A Darker Past (Entangled Teen) (The Darker Agency) (11 page)

“Just like that, yes? Tell me, do you think your timid pet will be a sufficient match for Gressil?”

Pet
? I’d just been insulted by the King of Hell. Day complete.

Valefar chuckled. “My Regent is anything but timid, I assure you.”

Lucifer seemed to consider this. Finally, he said, “I suppose we shall see, won’t we? Your Regent unleashed a dangerous entity. One with the potential to interrupt the peace and prosperity we’ve worked so hard to achieve here. In addition to her fixing the problem, punishment is in order. Might I suggest a decade in the pit?”

I tamped down the urge to vomit. I’d bet a lifetime without chocolate that he wasn’t referring to the rough side of Penance, outside the Ledges. My imagination went wild. Everything from the typical movie scene—me chained to a huge rock with some horn-toting demon whipping me for all eternity—to being pushed into a literal, never-ending pit.

“It was me.” Lukas shot from his chair. Dad tried to drag him back to his seat, but Lukas jerked his arm free, facing Lucifer with a defiant glare. “I was the one who broke the mirror and set the demon free. She had no part in it.”

“Lukas,” Dad snarled.

Chivalry was kind of hot and all, but that didn’t make it any less annoying—or badly timed. I didn’t know much about what was going on here, but I got that the situation was deep. I mean, hello?
Lucifer
? There wasn’t any point in us both taking the fall. Technically, neither of us had broken the mirror. Lucy-Elaine had done it. Granted, I’d kind of provoked her, but still… Playing point-the-finger wasn’t going to get us anywhere right now.

I stood as well. “He’s trying to protect me, um…” What the hell did you call the ruler of hell? Your evilness? “Your Majesty…?”

Lucifer made his way around to where I was. With his dark eyes fixated on me, an icy chill raced up my back, and even though I was positive that it was just nerves, I found it hard to breathe. “Loyalty is an admirable trait, Jessie Darker. One I hold in high regard.” He turned to Lukas, whose gaze never wavered. “This dynamic intrigues me, so I will grant you both a favor. Leniency.”

I let out a breath, and Lucifer laughed.

“You will receive no additional punishment for releasing Gressil.” He wheeled and started toward the door at the back of the room. When he got to the entry, he turned and pinned me with an icy glare. “This is for you and Lukas to resolve. No aid from Shadow Realm resources is permitted. Fix this problem—soon—or both your lives will be forfeit.”

Chapter Fifteen

One by one, in puffs of thick smoke, the demons around the huge round table disappeared until there were only four of us left in the room.

“Damien,” Valefar said, in an almost bored tone. “You’ll need to keep that boy on a leash if he has any hopes of surviving the next century.”

“He was doing his job,” Dad said with a growl. He stood and took a step toward his old boss.

“To protect your daughter. Yes, I’m aware. And, as I’m sure you know, that’s entirely unnecessary. Did I not protect you for thousands of years?” Valefar’s voice grew dark and his expression heated. I wanted to get back to Mom, but jumping into the middle of a demon scuffle seemed like a bad idea. “Do you dare imply my inability to keep my minions safe?”

“Of course not. You were always a good Master. You made sure we were all taken care of. Lukas is protecting my daughter from you.”

Valefar laughed. “From me? The little demon owes me fifty-five years of servitude. Do you really think I’d harm her?”

Dad slammed a hand down on the table. The noise echoed through the cavernous room, bouncing off the walls and reverberating in an almost eerie way. “This is a perfect example. Making her your Regent? You’re going to get her killed.”

Valefar looked ready to explode. In a deceptively calm voice, he responded, “Jessie Darker will not come to harm in my care. You, Damien, should know that better than anyone.”

Dad’s jaw twitched. “Do not—”

Enough was enough. “Stop!” I yelled. The meeting was over, and there were more important things to worry about now. To Dad, I said, “We have to go. Mom was hurt—”

His fury toward Valefar was instantly forgotten. “What?”

Valefar nodded. “We will do this another time, Damien. Take your daughter to the hospital and tend to Klaire Darker.”

In an explosion of black, Valefar was gone. Dad grabbed Lukas’s wrist and took my hand, and shadowed us out.

…

The wait was killing me. Lukas and I had been forced to sit in the waiting room while Dad talked to Mom’s doctor. Twice I’d tried sneaking into her room only to be blocked by the nurse on duty with a stern shake of her head and a finger extended toward the waiting room. When Dad finally came around the corner and sat down across from Lukas, I was ready to scream. For the first time in my life, he looked exhausted.

I jumped from my seat, doing all I could not to shake him violently when he didn’t launch into an explanation right away. “What did the doctor say?”

Dad ran a hand across his face. “She’s okay. Banged up but alive. The doctor says she’s very lucky.”

All I wanted now was to see her. I needed to see she was okay for myself. With my own eyes. “Can I go in?”

“They want her to rest for awhile. Let’s go back to the office, and we’ll come back first thing in the morning.”

