Death's Door (Supernatural Security Force Book 3)

by Heather Hildenbrand

  “Trying to MacGyver your way out of here, eh?” Milo asked, nudging him away from the clippers with a booted toe.

  “Gmthodfhg,” Rourke replied tersely, his words impossibly muffled from behind his gag.

  “Are you using my mother’s gardening glove as a gag?” I asked.

  “The webbing dissolved. I worked with what I had,” Jax said simply.

  I reached down and pulled the glove loose, handling it with careful fingertips before dropping it at my feet.

  “Warlock drool, gross,” I said.

  “Been a minute since you experienced that,” Milo teased.

  I thought of my ex, Z, and gave Milo the finger. He laughed.

  “Thank you,” Rourke said, licking his lips as he looked up at me expectantly. “Now, how about my hands?”

  “Don’t get ahead of yourself.” I crouched beside him. “We have questions about Selaphiel,” I said. “And you’re going to answer them.”

  His eyes narrowed. “If you’re not going to free me, I have nothing to say to you.”

  Milo stepped closer, his boot prodding Rourke’s middle. “Maybe you misunderstood. Your magic is useless here. Mine, on the other hand,” he opened his palm and let loose with a few sparks of light. I knew from experience it would only stun Rourke, but Rourke didn’t know that, and Milo grinned, enjoying the bluff. “Mine works just fine.”

  Jax growled, his form shimmering as his panther rippled underneath the surface of his skin. “As does mine.”

  “You don’t scare me,” Rourke said, and I gave him points when his voice only wobbled slightly.

  Unfortunately, his refusal to cooperate was a counter bluff I wasn’t sure I wanted to call him on. Not if that meant doing real harm. While I wasn’t against a good ass-whooping, and the Angel knew Rourke deserved it, I wasn’t in the mood to murder in cold blood. Not in my mother’s gardening shed. Bloodstains didn’t come out of wooden floors.

  But the fact remained we needed answers. And Rourke had them.

  I glanced at Jax, nodding to Fergie. “You should take her outside. She shouldn’t have to see this.”

  “I’m not leaving you to do it alone.”

  “Take her to Cora,” Milo suggested.

  “No,” I said quickly. “Not with Raph in there. I don’t trust him with her.”

  “I can’t leave her by herself,” Jax said.

  “Just stay outside with her,” I told him.

  “And miss all the fun?” he said, his smile showing more teeth than necessary.

  “Give her to me,” Milo said. He held his hands out as Jax worked to lift her from the sling. “Come to Uncle Milo, you little devil.”

  When he caught my expression, he grinned. “Cute little devil,” he amended.

  Fergie stirred awake as Jax handed her over. Large eyes opened and landed on me then Milo as he settled her in his arms.

  “Welcome back,” Milo said brightly.

  “Fuckery,” Fergie responded sleepily.

  “We really need to expand her vocabulary,” I muttered.

  Milo chuckled, but the sound was drowned out by Rourke’s gasp.

  “What is that?” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

  “This is Fergie,” I said as Milo turned to give him a clear view.

  “She’s a . . . a . . .” Even in the low light, Rourke visibly paled.

  “A demon,” I finished for him.

  Jax sent me a look.

  “What? No point hiding the fact when she’s right here,” I said.

  “Who are we to label her?” Jax said. “I mean, what if she identifies differently when she gets older? I’m just trying to stay open-minded.”

  “Uh, I think that only applies to gender,” Milo pointed out.

  “And sexual orientation,” I put in.

  “I just want her to feel like she can be herself,” Jax said, and I shook my head.

  Rourke’s attention never wavered from Fergie.

  She strained toward him, and Milo pulled her back. “No, that’s a warlock, Fergie. We don’t associate with them.”

  “Seriously?” Rourke demanded, indignant. “I’m the pariah here? You’ve got to be kidding me. She’s a demon. A murderer.”

  “She’s just a baby,” I said.

  “She’d eat me if she could.”

  Damn. He had me there.

  Fergie reached for him again and said, “Rawr.”

  Rourke shrank away.

