Kal knew Becky could make a bazillion funny jokes about the situation, if only she could tell her.
But she couldn’t tell her. If Kal did tell her, Becky wouldn’t believe her anyway. Worse, her friend might think Kal had lost her mind and tell her parents.
Yikes.
No, Kal kept her talks with Becky short and sweet, but she did admit she had gone out on a couple of dates.
Okay, God would forgive her that fib. Well, maybe it wasn’t a fib. Lots of people who were “just dating” had bouncing, hot, lung-sucking sex, didn’t they?
Chapter Eighteen
Two days later, Kal was alone in the office again. While she didn’t know the specifics, she understood arrangements had been made to invisibly increase security and protect her. Now, only those who belonged there could pop in and out of the office, keeping Kal safe in that regard, at least.
Working in her office, compiling the next remote location shoot schedule and arrangements, Kal felt the air shift and caught a subtle, familiar whiff of a man’s cologne. She turned. Ryan leaned against the office wall, his arms crossed, watching her.
“What are you doing here?” Kal asked.
“I wish to have a quick chat with you. Alone.”
“Why?” She wasn’t sure if Will would want her talking to Ryan alone. Then again, he had interceded on her behalf with Bera. Will obviously trusted Ryan with her despite whatever differences they had.
Dealing with Ryan was such a dang mixed bag. On the one hand she wanted to hate him on general principle, because this was all his fault. On the other she wanted to hug him, thank him, and call him her friend.
Could she do that and not betray Will’s feelings in the process? Wasn’t she obligated to keep her distance from Ryan if Will couldn’t stand him?
He pushed off the wall and seated himself in Aidan’s chair, positioning it in front of her desk. The playful smile he’d worn in Atlanta the day she materialized in his apartment was gone. This Ryan meant business. She fought the urge to shiver.
Apparently sensing her apprehension, his face and voice softened. “No, Kal, I just wish to talk. As you know, I am not Will’s fondest friend. I know I’m not yours either, but I hope we can discuss this without you trying to feed my scrotum to me.” He sat quietly for a moment while composing his thoughts. “I’m sorry you are being put through this. I’m sure your own father would tell you that sometimes the greater good must come first.”
Anger took over. “Don’t you dare talk about my parents!” She might get aggravated at her father, but no one else had the right to talk about them.
“Kal, please. Let me finish.” He took another breath. “There are a few things you need to know, to put all this in perspective. Perhaps that will help you understand why I was forced to do what I did. Believe it or not, I take no joy or pleasure over dragging you into this life. Will is The Firm’s strongest archdemon and he is needed. Without him I cannot do my job.”
“Not that I’m complaining—” She thought about that. “No, I am complaining. Why me? Why him? Couldn’t you get another one to do whatever it is you need done?”
Ryan shook his head. “Will’s power isn’t simply that he is the strongest archdemon. Abby was Will’s one and only, until you. The one and only love of his life. In all ways.”
“I know that. He told me.”
“No, she was truly his one and only. Ever. His only love, in heart, mind, body, and soul. And he was hers. For ages they were bonded. His strength came in no small part from that bond, the years and depth and purity of it. The undiluted nature of his soul is what gives him his power, and the pure bond he had with her—and with you—is what will return him to full strength and even, dare I say, beyond.”
Kal froze, trying to comprehend what Ryan was saying. “Why couldn’t you get someone else to take his place? What about you?”
He studied his fingernails. “I’m older than Will. Much older. I, too, have loved and lost. I chose not to take another soul mate, although unlike Will, I did not choose to remain chaste. I retained my power but it’s not in me to find another soul mate. Especially not now with my…responsibilities. It would make me more of a liability, put me in a vulnerable position. And I would be remiss in jeopardizing someone like that.”
He met her gaze. “Our kind can and do live and function fine without a soul mate. Look at our boys here in the office, or even Bera, as another example, but they don’t have a fraction of the power Will has. Had. Shall have again with you in his life. The surface has barely been scratched, you know. As the two of you bond more deeply, you will see things beyond your wildest imagination.”
