“So our timetable just got moved up.” Cormac tried to keep the worry from his voice.
“How though?” Finn spread his hands. “We’re letting Lukas call the shots, so he’s controlling our timing.”
“Then we’ve got to make him speed it up,” Cormac said, an idea running through his head. He hadn’t worked out everything yet, but he thought he had a way to make the hunter jump. “He wants Kess right?” At everyone’s nod, he grinned. “What if we force him to act? Give him an opportunity he has no choice but to take?”
“Oh goody,” Kess said. “I adore being bait.” But she smiled when she said it.
Cormac walked over to her, tucking Kess beneath his arm. He held her close, inhaling the unique sent that was all her. The sunshine scent of her was stronger, as if being in Miami had baked the sun further into her bones. It was intoxicating to him. He felt her snuggle against him and realized how much he missed the feel of her in his arms.
“You’re going to have to start making preparations to leave town,” he whispered in her ear.
“Are you spiriting me away on a romantic vacation?” she asked, batting her eyelashes at him.
“Mmmm hmmmm,” he answered. “Right after we try and get him to kill you.”
“You say the sweetest things.” Kess leaned up and kissed him.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Laila dodged the herds of people flying into and out of Miami International Airport, looking for a quiet place to try and call Master Toshi. She’d given her master a few days to do some digging on Zamiel, reining in her natural impatience to give him the time he needed. She tucked the SIM card back into her phone and powered it up, eyes alert for signs of pursuit.
She chose MIA for the ability to blend in. Laila was wary now, especially since she’d already used the phone once. Her parents or the Keepers could be tracking her mobile and now that it was on and traceable, she might not have much time. Another reason she chose MIA: a lot of exits. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but she was hedging her bets.
Laila dialed the number for Master Toshi’s studio. He picked up after only two rings. He must have been sitting at his desk, waiting for her phone call. “Hello, Master Toshi.”
“Laila. How are you doing?” His voice was calm and serene. He didn’t sound hurried or harried, just peaceful.
Laila knew she would never sound like that. She wasn’t even interested in trying. “Things are okay.” She waited a beat then asked what she was really wanting to know. “Did you find out anything?”
She heard the kitsune huff, making a frustrated noise in the back of his throat. “Yes.”
It took her a few seconds to realize the fox spirit wanted her to prompt him. She tried not to roll her eyes, especially since Master Toshi would probably know if she did it and deliver some kind of telephonic slap to the head. “And?”
“Zamiel is indeed a demonic entity. He is most famous for making deals. The tale I told you of has a grain of truth in it. ”
“What kind of deals?” Laila was having a hard time reconciling this information in her head. Who would want to make a deal with the devil? “And what does it cost them?”
“Zamiel doesn’t limit himself—he’ll make any kind of deal so long as there is something in it for him.” Toshi’s voice took on a disapproving tone. “But there is something else you should be wary of…”
Laila broke in, wanting to ask her question before they got too far off-topic. “What’s usually in it for him? How do these people pay?”
Toshi sighed wearily, as if this very conversation tired him. “With their lives. And their souls.”
Laila nodded. Sounded about right. What would a demon need with gold or jewels or stocks anyway? She began to walk again, losing herself in a large group of people heading toward baggage claim. “You said there’s something else I need to worry about?”
Her master’s voice was tense with warning. “Zamiel is a collector, Laila. He likes to find interesting things—people—and make them his own. He is not above being ruthless to secure the object in question, even if it is a person.” There was a pause on the other end of the line, then Toshi spoke once more. “Has he expressed anything like interest in you? Does he seem curious about you?”
Laila saw that the crowd was thinning, dispersing to the various baggage conveyors to wait on their luggage. She needed to move again, and to cut this short. They would have traced her signal by now; a retrieval team could very well be on its way to her at this moment.
With a distracted air, she answered him. “No, not especially.” She wouldn’t tell Toshi that Zamiel knew her name, and she definitely wasn’t going to tell him he offered his services to her. No sense in worrying the kitsune when there was nothing he could do about it. She’d be careful of Zamiel now that she knew what he was up to.
“I’ve got to go, Master Toshi. Thank you for the information.” She began to hurry toward the cab stands just outside of the baggage claim area.
“Do not forget, Laila. This Zamiel is famed in lore for his bullets. They never miss. But he always controls the last one. If he decides to aim for you….”
“He won’t.” Laila couldn’t say how she knew that for sure, but she knew that Zamiel wouldn’t use one of his precious bullets on her. “But Lukas controls where all of the other bullets go, right? That’s the deal?”
“Yes.” Master Toshi breathed in, letting it out slowly. Finally he said, “Be careful, Laila. You are a bright student. I look forward to continuing our lessons.”
She stopped dead and stared at her phone. Was that a compliment? Laila shook her head as if clearing water from her ears. She couldn’t have heard that right. Master Toshi had always praised Mebis to the heavens; he reserved his criticisms for her. What was going on with him?
“I’ll be careful.” She hung up the phone, removed the SIM card and powered it down, then removed the battery just to be sure. When it was back in her pocket, Laila scooted outside to grab a cab.
