Invincible (A Centennial City Novel) (16 page)

Fifteen minutes, we were in a quiet, residential street with houses that were small and built low to the ground, bungalow-style. There wasn’t a single house built two story tall and we pulled into the driveway of a small, nondescript house with a dark roof and pale blue siding.

“I come here sometimes,” he said as I shot him a glance when I cut the ignition. “It’s in good condition. A cleaning staff comes here every week to make sure the house is perfect.” His lips quirked up in a mock smile. “Money makes everything easier.”

The key slid easily into the oiled lock and he let us into the small, dark house that smelled pleasantly of vanilla. “Help yourself to anything, whatever you need. The house should be well stocked.”

He tried to slip past me.

“Wait.”

He stopped.

“I thought I told you to never touch me,” he said quietly.

Clearly, there were some things that never changed. “We should talk.”

I saw him nod in the darkness. “Certainly. But not now. I need to…rest.”

Letting go of his arm, I saw him rub at that spot, as though I had bruised him. Funny thought. That I could hurt a monster even vampires feared. “I must call the Fellowship. They must be aware of the situation. If not, my situation will get…messy.”

He paused. “Is it necessary? I hesitate to allow any sort of communication leave this building. I don’t think anyone will find us here, but unfortunately, what I think and what I’m sure of…are two wholly different concepts.”

“They will…” What was the proper word to use in such a situation? “Wonder.”

Not quite, but it would have to do. For now.

His shoulders heaved up and then back down.

"Take the car. Find a pay phone. And then get yourself a cell phone. Might be better if you did the latter rather than the former.” He slipped a credit card into my unresisting hands. “If anyone asks who you are, you’re my fiance, okay?”

With that said, he disappeared into the shadows and a door at the end of the narrow hallway closed with a barely discernible
click.

The darkness pricked the edges of my consciousness and I fought the urge to pull open all the curtains, let the growing fingers of sun creep across the dark brown carpet to banish the shadows away.

I didn’t think Jason would appreciate it.

So I did the next best thing.

There was a grimy, yet warm fast-food joint specializing in catering to geriatrics three blocks away in a run-down strip mall. There was a cell phone store next door, although it wouldn’t be open for another four hours.

I wouldn’t mind the wait. It wasn’t as though I had anywhere to be anyways.

After making a quick phone call in a dilapidated phone booth at the end of the strip mall, I took a seat at the very back of the diner, next to the restrooms. Gabe’s Diner was stuffed with seniors taking advantage of the Seniors eat 50% off deal going on and I remembered seeing an assisted living facility at the outskirts of town.

An old man shuffled past me on his way to the bathroom and a tall, dark-haired man with a scruffy beard pushed open the front door.

Our eyes met.

Of course I should have expected such a meeting.

He slid into the seat across from me, eyebrows furrowed deep over his deep-set blue eyes. “Talk to me.”

I stared down at my hands clasped on the scarred Formica table. “Did Elder Chang call you?”

Adrian sighed, covered my hands with his. His hands were always warm, a fact I always found to be quite interesting, as my hands never seemed to get warm enough. “Talk to me, Ran. What the hell is going on?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know if I can.”

His eyes narrowed. “I know why you wanted me to go on vacation. Chang put you on one of the vampire lords. You were worried why he didn’t delegate the task through me.”

I curled my fingers through his, relished the warmth flooding up my arms to settle comfortably between my shoulder blades. “I thought the Fellowship was going to get rid of you.”

He snorted. “Yeah right. I’m the best fucking handler they’ve got. I helped train you, didn’t I?”

“Thank you,” I said.

“Of course, there wasn’t a whole lot for me to train,” he acquiesced with a soft laugh. His smile faded away, almost as though it had never been there in the first place. “Look, before you came, there was…” He drew his hands back. I missed the warmth. “Like I said, I’m the best Handler they’ve got. Unfortunately, that means I get paired up with a lot of hunters. You know, people die, Ran. To be honest, you’re the longest-lasting hunter I’ve been paired with. And you know, I kind of like it. You think I’d get use to people dying on me, but I really don’t.”

Much as I appreciated the sentiment, I wasn’t sure where he was going with this monologue. “I’m sorry to interrupt you, Adrian, but do you have a point?”

He coughed, gaze sliding sideways at the elderly old man who shuffled out of the bathroom, hands in his corduroy pants, a greasy leather hat atop his feathered white head. “The point is, I’ve lost hunters. To Noir.” He covered his head with his hands for a moment, slowly drawing them down, eyes heavenward. “I don’t know what their obsession is with Noir. It’s always him. Do you have any idea how many people we’ve lost to him and his House? Christ, it’s like throwing people in front of a fucking machine gun.”

A rather interesting turn of phrase. “Elder Chang told me Rammstein had failed.”

“Of course Rammstein would fail,” he replied. “It’s a wonder Rammstein’s survived as long as he did. But that’s not the point. The point is, if I knew what task they had given you, I would’ve done my damnedest to turn it down. I care for you more than that.”

I cast my eyes down, growing uncomfortable under the heat of his gaze. “Be that as it may, the task has been given. I will go through with it.”

He shook his head and stood up. “No. Don’t think so. You’re coming back to the Sanctuary with me. Elder Chang wants you back.”

Elder Chang wants you back.

Wants you back…

“No,” I said quietly. “No, I’m not going.”

His eyes widened and he sat back down heavily, making the table tremble under my hands. “For Christ’s sake, there’s no shame in going back, Ran. Better to live and fight another day than just fucking dying. You’re too damn important to risk on such a foolhardy mission. Please, just come back with me.”

I stared at my scarred hands half-curled on the table. “I…I made a deal, Adrian. I can’t just walk out on him.”

