Part 29 (1/2)

I gasped, ”Blood.”

Dirk selected a silver scalpel from the case. A beam from the track light struck the surface and bounced off the wall. His unzipped my jacket and idly caressed my b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

”Here's my proposition, Mia. f.u.c.king Brovik's monkey makes you very valuable to us. Gaius pursued him for years but he remains loyal. Think of the wealth of information in that golden head. He'd be far less pretty without it, don't you agree? Just work it out of him to give me, or... I'll make him quietly disappear. Perhaps when he makes one of his jaunts to Zurich? Brovik will never know what happened.” He held the scalpel to my neck. ”How will the arrogant little c.o.c.ksucker's death taste?” He trailed the slender silver blade over my b.r.e.a.s.t.s and down my belly, slicing a red thread on my abdomen. ”Will he beg for his life like all the others as I carve his carca.s.s up slowly, still alive, with this scalpel, bit-by-bit to put him into these little bottles until there's nothing left but his bones? Then, I'll tear out his heart to keep in a jar beside my bed to remind you.” He licked my blood off the scalpel. I started shaking as he sat down on the bed. ”Funny, I can't taste his taint. I really should kill you too for contaminating yourself, but if you do exactly as I say, perhaps I can forgive.”

Dirk licked his lips. He wasn't bluffing. He was a sociopath before taking the blood and ten times more twisted and powerful now. Kurt was in serious danger. There was only one way out.

To kill a cast-off like me is no crime. A slave would be bad enough, requiring compensation for damages. But a cast-off kill a full-fledged alpha? A death sentence, self-defense or not, Gaius could take my head.

Light glinted off the s.h.i.+ning surface of the blade. If only I could get my hands on it.

He caressed my breast. ”I'll burn my mark here.”

I swallowed my revulsion and tried the submissive tack. ”Please Dirk,” I whispered. ”I'll do whatever you want. Just promise you won't hurt him.”

He grabbed my chin. ”You've never shown me proper respect.”

I had laughed at the b.a.s.t.a.r.d, too much to be smart. It was pay back time for him in a big way.

”I'm sorry,” I whispered. It was no work to look scared.

”Not good enough,” he breathed into my face. He sank down next to me on the bed, pressing the scalpel to my throat. ”You understand what I'll do to your Jew if you trick me?”

I bit my lip and nodded. He unchained me, cutting my clothes off with the scalpel, nicking me every so often until I was naked and bleeding. Finally he set the blade back down on the bed table. I cried with relief as he climbed onto me. Rape was better than death. The yellow eyes looking down were loopy with dilated pupils. When he'd bled me he must have injected himself with some of the narcotic he'd given me. Ethan told me in that in Kalidasa's court the famed adepts of the ancient arts adepts of the ancient arts used hallucinogens in their erotic rituals, and other's used recreationally, but he'd had taught me it was very dangerous as it compromised one's reflexes. As you know Joe, it's difficult to judge how much can be tolerated since our systems work so rapidly. It was obviously affecting his judgment or he'd never have set that knife down. I took advantage and played along, fighting the urge to rip out the slimy tongue he forced into my mouth. I urged him on, maneuvering into striking position just as he pushed my thighs apart. used hallucinogens in their erotic rituals, and other's used recreationally, but he'd had taught me it was very dangerous as it compromised one's reflexes. As you know Joe, it's difficult to judge how much can be tolerated since our systems work so rapidly. It was obviously affecting his judgment or he'd never have set that knife down. I took advantage and played along, fighting the urge to rip out the slimy tongue he forced into my mouth. I urged him on, maneuvering into striking position just as he pushed my thighs apart.

Noiseless b.u.t.terfly's wings swept over to the bed table, touching cold metal. I pulled the sharp deadly little blade against my thigh just as he was poised to enter. I struck, cutting his throat in one neat movement as Ethan had taught me. His face froze in a look of surprise, the body still twitching as it collapsed on top of me. Arterial spurts of blood gushed out soaking the pillows and blankets, bathing my face and body. I hacked his head off and buried my face in the ragged stump, gulping down as much of it as I could before it grew too cold to restore me.

The entire collection of demons lurked in that abyss, all the tortured souls he had taken, pain he'd reveled in. A wasteland, inhabited by howling fiends with eyeless skulls- it had lived too long.

I had to get out fast but I was covered in blood and still flying from the narcotic. An ice-cold shower cleared my head. I found his discarded clothes, several sizes too large for me, thrown in a corner and dressed as well as I could. No time to waste on looking good. Gaius's dogs were sniffing outside. I spied Dirk's metal case. He was bound to keep a gun in there. I tried to open it but it was securely locked. I fished keys out of Dirk's trousers and a wad of cash that I stuffed into my leather jacket.

