Rose of Jericho (Lilith Adams Series Book 2)

by Jenny Allen

  Cohen stared back at her defiantly and then slowly the anger seemed to leak out of his eyes. It was as if he finally realized he’d overreacted, or at least she could hope. “Right.” His aristocratic voice was flat and emotionless as he pushed away from the table. His eyes flickered over to Chance who stood perfectly still in the room. For once he didn’t add any smartass comments trying to goad Chance into a fight. He’d already said plenty.

  “Good night then. Enjoy your dinner.” He used the stoic voice that reminded her of Farren’s matter-of-fact tone. Cohen straightened his tie, physically composing himself before slipping out of the room and shutting the door firmly behind him.

  “Please tell me I don’t have to thank him for saving your life. I’m not sure I’m up to that.” There was a feral growl to his voice as he stared daggers at the door.

  With a bit of her old smug self, Lilith grinned over at him. “Actually, I took down three of them myself.”

  His handsome face snapped over to her with a look of complete surprise. Some small part of her felt vaguely offended. “Seriously?” When she nodded, the surprise turned into a proud grin that definitely eased her wounded pride. “Well look at you. Next thing you know you’ll be wearing a latex body suit.” He flashed one of those leering, hopeful smiles as he slid into the chair across from her. “I’d totally be fine with that, for the record.”

  “Ha, ha. You wouldn’t be so quick to suggest it if you’d ever worn one or tried to take one off.” Lilith slid his food across the table before taking a bite of her dinner. Delicious. Most restaurants either made it too savory or too sweet, but the little strip mall take out place had it just right. Guess that explained the long line.

  “Wait. You’ve actually worn one?” All the humor drained from Chance’s face as he paused with crab Rangoon half way to his mouth. There was a look of boyish hope mixed with manly lust on his slightly stubbled face that was enigmatically endearing.

  Lilith flashed an impish grin and took another bite of her peanut chicken. “So did you get ahold of Timothy?”

  “You didn’t answer my question.” Lilith couldn’t help but laugh at the expectant look on his face.

  “You’re right. I didn’t.” Lilith flashed an impish grin that only made Chance’s petulant frown deepen as he dug into his General Tso’s chicken.

  As soon as they finished eating, Lilith fished out her burner phone and perched on the bed to check her voicemails. Meanwhile, Chance stretched his six foot three frame out on the bed and clicked through the local channels.

  The first two voicemails featured Timothy’s frantic voice. He still hadn’t heard anything from Gregor or Chance, where the hell was she, what was going on, etc.

  “Chance, you did stop to call Timothy while lighting candles, didn’t you?”

  When he didn’t answer, she craned her neck to look back at him. He was staring slack-jawed at the TV. When she glanced over at the screen, she immediately understood while it held his rapt attention. He apparently landed on a news report about the mysterious car wreck and shoot out in New Haven, Connecticut.

  His eyes widened as the camera focused in on the damage to the rental car. The right side of the car was smashed in brutally. Lilith didn’t remember it being that bad, honestly. She was surprised the whole right side of her body wasn’t a mass of broken bones and bruises. Chance was thinking the same thing as he stared at the TV in disbelief.

  Lilith turned away from the screen to face Chance again. There was no sense in rehashing it right now. Her arm still ached but it was definitely healing. The gash in her scalp had closed up and was now just a light pink scar. She was fine. “Chance.”

  Finally his glazed eyes snapped over to her. “What’s up?” He was trying to make his voice smooth and casual, but she could hear all his nervous energy.

  “Did you call Timothy?”

  “Uh yeah, briefly.” Chance closed his hazel eyes for a moment, focusing and trying to erase the shattered rental car from his mind. “I just told him that things were under control. That you and Gregor are fine and I’d contact him soon.”

  Lilith frowned and tilted her head to the side. Chance didn’t need to hear the question, he was already answering it. “There was no sense in telling him Gregor is…well anyway, he is more likely to keep his trap shut and stay put if he thinks everything is fine.”

  It made sense. Lilith nodded and turned back to her phone leaving Chance gawking at the TV. The New York-Italian female voice that rumbled over the cheap speaker was definitely one she didn’t recognize.

