Bronx disappeared inside, holding the door open for her, and she did the same for Dionna.
He motioned for her to fan out to the left. She followed their earlier instructions. Clear all the doorways. Look for sylphs in each corner from floor to ceiling. Communicate all findings using hand gestures.
Dionna took the right. There was no whisper as Bronx slipped a knife from the holster at his thigh. He kept his right hand free. She’d asked about guns since they were after their own, but those attracted too much attention.
Too bad. She’d love to plug one into Stede’s forehead and tell him to be quiet as he healed. She’d squeeze the trigger and put the whole scenario on repeat.
Bronx’s gaze was stuck on a spot she guessed was the front door. He gave them a signal: one person present, and it was Stede. Jagger and Harlowe would burst in at any second.
Any second.
She waited. Bronx ticked his head to the left, as if he was seeking guidance from Dionna.
Just as Bronx closed his hand into a fist to tell them that the front door was opening, a white blast exploded from the living room.
A cloud of heat shoved her back, a sound so deafening after the near silence it left her ears ringing. She staggered backward, only Dionna keeping her upright. The warrior was shouting at Bronx. The guy had taken the full blast and was on his back.
Good God, it wasn’t angel fire, was it?
She blinked, but the finer detail of her vision hadn’t come around. He was a dark, writhing form on the floor.
Dionna pointed to Bronx. Her mouth was moving, but she couldn’t make out words. She shook her head.
Finally some noise made it past her acute tinnitus.
“Protect. Him.”
She nodded. Dionna spun, silver glinting from each hand, and darted into the living room.
Felicia armed herself and stood over Bronx. He’d heal fast, but for now he was still down.
Where were Jagger and Harlowe?
Singing movement behind her. She spun, ready to shove her knife hilt-deep into soft tissue. Urban flicked her blade away with his own. His gaze was all about the what happened? but she must still have the wide-eyed gaze of someone still struggling to clear their senses.
She just shook her head in a I dunno, I think it’s a cluster fuck way.
He gave a curt nod, his gaze flicking past her before he sidled by. She remained on duty protecting Bronx.
The male sat up, his groan cutting through the din. His head was in his hands for only a moment before he popped up.
He exchanged the same silent conversation with her that she’d just had with Urban.
“Fuck,” he mouthed and waved his fingers for her to follow him.
The living room wasn’t the disaster she’d expected. A few items smoldered, the door hung off its hinges, a couple of chairs were overturned, and the TV was black.
Harlowe staggered to her feet, her hands out and grasping for something to steady herself with. Dionna was crouched on top of a male wearing nothing but green plaid pajama bottoms and a brown robe. His face was ground into the off-white carpet but he was yelling unintelligible obscenities.
Urban emerged from the hallway. “Clear.”
Felicia’s gaze swept around the room. She spun in a circle, but no, she hadn’t missed any hidden corners.
“Where’s Jagger?” Her voice was loud to her own ears. She crept closer to Dionna’s prisoner. Was that him? Was it Stede?
“Gone.” Urban ducked outside and Bronx followed.
Harlowe was still blinking and squinting, her eyes refusing to focus. “They got him.”
Fear spiked Felicia’s blood, stronger than any cocktail Vegas could serve. “Who? How?”
Dionna kidney punched the male. “Tell us.”
He barked out a cry but Dionna eased up enough for him to talk. “I don’t know. He just left me here. You’ve gotta help me.”
“Stede?” The name rolled off her lips, leaving behind a sinking, sick sensation in her gut.
“He’s a traitor, and-and he’s been blackmailing me, and—” He turned his head to blink at them. His face paled when he saw her.
Senator Kenton.
So. He’d been in on what Stede had done to her. And he was trying to play the victim card. She squatted. “Remember me?” she asked sweetly, acting on her gamble. “You can cut the act, we don’t believe your bullshit. Tell us what you know or my buddy Bronx here will give me his vial of angel fire to use and I can show you exactly what I went through eleven years ago.”
