The Enemy Within (Daughters of the People Series Book 3) (20 page)

“Yup. Elizabeth
approved and everything.” His steady hazel gaze held an odd mix of pity and
triumph. “Figured you’d heard by now.”

Fury. That’s what
was running through her. A twisted, bitter fury that her sister had chosen to
mingle her life with this Son and risk submitting. Her sister, who had shared a
womb with her and been her other half until that stupid man had unfurled his
whip over a prank, a nothing, and Indigo had left her, retreating into a shell
and abandoning India to a world that would never love her half as well as her
twin had.

India swung out
and backhanded Bobby in a powerful blow that jerked his head around and sent
the chair teetering. “You’re
lying
.”

“Nope.” His gaze
settled on her as he spat onto the carpet, sending bloody spittle through the
air. “We’re getting married in the spring.”

She hit him
again, so numb the sting of the blow was lost to her. The satisfaction of
seeing his head pop around was not. “I’ll kill you before I let her marry you.”

He laughed, a
hard sound that stoked her anger higher. “Too late. I already wear her
aenkanien
.”

India gasped. He
was lying, in spite of everything. Men. You could never trust them. She yanked
out her spare knife and walked around the back of the chair. A quick downward
slash and the knit fabric of his shirt tore down the middle. She ripped it away
and felt the air squeeze from her lungs at the sight of the tattoo imprinted
into the skin covering his left shoulder blade. A dove. The rings symbolizing
eternal devotion. Sweet Goddess, it was true. Indigo had taken him not just as
a lover, but as her mate.

“Is she…” India
cleared her throat, opened her lungs, searching for air. “Did she submit?”

“No.” The softly
spoken word fell between them like a wall dropping. “She claimed me anyway.”

Her palm itched
against the knife’s leather-bound hilt.

She could cut it
off.

The idea sprang
into her mind fully formed. If she cut off the
aenkanien
, Indigo would
be free of him.

India’s fingers
tightened on the knife.

They could be
sisters again, the way they once had. Working together, sharing everything.

Her last night
with Hiro shuddered through her.

Well, maybe not
everything, but he was just a man, nothing compared to the love one felt for a
sister.

“I don’t know
what you’re doing back there, but think hard on it.” Bobby twisted around to
peer at her over his shoulder. “Forget for a minute that my mom is gonna come
after you. Indigo’s the one you need to worry about.”

“My sister will
never harm me.” Guilt twisted in her gut. No, Indigo wasn’t the sister who
lashed out and hurt her family. “And she won’t miss you, once you’re gone and
this stupid prophecy is stopped.”

“She wants my
children.” He turned around and slumped against the chair’s low, rigid back.
“Do you really want to get in her way on that?”

Indigo pressed
the tip of the knife to the dove’s forward wing, hard enough to draw blood.
“She’ll find another lover.”

“Not like me.”

Indigo twisted
the knife, working it upward under the skin. Bobby yanked away from her with a
hiss, far enough that the blade slipped out, leaving a thin line of blood. If
Olivia had secured his torso to the chair, he wouldn’t have been able to pull
away.
Stupid girl
. Always secure a Son thoroughly, otherwise they could
break free. That was the problem with having compassion for a mere mortal male.
They never stayed where you put them.

India reached
out to haul him back and was seized from behind by strong arms.

“Leave him,”
Olivia hissed, and squeezed until India dropped her hand. “No harm must come to
the Son and you know it. What were you thinking?”

India drew in a
shaky breath. Rational thought trickled in through the miasma of hatred and
anger, and she closed her eyes at her own stupidity. She’d almost blown the
whole thing because she hadn’t controlled her emotions.

Hiro would be so
ashamed of her.

Of course, he
would be really pissed when he saw the security footage of her carrying Bobby
off.

Not that she
cared.

The sick roil in
her gut said otherwise. She shuddered out a breath and clamped down on her
emotions. Now was not the time to go all gooey over a man.

Olivia gradually
let India go. “Give me the knife or you’ll have to leave.”

“Watch it, kid,”
India said as she handed her knife over. She didn’t need it to have fun with
Bobby. “You’re not nearly as tough as you think you are.”

“Try me,” Olivia
said. She slapped a bottle of aspirin into India’s hand and stalked out.

