Queen of Lies Read online

  “That will be thirty-five dollars and sixty-four cents,” a girl with bright pink hair said.

  Aaron handed her a fifty and winked. “Keep the change.”

  “Thanks…” she trailed off, leaving her question open-ended.

  “Aaron,” he supplied. Cotton-candy-head blushed like a virgin at the wrong end of an innuendo. In the back-seat, Alexandra said, “Like, can we get our food?”

  She looked past Aaron and locked eyes with me. Her flirty smile faltered and without a word, she turned away from the window and produced our food. Aaron thanked her, and this time she just gave a tight-lipped nod as we pulled away from the window.

  I didn’t say anything when a hamburger wrapped in yellow paper appeared on my lap, courtesy of the driver. I unwrapped it reluctantly, and ate with slow, deliberate bites as I ruminated on her odd reaction. It seemed a bit of a one eighty, even if she did think I was Aaron’s girlfriend.

  “Did her reaction seem strange to you?” I asked, swallowing a mouthful of the greasy fast food.

  “Strange?” Aaron asked.

  I shook my head. Never mind.

  We pulled back onto the highway and headed south, silence ensuing within minutes.

  I looked to the sun as it descended over the mountains to the west and I thought of my sister. The one who died. Who I killed. I could admit it now, with Violet here. I could admit that in my attempt to save her…I ended her life.

  But did she stay dead?

  That was something I didn’t know.

  “Until you do, it doesn’t matter,” Violet whispered.

  I ran a hand through my blood-caked hair, pulling it back from my face. After nearly ninety-six hours without a shower, I could almost forget the battle at Daizlei. The sweat and blood and grime clung to me like a second skin, but my shorn hair was not something I could forget. My sister was not someone I could forget.

  Use it. Own it. Let it fuel you to return every action tenfold.

  I turned away from the light and glanced in my rearview mirror. To Elizabeth, who would lead me to the Crone. To Blair, who would follow me until the end. To Alexandra, who once she realized her potential, would burn the world in her rage. I made a choice to look to the future and it was filled with vengeance.

  Even in my malicious meanderings, something wasn’t quite adding up. The same innate feeling I had when something just wasn’t right.

  “How much longer?” I asked, unease prickling up my spine like a trail of knives across my skin.

  “Shouldn’t be too long now. The meeting point is just on the other side of the border,” Aaron said.

  This was all any of us were told, since Johanna wasn’t being the most forthcoming about who her contact was or how exactly he planned to get us into Vegas undetected, and I was pretty damn sure walking in wasn’t going to be an option. The welcome sign for Nevada appeared in the distance, shining like a beacon when the headlights reflected off it.

  Something was off. Something was wrong.

  I opened my mouth to say as much when a phone rang. Aaron pulled the burner from his pocket and flipped it open.

  “Get off at the next exit,” said a deep voice that reminded me too much of someone I used to know. The line went dead as soon as the words were out of Alec’s mouth, and Aaron veered sharply across the highway. We crossed three lanes in a second, and took the off ramp still flying.

  “He said get off, not get us killed! Don’t you know how to drive?” Elizabeth shouted. She broke off in a scream as he continued to accelerate the car with a curve coming up.

  “What the—”

  In the side view mirror, a car was eating up the distance between us and the curve. My heart began to pound as a second vehicle appeared on the other side. They were trying to box us in. We weren’t going to make it.

  “Floor it and don’t stop until I say so,” I said, gripping the door handle. Aaron didn’t question it. His foot hit the gas and the engine revved. We shot forward, barely clearing the cars. I grabbed the wheel and yelled, “Now!”

  The gas died instantly when I yanked the steering wheel down and sent the car skidding as it closed in on the curve. I let go of the wheel and flung my door open.

  The hood of the first car wasn’t even ten feet from me and the driver had a gun aimed straight for my chest.

  “Now,” Violet urged.

  I jumped from my seat and landed in front of our pursuers.

  The last thing I saw was the red of his eyes before the car hit me.

