Even Villains Have Interns (16 page)

“Hmph.” He rolled his eyes and held the muddy
phone out. “It’s not a phone, is it?”

“It’s a phone, but it’s my phone, which is why
it’s customized.”

“Voids the warranty if you do that,” Ivan
muttered.

She scraped the mud aside so he could see the
insignia. “This look like a brand you know? I doubt it.”

“You make your own phones? Don’t you have any
life at all?”

“I don’t make my phones. I own stock in a small
company that makes custom phones for wealthy professionals.”

Another eye roll.

“How are you feeling?”

“Both legs broken, maybe a rib. You going to
drag me out of here or call the police to come pick me up?” He was
the very picture of stoic despair, the beaten villain brought
low.

Delilah smirked, an expression he doubtless
didn’t see in the darkness. “That all depends.” She pulled one of
the vials out of her bag. “Do you know what this is?”

“The Mégisti formula, Greek for
great
or
something like that.” Ivan shrugged. “My boss wants it. Seller had
it. But the deal went south.” He paused and frowned. “How’d you get
it?”

“I took it out of the wall safe.”

“Out of...” Ivan spluttered in frustration. “Do
you know what I’ve done to get my hands on that in the past two
weeks? I’ve tied myself in knots! Begged. Bribed. Threatened. Cut
throats.” He switched to Russian for a good long tirade. “Bloody,
woman! How’d you get the safe combination? Tell me!”

Delilah raised an eyebrow. “Combination? Why
would I do that when the doors all unlocked for me?”

Even in the darkness she could see him flushing
red with rage.

She held the formula out. “What happens if you
ingest this?”

“According to the seller?”

She nodded.

“It’s a magic potion that heals you, gives you
super strength, superhuman speed, flight. There was something about
distilling proteins from blood of freaks and finding the right
balance of whatever. I don’t know.” Ivan shrugged. “Sounds like a
lot of nonsense to me.”

“Did Kalydon try to use this on you?”

Ivan’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “Is that the
seller’s name? I didn’t know.” But now he did and there was more
than a hint of retribution in his tone. “He didn’t offer it to me.
He wanted blood.”

“And not as in revenge?”

“Nah, two of his thugs grabbed me as soon as my
boss dropped me off. Popped a needle into my vein like I’m some
damn junkie.” His shoulders hunched over at the memory. “But
something went wrong. I wasn’t right.” He shook his head.

Delilah shook the vial. “Drink up.”

Ivan scowled at her.

“It might heal you. It might kill you. But I’m
leaving now, and this is your one chance to get out of here.”

“What? You’re leaving me? I thought we were
friends! We had this whole villainous rapport with each other.
Witty banter was exchanged.”

She laughed. “You really are delusional. Drink
up. If you survive, you can rescue yourself.”

“And if I don’t?”

She shrugged. “I’m sure someone will find you.
Eventually.”

***

“Rescue me!” Travys shouted as soon as Delilah
entered the room. “You have to get me out of here. There’s nothing
on TV but shows about house hunting and bread baking.”

Delilah’s four-inch heels clicked on the
hospital room linoleum. “Those are useful life skills.”

“I’m going to die of boredom. Also, I’m going to
die if I miss my finals and can’t play basketball because my grades
are too low.”

“You’ll also die if the Golden Hunt of Atlanta
finds you,” Delilah said. “Which is why you’re leaving the
city.”

Travys’s jaw dropped.

“Your doctor is signing the release forms as we
speak, and your luggage is packed.”

“You can’t do that to me!”

She lifted her chin with a small smile. “You’ll
find there’s very little in life that I can’t do.”

“Delilah, you can’t,” Travys said. “I’m so close
to finding my mom. I know the answer’s here. That guy knows.”

“Yes. And now the police know.” She let that
sink in. “It’s over. All that’s left is the wrap up.”

He narrowed his eyes. “If it’s over, why do I
need to go anywhere? I’m safe.”

“This isn’t a police show on the television.
Sometimes wrap-up takes more than five minutes. People run. People
fight. You have already been injured and I won’t let that happen a
second time.”

He slammed his head back into the pillows,
making the hospital bed quake. “She’s dead, isn’t she?”

“Yes.”

