Deathtrap (Crossbreed Series Book 3)(30)
Gem and Viktor were in the middle of a conversation, only I didn’t understand a word of it. Gem had an arcane knowledge of ancient languages, but that didn’t exclude everything in between, including Russian. When he swung his gaze up and said something, I shook my head.
“In English,” Gem said.
He cleared his throat. “The baby is on the auction block.”
“How do you know it’s the same one we’re looking for?”
“The child is a Sensor and of the same age. Babies don’t go up on the market every day.”
Gem peered up at me with wide, expressive eyes. “There’s a bidding war going on.”
My gaze darted around the room. Christian was on the far end with a glass of alcohol in his hand, Claude nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Shepherd?”
Viktor stroked his beard. “Resting.”
“He can rest on my fist,” Christian muttered from a distance.
Viktor wagged his finger at him. “Remember what we talked about.”
“He knows something,” Christian bit out. “I’d stake my life on it.”
I stayed quiet, uncertain how much Christian had revealed about our night in the Bricks. Wyatt folded his arms, his eyes centered on the screen.
I sauntered over to the liquor cabinet in front of the stained glass windows where Christian was isolating himself. “What did you tell them about last night?” I whispered.
“Viktor knows,” he said, implying they’d had a private conversation.
I ran my hands through my damp hair and thought about Christian’s remark. Shepherd’s meltdown happened after Wyatt showed him the picture. If he knew something about our guy, then why wasn’t he helping?
“You should eat something,” Christian suggested.
“I’m fine.”
His dark eyes lingered on me for a moment.
“Blast!” Wyatt kicked the table in front of him.
“Another five,” Viktor said calmly. “Small increments. The bidder will try to raise it high in the end, so let’s not push it too early.”
Blue stroked one of her grey feather earrings, eyes glued to the screen.
I nodded at Christian’s empty glass. “Isn’t it a little early for alcohol?”
“It wasn’t too early for Shepherd.”
“Did something happen between you two?”
“I haven’t seen him yet, so the jury’s out. But mark my words, that man is keeping something from us.” Christian leaned against the table, hair slicked back from a recent shower. The sleeves of his charcoal shirt were pushed up, and it fit his body so snugly that I could see the outline of his abs and chest.
“Something catch your eye?” he said, amusement in his voice.
Before I could retort, Shepherd moved into the room.
Covered in sweat.
He hiked up his grey sweatpants, which left nothing to the imagination, and wiped his face off with a wadded-up T-shirt. He lingered by the doorway and watched with trepidation. “What’s going on?”
Christian rocketed forward and ate up the distance between them. “You’re going to tell us the name of your friend,” he barked out, pointing his finger. “That’s what’s going on.”
Both Viktor and Niko rose to their feet, but Christian veered left and shoved Gem’s chair a foot before lunging at Shepherd.
When they began throwing punches, I jogged across the room for a closer look.
Shepherd circled around Viktor’s chair. “Lay off,” he snarled.
Christian ignored the obstacles in his way. “Do you want to know where Raven and I spent last night? After going to pick up your car, we chased down the Mage in the photograph.”
Shepherd blanched and stepped back, Niko wedging himself between them.
Christian restrained himself when Viktor grabbed his shoulders. “That’s right. And we almost got blown to smithereens. I’m sure you wouldn’t have shed a tear for a Vampire like me, but you would have had to use a spade to scrape Raven off the floor. Whatever secret you’re keeping almost cost us our lives.”
Energy crackled in the room, raising the tiny hairs on my arms.
Gem appeared as curious as I was to see what might happen next. Blue and Wyatt were too engaged with the ongoing auction to steer their attention away. I tugged on the drawstrings of my hoodie, noticing the guilt on Shepherd’s face. Guilt was a look I was quite familiar with from my former line of work, and he wore it like a mask.
“Start talking,” Christian ordered. “Or I’ll charm it out of you.”
“Don’t you fucking threaten me!” Shepherd spat.
Niko put his arm in front of Shepherd, holding him back.
