Vicious Villains (Ruthless Villains Book 4)

The sun had barely risen over the horizon when Callan and I slipped into one of the private rooms located at the back of an expensive coffeehouse. Faint clinking from a spoon hitting the sides of a mug was the only sound to break the silence that blanketed the room when we moved inside and closed the door behind us.

Levi Arden looked up from his steaming cup of coffee and fixed us with a scowl. “It’s entirely too early to see your treacherous face, Callan.” His gray eyes slid to me. “And yours too, poisonous snake.”

A huff of amusement escaped my lips. “Nice to see you too, asshole.”

Callan tensed beside me, but the King of Metal only narrowed his eyes. After another few seconds of simply holding my gaze, he pulled out the small spoon he had been using to stir his coffee, and tapped it lightly against the side of the cup before placing it on the plate beneath. Picking up the cup, he drank deeply from it.

“Right now, I should be in bed with my wife,” he said after he had swallowed and set the cup down again. “But I’m not. I’m here. With you. Why?”

“Because we’re in,” Callan replied before I could say something rude. “David and Gale trust us completely, and they’ve tasked us with finding the safe house.”

Levi sat up straighter. All traces of laziness were gone from his eyes as he shifted his gaze between the two of us. “Seriously?”

That cold black thing beating in my chest almost felt for him when I noticed the hope that flared up in his eyes. I couldn’t help but wonder exactly when Gale had begun trying to kidnap Levi’s wife. Had he been worrying about her safety for all seven months of her pregnancy? In that case, it would explain why he was so short-tempered all the time.

“Yeah,” Callan said. “Everything is set up. All we need now is a location. One of your safe houses that we can lure Gale to and then take him out.”

“Which one do you want to use?”

“Preferably one of the bigger ones so that people can easily get… separated. And close to River’s Watch.”

“How about the one on Fletcher Street?”

Callan ran a hand over his jaw. “Yeah, that would work.”

“Alright, I’ll have it ready before the end of the day.”

“Good.” He shifted his gaze to me. “Let’s go.”

We had only managed to partially turn around when Levi spoke up again. “Callan. Audrey.”

There was something in his voice that stopped me from groaning in annoyance. Callan and I exchanged a quick glance before we turned back to meet Levi’s gaze again. A sense of trepidation seemed to be swirling in his usually so confident gray eyes.

“I can’t be there when the attack goes down,” Levi said, his tone serious. “And neither can any of my people. If Gale or David or any of his guys spot any of my people, the trap falls through.”

“We know.” Callan scowled at him. “We’ve already gone through the plan with you, remember?”

“Yeah, but… Are you sure you two can handle this on your own? Gale is a stone mage. And a good one.” He shifted his gaze to Callan. “He’s the worst kind of opponent for people like us.”

“I know. You’ve already told us that.”

“It’s just… If anything goes wrong… If anything disrupts the plan…” He flexed his hand and then shook it out before drawing it through his dark hair. “There won’t be another chance like this, and I need Gale dead. Right now. So, are you absolutely sure that the two of you can handle this on your own?”

Hell, he really was worried about his wife. Terrified, by the looks of it. Maybe the dark mage king of Malgrave really did have a heart after all.

I understood why he was worried, but there really was no need. We had set up our scheme perfectly. While it would require very precise timing, there was nothing external that should be able to disrupt it. We would convince David that the safe house was the real deal, lure Gale there, and then kill everyone once and for all.

Callan’s eyes softened slightly as he looked at his former boss. “Yes, Levi. We’re sure.”

The King of Metal blinked, as if catching himself, and any trace of vulnerability disappeared from his sharp features as he gave us a firm nod.

“Alright. Then bring me Trevor Gale’s head, and you’ll have dark mages for your war and my magic to destroy Eldar’s Blade of Equilibrium.”

We nodded back.

A wicked grin spread across my lips.

This was it.

It was finally showtime.