Chapter Two

Darius looked around his apartment, finding everything was just the way he had left it. Or at least, the way Niki had left it. While preparing for their getaway, she had made quite a mess as she tore through the place getting everything together. Because he hadn't planned on returning, he didn't care, but now, he was stuck with the task of cleaning up.

As he thought about the best way to tidy his apartment, he started thinking that it might be simpler to just live with the mess. It wasn't really that bad and he certainly didn't need all the space. He hadn't been a very neat person before anyway. Not until Wynter moved in. She had kept his place relatively clean, and while Darius had helped out so she wasn't doing all the work, now that it was just him again, he didn't really see any point in cleaning.

He cleared some space on his couch and sat down. It really wasn't as bad as he initially thought. It only seemed that way because he remembered the way Wynter had kept it clean and seeing Niki's mess as soon as he walked in was a little bit of a shock. Now that he had some time to readjust to what was his usual housekeeping standards, it seemed just like home.

And if he did decide he didn't want to deal with the mess, he knew he could always move into another unit. There were several that were already furnished, which would make moving quite simple. And with his telekinesis, it wouldn't be much work at all. The realization that he could also use his abilities to clean up without much effort dawned on him, but he quickly dismissed that idea. His opposition to cleaning wasn't the actual work. He just didn't like cleaning on principle.

"I should train you to clean," he said to Viceroy, who was still standing in the doorway of the apartment. The snow leopard looked as if she didn't know how to navigate the mess strewn across his floor, but Darius knew that wasn't the case. He'd seen the feline navigate far more difficult terrain than a sloppy apartment.

Eventually, Viceroy carefully made her way over to the couch, making sure to keep her paws from stepping on any obstacles. She stepped up onto the couch, brushing some things onto the floor before laying down next to Darius. He reached out and scratched behind her ears, almost able to feel comfortable in his old apartment with his fylgja by his side.

But it just wasn't right. He had left all those months ago because he wanted nothing to do with Rheingold or the Sumicalts or anything connected to them. He wanted to help the Anitreh take them out, but Commander Barton had only put him right back into the middle of the Sumicalts. While he knew he was on the right side, he had to pretend to be one of them, and that had been one of the more difficult things he had had to do since waking up in the hospital bed in Russia.

After recovering from his injuries that he had sustained during his capture, Barton had worked with him to prepare him for his new role as a double agent. The first thing he had to do was learn his new identity, since Darius Laporte was officially dead. Barton had given him the name Blake Kuijpers, and it had taken Darius nearly two weeks to perfectly learn everything about that identity that Blake was almost a real person.

He had to know that well, since Darius knew that he might come across an Anitreh with telepathic abilities, and if he did, he had to ensure that they only came away with information about Blake Kuijpers, and not anything that would connect him to his old identity. To help with that, Barton has also taught him better techniques to deflect any telepathic probes.

That had been an exhausting experience, as he never knew when Barton would attempt to break into his mind. Barton was among the best mind readers, and they both knew that if Darius could deflect him, he could keep just about anyone out.

On top of that, Barton and Darius had a lot of information that they had to share with each other. Darius had told Barton everything he knew about Senator Rheingold and the Sumicalts, and Barton had told Darius the truth about his family. He knew that Erik Andrade was his brother, and that his father, Andreas Andrade was dead. But he also learned that his mother was still alive, and that he had a sister. Darius wanted to know about them, but Barton hadn't trusted him with that information. He didn't want Darius trying to contact them. He'd been raised apart from his mother and sister because the Anitreh feared that Rheingold would target Darius, and they hadn't wanted the rest of the family to get involved. Rheingold didn't know that Andreas had a daughter, and therefore, she was safe.

Darius understood why Barton was reluctant to share information about his family, as he knew he would have difficulty refraining from contacting them. He almost thought he'd have rather not known about them, but he knew that Barton was finally telling him everything. Someday, he knew that Barton would tell him how to contact them. Or at least, he hoped he would. If he didn't end up dead.

His mission was extremely dangerous. He knew there was a good chance that he'd be killed, even if everything went as planned. But as much as he didn't want to die, Darius wasn't too worried about that. He had to do what he could to make up for his actions in the past. And he almost wondered if dying in the process would be better, because if he did make it out alive, he knew that he'd spend the rest of his life in jail.

That's what he deserved, though. He just hoped that he'd get some leniency because of the help he would be providing the Anitreh. He still expected to spend the rest of his life locked up, but he did hope that perhaps they'd let him keep his abilities and therefore, also his connection to Viceroy. That was the one thing he truly feared. As much as he loved Wynter and Niki, Viceroy was a part of him in a way that neither his girlfriend nor best friend could ever be.

He stroked the snow leopard's fur as she stretched out so that her upper body was laying across his lap as he thought about his mission. The main thing he was supposed to do was to observe and report back any information he learned to Barton. If the Anitreh knew what the Sumicalts were planning, then they would stand a chance against them. That was the reason they had been so successful in the past – the Anitreh had no idea what they were dealing with.

