by Shéa MacLoed
I thanked him and dropped in another lump of sugar. There was nothing else we could do right now, so why not have tea?
"Well, Jack is still looking for leads," I said, taking a sip of the biscuity goodness. I'm more of a coffee person, but I do love a good Assam. "Maybe he'll come up with something."
"We can only hope," Eddie said, clinking his cup against mine. "If we don't get hold of that book soon, very bad things could happen. And there will be nothing I or anyone else can do to stop them." His tone was beyond grim.
He wasn't kidding. If what we had discovered about the grimoire was correct, Alister could use it to wreak all kinds of havoc. We had to stop him before it was too late for everyone.
# # #
After I left Eddie's, I stopped by the office to let Kabita know I was in town, and the results of our consulting the sentient book. She was sitting behind her desk, calmly sharpening one of her many blades. She took the news of Eddie's true nature surprisingly well. But then that was Kabita for you. She took everything surprisingly well. For all I knew, she'd known who he was long before I had. She was sneaky like that.
"Have you heard from Jack?" She asked, as if that were somehow more important than the fact that one of our dear friends was an ancient Titan masquerading as an ordinary human obsessed with steampunk
"Nope," I said. "Not since Scotland. I've tried calling him a couple times, but he doesn't answer. Talk about worst Guardian ever."
That made her chuckle. "No kidding. So we've got no leads on Alister's location."
"Not a one." I paused. "Unless…"
"Yes?" She glanced up from her whetstone.
"Unless," I said. "What about Jade?"
"What about Jade?" Kabita asked, laying the stone on her desk and carefully sliding her knife back into its sheath. "You're not seriously thinking of consulting that freak are you?"
"Watch who you're calling a freak," I said. "She's not that different than me."
"You're kidding, right? That girl is as different from you as night from day. For one thing, she's mad as a March hare. For another she's completely homicidal."
"It's not her fault she's crazy and homicidal," I reminded her. "Darroch and the freaking Fairy Queen messed with her brain. There's no way of knowing what she would have been if they hadn't screwed things up. There's no telling what I would have been if someone had done the same to me. I lucked out. You found me first."
That was the real question. Who was the monster here? The girl who'd had magic screw with her brain? Or the one who just naturally liked to kill things? Granted it was the Darkness that enjoyed the killing, not me. But the Darkness was part of me, and that I couldn't change even if I wanted to. Did that mean I was a monster?
"You're nothing like her, Morgan." Kabita shook her head. "Anyway, what makes you think she can help? She's been locked up for months. She's had no contact with Alister. She couldn't possibly know where he is any more than I do."
Gods, it must suck to find out your father was a bigger bastard than you could have ever imagined. "Jade spent a lot of time with him at one point. Maybe she knows something, someplace he likes to go. Somewhere that's important to him. Maybe he told her about his plans. I need to try. I have to talk to her. We can't leave any stone unturned. This is far too important."
Kabita shook her head. "Fine. But don't blame me if she tries to shank you."
"Trevor will be there to protect me." I couldn't help the sarcasm.
She snorted and started shuffling through a stack of paperwork. As I left the office, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Trevor. If I was going to talk to Jade, I was going to need his help.
Chapter Sixteen
For the second time in as many months, I found myself bouncing over the rough terrain of the Nevada desert. The road, if it could be called that, seriously needed a new pave job, although I doubted the government would let any road workers near the place. They probably had more than enough gossip to deal with as it was without a road crew telling tales of an escaped vampire snacking on their boss. Made the alien conspiracy seem like small potatoes.
I glanced at Trevor, who was unusually stoic, hiding behind dark tinted glasses. "Thanks for this," I said. "I know you had to pull a lot of strings to get me in again."
"You have no idea." He gave me a sideways glance. "The things I do for you."
"That's what family's for. Right?"
I could almost see him rolling his eyes at me. "My life was so simple before you came along," he said, but I could hear the affection in his voice. Before I'd come along, we'd both been alone. Only children without a father. Our father was still dead, but now we had each other.
