Shiv Crew (8 page)

Monday morning at eight o’clock
exactly, she walked into the SCRU building.

“Good morning, Ellis.” She winked
at him—not that he’d see her eyes behind the dark sunglasses she was
wearing—and strode into her office.

Her crew waited. The twins stood
together by the window, discussing something quietly. Lex pitched a softball
with Jack, who hooted with glee each time the blind girl caught his toss. Z sat
in her chair behind her desk, and Raze leaned against the wall, reading
something on his phone.

She stood quietly in the doorway
for a long moment, watching them. God, it was good to be back. She missed the
place, the work, her people. She felt like she’d been MIA for much longer than
a week.

Z spotted her. “There she is. Ms.
Slacker herself.”

She grinned and walked into the
room, worried, despite the enormous dark glasses and caked-on makeup, they’d
spot her healing wounds. She dropped her bag on the desk and kicked the chair.
“Out of my chair, dude.”

Once she was ensconced behind her
desk she started talking, all business. “I’ve been brought up to speed, guys.”
She spun in her chair to eye Lexi. “But first, how are you doing, Lex?”

“Great.”

“Ellis has decided to teach her to
dance,” Levi said. “Giving her exercise through training is not the easiest
thing to do.” He pointed to a bruise high on his cheek. “She kicks our asses.”

“Okay. So the vampire who
implicated Llodra and his kiddies in the disappearances of the humans is making
deals, I hear. He’ll give us Llodra if we give him his freedom when the
vampires have all been destroyed.”

“Yup,” Z said. “He doesn’t seem to
understand that he’ll be destroyed right along with them.”

“He’s a new vampire,” Jack said.
“Wandered in from North Carolina.”

“Spiritgrove has more than its
share of vampires,” Rune noted.

“Not for long.” Raze moved out of
his corner at last, slipping his cell into a pocket. “It’s open season on the River
County vampires. Once we’ve purged them we’ll not see another one for a while.”

“Maybe once upon a time,” Rune
argued. “But now they seem to be crawling out of the woodwork, looking for a city
to own.”

“Now, if the shifters and wolves attack,
Spiritgrove could ban the Others completely,” Z said. “The only other city I’ve
known to put that into practice was in Indiana, two years ago.”

They were silent for a moment,
thinking about his words. It was true. The law stated that if a city was attacked
or traumatized by the three major groups—shifters, wolves, and vampires—it
could vote to ban them from the city.

Any Other caught inside city limits
after the ban could be killed immediately, no matter what kind of trouble the
Other rights groups tried to start.

Rune leaned back in her chair,
realizing with some disbelief that the thought of a ban did not appeal to her.
She glanced at Lex, the Other who’d been tormented for most of her life, and
felt a spark of connection.

And
she
was Other.

She and Jeremy never talked about
her monster. He must have understood that was something she wouldn’t tolerate.
She couldn’t have borne it

Or maybe…maybe he simply didn’t
know.

Thinking about Jeremy was making
her head hurt. She fished in her desk drawer for the pills she’d hidden away
for hard times, swallowing them dry. “Whatever, we now have to take all the
vampires out.” Except for her father. She’d talk to him and try to get him out
of the city before he was killed.

She grieved for her mother’s second
death, but not as much as she’d thought she would. Maybe because she’d come to
terms with Mama’s death years ago—even if she hadn’t come to terms with how it
had happened.

As though they knew where her thoughts
were taking her, her men shuffled uncomfortably, and Z cleared his throat. A
sure sign they had some news they didn’t want to tell her.

“Out with it,” she said.

“Percell has set up his office down
the hall. He wants to see you.” Jack hesitated.

“Go on.” Fucking
Percell
.

Z took up the story. “He sent out
memos. You’ll see when you log on. From now on, he’ll do the hiring and firing,
and he’s already decided Lex isn’t going to be Shiv Crew.”

She remained calm. “We’ll see about
that. What else?”

“He said all vacation time will go
through him.”

Which meant if she was in need of
some time to get under control, she was out of luck. Might not be a bad thing,
really. That could be her excuse not to go to Ellis’s exclusive clinic. Of
course, if she went crazy on the job, Mitch would be eager enough to toss her
into a nut house.

