Beneath the Watching

24. Stefan

24

STEFAN

When I let myself into Lucian’s office, after knocking twice, I found Ilya already waiting inside. He was in one of the upholstered chairs, legs spread wide and arms on the rests, a cigarette dangling from his fingers. Lucian was planted in his leather chair behind the desk, rolling up a scroll while staring at his laptop.

Ilya nodded to me, and I acknowledged him, taking the matching chair next to him. These meetings were a normal occurrence, Lucian summoning his councilmen to the office to go over a wide variety of topics concerning Fourth Realm business. This time was different, the gathering being narrowed down to solely the three of us.

“We’ve come to a solution for Kiara,” Lucian announced, steepling his fingers. Ilya shifted in his seat. “Stefan, you are going to accompany Ilya during the transaction, just keep an eye out.”

My eyes darted to Ilya before returning to the man opposite us. “Solution?” I asked.

Lucian nodded. “Yes, a solution. Kiara has become quite impossible, she’s completely enthralled, and I fear all hope is lost. Ilya will retrieve her and eliminate any barriers and when he returns, you’ll be waiting to observe.”

I was aware of Kiara’s enthrallment, having returned to the Third Realm when we’d heard she’d gone back and made a spectacle of herself with Ramone and Alexander.

Kiara had attempted to injure Ilya with her magic, squeezing his heart and nearly bringing it to a stop. She’d then had the nerve to yell at him about leaving her. The whole situation exhausted me and annoyed me to no end.

Ilya cleared his throat and ducked a hand in his jacket pocket to pull out another cigarette. As he lit the stick I stated, “I believe I warned you several times she was one hundred percent under Ramone’s spell.”

My best friend snarled at me. “She’s not, and she’s mine. She was promised to me.” Ash flicked to the floor. “I’m going to take his girl and the company.” The arrogance in the air was palpable, a cloud wafting around his head and chest.

Lucian continued speaking. “Ilya has arranged a proposal with Matthew, who has kindly agreed to exchange one of his artifacts for a temporary gift of historical rewriting.” My head snapped up. “It will be as if Kiara never cursed herself and her adopted parents never died,” he stated.

I knew who Matthew was, I’d heard of him although we’d never met. He was a disgraced archangel with a taste for rare and forbidden archeological wonders. Rumor had it that the lower level of his compound in California was loaded with the items.

“Are we sure this is a good idea?” Historical rewriting was a more palatable term for time traveling, going back to a particular point in time and changing life-altering circumstances. Interfering with curses and magic was never a good idea as the fates took great displeasure in being mocked.

Ilya crushed his cigarette in a crystal tray on the mahogany desk. “I’m sick of the mind games. I agreed to bring Matthew on board with Fulgere; he’s been looking to expand. This is the perfect opportunity.”

It was projection on his part, as he’d been the one engaging in games with the woman he’d claimed to love. His pride must've taken a nosedive if he was making risky business deals with the company he’d created with his rival. None of my thoughts would be verbalized since he hadn’t listened to me so far. He was a lost cause.

“Has this been discussed with Kiara?” The number of things that could go wrong had been escalating, with every decision these two men made regarding the young woman.

Lucian began clearing papers, shoving them into file folders. “The whole point is that she can’t know anything. She needs a firm hand and the opportunity to make the correct decisions.”

“And the angel believes this is for the greater good?” Matthew’s class of angels, while not especially holy, aimed for behaving in manners that contributed to favorable outcomes. Favorable being extraordinarily open to individual interpretation.

“It doesn’t matter what he believes, it's what he’s going to do,” Ilya said, gripping his armrests.

Letting out a deep breath, I replied, “When are we doing this?”

“You’re fucked up, you know that right?” I placed my empty tumbler down on the bar counter and arched a brow at Ilya.

He smirked, looking awfully pleased with himself. “It worked,” he said, shrugging a shoulder. “And I got rid of Ramone for a while. Who knew the devil had a heart?”

He’d paid the man to put himself in a soul coma—a temporary death of sorts—by appealing to Ramone’s supposed heart strings and reminding him if he continued his path, he’d end up killing the girl whether he wanted to or not. Magic, like what she had contained in her being was too strong to withstand the addiction.

Ilya wasn’t immune himself, but all of us demons had our individual differences and characteristics with some having greater self-control in the same areas that were the downfall of others. Without the humanity running through my veins, who knows what I would’ve been like, but I liked to think I’d act more as my best friend did than Ramone.

I nodded toward the table where Kiara sat with her friend Madison and their group. “What’s with the damn wine?” The bartender had brought over a bottle of the beverage that Mabel had claimed regenerated and was pouring it into a glass for the woman.

Ilya leaned back against the counter and watched, his expression softening. “It wasn’t until she drank some that she came back to the Fourth and I found her in the woods.”

“I never thought to question it but where did it come from?” The beverage had always been around, seemingly never running out. Apparently, it contained some blood—blood from Kiara’s birth mother and now some of her own, according to Ilya.

He lifted his glass and sipped before answering. “Not sure, never asked.”

“Mm,” I murmured, keeping a close eye on the festivities taking place across the dance floor of the casino’s club. Kiara seemed to be enjoying herself. She had no idea what was coming for her, and I was intrigued as to how all this would play out. I eyed Mabel’s ex, Al, sitting there. Little did he know his former girlfriend was safe and sound.

I’d listened as Kiara grilled him and he didn’t miss Mabel at all, his aura not allowing for the deceits that were spilling from his lips. It was obvious to us, but Kiara bought his lie of sadness hook, line, and sinker. Satisfaction filled me, knowing Mabel would never have to settle for second best ever again.

Never mind that, Al wasn’t even fifth best if I were being truly honest. The man looked like a hirsute horsefly and as far as I could tell, never encouraged her to develop into the woman she could be. He’d been content to let her flounder through life.

“Thanks for helping me move the body. The motherfucker was heavy.” Ilya was talking about our transporting of Ramone’s comatose body to Julian’s oceanside manor. Having word spread too far about Lucian and Ilya’s machinations was unacceptable so we kept things quiet and involved the least number of individuals possible to fulfill the men’s plans.

We watched as Kiara and her friends celebrated her birthday. She was oblivious to all the treachery and deception that’d led her to this moment. The whole charade even went as far as to have her be employed at Ramone and Ilya’s company, keeping her close in case anything should go awry. I almost felt sorry for her.

Almost.

Ilya straightened up, adjusting his sleeves, and smoothing both his jacket and his hair. “Time to do this,” he stated, eyes glowing.

He stalked across the dance floor, moving in for the kill. Kiara had stopped moving, her shoulders stiffening, and I had the feeling that things weren’t going to work out quite how my friend had envisioned.

Not my problem.