Eternal Hearts (25 page)

Oktober’s rumbling laughter filled the room. “I was giving her a little closure to her family’s murder. That’s what happened at The Underground. Why the hell do you care?”

When crimson washed over the room, Drake grabbed Oktober by the collar of his coat and slammed him against the wall, which cracked under the brutal force. “I don’t think what you did in the bathroom was funny. What did you do to her? Why the fuck did you kill her family, Tober?”

Oktober’s black eyes narrowed before they lowered to Drake’s hands. “I suggest you adopt a better tone. You’ve got about as much of a chance of killing me as I do you. Besides, you’re pressing the wall phone into my ass. It feels good, but you’re not my type.”

Drake closed his eyes as anger coursed through him. But a second later, he felt just the corners of his mouth raise. He was still pissed beyond words, but that was exactly why he liked Oktober in the first place. He had the weirdest sense of humor, and no one could predict what he’d say or do next.

Drake opened his eyes when he felt Oktober’s hand smack against his shoulder. “Look, Drake, the contract on Toni’s family was years ago. I accepted it personally, which means I don’t have to tell you who paid for it. And I don’t intend to.”

“That answer’s not good enough,” Drake growled as he pulled Oktober away then slammed him back against the wall again. Only this time, he went
into
the wall. When Oktober snarled with his fangs bared, Drake immediately dropped him and prepared for the worst.

This was going to sting.

Without even being touched, Drake watched everything in his peripheral vision blur as he flew back away from Oktober and crashed into the cabinets on the other side of the room.

“I don’t have to tell you anything!” Oktober’s roar cut into Drake’s ears and made them sting. “I’ve been doing this a hell of a lot longer than you, and you’re damn lucky I’m even answering your questions. Now, play nice and stop spilling my beer or you can leave.”

Drake grimaced as he worked a piece of the now broken cabinet door out of his shoulder. This was why he needed to stay calm. As much as it pained him, Oktober was still more physically powerful, especially when Drake wasn’t whole.

He dropped the jagged shard of wood on the counter and rubbed his throbbing shoulder. “Was it even an approved contract?”

Tober nodded. “Of course it was. But remember my permission comes from the Chief, not your boss. What the hell’s the big deal anyway? I followed the details of the contract to a T. It was a standard kill for me.”

Drake eyed his friend. “
How
standard was it, Tober?”

He shrugged. “The parameters were to kill the mother, feed her heart to the boy before killing him, and then kill the girl.”

Drake rubbed his forehead. For Oktober, that was fairly standard, so he couldn’t argue. “So let me get this straight. You did all that, on camera no less, and then sent a copy to Toni?
Along with some kind of letter?”

“The video was part of the contract, but there wasn’t any letter.” He looked almost appalled. “Why would I send a letter? I had a camera, anything I wanted to say I could have.”

Drake pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes. Tober made a good point. Maybe Clint didn’t have all his facts straight. But at least he knew why Toni had nightmares now. He stared hard at Oktober. “I can’t believe you killed her family.”

“You can knock off the look, Drake. I’m not human anymore, so I don’t pretend to be. You might try to hold on to some shining don’t-kill-the humans-ideal, but they’re my food.”

“So what happened in the bathroom then? Why didn’t you finish the deed?”

“Damn, Drake, I don’t hate the girl. She wanted to know what happened with her sister. Now she knows. As for why I didn’t take things any farther…for fuck’s sakes, if you must know – I stopped when I smelled you on her.”

Drake could only blink for a second. “You stopped because of me?”

Oktober lowered his head and kicked at a chunk of broken cabinet. “Why I stopped doesn’t really matter. What’s with all the questions about Toni all of a sudden?”

“I’m in the process of fulfilling a protection order on her.”

“Well shit.” A look of honest surprise washed over Oktober’s face. “I’ll stay away from her then. If I’d known you had a contract on her, I would’ve never followed her into the bathroom.”

Drake crossed his arms. “I’d appreciate it if you kept your hands off her anyway.”

Oktober smiled. “You like her, don’t you?”

Drake threw his arms up in the air. “Why is that so fucking unbelievable?”

“I don’t think it’s unbelievable. You’re not like me. You may’ve been born with the innate ability to kill supernaturals, but you can still feel. You just choose not to so you can do your job better. I’m actually not surprised you like her. She’s everything you never look for in a woman.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“How do I put this?” He made a display of stroking his chin. “She’s not a knockout with a great body who only wants to fuck. She’s cute and bite-sized. She’s also fiery and moody, and she’ll fight for whatever she cares about even if the odds are completely against her. Plus, she’s got brains. And she’s also got a great ass. Not that you don’t look for that, but she comes already equipped.”

Drake’s first reaction was to punch him for that comment, but he couldn’t. That was just the way Tober was, and nothing would ever change that fact. So instead, Drake smiled and took it as a compliment. “She does have a really,
really
great ass.”

Oktober didn’t smile or laugh like Drake expected. The muscles in his jaw flexed a few times before he finally asked, “How
much
do you like her?”

