“It’s not right,” he grumbled to himself.
Maybe not, but it was still happening. He knew enough from his years of working for the Council to realize they weren’t going to change their mind, at least not right away. Not without first deporting them.
And that just wasn’t going to happen.
Dagan checked his phone one more time before taking a last look around his bedroom. It had been emptied of all his personal belongings. This place was no longer their home.
That hurt more than he cared to admit.
“Fuck.” Letting out a sigh, he strode from the room and through the apartment, which seemed so lifeless now that he, Ronin, and Amara had removed their most prized possessions. Everyone had congregated upstairs at Keegan’s, so after he retrieved his rolling suitcase and heavy duffel bag from where he’d dropped them by the front door earlier, he took the elevator up.
As soon as Dagan walked in the door, he sensed the heavy, ominous tension that filled the entire apartment. He followed the source to the living room, where Keegan and Ronin were engaged in terse discussion. Aegin was cradled in Keegan’s arm football style, and he used his free hand to pat the fussy infant on the back. Both men cut off when they saw Dagan.
“About ready?” Keegan asked him grimly.
“As I’ll ever be.”
Keegan nodded, looking faintly sick to his stomach. “Amara and Brynn are packing the remainder of Aegin’s things.”
Dagan’s stomach knotted with unease. He set his bags down and strode over to where his brothers stood. When he made a cooing sound at the baby, Keegan flipped him right-side up and handed him over. Dagan took tight hold of the precious bundle and held him up, playfully nibbling his stomach until Aegin let out a delighted squeal and a sliver of drool dropped to Dagan’s forehead.
Damn, but he loved this freaking kid. More and more every day. This was the reason they could never return to Infernum. Aegin was going to have a good life. He was going to grow up safe and happy. Dagan would do anything to ensure that would happen.
As he looked at his brothers, emotion overcame him. The same could be said of any of them.
We’re going to pull through. Find a way. Together.
Because that was what a real family did, and the four of them might be fucked up in a myriad of ways, but one thing they would always be was family.
“According to Tenos, the order from the Council should be coming down late this afternoon, so we want to be good and gone by then,” Keegan said.
Fuck. How could they leave without knowing where Lina was? Without at least saying good-bye?
He exchanged a glance with Ronin, the first time their eyes had truly met since yesterday’s blowout, and suddenly Dagan knew they weren’t leaving without her. Neither he nor Ronin would allow that to happen.
“We can try her apartment again,” he suggested to Ronin.
Ronin nodded with barely a moment’s hesitation. “Let’s go.”
While Ronin took a trip down to Keegan’s bedroom to tell Amara where they were going, Dagan played with his nephew. The little brat could already hold his head up, and it might just be in his imagination, but those eyes of Aegin’s—which, like the four of them, were a glowing shade of red with crimson around the pupils—seemed unusually observant for such a young child.
“This kid’s got skills,” he said to Keegan.
Keegan let out a chuckle. “You won’t get any argument from the proud father here.”
As Dagan handed the kid back to Keegan, his older brother said, “You know, you’d make a good dad.”
Dagan let out a choking laugh. “Like that would ever happen.”
“Well, too bad.” Keegan’s voice was soft as he cradled Aegin to his chest. Something about his tone made Dagan’s heart twist. Because he sounded like he meant it, like he really thought Dagan could be good for something other than partying and picking up chicks.
“Nah,” he said nonchalantly. “I’d screw a kid up way too badly. I’ll leave the child-rearing to you and Brynn.”
Before Keegan could respond, Ronin came striding into the living room. “Ready?”
“I’ll drive.”
After making their way downstairs, they hopped into Dagan’s sleek gray sports car and headed downtown. Ronin kept his gaze adverted the whole way, and a tense silence buffeted the cramped space. Not Dagan’s definition of a good time, but hell, it beat helplessly waiting at their apartment for word of Lina.
