Allison tilted her head, “Maybe, but I don’t think we’ll be running through the desert, and I’m smart enough to stay in the back and take cover while I use my spells.”
That… was a good point. Allison did work out, and her lissome body was definitely in shape.
“So, tell Jacob,” she challenged.
Allison nodded, a determined look on her face as she left the bathroom.
Lily trailed behind, Carl was so going to kick her ass, but to be fair she no more talked Allison into it than she tried to talk her out of it. She’d just… told her the bald facts, Allison was hardly stupid, and knew the risks. She had a feeling the redhead would be staying home for soul eater hunts, but not the ones for the other three races. Not anymore…
To her surprise, the only one that seemed to have a problem with the idea was Caroline, but she was overruled. Jacob would never ask them to go in the field, but it turned out they all had the option.
They’d wound up getting three more guns, instead of two. There was no wait period since they had badges granting them federal officer status, and those badges were apparently in the system for real, not just worthless plastic to intimidate a human. She was a bit surprised to find out Allison already knew how to fire one, and most probably was a better markswoman at that point. She still needed a lot of practice at a range.
It was her, Jacob, and Allison that headed off as one team, Carl and Meri were the other. She thought that made sense too, she had the feeling Carl would have been overprotective of Allison and put them all in more danger as a result. Plus, Jacob was the alpha and team leader, and would want to evaluate and instruct her on being part of an active field team.
It was boring but necessary footwork if they were to find their quarry.
Carl and Meri had a list of retail stores, lawyer’s offices, restaurants, and the other properties in shopping district part of the city.
The three of them spent most of the day save mealtimes, in industrial parks. They checked out several warehouses, a machine shop, welding shop, a chemical company, a few empty buildings, and other industrial businesses in their assigned area of the city. They didn’t need to actually go inside, Jacob was checking for scents by the doors, and she was checking for the signature of a warlock’s or demon’s power.
Each team was able to check about four places an hour, on average, and they put in a ten-hour day. Still, that was only eighty properties, if they did the same the next day they’d fall far short of the amount of properties. Worse, they’d have to throw in the towel on it by dinnertime tomorrow and head to the arena in the hope of stopping her plan at the last minute.
Something they wanted to avoid, but she felt was truly their best chance. She didn’t think Jenna would stand and fight, send more assassin demons after them maybe, but the crazy warlock would keep herself safe and keep her eyes on the prize.
After all, if Jenna managed to release eighteen thousand demons on the city, the eight of them were dead anyway. They’d never get out alive or be able to kill that many demons before being overwhelmed. Still, she didn’t give up hope, and at the arena Jenna would have to stand and fight or abandon her plan. It was probably the only moment she would stand and fight, given her emotional investment in the plan. Either way, that would be a win.
Late in the evening they met back up at the Holiday Inn. They spent the money for a large suite with three bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. They’d keep watch in shifts, so they wouldn’t be surprised again. It was just one night, for good or ill it would all be decided one way or another the next evening.
Chapter Fourteen
They all sat around the kitchen table, a pile of demolished pizza boxes sat on the counter, and she was feeling very satisfied. At least, her stomach was.
Jacob said, “Alright, I hope we find them tomorrow, we’ll be hitting the most likely properties out of those that are left tomorrow. We should plan out what we’ll do if we don’t catch up to her, at the arena.”
Cinna frowned, “Why don’t Caroline and I spend the day in very public places, and we’ll stay on the move. Then with Allison going in the field, you could split up into three teams, and get a hundred twenty more places, instead of eighty.”
Caroline replied, “I agree, as long as the two of us stay on the move we should be relatively safe, then we can meet you all back here at dinnertime, before you go to the arena if necessary.”
Jacob grunted, and slowly nodded, “If you two are sure. Tomorrow it’ll be me and Allison, along with Carl and Jace on business properties. Meri and Lily, you two can do the houses, both primary homes and rental properties. If we’re lucky we can get them all, and actually find her. Thanks Cinna, Caroline.”
“We can’t be sure, but she might have her murder weapon pre-staged. We can get access to the building with our badges and do a search.”
Cinna looked at her, “You don’t seem very sure.”
Lily shrugged, “There’s a good chance she won’t be walking through the door. She’ll probably take a portal into the arena, and then bring the toxin with her at that time. That’s what has me worried the most, what if she doesn’t care about the secret anymore at all, and opens a portal onto the ice, walks through in a sealed suit, and immediately releases the toxin?”
Jacob bowed his head and rubbed his eyes.
“That would be bad, I’m not even sure we could stop her if she did it like that. Even if we did stop her, we couldn’t cover that up. Never mind the not inconsiderable difficulty of spelling eighteen thousand people in an arena to forget it happened, it would also be on a lot of people’s televisions.”
Allison said softly, “The place is huge, even if she just portals in to a relatively private area, how will we know? We can’t cover the whole place. Also, she probably doesn’t need a suit, not with a shield, and her demons would be immune most likely.”
Jacob cursed, “You’re right. I’ll make a call, we need to flood the place with teams, which will raise the stakes. We could lose half our population if we all wind up becoming sacrifices too.”
