Mind Sweeper (36 page)

I sat up. “Let me try something.” I placed my hands on his temples and rubbed my fingers in tiny circles. “I can probably stop those pain receptors from firing by planting a suggestion in your head if you want.”

He hesitated for a second.

“Trust me. I won’t make you cluck like a chicken or anything like that.”

“Okay.”

I concentrated and pushed a feeling of warmth and calm into his brain and he relaxed in a matter of seconds. “Thanks, I feel much better.”

I snuggled up against him. “You’re welcome.”

“How did I get so lucky?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been asking myself the same question about you.”

He watched me skeptically as if waiting for the punch line but his features changed to surprise when he realized I was serious. “And when exactly did you start feeling lucky about me?”

I thought for a moment. “In the office, the day I erased Trina’s memory.”

His mouth dropped open. “You almost took my head off that day.”

“You pissed me off because you were trying to tell me what to do, but you told me to stop using my power if it hurt me. You’re one of the only people who sees me, not my power.” I twined my fingers with his and kissed him lightly on the lips.

An hour later, Dalton went home to clean up and change before going into the office and I was on my way to work. As I drove up Murray Hill, my phone rang. It was Father Brown.

“Hello, Father.”

“Ms. Smith.”

I cringed slightly. I needed to tell him the truth about my name sooner rather than later. “Have you had any luck with the translation?”

“A little bit. I was wondering if we could get together to discuss it?”

“Sure. Let me get in touch with Dalton and we’ll meet you later.”

“Actually I called Lieutenant Dalton first but got his voice mail, so I tried you. I’m downtown. I just finished a breakfast meeting and wondered if we could meet now.”

“Sure. Where are you?”

“I’m at the Hyatt Regency.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

I hung up and tried to call Dalton, but got his voice mail as well. I left him a message to meet us at the hotel, or call me if he couldn’t get there in time. When I arrived at the hotel, I was lucky enough to find a spot on the street. I shoved a couple of quarters in the meter and entered through the door. Father Brown stood in the lobby.

“Thank you for meeting me.”

“No problem.” I looked around the busy lobby, trying to find a spot for us to sit.

“Don’t worry, there’s a small conference room that’s unoccupied at the moment. We can talk in there.” Once in the room, Father Brown sat at the head of the table and I sat beside him. He pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and opened it, placing it in front of me.

“I see you’ve made some progress.”

“A few lines yes, but not all of it yet.”

I read the first stanza.

Evil thrives amongst us

Angels descend, preparing for battle

Weapon of knowledge in hand

With it the tides turn

And light will triumph

Father interjected. “I have started on the second stanza, but am not having much luck.”

“Is there any reference to a key in the stanzas? If so, does it say what it is?” I asked.

“It’s interesting you brought that up. In the third line, I struggled with the word weapon. I wasn’t sure if it was right. The other word I thought it might be was key.”

“So the key of knowledge can defeat evil?”

“If you interpret it that way, yes.”

“Then what is the key?”

“I don’t believe it is a
what
. I think it is a
who
.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The key isn’t a tangible object. It is the knowledge imparted to a person. A protector of secrets, if you will.”

My stomach twisted. “How would this be given to the person? Could it be held in some type of container, like a box?”

Father hesitated for a second before answering. “If I thought this was an actual prophesy and not one of David’s delusions, I would say this knowledge would need to be delivered by some type of holy receptacle.”

I pulled out my phone and opened a picture of the small engraved box. “Like this?”

Father’s eyes focused on the box and then up at me. “Yes. Those markings are warnings against evil.”

“So how would this box deliver the knowledge?”

“I don’t know exactly. But if it really contained the knowledge that is referenced in the prophecy, it would be protected so only the right person could access it.”

“Thanks, Father. I’ve got to go.” I stood.

“Aren’t you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you everything when I can,” I promised.

“Including your real name?”

I nodded. “Including my real name.”

I ran toward my car, goose bumps shooting down my arms. I tried Dalton’s number again, and when he didn’t pick up, I left him an urgent voicemail, praying there was some stupid, everyday reason he wasn’t answering, and not what I feared. I called the police station and left a message there as well.

I called Jean Luc and had him conference Misha and Jason into the call, filling them in on my conversation with Father Brown.

“I don’t want to sound like an emotional female, but I think something’s wrong. If Dalton has somehow absorbed this key, Sebastian will be after him.”

Misha spoke up. “I’ll see if I can triangulate Dalton’s cell phone.”

“Jean Luc, where do you think Sebastian might take him?”

“He will not take him back to the warehouse or Hampton’s loft, since he is aware that we know about both places. Let me talk to a few people and see if they have some ideas. Where are you now?”

“I’m getting on the highway to go check Dalton’s house.”

“Call again once you arrive. Misha and I will work on finding him in the meantime.”

As I drove toward his house I prayed to Dalton’s grandmother, the angels, God, anyone who chose to listen, but got squat. I drove faster.

After twenty minutes, I pulled into Dalton’s driveway. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, but something wrong and heavy hung in the air. I yanked the baseball bat from under my front seat and walked around to the back of the house. The door to the kitchen was ajar. I held the bat tighter and pushed the door open slowly.

I took one step into the house and a voice called out to me, “I’m glad you were able to join us, Kyle.”