It was only once they’d arrived in the West Village and Dagan had muscled his way into a parking spot that he got up the nerve to broach the subject of Lina. “You know, Ronin, what happened with Lina—”
“Don’t,” Ronin interrupted tersely. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Without waiting for a response, he opened the passenger door and unfolded his tall frame from the car.
“Guess that settles that,” Dagan muttered. Ronin might be the most level of the four of them, but he could be a real hardhead when he wanted to be.
He slid out of the driver’s seat, hit the door lock, and fell into step beside Ronin while they walked the half block to Lina’s apartment. All the while, fear built up within Dagan… What if she still wasn’t there? At this point, he’d honestly be surprised if she was.
Something was up with Lina, and a part of him was scared as hell that something bad had happened to her. They didn’t know all that much about her, which meant it was perfectly conceivable that she could disappear and they’d never hear another word as to how or why.
Please, just let her be okay.
They slipped past the still-busted lock on the door and took the stairs up to Lina’s apartment. Even though Ronin gave off a vibe like some of his anger had disappeared, he didn’t say a word to Dagan. Yeah, he was still pissed, but he was just more worried for Lina at the moment. And Dagan couldn’t blame him.
They’d just opened the stairwell door for the fourth floor when Ronin stiffened with a frown. “Do you feel that?”
Dagan gaze him a puzzled look, but five more steps was all it took to feel what his brother had felt. The essence of a demon. Due to Ronin’s angel half, he was more hypersensitive to demons.
“Who could that be?” But even as he asked, Dagan felt the niggling sensation he’d sensed that particular essence before. He practically raced down the length of the hall to Lina’s doorway. As he’d feared, her door was ajar. When he slid past it, he saw her empty living room. But the unease only increased.
“What is going on?” Ronin whispered as he stepped in beside him.
Nothing good.
He crossed the length of the room without responding and came to a stop in front of the door to Lina’s bedroom. When he shoved it open, a familiar blond-haired demon looked up from his spot in front of a worn dresser, his eyes momentarily going wide with surprise.
“You,” Dagan growled. He knew he’d sensed the aura before. It was Lina’s ex, and if he wasn’t mistaken, the son of a bitch was rummaging through her dresser. He looked down and saw the demon held a backpack, into which scraps of cloth and underwear had been hastily jammed.
Lina’s clothes.
“Where is she?” he growled. He was in front of the demon before he even processed he was moving, his hands wrapped around the asshole’s shirt.
Though he dropped the backpack, the dick-face had the nerve to laugh at him. “A little overprotective, aren’t you?”
“Fuck you.” Before he could think twice about it, his fist connected with the demon’s face. What the hell had Lina said his name was? Tim? No, Thorne. “Tell me where she is.”
The other demon scowled and shoved back, trying and failing to overpower him. His right fist swung up, but Dagan effortlessly blocked his hit.
“Wait, who is this guy?” Ronin sounded out from somewhere behind him.
If Thorne was here, grabbing her stuff, then clearly he knew where she was. And everything Lina had said about him made it clear she wouldn’t go off with him willingly, whether they’
d once been bonded or not.
“If you don’t tell me where she is, I swear—”
“Chill,” Thorne said, finally succeeding in dislodging himself from Dagan’s grip. He took several steps back and tugged his shirt back into place. “I’ll tell you where she is. In fact, you were my next stop. You saved me a trip.”
Though he sensed Ronin stepping up beside him, Dagan kept his eyes glued on the other demon. He didn’t trust him. The ass was clearly up to something.
“So spill,” he barked.
“Dagan, who is this?” Ronin repeated impatiently.
Thorne’s gaze moved from him to Ronin. He gave him a quick once-over before saying, “You must be her brother. She’d always wondered what happened to you.”
Ronin stilled, and unease oozed from his pores, blanketing the room in an intangible film. “Who are you?”
Thorne shifted, having enough sense to appear moderately nervous about the animosity emanating from Ronin. Dagan read the calculation in his eyes a moment before he said, “I’m Lina’s husband.”
“Ex-husband,” Dagan shot back without thinking. He stiffened when he realized what he’d just done. Fuck.
