Chapter Ten
John
“Asher, buddy, you sure spend a lot of time in that bookstore,” I muttered to myself as I watched him slip inside the store from my car.
The place was closing soon, and he was obviously not shopping. So, why was he there? What was he after? Asher stopped at the counter and talked to the woman inside – a cute, redheaded human – before the two of them left. Together.
My phone rang. It was Roan. I watched them walk down the street together as I picked up the call and pressed the phone to my ear.
“Looks like our friend Asher has a new plaything,” I said, by way of a greeting.
“Oh yeah? Mariana not good enough for the lad?” he laughed. “He's a fool. Mariana is beyond gorgeous.”
“I guess not,” I said. I watched them turn onto Second Street and then followed them until they stopped outside Big Al's BBQ.
“Who is it?”
“The curvy redhead that just started at the bookstore,” I said.
“But she's human?” Roan said.
“Yeah, well, she's his sidepiece,” I said, climbing out of my car. “No laws against taking a human as a mistress, just can't marry one.”
“Fair enough,” Roan said.
“Yeah, well, if we have our way, there won't be a wedding,” I muttered. “Listen, I have to go. I'm going to grab a bite to eat and keep an eye on things.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Roan said. “Hey, just a thought, but you think this sidepiece is maybe someone he cares about? If so, maybe we can use that to our advantage.”
“Maybe so,” I said. “Just have to wait and see.”
Already, a plan was percolating in my brain. I had an idea, something that could push things past the boiling point and over the edge for us. I said goodbye to Roan and went inside, not worried about anyone seeing me because Asher and I had never once met before. I was just a nobody in his mind, a male from a lesser clan. Less than a nobody, really.
But that's where his biggest mistake was. I may have come from a lesser clan, but I was a man with ambition. A lot of ambition. Before I was done, I had vowed that I would take my clan to greater heights. I would surpass the N'gasso and even the mighty Q'lapa in terms of relevance and dominance. My clan, though lesser at the moment, would be the greatest ever. I would make that happen or die trying.
I took a seat toward the back of the restaurant, sitting close to where they were at, and listened as they laughed and talked together. I could see the way he looked at her and knew that I had him. And when they left, he took her by the hand and they were both smiling as she climbed on the back of his bike, flirting and touching in a familiar way.
That was game, set, and match. Looked like he cared about her to me. Which meant that she was suddenly a very important piece on the board. They headed north, out of town. And I could think of only one place they might be headed.
I texted Roan, Send Mariana over to the Blackwood Cabin. She's going to be in for a surprise.
Roan would do it, because he had his own reasons for wanting to take Asher and the Q'lapa down a few pegs. He loved Mariana and hated he couldn't be with her himself – which meant that by extension, he hated Asher. Which made Roan useful to me. Also, being from a lesser clan meant no one really cared about him. And that he had no chance with somebody like Mariana. But if all went well, my buddy Roan might get his wish.
It was a win-win for all of us. Well, all of us except, of course, Asher Blackwood and the Q'lapa.
~ooo000ooo~
“It worked,” Roan said, grinning from ear-to-ear when we met up later. “Mariana went over there and caught Asher with the human woman. She's pissed. Beyond pissed.”
“Now it's your turn to move in, brother,” I said.
His face fell, though and he looked almost despondent. “I don't know if it's going to be that easy,” he said. “I mean, she's pissed, but it's her duty to marry him. She doesn't really have a choice in the matter. I don't know that me playing the white knight and being a shoulder to cry on is going to help my chances any.”
“She has a choice alright,” I said.
“But doing what we want her to do – that's going to start a war between the two largest clans in the country,” he said. “I don't think she's stupid enough to do that. Especially, because she knows that it's a war her clan is very likely to lose.”
“You don't know women, Roan,” I said, taking a long pull from my beer. “She's emotional, needy, she's not going to let this injustice stand. You know the old saying, Hell hath no fury...”
Deep down, I knew more than I let on. I stared over at Roan, the son of Austin Flint, the Chief of the O'roja clan. My clan. The often-forgotten clan that has been dwindling in numbers ever since the Q'lapa moved into the area fifty or sixty years back. We had been there first, and I would be damned if I allowed the Blackwoods to push us out of our town.
I couldn't let Roan know my other plans though, because they included implicating his precious Mariana in the murder of Asher's mistress. A little fact I had to leave out or else, risk Roan not working with me. And I needed all hands on deck for this. I needed flexibility and options. And he gave those to me.
As much as I hated to hurt and use my friend, I couldn't let this alliance between the Q'lapa and the N'gasso take place. I couldn't let either clan remain in power.
It was time for us, the smaller clans, marginalized and pushed to the side by those two, to be back in control once more.