Drake shrugged. “I know I like her. I know I don’t like it when other people touch her. Especially you,” he said as he jammed a finger into
Tober’s
chest. “But not just you, I don’t like it when any man touches her.”

Oktober feigned a loud gasp. “You broke the rules, didn’t you?”

“Not really. I’ve kissed her, but it hasn’t gone much farther.”

Tober’s
face darkened with concern. “The only problem I see for you two is your job. She’s not old enough to deal with your enemies. She’ll be a sitting duck when you’re not around.”

Drake shifted between his feet while he stared at the floor. He already knew that lovely piece of information, and no matter how he tried to spin it, there was no way he could have Toni without putting her in danger.

The emotion on Oktober’s face when Drake looked back up at him was difficult to place. He motioned from Drake’s boots to his head and back. “What’s all this?”

Drake leaned against the counter. “This is me knowing I shouldn’t pursue anything with her for that very reason. This is a little bit of sadness mixed with self pity. Are you really that clueless, man?”

“I understand the concept of emotion, Drake. I just don’t feel it anymore. My instincts tell me you’re wounded, and I can see it’s not physically. I just don’t know the origin of the wound.” He went quiet for a moment. “Look, you can have Toni, but you have to be prepared for her to die.”

And she will die.
Drake growled and slammed his fists down on the black marble countertop, which made a snapping sound just before a crack
spidered
the entire length of the counter.

“Hey! I don’t come to your house and break your shit. Stop breaking mine.”

“I’m sorry,” Drake offered. “It’s just frustrating. I want to be with her, Tober. Maybe she could love me. I mean, actually love me. Hell, maybe I could even love her.”

Oktober turned his back. “Don’t bet on it.”

A tingle skittered up Drake’s spine in response to the icy venom behind his friend’s words. He shouldn’t have brought up the L-word. He didn’t know all the details of
Tober’s
story, but he knew that word had something to do with it.

“Sorry, Tober.
I—”

“Don’t,” Oktober growled as he turned around and raised a hand. “Don’t go there.”

Drake nodded. He wasn’t about to push the issue. “Well, I should probably get back to Toni. She’s only got half of me right now.”

Oktober smiled. “Man, I still wish I could pull that splitting trick. But yeah, you should get back to your woman.” He cast an almost wistful glance toward the living room. “I broke mine. I should head out to get a new one anyway.”

Drake leaned back into the doorway and peered into the living room before directing his full attention back to Oktober. “Tober, where the hell did the broken one go?”

“Same place they always go.”

“You ate her?”

He nodded.

“All of her? Bones, too?”

He flashed a wicked grin as he turned towards the door. “Roughage, it’s good for the system. Besides, waste not, want not.”

Completely unable to find anything appropriate to say, Drake just smiled and waved as Oktober walked out the door. He knew he had some of the most fucked up friends, but they were still exactly that – his friends. And Oktober had been there to save Drake’s ass in a few situations that could have put him down for months, if not a lot longer. He’d been there when no one else was, and not once had he ever asked for anything in return.

He considered the floor again. Oktober had even tried to warn him before he’d made the biggest mistake of his life. And that one mistake, that single lapse in judgment, had changed his entire outlook on life.

Drake tried to push the memory away, but it refused to yield…

~~

“I love you.”
Klesa’s
words echoed in Drake’s ears as he pulled into the driveway of his home just a few minutes before sunset. He’d been gone for almost two weeks on a particularly difficult contract. In the end he’d been successful, but it was the first time he’d ever been seriously injured in the process. And so seriously, two full days later he still wasn’t completely healed.

Drake chuckled to himself. If it hadn’t been for Oktober’s timely intersession, he didn’t even want to think about what could’ve happened. Most likely, he’d still be lying in a bed in some foreign land trying to pull mystically poisoned darts out of his ass.

He cringed when he stepped out of the car and the deep claw wounds on his back tightened, sending a shot of stinging agony down his spinal column. The pain surged down to his legs and was so intense he had to lean against the car for support.

He coughed out a laugh. For the first time since he’d joined The Organization, he doubted the paycheck was worth the scars he’d have. Granted, three million dollars was an obscene amount of money, but he was beginning to wonder if it was really worth the headache.

He was supposed to be detached, supposed to be able to kill without remorse. He’d gotten the no remorse part down, especially when the person he was trying to kill attacked first. But he was in love, and how could a man in love be detached?

Drake pulled his duffle bag out of the trunk and slowly headed for the door. When he got inside, he threw his bag on the couch and smiled. If he hurried, he might be able to slip into bed next to her before she woke up.

After carefully pulling the present he’d purchased from his bag, he limped down the hall as fast as he could. Stopping just outside the door, he stared down at the flower. He hadn’t thought about it when he’d bought it, but he’d never given a woman a red rose before. Then again, he’d never loved a woman before he met
Klesa
.

He frowned at the thought. She was always so giving and understanding whenever he had to leave. She deserved more than just a few weeks of his love at a time.