Dark Heart Series- His Lonely Reign

Chapter 3: Sweet Family Reunions

Sydney

As soon as the paperwork was signed and I was told to arrive first thing tomorrow morning, I bolted. It wasn’t because I was scared. Definitely not because of that. But I was definitely pissed off. I knew there was a possibility of a supernatural being CEO of Solv Logistics. That was almost a given considering they employed supernaturals in the first place.

But I had no idea he was going to be a Lycan or if EH knew what he was.

I’m not sure if it was some sort of extra test my father had set up or if they had really just forgotten, but either way, I didn’t like it. They let me go in missing critical information. Lacking that one piece of information could have just gotten me killed if I’d blown my cover.

Pushing the front doors, I melted into the crowded street. Even surrounded by people, out in the open, I still felt like eyes were on me. Like people already knew what I was doing and simply were waiting for their moment to strike.

Shivering, I stood on the curb, trying to hail a cab, the city busy as it always was making things like getting a taxi not that easy. After a few minutes, a yellow car sped to the curb in front of me. The cab driver dipped his head in greeting as I slid into the backseat. “Where to?”

“Madison Avenue.”

He grunted in reply, pulling away from the curb and straight into traffic. My fingers tapped along the car door, anxiety curling in my stomach. A vibration in my purse made me jump. The cab driver didn’t even react. Pulling out my phone, I checked the caller ID.

Dad.

“Did you get the job?” Not even a ‘hello’ or ‘glad you’re safe, honey’. His voice was as cold and emotionless as ever. To be fair, Laurent Argent raised me, so I was used to it by now. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to give him s**t for it.

“Yeah, I did. No thanks to you.” I leaned back against the seat, eyeing the cab driver. He was minding his own business, however. “Next time, I’d like a little more information. Like, for example, what sort of creature the CEO is.”

I knew I wouldn’t get all the details of every single mission. That’s not how we worked. Everything was so closely guarded, even for the daughter of the head of EH. Even still, knowing what exactly I’d be dealing with seemed a bit important. Especially after all the years they had trained me to know that Lycans were among the top deadliest of supernaturals. They were uncontrollable savages and would kill without reason.

“Good. Then we can proceed to the next phase,” Laurent replied dismissively. “You’ll receive further instructions shortly.” And with a click, he was gone.

Sighing, I slipped the phone back into my purse. It vibrated seconds later, but I didn’t bother to read whatever it was he’d sent to me. I’d look it over later… perhaps with a large glass of wine and after a long hot shower. Anything to help calm the uneasy storm currently brewing inside me.

Right now, I was still irritated that he'd kept information from me, though I wasn’t surprised. He’d been that way since I was born, always distant and as warm as a corpse. Not to mention a complete asshole, though sometimes I wondered if that was an inherited trait he got from my grandfather. He had a pretty big organization to run as the head of Elite Humanity, saving the world from monsters in the dark and all. So being an asshole was much needed… but I was still his daughter.

Even if he once said that family was nothing but a weakness.

At eighteen, it didn’t bother me as much as it used to. I used to wish we were a normal family, living in the suburbs and having regular family dinners with some pizza rolls or some other crap like that. But, then again, if we were a normal family, we had a high possibility of getting killed by one supernatural creature or the other. I guess, knowing what I did now, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

Elite Humanity gave my life a purpose. They’d honed me into a fighter who was not only meant to survive this dangerous world, but meant to help save others. Those who were unable to protect themselves because the world leaders didn’t feel it justified enough to tell humanity was lurked within the shadows. Mass panic and all.

As the cab pulled up to my building, my thoughts halted. Quickly digging through my purse, I tossed a few bills onto the front seat for my fare before opening the car door. My building was beautiful and sad at the same time, home and cold all at once. A place I had to make the most of while I dreamt for something far different.

With a heavy breath, I made my way across the sidewalk towards the building. The doorman nodded as I pushed through the glass doors, pulling my keys out of my pocket. I’d argued the need for my own space as soon as I turned eighteen just to get away from my family. Not that there were many left. I was just following in my siblings’ footsteps. It seemed to be a family tradition—leaving the nest as soon as we could. It didn’t matter if we all still worked together, we just didn’t want to live with each other anymore.

Stepping out of the elevator, I moved down the hallway towards my apartment, my keys jingling in my hand as I reached for the knob to unlock it. Of course—with my luck—the door stuck and caused me to use my shoulder to help it open. “f*****g stupid door—”

When I got the door open and flipped the light switch, I instantly froze, staring at a figure I wasn’t pleased to see. “What the hell are you doing here?”

My sister leaned against the back of my couch, arms crossed. Melissa was seven years older than me, but with blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes, she looked nothing like me. Acted nothing like me as well. We couldn’t be more different. Where I was chill, she was just a b***h. Arrogant. Dramatic. The eldest child in name only because her big sister personality was just non-existent.

“How did the job go?” Melissa asked, sounding exactly like our father.

“Why do you want to know?” I bit back with a snarky grin.

“Just making sure you didn’t screw it up already.”

Ignoring her, I head into my kitchen. Grabbing a bottle of water from my fridge, I twisted open the cap, leaning against the island counter. “I love how you think so low of me, sister.”

