Page 28 of Property of Mako
Unsure of how to proceed, I made a cup of coffee.
Through all my commotion, Calix didn’t speak.
That might have been the most frustrating part—he’d lit me on fire, left me gasping and seeing stars, and then shut it down like he’d thrown a switch inside himself. Now he stood at my kitchen counter, cleaning his weapons like nothing happened, as if last night we hadn’t just crossed a line we couldn’t uncross.
I wasn’t about to ask him why. Mostly because I was afraid he’d tell me, and I wouldn’t like the answer.
The phone on the counter buzzed, breaking the quiet. Calix picked it up before I could blink, his voice low and sharp. Whoever was on the other end said something that made his eyes narrow.
“I’ll be there,” he said, hanging up without a goodbye.
Picking up my coffee, I headed to the bedroom to get dressed. I wasn’t sure how much time I had, so I quickly grabbed clothes and jumped in the shower. It was only long enough to wash the smell of sex off myself. As I rushed to rinse off, I noted that I was a bit sore between my legs and on my neck. The memories rushed in, and my face burned.
It took me all of about eight minutes to scrub myself off and wash my hair. I hurried back out and dried off.
I was sitting on the edge of my bed in my underwear and a hoodie when he walked into the room.
He didn’t look at me when he announced, “Got a lead. Several places the girls might be stashed before the auction.” His voice was clipped, all business as I tugged socks on.
Not wasting time, I pulled on my jeans, still feeling his hands from hours before. “Let’s go, then.”
His head lifted, eyes narrowing. “You’re going to the clubhouse. You’ll be safe there.”
I crossed my arms. “What? No way. We’ve discussed this.”
He gave me that look—the one that said he was already tired of arguing with me before I’d even started. “No. You’re going to the clubhouse this time. You’ll be safer there.”
Adamant, I shook my head. “I’m not hiding in some biker vampire man cave while you go off chasing leads.”
His lips twitched at my words, but he didn’t actually laugh or smile. “It’s not a request, Lyra.”
“Well, too fucking bad, because I’m not going. Either I’m part of this or I’m not, and if I’m not, you can just walk right back out that door.” I pointed to my front door.
His jaw flexed like he was grinding his teeth.
I planted my hands on my hips. “She’s my sister, Calix.”
“This isn’t a discussion?—”
“Yes, it is. Either I’m in this or you go without me, and I find my own way. Your call.”
His jaw ticked, and for a moment, I thought he’d drag me out to his bike kicking and screaming. Instead, he let out a low curse. Then—without another word—he grabbed his cut from the chair and motioned toward the door. “Fine. But you stay on my six the whole time.”
The first two locations were ghosts—empty rooms or buildings that smelled of dust and disappointment.
By the time we rolled up to the third—a hulking old abandoned bread factory in the warehouse district—my gut was already knotted. The place looked dead, its cracked windows gaping like broken teeth.
Inside, the air was thick with the scent of old flour and something I didn’t want to know the source of. Calix, Killswitch, Crypt Keeper, Spook, and Bugsy spread out, moving like they’d done this a hundred times. Calix had introduced us when we met up at the shop where I’d first confronted him. They hid it well, but each of them was shocked he had me along with him. Like I promised, I stayed close, my boots crunching on scattered debris.
If anyone had been here, it had been a long while. My heart sank at the newest dead end.
That’s when I saw it—movement in the shadows.
Calix stiffened. Before he whispered, “We need to go.”
Except as we started to cautiously backtrack, I heard it—the faintest scrape of metal on concrete.
The ambush hit like lightning. Vampires poured in from the far side of the warehouse, fangs gleaming, eyes blazing.