“The fuck did
you think you were doing?” Bobby said. “Maiming me isn’t gonna keep Indigo from
loving me.”

“So now she
loves you, huh.” India set the bottle down and stalked around the chair to face
him. “We’ll see how much she loves you when I send you back to her in pieces.”

She raised her
fist and, with a familiar, malicious glee, rained the wrath of a scorned sister
down upon him.

Through the
glass wall between the hall and the break room, Laura appeared fragile, human.
Her shoulders slumped, fine wisps of her hair spilled around her face, loosened
from Laura’s habitual bun, and a bruise bloomed across her jaw.

Fragile or not,
this girl had betrayed Bobby. Temper lashed at Indigo in tandem with the cold
chill creeping up her spine. India held Bobby in her tender mercies and they
needed to find him. They needed information, and though Laura refused to talk,
she was the best source they had.

Indigo pushed
back the emotion, the urgency and fear, and reached for control. Laura would
talk. Indigo would see to it.

She pushed the
door open and stalked into the room, nodding politely to the one man Drew had
left behind as a guard. Laura’s eyes met hers then skittered away. Satisfaction
shot through Indigo. The younger woman was right to be frightened.

She stopped
three feet away, pulled out a chair, sat down to look at the woman who had
betrayed Bobby in the worst possible way. She kept her gaze steady and direct,
and waited.

After a few
moments, Laura crossed her arms over her chest. “I have nothing to say to you.”

“That’s fine,”
Indigo said. “The police will be here soon. They’ll be very interested to see
the security footage of this room.”

Laura blanched.
“You can’t prove I did anything, footage or not.”

“Oh, but we can.
No doubt your fingerprints are on the glass Bobby drank from and the residue of
whatever you gave him is still inside.” Indigo shrugged and tried not to enjoy
herself too much. “Whether you’ll be charged with kidnapping or being an
accessory doesn’t matter. I’ll see to it you spend a long time behind bars atoning
for what you did tonight.”

“I’ll never go
to jail. My lawyer will get me off with probation, maybe community service.”

“Really? Hmm.”
Indigo leaned forward and speared Laura with a deadly stare. “Do you think I’ll
let you off that easily?”

Laura laughed, a
breathy sound that barely made it past her lips. “You can’t touch me without
bringing the police down on your head.”

“Can’t I?”

Indigo met the
guard’s eyes. He left with a nod and assumed a position on the other side of
the break room’s doors, out in the hallway with his back to them. Indigo
slipped her jacket off, folded it, and laid it on the next table over.

“The thing about
betraying a friend is that a lot of people are willing to look the other way to
see justice done.” Indigo slipped the rings from her fingers, unfastened the
charm bracelet and matching necklace Elizabeth had given her for her birthday
last year, and set them aside. “Zena, for instance. She was rather upset when
she watched Bobby’s kidnapping through the security feed. Apparently, she stays
late most nights, monitoring the premises, tinkering with her gadgets. Did you
know?”

Laura shook her
head faintly, her brown eyes large and round in her ashen face. “What are you
doing?”

“Getting
comfortable. I had a long chat with Zena tonight.” Indigo slipped off her flats
and nudged them out of the way. An ancient Italian gentleman had hand-crafted
them for her on her last visit there and they would be impossible to replace. “Now,
Drew insists she’s tight-lipped, won’t spill a thing to him about her past, but
I had no problem getting her to tell me how a job with BDH saved her and her
family, lifting them out of poverty and a harsh life in one of Atlanta’s worst
neighborhoods. When she came to work here, she bought her mother a house in a
nice subdivision out in the suburbs and now she’s putting her little brother
through school. Such a sweet girl.”

Laura choked on
a breath. Zena was many things. Intelligent and sharp, in more ways than one,
but sweet was stretching it a bit. Indigo slipped the top button free from her
blouse.

“What are you
doing?” Laura said again in a voice shaky with the first threads of fear.

“Taking my shirt
off. It’s pure silk, quite delicate, and I really want to be able to wear it
again after tonight.” Another button and another. “Zena was so upset about
Bobby, she agreed to cut the security feed to this room during our chat.”

