Rose of Jericho (Lilith Adams Series Book 2) (9 page)

“You’re damn right it was.” Lilith swallowed down the tears that were threatening to return. She couldn’t break down again, especially not in front of him. She had to remember what Chance said. She’d saved her father. If she had any hope of making it through this and keeping her sanity, she had to believe it. “At least my father is at peace. Your “family” can’t torture him anymore.”

“I did not have anything to do with that, Lilith. Perhaps you did not notice, but I was on the same side of the table as you.” His tone was caught between boredom and earnest sincerity, like he was trying hard to care but didn’t really know how.

“I don’t fucking care, Cohen.” Lilith could only hold back her anger for so long.

“Well you better.” Cohen pulled himself up straighter in his chair and stared right at her. It was a distant look, reminiscent of Farren’s but younger, more human. “We have to work together here. We are on the same side and it is the only chance we have of surviving.”

Lilith tilted her head to one side and stared holes into him. “Are we? I don’t think there is a person in the world who knows who in the hell you are, but one thing I know for sure is the only side you’re on is your own. If that happens to line up with someone else, awesome, but ultimately, the only person you care about helping is yourself and that makes you dangerous.”

Cohen frowned at that and sunk back into his chair. “That isn’t true. I would have helped your father if I could have.”

“Save it for someone who gives a fuck, Cohen. This is the last time we will have this discussion. Do not ever mention it again. Don’t even say his name. You don’t have the right.”

Andrew flinched in his seat, but he didn’t say anything else. He simply nodded in agreement and slouched into the chair, folding in on himself. Oddly enough, he seemed genuinely hurt by her words but it was probably just an elaborate act and if not, then he sure as hell deserved it. Let him suffer. Lilith moved past him and grabbed the luggage she needed.

“I’m going to change clothes and then you’re gonna start being straight with us for once or I won’t protect you against Chance again. No more of your fucking games. If you want cooperation, you need to be a real ally. No more secret agendas and I swear to god if I ever find out that you’ve engineered any of this crap, I will break every single bone in your body right down to your carpuls.” She didn’t wait for a response. She just disappeared into the bed room, closing the door on words she refused to listen to.

Chapter 7

T
wenty
minutes later, Lilith finally pulled herself out of the shower. For a while she’d just stood there, the water crashing over her face, hoping it would wash away the pain along with the blood. The memory of cradling her father’s dead body just flashed behind her eyelids over and over. Then she started scrubbing in a manic need to clean all the blood off her. Tears streamed down her face as her skin lit up painfully from the rough washcloth. Finally, she sat in the tub, letting the water stream over her and down the drain with her tears.

When she’d finally run out of tears, the hollow feeling returned. Without Chance there to distract her, she was simply alone with her grief and a huge pile of guilt. She kept retracing her steps, trying to figure out what she could have done differently to stop all this death from happening. But even if she could pinpoint the crucial moment that had led to this, she didn’t have a time machine to change it.

Now that she was wrapped in a towel in the bedroom, she stared blankly down at her suitcase. Her clothing options weren’t much better than Chance’s. It was all suit jackets, pencil skirts and pastel blouses, pretty much all of her court and business clothes. She couldn’t help but wonder just what these demons had in mind for her. It had to involve her forensics skills, otherwise why bother with her? Farren obviously had an entire SWAT team at his disposal so he sure as hell didn’t need her non-existent muscle power.

Lilith managed to find a ponytail holder or two in her luggage and pulled up her shoulder-length, auburn curls. When she finally managed to pull on an outfit and looked at herself in the mirror, she just stared. She felt like she should be heading to a court house or some FBI crime scene not into a pow-wow with an incubus to figure out how they were going to survive this time. Talk about overdressed for the occasion.

Of course the puffy, red eyes betrayed how she really felt inside. Her heart still felt like a huge open wound and there was no hiding it. The very center of her world had been violently ripped away in the blink of an eye and Lilith couldn’t even attempt to figure out what her world would be like from now on.

Slowly, her eyes slid down to the black funeral dress clutched in her hands, still smeared with blood. Her father’s blood. Lilith squeezed her eyes shut and jammed the dress into a separate compartment of her suitcase as she fought to banish the infinite loop in her head.

Chance wolf-whistled from the bathroom doorway and despite everything, it almost made her smile, dragging Lilith partway out of the inky depths of her dark, brooding thoughts. When she got an eyeful of him, freshly showered and sporting black slacks with a dark grey button up shirt and a simple black tie, she genuinely smiled.

