Two Lines (6 page)

Chapter 9

C
illian wasn't sure what he hated more, the fact that he had to tell Eavan that he was with the C.D.A. or the fact that he seemed to have picked up a second supervisor. He wanted to tell Nyx to piss off, but his superiors would be anything but pleased if he lost his “anonymous” source so soon—plus that whole threat business of Nyx's echoed in his mind.

Eavan was silent by his side as they walked down the street toward a tiny park that was reasonably well-lit. He stopped at a small cluster of unoccupied benches. It was late enough that they had a bit of privacy.

“I'm here investigating him,” Cillian told her. “Your
cousin
offered me a wealth of information on his activities, among other things, in exchange for protecting you.”

Eavan laughed, a bitter sound that made him want to comfort her. She sat down beside him. “Threats, sex, or money?”

He didn't pretend to be shocked. “Not sex.”

“With her at least.”

“With
any
of them,” Cillian corrected.

Eavan was silent for a moment. “She hired you in the hopes that I'd sleep with you. It's an obsession of hers.”

“Excuse me?” He angled his body so he was facing her. Of all the things he'd been prepared to hear, that wasn't anywhere on the list. “She hired me because she knew you were spending time with Brennan, and he's bad news.”

“He is.” Eavan took a breath. “But Nyx could've simply broken a few of my bones if all she wanted was to keep me away from Daniel.”

“She could've”—Cillian lowered his voice as a small group of people walked by—“
broken your bones.
You say that like it's an everyday event.”

“Not these days, but…” Eavan shrugged. “Nyx is in charge. I'm guessing you already know on some level how terrible she is, else we wouldn't be having this conversation. She picked you for reasons that aren't about guarding me from Daniel. She picked you for me to have sex with.”

“Does she pick a lot of people for you to sleep with?” He tried to keep his voice even, but the idea that his family had been threatened, his life endangered, his career toyed with, and his peace of mind completely upended over
sex
was infuriating.
It isn't Eavan's fault
, he reminded himself. She'd been adamant that she did not want him around.

Eavan blushed. “No, you're supposed to be the first.”

“Well that's something, at—” He stopped mid-sarcasm. “The
first
first…like…”

“Yes.” She looked about as comfortable as he felt. “The very first. My virginity is a matter of family irritation.”

“Your family is concerned over your being a virgin.” He said the words slowly. “So you were dating a drug dealer and your cousin hired me to have sex with you? Is that what earlier was…Never mind.”

“No, earlier was about my wanting you. It was a mistake. A pleasurable one but a mistake nonetheless…and I wasn't dating Daniel.” Eavan smiled regretfully. “I know it all seems a bit odd.”

“You think?”

They sat there for a moment while Cillian tried to figure out what to say. On the phone, Nyx had been very clear in her orders to be “completely honest” with Eavan and then report to the house to speak with her.
Screw it.
He was already so far out of his comfort zone that he wasn't sure he'd be seeing level ground again. “Can I ask you what you are?”

“What I am?” she repeated.

“I've met your family…and now this. You're not quite like most
humans
, right?”

“I can see where you'd get that. I'm human, mostly,” she hedged. “I'd like to stay that way, too.”

“Explain?”

“There are a couple things I can't do if I am to stay human.” She squirmed, and a blush burned up her cheeks. “My
grandmother
Nyx would like me to do those things. She's not particularly pleased with my intention to live and die as a human.”

“And if you do these things, you become something else? Something
Other
?”

She nodded.

“So Nyx hired me to…” He whistled and shook his head. “And Brennan? He's what?”

“Daniel is a human. One that my family doesn't like.”

“So…” He paused and shook his head, trying to make sense of the things she was sharing. He thought he was taking it remarkably well, all things considered. “I'm trying to understand. Help me out here?”

Eavan stood and crossed her arms over her chest. “Nyx wanted my first to be someone I'd remember fondly. She'd prefer I sleep with you than with Daniel, and she, undoubtedly, thinks I'd be in danger if I continued…stalking him. He's making some zombie powder that he's using to enslave and sell girls. I was just going to try to scare him, rescue some of the girls, but I got caught up. And Nyx thinks that whatever he's doing with the zombie powder is dangerous to our kind.”

Cillian sat speechless, watching the people cross through the park. A preacher or madman perhaps was harassing passersby, calling them “harlots” and misquoting the Christian Bible.

If only he knew what dangers really lived in his city
…

He wasn't sure which side of the good-evil fence she belonged on—or which side her family was on—but there were nights when he wasn't sure where he belonged, either.

