34. Bianca

"You"re finally awake." I open my eyes to see Vlad staring down at me, his face expressionless.

"How do you feel?" he asks, going to the bathroom and bringing me a wet towel. I take it and wipe my face, feeling the sweat cling to my skin.

"Much better. How long was I out?" He looks at his watch.

"Almost thirty-two hours now."

"You"re kidding me." I stare at him, but he just shrugs.

"It"s gotta be the sedative. The coke must be out of your system by now, though, so that"s good. Although…" He pauses to think. "I"m not letting you out of my sight for another couple of days."

I slowly nod. I remember pieces of my embarrassing outburst, and I cringe.

"I"m sorry about before." Vlad waves his hand as if it"s nothing.

"It"s not as if I expected you to be a model patient. Your husband visited by the way."

"Theo?" My eyes widen. "You"re serious?" He pulls the chair from the desk next to my bed and positions himself in front of me.

"Why? How?"

"I called him."

"And he came?"

"Uhum. He was quite worried about you. Maybe not all is lost…"

"Not all is lost… you mean…"

"I"ll help you. I"ll help you win that husband of yours back. But I need a favor for that."

"Anything," I readily agree, and he nods.

"Good. I will exact a promise from you," I frown at his request, shaking my head.

"What promise?" I ask, trying to see why he"d go to such an extent.

"You"ll know when the moment comes." His head turns toward the window. "Do I have your word?"

"Of course," I say, maybe too fast. Who knows what Vlad will ask me. But at this point, I"d be willing to give him anything.

"Great!" His face immediately changes to accommodate a smile. "Now, on to more serious concerns."

I drag myself in a sitting position. While my mind is no longer as clouded as before, I can"t say I"m in top shape. I"m also in dire need of a shower. But if Vlad says it"s serious… chances are it"s serious.

He takes out his phone and plays a recording. I listen attentively and ask.

"Is that…?"

"Yes. It"s your arms dealer."

"Not my arms dealer," I have to correct it with a scowl.

"You were the one who almost fell into a trap. You don"t get a say."

"I could have handled myself."

"I have no doubt, you would have also attracted unwanted attention to yourself." I don"t reply, knowing he is right.

"Okay, so my arms dealer."

"As you see, I managed to get some information out of him. He was looking specifically for Artemis."

"Yeah, to get to you and what was that… Chimera? Who"s that?"

"That"s what I am most concerned about. Chimera was my previous partner."

"I didn"t know you had another partner before me."

"It"s not common knowledge. Chimera just disappeared one day. "

"So, why would they want you or Chimera? From what I understand from that confession, I was just the means to an end."

"That"s my question as well." He shuffles some files and gives me a dossier full of pictures.

"What"s this?" I ask, and he just nods for me to open it. When I do, I immediately frown. I turn page after page, and I am greeted by massacre after massacre, one worse than the other. One, in particular, is almost something unlike anything I"d ever seen. A torso riddled with small, clean-cut holes is propped on a chair in a dark room. The ribs look to have been removed beforehand. And the holes? They look meticulous, hand-carved ones. Instead of arms, human legs had been sown at the torso"s sockets, making it a monstrous amalgamation. And instead of toes, human fingers had been added. It"s a massacre, but it"s also a work of art.

"That is Chimera." Vlad points at the pictures in my hands. "He wasn"t just an assassin. He was the boogie man. His job wasn"t just to kill, but to send a message. Look at the next page."

I do, and I notice teeth—human teeth arranged in the form of a C.

"That"s his mark."

"Shit," I whisper. Even to my eyes, which have seen countless sick shit… this is something different.

"You were partnered with this?" Vlad purses his lips.

"Things were different back then. But the issue is that Chimera disappeared over ten years ago."

"Before I became your partner," I say, and he nods. "And why would anyone be looking for Chimera now?"

"That was my question, as well. It"s clear that whoever is looking for Chimera has some insider information; otherwise, they wouldn"t tie Chimera to Berserker or Artemis."

"Do you think it"s someone out for revenge? You said Chimera was used to send messages. That means that the people who got the messages were left alive. At least I"m assuming."

"Not necessarily. But I did think of that as well."

"And?"

