Bound (31 page)

He saw Silhouette across the road, walking slowly away from the pub. He chased after her. Checking that no one looked in their direction he slipped back into view, making her jump.

‘You’re wet,’ she said with a laugh.

‘No shit! Nice plan.’ He pulled a face to make sure she got his sarcasm.

‘Was a great plan if it worked. Did you get it?’

‘Yeah, we’re rich. Maybe.’

‘Good lad. Don’t feel bad, Alex. They’ll be insured.’

‘I guess so. It’s still wrong, though.’

She laid a hand on his shoulder. ‘Right and wrong is a malleable thing. It’s not like you’re just stealing for the thrill of it. There’s a lot at stake here. Come on, let’s keep moving.’

Hood and Sparks sat on the Black Diamond jet, sipping champagne. A pretty young hostess with a tiny skirt and apprehensive eyes served them smoked salmon hors d’oeuvres. Classical music piped through the small plane. ‘Do you feel a bit more looked after?’ Hood asked.

The warmth in Sparks’s stomach wasn’t only from the booze. Hood had certainly done his bit to reassure her, but she knew she had given in too easily, ignored her deep sense of unease. But she didn’t care. This is how it worked in her world. Why she loved him. ‘You know how to treat a lady.’

‘You do mean everything to me, you know that?’

She wondered if he mocked her again. Always she had been unable to tell when he took her seriously and when he had fun at her expense. But in this instance his eyes seemed sincere. ‘Really?’ Her voice sounded nervous to her own ears.

‘Really.’

‘I’m never sure why you put up with me,’ she said. She knew how much her insecurity irritated him, but this seemed like an opportunity too good to pass up. He never spoke this intimately.

‘I wonder myself sometimes.’ He leaned over, stroked the frown from her brow. ‘But you know the answer I give myself?’

Did she really want to know? She twitched her shoulders slightly.

‘You give me everything I want.’

‘Do I?’

‘Well, you’re damned efficient as a PA. I might have the business mind, but you keep the whole thing running like clockwork.’

Sparks smiled, though with little humour. He was right; she knew how bloody good she was at her job. But she rather hoped she was more than that.

‘But that’s just the start of it,’ he said, sitting back. He crooked one finger at the hostess. She brought the tray back over and Hood snicked a crispbread piled with salmon and avocado, took it whole into his mouth with a snap of his teeth. ‘You also give me everything else my extensive appetites require,’ he said around the delicacy. He chewed slowly.

That was more like it. The business be damned, it was the other services she supplied that mattered. She’d learned very young that taking control meant giving a lot more than a person might otherwise consider reasonable. It soon became apparent to her that the more she gave, the better she maintained the safety and security she desired. And she enjoyed it too. Her own appetites were beyond those of most people, it seemed. She flicked her eyes up to the young hostess, back to Hood. The hostess licked her lips nervously.

Hood slid one hand up the back of the hostess’s leg. She stiffened, but didn’t move away. ‘Would you like a pay rise, sweetheart?’ he asked her.

‘What do I have to do?’

‘Nothing so bad,’ Sparks purred. ‘You just have to play with us. The three of us, another hour or so flying, nothing else to do …’ She raised an eyebrow, lazily undid the top few buttons of her blouse.

The hostess laughed nervously. ‘Well, I could certainly use the money. Seems like a pretty nice way to get some.’

Hood pulled the girl down onto his lap. ‘That’s the spirit!’

Sparks saw the reluctance in the girl’s eyes, her fear. She knew the internal struggle, the girl fearing for her job if she refused, regardless of the raise she’d been promised.
Let me teach you a little something about survival
, Sparks thought as she moved around to join them.

‘I feel them,’ Blonde said.

Sour-faced people swept water across the floor of a bar, brushing it out onto the pavement.

‘Strong, for a human,’ Red said.

‘Very recent,’ said Brunette, licking her lips. She looked into the bar. ‘Havoc they caused in there, I think.’

‘Yes,’ said Blonde. ‘We’re very close now.’

‘The Hood will never make it,’ Red said with a quiet laugh.

‘Will he be very disappointed?’ Brunette asked.

‘Certainly,’ Red answered. ‘Oh, it’s been a while since I’ve had this much fun.’

Blonde turned away from the bar. ‘The mortal realm is a truly engaging place.’

They moved away along the busy street. People’s eyes were drawn to them, eliciting occasional shivers as the Sisters passed.

Alex and Silhouette sat in a charter office while the man at the desk checked rosters. A wooden triangular sign in front of him said, Hi, I’m Frigeir. He sucked on his teeth as he flicked through printed pages. ‘Urgent, you say?’ he asked, his accent barely noticeable.

