Kill Switch (Blue-Eyed Bomb Book 2) Page 6
“I’d like to shove something in it deep enough to shut you up…for a long time.”
“Yeah, that’s never going to happen. I’m sure you have enough girls here for that, too.”
“Sapphire…” Dennis’ voice was a warning. One that had already come too late. Why he hadn’t warned me that the boss was prickly was beyond me.
“I think I’m all set here,” I said, turning to leave.
“For now,” the boss replied, rage-filled eyes still staring me down.
Without another word, I strutted my way out of the building, my heart racing. I hadn’t meant to cause a scene. I hadn’t meant to do anything but secure a job there so I could find out what in the hell was going on with the girls. Suffice it to say, I fucked that plan up royally. I hated knowing that I would have to tell TS how badly I’d botched things. The rest of the boys weren’t going to be too thrilled either.
I stepped outside to find TS leaning against the car. He stood up when he saw me, but a shake of my head telling him I’d failed seemed to deflate some of his enthusiasm.
“Sapphire!”
I looked over my shoulder to find Dennis running toward me.
“Sorry about that. I hope you aren’t in trouble.”
“Come back tonight,” he said, not acknowledging my apology.
“What?”
“I’ll smooth things over. Don’t worry. Just come back tonight. Nine o’clock.”
“Okay…”
“I gotta go. See you then.”
I stared at him in utter disbelief while he jogged back into the building, trying my best to make sense of what had just occurred. Then I looked over at TS, who seemed just as confused as I was.
“I guess you made quite an impression.”
“You could say that,” I said, walking up to the car.
“I can’t say that I’m surprised.”
“Then don’t talk. Just marvel at my skills instead, and take me home. We’ve got planning to do.”
He inclined his head.
“As you wish.”
Once we arrived at the warehouse, I quickly filled the others in on all that had happened in my short visit to Sinful. While my uncles were disturbed at the knowledge that a human was somehow involved, my brothers and Gabe just seemed relieved that I wasn’t going to be getting naked during my time at the club. I couldn’t fault their line of thinking. I was pretty damn happy about it too.
“You need to start off slowly,” Muses said from across the room. He was sitting on a couch that hadn’t been there the last time I was home. Apparently the confused expression I wore amused him. “I thought you’d appreciate the feminine touch.”
“I don’t think attractive seating is a chick thing, Muses.”
“Perhaps not, but we digress. As I was saying, I think you need to start off slowly. Though finding the girls in a timely manner is critical, it is also important that you do not overplay your hand and get yourself in trouble. We can’t be there with you. We can’t be nearby at all, for that matter. If they think for one moment that they are being surveilled, the girls will be dead.”
“So you want me to just go there and queue music all night?”
“No,” Ferris said, walking toward me. “What Muses is trying to say is that you need to pace yourself and be careful.”
“The boy that came out of the club after you,” TS added. “He stuck his neck out for you. Try to make him your ally, but handle that delicately.”
“Delicately? You do know me, right?”
“I know that you are capable of manipulating men into doing just about anything you want them to when it suits your mood. I think if you tap into that, you will find him to be a great wealth of information.”
I hesitated for a moment, doing my best not to be offended by what I thought he was saying.
“You want me to flirt the answers out of him? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Not a chance in hell,” Gabe snapped. He was in TS’ face in a flash, his rage flushing his tan cheeks. “She’s not a whore.”
“A fact I’m well aware of, Gabriel. And as the one who has spent virtually every second of the past two years with her, I think I care enough about her not to suggest such a thing. What I am suggesting is that she use her feminine charms to extract information from him and anyone else there that she can.”
TS’ reply should have appeased Gabe somewhat, but he still stood before TS, a wall of anger. If anyone should have been mad, it was me. The affront was mine to be had, not Gabe’s.
“Gabe,” I called, trying to draw his attention away from TS. “It’s fine. No need to defend my honor or whatever the hell this is. I don’t have much to defend, anyway, so…”
“You are not a whore.” He turned angry eyes to me. He was still emanating anger and frustration. That’s when I realized his reaction wasn’t just about what TS had said. Something else was brewing inside the Iowa farm boy turned magical being.
“You’re right. I’m not. And you’re not really mad at TS, so why don’t you and I go have a little chat about what is bothering you before TS loses his cool. I mean, I’ve never really seen that happen, but I’m sure it’s possible. I’m also pretty sure you wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of it if he did.”
I took Gabe’s hand in mine and led him toward the stairwell at the back of the building. With nothing but the sound of our feet on the hardwood echoing around us, we made our way to the top floor. I pulled him into my bedroom and locked the door behind me. The second the latch caught, Gabe was all over me.
Capturing my face in his hands, his mouth locked onto mine in a fiery inferno of need and desperation. It was impossible not to get caught up in his sense of urgency, especially when it coursed through my body as though it were my own. I met his intensity, wrapping my arms around his neck and hoisting myself up to wrap my legs around his waist. That earned me a moan that rumbled through his chest into mine as they pressed together.