He stared at the wall. “Why don’t I feel
anything?”

Delilah sat on the edge of his bed. “You’ve
suspected this for a long time. Maybe you’ve already done your
grieving. Or maybe it will come later. Or maybe you never will.
Sometimes, when we can’t handle an emotion, it’s like a phantom
limb. You feel the pain and it never goes away.”

“I knew she was dead last year.” He turned away
to look out the window. “The guy who did it?”

“Dead.”

“Good.” Travys nodded and turned back to her.
“So which relative are you foisting me off on? My aunt? My cousins?
Maybe Chris is out of jail and we could have some dick-son bonding
time over the holidays.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re going to California
to stay with Angela, Ty, and Aaron.”

Travys gave her some serious side eye. “For
real?”

Angela, as always, had perfect timing. She
walked in, wearing flip-flops totally unsuitable for the snowstorm
outside. “Hey! How’s my favorite student!”

Travys chuckled weakly. “Hi, Miss Smith. I’m
good. I’m doing real well on my math...” He turned as pale as a boy
with ancestors from Zambia could get. “Son of... My math final is
tomorrow! Miss Smith, ya gotta let me stay! My final is
tomorrow!”

Angela smiled and smoothed his hair back.
“Handled. I went and talked to the dean about everything today,
then spoke with your teachers. They’re going to let me proctor the
test at home. You can take it as soon as we get to the house if you
want.”

Travys grimaced. “That’s going to be what, three
in the morning? No offense, Miss Smith, but I’m not ready for a
test after a plane ride.”

Delilah covered a smirk with her hand as Angela
stared at Travys in utter confusion. “Arktos doesn’t need a plane,”
she said softly. “But I do need to get going. It’s after eight and
I’ve had a long day.”

Tyler Running-Fox, once the most eligible
bachelor in America and still considered by most to be the
handsomest man in the world, stepped into the room with a bevy of
nurses floating in his wake.

“Oh, joy, you brought gawkers.” Delilah frowned
at him.

Ty shrugged. “I had to show them my ID to get
in. What did you want me to do?”

“Lie,” Delilah said. “Remind me to make you a
fake ID sometime. How do you feel about the name Carlos
Manoso?”

“Leave my favorite books out of this,” Ty said,
pointing a warning finger at her. “I am man enough to admit I like
funny books.”

Angela and Delilah shared an exasperated sister
look. No one else could possibly understand the pain of their
mother’s obsession with a clumsy bounty hunter from New Jersey who
churned through cars faster than Daddy did through first-generation
minions. Some people went door-to-door selling religion; Mom was a
zealot bent on sharing the wonders of nineties romance novels cum
noir detective tales.

“I hold you fully responsible,” Angela said. “If
you hadn’t left them alone while I was getting changed to go out
for dinner, Mom never would have handed him the book.”

Ty leaned over and kissed Angela’s forehead.
“It’s just a book. Let’s get the kiddo out of here. We still have a
party to go grocery shopping for.”

“Party?” Travys perked up. “I like parties!”

“Aaron’s having an end-of-semester bash with
some of his school friends,” Angela said with a slinky
cat-that-ate-the-canary grin. Oh, yeah, Delilah’s big sis knew the
way to make men do what she wanted. “Ever heard of DJ South?”

“The singer?” Travys’s voice hit a high note in
excitement.

“That’s her. She lives next door, so Aaron
invited her to drop by for the pool party tomorrow. She’s already
confirmed she’ll be there.”

Travys held out his arm with the blood pressure
monitor. “I’m ready to go.”

Alan,

The Hunt has captured Travys again. I don’t
know how they got him out of the hospital, but they did. I’ll call
as soon as I know anything.

Love,

Delilah

Delilah pulled her Kevlar under-armor on and
strapped a knife to her leg. It was on the small side, but it was
all for show anyway.

“I don’t like this,” Freddie muttered.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said as she pulled her
black dress on. She turned in front of the mirror, watching to see
how the skirt fell. Perfect.

Freddie handed her a red wool coat with silk
lining. “You should have asked for backup, not sent the one ally
you have on a wild goose chase.”

