by Laura Kaye
“Not another one of your hunches,” Ronin said, rolling his eyes. “What is it?”
“Our guy Iyri was a high priest, right?”
“Right.”
“And wasn’t the priest’s ceremonial office located in Memphis?”
“From what we’ve read, yes.”
“So I’m betting that’s where he was when he was captured,” Taeg said.
“Yeah, that makes sense. You’re thinking—”
“What are the odds the Council would decide to bury him right there?”
Ronin thought about it for a minute. “Knowing the Council, pretty damn good. Shit. I bet Mammon’s got his demons searching in the wrong place.”
“That’s what I’m thinking. I’ll flash over to the site of ancient Memphis while Cresso’s making the rounds locally.”
“Sounds good. In the meantime, I’ll do some research, see if I can narrow down a location for you.”
“Ten-four. Over and out,” Taeg said before hanging up.
Ronin let out a chuckle. “What a dick.”
But an amusing one.
He headed inside for his laptop, but no, it was locked in the room with Keegan. He was stuck waiting for him to finish.
Ronin paused in front of Brynn’s room. She’d been awfully quiet the last few hours. He knocked on the closed door, and then again, a bit louder. She didn’t respond.
Shit.
There was no way she could have left without him noticing. Could she?
“Brynn?” He twisted the knob and pushed open the door. His timing couldn’t have been worse.
She chose that moment to walk out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped over her head. And not a stitch of clothing elsewhere. She let out a sharp scream, snatched the towel from her head, and used it to cover herself.
“Sorry,” Ronin choked out, slapping his hands over his face. It was too late to un-see what he’d seen, though, and the image of that would stick with him. Her curves were subtle, but they were most definitely there. If Keegan found out, he’d be a dead man.
“What do you want?” Brynn gasped.
His cheeks grew warm, and he opened his mouth to reply, but the hot air that blew along the back of his neck choked off his response.
Oh, shit.
Keegan’s voice growled behind him, sounding more animal than man. “What the hell’s going on here?”
Chapter Twelve
Keegan speared Ronin with his glare, waiting for him to respond.
“Nothing,” Ronin said, though it was obvious that wasn’t true. “Nothing’s going on.”
He tried to calm the unreasonable bloodlust that rose within him at the thought of his brother seeing Brynn naked. Clearly, that had been a mistake; Ronin’s crimson face betrayed his embarrassment. Still, the beast within him wanted to fall on his brother in a mass of snarling fury.
“Why didn’t you knock?” Brynn asked Ronin irritably.
“Sorry.” Ronin opened one eye, and once he was sure she was fully covered, the other. He glanced at Keegan, and Keegan knew Ronin’s words were mostly for his benefit. “I did knock. Twice. I got a little worried when you didn’t respond. Guess you didn’t hear me.”
“Oh,” Brynn said in a soft, embarrassed voice. “What’s going on?”
Keegan stopped glaring at Ronin long enough to look at her, but then he wished he hadn’t. He couldn’t stop thinking about what was underneath that towel. “Nothing new.”
“You spoke to the Council?” Ronin asked.
“You did?” she asked eagerly. “What did they say?”
“Nothing new,” he said. Which was true. They hadn’t made any headway in locating the whereabouts of the book.
“Oh, that’s too bad,” she said, her face falling into a little frown.
“Listen,” Ronin said to Keegan, “I heard from Taeg. He’s got a hunch on something.”
Thank the devil. Keegan honestly didn’t know how much longer he could stand just a few feet away from a barely clad Brynn. Knowing she was one tug from being naked drove him insane.
“Wait,” she cried, as Ronin started closing the door. “I want to hear this, too.”
“It, um, doesn’t really have much to do with you,” Ronin said.
She bristled at those words. “Doesn’t everything about this mess have to do with me?”
Ronin gave him a questioning frown, and Keegan shrugged. As long as what his brother had to say didn’t have anything to do with the Council’s possible death order, what did he care if she listened in? As long as she was fully clothed.
