The Quest (29 page)

“Got it,” Jackson said, and I blew out a breath I hadn’t realized I held.

Hearing water splashing in the sink, I turned and looked. A few drops of crimson spilled on the counter.

Jackson tugged on my hand. “Can you lean over a little?”

I did as he asked and allowed him to stick my hand under the faucet. Water fell over my throbbing digit and cooled it. The hot ache dwindled slowly and little tingles crawled from my finger, spread to my hand and then my arm. Tension in my body ebbed. After a few minutes, he shut off the tap and dried my hand with one of the rags.

“You’re not bleeding anymore.”

“I heal quickly.”

He bent and pressed his lips to the underside of my finger. “Maybe that will help.”

I half smiled as I stood. “Thank you.”

Jackson folded a tissue with something dark in the center. “I’m going to take this to our lab and see if they can determine if it really is a tracking device.”

“Did it look like it was?”

“Difficult to say.” He picked up the square tissue. “Since I didn’t touch it, I’m not sure of the texture. I’d rather leave something like this to the experts.”

“Good idea. Where does a vampire get such a small tracking device anyway?”

Jackson jerked his shoulders. “Money can buy anything. You’d be surprised about what kind of black market goodies we see in the station sometimes.”

I didn’t have any reason to doubt him. Considering Daniel was probably one of the old ones, I wagered he had plenty of cash to spend. I hoped the mole-looking object was a real tracking device, because if it ended up being just a mole, I might have to somehow find Daniel to speak my mind to him.

Minutes later, we were in the car and heading for the interstate. I relaxed in the passenger seat, gazing out at the dark clouds. Something about the way they swirled gave me an odd feeling in the pit of my gut. At one point, I could’ve sworn the ominous clouds were following us.

“Have you thought about where you are going to stay after your shift tonight?” Jackson asked, jarring me back to reality.

“I’m not sure yet. I’ll let you know later.”

“You’re welcome to stay with me as long as you like. I’ll go shopping for more food and stock the pantry.”

His offer tempted me. He tempted me. “I’ll keep your offer in mind. I want to have a talk with Jonas and Boss first.”

Jackson gave a brief nod, then didn’t speak another word for the duration of the drive. Trying to relax, I leaned against the seat and gazed out the window.

I perked up when we reached Boss’s house. The sedan sat idle on the driveway along with the SUV. We passed an empty police cruiser on the side of the street near the mailbox. Tom’s, I presumed. Jackson drove past it and the driveway, then stopped. We were out of the car seconds after he cut the engine.

Jackson followed me as I strode in the front door. Hearing Tom’s and Jonas’s voices from the back of the house, I proceeded to the kitchen. The room seemed dark and gloomy, sad almost, with the curtains drawn over all the windows. Melancholy touched me. I missed Tabby.

I paused a few feet from the dining room table where Jonas and Tom sat. In front of Tom was an open folder with a stack of papers. Jonas stared at a document in his hand while Tom smiled at me.

“How’s the search going?” I asked.

“We definitely are building a solid case. We just need a few more pieces, and I think we can win beyond any reasonable doubt,” Tom replied.

I pulled out the chair next to Jonas and sat. He never once lifted his gaze to acknowledge me. Lighting above the table revealed dark circles under his eyes and stubble on his face. He appeared weary and distant as he gazed at the paper in his hand. His silence made me wonder if he were upset with me or truly worn out.

“Do you have my birth record?” I asked as Jackson came to stop at my side.

Tom reached for the paper in Jonas’s hand. “May I?”

Without so much as a word or glance my way, Jonas handed the document to me. I took it and laid it flat on the table. Peering closely, I found the date I was born. June 21, 1991. Next to the date, I spotted my mother’s name, Alison Baxter. Underneath it, my father’s name appeared, Lorenzo DeLaguardia.

“Take a look at the date,” Tom said.

I lifted my gaze to meet his. “June 1991.” I’d committed the exact date to memory.

“If you recall, Project E ended mid 1991.”

“You’re right. It did.” Between my birth certificate and the meeting notes declaring the project a success, one could definitely formulate a connection.

“Did you notice a familiar name?” Tom asked.

