Ashes Reborn

by Keri Arthur

  “And,” I added, giving Parella my sweetest smile, “you’d better make damn sure that anyone you send after me is very aware of the consequences that come with attacking me. As we’ve already said, we’re seriously sick of being targets, and we will burn first and ask questions later from here on in.”

  “I suspect PIT will not approve of such action,” Parella said, amusement cracking his features again. “But to echo your words, warning heeded. Have a good night.”

  He gave us a polite nod and disappeared into the shadows. I eyed the faint heat of his body until he disappeared into a car, then said, “Shall we go back to the hotel and wait for fate to throw us another surprise?”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Jackson touched a hand to my spine, lightly guiding me across the road to our SUV. “Do you want to grab something to eat on the way there, or just order room service?”

  “The latter.” I paused. “I also think we need to ring Baker and update him on events. He needs to know he’s looking for two people, not just one.”

  Jackson nodded as he pulled out of the parking spot. “Might as well do that now; otherwise, we might just get a polite confrontation from them.”

  I pulled my phone out of my purse and did just that, then shoved the phone away and yawned hugely. “Sorry. Didn’t get much sleep last night.”

  Jackson glanced at me as he pulled out of the parking spot. “Dreams? Or ugly memories resurfacing?”

  “Again, the latter.” I didn’t bother telling him they were his memories as much as mine. I doubted he’d believe me.

  “So much for saying you’re okay.”

  “Nightmares are a natural part of any traumatic event, Jackson. It’s often the brain’s way of trying to make sense of what happened.” I paused. “As I’ve said, I’ve learned how to cope, but I’ll go to a therapist if it becomes evident I need to. But you’ve got to promise me to do the same.”

  “But I wasn’t—”

  “You were,” I cut in. “And it would have felt even more invasive for you because you had no warning. At least I knew what was going to happen and could fortify myself mentally against it.”

  He didn’t immediately say anything. “And physically?”

  I felt like reaching out and shaking him. “I’m sore, as you can imagine. But that, too, will heal with time and patience.”

  He nodded, and we drove on in silence. Once we were back at the hotel, we ordered our meal; then I took a long shower, needing to wash the dust and grime of the day away. And wished I could so easily do the same to the lingering physical reminders of both Frederick’s and Hunt’s attacks. But as I’d said to Jackson, that would eventually come.

  Once we’d eaten, Jackson set up the sensor alarm again; then we climbed into bed, where he took me into his arms, kissed me tenderly, and held me as we both drifted into sleep.

  We were woken rather abruptly a few hours later by the sharp ringing of a phone. Jackson swore and flung out an arm, groping for the damn thing.

  “Hello?” he said as he squinted at the clock on the bedside table. “Shit, it’s four in the morning. You’d better have a damn good excuse for calling, Turner.”

  My heart began to beat that little bit faster. If Sam was ringing, then something had happened. Something bad. I nudged Jackson with an elbow. “Put it on speaker.”

  He did so.

  “I know the fucking time,” Sam said, “but I figured you’d like to know someone accessed our computers to run a trace on your phone.”

  “How long ago?”

  “About an hour.”

  “So why the fuck didn’t you ring us sooner than this?”

  “Because it was only just discovered via a system security check,” Sam snapped. “You’re lucky to get any warning at all, because the checks were only implemented last night.”

  Meaning PIT did have a mole, just as we’d suspected. “Do you know who it was?”

  “Yes, and she has already been apprehended. I just thought—” He cut the rest of the sentence off as the perimeter alarm in the other room went off. “What the fuck is that?”

  “Notice that we have company. Talk to you later, Turner.” Jackson hung up, then flung himself out of bed and grabbed his jeans. “I’ll take the front door.”

  I nodded, threw on a sweater, and ran for the adjoining door. But just as I got there, the damn thing was thrown open, smacking me in the face and sending me flying backward. I hit the floor hard, momentarily seeing stars as blood gushed both down my face and the back of my throat. I thrust out a hand, shooting fire at whoever was coming through that door, and then created a barrier between us.

  I didn’t hear any screams, meaning my lance had missed its target. Nor did I hear the gunshot; I just saw something silver shoot through the flames and spear into the wall inches above my head.

  I threw myself sideways and just in time, because two more bullets smacked into the floor where I’d been lying. Whoever was behind the gun wasn’t mucking about. I became fire, scrambled upright, and moved to the door. The shooter was using the wall as a shield, but I could feel the heat of his body beyond it. I waited. A heartbeat later, he reappeared around the corner. Recognition stirred, but I shoved it aside and wrapped a fiery hand around his, wrenching the gun from his grip before he could fire again.

  He wasn’t stupid; he turned and ran. I flipped the gun, retained flesh on the hand holding it, and then fired. The bullet ripped through his thigh, and he came to a stumbling, crashing halt, a strangled sound wrenched from his throat as he wrapped his hands around his leg. Blood pulsed over his fingers and spurted onto the floor; I’d obviously hit an artery, meaning he’d bleed out in very quick time if he didn’t get help soon. But he wasn’t getting it from me, not until the room was secure and I knew Jackson was safe.

