The crowd finally broke out of its stupor and rushed forward.
Clicking her tongue, she gave two taps to the ground and walls of pure black shot up.
The crowd immediately pulled back, and she grinned. She sauntered slowly on her way inside, people staggered back and some even looked at her like she was a ghost.
Inwardly she was pleased as she continued her way up the steps. It was nice walking along the halls of the establishment she’d built. She paused at the top of the steps and turned to look down. Her employees and some guests had followed her to the bottom of the steps.
“Don’t you have work to do?” she asked softly. The employees immediately ran to work. While the guests remained, she sighed. “Should I charge you for the time you’re staring, I hope you remember just how expensive I am.” That moved the guests away, with one more amused smile tossed over her shoulder she strolled on her way to her office.
Upon entering, she found someone she wasn’t expecting. “Wolf, surely there was something more pressing than you coming to see me.”
Malcolm, who sat on her couch like he was at his own home, smirked. “What happened to following the plan of contacting me once you decided on whether you would be returning or not?”
“The same thing that happened to my plan to die when I confronted my father,” Lanias said, pulling her coat off and tossing it on the seat across from him. She plopped down, crossing her legs. She waved a hand toward the black lacquered box that sat on the coffee table between them. The top flipped open, she reached in and pulled out a black cigarette. “God, I miss these.” She flicked the edge, catching it on fire. She placed it between her lips and took a long drag. “Nothing like a tightly packed herb cigarette.”
She eyed Malcolm. “You haven’t told Eliza about our relationship I hope.”
“What would I tell her? That I worked for you as a double spy for sex?” He shook his head. “I’m not interested in digging up the past.”
“Hmph, that past isn’t so far away. Though I agree our relationship isn’t that deep, our greater worry is if myplan works,” Lanias said, taking another inhale. The burning sensation in her throat was pleasant. “They have been quiet, almost too quiet of late. After the last attack, I certainly expected them to try to take me on one more time.”
“Maybe they are formulating a plan, like we did,” Malcolm said, rising to his feet. “The longer they take, the better for us. Judging from the noise downstairs you properly riled everyone up.”
Lanias watched him stand up. “What, leaving already?”
He nodded. “I wanted to ensure we agreed that the past is the past.”
Laughing, she shook her head. “You make it sound dirtier than it is. You and I only had a brief relationship with each other.”
He snorted walking over to the door; he opened it and flinched at the sight of Oye. Recovering quickly, he said over his shoulder to Lanias. “I’m glad we agree.”
With that, he gave Oye a brief nod before he left.
Oye followed his departure with her eyes before she entered the room, kicking the door closed behind her. “What’s the deal with you two?”
“Don’t ask, it’s him being delusional about his importance in my life,” Lanias said. She walked over to her desk and leaned against it. She pressed the tip of the cigarette into the ash tray there. “But I have to say the number of visitors I’m having is surprising. Aren’t you sick of me yet?” she asked, crossing her arms.
“Yeah, right,” Oye sneered, taking the place Malcolm had just been sitting. “I still work here, though Castian keeps trying to drag me out. But I enjoy beating the shit out of shitty customers too much. The reason I’m up here is to tell you that your plan worked. The whole club is shaking. Some even think you’re an imposter.”
“Then it’s good you’re visiting me then,” Lanias said, “It will legitimize that I’ve really returned.”
“I think the most worried are your favorite types of clients,” Oye said casually, pulling at the strings of her torn jeans.
She immediately caught on to what Oye implied.
Lanias couldn’t help laughing. “Well, let’s hope the politicians have been behaving, it’s been a while since I even checked in on my favorite people.” She snapped her fingers, and a black book appeared out of thin air and opened to a note covered page. She quickly read over the names. And seeing all the names with red lines drawn through them, her brow creased. “Why are so many of them crossed out, that only happens when?—,”
“They lose power,” Oye finished for her, she finally looked at Lanias. “Tiller’s been cleaning out the trash. He’s been using their connection to Legolas as a lead to have them investigated and removed.”
“Well, that sucks,” Lanias complained, closing the book and grabbing it up, she tossed it into the fire. “With so many losing power, I’ll have to start over.”
“Up to you. Now, are you really going to go along with the Jackals on this plan?”
Lanias groaned. “If that’s what you wanted to know, why did you go through such a roundabout way of asking.”
“Because, if I asked you directly, you’d have answered me with another question,” Oye said, lifting a single brow in question. “So, are you?”
“I plan on it,” she said, looking at the fire burning in her fireplace. “It’s too dangerous to do my own thing. Plus, I’m pretty sure if I tried to, Alek would drag me into the basement and lock me up. He’s oddly dominant when it comes to my safety,” she said, remembering his insistent push for her to see a healer.
