Page 101 of Saving the Last Heir
She glanced back at me, not an ounce of shame or regret on her face. “You people,” she said with derision. “You think everything is about honor? Sometimes it’s really true what they say. Money talks, and bullshit walks.”
Shaking my head in confusion, I said, “But they’re your people. You can’t just?—”
“Listen, rich boy,” the woman said, glaring at me over her shoulder. “It’s easy to have morals and integrity when you don’t have to worry about where your next meal is coming from. It’s easy for you and those fucking Bauer assholes. You snap your fingers, and you get what you want. Do you know how many dirty sheets I’ve changed? They aren’t my pack, I work for them. I’ve done bullshit jobs for those people for almost two decades. I remember when Christian was a fucking teenager. I had to clean up his fucking crusty masturbation socks, for God’s sake. And now I’m doing the same for his asshole brother.” She leveled a finger at me. “And nowtheyordermearound? Fuck that. When Mr. Anitoli approached me and offered me more money than I’d make in a whole lifetime of working for the Bauers? I couldn’t say yes fast enough. So fuck you and your indignation. Fuck you, fuck them, and fuck that little bitch in the trunk. Now watch your goddamn mouth before I tell Mr. Anitoli to kill your little sister.”
She turned back around and glared out the window. I sat, in shocked silence, several different emotions warring within me. I wanted to call her a traitor and an honorless, soulless, heartless bitch, but I also understood how easy it was for people to be turned. Some money? A little power? The removal of a rival? Any of those, plus more than a dozen other reasons, could getanyoneto turn their back on the people they considered family or friends. How easy would it be to turn a servant? Regardless of how well Christian’s family treated their staff, there would always be that separation. Servant and master, employee and employer, the haves and the have-nots. Anitoli probably didn’t even need to offer this woman much to become an informant. There was also the chance that along with money he may have threatened her in some way, like he had with me. At this point, God only knew what kind of deal they had.
If we ever managed to save our race, I would remember this. I’d pass the knowledge of this moment down to any children or grandchildren I might have in hopes that they would remember.
“You’re a little ball of sunshine, aren’t you?” Shyanne finally said, glancing sidelong at the other woman.
The maid gave Shyanne a withering look and sniffed the air, her look going from disgust to surprise. “Ahuman?” she said, then looked at me again. “You really are pulling out all the stops. Mr. Anitoli will be pleased. It shows you have drive and courage. Well done.”
I opened my mouth and retorted, but she held her hand up. “No talking. Let’s just drive. I’d rather that than to hear any more bullshit you might try and spout. Unless,” she added, lifting her cell phone, “you want me to call and complain about you to Mr. Anitoli?”
With a frustrated sigh, I sank back into my seat. Shyanne remained silent, but from my vantage, I watched her knuckles turn white as she gripped the wheel.
“Give me your phone,” the maid demanded a few minutes later, looking at Shyanne.
“Why?” Shyanne snapped.
“Do you know where we’re going?” the maid asked, her voice thick with ridicule.
Shyanne was silent for a moment, then her eyes flicked up to her rearview mirror to meet mine. I gave her a slight shake of the head, and she huffed out a breath before pulling her phone free and handing it over. After a few seconds of tapping, she handed it back.
“Go to that address,” she said.
“How the hell would we know where to go if you weren’t with us?” I demanded.
She shrugged, unconcerned. “If I didn’t have the chance to intercept you when you tried for the girl, Mr. Anitoli would have texted you. This makes things easierandless likely you two will try some shit. Though, I don’t think he has anything to worry about. I saw the way you laid out your best friend back there. You’re committed to your sister.”
Good. Even Joseph’s spy had bought our act. That meant there would be less suspicion of me and less chance that they may anticipate a trick.
Driving on in silence, my mind sank in on itself. I should have been happy that I was close to getting my sister back, but was thatreallytrue? After what Shyanne said, and my own experiences, I had a hard time believing Joseph would hand over my sister’s egg. Not when I’d proven to be such a good and obedient pet for him. No, he’d keep holding my sister’s life over my head until he could get nothing more from me, or I ended up dead or in prison. That was the fact.
After everything I’d seen, I didn’t trust the drakes as far as I could throw them. Many of their species were fine and good people. The problem was, a large portion were like Joseph Anitoli, and wanted nothing more than to see the end of winged dragons once and for all.
Glancing at the front seat again, I watched the woman twist her fingers together in her lap. A sign of anxiety and worry.
“What’s your name, anyway?” I said.
She didn’t bother looking at me. “Jaden.”
“Well, Jaden,” I said, “I hope this is all worth it for you.”
Her shoulders stiffened, and rather than retorting, she turned her head to look out the passenger window.
That’s what I thought. Had money exchanged hands for her help? Probably, but she was acting stranger than a simple underling would. It was possible she was just scared something would go wrong, but it was more likely that Anitoli was usingothermeans to control this woman. Perhaps she was exactly like me. Did the mobster have her child? Her partner? A parent? Was there some secret she couldn’t allow to be revealed, and he was threatening to do that? Whether true or not, I chose to believe that instead of believing that someone would turn on their own kind for nothing but money. If nothing else, it made me feel incrementally better about the whole thing.
“It says we’re about thirty minutes out,” Shyanne said as she pulled the car out onto the highway.
“They’ll be waiting for us,” Jaden said absently, then she looked around the car with obvious distaste. “You couldn’t have found something nicer?”
“It’s a classic,” Shyanne said, sending a dagger-sharp glare across the car to the other woman.
“I heard about the last car. I assumed you’d have something better than this,” Jaden said.
The car was an early-nineties sedan. Shyanne had done a ton of work to soup it up so it would make a good getaway car. She’d installed a turbocharger, an upgraded intake and exhaust system, computer-tuned fuel injection, and somethingcalled sway bars that improved handling. All of it done in such a way that the car still retained its original look. That was important to our plan. The car needed to look harmless. In fact, Jaden’s assessment made me breathe a bit easier. It meant we’d succeeded in camouflaging it, and that would help with the second part of our plan. They’d hopefully never suspect theotherchanges we’d made.
