Crimson Veil

He pointed to a jagged scar. “That’s where the bone came ripping through the flesh. After I told him I couldn’t provide what he wanted, Tobi—well, let’s just say my client—told his body guard to break my arm. His man did a wonderful job, I have to say. He shattered my arm as if it were a toothpick and, in his enthusiasm, managed to rip the jagged edge of the bone through the skin. Obviously, I lived, but it took two hundred stitches and six months in a cast and rehabilitation to regain full use of my arm. So I now pick and choose my clients wisely, and I always come through, regardless of what it costs me.”

I stared at him. He was so nonchalant that it began to dawn on me just how strong our cousin was. He didn’t flinch, didn’t even wince when he was talking about his injury. And considering he had been a member of the ISA, my guess was that he’d been trained to withstand torture.

“You were part of one of their elite forces, weren’t you?” Maybe we couldn’t glamour him, but I could force the issue.

He contemplated me for a moment, and the jovial smile slipped away. Beneath it lay the cold, harsh gaze of a predator, and I had the feeling that Daniel could be as deadly as we were.

“Cream of the crop, Menolly. I was the cream of the crop, top of the line. They didn’t want to let me go.” He shifted in his seat. “Before you ask, the reason I left was twofold. I wanted out of the danger zone. And… there were things we were trained to do—things I’ve done—that I could no longer bear on my conscience. They still haunt me, and while I know I can never atone for some of them, I had the strength to walk away.”

Camille shifted in her seat. “Did they object?”

He shrugged, still somber. “It was either let me go or kill me. And I had installed a few… shall we call them, safety nets. They knew—and they still know—that if there’s any question about my death, dominos will fall and a great deal of information about their covert operations will be revealed to the public. I’m a bitter, dangerous enemy to have, girls. And my former commander knows just how deadly I can be.”

A shift in the pit of my stomach made me nauseous, and that was a rare event. I slowly lowered myself into a chair. We’d let a viper into our midst. Daniel had managed to dig up a lot of information on us in a short amount of time. I wondered—did he know about the war? And would he use that to blackmail us?

As if reading my mind, he leaned forward. “For instance, I know what you are battling. Not by name, but I know you’re keeping the demons of the world at bay. And I also know you don’t want that information to get out. But fear not, I didn’t come here to threaten you.” His eyes flashed and the smile was back. “I think we can help each other.”

“How so?” Delilah stood, folding her arms across her chest.

“I can get into any place you need me to. I don’t care how carefully it’s armed—at least with human traps—I can spring it. I can disarm security systems. I can disarm bombs. I’m that good. I can dig up the actual—not just the public—but the actual floor plans of any building in this city. And in most big cities. I have contacts who can procure anything you need to work with, illegal or not.”

“Are you offering to work with us?” Morio asked. He cocked his head to the side, his soft, smooth hair trailing over his cheek.

“And if I am? Are you interested?”

Camille and Delilah looked at me. I nodded for them to follow me into the kitchen. Daniel just leaned back in his chair and began to whistle.

When we were near the table—which was almost ready for dinner—Camille turned to us. “I don’t know what the fuck to think about this.”

Delilah shook her head. “He’s certainly unlike any other FBH we’ve worked with.”

“Not quite.” I took a seat, making certain not to disturb the place setting Hanna had set. “Wilbur. Wilbur’s an FBH and he’s ruthless and dangerous. Just more uncouth than our cousin.”

“True that.” Camille frowned, poking over the cookie plate and biting into a chocolate chip one. Hanna glared at her but said nothing. “So what do we do? He obviously knows about the demons; he knows about all of us. Who knows how much other information he’s managed to dig up?”

I knew my suggestion was going to garner more than a questioning look but decided to speak up anyway. “Give him a chance.”

Delilah snorted. “Say what?”

