Dark Obsession

by Sydney Somers

  “Why? Why now? You promised me. You promised me you were done and you’re doing it all over again to more kids.” She pressed her lips together to silence the swell of emotion riding her hard.

  “You don’t understand.” He sounded tired, beat down.

  She swore to herself she didn’t care. “Let them go, Dad. Just let them go before too much damage is done.”

  “You need to watch your back.”

  Pivoting around, she swept the area behind her. “Are you threatening me?”

  Another sigh. “No, sweetie.” He paused, almost sounding like he was having trouble speaking. “I don’t want to see you caught up in this. I never wanted that. I just wanted you safe.”

  “Safe from who?”

  “I need to go.”

  “Wait!”

  “Stay out of trouble, Rae.”

  The familiar reminder he’d been using since she’d been a child replayed in her head long after he’d hung up.

  Before she slipped the phone back in her pocket, the feeling of being watched had faded, but left her more on edge than before.

  By the time Parker finished his shower and dressed, he still hadn’t figured out what he was going to say to Rae. He had expected to wake and find her still in his bed. Instead he’d awoken alone, having slept through her departure.

  Best case explanation for her sneaking off was that she needed to get some things done before everyone came back. Worst case—hell, he didn’t even want to think about that.

  He shouldn’t have assumed that because she’d ended up in his bed tonight that she wasn’t freaked out about the calls he’d been receiving. Christ, he was still freaked out about them. He couldn’t really blame her if she’d panicked and had needed to get out of there.

  Which left him even more determined to talk to her. When he opened the door to go look for her, Rae stood a foot away, already lowering the hand that she’d been about to knock with. Relief surged through him, and he leaned in the doorway, hoping he only looked half as worried about her vanishing act as he’d felt.

  Preoccupied with slowing his heart, it took him longer than it should have to see she looked spooked. “What’s wrong?”

  She stepped inside, waited for him to shut the door.

  “What happened?”

  “Ran into a stealth demon on my way home a couple of hours ago.”

  “You could have woken me. I would have gone with you.”

  A faint smile caught the corner of her mouth. “I was going home to make sure Nico hadn’t eaten a hole through his cat food bag.”

  He didn’t remind her that the cat had eaten through worse, not when he knew running into a stealth demon wouldn’t have rattled her.

  “My father called me.”

  Shit. He hadn’t seen that coming, and judging by the lack of color in Rae’s cheeks, neither had she. “What did he say?”

  “He told me to stop looking for him.”

  “What about the kids?”

  “He wouldn’t say anything about them. And when I mentioned the gatekeeper he said that I already knew too much, and that if I didn’t stay out of it, he wouldn’t be able to protect me.”

  “Protect you?” Hurst was either delusional or someone forgot to tell him he’d already lost his shot at Father of the Year a decade or two ago.

  “That’s pretty much what I said. Then he told me to stay out of trouble.” She lifted her head finally. “It was the last thing he said to me every morning before he went to work when I was little. He’d kiss my mom goodbye, swing me up for a bear-hug and tell me to stay out of trouble.”

  The vulnerable look was back on her face and he wanted to smash Hurst’s face in for putting it there.

  “He’s not that man any more, Rae.”

  “I know.” Her soft tone was less than convincing, though better than anyone he understood that fleeting hope that said otherwise. Even faced with the slim possibility his mother wasn’t the killer everyone thought her to be, he wanted to reach out and cling to it so damn bad that holding back was like shearing off pieces himself, one chunk at a time.

  “Did you let Adrian know?”

  “Not yet. He should be back soon though. There’s something else. The stealth demon wasn’t working alone. I think it was communicating with a Scion. And I think I may have felt it when we were in Red Crossing.”

  “You didn’t say anything.”

  “I didn’t realize it then, but I got the same weird vibe tonight, and felt it touch my mind.”

  “That’s all it did? We are talking about a telepath master demon, right?”

  “I know. I don’t get it either. But by the time I got off the phone with my father, I didn’t feel it anymore.” She sighed. “Two Scions on home turf in less than six months. Is it any wonder my head feels like it’s going to blow right off my shoulders.”

  “Could have something to do with your hair.”

  She gave him a suspicious look. “Is this some new seduction technique…”

  He didn’t wait for permission before he reached up and unclipped her hair. Her eyes drifted shut as he ran his hands through the thick mass. He gently shook out the ends before starting at the roots and working his way down, massaging her scalp.

  “Not so bad, is it?”

  “I haven’t forgotten how my last massage ended.”

  “With the search for chocolate?” His lips brushed her forehead as his fingers worked along her scalp and down to her nape. “Better?”

  “Mmmm.”

  “I’m glad you’re okay.” He nuzzled her hair and slid his arms around her, keeping her close. “We’re going to find him, Rae.”

  “I know.” She drew back. “I doubt anything will come of it, but I need to see if Braxton can tell me where the call came from.”

  “You think he’s local?”

  She shrugged. “Stranger things have happened.”

  “Even if he is, I doubt he was stupid enough to be traced to wherever he’s holding the kids.”

  Rae pulled the door open. “Well, something has got to shake loose soon.”

  “I’ve got something.”

