Black On Black (Quentin Black Mystery #3) (32 page)

I jumped in spite of myself, shocked by the familiarity of that voice.

“...You would be
reasonable
with me now,” Ian continued coldly. “How very civilized. How very very polite. But I think we’re a bit beyond ‘reasonable’ at this point, don’t you, brother Quentin? Or do you really believe I was somehow
unaware
it’s been you shooting at me most of these past few months... ?”

Black clicked at him, loudly enough for the sound to carry over the stone walls.

“That is a job, brother. Nothing more. I can sever that contract––”

“Y’enj balente ut re mugre di ali––”

“––I speak truth, brother,” Black cut in. “It is a job, nothing more.”

“Bullshit. You are protecting
my
mate.”

I flinched, gripping the stone base.

“She is why I took the job,” Black conceded. “But she is not the job itself. I can finish with this...
 
with all of it. We can both walk away.”

Black paused, as if listening.

When no response came, his voice grew more warning.

“...You know he will not ever condone her death. They will never leave you alone, not as long as you insist on that as the only acceptable outcome. Let it go, brother. I am advising you as a fellow seer...
 
giving you advice...
 
seer to seer. There are too few of us here. You are precious to them. As my brother, you are precious to me. Drop this claim you have on her blood, and they will welcome you back with open arms. You and I will be at peace.”

He spoke formally, as if quoting something. Or perhaps translating.

I wondered again why Black was saying all of this in English. He wanted me to know what he was saying, but why? Just so we could follow along? Or was there some other reason?

Whatever it was, Ian was unmoved.

He laughed. It echoed strangely on the stone walls. “You have a honeyed tongue for one so young...
 
Kirev.”

I felt something in that word startle Black.

Whatever it was, he recovered quickly.

“Be reasonable, brother,” he said, still even-voiced. “They will not punish me for trying to keep her safe. Since they contracted me to hunt you down for that very reason, it is clear who will win this battle of wills. You cannot go against the edicts of the majority of our brothers in this world and expect to win. No matter who you are.”

“Funny, you seem to think
you
can, though. Go against all of us––”

“Not when it comes to the lives of other seers,” Black shot back, warning.

There was a silence.

I crouched against the wall, breathing harder.

I struggled to control my emotions. I knew I was worse from being around Black, from having all of my feelings amped up and stretched thin just in those few minutes of contact. But hearing Ian’s voice after all this time definitely wasn’t helping. For the first time maybe, it really sank in that Ian––the same Ian I’d been in love with, the same one who tried to kill me with his bare hands––was the murderer Black had been hunting.

It also hit me that he and Black had a relationship with one another, a bond of sorts, and one I would likely never fully understand.

Of course, my logical mind had known those things for months.

I knew what Black was. I knew what Ian was, too.

Something about listening to the two of them talk brought my heart to my throat anyway. Even twisted by hate and disgust, I would have known Ian’s voice anywhere. Hearing him now, unmasked, talking to Black as a peer and a fellow seer, despite his attempts to be condescending, ripped open that wound all over again.

I crouched there, irrationally fighting tears, rubbing my chest with my free hand, when Ian spoke again, louder, that disgust thicker in his voice.

“You drink the cunt of a half-blood whore...
 
one you fully admit to stealing from me...”

The sheer hate behind his words made me flinch.

“...Where is there enough
honor
in you that I can believe anything you would say to me,
little
brother? You are a traitor...
 
a stain on your race. You lost your way long before you started pleasuring yourself with that filthy piece of half-human trash...”

“Which way is that?” Black said. “You know the original Evolutionists were
human,
don’t you, Stone? So which of us has truly lost their way?”

The other man fell silent.

I could still feel whispers off the two of them, especially Black.

When he next spoke, his voice came out subdued, once more carrying that odd formality, even in English. His impossible-to-place accent thickened, too.

“This complaint you have,” Black said. “...It is not really with her. It is certainly not with the innocent humans here. You and I, we should settle this between us. We should do it privately. Or at least negotiate terms with parties who have an actual understanding of them.”

I tensed. I caught the use of language, him playing on Ian’s racism by suggesting the two “adults” take the animals out of the equation while they came to terms. That’s not why his words chilled me. I was more worried that Black meant them––in the sense that he was genuinely offering to leave with Ian. Even apart from Ian being crazy and possibly smarter than Black, Black had a gaping hole in his side. He couldn’t even
walk
far, much less run.

He certainly couldn’t fight.

Unless he’d taken Nick or Angel’s sidearm, he didn’t even have a gun.

I bit my lip harder. Hard enough to taste blood.

I couldn’t risk throwing the grenade without his okay. I was too far from Nick and Angel to warn them to move without being overheard. I knew they wouldn’t venture into Ian’s sights, which meant they were still open to any blowback from an explosion.

I crouched there, thinking, when Ian spoke again, his voice cold.

“There is nothing to discuss...
 
friend. You obviously don’t understand the situation. You are wounded, as are the humans with you. I am halfway through your shield already. Even if you find a way through that door...” He let his words linger in the air. “...You can’t possibly think to outrun me? You will see me kill her, pup...
 
slowly. Then I’ll kill you.”

