It also took several bottles of bourbon.
By two in the morning, he was steady enough to approach this and keep control of himself and his men.
First he summoned Tosko and his crew of Enforcers to his living room. The six archdemons appeared, fully armed and ready for action.
Tosko stepped forward. “How can we serve you tonight?”
“I need to have a meeting with Will, Aidan and a couple of others. Your first job is to listen to what I tell them, because you’ll need the information for your duties.”
“And our second?”
Ryan took a deep breath. “To physically restrain them from leaving, if necessary, until I say so.”
Tosko frowned. “Are they in trouble?”
“No. Quite the opposite. I need them to not go off half-cocked out of revenge when I break the news to them.” He took another swig of bourbon to keep him calm. No wonder humans called it liquid courage. “You will understand shortly why this is necessary.”
Tosko nodded but said nothing.
Ryan convened the Enforcers in his dining room. There were enough chairs at the table for Will and the others. Tosko and his men would stand behind them. Fortunately for Ryan, Aidan hadn’t yet sensed exactly how strong he now was, so thank the gods for his clueless nature. With Will and Aidan together, it might be impossible to keep them from immediately traveling to Tavares to hunt Bera down.
Not that it wasn’t what Ryan wanted to do too, but they needed to come up with a plan first. He wasn’t even sure she was on Tavares. He refused to lose anyone else in this war.
And it was war, as far as he was concerned.
Ryan grabbed four more bottles of bourbon, glasses, and poured several servings. Then he sat at the head of the table and first summoned Purson.
He appeared a moment later, wearing slacks but holding his shirt and looking outraged. “This better be really fucking good, asswipe. I was on a goddamned date.” He pulled his shirt on but didn’t button it.
Ryan kept his voice calm, forcing his Head of The Firm demeanor to take over. “Please, Purson. Sit.”
Purson started to argue, noticed the gathered Enforcers, then without another word sat where directed on Ryan’s left. He looked at the glass of bourbon in front of him, then to Ryan.
Ryan nodded. “Trust me. You’ll need it.”
Purson grabbed the full glass and took a large swig.
Gery was next. “What the home do you want?”
Purs spoke first. “Sit and swig, buddy. There’s apparently some bad shit afoot.”
Gery looked at Ryan, who nodded. Gery sat across from Purson and grabbed a glass.
Ryan summoned two other Protectors, Osmond and Davies, who usually didn’t have to do anything but surveillance. They quietly took their seats on the other side of Purs and Gery without comment or protest. Ryan had reserved the seats directly on either side of him for Will and Aidan.
Ryan looked at the gathered men. “I’m warning you, none of you will like what I have to say, but it must be said. Before I summon Will and Aidan, I also must warn you that none of you will leave until I say so, and until I give that permission, we must keep Will and Aidan here.”
Purson glared. “What the fuck?”
Ryan leveled his gaze at him. “You will understand once you hear the story.”
Purson challenged him for only a moment longer before looking away and taking another large swallow of bourbon.
Ryan slid one of the bottles over to him.
Now for the two hardest. Ryan’s plan was to erect a barrier, hopefully keeping Will and Aidan inside once they arrived. But if the two soul brothers decided to join forces they might be able to break through anyway.
Not that Ryan would blame them for trying.
He summoned Aidan first. Fortunately he took the time to don a robe. At first he looked sleepy and irritated, until he saw the assembled archdemons. “Holy fuck, Ami—I mean Ryan. What’s going on?”
Ryan indicated the empty chair on his left. “Please. Sit.”
Aidan did, automatically reaching for the glass of bourbon at his place.
That left Will. He didn’t come immediately, requiring Ryan to summon him twice more before he appeared. He had put on shorts and a T-shirt and looked very angry.
“This better be good,” he growled, then he saw the others. He looked at Ryan.
Ryan nodded toward the empty chair on his right as he silently erected the barrier.
Will sensed it, his eyes swinging toward the ceiling. “What the fuck?”
“Please, Will. Sit.”
Reluctantly, he did.
