by Billi Jean
“Right, look. These are our lives you’re messing with—” She lifted a hand before Agni could start. “Yep, you’re messing. What is the catch? And be quick, mister, because Jax is fired up to do some damage and I just might let him.”
Agni shot them a grin, but sobered before she had to sic Jaxon on him. “He will feel the blade’s presence. It will draw him, but—don’t panic, Jaxon, shit, would I do that to you? We can get a witch to cloak it. The witch watching your house in the States, Aubrey, is ancient, she can disguise it for us.”
Jaxon stiffened under her. “What? And we just keep this close and in our home?”
“Jaxon, I think Agni is trying to help. I for one am relieved that something will kill him. How could such evil exist and look so…creepy, but normal. I mean, he could walk down any street and no one but one of us”—she motioned to them—“would know how horrid he is.”
She shivered at the thought, and settled deeper into Jaxon’s arms. He stroked her arm and pulled her even closer.
“It would be better to have this over. If we can draw him in and kill him, we should. He’s already frightening you.”
Joey gripped Jaxon’s strong shoulder. “He scares me. Having this scares me. Going to the hospital—”
“Nonsense. You’re a survivor. We’ll face this head on. It’s the only way to kill a Death Stalker.”
Joey leaned on Jaxon’s strength and soaked it up. He was arrogant, quick-tempered and too smart for his own good, but she loved him to the point of fear. She couldn’t lose him again.
“You won’t. Now, believe in me a bit more than that, would ya? I’m a badass too, don’t forget that.”
Laughter spilt through their bond.
“Okay.”
“That’s my wildcat.”
“Look, you two, don’t look so damned worried. He hasn’t shown back up. No one has spotted him, but that’s not surprising. We’d not seen him before in all our hunts. He keeps a low profile and no fucking wonder, if the Guardians get wind of him, he knows his time here is limited.”
“What? What guardians?” Joey asked.
Jaxon settled her back in his arms so she could rest her head on his shoulder. “The man Agni spoke of—Tor. He’s a guardian. He keeps evil where it belongs. In Hell. How did Gerald get out?” Jax asked Agni.
“Now that is a good question,” Agni said pointing a finger at him like a gun. “The last Tor knew of him, he was not a happy camper. Crimes such as his earn him a special level of hell, and believe me, that is not a place you get out of—ever. Tor is looking into it.”
“Wait, you mean…” Joey paused, not sure how to ask her questions without offending the guy. He looked so human, like a hotter Brad Pitt, bigger, fiercer and one hell of a lot stronger.
“I’ve been there? Yeah, I have.” Agni’s gaze shifted behind them for a second then back on them quickly. “Anyway, that is another story, right? You remember that young mage, Eric, the one taken in the London raid by Torque?” Agni asked, and Jaxon nodded. “He’s never seen the man before, never heard of him.”
“Not surprising, the guy was a babe to the Death Stalkers. Do you think Gerald is anything other than high up?” Jaxon asked.
Agni grimaced. “I have no idea. From all Torment knew about the dude, he belongs in hell, and if Torment catches him, he’s going back—for good. Killing him will accomplish that, but with the added bonus of keeping him there for a very, very long time.”
“So we kill him and poof, he’s back in hell? Wow, that’s all?” Joey said and rolled her eyes. “I can barely keep my head enough to shift, and you think we can kill a guy that’s lived for eons?”
“Shit has a way of happening, and shit, speaking of that, Hunter sent me a message saying something about Evan being gone. Who’s Evan?” Agni asked.
Joey stiffened. “Evan? He’s gone?”
“Calm down, darlin’.” Jaxon asked, “What do you mean, gone? The dude is Joey’s friend. He’s—”
“Dead. He’s dead. What do you mean, he’s gone?” Joey demanded.
Agni shook his head. “Hey, don’t kill the messenger, you two. But that makes more sense. She said to tell you that Evan’s body had disappeared and his box was blown outward. I thought she was digging on your sleeping habits, you know? Your coffins, but…”
Jaxon grunted. “Dude, we do not sleep in coffins, shit, that—”
She cut Jaxon’s fit off with a grip on his arm. “His box? Oh, shit. Jaxon.” She turned to face him and placed her hand on his chest. “We have to go to Washington.”
