Drained: The Lucid (42 page)

The taxi-driver nodded solemnly. “Of course, Miss Riley.”

Riley used her cell phone as a flashlight to check the metal fences that closed off the perimeter of the nondescript LA building. She was athletic enough to scale the eight or nine foot security fence but looked for a weakness in the fence to exploit. She found what she was looking for near the gated entrance. A thick chain connected to a padlock secured the sliding entrance, but she was just thin enough to squeeze through a gap between the fence and the gate.

She crept toward the main building, wincing at the sound of gravel beneath her rubber-soled shoes, senses heightened and on-guard for security or vicious watch dogs. She reached a door without detection. The door swung free, unlocked, and Riley found herself in a darkened stairwell. She quietly closed the heavy metal door behind her and checked the first door she saw; it was locked. A noise from the upper level caught her attention, and she began the ascent to the higher floors where she hoped to find who she sought.

Kenner Dunbar’s distinct voice urged his accomplices to keep up the good work. Riley stood outside in the stairwell, her palms flat against the cold metal. She sucked in a deep breath and pushed open the door.

The metal hinges protested, calling attention to her entrance.

“Carter?”

The older Dunbar brother stood in the center of a large room that seemed to encompass the entirety of the fourth floor. A dozen people, human or cubare, Riley didn’t know, stared at computer screens and typed furiously.

“Kenner, you have to stop this,” Riley announced.

“The only thing I have to do is avenge my brother.”

“What does Liam have to do with poisoning Trusics?” Riley demanded. “If the Trusics database is lost forever, do you know how many cubare you’re taking down as well?”

“It’s your own fault for aligning yourself with a monster. They fucked with the wrong family.”

“You honestly think they had something to do with the attack on Liam?”

“I don’t
think
Trusics is responsible for Liam,” Kenner corrected. He slammed his fist onto the surface of a nearby desk. The loud noise made a few of the people in the room flinch. If the splitting wood beneath his skin had hurt, he showed no indication of it. “I
know
.”

There was certainty in his voice, and Riley knew he meant every word of it. She remembered the night she found the younger Dunbar outside the Red Sea Tavern. His eyes had been swollen from the brutal beating, and his clothing had been covered in layered shades of red stains. The incubus had been teetering on the edge of death as his body erupted into blood spluttering coughs. She could remember the words he’d spoken to her clearly:
“Fucking Trusics bitches.”
Riley hadn’t thought much of the insult at the time. She’d been too invested in saving his life to care if he’d felt the need to call her names.

But the puzzle pieces were starting to come together. Liam hadn’t meant it as an insult; he’d been disclosing who was behind the attack. “And you’re sure?”

“I’m betting my life on it.” Kenner’s voice returned to a calm as his eyes found hers. “You have to understand that Trusics is a business. Their sole mission is to preserve their way of life, and any threat to that plan won’t be ignored. It’s not what it was decades ago.”

“That’s every business though.”

“But not every business harasses their competitor in all aspect of their lives.” Kenner folded his arms. “Think back to the past few years. Why do you think Liam craved so much public attention? He surrounded himself with others, cubare and human, because it gave him a false sense of security. Trusics wouldn’t risk attacking someone constantly in the limelight.”

The cubare were often under constant surveillance by the Custodes, but they were mortal so their members cycled in and out. With the exception of the more aggressive venators, the cubare had nothing to fear from them. But to have an omnipresent force like Trusics as an enemy, it all sounded like a nightmare. She knew how aggressive her kind could be; immortality brought out the worst in some people.

Kenner ran a hand over his heavily gelled hair. “We’ve had a target on our back ever since we received funding. I guess the powers that be deemed us a threat.”

“So this is why you’ve been backing the Truthseekers?” She gestured towards the room of still-focused individuals, still typing at their respective computers. “And why C&D dissolved? Darren didn’t want anything to do with this vendetta.”

Kenner nodded at the mention of his friend’s name. “I respect his decision though. He and the others will be better off this way.” His softened features faded as he observed the room.

“It’s not too late …” Riley feebly started.