"Oh, sure, it was," I said. "Probably spent all your time down at the pub. Nothing to do, nothing to see. No demons to fight or crazy-ass sidhe to throw in jail. Poor man, your life was so dull without me."
"Don't make me drop you off in the middle of the desert."
I laughed. "I'd like to see you try."
"Don't tempt me." I could see the slightest hint of a grin curving his lips.
"You and whose army? No wonder they haven't given you a new partner yet."
A muscle ticked in his jaw, and I could have kicked myself. His partner had been murdered by the Fairy Queen's psycho brother. Trevor had been understandably upset and had asked me to help him find the killer. I'd always wondered if the two had been more than just work partners. But I hadn't asked. I figured if they had been, and he'd wanted me to know about it, Trevor would have told me. Since he hadn't, it was none of my damn business.
"Sorry," I muttered. "I didn't mean…"
"What's the plan?" he interrupted. He stared straight ahead, tapping his thumb on the steering wheel. Okay, subject change.
"We walk in. I ask Jade if she knows where Alister is. We get our answer. We walk out. Easy is that."
"You think it's gonna be that easy, huh?"
I shrugged. "Maybe. She seemed to be a little more forthcoming last time we saw her. I think she's finally figuring out Alister and Darroch aren't exactly on her side. Those two have been using her for their own purposes for a long time. Maybe she's finally ready to stand up for herself. Take control of her life." Jade might be a killer, but it was the three amigos who'd turned her into one. I couldn't wait to get my hands on them.
"And you think she's gonna do that by helping us?"
"We can only hope."
The car slid to a stop in front of the first checkpoint. It was a simple aluminum-sided building painted a boring cream and surrounded by a whole lot of chain-link fencing and razor wire. Trevor rolled down the window. The heat was oppressive. It hit me like a blast furnace as a face appeared at the window. I recognized the guard from my last visit. He peered into the car, face impassive as he scanned each of us carefully. "Mr. Daly. Ms. Bailey. I was told to expect you. Please proceed to the next gate." He stood back and waved us forward. It didn't make me feel very confident that he still had his gun ready.
With a small salute, Trevor continued down the gravel road. Dust kicked up behind us in a billowing cloud. All around us, as far as the eye could see, was baked earth and dusty sagebrush. This was not a place I would choose to vacation.
The second checkpoint was almost as quick and soon we were making our way down the hill to the large parking lot that surrounded Area 51. As Trevor and I climbed out of the car, it felt as if the heat and dry air were sucking the moisture from my lungs. I could almost feel my skin cracking as we approached the concrete building that housed the underground prison for the compound's more interesting inmates. I breathed a sigh of relief as we passed into the cool darkness of the entryway. I didn't even mind the pat-down from the big, burly woman who looked like she could break me in half with two fingers. I bet she could bench press a car if she had a mind to. I gave her a big smile when she was done, which she totally ignored. Instead she waved me over to join Trevor before stomping off down the hall.
We didn't have long to wait for our escort to jo
in us. I remembered him from our first visit. The over-eager young Roberts with the wide eyes and freckled nose. He greeted us enthusiastically as he ushered us toward the bank of shiny elevators.
"Don't worry," he said. "I'm quite sure this time there won't be a jailbreak."
He was no doubt right since Brent Darroch no longer resided inside Area 51. According to Trevor, he'd been sent somewhere a whole lot worse and a whole lot more secure. Since Area 51 was about as secure as they came, I was guessing Antarctica. Served him right.
We stepped into the elevator, and Roberts pushed one of the numerous unlabeled buttons. The doors slid shut with a small ding, and the elevator began to descend much faster than I would've liked. It came to a stop with a small bounce, leaving my stomach somewhere in the vicinity of my throat. I swallowed hard, willing the bile back into place.
"Here we are," Roberts said cheerfully, ushering us from the elevator car. "We've got a room reserved for you. Don't worry, she'll be chained so she can't get to you. She's been pretty calm lately, though. Reading a lot of poetry, and meditating and stuff." He shook his head as if to say he'd seen everything.
