Revenge & Rapture: A Snarky Urban Fantasy Detective Series (The Jezebel Files Book 4)

by Deborah Wilde

  I tapped my pen against my thigh, my thoughts going a million miles an hour. She didn’t understand the significance of the scroll. Did she know Isaac belonged to Chariot? It was true that it would never have occurred to me to talk to her about this, but she’d lived with the man for years. She wasn’t oblivious, in the same way that Talia had known about the nurse’s complaint about my magic after my car accident, and yet that had never occurred to me, either.

  “Does the word ‘Chariot’ mean anything to you?” I said.

  Nicola shook her head, her brown eyes unclouded and her expression guileless. “No. Is that connected?”

  “Forget you ever heard it.” It came out more harshly than I’d intended. I gentled my tone. “Please.”

  “Okay, ragazza. Will you help me? I can’t live with him anymore. My son has already been so hurt and now he’s heartbroken.”

  I snapped the pen in half. “That’s not relevant.”

  “It is to me. That man”—her tone was laced with vitriol and her eyes darkened—“has done enough damage. To both of us. I’m done. Basta.” She slashed a hand across the top of her head.

  Nicola was the picture of resolve. With or without me, she was doing this. Isaac had killed my father for leaving him, so I’d have to be very careful history didn’t repeat itself.

  When it came to Chariot and betrayal, one strike and you were out. Permanently. That went double for Isaac and his abandonment issues.

  Nicola was going to live a long and happy life.

  Levi would hate me, but I was one of the few people who knew what Isaac was truly up to and could keep her from accidentally blundering into something that could put her life in peril. She stood a better chance of navigating this minefield with me than without me.

  “I’ll help,” I said.

  Her body went limp with relief and my heart ached.

  “Where do you want me to start?” Generally, spouses came to me about infidelity, sometimes fraud. I was very curious how she would answer.

  “Find this thing he’s so obsessed with so I can get half. I want him to know what I took from him.”

  I swallowed a hysterical laugh. The only thing Isaac wanted was the four scrolls in Team Jezebel’s possession to achieve immortality, and you couldn’t exactly go halvsies on them in divorce court. Except she knew Levi had a scroll, and she didn’t mention it specifically, so what was she referring to?

  She must have seen my hesitation because she leaned forward, her hands splayed on my desk. “You were looking for a clue to the same thing last night, yes? The bamah?”

  “The what now?” I couldn’t even look it up since my cell and laptop were in Eleanor’s office.

  “Bamah. A few days ago, I overheard a phone call. Isaac seemed to be learning about this for the first time. He got extremely agitated and has been going crazy trying to find it ever since.”

  If this bamah was important to Isaac, then it had become very important to me. Especially if it was also connected to this Deepa woman.

  “Do you know anything else about it?” I grabbed another pen.

  “He said it was chiuso… Come se dice?” She made expansive hand gestures with her words. “Closed.”

  I jotted that fact down. “It might not turn out to be anything you can use to leave Isaac,” I said, “but one way or another, I’ll get you out of that situation.” She reached for her purse but I waved her off. “No. Please. I can’t take your money.”

  I’ll take your son’s. I couldn’t trust normal modes of communication to get hold of Nicola, in case Isaac had bugged her phone, so Levi would have to be the go-between. And wouldn’t that conversation be the cherry on the shit sundae of our last encounter?

  After retrieving our phones and my laptop, I gave Nicola instructions that I’d get hold of her via Levi, and pressed upon her the importance of going about her normal routine until she heard back from me.

  “I’ve survived him this long. I’ll be careful. And Ashira?” Nicola squeezed my hand. “I don’t know what happened to Adam, but if Isaac had anything to do with it? Mi dispiace.”

  “Not your fault,” I said, my throat thick.

  “Please don’t let the past dictate your future.” She looked out the window, her gaze distant. “Don’t wake up one day and realize you threw away your life, your happiness, because you were scared.”

  You’re talking to the wrong person, lady. “Wouldn’t want that,” I said.

  Once she’d left, I sank into my comfy desk chair, my head in my hands. Stupid fucking universe determined to shove me in Levi’s path. This wasn’t a romcom.