A chilling grin crossed his lips, and he chuckled. “It’s amazing. All I had to do was enlist my Truthseeker friends to rip out the giant’s Achilles’ heel. You have no idea how rewarding it’s been to watch Trusics bleed out.” He grabbed a rocks glass from his desk and took a sip of the golden liquid. Even in the bleakest moments, Kenner’s smile was disarming. “But don’t worry about your job. Trusics is like the Hydra, and I’m merely cutting off one of many heads.”

“
Kenner,
” Riley pleaded. “If I was able to figure out that you were behind this, it’s only a matter of time before they find out. You can still stop this.”

“I have nothing left to lose. I have no company. No money. No, no brother,” he choked out. He poured the last of the liquid down his throat.

“You might believe that, but what about your people?” Riley glanced at the room. “Do they know what they signed up for?”

Kenner didn’t answer. Instead, he calmly stalked to the seat behind his desk. The impressive furniture piece looked fit for an upscale downtown office, not an outdated warehouse. Riley watched as his eyes scanned the three large monitors that were mounted to his desk. She moved closer to get a better view. Each display had a number of screens opened, but one monitor was dedicated to a real-time video feed of the building, both inside and outside.

“You’re monitoring all of this?” Her eyes darted to the directions of where the cameras would have been angled.

“It’s our surveillance system,” he admitted. “This place might not look like the Four Seasons, but it still has a lot of expensive equipment in it.”

The computer screen monitoring the building’s exterior alerted them to a caravan of unmarked vans. The vehicles entered the lot and split into different directions. “Well, that didn’t take long,” Kenner murmured.

“What is it?”

“We spoke of the devil, and he sent his minions.” A peculiar smile crossed his lips. “I should have known. The beast always finds a way to grow another limb.”

Riley leaned closer to the monitor. She couldn’t see Henry’s parked car; instead, three passenger vans circled the property. Side doors slid open when the vehicles stopped, and dark figures poured outside.

“You need to go,” Kenner said gravely. “They’ll have this place surrounded soon. You’ll need to phase into the realm to evade their detection. I’ll delete the video footage from the last hour so your employer won’t know you were here.”

“I
can’t
.” She fiddled with the watch on her wrist. “That stunt you pulled took down the database. I can’t access any marks.”

Heavy footsteps pounded up the stairwell. A voice rang loud and clear as someone barked orders. The members of the unidentified convoy weren’t trying hard to be discreet if they were trying at all. She could hear them break in doors on the lower levels.

Shock passed over Kenner’s features. “You’re completely reliant on the database?” he revealed his surprise. “You don’t have a human you can …”

The footsteps grew louder as the Trusics response team stomped closer. Riley couldn’t think rationally under the pressure.

Kenner grabbed her forearm and tugged her across the room. “Here,” he grunted. He opened a door that Riley hadn’t noticed before. Inside was an assortment of office supplies, a rack of electronic equipment, and spools of wires that ran into the walls. “It’s hot in here, but it’ll buy you time. Don’t touch anything. I’ll delete the surveillance recording from my desk.”

“Not a closet,” she murmured, almost to herself.

Kenner fished a set of keys out of his pocket. “Hide.” Twin hands shoved at her shoulders, and Riley stumbled inside. She grabbed the handle and found it locked behind her. “My payment for you finding my brother can only be borrowed time,” Kenner said through the closed door. “I suggest you use it and think hard, Riley.” His steps away from the door sounded quick in pace. “We’ve got company.”

Riley turned her attention to the only glow of light in the room. It was a small monitor that mirrored the surveillance feed that was at Kenner’s desk. The only difference was the size of the display. The same four image blocks on the screen flickered to another set of four videos. There were a total of eight cameras recording the premises. Kenner was right; there was no way out of the building without being seen.

Riley surveyed the screen with growing dread and anticipation. She watched the metal door to the main room fly open, far more aggressively than when she had entered. A dozen and a half figures, masked and clothed in black, rushed into the room.

Her phone vibrated in her coat pocket, and she fumbled to fish it out. She clicked at the first button she felt to still the device. It was Josh asking if she was okay. She had missed his warning text from earlier.