Laura stood
suddenly and Indigo shoved her back into the chair one-handed.

“Try to leave
again and I’ll make it twice as hard on you,” she warned.

Laura clutched
the chair’s arms. “What are you going to do to me?”

“Whatever I see
fit.” The last button slid free. Indigo pulled the shirt off and draped it over
the back of a chair, then undid the fastening of her slacks. “The thing is, you
drugged my husband.”

“You’re not
married yet,” Laura said in a thin, choked voice. “Bobby said so.”

“We haven’t had
a formal ceremony, true,” Indigo acknowledged. She slid her slacks off, folded
them, and placed them on top of her jacket, and stood in front of Laura in the
matching lace bra and panty set she’d worn to tease Bobby with later, before
this woman had drugged him and allowed India to carry him away. A thin shaft of
rage penetrated the icy calm. “But in the eyes of our People, the deed’s been
done, and was long before you came into Bobby’s life.”

“I don’t know
what you’re talking about.”

“You wouldn’t
because you’re an outsider, a mortal human, and no matter what you think, you
were never good enough for him. He would never have chosen you because he’d
already given his heart to me.” Indigo leaned forward and grasped the other
woman’s jaw in a firm grip. “How old do you think I am?”

“Urm.” Laura’s
breath rasped out of her. “Twenty-five?”

Indigo laughed
coldly. “One hundred and sixty two. Do you know how much you can learn about
pain in a century and a half, even when you’re not trying to?”

“You’re crazy.”

“I assure you
that I’m quite sane. Pissed, yes.” Indigo squeezed Laura’s jaw until she cried out
before letting go. “You harmed my husband. Another Daughter would’ve killed you
by now. Me, I want to see you suffer a bit before you die.”

A tear leaked from
the corner of Laura’s eye as she leaned as far away from Indigo as she could.
“You’ll never get away with killing me.”

Indigo lashed
out with her fist, popping Laura hard enough to break her nose. The other woman
screamed and bent over, hands clasped to her face, blood dripping between her
fingers onto the carpeted floor. Indigo walked behind her, dug her fingers into
the remnants of Laura’s bun, and yanked.

“When I was a little
girl, my mother skinned a man while he was still living, merely for daring to
strike her children.” Indigo ran a fingernail down the long, slender column of
Laura’s neck, and let the shudder of fear that ran through the other woman
stoke her own resolve. “How long do you think you would last, once I start
peeling your flesh away?”

“Please.”
Laura’s tears turned to quiet sobs. “Let me go. I promise I’ll leave. You’ll
never see me again.”

“I’m afraid that’s
not possible.” Indigo released Laura’s hair and brought her hand down in a hard
chop that bruised Laura’s back, drawing a high-pitched mewl from her. “No
matter what I do to you, Bobby’s mother and sisters will insist on coming after
you. They’ll go easy on you if Bobby’s returned to us undamaged, but if he’s
harmed in some way, well. There’s no telling what they’ll do to you, little
girl.”

Indigo stalked
around the chair to face the sobbing woman and casually backhanded her hard
enough to snap her head around. “The women of his family have led interesting
lives.” A punch to the upper arm, followed by a loud cry of pain. “They call
his mother Rebecca the Blade for her skill with the sword, earned in battle
centuries ago when she was still little more than a child.” A swift rib shot
snuck in under Laura’s raised hands, dealt hard enough to crack the bone and
elicit another screaming sob. “I wonder if she’s sharpening her blade now?”

“No,” a steely voice
said.

Indigo whirled.
Rebecca stood at the entrance to the break room wearing a threadbare plaid
shirt and worn jeans, calmly examining Laura slumped over in the chair,
moaning, and Indigo in her lingerie with Laura’s blood spattered along her
hands. Bobby’s sisters, all save Jerusha, and several other Daughters were
ranged out along the glass wall in the hallway, backs to the break room in an
unbreakable chain. No one was trying to get in, though several BDH personnel
snuck peeks over and through the wall of Daughters.

Rebecca walked
forward, grasped Laura’s jaw, and raised the young woman’s face to assess the
damage.

“Please help
me.” Laura’s voice wheezed out of her throat and her eyes were wild. “Please.”

