New Regime (3 page)

She searched the graveyard until dawn had come and gone, but
found no sign of Gunnar. He’d disappeared. She hoped it was because he’d escaped
to another graveyard. She didn’t want to believe that Epik was right and her
assassin had captured the ghoul.

“Dammit, Gunnar.” She’d search again another time. She needed
food, coffee, and blood. And not in that order.

When she left Wormwood she checked her phone. Strad had
called once, and left a voicemail. Elizabeth had called twice.

She groaned. She’d be lucky to get coffee—forget food and
blood. She listened to her messages as she drove to the Annex.

“Call me,” the berserker said. There was a slight
hesitation, then, “Damn you, Rune.”

She sighed. He needed to accept the fact that she was a
grown monster who could look after herself. She’d never reported her every move
to another person, and that wasn’t going to change.

Elizabeth wasn’t calling her into work—there were ops for
that who’d have sent the crew a page, a radio call, or a phone call. The Annex
had ops for everything.

Which meant Elizabeth was calling her about something
personal, and Elizabeth didn’t do that often.

“Rune.” Elizabeth’s voice held a small tremor. The only time
Rune had heard her sound weak was after she’d been attacked and nearly killed
by Nicolas Llodra.

“God,” Rune said. “What now?”

She didn’t want to listen. Shit was about to get real fucking
deep and she wasn’t in current possession of a ladder.

Elizabeth’s voicemail continued, whether Rune wanted it to or
not, and all she could do was listen.

“I met Lane at the hospital. She brought Stefanie in to
visit with George. We didn’t want her to forget him. She’s so young…” She
trailed off as though she’d forgotten what she wanted to say, but finally, she
went on.

“What?” Rune muttered. “What?”

“Stefanie tried to kill him.” Elizabeth’s voice broke. “Fie tried
to
kill
her brother. She said she…she breathed him. I don’t know what she
meant. She said she breathed him to try and set him free. She sounded ancient. But
she wasn’t sad. In her mind she was doing a good thing.”

“Fuck me,” Rune whispered.

“George isn’t dead, but they took Fie. She didn’t cry. She
watched me as they led her away. Wondering…” She paused to take a deep, shaky
breath. “Wondering why I didn’t save her. Why I didn’t grab her and run with
her. But I couldn’t. She’s where she needs to be. Someday she’ll understand.”

Rune frowned.
She’s where she needs to be.
What the
hell did that mean? Who had taken the child? She punched in Elizabeth’s number,
not bothering to leave a message when she got the other woman’s voicemail.

She called the berserker.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah.” She told him about Gunnar and pulled into the Annex
parking lot as she was finishing her story. “Where are you?”

“I’m at the Annex.”

“I just arrived. I need to talk to you.” The berserker had a
soft spot for little Fie and she didn’t want to tell him what had happened over
the phone.

But he already knew. As she got out of her car he walked
from the building, and though he’d buried the sorrow deep, he couldn’t hide it.

Not from her.

She walked into his arms. “It never ends, does it?”

He tightened his arms around her. “I still have her dog.”

She pulled back to look up at him, acknowledging the way his
penetrating stare ate up her face. The berserker could be overwhelming in his
intensity. “Who took her?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Elizabeth came back to speak with
Parish, then left again. Rice doesn’t seem to know anything more than we do.”

“Eugene is here?”

“He’s been here for a couple hours.”

Their cells beeped at the same time. The superintendent of
the Annex was calling them in.

“He wants a meeting,” she said. Every time Eugene showed up
he called a meeting, so that wasn’t a surprise.

“Yeah.”

“Dude likes his fucking meetings,” she grumbled, and walked
into the building with the berserker.

Raze met them as they walked down the hall to the main
conference room. The new building was still unfamiliar to them. Unfriendly.

Hurried footsteps clicked on the polished, shiny floors, and
booming voices alternated with the shifty whispers and murmurs of strangers.

The Annex was too new. Too large.

The rest of Shiv Crew, along with a dozen or so other crews,
sat behind the long tables in the conference room. The room had a small
platform built against one wall, with three steps leading up to it.

Eugene Parish stood on the platform, his hands on the
lectern. Iris stood behind him, her slim body stiff and still. She almost faded
into the wall and was so quietly unmoving that it was easy to forget she was
even there.

Eugene watched Rune, Raze, and Strad as they found seats,
then began speaking. He didn’t waste time with niceties.