I unlocked the case and opened it. A loaded Glock sat atop a small velvet bag filled with diamonds. Beneath, I found a pile of computer discs in plastic boxes. They were labeled with a picture of Romulus and Remus. The wording said: Romulus Laboratories Corp: Confidential. Romulus Laboratories Corp: Confidential.

I grabbed the gun and snapped the briefcase shut. I was in huge trouble. Gaius would come looking for answers and I was the first place he'd look. Grabbing the case, I made my way into the hallway, scanning for the dogs. I couldn't smell them but heard their voices from a distance. I slipped out of the house and toward a converted carriage house that served as a garage. I ducked into the bushes and peered through the window. Three huge dogs sat inside playing cards and smoking. I had less than a second to plug all three. I held my breath and took aim, praying I could remember all Ethan had taught me. I squeezed the trigger and fired off six rounds into their heads.

In the garage, I found a can of gas and dumped it over the corpses. I threw a lighted match, and went back to do the same to the house. Stealing one of the three dark sedans, I sped off with my plundered treasure toward Manhattan.

TWENTY.

It was well past midnight when I hit Manhattan. No planes dropped from the sky and city lights still glittered in front of me. So much for all the millennium panic.

I abandoned the car on Eleventh near Fiftieth. The smell of horse was strong in the air. The slow, hollow clopping sound of a very tired coach horse returning to the stables came toward me. The female driver waved and called out Happy New Year. Well, it was in one sense. I'd just ripped out a big fat malignancy growing on the earth.

I pushed my way downtown through throngs of inebriated mortals around the Port Authority bus terminal, glancing behind, expecting Gaius's dogs already tracking me. There was no doubt in my mind Gaius would call for my head and Kurt would be the one dispatched to bring me to Brovik for questioning. Maybe we could run away together. Sell the diamonds. Go somewhere- maybe Leisha could help us.

When I finally returned home, Brovik's watchdogs were parked outside my building. I walked by them with a little wave. ”Happy New Year, fellahs.”

The car drew alongside me as the window rolled down. ”Where you been, missy?”

”Wouldn't you like to know?”

The dog stuck his face out of the window. A network of old knife scars seamed it like a baseball. Brovik sure didn't choose 'em for looks. ”Don't get fresh. You know- when the boyfriend is too busy to get away- old Cash could keep you company.”

”Behave yourself, or I'll tell him you've been fresh with me.”

Cash licked his thin lips, tossing long, pale hair back from his face. ”We don't work for that arrogant little p.r.i.c.k, and the Northman's going to want to f.u.c.king know where you been for six hours. Sweet dreams, doll.” He laughed as the car pulled away.

s.h.i.+t.

I went inside and pulled up a floorboard and hid the evidence inside. I was in deep trouble now.

Two nights later Kurt was dispatched in Brovik's private jet to fetch me. He appeared unexpectedly at my door, no rose in hand this time. He stripped off his jacket and gloves, tossing them on top of his laptop. ”Mia, what happened? Tell me the truth! This is very serious!” He took me by the shoulders with less than his accustomed tenderness. ”Don't lie to me! Gaius is out for your blood. Did you do this?”

”Do what?” I broke away to hang up his b.u.t.ter-soft brown calfskin jacket.

Kurt grabbed me by the arm and spun me around to face him. ”Don't play with me! Someone set fire to The Wolf's compound in the Hamptons. Dirk's bones were found in the wreckage. Three dogs were murdered as well. Cash says you went missing for six hours on New Year's Eve. A girl matching your description got into the car with Dirk outside of the St. Regis.”

I couldn't lie to Kurt. ”He dragged me into a car, bled and drugged me, chained me to a bed. He threatened me with a scalpel, said he'd cut you into little pieces if I didn't spy for them.”

Kurt's ivory face went alabaster. ”Oh Mia, he didn't! How did you manage it?”

”f.u.c.king idiot was high. I played along until I got my hands on the knife, cut the b.a.s.t.a.r.d's throat and hacked off his head, shot the dogs then set the place on fire.”

”You killed him to protect me?” He gripped my shoulders harder. ”You must swear you never saw him. Mortal witnesses saw a girl with short dark hair outside the hotel. It could have been any girl, perhaps a call girl he'd engaged. You understand? They'll put you to torture. Trial by ordeal.”

”I've been bled before.”

He winced. ”Not like this. It can go on for hours. Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Gaius is suspicious of his Alphas as well. They all despised Dirk, but they have more convincing alibis.”

I clung to Kurt, needing his calm logic so badly at this moment. ”I had to do it!”

”I don't blame you, I'd often wished to do so myself.” Kurt held me tighter. ”Find the courage, Mia. Stare them down and you'll live. I'll do all I can. Ultimately, it's you they must believe.”

”Fat chance of lying to the Wolf and getting away with it.”

”They have no real proof.”

”If it wasn't for you, I'd say why not just end it?

He held me very close to him. ”Don't say that. Not now when we're so close. Mia, we're on the very brink. The organism is isolated!”

”Organism?”