“Did you really expect any less?” she replied tightly, face pinched as wrinkles formed across her brown line. “Everything is a joke to you.”

“Careful, Melissa. All that frowning is causing wrinkles to form on your forehead, you wouldn’t want that would you?” My snarky comment wasn’t what she wanted to hear, and it wasn’t my typical go-to. However, years of her acting the way she has toward me was quickly coming to an end. Unlike my brother, I was quicker with my comebacks to my sister.

Her… I wasn’t afraid of. Patrick… well, he wasn’t the easiest person to be around.

Her lips thinned in disappointment. Something she learned from dear old Laurent. “I told Father you weren’t ready. That he should have sent me in instead.”

I snorted. “Well, he didn’t. Probably for a reason.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Her words were clipped, blue eyes narrowed.

Pushing away from the counter, I set the water bottle aside. “Why are you really here, Melissa?”

I wasn’t stupid. Melissa was just one out of two older siblings and they’ve both been babying me my entire life. Doesn’t matter that I grew up the same as them. Doesn’t matter if I’ve been training for this my whole life, just like them. I knew they both thought Laurent giving me this mission was a huge mistake. Gritting my teeth, I waited for her carefully calculated reply.

I could tell she was holding back. “Did you get the job?”

“Of course.” I couldn’t hold back my grin any longer. “Did you doubt me?”

“Take this seriously, Sydney. It’s not a joke. The information we got on this place…”

“What information?” I let my eyes go wide. “Oh my God, do you know something I don’t know? Did you get another briefing before I did? The person actually going in?”

The sarcasm wasn’t lost on her.

She pushed off the couch, face turning crimson. “Dad told me to check in on you—”

“I’m sure he did.”

“—if you aren’t going to be able to handle this like an adult—”

“Melissa.” My fist slammed against the countertop. “I know what I’m doing. I’ve had the same training as you. All I have to do is gather information, not bring the company down from the inside. It’s a simple mission, and I’m not going to screw it up.”

Her mouth snapped shut, cheeks burning.

“Now,” I said, taking another sip of water, “are you done being a b***h, or are you going to continue to jump down my throat like a psychopath?”

Melissa stepped up to the counter, fingers gripping the edge. Her eyes burned into mine. “Just don’t screw this one up, Sydney. We can’t afford to lose this lead.”

I said nothing, but instead simply stared at her with amusement. When it was clear I wasn’t going to be baited, Melissa sniffed. Turning on her heel as she headed toward the front door.

“You might want to change your locks,” she glanced at me over her shoulder, “it wasn’t that hard to break in here.”

Rolling my eyes, I turned away tired of her dramatic nonsense. I had more important things to do than to be stood listening to her overbearing bullshit that only irritated me. If my sister had actually cared about my well being the conversation between her and I would probably had been different. But as it was, she and I didn’t give to shits about each other.

As soon as the door clicked shut, I whipped around, stalking toward the door just to flip the lock back in place for good measure. I wasn’t about to admit how much that actually bothered me. How my father had sent her to check on me like I was a f*****g baby. With my back pressed against the door, I finally let out a frustrated groan.

When I received my first assignment, I thought it would be something cool. Something daring. Like taking out a nest of vampires that had been hunting down humans. But no. I had to be stuck with gathering information right in the lion’s den, apparently. Risky, but not exactly what I’d imagined I’d be doing.

And my new boss…

Noah Solvmane was my person of interest. Whatever he had going on in his company, Elite Humanity wanted to know about it. Getting to be his secretary was the best way I’d have access to, well, everything. From the few seconds I’d met him, he’d seemed arrogant, if not reserved. And it didn’t matter how hot he was with those gray eyes and dark hair, I could feel danger rolling off him in waves.

He was… something. I just didn’t know what he was.

Yet.

Sighing, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I knew I couldn’t put off my father’s message much longer. Whatever information he was giving me, I desperately needed. The only instructions I’d gotten so far were to apply and get the job. We never received the full mission until we needed to, just in case we were caught.

My eyes scanned the message, going back to reread it once I’d finished. It didn’t seem too difficult, but it was vague as f**k.

Find any information on supernatural activity as you can.

That was it.

Hitting a few buttons, I let the virus Elite Humanity created shred the message to nothing before stuffing my phone into my back pocket. Find out anything about whatever supernatural connection that place had? For starters, they hired a crap ton of supernaturals. Hell, their head of the department was a damn vampire. And their CEO was clearly… something.

Whatever connection they’re hoping I’ll find, I just hope I won’t get caught red-handed. If I did, not even my father would be able to help me. They had a strict agreement with these safe cities; Elite Humanity would leave the supernaturals alone as long as they weren’t harming anyone. And if I broke that…

I’d be all on my own, and no one would be able to save me. The supernaturals would have every right to tear me apart.

Shivering, I pushed those thoughts aside. There was no room for fear when it came to missions. We had to think fast, act smart, and get the job done. That was it. No worrying about messing up. No fretting over the monsters that go bump in the dark.

I had one mission.

One goal.

And that’s all I needed to focus on.