  People always underestimated the wives and mothers. Had Nicola put the bamah, the scroll, and my father together, and come up with one private investigator with a vested interest? Even if she’d manipulated me into helping her, her relief at my agreement had been real. I couldn’t go back on my word.

  I exhaled slowly. Suck it up, Ash.

  Levi’s phone went to voicemail, so who did I want to call for his whereabouts? Evil or the lesser of evils? I wasn’t up to sparring with Levi’s pet dragon today, so lesser of evils it was.

  I hit speed dial. “Hello, Miles. It’s your friendly neighborhood Jezebel.”

  “And what had already been a stressful day has now devolved into an extremely shitty one. Wonderful,” he said dryly.

  “Sadly, I think that’s less a function of how delightful I am and more an issue that you need to get a life. Where’s His Lordship?”

  Silence.

  “Hello? Miles?” I switched over to speaker phone, put my cell on my desk and clicked on my mouse to bring my laptop to life. What was a bamah?

  “You’ve gone out of your way to avoid him for two months,” he said. “Why are you looking for him now?”

  “We talked about your unhealthy interest in my life. Also, I haven’t gone out of my way to do anything where he’s concerned. That would imply a level of caring I no longer possess.”

  There was a rush of static and a sigh. When Miles finally spoke, his voice was far softer. “Are you going to hurt him again?”

  I scoffed to cover the pain that caused me. “If I told you, that would take the fun unpredictability factor out of it. Also, fuck you. I have a case that he needs to be advised on stat.”

  According to Ye Wise Old Internet, a bamah was the Hebrew word for a place of worship. The angel feather had been buried at one of Asherah’s sites near the archeological dig that Omar Tannous had worked on. Did Nicola mean buried and not closed? Could there be another important artifact that Chariot believed was hidden at a bamah, like our scrolls? And what, if anything, did Deepa’s death have to do with it?

  “Is this something I should know about?” Miles said.

  “It is, but you’ll have to get in line. Levi should be told first.”

  Miles chewed that over for a moment. “Come to HQ. And tell Rafael. There’s another matter to discuss with everyone.”

  “You going to give me a heads-up on what?”

  “Nope. Levi’s office in half an hour.” He hung up before I could protest the location.

  It was just a room and I was a professional. Any memories I had of it were irrelevant, and nothing to do with the circuitous route I took to get to there.

  House Pacifica was the same deep crimson color that it had been for the past two months. I turned into the parking garage, shifting uncomfortably. There was no proof it was a mood ring tied to Levi and even if it was, it wasn’t my problem.

  Up on the seventh floor, I strode past the artwork hung on pale gold walls and leaned on the counter of Levi’s Executive Assistant’s reception desk.

  “Verrrroooniiiiicaaaa,” I sang, enjoying her grimace.

  The blonde woman, impeccable as always in a houndstooth skirt and cream blouse, stood up and crossed her arms. “You are not going to distract him. He has a very important meeting in ten minutes.”

  “I know. I’m part of it.”

  She groaned. “No. Go back to not speaking
to him again. I liked that.” She fiddled with one of her pearl earrings.

  I smirked and pointed at her hand. “You have a terrible tell. Never play poker. Admit it, Levi’s been a bastard without me around.”

  “Miles doesn’t know when to shut up.” She flipped through a pile of documents, adding “sign here” stickers to certain pages. “Well, Levi isn’t here yet. Wait in the reception area.”

  “Can I…?” My voice wavered and I cleared my throat. “I think I need a minute to acclimatize before Levi arrives. Can I wait in there?” Confronted with the prospect of going inside, my blithe confidence wavered.

  Veronica had been there the last time I’d visited the office, after I’d learned of my father’s murder. She’d shown compassion then. I hoped she would now.

  She peeled off another sticker, a muscle ticking in her jaw, and I braced myself for a “no.” Something of my dismay must have shone through because her stern expression softened and she relented with a nod. “Touch anything and die.”

  “And give you the satisfaction? Hardly.”

  I hesitated for a moment in the doorway, because Levi’s unique magic scent permeated the air. The last time I’d visited, there’d been Sherlock Holmes books on the coffee table and that stupid lock he’d been so excited to have me teach him how to pick.

