Killing Land (Rune Alexander Book 8) (8 page)

“Killing Land,” she said, pacing in front of Bill’s desk.
“What do you know about it?”

“Not much.” He traced the rim of his coffee cup, his gaze so
distant she could tell that even though he was looking at her, he wasn’t seeing
her. “Criminals who are left alone as long as they…” He trailed off, and after
a moment of silence she realized he’d forgotten he’d even been speaking.

“Bill.”

His stare sharpened. “Yes?”

“You’re focusing on the wrong shit.”

“How do you know what I’m focusing on?” He ran his hand over
his thinning hair, irritated lines deepening on his worn face. “You’re like a
fucking robot, Rune. I’m sorry, but it’s true. You bounce back no matter what
happens. No human does that. You’re a fucking robot. Just don’t expect it from
the rest of us.”

“I’m not human,” she said, calmly. “Neither are you. And you
can either bury the bad stuff, or you can let it consume you. Those are your
two choices. You need to pick one, right fucking now, because we can’t be led
by a man wallowing in his pain.”

“Let him wallow,” Eugene Parish said, striding through the
door, “for a while longer. Bill needs a little break.” He walked to Bill and
clapped him on the shoulder. “Go home, my friend. Deal with your problems, and
I’ll deal with work.”

Bill sat for a moment, frowning, struggling with his
indecision. Finally, he sighed and climbed slowly to his feet, then walked out
the door without a single word.

Rune closed her eyes.

“He’s having a hard time,” Eugene said, taking her arm.
“Come. Let’s talk.”

“How caught up are you?” She pulled her arm from his grasp
and walked with him out of Bill’s office and to his own.

“I’m always caught up, Rune.”

“I heard you’re bringing in a replacement for Elizabeth.”

“Soon, soon.”

She didn’t really care and was tired of making small talk.
“So let’s talk about the Next and then we need to talk about Killing Land.”
She’d already mentioned Killing Land to him on the phone, so he wasn’t in the
dark. “The Next is striking now because they have a chance to rid
Spiritgrove—and the world—of the
Others
. That’s what
they’re thinking.”

He ushered her into his office.
“Coffee?”

“Yeah.”

“Listen. The Next will strike, make no mistake. But it doesn’t
have to be any organization behind the attacks. They’re happening all over the
world. It’s human against
Other
. The
Others
are…less. And the humans want to end them while they
have such a good chance.
Once and for all.
It’s as
simple as that.”

“It can’t be that bad. It can’t have changed so quickly.”

“Don’t you remember how it was for you? Don’t you remember a
time in your recent past when you hid what you are, Rune?”

She ground her teeth and pushed a fist into her stomach.
Yes, she remembered. She would never forget.

But that was because she hated what she was.
Of what she did.
Of what she needed.

“The humans accepted me, Eugene. I just had to accept
myself.”

His expression was unchanging. “Sure. The humans fear you.
They don’t accept you. Take a walk around the city. Open your eyes. The world
is what it always was—the difference is now the
Others
are few and they can’t fight back. Not really.”

“Not yet,” she said.

“The humans have always feared and hated the Others, Rune.
They want to strike now while they have a chance at making an Otherless world a
reality. They have lifetimes of bitterness built up inside them, and they are
going to be
vicious
.”

“Why?” she murmured, not really asking
him.

“People will always need something to do with the hatred inside
them.”

 “What do I need to do?” she asked, finally.

“For one thing, get more crew members.
Four
or five.
A dozen.
Every person in Shiv Crew
is…” He spread his fingers and shook his head. “Crazy.
Special.
Nearly unbeatable.
I want you to find more people like
you and your crew.”

“We don’t need more people in Shiv Crew. Get the other crews
to grab newbies. I don’t have the time or the inclination to babysit and train
new fighters.”

He leaned forward. “Recruit, Rune. Recruit for your crew, or
I will. You’ve lost three nearly irreplaceable fighters. It’s up to you to find
some people who can come close to matching them.”
He steepled
his fingers.
“I heard the girl you brought over lost her weapon. Send
her to a lesser crew and find some people better suited to your group. You’re
going to be our first line of defense, and you can’t screw around with inferior
fighters.”

“Roma isn’t going anywhere. Until she figures shit out, she
has my shotgun. And she’s a friend.” She leaned back, her narrowed gaze on his
face.

“We have no place for emotional attachments or subpar ops.
We need soldiers.” Then he sighed and gave her a not completely sincere smile.
“You’re the biggest and best of all the Others, Rune. You know what’s coming.”

She swallowed hard as butterflies began to fight in the net
of her stomach. “Tell me.”

