The Demon King and I (21 page)

“You came with a purpose; will you leave without fulfilling it?” His hand at his side clenched again, betraying his anger.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” I gave him my best lawyer stare. I’d spent years perfecting that poker face.

“The note in your back pocket says otherwise.”

He couldn’t know about that. Jake had made a copy for me before I left, and I was in such a hurry, I hadn’t even remembered slipping it into my back pocket.

“You must kill me or your brother dies. You were going to mate with me, and then slit my throat. I expected more from you than a cowardly killing. I deserve more.”

I sank back against the door. There was no use in arguing. “How did you know?”

“Where you are concerned, Guardian, I know everything.” He didn’t call me Gillian anymore and small part of my heart died. I really cared for him, and it mattered to me what he thought about me.

When the hell did that happen?

“You read my mind.” The statement hung in the air like an accusation, but I was most definitely the guilty party. “Then you know I couldn’t go through with it.”

“Still you came.” The words hung in the air.

A knock on the door made me jump.

“Your Highness, we must go.” It was Clede. “Their forces crest the mountain.”

“A moment,” Arath called back. “You must go, Guardian. It is not safe for you here. There’s a good chance I will die in battle today and then you will have your brother back. Will that make you happy?”

He could have punched me in the stomach and it wouldn’t have hurt any less.

I shook my head, unable to speak. A tear slid down my cheek. “You won’t die by my hand or anyone else’s today.” The words came out in a sob. “I’m sorry, but you aren’t going to die until I’ve had a chance to make you understand. I did come here with murder on my mind, but I couldn’t do it. Don’t you understand? I care about you.”

“Guardians don’t cry.” Arath bent to pull his pant leg over his boot, but I saw the careful look he gave me before he bent down.

When he stood up, I reached out a hand and touched the silver breastplate. “I want to hate you enough to kill you and save my brother but I can’t. What kind of magic have you used on me, Arath?”

“It is you who wields the power, Guardian. I fear you have weakened me. I should kill you where you stand, but all I want to do is this.”

His kiss sent fire through my body and made me tremble. When he backed away, I almost cried from the loss of him.

There were shouts in the hallway. Armor clanked and the troops were ready.

“I do not have time for this.
Gorstat,
” he barked, and a portal opened up at the word. “Go.” The words came out in a growl.

“Arath, please know I couldn’t have gone through with it. I would never cause you harm. I only wanted your help,” I whispered as I moved toward the portal. “No matter what happens to either of us, know that I care for you.”

As I reached the entrance I turned back to look at him. A glorious sight in his armor, his eyes glowed and his muscles rippled with sheer power. “Do not return.” He growled again. “It is no longer safe for your kind on Maunra.”

The energy of the portal pulled me through and I landed in our control room seconds later.

Mira waited for me with her eyes closed as if she were sensing something. “I knew you couldn’t do it.” She sighed. “Thank God. You would have never been able to live with yourself.”

“He’s a damn demon: of course I could have done it. I’m a Guardian. I do what’s necessary.” My heart tore into tiny bits as I put my weapons away. Tears threatened to fall.

She snorted. “Gilly, don’t go there. You know you care for him, and he’s a powerful mage, not just a demon. And I think it’s possible you are in severe like with him.” She held up a hand to stop my protests. “There’s no sense arguing about it. You don’t cry, so the tears speak volumes. Killing him would not have brought Bailey back. Whoever is doing this only wanted Arath out of the way.”

“You can’t know that.” I pinched the bridge of my nose to keep from crying more. So much had happened in the last few days that I hadn’t even stopped to examine my feelings. Mira was right. I did care for the demon king. “God, I can’t tell the rest of them that I didn’t get the job done.”

“Your family will be relieved you didn’t kill the one man you’ve really cared about in the last five years,” Alex said as she entered the room, Claire on her heels.

“He’s not a man. He’s a demon,” I snarled at them.
God, why do they all have to be so damn intuitive?

