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“I’d be more careful about making such suggestions, Mrs. Loveless. Or maybe your husband should be more careful about sending you into the den of a viper to make demands like that.”
“I ask nothing but that you comply with The Order’s rules. No attachments. No addictions. No soft spots. Otherwise, whatever you have, you must share with The Order. You know this.”
“Sirenna Miller is mine,” I say calmly, poison dripping from my bared teeth as I start slowly pacing towards Kelly. “I’ve been with the Order for fifteen fucking years, and never once have I taken something for myself. The money? The success? I gladly shared it all with you. I would have given it all up, if you asked for it.”
Priest steps in front of Kelly, his eyes unwavering. I stop in front of him, but not because I’m in any way taken aback. I wouldn’t hesitate to strike if I had to. I wouldn’t like it, since he and I have formed a bond over the years, but I’ll strangle him with his own fucking whip if he backs up The Order in this one. I roll my shoulders, taking a deep breath.
“But you don’t ask for it,” I continue for Kelly, yet staring into Priest’s eyes. I want him to get this. “Because you need me to keep spreading The Order’s influence like the tentacles of an octopus into the world. The way you need Priest to keep your most dangerous operatives from going rogue. Just as I’m ready to go rogue if you so much as suggest that I give up Sirenna again. As for her last name, it’s not going to be Carter for long, because she’s going to marry me. So you might already refer to her as Mrs. Thorngren, because nothing is going to prevent that from happening.”
“Her husband might,” Kelly says with her chin up, feeling safe behind Priest.
“Her husband won’t be a problem for long.”
“Oh, I believe he will. You see, my husband sent me here today because he was taking care of a bigger issue. He decided to free Joseph Carter from the basement where you’ve been keeping him, as well as, you know,” she pauses, relishing this, “the other guy.”
Nothing in my stance changes, yet ice travels all through me. “Going against my decisions isn’t going to endear The Order to me any further, and your husband should know that.”
“Oh, Marius is well aware. That’s why he’s got the Cleric ready to squash an insurgence, if you should plan one. But he’s prepared to forgive your transgression if you give the girl up–and return her to her husband.”
I laugh. “I see. Tell me, what deal did that desperate rat Carter strike with Mr. Loveless in order to save his sorry ass and get back a woman he never deserved?”
“The kind of deal that puts the entire Triad at our service.”
“I have already put the entire Triad at your service,” I growl. Priest’s muscles tighten at the threat. “And much more than that.” My jaw clenches because I don’t enjoy asking the scheming bitch and her power monger husband for anything. “Let me keep the woman, and I’ll deliver their entire network to you.”
Kelly gives me a tense smile over Priest’s shoulder. Though she’s fixated on the unattainable cleric between us, she wouldn’t mind screwing me, too. Especially since she can’t have him. And what pisses her off right now is that another woman has taken my heart when she’d been secretly hoping that I’d fall for her all this time. She sure didn’t spare any effort to make that happen.
“I won’t insist we follow the rules because you’d obviously set the whole fucking world on fire for her,” she pushes past that stiff smile. “You clearly thought we’d make an exception for this psychopathic love story because you’re such an important operative. Lethal. Luciferic. Diabolically brilliant. There are many ways in which you can be of use to us and, under other circumstances, that would indeed put you in a position to negotiate with Marius. But not when the woman involved is Sirenna Carter.”
My eyebrows dive into a frown over my eyes. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“You knew each other before, didn’t you?” Her low voice is filled with uncovered secrets. “You and her. Back when you were children. At the orphanage.”
My face locks in an iron mask. If I smashed my head into some bastard’s face right now, I’d probably spill his fucking brains. Yet Kelly’s grin only widens.
“You must be wondering how we know, right? Well, you made the grave mistake of sharing it with the most unlikely person, just yesterday.” She searches my face for the effect of her words. “What were you thinking, Zayne? To tell her husband of all people? I’m sure Priest here must be hurt. You betrayed your best friend, choosing to tell your enemy instead.”
I expect Priest to growl that we’re not friends, but he remains silent. When my eyes turn to his, I see more worry in them than his sharp assassin’s focus.
“Was that you staking your claim on her?” Kelly pushes. “Were you trying to prove to Joseph that she actually belongs with you? That you have some sort of birthright over her?” She walks past Priest and then steps in front of him to stare up at me. “I’m sorry to inform you that Marius isn’t taking this well. Now that the girl slipped from under your wing, he’ll make sure you won’t ever risk The Order’s secrets again. You will restore to default–no weaknesses. No soft spots. Play along, and she might stay alive. Act crazy, and she dies.”
My fingers curl into fists at my sides.
“She’ll never slip from under my wing.”
Kelly grins, savoring what she’s about to say. “You don’t seem to understand–she already has.”
She must be sure of what she’s telling me because she allows the silence to stretch out. With every second that passes, tension mounts in my brain. I step away from her and stomp over to my desk, opening the lid of my laptop. I check all the cameras in a few swipes, my eyes running quickly over the scenes. Sirenna walking out of the bathroom while towel-drying her hair. Her pulling fresh clothes on–a pair of jeans, sneakers and a hoodie, far from what she’d wear at a signing of important documents that would put the entire New York underground at her feet. Then her walking out and taking the elevator all the way down to the ground floor, where she storms out into the busy street.
“Fuck,” I grunt through my teeth, my fingers working fast over the keyboard to track her down. I hack into her phone to see who she talked to last, what she browsed, checking what air she fucking breathed.
Kelly leans with a hip against my desk, eyebrows raised as she stares down at what I’m looking at.
“Turns out your lover has powerful friends, and one of them helped her get away from you. Declan Santori. I heard that, if he disappears a person, it’s almost impossible to find them again.”
I keep staring down at the device, my brain working at high speed.
“So you see, even if she’s not in our hands yet, you won’t find her without our help either,” she says in a self-satisfied tone, leaning closer over the desk. “Seems like she’s not as desperate to keep you as you are to keep her. So be a good sport, Zayne, and do as we tell you.”