"It gets worse." He takes another file, and I see CONFIDENTIAL written on it. I open it to see a report from what looks to be the FBI. It details a few gruesome murders in the Tri-state area. I"m about to ask Vlad what I"m looking at when I turn the page, and I suddenly understand.

Teeth.

The mark of the Chimera.

"Look at the date." There are a total of four murders, stretching from two years ago to last month. My eyes snap back to Vlad"s.

"I kept thinking about it. It couldn"t be coincidental that they were looking into Chimera after so much time. I asked some questions here and there, and my sources came back with this."

"So, Chimera is back?"

"No. Chimera is not back. That." He points at the FBI file and then at the previous folder. "is not Chimera. It"s a copycat."

"How do you know? Maybe Chimera suddenly decided to make a reappearance."

Vlad lifts his eyebrow. "I know Chimera. He"s out of commission."

I frown. This doesn"t make sense at all.

"But who would know about Chimera"s work after all this time?"

"That is my question, as well. But I wanted you to know the details too. Chances are, if they tried once, they would keep on trying to get to you. Better be on guard at all times."

"Can"t you get in touch with the real Chimera?"

"No. At least not yet. Chimera is…" Vlad shakes his head. "He isn"t like us, not really."

"Like us?"

"He felt. Too deeply, one might say. In our line of work, no one is truly sane. To do what Chimera did, however…" He trails off.

"You"d have to be really deranged."

"Exactly. And Chimera"s feelings were his downfall. He went off the rails." Vlad shakes his head. "I really don"t know what would happen if I brought any of this up."

"Do you need my help?"

"For now, no. I just need you to be on guard. You already have too much on your plate."

"Tell me about it," I mumble and Vlad takes the files away from me.

"Which brings me to my second point. The Italians."

"So you heard? How am I not surprised." I roll my eyes.

"What can I say, I have ears everywhere. Your father is an idiot if you ask me."

"Tell me something new…"

"There"s gonna be a war soon. How"s that for new?"

"What?"

"Did they tell you why the partnership with the Irish? It"s not really their style."

"Not in detail. Why?"

"Because Enzo is trying to eliminate the other families. He wants to be Capo Dei Capi. But he needs support. Influence. Soldiers. You really think they didn"t come to me first?"

"Of course they would. Why didn"t you agree?"

"You know I find human trafficking distasteful." Vlad makes a disgusted face. "But more than that, their main enemy is the Lastra family."

"Lastra…" I repeat, trying to remember where I"d heard the name.

"They own Upper Manhattan."

"Wait!" I put my hand up, realizing where I know the name from. "Why are they, enemies? Didn"t one of Agosti"s daughters marry into the Lastra family?" I knew this because, after the unsettling lunch at my father"s, I"d done some research on the Agostis.

"You are correct. But she"s dead. And coincidentally or not, they blame her husband, the Lastra Capo, for it."

"Are they right? Did he do it?"

"No. I don"t think so. I"d even go as far as to say that Enzo could have had her killed just to have a reason for conflict."

"Damn, I thought Italians drew the line at family."

"They do when they"re male." Vlad curls his lip at the notion. "If they"re female, they"re either marriageable or unmarriageable, whereby they live out their lives in a convent."

"You"re joking."

"No. They are strictly used as currency. That"s why I think Romina might have outlived her purpose."

"I didn"t realize Enzo was so ruthless. Smart? Yeah. But not heartless."

"The thing with Enzo is that you can never get a good read on him. He"s just that smart."

"Is that why you didn"t agree to help them? Because you don"t trust him?"

"That is part of the reason. Also, I"m honor-bound to the Lastra Capo."

"So, you"ll take their side in the war?"

"I haven"t decided yet. I can pay my dues by simply not aiding the other side."

"Yeah, well… both me and Theo are currently stuck on their side. The old man kept some evidence on me that"s currently keeping me out of jail."

"Bianca, Bianca…" Vlad tsks at me in disapproval. He"s always criticized me for being careless. "Do you think your husband will keep playing along now?"

"Honestly? I don"t know. I wouldn"t even hold it against him if he didn"t," I add uncertainly.

"Good thing you have me," Vlad smirks. "I have a plan that might just solve most of your problems."

"Really?"

"Let"s see…"

He starts and outlines what could, in fact, solve all my problems.