Hear No (Hidden Evil, #1)

by Ford, Lizzy

  He met her gaze.

  “I’m glad you finally realized you’re still human. What you’re going through is what every other guide goes through. Maybe understanding that, you won’t be such a bitch to deal with.”

  “Did you just call me a bitch?”

  Maggy whirled, stalking back to the house.

  “I fucked up, Mags.”

  She froze. “You’ve never, ever admitted to being wrong about anything since I met you five hundred years ago.”

  “Not saying I’m wrong. Just did something I wouldn’t normally do.”

  “Surprise me.”

  He chuckled. “You asked me where I was last night …”

  “No!” she exclaimed, facing him. “You didn’t sleep with Zyra!”

  “Not Zyra.”

  Maggy’s puzzled expression turned down her lips on one side.

  “Kaylee.”

  Rather than incite her, the words had the opposite effect. Her shoulders dropped and she twisted the ring on her finger.

  “All right. I give. Why is that bad?” she asked. “I mean, I know you date lots of women. If it was Zyra, yeah, I’d have your balls for that one.”

  “Hel-lo. The woman you want me to kill?” He crossed his arms. “I’ve never killed anyone I slept with.”

  “Only you would use sex as a measure for whether or not you kill someone. Maybe it’s my female brain, but I don’t have any idea what’s wrong with you.”

  “I. Feel. Bad.” The words sounded as painful as they were to say. He didn’t like emotions – hadn’t bothered to tap into them for many centuries. “I can handle anything. Just not this.”

  “Wrong,” she said. Amusement appeared with her smile. “You can handle it. You just don’t want to, because God help you, you actually like this girl. After what? Four days? How long did I try to wring any sort of affection out of you?”

  “This isn’t about us,” he warned.

  “Nothing ever was. I’m glad you get to kill Kaylee, because I want you to know what it’s like to lose someone you care about. At least Kaylee will be back in one piece, unlike the hearts you broke over your lifetime.”

  “You’re not getting it,” he said, unfazed.

  “Omigod. I can’t do this.” She spun and left him. “Fuck you, Nate.”

  He watched her, suspecting she was right about everything for once but not wanting to admit it, especially to her. He’d never been conflicted about any case he worked or the outcome or about doing his job. He didn’t want to imagine what losing Kaylee for good might feel like.

  It was a horrible feeling.

  “The funny thing is – she’ll still drop her clothes in a heartbeat if you ask her,” Troy said from behind him. “No idea how you do that, Nate.”

  Nathan turned to face his longtime friend. He looked Troy over then grinned. The spirit guide was the way Nathan remembered him from five years ago: cleanly shaven with a goatee, trimmed hair, and dressed casually. His large, dark eyes were visible, and he smelled earthy rather than like a man who’d been wallowing in his room for weeks.

  “I’m just that good,” Nathan responded.

  “Still your own biggest fan, I see.”

  Nathan laughed, grateful for the brief release of tension.

  “Why aren’t I invited to this party?” Troy complained, crossing his muscular arms. “You drop off some little girl at my place with no explanation and no warning she can’t hear a word I tell her. Oh, and about the portal to Hell? Thanks for mentioning that, too.”

  “How’s she doing?”

  “Fine. Alive. Typical first gen. Thinks I’m wrong to want to kill myself.” Troy shrugged. “You gonna clue me in or do I just keep guessing?”

  “Come on. We’re planning.” Nathan drew a deep breath then started towards the garage. “You really want in on this?”

  “Tired of trying to kill myself. Maybe someone else can do the job.”

  “Pedro won’t let you go.”

  Troy walked with him towards the townhouse. “Is he the smartest person in the universe or the dumbest? I can’t figure it out.”

  “I’ve been asking myself that since I met him,” Nathan responded.

  They entered the garage, and the three waiting for them looked up. Maggy’s face was still flushed from their discussion.

  “You all know Troy,” Nathan said, seating himself on a box.