  Every trace of me had been systematically removed. Even the sofa where Levi had comforted me after I learned of my dad’s murder had been replaced with a model that was similar, but not quite up to the charm of the original.

  I sat down on the memory-free furniture, my head bowed and my forearms braced on my thighs. Moving on was one thing, but Levi had erased me. Why was it so easy for him?

  Irritating pinging sounds grew closer.

  “Ark, enough,” Miles said outside the office. “That sound is drilling into my brain.”

  “My unicorns don’t stab the cherubs as effectively if I can’t hear them impaled.”

  “For fuck’s sake,” Miles said.

  “One more level, babe,” Arkady replied.

  “That’s what you said last night.”

  His boyfriend gave him a lopsided grin as they entered. “As I recall, your patience was handsomely rewarded.”

  I cleared my throat and both men looked over.

  Miles blushed and glowered in equal measure.

  “Aw, you look like the love child of Grumpy and Bashful,” I said.

  “Shut it, Cohen,” he said, and sat down in one of the extra chairs that had been set out for this meeting. Dayum, his glutes were so tight they didn’t even sag over the chair like a normal person’s.

  Arkady, his black hair pulled back and in a T-shirt that said “Morally Flexible,” backward straddled a chair and returned to the game on his phone, not bothering with eye contact.

  Letting people into your life was a shell game, and trust was the little ball being shuffled around. It didn’t matter how smart you were, how closely you kept your eye on the ball; at some point, you’d lift up the cup only to find empty air.

  I’d known that, but I’d allowed Priya’s optimistic beliefs to influence me otherwise.

  My bestie arrived next with Mrs. Hudson. Priya picked non-existent lint off her polka-dotted wrap dress. “Are you finished being a little bitch?”

  I reached for the dog but Priya pulled her out of repossession range. “Yeah. Sorry I hung up on you.”

  “Sorry I poked shit you didn’t want poked.” Priya unclipped Mrs. Hudson from her leash.

  Mrs. Hudson barked joyously, immediately sniffing around.

  A flurry of chimes went off and Arkady punched the air. “Nailed you, sucker.”

  Priya ruffled his hair. “Oh, you sad, sad junkie.”

  “Don’t be jealous that you couldn’t get past level two.” He slung an arm around her waist. “We can’t all be brilliant unicorn assassins.”

  Mock-affronted, Priya knuckled the top of his head.

  I pressed my lips tight, not wondering at all about the dumb app they played together, and moved over so Pri could sit on the sofa.

  Rafael hurried in, his cheeks pink with exertion, holding two mugs wafting Earl Grey–scented steam. He handed one to Pri. “I thought, perhaps, you could use this pick-me-up.”

  Her face lit up and she took the drink from him. “Thank you. That’s so sweet.”

  “What about me?” I said.

  He frowned. “Don’t you usually drink coffee?”

  “Lovely of you to notice. Did you bring me one?”

  “I—uh—no?” Whose Attendant was he anyway?

  Levi entered at that moment and shut the door. Rafael gave him a grateful glance and squished in between Priya and me.

  “Everyone’s here.” Levi exuded haughtiness in his sharp black suit and slicked-back hair. “Good.” He strode over to his desk, ribbing Arkady and Miles about their shit taste in some movie they’d dragged him to, teasing Priya about her caffeine consumption, and even asking Rafael if he’d enjoyed that restaurant Levi had suggested the other day.

  New furniture, new friend group—my, His Lordship had been busy. I dug my boot heel against the couch to leave a black mark.

  Levi could keep Miles. However, even if I was pissed at Arkady, he’d been my friend, not Levi’s, so Montefiore had no business going to movies with him, regardless of Arkady’s relationship with Miles. As for Priya and Rafael? They were right out as anything other than Levi’s professional acquaintances.

  I calmed down with my alphabetizing technique.

  Asphyxiation, bludgeoning, choking, decapitation… my spirits were lifting already. “Is this or is this not a work meeting?” I said. “Because I have things to do.”