A door squealed behind me. Jonas and I shifted our attention. Boss strolled toward us, barefoot and with his button down shirt wide open. His dark eyes stared straight at me. I looked at Jonas and found him watching me.

“What about the light?”
I silently asked him.

“He’ll be fine. He had me close the curtains in anticipation of your arrival. A small amount won’t destroy him.”
Keeping his lips pressed together, he shifted his gaze to the folder on the table.

Boss stopped between Jonas and I. “Who is it?”

I pressed my finger to the spot underneath my father’s name.

“Shit,” Boss said.

“Do you know who he is?” Tom asked with curiosity in his tone.

“Yeah, I know.” Boss’s deep voice sounded grim.

“We had a vampire stop by early this morning,” Jackson said, still standing on the other side of me. “His name was Daniel, and he told us a bit about Lorenzo.”

“Oh? Did he tell you Lorenzo is a servant to the devil?” Boss asked.

I twisted in the chair and glanced up at Boss. “He’s also Galluzzi’s father, which makes her my half sister.”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Boss said with a single shake of his head, causing his tousled bangs to fall in front of his face. “Do you have proof of this?”

“Tom found her birth certificate last night,” I said. “His name is on it.”

Boss grazed his fingers through his hair as he walked toward the counter dividing the kitchen from the dining area.

“Don’t take this personally, Shelley, but your father sounds like a mean SOB,” Tom said.

I wanted to laugh, but I held it. Being one of Lucifer’s servants probably entailed dirty deeds, the kind I didn’t want to ponder.

“Guess we know what side of the family Galluzzi takes after,” I said, earning a smile from Jonas.

Boss leaned back against the half wall and crossed his arms. “Tell me more about this vampire. Daniel.”

I swung my arm over the back of the chair. “He admitted to taking my memories. He said Galluzzi approached him in late 2005.”

“This is the same vampire who took your memories?” He sounded surprised. “How did he find you?”

“He said he put a tracking device under my fingernail.” I started to show him my finger, but stopped, not wanting him to think I was flipping him off.

“He knew your whereabouts all this time?”

“He did.”

“Why would Galluzzi approach him, of all people?” Jonas asked.

“He was friends with Anubis,” Jackson answered.

“He took Galluzzi’s deal because he knew if he didn’t someone might really kill me.”

Boss stepped away from the counter. “Where is Daniel?”

“Gone.” Jackson stepped around the back of my chair. “Shelley threw him out, in a manner of speaking.”

“Before he left, he said my father was in town,” I added.

Boss lowered his arms and stopped a foot from Jonas’s side. “It would explain the storm and lightning last night.”

I stared at him, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Whenever the portal is opened, it creates a nasty storm.”

“Portal?” Tom asked.

“But he doesn’t have the watch,” I said. “Billy does.”

“There are thirteen in existence. We have no idea who has them, except for Billy. For all we know, the devil might be holding them for his servants.”

“Well…” Tom said, capturing my attention. “I hope you are ready for a family visit.”

I pressed my eyes close for a brief second. I hated to admit Tom was right. My father would find me, somehow. Was I ready?

“I think we should go,” Jackson said. “I need to stop at the lab before heading to the warehouse.”

“The lab?” Tom asked with his eyes pinched.

“I removed what looked like a mole from Shelley’s fingernail. I’d like to find out if it’s a real tracker.”

“I need to run a few errands too. My wife keeps reminding me I haven’t spent much time at home.” As Tom rose, the chair scraped over the floor and created a shrill sound. He gathered the folder and tucked it at his side. “Oh!” He reached into his back pocket with his free hand. “Here’s your bracelet.” He set it gingerly on the table.

My stomach knotted as I stared at the charm. I wanted to get rid of it, but I longed to find the petition Daniel spoke of earlier. We still needed a few pieces of evidence to make a strong case.

I stood to escort Tom and Jackson to the door. “Did you have any trouble after you took it?”

Tom chuckled. “Of course we did. I was telling Jonas what happened before you arrived. Two of Billy’s goons are locked up with charmed bracelets.”

“You’re kidding?” The question came out with a touch of excitement. I strode next to Tom, heading toward the front door.

“I had a feeling someone would show up. Billy disappeared before we could get him. Six werewolves trying to bind demons with charmed bracelets isn’t as easy as you think.”