“The
Others
will be almost easily
wiped out over time, if things continue to go the way they’re currently going.
You are the one the enemy will need to control. They will concentrate on you.
Be careful. Surround yourself with more fighters.”

“Fuck them. They can’t kill me.”

He leaned forward and pinned her with his stare—a stare that
saw too much. “No? What happens when you’re caught and neutralized with
obsidian? What happens when they separate your head from your body and eat your
heart? What happens when I’m not able to find the pieces of your body and glue
them back together? Will you not be dead, Rune?”

She couldn’t breathe, or think, as he held her captive with
his low, unrelenting voice and his horrifying words. She dug her nails into her
thigh reflexively, attempting to cause herself pain to ward off the fear.
And the tears.

“Well?” he hissed. “Will you not be fucking
dead
?”

She remembered the first time she’d listened to him
speak
. The first time he’d addressed his Annex ops. She’d
seen something in him then—something familiar. She’d seen herself in his cold
darkness.

But her cold darkness had been tempered over time. His had
not.

Maybe he’d
hidden
it, but it was still there.

She’d begun to relax around him. To believe he was a friend.

He wasn’t, not really. He was head of River County Annex,
and he would crush her if he had to. He’d crush her people.
Her
crew.

He was no different from Orson Blackthorne from the Shop or
Lee Crane from the Next. He just happened to be on the right side.

And Bill couldn’t run interference. Not anymore.

Her crew was at his mercy. And if he decided to use one of
them to get what he needed…

She said nothing. She couldn’t force words past the icy
block of terror caught in her throat.

She stood.

“No,” he said, answering when she could not. He sat like a
statue, his eyes the eyes of a stranger. “You would not be dead. But you would
wish
for death. Wouldn’t you?”

Her biggest fear, bigger even than
madness.

And he knew.

“For the greater good, I will do anything, Rune. You
shouldn’t forget that.”

“I did,” she replied, finally,
finally
able to do
something as ordinary as speech, even if her voice was little more than a
whisper and jabbed at her throat like wasp stingers. “I did for a minute. I
won’t again.”

His nod was sharp and final. “I know what’s out there. I
know what your future holds if you don’t lose your arrogance and learn to fear
for yourself.
For the Others.”
He stood and placed his
palms on his desk. “I’m your fucking boss. I need for you to recruit, to
protect yourself—wear your body armor, for one thing—and stop arguing with me.
Can you do that?”

She was unsurprised to find her legs shaking. In one fell
swoop, he’d put her in her place. Put her back into the category of Annex
operator, underling,
employee
.

Worse, he’d scared her.

That was unacceptable.

And she was feeling a little fucking unappreciated.

She walked to the door but before she could exit the
oppressive room, his voice stopped her. “One week, Rune. You’re to recruit at
least a couple more fighters in that time. I need to see more of your monster
and less of you.”

“Fuck you,” she said, and strode from his office.

But she knew he’d heard the capitulation in her voice.

“Bill Rice is fucked up, Elizabeth is dead, and Eugene
Parish is a stranger,” she grumbled.

“And Lex, Strad, and Owen deserted us,” Denim said, unable
to let it go.
“Like we were nothing to them.”

Jack nodded. “Things have changed. It’s like your departure
for Skyll flipped a switch and everything became warped.”

“Eugene ordered me to recruit for Shiv Crew,” she told them
again, as though she had to keep repeating it to believe it.

“He can’t really tell you what to do with your team,” Raze
said.

“Yeah,” she said. “He can.”

“He threatened you?” Levi asked.

“I will kill him.” Roma slapped her legs and stood. She was
through the doorway of Rune’s office before Rune figured out the girl was
serious.

“Roma,” she called. “Get back in here.”

“What do you want us to do?” Raze asked.

“Nothing to do but play along.
We’ll see the applicants scheduled for today, and when they don’t work out,
I’ll go after Eugene about Killing Land. That’s one way I can get him not to
fight us over going. We can recruit there. Maybe new recruits won’t be a
terrible idea.” She gave them a ghost of a smile. “After all, the last time I
recruited I got Levi and Denim and…and Lex.”

Jack nodded. “We do need to replace the three we lost.”

“Bastards,” Denim muttered.

“And I am useless,” Roma said, her voice emotionless. “The
path killed my weapon.”

Rune had no intention of telling Roma that Eugene had
demanded she cut the girl loose.

But Raze narrowed his eyes, watching her.

“The path knocked something loose inside you,” he said. “Fix
it. It’s a fucking slingshot. You own it. You
are
it. You want your
weapon back?
Take
it back.”