She frowned, “Solutions, we need to focus on those, not problems. To be effective, she’s going to have to release it in the main arena itself. No matter where she comes in, on the ice, or in a hallway, she’s going to be in a hazmat suite and stick out when she drags a big drum of some kind of toxin with her. The arena will be full of human security, it seems to me we need to keep an eye on the arena itself, and also tap into the security guards radio system.”
Jace said, “She might not. The toxin might not be deadly against demons, and as Allison said she has that hellfire shield. The point still stands though, if a security guard sees a young woman with gas canisters of some kind, he’s going to call it in.”
She nodded, “Exactly, and we can move to intercept, or if she comes through a portal in the main arena, we hit her with everything we have. Guns, tungsten bars, and explosives. After we take her down, we worry about a coverup. There’s a good chance the humans watching at home will think it’s a hoax of some kind. No matter what, we stop it.”
Jacob nodded, “Well said, let’s hope it will be enough. If we’re lucky, we won’t have to worry about it. Only thing is, be careful with the explosives, we have to assume the canister will be right next to her, we don’t want to break the thing open.”
Allison said, “If it’s a chemical gas, there’s nothing I can do, but if it’s a biological agent I can probably take care of it. Nerve agents are biological chemicals, and in that case I can neutralize it with magic. It’s also still worth going there early, there’s a chance she pre-staged it. One of us can get with security for their radios, while the rest of us search.”
Carl nodded, “Excellent. There is one other option, we can try and evacuate the building. Pull the fire alarm, or maybe call in a bomb threat. Of course, if we do that she won’t show, and we won’t know what her next target is, when or where.”
Jacob looked pained, but said, “I think we have to risk
it at that point, we need to stop her, that means an all or nothing game, or she won’t play.”
She nodded, “I hate to agree, but I do. It’s a risk, gambling on all those lives, but the risk for an unknown target is far worse. It’s the only place we can be sure she’ll be.”
Jacob said, “Alright, we have a plan. We’ll all split up, and then converge on her when she reveals herself. Work with the humans, get on their system, and search for any pre-planted devices. I’ll solidify all that by tomorrow night and have your assigned positions. Between the six of us we should be able to get eyes and noses everywhere, and we can also share pictures of Jenna and Celia with the human security. Any other ideas?”
Meri replied, “I don’t think so. It’s a good plan. We’re assuming she won’t just use the vent system, but it’s probably a good bet. She’ll want the gas to spread quickly, even human security with guns could take her down if they all shoot at her at once. This is also Texas, who knows how many of the people there will be carrying.”
Jacob sighed, “Good, try to relax the rest of the night. I’ll get the rest of the business and houses mapped out with three routes, so tomorrow’s search is as efficient as possible.”
That just made sense, the least amount of travel time meant the more houses her and Meri could check out.
She said, “Yeah, speaking of that, we’ll need a third rental.”
Jacob nodded, “I’ll drop you two off at the rental place in the morning. We move at five, so relax, get some rest, and sleep. Since we’re taking watches tonight in case Jenna sends another assassin, you might want to find bed early. Allison and I will take the first one, Lily and Meri second watch from one to three, and Jace and Carl can take three to five.”
She nodded, good enough. Early sleep didn’t sound so bad either, after being woken up at four in the morning yesterday, and not getting back to sleep. She could get four or five hours now, and another two after their shift.
She felt a little jealous of Jacob’s time, and upset he didn’t want to spend more time with her today, but she pushed that down. It was probably a good thing, she wanted him far too much as it was, plus he needed to work with Allison as she learned what to expect in the field and what to do in certain situations, things like that.
She said goodnight, and then headed for the shower. The hot water felt amazing, and she loved the clean feeling as she slid between the sheets in a pair of stretchy shorts and a t-shirt. She was out like a light, before Meri joined her.
She wore a thin silk robe as she stood at the window staring into the dark night. A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, and a moment later thunder cracked and then rumbled. She felt warm and safe, and felt a little smile on her face as strong arms wrapped around her from behind. She reveled in the love and lust radiating off her mate, and the power from the recent feeding which had greatly enhanced their earlier coupling.
The room was well appointed, but obviously ancient, and she couldn’t say why but she was sure they were in Egypt as the dream played out. Or at least, where Egypt would eventually be.
She chuckled sultrily, as she felt his lips on her neck, and his hard body against hers.
“Not had enough yet?” she asked teasingly, even as she shamelessly rubbed herself back against him, and drowned in his love and embrace.
He laughed, “Never.”
She smiled, neither could she, but she’d never admit it.
He spun her around, and claimed a kiss that started out rough, but then changed to soft and teasing as he lifted her up and carried her to the bed.
She looked up into his eyes, and let her robe fall to the ground, right before he placed her back into bed. She felt loved, safe, and more than a little heated as fresh desire radiated through her body as he crawled between her legs to claim her once again.
Lightning flashed, and she saw Jacob’s face, which threw her out of the dream.
She sighed in disappointment as her eyes opened, she’d need a cold shower.
Meri snickered, “Good dream? It’s our turn to watch.”
