Page 11 of Anarchy
That was an excellent point. The first time I met Silvaria, it only took five minutes before it seemed like a fantastic idea to punch her in the mouth to shut her up. And that was during my job interview for the library, not when she was getting arrested in front of all of her snotty ass friends.
Where the fuck was Kaine?
“Pay attention,” Felix said. “Shit is about to get real.”
I saw Silvaria stroll through the front door. No one moved to arrest her, but I also didn’t know who was an agent and who was there to bank. That got a little bit clearer as Silvaria pranced around the lobby giving people air kisses. The Paranormal Investigation Bureau seemed content to let this show of fake pleasantries go on for ages.
I didn’t even think these people liked each other. They just liked those of us they considered beneath them less, so they faked it around each other. I couldn’t imagine living like that. The only time I pretended to like someone I couldn’t stand was when it involved my job.
Silvaria finally made her way further into the bank and met with a man who took her into an office with no camera. None of the feeds had sound, but I could just imagine what she was saying to people. Any time Kaine and his men wanted to make their move would be great. I had a feeling when Balthazar liberated money from people, it couldn’t be traced back to him. Since Kaine was the one that asked him to steal that money, he’d better get his people in there and stop them from digging into it.
It seemed like ages, and it felt like my stomach was in my butt. What was going on in that office, and what the actual fuck was the Paranormal Investigation Bureau doing? Because from what it looked like on the camera feeds on my flat screen, it wasn’t a damned thing. Kaine could have done this in several places, but he chose to do it here, in front of her friends.
When the door opened again, Kaine appeared frog-marching Silvaria out in handcuffs. That sneaky motherfucker had been hiding in the office this entire time. It looked like she put up a fight when he was trying to get the cuffs on and was still throwing a tantrum.
Balthazar jumped off the sectional and struck a pose by my flatscreen. What was my vampire up to now?
“This needs sound effects.”
I had no idea what he had planned. I usually didn’t, but it always ended up being fabulous. Silvaria had magic dampening handcuffs off, but she reared her head back like she could physically fight off a well-trained dragon.
“If you do that again, I’ll use my dragon fire to burn all the hair off your body. Don’t challenge me. I’m the great Kaine Dragovich. I’ve brought down serial killers with just the power of my piss and vinegar. Don’t test me, wench,” Balthazar growled, giving a pretty excellent imitation of Kaine.
I fell out laughing. Watching Silvaria get arrested in front of all her rich friends after dealing with that shipping container and working underneath her felt good. Listening to Balthazar pretend like he could lip-read and give running commentary was just what I needed to get my mind off the fact that I hadn’t heard from Bram.
Balthazar gave a dramatic hair toss and struck a sassy pose.
“Do youknowwho I am? I bought my degree at the Academy of the Profane and my seat on the board. I’ll have your job for this! Everyone here will see I’m being mistreated.”
Balthazar sounded alotlike Silvaria. I had no idea he was so good at this, but it didn’t shock me. My eyes kept darting to Balthazar and my flat screen because he wasnailingthis.
Kaine gave a curt nod to someone, and then the entire bank was in chaos. Apparently, Silvaria wasn’t the only person they were arresting today. Undercover agents sprang into action and started rounding people up. These rich people weren’t going down without a fight, but a few tried to run.
He wasn’t on my board or Ravyn’s, but a fairly prominent warlock tried to run and got body tackled by what had to be a massive shifter. Felix and Gabriel were super into sports. Felix liked cricket, and they were both fond of supernatural dodgeball. Little Beyla told us all about human dodgeball, and we were all so confused. We didn’t really see the point in it, and even I was offended.
Reyson was slowly getting into the world of contact sports on the television. They all sat up and started cheering the agents on like this was the world playoffs for dodgeball. Even Balthazar was into it and changed his commentary like he was some really bizarre sportscaster.
“And the warlocks are now fighting off the shifters and losing spectacularly. I think that big, beefy wolf may have dislocated something on that shifty warlock, but no one is throwing penalty flags in this game. The succubae are disarming the shifters by making them a little horny with a touch. I hope they know what they are doing because I’ve also had to fight off a randy werewolf with a boner, and it’s so not fun.
“Oh, fuck. There’s now a coordinated banshee attack. The home team we’re all rooting for appears to be wearing jock protection for their ears because the shrieks didn’t affect them. The bad team that we all know only won their awards because they are horrible cheaters and pay off the refs are dropping like flies.
“It’s a beautiful sight, folks. The home team brought those cheating bastards to their knees. Literally. They look pretty dazed at their loss, and some of them are bleeding from the ears. Some of the spectators got a little too close to the action for their liking, but they are breathing a sigh of relief that the game is over and they aren’t part of the casualties. I’m calling it, folks. The home teamdestroyedtheir opponents.”
Felix liked to give Balthazar a hard time, but one thing Felix could appreciate was a violent sports match. He jumped up and gave Balthazar a standing ovation for turning this arrest into one. Gabriel and Reyson were clapping and whistling.
I had other ideas. Balthazar was so extra all the time, and I knew other people gave him a hard time about it, but I loved every minute of it. I was sure all those people who got arrested with Silvaria at the bank also rented space at that warehouse. I was also fairly certain Kaine roped the bank into getting them all there to round them up at once.
I could appreciate that on a deep emotional level. The only reason we even got to watch this was Balthazar made damned sure it was entertaining. I flew off the sectional and practically tackled him with a hug.
“I love you!” I blurted out.
I’d never said that to a man before. It just kind of came out, but it was true. I meant it, and it felt good. All of this did.
“I mean it—all of you. We won something today. Yeah, I haven’t heard from Bram yet, which worries me, but look what we did together. All those people had to have nasty shit at that shipping yard to get busted like that. Kaine wasn’t fucking around. We make anamazingteam, and I love all of you.”
Reyson leaned back into the pillows with a smirk on his face.
“I told you, my witch.”