So far, Darius had nothing to report. Not that he had the time to make a report to Barton anyway. He'd been back with Rheingold for two months, and the entire time, he'd been kept under observation. Barton had concocted a story for Darius to give to Rheingold to explain what happened and why he wasn't dead. Fortunately, it was mostly the truth. Darius had told him that Barton kept his capture a secret, as Barton wanted to turn him against the senator. But in the version of the story Darius told Rheingold, Barton had been unsuccessful and he had managed to escape when he had been given the wrong dosage of ability-suppressing drugs.

As expected, Rheingold had been suspicious of the story, and had ordered Ruslan Okiyama read his mind. Because Barton had prepared him well, Darius had ensured that Ruslan only learned the version of events that Darius wanted him to know. Or at least Darius hoped that's what happened. At any rate, Ruslan had verified his story to Rheingold, which was what mattered.

Because the senator had still been suspicious, Darius had been kept close, where either he or another one of the Sumicalts could keep an eye on him, and that meant that he was almost always under observation by Tin, his least favorite of them all. Tin was the most loyal to the senator, and the most suspicious of Darius.

He had hoped that he would have been able to speak to Erik Andrade. He was almost certain that Erik knew about their relationship, but he simply hadn't had the time to talk to him. The few times he'd seen him alone, Erik had basically ignored him. But for the most part, he hadn't seen Erik much since his return and Darius had to wonder if Rheingold was trying to keep them apart. Erik had said that he had been trying to do that before.

Now that he was no longer being watched so carefully, Darius had thought about contacting his brother, but he'd spent too much time around Tin and he simply wanted some time to himself with no one else around except for Viceroy.

After a while, though, he started to feel lonely. While he could have called Erik, that wasn't what he wanted. He wanted to talk to a friend. Someone he knew he could trust. He only had two of those, and he knew he couldn't call either Niki or Wynter. He didn't know Niki's number, and he doubted that Wynter would be able to keep his identity a secret. He didn't think she'd intentionally blow his cover, but she could easily say something that could tell any eavesdroppers who he really was. It simply wasn't safe to be in contact with anyone associated with Darius Laporte.

Realizing that he was all alone, he closed his eyes, just wanting to fall asleep. Perhaps things wouldn't seem so bleak when he woke up. Just as he started to fall asleep, his phone buzzed. For a moment, he considered ignoring it and drifting off to sleep, but he was almost excited at the prospect of human interaction, even via phone, so he pulled his phone out of his pocket. When he saw the message, he was glad he hadn't waited.

It was from Erik.

Jacob Barton wanted nothing more than to take a month and do nothing but relax. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been able to spend even half a day without some kind of crisis needing his attention. It had to have been sometime before he became the commander of the North American Anitreh. He didn't regret taking the position, but he never imagined it'd be so stressful. It didn't help that he'd taken up the position during the worst possible time.

His predecessor, Tara Martinez, had been killed by Darius Laporte after he had been manipulated into believing that the Anitreh were responsible for the death of his best friend. Several other Anitreh had died during that time. Working with Darius knowing what he'd done could be difficult, and in the beginning, Barton had to wonder if Darius could be trusted. It didn't take too long for Barton to realize that Darius was firmly on his side, especially since Darius opened himself up to having his mind read.

Now, Darius had been sent back to New York to work against Rheingold from the inside. He hadn't liked that plan very much. Darius wanted immediate action. Sitting around and funneling information to Barton wasn't what he had envisioned his revenge to consist of. Each day that passed without hearing from Darius, Barton wondered if he was doing something stupid instead – like trying to shoot Rheingold. Barton couldn't expect Darius to check in every day, but it had been two months and he hadn't heard a single word.

"What do you think, Lopi?" he asked his fylgja, a white fallow deer. Of course, the doe didn't respond, but that wasn't the point. Barton liked talking to her out loud, as it usually helped him think. "Isn't it amusing how everyone used to say that boy would be trouble? I always thought they were full of it. He'll come through for us. I know he will. Just have to give him some more time."

It wasn't as if Barton could do much else except give him more time. Not unless he wanted to go to New York himself and see what Darius was doing. Not unless he wanted to try contacting him telepathically, but across a distance of three thousand miles, that would be nearly impossible. He knew that some mind affinities could contact people across the globe, but that required a strong bond.

Perhaps he should have tried to form that kind of bond with Darius. It would have made communication much easier. "I don't think six months would have been long enough to do that," he said out loud to Lopi.

Once again, Barton was back to thinking about more time. That really was the solution to his current problem – giving it more time. Darius would report to him, give him the information that he needed. And when the time was right, they'd strike and eliminate Rheingold.

Hopefully, when it was all over, he'd still be alive.

Barton knew that there was a very good chance that he and some of his people might die over the course of taking out Rheingold. In fact, he was certain that some would lose their lives. Barton was more than willing to take that risk. So was Darius, and that concerned Barton. He had felt the younger man's anguish and guilt over what he'd done. He worried that he might intentionally put himself in a suicidal position.

That was a possibility that Barton had considered before and he had wanted to say something to Darius to try to assuage his guilt, tell him that he didn't blame him and that he was a good person, but he couldn't do it. He needed Darius' rage; he needed him to desire vengeance more than anything. So he had let him suffer. He hated to do it, but one thing he had learned as a captain and then commander was that sometimes, hard choices had to be made for the greater good. That almost made Barton hate himself.

"He'll be okay," he told his fylgja as if she needed the reassurance. "He'll get through it."