Ryan nodded toward the glass in front of Will. “Trust me. Large swallows.”
Will slowly reached out, took it, then finished half of it with a wince.
Ryan took a deep breath as he looked at the men gathered around the table. Tosko personally stepped behind Will, the strongest, with the other Enforcers each taking a different man. Gery was seated on Will’s other side, so hopefully his presence would help keep Will there.
Forcing his voice to stay low and calm, Ryan spoke. “What I have to say is very difficult. It will no doubt engender very strong and valid emotions. However, I must speak first and foremost as head of The Firm in this matter. As head of The Firm, I am commanding all of you to remain here until I release you from this meeting. Understood?”
Everyone nodded. Will and Aidan nodded last after exchanging a concerned look across the table.
Ryan continued. “I received some very upsetting news today. It answered quite a few questions and shed a lot of light on issues that some of you are aware of.” He turned his gaze on Will. “It also personally concerns you. And Aidan.”
Will felt a chill. “What? What’s wrong? Are Kal and Jeff in danger?”
“I think we are all in danger, but that’s not the worst issue at the moment.”
Ryan started as far back as he knew, with what Cyadna had told him about Bera’s motives and joining forces with Boorman.
Will studied his glass of bourbon, his knuckles white with tension as his fingers wrapped around it.
“So,” Ryan continued, “Bera’s plan was to have Abby abducted and ransom her back to us.” Ryan reached out and grabbed Will’s arm, felt the tension flowing through him like an electric current. “According to the Selkie, Bera claimed she never meant for Abby to die. Bera was going to force you to impregnate her. She knew Abby wouldn’t call out to you for fear of your life. She never suspected Abby would call out to me for help. My appearance wasn’t in the plan. Bera’s hired hands apparently spooked.”
“Holy shit,” Aidan whispered. He took another huge gulp of bourbon, his hands trembling so badly he had to use both of them to hold the glass steady. When he set the glass down, Purson refilled it for him.
Will’s voice sounded tight with rage. “Bera is behind Abby’s murder? All so she can fucking get pregnant?”
“Apparently,” Ryan said. “She thinks having a line heir will guarantee her status and give her a chance to take control of The Firm.” He sensed Will wasn’t going to try to leave. At least, not yet. He released his friend’s arm and leaned back in his chair. “As we all know, Tanukis are notorious for outrageously poor planning, although this by far exceeds anything ever undertaken in their race’s existence. Obviously Bera failed to realize a line heir doesn’t in any way guarantee her control of The Firm. Far from it.”
Will’s grey eyes darkened to nearly black. “She murdered Abby,” he said.
“Yes she was, it turns out, behind it. With this Boorman’s support or help.”
After a long, uneasy moment, Will quietly spoke. “Promise me one thing, Ami.”
“Anything, brother.”
Will looked at Ryan. “I get to be the one to slit her throat and watch her die.”
Ryan gripped his arm again. “On the River Styx, brother. I swear to you, she is yours.”
“Not if I kill her first,” Aidan growled. Ryan looked at him. The
normally gentle man’s face had flushed with anger, his butterscotch eyes darkened to a deep brown matching his tiger’s eye amulet.
Ryan hadn’t seen that look in Aidan’s eyes since…
Since their days as Enforcers, in the years immediately following Chloe’s death.
Aidan looked across the table at Will. “If I catch her before you, I will not promise to keep her alive until you get there. I’m killing the bitch where she stands. I’ll rip her head off her shoulders with my bare fucking hands.” Tears welled in his eyes. Ryan suspected he was close to revealing the secret he’d promised to keep.
Ryan couldn’t blame him. Knowing Abby had been Chloe changed the entire situation for Aidan. To Aidan, his sister hadn’t been murdered once, but twice. Then to realize the woman responsible for Abby’s murder had actually laid her hands on his love…
Aidan viciously shook his head. “I’ll fucking kill her!” he screamed as he jumped from his seat and reached for his amulet.
“Stop him!” Ryan ordered.
Two Enforcers grabbed Aidan as Ryan lunged and caught his arm, forced Aidan to look at him.
