Page 2 of Secret Origins
1
Drumming my fingers on the steering wheel of the SUV, I watched the raindrops dance over the windshield in the dark parking lot of the abandoned warehouse. The brightness of the fog lights was devoured by the pitch black of the night illuminating only a small portion of the moistened packed dirt and potholes, which were filling up with more water by the second. We hadn’t had that much rain in this city in years. It was a nice change from the suffocating heat. It was good to enjoy it while we could. I might’ve arrived at the meeting place early, but I’d rather wait than walk into a set up. No one had ever said Myst was not prepared.
The sound of rain always calmed me, but when my breathing was bouncing off the interior of the car and so loud it was the only thing I could hear , I felt a little on edge. It might’ve been the anticipation of what I was doing, too. I had to start somewhere, so I made the call without a second thought. Approaching things after I’d looked at all the pros and cons of the situation was my go to, at least until tonight. I’d blame it on the rum I sucked up in the dingy bar, kind of like the how the Sahara would soak up this rain if it had the chance.
A shadow from the side disturbed the stream of yellow light stretching a yard or so in front of the car, and I tightened my hands on the steering wheel. Keeping my shoulders relaxed, I held my breath and let all my senses tune in to my surroundings. It was too early for the person I called to be here, so it was either someone else, or this was about to become a trap gone wrong for them. Shifting in my seat, I adjusted my foot on the gas pedal, preparing to slam it down the second someone not meant to be here stepped into the light. It wouldn’t kill them if it was a supernatural, but it’d slow them down enough so I could do the job with my own hands. I did love my job.
The passenger door was ripped open none to gently, which amplified the sound of the pouring rain. Releasing the steering wheel, I flipped to the side and kicked out at the same time, pressing my back hard on the door, not stopping even when the door handle dug into my spine. The thin heel of my knee-high boot passed an inch from the familiar but startled face as Leo, a wolf shifter and a damn Daywalker, jerked to the side just in time to avoid being stabbed with it in the middle of his forehead. Being five foot two helped a lot in situations like that. I could twist around in the large vehicle however I wanted.
“Nice to see you too, Myst.” Snickering, he batted my foot aside, climbing into the car.
“Why are you here?” Annoyed I didn’t move my leg away, I just adjusted my aim by bending my knee so the tip of the heel was now pressed on his temple. I had every intention to stab him with it if he pissed me off.
“I don’t mind playing rough, but I need this head”—He gingerly took hold of the heel and swiped my foot away from his head—“so the other head can work.”
“I’m not interested in your cock, wolf.” Huffing, I pulled my leg away and settled back into the car seat.
“That’s what they all say at first.” Smirking, he wiggled his eyebrows at me, and I snorted despite being frustrated with him.
“What do you want?” My eyes darted to the sickly green light of the clock on the dashboard telling me I had ten or fifteen minutes before my meeting was supposed to take place. “And how did you find me?” Turning my narrowed gaze his way, I made sure he understood I didn’t appreciate him tracking me down.
Leo tapped his nose, his smirk growing bigger as my eyes turned into slits. “Okay, fine.” He chuckled. “I had a bit of help. Fenrir found—”
“Is he here?” I cut him off as I stiffened in my seat.
“No.” The Alpha eyed me as if he expected me to explode at any moment. “Listen, I know there is bad blood between you two, but if you just talk—”
“If that male gets anywhere near me, you’ll get him back, sure, but he’ll be slit from his navel to his throat. Am I clear?”
“Myst …”
“Am. I. Clear?” I glared at him as I pushed the words through my bared teeth.
“Crystal.” Blowing out a tired sigh, Leo slumped next to me. “He knows, that’s why I’m here. Fenrir only found the trail so I could track you.”
“Why are you here?” The clock told me I had nine, ten minutes max to get the shifter out of here.
“Things happened back in Sienna, and we need your help,” Leo whispered after a long stretch of silence, shifting uncomfortably and staring out the windshield without looking my way. “Francesca needs your help … please.”
I really, really didn’t want to have anything to do with them. It was a general rule I’d made for myself. A rule that, like an idiot, I kept breaking. The meeting tonight was supposed to help me get going with my own quest, the one to find out what in the world I actually was, and that made the Daywalkers the least of my problems. Fenrir, the asshole that he was, and most probably Zoltan too since he was certainly encouraging him, sent Leo here on purpose. The Alpha was known to be too proud to ask for help. He would demand it, but he never asked for it the way he was now. With a heavy sigh, I let my head hang low on my shoulders.
“I have things to do tonight.” I knew I’d regret it, but I couldn’t find it in me to turn him down. Having the Alpha owe me a favor could come in handy soon enough. “I’ll find you tomorrow and we can see what kind of help you need …” The clock told me the shifter needed to be out of here in five minutes. “And if I can give it.”
“That’s all I ask. For you to hear me out.” Leo was not a stupid male. He knew something was up since he was already opening the door, the rain getting loud again and soaking up his hair and clothing that had halfway dried while we’d been talking. Raindrops were trickling like rivulets over his face in seconds. My mouth twisted in frustration at the wet car seat he left behind, but he only snickered at my grimace. “I’ll pay for the cleaning.” With a wink, he slammed the door.
“You better believe you will,” I murmured, though I had no doubt he’d heard me.
Tiredly sighing, I tilted my head back and closed my eyes.Why are you doing this to yourself, you idiot?I had no answer to my question, but I suspected it could only be one thing: loneliness, the most powerful motivator. It was what made me become Alexius’s lap dog, what pushed me to do his dirty work. It was the same thing that made me sit in the deserted parking lot tonight, as well as what made me agree to help the Alpha. I sat like that for a long time, forgetting everything but the gaping hole inside me.
I was tired of being alone.
I was tired of not knowing.
The shift in the charged air alerted me of a presence I’d only felt twice in my life. My lids opened slowly as I straightened in the car seat, my eyes locking on the shadow of a large man standing in front of the SUV bathed in the yellow light. The fog lights bounced off his dark clothing, casting shadows over his barely visible features. He was alone, something I could tell by the way every muscle on his body was coiled tight as if ready to spring into action at any given moment. I could feel his gaze locked on me even when I knew there was no way he could see that well in the darkness with those bright lights aimed at his face. I fingered the leather braided bracelet on my wrist that I’d hidden from everyone, feeling it vibrate under my fingertips.
“Not yet, buddy. Not just yet.” Mumbling under my breath through unmoving lips, I reached for the door and swung it open.
As a bad omen, or maybe a warning from the Fates, lightning split the sky above our heads, flickering ominous ghostly blue light over my companion and me. The thunder boomed a few seconds later, cheering me on for this beginning, or maybe it was screaming at me to turn away and never look back. I ignored it all, my full attention on the man standing stock still in the lights of my car. The thin heels of my boots sunk an inch into the wet ground with each step I took, and by the time I reached him I was soaked to the skin, my leather pants and thin shirt sticking to my skin. My hair was plastered on my head just like his as we regarded each other through wet eyelashes. Amusement danced in his black eyes, which only set off alarms in my head.
