Rogues and Royalty Ch. 01

Dedicated to andracarlez

Thanks a lot to everyone who decides to read this story. You're all awesome. Have fun and don't forget to rate and leave your opinions and critiques in the comments section. Looking forward to reading them.

*****

"Yeah?"

Jason Hawke planted his boot suddenly on the chest of the tied-up man in front of him. The chair toppled backwards and crashed noisily to the floor. He paused to make sure there was no noise anywhere else in the house.

"I'm so sorry but I didn't catch that. What was it you said again?" He cupped his hands around his ear and leaned forward dramatically. The man on the floor spat noisily on the floor and let out a torrent of curses.

"Language," Jason mocked. He was having way more fun than he should have been. But he couldn't help it, the man was pathetic.

"Alright kid, we've had enough fun. I have a kid who, by my calculations, should be awake by now. I really don't want him to stumble in here and find out his father's day job. I want answers now. Who sent you here?"

He reached forward and pulled the chair up suddenly, righting it. Then he leaned forward and yanked the duct-tape off the man's mouth, eliciting a scream.

"Oh come on, it doesn't hurt that much. Who sent you here?"

The man glared at him.

"When my boss finds out what you're doing..."

This was exactly the sort of thing Jason hated. Hiding behind someone else. It reminded him of his younger self. He hated his younger self. The selfish bastard.

"Your boss, exactly, that's who I want to know."

"He'll skin you alive. He'll have your guts for lunch. He'll..."

Jason slammed his fist into the man's face then grabbed his collar. He smiled at the look of pain on the man's face when his fist connected with his jaw. Damn, he was soft. Where the hell did they get their soldiers from these days?

"Tough talk, kid. Start talking."

He let go of the man's collar and stood up from where he'd been sitting to study the man. He had no tell-tale tattoos on his arms. His brown hair was matted down on his head with sweat and his brown eyes glittered with fury. He was obviously not used to getting his ass handed to him. Jason was impressed though, he'd held out for a long time. Not that it mattered. Eventually he was going to be talking so fast his words would sound like spanish.

"Bastard."

"It seems we've been approaching this conversation the wrong way. Here's what's gonna happen: I'm going to start with your fingers, then when I'm done with them, I'm going to take your toes. Eventually you'll run out of those, so I'll take your limbs. And when we're done with those, I'm gonna carve you into something your mama won't recognise. Then, maybe you'll feel like talking."

Jason smiled as a look of panic crossed the man's face. He always derived grim satisfaction from getting people to pee their pants. He didn't care that they were in his apartment. If he made a threat, he'd follow it up. Jason Hawke was a man of his word. And apparently, his hostage knew that, because he swallowed and started talking.

"Your boss sent me."

"I don't have any boss. Don't make me get out my bread knife."

The man's eyes widened and Jason could tell the tough-guy act had been just a facade.

"Alright, alright. Sudan Illa. He sent me. He wants to talk to you."

"I'm thinking I'll use a carving knife."

"Jesus, man, I've told you everything, I swear. He sent me to fetch you."

"What does he want me for?"

"I don't know man, they didn't tell me. They want you to come in. They said they have a job for you."

"Yup. Carving knife." Jason flashed the man a smile and turned to walk away.

"Hawke! Come on, man. I told you everything, man. I'm telling the goddamn truth."

That's exactly why I want to hurt you, Jason thought but he didn't say it aloud. The second he'd heard Illa's name he'd known there was going to be trouble. Why now? After all these years, why was his past coming to bite him in the ass? He glared at the man and put his hands on his hips.

"I know you are, asshole."

The relief was apparent on the man's face and Jason felt an urge to take it away.

"Doesn't mean I'm not gonna kill you though."

"Aw come on Hawke, I was just doing my job."

Jason sighed. He had a point. He walked over to the man and leaned in so they were making eye contact.

"Here's what's gonna happen..."

***

Ryen Burns glared at himself in the mirror. The dark circles under his eyes made him look like a zombie. And the zombie look did not look good on him, at all. He splashed water on his face and wiped if off with a towel. He hated mornings, especially after partying all night. Even though he didn't get hangovers, his brain still wanted to curl up in his skull and sleep. Fuck.

He staggered out of the bathroom and nearly tripped over somebody passed out cold in front of the door. Oh hell. Up ahead, he could see more people littered in the hallway. Christ. Must've been something in the drinks.

He sighed as he threaded his way through the bodies, careful not to step on anyone. He had to wake them up before his mother came to visit. She'd be disappointed. Apparently partying all night wasn't expected of a Sidhe prince. Prince my ass, he thought as he finally made it to his room.

The sight that greeted him wasn't welcoming. At all. His best friend and cousin Kovan lay on the bed, surrounded by different females. Great, not only did Kovan get the girls, he got the girls in Ryen's own bed. Time for a little good morning, Sidhe style. He touched his left hand to the side of his head and jerked his head towards the pillows. They lifted into the air and then came back hard on Kovan's face.

Kovan jerked awake instantly and the pillows flew away. Ryen let them. He didn't exactly want to suffocate Kovan.

"Jesus, Rye?"

"Seriously Kovan, in my bed?"

"What?"

Kovan clearly wasn't awake yet. He shook his head and then looked around him, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth when he noticed the girls.

