Good Will Ghost Hunting: Demon Seed [Good Will Ghost Hunting 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (27 page)

Ryan leaned forward, his voice dropping further. Kal had a feeling there was a lot more he wasn’t telling her that she didn’t necessarily want to know. “He needs you to feed his power. His love for you—”

“He doesn’t love me. Not really. He thinks he has to say it.” She wasn’t sure she believed that, though. It sure felt like he loved her.

* * * *

Ryan shook his head. “You’re wrong, love, and you know it. Quit lying to yourself, it serves no useful purpose. He loves you, deeply, truly. Right now he’s still adjusting. And you love him. Admit it, in the depths of your soul, you feel it, felt it when you first met. You’re not ‘just saying it’ when you say it to him, are you? You love him, too.”

She reluctantly nodded.

“I didn’t engineer that. I couldn’t. Yes, you were my insurance policy to bring him back, but I couldn’t guarantee you’d love each other.” Ryan hoped Kal wasn’t powerful enough yet to sense his lie. He knew damn well they’d fall in love immediately. They couldn’t help do anything but. “I knew once you two met that the love was there between you. I hoped nature would take its course. Unfortunately the two of you proved rather stubborn and needed a swift kick in the arse to figure it out. There is a greater good to serve. I must see to that greater good. I’m sorry, but if it means I have to manipulate a few individual lives to accomplish that greater good, then yes, I will. Without apologies.”

He leaned back. “And you are as powerful as he is.”

“I’m no demon.”

“No, but you are half his soul. He feeds you as much as you feed him. You complete each other. There is an ancient myth that humans used to have two faces, four arms, and four legs. They angered the gods, and then they were split in two. In some people this is more truth than myth.”

He stood. “You can call me all the names you wish, that’s fine, I certainly don’t blame you. One day, perhaps, Will might even kill me. I can accept that as long as the greater good is served by it. I regret you had to go through this. As I have said, I must serve the larger picture.”

* * * *

Kill him?
Something about the thought of that rolled her stomach in a dangerous way. She might bounce around emotionally between hating Ryan and liking him, but no matter what, she’d never allow Will to kill him if she had anything to say about it.

With an urgent need to change the conversation’s direction, Kal settled in her chair and studied Ryan. She had so many questions for him, so many things to reconcile in her mind. “If you’re so dang powerful, why can’t you stop things like hurricanes? Genocide?”

“Because man has free will and the ability to stop or change the impact of those things. We are in charge of making sure mankind is free to choose their path. We are not FEMA. We are not the UN either, thank the gods. We make sure the world spins, the sun comes up, the moon goes down. We do this by making sure that what is supposed to be here, in this plane, stays here, and that things that don’t belong here aren’t allowed to run amok. With the many varied species on Earth, our job is also to make sure none of them try to usurp humanity’s free will and either take over or eradicate them. Aidan wasn’t wrong when he said we’re like the
Men in Black
. Our job is to level the playing field, preserve the status quo, and allow mankind the opportunity to continue their quest for free will.”

“I didn’t have free will in this. I never have. You engineered it so I’d meet Will.”

Ryan smiled, but it looked full of deep sadness. “You always had free will. You could have stood up to your parents years ago, or not felt the need to make it on your own. You could have given your virginity to that moron you went to senior prom with. You could have done a lot of things, including chosen to not become Will’s soul mate. I simply paved the way for certain choices to be easier for you to make than others, but they were always
your
choices to make. Whether you choose to believe it or not, I didn’t have to force the two of you to fall in love. You fell in love at first sight. That’s why he reacted so strongly. Had he not, I wouldn’t have let things continue, never would have forced the issue.”

Kal had a flash of insight and asked without thinking. “How did she die? Your soul mate?”

Ryan’s body stiffened and his jaw tightened. Kal suspected she was looking at the real man, not the façade he put up for the rest of the world. “I couldn’t protect her,” he quietly said. “I thought I could. I tried to protect Abby, but I didn’t get to her in time.” He looked at Kal. “That’s between the two of us. You and I shall have many long talks throughout the years. Just as I’ll respect your confidences, you should extend me the same consideration.”

