“My sister was killed by black witches.”
Being in Indigo’s SoHo bar, drinking inside the empty space with only her as company, was the last thing Dean expected to do tonight—mostly because he had so much planned involving infiltration and getting to the heart of this mess, the shifters running the black market. But all that was derailed by what happened to her earlier, and he realized it was for the best in the long run. His emotions were high, and so were Indigo’s, no matter how hard they both tried to hide it.
Shock filled her eyes at his declaration, turning the black irises red for a second before they returned to their original color. She was seated on a chair across him, a bottle of scotch in between them and two glasses filled. Her voice was steady when she spoke, with none of the panic earlier, and no hints of vulnerability at all.
“What happened?”
He took a swig of the scotch, letting the taste slide down his throat and burn his chest. He took another swig, ignoring protocol to sip slowly and finishing off the glass’s contents. She refilled the glass without missing a beat, waiting.
“She and Kasper were secretly together. I found out. She was bound to be with someone else, someone our family approved of—a fellow lion shifter. So they ran away. And the black witches found them.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her go still, felt the dread fill her even while she didn’t say a word. That spoke volumes about where she stood in all this, and he kept that information tucked in as he kept speaking, already lost in the moment.
“They tortured the two. Experimented with them. My sister couldn’t take it and died in the process, but Kasper escaped. And I punished him for it.”
He took another swig.
“I took advantage. Sure, I didn’t tell anyone, but I used my authority to make his life miserable and make sure trouble always came his way. He left when he couldn’t take it anymore.”
“So you were an abusive bastard,” she murmured.
“Yes. I was. The elders found out about it, and I refused to tell them why. So I was punished, too, and sent to the human world—a portal guardian and an errand man, even though my father’s an elder. And those witches…they’re still out there.”
“Your family doesn’t…?”
“Oh, they know the witches killed her. It was long ago, and they don’t want to involve themselves in it now. They said it was her fault for running away in the first place.”
A sharp breath escaped her lips, but she said nothing to that. In fact, she had no comment at all as she brooded into her own drink, taking smaller sips as if getting herself acquainted with the taste.
As if bracing for something.
“What happened to you?” he finally asked.
Her face changed like she swallowed something bitter. She took a bigger swig of her drink, making a face and coughing when it slid in wrongly. Then, as if realizing she’d run out of delaying tactics, she bit her lip and looked down.
“Whatever they did to your sister and Kasper…they did to me.”
He’d been expecting that somehow but hearing her say it was a different matter altogether. Her tone was careful, measured, as she spun a story that hooked him from the very beginning.
“They knew my father and about his affair with my mother, and they thought it was fascinating that I was a hybrid of both. Hags aren’t really known for mating with other creatures, so I was the product of a rare case. They wanted to see my potential.”
“How did they…?”
“They did everything. Drawing blood, inflicting pain, using force and persuasion to get me to react—anything to get my power to come out. And it did. I didn’t even know I had magic in me until they tortured me.”
She made it sound convenient, but he could hear the tension underneath the calm, and he knew it wasn’t as easy as she made it sound. Her eyes went far off, as if she was someplace else.
The words kept coming out.
“The pain wasn’t the physical kind, but it felt like that. They used magic and spells to…do stuff to me. It felt like I had needles plunged in my skin, like I was being burned alive. Like I was bitten over and over. They changed their tactics daily to test me out. They got excited when my magic leaked out of me. They made me see images of limbs being torn apart until I got used to it. Then I built a wall so a part of my mind could be safe. And I saved some of my magic inside it. Then I escaped. I never really got to read my father’s spell book until…until I discovered the magic. They made me discover it. So I guess I can be somewhat thankful to those assholes.”
She didn’t sound thankful at all. In fact, she sounded like she wanted to wring their necks until they stopped breathing, and it wasn’t until the image flashed in Dean’s mind that he realized her magic was leaking. Her eyes flashed red, the rage and helplessness warring as she got lost in her own memories. His hand reached out—
Her head snapped in his direction, and those eyes bored into his. The look she gave him would have frozen hell over, but he didn’t break it, watching as she struggled with something invisible. Then her eyes cleared to black, and awareness slid that told him she was looking at him fully now.
“I’m sorry. My story must have made you think of your sister.”
Actually, her story made him think of Indigo—of what she’d suffered under their hands, of what torture her mind endured after. Kasper had that closed-off feel after, but Dean had been too blind to see.
And Indigo...her sarcasm must have been a defense mechanism.
Belatedly, he realized his hand was still there on the table, inches away from hers. The need to comfort her came, an odd, unexpected feeling. But instinct warred with it, telling him she didn’t want that comfort.
Not from him.
He slowly withdrew his hand, shaking his head. “It was a long time ago. She’s at peace now.”
Unlike her. Unlike Kasper.
They stared at each other, a world of understanding left unspoken. Finally, she looked away.
“I’m sorry for freezing up earlier.”
“It was understandable. Do you want out?”
To his surprise, she shook her head. “No. I want in.” She looked up. “Let’s go get them.”
“I’m sorry to sound pessimistic, but what if you freeze again? I’d rather have you on standby than blow our cover.”
Challenge rose in her gaze, a spark that made her eyes glint. She shook her head determinedly. “I’m better prepared now. Dean…I’m in. I’m all the way in. It’s no longer just a deal to me. I want those bastards dead before they do the same to others like me. Like your sister.”
It was the right thing to say. Whatever protest he’d been about to voice out disappeared quickly, leaving him with nothing but the same determination. She held out a hand, and he looked at it for the first few seconds.