“We don’t have much choice. I doubt if Daniel feels any family fidelity at this point—how can he? We barely know each other. And the International Security Alliance? Dangerous and deadly. I wouldn’t put much past what he’s been trained to do over the years. He’s probably killed as many people as we have, and my guess is a number of them have been innocent. But we also have a good deal of info on him, and we could easily turn the tables if he double-crosses us.”

“So what you’re saying is that we’re at a stalemate?” Delilah laughed. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

“Because it’s par for the course? I truly doubt that Hester Lou knows anything about her brother’s background, so we have leverage there, too. I don’t know how or where Vanzir got his info but I’m damned glad he did. I just wish we could have found out before Daniel showed up here.” I tried to think out the potential disasters that could come out of this situation but there were just too many variables. “We are playing poker with a master, but we both have good hands. We need to find out what he expects to get out of this, though.”

“Good point.” Camille smoothed her skirt. “Let’s get back in there. I’m going to trust your instincts on this. He seems more prone to answering you so why don’t you take the reins on this. We also have to get dinner over with so that we can go meet Tanne Baum.”

Hanna cleared her throat. “Ten minutes and then I start clearing the table if you aren’t in here. I’m not keeping this food warm while you all sit in there and chatter.”

“Yes’m.” Delilah saluted her as we filed back into the living room.

I decided the time for formality was long gone. Walking up to Daniel, I planted myself in front of him, one booted foot resting on the arm of his chair as I crossed my arms and leaned down. He gave me a leisurely smile.

“First: What the fuck do you expect to get out of this? You’ve told us what you have to offer, but what do you think we can give you?”

He leaned back in the chair, stretching his legs so they rested between mine. I could sense a curious energy off him, but it wasn’t sexual. It was more… power plays. There was his key. Cousin Daniel liked to play with power and he liked to run the show. Whatever he’d done through his life had left him with a love for control. And he was thoroughly enjoying this.

“What do I expect from you? Knowledge. Contacts. Potential clients. I’m not looking to chase treasure with you—from what I’ve learned about you, you’re not concerned with such things.” He glanced over at Smoky. “And I have no intention of ever trying to find your treasure hoards, if you have them. I know enough about dragons to know that would be a stupid move.”

Smoky let out a low snarl, but remained where he was. “You are a wiser man than many, then. Camille’s cousin or not, should you come sniffing around my premises in hopes of stealing a coin or two, I won’t hesitate to teach you what it means to incur the wrath of a dragon.”

I had to repress a bark of laughter at the look on Daniel’s face. It was the first time the veneer had cracked, and while it was only for a second until he gathered himself and the easy smile returned to his face, the brief alarm I’d spied gave me an odd comfort. It meant that—resistant to our glamour or not, and special agent or not—he was vulnerable. While I knew he was human, I’d begun to wonder just what the hell we were up against with our cousin. FBH didn’t always equate to easy pickings.

“I wouldn’t think of it, Smoky. I never cross friends or loved ones, or relatives.” And as he said those words, a ring of truth echoed through them that even I could feel. So Daniel had his own code of honor, as skewed as it might be.

Hanna popped her head around the corner. “Either you come to the table now, or no dinner.” And with a stern look, she disappeared again.

“She means it.” Camille stood, motioning for us to follow. “I don’t want to test her on it.”

As I backed away, Daniel rose smoothly to his feet. “I want you to know, I am happy to meet you—not just because you are who you are and because I think we can benefit each other, but because… what family I have, the family I choose to remain in contact with, mean a great deal to me. I value them and I protect them as best as I can. In case you’re wondering, Hester knows nothing of my activities. I keep her protected from the truth. I have no doubt of her reaction, and I don’t want her worrying herself. She’s got enough troubles as it is without me adding to them.”

I wasn’t sure what it was, but despite the weirdness of what was going on, I found myself liking him. And one glance at Delilah and Camille’s faces told me they felt the same. As we filed over to the dinner table, conversation turned toward other matters.

Delilah turned to him. “So no wife, husband, children… ?”

