“I travel light,” Darien crooned. “I thought you knew that, Malakai.” He paused. “Now, are you going to accept the gift I’ve brought you or are you going to keep shooting daggers at me with your eyes?”
Malakai’s bright green eyes were swallowed by black. He, like Darien, struggled with Surges on a regular basis. There was a lot he had in common with this man, which had made them such good friends in the beginning. It was such a shame that everything they’d built together had fallen through, and at the cost of something so little as jealousy.
“Like I said,” Malakai gritted out. “When you get on your knees.” The men standing at attention nearby snickered.
“Alright.” Darien shrugged with one shoulder. “I always thought you were partial to women, but if you’d really like me to suck your dick—”
“It’s about respect, not sucking dick, you arrogant ass—”
Darien talked over him. “It’s not my fault that the grudge you hold against my circle has nothing to do with me as a person and everything to do with the fact that you’re a sore loser.”
Malakai made to lunge over the desk, but Aspen stepped between him and Darien, shrieking to the latter, “Just show him the peace offering and quit baiting him, you suicidal maniac!”
Darien paused. So did Malakai.
“It’s not suicidal if I know I’d win,” Darien said, but he reached into his pocket, the action causing Malakai’s men to tense. He gave them a cold smile as he retrieved the three objects that made up his peace offering and tossed them onto Malakai’s desk.
Darien heard Aspen gulp as she took in the three bloody teeth clattering on the mahogany. Everyone else in the room was looking at them, too.
“I made sure your rat won’t be talking again,” Darien said. “All I ask in return for this gift is your word. You must promise me that your boy Tyson won’t be running his mouth about the prize he planned on stealing from me.” Before Malakai could ask him what he was talking about, he explained, “I was recently offered a job to track a target worth three million gold mynet. During my search for this target, a little bird told me Tyson made a deal with a graverobber to find the target before anyone else does. I don’t think I need to explain what kind of fate this could spell for Tyson—and the Reapers—if Randal were to find out he was in danger of losing a cut of that three mil.”
Malakai had gone still as stone. He studied Darien for a long time, clearly gleaning whether he was telling the truth.
“It was the next best thing to cutting out his tongue,” Darien added, nodding at the teeth. He never really did like Ian. And causing him a little bit of pain tonight had certainly helped with the Surge. Hell, he should’ve thanked him, though it might’ve helped if Ian had been conscious after Darien had taken the liberty of extracting a few of his teeth in a back alley. “Take it or leave it.”
Malakai took a moment to process Darien’s words. He studied the teeth during this time, his hands braced on the desk. And then he slowly,slowlylifted his gaze to Darien’s face. “Tyson should know that stealing from another circle is stealing from Randal.”
“Apparently, he didn’t think of that,” Darien said. “Maybe he only heard of this job from the outsiders who are after the money. Maybe he honestly wasn’t aware that one of Randal’s circles had already been offered the job. I don’t really care whether there was a misunderstanding or not, I need him called off this trail. I have enough competition as it is without other Angelthene circles interfering.”
Mal licked his lips. “Who else is looking for the target?”
“I’ll deal with the names,” Darien said. “You deal with Tyson.”
“I’ve already heard about the Phoenix Head trash working our streets,” Malakai said in a hard voice. “I’m only asking in case there’s anyone else I should know about—anyone I should be taking care of before Randal has to be bothered with this shit.”
“Just Tyson,” Darien repeated. “I’m sure word will get around soon that my Devils have their claim on this target, and the rest should fall into place.”
Malakai appraised him for a moment, and then he gave a slow nod. “Alright.” He looked at the peace offering lying upon the table, a hint of amusement showing in his features. “You ripped out his teeth?” He looked up at Darien, who shrugged.
“He’s going to have a very expensive dental bill.”
Malakai’s mouth tilted into the hint of a smile. This night had turned out better than Darien thought it would.
“If you want proof,” Darien began, “you can either run a test or track Ian down and tell him to open wide.”
A low, rumbling laugh slipped through Malakai’s lips. “I have to admit, I missed you a little.”
Darien grinned like the devil he was. The tension lingering in the room melted away, and he swore Aspen breathed a quiet sigh of relief. “Are we okay, then?” Darien asked Malakai.
The Head of the House of Souls straightened from where he was still leaning on the desk. “I think so.”
Darien held out a hand in offer to shake on it. Malakai rounded the table, and they clasped hands. Both of them might’ve squeezed a little harder than what was really necessary, but they were smiling, and that was all that mattered right now.
“Welcome back, old friend,” Darien said.
Malakai was still smiling as he said, “You’re a fucking fiend, you know that?”
“Takes a fiend to know a fiend.”