“Get dressed, then meet us in the parlor,” Keegan said. Fighting the urge to indulge in another once-over of her body, he turned and left.
Ronin followed him. “So, really? Nothing new from the Council?”
Keegan was beyond frustrated. “They’ve got their scholars searching their records, but there aren’t any clues on the tomb’s location. Mammon’s already placed a team there, under the guise of being a wealthy investor funding a major archaeological dig, and they don’t want to red-flag human leaders to a potential problem.”
Ronin sighed. “Bureaucratic bullshit.”
“Never ends,” Keegan agreed. “By the way, stay the fuck out of Brynn’s room. Got it?”
His little brother broke out in a fierce blush. “Yeah, got it.”
He seemed appropriately embarrassed, so Keegan moved on. “What’s Taeg’s theory?”
“Oh, get this,” he said, excitement spreading across his face. “What if everyone’s searching for the book in the wrong place?”
“What do you mean?”
Ronin relayed the conversation he’d had with Taeg.
“No shit.” Keegan had to admit that something about his brother’s hunch seemed dead-on. If a high priest was going to make a power play against a mighty council of otherworldly beings, wouldn’t he want to do it from his ceremonial headquarters?
Brynn’s voice sounded behind him. “What is it?”
Keegan watched her stride into the parlor, a curious expression on her face. “Taeg thinks we might be searching for the book in the wrong place. There’s a good chance the tomb it’s buried in is located in Memphis.”
“Memphis?” she echoed, lifting a brow in obvious disbelief.
“The ancient Egyptian city of Memphis,” Ronin clarified.
A pink flush brightened her cheeks. “Oh, that one.”
“If we could only find out exactly where he was when he was captured…” Ronin trailed off, his mind apparently already occupied by thoughts of the ancient city. “I’m going to go do some research.”
He left the parlor.
Keegan was struck by the uncomfortable realization that this was the first time they’d been alone since he’d almost kissed her. How foolish he’d been.
Worse, he still wanted to kiss her. Very much.
Seeking to break the tension, he walked to the window and glanced out of it. Crowds of revelers swarmed the streets. It would be so easy to get lost in a crowd this size. So very easy. What would it be like, to forget about all of this turmoil for a while and just enjoy life? To allow Brynn to experience at least the illusion of freedom?
He surprised himself by turning back to Brynn. “Want to go out for a bit?”
“Really? I mean, yeah, I’d love to.” She hesitated. “I hate to ask, because I really, really would like to go, but is it safe?”
“Should be safe enough in the crowd of people. The odds of Mammon finding us here are slim. It’s not as if he has a GPS tracker on you. Your apartment and your gallery, on the other hand, won’t be safe to return to until this mess is figured out.”
“My gallery.” Her face took on a pained expression that disappeared so swiftly he thought he might have imagined it. She grabbed her long black coat and followed him to the door. “Why do I need to stay inside at all, if Mammon can’t track me?”
“I said the odds are slim. Not impossible. He’s got demons working for him everywhere. Given the consequ
ences if he does find you, I’d say it’s better to err on the side of caution.”
Brynn appeared lost in thought as they hopped in the elevator and he pressed the button for the opulent lobby. When she turned to him, a vulnerable look haunted her gaze. “Are you going to be able to find him, Keegan? Do you think you’ll be able to stop him?”
The quiver in her voice just about killed him. Hoping to reassure her, he lifted his hand to caress her cheek. “Yes, Brynn, I do.”
Something hot and heavy blazed in her eyes, something that made it impossible to look away. His breath caught.
The elevator opened and three interested pairs of eyes peered at them. For the first time he realized they’d edged closer together, until they stood mere inches apart. Clearing his throat, he hastily broke away.
