“Yeah, I got a problem. My best friend ain’t including me, and she’s being stupid.”
“I had to go, Alex.”
“With Daric, you mean.” Alex clenched his teeth, causing a rigid line along his mouth.
“Dammit, Alex, you knew you wouldn’t be the only one. That’s what this is about, isn’t it? You think I’m going to choose Daric and you don’t approve.”
“We don’t know him, chica.”
Tarian stamped her foot. “Hell, Alex, I don’t know any of the others either. I have to do this. I’m not going to keep apologizing for it either. It is what it is.” She blinked in irritation, willing her eyes to stop tearing up.
They stood in silence, glaring at each other. A Sentinel patrol stepped into the room, then quickened their pace when they saw the storm brewing between the two of them. Tarian waited for the echo of their footsteps to fade before she finally spoke.
“What would you have me do, Alex? Sit in my room? Wait it out? Refuse to do the ritual? What? If you were Scion, what would you do?”
Alex looked down at his feet. When he looked back at her, his face relaxed and his eyes softened. “I don’t have the right body parts for that job.”
Tarian thrust out her chest. “Boobs do help, I have to admit.”
Alex rubbed the scruff on his chin. “I guess I’d do same as you. But I’d take backup.”
She put a hand on his arm. “I didn’t go alone, Alex. I think that’s what’s bothering you most.”
“Maybe.”
“I like him, Alex. He’s a good guy. I think you’d like him too, if you gave him a chance. He’s a lot like you, actually.”
Alex squinted at her. “How so?”
“He’s sexy and a pain in the ass.”
They both laughed, the tension fully broken.
“Anyway, if you can handle it I need your help. If you’re willing.”
“You know you don’t even gotta ask, chica.”
“I need a team to help spring the trap.”
“How many we need?” Alex straightened his shoulders, making his white shirt ripple along the arms, every inch the Sentinel.
“I’m not sure. I don’t want to mess this up. There’s a lot riding on it. It’s not just some easy snatch and grab of a drunk who used too much magic in public. This is to protect my family. Somehow I don’t think flashing my boobs will get it done this time. This time, I think we need more…finesse.”
Alex flexed one of his arms. “You mean muscle.”
“I mean power. A lot of it.”
Alex nodded. “You want Me and Frankie, then. And some of his toys.”
Tarian smiled. “Any equipment that will help keep this demon occupied while I do my part is great.”
“What you mean, your part? What’re you up to?” Alex narrowed his eyes.
“For this, we need a little more…information. I’m going to get it. You’re going to get my backup ready. Daric is checking on the markings to be sure we know what we’re facing. When we all have our parts, we’ll put them together and the demon won’t know what hit him.”
Alex studied her face, then shook his head. “Something’s off. You don’t usually ask for backup. It gonna be that bad?”
Tarian moved past Alex toward the entry. She intended to get away from the house and then start looking for Sucole Poole. But she didn’t want to tell Alex that part. He’d want to go with her.
Alex stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm. “Something you’re not telling me, chica. What happened when you snuck out? Was Daric a jerk?”
She paused and searched his face. Alex crossed his arms but didn’t look away, his jaw set in stubborn determination. He knew her entirely too well.
"I stumbled into a trap. The demon…" She swallowed, her mouth unexpectedly dry. "He cracked the shield I had around the tracer."
Alex nodded, a gleam of triumph in his eyes. “You should stay here. Let us do this. I promise to let Daric tag along. I don’t promise to save his ass though.”
She shook her head, exasperated. "Look, Alex, I know you want to protect me. But the demon isn't going to come out of hiding for you. He's going to come after me no matter where I am. He’s already proven he can get through the walls of the Cellar. Where the hell can I hide that he can’t find me?”
She put her hand on his arm and squeezed. “If we move fast enough, we can spring our own trap. Then it won't matter that he cracked the shield."
She surveyed his face. She knew that tight-lipped look. He didn't like what she just said, but it was more than that. “What’s wrong?”
“I was looking for you for a reason, chica. Before you rush into an attack, there’s something you gotta see. And something you need to hear.”
“I don’t have time, Alex.”
“You gotta see this.” The stubborn set of his jaw did more than his words to convince her to follow him. He wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important. At least, she didn’t think he would.
She gestured for him to lead the way and followed him down the hall and out into the practice yard. A few minutes more wouldn’t hurt.
“They found him this morning when he didn’t report for duty.”
“Found who?” Alex walked so fast she had to double time her steps to keep up with him.
“The asshole who started all this mess. Daryl.”
The name hung in the air.
They entered the Sentinel’s quarters and stopped at the first small room. Alex gestured for her to enter and followed behind her.
Daryl lay on the bed. He looked as if he were in a deep sleep. She stepped closer to him and realized his chest wasn’t moving.
“How long?” She turned to Alex.
“Frankie found him like that an hour ago.” Alex shrugged. “He was checking into the whole Chester thing. When he didn’t show up for duty, Frankie started a search. That’s when I went looking for you and found out you’d skipped.” A bit of resentment hung in the air along with the words.