“Six?” I asked. Not that I thought strapping a bracelet on an unwilling demon was easy. Misting took seconds at most. Tom and his friends had to be very, very fast to clip those ugly bracelets on them. For another matter, thank God, he had access to an ample supply of them. The police kept them handy for certain criminals who could mist or use spells to evade law enforcement. I found this out firsthand after a demon cop arrested Jonas and me. The cop wanted to cash in on a reward Sal had posted for me. I had to kill the cop to save us.

“I had more men waiting outside, but the damn beasts didn’t come in the house like normal people,” Tom said. “Cowards.”

We stopped in the entryway. Tom opened the door, and then waited with his hand on the knob.

Jackson met my gaze with concerned eyes. “You really should consider–”

“We’ll talk later.” I stepped back, hoping to put a quick end to his warning and encourage him to leave.

He glanced behind me. I looked and found Boss standing inches from me. Another step and I would’ve bumped into him.

“I hope you can convince her,” Jackson said. “I haven’t had any luck.”

“She has a mind of her own,” Boss replied.

Jackson snorted. “That’s a good way of putting it.” He shifted his gaze to me. “Call me if anything changes.”

“I will.”

He left, pulling the door shut behind him.

I turned slowly to face Boss. His shirt fit loosely over his shoulders and the gape in the middle displayed his nice, solid chest.

“I’m sorry for running out on you and Jonas, but I thought–”

He gripped my arms and backed me against the wall. “Do you realize how much we worried about you?” His face hovered close to mine.

“I sent you a message. I told you I was safe.”

“Your life is in constant danger. You treat it as if it were meaningless.”

“You’re wrong. I want to live, but I don’t want people to die because of me.”

He grazed his lips over mine and tickled me. “You can’t turn away and expect us to stop caring about you. It will never happen. Don’t. Do it. Again.”

He pressed his mouth to mine. A kiss with intense emotion, longing and passion consumed both of us. Our tongues tangled, stroking and playing with each other’s. My nipples hardened as desire intensified within me. My knees quivered while fiery need between my legs became wetter by the second. If all our arguments transformed into such zealous kisses, I’d have to find a way to argue more often.

“Are you two done yet?” Jonas asked.

Boss ended the kiss with a low grumble. I turned and saw Jonas staring at us and with his arms crossed.

“We need to talk,” Jonas said.

Boss stepped back. “He’s right.”

Anxiety stirred within me. “All right.”

Boss gestured with his arm toward the furniture. “Sit.”

I crossed the rug, walked around the coffee table and then sat in the middle of the large beige sofa. “Have you found out something new?”

Boss sat on the armrest. “Zander called to see if he could get the passwords to Martin’s files. He spoke to Martin’s assistant, and she informed him that he was away, visiting an old friend in Indiana.”

“So much for staying in Europe,” I said, drily. Zander had thought Martin would have to stay at home base since the council was short on staff, but apparently, he’d jumped a plane, fast.

“I don’t trust him now that I know he created the potion and was involved with Galluzzi’s pet project.”

“Do you think he’s coming for me?” We talked yesterday afternoon about the possibility of him wanting to see me dead. If I could prove his involvement with Project E, he would lose his councilman position.

“It’s possible, but…” Boss shifted his gaze to Jonas, who remained standing, and then back to me.

“What?” I asked.

“Maybe he doesn’t know, yet, that you don’t have any memories.”

I gave him a confused look. “Huh?”

“You said Daniel got the potion from Martin,” Boss said, but it sounded more like a question, and I nodded. “I wonder if Martin knew who it was for.”

Jonas took a step forward. “But Zander tried to access his folders. Shelley’s name is in the demon registry. You contacted him for information.”

“Yes, he can put the pieces together, but if Galluzzi doesn’t know about Shelley’s memory loss, why should he? He could have given the potion to Daniel without knowing the intended recipient.”

Boss raised an interesting point. What if Daniel hadn’t told Martin the potion was for me? Maybe he wasn’t coming to check on me after all, which was a good thing. However, if he discovered Daniel had given me the potion, gut instinct told me he would inform Galluzzi. After all, he knew about Project E. Did it matter at this point if he did tell her? I’d fooled her well enough so far.