“Now the hand.”
“It’s fine.” He didn’t want her looking at the blisters. If she thought long enough, she’d know he’d lied about hitting the demon.
“No, it’s not. If you get an infection, you’ll be sidelined for days. I want to find this door as soon as possible. Ellie needs to be with her son. Now give.” She held out her palm expectantly.
He didn’t have any choice, and to his surprise, other than a grimace, Prudence made no comment on the severity of his injury.
“You realize it may take a while to find the door.”
She gingerly spread ointment over his palm.
“You realize we’re eventually going to need more help.” She layered gauze pads from his wrist to his fingertips.
“We can’t go to the council, Prudence.”
“But we can go to our friends. Maybe not right now, but we’ve all sworn an oath to protect each other.” She started winding gauze around his hand to hold the pads in place. “That’s why you couldn’t get a partner, you know. It looked like you broke that oath.”
“Sometimes oaths conflict.”
She nodded. “I understand. Especially after tonight.” The roll of gauze petered out, and she tore off a piece of tape from a dispenser. “And, in time, they will, too.” Taping the end securely, she leveled her serious gray eyes at him. “But I think we’re going to need to find the rest of the scrolls first. Without them.”
“Yeah.” Alone. With Prudence. Totally tortured, yet he couldn’t imagine a day without her.
“Dad demoted me to research again. I wasn’t going to take it, God knows I don’t want to, but I think I should. So it looks like I’m following his orders.” She glanced up, the little line between her brows deep. “We can do this. We can use Swift’s secret entrance into Hell. No one will see us going in or out. We can find Heaven's Door. I just have to act normal in the meantime. But if I’m working during the day, our time to search will be limited to off-hours so—”
“I can work around it. It’s not like I have another job.”
She pursed her lips and shook her head. “I hate being deceitful. But I also know what’s right, and this is right.”
“And dangerous.” He smoothed the crease between her brows with his thumb.
“Not as dangerous as this.” The snarky comment came from the direction of the doorway.
They both turned their heads to find Swift sauntering into the room, his mouth quirked into a self-satisfied smirk. He bent down and picked up the discarded bra. Dangling it from his thumb by one delicate strap, his victorious grin pushed his cheeks up hard.
Prudence sprang to her feet from her low stoop. “Haven’t you heard of knocking?”
“My apologies for living in my own apartment.” Swift shrugged. “But for the record. I did knock. Some time ago.” He expelled a sigh filled with longing. “Shame I didn’t get to see you wearing this.” Unable or unwilling to wipe the grin from his face, he tossed Prudence her lingerie. “But the rest of the show was well worth it.”
Furious his friend would ogle Prudence, Jesse launched across the room, pulling his arm back, fingers gathering into tight ball.
“Whoa. Jess.” Swift deftly skittered away with a laugh. “I promise. I was only listening. I didn’t come to the door until I heard you found the mark. I saw it right before the two of you—touched each other in the most uninteresting way this room has ever seen.”
Heart pounding, Jesse dropped his fist. “You gotta stop messing around. One of these days you’re going to go—”
“Too far. Probably. But not from messing around with you. Or Prudence. You’re my friends. I’ll tease, but never cross the line.”
“Why didn’t you say something sooner?” Prudence tried to stretch the hem of the shirt lower.
Swift shrugged again. “It was nice, watching you take care of the Big Man. Never had anyone take care of me. Not like that anyway.” He clapped his hands once and grinned again. “But enough sap.”
He pointed at them, using both his index fingers. “You are the Vessel. Jesse has accepted his mantle as Pathfinder. And we—are in business.” He paced. “And a plan has formed”—he tapped his temple with a finger— “thanks to Prudence. She’s suggested a splendid idea.”
“I did?”
“Yes. Starting tomorrow, we’ll being the search for Heaven’s Door using the secret passage. You’ll go to the office—”
“I have a two-week’s suspension.”
