Chapter 1 #2
“What…what is it?” he finally asked.
“Just a little something that will make you forget that we were ever here.”
Randall stared at me, eyes blinking several times as he ran through the options in his head. I saw the moment he settled on one of them.
Fortunately, Grim saw it too.
As Randall went to reach for the gun on his belt, Grim leaped forward and landed with his two large front paws on each side of the guard’s head, pressing him tightly up against the glass door.
Drool dribbled from Grim’s lips as he bared his teeth and pretended like he was about to rip off Randall’s face.
Grim wouldn’t do that. Well, not unless I asked him to.
But we never hurt people during our job. We were thieves, not killers.
The fresh scent of urine burned my nose, and I looked down in time to see a dark stain growing on the inside of Randall’s thigh. Trying to hide my disgust, I held up the vial again. “What will it be, Randall?”
He hesitated just a moment longer before squeezing his eyes shut and nodding once. “Fine, I’ll take it. Just get him off me!”
I jerked my chin to the side and Grim pushed away from the door so that he was sitting beside me. He still growled at the man, but he did his best to not scare him too much more. Even as Randall drank the fluid in one shot, Grim watched him with a clear warning in his stance.
“There, I took it. So now what?” he snapped at me.
I stood, reaching forward to offer a hand to Randall. While I pulled him up beside me, I watched as his eyes glassed over and his breathing slowed. “Now, Randall. Here’s what I need you to do. First,” I held out my hand. “Give me your gun.”
Without any argument, Randall flipped open the holster on his right side and pulled out his pistol. Barrel facing toward to ground, he handed the gun to me without an argument. I promptly gave it to Grim, who trotted over to the garbage can and dropped the gun inside.
“Thanks. Now, I need your keys and your badge.”
Again, he cooperated without a word. I really needed to ask Ramona what was in her potion.
Randall’s pupils dilated while he completed my tasks, and I knew I could command him to do anything right now.
But I wasn’t here to play games with Randall.
We’d already been here for more than an hour, and time was of the essence.
“Almost done,” I said with a smile. “Just one last question, what is the security code for the displays.”
“There are several,” he said, almost in a trance.
“The code for the ruby necklace,” I clarified.
“Triple zero-eight-nine-three.”
“Perfect, Randall. You are doing a great job.”
“I am?” he asked like a child looking for praise.
“Yes,” I said, nodding to Grim so he would move to the side. “In fact, you’ve done so well that you can go home now. Go home and forget that we were here.”
Randall wiped his eyes and shook his head. “Go home?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
Grim and I stepped to the side to let Randall pass. He shuffled slowly past the main entrance and eventually disappeared into the darkness. Grim turned himself around so that he could put his back to the door and keep guard. Huffing at me, I focused on what he was trying to communicate.
“Yes, I know that took too long. But I’ll be quick. Keep watch and let me know if anyone is coming.”
Grim rolled his eyes. Yes, rolled his eyes like a human as he sat back on his haunches.
I gave him a look as I unlocked the door and crept inside.
In preparation for tonight, I’d made several trips to the performing arts center.
During the day, when there weren’t private events going on, anyone could walk inside and visit the displays.
And it was during those visits that I took note of the security camera watching the lobby. Camera. As in singular.
I guess in a city ruled by supernaturals, modern technology wasn’t always required to catch those up to no good.
Sticking to the sides of the wall and hiding my face with my hair, I snaked my way to the closest corner where the lone camera hung.
It wasn’t very high and using the blade of my knife, I pushed the camera to the side enough to block the far reaches of the lobby where my target was.
A quick connection to Grim’s mind showed me that we were still in the clear on the outside, and with a smile, I continued my task.
Satisfied that I wasn’t going to be seen, I jogged to the last display on the right and looked down at the glass case and the gorgeous necklace inside.
Curves of solid gold weaved around hundreds of rubies, all of them small in comparison to the ten-caret beast of a stone hanging in the middle.
The necklace looked more like a choker, although it would cover up most of the skin on any neck it wrapped around.
It was absolutely stunning, and I briefly wondered what the coven wanted with this piece of jewelry.
It wasn’t like they couldn’t afford one of their own.
And this necklace…there was something old about it that felt like it belonged on the neck of queens and not in the hands of New Orleans’ most powerful witches.
Then again, it wasn’t in my job description to ask questions like this.
Besides, this was it. My last job for them.
Once I turned over the necklace to Murielle, the head of the Crescent Coven, my obligations to them would be over.
I was twenty-five now, and we’d agreed long ago that I would be released from their debt once I reached this age and successfully completed their tasks.
A flash of panic coming from Grim filled my head.
He heard something or saw something that warned me to hurry up.
Taking a deep breath to slow my heart, I refocused my attention and started sliding my hands along the seams of the display case to find the hidden keypad.
My fingers brushed over a tiny, raised button on the backside, and I pressed it slowly.
A panel flipped open, revealing the keypad and sending a huge surge of relief through my bones. We were almost finished.
I entered the code Randall had given me, and sure enough, the top of the glass case popped open.
The sharp hiss of air released when the top was uncovered, had me looking around the room to make sure the noise didn’t give me away.
It was stupid because I knew Randall had been the only one here, but still, the sound was loud.
Reaching inside to lift the necklace off its display, I marveled at how heavy it felt in my hands.
It must have weighed at least ten pounds.
