The Judah Black Novels Box Set

by E. A. Copen

  “You broke my arm!”

  “For your own good!”

  “And you gave me a concussion.” I pointed to my head.

  “That was…” Abe huffed. “Excessive, I admit.” He finally looked up at me, but only after sitting down. “Had I not severely injured you, you would have continued with your investigation, involving yourself in matters that you were not prepared for. However, it seems that not even a broken limb will keep you out of trouble. I should have known better. I apologize for underestimating your…”

  “Stubbornness?” Sal crossed his arms.

  “Obstinacy?” Shauna said, mimicking his position.

  “General orneriness?” Creven raised his eyebrows.

  “I was going to say persistence.” Abe shrugged. “But all of those fit as well.”

  I tugged out the chair across from him and sat. “I prefer tenacity.”

  Sal sat down in the empty chair next to me. “We’ve been here for two days under guard. It’s time someone told us what the hell is going on.”

  Abe leaned back in his chair and surveyed the faces in the room. “During the Revelation Riots, the government sought to form a new branch, what you now know as BSI. With the nation in chaos and funding limited, your government had no choice but to seek outside help.”

  “They found that help in an organization known as the Sicarii,” I finished. “An organization of people who call themselves immortals and dedicated their lives to directing and controlling the flow of history. Hector Demetrius and Gideon Reed were members of their ranks. How am I doing so far?”

  Ed leaned forward and placed his hands on the table. “Like the Illuminati.” His eyes were still gold, but his posture had relaxed.

  “An immature understanding of a complex matter.” Abe waved a dismissive hand. “Conspiracy theorists would have you believe that such an organization works in secret to conceal information toward a nefarious purpose. The Sicarii are an organization of balance. One immortal, one human, one vampire, one fae, and one to represent the shifter races form a council of five to promote understanding, prevent war, and further common goals. They are not world leaders or people who have political ties. This is supposed to be a prerequisite for securing a position. But something changed during the Revelation. An impasse was reached.” Abe lowered his head and tapped a finger on the bill of his hat. “The fae retreated. The vampires waged an internal war and forced their representative into hiding. As a result, the Stryx gained a significant amount of power and have been able to influence far more than they should. In turn, two immortals rose and sought to increase their influence. They went to the government and offered the funds and the means to help create what you now know as BSI.”

  “Hector Demetrius and Gideon Reed.” I closed my eyes, my heart dropping into my stomach.

  “Two sides of an opposing coin,” Abe agreed. “Hector represented a conservative group within the Sicarii, one that gained much support during the Revelation. Their answer to the supernatural threat was to control it, and if necessary, eliminate the rising influence of the vampires and shifters, drive all the fae back into Faerie, and seal this realm from theirs. Doing so would give the Sicarii complete dominion over humans, which they believed was the only way to maintain peace.

  “On the other side, Reed spoke for the smaller, more liberal group of Sicarii that believed peace could be achieved not through overwhelming force and iron will, but love, compassion, and a strong push for universal rights for all sentient beings to live as they saw fit.”

  Shauna showed her teeth. “You’re telling me all this is over politics?”

  “Aye.” Creven nodded. “But isn’t it always?”

  “Truer words have never been spoken.”

  All heads turned to the doorway where Dick stood with his hands folded in front of him. He’d shed the long gray coat and changed into a charcoal suit.

  Abe rose when he saw the deputy director standing there.

  Dick wrinkled his nose and waved a hand at Abe. “Sit down, Helsinki. Nobody likes a suck-up.”

  Abe sank slowly back into his chair.

  “So, politics.” Dick clapped his hands together and then rubbed them as he strode into the room. “As you can see, there have always been opposing sides at work. The divide between them has grown. Even when Gideon Reed stepped aside, he left behind those of us who have made it our life’s work to pursue that dream of equality.”

  “You’ve got a funny way of showing it.” Ed’s voice came out as a near-inhuman growl. “Shooting those Adventists as they fled. Every single one of them was under Warren’s control. They were innocent.”