  “Maybe she will,” I said with a shrug. “In fact, maybe Milo will put her down and let her.”

  Rourke’s eyes widened. “You wouldn’t.”

  I thought of Patrice and felt a wave of guilt, but there was no room for any of that now.

  “Of course not,” I said lightly, and Jax huffed in clear disappointment. “Unless you refuse to answer our questions.”

  Rourke stared at Fergie, wide-eyed.

  Milo leaned down and let Fergie’s stubby little hand swipe along Rourke’s arm. He yelped, and Milo pulled Fergie back again, both of them laughing.

  “All right, what do you want to know?” Rourke said shakily.

  “Good boy,” Jax murmured.

  But Rourke ignored him, still watching Fergie with open terror.

  “What or who does Selaphiel care about most in the world?” I asked.

  Rourke tore his gaze from Fergie and blinked at me in confusion. “What kind of question is that?”

  “It’s a simple one, really,” I said with a shrug.

  “Who gets her going?” Milo put in. “You know, what revs her engine?”

  “I understand your meaning,” Rourke grumbled. “But I have no idea of the answer.”

  “That’s unfortunate.” I nodded at Milo, who slowly lowered Fergie to her feet.

  “You hungry, little one?” Milo cooed, and Rourke’s eyes bulged. He tried shimmying his body backward, but instead, it looked like he’d attempted dancing “the worm.”

  “Okay, look, I have no idea if there’s a person, okay? But I could guess at the thing she wants most,” Rourke said, his voice pitching high.

  Milo scooped Fergie into the air, tossing her a little so she giggled.

  Rourke looked at Milo like he’d gone insane.

  I couldn’t blame him except Milo had been insane long before he met Fergie.

  “Which is what?” I prompted.

  Rourke grimaced. “For months now, she’s wanted portals opened. Always has specific types of demons she wants called up and from where.”

  “What do you mean ‘from where’?” Jax asked.

  “Yeah, aren’t they all coming from Hell?” I asked.

  Rourke actually had the nerve to roll his eyes at that. “Contrary to popular belief, there are multiple dimensions that exist, and in each is a world full of creatures like ours. In some of them, supernaturals rule. Some, like this one, are full of humans who have no idea we exist. And in some, demons have overrun the Earth. Those dimensions are the ones you’d typically refer to as hell.”

  I thought of what Adrik had said about there being many versions of the “heaven” Selaphiel was so desperate to get back to.

  “Fine, multiple dimensions,” I said. “And what does she want most from them?”

  “Demons.” He said it like we were idiots for even asking.

  “What’s the next portal she wants you to open?”

  “I don’t know anything ahead of time.”

  Jax kicked him.

  “Ow. I mean it. Look, our deal is that she gives me metaphysical coordinates, and I use them to conjure what she asks. It’s obsessive, really. So, if I had to guess, I’d say the thing she cares about most are these portals. Or the demons inside them.”

  “Hmm.” Jax, Milo, and I shared a look. “Adrik did say Selaphiel wants to bring in enough demons that she can make herself look powerful in defeating them and get invited back to Heaven,” I told them.

  “Whoa, they can do that?” Rourke asked.

  “You mean your girlfriend didn’t s
hare her ultimate plan with you?” I shot back.

  Rourke huffed. “Sela’s not my girl.”

  My eyes narrowed, trying to discern whether his cheeks were flushed from my teasing comment or from the whole “death at his doorstep” situation we’d put him in.

  “When are you supposed to meet with her again?” I asked.

  “Tomorrow night.” His gaze flicked away. “I’m supposed to bring your mother.”

  My eyes narrowed. Fresh fury rose up.

  Milo snorted. “Well, looks like you’ll be a double disappointment.”

  “Do you think he’s telling the truth?” Jax asked, ignoring Rourke entirely.

  “About Sela not being his girl?” Milo huffed. “Yeah.”

  “About the portals?” Jax pressed.

  I shook my head. “I don’t know, but it lines up with what Adrik told me.” I bit my lip, considering. “I think it’s the truth as far as he knows,” I said finally.

  Rourke’s shoulders sagged like he was relieved.