“No, child.”
Rebecca dropped Laura’s jaw and leaned in until their faces were inches apart.
“Do you know who I am?”

Laura shook her
head slightly.

“I’m Bobby’s
mother. Whatever Indigo has done to you is a mere trifle compared to what
awaits you at the end of my hand.” Rebecca stood. “Where did India take my
son?”

“I don’t know. I
swear.” Laura sniffed once, winced and placed a delicate hand to her broken nose.
“She said she would exchange him for something important and he would never be
hurt. That’s all I know.”

“Pray India told
you the truth and no harm comes to my son.” Rebecca stepped back and gave Laura
a final dispassionate look before turning to Indigo. “The police are on their
way up. Hiro’s delaying them as long as he can, but they’ll be here soon. We
need to get you cleaned up.”

“Yes, Maetyrm.”
Indigo bowed solemnly. “There’s a shower in the gym one floor up. It should be
empty.”

Rebecca gathered
Indigo’s clothes into her arms. “We’ll take the stairs.”

Indigo turned
her back on Laura and followed Rebecca out of the room, ignoring the furtive
stares from the mortal men and women clustered around the break room’s door. Rebecca
didn’t speak on their way upstairs, through the gym, and into the women’s locker
room, leaving Indigo alone with the security feed playing in her head. Bobby
falling to the floor, given into India’s care by a woman he trusted. Her sweet
Bobby, who held her in the night and loved her as no man had ever done. Temper
leaked abruptly out of her, leaving a cold, tight fear. If something happened
to him…

Her lungs froze
in her chest. No, nothing would happen. She would find him and bring him home
and he would be ok. They would both be ok.

The footage
looped around and restarted, and her fingers curled into fists.

Laura, on the
other hand, hadn’t suffered nearly enough.

In the shower
room, Indigo stripped off her bra and panties and placed them in Rebecca’s
outstretched hand.

“I’ll check
these for blood while you clean up.” Rebecca set the underwear aside before
tugging out the clip holding her own hair back. “Turn around and I’ll pull your
hair up so you can keep it dry.”

“Thank you.”
Indigo turned, bending down enough so that Rebecca could bundle her hair up out
of the way. “I’m fine here if you want to go back downstairs.”

“I’ll stay, if
it’s all the same to you. We can chat while you shower.”

Indigo’s heart
slipped a notch. “Yes, Maetyrm.” She stepped into the shower, left the curtain open
so they could talk, and turned the water on, waiting for it to warm before she
stepped under the steady spray and squirted soap from the container mounted in
the stall into her hand. “How’s Robert?”

“Oh, he’s fine.”
Rebecca picked up Indigo’s bra and ran it through her fingers, examining the
fabric for blood spatter. “Miffed because I made him stay home. He’s in no
shape to traipse all over this building. He only agreed to stay after I pointed
out that someone might call our home with a ransom demand.”

Indigo bit the
corner of her mouth as she scrubbed her skin. That someone would probably be
her sister, which had to cut at Rebecca. How right Bobby’s mother had been to
bring India into the marital negotiations. Of course, if Indigo had known
India’s plan to kidnap Bobby, she would’ve nipped it in the bud before he could
be taken.

“This is very
nice lingerie.” Rebecca shifted the bra in her hand and focused on the other
cup. “Where did you get it?”

“A little
boutique in Buckhead.” Indigo squirted more soap into her hand and began to
work on the beds of her nails, where tiny spatters of blood had already dried
and caked. “Very exclusive. A lot of their inventory is handmade.”

“It’s too bad
you didn’t buy this in dark blue to match your eyes. The lavender is lovely,
but the blue would’ve made your eyes pop.”

Indigo wasn’t
sure what to say, so she held her tongue. How often did a woman have a
conversation about underwear with her soon-to-be mother-in-law, especially if
that underwear had been bought to entice said mother-in-law’s son? Rebecca
probably didn’t need to know that, though.

“I bet Bobby
went wild over this,” Rebecca said.

Indigo snorted
out an embarrassed laugh.

“Watch your
hair, dear. It wouldn’t do to get it wet.” Rebecca raised a knowing eyebrow.
“Do you think I don’t know what the two of you do when you’re alone? Child, I
learned about the birds and the bees well before your mother was born.”