Across The Divide (17 page)

If he wanted to piss me off, it was working.

Vadik pressed his lips together, his jaw straining before he let out a breath. “Your stunt is causing me a lot of headaches. I am not sure if you are extremely foolish or exceptionally ingenious.”

My brows furrowed, confused at what he was talking about.

“You don’t remember, do you?” Vadik scoffed, shaking his head. My silence was enough of an answer for him to continue. “We were returning through the fae doors, and you decided to chuck both of your boots through an opening, which simply
happened
to be a multidimensional door.” One eyebrow cocked as if to say
you knew exactly what you were doing
. “They could be anywhere, and most likely not together.”

We stared at each other. Something in his gaze unnerved me, almost like pride.

“I knew you would keep it close.” Vadik’s head shook slightly, mumbling to himself. “I should have seen it. The most obvious and careless place to hide one of the most powerful objects in the world. In. A. Boot.” He cleared his throat, returning his focus to me. “Now it is out there, lost. And no one will ever realize a legendary treasure is in the discarded shoe they just walked by. Some homeless man will probably be walking around with the
Stone of Destiny
in his heel.” He let his irritation swallow his sentence and hang in the air.

I no longer had the stone, which meant I was no longer beneficial to him.

“What do you want?”

A gratified smile rose on Vadik’s face. “At first I considered your life, but I’ve had time to rethink your usefulness to me. Anger made me rash.” He sat back in his chair. “But disobedience will never go unpunished. You will pay for defying me.”

“If you don’t want me dead, then you must want me for something.”

“I do.” Vadik’s demeanor was calm like a huge lake, but what was below in the depths and darkness is what you worried about. “Death would be the easy way. This isn’t a one-time deal. Your existence is mine to own. As it always should have been. You will do everything I say.”

“No. One. Owns. Me.”

A knowing smile played on his mouth. “There you are wrong.”

“I don’t have my powers; I am worthless to you.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” His navy eyes glinted. “You could get them back.”

Vadik’s words cleared through the murkiness in my head, recalling why we wanted to challenge him in the first place. He was right. A man was being held here who possibly could restore my magic.

“Regnus,” I responded. Regnus was an extremely powerful shaman, the head of the shaman leaders. He raised Amara after she lost her parents. I met him once through her. He was a known recluse and stayed hidden from people, and he only allowed her to get close.

Amara told me Vadik kidnapped Regnus. He was the reason we were coming here. But that’s when I also believed Amara had been abducted the day of the fae storm. I pushed away the dread seeping down my throat. I swallowed. “Regnus…you think he will be able to extract them from Zoey? Can he do it? Without her here?”

Vadik leaned back in his chair, watching me for a while, his brow creased. I didn’t understand his sudden silence. A trickle of sweat ran down the back of my neck. Vadik tilted his head, his gaze finding someone behind me. “Another thing you forgot to tell me about, Amara?”

I felt and heard her shift behind me. Instinct rolled my gut into a knot.

“I see.” Vadik shook his head, humor danced in his eyes.

The sickening feeling in my stomach expanded. “Where is Regnus?”

Vadik stood, straightening his suit jacket. “Ask her.”

I looked over my shoulder at Amara. She glanced away, crossing her arms.

“Amara.” Vadik’s voice was full of adoration. “My little deceiver. Such an incredible talent for it. The best I’ve ever known. Her tongue is truly talented. She can’t help it; she whispers in your ear like a snake charmer, weaving truth and lies together so well you can’t tell the difference.”

“What is he talking about?” Deep down I already knew the truth but needed to hear her say it out loud.

She sighed, turning her face to mine. “Vadik never had Regnus. I made it up.”

“What?” I growled.

“I needed you to act.” She shrugged her shoulders. “You needed a reason to move. To go after the stone, and I gave you one.”

“Was there ever a moment you spoke truth to me?”

Her dark chocolate eyes locked with mine. “Yes.” I could feel the underlying meaning in her gaze, but it fell numbly on my heart.

“So where is he?”

She glanced away

“Amara. Where. Is. He?”

She faced me, her chin set high.

“Dead.”

“What?” Rage burned like fire in my lungs. The years this woman put things over on me. I felt stupid, blind, and gullible. I understood being a “storyteller” was part of her nature, the type of fae she was. But I had foolishly let myself believe I was one she wouldn’t deceive. We worked together because we were both liars, thieves, and survivors. This was our truth.

I was simply another naïve asshole who fell for her charms, beauty, and wicked tongue. It was disturbing to think there probably wasn’t one person in here she hadn’t used it on.

“He’s been dead for a while.”

The entire time she let me believe there was hope. It never was an option. Disappointment crept into my lungs when the truth hit me. No Regnus. The shred of hope I was holding on to broke. There was nothing to save Zoey or me. It had to be death for one of us.

And it was going to be me.

A deep rumble came from my chest. Cadoc grabbed me and held me back from attacking Amara. My body pushed forward, leaning toward Amara as she backed against the wall.

“If you knew he was dead, you never would have come here. With Regnus in play it got you either to go for the stone or to come here. Whichever way…” Amara trailed off.

“You got what you wanted. A job well done,” I replied, turning away from her. I could no longer look at her face. I was more disgusted with myself. She worked it so I would have to tell her the location of the stone, give her the actual stone, or willingly go to Vadik’s, walking into a trap.

She was good; I’d give her that.

I turned back to Vadik. “I will not let Zoey die.”

“No? This works for me too.” Vadik slipped his hands in the pockets of his pants, walking around the desk. He was almost as tall and as wide as me, though he commanded more attention. Cruelty danced in his aura, what you expected from a demon. Back when the fae and human worlds worked together, superstition ran high. Demons were feared and honored as much as the gods. However, I always had a healthy disgust for them. I stayed clear of them as much as humans.