  “You sure?” Milo asked. He gestured to Fergie, who now squirmed in his arms. “I could let her loose on him. Just to be sure.”

  “Do it,” Jax said.

  “Wait!” Rourke managed to look guilty and terrified all at once. “Whatever portal or monster she wants next is bigger than the others before. It’ll require a special sacrifice.”

  “What kind of sacrifice?” Milo asked.

  “And what kind of demon?” I demanded.

  “She hasn’t told me.”

  Fergie drooled, some of it falling on Rourke in a sticky-looking sort of waterfall.

  Rourke recoiled. “I swear to the Angel that’s all I know,” Rourke blurted. “It’s not like she tells me all her secrets. She’s a Neph. I’m nothing to her.”

  Jax looked at me questioningly.

  I sighed. “I think he’s telling the truth.”

  “Sorry, Ferg, no warlock snacks today,” Milo told her.

  Fergie pouted. “Shitbricks.”

  I cut her a sharp look. “Where the hell did you learn that one?”

  Milo snorted. “I think Gran is leaving a mark.”

  “Great,” I muttered.

  “Are we done with this guy?” Jax asked, shoving his boot against Rourke’s rib.

  “Yeah,” I said, and the hope in Rourke’s eyes was unmistakable.

  Jax grabbed the gardening glove, and Rourke’s hopeful expression turned immediately to panic.

  “Wait. You don’t have to—”

  Jax’s fist shot out and smashed into Rourke’s jaw. Rourke grunted and then immediately went slack. Out like a light.

  “Much better,” Jax said.

  “The gag would have worked just as well,” I said.

  He turned an accusing eye on me. “I can’t believe you almost went out with this loser.”

  My jaw dropped. “First of all, I didn’t almost go out with him. And second, since when are you the dating police?”

  “I’m worse,” Jax growled. “An alpha with a mating call. The longer you wait to answer my question, the stronger my beast’s thirst for blood becomes.”

  “Blood?” I blinked. “I thought your beast wanted to date me, not to kill everyone I’ve ever talked to.”

  “For my beast, it’s the same damn thing.”

  “That’s so…primitive,” I finally spat.

  Jax’s glare practically glowed, but then he blinked, and his shoulders sagged as the temper leaked away. “It’s how I’m wired, Gem.”

  His voice went quiet, dangerously so, and suddenly this conversation felt threatening in a different way.

  “I need to hear your choice. And soon. In the meantime, something inside me wants to kill everything else in your path.”

  “Just when I thought this couldn’t get any more romantic.”

  Probably not the smartest response, but tact had gone out the window at his violent-yet-somehow-stirring admission.

  Jax’s nostrils flared as his temper spiked anew.

  “Okay, whoa.” Milo slid in between us and, still holding Fergie, maneuvered me out the door. “Before we bring the whole shed down,” he said, “let’s take a walk.”

  I glared behind me at where Jax stood, re-locking the shed. He needed my choice? And soon? Ugh. I didn’t have time for this drama. Not with a Nephilim to kill.

  “Yoo-hoo, Earth to Gem.” Milo waved a hand in front of my face, and I blinked, pulling myself from my thoughts. “You okay?”

  I blew out a breath. “Yeah.”

  “Good because we need to talk about what the hell we’re going to do with the information our little garden gnome just gave us.” Milo frowned down at a red spot on his forearm. “But first, here. Take your baby. I think she just bit me.”

  “Shit.” I took Fergie, and we both examined his arm.

  A small gash bled lazily, and a large chunk of skin had been torn free.

  “Sorry.” I winced, holding Fergie a safe distance away.

  “It’s fine.”

  “Fergie, no eating Milo,” I scolded.

  She giggled.

  Milo grinned. “She can’t help it. What can I say? I’m a snack.”

  I groaned. “That was terrible.” When I looked over, I noticed Jax studying me with a strange expression. “Now what?” I asked warily.

  “I think he’s right,” Jax said finally.

  Milo hooted. “I knew it. He thinks I’m a snack.”

  “Not about you,” Jax said, and Milo harrumphed.

  “Who?” I asked. “And right about what?”