  Parker glanced up from the same useless information he and Rae had been going over for the last hour, as Blair strode into the room.

  “Cass and I have been looking for any mention of the gatekeeper in the old texts and not coming up with a whole lot, at least nothing other than what Burke told you two. Last night I changed directions a little and we started looking for the symbol on any old maps, places where the symbol might have been recorded on a landmark.”

  “Like a location where the barrier between our world and theirs would come down?”

  “Right. But that hasn’t amounted to much yet either.” Blair paused, looking a little like she might have to throw up. After a few seconds, she continued. “Cass is still looking into things on her end, but this morning I thought, why not run a search tying the symbol to a person? I hadn’t bothered before because if the network had identified the person, they wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the prophecy, right?”

  She didn’t wait for confirmation before flipping open the folder she carried. “So I ran the search and got a hit.” Blair slid a photo across the table.

  Rae picked it up, and Parker stepped up behind her, looking at it over her shoulder. The image showed a close up of someone’s neck—someone male?—specifically the demon symbol tattooed near the guy’s hairline.

  “Who is he?” Parker asked, hoping they might finally be getting somewhere. If they knew more about the gatekeeper mythology that seemed to be driving Hurst, then they might be able to use it to find him.

  “That was the weird part,” Blair said. “I could only access that photo—” she handed Rae a second image, “—and this one, which is the same angle, just zoomed out.”

  Although they could see more of the man and the sword in his hand, the camera was still behind him, making identifying him impossible.

  “But,” Blair said, sounding a little more ex
cited. “There was a file associated with it that was classified.”

  Rae handed the pictures to Parker. “Did you put in a request to get clearance from Adrian?”

  “I left a message with him an hour ago since he didn’t answer his phone, but then I had another idea. Whenever there is a demon attack, the network tries to find out if anything was caught by security cameras near the scene that might have recorded something that needs to be taken care of.”

  Meaning erased.

  Parker glanced up from the photos. “But don’t we keep copies of any footage for our own archives?”

  “Exactly. So then I ran a search for similar images in the background, hoping maybe there was another camera that caught this guy from another angle.” She withdrew one more image from her folder. “This is the best view of him I could get.”

  Rae glanced at the photo, aiming it at Parker after a moment. “I don’t recognize him, do you?”

  He shook his head. “No. Maybe Adrian knows who he is. Considering he’s armed with a sword, he’s either one of us, or a rogue Destroyer.” The latter being less likely since rogue Destroyers were rare. Jordan was the only one he’d ever met, having been slaying demons on her own for nearly five years before joining the team.

  Blair frowned at the picture. “I can try to see if he matches any personnel file. Do you really think he could be the gatekeeper?”

  Darcy shuffled into the room, yawning. “Gatekeeper?” She slid into the chair and took the picture Parker offered her.

  She stared it, slowly sitting forward. “Doesn’t he look familiar to anyone?” Darcy cocked her head. “Something about him…”

  “Any news from Gage?” Jordan leaned in the doorway, looking a little rough around the edges.

  “Nothing yet.”

  Jordan nodded. “I’m in serious need of sleep and am going to crash in the break room for a while. Wake me when you guys hear from him.”

  Since Rae was distracted by the photo, Parker nodded. “Sure.”

  “Jordan,” Darcy said, stopping the other agent before she disappeared down the hall.

  “Yeah?”

  The telepath’s gaze turned thoughtful, then she shook her head as though she’d changed her mind about whatever she’d been about to say. “Just make sure you hide the coffeepot on Drew. You really don’t want to wake up to the smell of his coffee brewing.”

  “Will do.” Jordan ducked out of the room, leaving the rest of them to wonder what had really prompted the coffee advice.

  Darcy shrugged, still looking undecided about whatever she was thinking. “Can I see the laptop for a second?”

  Rae pushed it down the table and Darcy flipped it open, her fingers sliding quickly over the keys.

  Parker frowned at the image that came up on the screen. “That’s our guy, isn’t it?”

  Rae leaned forward, both brows winging upward in surprise as she read the name print beneath the image. “It’s Linc.”

  “Who’s Linc?”

  Darcy let out a breath, sinking back in her chair. “Linc McAdam, Jordan’s brother.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  The four of them lapsed into silence, then Blair voiced the same thing Parker figured they were all thinking. “You’re telling me that Jordan’s brother is our so-called gatekeeper?”Parker glanced again at the photo. “It’s sure looking that way unless it’s just some big fat coincidence he bores the same mark.”

  “How long do you think they’ve known?”

  They being the network, Parker assumed. He shrugged. “Do you know how old this photo is, Blair?”

  “The date stamp on the camera footage was from three years ago.”

  “So we should assume they’ve known for at least that long.”

  “Anyone else wondering if he’s still alive?”

  They all glanced at Darcy. The telepath ran her finger around the symbol tattooed on the back of Linc’s neck, the same way he’d noticed her doing after she would sketch it. “Jordan said he was tainted by the stealth demon that initiated him.”

  “That’s right,” Rae said, frowning.

  “If the gatekeeper is destined to either seal the wall between realms permanently or bring it down, and it turns out he’s tainted, which would you assume he was going to do?”

