| |
Zach sat up on the bed and fumbled for his phone when it rang.
“Misty—”
“It’s Mom, sweetheart.” Her voice sounded wrong, and every warning bell in Zach’s head started going off. “I want to start by telling you that everyone is fine—”
“What happened, Mom?”
A ragged sigh tore at his heart. “Misty was possessed by a demon, right in front of the house.”
He clutched the edge of the bed, his throat threatening to close up. “How?”
“The demon was after me. Or rather, my grace. I am so sorry, sweetheart. This is my—”
“Don’t blame yourself. Don’t you ever blame yourself—we have targets on our backs because of me.” Movement brought his head up. Alex stood in the doorway of the small room, anger sparking in her eyes. She closed the door and sat next to him, taking his hand. “I’m on my way.”
“Zach—”
“Tell Misty—I’m sorry—” He cut himself off, refusing to take the coward’s way out. “I’ll tell her when I see her.” If she’d even get near him after this. “Alex is coming with me.” She squeezed his hand, hard. “Did you call Simon?”
“I—no. I will. He is a target as well.” The blame he knew she’d take on herself filled her raw voice. “Please be careful.”
“I’ll see you soon.” He ended the call and forced himself to look at Alex. “Feel free to hate me after I tell you this.”
“Zach—I won’t—”
“A demon possessed Misty.”
Alex stared at him, then started cursing with a variety that impressed him. “Is she okay?”
“Mom said she was. It happened outside her house, which means—”
“The demon was after her. So Misty was a convenient mode of transport.”
Zach choked. “She could have been—”
“Hurt, mangled, killed. You think I don’t know, Zach? I deal with all kinds of demons every day. But none of them have the ability to possess. They can usually hide in plain sight, or put up a mask. Most people see what they want to see, which makes it so much easier for non-humans.” She scrubbed at her face. “Thanks for inviting me along. Misty is probably a little freaked out by now.”
“She’s going to hate me.”
“Look at me, Zach Wiche.” The fierce anger in her voice had him obeying. “Misty is crazy about you, and she went into this with her eyes open. She knows as well as I do that there will always be the chance for danger when we love people outside the norm.” She leaned over and kissed him, the kiss of a friend. “Stop throwing yourself under the bus. Let’s discover exactly what happened, then do something about it.”
“Right. Thanks, Alex.”
“Anytime, gorgeous.” She pulled Zach to his feet and to the door. “I need to sneak out before Sam tries to invite himself along.”
Unfortunately, Sam was just outside, and heard every word.
“Wherever you’re going, Alex. I’m going with you.”
“Sam—”
“I know that look. It’s your ‘someone’s in trouble and I’m going to fix it singlehandedly’ look.” When she blushed, Sam smiled, taking her hand and easing her away from Zach. “You don’t get to do that anymore. Remember our deal?”
“Yeah. I just didn’t—”
“Want me in a situation where I might change. I’m good, Alex. I haven’t even come close for months, since Isaac, the new Fenris, arrived. He’s been giving Jake and me some tips he learned—the hard way. They’re helping.”
She stood on tiptoe and framed his face. “I’m glad, Sam.”
Zach turned away when they kissed, to give them as much privacy as he could. He tended to forget that Sam was a Fenris Wolf, until he mentioned it—or attacked Zach in the midst of changing. That was the last Zach remembered Alex even mentioning that Sam was having issues.
Alex touched his wrist and he turned back to them. “Ready, Zach?”
He was far from ready, but he nodded, following them out of the building and toward the entrance leading aboveground.
With one act, one he had no control over but all the blame, he could lose Misty forever.
***
Simon was saying goodbye to Diana when his phone beeped.
He wanted to ignore it, but the call could be from Zach. After another kiss, he leaned back. “I need to get this.”
“Sure.” She squeezed his hand and moved to the end of the building, giving him some privacy.
His heart skipped when he saw Claire’s number on the screen. “Claire—what’s wrong?”
She let out a rasping laugh, so unlike her normal, soft laughter that he stared at the phone. When she started talking he knew things had gone far beyond wrong.
“You have every right to assume that whenever I call, given our history.”
“What happened? You sound like—”
“Someone tried to strangle me? Someone did.”
Simon braced his hand on the wall as she told him. And Elias roared to life when she said the name Ariel.
“He should be in Hell—he was one of the fallen—how did he—”
Give her the chance and we’ll find out.
“Fine.” Elias settled into pout mode, which was much easier on Simon than anger.
Claire finished, and Simon rubbed his forehead, leaning against the wall. “How is Misty?”
“Sore, more than a little worried about how Zach will react to what happened. The girl is resilient—she’s more upset about what she did to me than what happened to her.”
“She’s a good kid.” One Zach was crazy in love with. If they got through this, they would get through anything life threw at them. “Are you home?” He didn’t wait for her to answer—he’d go there first. “I’m on my way—no argument, Claire.”
“Not giving you any, Simon.”
“Has Marcus seen to your throat yet?”
“He isn’t here, but he is on his way. He was in San Francisco when it happened.”
Knowing Marcus, he had probably been halfway to the airport before Claire finished fighting off the demon. Their connection was strong, and distance didn’t seem to be a hindrance.
“I’m on my way. Now stop talking. You sound like hell.”
“Thank you, Simon.” Finally, humor edged her raw voice. “For everything.”
“Just don’t invite any more demons in until I get there.”
He ended the call and lowered his head. The past could be fickle, springing at the worst time—and not always at the person who earned the karma.
Diana moved to his side, her presence so welcome. He could hardly believe how much he needed her already, after just a few hours with her.
“No death,” she said, her voice quiet. “But there’s trouble, isn’t there?”
“More than we’ve had in a while. Guess we were due.” His attempt at a joke failed.
“Can I go with you?”
He wanted to say no, because she didn’t deserve to be caught up in his life. But he knew it was already too late. The thought of leaving her behind wrapped pain around his heart.
“I don’t want you in danger, Diana. But I want you with me.”
“Good.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed him, her lips warm. “Because I would have followed you if you’d said no.”
He smiled, then pulled her in for another kiss, enjoying the moment, the feel of her in his arms, the temporary calm.
His life was about to go sideways. Again.