17. Danger Comes in Many Forms

CHAPTER 17

Danger Comes in Many Forms

L ike all urban areas, Golden City had good areas and bad ones. Happy homes filled with loving parents and laughing, smiling children co-existed alongside places where darkness reigned.

Dressed in fitted black leggings and a tight sweater with slits in the back for her wings, Brynleigh stood across from one such dark spot now. Shadows wrapped around her like a cloak, and she studied the location where Jelisette had sent her.

From the outside, 16 Upper Red Road looked like every other warehouse in the northern district of Golden City. The building was a nondescript, enormous rectangle nestled among other factories and warehouses. White metal walls and a steel roof added to its industrial appearance.

It was quiet…

Too quiet.

Darkness surrounded this place. It was in the shadows swarming at the base of the building, in the cold midnight air, and in the starless night. Clouds hid the moon from view as if protecting it from whatever occurred within this building.

Danger, danger, danger, Brynleigh's shadows shouted . Turn back now .

She did not heed their warning. She couldn't. This was bigger than her.

Besides, danger came in many forms. Perhaps whatever was happening here wouldn't be so bad. Maybe instead of physical danger, it was more of the "we're scamming people out of money" danger. Still bad, but not nearly as terrible.

A vampire could hope.

Either way, it didn't matter. Brynleigh was here, and she would follow through with this meeting.

She'd spent the day texting on and off with Ryker. Their conversations had been less stilted with every message, and she'd had a smile on her face for hours.

Earlier, Brynleigh had told Ryker she had another job to do for her Maker. She'd considered not telling him she was going out, but then she remembered the tracking bracelet. Zanri probably could've helped with that, but obviously, that wasn't an option. Besides, she was in this mess because of the shifter.

To say that Ryker had been displeased would have been an understatement, but Brynleigh had stood her ground. This was important.

She pulled out her phone, rereading her last text.

Brynleigh

Cooperating with Jelisette is how we get information about the Black Night. That's why I'm going.

Ryker's reply had been so him that she'd heard him say the words as if he'd growled them in her ear.

Ryker

If you get yourself killed, I'll never forgive you.

The words would have sounded harsh coming from anyone else, but Brynleigh knew better. She heard the care in his words and felt his worry wash over her .

Even now, after everything, he wanted her to be safe. That's precisely why she was in this dangerous place.

For him.

For them.

Brynleigh would risk her personal well-being a thousand times over if it meant they could repair their brokenness and return to the way things were before.

Giving herself exactly one minute to be sentimental about Ryker's messages—she'd enjoyed texting him far more than she ever thought she would, considering her recent hatred of cellular technology—Brynleigh put the phone away and drew in a series of deep breaths.

The time for happiness was gone. Now, she had to concentrate on the warehouse.

She'd been surveilling the area for the past two hours.

Every few minutes, a vehicle approached the warehouse and pulled around back. Someone got out, their faces covered by hoods or hats, and the car sped away. People entered the warehouse, but so far, no one left.

When midnight was a few minutes away, Brynleigh pushed off the alley wall. She slinked around to the back of the warehouse and quickly located the entrance. The door was nothing special, other than the image of a crescent moon stabbed with a dagger painted in silver, and the hulking shifter stationed in front of it.

He was enormous. Blond, almost white, cropped hair revealed his curved ears. A black suit hugged his body. Sunglasses were perched on his nose despite the late hour. He clutched a tablet in his right hand, the technology laughably small in his grip.

Brynleigh wondered about the man's animal counterpart. Was he a dragon? Perhaps a bear or a lion. Either way, he looked like he could devour someone whole, even in this form.

Sarai would've commented that the shifter looked like a bodyguard from the action movies she loved to watch… if she was alive to make comments.

Grief stabbed Brynleigh in the gut, the emotion wholly unwelcome at a time like this. She couldn't afford to think about her family right now.

Brynleigh was on a new mission: get information about the Black Night, fix things with Ryker, and get her damned happily ever after. She would do whatever it took to make that happen.

Forcing her grief aside, Brynleigh returned her assessing gaze to her surroundings.