The unease Ronin emitted morphed into full-out fury, automatically sparking a chord of angry song in Dagan’s head. His big brother turned the full force of his anger on him.
“You knew about this, about him, and didn’t tell me?”
Damn. He’d really stepped in it this time. And even worse than Ronin’s anger was the dejection written on his face. His brother had just learned that the woman he considered a sister had kept one hell of a secret from him, and to top it off Dagan knew about it, too. That had to sting.
But since now wasn’t the time or place to get into it, he replied, “I can explain. Later.”
To his immense relief, Ronin seemed to recognize that this wasn’t the right time, either. He turned back to Thorne, who’d watched their exchange with interest and a hint of amusement on his face.
“Did he also tell you that I’m the father of her baby?” Thorne asked with a smirk.
Ronin’s body went taut, but he didn’t fall for Thorne’s taunt this time.
“I’m assuming you know where she is,” Ronin said.
“Sleeping off her high.” When Dagan’s body went rigid with alarm, Thorne shrugged. “What can I say? Once a score addict, always a score addict.”
Now it was Dagan’s turn to be shocked. Lina was an addict?
No freaking way. She couldn’t be. He’d seen enough of them to recognize the signs, and Lina was too put together. Too rigid.
Ronin glanced at him long enough to ascertain that Thorne’s accusation was news to him, too. Then he apparently came to the same conclusion as Dagan had, because his big brother roared and lunged for Thorne. His fist glanced the side of the demon’s jaw, and Thorne went down, with Ronin right after him. When his big bro straddled the demon and jabbed another uppercut to his jaw, Dagan figured it was as good a time as any to join in.
“Wait. Stop,” Thorne spat out, lifting his fists to block their blows. “If you kill me, you’ll never know where she is.”
Hell, he had a point there. Much as Dagan would like to do him in, they needed to find Lina first.
He pulled back and rose to look down at the demon, meeting Thorne’s gaze straight on. “Tell us. Now.”
“Let me up first.”
Ronin growled, but he shoved off Thorne and took several steps back until he stood beside Dagan.
Thorne made a show of rising and repositioning his clothes, though his face was a mass of bruises. Those would heal quickly enough, however.
“Where is she?” Ronin asked. When he tensed as if he was about to lunge again, Dagan put a restraining hand on his forearm. They could kill the bastard after they knew where Lina was.
“She’s with Belpheg.” Thorne lifted his steady gaze to the both of him.
Frowning, Dagan exchanged a puzzled glanced with Ronin. “Belpheg?”
Thorne rolled his eyes. “The dark fae you’ve been searching for?”
The man’s words hit Dagan like a punch to the groin. “What?” he roared.
When Ronin charged again, Dagan didn’t try to hold him back. Ronin bashed into Thorne, and the demon’s back hit the far wall, hard.
Thorne let out a few grunts as Ronin’s fists connected with his stomach and jaw, then gave a maniacal laugh. “Stop. I’ll tell you where.”
It was the laughter more than anything that scared the shit out of Dagan. The asshole sounded far too sure of himself. Which meant Lina was in serious trouble.
“Ronin,” he said sharply and snatched his brother by the back of the shirt.
Coming to his senses, Ronin backed up. His heavy breathing and the terrorized look on his face indicated he was seconds from losing his shit once again.
“What do you want?” Dagan asked quietly.
Thorne seemed to sense victory, because he gave them a wide smile. “Not what I want. What Belpheg wants. And he wants you. All four of you.”
Dagan tensed when Thorne reached into his pocket, but he only dug out a piece of paper and a pack of cigarettes. He held the paper out to them. Dagan snatched it up and read a couple sets of coordinates.
“The first set of coordinates leads to a hidden portal several hours to the north of the city,” Thorne continued, leaning up against the wall. When he slid a cigarette and a lighter out of the crumpled pack and lit up, Dagan wrinkled his nose. Disgusting habit, but the least of his concerns right now.
