Personal Demon

HOPE: PANIC BUTTON

Bianca died twice more before Karl sent me a message. Three words: get out now.

I messaged him back, asking whether I should try to maintain my cover.

One word: abort.

Had Karl been able to find the exclamation mark, I suspected he would have used it. I considered his command. Yes, he was prone to blowing things out of proportion where my safety was concerned, but however strong his instinct to protect, he always backed down if he was overdoing it.

I sent back “Are you sure?” and got a profanity in response.

I stood just inside the door and mentally ran through my escape route. Once I breached Max’s spell barrier, I couldn’t stop. I threw open the door and started down the hall at a quick march. If they caught me running, I was doomed.

Through the club, into the front hall-

“Faith?”

Tony stood in the doorway between the club and the hall.

“Oh, thank God,” I said. “You guys are still here. I called Guy to say I needed to use the bathroom, and no one answered. I thought I’d been left behind.”

“Nah, we’re just finishing up. Guy was going to send Max to get you in a minute. I’ll take you to him.”

A dark form appeared behind Tony. Three slow, silent steps, and Karl was close enough to breathe down Tony’s neck.

As he reached out, I gasped, eyes going wide. “Tony!”

Karl grabbed him by the back of the shirt and flung him into the wall with a crack that sent plaster flying. As Tony dropped, I hurried over to check his pulse. Karl grabbed my arm. With my free hand, I lifted Tony’s eyelids, making sure they weren’t dilated. I started for the door, but Karl swung me around, nearly flipping me off my feet, and dragged me back toward the club.

“What-?” I began.

“Shhh!” A quick glance and discreet sniff around, then he pulled me behind the coat check and toward the side closet. I was about to tell him the door was kept locked, but saw it was ajar, and realized this was where he’d been waiting.

He pulled me inside. As he closed the door, the room went dark, and his hand stayed on my wrist, gripping hard enough to make me wince.

“What the hell were you doing?” he whispered. “You almost gave me away.”

“It was too late for Tony to react. But when he comes to, he’ll tell the others that I tried to warn him, which will make it seem as if my disappearance wasn’t voluntary.”

“So you can go back and pick up where you left off? It’s over, Hope. Your job is done, and you need to stop worrying about-”

“About whether they’ll realize I’m a spy and change the plans you presumably overheard?”

He went quiet.

“My wrist?” I whispered.

He slackened his grip, and rubbed the spot with his thumb, then pulled me into the darkest section of the closet. I lifted onto my tiptoes to whisper in his ear, but still had to tug his shoulder to get him to bend.

“Can I ask why we’re in here when the exit was twenty feet away?”

“I didn’t want to exit.”

“Then why call me-?” The answer hit. “You son-of-a-bitch.”

I slipped my arm from his grasp. His hand went around my waist before I could step away.

I continued. “You want them separated, looking for me, don’t you? I’m not in danger. You just wanted to sound the alarm-and use the excuse to blow my cover so we can leave Miami.”

“I wanted them out of that room so I can get something in it. And, yes, I want you out of Miami.”

“You told me I was in danger, and I trusted you.”

A moment of uncomfortable silence, then, “They have plans in that room. Blueprints-”

“Which you could have gotten without blowing my cover.”

At a sound from outside the room we both went silent. It was Guy and Rodriguez. They’d found Tony. I heard Guy phone Max and tell him Tony had been knocked out. He wanted Max to meet Rodriguez at the front door, then go after me while he tended to Tony.

Rodriguez helped Guy carry Tony away, still unconscious. Once we were sure they were gone, we slipped from the closet.

I followed Karl. I tried to focus on the task, but my nerves were frayed from almost two hours of watching Bianca die.

Why did I insist on trusting a man everyone warned couldn’t be trusted? Maybe I did enjoy the chaos of my own suffering, and I was just too deluded to see it.

“Hope? I need you to stand guard here. Are you going to be able to do that?”

“Of course I can.” I snapped the words, then rubbed my face. “Sorry. Yes, I’m fine and I can handle this.”

“Are you sure?”

I nodded. Karl’s gaze darkened and I could feel chaos strumming from him. Anger? Frustration? Impatience? Impossible to tell.

He said, “We’re getting you out of here. As soon as I’m done.”

“I don’t need-” I bit off the sharp words and managed a softer, “I’m fine, Karl. Really. Just go.”

His look said he expected me to collapse from chaos overdose the moment he turned his back.

“Go,” I said between my teeth. “I’m fine.”

He left. I rubbed my arms, struggling to stay alert. Fight the fatigue. Experience it, learn from it, then push it aside.

“We need to move now,” a voice said. “Go to the warehouse, get the equipment and strike.”

I was ready to bolt, my tired brain misidentifying the sound as something I was hearing with my ears, not my mind. When I realized otherwise, I closed my eyes and concentrated.

“But if they took Faith after they knocked me out-” Tony’s voice.

“All the more reason to move.” Guy.

“I tried calling her-”

“Her phone switches straight to voice mail. Whoever took her must have it and turned it off.”

Where were they? I couldn’t tell. No, wait, if I couldn’t hear them with my ears, then they weren’t that close.

I took out my panic button, just in case.

“Are you up for it?” Guy asked. “How’s the head?”

“Pounding like a son-of-a-bitch, but those Tylenols should kick in soon. I’m not backing out, if that’s what you’re asking. Those bastards have three of our guys, and we’re getting them back. I’d love to know what attacked me, though. What’s that strong? Werewolf?”

“The Cabals don’t hire werewolves.”

The voice faded. I hurried to the end of the hall, hoping to pick them up again, but either they were too far away or the chaos had faded from the exchange. I ran back and found Karl shuffling through a filing cabinet.

“They’re leaving,” I said. “Did you find what you wanted?”

He smacked the drawer shut in response.

“They must have taken it,” I said. “I’m going to follow them. If you want to keep looking-”

He strode past me and waved for me to fall in behind him. As much as I longed to lead, I couldn’t argue with the logic of putting the guy with superhuman hearing and strength in front.

Guy and Tony-and presumably Max and Rodriguez-were gone. That meant Karl had to track them by scent. Easy enough inside. Once outside, though, even if he’d been comfortable sniffing the ground, he couldn’t do it without attracting a lot of attention. So it was slow going. When the sidewalk branched, he had to stoop and tie his shoe to figure out which way they’d gone. Finally, the trail ended…in the delivery lane where Guy usually parked.

He paced, stopping every few steps to sniff the ground, as if hoping he was mistaken about the obvious answer.

Finally he straightened and said, “Gone.”

“From what I heard they’re going after their target now. You saw blueprints. Office? Private residence?”

“A couple of office floor plans, plus one or two that could have been homes. It was too far to see.” He took out his cell phone. “Lucas might recognize them, if they’re Cabal.”