Page 1 of Promise of Hellfire

Chapter one

Rayne

“TheRubyRose,”Irepeated, more to myself than to the man on the other end of the phone. Anxiety coiled tight in my stomach and I swallowed hard, trying to suppress the urge to vomit. I stopped believing in coincidences long ago, and the fact that the Rose was tied to both Ayers and Ethan’s father made my blood run cold.

The Ruby Rose was a second-rate strip club across town known for hiring women with addictions and not many choices. Very few had friends or family to support them. Rumors circulated around the city that employees there did more than dance and the VIP rooms were simply a front for illegal prostitution. Sometimes the dancers would turn up in back alleys or on the side of the highway, bodies mangled. No one else seemed to care, and police turned a blind eye to the discoveries. After all, who cared about missing dead girls from the wrong side of the tracks?

“Chandler, I need you to give me more details than that. How do you know?” Chandler Murray was one of the guys’ informants. I shuddered when I thought about the time Hunter threatened to torture him in an abandoned warehouse.

He lowered his voice. “I’d rather not say over the phone, but I can meet you somewhere when I get off work. Around eight.”

“Fine. Where do you want to meet?” I asked, rubbing my hand over my eyes.

“Same place as last time,” he replied quietly.

“Wait, you want to meet me at the warehouse where you were tortured?” I couldn’t believe my ears. No sane person would request that. “Fine. At least it’s private, and I know no one will overhear us. See you then.”

I hung up the phone and glared at Hunter. “I know you’re going through an existential crisis this afternoon, but I need you to sober up in the next,” I glanced down at the time on the phone, “hour or so. Someone make him a coffee and maybe something to eat.” I knew caffeine sobering someone up was a myth, and food wouldn’t actually soak up alcohol, but at this moment I would try anything.

Hunter coming home inebriated was unexpected and, at this moment, incredibly inconvenient. Drunk Hunter wasn’t something I knew how to deal with. My anger wasn’t even directed at him. Not really. He’d had a pretty shitty afternoon and discovering that Wayne Ayers was his absentee father was quite a blow.

I handed him back his phone before picking up my own. “Don’t be like that, princess,” he grinned. “You should come sit with me.” He patted his lap. “The world will still be falling apart tomorrow.”

I sighed at him. Sitting on his lap was the last thing I needed to do right now. “Yeah, it will, but in the meantime we need to find out if Lexi really is at the Ruby Rose and what she is doing there. The only way to do that is by meeting Chandler Murray. When I get home tonight, I’ll sit with you all night long if you want.”

Lexi was one of the dancers that worked for Oliver at Inferno. Last summer, Oliver had given her two options: go to rehab and get clean or find another job. Typically, the dancers Oliver fired ended up at the Ruby Rose, at least temporarily. Lexi chose rehab. Even though she was still jealous of Victoria’s relationship with Rory, she no longer threatened the other employees and pretty much kept to herself. She had a tumultuous past but was busy turning her life around.When she went missing around Christmas, Oliver’s guys and I had looked for her everywhere, and even searched her apartment, but came up empty-handed.

Dominic sat on the couch beside Hunter and handed him a cup of coffee. “Drink this. Maybe it will make our demoness happier.” He gave me a quick wink, and I glared at him.

Ethan wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. “You’re pretty hot when you’re all aggravated and barking orders,” he whispered, setting his chin on my shoulder.

I pushed against his face with my hand and tried to hide my amusement. I knew what he was doing: trying to temper my mood. It may have worked. Only a little, though. “You would think that.”

“You know, we have thirty minutes before we need to leave. If you wanted, we could slip away and–”

I shook my head. “You’re done, you’re all done. You’re impossible. I’m going to call Paul and let him know we have a meeting this evening.”

I stepped away and dialed Paul, putting him on speakerphone while I made myself a cup of coffee. The temperature was cool and only fate knew how long we would be up tonight, especially since we didn’t know the extent of Chandler’s information about Lexi.

Paul Donohue was one of Oliver’s best friends and one of the three men that ran Strathmore’s criminal underground. People thought of them as boogeymen, but that wasn't quite accurate. After Oliver was shot, I’d stepped up in his place temporarily. Paul, along with Aldo Renzetti, kept tabs on me.

I couldn’t really blame them. The first week as Olly’s proxy hadn’t gone particularly well.

The phone rang several times before Paul answered in an amused tone. “Rayne, I’m surprised to hear from you again so soon.”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t make any decisions without you. Yet.” Pulling the hazelnut creamer out of the refrigerator, I leaned against the counter. “Just wanted to inform you I’ve got a meeting this evening. I might have some information you three need to be made aware of.”

“Hey, Paul, guess what?” Hunter called out, his words less slurred than earlier.

“Shit,” I muttered and instantly regretted putting him on speakerphone. Dominic placed his hand over Hunter’s mouth in an attempt to muffle him.

Paul chuckled. “It sounds like you're having an interesting evening.”

I poured the creamer into my cup. “Oh, interesting is one way of putting it.”

“Just keep me informed.” I hung up the phone and picked up the coffee, allowing the heat to seep into my skin and willing it to give me the patience to get through the next several hours. “Hunter, I think you should stay here. I’ll take Dominic with me to meet Murray,” I told him from across the room.

Dominic nodded in agreement. “That’s probably for the best, considering the situation.”

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