Eugene wasn’t anyone who’d stand out in a crowd. He was
medium height, slim, and calm. His salt and pepper hair was short and neat. He
wore a dark gray, beautifully tailored suit.

He appeared perfectly bland until you saw his eyes. They
were cold, gray, and completely emotionless.

“There are two groups that concern us.” He glanced around
the large room, his flinty gaze landing briefly on Rune. “One is known as the
Shop, headed by a madman named Orson Blackthorne. The other is called the Next.
It was started by a woman named Lee Crane.”

The room remained silent, all eyes forward, completely absorbed.
Eugene had that effect on people. He commanded attention like no one she’d ever
met.

“They are scheming, unscrupulous killer bees,” he continued.
“They are the enemy. Not only are they lethal barricades of Other equality, they
are traitors to their own kind.” He pinned Rune with his cold stare and made
her believe, for one moment, that his next words were only for her. “You think
the slayers are serious adversaries? COS is nothing compared with the Next and
the Shop.”

Her breath stuck in her throat as he held her captive to his
penetrating regard. It wasn’t fear, exactly. It was a strange sort of
recognition.

Knowledge that he was, in some way she couldn’t entirely
grasp, similar to her. “That’s
it.
” And suddenly could breathe again.
Jack looked at her with raised eyebrows, but she gave a slight shake of her
head and put her attention back on the superintendent.

“The Next is composed of
Others.
” He paused to allow
his words to sink in. “Others who do not believe they, or their kind, should be
equal to humans. How do you like that?” His jovial words and lighthearted grin
fell flat.

Rune stood. “Why would Others fight against Other equality?
That doesn’t make sense.”

He stared at her for a long, tense moment. “You can’t think
in logical terms, Alexander. Not when it comes to the Next. You cannot ascribe
your own beliefs to them.”

She crossed her arms. “Why, if they’re so powerful, weren’t
they helping COS in their attempts to destroy Others?”

He smiled. “Who says they weren’t?”

He was a slippery bastard, not really answering her
questions, but batting them away like annoying mosquitoes.

“What is your
opinion?
Why is the Next trying to deny
their own kind a right to be equal in this world? And why should we believe
you?
”
She clenched her fists as her anger grew. The crews of RISC weren’t a bunch of
mindless drones to do as the Annex commanded with no questions and no answers.

Rice, from his seat at the back of the wall behind Eugene,
stood quickly. “Rune—”

“No, no,” Eugene said, holding his palm up. “Sit down, Bill.
I expect questions.” He looked at Rune. “But I will not tolerate disrespect.”

“Neither,” Rune replied, “will I.”

Finally, a spark of emotion showed as his pale skin flushed.
“Ms. Alexander. I’ve been told you have an assassin attempting to take your
head.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Yeah?”

He smiled. “Who do you think is behind your assassin?” He
leaned forward. “I can promise you it’s either Crane or Blackthorne. You’re on
their radar now that you’ve joined their greatest opponent. This agency will do
what it can to protect you but you are not safe. No matter how immortal you may
believe yourself.”

She swallowed. She wasn’t worried about herself—she was
worried about the ones she loved. “Do you have more information on the Shop?
What’s their agenda?”

“Oh, the Shop,” he said, his voice dark. “As you know, the
Annex has the desire to create Other equality. The Next believes that should
never happen. And the Shop…”

He hesitated, spearing the audience with his sharp, somehow
empty stare. “The Shop…they don’t care who wins this war—Others or humans. They
just want to build monsters.”

His words made Rune shudder and clutch her stomach as some
secret, lost thought flittered through her mind.

Build monsters.

She shook off her sudden fear, suddenly furious. “They’d
better worry about
this
monster,” she snarled.

“Be careful, Alexander,” Parish said. “And don’t ever
believe you’re safe. Death would be a blessing compared with what either of
those agencies would force upon you if they captured you.”

The berserker stood and padded to her side, his fingers
close to his blades. “Her crew will protect her.” He ignored her sigh and
continued. “If those agencies are behind the assassin, we’ll shut them down and
neutralize the threat.”

“Where are they?” Jack asked, standing as well.

Eugene’s stare lingered on Strad’s scarred face. “Their
locations are unknown. They would have been shut down long ago if that were a
possibility. They are as covert as the Annex headquarters. More so, even, in
Orson Blackthorne’s case. He has disappeared.” He hesitated. “The Shop is our
main concern because they have something we don’t have.”

