Rose of Jericho (Lilith Adams Series Book 2) (44 page)

Lilith reached out and scooped up the burning plant and blew out the flames. It really did look like a miniature tumbleweed. Without any real idea why, she placed the odd plant into Isadora’s palm and ran her fingers over her eyes, closing them. Somehow her body looked more at peace now. She deserved a little piece. Like Cohen, she’d simply put her faith and trust in the wrong person and realized it far too late. Why do people bother to trust at all?

Lilith’s eyes scanned the crowd, finally catching on Chance as he tried to dodge the same over-eager EMT and she knew her answer. People trust because they want to prove that they can, that deep down inside is a good person that just needs to be understood. They trust because they are scared of never experiencing something beautiful or missing their chance at happiness. They trust because life is a continuing leap of faith and if we just stand still everything will pass us by.

Chapter 35

T
he full moon covered the winding path in cool light, leaching the colors to muted shades of blue. Lilith’s eyes roamed over the trees, their branches swaying and creaking in a crisp breeze that was tinged with the smell of snow. It was so quiet, so peaceful as she tugged her black coat firmly around her. It was hard to believe this tranquil place could exist amidst the hustle and bustle of New York City.

She turned off the path, glancing down at her armful of red roses stained purple by the moonlight. Her black flats crunched against the frost covered grass as she walked up to a recent grave. For a moment, she just stood there, staring at the gravestone, as her mind stumbled through all the things she wanted to say.

Lilith bent down and brushed a few bits of dirt from the marble headstone, her fingers tracing over the carved letters. She pulled a single red rose from the bunch and placed it on top of the bare ground with a soft sigh that escaped her lips in a small cloud of vapor.

“I miss you.” A tear streaked down her cheek as her hand caressed the cold marble. “I’m sorry for everything that happened. I should have come here sooner to visit you, but…” She faltered as every reason sounded like a weak excuse, even in her own mind.

“Gloria and the kids are good.” She flashed at tear-stained smile at the words carved into the headstone.
Philippe Alvarez, Loving Husband and Father
. An unearthly silence settled over her shoulders as if he was here, waiting for her to say what was really on her mind.

“I should have listened to you…when I was a rookie. If I had… maybe I wouldn’t have made the same mistake. I was too focused, I didn’t see the big picture until it was too late…” She hesitated again, trying to force her thoughts into sentences. “That first night, when Gregor asked me to go to Tennessee, to find Duncan…I knew, beyond any doubt, that there were things he wasn’t telling me. I knew it, Philippe, but I trusted him. I trusted his judgment and I shouldn’t have. If I’d confronted him, forced him to tell me everything, we could have ended this whole thing before it began and you wouldn’t be…here.”

Lilith swallowed hard as she wiped the cold tears from her cheeks. “I’m sorry.” She gave the headstone one last caress and then rose to her feet. “I’ll look after Gloria and the girls for you.” With a reluctant sigh, she turned back to the path, still cradling her armful of roses. She glanced down at her watch, checking her time. She still had a few more minutes before people began arriving.

On her way up the hill, Lilith stopped and placed a rose at the graves of Duncan, Miriah, Malachi and finally Spencer. He hadn’t always been a psychopath. There had been a time when Spencer was just a wide-eyed boy that loved to uncover the history behind anything he found. With a small smile, Lilith recalled the boring afternoons when he’d corner her and tell her all about his collection of antique teaspoons.

She checked her watch again and released a somewhat pained sigh. It was time. If she took any longer they’d send out a search party. Lilith reluctantly crested to hill to see a small group of people huddled around a heater beside a gleaming grey coffin topped with bright white lilies. Some distant part of her mind was hoping she’d reach the top and just see more peaceful trees and tranquil gravestones. She didn’t want to say goodbye to her father, but at least she could give him a proper burial. Something she hadn’t thought possible two weeks ago.

Lilith watched from her private spot as a long line of cars began to pull up, each pausing long enough for people to spill out before pulling away. They were coming from all over the country, even some from overseas. She’d wanted a small, quiet funeral. Just Chance, Gloria and the girls, maybe some of the family from California, but the board of his company insisted on a public, almost political funeral to minimize the stock impact. It gnawed at her insides, watching all these strangers here to mourn a man they never truly knew and probably had never even met face to face.

