“And you’re gonna lick mine later for saying that,” he calls out, making me laugh as I shut the door between us.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Darius
All right, so the plans got a little muddled.Fuckcame first since self-control was lost in the haze of Monika giving little precious pieces of her heart to me, but now that she’s healed, we’re about to be back on schedule.
Fuck, kill, marry, destroy. Easy.
I text the Wyvern. He’s good to go, as aware of thekillportion of my plan as I intend for him to be. Mr. Singkham and the COE forces he was able to wrangle up, and the SDD forces he had to borrow to make up for the deficit in his staff, are also aware of ... some aspects of this plan. The parts that matter.
Then I text Vanessa. I had Vanessa organize a brunch with Monika—one Monika is nearly late to after our morning’s activities. Doesn’t matter. I have plenty of time, and this shouldn’t take long.
I sigh, relaxed. I’m driving. It’s an odd sensation. I haven’t driven a car myself in a long time—since I first got my license. A rather useless affair, considering I can fly. But I don’t need to be spotted by the peons, so flying is out of the question today. It’s 11:00 a.m. exactly. Everything is right on schedule.
I turn on the radio, curious to hear the news. It’s all about me, of course, though the bright irony of it all is that for the first time in mylife, I’m not trying to get press and don’t even care. It’s liberating. I should have tried this whole don’t-give-a-fuck-and-quit thing a helluva long time ago. I smile while the radio presenter drones on, roll down the window, and let the sun stroke my horns and freshly shaved hair.
“And still, it’s been two weeks and Taranis has yet to make a public statement beyond what he posted to social media. Since his initial post declaring that he would be stepping down as a Champion, the only follow-up information we’ve learned is from COE president Mr. Singkham, that personal reasons have caused Taranis to consider taking some time off ...”
Time off?Time off! Mr. Singkham. Tsk tsk tsk. If he doesn’t quit with his obfuscations, he might just have to rejoin the master plan lineup and die after the Marduk.
“So, is Taranis simply stepping down as a Champion, or is he joining the villains? Forty-Eight expert Maya Lin is on the line with her thoughts ...”
I lift my phone, the one I haven’t used in weeks, the shitty little Nokia burner, and place a call to the only number in the Rolodex. It rings and rings and rings before cutting off. I wait with a small smile on my face. By the time I place my next left turn, he’s calling me back. Our typical arrangement.
“Interesting,” he says as soon as I pick up. “I didn’t expect to hear from you.”
“Well, here I am.”
“It would seem so.”
I can’t hear anything in the background. I wonder where he is, decide I don’t care, make my next turn. I’m almost there.
“Are you calling because you’ve suddenly decided to join my team after the Champions’ last tragic loss? I’m sure you heard about it. The Villains Network is offering competitive compensation packages.” His voice is sardonic and nasty and mean.
I grin. “I did hear about that, actually. I happen to beclosefriends with the COE photographer that was on-site.”
A slight pause before he answers. “I see.” I wonder if my tone is making him nervous yet. If it’s not, it soon will be.
“She takes lovely photos, doesn’t she? So many clear images of the surprising members of yourteam.” I whistle theatrically as I find a parking spot directly in front of the building I’m going to enter. What luck. “I’m surprised you let her go, considering the information she gathered.”
“It wasn’t for lack of trying,” he says with a sigh. “She is ratherwily, your key.”
“And knowing she is my key, you still went after her, injuring her quite badly. Here I was, thinking we had an unlikely, if not rather amicable, alliance.” I shift my car into park and glance out the window. I cut the power to the building, watch as people panic, surprised, and then slowly filter out until it’s empty.
Almost.
“Alliances shift, Taranis. You should know that better than most. And your girl has an unfortunate amount of information on my friends. I’m not going to be able to let that go. In fact, if you weren’t hovering over her like a shadow, I might have had to do something about her already.”
“And that’s exactly what I’ve called to talk to you about.” I open the door to my car, cross the sidewalk, and head into my favorite coffee shop in all of Sundale. “You see, I can’t have that.”
“I’m not sure you have anything to bargain with, seeing as you already gave me my weapon and you no longer work for the Champions,” he grunts. “You’re reverted and still just as useless to me as the Wyvern, in an entirely different way.”
“You’re right: I am quite different than the Wyvern. He looks so good these days in a cape.” The bell dings as I step inside the space.
“Cape’s no better than a collar, if you ask me.”
“On this, I happen to agree.”