“What?” Rune asked, when he paused.

“They have some sort of…magic.”

Magic? An image of Damascus flashed suddenly in her mind.

“But we have you, Rune Alexander. And I think that levels
the playing field. I’d really like you to try to stay alive. ”

“Why would they want me dead?”

“Because you are a powerful Other. Worse, you are a powerful
Other working for a group that seeks the very thing the Next wants to hinder.
As for the Shop…” He shrugged. “Perhaps because they fear you. Or maybe they
want to capture and use you.” He paused, and once again his cold stare raked
her face. “Most likely both.”

“They’re trying to kill Rune because of you,” Jack said. “You
made them aware of her by taking control of RISC.”

Eugene inclined his head. “Maybe, but it doesn’t matter. If
they weren’t already on her trail, they soon would have been. Annex or not.”

No one said anything as they thought Eugene’s words through.

Finally, the boss spread his fingers and gave them a little smile.
“I am not the enemy. You’re my people now. I and my colleagues will do
everything in our power to make sure the injustice done to Others is not only
stopped, but that those responsible for past horrors are held accountable.” He
looked at Bill and something heavy and secret passed between them. “We want a
world where Others no longer have to live in fear. Where their murders and
torments are no longer overlooked by humans in command.”

He jaws knotted as he clenched his teeth. “We are not there
yet and must continue to tread carefully. But we
will
have equality for
Others. I swear that to you. Nothing will stop us. Not magic, or assassins, or
rival groups.”

Despite her distrust of Eugene Parish, a thrill of hope and
belief sparked inside Rune’s mind. It could happen. Parish made her believe it
could happen.

He was unwavering in his conviction.

But his desires were suspect for one reason. Eugene Parish
was human. Why was his biggest wish to see Other equality?

She asked him.

“It pains me that you have to ask that question. No, I am
not Other, but that doesn’t matter. I want it because it’s right. Simple as
that.”

She wasn’t so sure.

A door at the back of the platform opened and Elizabeth
stepped through. Her face was pale, her eyes overly large and dark. She glanced
at Rice, then Eugene.

“That’s all,” Eugene said, almost hastily. “Now you know
more about what we are up against. Be careful, people, and never forget what
we’re working for.”

He strode to Elizabeth and Rice, and the three of them
disappeared through the doorway Elizabeth had just entered.

“What the fuck,” Jack murmured, “is going on?”

“You heard about Fie and George?” Rune asked the crew.

“Yeah,” Lex replied, as the others nodded. “And I don’t
believe a word of it.”

Rune pressed her fist into her stomach. “What do you mean?”

The other crews filed past them, and Lex waited until the
room was empty of all but Shiv Crew before she answered. “Everything that’s
happening right now has something to do with the Annex and the other two groups.
I feel it. I don’t think little Fie tried to murder her brother.”

“What
do
you think?” the berserker asked.

Lex shook her head. “I don’t know. But Elizabeth knows more
than she’s saying, and so do Bill and Eugene.” Again, she shook her head, as
though trying to clear the confusion her words caused her. “I don’t know.”

It was something Rune needed desperately to make sense of,
but it wouldn’t happen without a struggle and a hell of a lot of digging. Lex
was right. Something was going on, and it had everything to do with the Annex
and its two biggest rivals.

“He’s on the right side,” Raze said. He stared at the far
wall, his brow furrowed.

“Who is?” Owen asked.

“Parish. Getting Other equality is what we want.”

“Yeah,” Rune said. “And to rid the world of COS.”

“But I don’t trust him,” Raze said.

“Shit never stops,” Lex murmured. “This stuff with the Next
and the Shop, and Fie…”

“And Gunnar,” Rune said.

They looked at her. “What’s wrong with our ghoul?” Levi
asked.

She repeated everything she’d told Strad. “I don’t know
where he is. He can’t leave Wormwood unless it’s to appear in another
graveyard. I hope that’s what happened, but the abused Other I talked with saw
the assassin dragging Gunnar through the cemetery.”

“Shiv Crew report to Monitor One. You have a run. Shiv Crew,
Monitor One.”

Ellie’s voice blasted suddenly over the loudspeaker, and
Rune noticed Levi stiffen as he listened.