His expression grew dark. “Ah, yes. The so-called bait you were supposed to kill to gain Noir’s loyalty. Stupidest plan by the Elders yet, by the way. They should’ve known he wasn’t that much of a blithering idiot. No one is.”

The conversation died and I waited for Adrian to say something, anything.

He obliged. “Look, I dunno what the problem is. The bait…well, he’s can’t really actually want to die, can he? If you call off, then he’ll live. And that’s good for him, isn’t it? I mean, who actually wants to die for some stupid, idiotic cause? Damn it, it’s not even a cause. It’s just a fucking excuse.”

It would be easy.

So easy to simply stand up, leave the SUV in the parking lot, and go with Adrian.

Too easy.

Adrian stood up, as if he had already made the decision for me. “Where’s your sword? Come on, if we leave now, we might be able to beat the morning traffic.”

I can’t do this without you.

I need you, Ran.

I breathed out, let my shoulders relax. Lately, more and more often, I found my shoulders tensed unconsciously. It probably explained the multitude of small headaches I couldn’t seem to shake. “Go without me.”

His fingers clenched around the plastic headrests.

“You know what this’ll be called, don’t you?”

I didn’t care. “I made a deal. I’m not going back on it. I’m going to see it through. To the very end.”

“Insubordination,” he said, a whisper, a word I barely heard over the sounds of pancakes sizzling on the industrial sized griddle. “No one’s ever said no to the Elders.”

“You mean, no one’s said no and lived past sunset.”

He ran a shaky hand through his dark hair. “Don’t do this, Ran. I’m begging you. Just come back with me. Elder Chang is worried. Everyone’s worried.”

And despite everything, a nearby booth smelled of pancakes and hash browns and my stomach growled. When had I eaten last? I couldn’t remember. “The person I’m working for. He’s going to help me kill Noir. How can that be wrong? How can they condemn me for something they’ve fought for since the very beginning?” I paused, tried to choose my words with care. “It seems…hypocritical of them.”

He sucked in a breath, a panicked expression on his lean face. Silly of him to worry. While the Fellowship was strong, they certainly weren’t strong enough to know when they were being discussed. “I wish you didn’t say that.”

I regarded him calmly, even though my stomach continued to rumble in an embarrassing fashion. “Can’t I? Either way, I can’t go, Adrian. I’m staying. I’m going to see this through to the end.”

The diner seats were built low on the walls and he stepped closer, loomed over me.

“Honestly? It doesn’t look good, Ran.” He snuck a glance over his shoulder, although why he chose to do so was confusing. Was he expecting someone? “We heard you’re an
Ailward
.”

I should have expected this. Should have expected the Fellowship to hear of such developments. Surely, this was not an ordinary incident, and more so due to my past. “It’s a cover.”

“Yeah. So you say,” he said and shook his head. “The thing is, you are walking a dangerous line, kid.”

I let that name go. He was old enough to get away with it. “Do they really think I’m fighting for the other side?”

“I’m just telling you right now,” he said. “Things start looking real suspicious. For everyone. You’re Ailward to a vampire who no one’s heard of.”

I tapped a finger on the plastic table. “Do they know who the vampire is?”

His eyes narrowed. “No. Why do you think you’ve got everyone so worried? Not to mention, what happened to the small fry you were supposed to off? How is he wrapped up in this? Was he a spy?”

Interesting. So the Fellowship didn’t know everything.

I didn’t know if that was a good thing.

“He’s…part of the scheme, Adrian.”

Should’ve just told him everything. Should have told him to sit down and start the story over from day one when I first met Jason Eldridge. But something stopped me. Maybe it was the way Adrian kept sneaking furtive looks over his shoulder. Maybe it was the way he kept clenching and unclenching his fists.

The suspicion made me feel ill.

There had never been a time I couldn’t trust Adrian.

He was, after all, my handler.

If I couldn’t trust him… “Look, everything’s okay. It’s all under control. You need to let Elder Chang know this. I’ll call him. Today.”

He let out a slow breath and then nodded. “You do that. As soon as possible.”

I managed a small smile, although it felt wooden and somewhat painful with my cracked lips. Winter in Centennial City was not forgiving, nor welcoming. I almost preferred the warmth of Los Angeles, even though the vampires and other creatures had all but overrun the city. “I will. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

He nodded once, tugged down an invisible hat and strode out, his low boot heels clicking on the meticulously scrubbed concrete floors.

Adrian was worried, that much was obvious.

But it seemed like such a mundane issue. I had been called to assassinate a vampire lord, but there were…adjustments. Surely, I was not the first hunter to make such changes to a plan that had never been concrete to start with.

That the Fellowship would worry to such an extent to bring me back into the proverbial fold…something did not feel right.

I mulled this over, eyes open, but not quite seeing anything except for possibilities that eluded me, like shadows in fog, until a thin, scratchy voice pulled me back to the present.

“Dear, do you mind if we use this booth?”

A pair of elderly gentlemen smiled down at me, trays in their hands heaped high with hash browns and pancakes.

It didn’t occur to me as to why they would ask such a question until a quick perusal of the diner revealed a lack of tables. Indeed, there were people waiting for seats to open up.

His partner smiled, revealing very white, very bright dentures. “I’m sorry to push you from your seat, but we haven’t got the joints we used to. We could sit across from you, if you wouldn’t mind?”

I rushed up from the seat. “I beg your pardon. Please. Sit down.”

A flurry of apologies followed, but they did take their seats and I left the diner, more questions than answers could possibly be had.

I hated that.

***

A few hours later, I unlocked the front door of the quiet bungalow, the curtains not yet drawn to let in the morning sun that felt sublime on my face.