"Oh."

"Yeah, get out of my bed."

Kovan slipped out of the bed and ran his fingers through his already tousled hair as he walked towards Ryen.

"Come on man, it's already morning. Let's go get ready for your mother. Besides," he said, gesturing towards the bed where the girls lay, "You really shouldn't wake them up."

Ryen growled and stalked out of the room.

"So where'd you sleep?" Kovan snickered, hurrying to catch up with him.

"None of your damn business."

"Did you hook up with Kayla?"

"None of your damn business, Kove. I'm two seconds away from strangling you."

"Yeah, yeah," Kovan laughed softly. He knew Ryen wouldn't hit him, bad mood or not.

"We need to clear the house. Mother will kill us when she comes visiting."

"On that, we are in agreement," Kovan said, still smiling. The Sidhe Queen would not be amused by the sight of such obvious signs of debauchery. If she turned up now, they were going to be in a lot of trouble. A lot more trouble than they cared to think about.

Kovan finally caught up with Ryen and slung an arm over his shoulder.

"Come on man, chill out. Now, did you or did you not hook up with Kayla?"

Ryen felt the involuntary smile on his face as he elbowed him gently.

"Hey, that hurt!"

"Shut up. Let's get rid of the spill-over from the night."

"Well when you put it that way..."

***

"Illa!"

Jason kicked the solar plexus of the guard in front of the door and slammed the head of the other one into the door. Both men fell to the floor, passed out cold as he kicked the door in. All Illa's guards turned off the safety on their guns with an audible click and pointed them at him. Illa sat at a round table, cigar in mouth and cards in his hands. He'd been interrupted in the middle of a game.

"Next man you send after me, I'll send him back to you in a fucking bodybag, understood? You wanted my attention, you got it," Jason snarled, ignoring the guns pointed at him.

Illa waved his hands and the guns disappeared into waistbands and under the table.

"You don't visit, you never call. What else was I supposed to do to get your attention?"

"You got it," Jason repeated.

"So it would seem."

Illa gestured for his men to leave the room and they did so, all except one hulk of a man who sat quietly in a corner.

"Yo Ike! Didn't know you stuck around with this asshole," Jason mocked the hulk, going to sit down in one of the chairs. He looked around the room and whistled appreciatively. This lounge was definitely a private room. It had its own minibar and a wall-to-wall t.v. The round table was at one corner of the room and the cards and chips on the table showed an interrupted game of poker.

The dull green lighting in the room gave Illa a sinister look that was complemented by his snow white hair and brown eyes so light they were almost clear.

"So Jason, I have a job for you."

Jason froze, then quickly regained his composure. "I don't do that anymore."

"Yes, I know. But I need you to do this last one for me."

"We had a deal. I do that one job for you, and that was the last."

"This is important to me."

"Yeah well, send someone else to do it. And stop putting tails on me," Jason said, standing up to go.

"Hawke, we wouldn't want some...incriminating details to get leaked to the police, now would we? Who'd take care of your little boy?"

Two threats in one sentence. Low blow, man, Jason thought angrily. He leaned forward and jerked Illa up by his collar, snarling.

"If you touch him, I swear to God I will kill you."

Illa gave him a dazzling smile and calmly plucked his fingers off his shirt.

"I never said anything would happen to him, Jason. I just want you to do this last job for me. It's the last one, I promise."

"That's what you said the last time!"

"Alright, I know. That was a little dishonest. This time, I mean it."

"How do I know that? How do I know you won't just call me back here in a few weeks when something comes up?"

Illa leaned back in his chair. "Because I'll give you my hold on you. I'll give you your soul back."

For the second time, Jason froze. Illa was lying. He had to be. In all his years, he'd never heard of anyone getting their soul back after a deal with a demon. It just didn't happen. Jason wasn't even sure it was possible.

"Oh it's possible," Illa said, reading his train of thoughts.

"How do I know you're not lying to me?"

"Let's make a deal, Jason."

"Sorry. Been there, done that."

"Exactly. A reverse deal then. You do the job I want, you get your soul back."

It was tempting. It was so fucking tempting it was suspicious. Jason frowned and sat back down.

"I want you to kill someone."

"I don't do that anymore."

"You want your soul back, yes? You will kill this person."

He had a point there. "Who do you want me to kill?"

Illa smiled. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a picture. "Her."

Jason took the picture from Illa's hands and examined it. It was of a woman, probably in her mid forties though she could be older, long blond hair billowing behind her and pale skin standing out conspicuously. She looked totally innocent. He looked up.

"Who is she?"

"The Sidhe Queen, Josefina. She's coming to town today. I want you to take her out."

"How long will she be in town?"

"We have no idea. She comes and goes unannounced. Only reason we found out she was even going to be in town was because I got me some spies on the inside."

"How do I know you're not setting me up?"

Illa sighed dramatically. "I'm not as petty as that. Besides, we're going to make a deal. You do the job, you get your soul."

Illa stuck out his right hand and grinned at Jason.

"I do the job, I get my soul back and you stay away from my son."

"Done. Care to shake on it?"

Jason frowned at the hand. The last time he'd shaken it he'd been in for a world of pain. Oh well, he thought, gotta take a chance.

Lightning flashed in broad daylight.

They shook hands.