“So you never got to ask him anything.” She looked around the room. It looked undisturbed. Clothes hung neatly in the closet. The desk looked unused. Just a pair of shoes on the floor. No sign of struggle.
“Have the healers been in?”
“Yeah. They don’t know what killed him. No sign of poison, no bruises, no broken bones. Nada. They’re sending for the guy to check for magic overload or other things before they move him.”
She shook her head. “I don’t feel anything like I did in the Cellar. No red mist. No big magic trace. Just normal stuff.”
“Tari. The guys are getting anxious. That’s two in a week. Inside the house. And both connected to you somehow.”
She turned back to face him. “They think I did this too?”
“Well, Daryl was the one said you did Chester, so now some think maybe he was killed to shut him up.”
She snorted. “Well, he might have been, but I didn’t do it.”
“Most of the guys aren’t that stupid. You’re one of us. But they don't know about the other thing. They don't know about the demon attack on you. All they know is nobody should be able to get in the House and do this. It's making everybody edgy. Not sure what this means. Either someone inside the house is a traitor, or someone is able to walk through walls without us noticing.”
“Or both.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alex pulled her out of the room and back into the arena, which stood strangely empty. Must be mealtime.
“Nothing. Just thinking out loud.” A traitor inside the house. Once again, the thought made skin tingle as though dipped in ice. Daryl had to have had help from somewhere. He couldn’t access the database on his own. He’d obviously sent her out to be attacked. But he had no reason to. Not on his own. It had to be the demon. Somehow he’d convinced Daryl to do this.
Unless someone else inside the house had done it. Was the demon working alone, or did he have help?
Beware the danger from within.
The
archivists had warned her. She just hadn’t understood the message. But now, with Daryl’s body laying in that room, she knew what it meant. The chill that settled on her refused to shake off with the warm sun which bathed the arena courtyard. Just the thought of someone she trusted cooperating with something like that… It made her sick to her stomach.
“I need that book.” She muttered the words, but Alex caught them.
“What book?”
“Keep the team small, Alex. Just you and Frankie. With Daric and me, that should be enough.” She didn’t trust anyone else. Not with this. The traitor could be anyone.
“What book?” Alex insisted.
“The Book of Daemon. The archivists told me it has something we need to catch this demon. We won’t win without it.”
“Where is it? How you gonna find it?”
When she didn’t answer, Alex’s shoulders sank. “You’re going out again. To search for it. Alone.”
“Who says I’ll be alone? I’ll take Daric with me. I need you here, getting ready.”
Watching Alex’s face cloud over with jealousy sent a stab right through her stomach. “Just because we had a moment together doesn’t mean I’m tied to you, Alex. You knew I couldn’t be. You said it wasn’t a big deal. It wouldn’t change things. You knew I couldn’t make promises. You knew there’d be others.”
Alex worked his jaw again. “Does it gotta be him?”
“What do you have against Daric Voltain, Alex?”
“Just seems convenient, him showing up at all the right times in all the right places.”
“He wasn’t in that hallway when you convinced me to pick you first.”
She watched the color brighten Alex’s cheeks. She should have known. He couldn’t help it. It was his Latino passion talking now. His brain might have understood that it was a one-time thing, but his heart didn’t agree.
“Dammit, Alex. You promised. You promised it wouldn’t change things.”
Alex ran his fingers through his hair, let out a growl, then sighed. “I know.”
“I need my friend to be a friend.”
“A friend wouldn’t let you rush off into danger without backup. Daric should respect that.”
“I think he respects it more than you give him credit for.” Even if she wanted Alex along for company, she wouldn’t do it now. The two men squaring off at each other would be too much of a distraction.
She watched his face. He understood, but he didn’t like it. The frown, the crinkled eyebrows, the set jaw, the stiff arms spoke far louder than any words.
“I don’t want to lose my best friend.” She whispered the words, because it hurt to say them. Her heart might break.
He surveyed her face, then dropped his defensive posture and relaxed. He swept her up in his arms in a giant bear hug that nearly crushed her rib cage. “You won’t. I promised, right?”
He put her back on her feet, and she pulled his face down to plant a kiss on his cheek.
His hand covered the spot, and he acted like he might faint. She laughed. So silly! That’s why she liked him.
“I hate to say it, but promise you’ll take him. Don’t go it alone, right chica? Take backup. It’s just smart.”
She punched him in the arm. “I’ll think about it. You and Frankie stay on the Chester and Daryl train. Something shady is going on. I need all the eyes I can get.”
“On it.” Alex ruffled her hair, and then took off for the locker rooms.
She watched him go. Men. She’d never understand them.
Chapter 24
Back in the entry alcove, Tarian opened a portal lost in thought. The tracer in her neck bumped against her internal shields and pushed at the weak spots, sending tiny shoots of pain up the back of her head. The constant reminder of the demon’s hold on her was really starting to get on her nerves. Her power drifted away each time she used it. If she focused on the implications, she’d lose her mind long before the demon had a chance to steal her body. She took a deep breath and stepped through to a small beach on the island of Kauai, just across from their island home.