“Joey that might be what they want. Us—you—there.”
She shook her head. “Doesn’t matter, they won’t get me, and I won’t stay here, not knowing what happened to Evan’s…body. Do you think, I mean…” She paused and stared at Jaxon’s serious expression. “You think they have made him into something, don’t you?”
“Let’s go find out what we can and not jump to conclusions.”
“Oh, Jaxon. You mean that? You will let us go?”
He gave her his panty-dropping grin and tugged her closer. “I’m not your keeper, I’m your man, you stand with me. I stand with you. We shift the hell out, though, if the shit goes south. No matter what.”
“No matter what.”
“I love you,” she breathed against his chest. “So much.”
“Ah, you two want to clue me in on what’s up?” Agni asked.
Jaxon shot Agni a grin while he made her stand. “How about a trip to the country, demon? You like morgues?”
Agni stood and gave them a look like they were nuts. “Sure,” he shrugged. “I like the dead, no problem.” He tucked the knife away and handed the satchel to Jaxon. Jaxon took it cautiously. “Keep this with you. Don’t let it out of your sight,” he added. He caught Joey’s gaze and nodded. “And her. Keep her close, man.”
“Always,” Jaxon vowed.
Joey swallowed, and tried hard to keep her hands from trembling. Back into the fray or back home to find Evan gone, she knew Jaxon would be there for her. Somehow, that made her fear skyrocket. If she lost him…
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Hunter says she’ll be late, she had to stop by your house to pick up Aubrey,” Agni said as soon as they reached the hospital.
The parking lot was dark, and at nearly midnight, Joey wasn’t surprised. Most nights she worked, no one even stepped foot in the morgue. Tonight was no different. A chill breeze caught some debris in the empty lot and whipped it around in a circle, before blowing it against the hospital’s brick wall. Two cars were illuminated under the parking lot lights, but other than that there was only one other vehicle parked on the far, distant end of the lot.
“Is it always this dead?” Agni asked, nudging Jax to hand him a stick of Orbit gum. Jax took two and handed one to her with a wink.
“Yes, Fire, it’s always dead here, ha, ha,” he said.
“Hey, come on, my morgue humour is pretty rusty,” Agni said, laughing when she shook her head. “Give me some time, I’ll get you.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” she said.
“Whoa, not like that,” Agni rushed out and backed up, giving Jax a look as if he expected her man to tear him up. She gave him two seconds to worry, then busted up laughing.
Agni immediately frowned. “I can’t believe you just did that,” he grumbled.
“I can. Watch it, she bites hard too,” Jax said, sounding so pleased she tucked herself closer to his side. She knew what they were doing, trying to lighten a screwed-up situation with humour.
“Yep, and don’t forget it,” she said, giving the arrogant demon a stern look. “Come on, let’s go,” she added, heading towards the side of the hospital. She always used the back door. No one else, other than the ambulance when there was a dead on arrival, ever used it—at least at night. Occasionally someone came out for a smoke, but not this late. She turned the corner, took the flight of stairs next to the closed loading dock doors and froze at the top. Yellow
police tape hung over the door. Behind her, Jax wrapped a comforting arm around her waist.
Agni cursed under his breath. “We should have thought of this,” he grumbled.
“I thought Hunter would have done something about it,” Jax countered. “Come on, just follow me, and if there is anyone, we can say you need to get your things, right?”
Joey nodded. “I guess so.”
“If things go south, Agni can distract them while we shift to your granddad’s,” Jax said, ushering her to the door. “Go ahead, I’m right here.”
“Okay.” She reached out, ignoring her trembling fingers, and pressed the code. Immediately the door clicked open. Jax grabbed it and swung it wider, giving her a push, and they were inside. Silence met them. There was no more police tape, either. Whatever happened to cause the yellow tape must have occurred outside, or they hadn’t hit the actual crime scene yet. Nothing looked wrong or out of place in the dimly lit hallway. A gurney stood by the closed elevator doors and from where they stood, they couldn’t see her lab doors.