“No good. If you want Ellie out anytime soon, we need to get on the stick. Apologize profusely to your father. Tell him you need work to occupy your mind then use your status as research guru to get into the basement archives.”
“What’s in the archives?”
“A box. It’s one of those insulated, fireproof numbers. A little smaller than a milk crate with a built-in combination lock.”
“What’s in it?” Jesse said.
“Reference material that used to be in Jack’s office. Maybe the original scrolls, too. I warn you, it’ll be heavy.”
“Am I supposed to simply walk out with this or do you have the combination?”
“No, I don’t.” Swift grinned. “But if you can find a way to smuggle it out of the building, I can crack the lock.”
“Really?” Jesse narrowed his eyes down at his much shorter friend. “You have experience, I take it.”
Swift slapped Jesse on the back, grinning hard enough to force the wink of a shallow dimple in one cheek. “Oh, Big Man. What fun would there be if I told you all my secrets?”
Chapter Twenty-One
Prudence wasn’t sure if she was more amazed it took only two weeks to find the strong box in the extensive, musty basement, or more amazed she’d managed a daily drop to the lowest level in that old elevator. Alone.
But she’d gladly handle whatever means necessary to find Heaven’s Door, be it running half-blind through Hell’s lower corridors or sneaking around the deepest corners of the Society’s headquarters.
Of course, that didn’t mean she wasn’t glad her basement escapades were over and done.
Fourteen days of stomach-swooping-heart-pounding free falls hadn’t desensitized her delicate sensibilities in the slightest. At least not without Jesse holding her. When they traveled fissure to fissure in Hell, somehow the rush didn’t bother her as much.
“Put it in the far corner by my desk please,” she instructed Boone, waving one finger at the spot. Luckily, she’d run into Zane’s shorter brother on her way back to the basement to retrieve the precious cargo. “I want to be able to reach it easily.”
And keep nosy eyes out of it, she thought.
“Shit. You sure this is all books? It weighs a fucking ton.” With a thud, he dropped it where she’d pointed.
“I’m sure.”
It did weigh a ton. Before getting Boone to carry the box from the basement to her office, she’d loaded the fireproof safe into a dusty old copy paper box, and then returned to seal it with duct tape. Her back would ache for days, but it was worth it.
The search had eaten up the rest of April and the first week of May, but they would finally make some serious progress.
Good thing. They’d run six missions searching for another scroll without enough direction. In the process, she’d taken on a few more souls and now carried a total of eight. She didn’t mind. Not unlike Ellie, they deserved a chance to enter Heaven properly. And there seemed to be the added benefit of the more the merrier. Or more precisely, the more the quieter. Housing like-minded company calmed the troops.
“Archives is a hot mess, Boone, and this department is going to straighten it out. I want the entire basement cataloged. I’d prefer to put them on computer but—”
“HR doesn’t want anything on computer. Computers get hacked or stolen. We wouldn’t remain secret for more than a year.”
“True. Well…thanks for helping me.” She dropped into her desk chair and straightened papers, giving Boone his cue to take off.
“You’re welcome.”
He leaned against the doorjamb of her office, his dimpled smile fully engaged and the high color of I’ve-got-a-long-weekend on his cheeks. She’d caught him on his way to the elevator, ready to put soul saving behind him for a four-day vacation.
“You chained to your desk?”
“What? No.”
Her heart sank.
Boone wanted to talk, and when Boone talked, she was guaranteed to lose at least a half an hour of work time. She didn’t have a half an hour to spare. Jesse would be waiting.
“Ever since you’ve come back to research, you’ve done nothing but work, work, work.” He waved at the boxes stacked throughout her small office. “It’s time you had some fun. In fact, I was on my way to do just that. We could—”
“I don’t feel like going out.” She didn’t have time for silly banter. “Don’t you already have plans for a long weekend?” Palming her cell phone off the desk, she thumbed at the buttons.
