Unawakened (12 page)

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I crossed the room to join him, conscious of the way my boots clicked on the marble. “Somehow, you’ve managed to surprise me yet again.”

“Good. After Mr. Smith’s last stunt, I thought you’d appreciate the meeting being on
my
turf.”

With my intimate understanding of how Kenneth’s red drug worked, I never wanted to be under its influence again. The misery caused by its crash was too much, especially when its pleasures far exceeded any other substance I had ever tried. A shiver ran through me, and Rob answered my discomfort by slipping his hand around my waist and pulling me onto his lap.

“You don’t need him or his drugs,” he reminded me.

It helped a little, hearing the confidence in his tone.

“Mommy,” my roommate contributed from the confines of my purse.

I laughed, set my purse on the floor, and released the macaroni and cheese casserole from its leather and velvet carrier. “Sorry, Colby. I should have let you out earlier.”

“You can hide behind the bar or in the piano,” Rob suggested.

Colby chose the bar, vanishing near the rack of liquor bottles decorating the far wall. If Kenneth tried something, I hoped Rob and Colby joining forces would be enough to deal with my boss and his dae. My Beretta offered an option, too, but I had no idea if a bullet would be as effective on them as it had been on Lily.

I flexed my hand, fighting the urge to unholster the gun and check it over.

“Relax, Alexa. He’s not stupid enough to do anything here.” Rob pointed to the ceiling in one corner of the room where flashing red light was mounted beneath a small black globe. “Since I’ve made Baltimore my permanent residence, I’ve had security installed wherever I conduct business meetings. Someone I trust is monitoring the room right now. Audio is being recorded as well.”

“So I guess this isn’t a suitable location for some lively evening entertainment,” I murmured, checking the room for more of the surveillance devices. I found six of them, and I wondered how many more were tucked away in discreet locations.

“Unless you enjoy an audience, no.” Rob snickered, took hold of my chin, and turned my head so he could brush his lips against mine. “For some things, I don’t mind an audience, and it serves my purposes for my security people to know who you are so you can be properly protected.”

After a lifetime of living under government monitoring, I should have been offended by the surveillance. Instead, there was something comforting about knowing it was Rob keeping an eye on my back using people he had selected.

“It’s not fair. You can watch my back, but I can’t watch yours,” I complained.

Rob pulled his sleeve up to reveal the knife I had given him. “But you are. You have.”

“It’s just a knife.” A knife couldn’t do anything if someone caught him by surprise.

Rob pressed his thumb to my mouth and clucked his tongue at me. “It’s more than that to me. It’s a way for me to protect myself, which is far more precious of a thing, don’t you think? It’s no different from the gun you’re carrying. I arranged for you to have it so you might protect yourself—and you have. If you want to watch my back, then I suppose we’ll just have to get ourselves into troublesome situations where I need you as much as you need me. Fair?”

I liked the idea enough I grinned at him. “Fair.”

How much had I been limiting myself with my primary goal of rising through the castes? With Rob, I cared less about which caste I fit in and more about what we did together. My goals remained, but they came second to enjoying the current moment, and I liked the new world he was showing me.

If we had our way, the new world he was showing me wouldn’t have Kenneth Smith in it for very long.

Rob’s phone rang five minutes before the meeting time, and I was tempted to keep kissing him instead of letting him answer it. Scowling at the interruption, Rob pulled his phone out of his pocket, put it to his ear, and answered, “Rob.”

I heard a murmur on the other end of the line, although I couldn’t understand what was being said. Unable to resist the temptation, I wiggled on the dae’s lap, earning an arched brow and a grin.

“Send him and his guest up. Should our meeting take longer than an hour, I will call the desk.” Rob hung up, sighed, and stowed his phone in his pocket before turning his attention back to me. “You’re something else, Miss Daegberht. If you’re trying to seduce me, you’re close to succeeding.”

“Consider it motivation to get this over with as soon as possible.”

“Consider your request heard and acknowledged. You may be interested to hear there
is
a bedroom, and I can even turn the cameras off for limited periods of time.” He blew in my ear, and I squealed and hopped to my feet. The way he grinned at me sent shivers running through me. “It may be a bit of a challenge to make sure we’re finished before the cameras turn back on, though.”

“That’s what blankets are for,” I pointed out.

“I hope Smith and his dae have sensitive noses and are strong enough empaths to know what they’re missing out on.”

Sometimes, I really liked Rob’s way of thinking. “Do you mind if I keep my gun out in the open?”

“You should have brought your katana. It’s too lovely of a weapon to leave in the apartment all the time.”

“If I knew how to use it, I’d carry it,” I grumbled. “I like this gun. Can you arrange so I don’t have to give it back?”

“I seem to recall you almost took off a vampire’s head with your sword. That counts as knowing how to use it. I will see if I can arrange for a permanent extension of your license.”

“I’m pretty sure swords aren’t supposed to be used like baseball bats, Rob.”

“If it works, don’t knock it. Want something to drink?”

“Can you poison Kenneth?”

Rob snorted. “Unfortunately not. Fresh out of poison today, Miss Daegberht. There are rules in polite society, and offering drinks has a certain etiquette to it. Poisoning is a very subtle art and never done on a first meeting at a new location.”

“Pity.”

“I recommend champagne. It’s tart, refreshing, and shouldn’t go straight to your head.” Rising, Rob paused long enough to give me one final kiss before heading towards the bar and Colby’s hiding spot. I followed after him, sliding onto one of the stools while he pulled down a bottle from the rack and four tall, narrow glasses. “Keep on your feet so they don’t have a chance to claim a seat beside you.”

Shuddering at the thought of being close to either Kenneth or his dae, I obeyed. “Right. Thanks.”

