Nix. (Den of Mercenaries Book 3) (28 page)

“As I’m sure his doctors can attest, though there was significant blood loss, no major organs were hit. I wasn’t trying to
kill
him, you understand. It was merely a deterrence—to keep him and that girl away long enough for you to accept the contract with Caesar.”

“Because of our arrangement,” Kit said, realizing what the man was hinting at.

Had he agreed to take on Caesar as a client, that would then make the man off limits to Uilleam. Nor would he be able to send any of his mercenaries after him.

Their attempt at a peace treaty.

Now, Kit regretted it.

“Precisely. Since Carmen is Elias’ wife, that extends your protection over to her.”

Fucking Uilleam and his need to think he was better than everyone.

Holding the table up, Kit asked, “So you think to blackmail me in order to force me to agree to a protection deal for Carmen Santiago?”

“That is merely an insurance policy,” Elias said. “I didn’t think you would be in a very pliant mood once you arrived—and I value my life. I’m
asking
you to take on the assignment, not for them, but to protect you. There is a reason you thought to murder your wife’s father, is it not? You’re trying to bury the truth. You don’t want her finding out about your brother’s deal and the hand you played in it, and I don’t want my client exposed. For the moment, our interests are aligned.”

Shit.

Not once since he was child living under his tyrant father had Kit ben backed into a corner.

He was tempted to decline, to still walk away and risk Luna finding out the truth, but he also knew that should he say no, Elias would kill them all anyway and his pride would be for nothing.

Kit willing took risks everyday—he believed in himself that much.

But was the risk worth Luna’s life?

“What do you want?” he asked, even as the words ate at him.

“Whether your wife finds out the truth is immaterial, but I need your assurance that nothing will touch my client. Not your brother, not his mercenaries, nor anyone else. Should you agree, you’ll be free to continue business as you were, though you
will
be accepting a contract with Caesar as well. If it makes you feel better, we are willing to pay a generous fee for your services.”

No, that didn’t fucking make him feel better.

Kit couldn’t offer a response, not when he didn’t have anything to say.

He would never express gratitude, nor was he happy that he couldn’t see a way out of this deal.

Yet
.

“Also, under the terms of our agreement,” Elias said as he removed an envelope from his breast pocket, along with a pen, “you are not to mention anything I’ve said here to Uilleam—not even my name. Should you, you will be in violation of it and I will consider the contract void. Should that happen, then you will get a firsthand look at what the Jackal can do when actually given a kill order.”

Jackal.

He would store that name away for later.

“Now, if you could,” he went on as he set the packet on the table, pen on top. “The papers inside require your signature. Tomorrow, a jet will be waiting for you at the address I send. Don’t be late as your clients will be waiting for you to land.”

Though every bone in his body rebelled against what he was about to do, Kit had no choice but to cross the room and remove the pages, the pen already in hand.

“Do smile, Kit,” Elias said with one of his own. “I thought you Runehart boys loved your games.”

Kit ended the call before he was forced to throw the fucking thing out the window.

“Nix—”

“Not now,” he forced out between gritted teeth.

“But—”

“I said
leave it
.”

“Let me remind you that I know seven different ways to kill you right now and I’ll make it out of this car just fine,” Aidra snapped, fiery eyes glaring at the side of his face.

He took a breath.

It wasn’t her fault. None of this was her fault, and he didn’t need to take this out on her.

His fuck up.

He just needed to figure out how to fix it.

“Apologies.”

Her shoulders relaxed. “Fang and I aren’t like you and Luna, but don’t you think it would better to just tell her the truth instead of trying to hide it? It wasn’t done intentionally.”

“Wasn’t it?” Kit shot back, scrubbing a hand down his face. “Would an apology be enough for what I caused her to endure? It’s
not
.”

Aidra didn’t roll her eyes, nor did she act as though he were exaggerating. “We forgive those we love, Nix. Isn’t that what you’ve always said?”

He had.

That was the reason he had always been willing to put aside the numerous occasions when Uilleam had done something to piss him off.

But there were just some things one couldn’t slap an apology on and think it would all be the same in the end.

Not this.

And if he could help it, she would never find out the truth about that day.

L
una had heard
a great many things about the resident hacker for the Den. Despite not being a formal member, Winter was the one they called on when they needed any tech information—she also liked to think of herself as the Den’s mascot.

Luna wasn’t sure what brought Winter into contact with the Den, especially considering what they did, but she had a feeling she would find out now that she was going to see her in person—a rare occurrence since the hacker was rarely available to meet in person.

She arrived at a ranch-style house, one complete with a white-picket fence and flowers planted along the driveway. This neighborhood felt like something out of a 50’s movie.

