Andrei

 

I’d come up with a plan and I knew I had to put it into motion as soon as possible. Standing in Faye's room, with her staring at me with a mixture of horror, astonishment, and hope, it had stitched itself together in my mind in mere seconds. It would save Faye’s life and protect my job.

There was a reason I was the best.

But time was of the essence and I winked at her, “I’ll be back soon. Just don’t go anywhere.” Her lips parted as she stood there, still staring at me. “If you do, I will find you. You know this.”

With that, I left and closed the door behind me. Turning, I leaped onto the roof, shifting as I did so and streaking off into the night. I should have brought my gear with me, but I hadn’t thought I’d need it. My paws landed heavily on a concrete roof as I landed a ten-foot jump.

Shifting back, I hurried down the staircase and across the street into the small hotel I was staying at. Taking the stairs two at a time, I plotted each word I would say to Mirois.

Bursting into my room, I snatched up my bag and yanked out my phone. I dialed and tried to take a deep breath, but energy was singing through my veins. I couldn’t help but think of how Soraya and Piper would fawn over me with their gratitude. Never mind Roy.

I keep my promises.

The other end rang, beeped, and disconnected. I frowned and stared down at it. That was strange – this was a satellite phone and I didn’t think Tahiti was that remote. But it happened again and I could feel my energy ebbing out of my body.

I cannot let Roy down again, came a whisper in my mind.

My fingers tightened on the phone as I dialed again. Third time’s the charm.

Again, it disconnected and I let out a sigh. Damn, maybe a storm or something was interfering with the signal. It wouldn’t be the first time.

You promised me! Echoed through my skull in a sharp blast. I could see his heaving chest, his crushed face, and gentle blue eyes. Of all my relatives, besides my sister and parents, Roy was the one I watched over with a fierce and protective love.

I’d always longed for a brother as a kid, exacerbated by jealousy of my cousins, especially Ivan and his three brothers. The latter were never keen on letting me in either and as a kid when you didn’t know any better, that hurt. As much as I loved my sister Svetlana, she was a girly-girl who didn’t care for rough-housing as a kid.

Then Roy had been born.

I still remembered the covertness of visiting them. I hadn’t known at the time, but his mother and my grandfather were still at loggerheads over her marriage to the Zima family rivals, the Weslarks. My father had no patience for such matters, but he still didn't want to stir the pot and sternly bid my sister and me to keep our visits to Iceland a secret. That had only delighted us.

The first day we met Roy, my aunt had confessed she worried about the Zima family going after her son. I’d looked up at her, a solemn seven-year-old and promised to look out for him. All of the adults had beamed at that, handing me infant Roy to hold and my chest had swelled with pride.

What I hadn’t taken into account was how the other Zima cousins would bully him for that.

My jaw twitched as I thought about the time we’d all been up in the mountains in the dead of winter at our grandfather’s house. One night I’d socked Ivan in the stomach for being mean to Roy. And the next day, he’d dared Roy to walk out on an icy pond and Roy had fallen through.

I’d seen it from the window of my grandfather’s house and screamed, charging outside, only to be knocked aside by my grandfather, a massive and powerful snow leopard shifter. He’d dove in after Roy. Then I had to listen as he bellowed at Roy for not shifting and saving himself.

After that, I’d been more careful about how I watched out for Roy so Ivan wouldn’t go after him. To the point where Soraya Lafi had given me the evil eye on more than one occasion, clearly thinking I wasn't doing my job as the eldest. She was the quintessential eldest, a real mama bear. I mean, technically Roy wasn’t even related to her by blood, but she treated him like he was. Although for years he’d held her at arm’s length. That hadn’t stopped her though. Rather, Soraya got savvy and sent Faye in her stead.

When I'd heard about that, I'd felt relieved, knowing by word of mouth even back then that Faye was a hell of a mentor and agent. I’d always wanted to meet her and give her my thanks, but the years kept passing and we kept missing each other.

That night in the Foundry was supposed to be my way of saying thanks.

I’d been on my way to another job in another country when I heard that she had died. My mind had gone blank with shock and remorse. I’d assumed she escaped and she hadn’t.

But it also didn’t make sense, I’d seen her fleeing up the stairs…

After that, I’d avoided Roy, until we came face to face in Boston. I could see the anger in his face the second he walked in the door and laid eyes on me. The accusation.

Now I had a second chance to make it up to him and I had to take it.

