But he called upon his sixth sense anyway—just in case—and saw that his gray aura was a steady glow. No flicker or blur that might indicate that he was deceiving them.
“How did you hear about her?” Darien said, blinking the Sight away. “And don’t even consider lying to me, or this bullet is going to find itself a new home in your brain.”
Benjamin wasted no time before he started explaining. “About a week ago, I was hired to find the bone powder necessary for tracking her—that’s the only reason I know about her at all.” His throat shifted as he swallowed, and sweat ran down his temples in tracks, clearing the dirt on his skin. “Before you ask, I’ll have you know that I haven’t succeeded in finding it. And the men who hired me only heard of her bounty through hearsay on the streets—from a conversation at the Devil’s Advocate, to be more precise—and decided they wanted the reward for themselves. They’d assumed it was fine to take the job because the rumors suggested it hadn’t been claimed by any of Randal’s circles.”
How very interesting,Darien thought.
The Devil’s Advocate was the hardest, filthiest nightclub in the whole city. Darien and the others—mainly Maximus, Jack, Lace, and Travis—had witnessed some pretty fucked-up things in that building. Things they had never been willing to talk about.
Darien did not release his grip on the pistol. “Why are so many people looking for her? What do they want her for?”
“Beats me,” Benjamin said. “I know as little as you—maybe even less. I’ve been told the bare minimum, and I know nothing of the conversation that went on at the Devil’s Advocate. And from the sounds of it, no one knows who or what she is, at least not the people who hired me—only that she is a nameless and faceless target who’s worth one hell of a lot of mynet. As high as four mil, my eyes in the city tell me.” He paused to swallow. “Which is why, before you arrived, I was tempted to find her myself—to claim the reward. I think it goes without saying that four million would make a hell of a difference in my life. And it’s not very often that a bounty comes available that hasn’t been claimed by Randal Slade’s circles.”
Darien blinked. “Four million?” How interesting, that someone other than himself or the other Devils would be offered that much. He’d noticed the amount scribbled on the piece of paper, but he hadn’t thought much of it until now. “You wouldn’t happen to know which Darkslayer was offered four million, would you?” Loren’s heartrate had skyrocketed, her fear permeating the room.
“I’m afraid I haven’t a clue.”
After a long and heavy moment of silence, Darien lowered his pistol, clicked on the safety, and holstered it. Everyone in the room released a collective sigh of relief, including Loren. “What’s the deal with Geller?”
Benjamin slowly lowered his hands that were still vibrating in the air. “His name is Tyson. He’s a Darkslayer who works—”
“For the Reapers—I know him,” Darien finished, waving a hand in dismissal.
Benjamin smiled a little. “Right. I forgot that you know pretty much everyone in this city.”
“How far did you get with Geller in this little plan of yours?” Tyson had been one of Darien’s best friends for several months—back when Darien had ended his first serious relationship and turned to drugs, alcohol, and women to numb the pain. They would frequent the raunchiest bars and nightclubs in the city every weekend and do the kind of things he had no interest in admitting to or even remembering now. Their friendship had ended when Tyson decided to take it personally the day Darien made it his goal to clean up his act—to ditch the drugs and save the partying for once in a while instead of every weekend.
“I ran the idea past him to partner up with me. To use his Sight to find the girl as soon as I located the bone powder and share the four million once the job was done.”
“And who hired you to find the grave?”
“Dresden. One of Cain’s men.” Hired for a mere fraction of the amount that Darien would’ve received if he’d found Loren and handed her over to the people who were looking for her.
Darien hooked his thumbs through his belt loops. “Cain is after her?”
“I wouldn’t worry yourselves over Cain.”
Darien smirked. “Cain isn’t a threat to me. Only his mouth is.”
“All I’m saying is he likely knows as little as us. He only chases the same shiny toys as everyone else in his hood.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll be paying him a visit.” Darien appraised the robber. “You don’t have any intention of finding the bone powder for Cain now,” he began, his tone threatening as his eyes turned black with the Sight, “or working with Tyson and chasing the reward for yourselves. Do you?”
Benjamin was already shaking his head. “None.” There was no hint that he was lying; his aura was a steady, gray glow that told Darien he could be trusted.
“Good.” Darien blinked the Sight away. “We could use your eyes in the city if you’re willing to provide them. Whatever Cain and his men were planning on paying you, I will match it.”
Benjamin was shaking his head, his dusty hair swaying. “You don’t need to pay me—”
“I said I’ll match it.” He stepped forward and extended a hand. “Do we have a deal?”
Benjamin closed the last of the distance between them without hesitation, and they shook on it. “We have a deal,” the robber said. He gave a small smile that illustrated exactly how relieved he felt at this turn of events.
Darien turned to Loren and inclined his head toward the exit in a gesture that it was time to leave. She made for the tunnel without delay, her eyes on her sneakers.
They had a lead, at least. Two leads, to be precise.
Step one, pay a visit to Cain in Stone’s End and get an answer as to which Darkslayer was offered four million.
