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Chapter 9
Natasha
I sidled up to Jherel as soon as I arrived outside the apartment block.
“Boss is pleased with you,” he told me. “The safe had something in it which he wanted.”
“What was it?” I knew I probably shouldn’t ask, but I was curious.
“A weapon. He wants to see you about it.”
“About the contents of the safe?” I raised a brow. It was so confusing.
“Up you go.”
I frowned. “Alone?”
He nodded.
Fair enough. I went into the apartment building and climbed the rusty steps by myself. My footsteps seemed louder than usual, today. What did Ghil want with me? Why did I have to go up by myself? I hoped I hadn’t fucked up, somehow. He seemed easygoing, but I’d met people like him before. I knew when they flew off the handle, they could be very irrational, and often fatal.
Unease churned my stomach as I knocked on the door.
Fert answered. “Boss is expecting you.” He moved aside. As I passed him, he flicked his wrist, as if he was about to punch me, but it was really just to make me scared. I tensed but stopped myself from flinching. It was a trick I’d learned for handling myself around bullies.
“Hurry up, little girl, before the big bad gets you,” he snarled.
I kept walking, not showing my fear. People like him thrived on knowing if I was scared. They laughed when I cried. I didn’t play that game anymore.
I went in to see Ghil.
“There’s my breaker. Take a seat. Get comfortable. We have things to discuss.”
I sat down on the couch next to him. He put his hand on my leg. I picked it up and returned it to him, and waited for the inevitable explosion of rage.
“Heh. You got some nerve, Natasha.” He seemed to find it funny. Yawn. That meant he’d try again at some point.
“Jherel said you wanted to talk?” I tried to move us back to safer territory.
“Yeah. About this. Ever seen one before?” He held out a silver weapon. It looked sort of like Ryon’s gun, but slicker, more modern, and bigger.
“No.”
“Good answer. There’s only three of these in the world. Vaporizers. Watch.” He pointed it at a broken cabinet in one corner of the room. Pulled the trigger. In seconds, the thing turned red, then white, then it disappeared. The stench was disgusting.
“What happened to it?” I’d never seen anything that could make something disappear.
“It’s vaporized it. Evaporated. The solid atoms are gas, now.”
“That’s the smell?” I pinched my nose for a second to try and get the stink out.
“Yup. The smell is the only evidence, and that disappears, too, soon enough. With this, you can commit the perfect crime.”
A chill ran through my body as I realized he wasn’t just making conversation. He was weaving me into a major crime, somehow.
“Tell me, Natasha, why d’you live with an alpha?”
“The old man? I got nowhere else to go.” I chose my words carefully, then I pulled my own past into the explanation. “My step-father broke my nose once too often. Couldn’t take his shit anymore. He doesn’t bother me. He works for plenty of betas. He’s usually out, anyway. It’s a cheap bed.”