“I like to keep my options open. And fortunately, Zane is running a training class. All night. I have the apartment to myself, so…” He swaggered toward her and perched his ass on the edge of her desk. “If you don’t want to go out, we could get a pizza, and watch a movie at my place.” His invitation sounded innocent enough, but he’d added a smidgen of honeyed charm to his voice. “Or whatever. We’d have the whole night to ourselves.”
He fixed her with his famous smoldering gaze. Not as blond as his brother, his lashes were long and dark and shaded eyes the color of cornflowers.
Held there by an invisible tether, she could understand why his magnetism worked on so many women. Under other circumstances—without the Prophecy, without the souls she carried in secret, without Jesse most of all—she might have given in.
“Sorry.” She pinched her bottom lip with her top teeth. Damn. It had been so long since a man seduced her. “But as you see, I’ve a ton of work to do. And I need to get back in the boss’s good graces.”
“I don’t know what you did to piss off your dad, but he doesn’t want you to work twenty-four seven. You look exhausted.”
His stare turned tender and understanding. “You know…” He reached for her hand, but she countered by gathering her messy array of notes into a neat pile.
Refusing to take a hint, he flattened his palms on the desk and leaned in close to her. “You’ve been best buds with my brother forever. But not me. Why?”
She flashed him a friendly but uninviting smile. “You’ve kept yourself quite busy. And the gossip mill knows how you fill your time.”
His eyes danced with wicked mirth. “Nothing but training, babe. Training for the right woman.”
He traced the tender skin of her jawline with a rough finger, and her eyes followed the hard line of his torso from the neckline of his shirt into the tuck at his waist.
“It’s possible the right woman’s been here all along.” The pad of his thumb caressed her chin, and he tapped deep into his Western drawl. “I’m askin’ for the chance to become…better friends.”
Hard as she tried, she couldn’t fight staring into his alluring eyes. Most red-blooded women couldn’t resist a blue-eyed man.
Her sex begged she consider his invitation. After all, Jesse was off-limits, no matter how often they blurred the lines of friendship.
He tilted her chin up with one finger. “Is that a yes behind your sweet stare?”
With her senses heightened, the tip of his finger on her chin felt like serious seduction.
But she only wanted to be seduced by the one man she couldn’t have.
“We've had this discussion before.” She toed off the inside of her desk and shot her chair back, putting an arm's reach between them. “It's not wise to date other Runners.”
“But you're not a Runner anymore.” His easy grin faltered.
“Oh, Boone.” She kept her voice light. “You know I would go out with you. In a heartbeat. But this desk…” She patted her blotter. “Is an extension of the field.”
“It's also an extension of her father.” Jack Luckett filled the doorway to her office, imposing and authoritative.
Not the help she'd been hoping would arrive. His eyes scanned her office, crowded with boxes.
“Don't you have some new arrivals to induct?” Jack glared at Boone, obviously irritated, though whether it was actually at the Casanova Cowboy was debatable. “You are in charge of the newbies. I'd think you'd want to make a good impression.”
Though never intimidated, Boone respected authority. He winked at Prudence and then slapped his knees and slowly rose to his feet. “I’ve got a four-day weekend, so I gave them the night off and suggested they bond as a group.”
The manila folder of notes she’d made on the location of the next scroll slid off the desk from beneath his ass.
Her heart jerked as she watched the contents scatter over the floor. She bolted out of her chair and immediately regretted it but gathered her precious papers all the same.
“Did that include a suggestion to waste their time at Carnie's Pub?” Jack may have been giving the third degree to Boone, but his eyes never left her.
She straightened the contents and her back. As suspected, her father regarded her with suspicion in his eyes, and she dreaded the moment she'd be alone with him.
“Has anybody seen Boone Gideon?” Connie peeked around Dad.
With her pretty pink suit and her long dark tresses flowing over one shoulder, she looked like spring incarnate.
“There you are. Excuse me, sir.” She squeezed past Dad into the cramped office and stood in front of him. “I've been looking everywhere for you.” She motioned for the teenaged boy lagging behind her to join them.
