Rivals (11 page)

“We are fully expecting Ethan to excel in the competition,” Danato interjected. “Cori is a bit behind in her research, and some of the more physical challenges may not be her shining point.”

“You gave her a great recommendation, though,” Sophie said.

“Yes, she has an accidental genius quality and natural survival instincts that just can’t be denied.”

“She sounds fabulous; I adore a woman who can think on her feet. That’s why I’ve come here. We fully expect Ethan to do well in the competitions too, but win or lose, it may not change our interest in him.” She winked at Ethan.

“Wait.” Ethan looked back at Danato for confirmation. “You’re not saying that I already have the job? Because Cori is working hard to compete for this. I want her to compete.”

“No, no, I agree, she must compete.” Sophie repositioned herself at the edge of her seat. “What we are saying is, there may be a place for you beyond the walls of this prison. If you win the competition, and choose to take the warden position, so be it. If you lose or decide not to take the position, we have another job opportunity waiting for you.”

“Really? Outside of the prison?” He glanced at Danato. His gaze faltered at the suggestion, but he didn’t object. Ethan had never considered leaving the prison. He was content to stay. He was proud to take over as warden for Danato. However, to be offered a job that allowed him to leave the prison was intriguing, to say the least.

“Yes, outside the prison,” Sophie answered.

“Where would I be?”

Sophie laughed. “Everywhere and anywhere, you would be a world traveler. You would be in Paris one day and in Belize the next.”

His mouth dropped.
Very
intriguing.

“It is the most exciting job on earth. You would be like a spy, only instead of killing people, you would be hunting creatures.”

Ethan heard a snap. Danato’s #2 pencil had become a victim of his thick fingers. A slight tick in his lip was the only change in the hard stare he directed at Sophie. Ethan looked back at her and caught a glimpse of her matching glare.

“Let’s take a walk.” Sophie smiled broadly back at him and stood up. “You should show me the facility. It’s been a while for me.” She linked her arm in his and they left the office without Danato.

18

Cori sat Indian style on the cold concrete floor, struggling to read the book on her lap. Cleos sat on the floor inside his cage with his back to her, leaning against the bars. He was a pale, gaunt man in his forties, with thick severe fingernails that bordered on being claws, but he was otherwise human. His dark chestnut hair was long, thinning, and lightly marbled with silver. It rested on his shoulders, begging to be put back in a ponytail. His narrow-slit eyes were accented with strong eyebrows. The trimmed Van Dyke goatee that he wore reminded Cori of vampires she had seen on television.

Despite his dark worldly quality, Cleos had been forceful in explaining he wasn’t a blood-sucking bastardization of a human half-breed. That didn’t stop her from keeping a safe distance from him while she interviewed him.

“According to this, you not only read people, but have the ability to make what you read from them come true. Isn’t that cheating?” she asked, holding her place in the book with her finger while she interrogated him.

Cleos scoffed. “I don’t make anything come true, but on occasion if my reading is powerful enough the mind will make the event happen sooner than it was originally intended. It’s kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

“There’s a formula in here for photophobia. Do I need to know that?”

Cleos tipped his head back and his eyes quivered under the lids. “No, but there are eight pages of questions on dietary habits, which will include the minimum prescribed amount of blood each photo-sensitive vampiric breed needs.”

“Damn it. I don’t suppose you could just tell me if I’m going to pass, so I can give up now?”

He looked back at her over his shoulder. “Not yet. You do understand that I can’t predict the future.”

“But you just said…”

“I can predict future events based on my knowledge of the person and their surroundings. I get glimpses of a vague possible future, but nothing is certain when the factors for the future lie outside of the person’s control.”

She looked up at him, crinkling her nose in confusion. “Then how do you know if these questions are on the test?”

“Because they haven’t changed it in eighty years. Danato and Belus both took the same test, as their fathers did.”

“Belus took the warden test?”

“Yes, but he was turned down for his obvious physical maladies. The guards are all required to take the same test, but they don’t have to score that well, and they don’t get the option of the final exam.”

She grimaced. “I repeat, how do you know if these questions are on the test?”

“Didn’t you just read the chapter on my kind?” He glanced down at the book in her lap.

“Yes,” she said as she closed the book and threw it at the bars, “but I can’t understand it, that’s why I’m here!” The book flopped back over to her and she slammed it on the ground once more to get the remainder of her statement across.

He stuck his hand out between the bars. She stared at it. “You want to know what I do, I’ll show you.”

“No, you’re just going to eat me,” she said flatly.

Cleos whipped around to face her. “I don’t eat people. I’m a photophobe. When are you going to figure that out?” He grimaced, touching his stomach. “I hate vampires. They’re… loud.” Cori looked down the yellow-tinted hall at the irritated screeching blood suckers pressed to the doors of their cells. Each one was scrambling to grab her, even though she was too far out of reach. “I’ll help you with the test, but under three conditions.”

“Which are?” She arched an eyebrow in preparation for his demands.

“One: you never, ever equate me to a vampire again.” Cori smirked, but nodded. “Two: you let me read you when you visit.”

“Why?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Because I’m bored and it’s kind of like having a cigarette.”

She frowned at him, still not sure if she liked the idea of being someone’s entertainment. “It’s not like sex for you, is it?”

“No.” He mirrored her disgust. “Sex is sex for everybody. Reading your mind would be what someone would do after sex. No, no, scratch that, bad image.” He thought about it for a while. “Okay.” He put his hands in prayer position. “Reading people for me, is like chocolate cake to you.”

