In fact, the entire structure of the belief system was predicated upon that not having occurred.
"How is this possible?" Layla breathed.
Payne's brilliant eyes were grave. "It was not what I would have wished. And it is not something I speak of."
In the tense moment that followed, Layla found it impossible not to see the truth in what the female spoke. Nor the strident anger, the cause of which one could guess at.
"You are a holy one," Layla said with awe.
"Not in the slightest, I assure you. But my lineage has provided me with a certain...how shall we say it? Ability."
Layla stiffened. "And that would be?"
Payne's diamond eyes never wavered. "I want to help you."
Layla's hand went to her lower belly. "If you mean get this over with sooner...no."
She had her young for such a precious short time within her. No matter how long the pain went on, she was not going to sacrifice one minute of what was no doubt her one and only pregnancy.
She would never put herself through this again. In the future, when her needing hit, she would be drugged, and that was it.
Once in a lifetime was too much for the loss she was sustaining now.
"And if you believe you can stop this," Layla tacked on, "it is not possible. There is naught that any may do."
"I'm not so sure about that." Payne's eyes were rapt. "I'd like to see if I can save the pregnancy. If you'll let me."
At the abandoned Brownswick School for Girls campus, Mr. C had taken up res in what had once been the headmistress's office.
The cracked sign outside in the hall told him so.
As there was no heat, the ambient air temperature was exactly that of the great outdoors, but thanks to the Omega's blood, cold was not a problem. And thank f**k for that: Across the overgrown, snow-covered lawn, in the main dormitory on the ridge, nearly fifty lessers were sleeping the sleep of the dead.
If those bastards had required BTUs or food, he'd have been shit out of luck.
But nah, all he had to do was provide them with shelter. Their inductions took care of the rest - and the fact that they needed to unplug from consciousness every twenty-four hours was a relief.
He needed time to think.
Jesus Christ, what a mess.
Compelled by an urge to pace, he went to push his chair back, and then remembered that he was sitting on an overturned drywall bucket.
"Goddamn it."
Looking around the decrepit room, he measured the plaster that was hanging in sheets from the ceiling rafters, the boarded-up windows, and the hole in the floorboards over in the corner. Place was just like the bank accounts he'd found.
No money anywhere. No ammo. Weapons that could be used for blunt-force trauma, and that was about it.
After his promotion, he'd been so f**king pumped, full of plans. Now he was staring at a whole lot of no cash, no resources, no nothing.
The Omega, on the other hand, was expecting all kinds of results. As had been made amply clear during their little "visit" late last night.
And that was another problem. He hated that shit.
At least he could do something about the rest of it.
Stretching his arms over his head and cracking his shoulders, he thanked God for two things: One, that the cell phones hadn't been cut off - so he could communicate with his men in the field, and had Internet access. And two, that all those years on the street had given him an iron fist when it came to controlling dumb-ass young idiots in the drug trade.
He had to bring in some paper. Stat.
He'd had a f**king plan for that, too, sending the Society's last nine thousand, three hundred dollars off with three of his boys at midnight last night. All those bastards had had to do was make the buy, get the dope, and bring it back here, where he'd cut the shit, then parcel it out to the new inductees for sale on the street.
Trouble was, he was still waiting for the f**king delivery.
And he was getting pretty goddamn impatient waiting to find out where either the drugs or his money had gone.
It was possible the cocksuckers had run off with one or the other, but if that was the case, he was going to hunt them down like dogs and show all of the others what happened when you -
As his phone rang, he picked the thing up, saw who it was, and hit send.
"It's about f**king time. Where the f**k are you and where is my shit."
There was a pause. And then the voice that came over the connection was not anything like that of the pimple-faced pusher he'd given the cell, the cash, and the last working gun the Society had to.
"I have something you want."
Mr. C frowned. Very deep voice. Laced with an edge he recognized from the streets, and an accent he couldn't place.
"It's not the piece-of-shit phone you're calling me on," Mr. C drawled. "I got plenty of those."
After all, when you didn't have anything in your hand, your holster or your wallet, bluffing was your only option.
"Well, good for you. Have you plenty of what you sent to me, too? Money? Manpower?"
"Who the f**k is this?"
"I'm your enemy."
"If you took my f**king cash, you bet your ass you are."
"Actually, 'tis a simplistic answer to what is a rather complex problem."
Mr. C burst to his feet, knocking over the bucket. "Where's my f**king money, and what did you do with my men?"
"I'm afraid they can't come to the phone anymore. That's why I'm calling."
"You have no idea who you're dealing with," Mr. C bit out.
"On the contrary, you are the one at that particular disadvantage - as well as so many others." When Mr. C was about to snap, the guy cut him off. "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to call you at nightfall with a location. You, and you alone, are going to meet me there. If anyone comes with you, I will know, and you will never hear from me again."
Mr. C was used to feeling disdain for others - came with the job when all you dealt with were two-bit street thugs and strapped drug addicts. But this guy on the other end of the connection? Self-controlled. Calm.
A professional.
Mr. C dialed back his temper. "I don't need to play games - "
"Yes, you do. Because if you want drugs to sell, you need to come to me."
Mr. C got quiet. This was either a lunatic with delusions of grandeur, or...somebody with true power. Like, maybe the one who'd been killing off all the middlemen in the Caldwell drug trade over the last year.
"Where and when?" he said gruffly.
There was a dark laugh. "Answer your phone at nightfall, and you'll find out."
Chapter Forty-three