  “I thought you were dead,” Randy said to Troy.

  “Not yet.”

  Nathan snorted. When they had some down time, he’d have a talk with his old friend. Something was wrong, but he didn’t know what.

  “The plan,” Jordan began “is to temporarily kill Kaylee. We’ve got a distraction planned to draw Shadowman’s attention away from her. Probably won’t give us much time, so Nate has to be quick.”

  Nathan listened. The demon was cunning to pull in Eddy, who was skilled enough and more than willing to try to kill any of them, if given the chance. Along with their other duties, the guides kept tabs on certain members of the Satanist movement, specifically those who were reincarnated angels.

  Eddy was a second gen. Not innately bad, he’d somehow gotten mixed up with the wrong crowd when young, possibly because his spirit guide was a newbie who didn’t know how to recognize the signs his charge needed help.

  “We got a report this morning that Zyra’s group is close to Kaylee. We don’t think they’ve figured out where she is, or they would’ve acted. Sorry, Nate. I don’t trust the two day truce she offered you,” Maggy said.

  “Me neither,” he agreed.

  “We’re moving tonight,” Randy added. “Distraction – boom. Nathan pops in, takes care of Kaylee. We bring her back when Shadowman is gone.”

  Assuming this works. Abruptly, Nathan understood what was bothering him.

  He listened to them walk Troy through the plan, distracted by his thoughts. While he didn’t need a woman permanently in his life, he didn’t want to lose the only chance he may ever have with an OTL, either. The type of love between two destined to be together was the stuff of legends. He never in his life thought he wanted something like that, not since losing Zyra. But he wasn’t willing to kill the only chance he might ever get at having it.

  What did that make him?

  A confused idiot.

  The most important question wasn’t what happened if they couldn’t bring her back. It was what happened if he failed to execute the plan in the first place. Tonight was the only chance to save her, and to do so, he had to kill her.

  He couldn’t hesitate. He had to do what he did best: put his emotions on hold, clean up this mess then deal with the consequences tomorrow. After all, there was no chance with Kaylee, if he failed in his mission. He could still decide to walk away from her tomorrow, but at least she’d be alive.

  Resolve solidified within him.

  There was no other way.

  Maggy’s phone rang. She glanced down at it and frowned then stood and walked a short distance to answer.

  Though he couldn’t hear her, Nathan saw her face change at the short conversation. She hung up then stood in thought for a moment before returning to them.

  “Guys, we have a problem,” she started. “3G found Kaylee. They know who she is and where she is right now. We think they’re going after her at some point tonight.”

  “They might be doing us a favor. Providing a distraction so we don’t have to.” Nathan rose. “Looks like we’re moving the plan up.”

  “We’ll have to.”

  The others rose and quickly began to gather their shoes, weapons and gear. Maggy’s soft hand rested on Nathan’s roped forearm.

  “You ready for this?” she asked, studying him.

  “Absolutely,” he replied. “It’s the only way.”

  “Okay. I’ll send word to have the medical gear on standby.” She reached over to the table to grab a small, black bag that contained two syringes. “Just one of these. It’ll be painless for her. If for some reason, you don’t have t
he three minutes it takes to put her out, then use two. But only if you have to. We need to be able to clean out her blood when we revive her. It’ll be harder with two.”

  “No worries, Mags,” he assured her with a smile. “I’m the best guide for a reason.”

  “With the worst possible rating in history.”

  “Because I always get the job done.” He winked and grabbed his gear then smacked the button on the wall to open the garage door.

  Ducking beneath the rising door, he breathed in the cool fall morning air deeply with a glance at the bag in his hands.

  They’d gone with fast acting poison as the method to kill her. There were quick ways involving a gun or knives, but this would be painless with the added bonus that they’d limit the physical damage of her body. He didn’t think all the spirit guide’s healing energy in the world could repair a bullet to the head – but modern medicine could clean her blood of poison, once they got her heart beating again.