  This is Nicci DeLuca. The guys at the station filled me in on your current situation. I wanted to send my condolences. I’ve been assigned as your new liaison with the police department and I look forward to working with you. Just give me a shout when you’re ready to get to work. I have some notes about the last case Detective Alvarez was working on. Talk ‘atcha later.

  The tone in her voice was sincere but somewhat uncomfortable and Lilith didn’t blame her. It couldn’t be easy leaving a message on a stranger’s voicemail that you were replacing their recently deceased partner. It was bound to be at least a little awkward.

  After two more panicked messages from Timothy was one from the forensics office in N.Y.C. involving case #529-821456. Apparently, there were some unusual results and they were unsure what to do with the samples. They forwarded the file to her new partner, Detective DeLuca. It had to be something Alvarez was working on before he came down to help. Whatever it was, it could wait.

  There was another message from Nicci DeLuca, just touching base and offering a friendly shoulder if Lilith needed one. She sounded sympathetic but not truly concerned… yet, but she was getting there. Lilith would have to give her a quick call soon before she filed a missing person’s report.

  Timothy’s panicked voice rattled from her phone yet again and bordered on being flat out rude. It was a good thing Chance called him. Timothy sounded like he was mere seconds away from calling the FBI, CIA and anyone else he could think of.

  The next one was a saved message and she hadn’t the faintest idea what it could be. So much had happened in the last couple days. As soon as Gregor’s warm voice rattled through the speaker, tears sprung to Lilith’s eyes.

  Lily, I’m heading to the airport now and I’ll be back in New York in a few hours. I know you’re hurt and angry, but please know that I love you and that has never changed. From the moment you were born, you have been the redeeming light of my life. I hope one day we can overcome the specter of my past and become even closer. I realize that on top of everything else, I didn’t react well to your new…relationship with Chance. He’s an exceptional person and lord knows he’s carried a torch for you all these years. I’m just concerned because one day he will grow old and you won’t. I have been there and it is indescribably painful to watch the one you love wither away and die. Like any other father, I just want what’s best for you. I love you, Lily and I want us to have dinner when I get back in town.

  For a moment, Lilith forgot that her father was dead, forgot that she was just listening to a voicemail. Her first impulse was to call him back and apologize for everything. Tears burned down her cheeks as the delusion evaporated and reality began to settle in. She realized that she must have started the voicemail last night and pressed the save button as soon as she’d heard Gregor’s number.

  Then the image flashed in her mind. The image of Gregor slumped against the wall, a red, angry hole in his head, his lifeless grey eyes staring out into space. It was too much. Lilith struggled to breathe through the tears as her stomach lurched. She dropped the phone on the bed and ran for the bathroom.

  “Lily? What’s wrong?” There was true concern in Chance’s voice as he tried to grab her wrist while she ran past him. Lilith pulled back and side-stepped into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her. She ripped up the lid to the toilet and hit the ground hard with a sudden wave of nausea. Lilith’s stomach twisted into violent knots as the grotesque s
cene replayed vividly in her head.

  Distantly she heard Chance knock quietly on the door. “Lily? Are you okay?” When she didn’t answer with anything but puking sounds, it thankfully went quiet outside the room. The image of Farren’s bullet tearing through Gregor’s head flashed over and over, leaving Lilith dry-heaving over the toilet. Her muscles burned from the effort to purge all the darkness from her system.

  Finally the images began to fade and Lilith curled up on the cool tile floor, panting through the tears. Hearing her father’s voice was worse than a gut punch. Beyond that it was a reminder that Gregor felt like he was losing his daughter when he died. He knew she felt angry and betrayed. The guilt was crushing her into the ground. Why had she been so stubborn? If she’d just answered the phone when Gregor called…he would still be dead.

  Chance was right. There was no scenario where Lilith could have saved her father’s life. Perhaps that was worse, knowing she was powerless to save him. What if she was powerless to save Chance or herself? Lilith’s head lit up like a bonfire as she kept going through the worst possible outcomes. Peisinoe’s threat played a main role in most of them.

