IT DIDN’T SEEM to matter how many times I woke up in the Chaos Crew’s apartment—each morning, I felt refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to tackle any challenge that came to our doorstep.
Part of my vigor might have been the realization that we had no more substantial challenges at our door. The mess I’d gotten the guys into when I’d first crossed paths with them had ended with the Blood Hunter’s life. They’d gone for years before now without any significant threats from other criminals, and we could continue our business for years more with his manipulative designs behind us.
I walked out of my room, stretching my back, and found Steffie in the kitchen with Brittany. The housekeeper was standing at one side of the stove, the girl at the other on a stool, Steffie giving strict instructions for our breakfast.
“Whisk the eggs, don’t stir them, lyuba,” Steffie said with her stern, lightly accented tone. “You want them fluffy, do you not?”
Brittany only nodded and tried to mimic Steffie’s gesture slowly. She didn’t quite get it, but it seemed to be close enough for Steffie’s approval, so she smiled down at the girl.
“Looks delicious,” I said with an awkward smile. I never knew quite how to behave around the little girl we’d unwittingly found ourselves in custody of. When Brittany looked up at me with a hopeful glance, I added, “Steffie will teach you how to make eggs better than any you’ve ever tasted.”
The girl brightened, and she continued whisking the way Steffie had instructed. Her other hand drifted to the worn stuffed tiger sitting on the counter next to the stove. She’d kept it close to her side since I’d offered it to her when we’d arrived here.
I’d assume the Blood Hunter had given her much fancier playthings than my ratty old toy. But it was the best we’d had, and maybe she could sense how much love had been poured into it. How much comfort it’d provided to another little girl who’d found herself far from home among strangers.
She could keep it, wherever she ended up after this. She needed it more than I did now.
I turned toward the table where Blaze and Garrison sat. They’d been hard at work since getting home, trying to find a living situation for Brittany, because it wasn’t as if she could live with us forever. I was just getting used to the idea of being a free human being—I had no clue how to be a parent on top of that.
The Blood Hunter had adopted Brittany at a young enough age that she had no idea who her birth parents were, and Blaze hadn’t been able to find any record tying her to another family. So we were looking for new adoptive parents, vetted much more carefully than the Blood Hunter had evaluated his own aptitude for fatherhood. Blaze was doing extensive background checks on every couple we considered, and Garrison would go out and maneuver himself into an assessing conversation with those who made it to our shortlist.
It was a complicated process, but we didn’t want to risk putting Brittany into another bad situation.
When she’d asked about what had happened to “Father,” as she referred to him, we’d told her that he’d had an accident and couldn’t take care of her anymore. I didn’t have the heart to explain the full truth, and probably it was too much for a kid to handle anyway. She’d withdrawn since hearing the news, but Steffie’s presence always cheered her up at least a bit, so the housekeeper had been a constant presence in the apartment over the past few days.
I ran a hand across the back of Blaze’s shoulder as I approached, and he leaned back into my touch, slowing his impressively swift one-handed typing. “So many dark secrets to unearth,” he said with a laugh. “I’d lose my faith in humanity if I still had any. Maybe we should just hang on to her.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Right, because we’re model parental figures here.”
Garrison tapped a pen to his lips. “I don’t know. Julius gives off definite dad vibes from time to time.”
Blaze snorted. “I never thought I’d hear you call Julius ‘Daddy,’ Garrison.”
Garrison glowered at the hacker, who grinned cheekily in response. Some things never changed, and I could tell their constant heckling was one of those.
Then Garrison shrugged, pitching his voice low so Brittany wouldn’t overhear. “Hell, it’s not as if we could be worse parents than the Blood Hunter.”
“Not exactly a high bar to meet,” I said dryly. “Keep at it. Even I know that it’s a bad idea to raise a kid in a home full of deadly weaponry.”
Garrison didn’t look as if he was disappointed by my refusal. He cocked his head as he considered the latest file Blaze had passed on to him. “I think these people could actually have real potential. We’ll just have to see if they let any red flags slip when I chat them up in person.”
Right then, Talon’s door swung open, but it was Carter who walked out. We’d brought him back to the apartment with us too, of course, but ever since I’d told him how his forgery efforts had helped us take down the Blood Hunter, something in him had relaxed. Maybe it was Steffie working her mother hen vibe on him too, or maybe it was him seeing how gently we were treating Brittany. Maybe he’d simply needed proof that he really could contribute toward his quest for justice in a different way, one that didn’t require hurting innocents.