  “That’s right. Your noble calling leaves little room for relationships.” Levi tugged his cuffs straight.

  “And yet, how nice to be a man of leisure and have all the time in the world for them.”

  Miles and Arkady shot me displeased looks at insulting Levi, but Priya and Rafael covered smiles, which cheered me up immeasurably.

  Levi’s lips quirked and my heart leapt. It was almost like the old days, trading barbs and smirking at each other. Or, like playing at a magician’s booth, tracking the ball as it sped from cup to cup, and feeling certain of your choice. But I’d lifted the cup without the ball under it yet again, because he wiped his expression carefully blank, nodded, and said, “Let’s begin.”

  Chapter 4

  To add insult to injury, Mrs. Hudson scampered over to Levi, pawing at the hem of his trousers.

  I crossed over to grab her, just as Levi bent down. Our hands brushed and a tingle went up my arm.

  Without looking at me, he handed me the dog, who whined softly. “As most of you know,” he said, “for the past two months, I’ve attempted to find proof tying Jackson Wu to the money laundering in Hedon.”

  He had? From the others’ expressions, this was only news to Rafael and me.

  “The contact there, Luca Bianchi, has been deemed off-limits by the Queen,” Levi said, “and the team led by Priya and Miles haven’t uncovered any irregularities in this company’s accounting practices.”

  Priya made a frustrated noise. “They’ve hidden their tracks well.”

  She’d moved from overhauling House cybersecurity to this? Why hadn’t she said anything?

  This was supposed to be a meeting of Team Jezebel, but the lines had been redrawn. It was Team House Pacifica with Rafael and I the only ones left in the dark. I cut a sideways glance at my Attendant. Was he a shell game of an entirely different sort, only loyal because of what I represented as a Jezebel?

  I shoved those doubts deep inside me. “Why am I only finding this out now?”

  “I wasn’t aware I was accountable to you,” Levi said.

  “I brokered the alliance with the Queen that got you the damn information in the first place and my mother’s career is tied to the party. I should have been looped in.”

  Priya dropped her gaze to her half-empty cup.

 
Rafael shot her a troubled look. “Ash…”

  “Why?” Arkady said. “The bulk of the work required computer skills you don’t have and I handled the undercover operation.” His loyalty had always been with Levi, but it still hurt.

  And Levi? He watched the proceedings with a vaguely impatient expression.

  I picked up Mrs. H’s leash and wound it around my hands. “I didn’t ask to be part of it, but it’s rude to use me when it’s convenient and then cut me out.”

  “I’m including you now,” Levi said.

  “Because you need me for something.” I snapped the leash tight.

  Rafael elbowed me and I set the leash down on the arm of the sofa.

  Levi propped his hip against the desk. “Yes, Ashira. That’s how it works. I’m House Head and I decide how and when people are brought in.”

  We were back to full name usage, were we? A muscle ticked in my jaw and I saluted him. “Aye aye, boss.”

  Mrs. Hudson trotted under Levi’s desk, pushing a fallen paper clip with her nose.

  “Arkady, fill them in,” Levi said.

  “Jackson Wu started his career as a business grad,” Arkady said. “His first job out of university was working for the Allegra Group, a property development company started by Richard Frieden.”

  “Frieden was one of the original founders of the Untainted Party,” I said to Rafael, who was looking lost.

  “Wu was the golden boy being groomed to eventually take over the company, until his abrupt switch to politics about seven years ago,” Arkady said.

  “Frieden was grooming him in other respects,” Rafael said.

  Arkady draped his elbows over the back of the chair. “Yeah, but even after Wu left Allegra, he remained the second-highest shareholder in the company after Frieden. Richard’s shares were distributed amongst his family when he died.”

  “Even so,” I said, “Jackson wasn’t working directly for the company when the money laundering happened. If the extent of his involvement is as a shareholder, that gives him a lot of plausible deniability.”

  Levi’s computer chimed with a notification. He glanced at it and shut the laptop. “All our fact gathering indicates that Jackson is still very hands-on with Allegra. There’s no way he was in the dark. That said, we still need hard proof to bring him down and destroy his credibility so he can’t move this legislation forward.”