  Lilith took in slow, deep breaths trying to make the pounding in her head stop. Distantly, she heard something softly scrape down the door and then Chance’s voice rumbled softly from the lower half. She could picture him sitting on the floor with his back propped against it.

  “Lily, I miss him too.” There was a feather-light thud as he leaned his head back against the door. “It tears me apart that we couldn’t save him, but once Farren had him, he was not about to let him go. Even if we’d raided the building with a large army, Farren would have already killed him.”

  Lilith pressed her cheek against the cool tile as the migraine finally began to recede. Chance had said it all before but there was something open and comforting about his voice. He wasn’t trying to make her feel better, he was sharing his own thoughts and feelings which meant he’d listened to the voicemail.

  For a while they just stayed like that, Lilith on the floor, Chance with his back to the door. She couldn’t see him, but she knew he was there and that was enough. Chance didn’t push her to open the door or communicate in anyway. He was just there, close by in case she needed him.

  Chapter 15

  Somewhere in the dark there was a phone ringing. Lilith blindly threw her hand out to feel around for her cell phone. Her fingers brushed against something wet and sticky on the night stand. Her confused brain was struggling to figure out why when her fingers hit something solid, warm and moist. Panic flared down her nerves as she frantically grasped around for the lamp but it must have fallen off the nightstand.

  Suddenly, the room was flooded with weak, flickering light. Flames across the room. It wasn’t a nightstand next to the bed, it was an office desk. Lilith skittered backwards as the light revealed a body on the table. She looked down at her trembling hand to see it coated with blood. Her eyes flashed back up to the body on the table in horror. Long blonde hair cascaded over the side of the desk. It was too familiar. Lilith knew what was on that table. Her cousin’s mutilated body, the result of Ashcroft’s vindictive handiwork.

  Lilith tucked her knees up under her chin and clasped her hands over her ears. It was just a nightmare and all she had to do was wake up. Miriah’s body was buried in New York City. She squeezed her eyes shut and screamed, trying to knock herself out of it, all to no avail.

  When she opened her eyes again, the blonde hair moved. A chill raced down her spine, her eyes glued to the table in pure horror as the mutilated body sat up slowly and twisted around to face her. The smell of blood and decomposing flesh overwhelmed her and the sickening cracks and pops as the corpse moved grated down her spine.

  Miriah’s dissected face stared at her, the lidless eyes rolling sickeningly in their sockets, her shredded lips opening, trying to speak. A shattered hand reached out toward Lilith and all she could do was watch in pure terror. Blood pounded furiously in her ears, blocking out the sound of snapping ligaments and tearing flesh.

  Something scratched at Lilith’s shoulder and it left her skin burning like liquid fire. She shot off the bed with her heart pounding furiously. Her bare foot slid in liquid and she thudded painfully to the ground, knocking her head on the hard floor.

  Lilith pushed herself up to stare right into Alvarez’s lifeless face. The gaping slash across his neck was still bleeding, dripping hot splashes of blood on her chest. His head moved and she looked up to see the cloudy eyes of her beloved partner staring right into her. His mouth opened and closed as if he was trying to talk. A wave of nausea hit Lilith as she scrambled backwards right into something solid.

  When she whirled around, Lilith was facing the charred corpse of a man, shackled to the concrete floor. Duncan. His burnt hand reached for her, scraping against her skin. The crinkling sound of charbroiled skin breaking tore at her brain. She screamed with everything she had, emptying all the blackness from her soul into the effort. Why was she seeing all this? Why couldn’t she just wake up?

  Suddenly, something hit her like a pile of bricks, knocking her backwards onto the floor. Spencer’s contorted face grinned down at her with bloody teeth. He pinned her to the ground, his red-rimmed eyes manic with hate as he slashed and punched at her. Lilith screeched as she pushed and shoved, trying to protect herself but something warm and wet was splattering her face. That’s when she saw the gaping bullet wound in his head. The image of Chance shooting him flashed through her mind leaving her with the same conflicted feeling she’d had when he died in Goditha.