Kenton’s lips quivered. Dionna flicked her eyes from Kenton to Harlowe, her brow lifted in question. Harlowe shook her head. Kenton remained oblivious to the exchange, his frightened gaze riveted on her.
Urban and Bronx stepped back inside. The senator’s gaze rippled with panic. His beseeching look hit her. “You-you… I was kidnapped.”
She dropped her voice to a menacing level, grateful her hearing was coming back and she could control the volume. “Don’t forget I was there when you fled the senate hall like the coward you are.”
“He had me imprisoned here—”
Urban snorted. “I don’t think the chains in the bedroom were for imprisonment. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure you were suspended in them. But released as soon as you orgasmed. Am I right?”
The senator’s face flushed, and from the busted look in his eye it wasn’t from anger.
“The woman from earlier.” Felicia let out a laugh. “A dominatrix.”
“She works for Stede.” Kenton sounded more annoyed than defensive.
“I bet she does.” Bronx lifted his chin at Dionna. “I’ll go prep the enforcers for their new prisoner.”
“And tell them one of ours will be watching him at all times.”
Kenton was sputtering, but Urban talked over him. “They aren’t going to like that.”
Bronx’s grin was menacing. “I look forward to the discussion.” He tilted his head back as if beseeching the heavens and disappeared.
Felicia’s mind spun. Where could Jagger be? How had they found out?
Sierra?
They’d purposely kept her in the dark. But she knew their procedures and how the team would infiltrate the house. Stede would just need to wait for the opportunity.
Dionna jerked Kenton off the floor. He flopped like a rag doll. “Bronx and I will take care of this garbage. You three…” She looked from Felicia to Harlowe, and then her gaze settled on Urban. “Keep me informed.”
Felicia’s hands curled into fists. Good. She wasn’t being taken off the hunt. She had no idea what Urban had in mind, but she didn’t have to ask what the others had in mind. They were going to rip apart each realm until they found Jagger.
* * *
“What the hell were you thinking?” Jameson snapped. He’d been soaking in his hot tub when the call came in that he had a visitor. He’d hoped that nudging Ms. Montclaire in Stede’s direction would take care of his problem. While he had uses for Stede, the male was too devious for his own good and needed to be killed. “Kenton’s going to babble like a four-year-old with a new toy car.”
The comment spilled out and yanked him into the past. The woman who’d turned on him had had a little boy. And the kid had loved that damn car. And Jameson had loved hearing about it. It had reminded him of him of Julian when he was young.
Stede ran a finger around the inside of his collar. Chafing. The looser clothing of Numen that allowed for ample wing mobility made human clothing intolerable at first. He assumed that when Stede came to the human realm, it was either for a quick trip or fornication. Days stretching into weeks of human clothing were likely rubbing him raw.
It gave Jameson a wicked sort of pleasure. As did determining the best way to kill him and make his body disappear.
“Mind if I imbibe?” Stede was already pouring himself two fingers of his best scotch.
He should’ve drugged the alcohol. Then he could have dragged the male to the Mist and decapitated hi
m.
“I wouldn’t be a proper club owner if I didn’t offer you a drink.” He shrugged into his shirt. Stede hadn’t waited for him in the meeting room, instead barging past Andy and into his personal suite.
“I was thinking that I managed to bag a warrior without getting caught, without bloodshed, and without enlisting the help of any demons.” Smugness radiated off him. “Your son.”
Those two words were like a battering ram knocking him off-center.
Julian.
Stede had captured his son? Rage swelled inside of him, ballooning like a nuclear mushroom cloud. How he kept it from showing in his expression, he didn’t know. Years of lying to his mate and then getting debased after he’d fallen were coming in handy. He forced himself to sip in a complete lungful of air.
Calm settled over his shoulders and spread through his body. He fastened each button with clear deliberation. Show no emotion. Nothing good ever happened from flying off half-cocked. This was the dangerous part of caring about someone. He was distracted, more concerned about Julian’s safety than the plans he’d been toiling over for decades.