Ryan leaned forward, his voice dropping further. Kal had a feeling there was a lot more he wasn’t telling her that she didn’t necessarily want to know. “He needs you to feed his power. His love for you—”
“He doesn’t love me. Not really. He thinks he has to say it.” She wasn’t sure she believed that, though. It sure felt like he loved her.
* * * *
Ryan shook his head. “You’re wrong, love, and you know it. Quit lying to yourself, it serves no useful purpose. He loves you, deeply, truly. Right now he’s still adjusting. And you love him. Admit it, in the depths of your soul, you feel it, felt it when you first met. You’re not ‘just saying it’ when you say it to him, are you? You love him, too.”
She reluctantly nodded.
“I didn’t engineer that. I couldn’t. Yes, you were my insurance policy to bring him back, but I couldn’t guarantee you’d love each other.” Ryan hoped Kal wasn’t powerful enough yet to sense his lie. He knew damn well they’d fall in love immediately. They couldn’t help do anything but. “I knew once you two met that the love was there between you. I hoped nature would take its course. Unfortunately the two of you proved rather stubborn and needed a swift kick in the arse to figure it out. There is a greater good to serve. I must see to that greater good. I’m sorry, but if it means I have to manipulate a few individual lives to accomplish that greater good, then yes, I will. Without apologies.”
He leaned back. “And you are as powerful as he is.”
“I’m no demon.”
“No, but you are half his soul. He feeds you as much as you feed him. You complete each other. There is an ancient myth that humans used to have two faces, four arms, and four legs. They angered the gods, and then they were split in two. In some people this is more truth than myth.”
He stood. “You can call me all the names you wish, that’s fine, I certainly don’t blame you. One day, perhaps, Will might even kill me. I can accept that as long as the greater good is served by it. I regret you had to go through this. As I have said, I must serve the larger picture.”
* * * *
Kill him? Something about the thought of that rolled her stomach in a dangerous way. She might bounce around emotionally between hating Ryan and liking him, but no matter what, she’d never allow Will to kill him if she had anything to say about it.
With an urgent need to change the conversation’s direction, Kal settled in her chair and studied Ryan. She had so many questions for him, so many things to reconcile in her mind. “If you’re so dang powerful, why can’t you stop things like hurricanes? Genocide?”
“Because man has free will and the ability to stop or change the impact of those things. We are in charge of making sure mankind is free to choose their path. We are not FEMA. We are not the UN either, thank the gods. We make sure the world spins, the sun comes up, the moon goes down. We do this by making sure that what is supposed to be here, in this plane, stays here, and that things that don’t belong here aren’t allowed to run amok. With the many varied species on Earth, our job is also to make sure none of them try to usurp humanity’s free will and either take over or eradicate them. Aidan wasn’t wrong when he said we’re like the Men in Black. Our job is to level the playing field, preserve the status quo, and allow mankind the opportunity to continue their quest for free will.”
“I didn’t ha
ve free will in this. I never have. You engineered it so I’d meet Will.”
Ryan smiled, but it looked full of deep sadness. “You always had free will. You could have stood up to your parents years ago, or not felt the need to make it on your own. You could have given your virginity to that moron you went to senior prom with. You could have done a lot of things, including chosen to not become Will’s soul mate. I simply paved the way for certain choices to be easier for you to make than others, but they were always your choices to make. Whether you choose to believe it or not, I didn’t have to force the two of you to fall in love. You fell in love at first sight. That’s why he reacted so strongly. Had he not, I wouldn’t have let things continue, never would have forced the issue.”
Kal had a flash of insight and asked without thinking. “How did she die? Your soul mate?”