I edged closer for a better look. “If we lose the auction, we lose the baby. Maybe that doesn’t matter to you, but this guy will keep doing it again and again. We need something to go on. I have his face, but we need his name. Do you want to support his murderous rampage on women?”
Shepherd turned away and planted his hands against the fireplace.
As the tension dissipated, Viktor exchanged private words with Christian, who reluctantly backed down and scooted Gem’s chair back in place.
“Sorry about that, lass.”
“No sweat. That was better than a soap opera.”
Viktor smoothed out his silvery hair, trying to regain his composure. “If everyone has calmed down, let’s focus on business. You and Raven will have new phones this evening. I just need Wyatt to program them, and that means you’ll need to sit with Blue and help me with the bidding.”
Then the strangest thing happened. Niko rested his hands on Shepherd’s shoulders as if consoling him. Christian took notice but remained apathetic. Gem, however, looked like a woman who knew a secret.
“Her name was Maggie.” Shepherd’s choked words made everyone look up. He moved away from the hearth and wiped his face with the T-shirt he picked up off the floor. When he sat down in Viktor’s chair, I rested my arms on top of a chair facing Gem.
Shepherd hunched over, hands in his lap. “Years ago, I used to work for the higher authority in the evidence room. On short notice, they transferred me to a security job at a hospital—not the most ideal job for a Sensor. I kept an eye out for immortals in the morgue and emergency room. It wasn’t so bad. You pick up a lot of useful shit by watching what goes on there, like how to stitch wounds and perform basic medical care. I finally got to practice some of that knowledge on you guys.”
Shepherd held everyone’s rapt attention.
“Maggie worked at the hospital. She was a Relic who specialized in human medicine, so she didn’t work directly with Breed. She loved her damn job, even though most people looked down on her for helping humans. I wasn’t allowed to fraternize with anyone at work, and neither was she. So we had to keep our relationship a secret. She also had a strict family who was all about keeping the bloodline pure, if you know what I mean. They would have disowned her.”
We all nodded. A lot of folks didn’t like interbreeding. If children could be conceived, they were often born defective—devoid of all the inherent knowledge or abilities that are unique to one Breed or the other. Not every mixed couple could even have kids, so a person risked losing their family, status, and even their job.
Shepherd took a deep breath and sank in his chair. “I didn’t like keeping it a secret, but I also didn’t want to do anything to hurt her. Maggie was the best woman I ever had. Smart, funny, beautiful—I can still remember her laugh.”
My gaze drifted up to the large stained glass image behind Gem. The colorful display depicted wolves and people living in harmony, surrounded by flowers and greenery. It seemed a stark contrast to the reality of our world.
“What happened?” Blue asked when he fell silent.
His hands were shaking when he reached up to rub his eyes. “Working at that hospital taught me how to shut off the emotional pathway. I became unaffected by pain and suffering so it wouldn’t ruin me. That job gets to a lot of people no matter what your Breed is, but it’s especially tough for Sensors. You see a lot of suffering in those places. Anyhow, we couldn’t hang out at work, so sometimes we’d meet up at my place or go on a date.” He wiped his hand across his mouth as if struggling with his emotions.
“You don’t have to talk about this,” Viktor said. “They know enough.”
“No,” Shepherd said tersely, swinging his brown eyes up. “They don’t know shit. If I’m telling the story, I’m telling the whole fucking thing.” He cracked his knuckles before continuing. “She was supposed to meet me at the coffee shop one night. I sat around and waited, then I got worried. She didn’t call, so I knew it wasn’t work related. I thought maybe she was sick or hurt. Relics can catch the flu and all that, so I headed to her house to check on her. I noticed an unfamiliar car parked nearby. Didn’t think much of it then. When I neared the door, something was off. There was a strange emotional print on the knob. I peered in through the window and saw a light coming from the hall, so I went inside. The door wasn’t locked. That’s when I heard a muffled scream.” Shepherd launched to his feet and paced behind his chair.
I had a feeling I knew where this story was heading: a one-way ticket to Traumaville.