I stared, sure I’d heard him wrong. “You mean, like, leave her here alone?”

“She won’t be alone. I have eyes on her.”

My dad, the demon mafia king. Somehow it didn’t make me feel better. Gressil had done this. He could come back at any time to finish the job. He’d pretty much said he would if we didn’t deliver the prison. I needed to be there to protect her.

Dad saw it in my eyes. He shook his head and pointed toward the door. “Shadow home. I won’t be far behind you.”

The finality in his voice didn’t leave room for argument. A retort about bad puppies bubbled up to the surface, but died almost immediately. My charm was a trait Mom appreciated, but Dad? Not so much. I nodded and let Lukas lead me to the elevator.

“She’s going to be okay,” he said as the doors closed. His hand in mine, so warm and comforting, eased some of my worry. He was right. Mom was a tough cookie. And the doctors had confirmed she’d be fine. But I was still shaken.

“She could have been killed.” My voice wobbled a little as the weight of it all came crashing down. “This thing is serious. How are we going to recapture Gress—” Lukas’s hand flew to my cover my mouth. Heart pounding, I took a breath and removed it, nodding a silent thanks. “—the demon? My
mom
, Lukas. He took down my
mom
. That’s not easy to do…”

Lukas pulled me to him, and I tilted my head so it was leaning against his shoulder. He smelled of mint soap with just the smallest hint of sulfur. I’d noticed it after Dad saved him, and realized it was getting stronger as each day passed. As he became a demon. “We’ll do it. The Darkers are known for pulling off the impossible.” He stepped away from me and took a sweeping bow. “I’m living proof.”

“Well, if you wanna be technical, you’re dead proof, but yeah. I get ya.” Then I remembered how he’d shown up in the field right before we were summoned to the Shadow Realm. “Wait a sec. Where did you come from? In the field earlier?”

The elevator came to a jerky stop, and the doors slid open. I knew for a fact there weren’t any cameras down here, and how hard could it be to find a shadow in a parking garage? Shadowing out from here seemed like the best bet.

“I’m changing, Jessie,” he said. He stepped out into the garage and stuffed both hands into his pockets with a shrug. “While it’s not exactly the life I would have chosen for myself, it has its perks, one of which is the tools to do my job effectively.”

I tugged my jacket tighter. The lot was mostly empty, and each squeak of my sneakers against the concrete echoed like a bullhorn. “I don’t get it. What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I can move like a Shadow demon.” One second he was standing beside me, the next he was by the pickup a few spots away. “I’m limited at the moment, since the change isn’t complete. It seems I can only do it once every few hours. Damien says the limitations will fade in time, and I’ll be able to move just like you and him.”

A jolt of excitement lashed through me. This meant we’d be the same. Granted, not exactly, but we’d both be able to shadow. A host of possibilities came to mind, most of them Mom wouldn’t approve of. “Wow. So how does it—I mean, are you okay with it?”

He shrugged and stepped away from the car. He’d learned his lesson the hard way a few weeks ago. We’d been at the movies and he leaned on a Mustang, only to have the alarm go crazy. “It was a bit disconcerting at first, but after today, I’m thankful for it.” He cupped the side of my face. “I won’t allow myself to think of what would have happened if I hadn’t come to the clearing.”

The way I saw it, it wouldn’t have mattered one way or another. None of us were a match for Gressil. I was alive because he thought he’d killed Mom. Mom was alive because, well, she was lucky. Still, I didn’t punch a hole in his theory. I might have, had he not been looking at me in
that way
again. I swallowed, suddenly very warm, and said, “How did you know to come in the first place, though?”

He came forward and ran the tip of his index finger down the side of my face. A completely innocuous gesture under different circumstances, but in that moment? It lit my insides up like the Fourth of July. “I sensed your panic.”

“Sensed, huh?” My heart was 2.2 seconds from bursting out my chest.

“I can pick up on your fear.”

I took a deep breath. “Oh?” It was all I could manage. Yeah, I was worried about Mom, but the chemistry bubbling between us in that garage was undeniable. There was something happening here that couldn’t—
wouldn’t
—be ignored.

He let his finger linger at the tip of my chin for a moment before sliding beneath it and tilting my head back and slightly to the left. “I can sense other feelings you have as well,” he whispered against my skin. A second later, his lips brushed my neck, butterfly caresses up and down the sides.

Hell in a hailstorm…

The fact that we were in the parking lot of the hospital made no difference to me. I leaned into him, a soft sigh drifting from my lips as warmth rippled through my entire body. “But you were”—he came to my ear and nipped the edge, and I gasped—“so far. How did you feel me from across town?”

He wound his hand around to the back of my neck, touch like lava, then dipped it beneath the collar of my shirt. “Damien’s guess is that it’s stronger coming from you because of how close we are.” He backed away a few inches so that he could look me in the eye. “My desire to keep you safe is more than just a job to me, Jessie. It’s integral to my being.”

