Kisses trailed down her naked back.
Reyna hummed happily in response. “I like that.”
“Mmm,” Beckham murmured against her bare skin the next morning. “You have raised gooseflesh.”
A finger glided up her spine, touching every vertebra until she shivered uncontrollably.
She sighed. “I could stay in this bed all day.”
His mouth returned to her skin, tasting every inch of her. “If only you didn’t have to save the world.”
She humphed. “A girl can’t have a day off?”
“Sure. Let me take care of it.”
“Yeah, no,” she said, turning her head to look at him. He was grinning as if he’d known that she would never relinquish the power she had claimed since New Year’s.
“Do you know how many people have openly disagreed with me?” Beckham asked casually.
“And lived?”
He arched an eyebrow, which only made her giggle.
“I’m going to guess not many.”
“Before Visage, when we became more…civilized…very very few.”
He’d stumbled over the word civilized as if he knew that it didn’t quite fit them. Beckham had been one of the most dangerous vampires. For his cleverness and sheer brutality. For his controlled insanity.
“Well, you’re not going to hurt me,” she sassed him.
That rare unabashed laugh burst out of him. “Watch it, Little One.”
“Or what?” she teased. She flipped over, shooting him a sultry look.
“Or I’ll have to tie you to this bed until you remember who is in charge here,” he said with a dangerous glint in his eye.
Unfortunately it only turned her on more.
“I think you like that I took charge,” she told him defiantly, pushing his buttons. “I think you like that I’m as strong as you. I’m not a delicate little flower, a porcelain doll.”
He dragged his tongue along his teeth. Then he moved so fast she could barely register it before he was pressing her backward in the bed. “I am not emasculated by your leadership,” he told her. “But you are still fragile and I will always protect you with everything that I am.”
“As long as it doesn’t interfere with me saving the world, then that kind of turns me on.”
His black eyes danced. “Kind of?”
A knock sounded on the door. Beckham groaned and leaned his head into the crook of her neck.
“What?” he snapped.
“Got a lead, boss,” Katarina’s musical voice rang from the other side of the door.
“Noted.”
They dressed hastily, and he opened the door for Reyna.
“So…this inner circle business. We can trust them?” she asked.
“With my life.”
“I didn’t know Gerard and Philippé were that important when you had them acting as my driver and bodyguard.”
“I only sent the best with you. They understood your significance. Plus, it was an easy way to have them close at all times.”
“And…Gerard only became your second after Bronwyn?” Reyna asked.
It was Beckham’s turn to freeze. He clenched his fists. “I wouldn’t mention that name in present company.”
Reyna frowned. She had had the unfortunate experience of meeting his sister, Bronwyn, who she had known as B, when she had been a prisoner in Visage. His sister had been Beckham’s second-in-command and supposedly she had been killed. But really, Harrington had kidnapped her in an effort to get Beckham to work for him.
Beckham continued forward without answering her question. She decided not to press it. He’d only found out that Bronwyn was alive a week ago. The wound had to be too fresh to touch.
Together they marched into the sitting area, where his inner circle sprawled.
Next to Tye, Zoya was tinkering with some technical equipment. Katarina had her dual blades out and was whirling them back and forth in her hands. Philippé stood like a statue, facing the entrance, his arms crossed over his chest. Gerard lounged in a chair, holding a small book open, seemingly oblivious to everything else going on around him.
“What do you have?” Beckham asked as soon as he entered the room.
Zoya jumped to her feet. “Found a few possible locations of Elle safe houses. I looked into the phone numbers for the burner phones distributed and did a backward check into the system…”
Beckham held up his hand. “I trust you. You have locations?”
“Three,” she said with a curt nod. “Working on the others with Tye.”
Tye grinned at her like a lovesick puppy. As was his MO.
“Good,” Beckham said.
Reyna was buzzing with excitement. “Three locations? We should get teams together and go check them out.”
“I’ve already got Meghan and Gabe packing for the city,” Tye told her with a grin.
Reyna broke into a smile. “When do we leave?”
Beckham shook his head. “You’re staying here.”
“Like hell I am.”
“Reyna…”
“No. I’m not sitting on the sidelines anymore.” She turned away from him as if that was the end of the discussion. From the look in his eyes, it was clear he didn’t agree. “Let’s get moving. We’re wasting daylight.”
Reyna grabbed a jacket and went in search of Meghan and Gabe, to help where she could. On the way outside, she ran into Jodie.
“Hey, I was looking for you,” Jodie said.
“What’s up? We’re heading out to check on a lead on the safe houses. You want to come along?”
“That’s great, but I think I’m going to stay here and maybe…work with Washington.”
“Seriously?” Reyna asked, her eyes bugging in confusion.