“You know he’ll kill
you
for touching her,” Black said through gritted teeth.

“You brought the bitch here. You have no one to blame but yourself.”

“This isn’t
about
her,” Black growled. “This isn’t about religion either. This is about you and me.”

When Ian didn’t speak, Black’s voice grew colder.

“You can spout racial bullshit all you want, Stone...
 
you and I both know what this is really about. You might have killed those women in San Francisco for your ideological bullshit...
 
in fact, I strongly suspect at least part of that was ‘purging’ yourself for the crime of being confused about that ‘filthy half-human’ you’d fallen in love with...”

I bit my tongue, gripping the stone harder.

“...But your complaint since then has been anything but ideological, brother. It’s pure, bullshit seer personal...
 
as personal as it gets for us. Religion has fuck-all to do with it.” Black’s voice grew colder still. “Your problem with me is as old as the gods, brother. I poached your girlfriend...
 
deliberately, I might add...
 
and you just can’t fucking let it go.”

I froze, my mind spinning with confusion.

Black sounded like he meant what he was saying.

He wasn’t just trying to rile Ian up. He really believed that.

Ian let out a disgusted laugh.
“Gaos
...
 
you are reaching, Black.”

“You’re a fucking seer.” Black spoke louder, but his voice remained deep. “...And just now you referred to her as your ‘mate.’ Let’s just cut the shit and be real about this, shall we? You’re pissed off I took your girlfriend. There’s no other
possible
reason you’d still be stalking either of us like this...”

Ian laughed again. “You are quite welcome to her, dirtblood.”

“Am I?” Black retorted. “Interesting how you didn’t try to kill her until
after
you found out I’d talked her out of her clothes...”

I felt a charge spark in the air.

It bordered on physical––raised the hair on my arms.

Whatever the truth about Ian’s feelings for me, Black’s comment struck a nerve.

“I hope you enjoyed rolling in her filth––” Ian began coldly.

“––I did,” Black cut in. “Or I should say, I am. A fuck of a lot, actually. So much so, I’m dying to rip her clothes off right now. She’s got a slit, you stupid fuck,” Black added. “You got yourself clipped for nothing, Ian. You could have been nailing grade-A seer ass, if you weren’t such a racist piece of shit. And let me tell you, you don’t know how fucking
good
I’ve had it because you never bothered to find out the truth about her––”

A different voice rose that time.

“You sick
fuck!”
Nick snarled.

Nick was nearer to me, so I jumped, looking over in surprise.

I couldn’t see his face from where I was.

Even so, I practically felt Black glare at him to be silent.

Nick could have no way of knowing what Black was talking about, of course––not in terms of the slit reference––but apparently he got the gist. I
did
know what Black meant. But I also knew he was deliberately baiting Ian, since he had absolutely zero direct personal experience with me in that regard.

“It’s grown back,” Ian said coldly. “How about you give her to me now? That can be your payment for the poaching. Give her to me and walk away. Do that, and our slate is cleared, little brother...”

“I’m not actually as stupid as you are,
brother,”
Black said, his voice filled with contempt. “I value my mate a bit more than you appeared to...
 
and there’s precious few sisters here as it is. You’re not getting anywhere near her. Nor are
any
of our brothers.”

“You’re willing to lose your life to hold onto your novelty fuck?”

“I’m telling you, you need to let this go.” Black’s voice shifted to an open threat. “I’m seer too, and she’s mine now.”

The way he said it made me flinch again.

I honestly wasn’t sure how I felt about the layers of meaning I sensed there, but I could definitely feel the part of me that responded to his words in the less-rational sense.

Black continued in a more subdued voice.

“She’s not on the table. But I’m willing to admit I wronged you...
 
and negotiate other forms of compensation.”

He paused, breathing harder, and again I felt the impact of his words in my chest.

Even so, I wasn’t getting all of it, I knew. Ian and Black were using cultural language I didn’t really understand. I glimpsed those meanings here and there, but I was missing a lot. It was beyond frustrating, not understanding.

Ian understood, though. He got Black’s nuances just fine.

Something else hit me.

Given what I was feeling off him right then, Black wouldn’t have been so quick to let me be the one to throw the grenade. He wouldn’t have wanted me to be the one closest to the explosion when it went off any more than I wanted that with him. I’d been blaming his wound, but thinking about it now, I knew that wasn’t my real reason.

As the thoughts clicked together, I yanked up my pant leg around my boot. Fumbling with the pouch strapped there, I tugged out the the object Black had wedged inside.

I found myself staring at the broad-spectrum radio frequency identifier.

Black must have gotten it off me while he kissed me.

“Mother
fucker...”
I swore under my breath.

I was so angry at him I couldn’t even listen to them argue for a few seconds.

“...The only way
you
come out of this alive is if you let her go,” Black was saying when I could hear them again. I could almost see him holding the grenade in his hand now, probably inside his pocket. “Accept my apology and back the fuck off. Get your own female. Hell, ask one of Grigiore’s pets to suck you off until you find a more permanent solution. Either way you need to walk away, Ian. Take it like a fucking grown-up.”