Brynn hugged her coat to her as they stepped into the frigid cold. The smell of stale beer and piss stained the air around them. Drunken revelers wearing masks and beads careened past them, laughing riotously as they zoomed down the street carrying beer cups.
“I didn’t realize it was Mardi Gras until we got here,” she said.
“Mardi Gras?” He frowned, unfamiliar with the phrase. “What’s that?”
With an exasperated shake of her head, she said, “How is it that you seem so normal, yet you know nothing about popular culture?”
“We learn as much as we can before visiting other worlds, but our timelines are usually pretty short.”
“Sometimes you amaze me.”
She explained the history behind the celebration while he watched the throngs of people walking past, some barely dressed.
“I’m afraid some of these people are going to freeze to death,” he told her.
Brynn followed his gaze to a thin woman wearing nothing more than a mask, pasties, a thong, and what looked like her weight in beads. She laughed. “Most of them have probably had so much liquor they barely even notice.”
Surely, a dangerous state for beings as fragile as humans. He saw something ahead and grabbed her hand. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
Fighting to pull her through the crowd, he led her to a booth where a man sold masks and beads. Keegan picked an elaborate purple and gold full-face mask with feathers on one side. “This one suits you.”
“It’s pretty.” She put it on and he moved behind her to tie the strings in the back. “If I’m wearing one, you need one, too.”
Keegan shrugged, then chose a black and gold jester mask that he figured was masculine enough. He squatted, waiting impatiently while Brynn tied it behind his head. Her intoxicating scent closed in on him, overwhelming even the foul stench of the streets.
Too close. She stood far too close for comfort.
As soon as she finished tying the knot, he pulled away and turned to face her.
“That looks great on you,” she said.
Laughing, he paid the man at the booth. He led her away from the huge, swaying mass of people on one end of the street. When they approached another crowd pocket, he grabbed her hand, and this time he didn’t let go. He told himself it made sense, given the amount of people on the street. But he didn’t try to fool himself—touching her felt good. Her cool hand warmed in his, and he envisioned what it would feel like for her soft fingers to caress other parts of his body.
Cursing inwardly, he forced himself to think about something else. He scanned the crowd, searching for any signs of danger, but found nothing. “Maybe Ronin was right about hiding out here.”
Her glance was curious. “Why do you say that?”
“The crowd—not to mention the masks—should provide more than enough safety.”
“Ooh, does that mean I actually get to leave the hotel room?”
Keegan laughed at her eager tone, squeezing her hand. “As long as one of us accompanies you, I don’t see why not.”
They walked for several long minutes, taking in the craziness around them, before he paused in front of a restaurant with only a small line of people waiting to eat.
“Do you like French cuisine?” he asked her.
“Love it.” She practically skipped to the end of the line.
Later, when they’d sat at a private booth and ordered their food, she asked, “So do you need to eat, just like huma—you know, just like we do?”
“Not quite the same. Our foods are similar, but I could get by eating once a month if I had to.”
“Weird.” Brynn blinked. “How about liquids?”
“Same.” She opened her mouth to ask another question, but he decided to beat her to it. “Do you find it difficult to restrain your natural abilities in crowds like this?”
“Huh. I never thought about it.” Her gaze tilted upward while she mulled over his question. “No, I suppose not. My powers are hidden, waiting to be called out. But for the most part, I control them, and not the other way around. I can use these, for example, without too much trouble.” She lifted the fork set on the table in front of her. “What about you, with your powers?”
“Same.”
Brynn studied him carefully. “What is it that you can do, anyway? You never told me.”
Damn. He hadn’t considered his question might lead to this. He tapped his fingers on the table as he considered how best to answer. “It’s my blood that has the ability to heal, and it happens quickly.”
“Can it heal just you, or others, as well?”
“It can heal others, too.”
“Impressive. So how does that work? People don’t have to drink it or anything, do they?”
“The blood is simply placed on the wound and it heals. Works on bruises, too.”