Aidan wept, screaming, “She killed her! That fucking bitch killed her, Ami! You’ve got to let me take her out!”
Stunned, Will stared across the table. This was unexpected. Ryan had thought Will would be the one trying to go, and Aidan helping keep him there.
It took Purson’s help to calm Aidan. Ryan leaned in close once Aidan was back in his chair and grabbed his face with both hands.
He stared into Aidan’s eyes and silently reminded him, “You cannot say it. Not in front of Will. Especially not like this. You cannot tell him Abby was Chloe. He cannot know. It might taint his bond with Kal. If you love them, you cannot tell them.”
Like cold water, it snapped Aidan out of his fury and left him sobbing. Ryan hugged him tightly as Aidan sobbed. “She…could have killed Jeff, or Kal that day… She took… she took… her… Abby…away from us…”
Apparently still in shock, Will numbly stood. He rounded the table and wrapped his arms around Aidan and Ryan. “It’s okay, Aid,” he whispered. “It’s okay, buddy. You and me together, we’ll take her out. You and me.”
“And me,” Ryan whispered.
Will closed his eyes as a single tear slid down his face. “And you. My brothers.”
They pulled themselves together and returned to their seats, Aidan now wiping his tears and blowing his nose into a dishrag Ryan brought from the kitchen. Ryan finished the story as he knew it, added a few of his suppositions into the mix, and opened the floor for discussion.
Purson fingered his amulet and thoughtfully shook his head. “This doesn’t sound right. If the guy is so fucking smart, why’s he using a Tanuki half breed? Especially Bera? He’s planning a war in his own realm and taking over the Earth at the same time? This… There’s something we’re missing here.”
Purson looked around the table. “You don’t fucking fight two huge-ass battles at the same time, especially if one is in a realm where you lose your damn powers and can get your ass handed back to you on a silver platter. And doubly especially when we can cross over and kick their asses there. From what I understand, native Tavarian powers are about the same as ours when we cross, and they’re powerless over here. So it’s not like they have a supernatural advantage over us on their home turf. We’re missing something big.”
“I agree,” Ryan said. “Our job now is to find out what that something is, and quickly.” He leaned back in his chair and held his own amulet. “I’d be willing to bet that something is a secret Boorman has withheld from Bera.”
Purson continued to finger his amulet, his eyes glazed over in contemplation. “Those fuckers that day at Will’s, the bodies. The ones you killed after they got Abby. Those weren’t Tavarians. I don’t know what they were, they might have crossed from Tavares, but they weren’t native to that realm. I’ve never seen anything like them before. Do we even know what this asshole Boorman is? We might be under a false assumption that he’s a native there.”
Gery broke his silence. “We need to protect them.” Everyone looked at him. “Kal and Jeff,” he clarified. “Bera might try again to go through them. Where are they now?”
“They are safe,” Tosko said. “I already have others standing guard.”
“Gentlemen, here’s the dilemma,” Ryan said. “We cannot worry Jeff and Kal. Especially not Kal this close to her father’s death. She is still emotionally fragile.” He looked at Will. “Would you agree?”
Will nodded but didn’t speak.
Ryan sighed. “I am truly sorry to dump this matter in your laps, as it were, but you know my position. I will not tolerate this kind of situation, especially treachery from within resulting in the death of one of our own. Harming the family, especially the soul mate, of one of us is equal to attacking us personally.” His face darkened considerably. “We will have our revenge, we will eliminate Bera once and for all, and we will prevail over whoever this Boorman is.”
He looked at Purson. “Your job is to find out as much about him as you can. Origin. Purpose. Strengths and weaknesses.” He set his jaw. “Family even. It’s personal at this point. Unless proven otherwise, there are no innocents where Boorman is concerned. I’ll help you cross so you can speak with Cyadna personally.”
Osmand smirked. “Slash and burn, baby.” He took a swig of his bourbon. “Back to the old times.”
