Dangerous Creatures(75)

“Not happy? He’ll kill you.” Sampson didn’t smile. “Silas, or a handful of Vexes. If he’s in a good mood he’ll let you choose.”

“But hey.” Nox forced a smile. “Things haven’t been going so well for me anyway.”

Ridley’s expression crumpled. “Then we stay. We aren’t going to let you take on Silas Ravenwood alone.”

“She’s right,” Link said. “I’m not leavin’ another guy to take a hit for me, especially not a piece a garbage like you.”

Nox shook his head. “You don’t get it. He won’t stop until the hybrid is dead and you’re on a leash for good. You can’t escape the Ravenwoods. You should know that by now.”

“What if he thinks we’re dead?” Ridley asked.

Nox shook his head. “What am I supposed to tell him? That the two of you took a trip to the Bermuda Triangle and your plane disappeared? He’s not going to believe the two of you are dead unless he sees it for himself.”

“Isn’t there a Cast or some Illusionist trick for that? Maybe Floyd can cook somethin’ up,” Link said. “Some kinda Caster Fakeus Corpsicus?”

But Ridley knew there were some things even a Cast couldn’t fix.

Sometimes you just had to go with good old-fashioned planning and manipulation.

Mortal-style.





CHAPTER 33


Oh Yoko!


Hours later, Nox stood at the top of the Empire State Building. The city unfolded beneath him, but he couldn’t see it. He was only focused on the moment right in front of him. This was the big game, the last hand, and Nox had nothing in it. There was only one thing he could do now.

What he’d always done.

Bluff.

Nox wasn’t sure about any of this. It was Ridley’s idea. The hybrid had agreed, but the hybrid would agree to anything—no matter how risky or ridiculous—if he thought it would keep Ridley out of Abraham’s clutches.

Nox knew the feeling, which was why he was here now.

He heard the door to the observation platform swing open, then footsteps behind him. “I heard you were looking for me,” Nox said.

This is it. Make him think you’ve got a full house.

Silas Ravenwood circled around him, a wisp of smoke from a Barbadian cigar trailing after him. In a pressed dress shirt, expensive gray slacks, and Italian wing tips, Silas almost could’ve passed for a CEO instead of a crime lord.

A Blood Incubus CEO.

It was only the smuggled cigars, the way he rolled up the sleeves of his fifteen-hundred-dollar shirt, and the fedora that marked him as a criminal.

And his knuckles.

Businessmen don’t have crooked knuckles from beating people to death.

“Where have you been, kid? I left you a message.”

Nox shrugged. “Nowhere special.”

Silas walked up to him, the cherry of his cigar dangerously close to Nox’s cheek. “You think I’m screwing around? When I tell a mutt like you to come in, I expect to see you in my goddamned office with that tail of yours tucked between your legs.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“You won’t be as busy if you’re dead,” Silas said. “You have one day to deliver the Siren and the hybrid Incubus.”

“Why do you care about the two of them so much, if you don’t mind me asking?” Nox knew he was walking a slippery slope. Silas Ravenwood wasn’t a fan of questions.

“Why are you suddenly so interested? Feeling sentimental? I know how you feel about half-breeds and wish workers.” Silas smiled. “They’re almost like family.”

Nox shrugged, holding in his anger. “Sorry I touched a nerve. I was just curious.”


“My grandfather wants his name avenged.” Silas took a long pull on the cigar. “I have my own reasons for wanting the Siren.”

“Is it love?” Nox raised an eyebrow.

Silas grinned. “It is to me.”

Nox shuddered.

Ridley in chains. In captivity. Begging for her life. Nox felt ill at the thought, especially knowing how much Silas would enjoy it. “Do what you want. I’m not partial to Sirens myself.”

“Too many memories?” Silas leered. “Because if I remember correctly, your mother had no problem granting all my wishes when she worked for my grandfather. At least, when she wasn’t busy being Abraham’s little whore.”

Nox fought back a wave of hot anger.

Steady.

Instead, he imagined taking the Charmed switchblade out of his pocket and holding it to Silas Ravenwood’s throat. How the skin would part, how the blood would rush to the surface. How the body would fall.

Nox drew a breath, leaving his eyes fixed on Silas. “Fine. Take them off my hands tomorrow night. It’ll be easier if I lock them up at the club and you come and get them.”

“Tomorrow?” Silas was caught off guard, it seemed.

Nox shrugged. “The hybrid’s unpredictable, a real pain in the ass. But he’ll be playing at the club, which means the Siren will be there, too. I’ll shut them up in the supply room in the basement.” He smiled. “à la carte and to go.”

Silas thought about it for a minute. Finally, he nodded.

“Be sure to knock the Incubus out first. We’re a lot smarter than you Casters, so you have to take precautions. If he’s learned anything about Traveling, he’ll know he can take the Siren with him.”