He let us down the hall to a gray door marked with the number six in red paint. Swinging it open, he waved us inside. "The prisoner will be here any moment. Can I get you anything? Coffee? Water? Cola?"
"Thanks, Roberts. We're fine," Trevor said, giving the young man a tight smile. "We'll take it from here."
"Of course." Roberts nodded, turned to me, and gave me a gentlemanly little nod. "Ma'am. I'll be back for ya'll when you're finished." He stepped out into the hall and closed the door softly behind him. I could have sworn I heard him whistling.
We didn't have long to wait before the door opened again, and two guards strode into the room, a small figure in fluorescent orange between them. They sat Jade in the chair opposite us and locked her handcuffs to the table. Without another word they turned and strode out, shutting the door behind them.
I stared at the girl across the table. She'd changed since I last saw her. She was paler, her cheeks more gaunt, and dark roots were beginning to show in her short platinum-blonde hair. Even her posture had changed, her shoulders slightly bowed as if they carried the weight of the world. Dark circles under her eyes aged her far beyond her years.
"Hi, Jade," I said gently.
"Hey," she said, not looking at me. She stared down at the table, as if it was the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen. Her thin hands were clutched together on top of the steel table, her knuckles white.
"How are you feeling?" I asked. "I mean, are they treating you okay?"
She shrugged. "No different than before. What do you care?" Some of the old Jade arrogance returned, but only for a moment.
"I care because what was done to you was wrong. No one deserves that. No one should have to go through that, and I'm sorry you did. I want to help you. If I can. If you'll let me." Despite what she'd done to me, to Inigo, I meant every word.
She glanced up, and judging by the look on her face, she didn't believe me. She wanted to, but she couldn't. Couldn't say I blamed her. After what those bastards had done to her, I wouldn't trust anyone either.
"You been talking to a shrink?" I changed tactics.
She snorted, seeming amused. "Yeah, every damn day. Like it's going to do any good." Her very slight English accent was a little stronger today.
"Keeps the suits happy, though, doesn't it?"
She shrugged, handcuffs clinking against the table. "Yeah, I guess."
"Well, that's better than the alternative, isn't it?" I asked, and got another shrug for my trouble.
There was something I knew that Jade didn't. And that was that her shrink wasn't really a shrink. Not in the normal sense of the word. He was a supernatural, and he was the only thing standing between her and a permanent psych ward or worse. His people had the ability to manipulate brainwave patterns, at least temporarily. It was his regular suppression of the impulses put in her brain by the Queen and Brent Darroch that was keeping Jade sane. Without him, she'd still be the crazed killer I'd met months ago.
"Is there anything you need Jade? Anything I can help you with?" I asked.
She shrugged. "Get me out of here?" She glanced up, her eyes peeking through her overlong bangs. There was desperation there. I got it. Hunters 'didn't do well being locked up, and she was a Dragon Hunter. She was even less suited to confined spaces than I was.
"I wish I could," I said. "You've got a way to go before they're going to let you out of here, you know that." If they ever did. "But if you help me, it'll go a long way toward proving you're ready to rejoin society."
Her look was rife with suspicion. "How can I help you?"
"Alister Jones," I said. "Do you know where he is?"
"Why would I know where he is?" Her tone was defensive, but I'd seen her stiffen at the mention of his name.
"You were close once," I said. "Maybe he told you something about his plans?"
"Alister Jones left me to rot," she said bitterly. "Why would he tell me anything?"
"Okay, how about a book? A very special book. Did he ever mention that?"
She mulled that over. "Actually, he did. Yeah. He used to go on about some book he said had magical powers." She snorted. "I just thought he was crazy, you know? Or like one of those conspiracy people they always have on TV that are prepping for Doomsday or looking for aliens or whatever. I didn't think he meant an actual magical book."
"Do you remember anything he said about it or what he planned to use it for?"
She shook her head, her long bangs practically covering her face. "No. He just rattled on about how it was going to change the world. He never said anything about how or anything like that."
