Page 41 of Villains Never Die

A Council representative.

The file clerk.

Me.

What was the connection? I stewed about it, lying there with all the lights on as if the shadows might hold danger. I wasn’t afraid of a boogeyman in a mask lingering around, but the other piece of information I had kept the lights on. I refused to face that in the dark.

If there was no apparent connection between the victims, I had reason to believe someone else I knew might still be a target.

I slid my phone from my pocket and tapped my finger against it, and then I scrolled through my contacts and pressed to dial.

“Am I interrupting your fights?” I asked before he even greeted me.

“I’m watching from my office, so no,” Rook said. “What’s up, England?”

“The killer is a man, but he wears a mask, and I am a target.”

There was a long pause before he asked, “Did you see him? Did he attack you?”

“He followed me, and I didn’t see him.”

“Then how do you—”

I realized too late that I’d made a mistake by telling him the truth. I should have lied and said I saw him. The fact that I didn’t meant he would want an explanation.

“I can’t tell you how I got that information, but it is accurate.”

Another pause, and he cursed under his breath. “Sorry, that wasn’t directed at you, even though you’re being fucking sketchy about this. One of my guys is getting his ass handed to him. Why are you calling me about this?”

“To warn you.”

“Aww, you do care,” he said, and despite the fight he was observing, I think I had his full attention.

“Professional courtesy. We are, in some fucked-up way, allies, are we not?”

“I never said ‘allies,’” he laughed, “but I’ll take it. Allies with benefits.”

I shifted uncomfortably, as if my mattress had suddenly developed lumps underneath my back. “No benefits.”

“How many times have I made you come?” he asked. “Sounds like I’m verybeneficialto you. Ah, fuck. I have to go. Someone is about to make my night bad, and I’m going to make theirs worse.”

Nothing could explain why it made me huff a laugh under my breath. I muffled the phone with my hand so he wouldn’t hear it.

“Go give everyone hell.” I took a deep breath. “And…be careful. That’s all I wanted to say.”

I hung up before he could smack me with some amused comeback.

Chapter Sixteen

I would regret this.

It was two a.m. when I texted him. The fights he’d been so irritated by were probably finished by now.

Are you awake?

He texted back right away, as if he’d been waiting for me to reach out, which only strengthened the ball of nerves curdling in my stomach.

Rook: I just got home. Why are you awake?