  And then it cleaved in half.

  Fire ignited as the two halves of the car spun wildly out of control. One drifted off into the welcome building of a rest area—the other slammed into the remaining car and sent both drivers up in flames.

  I crossed my arms and stared into the fire. The smell of burnt tires and burning flesh made me grimace, but I wouldn’t turn away.

  I mentally reached through the flames and dragged both Vampires before me. Black blood streaked the ground, two separate trails leading to the horrid creatures at my feet. The one on the right had the gall to grin despite half his face being melted off.

  The Vampire on the left averted his eyes, and there was a visible tremble about him. Why would he hunt me if he feared death? He had to know what I did to those who crossed me. I recalled what Vonlowsky had taught us about the Made. How they were forced to do the bidding of their sire.

  “Who sent you?” I phrased it like a question, but I wasn’t asking. I was demanding.

  The one with parts of his face missing began to cackle. Black blood sprayed from his lips, coating his teeth and splattering my boots. I raised an eyebrow, daring him to speak and give me a reason to end him.

  “Selena…” Blair said from behind me. I didn’t need to look to know that the others had recovered and decided to join in the fun.

  “Who sent you?” I repeated. I would not repeat myself a third time.

  “You think you can—”

  He didn’t get to finish before I reached forward and grabbed a fistful of his hair. I wrapped my other hand around his half-healed shoulder and ripped his head clean off, tossing it into the blazing inferno that I’d dragged them from.

  The decapitated body fell to the ground, bleeding out as I turned to his partner. I squatted down until we were eye level. His downcast eyes flicked up to meet mine and I smiled encouragingly. I didn’t need to say anything. My performance was enough to make this one talk.

  “Our master sent us,” he said, gulping hard. The sweat on his face glistened in the sunlight and he flinched under my gaze.

  “Who is your master?” I continued, my voice soft.

  “Victor…” the Vampire said. His mouth opened and closed twice.

  “Which one?” The voice came from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder at Johanna. She was dressed in long black sleeves and pants, despite the weather. Her lips were pursed, and her long dark hair whipped around in the breeze.

  “The Dark Prince.” His answer brought a spark of recognition to her eyes before she grimaced.

  Good. She knew of him. It would make this so much easier.

  “Why are the High Council sending their Made after us?” she asked. I stilled. The High Council? That can’t be good.

  “To arrange a meeting with Selena Foster,” he whispered. His eyes were darting every which way, making me suspicious. Shadows danced in the corners of my vision. They whispered to me, telling me to kill him. To make him pay.

  “You tried to kill me,” I said flatly.

  He gulped again and looked to the ground before he said, “Our master told us you would be resistant and to use force if necessary, but that he means you no harm.”

  “Why does the High Council want me?” I asked, gritting my teeth.

  “My master did not share his wishes with me. My instructions were to deliver this message and not tell his would-be queen,” the Vampire whispered.

  His would-be queen? One guess who that could be. It explained why Anastasia had so much
control over the Vampires. What it didn’t explain was why he wouldn’t want her to know. Did the Vampire intend for that slip up, or if it was pure coincidence, had he given me another piece of the puzzle? He couldn’t possibly be that stupid.

  “Your master sent you to retrieve me, and you say he means no harm?”

  The Vampire nodded. His skin was mostly healed, but still painted by his own blood. His face would have been lovely, if not for the red eyes. Too bad for him it took more than a lovely face to make me forgive lies. I may not be a truthsayer, but the helicopters in the distance probably weren’t a coincidence. We didn’t have more than five minutes if my instincts were right.

  “I don’t believe you,” I snarled, plunging my hand into his chest.

  His blood reeked of wrongness and that feeling intensified as I gripped his cold heart in one hand. The Vampire gasped, his eyes wide with terror.

  “They’re coming, Selena,” Aaron ushered. I needed to end this.

  Take no prisoners. Leave no messengers.

  “I know,” I said, leaning forward. My lips were only a hairsbreadth from the Made when I whispered, “You’re stalling. I know a liar when I see one.”