Ryan’s body stiffened and his jaw tightened. Kal suspected she was looking at the real man, not the façade he put up for the rest of the world. “I couldn’t protect her,” he quietly said. “I thought I could. I tried to protect Abby, but I didn’t get to her in time.” He looked at Kal. “That’s between the two of us. You and I shall have many long talks throughout the years. Just as I’ll respect your confidences, you should extend me the same consideration.”
She studied him. “She was murdered?”
He eventually nodded.
“Will said he was in agony after Abby died. It mostly went away when we got together. But you…does that mean you’re in pain, too?”
“There are many kinds of pain.”
Kal felt a flash of anger over his evasion. “Answer my question.”
After another long moment, he nodded. “Yes. Losing a soul mate is the worst kind of physical pain you can ever imagine. Especially when they are violently ripped from you.”
“Then why didn’t you take another one if it would help ease that pain?”
“It’s not as simple as taking another soul mate,” he quietly explained. “It’s very complicated. I do not wish to discuss that.”
For a long moment she chewed on a thought before giving voice to it. “Why do you act like an asshole when you obviously aren’t?”
He smiled. A genuine, heartbreakingly sweet smile, not his usual businesslike mask. “I have a job to do. Again, this is a confidence between us. I hope you’ll respect that.”
“Thank you for coming when I called. With that woman.”
He leaned over her desk, and she wanted to fall into his beautiful green eyes. “Kal,” he whispered, “I will always come when you call me. I swear it. No matter what. If there is breath in my body, I will come when you call me. Whether it’s for saving you from danger or helping you with a flat tire or changing out a lightbulb you can’t reach.” He smiled. “Never hesitate to call me, love. Even if you just need someone to talk with. You let me be the judge of whether it was necessary after the fact, right? But you always call me if you need me.”
She fell quiet for a moment. “What is your secret? Why aren’t you and Will and Aidan friends anymore?”
“I think that’s something you don’t need to worry about, dear. It happened too many years ago to matter now.” He disappeared before she could ask anything else. She shivered, gooseflesh rippling her arms, only a faint hint of his pleasant cologne hanging in the air before that, too, faded.
She realized Ryan was far more complex than she imagined. She wondered why he chose to open up to her the way he had.
Suspicious, uh, yeah. He’s the fricking head archdemon, the Devil. Duh. Yet she suspected there was more. Worse, if Ryan needed someone of Will’s strength back on the team, what was coming down the pike?
And how had Ryan known Aidan mentioned Men in Black to her at the cemetery?
Moments later she’d managed to force her mind back to work when the air shifted again. Aidan appeared, looking concerned.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
He lifted his nose to the air and cautiously sniffed. After Bera’s surprise visit, Aidan was even more protective of Kal than usual. “You okay, sweet cheeks?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I thought someone was here with you.”
“Ryan stopped by.”
An immediate wall went up in Aidan’s mind. She felt it. Dang it, she would figure this out, what was going on between the three guys, whether they liked it or not.
“What did he want?”
“Just a quick chat to see if I was okay. Seriously. It’s fine.”
His protective air comforted and annoyed her a little at the same time. Anxious big brother. That’s how she thought of him.
Aidan finally relaxed. “We’ll be done in a few. Want to go to lunch?”
“Okay.”
He popped out, and again she tried to work. They’d explained to her that it wasn’t practical for them to do the disappearing act all the time, especially around lots of people. Hard to explain. Cars were normal, obviously. With the secret out, it wasn’t unusual for the guys to pop back to the office for needed items if they were on a job. She’d gotten used to it. Twenty minutes later, she’d nearly finished when Aidan reappeared.
“I’m done.”
“Who’s bringing the van back?”
“Purs and Gery are stopping on the way, we’ll meet them. You got your car here?”
She tossed him the keys. Will was meeting with a client in St. Petersburg and wouldn’t return until later. She sent him a text message so he wouldn’t worry about her, and while nothing about her situation was normal, it felt normal going to lunch with Aidan and the guys.
Just the recently deflowered virgin and some bazillion-year-old archdemons chowing down at Chili’s.
