Nadia opened her apartment door the moment my knuckles hit the wood. “Nyx!” She flung her arms around me, wet clothes and all, and kissed me on my cheek before drawing back. She always smelled of fresh, clean sea breezes. “Goddess. I was so worried. Even after Torin saved you, we were afraid you wouldn’t make it.”
I kissed her cheek in return. “I’m here, I’m fine. I’m better than ever.” I looked down and saw I was dripping water all over her sea-blue carpet. “Sorry about that.” I said when I looked back at her.
Nadia laughed. “You forget that water is my element.” She held out her hands and all the water came rushing to her, even from my clothing and hair. Then I was totally dry and everything was spotless. I could have said avanna for myself, but it wouldn’t have worked on the carpet.
She drew me into her apartment and closed the door behind us. Her long, red Siren’s hair swung to one side as she tipped her head and smiled. “You got laid.”
Sparkles of pleasure warmed my skin. “Did I ever” Being a Siren, the sensual smile on her lips was natural. “Obviously it wasn’t Rodán.”
A hint of guilt tried to pierce my happiness because I’d had sex with Rodán just a few days before tonight, with Adam. But I wasn’t going to let it take anything away from what we’d shared. At least not now.
“It was the most amazing sex,” I said. “With who?”
“Adam Boyd.”
“You got it on with Detective Boyd of the NYPD?” Delight sparkled in her sea-green gaze. “The cop you’re always talking about?”
I sighed, and you could definitely call my sigh blissful. “Yeah.”
“Finally.” She reached up and caressed a lock of my now dry blue hair. “You’ve been holding back because of your Drow appearance. Did you let him see you?”
My cheeks warmed. “I fell asleep, and I woke just as the change was coming on.” I held my hands to my belly, remembering how worried I’d been. “It was either that, or running and hiding in my bathroom while telling him to leave.”
“That probably wouldn’t be a good way to start a serious relationship.” She let her fingers slide away from my hair. “Apparently he took it well.”
“He was incredible.”
Nadia and I walked across her sea-blue carpet and past living room wall murals that made me feel like I was in the ocean. Schools of fish and other sea life floated across the lifelike murals depicting her home in the Atlantic Ocean.
We reached her kitchen, which smelled like she was cooking an awesome dinner. Some kind of fish, definitely. “Go on,” she said as she stopped in front of the fridge. “I want to hear everything.”
“He just looked at me like I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.” Dreamy smile firmly affixed. “And then he said I was beautiful.”
“That’s because you are,” Nadia said. “That’s what Olivia, Caprice, and I have been trying to tell you ...”
She drifted off, apparently just realizing she’d mentioned Caprice as if she was still a part of our former quartet. “I miss her.” Nadia’s normally crystal-clear singing voice sounded husky.
I looked down at my slender fingers and thought again about saving her. But the Chance-Demon ...
The way he’d taken her in, she never would have seen it coming.
We ate salmon for dinner, spending time on girl chat. I told her about my afternoon and evening with Adam, and she pelted me with questions about what had happened during my battle with the Demon that almost killed me. I was going to have to tell Rodán and Olivia everything, too. Oh, and T.
Nadia’s eyes suddenly reminded me of the ocean and she looked like she had drifted off to the waters of her home when Caprice’s name was mentioned again. Nadia was a Siren from the Bermuda Triangle. Sirens are the reason why all those ships and planes have gone down and have never been seen again after they entered the Sirens’ territory.
Rodán had recruited Nadia because the Guardian wanted Nadia’s talents on the team of Trackers in the city.
Nadia picked up her pilsner and downed the beer. “I could use another,” she said, and I handed her mine that I hadn’t touched.
“I’ll wait for a martini after work,” I said. “You know I like the hard stuff.”
Even after two years away from the Atlantic Ocean, Nadia still had a thing for seafood, hence the salmon dinner. Sirens are water Fae, and all Fae eat roots, berries, fish, and things like that. No meat. But Fae had developed a liking for this world’s sweets, like Nancy and her chocolate. Nadia had expanded her palate to include hops—in other words, beer. Bud was her favorite.