“Your little human and her pet have made me richer. DMG wanted her badly and paid obscenely for her return.”

“What are you talking about?” I blamed my fevered brain for not connecting dots fast enough.

“DMG has been a profitable acquaintance.”

Anger hitched along my spine. “You work for DMG?”

“I do not
work
for them.” Vadik’s eyes flashed black before returning navy. All demons in their “pure” form had black eyes, but the exact level of a demon revealed itself in their natural color. You knew what level of demon you were dealing with whether they were dressed in business attire or jeans. Yellow or yellow-green was the most dangerous of demons. His navy eyes told me he was not the highest, but he certainly wasn’t at the bottom. Far from it. If yellow was the top, like the general, then navy was the major. Powerful enough to be feared.

“They
kill
fae.”

Vadik took a breath and leaned back on his desk. “I am a businessman. I provided a service. Merely because we are fae doesn’t cause me to feel kinship to all fae. Like humans, there are those who are not worth saving. I provide leads to their whereabouts. It has made me a hefty income.”

“So you sell out your own kind for money?” Disgust coated my words.

“Power runs the world, ours and theirs, whether it comes in money or objects.” He inhaled, peering at me as if I were a silly child. “They were going to get the information from someone. Why not me?” Vadik’s nonchalant attitude caused me to grip my confined hands together. I always sensed he was ruthless and power hungry. It was why I kept the stone away from him, but I didn’t realize how evil he was. “I get what I want…until it no longer works for me. DMG has gone past their usefulness. There is something there I want more, something I want back.”

My shoulders tensed.

“
Your
human.”

“She is
not
my human.”

“Oh, I think we both know that is a lie. Your weakness for humans will always be your downfall.” He grinned. “Or in this case, hers.”

I gritted my teeth.

“I’ve come to understand if you kill her, your powers will be restored. If you do not, she will be the useful one.”

“Stay away from her.”

“You and I both know that will never happen.” Vadik stood, walking to me. “I am being kind giving you a choice. She is actually the better choice. She can bring in money as my thief and my fighter.”

My nostrils flared. He wanted me to ask. I hated he would get exactly what he wanted. “What do you mean?”

“At first I thought she was insignificant, a human who could easily be replaced or gotten rid of.” Vadik set his stance, challenging me. “However, she is anything but. I should thank you. Such an incredible find, especially now that she has your powers. Finding her a part of the underground fight club opened my eyes to a whole new revenue.”

Again, I felt my stomach drop in anticipation, seeming to know where this roller coaster was going.

“It was easy to get rid of the human man and his pathetic excuse for a gang running the underground fighting ring and take over the business. Humans pay to see and bet on fights, drink, and indulge in all their favorite sins with my girls. At the same time, fae pay for the service to freely take from a concentrated pool of humans. All are drunk, emotional, and greedy. Everyone is happy. And I do very little.” Pride emanated off his skin. “Zoey will be my lead fighter but will also be stealing more out of their pockets and homes.”

My tongue seemed to swell in my mouth, I could no longer breathe.

“You can see why I would prefer to have her. But I will let you decide. I know you declared a promise to her.” Vadik lifted his chin, his gaze directly into mine. “You won’t be able to help yourself. You will go after her. And I will follow.”

The monster in me, the one I worked hard to control, broke down the door, thundering to the surface. It did not think. Only reacted. My shoulders expanded, enlarging and coiling. I could no longer see anything but red. I did not feel my pain or the fever raging in my body.

My hands still in cuffs, I swung my paired arms like a bat against Vadik’s skull. The cartilage in his nose crunched against the metal cuffs, and the force threw him across the desk. Objects went flying, hitting the floor and walls.

Cadoc’s fingers wrapped tighter around my arm, but I twisted out of his grip, rushing forward and slamming Vadik into the desk.

Shouts reverberated off me and hands grabbed for me, but all I saw and heard was my anger.

Crimson.

The control I fought to contain gave way. The rage inside became my voice. And it kept repeating her name over and over.

Zoey. Zoey. Zoey.

My fist smashed down onto Vadik’s face, my elbow cracked into Cadoc’s. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a floor lamp swing down, striking the back of my head. My body dipped when it hit, but I didn’t feel any pain, my focus lasered on the man underneath me.

“No. One. Will. Touch. Her.” A roar came from me. Blood from my head wound trickled into my eyes. “No. One. Hurts. Her. But. Me.” The moment the words were out of my mouth and soaked into my mind I halted. An image of choking her to death fired through my veins, stirring a deep drive. A carnal but robotic notion. Was that all this was? I didn’t want anyone to take my kill from me?

Fuck
.

Scarlet drained from my sight, clearing my vision. Several hands yanked me off Vadik and hauled me back across the room. A gun was thrust to my head.

“If you move, I will gladly pull the trigger,” Garrett snarled in my ear. “Just give me a reason. Please.”

Vadik sat up, taking a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping the blood from his nose. “I think I know what the promise entails now.”

I growled.

Vadik patted his nose again; the blood already stopped. He stood, straightening his wrinkled suit with cool, detached motions.

The icy aloofness provoked a deep fear in me. I knew fury lay under his reserve, a rage which would put my monster to shame.

Fuck with a demon and you were going to get more than the horns.

A tight smile stretched his mouth, and he took measured steps to me. “You will take me to her.”

“No.”

His eyes flashed. He crouched down in my face, his voice vibrating with wrath. “Let’s see how you feel later. You will be begging for your death…or hers.”