Though it was crucial to get Mirois on board and alerted to the possible traitor within the Heads, I first had to get Faye off this island. She’d lingered too long.

Now the rumors of Rasoir terrorizing abroad, keeping company with a host of ghoulish thugs, made perfect sense. He’d been popping up in random places.

He’d been after Faye.

And who knew how close he was to finding her here? She’d been here for over a month.

Packing up my room, I was back out the door in less than five minutes and running downstairs. Settling up my bill at the desk took longer as it was late and the kid working wasn’t sure he could close me out. I’d slipped a hundred to persuade him otherwise.

Walking back to Faye’s hotel, deep in thought, I almost missed the first sign that something was wrong. Turning the corner of the path down to her room, my body tensed up and I sniffed the air. Something had smashed all the lights along the rooms and an acrid scent was on the air.

Hybrids.

In the blink of an eye, I was at her door and let out a soft sound of frustration.

It had been torn off the hinges and the room was empty. My fingers traced along the deep gouges on the door as it creaked ominously and I pushed it fully open. Breath unsteady, I looked around at the room, which had been pristine not even thirty minutes ago.

The bed was overturned, the mirror smashed and the drawers all ripped free. There were more gouges on the wall and I realized they were claw marks.

But there were no signs of a struggle, I quickly realized. Struggling with both relief and disappointment – relief that Faye had clearly taken off the second I left her and disappointment that she hadn't trusted me – I studied the room for any other clues.

A glint of light off something sharp and metallic in the wall caught my eye. Moving forward, I saw it was a razor blade and my jaw clenched. Rasoir.

The bastard was here, and that meant Faye was in terrible danger, especially if she didn’t know. My guess was that she had headed to the airport, intent on grabbing the first flight.

Anger pulsed through me suddenly, catching me off guard. I was furious at myself and her. But I didn’t have time to process any of that. Shifting, I tried to pick up her scent.

Nothing. I’d no idea if she’d risk taking a car or if she’d go there by foot. My instincts told me she’d go by foot, harder for either me or Rasoir to catch up to her.

No matter what, I had to get to her first.

 

An hour later, I was a few miles away from the airport, darting up and down the empty streets, with no sign of Faye or Rasoir. I’d checked the airport schedule and the next plane left for Hawaii at 4 a.m., which was still three hours away. She’d wait until the last moment to get on that plane, in order to try to throw me off.

In the meantime, somewhere, she was lying low. Somewhere where even I couldn’t find a trace of her. Standing on a rooftop, I gritted my teeth and let out a frustrated noise.

Ahead of me was the dimly lit airport. Beyond it, the ocean sparkled and heaved under a quarter moon. In the distance, there was a sound of music and nightlife. Otherwise, though, it was eerily quiet. Not an animal stirred, aware danger and death lurked in these streets.

I was about to climb back down and begin another fruitless search of the streets when my eyes went back to the airport and I grinned. Of course! Clever girl.

Ten minutes later, I was slipping through the shadows behind the airport and listening to the rush of the wind. To my right was the single landing strip, a road built on a jetty that looped to a small peninsula, and the ocean. In front of me was a small field with some buildings off to the left and the curve of the island towards a small, brilliantly lit town.

Here, the smell of marsh, mud, and sea was strong. Any other scents were hidden.

Creeping forward, I saw a shadow sitting in a dry patch of grass, the long leaves almost up to her shoulders and her head on her knees. Her bag was on the ground next to her.

I was on top of Faye before she realized and when she leaped to her feet, I’d already crushed her into the ground, pinning her arms in place and placing a hand over her mouth.

“Relax, dushechka, it’s only me!” I whispered in her ear. “Did I not tell you not to run?”

A boot slammed into my tibia bone and I let out a grunt of pain. My hands slipped free as my eyes watered. Before I could blink, Faye had grabbed her bag and was streaking away, her blond hair a glimmer in the night. Cursing silently and limping, calf on fire, I chased after her, not daring to yell out. Even though I was about ready to actually kill this blonde.

She was fast, too. Shit.

Faye soared over the inlet that appeared out of nowhere, her form a brief shadow on the water below it. Putting on a burst of speed, I followed her and landed awkwardly, my left calf throbbing with pain. Faye had probably bruised the bone.

When I looked up, she was gone, but I had her scent. I shifted and sprinted after her.

You’re not getting away from me again.