Free Fall (13 page)

The sun incinerates
.

There was nothing. No sound. No color. No sense of her body. Just the bitter taste of acid in her mouth. Then everything roared back. Her mind went black. Nothing. Not even free fall.

The next thing she knew, Telos was helping her to her feet. “You okay?”

She nodded, though
okay
was a relative term. She hurt everywhere, but she was alive, and that was good. Telos’s arm slid around her waist, and she decided she didn’t mind that. Michael was on the ground. Not moving. His open eyes stared at nothing. “Dead?”

“Yes.”

“How.” She didn’t have the energy to make the word into a question.

Telos shrugged. “You touched him.”

“A clean kill,” Harsh said with an approving nod. “Nice work.”

Carson gave them both a friendly smile. “You two love birds up to meeting Nikodemus while Harsh takes care of the clean up here?”

“I’m not doing the dirty work.” Harsh’s expression had softened and now instead of looking scary, he was the kind of gorgeous that made women feel a bit faint. He had a phone out and was making a call.

Carson waved a hand. “Whatever. As long as everything’s taken care of.”

Telos turned to the witch. “How does Nikodemus feel about demons who hook up with witches?”

Carson’s smile broadened. “He’s open minded.” Her green eyes moved between Telos and her. “As long as everyone’s a consenting adult. Is that what happened between you two?”

Lys said, “No coercion was exerted at any time.”

“I hear you’re a lawyer.” Carson kept smiling. A nice smile this time.

“Yes.”

Harsh looked up from the quiet instructions he’d been giving over the phone. “It so happens Nikodemus is looking to build a team of outside counsel. Interested?”

“Can I have a corner office?”

He put the phone to his ear. “I’m not in charge of accommodations.”

Lys looked at Telos. “What do you think?”

“Counselor, we’re all safer if you’re on our side.”

Carson smiled again. “How soon can you meet with Nikodemus?”

Six weeks after Michael’s death, Lys walked into Telos’s office. She’d needed time to recover from the events of that day; a lot of bad dreams at night, too much sleeping during the day, lots of reading and watching movies. Telos had been giving her plenty of space. Possibly too much. Now that she was feeling more her normal self, which wasn’t saying all that much, she’d started wondering what the hell she should do with her life.

She had enough money in the bank that she didn’t need to worry about finding work for a while, but this was a tough economy. Eventually her savings wouldn’t look so robust, and if the job market didn’t improve while she was dicking around, she’d end up wishing she’d started looking sooner. If she went back to her old job, she’d have to do it soon. The partners had emailed her and called a couple of times. The problem was she didn’t want to do anything that reminded her of her life before Telos. Not her old job. Not her old house. But she couldn’t just drift along either. Not many people wanted to hire a pregnant woman.

Courtesy of Telos, she had a new laptop, a new cell phone and a place to stay. They’d never discussed their current living arrangements, and it was starting to make her uncomfortable that they hadn’t. He expected her to stay because she was pregnant. She was grateful to know she wasn’t going to end up alone, no question about that. But she didn’t want to feel dependent, either.

Twice in the last ten days, they’d ended up in bed, but both times getting there was unexpected, and there wasn’t any talking afterward about what that meant. She was afraid to ask. By silent agreement, there was no mental sharing between them. Part of her understood he didn’t want to pressure her and part of her was convinced he didn’t want her to know he didn’t really want her around. She was turning into a basket case. She wasn’t good with people. She was even worse with demons.

She leaned against the wall by the door until Telos looked up from his computer. She still thought he was hot. Hotter, actually. “Just got the same invite,” he said.

She had her new cell phone in her hand. Her calendar invite from Nikodemus was open on the screen. “Who does he think he is?”

Telos pushed away from his desk so she didn’t have to look at him from over his four monitors. Behind him was a locked glass door that led to his server room. He’d given her a tour, and she’d damn near frozen her ass off when he showed her his racks of servers and routers. “A warlord who directly controls most of northern California and is making a serious claim for defacto leader of every goddamned warlord in North America. He’s got warlords and mages working with him from inside Europe, the Russian Federation, and India, and he has envoys in China and Brazil.” His eyes flickered. “He’s got people on his side who can free a mageheld. That’s who he thinks he is.”