They walked to Ellis’s enormous new office—one he shared
with Gustav Dahl, a hunky man of Norwegian descent who had a slight accent and
hooded blue eyes. His hair was dark blond, his lips full, his chin strong.

He was gorgeous.

He was one of the original Annex brought over from another
location. He refused to say where he’d been posted before River County.

“Hi, baby,” Rune said. “What do you have for us?”

“Hi, guys,” Ellis said, smiling at her from behind his desk.

“You good?” she asked.

He glanced at Levi. “Yes. Thank you. I’m very well.”

She raised an eyebrow at his suddenly stilted speech. He and
Levi were still having problems and there wasn’t a thing she could do to help
them.

Levi planted his hard stare on the smiling Gustav.

Ellie’s face fell and Rune walked around his desk. She
crouched in front of him and he swiveled toward her.

“I don’t know what to do,” Ellie murmured, so the others
couldn’t hear him. “He’s getting worse.”

“I’m here if you need me,” she said. There was nothing else
to say. Levi’s time on the mountain had destroyed a vital part of him, and she
wasn’t sure he’d ever get it back. All the crew could do was watch, wait, and
let him know they were there for him.

Gustav cleared his throat. “We got a report of a fight at an
Other’s private residence. Neighbors called it in. They reported screaming,
glass breaking, calls for help.”

Rune stood, then leaned over to give Ellis a quick hug,
despite the burning pain of the fang he kept hidden beneath his shirt. “It’s
going to be okay, Ellie.”

“If only you could work your magic and make that happen
soon,” he said.

She eased away from him and got the address from Gustav,
then she and the crew left the room to go to work.

It took them twenty minutes to reach the address, a town in
River County called Garden City. When they arrived, two cars from the Garden
City PD were already there.

The cops wasted no time in waving the crew over, tired
disgust on their faces. “You’re welcome to them,” one of the cops said. “We
have actual people to help.”

Rune ignored the hateful words, something she was finding easier
to do.

It was no secret that some of the smaller towns were trying
to run the Others to larger towns—such as Spiritgrove. They were unable to
handle Others, or so they said, except by shooting them with silver, hoping
they died, and letting the afterlife deal with their souls.

Rune led the crew up to the front of the house. Their guns
were out. Neighbors—human and Other—peered from shadowed porches and the
occasional ripple of a curtain let her know more were watching from behind
their windows.

“Hello?” she called, walking cautiously up the few stairs to
the porch. “We’re Shiv Crew. My name is Rune Alexander.”

No one said a word, and nothing moved. It was quiet—too
quiet. She hoped they weren’t all dead.

She knocked on the door, a huge, heavy door that even Strad
might have had trouble kicking in. The windows were protected, she noticed,
with iron bars.

“Someone lives with fear,” she murmured, then louder, “Open
the door. We just want to talk and help your injured.”

Nothing.

Lex put her palm against the rough exterior wall and
vibrated gently. “I feel them in there. I see them like red blobs in blackness.
Six of them.” She leaned her forehead against the wall. “Two are hurt.”

Rune stared at her, amazed. Lex’s abilities had grown
enormously since she’d discovered her demon. That Lex could almost certainly
read the crew without a touch wasn’t reassuring.

“Any humans?” Rune didn’t really expect her to know, but she
did.

“The two injured are human.”

“Fuck me,” Rune muttered. That was always the way of it. One
step forward and two back as the Others fucked themselves over every single
day.

The cops couldn’t have known humans were inside the house,
or they wouldn’t have stood around waiting for Shiv Crew to arrive. “We’re
going in.” She patted the door. “Door, meet Raze.”

Raze moved up beside her, and the others covered him as he
smashed through the heavy door. He proved once again how suitably he was named
when the door was unable to put up much of a fight.

The entryway was small and mostly bare. Straight ahead were
stairs leading to the second floor, but the crew followed Rune through an
arched doorway to the living room.

They entered the room noisily, guns drawn, but none of the
people in the living room moved.

It only took a second for Rune to understand why.

Of the six people inside, four were Others. They’d messed up
the two humans—a man and a woman—badly.

Scents of seared flesh and scorched blood hung in the air.

“Good,” said one of the Others, a forty-something woman with
hard, haunted eyes and long red fingernails. “Rune Alexander?”

Rune frowned and kept her gun trained on the woman. “Yeah?”

“About time you showed up.”