Chapter Eighteen

Anubis opened the fire door and walked down the long hallway. The antiseptic smell assaulted his nose. The light blue scrubs and doctor's ID pinned to his pocket kept all but the most cursory glances to a minimum. He'd stopped at the entry point to wash and put on his isolation ward garb. Faas and his bodyguards lay in the rooms beyond in the isolation ward. A quick look at the man's chart revealed the doctors were currently testing them all for typhoid fever and malaria plus a host of other diseases found in the rainforest climate of Suriname.

Anubis flashed his badge at the door where a bodyguard for Faas stood. The man nodded and turned his head down the hall, dismissing Anubis without a second thought.

He entered Faas's room, pulled up the one and only chair in the area, so he could examine Faas as he lay there, asleep or unconscious. The man's skin held an ashen pallor. His lungs labored, the deep rattle foretold the failure of his respiratory system. Nothing could forestall the inevitable. Anubis pulled a vial of adrenaline from his pocket and pulled a few CCs into a syringe. He'd made a compromise based on Asp's concerns. He waited and watched Faas's compound. He saw them take Faas to the hospital. The bodyguards followed in a separate ambulance, and the medical personnel wore masks, but no suits that would protect them if they suspected radiation poisoning. The likelihood that the guards would be able to infect anyone was very slim. Exposed to secondhand smoke from a Polonium 210 inhalation wasn't necessarily deadly. The damage done to them would be slower, less traumatic, but if Faas had smoked the entire pack in their presence? Their deaths would be a sure thing.

He sat watching Faas for several minutes. All the hate and rage that filled him fueled his urge to fill the syringe and shoot Faas straight to hell with an exploded heart.

Anubis glanced at the closed door as he pushed the few CC's of adrenaline into Faas's IV. It took about thirty-five seconds before Faas's eyelids fluttered open, his heart monitor chirped a faster tempo.

The man's eyes searched the room, landing on Anubis. "Who are you?" His native Dutch language slurred as Faas reached for his chest. "I don't feel well."

Anubis crossed his arms. "You're dying."

"No, they said malaria, maybe typhoid." The fact that Anubis spoke English with an American accent must have registered. Faas licked his lips, and his eyes searched the room wildly. "Guard!" His voice didn't carry far enough for the guard to hear.

"Don't you recognize me?" Anubis asked. "You stepped on my hand."

"The cigarettes? You came here because I took your cigarettes?"

Anubis let a sinister smile spread across his lips. "No, you dared come after my woman and my child."

"Ah… you are him. The one I've been waiting for. The one who killed my uncle."

"From what I hear, I beat you to the punch. I made it easier for you to take over."

"He was old. He wouldn't have lasted."

"Then why did you come after me?"

Faas coughed and spit up blood into the tray beside his head. "You are Rh-null."

Anubis blinked back his surprise. "And?"

"Your blood is more valuable than the gold in these hills."

"You thought you could sell my blood on the black market?" Anubis had never imagined that scenario.

"Selling human organs is extremely profitable. It has made me very rich. The homeless street people usually have acceptable organs. But, why not the rarest of all blood? I'll use you until your daughter is old enough." A lecherous sneer passed over Faas's face. "She is a pretty girl. I'll find her. She can't hide."

"You're dead. I killed you." Anubis took a quiet pleasure as the finality of his statement registered with Faas.

The man shook his head as if by doing so he could negate the truth. "Why are you here?" Faas coughed again and spit into the dish next to him. His little trough was filling up with blood-laced mucus.

"Closure."

Asp's voice came from behind him. Anubis turned slowly. He nodded once at his co-worker. "Closure." Anubis turned back toward Faas. "Justice was served, my family is safe. This conversation is my closure."

"What is your name?"

Anubis looked at the withered shell of a man on the hospital bed. "We have many names." He glanced at Asp. "We are the Shadow Guardians."

Faas closed his eyes. The monitor bleeped in an irregular rhythm, his heart no longer fueled by the small amount of adrenaline that Anubis had used to wake the man from his drug-induced haze.

"If he ever regains consciousness, he might not remember this." Asp opened the door, and they exited the room.

Anubis paused and looked back at the man he'd killed. For the second time in his life, he'd killed without direct orders, but with purpose and intent that morally defied the laws of man. Faas might not remember. "But I will."

He followed Asp down the stairs and out into the light of the day. Suriname was experiencing one of the few days of sunshine it had in October. The brilliant blue sky, unfettered by rain clouds, allowed the sun to shine down on the men as they walked away from the facility.

"Are you satisfied now?" Asp asked as they strolled down the street.

"I am."

"You didn't do anything stupid. Actually, that shocked me, you were pretty messed up."