She studied him. “She was murdered?”

He eventually nodded.

“Will said he was in agony after Abby died. It mostly went away when we got together. But you…does that mean you’re in pain, too?”

“There are many kinds of pain.”

Kal felt a flash of anger over his evasion. “Answer my question.”

After another long moment, he nodded. “Yes. Losing a soul mate is the worst kind of physical pain you can ever imagine. Especially when they are violently ripped from you.”

“Then why didn’t you take another one if it would help ease that pain?”

“It’s not as simple as taking another soul mate,” he quietly explained. “It’s very complicated. I do not wish to discuss that.”

For a long moment she chewed on a thought before giving voice to it. “Why do you act like an asshole when you obviously aren’t?”

He smiled. A genuine, heartbreakingly sweet smile, not his usual businesslike mask. “I have a job to do. Again, this is a confidence between us. I hope you’ll respect that.”

“Thank you for coming when I called. With that woman.”

He leaned over her desk, and she wanted to fall into his beautiful green eyes. “Kal,” he whispered, “I will
always
come when you call me. I swear it. No matter what. If there is breath in my body, I will come when you call me. Whether it’s for saving you from danger or helping you with a flat tire or changing out a lightbulb you can’t reach.” He smiled. “Never hesitate to call me, love. Even if you just need someone to talk with. You let me be the judge of whether it was necessary after the fact, right? But you
always
call me if you need me.”

She fell quiet for a moment. “What is your secret? Why aren’t you and Will and Aidan friends anymore?”

“I think that’s something you don’t need to worry about, dear. It happened too many years ago to matter now.” He disappeared before she could ask anything else. She shivered, gooseflesh rippling her arms, only a faint hint of his pleasant cologne hanging in the air before that, too, faded.

She realized Ryan was far more complex than she imagined. She wondered why he chose to open up to her the way he had.

Suspicious, uh, yeah. He’s the fricking head archdemon, the Devil. Duh.
Yet she suspected there was more. Worse, if Ryan needed someone of Will’s strength back on the team, what was coming down the pike?

And how had Ryan known Aidan mentioned
Men in Black
to her at the cemetery?

Moments later she’d managed to force her mind back to work when the air shifted again. Aidan appeared, looking concerned.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

He lifted his nose to the air and cautiously sniffed. After Bera’s surprise visit, Aidan was even more protective of Kal than usual. “You okay, sweet cheeks?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I thought someone was here with you.”

“Ryan stopped by.”

An immediate wall went up in Aidan’s mind. She felt it. Dang it, she
would
figure this out, what was going on between the three guys, whether they liked it or not.

“What did he want?”

“Just a quick chat to see if I was okay. Seriously. It’s fine.”

His protective air comforted and annoyed her a little at the same time.
Anxious big brother.
That’s how she thought of him.

Aidan finally relaxed. “We’ll be done in a few. Want to go to lunch?”

“Okay.”

He popped out, and again she tried to work. They’d explained to her that it wasn’t practical for them to do the disappearing act all the time, especially around lots of people. Hard to explain. Cars were normal, obviously. With the secret out, it wasn’t unusual for the guys to pop back to the office for needed items if they were on a job. She’d gotten used to it. Twenty minutes later, she’d nearly finished when Aidan reappeared.

“I’m done.”

“Who’s bringing the van back?”

“Purs and Gery are stopping on the way, we’ll meet them. You got your car here?”

She tossed him the keys. Will was meeting with a client in St. Petersburg and wouldn’t return until later. She sent him a text message so he wouldn’t worry about her, and while nothing about her situation was normal, it felt normal going to lunch with Aidan and the guys.

Just the recently deflowered virgin and some bazillion-year-old archdemons chowing down at Chili’s.

In the passenger seat of her car, she laughed.

Bemused, Aidan looked at her. “What’s so funny, babe?”

She shook her head. “No one would ever believe this.”