“I'll tell Nyx that you left. Get out of here, Mr. Owens, before you get trapped.” She turned and walked away. “Get out, and don't look back.”

Eavan was midway across the park before Cillian could formulate a reply. He wasn't sure what to think about the things she'd told him, but he was sure that Nyx—and possibly Eavan—had answers to help him stop Brennan. That's what he'd been sent here to do. He'd expected to do so by ordinary means: the C.D.A. might track and eradicate Crypto Drugs, but he had no direct and open dealings with the world of the Others. The human world still functioned in ignorance. He was to continue to act as if he, too, was ignorant. Other C.D.A. members had a higher security clearance and were thus able to do otherwise.

Did they end up involved this way, too? Was it just a random case gone off the rails?

On a personal level, he wasn't sure if he was flattered or horrified. He didn't want to think long on that detail. He'd watched her at the clubs with Brennan; he'd watched her stand up to Nyx.
And held her in my arms like something molten and too dangerous to touch.
There was something different about her, but getting involved personally with a case was a bad idea.

He caught up to Eavan and said, “You need a lift?”

She gave him a strained smile. “It's a bad idea, Cillian.”

He shrugged. “I'm not running—from
either
of my jobs.”

“It's a mistake,” she said.

“It's my mistake then.”

The way she held herself aloof made him want to comfort her, but in light of what she'd just revealed, that was the very last thing he could do. Instead, they walked silently to his car and drove to Nyx's house.

Chapter 10

N
yx was dressed in the closest thing to proper attire that she ever wore. Eavan knew when she walked in that they weren't staying. She shivered. “Will you let Mr. Owens leave?”

“
Mr.
Owens?” Nyx repeated with a knowing smile. “Your
Cillian
is perfectly free to leave if he'd like to go.”

Eavan's distancing tactic was, like most things, utterly transparent to Nyx. How many times had they stood in the kitchen in a standoff? Nothing had changed, not the ridiculously artificial country-shabby decor of the room, not the fear that she felt, and certainly not the fact that Nyx had the upper hand.

Nyx gestured toward the door they'd just entered. “He can go. No strings as long as he doesn't tell anyone what he's learned of our world. I'm not a monster, Evvie.”

Before Eavan could dispute that claim, Nyx held up hand and said, “Not now.”

“So…” Cillian's tone was relaxed, but he stood nearer Eavan with his body slightly at an angle, positioning himself between the two women. He hadn't left. Instead, he'd chosen sides. For whatever reason, he was still acting as if he was there to protect her.

Nyx stepped toward him, each pace measured and timed to give him a chance to back away, to acknowledge her as the alpha predator she was.

Cillian stepped forward, moving away from the kitchen counter to give himself room to maneuver. He grinned. “If you're going to get hostile over her figuring out that you hired me because of Brennan, now's the time, Grandma.”

Nyx paused.

Eavan winced.

“You're either brave or foolish, Mr. Owens.” Nyx reached out beside him and took a pair of bone carved hair sticks from the counter. “My granddaughter is precious to me. I want you to keep her safe. In exchange, I will help you in your job. That hasn't changed.”

Eavan was speechless.

“Done. I'll do my best, but”—Cillian scowled—“I'm not a stud for hire. Eavan told me about…the other thing.”

“Of course she did. It's a bit sooner than I expected, but this was all inevitable, my dears.” Nyx twisted her hair up into a coil atop her head. Tendrils snaked down on either side. Stylists would have to work for the look she achieved in a moment—of course, glaistig hair was a living extension of the body, so that did help.

Nyx stepped between them and put one arm around Eavan and the other around Cillian. “If she needs a bedmate she might not kill—which she seems fixated on—you'll be handy. It's the most progress I've had with her, so I'm content. Now, let's go see Daniel, so that matter can be put to rest, shall we?”

Eavan hesitated. “Grandmama? Do you think that's it's a good idea for
all
of us to go?”

Nyx's laughter was unrestrained. She patted Eavan on the cheek and walked out the door.

 

They stood in Brennan's living room, after having Nyx charm the doorman, a maid, and two security guards. Cillian wasn't sure at all of the protocol. B&E wasn't outside the parameters of his job, but murder usually required either a series of paperwork or immediate threat.

“Much easier to tread quietly when he covers the floor with this.” Nyx looked gleeful as she walked across the plush carpet. “Poor bastard won't know what hit him.”

“He's unnaturally tempting.” Eavan spoke softly. “There's something off.”