“Do you want to go with me to see La Boheme at the Met a week from Friday?” Nadia absolutely loved the opera. Big surprise there, since Sirens have a thing for singing—only a Siren’s song usually means some guy’s death. “I just bought season tickets.”
I smiled at her enthusiasm. “Sure. It’ll be over before we have to get to work.”
“Great!” Nadia’s face positively lit up when she talked about going to any performance at the Metropolitan Opera House. I’d gone with her several times. “We could take in L’elisir d’amore the following week.”
“The Elixir of Love.” I thought about Adam. Would it ever go that far between us? Love?
Time to knock that idea out of my head. Jumping waaaay ahead of myself.
Nadia’s long hair fell over her shoulders when she leaned forward. I swear she looked like Ariel from The Little Mermaid with all of her thick, vivid, red hair. “Maybe Adam Boyd is ‘the one,’” she said, as if she’d read my thoughts.
“A step at a time,” I said, not only to Nadia but to myself. A change in subject was in order. “We should get to work.”
“It’s hard tracking Midtown West. Everywhere I go I think of Caprice.” A sad expression crept over her beautiful features again. “Now that I’ve been shifted off of roving duty and track her territory, she’s constantly in my thoughts.” Nadia’s gaze looked a little distant. “I miss them. Caprice. Jon. Randy.”
“It’s hard not to think about what happened to them,” I said quietly. “It hurts so much.”
Nadia sighed. “We need more Trackers.” She picked up my pilsner glass as she looked out the window, where droplets of rain rolled down the glass. She took a swallow of the beer, set the glass back on the table, and her gaze met mine again. “We’re almost at bare bones.”
I wiped my mouth with a napkin and set it by my plate. “That’s what I’ve been saying.”
She played with the pilsner, stroking her fingers up and down the glass. “I don’t understand. Why isn’t Rodán recruiting more?”
“If we had more Trackers, our friends might still be alive.” Heat flashed through me. “I think this is a huge dose of the Great Guardian’s stupid ‘not interfering with Otherworlds’ garbage.”
If Nadia was Catholic I swear she would have made the sign of the cross. “Nyx. You can’t say things like that about the Guardian.” Her eyes were huge as she spoke.
“We need two Trackers per territory. It’s been bad enough having only one per territory, with just five rovers.” The bite to my tone was strong. “I think the GG should get her ass in gear and send us more Trackers.”
Nadia cleared her throat and started gathering dishes as she said in a loud voice, “The views and opinions expressed in this apartment are solely those of the commentator...”
CHAPTER 25
Save the whales! Trade them for valuable prizes!
I shook my head when I saw Olivia’s black T-shirt. She was waiting for me near the entrance to the Pit, her hair loose around her shoulders, and her dark, exotic features seemed even more beautiful.
How could anyone look so good in T-shirts, jeans, and tennis shoes all of the time?
“One of these days some zoologist or tree hugger is going to come after you,” I said to Olivia as I gestured toward her T-shirt.
Olivia gave a mock serious look as she and Nadia bumped fists like rappers did. “It’ll give the Bea
st something to do when he runs them over.”
“That GTO needs to move on to Summerland,” I said. “Or wherever it is that dead cars go.”
Olivia tilted her chin and gave me a haughty look. “The Beast just needs a little tune-up.”
“He needs to go to that junkyard in the sky,” I said.
Olivia’s expression went from teasing to serious. “I was afraid we’d lost you.” She gave me a hug, and I hugged her back as she continued talking without stopping for a beat. “Because then I’d have to look for a new partner.”
She drew away and I laughed. It was good to be back.
I’d called Olivia before I left Nadia’s to let her know I was here and that I’d meet her outside the Pit.
I wanted to tell Olivia about Adam, but I figured I’d wait until tomorrow, when it was just the two of us in the office.