Daniel grinned. “I’m straight, and no. I never married, I never will marry, and I certainly never intend to have a pile of rugrats around. In my line of work, it would be dangerous to have ties of that nature. And I do best on my own. Sex, paid companionship, suits my needs. But relationships? Not my style.”

“Are you ever lonely?” I took my usual place up near the ceiling—something about levitating above the table soothed me.

“I learned long ago that I’m geared for a solitary lifestyle. And with my training? It would have been a recipe for disaster to become emotionally involved with anyone. We were on constant missions, and if I were worrying about anyone at home, I would have put my unit mates in danger.”

Daniel started to pull out a chair for Camille but Morio smoothly slid between them and led her to a chair between him and Smoky. Smoky pointed to Daniel, and then the chair next him, and Daniel obeyed. Shade sat on his other side, with Delilah beside him.

Hanna had piled the table high with salads and breads and fruit and cookies, and now she held the door for Trillian as he emerged from where he’d been grilling to slide an enormous platter of steaks on the table. They were sizzling, and—for the millionth time—I wished I could eat. Even though Morio had opened up a new door for me with the flavored blood, I was always aware of what I was drinking, and always too aware of how much I liked the feel of it in my body and my throat, of how it both satiated and stoked the hunger within.

As the others fell to their food, I watched Daniel. He had lightened up and was chatting about the house, and his mother and father, and my sisters were soaking it up. It was almost as if there were two Daniels—the one who had come in preening and hinting at blackmail should we refuse to help him, and the one here—jovial, friendly, and with a winning smile. It was hard to keep from taking the bait, hook, line, and sinker.

Were both Daniels simply aspects of a very complex man? Was one side of him a carefully cultivated fake? If so, which one was real? As the evening wore on, I was no closer to having even a clue as to the answers to those questions, and by the time he said good night—at nine thirty—I shut the door behind him, feeling oddly tired.

As I turned around, Camille was sliding into her coat and Delilah had zipped up her jacket. I stared at them for a moment, wondering where they were going, but then remembered we had to go meet Tanne Baum.

“Can we all take one car? I want to talk over tonight’s visit on the way.” I shrugged on a denim jacket, more out of habit than anything.

“I’ll drive. I’ve got the most room.” Camille held up her keys. “And yes, I think that’s a very good idea.”

“Are you sure you girls want to go alone?” Trillian was leaning out of the kitchen. He glanced over his shoulder and said something that sounded like, “I’m on it.”

“You want to come with?” Camille motioned to the closet. “Grab your jacket then.”

Trillian slipped on his calf-length black duster. “The stakes are too high to go it alone. There are too many games going on and we seem to be pawns in a number of them.”

And with that, we headed out the door.

The road was slick with rain, the wind picking up tree branches and tossing them about like leaves. We were in for one hell of a storm, it seemed, and once again, my mind raced back to Elqaneve. But the storm there was sentient, alive in a monstrous way. The storms here had energy, they had some semblance of consciousness, Camille had told us, but nothing like what was going on back home.

As she navigated the standing water that was accumulating on the roadway, Camille finally said, “I heard back from the crematorium. Father’s ashes will be ready to pick up tomorrow, in time for Samhain.”

“What are we going to do about a Samhain ritual?” De-lilah stared out the window, her voice shaky. “We can’t just let it go by. We’ve lost too many people. We have to—”

“We have to honor them.” I normally wasn’t all too upset if we put off the holidays for a day or two, but this time, I knew what it would do to my sisters. And marking the deaths of our father, Queen Asteria, and Chrysandra would go a long ways to helping us move on and focus on what we needed to be doing.

Camille sighed. “We’ll do something, even if it’s simple. So… what did you think of Daniel? I never expected anything like the bomb he dropped on us. The dude is wacked, but I kind of like him. I don’t have any sense that he’s out to cross us—though that isn’t a guarantee.”