He looked too good to be a real FBI agent whether or not he was capable of the job. Outside of television shows, FBI weren’t GQ models with a badge in $1,000 suits. More often than not they were average, completely forgettable and had more coffee stains on their cheap ties than witty personality. In her experience they were all business, focused and severely underpaid.

“Well, now that we’re all dressed up, I guess we should deal with the Detective.” Lilith was in mid-smile when a twinge of a headache interrupted her. She rubbed a palm over her neck and winced until it subsided. It had to be the stress. After all it wasn’t everyday she was kidnapped and forced to watch her father die. Talk about the worst Groundhog Day ever. In her mind it was meant to be a sarcastic quip, but it was too soon. She grimaced at her own thoughts as the memory of her father’s brains on the wall flashed through her mind for the millionth time.

“You okay?” When she looked up, Chance was right in front of her. It spooked her into taking a step back on unsteady legs but she brushed it off and flashed a hint of a smile. “You look a little pale.” His concerned eyes watched every line of her face carefully as his hands softly rubbed over her shoulders.

“Yeah. I’m good. Just a small headache.” She flashed him a reassuring smile and backed away toward the door.  “I’ll be okay. Let’s just get this over with.”

Chance frowned at her quick dismissal but he reluctantly nodded. His hand slid down her arm all the way to her wrist and stopped. His eyebrows knit together as he raised her hand and turned it palm up. “I should put something on this.” His fingers gently probed the gash in her wrist from her own bite, her desperate attempt to save her father. It had stopped bleeding, but the wound was still fairly deep.

A twinge of nervousness pulled at the back of her mind, but it was buried under the million other things on her mind. “It’s fine, Chance. It’ll heal.” Lilith sighed as he pulled it closer, inspecting the wound.

“I thought it would have healed more by…” Before Chance could finish his sentence, Lilith pulled her arm away.

“I said it’s fine.” The words were slightly more clipped than she’d intended which earned her a frustrated sigh from Chance.

“All right,
Cher
.” Without another word, Chance passed by her into the living room. Lilith released another sigh as she watched him walk away, the white noise of a headache snaking into her brain. She closed her swollen eyes for a moment, taking a few deep breaths and moved into the main room.

Cohen was still sitting in the same cream linen chair staring at his hands. When they both walked into the room, he leaned back with a forced confidence but he still didn’t meet their eyes. Maybe he found the whole thing just as awkward as she did. She definitely hoped so. There was still a smoldering ember of anger in her stomach just for him whether it was justified or not. Cohen may have had nothing to do with Farren and his decision to shoot her father, but it was his family and his kind that were ultimately responsible.

“I need to be real with the two of you.” Cohen hesitated, evaluating exactly what he was about to say next. Real. The thought just made Lilith laugh sarcastically in her head. She wasn’t sure if even Cohen knew what was real about himself and what wasn’t.

They both took a seat on the couch and Lilith noticed Cohen’s little jamming device lit up on the coffee table. “Even if they decide not to kill us…If they send us after that damn book or whatever it is they want…” His sky grey eyes glanced up at Lilith and she flinched. She’d noticed his eyes changing color before, but she’d always forgotten to ask how he did it. Seeing the color of her father’s eyes in his head, just unnerved her completely, forcing her to look away. “They will still kill us once they have what they want. Cooperating with them is just a stay of execution.”

“I’m not saying I don’t believe you, because I do. We get it. Doom, gloom and murder. But what the hell happened in that conference room and why didn’t you fill us in on your little family drama?” Chance was showing remarkable restraint much to Lilith’s surprise.

She was just grateful that he’d taken the lead while she tried to shake off the jarring sight of Cohen’s eyes. It made her wonder if he could control it and if so, why the hell would he choose to show her that of all things right now. It just made the ember of anger glow a little brighter.

“For one, we didn’t have time. Besides I didn’t want to give them any more ammunition than I had to. I wouldn’t exactly call you two skilled actors. I’ve already stuck my neck out far enough as it is.”

Lilith blinked in complete shock. “Stuck your neck out? Are you fucking serious?” It was just the excuse she needed to focus some of that anger and it happened to be a valid question. “How exactly have you done that? According to you, we are in the same boat so don’t act like you are swooping down to save the day out of the kindness of your non-existent heart.” She folded her arms over her chest as her eyes narrowed in on him. She wanted him to feel every little bit of her anger.

That hit a nerve. His fist clenched for a minute, his jaw tightening. He didn’t have to be an incubus to know she was pissed at him, but the fact that he seemed really bothered by it struck her as odd. Of course with Cohen, appearances were always deceiving.