“Um, yeah, about that.” Claire stepped up and took my hand. “When he’s with you, I get a very human vibe from him. We saw you at the ball. He cares for you, Gilly.”

That was something I couldn’t think about. The idea that he might care for me as much as I did him made what I’d just done unforgivable.

I shook my head, trying to wipe away the thoughts.
Heart, you can break later.

“Are you all insane? We don’t have time for this foolishness. Our brother is missing. And I’m going to get him back.”

I tried not to notice their pitying glances as I pushed through the three of them.

An hour later I paced back and forth in my room.
Part of me tried to strategize and decide my next move to find my brother. The other half of me wondered if Arath was still alive. I thought about asking Mira, but I couldn’t do it. It was silly to waste her power for my own whims.

Please, God, let him live. Even if I never get to see him again, I need him to survive today.
I blew out a breath to keep the tears from falling. I didn’t have time to cry.

My cell rang.
Saved by the bell.
Thankful for the distraction, I picked up the phone.

“Yes?”

“Hi, it’s Georgia.”

Poor girl. I’d totally forgotten about her. “How are you? Did Jake’s men bring you here to the house?”

There was a long pause. “No, I had them bring me to the office. I did speak with Jake and he asked me to think if I’d seen anyone with Reuben. God, I still can’t believe he’s dead.” She sniffled. “I didn’t want to say anything, because I just feel so damn guilty.”

“Georgia, what is it? Just tell me, maybe I can help.”

“No. It’s—you’ve been so good to me, and I promise you I had no idea what was going on. He told me he was trying to simplify the record keeping. That he needed to create a database so that you guys would have instant information about any world you might be dealing with, and that it would revolutionize the way you could access the system.”

As she went on, my stomach tightened. “Georgia, tell me what you’re talking about.” I found it difficult to keep the nervous edge from my voice.

“I gave Reuben access to your father’s files. The entire history of the Guardians.”

I sat, well, more fell, back onto the side of my bed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

She sobbed again. “He told me he’d cleared it with you and that it was part of some kind of larger upgrade. You were gone last week when it all began, and . . . God, there’s no excuse. I just assumed it was okay. I had no reason not to trust him. I mean, it was Reuben. I’m such an idiot.”

Crap. There was no telling who he’d given that information to. I knew he hadn’t been working on any updates. We’d just gone through a full revamp.

“Georgia, stop crying. Please. We all trusted him. It’s not your fault. He’s been working with us for years, and you had every right to believe him. Yes, I wish you’d checked with me.”
Bailey might still be here if you had.
“But it’s a mistake any of us could and did make. The man’s totally jacked our system and no one suspected anything. Tell me the truth, please—did anything else happen? Did you see him with anyone?”

I could hear her take a steadying breath. “Jake asked the same thing. People come and go around here all the time. I can’t remember. I promise, I’ll sit down and try, but right now I can’t think of anyone out of the ordinary.”

“It’s crazy for you to try to work today, and I’m worried about your safety. Whoever killed Markie and Reuben may be after you. We all feel certain you’ve seen the killer; you just haven’t realized it yet. I want Jake’s men to bring you out here to the house. You need some rest, and maybe once you sleep, you’ll be able to remember something.”

“I—feel like I should resign,” Georgia said. “I screwed up big-time. I liked him. I mean, we even went out a couple of times and I’d stopped by his house to feed his cat when he was out of town. He was my friend.”

“Trust, me, Georgia, he used us all. I know how betrayed you feel. And you aren’t resigning. That’s the last thing I need right now. Who the hell would run the company while I’m out saving the world?”

She gave a sad laugh. “I can’t come out there right now, there’s so much work here to do.”

“Bring it with you. But I want you here where we can keep you under tight security.”

“I’m never going to be able to say I’m sorry enough.”

I grunted. “We all have regrets right now. Let’s just move on. Gather all the paperwork together, and I’ll make the arrangements for them to bring you here.”

As I hung up, the phone rang again. “Yes?”

“Mademoiselle Caruthers?”