Jack nodded. “You’re a fighter. If you’re one of us, the
path can’t take your weapon.”

“Easy for you two to say,” she grumbled, but a spark lit her
usually shielded eyes. She looked at Rune.

Rune nodded. “And I shouldn’t have been so negative about
the slingshot.”

If nothing else, it would give Roma hope. And what could it
hurt to make the girl believe she was stronger than the thieving path?

“That is true,” Roma said. “Your words carry weight,
Princess. They sunk into my soul and made me doubt myself.”

“Well shit,” Rune said. “Sorry about that, dude.”

Roma’s face paled and she put a hand to her chest. “I
dropped my slingshot during that first battle. I tossed it away like a wrinkled
old carrot.” Her eyes were wide with horror.

Raze’s deep laugh rumbled in his chest.
“A
carrot.”

“Don’t make fun of her.” Jack pulled her slingshot from his
pocket. “Here, kid.”

She clutched the slingshot to her chest and stared at Jack
with adoration. “I will repay you someday.
Somehow.”

Jack lifted an eyebrow.

Rune sighed.

Her crew.
They were all crazy.

But they were hers, and she’d put Eugene Parish right the
fuck down if he screwed with them.

Ellis stuck his head through the doorway of her office. “I
have pizza.”

Raze strode across the floor and yanked Ellis into the room,
pizza and all. “Good. I’m hungry.” He took the large box from Ellie’s grip and
pointed his chin at the others. “Did you get more for them?”

“Oh,” Roma said, and edged closer to Raze. “That’s a
powerful smell.”

Raze stacked three slices of pizza together and took a huge
bite. He offered Roma the box. “Have some.”

She followed his lead, much to the amazement of the others,
and stacked three slices before shoving half of the messy mound into her mouth.
Her eyes rolled back in her head.

“Ellis,” Rune said. “You did get more, right?”

He grinned.
“Of course.”

At that moment two more guys stepped into the room, carrying
half a dozen pizzas each.

Raze retrieved his box from Roma. “Go get your own.”

She didn’t argue. “I’m just so hungry,” she muttered, as she
rushed toward the delivery boys. “The path took my weapon and gave me hunger.”

Jack sat down in front of Rune’s desk and put his feet up.
Rune watched him quietly pull a flask from his jacket pocket and unscrew the
lid.

“Jack.”

He looked at her, flask halfway to his mouth.
“Yeah?”

“Have some dinner, baby.”

He hesitated,
then
saluted her with
the flask. “I am.”

She took one of the boxes and carried it to him, then
dropped it on his lap. “Alcohol won’t fuel you, and I don’t need anyone fucking
up right now. Eat the fucking pizza.”

The room went quiet as the others ate their pizza and
watched.

She and Jack stared at each other, neither of them wavering,
until finally Rune whispered, “Please, Jack.”

He relented immediately. “Stop worrying about me. I’m fine.”
He picked up a slice of pizza.

But she wasn’t so sure. “Dammit, Jack.”

“He’s the same as he always was,” Raze said. “Eat your
pizza, Rune.”

Maybe Raze was right. And maybe she was the one who was
different. But it didn’t matter. Jack was hers and she wanted him to be okay.

They ate, and no one spoke again until Rune’s phone buzzed
and the secretary informed her that the first appointment of the evening had
arrived.

She sighed. She wasn’t looking forward to the circus that
would surely come.

Jack stood, tossed his nearly empty pizza box on her desk,
and brushed his hands on his jeans. “See you later, Rune.”

“Yeah,” Levi said, and the twins hurried along behind Jack,
heading for the door.

“Don’t even think about it,” she said. “Get your asses back
here. I’m not dealing with these jokers alone.” She watched them as they
reluctantly turned away from the door and went to lean against the wall with
Raze. “Besides, there might actually be someone decent. I’ll need your
opinions.”

“You need Raze’s opinion,” Jack grumbled. “He’s the people
person.”

Roma’s mouth dropped open. “
Raze
is the people person?
What does that make the rest of you?”

“Raze can read people a little better than the others,”
Ellis said, smiling. “None of them are what you’d call a people person.”

“Except for you, Ellie,” Rune said.

“Maybe,” he agreed, “but I can’t pick your new crew
members.”

“Fucking new crew members,” Rune muttered.
“Assholes.”

The secretary ushered in the first applicant.

Rune sat down at her desk and flipped open the guy’s file.
Derek Sutton, Six feet tall, black hair, blue eyes. Four scars, a dozen
tattoos.
Divorced with two kids.
Truck
driver.