Anubis nodded. "You spoke the truth. As angry as I was, I couldn't fault your logic. Crossing the line, taking unnecessary risks, did nothing to further my purpose." He glanced over at Asp. "Why are you still here?"

"If I left and something happened to you…" Asp didn't finish the statement, but Anubis got it. The man was all about doing the right thing. He motioned toward a small restaurant. They made their way into the establishment and sat down. Asp ordered the daily special and Anubis declined. "Have you checked in lately?" Asp asked around a mouthful of bread and butter.

Anubis shook his head. A sudden thought struck him. "Why? Kadey… Sky?"

"They're both fine. Bengal contacted me looking for you."

"What did he want?"

"The dossier on Faas was approved, and he's worried about your situation."

"Did he say that?"

"Fuck no. But I could tell." Those words came from around half a roll that Asp had slathered in butter and shoved into his mouth.

Anubis shrugged. It didn't matter that the hit was sanctioned. He'd done what he needed to do. He'd protected his family, and he'd gained the closure that he needed. Although the rationale for Faas going after him, and ultimately Kadey, was mind-boggling.

"So, your blood is that rare?" Asp asked as if he could read Anubis's mind.

"Less than one percent of the population has it, and we are a universal donor for all RH negative blood types. Scientists always want a supply of Rh-null blood to study, but…no, I had no idea selling my blood would be a profit-making venture. The bastard actually tracked me down for it, not for killing his uncle. I'm going to have to hope bringing Kadey into it was just his sick way to torment me from his deathbed." Unfortunately, he knew in his gut the bastard wasn't tormenting him. Sick fucker. Dead fucker.

Asp leaned back as the waiter placed a huge plate of chicken, rice and green beans in front of the big guy. Asp waited until the waiter left and spoke low. "Not so sure about that. While I was waiting for you to fuck up, I read his dossier. I think initially you were what he wanted, but he would have taken Kadey and used her, too. Guardian did well in getting the community to code the guy." Asp grabbed a chicken leg and tore into it, taking a huge bite that pulled almost all the meat off in one motion. He chewed twice and spoke around his food, "What are you going to do now?"

Anubis shrugged. Wasn't that the question of the day. He didn't have to 'do' anything. He had enough money to take care of Sky and Kadey, but he did need to present some front of normalcy. "I don't know. Maybe I'll sell insurance?"

Asp pulled in a sharp breath of air and started coughing before he went silent. He clutched his throat, and his face turned a dark red. Anubis was up in an instant. He placed his fist on Asp's diaphragm and pulled sharply three times before the chicken lodged in Asp's throat flew from his mouth. The giant of a man grabbed the edge of the table and took several shuddering breaths. Anubis fended off the waiter and the manager, assuring them that Asp was fine.

"Holy fuck, Ani."

"What? I take it you don't like the insurance idea?"

Asp wiped his chin with his napkin and leaned back in his chair. "You, behind a desk? Never going to happen."

Anubis shrugged and motioned toward Asp's plate. "Are you going to eat that?"

Asp's eyes popped as he switched his gaze from his plate to Anubis. "Don't tell me you suddenly want some?"

Anubis slowly moved his head from one side to the other. "No, what I suddenly want is to go to South Dakota. Thought you might like to join me. I'd like to introduce you to two ladies that are pretty special to me."

Asp blinked at him, the surprise on the man's face was as obvious as the fact that he'd been choking not two minutes ago. "You'd introduce me to your family?"

"I would," Anubis confirmed.

"Why? You do know what I do for a living, right?"

"I do. My family would have no better protector in the world, should I happen into misfortune." He could never one hundred percent guarantee that someone or something from his past wouldn't reach out and tap him on the shoulder one day. He'd take every precaution, but life in the Shadows wasn't escaped easily. He knew the righteousness of the man across from him. His honor and his sense of duty would forever link him to Sky and Kadey.

"If you get over yourself, you should be fine."

The jab was half-hearted, but a reminder of all that Anubis had been willing to put on the line and lose to face off with Faas. Anubis was damned glad he'd listened to Asp and waited. The closure was just as sweet and slipping into the hospital versus going into a heavily armed compound was the smart play. Anubis shook his head. Yeah, he'd been stupid. Emotion clouded the mind, and he was full of emotion. The foreign type of emotion that had him thinking of a future and of a family. It fucked with him in ways he couldn't explain. He needed to get back to Sky and Kadey because the world didn't make sense without them next to him. His family. His life.

"I'll have you around to knock some sense into me if I slip up." Anubis pointed at the plate of food cooling in front of Asp. "Are you eating that?"

Asp stood and reached for his wallet. "Nope, I think I can get some food at the airport."