In any case, after our first day back, we’d felt comfortable removing his restraints. We’d set up a cot in Talon’s room mainly because he was the one who’d grumbled the least about having to share. Julius was already talking about arranging a new home base—somewhere we could all have our own bedrooms and I wasn’t stashed away in the workout room anymore on a cot of my own.
The thought of a home designed with me in mind made me a little giddy.
We were still keeping a close eye on Carter, but he hadn’t shown any signs of regretting his new allegiance with us so far. The contrary, really. As he bustled over to us, Talon stepping out behind him with a baleful look in Carter’s direction, I could tell my brother was on another of his crusades.
He came up to the table and caught my gaze, keeping his voice quiet with obvious awareness of the little girl nearby. “I’ve got a whole list now.”
“A list?” Garrison muttered. “What are we, a grocery store?”
Carter made a face at him and then turned his attention back to me. He seemed to have decided that I was the ultimate authority in the crew even though that honor technically still belonged to Julius, but I didn’t mind him relying on me. That was exactly what I’d been hoping to offer as a big sister.
“A list of the worst crimes that’ve been reported in this city in the past few weeks,” he said. “We should figure out who committed those crimes and take them out. It’ll keep us busy for a while.”
As much as his use of “we” warmed me, I almost choked on my saliva at his declaration. Before, he’d only pointed out a couple of news stories that he thought we could apply our “justice delivery” skills to. Now he was scheduling the rest of our year?
“That’s… not really how we usually do things, remember?” I said carefully.
Carter waved off my objection. “Right, right, you wait until someone hires you. But no one hired you to destroy the Blood Hunter. Why shouldn’t we tackle other criminals in our free time?”
“Because we enjoy having some free time?” Garrison said with an arch of his eyebrows. “Why should we do the cops’ jobs for them? They should get paid for something too.”
My brother ignored him. “Don’t we have the resources to go after these people?” he demanded, still focused on me.
“Of course we do,” Blaze answered for me. “But we’re not superheroes. We wouldn’t have those resources if we focused on pro bono cases.” He paused and then motioned to Carter. “Send me your list. I’ll have a look. We might be able to fit in one or two if the trail is warm enough and they’re a real menace to society.”
My brother beamed despite Blaze’s use of “might” and tapped on his phone. “I’ll shoot it over right now. I included links to the news articles and everything.”
“Excellent data gathering and organizational skills,” the hacker told him while Garrison hid a smirk behind his hand. “I’m sure that’ll come in handy no matter what path you end up taking from here.”
Pride lit my brother’s face even more. I nodded, smiling back at him. “You can always tell us about your ideas, even if we’re not necessarily going to go along with them.”
Carter let out a huff. “I guess that’s fair,” he allowed.
“Breakfast is ready!” Steffie called out, prompting Julius to emerge from his bedroom too. Before I could settle into a chair at the table, my phone vibrated in my pocket.
Frowning, I stepped off to the side. As far as I’d known, the only people who had this number were here in the room with me.
“Hello?” I said warily.
“This is Decima of the Chaos Crew, I trust?” said the woman on the other end of the line. She spoke in a crisp professional tone that I didn’t recognize at all, with a mild accent that sounded like a blend of English and German.
My posture tensed. “Who is this, and how did you get this number?”
“Oh, we have our ways. I’m a representative from the Devil’s Dozen, and I’m calling in regards to your inheritance.”
The Devil’s Dozen. That was the group the Blood Hunter had said he was a part of—the thirteen crime lords who controlled the entire world’s illicit underground activities, if he was to be believed.
What kind of “inheritance” would they have in store for me after I’d murdered one of their number?
“I’m not interested in any inheritance,” I said, “and if this is supposed to be a threat, you’ll be asking for just as much trouble as the Blood Hunter faced.”
The woman laughed, a cool tinkling sound. “I’m sorry, you must misunderstand. We’ve gathered that you’re the one who conquered the previous Blood Hunter fair and square. He left no heirs who can take over. That means the position at our table and all his holdings pass on to you. You’ve earned them fair and square.”
I blinked in surprise, momentarily lost for words. Was she serious? “I—I don’t know anything about that. I wasn’t looking to take over his job.”
“Well, it’s all yours if you want it. Before you decide, why don’t you join a couple of us for a little chat so we can go over the details face to face? I’m quite intrigued to meet the woman who brought about his end. You can choose the time and place and bring whatever defenses you like, but I promise, we simply want to talk.”