Stede had Julian. Was his boy hurt? Julian was a warrior. For fuck’s sake, how had this happened?
It was a minor issue compared to Stede’s declaration, but the male’s tone also suggested that if he’d had his wings cleaved off, he’d have gotten to where Jameson was without bargaining with archmasters and their lessers. Without enlisting the help of any demons.
Stede may very well have the chance to find out. If he was ever taken prisoner like Kenton, his wings would be toast. Jameson would do what he could to make it happen, but unfortunately, Stede was cunning, ruthless, and heartless. The male would find a way to screw all of Jameson’s plans. He was already yanking on the tablecloth of a table that had taken years to set.
“Where is he?” Jameson focused on his appearance in the full-length mirror in front of him and snapped his suit coat in place. His mind churned over several options, but the sad reality was that this was Stede. Julian would be in Numen, where Jameson couldn’t get to him and where all of his contacts had run through fucking Stede.
Stede tilted his head, his dark, glittering eyes calculating. “You keep things from me, I keep them from you.”
What game was this bastard playing at? “And what do you think I’m withholding? How to properly run a successful club in the city of sin? Perhaps all my knowledge of how to recruit human hosts? Maybe I didn’t cover Negotiations with Demons 101?”
A half smile lifted the male’s lips. “We’re both smarter than that or we’d be dead or in enforcer custody.” He took a leisurely sip from his glass and settled into the lounger in the corner of the office. “Speaking of which, the warriors have already handed the senator over. Kenton will meet with his own demise soon.”
At least there was that.
The clink of the glass hitting the tabletop was the only proof that Stede was coiled tight. He was scared or pissed. Or both. “Tell me about your little side project.”
Side project. What Stede was talking about had become his main project once he’d found out what his blood could do to angels. He’d tried to unlock the secrets of getting back to his realm. Was it the weapons? Was it angel blood? Turned out the curse was the answer and was flowing through his veins. His own damn blood made it impossible to fully cross into Numen, but it got him close enough to try.
He just couldn’t ignore this.
But at one time, he’d been collecting demon metal to aid in his experiments. Touching weapons from Numen burned. Literally. He could bluff Stede with that. “I can’t take over the realm with a few friends, some challenging words, and my bare hands if I can’t even cross the threshold. I’ve contracted with an archmaster in order to obtain the weapons Gerzon is obstinately refusing to supply.”
Stede’s eyes narrowed and he tilted his head. “Indeed.”
Jameson bit the inside of his cheek. Stede was mocking him. Fury raged inside of him. The male had come here, knowing he was safe because he had Julian. “I will kill you, Stede. Don’t doubt it.”
“If you had let me in on the secret of your blood, it wouldn’t have come to this. You see, sometimes our children pay the price for our incompetence.”
Jameson drew his brows together. Stede talked as if he knew this subject personally.
“Now I’ll have to see if Julian’s blood has the same properties—once he loses his wings.”
Chapter 17
Felicia charged toward her car. They’d searched the house and come up with nothing.
“You need to let us take the lead.” Dionna was catching up to her.
Felicia thinned her lips and kept her gaze laser focused on the car she and Jagger had used. She remembered how to get back to that church and from there, she’d find Sierra’s house. And then she’d have a little talk with the warrior.
A talk that included bruises and bloodshed if the bitch didn’t lead her to Jagger.
“We are not to do a thing until we contact Director Vale.”
“Tell Bryant he’d better hurry.” She hit the unlock on her fob and ripped the door open.
Dionna caught up. She was powerful enough to stop Felicia. But Dionna didn’t.
Emboldened, Felicia looked the warrior directly in the eye. “You do your job. I’m not as constrained by rules as you are. We both know I can move faster on this and won’t have the same hesitation regarding Sierra.”