She stood for a moment on the black sand and looked back. At this distance the House of Xannon looked small and insignificant, more like the abandoned military compound it pretended to be, just a series of rocky caves, than a home. She wouldn’t trade it for anything, even PJs coffee in Philly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the salt air. The scent of flowers, a roasting pig somewhere in the distance, and the unmistakable tang of ocean filled her with contentment for that brief moment. She let her senses roam. Waves rushed the shore to greet her, and a slight breeze played around with her hair while she let the sun warm her face. Accepting the sun’s rays always lifted her mood. For the moment, here on this secluded beach with the sea wind caressing her skin and the ocean licking at the shore, she could forget almost anything. Almost.
The image of the dead girl from the basement flashed through her mind and her serenity shattered. She opened her eyes and stared at the water as it moved in and out. The girl had been young. Probably full of hope and plans and dreams. She’d most likely had a family and friends and people who loved her. The demon should pay for destroying her life. Even though he’d killed Chester too, it was the girl that bothered her most. Chester had been in on the whole plan, and he’d not been the nicest of people before that. Most likely nobody missed Chester, or his low life cousin.
But someone, somewhere missed that girl.
Tarian studied the coin she still held in her hand. Sucole Poole was so far away she couldn’t even determine which direction to travel. Getting to her was a risk. A huge risk. Every use of magic would send more of her power to the demon. She’d have to make each use count.
Don’t go it alone, right chica? Take backup. It’s just smart.
Alex’s advice still echoed in her ears. He was right. She’d had no intention of bringing the two people she trusted most along for this part of the plan. If something went wrong looking for Sucole, really wrong, she needed him and Frankie to look after her mother, Calliope, and the house. She’d tried to explain it to him over the years but he didn’t seem to hear the words. He thought those words included her. Usually, they did.
But not today.
If you decide to climb down off that pedestal and admit you need help, give me a call.
She should swallow her pride and ask Daric to join her. Just as backup. Not as foreplay, despite what he thought. She kicked the sand and watched as a small piece of lava rolled drunkenly along the beach.
Daric could make the portals for her, which would conserve her energy and make it harder for the demon to follow her or siphon any more than he already was. Alex was right. It was just smart.
Of course, first she needed to find him. The last two cell phones Frankie had forced on her both died in a few short hours. She’d have to track Daric, rather than call him.
She fished his business card out of her back pocket and closed her fist around it, letting her mind focus on the lingering scent and signature of his talent. Her nose filled spice as she pictured him in her mind. His eyes, brown and full of heat. His arms, which folded around her as she thought of them. The warmth he generated down her spine when he spoke. His signature, strong and sure and a close match for her own.
Tarian stood on the beach, the wind whipping her hair, and simply drank in the vision of Daric she’d created.
When it felt so real that she thought he stood beside her, she let her mind drift out along his wave, an almost palpable, tangible, string in the atmosphere which attached her to him. She fixed on Daric’s location within seconds, and breathed a sigh of relief. Everything seemed to be going so haywire lately. It was nice to have something work like it should, for once. She knew where he was from the direction. He was either in PJs, or in his apartment directly over it. She could almost see what he saw, so strong was the connection.
Before she could change her mind she opened a portal. Ignoring the throb in her neck as the tracer reac
ted to the power, she stepped through to Daric’s apartment.
It didn’t surprise her to find him sitting on the sofa, watching her arrive. It did surprise her to find he had two cups of coffee from PJs on the coffee table. She raised her eyebrows at the sight of them.
“I’m that obvious?”
“Maybe this is for someone else.” Daric picked one up and sipped, then leaned back. He wore jeans, a black t-shirt, and a grin. Her pulse throbbed, along with other body parts, at the way his body owned the couch. The thought of the two of them on that couch naked rushed blood to her cheeks. She coughed, then took the other coffee to distract herself.
She took a sip. Her favorite blend, cream, no sugar. Just the way she liked. How the hell had he known she’d be here? She glanced at him and found a look of satisfaction. She focused back on the coffee.
“You didn’t risk making a portal just to have coffee, did you?” Daric took a sip himself.
“I need to track down a woman who might have a book I need.”
“What book?”
“The Book of Daemon.” Another sip. Another glance up. He looked intense. She looked back at her coffee and kept her tone casual. “You know it?”
“My mother is a teacher.”
“Have you seen it?”
Daric put the coffee cup down on the table and leaned forward, his arms resting on his thighs in a way she found extremely seductive. “Not personally. But I know it’s a very dangerous book. Not one humans are meant to have. Why do you think it’ll help?”
“The archivists told me it would. I think there’s a spell, or power of some sort, which will trap the demon. If I can do that, before he does it to me, then problem solved.”
“How will you know which spell?”
She didn’t have an answer, so she deflected. “Does your offer still stand?”
Daric stood up and ran a hand through his ruffled hair. She could almost feel the silk against her own fingers, which twitched in response. The dimple reappeared on his cheek. “Are you asking me for help, Scion?”
“I’m asking you to join me. And I’m going to smack you if you call me ‘Scion’ one more time.”
Demons & Djinn: Nine Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Novels Featuring Demons, Djinn, and other Bad Boys of the Underworld Page 128