Luna glanced over her shoulder, unable to shake the feeling she was being watched. Earlier, she’d been sure she saw a white Mercedes trailing her, but after a bit of maneuvering on her part, she lost them.

Now, she wasn’t so sure.

Raising her fist, preparing to knock again, she jerked her hand back when the door swung open, revealing a girl that couldn’t be more than a teenager staring at her with an amused sort of smirk as she pushed tortoise-shell glasses up her nose.

She wore skin tight black jeans with a slash at the knee, patent white Doc Marten’s on her feet. Her shirt that stopped just above the waistband of her jeans read: KILL JOY.

“
Finally
. I though it was only a testosterone party at Chateau mercenary—not that I’m complaining because they’re all nice to look at.” She brushed silver strands of hair back, snapping the elastic band off her wrist to tie up her hair. “You’re Calavera, right? Syn told me you were coming.”

Luna’s surprise had rendered her mute, but as she shook it off, she couldn’t help but ask, “How old are you?”

Winter shrugged with a laugh, stepping to the side as she waved her in. “I get that a lot. But don’t let the birth date worry you—I programmed my first root kit when I was eleven.”

Shit, how old was she
now?

“What can I do for you, Calavera—and does that ever get annoying, having to go by that name? Like everyone calls me Winter, but that’s my name, you know? I’m
actually
Winter. Which is one of the reasons why I love that show—the books are way better, obviously—but everyone gets all ominous when they say ‘
Winter is coming
,’ and of course I’m like fuck yeah, I’m coming.”

A burst of laughter left Luna as she listened to the girl talk. Everyone was always so serious—for good reason considering what they did—but despite that, this girl still acted her age.

“Call me Luna,” she offered, the first time she had ever given her name to anyone that didn’t know her from years ago.

Even Skorpion didn’t know her name.

“Awesome, let’s get to work.”

Dropping down onto her bed, Winter stretched out across it, digging beneath the full-sized bed for a black laptop with stickers decorating it.

“Serious question,” she said as she powered the device on. “Are there any health benefits with the Den? Or do you get paid enough that you don’t worry about?” She laughed suddenly, grinning slyly. “I can just imagine walking in there riddled with bullet wounds and you have to hand over your insurance card.”

“Where did the Kingmaker find you?”

“I wouldn’t say
find
, rather I found you guys—Syn, actually. My dad’s brother, James, owned a pub in Philly, and he would let me hang out there when he had to work. I’m sitting under the bar, usual riff raff comes and goes, but there’s one guy that’s set up in a corner—all blonde hair with that braid in the front.” Winter said this with a wide smile and dramatic hands.

It was obvious she had a thing for the mercenary, and Luna could even understand it considering the man was pretty on the outside.

But the inside …

That was another story.

“So anyway, to make a long story short, the bad guys looking for my dad came in, and when they tried to grab me, Syn literally kills them all.”

With a pencil, if the stories were true.

“But I’ll tell you the rest if you stick around,” she said glancing at her out the corner of her eye. “You mercenaries just come and go as you please, but never call to say
hi
in between. It’s so
boring
when I’m not hacking some shit for you guys. Anyway, what are we looking for?”

“A man—Andrei Kanekov. I need you to find me anything you can on him—or a warehouse that was at the address I sent you.

“Right, already looked that up—the warehouse burned down or something. Nothing worth mentioning there.”

Winter’s fingers flew over the keyboard, the heavy silver rings glinting, but as she worked, her black painted lips turned down at the corners.

“What’s wrong?” Luna asked, sitting beside her to see the screen, but her eyes nearly crossed as she tried to make out what she was reading.

“Nothing, it’s just … weird. Who is this guy, anyway? Somebody important?”

“Maybe.”

But Luna wasn’t sure, though she figured he had to be since she’d been tasked with finding him.

“Someone set up a mainframe directory that—meaning someone set up a system to track anytime that name is searched,” she further explained when Luna looked confused.

Winter was no longer laughing as she worked, concentrating solely on her work.

“Another mercenary?” Luna asked.

“No, this level of sophistication, has to be one of my people. I’ll try to track,” she said to herself, too engrossed in what she was doing to remember Luna was sitting beside her.

“I’m trying to
find
Andrei,” Luna said after a moment, thinking narrowing it down to a location might speed things up.

“Right, right, right. I can do that—who the fuck is this guy?” Winter said with a little more animation, her fingers flying faster if that were possible. “He’s trying to track me. Who’s Andrei again?”

“I don’t know, but you give me an address, I’ll find out who.”

Winter whispered unintelligible words as she worked, part on the man worming his way into her system, and part on finding Andrei.

“I can only buy you a little time,” Winter said as she scanned data. “His protocols ensure that whatever I find gets downloaded to his device. I can crash his system remotely, but he’ll be back up in no time. If you want to find this Andrei guy, I suggest you run or somebody else is going to get to him first.”