“Okay,” she said. “So far the worst
thing is that idiot Percell. What’s going on with the monsters?”

“A group of Others have moved into
River County. They say they’re just passing through, not planning on staying
long.” Jack stared down at her, but his gaze was distant, as though he saw
something else. “I don’t like them here, but Cross says to leave them be unless
they start some shit.”

Ellis had already told her. These Others
were random stragglers from various groups, not one vampire among them. “And if
they do, we’ll handle them.”

“Ellis calls them the
Dark
Others,” Lex said. “He’s afraid of them.”

Rune spun in her chair to look at
the girl. “What about you, Lex? Are you getting any bad vibes from the Dark
Others?”

“Maybe if I could meet them…”

“Not doing that,” Denim said.

“We need more people,” Z said. “If
not in Shiv Crew, then in SCRU for emergencies. Last we heard there were an
estimated one hundred Dark Others.”

Rune’s jaw dropped. “Fucking
seriously? Where are they all gathered?”

“In Hawthorne Forest.”

“Cross said he talked to their
leader. They’re made up of outcasts from several groups…no one else will have
them for whatever reasons, so they’ve created a group for themselves.”

“Dark Others,” Levi said. “Good
name for them.”

“I’m sure Percell will take care of
them.” She couldn’t help but sneer when she said his name. Bastard. “Besides,
it’s not like SPD and the rest of SLE couldn’t handle a gun.”

“SLE?” Lex asked.

“Spiritgrove Law Enforcement,”
Denim told her.

“Der,” she said.

Rune wanted to bring up the latest
news about the newly reformed COS but not in front of Lex. Later. She needed to
talk to fucking Percell first anyway, and get all the info he had.

“Rune, what’s up with the shades?”

Casually, she looked at Z. “Light
makes my headache worse. I partied too hard my week away.”

“And the turtleneck,” Jack said.
“I’ve never seen you in a turtleneck. Hell, you’re even wearing gloves.” He
grinned. “It’s not
that
cold.”

She’d fooled them before, but with
her previous sessions the damage hadn’t been so severe that it’d lingered when
she’d gone back to work. Not past a couple of fading bruises.

Not much showed other than her
mouth, her chin, and part of her cheeks. But so much coverage drew more
attention than if she’d walked in naked. She shrugged. “Hangovers make me
cold.”

She jumped when Lex glided up
behind her and placed her small hands on Rune’s shoulders.

Shit.
“Lex, back off.”

Lexi took her hands away, but Rune
had a feeling she’d gotten too much information from her brief touch. She
pushed her chair back and stood. “I’m going to talk to Percell. I’ll get the
schedule from Ellis, and we’ll go to work as soon as Mitch gets tired of
hearing himself talk.”

“I’ll be right back, Ellis,” she
said, and sailed past him. She didn’t look at him but could feel his stare on
her back as she left the reception area.

Percell’s new office was much too
close to her own—only three doors away from hers. Bastard would be listening to
every word she and her crew said.

He already had a large, gaudy sign
on the outside of his closed door.

MITCH
PERCELL

DIRECTOR

SPIRITGROVE
CRIMINAL RECOVERY UNIT

She growled, then tapped on the
door. She’d try to get through the meeting without losing her job. Or tossing
her cookies.

Soon as she got a moment she’d put
up her own sign.

“Come,” he called. Even his voice
grated on her nerves—cheerful and loud and irritating as hell.

She pushed open the door and strode
in, not about to let him see her resentment. That’d make him even happier.
“Percell.”

He stood quickly, his toothy smile
wide and white. He came from behind his desk, freckled hand extended. “Rune! So
nice to see you again.”

Right. Even through her gloves she
could feel his moist warmth. Everything about him repulsed her. Sure, maybe
some of it was just because he was now her boss, but he was a pompous blowhard,
and she’d have taken great pleasure from punching him in the gut. “You wanted
to see me.”

He pursed his lips and ran his hand
over the carefully styled strands of his wheat-colored hair. “Have a seat.”

She sat carefully in one of the two
chairs before his desk, then waited for him to sit before she spoke. “Percell,
you have to know I’m not happy with this change in SCRU. But if you let me do
my job and you do yours, we’ll be fine.”