One tall figure moved away from the growing crowd, following the path toward her at an easy stroll. Relief washed over her, easing the tension from her muscles as she walked down the curving path to meet him.

“Everything okay, Cherie?” The soft rumble of his deep, Cajun-flecked voice felt like a warm blanket she could just wrap herself up in. Lilith nodded softly, as he slid his arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. She nestled her cheek against his black suit jacket and closed her eyes, wishing they were curled up on the couch back at her apartment. He’d been there ever since that night they’d escaped the medical building on Homelawn Street.

Chance claimed he didn’t want to leave her alone until they heard from the Council. Two weeks and she the only time she’d heard from Cohen or anyone else from his “family” was when he’d made arrangements for Gregor’s body to be returned. Of course, Chance was also concerned that Luminita had managed to escape with the book and the cipher. She was out there somewhere, plotting while licking her wounds and one day she would try to create her legacy again.

“Ignore them.” Lilith glanced up to see Chance staring down at the now large crowd gathered around her father’s casket. “You don’t have to shake hands with strangers or put on some performance. Just say goodbye to your father and we’ll go stay at my place tonight, avoid the reporters.”

“Reporters?” Lilith frowned suddenly.

“They started to arrive outside your building just after you left. They’re setting up camp, trying to get an interview about the secret life of one of New York’s most powerful and most reclusive business men.” Chance rolled his eyes, but she could see the frustration pulling at his jaw. “They won’t look for you at my place.” He chuckled as a grin replaced his grimace. “They wouldn’t look for anyone at my place.”

Lilith shook her head, grinning as she thought about his carefully disguised loft. The outside and the bottom floor looked like any of the other hundred abandoned warehouses around the city. The perfect security system.

“And…” His hazel eyes glinted proudly, but there was a mischievous pull to his lips. “I even packed you a bag before I left.”

Lilith quirked an eyebrow as she fixed him with a pointed look. “Chance Deveraux, please tell me you packed some actual clothes in that bag…” His impish grin only broadened, lighting up his handsome face. “Really?”

“What?” The innocent smile really didn’t suit him one bit. Lilith shoved playfully at his chest and started down the path toward the waiting crowd.

They were more than halfway to the gravesite when a man emerged from a car that stopped Lilith dead in her tracks. Moonlight shimmered off his sandy blonde hair as he stood tall, straightening his suit with one hand, the other clutching what looked like a thick leather bound packet of papers. The man searched the crowd anxiously until his sky blue eyes finally rested on Lilith and Chance with a slight sigh of relief.

“What is he doing here?” The hesitant animosity in Chance’s voice was understandable, but not entirely welcome. Lilith quickly turned to face Chance as Cohen started up the path toward them.

“Chance.” He didn’t take his eyes off the demon, his jaw already clenching tight. She reached up and lightly grabbed his stubbled chin, pulling it down until his eyes finally met hers. “Just this once, please. Don’t get into a fight with him. He’s the only reason we aren’t burying an empty coffin.” Lilith took his reluctant sigh as an agreement, pressed a kiss against his cheek and turned to meet Cohen on the path.

“I know this isn’t the best time…” Everything about Cohen seemed different, even his voice which was now soft and quiet. His shoulders hunched forward slightly, a humble sort of sadness lingering in his eyes. It seemed so surreal, so far away from the arrogant aristocrat or even the charming southern cop. Being horribly tortured by the one and only person they care about has a way of completely transforming a person, even after the scars fade to pale lines.

Lilith pulled on a soft smile that she hoped looked more welcoming than nervous. She was glad to see Cohen, but scared of why he was here. “Thank you, for letting me bury my father.”

Cohen’s eyes fell to the ground, guilt clear as day all over his lightly scarred face. “It was the least I could do.” He took a deep breath, calming his own nerves and stared at the bundle in his hands. “I won’t take up much of your time…” When his sky grey eyes rose again to meet hers they were filled with a million things that he couldn’t seem to voice.

“I wanted you to know that I was given Farren’s seat on the Council. I have a team out tracking down Luminita and I’ve convinced the rest of the council members that a cooperative relationship with you…”

“Cooperative?” There was a palpable skepticism in Chance’s voice as he stepped up behind Lilith. Cohen’s eyes shot up at the sound of his voice and he swallowed hard on his words. “What exactly does that mean?”