I must say, this one is full of surprises.
Hearing Nyx’s voice in my mind helped clear the lust clouding my judgment. I’d come upstairs to talk, not to get naked and roll around on my bed. And though that idea still sounded really good to most of me, that tiny part of my brain that knew it was a bad idea seemed to bitchslap the rest of it into submission.
“Gabe.” My voice was hoarse and still heavy with need. I cleared my throat and tried again, putting a little more force behind my tone. “Gabe! We need to talk for a second. This is really awesome and all, but something’s bothering you and I want to figure out what it is before your temper boils over.”
“We can talk once we’re done,” he replied, kissing his way up my neck. I tried to climb down him but his grip on me tightened the moment I did.
“Gabe,” I said, my tone cautionary.
Full of surprises, indeed…
He stopped for a moment and looked at me—like really looked at me. Then his expression saddened and he put me down, apologizing profusely as he did.
“I’m so sorry, Phira. I just…it’s just I feel like I’m going crazy here—”
“Like literally crazy, or…?”
I thought of his mother and her nearly permanent break with reality. I feared that Gabe might have been going down that road. And judging by the look on his face, he did too.
“You don’t need to buy a rocking chair to go with Muses’ new couch anytime soon, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He gave me that smile that warmed my heart in a way that nothing ever had, and I could feel the tension in my shoulders release.
“Well that’s good because I was really hoping to get one of those oversized armchairs. You know, the ones that can almost seat two but not really?”
“I think we could cram ourselves into it.”
I laughed.
“You are a stubborn one, so I bet you’d find a way.”
The jovial moment passed, leaving an awkward silence in its wake.
&n
bsp; “I know you’re worried about me,” Gabe admitted. “I can see it in your eyes when you look at me, and I can’t stand it. I want you to look at me the way you did in Iowa. The way you just did before you shut everything down so we could talk.”
“I am worried about you, Gabe. You can hardly hold that against me. Combine that concern with all the PC shit I’m dealing with right now and you have to realize that I can’t so easily be who I was at your house in Iowa. Tell me you know that.”
He rubbed his hand over his face a few times, exhaling heavily, then turned away from me to pace the room.
“I do understand that, Phira, but that isn’t making it easier. I can feel this building frustration in me. I want answers. I want to do something.” He looked over his shoulder at me, and what I saw in his eyes nearly crushed my heart. The look of lost innocence is something you’ll never forget. I knew I never would. “And I want you.”
“I’m here, Gabe. I’m here to help you and see that you get the answers you need—”
“That’s not what I mean and you know it.”
It was my turn to look away.
“It’s complicated, Gabe.”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
“I don’t want to make this about me right now with everything you have going on…”
“But?”
“But I’m trying to navigate my place in the PC, figure out this balance between Nyx and me, and find these missing girls. It’s a lot. And I feel responsible for what happened to you on top of it all, and I don’t know how to handle that. I don’t know how to make it better, so I just want to run from it.”
“You can’t run from me, Phira.”
“I think you are seriously underestimating my coping mechanisms, Gabe. And how fast I can run.” His condescending expression let me know that my humor—though accurate—wasn’t appreciated. “I don’t want to run from you. I just need you to understand that I’m struggling alongside you with all of this. I can’t tell you how strange it feels to know that you experienced something very real with someone, only to have that all change on a dime because, in some ways, it wasn’t real at all.”
“It was real to me.”
The hurt in his voice was undeniable.
“And to the part of me that was there with you, it was just as real.”
“But to the other part, it wasn’t.” I wanted to refute his observation, but it was true. It was cold and harsh, but true. I nodded in affirmation. “Wow…”
“Listen, that doesn’t mean that—”
“How could having your magic back make you so different? I mean, does it really change who you are?”
I nodded again.
“Somewhere inside me is still that sweet, sassy, piano-playing girl that you cared about—”
“Care about. Present tense.”
“Fine. Care about. But the overwhelming majority of me—the part I know best—is the angry, shouting bitch that came out. The one that made you think twice about me.” He stared at me silently. “And maybe you should.”
I’d meant to keep that final thought to myself, but somehow it escaped. Gabe looked none too impressed by it.
“It’s not going to be that easy, Phira. You can’t convince me that you’re not right for me. I don’t care how hard you try.”
“I’m not trying to. I’m just—” A knock on the door interrupted my explanation. “What?”
“It’s time for you to get ready to go,” Alek said through the door.
“I’ll be down in a minute.”
“Do what you need to, Phira. I’ve gotta call Pierson.”
Gabe walked to my bedroom door and unlocked it, brushing past Alek who stood hovering nearby. The look my brother gave me was full of concern. Whether that concern was for me or Gabe would remain to be seen.
Maybe it was for us both.
Chapter Eight
After prepping with the others, I soon found myself taking a bus to work. Wanting me to keep a low profile, we all agreed this was best. Ferris and TS would drive in later and keep an eye on things from afar. They would track the comings and goings of both those that worked there and those frequenting the establishment. The goal was to find patterns of any sort that might corroborate the evidence I found within. It all made sense to me. I just hoped it worked.