“Yes. My grandfather expected to see a failure. That’s what he’s always seen in me.” Cohen took a breath and let it out slow. It was definitely an old, festered wound. “I needed him to see exactly what he expected. I need him to underestimate me. I couldn’t let you in on that because I needed your shock and outrage to be real. He would have felt it if you’d just…faked it. We are kind of like emotional lie detectors in case you haven’t noticed and like I said, acting isn’t your forte.”

After a few moments of silence, Cohen dropped the anger and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I know neither of you trust me and maybe I haven’t done as much as I could to prove otherwise, but I am on your side whether you realize it or not. I’m not used to all this.” He looked genuinely frustrated, but Lilith was still too angry to care about his behavior much less analyze it.

“Not used to what? Being in a tough spot? Actually having to work with people? Thinking about anyone besides yourself? Not sure you’ve excelled at any of those.” Lilith wanted to laugh at Chance’s little digs at the flustered detective, but they had real work to do. She rested a calm hand on Chance’s arm and turned her attention back to the true demon in the room.

“I’m not interested, Cohen. All I want from you is information. Your red-headed stepchild act had nothing to do with us. You were only protecting yourself.” Lilith crossed her arms again and settled back into the couch with a feeling of righteous indignation.

“Oh it didn’t have anything to do with you? If they underestimate me, it will give me more room to maneuver to help you. Besides, the two of you almost screwed us all.” There was that distant anger again. Either he was using personality tricks on them or he was honestly conflicted. Either way, it didn’t really matter.

“I told you not to speak about that again…”

Cohen rolled his eyes in patronizing frustration. “Not that. When the two of you were clinging to each other like frightened rabbits, you started feeding off each other’s energy. Precisely what I told you NOT to do. Farren sensed something was wrong and if I hadn’t gotten in his face, he would have realized what you were up to. If he knew that you had even a single drop of my blood in your veins, we would ALL be dead on the floor right now, just like Gregor. Period. It doesn’t matter what Farren wants from you. Carrying our blood is immediate death in his eyes, no matter the cost.”

“Watch your fucking words, Detective.” Chance growled as his hand tightened on the arm of the couch.

“Fuck your bravado, Chance. You don’t want to listen to me, then fine.
Va te faire foutre, trouduc
.” Apparently Cohen’s cold patience was at an end.

Chance was on his feet before Lilith even registered that he’d moved. Whatever Cohen said, definitely pushed him over the edge. Lilith leapt up in front of Chance and put a hand on his chest while he continued to stare daggers right over her shoulder at Cohen.

“
Ferme ta gueule, démon
.” Chance snarled the words with ease, leaving Lilith completely confused.

“Both of you, knock it off. Stick to damn English. Cohen, stop trying to pick a fight. If you want to cooperate then do something useful.”

“I’m tired of defending myself to your puffed up body guard. If we are going to work together, then he is gonna have to keep his attitude in check. Right now we have more important enemies than each other.” Cohen flipped a hand toward Chance and took a step back with a petulant look.

Lilith sighed heavily. “Are you two serious? I understand conflicting personalities, but this is fucking it. Chance, just drop it. Cohen, if you really don’t want to keep defending yourself than stop creating problems. You know exactly what you’re doing. This ends right now.”

Once Cohen grunted in agreement, she turned her full attention back to Chance. “He’s not lying about Farren. I saw a surprised look on his face like he had some unformed questions about us, just before Cohen picked that fight with him. I didn’t know what it meant at the time, but it does make sense.”

“Thank you, Lily.” Without a single thought, Lilith turned on her heel and slapped Cohen right across the face with every bit of force she had in her. It was a deafening crack that even Farren might have heard. Cohen doubled over with the force and rubbed at his cheek before meeting her eyes with complete, genuine surprise. “What the…”

Lilith bent down, grabbing him by the neck. “YOU do not ever get to call me that. Ever.” There were angry tears in her eyes but she ignored them. “Just because I’m willing to hear you out, does not mean you get to use that word. I haven’t forgotten that your family just tortured and killed the last of mine.”

Lilith stooped down, bringing her face inches away from his as she got a firm grip on his tie. She looked him square in the eye with all the authority she felt at that moment. “Let me make this perfectly clear. We are not friends, we are not partners, we are temporary allies and if we make it out of all this alive, you’ll have to give me a damn good reason not to hunt you down and shoot you myself. Am I understood?”

Cohen managed to look completely reserved, but she knew it was a mask. He nodded softly. “I am sincerely sorry. It was not my intention to upset you. Can we all sit down and make a game plan? I shouldn’t have… I’m sorry.” He kept his voice even and genuinely apologetic though genuine was a relative term with him.