  Dick opened his suit jacket, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and tapped them against his palm until one cigarette dislodged. He plucked it out and tucked the pack away. “Do you know why you’re able to sit in that chair with clean hands and judge me, Mr. Petersen?” Before he answered his own question, he lit the cigarette and blew out a long trail of smoke. Dick waved the cigarette, gesticulating. “My dirty hands bought you that right. I shoulder the weight of hundreds of innocent deaths so thousands can live a life of relative peace. Unless you’ve worn the mantle of leadership, you have no idea how many difficult decisions you’ll have to make. You’ll never know how many lives you’ll have to take so that others can enjoy a life of mundanity. Isn’t that right, Mr. Silvermoon?”

  Sal’s low, rumbling growl rattled my chest.

  “Not that I don’t approve. The Vanguard is one of the biggest threats to our continued existence.” Dick nodded at Abe. “As Helsinki informed you, BSI is divided along the same lines as the Sicarii. Director West, my superior, is in the far-right camp. As we speak, he and his pet, Senator Grahm, are pushing Congress to approve a second, larger reservation in Alaska. With the conservative majority in Congress, that measure stands to pass with little resistance.”

  “What’s so bad about another reservation?” Daphne asked.

  “Because the facility in Alaska will be very unlike the Paint Rock project.” Dick took a long drag on his cigarette. “They’re putting it out in the middle of nowhere, accessible only by government helicopter. Far from prying eyes. I also happen to know Doctor Han has been tapped to be the physician on staff. Now, you tell me why that sounds like a bad idea?”

  “Jaysus, Peter, Paul, and Mary.” Creven rose from his seat. “It’s not a reservation. It’s a bloody internment camp to feed Han’s and BSI’s research.”

  “A breeding ground for their army,” Bran added.

  Angel looked left and right before adding, “It’s fucked up, is what it is.”

  “It means shutting things down here won’t make any difference.” I made a fist and struck the table. “Not one damn bit of difference.”

  “On the contrary,” said Dick, gesturing to me with his cigarette, “you’ve made your opening moves. A little prematurely, yes, but you dealt a strong blow to their side. You’ll deal an even stronger blow by killing Warren before they can extract him.”

  “They’re going to use that fucker?” Ed jumped from his seat, toppling the chair.

  “They’ll kill him, more like.” Dick shrugged. “Which is what you’ll have to do. Before you think it doesn’t matter who deals the killing blow, consider this. You have no legitimate means of investigation at the moment. All your evidence, every lead you had in the arson case, has been destroyed. The compound went up in fire, and the residents all committed ritual suicide. Or, at least that’s the story the public will be told.” He grinned.

  “When in reality, you’ve destroyed my case, killed the witnesses, and burned my evidence?” I frowned at him. “So much for justice. You’re as manipulative as everyone else.”

  “I never claimed not to be, only to be doing it for the right reason.” His smile faded, the wrinkles in his forehead growing deeper. “Agent Black, do you play chess?”

  “Not well,” I mumbled. “And I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

  “I’m not surprised. Gr
ahm and I have been playing for some time. The country has been our board. So far, all we’ve managed to move in the game are pawns. What you did by so graciously butting in was bring a gun to a chess game. Now, you can’t very well wave a gun around without using it and still be taken seriously, can you?” He dropped his cigarette to the floor and stomped on it. “Find Warren. Make sure he doesn’t leave Concho County alive. I’ll make sure that opens up an avenue for a legitimate investigation into Senator Grahm.”

  “And if we don’t?” I matched his gaze and held it.

  “Grahm has his queen and I have mine, but don’t think for a moment I won’t sacrifice a queen. I’ve already traded a bishop, and have yet to take a pawn. Either you fall into line, or I’ll see to it that all your friends gathered around this table answer for their crimes. And there are several murderers sitting at this table. That’s a capital crime in Texas.”

  I shifted my hand to place it over Sal’s, knowing that was who he was referring to. If I didn’t do as I was told, he’d see to it that Sal was put on Death Row for murdering those two Vanguard. My back was to the wall. I might not have been happy about the way Dick forced my hand, but it didn’t mean Warren didn’t deserve what was coming.