She blushed, and then shrugged. She supposed her arousal was obvious to Meri, she didn’t know how they did it, keeping their noses enhanced all the time like that. It’d drive her crazy. Still, she supposed she’d be doing it too, if she didn’t have other options like emotions, the life web, and even detecting the corrupting magic of hell.
As for the dream, her memory… she felt hot, and extremely confused. Why did it change to Jacob’s face, what did that mean? She’d recognized the earlier man’s face too, the alpha shifter, who had been her mate in the past. It had also been one of the men she’d watched die many times in her nightmares. Samael had broken her body, and made her watch as he massacred her mate, and that of her beloved hunter team.
She was also confused, because didn’t she have a thing with Uriel back then? Obviously, the legends weren’t quite right, and she’d known that already, but it was still shocking. She’d had a shifter lover leading toward the end of her life, or at least her life before she was buried until she escaped her tomb just over six months ago. She had to assume that was thousands of years past the time she had the first shifter with Uriel, or it would be far too creepy to contemplate, given she was the ultimate grandmother of all shifters.
Still, genetic drift over enough generations would change that. Not to mention blood sharing, which would bring in new human blood and fresh DNA over the centuries or millennia. Which meant… she’d been fighting a long time against her and Samael’s creations before she was put under the ground for tens of thousands of years. The idea of all that weight of all that history in past memories was rather daunting.
What threw her off the most, was her mind replacing her past lover with the man she wanted in that moment, Jacob. It also wasn’t lost on her she definitely had a type, and that was for a strong confident man. Her mate back then had been an alpha shifter as well, and the emotions and impressions she had felt from him in the dream were very similar in flavor to Jacob’s. The looks, not so much, it was the type of men they were that was her type, not the external trappings. They were both handsome and very well built of course, but completely different in appearance.
Point was, what did that mean, was she feeling so attracted to Jacob because he reminded her of a mate she could no longer remember? That thought was rather depressing, but she found it hard to just dismiss it. She also worried what would happen when her memories came rushing back, would she be in mourning for a mate she could barely remember, outside of a lurid dream of the past?
Would she even want Jacob anymore? For the first time she not only understood Jacob’s decision to wait for her memories to come back, but truly agreed with it. She wanted him now, but who knew what would happen when she recovered a hundred thousand years worth of memories, loves, and losses.
It was also good news, she’d been half afraid she’d been buried most of her life. Not that thirty or forty thousand years or so wasn’t horrific, but it was better than most of it.
“Lily?”
She shook her head, “Sorry, lost in thought. I’m up.”
She wanted a coffee, but she knew if she drank one in that moment she’d never get back to bed at three. She left the room and headed for the kitchen, and grabbed a bottled water instead, then joined Meri on the couch.
Meri asked, “Want to talk about it?”
She frowned, “Yes, and no. I’m not really sure what to make of it, or even how to explain it. When I get my memories back, absolutely.”
Meri nodded, “Alright, but I’m here if you need to talk.”
Lily smiled, “I know. I just don’t have enough context to really make sense of what I just dreamt, except I’d obviously gone to sleep with Jacob on my mind. We could gossip about Carl and Allison instead.”
Meri snickered, “I didn’t see that one coming either. Not that it’s a done deal yet. Let me show you how to use an M16.”
Their weapons had arrived, and she took some time to lear
n it. It was a very simple rifle, easy to load the magazine, and the safety had three options. Safe, semi-automatic, and fully automatic.
They chatted the rest of their time away while keeping watch, there were no suspicious sounds, much less a demon assassin to worry about, and the two of them went back to bed at three when Carl and Jace woke. There was no attack at all that night, which probably meant Jenna was focused on the next night’s events, because she was quite sure the warlock knew exactly where they were…
Chapter Fifteen
She woke up and stretched, relieved and a little disappointed she didn’t find that dream from earlier. It’d be a long day with an early start. She rolled out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans, and a light red sweater shirt. She pulled on her shoes, and then checked her weapon before clipping the holster into the small of her back. She’d showered last night right before bed, and she’d wanted to sleep as long as possible.
She took a moment to brush out her hair, then grabbed her badge and phone. It was a bit weird, but she missed the routine of her morning workouts and witch classes, she’d be happy to be done with this hunt and head back to Chicago. She gave Meri a muttered good morning, and then headed toward the kitchen for a coffee and breakfast.
Jace nodded to her, “We ordered room service.”
She smirked, poured a coffee, and then took a sip before she replied.
“Good, it smells tasty.”
She devoured a plate of pancakes, eggs, sausage, and bacon. Then finished off breakfast with a blueberry muffin and a banana. She chugged the rest of her coffee as a chaser, and then let out a long satisfied sigh. Given the very early morning, everyone had been quiet waking up and too busy devouring their food to talk.
“I assume it was quiet last night?”
Carl nodded, “Not a peep. Makes me wonder what she was up to.”
Jace said, “Probably planning out her night? I don’t know, but we have to assume she’ll be ready for us. We searched the properties yesterday, and it wouldn’t be too hard to find out we were in her house and had touched those tickets. Especially if she had us tracked, and she knew what we were doing yesterday.”
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