A bulb flickered overhead, casting waning light over the shifter. A blinking security camera sat above the door. Cigarette butts littered the broken, cracked pavement. Disgusting.

She kicked at one with her booted toe. Why did people insist on sullying the land where they lived by throwing their trash on the ground? If Brynleigh were an Earth Elf, she'd be horrified by how some people treated this world.

But she wasn't an elf. She was a vampire, and she was here with a purpose.

A glance at her phone confirmed it was time. Drawing in a fortifying breath of crisp midnight air, she let her shadows fall away.

The shifter's attention snapped to her. He straightened, his muscles tensed, and he watched her like a hawk as she approached.

"Name?" the burly guard asked in a baritone voice.

"Brynleigh de la Point." She could have offered an alias, but something told her this entire evening was a test from Jelisette. She didn't want to risk messing it up.

The shifter grunted and tapped on his tablet. After a minute, he looked up.

"Welcome to Horizon, Miss de la Point. Your Maker has set everything up for you."

Brynleigh furrowed her brows. Set what up? She was supposed to meet with someone named Dimitri. Still, this didn't seem like the time for questions. A car was pulling up behind her, and she needed to get inside.

No matter what waited for her on the other side, she would handle it .

After all, nothing could be worse than The Pit.

Stepping across Horizon's threshold was like walking into another world. Brynleigh had expected to walk into a meeting of rebels, not… this.

Whatever this was.

As she entered the warehouse, magic pressed against her skin. It was like walking into a bubble. Pressure built in her ears for a moment, and then it popped.

A ward.

As soon as she was within the magic's protective sphere, hundreds of sounds collided with her at once.

Even when she'd been human, Brynleigh would've found this place overwhelming. As a vampire, she could barely suppress the shiver that ran through her.

Noise assaulted her from all sides.

Loud conversations battled with booming music. A steady beat shook the floor. Feet stomped. People cheered and roared.

She stood still for several seconds, letting the sounds wash over her until she got used to them.

Only then did her other senses kick in. The scents of alcohol, sweat, and bodies tightly packed together wove through the space. Beneath them all was the cloying, coppery aroma of blood. Her fangs ached, and she curled her fists at her sides. She'd had several servings of blood earlier in the evening to ensure she'd be prepared for anything.

And the people.

The warehouse was packed to the brim. Horned and winged elves, shifters, werewolves, witches, fae, vampires, and humans milled about. A long black bar stretched along one wall. Dozens of bottles were shelved behind the three bartenders filling countless drink orders.

The lighting was dim, save for two blinding spotlights shining on an elevated platform in the middle of the warehouse. Though the stage was empty, people kept glancing at it.

Brynleigh grabbed the arm of a horned elf walking by. The woman was stunningly beautiful, with umber skin and long, silky black hair that reached her waist.

"Excuse me, would you know where I can find Dimitri?" asked Brynleigh.

The woman looked at her like she was asking whether the moon hung in the sky.

"Of course." Her tone made it clear that Brynleigh was an idiot for asking such a ridiculous question. "He'll be out later."

Before Brynleigh could ask a follow-up question—like what this place was or who this mysterious Dimitri was—the elf disappeared into the crowd.

Brynleigh asked about Dimitri three more times. Each time, she got the same looks and story. He would be out later.

Vague as hell.

Annoyed and wondering why Jelisette had sent her here, Brynleigh made her way to the bar. Thankful she'd brought money, she ordered and paid for a glass of blood wine. Once the beverage was in hand, she turned and leaned against the countertop.

A frown pulled at her lips. She'd told Jelisette she wanted to take down the Representatives, and her Maker had sent her here. This was one of the strangest things Jelisette had ever done.

What was Brynleigh doing here?

Sipping her blood wine, she meandered through the crowds. Luckily, she'd adapted to the noise, and though it was still loud, she could filter out the conversations from everything else. Some were everyday discussions she'd expect to hear anywhere: relationship woes, life troubles, job problems, and other pedantic issues.

Other conversations were far more interesting, though.

A pair of Death Elves a few tables over were sipping neon pink drinks that sported plastic umbrellas hanging over the edges. They leaned against a high table, their sparkly outfits barely more than strips of fabric covering their important bits.