  He didn’t exactly want to feel her blood on his hands anyway. This way she simply fell asleep and woke up later.

  It’s just another case. The reminder wasn’t working. It made him feel ill, knowing what exactly was on the line.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The Shadowman was chasing her. Amira ran through the streets, breathing hard and legs burning. The faster she ran, the closer he seemed to get. The red stone was clenched in her hand, glowing. It gave her away whenever she tried to lose him in an alley or doorway, a beacon he could see no matter where he was.

  “Run, Amira!” Scott was ahead of her, fighting off Zyra and one of the men with her, the way he had the night he died.

  It’s just a dream. Amira repeated this to herself once more, but she couldn’t help the fear or escape the clutches of the nightmare to wake up.

  She ran around a corner and found herself in a cornfield, newly harvested. She stopped, lost. The moon was directly overhead, gently illuminating the rolling hills of the farm where she stood. No on else was with her, and she saw no roads, houses or fencing that might help orient her. Cornstalks were outlined with ice from the first frost, and the ground beneath her was hard.

  Her breath floated upwards. She watched it and shivered in the still, chilly air.

  The red stone was warm, drawing her gaze. She looked down at it. It was casting a light like a laser beam onto the ground. The stone grew hot enough to burn her hand. Dropping it, she knelt hurriedly to snatch it back up.

  Shadowman appeared, beating her to it. He grabbed the stone and crushed it in his hand, sprinkling the dust onto the ground.

  The earth beneath her trembled in response. It cracked open where he’d laid the dust, and fire shot out. A demon on a red horse burst out of the crack, the second of the archdemons of the Apocalypse.

  Amira darted back, taking in what was before her. The flare of light drew her attention to two other people standing nearby, and she squinted to see them. Two girls, one petite with Asian features and another with auburn hair, wore looks displaying the horror she felt. Behind them, hidden by shadows, was Kaylee.

  As she had the day she met Shadowman, Amira heard his words.

  “It’s your turn to feel the fire, Amira.”

  He grabbed her and thrust her toward the flames of Hell.

  She awoke thrashing and screaming. Her throat burned, even if she couldn’t hear her scream. Shadowman was trying to wrestle her down, and she fought him, rolling with him out of her bed onto the floor. Within seconds, though, it was over. He simply overpowered her and pinned her on her belly on the carpet, his heavy body preventing her from moving.

  His breath stirred the hair around her ear. His frame was hot, like the flames of her dream.

  Or like that of a spirit guide’s.

  Unable to move, Amira struggled to orient herself. She’d left the dream behind and was lying on a floor that smelled dusty, like the rest of Troy’s house. Her body was tense enough from trying to escape that her muscles ached, and her cheeks were wet with tears.

  “Troy?” she asked.

  He answered with a flare of warm energy like only a spirit guide could give.

  Amira relaxed with a sigh, comforted by his body. He shifted off her, taking his warmth with him. The light on the nightstand beside the bed flipped on, and Amira sat.

  Troy sat with his back to the nightstand, his legs entangled with hers. He was studying her. With a flare of awareness, she realized he wore no shirt and his sweat pants had ridden dangerously low on his lean hips. His upper body was chiseled, his hair mussed and gaze on her. He was so strong – and in so much pain from the loss of someone he loved.

  He waved.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  She nodded and wiped the tears from her face. Worried about the stones, she reached up to the bed to grab them from beneath her pillow and held them in her hands, not caring what he thought about her being in a t-shirt and underwear.

  “I dreamed Shadowman got us,” she told him. “He opened the portal.”

  Troy shook his head. “Won’t happen. You got me and Nathan on this one.”

  “I don’t think anything can stop him,” she replied. “Troy, there’s something else about him I didn’t tell you. He’s capable of intelligent decisions and he’s almost strong enough to take human form.”

  “You’re saying he sees more than evil?”

  She nodded.

  “Guardians are different than normal angels,” Troy grew pensive, his thumb tapping her leg.