“And how would Alan help, exactly? He can’t do
anything to hurt the Golden Hunt. He can’t risk exposing who he
really is. It would be political suicide at best. Telling him
Travys was kidnapped again keeps him safe.” Worse, the Hunt was
waiting for the Spirit of Chicago. In her gut she knew they were
hunting him. But he was hers now, and they could have him when they
pried him from her cold, dead hands. Sending him on a wild goose
chase to the south of town had been the best she could do, but it
should keep him safe long enough for her to deal with the mess.

“Why aren’t we calling the police and getting a
SWAT team in there?” Freddie asked.

“One, because at least one of Kalydon’s minions
has taken the Mégisti formula and has super speed, so any normal
human would be killed, and two, because they hurt Travys. He’s one
of the family, and people who hurt the family don’t walk away from
me.”

Freddie snorted.

“I watched Ivan after he took a drink,” Delilah
continued. “Two broken legs working in minutes, and he moved faster
than any human could. Even Mom doesn’t fly that fast. The only way
I can take the Hunt down is if I get them to sit still, and you get
more flies with honey than vinegar. Kalydon fancies himself a made
man, attractive and wonderful. He wants me now.”

“Because you vandalized his apartment.”

She waved a dismissive hand. “It was a note
written on his mirror.”

“And who is to watch to see that no one else
interferes with this take down?” Freddie asked. “The Russians
haven’t abandoned their course. The Company might still be in
town.”

“I’m counting on it.” The Company had hurt her
family too, but that was the beauty of her plan. If everything went
according to her script, she’d be able to pay The Company back
tenfold. “Let’s go.”

The drive over was silent. Freddie kept giving
her hurt looks in the mirror.

“Go home,” Delilah ordered as she stepped out of
the cab. “I’ll be back within seventy-two hours.”

“And if you aren’t?” the minion demanded.

“Then, and only then, may you call in the
cavalry.” She slammed the door shut. Anticipation warmed her like
nothing else could. Too long the Golden Hunt had prowled her city,
hunted her people, hurt the ones she loved. And now it was time for
a reckoning.

***

Alan’s phone screamed with a ringtone he hadn’t
programmed in as he steered the car smoothly through the traffic.
He hit the call button on the dash. “Delilah?”

“No.”

It took him a moment to place the gravelly voice
on the other end of the line. “Freddie?” he asked in disbelief.

“Yes, sir.” There was a silence. A very obedient
silence, as if Freddie was trying to fill it with all the things he
wasn’t supposed to say.

“Where’s Delilah?” he said, dreading the
answer.

“I’m so glad you asked, sir,” Freddie replied.
“She’s gone for a drive up town to meet a certain huntsman I’ve
been specifically forbidden to talk about. While I can’t name the
bastard, I can say that my mistress is visiting him at his Chicago
domicile and nowhere south of Lake Michigan near the address she
sent you.”

“How circuitous,” Alan said as something to say
while his brain raced. Delilah was going to meet Kalydon. Alone. In
Chicago. And she’d sent him out of the city on purpose. “Where is
Travys?”

“I have been specifically forbidden to mention
the young gentleman’s whereabouts, or the fact that a certain
family member stopped by late last evening to collect the young
gentleman’s coat that he had left here inadvertently.”

Alan snorted. “I like how that forbidden bit
keeps you from saying anything. Very effective.”

“I was programmed for loyalty, sir, not
stupidity,” Freddie said primly.

“Delilah is going to have your ears when she
realizes what you’ve done.” Alan took the highway exit and stopped
at a light so he could get back on 90 North.

Freddie was silent for a moment. “Miss Delilah
may very well be upset, but within the parameters of my programming
and understanding, I’m not sure. She may have anticipated this
phone call. It’s the only reason I could call.”

“She forbid you to call but you think she
expected you to call me anyway?” The light turned green and he
drove under the overpass.

“There’s a twenty-three percent chance that my
mistress anticipated this phone call and your return at the right
moment.”

Alan’s gripped tightened on the wheel. “Wouldn’t
it have been easier for Delilah to tell me when she wanted me to
show up and save the day?”

“I couldn’t say, sir. The mistress’s mind is a
mystery to me.”

“Me too.” Alan sighed. “I’ll be there in about
forty minutes if the traffic stays steady.”