Nadia crossed her arms over her chest and looked from Olivia to me. “So, did Olivia kill you for tracking without her night before last?”
I winced. Gee, thanks, buddy.
Olivia shot me a look that would have frozen the Hudson solid enough to skate on in September.
“Not yet,” she said in a slow, clear tone that cut through the throbbing music that poured out of the entrance to the Pit. “But you are so dead for leaving without me that night.”
I tried to look as contrite as possible. “But if you kill me then you will have to find another partner.”
She narrowed her dark eyes and put her hands on her hips. “It might be worth it after all.”
Damn. Wasn’t sure I would survive the Wrath of Olivia. “I’m sorry, okay?”
“No, it’s not okay.” Olivia stared at me for one long moment. “Do it again and I’ll kick your skinny purple butt all over Manhattan. Then I’ll kill you.”
Groan.
T appeared out of the shadows, his expression dark, and I wanted to shrink from the stares all three of them were giving me now.
“Thank you, T.” I wasn’t about to hug him. I didn’t know what to do with my hands, so I put them on the hilts of my daggers. “I owe you. Twice now.”
“Going out alone was idiotic.” T scowled. “You should have waited for me.”
My spine stiffened. “I’ve been tracking for two years on my own and I’ve handled everything just fine.” Until now. The thought deflated me.
“You’ve never had to face Demons like this.” Olivia kept her hands braced on her hips as she continued to glare at me. “It was a stupid thing to do.”
I pushed my blue hair over my shoulders in frustration. “I get it.”
“The three of us aren’t about to let you out of our sight when it comes to tracking,” Nadia said. I swung my gaze to her and she had a determined expression.
“So now it’s three on one.” I sighed and rubbed my temples. “Okay, okay. From this point on I don’t go out without backup.” I looked toward the Pit, dying to change the subject. “I need to meet with Rodán.” I turned back to T and Olivia. “And both of you are supposed to be in on this, too.”
I didn’t give them a chance to answer before I headed for the entrance.
Fred gave me a hug so tight that I gasped and he told me how glad he was that I’d made it through what had happened. He seemed to be more approving of T than before. Guess the news of my neardeath and T saving me had already made its way around.
The path through the club was thick with dancers, the smells of all the paranorms lumped together.
Tonight the odor was like taking different colors of clay and smooshing them all together so that a being couldn’t tell one color from another. Just a gray blob.
My senses were on overdrive—or remnants of what had happened to me were affecting me—
because at that moment the smells were almost overwhelming and I couldn’t sift out individual scents.
Nadia left to join the remaining Trackers before they headed out. I waved across the room to my fellow Trackers, who waved at me and gave me thumbs-up signs, a way of telling me they were glad I was back. I couldn’t help a smile in their direction. Here in New York City, they were my family, and I felt lucky to have them.
At the back of the club, Seth, the Vamp Olivia had been talking to a few days ago, jerked his thumb in the direction of one of the closed doors along the rear wall. “Rodán is waiting for you.”
Olivia smiled at the Vamp, and I elbowed her. “Don’t encourage them,” I said under my breath.
“I’m having his baby,” she said under hers, and I almost choked.
Of course Rodán wouldn’t have us meet in his private chambers, because Olivia was with us. T, Olivia, and I went into one of the secluded rooms Rodán used for conferences, when he needed to meet with Trackers or other Peacekeepers.
T opened the door and held it until Olivia and I entered the large conference room. The door whispered closed behind us, but T’s boots clunked against the wooden floor as we strode across the enormous chamber. It was a wonder he could sneak up on anything, as noisy as he was.
A woodsy smell passed over me as we walked, the scent from the polished Dryad wooden floor and table. A bouquet of wildflowers at the center of the conference table lent the room a sweet perfume.
The room easily accommodated all of the Manhattan Peacekeepers at one time when Rodán needed to make important announcements, standing room only. But that was rare. He usually spoke with the Soothsayers, Healers, and Gatekeepers in their special chambers.