"He never told you where he kept it?"
"Of course not. He wouldn't tell me something like that. He did say that it was someplace obvious. Like, he always said it was so obvious no one would ever think to look there. And then he'd laugh. No, wait." Her focus grew cloudy as if she was trying to recall something. "He didn't say 'no one.' He said you."
"Excuse me?"
"Alister said the place he'd hidden the book was so obvious 'Morgan Bailey would never think to look there.'"
That didn't really help. It could be anywhere. The UK, the US. Heck, it could be anywhere in the world, knowing Alister. He could have hidden it in the Otherworld, for all I knew.
"Was there someplace he talked about going? Maybe a special place he liked to visit? A favorite vacation spot? Or somewhere he liked to go to be alone?" Trevor prompted.
Jade scrunched up her forehead as if deep in thought. "Well, there was this one place. He used to talk about wanting to go there, but I don't think he'd ever been there before. He never said why, but he was kind of obsessed with it."
Trevor and I exchanged looks. This was it. This had to be it.
"And that was?" I prodded.
"Michigan."
# # #
"Michigan? Why the hell would my father want to go to Michigan?" Despite the tinny quality of the speaker phone, Kabita clearly sounded as baffled as I felt. She was obviously shocked enough to forget herself and refer to Alister as her father. She'd been careful to avoid using that particular F word ever since she'd discovered his betrayal.
"Good question," I said. "Did he ever talk about Michigan before? Like maybe there was something there he wanted to see? A tourist trap or an historical landmark." I was trying to remember anything I'd ever heard about Michigan other than the Great Lakes.
"Not that I recall." There was a pause. "Maybe something he and your father planned?"
Once upon a time, Alister and my father, Alexander Morgan, had been friends. They'd even been partners at the SRA, the Supernatural Regulatory Agency. But then Alister had turned on my father, and, if what I'd learned so far was true, had killed him. Then he'd lied to my mother about my father's death. For years I was told nothing but lies, and then I'd met my brother, Trevor, and my father's friend, Tommy Wahen
aka, and I learned things that even now I found hard to believe. But it was possible that, back when they were friends, my father and Alister had talked about Michigan. Maybe even planned something. The question was why? What was in Michigan?
"I don't know. Maybe," I said. "Anything's possible. I'll have to ask my mother. Maybe she knows something."
"Good idea," Kabita said. She changed the subject. "What time does your flight get in?"
I relayed the question to Trevor. He glanced at me, then turned his eyes back to the road. It was already dark and there were no streetlights this far out. I winced as we hit another pothole and my elbow smacked against the car door. Trevor raised his voice so Kabita could hear him on the other end of the line. "We missed the last flight out of Vegas," he said. "We'll stay the night and fly back in the morning."
"Got it," Kabita said in my ear. "Just try and stay out of trouble, okay?"
"I'll do my best."
In the dark it took us nearly four hours to get back to Las Vegas. By the time we did, I was exhausted. I felt dirty and grody, and all I wanted was a hot bath and a long sleep. In that order. Oh, and some food if it wasn't too much trouble. I said good night to Trevor at the hotel room door, then called room service before stepping into the small bathroom to run a bath. The hotel had those fancy bath products in the tiny bottles, so I dumped in an entire bottle of "Tangerine Dream" bubble bath. Might as well smell good while I was at it.
Since it would be forty-five minutes before my food arrived (apparently they had to kill and pluck the chicken first), I shucked off my clothes and sank into the warm bubbly water. I leaned my head against the lip of the tub and closed my eyes. Images of the last few days flitted through my mind, but I ignored them. I needed to relax, not think about killing vampires or chasing after Alister Jones. As I relaxed I began to think about Inigo. I didn't understand what was going on with him. Oh, I knew it was the PTSD thing. If anyone understood PTSD, it was me. I'd nearly been killed by a vampire, after all. In fact, technically I had been killed. I still had nightmares about it. And yeah, I still hid things from the people I loved. I couldn't imagine explaining to my mother how I'd been dead. That would go over like a ton of bricks.