  Vampires were the spawn of demons and my kind. Made or Born, they died the same.

  Burning. Beheading. I settled for ripping his heart out and leaving it on the ground next to him. That would be the only message I sent to the High Council and their queen.

  I am alive. I am fighting, and one day—I am coming for you.

  With that, I turned and walked away, my hand still black with his blood and dripping from the wrist down. My team stood in a loose semi-circle watching, their expressions stark. Somber. The helicopters in the distance were only minutes out and the sirens were steadily approaching.

  “Where’s your contact?” I asked Johanna. She stood regal despite our impending doom, should Anastasia’s lackeys arrive.

  “He’s coming,” she answered, meeting my glare with a leveled stare.

  “What do you mean ‘he’s coming’?”

  “For fuck’s sake, Selena. I said he’s bloody com—”

  The air in front of me shimmered. Gold particles that looked like glitter shifted and merged into the form of a human. A man. Within seconds, the outlines of a face and eyes appeared. Clothes took shape. A crop of hair appeared.

  The air stood still as a golden statue emerged in front of me. Then it blinked and the gold faded, revealing a young man with dark blonde hair and honey-colored eyes. Half breed.

  Johanna stepped up to say something, but the boy didn’t appear to be listening. He had his eyes glued on me.

  “Eh, what is this?” he said, motioning towards me like a piece of distasteful furniture. “I specifically told you that we couldn’t take her in. The alpha cannot—”

  “Cade?” Aaron asked. The golden-boy turned, his anger temporarily forgotten as a smile lit his features.

  “Ash?” Cade asked, disbelieving. He strode forward to clap him on the back.

  Ash?

  “It’s Aaron now,” he answered. His dark eyes flicked to me as if he were answering us both.

  “Of course,” Cade murmured. “I’m so sorry about—”

  “Cade!” Amber yelled, ducking around Johanna to face the newcomer.

  The golden-boy pulled back from Aaron, his head perking up and looking for where the yell came from. The two locked eyes and he uttered her name once.

  That one word held so much, or so it seemed, as she ran at him in the blink of an eye and literally jumped on top of him. I looked away from the intimacy of the moment, only to see Aaron staring at me, a smirk on his face.

  I flicked him off with my bloodied hand.

  “Charming,” he mouthed. I snorted and turned back to the embracing couple. Next to me, Blair tapped the toe of her white boot. We probably didn’t have more than sixty seconds. This was cutting it a bit close, even by my standards.

  Amber jumped down, a smile lighting her face. She tucked herself into his side as he turned back to Johanna. “Sorry about that. Back to what I was saying. I can take the rest of you, but not her. Alpha’s orders.”

  Johanna didn’t even blink as she said, “That’s going to be a problem.”

  Cade raised an eyebrow, silently questioning. The air stirred around us as the chopping of blades descended closer. Thirty seconds. Thirty seconds and this is what we were arguing about?

  Who were these people anyway? This Cade was going to have a lot of questions from me if I had to fight my way out of here and then hunt them down.

  Half the group stiffened as we waited for someone to answer. Seeing as I didn’t know why I’d been excluded in the first place, I didn’t know what to say.

  “She’s my signasti,” Aaron said from the other side of the circle.

  Cade stiffened. “Well then. That changes things.”

  Nobody said a word as the trees a hundred yards away shifted in a breeze that wasn’t coming from the helicopter. We were out of time, but Cade wasn’t perturbed. He clapped his hands together, rubbing them while he bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. Gold dust sprinkled the air as he said, “Alright, everybody, listen up. We’ve got a strip club to crash.”

  Chapter 3

  Having your body disintegrated into gold dust was not as unpleasant as it sounds.

  I didn’t feel a thing from the moment my skin turned yellow and broke apart, until I was pieced together again under the strobe lights of what was indeed, a strip club.

  Albeit, an empty one.

  The lights. The girls. The bar. It was all there, just not the patrons.