Once she was safely inside, she tried to make sense of everything Toshi had said to her. So this Lukas Jaegar had made a deal somehow. It wasn’t surprising and it would certainly explain how he was able to hunt weres if he were operating under the auspice of an infernal deal. Laila debated about calling on Zamiel, to try and pick his brain of what exactly Lukas Jaegar had requested and how, but Toshi’s admonition came back to her.
The demon did seem to find her fascinating. The thought made her skin go clammy. She had no intention of winding up in some demon’s trophy case. Laila knew she should be very careful around Zamiel. Especially if she planned to kill him.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Kess got to the café about ten minutes early. She could have sworn she saw Sebastian pass by, and had to fight down a grin. Laila was out there somewhere, possibly very close by, but Sebastian hadn’t caught her yet. If he thought that Kess was going to lead him to the rogue werejackal, he truly didn’t understand the interpersonal dynamics at play. Good.
She was meeting Lukas for a cup of coffee. It was mid-morning and the café was on a busy street, so Kess wasn’t worried he’d be able to do anything to her, and she certainly had no plans to go full-on-leopard right in the middle of downtown Miami. She was safe enough here. This little excursion was designed to put phase one of Cormac’s plan into play.
Kess ordered a cup of tea and sat with her back to the wall, facing the door. It gave her a broad field of vision with the added bonus that no one could sneak up behind her. With two werejackal assassins running around and one demented werebeast hunter, Kess thought that it didn’t hurt to be careful. She took a tentative sip of her tea, added more honey, then settled in to wait.
Lukas walked through the door right on time. Kess idly wondered how he managed that; did he wait around outside until his watch read the appointed time? Was he just naturally punctual? Did he have some supernatural timekeeping ability? Nothing would surprise her at this point.
He smiled at her as he passed by t
o get his coffee. When he had it in hand, he returned and sat down across from her. “It is good to see you again,” he began before taking a sip.
“You too,” she replied with what she hoped was an easy smile. This cloak and dagger stuff was nerve wracking as all hell, and Kess was glad that it was almost over. Having to pretend she was unaware of what exactly Lukas was up to was not coming easily to her. Instead of saying anything, she took another sip of her tea.
“My time here is almost up,” he said, and Kess thought she saw a flicker of fear pass through his eyes. But then he blinked and there was nothing in them but the blue of a cloudless sky. “I would like to spend more time with you.”
“Do you have to go back to Europe?” Kess tried to put a bit of dismay into her voice.
“Not to Europe,” Lukas said. “But I am…” he trailed off, searching for the right word, “expected somewhere else.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she replied, dropping her hands into her lap so he wouldn’t see her fidgeting. Kess reminded herself to stay calm, making a conscious effort to keep her breathing even. “Unfortunately, I have to take a trip myself in a few days.” She smiled sadly as she said it.
Lukas looked startled. Good. Kess wanted him off of his game. Let’s see how he liked it when he wasn’t the one in charge. “You are leaving?” He sounded like he didn’t understand the words she’d just spoken.
Kess dropped her eyes. “I’m afraid so. I have some personal business that I need to take care of. I’ll be out of town for several weeks.” There, suck on that for a while.
“You do not know when you will return?” His expression was still relatively calm, although Kess thought she could see the faintest hint of worry in his eyes.
She shrugged. “I’m not sure. There’s a lot to be done. It will take as long as it takes, I suppose.” She hid a smile behind her napkin.
Lukas ran a hand through his hair, ruffling the blonde layers. He no longer appeared quite so unruffled. “When do you depart?”
Kess cocked her head at his odd phrasing. It wasn’t the way people her age spoke and it always felt forced and too formal to her. “In two days. I wanted to tell you in person.” She bit her lip and looked down, as if she were shy. She wasn’t, not at all, but Lukas didn’t know that. “I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye.”
She peeked at him from under her lashes. Lukas looked like he didn’t know what to do. Kess was certain this put a kink into his very ordered plans, and for that she tried not to grin. His face was confused, as if he were arguing with himself inside his head. She took sips of her tea and waited for him to say something.
Finally, he seemed to come to some kind of decision. He leaned forward and smiled, but she noticed that it never reached his eyes. Kess had to fight the urge to pull back; instead, she gave him an encouraging half-smile. “I would like to see you one last time, before you leave. My birthday is tomorrow and I hate celebrating it alone. Are you free tomorrow evening?”
Kess plastered that half-smile onto her face even as her heart sped up. Here we go. She forced herself to nod, making her smile bigger. “I’d love to.”
Lukas pushed himself back from the table. “Do you remember where I live?” At her nod, he smiled, but again, there was something off about it. Kess hid a shudder. Lukas was distracted, almost as if he were listening to someone speaking in his ear. “Shall we say six o’clock?”
“Sounds great.” About as great as having my stomach pumped. But Kess managed to put some excitement into her expression. She was just a girl flattered to be asked out by a cute boy; she was not a werecat who was likely to be hunted at some point after six o’clock tomorrow evening.
“I look forward to seeing you then.” He pushed his chair in and took his cup back to the counter, giving her a wave as he finally exited the shop.
