Endless

Alick | Nick

We went to a pub close to the FBI building. I casually slid my hand down my side to check that my gun was in place. It was.

Romano caught me in the act. "You okay?" he asked, glowering towards a dark alley we passed. The man had been paranoid since the day we met. "You look jumpy."

I peered into the alley, then back at him. "You're a fine one to talk. Maybe you rubbed off on me."

He scowled at me, but said nothing. Usually I didn't mind his tendency to be quiet. In fact, I preferred it. Not tonight, though. Tonight, I had too many things to worry about. Like how I'd be able to let the Firm clean up without it noticing I was on the case, because this one would shoot straight up to the boss. For all I knew, the news was already headed his way. He'd recognize his youngest son in seconds.

I rubbed my hand down my face. Served me right for picking some heroic job where clean-ups sometimes needed to happen. No matter which way this went, I'd need to quit and start again. Somewhere far, far away.

I'd have to leave Aleria with Ryan.

No chance in hell.

The pub was a small place located not too far from the local precinct, so its patrons mainly consisted of off-duty cops, and sometimes their girlfriends, wives, or, depending on the guy, both, but never at the same time. It wasn't a fancy place by any means. The benches were wood with leather seats. The lights all had beer logos. The pool table had about eight people around it on quiet nights, but with the owner a former cop and all-round nice guy, the pub was popular. For now, the pub would be quiet, which was exactly what I needed. Once the shifts changed, things would pick right back up.

I went in and sat at the bar, ordering a vodka neat. By the time Romano arrived at my side, I was nursing my second. I missed the days when I could still smoke inside. I could have injected nicotine into my blood stream right now, but first, I needed to sit down and think. I closed my eyes, searching for a way out of this mess that wouldn't fuck up the nice life I'd built, but I couldn't find one.

Even by my fourth drink, I couldn't calm down to figure anything out. This wasn't good. It meant my brain had picked up on something I hadn't. Something supernatural. Something dangerous. And I couldn't figure out what it was.

Then he stood next to me. Six-foot-five, brown hair, buzz cut. Features that seemed to have been carved out of marble. Mean, dark eyes and a sneering smile. Oh, and a bouncer's body. His name was Alick. Fuck, I really hadn't wanted to see him again. Ever.

"Well, well," Alick said, his sneer quirking up a bit more. "I heard you were in town. Been looking for you for a while."

My muscles tensed up, but I kept drinking. Alick had to be here to kill me. Unless, of course, I burned through my juice and killed him first. I savored my excellent and expensive vodka, because the odds of dying within the next thirty minutes were about fifty-fifty. "Finally found me, then?" I asked, flipping over to Gaelic. Not the sort people talk now. Ryan's Gaelic; the extinct sort he'd taught us back when we were friends. It felt like my old life. It tasted terrible on my tongue.

He snorted and sat down on my other side, ordering a scotch. "Who's your friend?" he asked.

"Partner at work."

Romano, bless him, kept drinking, acting as if me speaking anything but English was perfectly normal to him. Typical cop. The moment something strange happened, they perked up, paid attention, and pretended not to.

Alick sipped his scotch. "I'm looking for Ryan."

I closed my eyes and let out a slow breath. How nice, the griffon hunter would have two powerful rogues and a phoenix protector to take home. Thing was, Ryan'd fuck him up in a heartbeat. "Look, I could tell you, but I doubt you'd want to meet him."

Alick rotated the tumbler on the bar mat, frowning. "Actually, no. I don't. But the boss wants to talk to him."

I had to laugh at that. "Talk. Mhmm. Sure."

"We're calling everyone in. Even you lot."

I chuckled, but his expression told me he was serious. And I'd know. Alick, Ryan and me used to run together for centuries. "Why?"

"Juiced up, aren't you?"

"Really? Do we need to do this here?" I tilted my head in Romano's direction, where he was still playing stupid. I sure as hell didn't want him to see anything go down if worst came to worst, or he'd be dead.

"Why not? Maybe he knows Ryan's whereabouts."

I narrowed my eyes, meeting his gaze. "I didn't know you want to die."

He laughed and took a sip. "Look, there's trouble. Some of the newer guard have grown ambitious and split off. They're for anarchy and ruling the world."

"But we already do—"

"Publicly."

I scowled and pushed my glass back at the barman. "Make it a triple," I said, briefly going back to English.

"It'll be war," Alick stated with chilling certainty.

What the hell. It wasn't like there was a point to trying to contain the news now. "I think it's already started. You know the plane crash?"

"Don't tell me."

"Two of us. They walked off the site and hijacked a car."

Alick blew out a litany of curses, pressing his iced drink to his brow. "We need Ryan, Niko."

Which, of course, gave us another problem. Alick had spent hundreds of years tracking rogues. Eventually, he would track Ryan down, and when he did, he'd find Aleria. Sadly for us, he'd recognize her as well. "Look. I'll tell him. Give me your number."

Alick dug his hand into his breast pocket and flipped a card onto the bar. "We can't wait long," he said and got up, leaving me to pay the bill.

Sonovabitch. The barman made to stop him, but I held up my hand. "I'll pay."

Romano faced me as soon as Alick was out the door, his sharp cop expression back on his face. "Want to explain what that was?"

"My past," I said, frowning. Somehow, I still had the feeling we were being watched.

His brows knitted together. "Are you in some sort of trouble?"

A ton of it, but I shook my head. "Nothing for you to worry about." I took a long drink. A pity. Surviving an encounter with Alick should have made the vodka taste better, but his news made it go sour in my stomach.

"You looked like he stepped on your grave."

"It's fine."

"And why does he want Ryan?"

I sighed. "He's a school friend."

"Interesting that you all keep bumping into each other," Romano remarked

"He's arranging a reunion." I downed my drink and stood. "I gotta go."

"To Ryan?" The question was innocent enough, but I knew this was trouble. Romano would eventually demand the truth. I couldn't give it. I'd lose the first and only friend I'd made in a long time.

I patted his shoulder, then picked up the card. I casually ran my fingers over its surface, but if there was a bug in it, I couldn't find it. "Yeah. Alick asked me to get Ryan to call him. See you."

I dropped some bills on the bar and headed to the door, but Romano's voice stopped me.

"If he's a friend from school, why didn't you just take him to Ryan?"

Damn it. "Let's just say they don't get along either."

"Right." He wore an expression I didn't like. One telling me he'd start digging as soon as I left.

I sighed and left anyway. 

The screws are really turning in for Nick. What do you think will happen next? Let me know in the comments. And please do vote if you enjoyed this section!