Page 11 of A Cursed Heart
“Excuse me?” he looked offended. “Jas was a junkie and OD’d on that TNT shit!” he spat. “That had nothing to do with me.”
Oh, he was good. A perfect liar. My interest in him ratcheted up. He had to be mine. I could tell it was a lie, but I would bet even one of those handy lie detectors would struggle to tell it was.
“Listen here, Mr. Mallory,” Scythe took over, his voice turning low and deadly. “I control every avenue of distribution in this city. Those deaths? I planned those. They needed to die. Loserswho would never earn their way out of debt just end up owing more. Now, Jasmine, she wasn’t on my list. Y’know why?”
Mallory didn’t speak, just shook his head. The only sign of the emotions within was the ticking of his jaw as he clenched it shut.
“Jasmine was still pretty. Yeah, she liked her drugs. She had it under control, though, and made a lot of money to cover the debt she owed. She was popular with the clients. Had people waiting to be with her.” He sat back, smug. “Are you going to pay back everything Jasmine owed me?”
The man nearly launched himself from the seat. “What? No! I didn’t earn that debt. You can’t make me pay it!” He slumped back, sensing danger, and got himself under control. I respected how quickly he reacted. Mallory’s fists clutched the arms of the chair, the knuckles white with how hard he squeezed them.
“Oh, I can because I own enough of the cops to have your involvement in her death investigated.” They sat without speaking while Mallory digested Sloane’s words. “How long will you have custody of little Freya with a criminal investigation going on?”
“You can’t prove anything without landing yourself in shit.”
“Except, I can, Mr. Mallory. Or shall I call you Ryan?”
“What do you want?”
“I knew you were smart. Didn’t get that computer science degree for nothing, right?” Sloane steepled his fingers together. “I want you to work for me.”
“I have a job,” Ryan protested with a frown.
“This is after hours’ work.”
“Illegal then.”
“Perhaps.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then the proof that you sourced the tainted drug that killed your ex-wife and her boyfriend will be sent to the police. Anonymously, of course.”
“Of course.”
They sat there for a long moment, Ryan glaring at the most dangerous man in the city seemingly without a care. I needed him to get his hands on my gem. For the first time, there was someone whose wishes aligned with mine. He wanted a way out of this situation, and I knew that would only happen with Scythe gone. I needed to be out of The Scythe’s hands. We needed each other.
It was almost like fate.
I wondered if he could be the one to finally free me from this prison. It had to be time, hadn’t it? How long was I supposed to suffer for a crime committed in a country that didn’t exist anymore? Those demons, that kingdom, were long forgotten dust.
Again, I sent a surge of magic to glint in Ryan’s eye. His gaze landed on me once more. Then he made his decision.
“Alright. I suppose I have no choice. How much does Jasmine owe you?”
“Between the money she borrowed for bills, a lawyer to keep her kid, the drugs, and living expenses? About a hundred grand.” Ryan spluttered, but my captor still wasn’t done. “To silence me? A million should do it.”
“How?” Ryan was trembling.
“A couple of jobs for me can earn that, no problem. I need you back here in a few days. Anders will come to escort you. A man with your skills can soon buy his freedom.” He smirked. “Perhaps you’ll enjoy the work. It’s not something you haven’t done before considering your juvenile record. While you weren’t formally charged, it is on there.” Ugh, I hated him. “Besides, you can’t claim you suddenly have a conscience. You already possess a certain ruthlessness if you were able to kill your ex.”
“I didn’t!” His protest was weak.
“In two days I’ll have a task for you. Perform it well, and nothing will happen to you and your daughter. Cause problems, and you’ll soon learn who you’re dealing with. Anders, escort Mr. Mallory out please.”
Once the office was empty, Salvatore took out the aged grimoire he liked to study with reverent hands trailing over the aged paper. When he’d been interrupted he had carefully hidden it from sight, yet he still kept it within his reach. Word of his magic use could not get out. He found the page from his last scan through the book, and glared at the summoning spell before he flicked to the next page.
Blood. This one involved blood. He couldn’t try the spell. If one drop touched the ruby, I would be his.
I searched for a means of keeping the spell from him. He was a smart man, he didn’t keep any liquids on his desk for me to push over. I tried obscuring the ingredients before he could read them or notice they had been tampered with. His expression darkened when he could not read the entire spell.
“Useless!” he muttered before turning the page once more. I smudged some of that page too. Let him think there was a problem with the book.
Finally, he thrust it away from him.
Now I just had to get the heart gem into Ryan’s hands.