“Being on the streets, I don’t know, it changed me. Gave me perspective. I realized that I’m really lucky. I could have had it worse. I could have had the life June led.” Jodie shrugged. “What Washington did was wrong, and he acknowledges that. I won’t forget what he did to me, but I can…forgive him. With time. Everyone’s doing their part…I thought it was time I did mine.”
“You’re sure?”
“Better than being useless.”
“Commendable,” Beckham said, appearing behind them.
“Thanks,” Jodie said with a smile. “Time to face my fears, I guess. Good luck today!” Then she turned and trudged down the stairs into the basement below. Jodie had come a long way. Reyna was proud of her.
Beckham wasn’t pleased that Reyna wouldn’t relent on going to look at the safe houses.
“Just because it’s called a safe house doesn’t mean it’s actually safe,” he said with crossed arms. He was observing her strapping a gun to her thigh.
“We can’t send your band of merry men into safe houses. The people of Elle don’t know them. All it will do is spook them. We have to go ourselves,” Reyna reminded him. She placed the gun in the holster and glanced up at him. “And you already know that.”
“Doesn’t mean I like it.”
Reyna held her hand out. “We’re doing this as a team. This is how it should be, Becks.”
He slowly put his hand in hers and tugged her in close. “I don’t want to lose you again.”
“I know,” she choked out.
Just because she had survived what had happened didn’t mean that she felt like a survivor.
“You don’t have to put yourself in a situation where something could happen to you.”
“And when you became a lord, when you took over the entire city, you let others lead the charge, right? You sat back and directed. Stayed out of danger.”
Beckham’s eyes smoldered.
“That’s what I thought.”
Reyna pulled back from Beckham to put her jacket on. Beckham looked like he was about to argue with her again, but she was pleased that he dropped the subject.
At that moment, Tye and Meghan marched into the garage. Reyna could see that they were excited and nervous. Probably about both who they would find…and who they wouldn’t.
“We’re ready,” Tye said, jingling the keys to a van.
“You have the radio link?” Beckham asked gruffly.
“All set to go.” Tye patted his inner pocket. “Cellphone too just in case. I know all the codes and signals. We won’t be out of contact.”
“Good,” Reyna said.
“Wish I was going,” Gabe said. He was sulking with his arms crossed over his chest, leaning back against the doorframe.
“Next time,” Reyna said with a smile.
She’d asked Gabe to stay behind and watch Jodie. She didn’t quite trust that Jodie was adjusting as well as she was. He gave them a two finger salute as she followed Beckham into an SUV. She settled into the passenger seat and he revved the engine.
“Wishing it was your motorcycle?”
“Always.”
Reyna’s heart fluttered as she remembered her one glorious ride on the back of his bike. So much had happened since then. She hoped that after all of this she’d get one more ride.
They peeled out of Washington’s place and onto the open road, toward the city. The route was all but deserted, as the promise of icy temperatures evidently kept many inside. Reyna reached across the center console and took Beckham’s hand in her gloved one. She was nervous about what they would find, but optimistic. Her stomach was full of butterflies thwacking away at her insides. Her heart was beating a tattoo against her throat. She tried to relax the rest of the ride.
It was another hour before they reached the city limits. Beckham pulled into a nice neighborhood with car-lined avenues and people all bundled up walking unhurriedly down the sidewalks.
“There’s a safe house here?” Reyna asked in surprise.
“They’re all over. Sydney wanted an extensive list for any circumstance. I don’t think she really considered this one though,” he admitted as he expertly parallel parked the SUV.
“Talented.”
“You can’t parallel park?”
She snorted. “I can’t drive.”
Beckham frowned. He clearly didn’t like that news. “I could teach you.”
“Really?”
“I escaped death once. I can probably do it a second time.”
Reyna shook her head. “He has jokes.”
“Are you ready for this?”
“Right,” she muttered, stuffing her hand back in her glove. Her eyes met his once more and she nodded. She was ready. Whatever may be.
They exited the SUV and regrouped on the sidewalk. No one paid them any attention as they ducked their heads against the wind and hurried down the street. Reyna could see her breath. She shivered. This was probably the worst day to do this. But none of them had been prepared to wait until after the snowstorm hit.
Beckham gestured for them to take the stairs to an inconspicuous brownstone. They pulled open the front door and entered an apartment building lobby.
Reyna moved to the list and scanned it for apartment 4B. Her finger hovered over the button. “Should I buzz?”
Beckham nodded before he bent down to look at the door.
She took a deep breath and then pressed the button. It buzzed noisily, echoing off of the walls. Then everything was silent.
“No one home?” Reyna said to Beckham.
His face was buried in the middle of the door, messing with the lock. “Try one more time.”
