three to the thirties.
And on the next day’s square, the letters SS were written in thick black marker and circled several times.
Solar storm, had to be. That was the only thing that made sense.
He called Violet, feeling something surge inside him at the sound of her voice. She had every reason to hate him, and she probably did. But she was going to cooperate because she was level-headed. “Are you where you can write down some names?”
“Hold on.” He heard a scuffling noise. “How’s it going?”
“I’m in Ferro’s office. So far so good.”
“I’m ready.”
He listed off several of the names on the calendar. “Dragons, I think. See what you can find out. The solar storm plays into whatever they’re up to. And there’s a target—in August territory. Kaitlyn.”
“Kaitlyn! She’s a child! Nine, maybe ten.”
“Then do what you can to protect her. As long as Ferro thinks Dune has done his job, you’re safe. I’m going to stake out his home. Dune will go missing, but that shouldn’t be connected to his previous assignment since I’m dead.”
“Don’t say that,” she said in a rush of words.
He wanted to say more, but it wasn’t the time.
Especially when he heard the doorknob turn.
In those seconds, he pressed the phone power button at the same time as he conjured the illusion.
He didn’t have time to put the map and calendar away before Ferro walked into his office.
Kade dropped the phone into the trash as he pushed the chair in.
“He was right,” Ferro said, closing the door. His gaze shifted to what Kade had been looking at.
“Who was right?” Kade stepped away from the desk.
“That doesn’t matter. He told me someone was in my office. You know, something didn’t feel right about Dune’s report. He takes too much enjoyment from his kills. This time he was in a hurry. You can drop the illusion, Kavanaugh.”
He did, feeling the drain on his already taxed body. “Tell me what’s going on. That’s all I wanted.”
“I think you know enough.”