  I became full flesh again and peered around the doorway. Jackson was battling two men, one of whom was on fire but weirdly not screaming. A third was taking aim at Jackson’s head. I raised the gun and fired. It wasn’t a particularly good shot and didn’t go anywhere near the guy I was aiming at, but it at least drew his attention away from Jackson and focused it on me.

  I flung myself back into the room; the bullet aimed at my head gouged into the door frame, sending splinters flying. I took a deep breath, then rolled forward and flung fire at the felon. He swore and threw himself sideways, but my flames followed him, pinning his arm to his body before quickly wrapping him in a cocoon of flame. He screamed, even though they were cindering his clothes rather than his flesh. I threw him roughly against the wall and silenced him.

  I switched my focus to the man Jackson had set alight, catching his flames and dragging him away and down before pinning him to the floor. It gave Jackson the chance to concentrate on the other one and, in very little time, all four were under control.

  “You okay?” Jackson’s gaze was sharp as it swept me.

  “Yeah.” I carefully wiped a hand under my nose. Becoming fire had at least stopped the bleeding, but my face hurt like hell. “I am, however, seriously pissed off.”

  “That makes two of us.” Jackson stepped over the body of the man he’d knocked out, then bent and grabbed a fistful of the second man’s shirt, hauling him roughly upright. “You will talk, or I will ensure that it’s your body that burns rather than just your clothes.”

  The man shook his head violently from side to side, and then raised a hand, urgently pointing at his throat.

  I frowned and stepped forward. “You can’t speak?”

  He nodded and opened his mouth. No sound came out.

  “Mute.” Jackson dropped him back to the carpet none too gently. “Don’t attack us, don’t even twitch, or I will follow through with the threat.”

  He walked across to the felon bleeding out and, with a lance of fire, cauterized the wound. “Your turn. Speak or I will reopen that wound—and we both know that even a va
mpire can die if he loses enough blood.”

  The vampire licked his lips. “What do you want to know?”

  “What do you think I want to know? Who the fuck sent you here?”

  “Rinaldo. He wanted you both out of the picture.”

  We might have guessed as much, but it was nice to get confirmation—and nice to know there wasn’t someone else after us. At least not right now, anyway. “And did he order the use of guns?”

  The vamp nodded. “He said you were too dangerous; that we needed to catch you both by surprise and that guns were our best shot.”

  Jackson cast a grim look my way. “Like we actually needed something else to be on the lookout for.”

  “Which is why we need to catch the bastard—or bastards—first.” I glanced down at the vampire. “Are you from De Luca’s den?”

  He frowned. “No. And I wouldn’t want to be, either.”

  “Why?”

  “The council has issued an erasure edict. If any of them had any sense, they’d be heading interstate rather than hanging about here.”

  Those in De Luca’s get didn’t appear to be the brightest bulbs on the block, and I doubted any of them would be running, if only because they seemed to believe Rinaldo would be capable of protecting them.

  “So are you one of Rinaldo’s den?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “Subcontractor.”

  “Who will in future,” Jackson said, “not consider any offered action against us.”

  “Too fucking right. There’s not enough damn money in the world that could make me accept another commission like this.”

  “Say that with a little more sincerity, and I might just believe you.” Jackson’s tone was dry. “How did Rinaldo get in contact with you? Because he couldn’t have gone through the Coalition—not enough time has passed between his decision to hunt us and your attack.”

  “I’ve worked with him before—”

  “That’s why you looked familiar,” I cut in. “You’re one of the vamps who attacked Radcliffe’s gaming venue.”

  He stirred uneasily. Obviously he thought his actions there had gone unnoticed in all the mayhem. “All four of us were, but that wasn’t our first job for him.”

  “I suggest it be your last. Not just because we’ll kill you if we spot you again, but because Radcliffe very much intends revenge on all those involved.”

  “It was a commission—business—nothing more, nothing less. He of all people should understand that.”

  “He’s also a rat. They’re very territorial, and Rinaldo—with your help—is trying to take over their territory.” Jackson patted the vamp’s arm, as if to comfort him. “If I were you, I’d take some of your own advice and get the hell out of this city until the dust clears.”

  “Except he can’t,” Sam said behind us, “because his ass will be locked up tight until he’s tried for attempted murder.”

  I swung around, not bothering to hide my surprise. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “What the fuck do you think I’m doing here?” He waved a hand. “You were under attack because Lidia accessed our computers—”

  “Lidia,” I cut in. “Who’s she?”

  “The inspector’s second. We won’t know for sure, but given her state of confusion when we found her, it’s pretty obvious she was under Rinaldo’s control at the time. For how long that has been the case—and what operations have been compromised—are now the questions we need to answer.”

  “You’d better warn whoever is minding her that Rinaldo has a thing for killing his pawns rather than letting them speak.”

  “We are well aware of that.” He paused. “Adam and several other PIT officers are on the way to take care of these four.”

  “Huh,” Jackson said. “It appears PIT values us far more than we figured. Of course, if you lot had actually taken our suspicions seriously a whole lot earlier, then we might not have gotten to this point.”