If I wasn’t already hotter than hell for him, that would have done it. The sparks were there between us, but in that instant, a deeper connection rose above it all. It blotted out the raging hormones and combustible lust. I pushed forward and kissed him with a devouring, passionate need for a higher closeness.

Lukas responded, even more enthusiastic, crushing me close. His fingers wound themselves through my hair, around the long strands. He growled. A dark, enthralling sound that sent prickles across my skin, making the hairs on the back of my neck spring to attention. “Jessie…” he murmured against my lips.

“We need to”—I let my head fall back as he moved to kiss the hollow of my throat. My brain was jumbled. Alternating between the desire to continue this and get him back to his place so I could sneak back here to be with Mom—“go.”

He whispered a word that sounded vaguely like no and continued to plant increasingly fierce kisses at the base of my neck, drifting lower and lower with each pass.

A warm tingle gathered in my belly, drifting south. It was exciting, and a little bit scary; I didn’t try to pull away. I should have—we were so exposed here—but I’d never felt anything like this before. It was addicting. Sinful…

Lukas’s gripped my hips, kneading the denim with his fingers. “Come back to my apartment. Let me—”

My scalp began to tingle. There was a sudden static feeling to the air. I tilted my head, just slightly to the left, and what I saw effectively doused my teenaged libido in metaphorical ice water.

“
Down
!” I yanked Lukas to the ground as a writhing ball of blue and white soared overhead.

“Here piggy, piggy,” Gressil said in a singsong voice. His laughter echoed off the walls, remnants of wispy purple smoke clinging to the edges of his form.

He came at us slowly, but steadily, walking down the middle of the aisle. Behind him, a car pulled up and when the demon didn’t move, honked its horn. He turned to face the driver. With a snap of his fingers, the car sparked and fizzed, and a moment later, burst into flames.

“We have unfinished business,” the demon said, facing us again.

Despite my best efforts to tamp down the sheer terror clawing its way up my spine, my hands shook as Lukas helped me to my feet. “Well, that’s a new form of abstinence enforcement,” I said, hoping the joke would cover it up.

Lukas stepped in front of me, herding us toward the shadows. There weren’t many. Two years ago, after a mugging in the mall parking garage, the mayor ordered brighter lighting in all underground parking garages. Our only chance was to try to slip between the cars before Gressil got to us.

“Klaire Darker still lives.” The demon laughed as we backed away. He was still coming down the middle, fifteen feet or so away. “It seems the Darker family has even more secrets than I thought.”

“Ya caught me,” I said, voice wavering just a bit. I wasn’t stupid. If this demon could floor Mom with her exceptional skill, what the heck would it do to me? I wasn’t rocking any paste-Jessie-to-the-wall fantasy scenarios, and even though I was tougher than the average human, I was likely to go splat. Instinct told me to grab Lukas and make a mad dash for the shadows, but I’d seen the demon in action in the park. We’d never make it. I needed time to come up with a plan. I needed to stall. “I was making out with my boyfriend. If that’s what passes for newsworthy in the Shadow Realm, you guys need to get a life.”

Gressil growled, losing his grin. Six feet now. Ten, tops. “Give me the prison, servant of Pride.”

“We don’t have it,” Lukas said, still trying to block me from the demon’s wrath.

This time I let him, inching back a bit until I felt the cooling presence of shadow wash over me. A small spot in between two cars. Bingo. This was all I needed. With a deep breath, I snatched Lukas’s wrist and yanked hard, pulling him close and blending into the darkness.

I closed my eyes, preparing to shadow us out of there, but Gressil laughed. Opening my eyes, I cringed against the creepy sound I’d probably never forget.

“Foolish little ants.” He threw up his hands, and the entire garage lit up like Town Square at Christmastime. Every inch of darkness disappeared.

With the small patch of shadow chased away by the new light, we were suddenly visible again, our only escape gone.

“Crap!” I ducked another blast by knocking Lukas to the ground and bending across the hood of the car.

“I will not ask you again. Where is the prison?” Gressil yelled.

“Gressil,” a voice boomed behind us. I twisted, shocked to see Valefar standing in the middle of the aisle, wearing a glare that could level the city. For the first time ever, I was happy to see him. He took exactly two steps forward and stopped. “Leave her.”

The brutality of the demand took my breath away. For an instant—granted, an insane and unrealistic instant—Valefar’s reaction seemed almost protective in a way that might indicate I was more than his property. That he was genuinely concerned about my well-being.

Gressil laughed. Not something I would have done with Val glaring daggers of death, but then again, I didn’t have Gressil’s power or clout. “I may be banned from my home, but I still hear the whispers. You are not permitted to interfere with the task your Regent has been given.” He laughed again. “Capture me? Truly?”

Valefar tossed an offhanded wave in our direction. “I’m not here to interfere. Squash her like a bug if you wish—but make it quick. You and I have unfinished business to deal with.”

And there went my stupid theory that I was something more to him than a possession.