‘Yes,’ Alex said. ‘We really need to leave right away.’

‘What’s the hurry?’

Silhouette leaned forward, all cleavage and smiles. ‘We’re just anxious to catch up with some friends. We’re running late and don’t want to get into trouble.’

‘Late for what?’ Frigeir asked.

‘That’s classified, I’m afraid.’

Alex flicked her a sidelong glance. What was she playing at now?
Classified?
his raised eyebrow asked.

Frigeir checked his printouts again. Alex felt her will swell out, watched the magesign twist through her shades like cigarette smoke in a sunbeam. ‘We could really use your help,’ she said, her voice low.

Frigeir seemed suddenly drunk. ‘Mm-hmm. I’m sure I can sort something out. Classified, you say?’

‘We’re part of an international task force,’ Silhouette said. ‘You’d be doing the right thing by several important agencies if you can get us out there quickly.’

Alex frowned. He watched the interplay of her magesign with Frigeir but doubted the man could possibly fall for her ridiculous claims. Yet he seemed to buy it. Alex wondered how much of it was subtle Kin magic and how much pure animal attraction. He’d never seen anyone use their femininity and sex appeal as confidently and expertly as Silhouette. She could seduce anyone into doing anything she wanted without the magic, he was sure. Her self-assurance and power impressed the hell out of him, made him fall for her more every time he saw it. A nervous flutter in his stomach made him catch his breath. He was in a world of trouble and saw death looming real before him, but right now all he felt was love. He had fallen totally for Silhouette. Did she feel the same? She acted like she did, but was she just having fun, enjoying the adventure, after his stone? Or did she really feel about him like he felt for her?

Frigeir put his papers aside. ‘Well, the thing is no pilots are available until tomorrow at the earliest and then, of course, we have to check the weather first.’

Silhouette pouted. ‘What about you? You’re a pilot, aren’t you?’

‘Well, yes, but someone has to man the office.’

‘What about if we pay you really well?’ She nudged Alex.

He jumped, pulled wads of notes from his pocket. He held the bills up for Frigeir to see. Their haul from the bar had been quite substantial. Drinking seemed to be something people always found money for. ‘How much will it take,’ he asked. ‘We have to get out there today.’

Frigeir eyed the money. Alex saw the temptation rising in him. Silhouette still coerced the man with her will. Alex let his own magic out, drew against the Darak and tried to slip gentle images in the man’s mind of the three of them in a helicopter, flying out over grey, rocky wilderness, wads of money stuffed in the pilot’s pockets. He tried to be as subtle as Silhouette, tried to emulate her style. He peeled off the majority of the notes he had stolen, completely clueless to their actual worth, slapped them on the desk. ‘This enough?’ he asked. ‘Sorry they’re a bit damp, I got caught in a shower.’

Frigeir sat back in his chair with a sigh, doing a fair job of covering up his astonishment at the amount Alex had just laid out in front of him. Alex wondered how much he’d given away. ‘Well, I guess no one will worry about the office being closed for the afternoon. But I’ll have to be back before dark.’

Alex couldn’t be sure how much of that success had been his work, how much down to Silhouette’s magic and feminine charms, and how much the lure of cold, hard cash, but the result was exactly what they wanted. ‘If you can fly us out there, wait for a while and fly us back, that would be great. I don’t think we’ll be there long.’ Frigeir frowned. ‘We just need to catch up with our friends briefly,’ he added quickly, trying to hold their ruse together. ‘We shouldn’t need to be there more than an hour or two.’

‘And where exactly is it you need to go?’ Frigeir asked.

‘Well,’ Alex said, drawing a nervous breath, ‘I’ll have to direct you as we go.’

Frigeir locked his hands behind his head. ‘Really? More classified information?’

‘I’m sorry this seems so strange,’ Silhouette said, jumping in while Alex gaped, trying to find an answer. ‘But we’re paying you well.’ She nodded at the money on the desk. Alex added a couple more bills.

Frigeir raised his hands, stood decisively. ‘Let’s go then.’ He took the pile from the desk, pushed the notes deep into his pocket.

He led them out to a smaller airfield beside the main Reykjavik airport and across dark grey tarmac. Lines of various colours crisscrossed under their feet as they walked past small planes. Tiny wheeled vehicles buzzed around them with fuel and luggage. They hopped into Frigeir’s helicopter,
Icelandic Sky Tours
emblazoned on the side, and put on the headsets he handed them. The helicopter was shiny, new looking, and smelled strongly of pine air freshener. Frigeir talked to the control tower in rapid Icelandic and fired up the engines.

