Chapter Forty-Two
Ingram
I fucking hated going to headquarters. I’d only had to make the trip a handful of times, and not since our fall from grace. Before that, we’d gotten invited here for photo-ops and to have one person or another kiss our ass.
I’d really hated it back then, too. Carter had always made me put on a fucking suit, and the thing pulled tight in all the wrong ways.
Sure, I’d looked amazing, but that didn’t mean I’d liked the thing.
It was the one benefit coming like this—we didn’t have to dress up, since we weren’t even using the front door.
I stared at Shear, his expression as blank as ever—at least to anyone who didn’t know him. I’d spent enough years with this man to see the uncertainty deeper inside. It might not make it to his face, but in the recesses of his eyes, I spotted it.
“I’m not going to scatter you,” I said, knowing damn well that wasn’t what he worried about. I’d already used my shadow travel to get Carter and Kenyon inside, leaving just Shear here. We’d never done it that way, and in fact until I’d moved Yun, I hadn’t been entirely sure I could.
Shear offered me a look that said he didn’t find my distraction amusing. “What if I shouldn’t be here?”
“What do you mean?”
He dropped his gaze so he stared at the floor. “Mr. Yorn did something to my head. How can you trust me? How can I trust me?”
Ah, that was the problem. I got it, I did. If I’d found out someone had fucked around with my gray matter, I’d have been second guessing myself, too.
“You heard what Kaidan says—it should just be if you deal with the asshole himself, or think of hurting him directly. If you were able to come here with us, clearly it isn’t that strong a compulsion.”
“You are making a guess there. I can’t even call it an educated guess. For all we know, I might ruin this all, I might be the one to cause us to fail. Because of me, Yun—” He stopped himself, letting out a huff.
And, fuck, I suddenly wished I was better at this sort of shit. Shear was an asshole, but he’d helped me out plenty of times, had gotten me through some dark moments. I wanted to repay the favor, but I had no idea how.
“Look, this doesn’t change shit, okay? I’ve trusted you for fucking years already. You’ve been exactly like this the whole time, and it isn’t like your brain hasn’t been fucked this whole time. Really, what’s different now other than we know?” I shrugged as if it didn’t matter a bit.
“It’s different. You trusted me in battle, but that isn’t the same thing as now.”
“Fuck that. I trusted you with something far more important than my life. I trusted you with my cock.”
He stared back in silence for a moment, as though that little statement had short circuited his brain.
“I forget sometimes that you can give Kenyon a run for his money when it comes to stupidity. Still, you’re missing the point.
I don’t say this much, might not show it, but you all are important to me.
I don’t want something to happen that hurts any of you, including Yun.
I’m…afraid.” He whispered that last word, as though it were a filthy secret he hated sharing.
“You want me to say that isn’t gonna happen, right?
Fuck, I can’t say that. I have no idea. I don’t know what’ll happen five minutes from now, let alone in the future.
Maybe you’ll get us in hot water, maybe you won’t, but that doesn’t matter.
We’re all in this together. When Kenyon got scammed by that little girl selling cookies, we got through it together.
When Carter misjudged that dungeon as a C-Rank and we all walked in in our fucking swim trunks only to realize it was an S, we got through it together.
When I fucked the wife of that biker gang, well, we dealt with that too—together.
Anything you dish out, we can deal with, because no matter what else happens, we’re in this together.
” The words all felt too sappy, too sweet.
They curdled in my throat like bad milk.
“Besides, finding out you aren’t firing on all cylinders is hardly brand-new information.
You’ve been a fucking psycho since we met. ”
“You really are a dick, you know that?”
“Well, can you blame me? This whole talking thing ain’t my thing, but you’ve helped me. Course, that was usually just with my cock. If only I could fix this for you as easily.” I sighed, then held my hand out.
Shear stared at it for only a minute before setting his hand in mine, the trust there meaning more than most people would understand.
I moved us from the ground level, through the shadows, through that narrow space between our world and whatever else existed, until the office appeared before us. Kenyon and Carter already stood there.
“Where did you get that?” I asked.
Kenyon paused the fork mid-bite, a white take-out container perched in his other hand. “Mini-fridge,” he said.
“And you didn’t stop him?” I asked Carter.
Carter shrugged. “I find it amusing when he grazes like that. Besides, it puts people off their game when they see it.”
I could have said more—there was always more to say, after all—but the door opened and in walked our target.
Regent Marcus, the head of the North American Guild.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. He wasn’t the head on paper, but he pulled all the strings. He kept himself just to the side enough that if anything went wrong, he could oust someone else and keep running things behind the scenes.
He took one look at us and, to his credit, didn’t call for security.
Most people would have, especially because we hadn’t shown up in civilian clothing. Nope, we’d arrived armed to the teeth, wanting to look every bit as dangerous as we were.
He shut the door behind him, then stepped into the room and headed for his desk as though we weren’t there. “I hadn’t known I had a meeting scheduled this morning.”
“You didn’t,” Carter answered as he sat across the desk from Regent’s seat. He leaned back and put his boots up on the desk as Regent sat in his own spot. “But we had some important things to discuss.”
“Oh, really? Things that couldn’t go through the normal channels?” Regent put his hands on the top of the desk.
“Not going to call your guards?” I asked.
