Page 40 of Villains Never Die

He tapped a finger on the countertop. “That’s excellent. I’d heard otherwise from my predecessor, but you know how people can spread nasty rumors. I would hate to think we might have conflicts if I end up on the Council.”

“When you end up on the Council, we’ll have no problems at all. I stay in my own corner.”

And spread my influence like vines growing underground through the city. Blackwell was a ruthless man who manipulated laws and kept his political position just above the line of corruption. I did not expect the same hardness from the man in front of me.

“Good to hear. The Council can be a difficult place to navigate, and even more challenging to keep its members focused on the important issue—interspecies cooperation and serving its people. I plan to change that.”

“Good luck,” I huffed under my breath.

His smile stretched wide. “Call me idealistic, but I think we can do better. This city can be a lot less corrupt than it is now, and I plan to clean it up from the moment I’m in office. Our people deserve better than the darkness that has infiltrated everything. Anyone caught up in those reforms will be swept away.”

Was he threatening me? He still had that warm smile on his face.

“Your ideas about cooperation seem a bit farfetched, if you don’t mind my two cents,” I said, returning the warmth, though my eyes were too sharp to match the sentiment, “but if anyone can do it, perhaps it will be you. I look forward to hearing your ideas.”

Staying on his good side might buy me time to understand how he operated. I always needed to know my enemies, whether they were small threats or giant pains in my arse. The Council would change with Emmett, but only time would tell just how difficult it would make my life.

***

Avalon was close enough to my building that I decided to walk home rather than call my driver. I needed fresh air and movement to process that bizarre interaction with Emmett Graves.

Something was off about him. No one was that friendly or idealistic, not in this city where crime ran rampant and uniting all the supernatural peoples was a delusional dream. He was hiding something, and if I had to guess, it was his own plans for self-gain. There were no Council members above corruption, even if they pretended they weren’t or dressed it up in legitimate clothes.

He obviously knew who I was, and I suspected, more about my business than he let on. I’d need to keep an eye on him.

You’re being watched.

The dead whispered in my ear and I almost missed it over the sound of the wind. I stopped in the middle of the street, listening to the whoosh, and then even the wind died off. The stillnessunsettled me, but listening harder only made me more attuned to the lack of sound.

No people.

No cars.

“By whom?” I muttered under my breath.

The one who wants you dead.

“Is he watching or waiting to attack?”

We think he’s observing you.

I nodded, more to myself than to them, and walked at a normal pace. I would not run and make them think I was afraid, but as I walked home, the hairs on the back of my neck prickled. I heard no footsteps, glimpsed no one in the shadows, but I could feel them following at a distance.

“Man or woman?” I whispered.

Man.

“Who is he? What does he look like?” My building came into view. Only one street to cross, and I didn’t hurry.

We don’t know. He wears a mask.

If he didn’t know where I lived before, he did now. How long had he been watching me? I crossed the street and unlocked the front door to the lobby, which was still lit, then locked it behind me and turned toward the windows. No shadows or masked faces peered in at me. I took the lift, but my body did not fully settle until I was safe behind my penthouse door.

I kicked off my shoes and flopped gracelessly onto my bed, staring at the ceiling. A masked man who was following me and now knew where I lived. I wondered what else he might know about me.

It looked like I was on his hit list, but the others…

A nobody.