  Dead Spencer was still attacking her and he used her moment of distraction to crack her in the jaw. Pain lit up the entire side of her face as Spencer struck down with his fangs aimed right at her neck. Lilith squeezed her eyes shut and screamed in sheer panic. Nothing happened. The tearing pain she expected to feel never came.

  When she opened her eyes again, Spencer was gone and she was lying on the blood soaked floor with only the flickering light as company. “Wake up! Dammit! Just wake the fuck up!!!” Tears stung her eyes as she slapped herself in the face. Nothing worked.

  “Get up! I have no time for your sniveling. I want my book before I put a bullet in your brain.” Lilith’s eyes flashed open to see Farren’s vicious face hovering inches from hers. His cold, calculating eyes pierced right through her as his hand clamped on her arm. His bony fingers dug into her, making her whimper in pain as he yanked Lilith to her feet.

  “You will end up just like your father!” Farren snarled the words, his hand gripping her jaw painfully tight. He wrenched her face to the right, forcing her to look down at Gregor’s lifeless body. Tears flooded her eyes until she could barely see. All her she could focus on was the angry red bullet wound in her father’s head.

  “No!” Lilith pushed and struggled as she shook her head violently, but Farren had an ironclad grip on her arm. She knew this was all a dream. Why couldn’t she wake up!

  Farren gripped her jaw again with bruising strength and forced her to watch in sickening horror as her father’s corpse slowly slid up the wall to his feet. His cloudy grey eyes opened slowly and a raspy, guttural voice rattled out of his mouth. “Liiillllly.”

  “No! This isn’t real!” Lilith screamed the words until her throat felt raw. She slammed her elbow into Farren’s solar plexus as hard as possible and his grip vanished. Lilith didn’t think twice, she shoved away and just ran. She ran with everything she had left toward the flickering light.

  Between stinging tears that felt like acid and the growing light, Lilith could barely see. She wiped furiously at her eyes while she ran until she hit something warm and solid. It felt like running right into a brick wall except that brick walls didn’t have arms that clamped around her. Lilith screamed and fought against whoever was restraining her. Her nails scratched deep and her legs kicked as hard as possible.

  “Lily. Stop.” Chance’s voice flowed over her like an ointment for her soul. Lilith just collapsed in a
mess of tears in his arms completely overcome. She didn’t care if this was part of the dream or if she’d finally woken up. He was here. Her safe harbor. Her escape from the animated corpses. He was always there now, in her nightmares, comforting her. Ever since Miriah’s apartment.

  Chance softly wiped at her cheeks and angled her sore chin up at him. His hazel eyes with their specks of green were the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. The flickering light was gone and the hotel room looked completely, blissfully normal. There were no moving dead bodies, no Farren, no smell of rot and charred flesh. She’d woken up. The nightmare was gone. Lilith clutched him tighter with tears of joy.

  Chance smoothed a hand through her hair softly and pressed a tender, lingering kiss against her trembling lips. Lilith felt a faint headache starting in the back of her head but she ignored it, brushing her lips against his. She needed to feel something beautiful after so much ugliness.

  The faint sound of music eased into the room, dancing around in the air. For some reason it was completely disturbing, sending a slight chill down Lilith’s spine. Chance caressed a hand from her hair, over her ear and along the delicate side of her neck easing away her sudden apprehension.

  His other hand slid around her waist, drawing her tight against him. Heat trickled through her nerves, lighting up her entire body. Her head swam with the sudden passion surging through her as their kiss deepened becoming more urgent and hungry. His warm hand smoothed over her throat in a tender caress making her heart skip a beat.

  Somewhere in the back of her mind, alarm bells went off as his hand slightly tightened around her throat. It didn’t seem violent, more like a thrilling sense of possession that only fueled her fire.

  Chance slowly pulled back, ending the hypnotic kiss abruptly. When Lilith’s eyes fluttered open in confusion what she saw made her heart beat like a wild caged animal. His warm hazel eyes that were filled with adoration just seconds ago were blank and vacant. It was a horrifying sight that felt like a knife wedged in her heart.