  Sensitive to how close they sat together, Amira’s eyes drifted to the thumb. His hand rested absently on her leg.

  “There’s never been a fallen guardian,” Amira said. “And I think … whatever made him fall, was the first step in some much greater evil.” The idea of hurting the humans she loved distressed her, but she feared more what would happen if she revealed the truth behind who Shadowman was.

  He waved, drawing her attention.

  “His host,” he started. “Guardian angels have different levels of skills and strengths, right? Like spirit guides?”

  She nodded.

  “What if he’s reflective of his host?”

  “What do you mean?” She tilted her head. She hadn’t been able to figure out Kaylee’s involvement.

  “I mean, what if this girl he’s linked to isn’t a normal human?”

  “I would know if she was an angel, or at least, within the first few generations of being incarnated for the first time.” Amira debated, recalling all she could about the woman she’d met twice. “I’d know if she was another kind of incarnated spirit.”

  “What if she was far removed from her first incarnation?” he questioned. “This is the first fallen guardian in the history of the world. Or how about this. What creature from the Other Side has never been incarnated?”

  “Archangel!” She sat up. “Is it even possible?”

  “Why not?” He shrugged. “If a guardian angel could fall, why not one of the big guys choosing to be incarnated?”

  The idea astounded her. The instinct that had been bothering her since meeting Kaylee was at a roar. She was meant to find Kaylee, so Kaylee could find the others. Did the incarnated archangel also have a better chance of controlling – if not stopping – the four archdemons than anyone else? In theory, she’d have a stronger connection with the Other Side than humans and reincarnated angels, maybe even more so than powerful spirit guides.

  Amira felt hopeful for the first time since losing Scott. She needed to find Kaylee and warn her, then see what Shadowman’s host could do to help find the other two girls. Maybe, together, they’d be able to stop him.

  “We have to tell Nathan!” Amira leapt to her feet and yanked open her door. She dashed down the hallway and stairs to where she’d left her purse after they returned from their second trip to McDonald’s.

  Yanking her phone out, she had just pulled up Nathan’s contact information to text him, when Troy rested a hand on hers.

  She looked up at him.r />
  “No.” He took the phone from her. One hand rested at the small of her back, his bare upper body resting against her arm. She breathed in his scent once more, liking him better when he smelled like himself and not soap. “This kind of news, we don’t discuss over the phone. Only in person.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  He took the phone from her and tossed it back into her purse without leaving her side. Amira froze where she was, enjoying the feel of him so close yet not at all certain what to do.

  He tilted her chin up.

  “You want to get clothes on? You can go like that if you want. I don’t mind.” His eyes went over her body slowly.

  Suddenly, she was all too aware that she was in her underwear, standing next to a half-naked man she barely knew. Yes, he was her OTL, but he didn’t know that.

  The way he looked at her, though, made her wish she’d spent more time learning how to relate to men than hiding her secrets from the rest of the world. Heart pounding, Amira moved away from him. She tugged her shirt down over her rump and hurried up the stairs to her room. With trembling hands, she dressed quickly and grabbed her stones, shoving them into the pocket of her jeans.

  When she was ready, she left her room and went downstairs. Troy was in the kitchen in a sweater and jeans that outlined the shape of his frame, from the soft cashmere stretched across his chest to his thick thighs.

  The sight of him made her stop in place and wish she had nicer clothes. She’d fled with Scott with all that she could fit in a backpack then sat in a mental health center for a month. She didn’t even have a coat. It was the dog days of summer when she started running.

  “You ready?” He met her gaze.

  She nodded.

  “You have a jacket?”

  Amira shook her head.

  Troy raised an eyebrow.

  “I haven’t been home in two months,” she said. It took effort to say the words through her tight throat. She couldn’t draw a deep enough breath, either.

  His look warmed, the skin around his eyes softening. He hesitated then peeled off his sweater to reveal a dark t-shirt underneath. He handed the sweater to her.