  “Pull it in, guys,” Cade called on the other side of the room. I pushed off the bar, shaking the remaining golden flecks from my skin. The scantily clad server walking by paid me no mind as she adjusted her bra. I waded through the tables and chairs towards the back of the room where the group had gathered around a section of sofas.

  “Is this it? The safe house?” I asked, a bit disbelieving. How does a strip club in Las Vegas constitute as low profile? I was pretty sure it didn’t.

  “Yes and no,” Cade answered. “We’re at the safe house, but you won’t be able to enter it until we come to an understanding.” He shook his finger at me like I was a bad child. “You weren’t in the plans when Tam agreed to take you all in. I’m going to need to speak with him about that.” He broke off as Amber stepped out of his embrace, standing in between us.

  “She stays with us, Cade,” the golden-eyed spitfire said. She glanced back at me, a small amount of respect and healthy amount of reproach in her gaze. “You’re Aaron’s signasti, and that means you are under Shifter protection whether an alpha likes it or not.”

  The alpha? They kept throwing that term around but still hadn’t explained what he had to do with anything? And what does Aaron have to do with it? I didn’t comment as she turned back to Cade, but I did wonder…

  Cade nodded his head. “I know the laws as well as anyone, Amber. I’m not disputing you, but until I’ve spoken with Tam, she can’t leave the safe house and risk anyone recognizing her.”

  His eyes bore into mine, searching for the truth when he said, “You good with that?”

  I took five seconds to answer, measuring him up before I nodded once. I knew that he couldn’t stop me from leaving if I really wanted to. Nothing could. But something told me that would make him all the more suspicious of me, so I said nothing.

  If he thought I was lying, he didn’t show it. A smile broke across his face as he said, “Alright then. I’ll take you all up. Follow me.” He turned and started walking towards the elevator behind him. There was no button on the wall to call it, and yet, the doors opened just before he ran into them.

  “There’s no way we’ll all fit,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. The others turned, giving me curious glances.

  “We’ll fit,” Cade said as Blair and Alexandra stepped on. One by one, the others followed until I was all that was left. Somehow, there was
just as much room with fourteen people on it as there was when there were four. How was that even possible?

  Magic. The thought came to me swift and sudden. There was magic at play here, and not the kind I was well acquainted with.

  “You’ve never been to a black market, have you?” Aaron asked. Amusement lit his features as I stepped inside.

  “No,” I said flatly, keeping my back to the wall. The doors closed behind me, making the tightness in my chest constrict. I hated small spaces with nowhere to go, realizing that I was in some kind of magical elevator didn’t help that. There were no buttons inside, or any indicator of where we were going. No one else seemed to think this was strange, so I kept my thoughts to myself.

  It wasn’t soon enough that the elevator dinged, and the doors slid open.

  White.

  Everything was startling white from the alabaster couches to the ivory end tables. The walls were just a shade softer, more of a cream than bone. Pillows adorned every seat, round and plush, shimmering with an opalescence I’d never seen on fabric. The geode table that sat in the center was the only item of color in the room as far as I could tell. The outside matched the monochromatic scheme with its pasty white exterior, but the inside revealed bright blue crystals.

  “Nice place you got here,” I murmured, running my clean hand along the back of the couch. The material was softer than I’d expected.

  “It’s yours for as long as you’re here,” Cade said.

  “Why do I get the impression there’s a caveat in that statement?” I asked. Cade gave me a lopsided grin, similar enough to Lucas that I recoiled.

  “Your signasti’s smart, Aaron. Snarky too. I like it,” Cade said. I forced a saccharine smile and the grin fell away from his face. “I need to meet with Tam before the club opens. The lot of you need bleach taken to you. Clean up and get some sleep. I’ll be back in the morning.” He turned to give Amber a kiss goodbye and I wandered down the hallway to the left.

  The first door had a sign on it that read: Scarlett and Liam. I looked across the hall to see another. This one read: Alexandra, Amber, and Tori. That’s odd… I followed further down the hall to the last two doors. More names, and none of them were mine.