“Yes. All of you are well aware of the past and how leadership in The Firm has evolved. As threats have decreased, we’ve been able to move away from that kind of enforcement and turn to more practical, diplomatic solutions to ensure peace here in this realm. However, I am not exaggerating when I say we are now under a return of our former scorched-earth policy, as it were.”
Aidan spoke, his voice low and harsh, his eyes still dark and angry. “The dark and crazy days are back with a vengeance,” he muttered.
“Absolutely,” Ryan agreed, his green eyes darkening to the shade of bloodstone. “With complete and utter vengeance.”
Chapter 24
Kal settled back in her chair in front of the bank of monitors and closed her eyes, feeling bone weary. It’d been a long drive to South Dakota, the first of five stops in a jaunt through western haunts the Otherworlds show would feature. It was nice getting back out here to revisit some places they’d seen on their honeymoon.
There’d been an early morning meeting at Ryan’s a few weeks before, with all the boys in attendance. Well, the archdemon boys. Since then, Kal sensed a hidden heaviness among all of them, including Purs and Gery. When she questioned them about it they all denied anything was wrong.
Strange.
They assured her it was simply routine business for The Firm. Somehow, she didn’t quite believe them, although she didn’t want to accuse them of lying to her.
She sent her mind out, knew Will was with Aidan on the top floor of the old three story hotel, going over final arrangements for the night with the network film crew. Purs and Gery were taking a break outside. They hadn’t gone dark yet, but soon would.
She sensed rather than heard Jeff walk into the room, alone.
“Hey, Jeff,” she said.
He softly chuckled. “That’s spooky.” He sat next to her.
She grinned, finally opened her eyes and looked at him. “Yeah, tell me about it.” She patted his thigh. “Hopefully, one day soon, you too shall experience the joys of soul mate super sensory perception.”
Jeff laughed, then blushed. His voice dropped. “Um, yeah. Can I ask you a personal question along those lines?”
Kal sensed his nervousness. She sat up straight. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. I guess.” He met her gaze. “Do you hear Will’s thoughts?”
She nodded. “If I’m actively listening to him, especially if he’s trying to speak to me.” There was more to his question. “Why?”
He shrugged. “What about random stuff? Like if he’s not really th
inking to you, do you pick up stuff sometimes?”
She nodded again. “Yeah. If he’s not guarding his thoughts I do. Why?”
He took a deep breath, reddened even further. “When you first got together… Did it feel like you couldn’t keep your hands off each other?”
She smiled. “Ohhh yeah.”
He wasn’t finished. She waited him out. “What else happened? Like better hearing and stuff?”
“Yeah. I can hear things now I never could before, sense things. Ryan told me everyone’s different though. It depends on their soul mate’s strengths and their own latent abilities. Why?”
He shrugged. “If I ask you something else, will you promise not to say anything to anyone?”
“Of course.”
“I feel all that now, with Aidan. Since… Ever since the first night we slept together. I feel different. Like I’m changed. How will I know when we become soul mates if I feel like that now and we’re just living together?” He picked at his fingernails. “What if he decides he can’t go through with it and do it? What if he won’t take me after all? I think it’d kill me, Kal. Just the thought of ever losing him is a physical pain, like a knife stabbing me in the heart. I’ve never felt like this before.”
“Oh, sweetie!” She enveloped him in a hug. “Don’t worry about that. Doofalicious is just a worry wort, that’s all. He loves you as much as you love him. There’s no way he’ll not keep you around forever, believe me.”
“Yeah?”
She sat back and smiled. “Yeah. Besides, it already feels like you’re one of the family. He’s just scared he’s going to hurt you so he’s taking his sweet time talking himself into it, trying to prove to himself that he’s worthy enough of you. In a way, it’s kind of sweet.”
“He’d never hurt me. I wish I could convince him of that.” His eyes flicked to the ceiling. “They’re on their way back down.”
She frowned. “How do you know—” The two-way radio squawked, interrupting her.
Aidan. “Hey, sweet cheeks. You awake?”
She grabbed the radio. “Yeah, I’m here.” Jeff stood and left the room before she could stop him.
Hell's Bells Page 24