Lys stared at her calendar invite. “We can’t decline?”

“You could.”

She looked up. “You’re going to take this oath he’s talking about?”

He nodded. “Easier decision for me than you. I’ve been sworn before. I know what it means for me.”

“Which is?”

“Belonging.”

Her heart turned over. She didn’t belong anywhere.

“We do better when we’re around other demons. It’s our nature to have those connections going. Being sworn to a warlord means protection.” He stuck out his legs and crossed his arms behind his head. “And a chance to work toward a solution to the current mess.”

“What about people like me?”

“Come with me.” He held out a hand, and she went to him. He pulled her down for a kiss that curled her toes. One of his hands settled on her belly. She wasn’t anywhere near showing yet. But neither of them disputed the accuracy of that little plastic stick with a plus sign on it. “Talk to Nikodemus, Lys. See what he has to say about you working with him.”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to hear what he has to say.”

“In fifteen minutes?”

“That’s all?”

He laughed, but she noticed he kept himself blocked. She did the same. “If I can’t blow your mind in ten minutes, I’m losing my touch.”

“Big talk.”

His grin set her stomach flying. “I’m a big guy.”

Ten minutes later, he’d proved he hadn’t lost his touch at all.

Nikodemus’s main compound was just over the Golden Gate Bridge in Tiburon, a Marin County enclave known for its mansions and celebrity residents. The warlord’s house, Telos told her, was the former home of a once powerful and very dangerous mage who, over his unnaturally long life, had been personally responsible for the murder or enslavement of hundreds of demons. Carson and Nikodemus had dispatched him.

The house was at the top of a hill, and it was huge, with breathtaking views of the bay in just about every direction she looked. The warlord was making a point by living here. She got it and was impressed by it. She didn’t doubt other demons and mages got the message, too. Her refined ability to sense demons kicked in the minute she got out of the car. She felt at least fifteen of them, with one of them particularly resonant. On the other side of the car, Telos didn’t bother locking the door. He pocketed his keys and quirked his eyebrows at her. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be, I suppose.”

He walked around to her side of the car and kissed her. “Don’t be nervous. No one’s going to make you do anything you don’t want to. Besides, I have your back.”

Lys gazed into his face and felt the truth of that. Michael was a distant memory. “You do, don’t you?”

“You know I do.” His arms slid down her back. He kept the eye contact. “Right?”

“Let’s go see the warlord.”

“Right?” He didn’t let her go. The hurt in his face and in his words pierced her heart. “Lys?”

Telos Khunbish was not a liar. She knew that. He’d never been dishonest with her. Ever since Michael, he’d been giving her the peace and quiet she needed to process what had happened. He was giving her the space she needed to deal with being pregnant when she’d believed that would never happen. She was shaken that she’d taken so long to understand that. She went up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. “Yes, Khunbish. I do know that.”

She held his hand during the walk to the door. He didn’t let go even when Harsh answered their knock. He stayed in the middle of the doorway, and she got that strange vibe from him that she had before. He wasn’t a mage, not like Michael at any rate, but he also didn’t feel the same as other demons.

“Aren’t you two cute?”

Telos gave him the finger and Harsh laughed and clapped Telos on the shoulder. The two did some kind of hand thing, and Harsh stood aside so they could go inside. Telos interlaced his fingers with hers.

The interior lived up to the outside. Impressive as hell. Someone had good taste in art. Harsh took them to a large living room that she could see from the doorway had the kind of view that cost millions. He walked in ahead of them. Halfway in, he stopped, pressed three fingers to his forehead, and bowed his head. Her sense of the demons was now oddly suppressed. Probably not an accident, she figured.

There were two men in the room. Both were demons, but that’s all she could tell at the moment. A sandy-haired man in jeans and a gray tee-shirt that read
My Other Shirt Looks Just Like This One
was slouched on the couch. He had on cowboy boots. He looked like the guy next door who comes home from college three inches taller and with twenty pounds more muscle and a low-body-fat heat factor going for him. Not her type, but definitely a head-turner.

The other man was scary. He stood beside the couch, arms crossed over a broad chest, face impassive. He was working the bad-ass air. His medium-length hair was dark. So were his eyes. His wore black slacks, a black sweater and shiny black loafers. He didn’t smile when they stopped behind Harsh.

