Project LOSS

Chapter 7

When Kai finally arrived home, he must have looked as fed up as he felt, because the ditsy cleaner girl did not flash him one of her usual disapproving looks. She actually looked a little sad, triggering a rare moment of pity. Kai decided not to mention the unkempt state of the decoy property, at least for the time being. He flopped into Vrethie’s lap, needing the closeness of a steady heartbeat.

Staring down with a smile Vrethie offered, “Pub?” reading his brother’s mind for the second time that evening. The pub in question was the Pip & Berry, a refurbished establishment on the outskirts of the city centre. Certain people were blessed with the ability to restore objects and even entire buildings and complexes to their former glory, by use of what Vrethie called a temporal shift. In the case of the Pip & Berry, however, “refurbished” meant an almost entirely dilapidated framework paved over with bits of plywood and corrugated metal sheet.

The interior, a clash of faded red and gold antique rugs and graffiti-laden walls, was dimly lit with fairy lights around the bar and vintage stained-glass lamps atop an eclectic mix of modern plastic and old pine furnishings.

Kai ran to the back of the room, smiling widely. “Yes! Our table is available.” Their favourite spot—a private six-seater booth located perfectly between the bar and the toilets—was topped with crumbs a few empty glasses but was otherwise unoccupied. The privacy and extra seats made it the ideal place to do business or catch up with acquaintances, though, for the most part, the pair took up six seats needlessly, a source of contempt for people who turned up later in the evening and couldn’t find a table.

“Two pints of whatever’s cheapest?” suggested Kai, passing his brother a handful of credits. He did not like to flaunt his wealth. Besides, in his vast experience, the cheap stuff was the best.

Waiting, Kai tried to spin a beer mat on its side but kept failing because of its frayed edges. He glanced up briefly to see Vrethie talking with possibly the most beautiful woman on the face of the planet.

Long, chocolate brown hair melted down her back, forming waves that broke around her waist. Kai’s imagination likened her to a mermaid; a rare gem of the deep sea nestled unexpectedly among the shady patrons of the bar. She seemed to shimmer—as if generating a light source all of her own—as she played innocently with her hair and laughed. The festive fairy lights decorating the bar rendered dull in comparison.

Please let her be a customer and not just another of Vrethie’s admirers.

Kai was rarely envious of Vrethie’s unfailing success with the opposite s*x, for he had little patience with women, or people in general. On the rare occasion he was attracted, little bubbles of jealousy over his charming and more attractive brother would rise to the surface, expressing themselves as yet more foul moods and a stormy temper. Vrethie and Kai were actually very similar in their facial features, differing mostly their colouring. Ice-blue eyes like Norwegian glaciers set above sharp cheekbones, were stunning set against Vrethie’s backdrop of long ebony waves and dark skin. In combination with what Kai liked to describe as ‘shitty blonde’ hair and milky tones, however, they became the pallid, lifeless eyes of a corpse, as Meredith had taken joy in pointing out many times. He usually responded by insulting her wiry, boyish figure and wound up confused by her boasts that her flexible form allowed her to get her feet behind her head.

Oh great, she’s coming over… Act natural.

Kai felt a fluttery palpitation in his heart as the beauty approached, hips rolling like the tide beneath a thin layer of blue silk. Women rarely had such an effect on Kai, and it made him uncomfortable. Prickles of hot skin irritated his neck.

Not wanting her to realise the impact she was having, Kai took the eagerly awaited pint of ale from Vrethie without looking in her direction. He had yet to make eye contact with her, gathering all visual data from his superior peripheral vision.

Concentrate on other things… The familiar smell of stale beer. The stickiness of the patchwork carpet beneath my boots. Sounds of nearby conversations.

The girl stopped at the table and coughed. It appeared she was waiting Vrethie to speak for her or provide an introduction, but for whatever reason, Vrethie left her hanging.

“Customer?” Kai guessed, still pretending disinterest in the woman who had captured the attention of every male in the room.