“He plays with voodoo, dabbles in zombification, so he's abuzz with energy, and you're”—Nyx paused and looked askance at Cillian—“you're hungry. The privilege of age, Eavan: I'm not starving or unsure.”

Eavan stood, examining an obsidian sculpture to avoid looking at Nyx or Cillian as she admitted, “I don't like this.”

“Noted.” Nyx didn't bother to hide her amusement. She looked around Brennan's house like an antiques appraiser. “He has good taste.”

“I'm not sure this is a good idea,” Cillian repeated for the sixth time. Unfortunately, after the second time, Nyx ignored him as if he hadn't spoken aloud. Cillian wasn't exactly sure why she even allowed them to come along. He did, however, know what he was doing there. Months of work would be wasted if Brennan was murdered. Admittedly, it would be satisfying. Having criminals simply arrested sometimes felt anticlimactic, but having them murdered before they revealed the information he needed to proceed on his case was a trouble of a different sort.

He tried again: “Unless he has records here, this will stall the whole investigation…Nyx!” He turned to Eavan. “Can she hear me?”

This time, though, Nyx paused. “He's selling mortals. It upsets Evvie, and she's behaving foolishly. He's moving drugs that are causing you complications. If I kill him, she'll be happier; your employer will have resolved a drug flow. I can always use a snack. Where's the downside?”

Then she sashayed across the room and into Brennan's bedroom, humming softly. She left the door wide open, so they could see her when she stopped beside a massive glass-block pedestal bed. With a wicked grin, she watched Cillian as she lifted one side of her skirt. He couldn't look away—or stop the sound of shock. Her legs were not those of a human: they were muscular and furred like an animal's legs.

“Told you that you didn't want all of those questions answered, Cillian,” she said as she pulled out her hairpins. Her hair was writhing around her shoulders like angry serpents.

He took a step backward.

Eavan reached out and squeezed his hand. “We should look for his files.”

Brennan stirred as Nyx straddled him. The sheet was only partially covering him; his upper body was bare. His hands were under the pillow beneath his head.

“Wake up, Mr. Brennan.” Nyx sounded cheerful. “We have to chat.”

“Who—”

“Shhh.” Nyx put a finger over his mouth. “My dears, perhaps you could close the door before you go looking for whatever documents you needed? Daniel and I need some privacy, don't we, dear?”

Cillian didn't speak as Eavan pulled the door shut, closing in the two predators. He wasn't sure which of them was worse. Good and evil weren't always clearly delineated. Nyx intended to kill Daniel Brennan; Brennan drugged and sold people.
Is it monstrous to kill a monster? Is Nyx evil?
He wished, briefly, that his childhood catechism held up under such questions. It didn't. Moral relativity made clear that black-and-white questions weren't realistic in the world Cillian saw.

The world these people…creatures…all see, too.

“Come on, Cillian,” Eavan said gently. “It's easier if you don't think about it.”

“For whom?”

“For all of us.” She gave him a rueful smile. “That's my family. My blood. And she's about to kill him.”

“Is that
all?
” He hated that he wanted to know, but he did. He'd involved himself in the business affairs of Nyx and her family—not just because of the C.D.A., but also because he felt the stirring of interest in Eavan. That interest didn't die when she'd told him that she wasn't altogether human. He'd been pretty certain of that long before she'd kissed him. “What will she—”

“Don't ask me that right now.” Eavan opened a door and peered inside. Fitness equipment filled the room. She walked to another door and opened it. “Here we are.”

“And her legs?” He had to ask now while he still could. “I mean, your legs aren't…I've felt…” He looked at her bare ankles and toned calves. “You're not like that.”

She didn't flinch. “I'm still mostly human. I told you that there were things I had to do in order to be like the rest of my family.”

“Sex and…”

“Murder.” Eavan looked at the closed door. “Preferably at the same time.”

“And last night when we…were you going to kill me?” His heartbeat felt too fast, but he wasn't sure it was entirely from fear.

“I don't know.” Her tongue darted out to trace her lips. She looked straight at him and said, “I thought about it for a moment.”

“And Brennan?”

She stared at him still, a challenge plain in her expression. “Yes, I wanted to kill him.”

Cillian felt a strange—
unhealthy
—stab of jealousy. “And…”

“Maybe.” She shook her head. “I've never done either one. I can't do both, so I do neither. I want to stay human.”

Cillian wasn't sure what to say, other than, “Let's start searching…If you see anything that could be business, set it aside.”

She nodded, and they searched in silence.