The shorter of the two had strawberry blonde hair, pale pink butterfly wings, and red Maturation marks circling her neck like a collar. She leaned forward and sipped her drink before loudly whispering, "Did you hear what Chancellor Rose did last week?"

Her companion, another Death Elf with curling black horns, shook her head. "That bitch? What did she do now?"

Brynleigh's eyes widened as she glanced between the two women. She'd never heard anyone disparage the Chancellor so openly before.

"Well, I heard she was the one who backed the newest laws in the Eastern Region."

"The Registration Decree for those born Without?"

Brynleigh swallowed. She knew that many in the Republic looked down on those born Without almost as much as they did vampires, but she hadn't realized a law forcing them to register had passed in the Republic. Registration was a slippery slope leading nowhere good.

"Mhmm." Butterfly Wings sipped her drink. "The one and only."

"Fuck that. It's just another way to discriminate…"

Brynleigh moved away from the women, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping on their conversation. Her interest was piqued, though. She made a mental note to ask Ryker about the Registration Decree.

It wasn't long before she heard a similar conversation. Then, a third. Soon, Brynleigh started to understand why Jelisette had sent her here.

The conversations varied, but hatred of the Representatives was a common thread through them all. This was a place where being associated with the upper class could get someone killed.

And Brynleigh was married to a future Representative.

Talk about potential problems.

Then she noticed something else. People were complaining about the Chancellor, but no one said a word about Jade Academy .

How could no one be bringing it up? Didn't they care that people had died a few days ago?

Part of Brynleigh wanted to scream at them and ask why they weren't talking about it—after all, it had been all over the news—but the other, wiser part of her knew drawing that kind of attention to herself was dangerous.

Then, it was too late.

The air in the warehouse shifted. Hushed whispers ran over the crowd like a wave, starting in the far-right corner and rippling through the space.

"Dimitri's coming."

"He's here."

"He's early. I thought…"

"Hush."

The last word was a murmured command, repeated until silence blanketed the warehouse.

Brynleigh stood on her tiptoes, trying to glimpse the mysterious Dimitri. After all, he was the reason she was here.

The crowds parted, and then she saw him. Her breath caught in her throat.

Dimitri was incredibly beautiful in a violent way. Black hair streaked with red flowed to his waist. He was nearly a head taller than most of the crowd. A strong jaw and crooked nose lent him a fierce appearance. Like Brynleigh, he wore all black, although his outfit was somehow refined and casual at the same time. His orange eyes glowed.

A werewolf.

Not just any wolf, judging by the power radiating from him. If Brynleigh were in a betting mood, she'd say he was an Alpha. She hadn't met many other werewolves, save for Trinity, who had also participated in the Choosing.

Dimitri reached the empty stage. Instead of using the stairs, he leaped onto the platform with the grace of a predatory animal. He turned in a slow circle, a smile creeping over his lip.

Anticipation thickened the air .

"We have a good crowd this evening," Dimitri declared, his voice booming through the warehouse. "Welcome to Horizon."

The assembled group cheered.

"Who's ready for a fight?"

This time, the crowd's roar was deafening. Feet stomped. People yelled. Fists pumped.

A wicked smile graced the werewolf's lips. "Wonderful. Then, without further ado, may I introduce our first contestant?"

Another wave of cheers went through the warehouse. Each was more frenzied than the last, and Brynleigh's shadows swirled in her veins.

Then Dimitri caught her eye. He raised a brow, a devilish smirk dancing on his lips.

A sickening, horrible feeling unfurled in Brynleigh's stomach.

"It is my pleasure to welcome a newcomer to Horizon's stage." Dimitri paused, clearly a showman, and Brynleigh felt like she was going to throw up.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

How had she not seen this coming?

Two realizations slammed into her at once.

First, Jelisette had sent her to a fight club. In hindsight, that seemed obvious, and she probably should've realized that the moment she walked through the doors.

Second, and probably more important, considering her current circumstances, she was absolutely fucked. Dimitri had just pointed to her and called her name.