Both Connie and the kid were nearly as tall as Jesse, and they blocked Jack's view of Prudence. Her hands moved as fast as her mind, and she dropped the folder into the top of her oversized handbag.
“I know you’re supposed to be vacation, but we have a late arrival.” She gently guided the boy forward by the elbow. “This is Justin Crosby. He's a cowman like you, and I thought—”
“We might see fit to play catch up?” Boone shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Well…that depends. Justin—I’ll work with you, but you gotta be willing to take a few breaks to watch the ball game. I wanna see Philadelphia mop the field in a doubleheader against those asshole New Yorkers.”
“Not gonna happen,” Dad said. “New York’s too good.”
The boy almost cracked a smile. “Not that good,” he said quietly, raising his chin to look Boone in the eye. “I hate New York.”
Boone’s easy grin nudged his dimples deep. “Then we’re gonna get along fine.” He sidled up to Justin and slung an arm around his shoulders. “I hope you like cheesesteaks because I don’t cook.”
His one truly likable trait was his willingness to extend himself. Rookies adored him almost as much as women did, and Prudence could already see the solemn boy warming up to his new big brother. He flicked the bill of the boy’s battered, black Stetson. “Nice hat. It’s seen better days.”
“It was my brother’s. He’s—not around anymore.” Justin’s whole body stiffened, probably at having confessed more than he’d intended.
“He must have been important to you. Why don’t we get out of here and grab a bite?” He swung the kid around and flashed her one last mischievous glance before strolling out the door. “Someday Luckett. Someday you’ll change your mind,” he said on a sigh and then guided the boy out, chatting amiably as an old friend.
“Nobody makes a newbie feel more at home than Boone,” Connie said, with a sincere smile she didn’t often see.
Dad merely grunted. “Connie, would you excuse us, please?” He pulled out the guest chair, preparing to settle in.
Prudence tensed. No way around it, she was going to be late. That meant a longer night and no sleep.
Again.
She couldn’t keep up the pace
much longer.
“I was looking for you as well, sir.” Connie gingerly touched Jack's arm, keeping him on his feet. “We have a bead on another new recruit. This time out in Oregon.”
“Send Buckingham to investigate.”
“I thought you might take this one.”
“I’m cutting back on trips, as you’ve been made aware.” He didn't bother to hide his irritation. He placed his huge hand on the open door and slowly closed it, trying to scoot Connie out.
“This time you should.” She sidestepped into the office, her eyes never wavering from his face.
“Telling me what I should and shouldn't do isn't in your job description, Miss Larkin.”
Connie leaned back on Prudence's desk. “He's young and on his own. He's hard to track and is going to be harder to bring in. He's…” She paused and pursed her lips. “Like Jesse was. His gifts are so strong they're getting him into trouble. He needs the one thing he doesn't have. Someone that understands and has a will stronger than his own. I hate to say it, but Buckingham’s too nice.”
“If this boy’s gifts are as strong as Connie said, we really need him. As you well know, we’re down a few runners.” Prudence relished the opportunity to dig him with the truth. “I’ve seen the new recruits, and some of them are years away from being ready. If he’s truly like Jesse, he’ll be ready in a single season. Plus, this boy needs you.”
He gave her the squinty eye, letting her know she’d laid it on a little thick at the end. But she could also see he’d been swayed.
“How long do you think it will take?” His lips drew in, and he crossed his arms.
“Depends on you. And the boy, of course.”
He expelled a harsh sigh through his nose. “Fine. I'll make an exception.” He placed a hand on Connie's back and ushered her toward the door. He wasn't going to leave her office. “Book me a flight with a one-week return and a rental car. I'll find motels along the way.”
“Done and done.” Connie whipped out a stack of papers from the folders she carried. “The top sheet is your e-ticket and boarding pass. The rental car information is stapled behind it. Your flight leaves in three hours so you'd better get a move on. I took the liberty of contacting Mrs. Luckett an hour ago. She promised your bags would be packed.”
Rule Breakers, Soul Takers (Hell Runners Book 1) Page 23