  “We’re not fools,” Sam bit back. “And we are rigorous with our personnel checks—”

  “But not rigorous enough, obviously.” I paused. “How, exactly, was she able to hack in and run the trace?”

  “She didn’t. As I said, she’s the inspector’s second, with full access to the system. She just wasn’t told we’d installed the new security program.” He glanced around as Adam and another man entered. “You want to get this scum back to headquarters?”

  Adam nodded, and he and the other man immediately hauled the mute vampire to his feet and marched him out.

  Sam returned his gaze to us. “What were you doing at Rosen Pharmaceuticals this afternoon?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were no longer following us.”

  “We’re not, but we are keeping a watch on both Rosen Pharmaceuticals and Chase Medical Research Institute. Your arrival there was noted.”

  I guess we should have expected that. I told him why we’d gone there, and then added, “As it turns out, the number she had was for one James Hamberly, who worked at Holdright.”

  “Hamberly? The Aswang victim?”

  “And the man who was apparently blackmailing Rosen for several thousand a month in exchange for not releasing some seriously compromising photos of Junior with several other men.”

  Sam snorted. “Considering the relationship between father and son, I’m surprised Senior didn’t tell Hamberly to jump off the nearest bridge.”

  “Except that Senior saw the fact that his son was gay as something of a personal affront,” Jackson said. “And he would have seen the release of those photos as a smudge on his own reputation.”

  A phone rang in the other room. “That’s mine,” I said, and headed in there. I had no idea who’d be ringing at this hour, but the mere fact someone was had trepidation skating up my spine. While the office phone had been diverted to the number, it was doubtful any of our clients would be ringing at four in the morning. Aside from Rory, the only other person who had the number was Scott Baker. A call from either could only mean something had happened. Something bad.

  Thankfully, it wasn’t Rory ringing to tell me there’d been another attempt on his life. Nor was it one of our clients.

  It was Baker. He didn’t say hello, and he didn’t apologize for ringing so late.

  He simply said, “We’ve found Rinaldo.”

  CHAPTER 12

  Just for a moment, surprise held me speechless. They’d tracked him down and hadn’t yet attacked him? That alone spoke volumes—both about their determination to get him and their respect for him.

  Or, at least, respect for his abilities to manipulate and control people.

  “How did you manage that?”

  “The rats did, not me. They want you in on the action, but only if you agree not to inform PIT.”

  I blinked. “Why? The only thing that really matters—”

  “Is the fact he killed our people,” Baker cut in harshly. “And for that he must pay. A simple yes or no is all we need, Emberly.”

  Awareness itched at my back. I spun around and discovered Sam watching me from the doorway.

  “Is there a problem?” he said.

  I shook my head, then told Baker, “If that’s the way you want it, sure.”

  He gave me the address. “Be there at sunrise.”

  I glanced at my watch. We had an hour, no more. “Will do.”

  I hung up and threw the phone back into my purse. “Did you want something?”

  Sam eyed me somewhat suspiciously. “I’m heading off with Adam. The inspector wants you and Jackson to come into headquarters—tomorrow, if possible.”

  I frowned. “Why?”

  “Probably to read you the riot act for misusing those badges she foolishly gave you.”

  Though his voice was flat, a hint of amusement touched the corners of his eyes. It warmed t
hat stupid part deep inside of me, but I was getting rather good at ignoring that part these days.

  “Hey, it wasn’t like we wanted the damn things, but you can hardly blame us for using them to our advantage.” I paused. “You’re not going to drug us again, are you?”

  “I doubt it.” He eyed me uncertainly for a moment. “Do we need to?”

  “No, you most definitely do not. What we know, you know.” And I resisted the urge to cross my fingers behind my back when I said that.

  Though his expression hadn’t altered, it was very evident he didn’t believe me. “She wants you there at nine.”

  “We’ll try, but we do have an agency to run—”

  “Is that what the phone call was about?”

  “It’s none of you damn business, but yes, it was.”

  “At this hour?” His voice was skeptical.

  “Adultery has no time restrictions, Sam. You of all people should be aware of that. It’s what you accused me of, after all.”

  Which wasn’t at all fair, given he had every right to do so. Maybe if I’d explained what I was, and what that meant for him and me, things might have been different for us . . . but I couldn’t change what I’d done. Not this time, with this man.

  But the next rebirth, I was going to do as Rory suggested, and be honest. Hopefully, the next man destined to capture my heart would be more accepting.

  And maybe, just maybe, I could live one lifetime happily in love.

  Sam didn’t bite back, as much as I expected him to. His expression simply shut down, and that cloak of darkness swirled around him again. He didn’t fade into the night, but he sure as hell electrified it.

  “And you might want to give us an address,” I continued, “because we were blindfolded and thrown into the back of a van last time we were there, remember?”

  He gave me the address, then, with a nod, turned and walked out.

  Jackson walked into the room, an eyebrow raised. “I take it from his expression that the two of you had words?”

  “Yes. No.” I waved a hand in frustration. “That man just gets stranger and stranger. Maybe the virus has addled his brain.”