In our conference room, the long oval conference table along one side of the room only had twentyfive chairs around it, for smaller meetings with the Trackers.
The moment Rodán saw me he strode across the polished wood floor, took me in his arms, and held me to him. “Sweets. Thank the Goddess.”
He drew away and gripped me by my upper arms, and for a long moment stared into my eyes. The depth of caring and concern that I saw shocked me. He looked at me, not just as someone who would have been devastated at the loss of a friend, but also as though he would have been lost without me had I died. A deep and personal feeling beyond being a friend, mentor, and casual lover.
He kissed each of my cheeks before breaking that brief contact and my strange thoughts.
“Torin and Olivia briefed me on the third liaison’s disappearance,” Rodán said to me. “Have they had a chance to discuss it with you?”
I shook my head. “And I haven’t given my news to them, either.”
Well, I could have told them about the scorpion shell that night if I hadn’t felt the need to avoid them and go out on my own. Maybe it seemed stupid, but I’d been tracking my territory alone for two years— other than the times Olivia accompanied me on specific cases. I’d been able to handle anything and everything that came my way. Until now. Goddess-damn.
I rolled my shoulders, trying to ease away the desire to defend myself and my actions. I didn’t need to go on the defensive.
Rodán made his way to the oval conference table. Today he wore a sleeveless blood-red tunic, and his silvery-blond hair hung to the middle of his back. The muscles in his bare arms flexed as he moved with power and grace to his chair at the head of the table. Olivia and I took seats to Rodán’s right, T on his left.
I started first, explaining to T and Olivia about the scorpion shell, that the tail from the drawing was actually a scorpion tail. Then I told them about the Chance-Demon. T’s scowl grew darker and Olivia narrowed her eyes, but neither gave me a difficult time for not telling them sooner about the shell or the scorpion tail. I figured that was because they’d already ridden me hard enough.
“The third liaison,” Rodán started as leaned back in the reclining chair, “was taken not far from where you were attacked and the location where the Demons murdered Randy.”
Prickles stung my skin. “Randy was killed near me?”
“He sensed the attack on you and left Central Park to go to your aid.” The prickles turned into a cold chill that flushed over me as he continued. “He ran up against a horde
of Demons while Torin was attending to you. Randy was gutted before Torin could help him. so there was no saving him.”
My vision blurred and I put my head in my hands, my elbows on the polished wood surface of the conference table. Dear Goddess. I was responsible for his death. If I hadn’t been so foolish and tried to save what I thought was a human woman, I wouldn’t have been down and out because of the Chance-Demon.
“You mentioned you were heading toward Central Park for Randy after trying to save the woman,”
Rodán said.
My thoughts clouded. That was true. Why did I sense that he was in trouble before I’d been attacked?
“We believe the Demons managed to call to you and Randy both,” Rodán said.
“For insurance-—to make sure they had at least one Tracker death,” Olivia said. “Somehow it ties in with the missing liaisons. They need a Tracker to die when they take a liaison.”
I raised my head from my hands and frowned. “Some kind of ritual?”
“Possibly.” The chair creaked as he adjusted his position. “The left-behind signs could be part of that ritual and not clues meant to taunt us.”
“But why take the liaisons instead of killing them, too?” I ran my fingers along my choker as I thought out loud, before putting my hand back on the table.
“Why paranormal liaisons at all?” Olivia said. “We do need to consider the fact that we don’t know if they were taken alive or eaten. We’re guessing.”
“Based on paranorm intuition.” Rodán swiveled slightly in his chair. “And what information the Great Guardian has chosen to give me.”
“Oh, brother.” Olivia rolled her eyes.
“The Guardian gives us bits and pieces, but won’t give us what we need, including Trackers.” I pushed my hand through my hair in a harsh movement. “Maybe the GG is going senile.” I was so going to be sent to Underworld for that comment.
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