  “Bring it down,” Parker murmured. “In the little you came across about the prophecy,” he said to Blair, “is there anything to indicate how the gatekeeper will do his thing?”

  “No.”

  “Then they wouldn’t kill him.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Parker nodded. “There’s no way for them to be sure that his death isn’t what triggers the whole damn thing.”

  Another silence fell over the room as they all processed that part.

  “Adrian is on his way up,” Darcy said, her gaze unfocused. “He’s in the elevator with Brax and Quinn.”

  Of all the abilities that came from a Shadow Demon’s essence, Parker was the most grateful he hadn’t ended up telepathic. He had enough on his mind without everyone else’s thoughts creeping in if they didn’t know how to keep their minds shielded.

  Rae leaned back, arms crossed. “No one says anything to Jordan until I talk to Adrian.”

  Parker came around the end of the table. “I’ll go with you.”

  She nodded, and he followed her back to her office, knowing it would be the first place Adrian would go.

  His phone rang just as they reached her office and he dug it out of his pocket. “Rae.” He didn’t need to tell her who was calling.

  Understanding, she nodded, closing her office door so they wouldn’t be overhead.

  “Answering by the second ring,” the feminine voice drawled. “Should I take that as a sign you’re starting to believe me?”

  “Assume whatever you want.”

  “I don’t think I’ve done anything to be spoken to that way when I’ve proven I only want to help.”

  Help him lose his mind maybe. “You think playing mind games with me is helpful?”

  “No one is playing games with you.”

  “Tell me who you are.” Frustration snapped at him.

  “Someone who wants you to know the truth.”

  “Why? What’s in it for you?”

  “Perhaps I only want justice.” The way the word rolled off her tongue made it sound almost foul.

  “Why now?” He wasn’t banking on the timing of it all being entirely coincidental.

  “Something has changed.” A pause. “You told Rae about me, didn’t you?”

  He didn’t answer. If she knew as much about his past as she insinuated, it didn’t surprise him that she knew about Rae. But it did fucking piss him off.

  “Tell me, how did she take the news?” When he didn’t satisfy her curiosity, she asked, “Is she there with you now?”

  He knew his continued silence was telling.

  “Ask Rae what she remembers about the day your mother was killed. She was there.” The near delight he heard in her voice made him shiver.

  “Afterward,” he corrected. “Not when it happened.”

  She sighed. “Wrong again. Haven’t we established you’ve been lied to from the start?”

  “No.” They really hadn’t. And at this rate, he wasn’t sure she even could.

  “She was there, Parker.” The click on the other end signaled she’d hung up, and he terminated the call on his end with a stab of a button.

  “Whatever she thinks she knows, it’s not the truth. It can’t be. I wasn’t there until…” Rae glanced away, though they both knew what she’d been about to say—until after his sister and mother had died.

  He glanced at the phone still clutched in his hand.

  Rae stepped in close. “If I had been there, I would have stopped it from happening—you know that.”

  He closed his eyes, nodding.

  “We’ll figure out what she’s after.” Rae tipped her head toward the door, reminding him they wouldn’t be alone much longer. “Adria
n—”

  A fresh wave of tension sliced through the air. “We can’t tell him.”

  “Parker—”

  He shook his head, cutting her off. “We both know if he thinks I’m at risk of getting obsessed with it again, he’ll pull me off helping you find Hurst.” Reassigning him wouldn’t do much good if he thought Parker was already too invested, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t insist he undergo some kind of mental evaluation.

  “Not until we know who the hell it is that’s calling and what their endgame is. Please, Rae. I want to believe that with the kids still missing, Adrian won’t pull me, but I don’t think we can take the risk.”

  She hesitated, and he knew she’d hate keeping it from their boss.

  “Twenty-four hours. Just give me that long. Brax will have something by then. If I know who’s calling, at least I stand a chance of figuring this out.”

  Someone knocked on the door. Adrian.

  Rae nodded. “Okay.” Looking resigned, she moved past him and opened the door.

  “Anything from Gage yet?” Adrian’s limp hadn’t improved from a few hours away from the office.

  “Should be any time.” Rae’s gaze met Parker’s briefly, then she crossed her arms over her chest.

  “I saw Blair and Darcy in the briefing room. Have there been any other developments?”

  “Why is there a separate file on Jordan’s brother that’s classified?”

  He frowned. “Jordan’s brother?”

  “Linc McAdam,” Parker put in.

  “I assessed his file a few months ago when I gave Jordan everything we had on him. This morning I find out there was another file linked to him that’s classified.”

  Adrian nodded. “That’s right.”

  Parker leaned on the edge of Rae’s desk. “Classified because he’s connected to the gatekeeper? Is he the gatekeeper?”

  Adrian gave him a sharp look. “How—”

  Rae handed him the photo of Linc’s tattoo. “You think he might be part of all this, don’t you?”

  “To be honest we’re not sure. I never met him and have no idea if he’s always had that mark, or if he came across it during his time with the network and thought it would make an interesting tattoo.” Adrian blew out a breath. “Your father is still out there, Rae. Do you really think we have time to waste talking about a former network assassin?”