  “You need to let us bury our dead first,” I said, turning back to Dick.

  “Any time you waste is your own. The risk is yours, as is the reward.”

  “Reward?” Sal’s hand closed around mine. “What reward? From my end, it looks like we’re all getting screwed.”

  “I’ll give you the one thing in the whole universe that can kill a Lord of Faerie.”

  “Claíomh Solais,” Creven said through gritted teeth. “The Sword of Light. That’s why he wants it so bad. He’d remove the one thing that can kill him from play.”

  “It’s why he told Warren about me.” I stared at my hands. My mouth felt dry. I could feel the images lurking just on the other side of my awareness. If I closed my eyes even for a second, that’s what I would see. It was always there. I had to keep my mind on something else or they would take over. “I wouldn’t bring it to him.”

  “The sword is in my possession,” Dick said. “And if you want it, you’ll follow orders.”

  Not only was this my chance to stop Warren and strike a major blow to the oppressive forces inside BSI, but if I did as I was told, Dick was going to give me the means to win my fight with Seamus? It felt too good to be true. Of course, it wouldn’t be easy. Warren was powerful, even if he was alone, but we had a means of overcoming his power. Abe and the others had done it somehow.

  “I know you’re also responsible for the shadow fire I have.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”

  “Why me? Have you been protecting me all this time just for this?”

  Dick fiddled with the buttons on his jacket. “I haven’t been protecting you for this. I’m using you to win. There’s a difference. Don’t forget it.” Once he’d buttoned his jacket, he stood straighter. “You’ll be escorted from this building, blindfolded just like when you came in. Shortly after your release, you’ll be given the tools necessary to locate Warren. The bodies of your fallen friends will be returned to you, and Officer Espinoza will be released into Master Kelley’s care. This is, of course, with the understanding that you were never here, you’ve received no orders or information, and I don’t exist. I will have extra eyes and ears inside the reservation to make sure we all hold to our ends of the deal. Do we understand one another?”

  Heads reluctantly bobbed around the table.

  Dick smiled. “Good. Have a nice afternoon.” He turned on his heel and marched confidently out of the room.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “I can’t believe she’s gone.” Ed clenched his hands into fists as they rested on his knees.

  Dick had kept his word. We’d been loaded up into the armored cars, dark hoods over our faces, and dropped off inside the reservation. Somehow, they’d gathered all our trucks, cars, and motorcycles into one place and parked them on the street in front of Doc’s clinic. Well, the cars that remained. Apparently, Angel’s car had been smashed up when they came to rescue me.

  That night, nobody felt like being alone, so they all decided to pow-wow at Sal’s place to try to grasp the situation.

  Nobody but me, of course. All I wanted was to fall in bed and cry until I fell asleep. Inside, I felt broken, violated in ways I hadn’t thought possible. Even free, I felt helpless.

  Everyone else gathered around the sofa, pulling chairs from the kitchen to make up for the minimal seating. Nina, Valentino, and Leo, who had sat out the raid on the compound, took over cleaning, cooking, and helping with Mia. Hunter stood in front of me protectively, arms crossed, while Sal had an arm around me from the other side. The faint buzz of healing magick vibrated where his hand made contact with my back.

  Nobody could look at Ed. He was still mostly beside himself with grief.

  Ed took a deep breath. “I don’t even know who to contact. I don’t think she had family.”

  “She didn’t.” I looked at my hands and swallowed the tightness in my throat. “And as far as I know, neither did Reed.”

  I jumped when Angel slammed her fist into her palm. “You idiots. You’re their family. There’s no reason to sit around lamenting what’s been done. Ed, I know how you feel. I lost someone I loved once, too.”

  Bran, who stood behind Angel, squeezed her shoulder.

