Priestly snorted. “I’d take you two over my parents any day.”
“Well,” Mal said, spreading his arms to encompass the room filled with contraband, “we’re clearly better role models.”
Priestly’s father was a white-collar criminal who’d gotten fifteen years for embezzlement—right after he disowned his son for coming out as gay. Good riddance, as far as Mal was concerned.
Hefting the bag to take his leave, he noticed Priestly’s demeanor shift, tense and antsy now that he knew his time with Mal was limited. “Something else on your mind?” he asked.
“I saw Sean Dunkirk in the area again,” Priestly admitted. “Couple days ago. He didn’t do anything. I couldn’t tell if he was carrying, but—”
“Tell me immediately when something like this comes up,” Mal spoke to him directly. “If Dunkirk’s showing more of a presence lately, you know why.”
“Got it, boss. Sorry.” Priestly averted his eyes. “He was alone. I figured that meant Dunkirk Senior wasn’t giving him any support.”
“He’s not, but that doesn’t mean Sean is any less of a threat. Next time, tell me the second you see him.”
“I will. I promise.”
“Think nothing of it, Hart, but stay alert. Titans have to watch each other’s backs, remember?”
A relieved smile twitched at Priestly’s lips. “Yeah, boss.”
Most people would assume the man’s presence was mob-related or doubt the importance of a single figure, but Dunkirk’s show of impertinence had nothing to do with territories. Mal had expected for him to start lurking again, because the last time Dunkirk came snooping was six months ago—just like Danny.
ß
“So that’s the deal,” Danny said, all his cards on the table, including his identity. “You help me with Thanatos on the day I specify and keep my identity a secret, and I’ll leave you alone. I’ll make a good show of things whenever you pull a heist, so the public doesn’t catch wise, but if I win, I’ll let you go. I’ll never take you to the police, and you’ll never see me in your neighborhood again.”
“Let’s not get carried away, Sparky,” Mal said. “I wouldn’t say no to a drink someday. Onyou, of course.”
Danny fell into an easy chuckle that made his dimples crease. The way his body moved, his voice, his power, had entranced Mal from day one facing Zeus, but seeing the real him was far more appealing. “Just promise me you’ll be there, Ice Man.Please,” he said, a little too openly for Mal’s taste, far more vulnerable than he should risk in front of his nemesis.
AndPrometheuswas his nemesis, not Thanatos. That title carried a certain amount of respect despite being at odds. Thanatos never understood that.
“I’ll be there,” Mal said.
The thing was, he’d had every intention of following through.
ß
As Mal headed toward one of his safe houses to deposit the items he’d acquired from Priestly, he thought back to six months ago when he’d last seen Danny. He’d carried out a simple heist right after Thanatos was defeated, and Danny had delivered him to the police without a second thought. After all, Mal hadn’t fulfilled his end of the bargain.
When the kid slapped power-dampening cuffs on his wrists—asDetective Grantnot Zeus—Mal had whispered to him with a twist of a smile. “I still know your secret, Sparky. I won’t spill the beansthis time, but does that make us even for my little no-show?”
Danny had looked at him as thoughhewere the one with a heart of ice. “Not a chance,” he said and slammed the squad car door.
Mal broke out of prison a month later, but the kid never came calling to drag him back. Now, Mal couldn’t help but wonder what Danny might be up to.
Chapter3
Danny hissed as Lynn cracked his nose back into place, then handed him a damp cloth to wipe away the blood. She’d done the same for Camo first, cleaned him up as best she could so he’d be able to rest comfortably in one of the morgue’s store rooms until morning.
It might seem morbid that they held criminals in the precinct’s old morgue before transport to the Elemental wing, but it was the most secure place in the building, even more secure than theactualmorgue.
The whole past year of Danny’s life had been built on coincidence. After the encounter with Thanatos that triggered his Elemental Awakening, he’d blinked out of his first lightning jump right outside the precinct. Crawling his way to a side door that was blessedly unlocked, he lay in the hallway unsure of what to do, while his heart rate seemed out of control and he could barely breathe as his powers stabilized.
That’s when Andre and Lynn had found him.
As a detective at the precinct, Danny knew them both, but only in passing—Andre Vaughn the CSI and Lynn Rivers the medical examiner. It wasn’t until that night when they happened upon Danny by accident that the three of them became close.