“Let’s plan,” she said. “Let’s redo this. I’ll be ready for them.”
He took her hand, its coldness seeping into his bones. It eventually became warm, but she let go before it could get warmer.
The same electricity sparked between them.
Dean nodded.
“Alright. Let’s plan.”
*****
The week-long celebration of the Chalice gallery opening was one that was splashed all over the news, and they saw the face of the owner smack dab in the middle of it. It was the same owner that Indigo sang to, and they didn’t waste any time as they headed over to where Kasper traced the owner now: in her new mansion on the outskirts of SoHo, where they were met by the same bodyguards Indigo also saw in the gallery. Dean introduced himself as Peter and requested for an audience, bringing with him only one thing.
Indigo in chains and a sack over her head.
She tried to struggle, putting her efforts into it enough to highlight that she didn’t want to be here at all. But her limbs were all bound, and her mouth had tape over it, rendering her quiet as Dean waited in the living room.
A few minutes later, the owner came to greet them, with bulkier-looking bodyguards flanking her. Her name was Mrs. Valerie Cortez, and she eyed Peter with a mixture of surprise and displeasure.
“What are you doing here? Didn’t I tell you I wanted faceless communication?”
But she looked like she recognized his face already, which meant Peter must have tried face-to-face contact at least once and got rejected. Dean banked on that—banked on the lion shifter he once knew, portraying that arrogance and dialing it up a notch or two.
“I’ve been promoted by my bosses, and I don’t want faceless communication. I think it would be beneficial for us if I get in the scene directly to see that everything we’ve delivered thus far has been handled accordingly.”
Mrs. Cortez’s eyes narrowed. “It has.”
“Have the hides been sold?”
“Not yet. But there will be an auction in a few days, and they’re always the first to sell.”
“Just the hides?”
“The fairy wings,” the female replied, a hint of impatience in her tone now. “The horns aren’t really popular unless they have gold or silver in them. I was actually about to ask you to deliver a fresh round of those gem-encrusted horns to us.”
Gem-encrusted horns were from animals that lived in fairyland, and Dean stifled the surge of anger flowing in him.
“Got it. Mrs. Cortez, please don’t get distracted. I want to come to the auction. My bosses and I have some new things we want to sell, and we want a representative to be there to see how well of a buzz it will generate. That representative is me.”
“Do you know how confusing your bosses are? They never respond when I try to email them directly,” she said, sniffing haughtily. “And they act as if I don’t exist. They give me shifter and witch minions to deal with. Do they expect me to roll over just because they want a closer involvement now?”
“Of course they don’t expect you to roll over,” he said smoothly, keeping his tone matter-of-fact. “You’re too important for that. But the fact remains that we’ve found bigger and better things, and we want to share. On behalf of my bosses, I’d like to apologize to you for their negligence. Please accept our sincerest peace offering.”
He slid a bag out of his pocket—the same bag that he found on Peter, containing the diamonds that Mrs. Cortez probably paid him. He could tell from the flicker in her gaze that she recognized it, and the frown on her mouth told him she was bewildered.
“I’m returning the payment to you. And this is our gift to you.”
He removed the sack from Indigo’s head, then forced her down to kneel in front of the other woman. Whatever displeasure was there disappeared immediately as the older woman stared at Indigo in shock.
“I was there for one of your openings, so I could discuss with you what I’m discussing now. But alas, this little creature here interrupted. I wanted to give her to you as a gift, so you could sell her to the highest bidder. She has…many uses.”
Indigo’s eyes flashed red, and if he didn’t know she was acting, he’d have thought she was actually really mad. He forced her down deeper, willing her to submit as he eyed Mrs. Cortez with a smirk.
The gallery owner gulped. “How is she a gift if I’m to sell her?”
“Because she’s a sample. We discovered there might be plenty more like her in our world and wanted to give the first earning to you, in exchange for me being there to see the reception.”
“Reception for what?”
“She’ll entertain your guests. And I’ll help you and the others see all her potential and how to…press her buttons.”
The greed flashed in the woman’s eyes—something she tamped down immediately, but Dean already saw. He waited, his pose deliberately casual and slumped, just like Peter.
Finally, Mrs. Cortez nodded. “We’ll be shipping the hides to the auction area tomorrow. I’m on a different ride, but I don’t want you to be seen near me, not until we get there.”
“Understood. We need to maintain the distance, of course.”
“Make sure she doesn’t escape.”
Dean smirked again. “I know. Can you give me the email address the bosses have provided?”
“Why?”
“I wanted to check if you’re corresponding with the correct email address. We have a lot of dummy ones.”
That had her forehead wrinkling in displeasure, probably with the thought that she had one of the dummy ones. But she nodded her head. “Fine.”
They chatted some more until Dean knew he’d overstayed his welcome. Then they were leaving, with him dragging Indigo the whole way. He made a show of knocking her out and lifting her over his shoulders as he walked away and got into a van, where he dumped her at the back before driving off. When they were relatively a good distance away, he parked the van near a forest area and waited.
Five minutes later, the door slid open and in came Jack and Kasper, helping Indigo out of her bonds.
“That was your plan?” she asked incredulously.
“Yes.”
“We might still get caught.”
“It doesn’t matter. She took the bait. I have the email addresses, and I gave her a fake one. Kasper will handle those.”
“And the auction?” Jack asked.
Dean nodded his head, driving once more.
“We got in.”