She laid on the buzzer, hoping that would do the trick. “Hello, anyone home?”
But once she removed her finger, again nothing happened. Either no one was there or everyone was ignoring her. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. She probably wouldn’t trust someone buzzing if she was in hiding.
“And…now,” Beckham said, as the door popped open. He held it wide for her with a cocky grin.
“Oh! Nice!”
Beckham just grinned at her. Then they were both climbing the endless staircase. One story, two, three, four. Beckham wasn’t even breathing heavily. Reyna didn’t care how much she ran on a treadmill. Stairs were an entirely different ballgame. And she hated them.
“Okay,” she said, trying to regulate her breathing. “Apartment 4B.” She started down the hallway. “F, G, E, D, C…and B.”
She stood before a nondescript doorframe with 4B in gold letters on the front. The peephole was covered. But a light came from a crack by the door.
Reyna nodded her head toward the light and arched an eyebrow as if to say Someone’s home. Beckham steadied himself, preparing himself for a fight. The only thing Reyna wanted to prepare for was seeing her brother.
She took a deep breath and then knocked on the door. “Hello, anyone there?”
Again, silence.
“I don’t like this,” she whispered.
“Me either.” He moved between her and the door. “Stand back.”
“Becks.”
His hand went to the doorknob—ready to break the lock and burst through the door. As if anything could be more suspicious. But as he wiggled the handle, it moved freely. Their eyes met with mirror images of concern. The door opened.
It wasn’t supposed to be open. No one from Elle would be careless enough to leave the door unlocked.
Beckham moved forward into the room, and before Reyna could follow, a sharp hiss escaped Beckham. “Reyna, don’t.”
But she forced herself to follow him. She wouldn’t abandon Beckham. No matter how he wanted to protect her.
She stepped inside. Her hand flew to her mouth. A strangled gasp escaped her lips. Her stomach rose to her throat and she gagged.
“No,” she moaned.
A dozen bodies were scattered around the room. Blank eyes, mouths twisted into the beginning of a scream, blood everywhere. Discarded. It was the only way to describe the bodies…no, people. Whoever had done this hadn’t cared about the mass murder implications. They’d drained their blood or broken their necks and simply discarded them like used tissues. Trash.
Her stomach rolled again at the imagery. Of all the dead Elle members. All of the people she hadn’t been able to save.
“Breathe.”
“Oh my God. Drew,” she gasped. “What if it’s Drew? Or Laura?”
“I didn’t see them, but I will check for you.” Beckham stood in front of her to block her view. But even he wasn’t big enough to cover it all. Or to scrub it from her memory. “Keep breathing, Little One. In through your nose and out through your mouth.”
“How could someone do this?”
Beckham didn’t respond. He just rubbed her back as she retreated into herself at the sight of the carnage. Her stomach twisted and no amount of careful breathing could change it. She turned away from Beckham and vomited up everything in her stomach. She coughed until her eyes watered and tears rolled down her cheeks. Her eyes burned, her heart ached, and she was burning up. She threw up again and again until she had nothing left.
This was the world she lived in.
Vampires massacred a dozen innocent people for shits and giggles.
Or worse…just to send a message.
“We should get you out of here. Why don’t you wait outside? I’ll check for your brother and comb through to see if anything was left behind.”
“Becks,” she whispered. Her red-rimmed eyes stared up at him in horror. Such senseless murder.
“I know. We’ll stop him.”
Reyna nodded and then teetered out of the room. She felt like a coward for leaving him in there alone, for not being able to face it. But the day that she was okay with what was in that room was the day she lost her humanity.
She leaned her back against the wall in the hallway and waited. A minute later a crackle sounded in the empty hall. Reyna nearly jumped out of her skin before grabbing for the two-way radio in her jacket pocket. She fumbled it out with shaky hands and pressed the button.
“Reyna, here. What’s up?”
“Reyna!” Meghan’s muffled voice shouted into the speaker. “Reyna, is that you?”
“Yes, Meghan. What’s going on? Everything okay?”
“No. You need to get here now! Ooph!”
Reyna’s eyes widened as she stared down at the speaker, willing it to say more. But the line was filled with static.
“Meghan? Are you okay? Tell me what happened.” No response. “Meghan? Tye? Anyone? Answer me.”
Panic set in.
Beckham appeared in the hallway, yanking the door closed behind him. “We need to leave. Now.”
“Meghan and Tye are in trouble.”
“I heard.” He gestured for her to move.
“What about the bodies?” Reyna whispered nervously. “Drew? Laura?”
Beckham shook his head. “They weren’t there.”
Static cut through whatever else he had been about to say. Then one word from Meghan broke through the line.
“Everett…”