But the smell of the cleaning agent on the gold and the way the giant ruby sparkled under the limited light, had me holding it up against my neck as though I had a mirror here to see it.
Imagining how it would feel to really wear, I closed my eyes and swayed side to side as I envisioned being at a great ball with a tiara, a gown, and my new ruby necklace.
“It looks good on you.”
I jumped at the sound of a man’s voice, my heart seizing, and my fingers barely able to hold on to the necklace. I caught the piece by the giant ruby when it slipped from my neck but winced when the rest of the gold clinked against the glass case as I nearly dropped the whole thing.
The voice laughed.
Spinning on my heels, I turned back toward the far side of the lobby where the camera was and where there were now three very large men standing in the shadows.
Or at least I assumed they were men by their size alone.
A tiny flicker of light highlighted the face of one of them, and I sucked in a breath as he smirked at me.
“Come on, luv. No need to be afraid.” There was a lilt of old Scottish in his words, but it was his face that stopped my heart.
Bright blue eyes, a peek of blonde hair sticking out from underneath a ball cap, and a jawline that could cut the glass on these display cases…
the man was beyond gorgeous. And scary at the same time.
Even in his casual outfit of jeans, a zipped sweatshirt, and a black pair of sneakers, I knew this easy-going look was a decoy.
Grim? I questioned in my head, needing my partner. Where are you? I got no response.
The man took a step closer as the others stayed in the darkness created by the architecture. “If you’re worried about your little furry friend outside, don’t. Dorian’s keeping him occupied.”
“Please don’t hurt him,” I whispered, squeezing the necklace and trying to restore my connection to Grim.
The man chuckled and tilted his head to the side, studying me like prey. “We have no interest in him.”
“Who are you?” I asked, taking a few steps away.
Assessing my next move, I soon realized that I was trapped in this lobby unless I could quickly unlock the door.
But something about these men, especially the super tall one standing behind the others, warned me not to try and run. Running would be very, very bad.
“I think we should be asking the questions here, luv.”
A loud crash outside followed by a series of growls had my stomach clenching in knots.
Grim was fighting something and it didn’t sound good.
Not to mention, I had no psychic connection to him right now, and that either meant that he was too occupied to allow me in, or something was very wrong with him.
The man in front of me sighed and shook his head. “Well, maybe Dorian has a little bit of interest in your Hellhound.”
“Hellhound?” I asked in a whisper.
“Get on with it,” the really tall man snarled at us from the darkness. “We need to leave.”
The gorgeous blond in front of me shrugged, “You heard him. Time to give me the necklace.”
“No,” I said quickly, tucking the jewelry to my chest.
He laughed. “No? But luv, that doesn’t belong to you.” His feral smile should have melted my soul, but instead, there was something evil underneath. Something old and ancient and capable of making me do anything he wanted.
Bodies slammed against the glass door, and I saw a quick flash of fur flying in all directions. Dark fur.
“Grim!” I shouted in fear. Jumping forward, I didn’t even realize I was heading toward the doors until another man suddenly appeared in front of me.
Just as tall as the blond, this one had dark eyes, dark stubble on his chin, and dark hair covered by his black hoodie.
Also dressed in jeans and sneakers, I instantly had a feeling that this man didn’t always like to do casual comfort… even though he made it look heavenly.
I let out a little scream when he jumped in front of me, forgetting about Grim for the moment.
Where blondie was light, this guy was dark.
And not just in appearance. He had an aura of power and fear that carried on around him and pushed into my space like an unwelcome smell.
His eyes narrowed as he glared down at me, and I swallowed hard when I heard his ethereal voice.
“Who sent you?” he demanded.
I wanted to answer him. Like I couldn’t control my own voice. But as I squeezed the necklace tight, I simply shook my head in response.
“Sir? We need to go.” This came from the giant man still standing at the far side of the lobby, underneath the security camera.
A hint of frustration passed over the man in front of me, but only for a moment.
Mr. Calm, Cool, and Collected didn’t like to be rushed.
I glanced over his shoulder, through the entry doors to see if I could find Grim.
I hadn’t heard anything for a few moments and that realization had a ball of fear clogging up my throat.
“Who sent you?” the man asked again. His eyes narrowed in on mine and I suddenly felt the need to answer him again.
Compulsion.
Shit. He was a vampire.
I quickly clenched my eyes shut, hearing the blond man chuckle as I did. The vampire in front of me must have relayed some type of signal because the next thing the blond said in a thicker accent was, “What? She figured you out quick enough.”
The vampire sighed, but I kept my eyes tightly closed.
“I don’t have time for this,” he mumbled a second before he grabbed my face in his hands.
A shock of energy passed between us, jolting from my head to my toes and back in a matter of seconds.
It startled me enough that I looked up at him in fear and then fell into the dark, black hole of his soul as his pupils contacted mine.
“Sleep,” he demanded without a second’s hesitation.
I tried to fight it, but even as I felt my legs go weak with exhaustion and the weight of my tired body push me down, I knew it was hopeless.
No one could fight vampire compulsion. Well, no one who wasn’t a witch.
And I wasn’t a witch. I was just little ol’ me—the street thief burdened to work off a favor the coven did for me seven years ago.
One last favor that just put me in the arms of a vampire and possibly killed my dog.
As sleep claimed my body, I felt a tear fall down my cheek in worry that I’d just dug myself another hole I wouldn’t be able to get out of. Another debt to the supernaturals.
Another life-long sentence.