  She put her hand on top of his before continuing. “We all have. It doesn’t stop hurting. You just get better at hiding the pain. I didn’t know either of them real well, but I know you guys. We’re all hurting. We need to heal before we can move on. That’s what a funeral is for. Saying your goodbyes, punctuating the sentence of your past relationship, and looking forward to the next. The details don’t matter. Hell, we’ve got everyone who cares right in this room. There’s no reason to get caught up in details. Let’s go to the church. Invite the whole town. Come together for once instead of tearing each other apart, especially in light of all that’s happened.”

  “Do you really think it’s that simple?” Ed shook his head.

  “No, I don’t. Nothing ever is. The healing and coping take time, but during that time, we will find something to focus our energy on, like finding and killing the one responsible for all this.”

  Sal withdrew his hand. “Judah’s still hurt. Half of us are. I don’t know that anyone is in any shape to be going after this guy. He’s still at full power.”

  I stood and felt all eyes on me. “No choice, not if I want to beat Seamus in three months.”

  “Judah, you’ve got three months,” Sal said. “There’s still time.”

  I looked at Creven, who sat cross-legged on the floor, his staff across his knees. “Creven?”

  The elf huffed out a sigh. “While she’s improved a lot over the last few months, it isn’t enough. I’ve fought Seamus and lost in my time, and there are other Lords of Faerie who would cower at the very idea of crossing Finvarra. The old legends made him a god for a reason. Remember that he can raise legions of the dead to fight at his side. Without the Sword of Light, no one stands a chance of beating him.”

  “Besides, did you miss the part where Dick threatened all of us if we didn’t do it?” I gestured wide. “I want to grieve for our fallen, too, but every moment we aren’t actively hunting and fighting Warren is a moment he has to plan his escape.” I drew in a deep breath to calm the shaking in my legs. “I’ll handle everything.”

  “Mom, you don’t have to shoulder this alone.” Hunter put a hand on my arm. “You write down who I need to call to make arrangements, and I’ll do it.”

  “I can make and print programs.” Ed rubbed his eyes. They were red and swollen. “Maybe find a few songs I know Mara liked.”

  “I can go up the chain, see who in the church would want to come down and conduct something for Reed,” Valentino volunteered.

  Several people turned to look at him. He shrugged. “What? I might not
be a good Catholic, but I’m still Catholic.”

  “The pack will help with expenses,” Sal offered.

  “No, they won’t.” Creven crossed his arms. “Marcus has money to spare. I say tap that resource. I’ll get him to pay for whatever you need.”

  Daphne stood from her folding chair next to Shauna. “And in the meantime, if anyone wants someone to talk to, come and find me.” She looked directly at me and offered a sympathetic smile.

  “And if you need something to punch, I’ve got the gym.” Shauna nodded in my direction. “There’s more than one way to get therapy.”

  My eyes watered. Even after all they’d been through on my behalf, they were all still willing to give more when I needed it. I pushed away the tears. “We’ll schedule everything for tomorrow. Make sure the whole town knows. Then we go and get Warren.”

  Everyone murmured their agreement and then, without many more words, they rose and began to file out.

  I sank back on the sofa, wincing when the move jarred my arm. Dammit, I needed to get better by tomorrow. How was that even going to be possible? My head was a jumbled mess. I was an emotional wreck, barely holding it together, and my arm still hadn’t healed.

  “Judah?”

  I opened my eyes as both Sal and Hunter stepped in front of me, growling at Abe as he approached. He’d been allowed to come into our home only because I insisted. Sal was not happy with him for breaking my arm.

  He removed his hat and turned it in his hands, a sheepish look on his face. It didn’t look good on him. “A moment of your time? In private?”

  “No way in hell I’m letting her—”

  I cleared my throat loudly and Sal stopped. “I can decide for myself, Sal.”

  He dropped the pointed finger he had in Abe’s face and lowered his head in submission.

  “Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of Sal and Hunter, Abe.”

  Abe glanced from Sal to Hunter. “Not this. This is for your ears only.”

  I frowned. The way he said it, I knew it was a message from Dick. There weren’t many private places in a house full of werewolves, not with their hearing as good as it was, but there was one place I could go.