Ares in an all-black suit will be my undoing.
Ares in a suit perfectly tailored to fit his god-like body will be the death of me.
“Like what you see, Vengeance?” his voice is a purr.
“Oh shit.” I didn’t mean the words to come out, but the very pleased look on Ares’ face tells me they escaped.
“Right back at you, kitten,” he says as he walks by me,pausing just slightly, his lips only a breath from the shell of my ear.
My entire body breaks out in goosebumps.
Twenty minutes later, Billings stops the SUV half a block down the street. From here, Ares and I get out and walk. It’s not exactly quiet, but New York City never is. But it is eleven-thirty on a Wednesday. There’s at least not hordes of people out.
“This is it,” I say as my eyes lock in on the doors. There’s nothing exceptional about this place. It’s an old building, but I wouldn’t call it particularly charming. There’s an old wood door that isn’t necessarily classic. There’s one window that faces the street, but it’s small and kind of dingy. Considering the lights are off, it’s safe to say there are no events happening right now.
Ares walks straight to the door and tests it. Of course, it’s locked. But he pulls a set of tools from his pocket, and in literally no more than two seconds, he swings the door open.
“I don’t know why I kind of just expected you to just bust off the doorknob or something,” I admit, keeping my voice quiet as I follow Ares inside.
“Signs of breaking and entering don’t do anyone any good,” he says as he looks around. I can’t really see anything, the space is too dark. But Ares strides in, confident, knowing the exact direction he’s headed. So, putting my hands out in front of me while my eyes try to adjust, I cautiously step forward.
“There’s nothing special about this place,” Ares says somewhere in the dark. “Just like the place we met. Bar. Lounging. Bathroom. Augustus owns a hundred places that are better than this. So why the hell is he renting a place like this?”
It’s questionable to the thousandth degree.
Finally, my eyes start to adjust to the nearly non-existent light. He’s right. There’s a bar. There are five different couches set up throughout the space, a handful of other chairs. There’s a disco ball hanging from the ceiling. I see a clearly marked sign for a bathroom.
“Back door,” I point out, even as Ares takes a step toward it. I glance over my shoulder, checking we’re not about to get caught. But the door remains shut, and the voices outside pass by without hesitating here.
Ares pushes that door open, which reveals an even darker hallway. Ares reaches a hand back, and I take it, knowing I’m about to be blind.
“There’s a step down here,” he guides me in the dark.
Totally blind, I sweep my foot over the ground until I find the step, probably looking like an idiot to a vampire who can see in the dark. But I find level ground, and Ares sets out like it’s noon outside.
“It’s a hallway,” he tells me. “Three other doors so far. One for the restaurant next door. Others are open, just offices. I can smell outside air down this way, though.”
“So, there is a back exit,” I conclude, though truthfully, it was the only obvious answer. And sure enough, just a few seconds later, a door squeals as Ares pushes it open. Light meets my eyes once more.
We step out into the back alleyway. It’s a long one, servicing all the buildings that surround us. There’s a dumpster just to our right, but besides that, there’s nothing out of the ordinary out here, save for the homeless man sitting at the entry of it, a dog sleeping at his feet.
“It would be plenty easy to take someone out this way. Youjust walk right out onto the street,” Ares says as he takes it all in.
“Or load them up into your car,” I point out. “You could easily drive a whole truck up into here.”
Ares makes an affirmative noise. “I found some statements for the rental. Augustus only rented this place once. It’s the same case with the others. Only once, never the same place twice.”
“What about future Red parties?” I ask. “Has he put down any deposits on any other places?”
“Not that I can tell, but it’s got to be in the works,” Ares says as he guides me back into the dark hallway, and we pull the door closed behind us. “He’s been putting them on on a pretty consistent basis for over a year now. Every two to three weeks.”
“It’s got to be any day now,” I point out as I follow blindly behind Ares. “This weekend will be three weeks since the one we met at.”
“I’m guessing the Baron’s ball put it off,” Ares points out.
“So, it’s got to be next week,” I say as Ares guides me up over that step again, and we walk back into the rental space.
“Seems likely, but never count Augustus as predictable,” he says, closing the back door behind us.