“The four of you take the portal to the second set of coordinates. He’ll be there waiting for you.” Clearly enjoying having the upper hand, Thorne took an exaggerated puff of the cigarette. “Once he has the four of you, he’s vowed to let her go. She means nothing to him beyond that.”
Dagan exchanged a glance with Ronin. As if they could trust someone like Belpheg to keep his word.
“Of course, it goes without saying that if you attempt to warn the Council or tell anyone of his location, he’ll kill Lina immediately,” Thorne continued fluidly. “Not to mention that it would be pointless. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you how powerful this guy is. No way the Council could get past his barriers.”
Sensing the merit in Thorne’s words, Dagan gritted his teeth. This Belpheg character must feel pretty confident in his ability to defend himself if he would so easily give up the coordinates to where he was.
“How could you do this?” Ronin rumbled, his voice hoarse. “If you were bonded, if you truly had a child together, how could you give her up as bait for some sick maniac?”
Thorne chuckled and blew a ring of smoke. “What makes you think she wasn’t in on it from the beginning?”
Ronin’s hands curled into fists, but Dagan touched his shoulder in an effort to calm him. “Bullshit. We’ll never believe that.”
Thorne gave him a long look before shrugging. “What can I say? The guy pays very well.”
When Dagan let out a growl at those words, Thorne reached into his pocket and withdrew an object shaped like a golf ball but electric blue in color.
“No,” Dagan yelled, lunging for him. But before Dagan could reach Thorne, he squeezed the ball in his fist. A shock of blinding blue filled the room, sending a stream of static electricity throughout the space.
When Dagan blinked to clear his suddenly blurry vision, the spot where Thorne had just been was empty. Nothing but a curling ribbon of noxious cigarette smoke indicated he’d ever been there at all.
Chapter Fifteen
Keegan paced the length of his living room, trying desperately to ignore how empty and uninviting it seemed now that Brynn and Aegin were gone. “He just wants the four of us? That’s all he asked for?”
“Yes,” Dagan replied grimly, his free hand fisted at his side. He lifted the whiskey bottle in his other hand to his lips and took a long swallow.
“I don’t get it,” Keegan whispered. “Why us? What is he planning?”
“Maybe h
e plans to hand us over to dear old dad so he can get his revenge on us.”
“But why? What purpose would it serve for him?” Keegan didn’t think for one minute that the dark fae would be doing something if it didn’t directly benefit him somehow.
Dagan shook his head. “Got me.”
“What if he wants to use us somehow?” Keegan wondered aloud. Belpheg had used his abilities to morph the essences of others into powers for Asmodeus. Maybe he wanted to use them.
“I don’t know…fuck.” Dagan plunked the bottle down onto the bar, which now was empty. Thank the gods Keegan had had the foresight not to pack that last bottle of whiskey. “I wish Ronin hadn’t run off by himself.”
Keegan shook his head. He wasn’t surprised that Ronin had. He thought of Lina as his responsibility, so as soon as Lina’s ex-husband had disappeared, the fool had flown off to scout out the hidden portal. Keegan didn’t dare give voice to his true fear: that Ronin had actually taken the portal to the coordinates Belpheg had provided. He didn’t want to consider what sort of trap Ronin might have walked into.
“I can’t believe Lina was married and had a kid.”
“I can’t believe her psycho ex handed her over to the dark fae like some piece of meat,” Dagan muttered.
True. How sick was that?
When the lock on the front door rattled, Dagan came to immediate attention.
“Relax,” Keegan said. “It’s Taeg and Maya.”
Dagan’s brow furrowed. “I thought they were going straight to the hideout?”
“They called while you and Ronin were gone to let me know their plane had arrived and they were going to rent a car for the drive north. When I explained I was waiting for you and Ronin to come back from Lina’s, they decided to swing by here first.”
Risky, considering the official order from the Council was due to come down at any moment now. But Keegan knew Taeg better than anyone, except perhaps Maya. Taeg might be a smartass and an asshole to boot, but he was loyal to the core; he would stick by his brothers no matter what.
Call of the Siren (Demons of the Infernum) (Entangled Edge) Page 14
