Page 95 of Tethered Souls
“That’s a declaration of war.”
“Let’s fucking do this. I’ve always hated that guy.”
“How?” Khalid asks, and his question stops the racket.
Cid Garcia is a werewolf, and like all werewolves, he has a natural resistance to magic, so taking him won’t be easy. But he’s also Antonio’s youngest son, and he’s the only one of his brothers with a family. We will get him to tell us what his father is doing to the Blood Fangs one way or another.
“He likes to visit their brothels.”
“Theirbeing the keyword,” Leno says. “They have wolves guarding every door.”
“Our Families are still at peace. Talon can just walk in.” I look at him, as do the rest of my brothers; he is the one they won’t suspect wanting to save the vampires. “Find a woman called Rei. She’s been Cid’s whore for a long time.”
“He’s married,” Khalid growls. For that alone, he should die according to my brother’s code.
I nod at him. “With three kids.” They’re all adults, with the youngest being twenty-five. Khalid nods at me, a silent confirmation that he’ll have no problem using them to get to their father.
I look back at Talon. “Go in, sprout some shit about the vampires like you always do, and try to make some deals. If the werewolves aren’t planning to come after us, then we have no reason to join the fight. We could side with them then, wipe out the Blood Fangs like you want.”
He smiles as he leans back in his chair. “Might take me a while to get to Rei.” Demanding her immediately will be too suspicious. Cid has enough weight, he might even have her reserved as his own.
“Do it as fast as you can, but your safety is priority. If you can’t get to her, we’ll find –”
“I’ll get to her,” he says confidently. Ever since Jackie was drained dry, Talon has visited brothels. He only fucks to relieve himself, never sleeping with a girl more than a few times. He doesn’t want it to turn into an emotional ordeal; Jackie was the only person he ever gave his heart to. The working girls are unlikely to fall for him – it’s just business, but Talon has a soft spot for girls in trouble. So he visits the brothels to punish himself for failing to save his girlfriend. He forces himself to look at all the other girls he can’t save. He uses them, discards them, and hates himself for it. But he can’t seem to stop. Can’t forgive himself for something that wasn’t his fault.
But because of this, he makes his rounds from girl to girl, even getting the madams to fuck him eventually. The ones who are ‘off limits’ due to the exclusivity demand of a john still end up fucking him too. It just takes a little longer. A greasing of hands, a building of loyalty. If he says he can get to her, then he will.
“Let us know when you have,” I say as Micha and Mother come over, carrying freshly cooked flatbread and homemade hummus. They set the plates in the middle for us to share, then take their seats. I reach for one of the breads, calling an end to the meeting. As we all fill our plates with the foods we like the most, my eyes drift to Micha. Valentine’s Day is in two days, and although I will be taking her somewhere public, we’ll have all the privacy in the backseat of a hired limo.
And the item I ordered this morning will have arrived by then too.
Thirty-Three
HER
I’ve had to take a shot from a moving speedboat before in order to save Dayne’s life, but even then, I wasn’t more nervous than this. This place is absolutely packed, and I’m wearing a skimpy dress (picked out by Varius and left in my room), as well as the remote control nipple clamp vibrator he first put on me while I was pressed up against the wall of his garage.
A chick is currently at the karaoke bar, belting out “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cydni Lauper, and holy fucking shit is shekillingit. There are a couple tables near the stage, full of men and women, who are literally clapping.
Not ironically either.
One of them whistles.
Fuck. I’ve only ever sung in the shower before. What if I’m utterly shit at this? Nervously, I look over at Varius, but he’s still talking business with the manager at the bar. This is one of the Shadow Domain clubs, with illegal high-stakes gambling taking place in the back. I stare at him as I nurse my gin and tonic, trying to drown my urge to go over there and pull him back to our table.
On the way over here, he didn’t take his focus off me, keeping his head between my legs in the backseat of a limo he hired, but I know he’ll always struggle to show affection in public. If I’m going to be the perfect wife for him, I will just have to get comfortable with being ignored.
Turning to Khalid, I glance over his shoulder and pretend he’s Dayne rather than someone looking like he wants to kill me and everyone else in this club. “If I’m shit, will you clap for me anyway?”
“If you’re shit, will we leave sooner?”
I blink. “Um, probably.”
“Then no.”
“Ah.” I smirk. “Keen to get back to whoever’s pussy you keep eating, huh?” My eyes widen as my cheeks heat to the temperature of the sun. Shooting out of my seat, I thank the fucking gods the woman singing just finished.I did not just say that. To the reaper!
But the words just slipped out of my mouth, my nerves making my tongue loose. As did the whole pretending he was Dayne thing. I’m never fucking doingthatagain.