He nodded. “Sure, sure. Now, Rune,
I don’t plan to deliberately step on your toes or make any abrupt changes
without letting you know.”

“That’s not exactly reassuring.”

He sighed mournfully and steepled
his fingers under his chin. “I’ve been hired to do a job, Rune. I will do this
job to the best of my ability. If I make decisions that you don’t agree with,
we can certainly discuss them.”

“There was a message from COS?”

He blinked at her abrupt change of
subject. “Yes. They wanted to make public the fact that they’re regrouping.
They say they’re not doing anything illegal and only wish to be left alone. With,
of course, their hatred of Others.”

“I don’t trust them. It might take
a while, but they’re going to get right back into the evil.”

He shrugged. “Nothing can be done
about them as long as they’re just forming a group and leaving the Others
alone. Right now they’re just spouting hate messages online and gathering
members.”

“And trying to get laws passed to
take away the couple of puny rights Others have managed to get.”

He inclined his head. “Yes, but
again, not illegal. They’re being watched closely.”

 “I have a bad feeling about COS.”
Maybe a little of that had to do with Lex and the twins, but COS was bad news.
“We don’t know it yet, but you wait. Soon we’ll find out about shit they’re
doing. By then it’ll be too late for the ones they’ve hurt. Other and human.”

“Yes.” He sighed. “Humans known as
fervent supporters of Others.”

 “Fucking Church of Slayers.” She
shuddered, aware that every time she said the name aloud she had that same
reaction. She could only imagine how this news would affect Lex and the twins.
“What about the Dark Others?”

He slid a pair of bifocals onto his
nose and peered at her. “Beg pardon?”

“That’s the name Ellis has given
the outcast Others who’ve gathered in Hawthorne Forest.” She shrugged. “It
seems fitting.”

He nodded. “RISC is keeping an eye
on them. Cross will let us know if he needs us. They seem to be resting before
traveling on and haven’t caused any trouble.”

She pursed her lips. “Maybe I
should take the crew and go talk to them.”

“No, you shouldn’t. Jeremy
specifically warned against doing so. Leave them alone, Rune.”

Fuck you, Percell.
“Seems a
little odd that you guys don’t want the strangers questioned.”

“RISC thinks it’s best not to stir
up trouble. They’ll move on.”

Jeremy
thinks it’s best.
That all by itself set off little warning bells in her head. Jeremy didn’t need
much of an excuse to harass Others. Strangers? Not long ago he’d have been all
over them. “Doesn’t make sense,” she murmured.

“What else would you like to
discuss, Rune?” He leaned back and folded his hands over his stomach, but to
give him credit, he didn’t once glance at his watch.

“We need to talk about a decision
you’ve made that I don’t agree with.”

He gave a sharp nod. “Shoot.”

“I’ve hired Alexis Love into Shiv
Crew.”

“Yes, yes, poor thing. I feel sorry
for the child too, Rune, but we can’t have people in law enforcement just
because we pity them. Help her in some other way. She’s not suited for the job
you do.”

“You know nothing about what she
can do.”

“She’s
blind
, Rune.” He
widened his eyes and looked at her like she’d suddenly gone stupid.

“She can see, just not the way you
and I see. I tested her, Mitch. She’s incredible. Let us show you.” That was a
reasonable request.

“Those rather large sunglasses make
me uncomfortable. Could you take them off?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Light sensitivity.”

He blew air out his nose. “It’s a
no on the sweet blind girl. I’m sorry.”

“You won’t even let her show you
what she’s capable of.”

“It’s not just her handicap.” He
held up one finger. “She’s also the daughter of a death row inmate.” Two
fingers. “She’s an ex-COS member.” Three fingers. “And worst of all, she’s an
Other
.”
He shook his extended fingers at her. “Come on, Rune. Even you know better than
that.”

So that was the real problem. He
had to have found out by now, the arrogant bastard, that the twins were also ex-COS
members. He didn’t care about that, not enough to fire them. He cared that they
weren’t Others.

“Look, Rune. I’m going to be doing
a lot of publicity for SCRU—and for RISC. Do you think the public would trust
us if we were hiring Others to protect them?”