“Bruises? Oh, so that’s why I didn’t have a sore jaw when I woke up in your apartment?”
He winced. Now that he knew her, the memory of striking her filled him with shame. Wordlessly, he nodded.
“Huh.” Her face took on a considering expression. “Okay, what else can you do?”
Keegan shrugged and shifted in his seat. He briefly considered not answering at all, but knowing her, she would keep asking. “Demons are generally stronger and faster than humans, which is why we can be such a danger to them.”
“Yeah, but why come here, anyway? I mean, why not stay in Infernum? Is it that bad?”
She had no idea.
“It’s not exactly welcoming. It’s barren and primitive in many ways. Desolate, like your deserts, and always dark, but constantly hot, even at night.”
“And you work there as a…Detainor?”
Keegan nodded. “I hunt down treaty violators from Infernum who flee the Council.”
“How did you get the job of capturing Mammon on Earth?”
He couldn’t very well tell her the truth. At least not all of it. But she deserved to know something—it was her life that was in danger—so he settled for bits and pieces. “Mammon is a special case. He was a well-respected scientist back in Infernum, and he had a position as a high-level adviser to the Council.”
Brynn blinked at that. “A…a demon scientist?”
“Yes.” He chuckled. “Why so surprised? Our world studies science, like yours.”
“I don’t know. I guess I assumed from your description that it isn’t very advanced.”
“As it happens, Mammon is a brilliant demon. The Council used to send him on missions to other worlds, to catalog the different species and study their biology.”
“You’ve said worlds several times. Just how many are there?”
“Dozens. Thousands. Who knows for sure, other than at the highest level of the Council?”
“Thousands?” She gaped at him, wide-eyed. “You’ve totally blown my mind.”
“It’s a large multiverse, Brynn.”
“Why does the Council want to catalog species?”
“It’s made up of males and females from a variety of worlds, and I suspect its members don’t trust one another. That’s why someone from Infernum was sent to catalog humans, whereas someone from Earth might have
been sent to Infernum to catalog demons and angels. We—”
“Hold on, hold on.” Brynn lifted both hands. “Did you just say angels?”
“Again, not quite the same as what you humans have imagined. They are a species of beings who can fly. They fancy themselves the royalty of Infernum, living in castles built into the sky, far from the mayhem located on the ground.”
“Why call them that, then? Why angels and demons?”
“More than likely, human perceptions of angels and demons have been borrowed from prior interactions with both species, stretched and twisted over time, idealized into notions of good and evil.”
He reached across the table and took her hand in his, giving it a squeeze. Even though he knew better, he couldn’t help but want to comfort her. “I know this is difficult for you. I’m impressed with how you’ve been handling things.”
“Yeah, that’s me”—Brynn gave him a trembling smile—“totally unflappable.”
He chuckled, letting go of her hand when the waitress arrived with their food.
“So,” she said once the waitress had left, “the Council members didn’t know Mammon was dangerous?”
“Oh, they knew he was capable of evil.” They knew it all too well. “But to them, evil is relative. As long as he did his job—and did it well—they overlooked some of the less savory things he did.”
“Which were?”
“Doesn’t matter now.” Hopefully she’d get the hint and drop it. He didn’t want to go into this. Not now. Not ever.
“What?” she insisted. “I want to know.”
Of course she would. And she deserved to, never mind how much he didn’t want to speak of it. “He had a weakness for kidnapping females in the worlds he visited and raping them.”
She gasped. “And the Council knew about this?”
“Yes.”
“And they did nothing to stop him?”
He couldn’t mask the bitterness in his tone. “As I said, to the Council, evil is relative.”
“Unbelievable,” Brynn muttered, fury written all over her face. “How can you stand working for people like that?”
“Things aren’t always as black and white as they seem. There is one good thing that’s come of all this, though—once the Council learned of Mammon’s latest scheme, they couldn’t pretend it wasn’t happening. This time, they had to act.”