I would know Sebastian’s slimy voice anywhere. I walked into the living room. Sebastian sat in an armchair next to the fireplace. One of his vamp flunkies stepped toward me and I took a swing at him with the bat. He grabbed it out of my hands and pushed me roughly in front of Sebastian.

I turned my head and barely stopped myself from screaming. Dalton sat slumped and handcuffed to a chair. Blood ran down the side of his neck onto his chest. I rushed to him. There were no bite marks, though. The blood was coming from straends attached to the back of his neck.

“What the hell are you doing to him?”

“Trying to get answers.”

“To what?”

“I want the key. I saw the security feed. He was able to open the box.”

“And you couldn’t?”

He frowned. “No, we had given up on the box. We assumed it was some sort of talisman. It appeared to be made of solid wood.”

“What is so important about this damn key?”

“With it I can defeat the angels.”

“Really? And who told you that? Hampton?”

“When Charles first spoke of it, I dismissed it as a myth. Then one day an angel came down from heaven and lopped off his head. That’s when I decided he might be on to something. So I enlisted my own help.”

“The Majock demon.”

Sebastian’s eyes flared slightly. “You continue to surprise me.”

“How did you break him out of the demon realm?”

“I have my methods.” He smiled smugly.

“Why would you even want to be in control of earth? You think humans are useless. Jesus, don’t you have enough power now? You’ve lived for centuries and you’re
still
an idiot.”

Dalton gasped. “Kyle, don’t.”

Sebastian smirked. “Oh, I already know what she is doing, Lieutenant. She’s trying to distract me from my dealings with you.” He stood and strutted over to me like a proud peacock. It made me want to kick him in the balls.

He circled me. After a couple of seconds, his eyes flared and he hissed, the sound skittering along my nerve endings.

“You stupid child.” He snatched me by the arm and held up the wrist Jean Luc had bitten. “You are ruined!”

“I don’t think so.”

He threw me to the ground. “You have no right to think. You are nothing.”

“If I’m nothing, then why are you after me?”

“For the power that has been wasted on you.”

“Yeah, well, deal with it.” Not the smartest of statements on my part, since he yanked me up from the floor by my hair, and pain lanced across my scalp.

He shook me in front of Dalton like a rag doll. “If you don’t give me the key now, I will kill her.”

Dalton tried to lunge out of the chair, but the handcuffs held him in place. “I don’t have the key. The box was empty when I opened it.”

“You lie!” Sebastian leaned forward, spittle forming on his lips.

“No he doesn’t. Think about it. The straends should cause him excruciating pain if he’s lying, right? He didn’t even flinch just now.”

“Then where is the key?”

I jumped in with both lying feet. “I have it.”

Chapter 40

After I dropped that bombshell, Sebastian let me go and I nearly lost my footing. “You couldn’t open the box. How do you have the key?”

“Dalton was the one who found the key,” I said.

Sebastian frowned. “But he doesn’t know where it is.”

“He doesn’t know where it is
now
. I changed his memory.”

Dalton shook his head adamantly. “Don’t listen to her, she’s lying.”

“No, I’m not. If this key is as powerful as you say it is, the supernatural community will not allow humans to control it. So I made him forget.”

Dalton’s eyes met mine. “When did you erase my memory?”

“This morning when you had your headache. I changed it then.”

Up to that point, Dalton hadn’t believed me, but I saw the first tinge of doubt in his eyes and it was the equivalent of being sucker-punched.

Sebastian smirked. “A lover’s quarrel. Is this your first? I will never understand humans. Do you want to know when the straends punished him for lying?”

I didn’t answer, figuring he was going to tell me regardless. “He reeks of you and yet when I asked him if he cared for you, he said no. He almost passed out from the pain. I believe he was trying to protect you. And in return, you played him for a fool. Maybe you are not as pathetic as I thought.”

The bile rose in my throat, but I ignored it. “I don’t need your approval to do my job.”

“Where is the key?”

“My apartment.”

His lips tightened into a thin line. “Why would you leave it there?”

“Because I don’t want Jean Luc or Misha to get their hands on it, either. Nicholas’s instructions were to give the key directly to him.”

Sebastian chuckled. “I’m sure they were.” He motioned to the guard I’d tried to brain with my bat. “Go with her to the apartment and bring me back the key.”

My mind reeled. “What are you going to do with Dalton?”

“Kill him.”

Stay calm.
“Don’t do that. The police and FBI are already looking for a serial killer. If you kill a high-profile cop, you’re just asking for trouble. I can erase his memory later. I was planning on doing it anyway.”

“Kyle, no!” Dalton blurted.

Sebastian stared at me for a moment before replying. “I will wait here with the lieutenant. I want to believe you, but if you’re deceiving me, you will both pay.”

The drive to Little Italy went way too fast. I just hoped it was enough time for Jean Luc and Misha to get concerned when they hadn’t heard from me. By this time they should be on their way to Dalton’s house, and would be able rescue him. I didn’t have much time to figure out what my next steps with the vamp guard would be, but I wasn’t going to give up without a fight.

We pulled up to my building and were able to find a parking space right outside my door.
Really?
I mean, any other time it would take me ten minutes circling the block to find a space, and evil vampire henchman parks immediately. I was so screwed.

We headed upstairs, and I opened my apartment door. The vamp plowed in first, making sure no one else was in the apartment. As he looked around, his lip curled in disgust. “This place is a hole.”