Kess took a few steadying breaths, finally able to give in to her nerves. She waited a few minutes to make sure he wouldn’t come back in for something, then took out a disposable cell phone. She entered in the number of another disposable cell and then typed in a text: 2morrow nite @ 6. His place. She waited for the confirmation that the message was sent, then removed the SIM card. She would have to trust that Laila had gotten the message.
She waited a few more minutes, finishing up her now lukewarm tea. Kess sighed. Everything hinged on the plan going off flawlessly, otherwise she might wind up a stuffed addition to Lukas’ little menagerie. She pushed away from the table, refusing to think about it. She’d be fine. She’d fought Samara and her clan of werehyenas, she’d faced down her brother. She and her friends could handle this hunter.
Kess took the empty teacup back to the counter, disposing of the SIM card along the way. She tucked the disposable phone into her pocket, planning to toss that in another part of the city. When she was sure she was calm again, Kess left the shop.
As soon as she stepped onto the sidewalk, Kess felt eyes on her. She was being watched. It could be by her own people—and it probably was—but it also might be Laila, Sebastian, or Lukas. Kess made her way to the car, ignoring the sensation of all eyes on her. The paranoia was a reminder of her days on the run.
Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to see Cormac. It was stupid, she knew. He couldn’t take this task from her, nor did she want him to. He’d put himself in enough danger for her already. But it didn’t stop her from wanting his comfort, or from needing to feel the safety and strength of his arms as he wrapped them around her to pull her in close. She needed that right now. She needed him.
Kess pulled out into traffic, making only one detour to dispose of the phone, before turning her car towards home. Cormac was waiting for her. And if this was going to be her last night with him, she didn’t plan to waste a minute of it.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Laila watched Lukas through the high powered binoculars from her perch atop an adjacent building. He had the drapes open on his gigantic picture window and he was staring out at the ocean. Occasionally he would turn his head and speak to someone not in view.
She adjusted her headset that picked up the feed from the bugs she had planted in his house. He was arguing with someone, but she couldn’t make out who. And whoever it was hadn’t made an appearance in front of the windows yet, so she just had to listen and hope for an ID—although Laila was pretty sure who the other person actually was.
The werejackal looked through the binoculars again. Lukas seemed agitated; his pacing was choppy, as if he couldn’t decide where exactly he wanted to go. His arm movements were more exaggerated than before. And the tone of his voice through the bug, well, Laila thought the boy should probably schedule a massage for himself, and soon. He seemed a little tense.
Good. Let’s see what we can do to make that worse. She smiled grimly to herself and took a look over at the rifle that lay beside her. Laila was sorely tempted, but she would wait. There were other weapons at her disposal that were far more dangerous. She wanted Lukas to know she was coming, to feel the fear of being hunted himself. After all, it was only fair.
Another man joined Lukas at the window. He was tall, impossibly thin, and dressed all in black. Well, hello Zamiel. Nice of you to show up. She thought she saw his eyes flick over to the building she was spying from, but dismissed it. Still, he smiled broadly before turning his attention back to Lukas.
“Time is running out for you as well,” Zamiel was saying. His voice sounded strangely distorted coming through the earpiece. “Hunt or don’t hunt, it makes no difference to me. I will always collect what’s mine.”
“I haven’t had time to plan or scout.” This from Lukas. Laila found it disconcerting to see the action from a distance but hear their voices directly in her ear.
“Do what you did with the werejackal.” Zamiel said, definitely throwing a grin in Laila’s direction that time. He knew she was listening and watching, but he was making no move to warn Lukas. What was that about? And what kind of deal had Lukas made with him?
Lail
a gritted her teeth. A growl escaped her throat at the mention of Mebis. She looked at the rifle again. Tempting, but no.
Her attention was captured by a quiver in the wire she wore wrapped around her pinkie finger. Someone was coming. She didn’t need high tech gadgetry to warn her; a simple tripwire was more than sufficient. She pulled the slack wire off her hand, dropping it into a pouch at her hip. She slung the rifle over her back and crept to the side of the roof, behind an air conditioning unit. She had her exit strategy, but she wanted to see who it was that was coming for her.
Of course, she might be being paranoid. It might just be a janitor or service man coming up to the roof. But Laila knew that you always trusted your instincts. So she hid. Even if it was the building’s super, she’d have a hard time explaining what she was doing up here with a rifle. She highly doubted he’d buy skeet shooting as an appropriate answer.
The man that came out of the door made Laila’s breath catch in her throat. She’d been right to hide. Sebastian had caught up with her. She knew him by his reputation and by his infrequent visits with her father. Finn had left her a message on her phone warning her that he was in town to bring her before the Keepers. The Anubis Knight practiced a rare form of fighting, involving strategic hits to specific pressure points that rendered his opponent unable to fight back.
Crap, Laila mouthed silently. She had no intention of going toe to toe with Sebastian—she couldn’t. There was no way to block his strikes and she wasn’t going back to New Orleans until her business with Lukas was finished. She wondered how he had tracked her down.
He raised his head, scenting the air. Laila saw the Knight’s nostrils flare. She could feel muscles tense, ready to spring out, but Sebastian followed her scent to her observation point instead of turning to her hiding place.
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