In the passenger seat of her car, she laughed.
Bemused, Aidan looked at her. “What’s so funny, babe?”
She shook her head. “No one would ever believe this.”
“I hope not. The Firm works hard so humans won’t suspect the world is anything other than they believe it to be. Everyone’s better off that way.”
“How dangerous does it get? Tell me the truth, Aidan.”
She’d almost derailed his composure by switching tracks like that. His change in expression told her that much. “Ryan’s careful,” he finally answered. “Most of what we do now is just information gathering, or flexing a little muscle to keep something in line. He’s a ‘walk softly, big stick’ kind of guy, trust me.”
“Didn’t used to be like that?”
“No. Not by a long shot. Used to be a ‘beat the living shit out of everyone and send back one half-dead witness with the bodies as a warning’ kind of guy.” He looked at her and grinned. “He’s mellowed a lot.”
“Then why does he need Will back if everything’s so hunky-dory?”
“Don’t stress it. I don’t have an answer for you. Ryan has to deal with the big picture and long term, not just the here and now. He might be setting up his chess pieces today for something a hundred years in the future, kiddo.” He looked at her. “He won’t send Will out to be killed. He’s never done anything like that. His old man was more of a slash-and-burn kind of guy, but even in the crazy days Ryan’s always been one to hedge his bets. He hates to lose, or lose any personnel, or have collateral damage, especially on our side. He takes it very personally.”
Maybe she didn’t want to know the answer to this. “What happened to him?”
“Who?”
“Ryan’s father. How did Ryan take control of The Firm?”
“Oh, Ryan’s pretty much been running things for a long time now. His old man didn’t officially hand the reins over until…” He didn’t finish that sentence. “He finally retired. I think Ryan pointed out to him that it was a long overdue change.”
“Retired? Is that a euphemism for Ryan killing him to take over?” Kal so didn’t want to hear this when she’d just discovered her soft spot for Ryan, but she had to ask.
Aidan snorted, amused. “Ryan? Kill Hades? Not quite.”
Now s
he was confused. Hades was a real person, not just another name for Hell? “Then where is he?”
“I told you, he’s retired. Hades has a house down on Boca Grande—Gasparilla Island—in Lee County. About two hours south of here. He loves to fish for tarpon, bought a boat, the whole nine yards.”
She sat back, stunned into silence. What shocked her more, that she landed a TV producer gig on a popular television show six months after graduation? That she managed to escape her parents and live in Tampa? That she was now a deflowered virgin and a hunkalicious demon’s soul mate for eternity? That the admittedly good-looking British guy who she thought was her boss turned out to actually be the Devil? That Hell was based in Atlanta?
Or that Hades was a real person playing beach bum on Gasparilla Island?
It was a draw.
* * * *
Drained both mentally and emotionally, Ryan returned to his apartment after his talk with Kal. He needed to get his head on straight. Maybe it was time for him to think about leaving this life for good. With Will back and quickly returning to full strength, it wouldn’t take much to goad Will into killing him.
Will would probably welcome the opportunity.
Ryan stared out the windows over Atlanta and felt the air shift behind him.
“Hello, Bera.”
“I can’t sneak up on you, can I?”
“Perhaps if you used a little less perfume.”
“You wear cologne.”
“Yes, I wear it. I don’t bathe in it.” Ryan turned, his eyes blazing. “If you ever repeat your little stunt of the other day, I mean it, I will take you out permanently. You cannot trade on the status of either your father or mine. I have latitude from the Dodekatheon in these matters that no longer guarantees your safe passage.”
Bera nodded, no longer as sure of herself as she had been when she first appeared.
“What did you want?” he asked.
She smiled and walked toward him, slowly, seductively unbuttoning her blouse. “What do you think I want, Ryan? It’s been a while.”
Good Will Ghost Hunting: Demon Seed [Good Will Ghost Hunting 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 21