It was strange being alone. Granted, I wasn’t actually alone. I was crammed into a bus alongside a strange assortment of humans and a couple of mangy looking supernaturals: a strung-out witch in the back and a werewolf who had seen better days sitting beside her. To fill the time, I found myself making up stories about them and their strange, mismatched pairing. It helped quell the anxiety rising within me. Maybe after all that time, I wasn’t good at being alone.
That potential irony was far from lost on me.
I was thankful that nobody spoke to me on the way there, though the headphones I wore and my raging bitchface likely helped create that end. I was far from the girl that screamed ‘talk to me’ when I entered a room. When my stop came, I followed a couple of humans toward the front exit and hopped off, walking the remaining half block to Sinful. One of the massive werewolves that I had seen there earlier was working the front door and he opened it for me, eyeing me warily as I entered. I flashed him the fattest grin I could muster and strode past him. I needed him to see me as harmless.
I wondered if that was even possible.
Dennis, perched up in the DJ booth, saw me as soon as I entered. With a smile and a wave, he called me over.
“Hey,” I said, standing at the bottom of the four steps leading to my soon-to-be station at the club.
“Gimme a sec,” he said, raising a finger. He announced the next dancer, then came down to meet me. “Let me show you where you can put your things.”
“What’s wrong with up there?” I pointed to a cubby under the sound system, thinking that was as good a place as any.
“Boss’ orders. No personal items in the front.”
I frowned internally but kept a façade of indifference as I shrugged and conceded to his terms.
“Whatever. Lead on, Dennis.”
His smile widened.
“I like you.”
“You won’t once you know me,” I said with playful wink.
He laughed aloud as he headed for a hallway that started just past the main stage. I imagined that was how the girls got from their changing room to the front, but once back there, I realized it was so much more than that. The hall extended much farther back than I expected it to, with doors lining the narrow way on both sides. It was dark, with only dim sconces to light the way.
“Are we striving for the underground tunnel effect in here?” I asked, trying to make note of everything I could, counting the doors and making note of how they were marked.
He laughed again.
“Ambiance is everything in these places. Sinful has it in spades.
“I guess…if you’re going for that buried alive sort of thing.”
We continued around a corner to our right, looping along the back of the building. When we reached the end of it, there was a door simply labeled “GIRLS.”
“I think this is a bit self-evident, but this is where the ladies get ready.”
“And you want me to leave my shit in here? With a bunch of girls I don’t know?” I did little to hide my incredulous tone.
“You don’t have a lot of choice, Sapphire. That’s the way the boss wants it.” He delivered that statement with a sense of resignation that I couldn’t ignore. Apparently things went the way the boss wanted them to go without exception. My guess was that there would be consequences if his rules weren’t followed.
That realization raised a certain question—one that would soon make its way past my lips.
“That reminds me of something,” I said, stepping in close to Dennis. His eyes widened for a split second, but not out of fear. “The boss seemed ready to skin me alive when I left here earlier, and yet somehow I have a job. Care to share with me
how that happened?”
He looked around the hall to make sure we were alone before leaning in so close to me that our faces were nearly touching.
“Here’s the thing, Sapphire, I know that you’re not…you know…”
“Human?”
“Yeah. That.”
“And that’s relevant how?”
“It’s relevant because it means you know that I’m not either.”
“Right. Could you get to the part where you answer my question?”
“I work here for a reason.” His expression fell a bit, looking almost ashamed—embarrassed. “I’m obviously not big and strong like the vamps and wolves and other shifters. My magic isn’t especially strong either. It’s hard for me to make it on my own. So when I was asked to come work here, I jumped at the chance.”
“What did they want you for?” I asked, realizing that that fact was directly tied to how he got the job for me.
“I can kinda…calm things down when they need to be. It’s subtle, but really effective in a place like this. When guys get out of hand or touchy with the girls, I swoop in and set everything right without causing a scene.”
“Handy.”
“Very.”
“So you what? Calmed the boss down enough to see the error of his ways?”
Dennis’ smile returned.
“Something like that.”
“I think you’re underestimating your powers, then, because he was all shades of pissed off.”
“Murderous was more what I was thinking. But yeah, I got him calmed down a bit, and then I pointed out all the reasons why you were a great hire.”
“Like what?”
He looked at me, feigning irritation, and exhaled hard.
“He’s not blind, Sapphire. With all that wild hair, and those perky boobs, and your crazy blue eyes—you’re like a big shiny piece of silver to a magpie. This place is all about the experience. You enhance that a whole lot more than I do. Before I took over the sound system, my job was to stay as hidden as possible until I was needed.” There was a sting to his expression when he said those words. Dennis had a history; that much was clear. And given the undercurrent of anger emanating off of him, it sure as hell wasn’t one filled with sunshine and flowers and all things wonderful.