“As I am sure you already know, security will take a full minute to arrive, even if I hit the panic button beneath the desk. In that time, you could easily kill me and be gone well before they arrive. All they’d find would be the scent of my leftovers.
” With that, Regent cast a scathing look Kenyon’s way.
Kenyon lifted his fork like a salute. “It’s good.”
“I’m sure it is. Now, I do have an actual meeting in another hour, so can we get to the point? I assume if you’re here, it is about your place in the Guild. Have you grown tired of being at the bottom? Are you trying to claw your way up using new methods?”
“No, the bottom suits me fine. I’m even okay with the Guild trying to get us killed in The Pitt.
” When Carter said that, Regent lifted an eyebrow that suggested he didn’t know about that part.
Leave it to the Guild to have too many cooks in the kitchen.
“No, my issue is currently with a very specific man who is causing us problems. Mr. Yorn.”
Regent narrowed his eyes at that. Was it a reaction to the name, or did he know something? Shear probably had an idea, but I’d have to ask later. “Obsidian—and thus Mr. Yorn—have a fairly wide berth when it comes to decision making. We rarely step into his business.”
“I get that. It’s probably usually a pretty good idea. Let him do what he wants, plausible deniability for you, it’s a win-win sort of situation. The problem is that he’s stepped in our business.”
Regent frowned, suggesting he might really not know what the asshole was up to. “Your guide?”
“Bingo,” Carter answered with a wide smile.
“See, he’s threatened us—I’m okay with that, it’s really just another Tuesday to us—but he used that threat to force her into testing.
I can’t imagine what people would think if they found out that the good and noble North American Guild was using guides in such a way.
It sure wouldn’t look good on the news stations, and if anyone knows how a story can get twisted, and the damage it can do, it’s me. ”
Some of the color drained from Regent’s face, as though he’d realized just one of the reasons he ought to listen.
“So what do you want?”
“Simple. Call your dog back. Send him on home to Obsidian. We’ll stay in our world, he stays in his.
” Carter paused, then added on, “And exempt Shear from the yearly exams there. No reason to have us crossing paths if it isn’t needed.
Hate to see what sort of problems we might create for the Guild if that happens. ”
“Obsidian isn’t technically under the Guild’s control,” Regent sidestepped. “He doesn’t answer to me.”
“No, but he answers to those in charge of Obsidian, and they sure as hell will listen to you.”
Regent moved his gaze around the room, seeming to take in the look of each of the espers in there.
No doubt he was trying to work out how serious we were, what the risk really was, if he could spin this or use it to his advantage.
After all, if he could work this into a benefit for him, he’d prefer it.
“So you all are telling me you’ll out this story if I don’t comply? ”
“Oh, no. I’m sorry if you misunderstood. That’s what I’ll do, but we’re a team, equals. I don’t speak for them.”
Shear’s voice came from behind me, more vicious than I usually heard it.
I almost wondered if he’d practiced that.
“If you choose to ignore our demand, I’ll ensure you can never close your eyes without the worst nightmares plaguing you.
Not even waking will help, as each time you blink, you will be back there, in the darkest pits of your mind.
I suspect it will take you perhaps a month before your mind is so torn that you would prefer slitting your throat than experiencing it again. ”
I slammed my blade flat on the top of the desk, sideways, so the blade showed while my palm covered the handle, hand flat. “I’ll take you apart in a more direct and literal way. Do you have any idea how fun it will be to carve into you, bit by bit, plucking pieces from you?”
Regent turned his wide, frightened eyes toward Kenyon as though looking for help. After all, Kenyon was known as not just the stupid one, but the kind one, too. He was the easy one, the one who most people didn’t fear. Was Regent hoping that Kenyon would step in somehow? Would save him?
He’s even dumber than Shear.
Kenyon smiled, that bright, deceptively helpful look. “And I’ll keep you alive for it all. If you try to die, I’ll make sure you don’t get that sort of relief.”
A gulp so loud that it had to have hurt left Regent, but I smirked.
That had been far too easy.
I didn’t transport them out of the office, instead having us all walk like we owned the place. With Regent’s agreement, I doubted we’d have any issues. We were basically guests at this point.
The headquarters were in LA, which meant we’d have a few hours of driving—probably more if there was traffic, and there was always traffic—before we got back. At least it had all gone smoothly, which meant we wouldn’t need to worry about leaving Yun for another night.
Which was fucking amazing, because I could feel my hunger gnashing its fangs, hungry for the only thing that satisfied it anymore—her.
“You know, after solving this issue, I bet we’ll get some sort of reward,” I said.
“We’re going to tell her?” Kenyon asked. “Then why’d we have to sneak away? You saw how bothered she was by that.”
“She couldn’t know before we dealt with it,” Carter explained as he drove. “Now, though? She’ll sleep better to know she won’t have to deal with Mr. Yorn, and if we get some rewards, too, that works for me.”
My phone rang, and I pulled it from my pocket. Yun’s name flashed there.
She missed us, huh? I smirked as I answered. “Hey there, Spark. You’re in luck, we’re on our way home.”
“They came and got her.” It wasn’t Yun’s voice that answered but Kaidan’s.
Carter must have heard because the SUV lurched forward and he pressed the gas pedal to the floor.
So much for makeup sex.