Rayla stepped out in the middle of the room. “All right, fun time is over. We heirs need to hear what you have found and then make a plan of action. Let’s get on with it, Father.”
Boss Desmond bristled at her formal use, settling back down as he murmured, “You know I hate when you call me that.” Her eyes pinned him where he was, telling him to get this meeting going before it got out of hand. Or at least that’s what I thought that death stare of hers meant.
He smacked his palms on the desk, lifting his head, scanning the room as he took on a serious tone, and his eyes filled with determination. “So, as you heirs know, we took the substance you gave us and tested it—”
“We?” Boss Winstale barked out.
“Oh, quit it,” Boss Glovefox replied. “We were there the whole time, in the same damn room, as you tested it all. I think that constitutes a ‘we.’”
Boss Winstale put his tablet on the side table next to him. “You all irritated and bugged me the entire time! Making it take much longer and causing me a headache.”
Boss Glovefox laughed. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I also saw you chuckle when Ternin and I put a ‘Looking for my Tail’ sign on Manic’s back.”
A crushing sound came from my father, and his drink soaked his lap as glittering shards of crystal were scattered around him. I thought he would calmly tell them where they could all shove it before leaving the room, but instead, he scoffed while looking down at his pants before he glared at Boss Glovefox. “Look what you made me do, you jack off! This is a two-hundred-year-old scotch!” Boss Glovefox and Boss Desmond were laughing as Boss Winstale smirked. It was like I was living in the twilight zone.
Rayla stomped over to the desk, hopped up on it, and crossed her legs. “Since the bosses have now reverted to their childhood days, I can tell you guys that they found out that this substance is a mixture between heavy chemicals and mage magic.” Falcon straightened up, intently listening as she continued. “With that being said, there are only so many mages that can work up that kind of magic. I was thinking that you”—she looked at Falcon—“could come up with a list of possible mages that could work that kind of magic.”
He nodded and took his father’s tablet off the side table, and his father scowled at him as he started typing. “Yes. I can do that, but I would be remiss to inform you that I would not be able to count the mages that are off the grid. I can do an even bigger search, but it still won’t pull up every single one.”
She nodded. “I figured, but we need to start somewhere.” She looked back at her father. “Are you good now? Can you continue?”
He whispered under his breath, “So bossy.” Her face turned red as she pursed her lips, and he sobered up. “The other piece to this is that there has been an uptick in supes missing in the past forty-eight hours.”
That got all our attention as we looked at him intently as he continued. “I have been getting reports from bars with loyal Syndicate staff missing, some clubs with dancers missing, and a few local businesses we protect as some of their kids are missing. It’s now too many people for us to ignore, so we want you five to go out to some of these locations and see if you can find any clues as to where they could’ve gone.”
He glanced at his desk, snagged a piece of paper, and handed it to Rayla. “Here are the locations we want you to check out. We don’t know what you will find, so make sure you’re ready for anything.” He looked at Rayla’s back, eyes shining with concern as she studied the list. “I also want you guys to do this together. It’s not that many stops, and I would like you all to have backup since we don’t know what we are dealing with.”
I think he wanted to make sure we all stuck to Rayla and had her back out there. The thing he didn’t know was that even if they wanted us to split up, I doubted if any of us would’ve followed it. Her kidnapping was too fresh for me and I’m sure for the others as well.
“Sir, is there something that we need to do for you four?” Cosmo spoke, and I did a double take, not realizing he was next to Boss Desmond the entire time. That guy was like a fucking ghost.
He patted Cosmo’s shoulder, eyes filled with appreciation as he said, “No. We decided on going on our own little hunt tonight. While you all are making sure the Syndicate is looking like the iron fist we are, we’re going to search for the lab where the substance is being created.”
“Are you sure that’s wise?” Cosmo asked, sounding like he didn’t want to offend but also needed to make his objection known.
Boss Desmond laughed as the other bosses chuckled. “Oh, my son, we are going to be fine. We still got a good dose of power left in these old bones, promise.”
Rayla hopped off the desk and used vampire speed to run up to her father and give him a hug. “Good luck, Dad. Hope you murder someone tonight.” Then she zoomed to the door, throwing over her shoulder, “Come on, boys. We’re going to get dressed and suit up for the night.” We got up, said our goodbyes, and quickly made our way to the door.
My body buzzed with excitement as I realized we might get to knock in some skulls tonight. This could be my night to shine, to show Rayla I was useful with my connections and fighting prowess.Yes.I had a feeling we would get deliciously bloody tonight, and I couldn’t wait.
Boss Desmond yelled after us like a father dropping his kid off to school, “I also hope you murder someone tonight, preferably multiple someone’s that deal with drugs, but if not, any old-fashioned murder will do. Gotta keep up that street cred!” Rayla threw up a thumbs-up as she shoved the door open, and we followed our dark goddess into the night.
Chapter 17
Youarejusttakingthem to get some gear. It’s not that big of a deal. Stop worrying about it.I kept repeating those things over and over to myself as I was driving to my treasure trove.
We took two cars since Rick joined us, not wanting to miss out on a “shopping spree” as he liked to call it. I had Rick and Avery while Cosmo had Falcon and Ax. They all decided they would continue to switch cars after each stop, only keeping the drivers the same since Cosmo and I knew the places we were going the best. I was shocked they came to this fair conclusion on their own, and I rolled with it.
We had the music blasting, and Avery and Rick sang as I raced down the street. I wondered if they would recognize where we were going. Would they be mad? Would this bring back bad memories? Good ones? I bit my lip with my fang, hoping this all didn’t turn disastrous.
“So, where is this super secret hideout?” Avery asked so close his breath was hot on my neck. The song switched over to a slower beat as I pulled off the freeway.
“Oh, Ray has this sick place she has been building upon since she was thirteen!” Rick’s excitement tampered down my anxiety. He turned to face Avery, throwing his hands around in emphasis as he talked. “Like, who would ask their dad for a lump sum of money for their thirteenth birthday, hire contractors, and bribe the descendants, the city, and a director into her owning that plot of land.”
Avery puffed out a laugh in disbelief until I turned down the back road, and he was silent for the first time since I’d met him. My heart beat so hard I was sure they could hear it.
I didn’t want to look back and see his face, even as I could tell he knew where we were. I glanced through the rearview mirror at Cosmo’s car and wondered how Ax and Falcon were doing. It was too late to take it all back now, so I would see it through. Act like I normally did.