“Just that in the future we may need each other’s help. The world is becoming a smaller place, a harder place to hide…”

“So, basically you’re council isn’t going to hunt us down, but in return we get to help them when they need it like eager little lap dogs…”

Cohen bristled at the words, and for a moment Lilith thought they were going to resort to yet another pissing contest. “Cooperative. If you ever need our assistance…”

“We don’t need anything from your damn council.” Lilith turned and shoved Chance backward with an aggravated scowl. It wasn’t that she disagreed with him. He was completely right, but what choice did they have?

“Chance, just stop.” He opened his mouth to say something, but she pressed a finger against his lips. “I know, believe me, I know, but not tonight. Okay? Just give me a couple minutes. I’ll talk to him, he’ll go on his way, we’ll bury my father and then hide out in your apartment. As long as we don’t get attacked by homeless drunks before you can unlock your freight elevator.”

Chance dragged his hand through his chestnut hair and looked over her shoulder at Cohen with a calculated stare. “I’ll go check on Gloria and Tim.” His hazel eyes fell to hers as he tenderly brushed a stray auburn curl from her face. “Be careful.”

“I’m just going to talk to him. I seriously doubt he’s going to attack me in front of two hundred witnesses at my father’s funeral.” She leaned up, nudging her lips against his. Even that small kiss sent warm thrills racing down her spine as the bouquet of roses fell to her side. Chance wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close for a moment before reluctantly pulling away.

His eyes fixed on Cohen as he passed by him toward the crowd below. Andrew immediately found the gravel path immensely fascinating. His sky grey eyes didn’t rise until Lilith approached, repositioning the roses in her arms.

“I’m sorry. Chance…”

“Has every right to be angry.” Cohen finished her sentence for her, his eyes drifting to the flowers in her hands. An awkward silence settled in as if he’d lost his place in a speech he’d rehearsed a hundred times.

“You could have just called.” Lilith offered a sympathetic smile, hoping it might put Cohen at ease enough to say his piece, but he just nodded absently, chewing at the inside of his cheek. “Is that for me?” Lilith switched tactics as she pointed toward the large bundle of papers under his arm.

For a moment, Cohen looked down at the huge file as if he’d never seen it before. Then his scrambled thoughts seemed to click together. “Yes. It’s a peace offering. I wanted to come in person to pay my respects and to give you this.”

Lilith shifted the flowers to one hand and scooped up the bundle of papers with the other. The thing had more pages than War and Peace. “What is it?”

Cohen straightened suddenly, his thin hand smoothing over his tie. It was a flicker of the old Cohen, buried in there somewhere. “That is everything we have on you, your family, Ashcroft, even Luminita.” His strong voice faded off as the last name left his lips. “It’s everything I could find that even remotely relates to you.”

Lilith stared at the pages wrapped loosely in leather, some of which were definitely yellow with age. “The originals?”

He nodded with a hint of his old stiffness. “I can’t guarantee that other council members don’t have their own private information or even copies of these files, but it was everything I could access. I know it doesn’t…” His words trailed off again as his internal thoughts seemed to overcome him once again.

“Andrew, you don’t owe me an apology. You didn’t know what was coming.” Lilith stared at the fine white lines carved into his almost handsome face and she wondered if they’d heal completely or if he’d wear those physical reminders of betrayal all his life.

“I should have.” Cohen snarled the words in a moment of pure self-hatred. “I should have known Luminita’s true ambition. I should have dug deeper into the Phipps Bend records…”

“Believe me, I’ve scrutinized every single decision I’ve made that led to this moment. I have regrets, things I wish I’d done differently. We all did what we had to survive and Luminita was what you needed to survive Farren. It is not your fault that she took advantage of you.”

Cohen nodded absently again as he turned toward the ever-growing crowd below, putting his back to Lilith. “Thank you. I don’t think I could have survived that table if you hadn’t been there.” He strolled down the moonlit path without a single glance back, his shoulders still slumped forward. To Lilith’s surprise, he didn’t head toward the cars, but right into the mass of people waiting to pay their respects.