“I hope not. The Firm works hard so humans won’t suspect the world is anything other than they believe it to be. Everyone’s better off that way.”

“How dangerous does it get? Tell me the truth, Aidan.”

She’d almost derailed his composure by switching tracks like that. His change in expression told her that much. “Ryan’s careful,” he finally answered. “Most of what we do now is just information gathering, or flexing a little muscle to keep something in line. He’s a ‘walk softly, big stick’ kind of guy, trust me.”

“Didn’t used to be like that?”

“No. Not by a long shot. Used to be a ‘beat the living shit out of everyone and send back one half-dead witness with the bodies as a warning’ kind of guy.” He looked at her and grinned. “He’s mellowed a lot.”

“Then why does he need Will back if everything’s so hunky-dory?”

“Don’t stress it. I don’t have an answer for you. Ryan has to deal with the big picture and long term, not just the here and now. He might be setting up his chess pieces today for something a hundred years in the future, kiddo.” He looked at her. “He won’t send Will out to be killed. He’s never done anything like that. His old man was more of a slash-and-burn kind of guy, but even in the crazy days Ryan’s always been one to hedge his bets. He hates to lose, or lose any personnel, or have collateral damage, especially on our side. He takes it very personally.”

Maybe she didn’t want to know the answer to this. “What happened to him?”

“Who?”

“Ryan’s father. How did Ryan take control of The Firm?”

“Oh, Ryan’s pretty much been running things for a long time now. His old man didn’t officially hand the reins over until…” He didn’t finish that sentence. “He finally retired. I think Ryan pointed out to him that it was a long overdue change.”

“Retired? Is that a euphemism for Ryan killing him to take over?” Kal
so
didn’t want to hear this when she’d just discovered her soft spot for Ryan, but she had to ask.

Aidan snorted, amused. “Ryan? Kill
Hades
? Not quite.”

Now she was confused. Hades was a real person, not just another name for Hell? “Then where is he?”

“I told you, he’s retired. Hades has a house down on Boca Grande—Gasparilla Island—in Lee County. About two hours south of here. He loves to fish for tarpon, bought a boat, the whole nine yards.”

She sat back, stunned into silence. What shocked her more, that she landed a TV producer gig on a popular television show six months after graduation? That she managed to escape her parents and live in Tampa? That she was now a deflowered virgin and a hunkalicious demon’s soul mate for eternity? That the admittedly good-looking British guy who she thought was her boss turned out to actually be the Devil? That Hell was based in Atlanta?

Or that Hades was a real person playing beach bum on Gasparilla Island?

It was a draw.

* * * *

Drained both mentally and emotionally, Ryan returned to his apartment after his talk with Kal. He needed to get his head on straight. Maybe it was time for
him
to think about leaving this life for good. With Will back and quickly returning to full strength, it wouldn’t take much to goad Will into killing him.

Will would probably welcome the opportunity.

Ryan stared out the windows over Atlanta and felt the air shift behind him.

“Hello, Bera.”

“I can’t sneak up on you, can I?”

“Perhaps if you used a little less perfume.”

“
You
wear cologne.”

“Yes, I wear it. I don’t bathe in it.” Ryan turned, his eyes blazing. “If you
ever
repeat your little stunt of the other day, I mean it, I will take you out permanently. You cannot trade on the status of either your father or mine. I have latitude from the Dodekatheon in these matters that no longer guarantees your safe passage.”

Bera nodded, no longer as sure of herself as she had been when she first appeared.

“What did you want?” he asked.

She smiled and walked toward him, slowly, seductively unbuttoning her blouse. “What do you think I want, Ryan? It’s been a while.”

Ah yes, obviously she was back to sucking up, in a manner of speaking.

He’d definitely make her suck something.

Apparently now that Bera had returned from her sojourn, she wanted a little familiarity. Ryan knew what she really wanted, but there was no way he would give her that. Well, he didn’t mind making the aggravating bitch jump through a few hoops. She used people all the time, perhaps a little instant karma, turning things around on her.