“Give me whatever you have.”

Winter waved her hand at the screen as though that could make it work faster. Luna was beginning to think whoever Andrei was, he had some rather powerful friends.

Someone was going through a lot of trouble to keep the man hidden, and even if this weren’t her assignment, she would have still been curious.

“Sometimes I even surprise myself!” Winter exclaimed with a little cheer, fishing out her phone from her pocket. “I’m sending you an address now—thank me later. I’ll try to keep the other guy away for as long as I can.”

“I owe you one,” Luna said as she got to her feet.

Winter shrugged, grinning brightly. “Of course you do.”

* * *

T
ruthfully
, Luna was expecting a Russian spy, or something equally as grand considering how much trouble she had gone through just to find the man—someone that was worth going through so much trouble to keep anyone from finding them.

But she was starting to doubt her theory as she rode into a shady part of the city where crumbling buildings littered the streets, and she stuck out as people watched her ride by.

Finding a relatively decent spot to park—where she was still within a block of where she was going, and far enough away that her bike was almost hidden—Luna dismounted, tucking her helmet under her arm as she glanced down the street as she crossed.

With Winter’s warning in mind, she cased her surroundings, checking for anyone that seemed like they didn’t belong. But as far as she could tell, no one stuck out.

Hurrying up two flights of stairs, then down a darkened hallway, she found the apartment. She knocked once, twice, then a third time, waiting and listening for any movement on the other side of the door.

When no one came, she checked to make sure the hallway was clear before dropping to a knee and fishing the lock picks out of her pocket—she had Fang to thank for this particular skill.

She was almost to the last tumbler when the unmistakable sound of a shotgun being cocked sounded right behind her, freezing her to the spot.

“Move, and you’re dead.”

The Russian accent made sense considering the man’s name, but there was something about his voice that seemed … familiar.

“Who do you work for?”

Luna almost smiled—if he wanted to talk, he wasn’t going to kill her. Not yet, anyway. “Depends on the day. Currently? Belladonna.”

“Belladonna? I don’t know a Belladonna. Why are you here?”

“There’s a chance you’re not even the guy I’m here for,” Luna said stalling. “I don’t even know who
you
are.”

As he was about to answer, that first syllable leaving his lips, she moved to her feet and turned in one fluid movement.

Andrei stumbled back a step, brown eyes forked with red narrowing on her before widening in surprise. But it wasn’t just surprise that flittered over his face, there was something else.

Remorse, maybe?

But, there was no reason for him to be feeling remorse …

“You’re one of his mercenaries, aren’t you?” he asked, voice wavering as he lowered his weapon slightly. “He sent you here to kill me.”

Though she knew the ‘he’ Andrei referred to was Uilleam, the rest she wasn’t so sure of. “I’m not here to kill you.”

He laughed without humor, his skepticism showing. “He sent you for the truth then, and someone else to finish the job? Is that what he promised you? My life for a place in his Den?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

It might have been the genuine surprise in her own voice that had him lowering the gun, his guard momentarily dropped as he stared at her.

“The
warehouse
,” he said as though this was something she should have known. “The fire, all of it—when you were taken.”

And that was when it clicked—how she knew his voice.

He had been one of the men there that day. In fact, he had been the one to take her from the room when she started smelling the smoke.

“That’s why he’s been picking us off one by one, because we betrayed his trust.” Andrei seemed to grow unhinged as he shoved agitated fingers through thinning hair.

“Who, the Kingmaker?” Luna asked, trying to understand his rambling, but Andrei was beyond hearing her.

“We should never have agreed to do it, but he offered us money—said no one would ever know.”

“
Who
?” Luna shouted, finally grabbing his attention.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “We just gave you to the closest buyer. We never knew—”

Andrei never got to finish, not when the glass from the window shattered as a bullet punched through. Luna barely had a chance to duck before Andrei was riddled with them, slamming down onto the floor, glass surrounding him as blood oozed from his body.

Luna only allowed herself a moment before she shuffled to the window, peering out at the building across the street. Automatically, her gaze sought out the rooftop, expecting to see a gleam of a rifle, or the retreating back of someone hurrying off.

But nothing.

No one.

There was no movement whatsoever.

Abandoning her first option, Luna walked over to Andrei, checking for a pulse though she didn’t have high hopes—nothing.

For a moment, Luna could only kneel there, trying to piece together what she knew, but now, even less about this assignment was making sense.

But she was starting to get the feeling that it might have something to do with her.

* * *

“
F
ucking hell
.”

Kit glanced down at his phone, making sure it was Semyon he was supposed to be talking to. The hacker had called him not more than ten seconds ago, but he seemed too distracted by whatever he was doing to actually
say
anything to him.