Niko, a sure bet for being chock-full o' soul, stood the instant the words passed from Caleb's lips. He was pissed at Caleb's disparagement of my spiritual status, and the fact that it showed was an indicator of just how pissed he truly was. "Your business is not our business." The words couldn't have been colder. "We'll see ourselves out."
Instantly, the accountant changed his tune. "I apologize," he said with immediate obsequiousness. Meek and submissive, fawning and scraping. He might not have been a wolf, but he worked with them. He recognized an Alpha when he saw one. Niko was just as capable as Cerberus of fucking him up but good. And if he failed Cerberus in this little task… having the crap beaten out of him by my brother would be the very least of his concerns, I knew. Niko might hurt him for the insult; Cerberus would bury him for the result. "I've let internal prejudices get the better of me."
That he had, and, hell, he wasn't the first. I wondered how he'd known about the Auphe in me. First Goodfellow had spotted me, and now this guy. Werewolves and other related monsters smelled me. Robin and this one had simply looked at me and known. How did they do it? Then again, did I even want to know?
Probably not. I did know I didn't want to work for this guy or Cerberus. With his slobbering smiles, "internal prejudices," and rabid lapdog guarding his door, Caleb annoyed me. I'd seen worse. I'd been worse… easily. But this was a job. We didn't have to take it. There were other scum of the earth out there dying to hire us, I was sure. Maybe we hadn't seen them yet, but they were there. Hopefully they'd show up before the rent was due. Or Nik's tuition.
Goddamn it.
Exhaling, I looked up at Niko and suggested with grim reluctance, "Maybe we should hear him out." Promise remained silent. The insult was mine and so would be the decision, although from the flare of annoyance behind her eyes, she was offended on my behalf. Empathetic even. Maybe vampires had soul questions of their own.
"No," Niko said flatly.
"Nik…" I started.
He didn't glare, only repeated calmly but adamantly, "No. Not for any reason."
Caleb decided to get in on the fun. "Fifty thousand dollars."
"Any," it's a word you really shouldn't throw around. Fifty thousand dollars for what would probably be a night's work. Maybe two. Shit. Still in my chair, I raised my eyebrows at my partners. The "Whatta you think?" might have been unspoken but hung in the air clearly enough. What Promise thought behind her tranquil mask was anyone's guess. But what Niko thought of it was crystal clear—not much. In some ways he was more sensitive about my Auphe heritage than I was, and I was pretty goddamn touchy. Sometimes there were digs. Sometimes fascination, revulsion, or out-and-out terror. I'd seen them all over the years. Auphe had occupied the top rung of the food chain for a long, long time; even other monsters feared and hated them. I understood that; I had feared and hated them myself… before their extinction in a warehouse explosion last year. Hell, who was I kidding? I still feared and hated them, historical footnote though they were.
But the bottom line was that this sort of reaction was something I was going to see my entire life. Getting worked up over it was only going to take money out of our pockets. This business meant a lot to Nik… and me. Promise didn't need the money or the partnership. She enjoyed it, but she didn't need it. We did. And both it and Niko deserved a fair shake. I gave him a rueful twist of my lips, then an almost imperceptible shrug and nod of my head toward his chair. He frowned and turned toward Promise. She spread her fingers and left this decision up to Niko.
He sat back down. He didn't want to and it was obvious from the stiff line of his back, but he sat. "Fifty thousand is one detail," Niko said flatly. "Now let's hear the more pertinent ones."
It was the usual. I didn't have but the one wolf acquaintance, non-Kin, so how did I know? I watched mob movies, same as any other guy. You have the weak and the strong, the loyal and the sneaky, the constant jockeying for power; it was the same for humans and wolves. Cerberus had a "friendly" rival, Boaz, in the East Side territory who he suspected was less friendly than the guy liked to pretend. They were supposed to be working paw in paw under their Alpha, but Cerberus had suspicions that if he was out of the way, Boaz wouldn't exactly be crying at his funeral and would have a larger section of the territory carved out to boot.
"So Cerberus is wanting to take this guy on a ride, then?" I asked. "Put the kibosh on him. Have him sleeping with the fishes."
Blue eyes blinked; looking bemused, Caleb said, "No. He wants to kill him."
Apparently Caleb didn't watch a lot of TV.
"And his Alpha wouldn't care for that? I thought that was the general method of advancement among his pungent kind," Promise pointed out.
"Normally. You know the wolves well." The pen continued to tap and the smile continued to beam. Slimy, ass-kissing toad. I was surprised he had the balls to even think that soul remark, much less to have let it slip. "However, Cerberus is in a unique position among the Kin. What he does is scrutinized far more thoroughly. A misstep on his part will not be tolerated." And there was the smile again. So polite, so helpful… it made the old Tarzan movie flashbacks I was having even more bizarre. A leg falls into the river and is cleaned to bloody bone by teeth precisely like that. Terribly sorry to have eaten you, dear fellow. Mea culpa.
Niko paid little attention to the bowing and scraping as he demanded, "And if we obtain proof that Boaz intends to make the first move, that will put Cerberus in the right with the Alpha."
"He believes so."
There were more details, just as Niko had asked for: where would be the best place to catch Boaz off guard and loose of lip. Who he ran with. How best to introduce Cerberus into the conversation. "He likes to gamble, poker specifically," Caleb said with an accountant's disdain for a waste of good money. "And when he gambles, he drinks. And when he drinks, he talks. Endlessly." There was a roll of blue eyes.
I could see Niko turning it all over in his head, every fact and nuance. There wasn't much the man would miss in the way of strategy and consequences; I had faith in that. Finally, he folded his arms and slid a glance toward Promise.
Immediately, she stood and said coolly, "We shall discuss it and get back to you."
Caleb was disappointed, very much so, but tried to take it manfully. Or monsterfully, depending on your point of view. Already fair, he paled to a transparent white and his hand shook hard enough that the pen tumbled from his fingers. But he swallowed and said tightly, "I bow to your business protocol, of course. Please, call me when you've made your decision. Day or night. I'll make myself available."
From the looks of it, Cerberus would be even more disappointed, which obviously didn't bode well for our favorite accountant, but color me unsympathetic. When the door was shut behind us and we were making our way out of the building, I said with a grimace, "I'm thinking Cerberus is one big, bad puppy dog. Caleb is all but pissing his pants."
"Disgusting, but accurate," Promise agreed, her full lips twisting slightly. "Obsequious creature. I apologize, Caliban. He was much more socially acceptable at the first meeting. If I had known he would bring up your…" She hesitated and then finished, "I would never have considered him as a client."
I shook my head at the words. "Hey, don't worry. It's not the first time it happened and it won't be the last." It never would be the last, so I'd better suck it up and learn to deal. "So, Nik, what do you think?" I added ruefully, "About the job, not our piranha-toothed pal."
His lips thinned in distaste, but he allowed himself to be moved on to the more financially pertinent subject. "I think that the question would be, is Boaz worse than Cerberus?"