Alex pulled the mic down, covering it with his hand. ‘I’ve never been in a helicopter before,’ he shouted over the rotors starting up. He leaned forward, catching her chin, and planted a kiss on her lips. She was surprised for a moment, before kissing back enthusiastically. ‘Thank you,’ Alex said as they parted.

She gave him a quizzical look, slight shake of the head. She kissed him again.

Frigeir looked at them over his shoulder, one eyebrow high on his forehead. ‘Ready to go?’ he asked, unable to keep the smirk off his face.

‘Ready!’ Silhouette said.

Alex buckled himself in. Maybe she did care for him, after all. He needed to believe she did. That this was more than just a bit of excitement in her long life. He felt the warmth of her still on his lips and chose to believe this meant more to her.

Frigeir powered up the helicopter and took off with a stomach lurching drive. He guided the chopper out of airport airspace and turned, a question in his eyes. Alex let the Darak swell out from him, felt for the missing piece. A sensation of gentle drag tugged at one side of him. He pointed past Frigeir. ‘That way,’ he said.

Frigeir nodded. ‘Okay then.’

Sally Beaton suppressed her tears as she watched Mr Hood and Ms Sparks from the safety of the galley. They would be landing in about twenty minutes and she would be free of them. So many people had warned her about working too closely for Black Diamond but she hadn’t listened.
How bad can it really be?
she’d wondered. Pretty bad, it turned out. She trembled, desperate to get to a hotel, to a steaming hot shower, to wash the last hour off herself. She felt as though the stain of it would stay with her for life.

She had known that refusal would have been trouble. No court of law would understand, but something about them told her without a shadow of a doubt that if she’d said no to their advances she may never have returned to London. And for a promised pay rise? Was that all she was to them, some whore? She’d thought the opportunities in Black Diamond had meant more, that her hard work would pay off in a solid career. Had she been moved closer to Hood just for her looks?

She swallowed hard against tears rising, her throat tight with shame. What would she tell Peter? Could she tell him?
I had to agree, or they’d have killed me!
How could she expect anyone to believe that, even while she knew it, deep in her soul. She didn’t doubt for a second it was true. Hood’s eyes had been saying something his voice and smile had never articulated. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the memory of a look that held black depths of despair and said,
Do what we want or suffer the consequences.

She felt violated in every way possible. The pay rise, their sweet words after the things they’d made her do, her job, none of it mattered one bit. She wouldn’t make the return journey with them. They would almost certainly expect the same from her. She’d barely held it together this time. No way could she do it again. When they landed she would act exactly as they expected her to, all smiles and saucy looks. Then she would run to a hotel, certainly not the one they’d booked. She would scrub and scrub until she felt clean even if that meant taking off her own skin. Then she would book a flight home and disappear from Black Diamond forever. No job was worth this.

The pilot’s voice buzzed over the intercom, making her jump. ‘Prep for landing, Sal.’

She pressed the button. ‘No problem.’

Hold it together
, she told herself.
Just a little while longer.

She leaned through the curtain. ‘Buckle up, please, we’ll be landing in a moment.’

Hood licked his lips lasciviously. ‘I don’t think I’ll be landing for quite a while yet!’

Sparks laughed, that horrible, bubbly laugh. Sally forced a smile, swallowing more sobs, and slipped back behind the curtain. She started stowing trays and locking cupboards, covering her mouth with one hand, unable to stem the tears any longer.

The Sisters stood beside benches outside Reykjavik airport, smiling at the appreciative glances of passers-by.

‘Irritating,’ Blonde said, looking into the distance. A tiny speck flew towards bright white clouds.

‘Easy enough to follow,’ Red said.

Brunette made a noise of annoyance. ‘Perhaps the Hood will make it after all.’

‘It’s been a while since I got excited about anything,’ Blonde said. ‘I intend to enjoy this final play. I’ll talk to the Hood again.’ She tipped her head back, eyes half closed. ‘Do I hurt you, little man?’ she said quietly, laughter under her breath. ‘Ah, so close you are. You travel fast for a human.’ She listened. ‘Really? Very well.’

‘Well?’ Red asked.

‘The Hood arrives any moment. He wants to travel with us. Apparently he has a helicopter arranged.’

‘A human flying machine? How … interesting. So, he will see the end after all.’

‘The end?’ Blonde said thoughtfully. ‘Yes. The end indeed.’

Brunette smouldered at a passing businessman, trapping his eyes with her look. ‘It should be most entertaining,’ she said under her breath. The businessman tripped, blushing as he hurried away. Brunette slipped from the group, gliding after him.

‘Don’t be long, sister,’ Blonde called out. ‘The Hood will be here very soon.’