“Will there be anyone here?” Jax asked quietly.
“No, not normally. Even if they hired someone else, or if someone is filling in, they won’t pull the night shift like me.” She headed off, reassured by Jax right behind her. They walked silently, she noticed, but still her anxiousness increased.
“Easy, it’s going to be all right. We’re just going to see what we can find out,” Jax murmured.
“Yep, sure. I just—” She cut off when they reached the entrance. It felt like forever since she’d walked through those double doors after Hunter and Viktor, scared, excited and worried the others would find out how frightened she truly was and send her back to the morgue. Now, she had Jax, a man who loved her above all else, a future ahead of them that blossomed with possibility and yet back here, the old worries, the old loneliness settled over her.
“No, none of that. We are one now. Always, remember?”
“Yes, I remember. Always.”
“Okay, let’s check this out then,” he said.
She gripped his hand and he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles, shouldered the door open, and led her into the room. They all stopped inside the double doors. The place looked like a bomb had gone off. The examining table was tipped over, water pooled on the floor and the old florescent lights were half ripped out of the ceiling. But what drew her eyes the most was the line of doors that had once housed the dead. They were blown outward, not all of them, but one in particular, she realised, had been blown to smithereens. The rest lay scattered, ripped off by some huge force that had thrown them after in a fit of rage.
“I take it this wasn’t the way you left your work?” Agni murmured, moving around the damage to lean over and investigate the nearest open door.
“No, no, this wasn’t.” She glanced at Jax and took courage from him. “He was there.” She pointed to the bottom row. The door there had been crumpled but still hung from one hinge. Jax walked over and squatted next to her, motioning Agni closer.
“Claw marks,” Jax murmured.
“Indents, too, like he busted his way out,” Agni said, nodding. He stood and turned. “Then destroyed the place in a fit of rage?”
“Oh, God, then he was…they did, I mean, he’s—” She broke off, unable to finish her thoughts aloud.
Jaxon soothed her with gentle pressure on her hand. “Don’t panic, Joey, it might not be where he was—”
“Oh, but Jaxon, it was. It was where he was and worse, there were marks on him, burn marks.”
“And? What does that mean?” Jaxon asked.
“I think it means that he was in that warehouse, and they used something on him, something like electrodes. Hunter knew. Where is she?” Joey paced the area, tears threatening at the thought of Evan exposed to the evil she’d witnessed. She’d had Jaxon, a warm, strong presence—who did Evan have?
“She should be here, but if she thought Evan had been at the warehouse, maybe that’s where we should be,” Agni offered.
Jax suddenly caught her hand and moved back to the corner of the room where her desk had stood but now lay tipped over on its side. “Visitors,” he hissed. “Not immortal, humans. Two. Hit the mist, demon.”
Agni saluted and nodded to the other side of the room. As she watched, he walked to the lab’s long counter on the far wall, his form became misty, then he was gone.
“What…what did he just do?”
“It’s a demon thing. Here, quiet, I’m shadowing us.”
A moment later one of the doors swung open and Jax settled her closer to his side as two humans dressed in black military-type clothing entered the room. They reminded her of every sniper movie she’d ever seen. Only scarier. These men were killers, much as Jaxon and Agni were—and, she now understood, she was too. Only these men were fragile, unable to recover from mortal wounds or syringes like she’d experienced.
“The humans.”
“Yes, from the warehouse, right?” She thought one of them looked familiar, maybe the man with his chest cut open.
“Yes. They must have escaped.”
She glanced at him for the laugh in his tone.
“What? They’re resourceful.”
“Huh, nosey more like it. Worse, unlike us, they are in more danger—they could die, right? Or worse, become whatever it is Evan is now! They should not be here.” She tapped Jaxon on the nose and smiled when he mock bit her.
The man from the warehouse froze and the other, a blond, stopped a step behind him. They both hunched over, ready to use the assault rifles they aimed in a low arc around the room. A red bead of light swept by, going over their heads, and Jaxon’s grin grew.
