3. Blane

CHAPTER 3

Blane

“ L et’s see what they have to say,” I suggested to Vee. “We can surprise them from the bathroom.”

If the men left, who knew where they’d go? On a normal day, I could have climbed into my car and followed, but on the way over, I’d noticed that the gas tank was almost empty. One more reason to chat in situ.

But Vee shook her head. “I have a better plan. Let’s meet them at the front door.”

Hmm, an interesting idea, and one that had the added advantage of cutting off their escape route should they try to run. And they’d left the door open, the fools. It only took a moment for us to slip out the window and get ourselves into position.

“Knock knock,” I called, loud enough to be heard but not loud enough to disturb the neighbours again.

Why not try the civil approach first? If they tried to scarper, then we’d overpower them. Bundling them back inside wouldn’t take more than a second.

Movement in the apartment stopped.

“Wren?” I called. “Are you there? ”

Frantic whispers came from inside, and Vee giggled softly.

“They’re trying to decide whether to climb out the window, barge past us, or pretend they’re meant to be here,” she said softly. “Okay, the guy with the deeper voice is complaining that he won’t fit through the window.”

How unfortunate.

“Wren, it’s Chad. Are you okay? Your door was open.”

“Chad?” Vee mouthed.

“Might as well use the name of somebody I don’t like.”

“The smaller man is going out the window.”

“Let him. We only need one.”

“Are you sure?”

“It might even be better—no witnesses.”

We stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind us just as the second man came barrelling out of the bedroom. He’d planned to flatten me, that much was clear, but he stopped short when he saw Vee. An enforcer and a gentleman? Or just easily distracted?

Whatever, we used his hesitation to our benefit. I grabbed one arm, Vee grabbed the other, and we pinned him against the wall. He struggled. Boy, did he struggle. His eyes said “fuck you,” and his body said “steroid abuse.” Muscles in his arms bulged, but anger turned to fear when he realised we were both considerably stronger than we appeared.

“Wren, you look different,” I said. “Have you changed your hair?”

He spat in my face. Well, if that was how we were going to play things… I kneed him in the genitals, then dodged to the side as he vomited. Mortals were strangely sensitive about that particular part of their anatomy. Admittedly, I wasn’t fond of physical altercations, but thanks to the abundance of heat and fire in Plane Three, I’d built up a reasonably high pain threshold. Earth had a much more re freshing climate, Las Vegas excepted, which was yet another reason I hadn’t been too sorry when my father relieved me of my previous job.

But the vomit smelled, and someone would have to clean that up before Wren came home. Thank goodness Joseph was duty-bound to serve me.

“That’s not very friendly,” I told the stranger. “Care to tell us what you’re doing in Wren’s apartment?”

“Go to hell.”

“I’ve been there many, many times, and it’s not as bad as you might think.”

“You tryna be clever?”

“ I’m asking the questions. Why are you here?”

Silence.

Vee tried a different approach. “We’re just worried about our friend. Either you’re also a friend, and you’re worried about her too, or you’re here for a different reason. Can you see our dilemma?”

“Fine, sure, I’m a friend of hers. I came to check up on her when she didn’t answer the phone.”

“Did her sister call you? I know she’s anxious too.”

“Yeah, yeah, her sister called me.”

“Funny—she doesn’t have a sister. Now, why are you really here?”

“You bitch.”

The man lunged forward, and I learned an important lesson: the next time I took a prisoner, I needed to check his pockets before any discussion took place. A knife had found its way into the man’s hand, a nasty-looking switchblade. Vee slammed him back against the wall, but not before he slashed her cheek.

Now the drywall was cracked—another job for Joseph—and curses spewed from the man’s lips. Curses that slowed considerably as Vee’s cheek healed before his eyes. The words trickled to a blessed stop entirely when she grinned, revealing elongated canine teeth. Clearly, she was peckish. When she’d recently indulged in a good meal, her smile was picture perfect.

“Do you want to try that again?” Her fingers dug into his shoulder, her nails as sharp as talons. Today, she’d painted them turquoise to match her hair.

“W-w-who are you people?”

Better. Yes, this attitude was much better.

“Where’s Wren?”

“I-I-I don’t know.”

“Why are you here?”

“Some guy hired me to pick her up, that’s all.”

“What guy?”

When he hesitated, I got into the spirit of the game and let my hand heat. I could brand a man with my touch, or spark the little fires necessary to keep Plane Three at a summery hundred degrees.

“Hey, what are you?—”

“She asked you for a name.”

“I don’t know the damn name! A guy in a bar, he gave me a hundred bucks and promised another five when I did the job.”

Okay, now we were getting somewhere.

“Do you make a habit of doing illegal work for men you don’t know?”

“Rent keeps going up, man. I gotta make the cash somehow.”

“You haven’t considered getting a legitimate job?”

“That don’t pay shit, and you have to work eight hours a day if you wanna eat more than rabbit food.”

Oh, my heart bled. Metaphorically, of course—my internal organs recovered as quickly as Vee’s skin did on the rare occasions they got damaged .

“So presumably there was meant to be a handover? Where and when?”

“Power Zone on South Thirteenth.”

“What’s that? An appliance store?”

And where was South Thirteenth Street? In Fremont East, if I wasn’t mistaken.

“A gym.”

“And the time?”

“They didn’t say, man. Just told me to press the buzzer and ask for Zion.”

“You were meant to do that tonight?”

“Tonight, tomorrow night… They gave me the address and told me to drive her there.”

He made himself sound like a fucking chauffeur, but no doubt Wren would have been unconscious or possibly tied up. If I’d been able to nominate residents for Plane Three, this entitled prick would have made an excellent candidate, but sadly, my responsibilities had never extended that far.

“Which gym do you go to?” Vee asked.

“None of your fuckin’ business.”

And we’d been getting along so well…

“Answer the question.” I raised the temperature again, and his skin began to sizzle. A yelp, and he immediately became more cooperative.

“Body Rock! I go to Body Rock.”

“Have you ever been to Power Zone?”

“Nah, man. I’ve driven past it, but I’ve never been inside. That place is full of mean motherfuckers.”

“Interesting that you don’t include yourself in that collective.” I ran a fingertip down the man’s cheek. “Underneath this tough exterior, you’re just a pussycat.”

“Fuck you.” Then he looked between us. “Uh, sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

I laughed. Toying with humans could be so entertaining. But the fact that this man had seen more of Vee and me than we would usually show to mere mortals did present us with a problem. Sure, we could let him go, allow him to walk out of Wren’s apartment under threat of retribution if he breathed a word about our presence, and I was almost certain he would obey. He was hired help, not a loyal foot soldier. Or if we knocked him out before we left, he’d probably assume he’d dreamed the whole nightmare, apart from the handprint burned into his face, anyway.

The other option? Well, removing a human soul from its host body was child’s play when you were the former Lord of the Underworld. Did I mean death? Death was such a final word. So many negative connotations. His essence would be freed from this abomination of a body that he’d spent so long abusing, his soul granted the freedom to make a fresh start. Vee still got a little touchy about these things, but that was only because she hadn’t visited the other planes. Hadn’t seen the celestial world for herself. Her experience of the human race was limited to Earth’s Plane Five, which was such a tiny part of the universe. Reincarnation was nearly as old as time.

Decisions, decisions… When Vee glanced my way and raised an enquiring eyebrow, I knew she was having similar thoughts.

“So…” I said. “How hungry are you?”