The knock at the door sent a chill sweeping through me. Rob pulled out his phone, pressed a few buttons, and the door opened with a click, allowing Kenneth Smith and his dae, Jacob, to enter.

Both were dressed in their best suits. Rob slid a filled flute to me, set the champagne bottle on the bar, and intercepted the two. They exchanged terse pleasantries, shook, and joined me at the bar.

I kept Rob between me and the two men. Both stared at me, and their scrutiny unnerved me almost as much as Kenneth’s scowl.

“An interesting choice of location, Mr. Lucrage,” Kenneth said, sliding onto the second stool at the bar. Jacob took the one on the end, leaving Rob to sit beside my boss. “I appreciate the privacy for this matter. In actuality, this is a better location than my residence. There are often too many listening ears there.”

Rob’s last name was Lucrage? I masked my interest and surprise by taking a sip of my champagne. It was tart and refreshing, and I liked the way the bubbles played over my tongue.

“Let’s get down to business. Why do you want Miss Daeberght working with the police?”

“It’s an opportunity beneficial to both of us. You’d learn about trade law changes before they happen, and I would hear about any raids on my operations before they happen. It’s very simple. Her placement would allow me to plan which operations I allow the police to bust to keep her presence inside secret, which minimizes my losses. I’m sure you could find plenty of ways to use her on the inside, too.”

“You’re making the assumption I don’t already have someone inside,” Rob stated, and I straightened at the subtle amusement in his voice. “While I’m in the business of information, I have better—different—sources. I’m not necessarily against the idea, but I have conditions.”

“I’m listening.”

“First, should you make so much as a single attempt to drug or influence Miss Daegberht in any fashion, I won’t simply ruin you. I’ll make certain you won’t be able to rise above the lowest caste for the rest of your days, assuming you live long enough to hit the bottom. I’ve acquired a sample of the drug, and I’m in the process of having it analyzed. As long as you play by my rules, I’ll pretend your new narcotic doesn’t exist. Cross me, and every bit of information I have on it will mysteriously arrive at a police station along with a small sample of the drug and a list of compounds capable of neutralizing it. My employees have found a few.”

Kenneth sucked in a breath. “Where did you get it?”

“That would be compromising my source, Mr. Smith. That said, I very much enjoyed some of the benefits of your narcotic, although I found the second phase to be repulsive at best. Do you have a version without such negative side effects?”

“There is a trial version of it,” Kenneth confirmed. “The second phase of the drug is necessary at this point, as it prevents other rather unpleasant side effects.”

“Explain,” Rob ordered.

“Without the neutralizer, which reverses the first phase of the drug, it causes severe psychosis. This leads to violent behavior in some, suicide in others, and in a limited number of test subjects, unexplained death.”

The cold, factual way Kenneth spoke chilled me to the bone. To cover my dismay and growing horror, I took a sip of my champagne. “More of the drug pushes back phase two, correct?”

Kenneth leaned back so he could look at me around Rob. “That’s the idea. There has been limited testing on what will happen if someone takes more of the drug to bypass the second phase.”

“The question of the hour is this: does it work on dae or only the unawakened?” Rob asked.

“It seems to work on anything with a central nervous system, dae included.” Kenneth reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, which he set on the bar. “It has been developed in several forms for use, and it’s almost ready for public release.”

The box contained several tiny pills, a small vial of red fluid, and a vial full of pink powder. I clenched my teeth, shivering at the memory of how damned good the drug had made me feel before I had crashed and burned.

The high, as always, hadn’t been worth the fall, yet I craved the sensations all the same.

“The twelve hour high and all of its benefits are very impressive, but the second phase of the narcotic leaves a lot to be desired.” Rob reached for the champagne and poured into the three remaining flutes. After a moment, Kenneth and Jacob each claimed one. “What sort of drug do you have to counter phase two? I assume that’s the point of your little scheme. You hook people in with the high and charge a fortune to get rid of phase two without the resulting psychosis. Am I correct?”

Kenneth chuckled, and what should have been a pleasant sound sent chills creeping up and down my spine. “Your reputation as a shrewd businessman is well earned, Mr. Lucrage. You’re correct. There is a second drug meant to be used in conjunction with this one. It speeds up phase two and masks the pain symptoms. It doesn’t provide a high, but it does numb the user and suppresses any cravings for more drugs. I have been using the development of this medication as a cover for my drug operations. This drug is registered as a rehabilitation tool, as it eases cravings in those who have become addicted to a variety of substances, including hospital-grade pain killers.”

“Clever,” Rob acknowledged, pausing to sip his champagne. “You want Miss Daegberht in position so you can have warning if the police are about to stumble onto your operations.”

“Correct.”

“I will consider it, but you won’t like the price, Mr. Smith.”

“I’m listening.”

“She’s mine, and you will not make any further attempts to take her away from me. You left her apartment alive because I might have use for you. Am I understood?”

While I was aware it was an illusion of my mind’s making, I could’ve sworn the temperature in the room dropped below the freezing point. I let out the breath I was holding and crossed my eyes to check for the telltale puff of white at the end of my nose, but my breath remained invisible.

I couldn’t tell who frightened me more: Rob or Kenneth.

“I will leave our relationship strictly business.” Kenneth’s voice was equally cold, and all I wanted was to get out of the line of fire before they remembered I was still present. He picked up his champagne flute and drank it back, tapping the empty glass to the bar. His dae hesitated, but followed Kenneth’s lead a moment later.

“You won’t force or supply her with any more drugs, either—I will consider you using addiction as outside of allowable business.”

“Understood.”

“Do you have anything else you wish to discuss?”

“Jacob will be presenting himself to work with the police as well, although in a different capacity than the low-ranked unawakened can obtain. I thought you’d appreciate knowledge of his placement.”