Dionna’s nostrils flared as if she’d never heard a deeper insult than the insinuation that she couldn’t interrogate and torture her own comrade. “If Sierra is guilty…”
“I don’t have time to find out. I’ve seen enough to know she is. I don’t have to prove it before I slam her head against the wall and ask her where Jagger is.”
“Sierra’s a trained warrior.”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take.” She dropped into the driver’s seat and was off in seconds. Her instinct was correct. Dionna agreed with her. The female would play by the rules but knew waiting on Jagger’s whereabouts meant he could get caught between the secondary fight between his father and Stede.
It was all she could do not to speed. Even if she got stopped, she could take off running and ascend. But one, she didn’t need to violate her realm’s laws and ascend in front of a human. And two, whatever she found out from Sierra might require the use of the car. She couldn’t transcend somewhere she’d never been.
When she arrived at Sierra’s tidy little home, she didn’t bother parking a few blocks away. Killing the engine right out front, she slammed the door and charged inside.
A couple of well-placed kicks took care of the security door. The interior door swung open. Sierra was poised with a gun in one hand and a knife in the other.
“I thought warriors didn’t fight with guns,” Felicia snarled. She didn’t advance. Getting shot would delay her plans too much.
Sierra’s eyes flickered with recognition. Her gaze darted behind her to the street. “Get inside before my neighbors call the cops.”
The female didn’t drop her stance as she backed up. Felicia stepped inside and pushed the door closed. The outside was still hanging off but hopefully any spectators were minding their own business.
Without wasting time, she laid it out. “They’ve taken Jagger and we know you’ve been working with them.”
The other female’s face drained of color. “W-w-what are you—”
“Cut the bullshit. We’ve seen Stede coming and going, and only an insider could have set up the fire at my sister’s place.”
Resignation swirled in Sierra’s violet eyes but was nearly drowned out by fear. “What happened to Jagger?”
“Stede took him.” Felicia narrowed her eyes. How old was Sierra? It was hard to tell. The female looked the same age as her. “How long have you been working with him? Do you know what he did to me?”
Confusion flickered across her expression. “I don’t know anything about you other than you’re Odessa�
��s sister.”
Felicia sidestepped into the living room, trying to build a mental layout of the home. “Oh, but you knew where I lived in Atlanta. That’s how Jameson found me there.”
Sierra’s jaw was set. “What happened to Jagger?”
“Acting like you don’t know it was a trap?”
“You come to my house throwing accusations around?” Sierra took a menacing step forward. “Tell. Me.”
“You were behind it.”
“I didn’t do this.”
Felicia was laying down the truth. But she believed that Sierra didn’t know about tonight. “Your whole team went to apprehend Stede, but he was ready and got Jagger. We don’t know where either one is.”
Sierra’s brow furrowed. “There was no raid planned for tonight.”
“Like I said, they suspected you were the leak.” And Sierra could lower that gun at any time. Felicia’s scar tissue didn’t heal as fast as the rest of her. “And Jameson knew I was looking for Stede.”
The woman bared her teeth. “Then you’re an idiot.” She took a step closer. Any closer and Felicia could kick that damn gun out of her hand, but Sierra would probably fire first. “Are you fucking Jameson? Is that how he knew?”
Having never met Sierra before, she hadn’t known what to expect, but this jealousy concerning Jagger’s father was disturbing. “I’ve been tied to Jagger since this all started.” Forget the drama. All she wanted was information. She let her feelings for Jagger bleed into her voice. “I need to find him.”
With him missing, it wasn’t just terror racing through her. It was regret. She’d had a shot with him and yeah, he’d acted like a dolt, but he’d come around. He realized what he’d done. Holding out on him was needlessly punishing them both. There was no reason not to see where things between them could go.
Sierra’s expression wavered. She glanced away, but her weapons didn’t lower. She thinned her lips like she’d come to an undesirable conclusion. “Jameson can’t get into Numen and he has too many devout followers here with demon help.”
“So Stede would take Jagger home? Where? He’d need help up there. Who?”
Wicked Fire: Angel Fire, book 2 Page 18
