Bedlam Boyz(35)

He called Luis and Juan to join him at the car. They were lucky that this warehouse was so far away from anything but a few other businesses, there was no one here to call the policía. There wasn't much else here; the reason they'd come here earlier in the evening was to move all of the supplies to another location. Luis worked at this place during the day and had found good places to hide the small crates of their drugs, the weed and crack that the homeboys used and sold in the barrio. When Luis said that a T-Men boy had followed him to work, Carlos had decided to move everything to another location. Which was why all the homeboys were in this place at one time, when the T-Men had shown up with their assault rifles and Uzis.

It wasn't as bad as it could have been. Jose was dead, but he was the only one. Manuel's shoulder was still bleeding, the bruja hadn't managed to do anything for him yet, but his brother was up and walking around, so it couldn't be too bad. It was Jose's death that made Carlos want to cry inside, but there were four dead T-Men lying on the floor, which made him feel a little better.

There would be more dead T-Men because of this, he knew. As soon as his people were ready for it, they'd go into the city and make them pay. The bastards would pay for Jose's death, for the fact that Carlos had to leave Jose lying there on the concrete like a dead dog, for the policía to find. They'd pay.



Sharanya sat quietly on the balcony of Nataniel's Santa Monica townhouse, listening to Lord Perenor's speech about the dangers of human magic and trying not to look too bored. This is so tedious, she thought. Are all High Court Seelie elves like this idiot, unable to get to the point in less than twenty minutes of conversation?

A lord of the Unseelie Court would have gutted this Seelie idiot before he was halfway through this speech.

" . . . which is why we can't let any of them live. We should hunt this new mage down and kill him now." Perenor concluded his speech and looked at her expectantly.

"Somehow, I can't understand your fears of human magic, my lord," Shari said. "After all, isn't your own daughter half-human?"

The daughter in question was standing at the far edge of the balcony, gazing out at the darkened beach. It occurred to Shari that Ria Llewellyn was standing as far away as she could, and still be within hearing range of the conversation. Shari had disliked Ria Llewellyn from the moment they'd met, when the blond and elegant half-elven woman had looked at Shari like something she'd found under a rock. I wonder how long you'd survive in the Unseelie Court, darling? Shari thought. They'd probably have you for breakfast within ten minutes.

Ria spoke without looking at Shari or Perenor. "My mother is human, yes. But I don't think the fact that this new mage is human or elven really matters at all. The question is whether or not he's a danger to us. And I think he's not." She gave Shari a calculating look. "I can't imagine a human, even a mage, as a danger to any of us. Certainly the Unseelie can handle any challenges, can't they?"

Maybe you'll find that out for yourself someday, Ria. "Of course we can," Shari said, smiling. "But capturing this human without killing it might prove a little more difficult. Nataniel wants it alive; he believes this human could be useful to us. If we need any assistance, it would be for that purpose."

"You think you could use a human mage? But you can't trust humans at all, they're—" Perenor began, and was interrupted by Ria.

"No, Father," Ria said tartly. "I've learned that you can't trust anyone, humans or elves, and especially the Unseelie. I didn't ask for this meeting with Sharanya, and I'm wondering if we're going to do anything but talk about some insignificant human mage tonight. You told me that the Unseelie wanted to discuss a business proposition with me. Something to do with a loan of over twenty million dollars? Chasing down a human mage isn't my idea of a multi-million dollar business proposition. If we have nothing else to discuss, then I have my own business to attend to, elsewhere."

My, what a prickly bitch. Maybe she would survive the Court after all. Better to play this carefully; we need that money. These Seelie fools can't know yet that Nataniel's being investigated for counterfeiting. I told him to be more careful with conjuring cash, but my lord didn't listen. Our next sources of financing must be impeccably clean, or the Feds will be onto us in an instant. "Nataniel and I know what a successful businesswoman you are, Ria," Shari said silkily. "That's why I asked Perenor to arrange this meeting—to discuss a joint venture with your Llewellyn Corporation."

"What, dealing drugs? That's not an interest of mine."

Shari bit back a quick retort, speaking in a quieter tone. "Don't tell me that you suffer from ethics? There's very good money in narcotics, and I'd heard that you were a smart businesswoman, interested in making a good profit rather than any foolish human ethics."