  “The warlock,” Jax said. “If Selaphiel wants to get back to Heaven badly enough to conjure portals behind the council’s back and send demons after her own brother, it makes sense that the thing she cares about most is the portals themselves.”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “Seems like she’d see the portals as a vehicle.”

  “To get back home to her version of heaven,” Milo added, nodding.

  “But if what she wants most is to go home,” I said, “where does that leave us?”

  “We can’t exactly destroy Heaven,” Milo said.

  “No, but we could destroy her idea of it,” Jax said slowly.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  I watched as his expression became thoughtful. He had a plan. I couldn’t decide whether to be excited or terrified. Jax had a sort of “kill first, ask questions never” kind of attitude.

  “We go with your strategy,” he said, “and you pose as Rourke. Meet with her. Convince her you’re him. And that you’ve figured out how to conjure a portal to heaven—the one she’s trying to get back to.”

  “Except I have no idea how to make a portal. That kind of dark magic would take years to learn,” I point out.

  “Then we’ll need an illusion spell. Something to convince her she’s seeing the dimension she’s looking for.”

  I stared at him, the plan taking shape. “And then, just when she thinks the thing she wants most is in her reach, we destroy it.”

  Jax nods. “Hopefully, she’ll go weak from the perceived loss. Enough that we can deliver a mortal blow.”

  “It could work,” I said, remembering Adrik’s desperation when he thought Selaphiel had gotten to me in that alley. “Even if she just thinks heaven is gone, she’ll be vulnerable.”

  Milo whistled. “That’s an evil-ass plan for an evil-ass bitch. I’m in.”

  Jax’s lips quirked. “I have my moments.”

  “So, first we need to figure out where to get that kind of spell,” I said. “This is going to take dark magic—and a lot of it.”

  Milo let out a short laugh. “So, what you’re saying is that killing her is the easy part in this scenario.”

  “Basically,” I admitted. “But that’s on you. If I’m going to be Rourke and conjure a portal, it’ll be up to you both to take the shot at her.”

  Jax’s eyes glittered with anticipation. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  “Is that really enoug
h for you?” Milo asked, concern lining his forehead. “Acting as the diversion? I know you want justice for your dad.”

  “I want to see her pay for it,” I said. “Bottom line, she must be stopped from hurting others. And the only way we’ll be able to beat her is if we work together. Besides,” I added, already warming with anticipation, “that just means I’ll be standing close enough to watch her face when she realizes she’s lost everything.”

  “You think Adrik’s going to let you get that close to her?” Milo asked, and I purposely ignored Jax’s heated stare.

  “Adrik doesn’t let me do anything,” I said with as much confidence as I could muster.

  Milo snorted, and I hurried to change the subject. “First thing we need is access to a dark spell,” I said. “Something old-school that’ll be off the SSF’s radar.”

  “We could ask Rourke,” Milo suggested. He frowned. “Or we could have if he wasn’t unconscious.”

  From inside the shed, Rourke moaned. “Is this how you treat all your dates, Gem?”

  Ugh.

  Rourke’s voice was pained, but somehow he still managed to achieve douchebag status.

  “Gemini Hawkins, you owe me. I know you killed my aunt Patrice. Untie me now, and I won’t go to the authorities.”

  There was a pause.

  Then, “Or leave me tied. I could be into that. But if you want me to keep quiet, you might want to give me something in return if you know what I mean.”

  I ignored him and Milo’s answering snort, but something in Jax changed. His eyes flashed, and he spun on his heel, his expression contorting in unmuted rage.

  “Fuck this,” he muttered and stalked back to the shed, ripping right through the lock to fling open the door. One of the hinges broke free, wood splintering in Jax’s wake.

  “Jax,” I said, remembering what he’d said about his beast’s bloodlust. “Jax, stop.”

  But he ignored me and disappeared inside.

  I hurried toward the open door that listed crookedly on the remaining hinge. Before I could make it inside, there was a deep baritone roar that morphed into an animalistic snarl.

  Rourke screamed then fell abruptly silent.

  I reached the shed and came to a stop, staring wide-eyed at the scene before me.