“Yes, Che.” He was the manager of my Paris gallery.

“There is terrible news.” His heavy French accent sounded worried.

Oh, God, what now?

“Che, whatever it is, it’s going to have to wait. I have a family emergency.”

“I apologize, I would not have called unless absolutely necessary, but this is very serious.”

Che had always been so dedicated, but now was not the time to argue over something as trivial as what color to paint the front door. That had taken us two weeks to decide, and then we took several more days to settle on the perfect shade of blue. Every detail was of great importance to him. I had a feeling he wouldn’t get off the phone unless I listened to what he had to say.

“Okay. Lay it on me.”

He sobbed. “There has been a murder in the gallery.”

CHAPTER 25

The Paris gallery was located in the Latin Quarter,
the cultural heart of the city. It was the first one I’d opened, because I had felt if I could make it in Paris, I could replicate it elsewhere. I’d been right.

While it was the smallest of all the galleries I owned, it was also the most successful. All the lights were on and the police had cordoned off the entrance. Curious pedestrians who tried to peek in were shooed away by the uniformed officers. Thankfully, the reporters and photographers were behind barricades, so I didn’t have to deal with them immediately.

My driver let me off in the street, as there was no way to pull in close to the entrance. After a few explanations to those guarding the outside, I was allowed in.

“Mademoiselle Caruthers, I appreciate you coming so quickly.” The officer, who was dressed in a black suit, white shirt, and blue tie, reached out a hand. “I am Inspector Claude.”

I shook his hand. “I’m surprised you’re still here. I received the call almost ten hours ago.” I knew the police might be suspicious if I suddenly showed up a few minutes after Che called. Even though we can teleport, we have to be really careful about that sort of thing. It was also important for the paparazzi to catch us coming out of airports now and then. It still killed me to be stuck on a plane for nine hours when I should have been searching for Bailey. Thankfully, I had my sisters, who promised to keep me informed.

He nodded. “We wish to be very thorough in our investigation. It takes several hours to cover a crime scene such as this.”

We stood in the open foyer, just inside the door. “He told me that it was Jona Lathers who was killed. Is that correct?”

“
Oui.
The artist was murdered here in the gallery, and the body moved to the backroom. Monsieur Che discovered the man when he came in this morning. There was no sign of forced entry, and your manager did not realize anything amiss until he went into the storage room to check on something.”

The idea that the talented Jona was gone broke my heart. He was an amazing artist who could make a chalk painting look like a masterpiece. He was also a great friend to Che. I leaned against the reception desk. “Poor Che, is he still here? Has he been able to help you? I must admit it’s been two months since I’ve even been here. We stay in contact through the phone and e-mail.”

The officer shook his head. “
Non.
One of my people took him home to rest. He was quite distressed.”

“I don’t understand how this could happen. Do you have any idea who could have done it?”

“We know it was someone the artist knew, as he had let them in the front door. We have several leads, as you Americans say, but I have a few questions for you.”

“Certainly.” Even though I’d spent the last nine hours on the family’s private jet, I was exhausted. I couldn’t rest. Kyle and Jake had been keeping me updated on the situations with my brother and the computer hacking. All I really wanted to do was to crawl into a hole and disappear for a few hours. “You may ask me anything.”

“Do you have anyone who would wish you harm?”

I shrugged. “My family is involved in several businesses, and it is difficult not to make enemies along the way if one is to be successful.” We also guarded Earth from other beings, so there were people all over the universe who might wish us harm.

“Yes, I understand this. I’m asking if there is someone who might have been closer to you. This seems to have been a very personal crime.”

He wanted something specific, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Inspector, I don’t mean to be rude, but if there is something you’d like me to address, please tell me. It was a personal crime, but Jona suffered much more than me. So please just ask your question.”

He motioned to one of the other police officers, who brought over a plastic evidence bag. I was careful not to let on, but I knew as soon as I saw the stationery inside. It matched the note I’d received earlier about Arath.

“This was found on the body.” The inspector flipped over the bag so that I could read the note.