Telos let go of her hand to press three fingers to his forehead and bow, just as Harsh had done. “Warlord.”

She expected the man in black to acknowledge them, but he didn’t. The man on the couch stood up. He was tall, and he had an easy-going smile she didn’t trust for a minute. “Telos Khunbish and Lys Fensic. Thanks for coming. Harsh. Thanks for bringing them here. I’m Nikodemus. Maybe the name’s familiar.” He extended an arm in the other man’s direction. “This is Durian. Sworn assassin.” The easy smile vanished, and Lys’s chest went cold. Telos slipped his arm around her waist. “Also a warlord.”

“Nice to meet you.” Lys was very, very glad to have Telos with her. It was chillingly clear the assassin was here to send a message. A very scary one. It worked.

Telos bowed his head again, but without the three fingers to his forehead.

The sandy-haired man had to be Nikodemus. Had to be. He crossed the room toward them but stopped about five feet away. Harsh shifted his weight. She’d seen what he could do and that was frightening enough. The assassin, however, made her skin crawl. Nikodemus clapped his hands and rubbed his palms together. “Now that we all know each other, you two ready to get this done?”

“Yes,” Telos said. No hesitation. Not a shred of doubt.

Lys couldn’t help feeling left out.

“That’s great. Glad to hear it.” Nikodemus turned to her and the minute his eyes connected with hers, she revised her opinion of him as wholesome. His power took hold in her, and she just had no doubt at all that the man had more magic in his little finger than she’d ever see in her lifetime. He terrified her. “You?”

“I don’t know.”

“Appreciate the honesty.” His smile thinned. “Could be a problem, though.”

“Honesty is a problem?”

“Not in this room it isn’t. But I meant it could be a problem if Telos swears fealty and you don’t.”

“Why?”

“The cross-species thing doesn’t bother me, don’t get me wrong there.” He grinned. “There’s Carson and me, after all. My man Durian here hooked up with a witch a while back. A couple others with me have done the same. But I have this rule about my sworn fiends not taking up with magekind who aren’t sworn to me.” He cocked his head at Durian. “Or to another warlord sworn to me. It’s not safe for anyone if that happens. I’m surprised Telos didn’t tell you that.”

“Warlord, Lys and I—”

He lifted a hand, cutting off whatever Telos was going to say. She felt the pressure that meant he was checking her out. She kept her blocks in place, but she was horribly aware that Nikodemus could have gotten through with no trouble. “You’re pregnant.”

That got Durian’s attention. And Harsh’s.

“Yes.”

The warlord gazed at her belly. “The father?”

“Telos.”

The temperature in the room ratcheted up several degrees. Nikodemus’s good humor vanished. He turned a pair of piercing gray eyes on Lys. “There’s only one way that happens, and it’s a big, big problem if you didn’t get full disclosure. I like to be crystal clear before I take oaths from anybody. It’s not good to start off finding out the fucking new guy already broke a rule.”

“He didn’t.”

“He told you about the risks?”

“Yes.”

“And you agreed.”

“I said the word
yes
, which I gather you require.”

“Definitely required.” Nikodemus turned away from her. “Would she lie to protect you, Khunbish?”

“Probably.”

“I’ll find out the truth. Either when you swear fealty or after you tell me you won’t.”

Lys took a step forward. “You’ve already been told the truth.”

The warlord frowned hard. “Let’s circle back to that later. Ms. Fensic, Durian here”—he tipped his head in the direction of the assassin—“wants you on his team.”

She looked at the other demon with no idea what the warlord meant. “Are you a lawyer?”

“No.”

“He’s my number one assassin. Harsh says you made a clean kill, and when he says something like that, even Durian believes it.” Nikodemus’s grin flashed. “More than one kill, as I understand it. Carson, on the other hand, is interested in working with you on some of your other talents.”

“Is she a lawyer?”

“Nah. But you did that thing.” He waved a hand. “She wants to know more about that. What you can do.” He nodded to himself. “I have to agree that’s something we need to be sure you learn to control. Whether you swear fealty or not, by the way. The way things are shaping up around here, we could use your help.”