Call the others and tell them everything if you don’t hear from me in the next hour.
She hastily typed her response.
Don’t text back.
After the last message sent, Riley deleted her message history and shoved the phone into the bottom of her bag. Even if it were bugged, she couldn’t care in that moment; she had bigger problems, like getting out of the warehouse closet.

Outside of the server room, Kenner’s voice exuded a calm confidence that had been missing in their own conversation, and her attention returned to the monitor. “How unfortunate that our party must be cut short. I honestly could have gone on for days.” Kenner was near his desk, but Riley knew he needed to access his computer if he were to delete the surveillance footage. Her nails dug into her palms as she watched.

“Tell your people to stop what they’re doing,” one of the masked men demanded.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kenner’s voice was mocking. He inched close enough to his desk to take hold of his chair. “We were minding our own business until you and your friends decided to crash our Christmas party.”

“Cut the crap,” a voice boomed through the spacious building. “Back away from the computer and put your hands up. Make these guys stop or—”

“Unlike you
Trusics bitches
, everyone here is free to do what they please.” Kenner motioned to his cohorts whose fingers continued to move over their respective keyboards. Riley had no idea why they hadn’t fled the moment she walked in, but she guessed that blind devotion could drive people to do unreasonable acts. It was that or they didn’t have a reason to live either. “They aren’t my obedient little pets. Freewill. You should look it up.”

One of the other masked figures circled the room. “Hey, boss,” he spoke up. “They have poker games up on their screens.”

The man that had addressed Kenner walked over to the nearest human and looked at the monitor. “Whatever the hell this bullshit is, stop dicking around.” He grabbed the human by the collar of his shirt. “I know this isn’t the shit you’re working on.”

“Look, we’re just here for a poker game,” the human choked out.

The lead of the Trusics team curled his fingers around the hacker’s throat and lifted him from his seat. The rest of the room watched, helpless, as he drained the life from him. He tossed the corpse to the ground with a sickening thud.

Riley covered her mouth with her hand to stifle the surprised gasp.

“The fuck?” One of the other humans nearly fell out of his chair. He stood up and looked ready to flee. “What the hell are you guys?”

“Sit down,” another masked figure demanded. “You bastards better stop what you’re doing or the same thing will happen to you.”

They all lifted their hands from their keyboards as if guns had been held to their heads.

“Let them go.” Kenner’s voice echoed. “They’re innocent.”

Riley backed away from the monitor and looked around the small room for a vent or ceiling tiles she could lift. There was nothing. It was a desperate move, but she knew Trusics would tear the building apart once they were done with Kenner and his men. Sooner or later, they’d search the room she was in.

Riley did her best to slow her breathing and her racing heart. She closed her eyes and whispered the name like offering up a prayer: “Morgan Ambre Sullivan.” She opened her eyes; she was still in the server room. The amulets continued to hold fast. She dug around in the bottom of her bag and retrieved her cell phone. She had Morgan’s number, but she couldn’t risk calling her directly. The men in the next room would hear her voice. Her thumb hovered over the text message keyboard, but she hesitated. What would she even write?
Get rid of the amulets. I’m in trouble. Oh, and I need you to fall asleep pronto so I can get my ass out of here.
Riley realized the absurdity of the request. There was nothing Morgan could do to help her situation. Asking her to destroy the amulets would put Morgan at risk and make her unnecessarily worry about what had become of her succubus.

She thought about the only other human who’d she’d accessed without her watch—Amber. She closed her eyes and murmured her ex-girlfriend’s name aloud. Nothing, again. She was still stuck in the server room. It seemed Amber had actually taken Riley’s warning to heart. She imagined her frantically throwing clothes into a garbage bag and driving out of the state and maybe down to Mexico, but for all she knew, Amber was still awake in her kitchen and getting drunk.

Riley could feel a slight tremor in her hand. Her heart raced; if she couldn’t think of another mark soon, she would be in a world of trouble. If found, her options were to fight a losing battle or she could play victim—spin an elaborate tale of how she had been kidnapped. The latter option left a bitter taste in her mouth. To lie was to be pulled deeper into the black widow’s web, and she didn’t want to be questioned by the very men capable of killing over company feuds. If she could phase out, she could avoid being on their radar altogether, and that was a far more attractive option.