I wavered on my feet, part of me wanting to reject anything to do with the Blood Hunter and his colleagues outright, part of me tangled up with curiosity. If this elusive, exclusive organization really did rule over all crime in the world, wouldn’t it be to our benefit to at least find out more about it? Her terms would make it easy to keep myself safe during the meeting.
I wet my lips and decided. “All right. Let me talk about it with my crew, and I’ll get back to you with the details.”
The two figures who waited for me at the picnic table in the park—the very spot where I’d first told the Chaos Crew the truth about my upbringing—looked more like business professionals than master criminals. But then, the same could have been said for the Blood Hunter. Maybe that was what master criminals looked like. After all, they wouldn’t get very far wearing flashing signs proclaiming themselves mafia bosses on their foreheads.
The woman sat with rigid poise, her gaunt face topped by a swirl of silver hair. Her thin body was clothed in a sleek indigo dress suit that made her dark eyes shine starker over her hollowed cheeks. The man next to her looked maybe a decade younger, his hair still dark other than its speckling of gray, though he was already developing heavy jowls to go with his thickset frame. He wore a suit as well, fitted and pinstriped.
I approached them with caution but no real fear. We’d scoped out the entire park ahead of time and watched these two arrive. They hadn’t brought any backup with them that we’d been able to identify. If they intended me any harm, they’d have to contend with all four of my guys stationed in concealed positions around this glade, guns already trained on them. I had a pistol of my own in a holster under my arm and knives hidden by my hips.
I sat down at the table across from them, keeping my posture loose and ready to react. The woman’s lips curled into a subtle smile. “I’m glad you agreed to come, Decima.”
It was the voice from the phone, but I’d figured as much. I gazed straight back at her and her colleague. “Here I am. Maybe you can start explaining why the hell you’d give the Blood Hunter’s entire estate to some stranger who’s not only a total unknown to you, but also his killer.”
The man chuckled. “We’re offering it to you precisely because you’re his killer. We have a code of honor, and we recognize when strength beats strength. Anyone who can topple one of us deserves a place in our ranks.”
“So you’re Devil’s Dozen members too?” I clarified. I hadn’t been completely sure whether they were the Blood Hunter’s equals or simply high-ranking lackeys of his fellow overlords.
The woman nodded. “We want to see our membership filled with those fully capable of handling the pressures and responsibilities that come with it. You’ve proven yourself adept at both strategy and stamina. And you’re hardly an unknown. We know about your kidnapping and your training under the Blood Hunter’s watch. It’s a pretty irony that he orchestrated his own destruction.”
“I don’t know anything about ruling a criminal empire,” I said.
She shrugged. “Few do. I believe you can step up to the challenge. If not, you can always choose an inheritor and step away. But it’s generally easiest in a squabble like this for the winner to take the spoils. You’d get control over all his business assets and personal property.”
“And what’s in it for you? Why don’t you all divide it up amongst the rest of you?”
The man shook his head. “That’s not how we work. The Devil’s Dozen maintains a balance of power between the thirteen of us. If we started consolidating, it’d ruin us in the long run. No one can hold on to too much without their empire imploding. You’ll be helping us by stepping in to fill that power vacuum as a force to be reckoned with before less deserving parties start making a grab for it.”
I was still grappling with the idea of all this being possible. “You just arrange to have everything transferred to my control? Simple as that?”
The woman’s smile came back. “The process will take some time, but yes, it is relatively simple in the long run. We can provide you with a little guidance, and I’m sure the men who have us in their sights right now will help you settle into your rule. All you have to do is say you’ll take the inheritance, and we can get started.”
I swallowed thickly. This seemed too incredible to be true and too intimidating at the same time. I didn’t want to be associating with criminals who were on the same level as the Blood Hunter. I’d be stepping farther into the fire instead of pulling back from it. I was never going to run things the way he had…
But maybe that was exactly why I should take this chance. I didn’t have to do things his way. If everything belonged to me, I could make my own decisions about what happened to his empire. I could disband the operations and income streams I disagreed with. I’d have access to all his records, the data I needed to help the other girls he’d sold and whoever else he’d victimized.
If I walked away, my life would be easier, sure. But whoever stepped up to fill the void instead might revel in the human trafficking trade. They might expand the Blood Hunter’s pursuits into even more horrifying areas.
This was my chance to make a difference on a global scale, to end so much of the kind of horrors I’d endured as a child, from right inside the den of corruption.
Part of me still balked, but I lifted my chin high. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity—I couldn’t abandon all the people I now had the ability to save.
“All right,” I said, the words falling heavy from my mouth. “I accept.”