He was dressed all in black, down to his sunglasses.

“Dude,” she said. “Lose the glasses.”

He crossed his arms. “Request denied.”

Jack snorted.
“Idiot.”

“That certainly won’t get you hired,” Ellis said, his nose
in the air.

Derek turned to look at Ellis, dismissed him, and
concentrated on Jack. “You want me to prove myself by kicking your ass?”

Jack grinned and pushed himself away from the wall.

“Mr. Sutton,” Rune said, tired already. “Get the fuck out of
my office.”

Derek clenched his fists. “Let’s get one thing straight. I
never let
no
bitch tell me what to do, and I don’t
plan on star—”

Rune was in front of him before he realized she’d moved and
had sent him flying through the doorway before he could shut his mouth.

She smiled as his big body thudded against the hallway wall
and crashed to the hard floor.

“Next,” Ellis bellowed.

They all laughed, and suddenly the evening didn’t seem quite
as depressing as it had before Derek Sutton had walked into the room to cheer
them up.

A young man with short, dark hair peered around the doorway.
“
Er
…”

“Come in,” Rune said.

“Actually, I think I’ll pass,” he said, and backed away.

“Next,” Ellis yelled, his eyes bright. “This is fun.”

The twins laughed.

A girl, probably no older than sixteen, walked into the
room.
“Hello, everyone.
I’m Andrea.”

“Have a seat Andrea,” Rune said.

Andrea sat and folded her hands.

Rune glanced down at her file. “Says here you—”

“Let me save you some reading time.” Andrea pushed her short
red hair behind her ears. “I grew up with a father who’d make two of that
bulldozer there.” She nodded at Raze. “He taught me how to track, fight, and
kill, and I’ve practiced on a long, long list of vampires and
weres
. I fear nothing. I don’t know how to be afraid. That
useless emotion was sent packing before I was ten years old. I—”

“Stop talking,” Rune said. “First of all, fear is not
useless. It tells you when you should run. It teaches you to be cautious. It
helps you save lives, including your own. Your training was lacking, and I
can’t use you in my crew.”

Andrea frowned and slid forward on her chair. “But I—”

“Second,” Rune interrupted, “you’re admitting to hunting and
killing
Others
. That
is
what you’re admitting
to, right?”

Andrea blanked her face, but didn’t look Rune in the eye.
“I…” She trailed off, realizing her mistake.

“Next,” Ellis said, but his voice was a little quieter than
it’d been previously.

“Jack,” Rune said.

“On it.”

Rune watched him leave the room right behind the hapless
Andrea, whose father would be very, very surprised when Annex ops showed up at
his house to take his murdering ass in.

“This is a waste of time.” Rune pushed her chair up and
stood, then went to stare out the windows. Darkness wouldn’t be long in coming,
and the world on the other side of the glass was gray and still.

Things were too quiet and she needed something to happen.
Something big.
Not just promises of a crazed organization
striking soon, or battles that were too easy.

Something big enough to take away the
fucking blues.

“Tell us more about Killing Land while we wait,” Ellis
encouraged.

Rune half turned and shot a look at her crew. “It’s a
strange, backwoods place with a monster. That’s about all I know. And I don’t
think the path would have thrown me off there if I wasn’t supposed to check it
out.”

 “A ghost town,” Ellis said. “I did some research after
you mentioned it.
Seventy-three miles from here.
It
was abandoned two decades ago.”

“Wasn’t really abandoned.”
Rune
turned back to stare out the window. Everything was so fucking gray. “There was
a slaughter one night, and most of the town was wiped out by vampires.”

“Some believe rogue vampires were the attackers,” Ellis
said,
a shiver in his voice. “Some say werewolves. Others
say it was magic.”

“Could’ve been a lot of things.
And
the truth of it now is the people there are criminals and outcasts, and with
the state of the prisons, the government seems to turn a blind eye to them as
long as they don’t leave the place. They leave, the automatically break
whatever unspoken deal they’ve got going on and are arrested.”

“Sounds like a lovely place,” Levi said.

“It’s a rotting cesspool full of bottom feeders and
parasites,” Ellis told him. Then he walked to stand beside Rune. “I don’t think
they’re arrested, Rune. I think they’re killed. The more I dug, the more
stories I found about people who’d left Killing Land because it was too harsh
for them there—and when they did, they disappeared.”

“They have a monster,” Rune said. “We’ll worry about that
motherfucker and let the residents of Killing Land worry about everything
else.”

“Rune.”
Raze’s voice held a
warning, and she spun around, her heart jumping.

Will the Assassin, covered from head to toe in black, stood
in the doorway.