“I take it you have been through all the usual rigmarole,” Kai asked, referring to the preliminary meeting all potential customers must first attend with his decoy. This practice helped Kai remain anonymous and weeded out the time-wasters. Kai’s decoy, a man known only as ‘The Donk’, was a solid block of a man, his stature far more befitting of what most people envisioned Kai to be. At eight-foot tall and roughly eight-foot-wide, Donk was the image of pure strength and physical prowess surpassing the realm of possibility. In actuality, The Donk would struggle to best Vrethie in a physical competition, his abilities being more in the mental spectrum, but no one needed to know this.

 “Hmm… she passed bar a small issue,” said Vrethie, an oddly amused smile flitting about his lips.

“I’m just a little shy of the thirty-five thousand price tag,” explained the woman, taking a knee beside Kai who, as a steadfast rule, did not give discounts.

“Your brother explained that you don’t offer discounts,” she continued, “but I was really hoping you could make an exception?”

As she stared up expectantly, Kai could put it off no longer. His eyes met her wide, pleading violet orbs with all the indifference he could muster. It was worse than he feared; her beauty far surpassed his wildest expectations.

In reaction to the teen’s hesitation, and perhaps mistaking stunned silence for anger, she babbled, explaining she wouldn’t usually make such a request, were it not imperative that her problem be dealt with right away. It wasn’t a relative or friend she desired returned, but a dangerous enemy she needed handling. Her problem was of her own doing, it turned out, as she explained the credits on the table for payment were stolen from said enemy. Parting with the credits was no problem, however, if it saved her from the wrath of the men she had the bad sense to steal from.

“I know I’m undeserving, but I swear if you help me, I will find a way to pay you back in full,” she promised.

Kai pondered the woman’s words in silence, wishing she was a candidate more deserving of his mercy. If he gave the beauty a discount based on nothing more than his attraction to her, he would never hear the end of it. He couldn’t decide if it was worth the barrage of lectures on morality and ethics that would inevitably be piled upon him from atop Vrethie’s high horse.

 “Maybe there’s another way I can pay you?” she suggested in a last-ditch attempt, breaking the silence with the desperate offer. Staring into his eyes, she placed a hand on his thigh and squeezed, brushing her ample chest against his knee as she moved closer.

 “I don’t see why not?” Kai almost breathed the words out all at once, hearing his voice break.

He gave Vrethie a sideways glance and a half-smile; a look intending to both convey his helplessness in the face of such beauty and ask for a break.

The woman smiled and bounced up as she thanked him. Kai tried his best to nurture an air of business-like detachment.

“So, do you have a picture of the target? Makes it easier for Vreth to locate them if you do.”

She passed a faded photograph of a nondescript man wearing a black suit and shades to Vrethie, who took it in silence.

Kai scribbled his address on the back of the beer mat he was still gripping and flipped it to the woman with a flick of his thumb. She caught it with ease between her index and middle finger and placed it into her bra.

That was hot, Kai thought, trying not to stare at her chest.

“Drop off the 32K you have tomorrow morning,” Kai instructed. “Vrethie will then locate the mark, and I’ll do my thing.”

“I appreciate this so much,” Miaka said before leaving the pair to continue their evening of silent drinking. Though unspoken, Kai could sense Vrethie’s anger, and had a reasonable suspicion he knew the reason. A few months earlier a friend of Vrethie’s asked a similar favour, to which Kai vehemently refused, despite Vrethie’s willingness to forgo his cut.

Kai realised now he’d been too harsh. He always got the final say in any job since it was he alone who could perform the actual task. Kai knew the power it gave him, and sometimes he liked to withhold that power, even from friends. In this case, however, his unwillingness to budge was a subtle act of revenge against his brother in lieu of a prior altercation between Vrethie and the pair’s father figure. Vrethie had never revealed the cause of the vicious argument resulting in their adoptive father’s departure, despite much pestering on Kai’s part.

The pair, now sufficiently intoxicated, left the warm confines of the Pip & Berry to embark on the short walk back to their home: A converted block of flats they shared with Milo, a twelve-year-old orphan they had rescued.

Freshly fallen rain amidst an autumnal array of leaves glistened in the moonlight and filled the fresh night air with a scent Kai usually found pleasing. Tonight, however, he was not looking forward to the journey home.