As if he were so easy to spot.
Nik followed the thugs into a cavernous, smoke-filled domain of what must have once been a part of the abandoned subway station.
A human and a demon worked a large desk, counting stacks of banknotes. At another massive, wooden table, more thugs labored, weighing and packaging white powder. Drugs. On the opposite side, near the wall, a lean human with dark hair slicked back from an angular bronze face sprawled in an armchair, watching over his kingdom.
Covered in leathers, he slowly rose to his feet with an affable smile.
Everyone went motionless, the acrid stench of fear chafing Nik like claws.
This Rough or whatever the fuck he called himself appeared as if a puff of air would tip him over. Black tattoos ran up his neck to his jaw. Brown eyes hardened, fixing on the two Nik had been tailing. “Why don’t I see her?”
“We c-couldn’t, boss,” tattooed cheeks stuttered, the malevolence he’d used to terrorize Shadow gone, leaving behind a quivering lump of shit. “She paid almost the full amount.”
Rough’s fingers fisted, more ink on them. “You idiots! I want her, get it? It’s why I hiked her rent. Stop her from getting money. Steal it from her if you have to. I want her here.”
“But Eddi—”
“Get the bitch, you fucking maggots!”
“Y-yes, boss.” They both scurried off like rats.
Nik mind-linked with Dagan. Need you to do a mind sweep.
Sure. Who?
Two humans from Hade’s gang. One with tattooed cheeks and the other sporting a spider bite and earrings. Clear out all thoughts of the female Shadow. While he could do a wipeout of new thoughts, older, ingrained ones weren’t his forte.
Where are they?
Currently leaving my vicinity. Dagan could easily locate them by tracking Nik.
On it.
Nik coasted around Rough, prodding his mind. The blight to humanity shuddered, his head snapping both ways as if sensing him. Nik couldn’t mind read, but he sure as hell could mind fuck when he wanted.
He shoved into the scourge’s thoughts, letting free the agonizing sensation of skin peeling off his body and his dick being castrated every time he thought of Shadow. Then he revealed more torment, having lived the reality…
Darkness bound him, along with mind-numbing cold, in the gray, foggy wasteland. He hung by his wrists manacled to a monolith for endless nights. Sleet lashed him like blades, flaying off layer upon layer of flesh.
Eerie voices drifted to him. Skeletal faces circling his head, bony fingers digging into his bleeding wounds, licking the gore. They sped faster and faster, tearing into his flesh, unimaginable pain torquing him. Ghoulish laughter like shattering glass, slicing his mind—
A yowl brought Nik back. He stared blankly at the human writhing on the floor curled in a ball, arms shielding his face. The rest of the gang gathered near their leader, fear stinking up the place. Yeah, that would keep the bastard occupied, trying to find his lucid mind again.
Nik coasted out, tracking the two shitheads who’d slunk away.
At the mouth of a tunnel, a tall figure with waist-length, ropey hair fended off blows from the human plagues as if swatting flies. The Sumerian must be bored. It had to be a slow night if he was toying with them.
“If that asshole Tolvi thinks we’re just gonna rat on Rough,” tattooed cheeks spat, “he and you are outta ya fuckin’ minds. Rough will find and kill ya both!” He dove, headfirst into Dagan, meaty arms flying. It barely moved the warrior.
Dagan cut the idiots a cold smirk, revealing the tips of his deadly fangs. “I could drain you of every drop of blood, and no one would give a fuck.”
They froze.
Nik took corporeal form. “Dag, hold on.” With a wave of his hand, he trapped both with ice restraints. “The missing women and children, who took them?”
They snarled like feral strays, fighting to break free of the ice. “Fuck off, asshole.”
Dagan snorted. “They never learn.”
Needing to find Shadow before more shit flew, Nik let the ice slither around their throats, forming nooses. Their eyes widened in terror. “Take too long to answer, and you can kiss this life goodbye.”
The scrawny one squeaked, “No, no, we only take women for Rough—”
Truth.
“Shut it, Tiny,” baldy coughed out. “R-Rough will skewer you!”
“Amazing,” Dagan drawled. “You can kill him in a second, and he’s worried about some pisshead who terrorizes females?”
Nik willed the ice to tighten. “Where’s the Viper’s den?”
“Somewhere beneath Tribeca,” Scrawny gurgled. Truth.
The urge to kill them grew. Nik didn’t care that killing a human might end his life—maybe, it was a way out of this endless, empty existence and constant torment—but he currently had work to do. And to make sure Shadow was safe from these sewer shits. Leaving them to Dagan’s mercies, Nik dematerialized.
In his molecular form, he drifted to the manhole Shadow had used. With a shove of his mind, he moved the metal cover aside, glided into the dank, hot air of the Lower East Side, and coasted down the street.
About to head off to Tribeca, he stilled. Beneath the stench of exhaust fumes and garbage bags, a familiar scent of wildflowers teased his nose. Nik instantly scanned for her. There. In a dingy alley, she crouched, speaking to a homeless man settled on the steps of a cordoned-off building.
With a low growl, she flung over her shoulder. “I know you’re there. Would you lay off? You’re gonna scare these people before I can get them to go to The Shelter.”
Nik reformed in the gloom before stepping out. “I can help.” He must have lost his mind, offering aid when he never made contact with humans in any way, except for Olivia seven years ago. And now because of him, she was dead.
“Yeah, by willing them to go?” she retorted, rising to her feet.
“It makes things easier—”
“Nik?”
At the familiar, feminine voice, he cut a quick look back.
Elytani glided toward him, dressed in her black patrolling gear. She, too, wore boots with spiky heels. How the females could stay in those things an entire night, he had no clue.
A soft snort reached him. He glanced back at Shadow. “I’ll see you later.”
“Can’t wait.” She rolled her eyes and went back to cajoling the human.
Nik clamped his lips. The female sure liked skirting the edges of danger with him.
Ely stopped near him. “Is she the one Týr spoke about?” she asked softly, watching Shadow.
“Yeah.” Nik rubbed his bristly jaw, a restlessness stirring. Odd, since he didn’t care about anything enough to feel. But the urge to remain with the little machitís grew, so sure she would sink into a shitload of trouble the moment he left.
With immense effort, he reined in the compulsion and let her be for now. He had work to do. However, he would find out just what kind of trouble she was steeped in, and why she hid underground.
And more, why she affected him the way she did, that he kept coming back to her.
Chapter 5
Shadow cut a furtive look at Nik and the tall, gorgeous blonde and found the woman staring at her with a curious expression.
What? Never seen a homeless person before?