Cori felt a shiver down her spine. She scooted back from him. “I thought you said you had to touch me to read me. I was just thinking about chocolate cake today, how did you know that?”

“You really should have read my file before coming down here. I’ve already read you once, Corinthia. I can tell you your favorite flower, your first pet, and I can tell you the name of the first boy you kissed. Can you?”

Cori thought about her first kiss. She remembered what his lips tasted like and she remembered thinking his tongue shouldn’t be in her mouth, and his name was... “I don’t remember his name, how can you?”

“I can find anything in that pretty little head. Do we have a deal?” He paused, waiting for an answer. “Vince never would have brought you down here if he didn’t trust me not to hurt you.”

Cori lowered her eyes. “Okay, deal. What’s the third thing?”

“Bring me some decent tea. These savages keep bringing me coffee.”

She smiled. “What’s wrong with coffee?”

“Besides being muddy pigswill? Consumerism, pesticides, and the debauchery of fair trade.”

She laughed at his devotion to his pseudo-political stance.

She knew if Danato was there at that moment, he would list a thousand reasons not to associate with Cleos, but she needed help, and he wasn’t asking for much. “Okay.” She held out her hand. “Deal.”

Cleos repositioned and cracked his knuckles. “I’m going to hand you something in your mind. It’s just a tiny little memory. A good memory. It won’t hurt you, but it will feel… weird.”

She cringed as he reached out to touch her. He tapped her hand with one clawed finger. She looked down at her hand in case there might be some physical remnant of his offering on her hand. “I didn’t feel–”

Then Cori screamed, or perhaps it was more of a “weeeee!”

She felt the floor drop out from under her and for only a split second, she was falling. She recovered from the sensation and touched the floor to make sure it was still there. It was a terrifying feeling, but somehow a smile crept onto her face. Her heart was beating fast and she was gulping for air. “What the hell was that?”

Cleos grinned ear to ear. “Did you like it?”

“No!” she said, matching her smile with a laugh.

“Are you sure you didn’t like it just a little?”

She waved her finger at him. “That was nothing like chocolate cake.”

Cleos put his arms above him leaning into the bars. “It’s like chocolate cake for me. It’s like whatever you want it to be for you.” He tipped his brow.

Cori shook her head, but couldn’t wipe the smile from her face. “Okay, okay, I see how you could be dangerous… and addictive, but I still don’t understand how you know the questions on the test.”

“I’ve had my hands on numerous people in this prison. I’m not a high-security prisoner. Not a deadly threat. Hell, you’re not the first fly in my web.” Cleos danced his fingers over his imaginary web.

“Said the spider to the fly.” Cori stood up. “I have to go study my zookeeper’s manual. I might be back.”

“You will be. With no one else to talk to, you’ll eventually seek out my beneficial friendship.”

She rolled her eyes before leaving, but didn’t bother asking what that meant. Like he said, he couldn’t read her future.

19

Ethan wasn’t sure when the tour had stopped, but he found himself standing with Sophie amidst the aquariums. To be specific, he was standing and Sophie was leaning against the glass, drawing him in closer with every coy touch to his chest. He couldn’t help but enjoy the attention.

“So, what is the job exactly?” He spoke loudly to be heard over the water pumps.

“Just what I said.” Sophie didn’t bother speaking up, which forced him to lean in further to hear the answer. “You would hunt down the creatures that need to be housed in the prison.”

“I thought the collectors handled that.”

“No, they only track what we’ve already found. They are like rabid bloodhounds. They will find and collect anything we have a scent for, but until we have a scent, we need strong, cunning men.”

Ethan finally gave in and put one arm on the aquarium behind her, leaving them very close. “What would I catch?”

“Whatever you can. This particular job is not only free from confinement, but you would be very, very well off.”

“How well off?”

“Thousands for each easy catch, tens of thousands for troublesome finds, and… well, you get the picture.”

“What’s the catch?”

“No catch.” She leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “Cash payment upon delivery. Danato will pay you himself, from his back pocket.”

“This job is not contingent on my performance in the competition?”

She shook her head, wetting her already glistening lips. “As long as little miss is around to do this dirty work, you can take the job right now. I even brought papers to sign if you were so inclined.”

“What happens if I sign them now?”

“You leave with me.” She winked. “I get you set up in a nice flat somewhere in Europe, and in several days you would receive your first assignment. Then off you hunt.” She traced her hand down his chest and stomach. Her finger caught on his waistband before falling away.

He could feel the heat of her body so close. He wanted to go in for a kiss, but it seemed inappropriate even after her obvious invitations.

Just as he was about to move away, he remembered Cori chastising him for not taking advantage of opportunities. He changed his surrender to attack and went for her lips.

He expected her to turn her cheek or at least push him away after a few seconds, but she did no such thing. She kissed him back with the same vigor. She latched her leg in the crook of his knee and combed her fingers through his hair.

He had never kissed a woman so passionately. Morality and common decency were pushed to the wayside. Every yearning that he had suppressed over the last year came back to him in a frenzied flood.

He lifted Sophie off the floor. She moaned with appreciation and wrapped her legs around him. He pushed against her, sliding his hand up her skirt. He had no intention of stopping. A quick tug on her panties and a downed zipper were the only two steps left in this puzzle. It would be quick and finally over with. Even if the experience provided nothing to Sophie, he knew she would pretend to enjoy it.

If not for a flicker in his peripheral vision, he would have thrown Sophie to the floor and taken those last two steps without hesitation. He surfaced from his lip-lock to look at what had distracted him.