Grayson, she thought his name was, stood straighter and said, “Steady, they are in here, just keep your—”
“Gray, you look good, man, how’s things?” Jax asked, stepping out and catching the bullet the blond fired at him in his fist.
Joey swallowed a scream and moved out of the shadows. “Watch it! Geesh, aren’t you supposed to be trained or something? Do you always shoot first?”
Grayson and the man behind him both froze. Slowly they lowered their weapons slightly and stood to their full height. The blond looked at Jaxon, then at her, but didn’t look sorry and he didn’t lower his weapon as much as Grayson either.
“It’s good to see you survived,” Grayson said.
“Really? Why do I sense that’s not what you truly want to say,” Jaxon said. His voice held such power she shivered. This was Jaxon, badass and ready to knock some heads together if need be. He opened his fist, tossed the bullet on his palm and with a frown, dropped it. The ping it made on the linoleum floor sounded loud. “Nice way to say hello.”
Grayson shot the man next to him a frustrated look, but immediately shrugged. “It’s been tense.”
“Yeah, I bet. What do you know about this?” Jaxon indicated the room with a hand.
“Not much. This happened two nights after you broke us out.”
“What? Two nights? But that’s just two days ago…” Joey trailed off. What did that mean?
Without warning, both human men grimaced and swore. They hunched over, hands over their heads, then ripped something from their ear.
“What—” Joey began, but shut up when the doors opened again and Hunter waltzed in, tapping each man on the back of the head with a grin. Another woman stood behind her, but stalled at the doors and didn’t move even when one swung into her.
“Yo, boys, you are in a wee bit of trouble, huh?” Hunter said, distracting Joey from examining the dark-haired girl. “Seems you’ve been busy since last we met.”
Agni misted in behind them. “Busy and into shit that doesn’t concern them.”
Grayson spun to confront Agni, then stepped back and nearly knocked the poor woman by the door over.
“Oh!” She stepped farther into the room to avoid him and motioned to Hunter. “Hunter, come here,” she whispered. Her accent was thick, Scottish, Joey recognised under t
he urgency. “Now, Hunter,” she said and flung her hand in a warding gesture when Jax stepped closer. “Dinnae move.”
“What? What gives, chica? These are the people—well, not these two, but the rest, they need you to cloak something—” Hunter broke off with a hiss and turned to Joey, or rather Jaxon and stepped backward slowly. “What the hell is that?”
With an exasperated snort, the black haired beauty tossed her hair. “That’s what I was trying to tell—”
“All right, all right. So,” Hunter let out a deep breath through her nose like she smelt something bad. “That is what you want Aubrey to…work on?”
Agni frowned at Hunter, then examined the new woman, Aubrey, Joey assumed. “This is the ancient witch?” he asked.
“Ancient? Who said that? This is Aubrey, she has skill, but that…” Hunter waved at the satchel. “That’s—”
“Evil,” Aubrey said quietly. She walked forward and motioned the two humans aside. When they didn’t move she turned her head and gave a frustrated huff. “Move back, are ye daft? That”—she pointed at Jaxon with a scowl—“will surely kill ye, and no’ in a nice way.”
“Is there a nice way?” Agni asked, sounding philosophical.
Aubrey stared at him as if he’d lost his mind, must have decided he had and dismissed him as a lost cause to meet her eyes instead.
Joey liked her instantly.
“Can you help with it?” Joey asked, then stepped forward. “I’m Joey, by the way, and this is Jaxon and the man behind you is Agni. I’m not sure who the trigger-happy man is, but the other is Grayson, who owes us for getting him out of a messy situation.”
Aubrey glanced at each person she introduced, and gave her a quick smile when she shot her dig at the trigger-happy soldier.
“I am Aubrey Mac Cinaed. I’m no’ ancient, but I do come from a different time, you ken? I can try to”—she nodded towards the satchel—“aid you with this.”
“Are you saying you can sense this thing?” Jaxon demanded.
“Aye, who cannae? It’s…” She grimaced and swung her long hair over her shoulder. “I can shield you from it. ’Twould be best. Hunter has told me you wish to kill a man with this.”
