Supernatural Security Force the Complete Series, page 40
part #1 of Books 1-5 Series
My stomach dropped. “That’s impossible. My grandpa died of a heart attack.”
Adrik didn’t look at me as he said, “That was the official report.”
A lump built in my throat. I pressed my hand to my mouth. If I’d thought the conspiracy against my family was bad before—
“And Gran?” I asked, my voice strangled. “She’s stuck as a June bug. Claims it was grief.”
“I think your grandfather did it to her,” he said quietly. “So they wouldn’t find her when they searched the house.”
I stared up at him, horrified. “That’s why she can’t change back. Because a warlock spelled her, and only a warlock can reverse it.”
He nodded; his expression strained. “Your father offered to find one for her, but she refused. Said she would return to her body when your grandfather’s killer was found.”
“She was there,” I said, pacing now. “She must have seen who it was.”
“Your grandfather spelled her and closed her inside a jar in their pantry.
She didn’t see anything.”
“Why didn’t she tell me? All this time—” “We all agreed not to.”
I stopped pacing to stare at him, stricken. “You all decided,” I repeated slowly.
He nodded, guilt flashing in his otherwise unreadable expression. “You knew who I was even then?”
“I did. Your father cared about you and your mother. He made me
promise—”
He broke off and looked away.
I stalked angrily to where he stood. “Made you promise what?”
“When your grandfather called that night, it was to warn your father. He had no intention of letting your father come take his place. Instead, he gave your father the wrong address, and then the line went dead.”
My eyes filled with tears at what must have happened next.
“He died protecting his family. Your father was determined to do the same.”
Something about his tone jarred a memory.
“The goon who threatened me right before I reported to the Tiff,” I said, eyes widening. “You sent him.”
“He made me swear to keep you safe. And to him, that meant keeping you out of it.”
“My dad didn’t want me to follow in his footsteps,” I said softly. Adrik didn’t answer.
He didn’t have to.
I swallowed hard. There were more questions. More cards to lay on the table. And just as soon as I accepted that I’d gone against my father’s dying wish, I’d make sure we did exactly that.
“Gem.”
Adrik reached for me, and I stepped back. In the back of my mind, I was aware it was the only time he’d ever attempted to touch me out of tenderness. But I didn’t care.
“I need some time.”
I turned on my heel and marched to Jax’s bedroom, shutting the door behind me with a decisive click.
From the kitchen, low conversation drifted back. If I’d wanted, I could have listened. But eavesdropping with my fae hearing wasn’t going to make this any easier to accept. Tuning them all out, I pulled out my phone and punched in the code Starla had given me for emergencies.
Screw all this “team player” bull shit.
While I wasn’t naïve enough to think I could survive this insanity all on my own, I still had a mission to complete. A list to find. A corrupt Nephilim to track down. Gran and Dad and Adrik had all tried pushing me out. Sure, they’d wanted to protect me, but that didn’t change the fact that they’d all lied. Even Gran.
I had a few things to say to her especially.
Not to mention Adrik. Were his feelings real? The way he’d looked at me the day I’d patched him up in Jax’s kitchen . . . like he was undressing me with his eyes. Was that part of the promise he’d made to my dad?
I snorted.
Probably not. But until I could separate my feelings from my promises, I had to focus. What I wanted was space. And the only way I was going to get that was to steal it.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Five minutes went by. Any second now, Jax was going to come looking for me. I considered re-sending the text but knew better than to wear out my smoke signal. I’d never used it before, and I kind of hated that I was using it now, especially to get away from my BFF, my Nephilim crush, and my baby daddy. Not to mention the fact that my secret demon baby was probably twerking herself into exhaustion three rooms away. If Starla saw her, I’d have a different sort of emergency on my hands.
But desperate times called for— “Hello, Miss Hawkins.”
I whirled, clutching my thighs together to avoid a serious bladder control problem.
“You scared the piss out of me,” I hissed then immediately berated myself for my use of the word “piss.”
“Apologies.” The Nephilim standing in front of Jax’s walk-in closet was familiar, but only from the photos and television appearances he’d appeared in. I hadn’t seen him during today’s visit to the Delta building, and I had no idea what that meant for his presence here now.
“You’re Azrael.” “Please, call me Az.”
I was most definitely not calling him what sounded suspiciously like the backside of our shared anatomy.
“All my friends do,” he added, and something about the way he said it clicked into place.
“Starla sent you here,” I blurted.
His brow rose. “To be clear, Starla doesn’t send me anywhere. I was with her when she got your text and decided to check on you myself.”
“You’re the one she works for.”
He smiled, a cheeky sort of expression that was surprisingly normal. Especially for an angel. “I guess you could say that.” He looked around. “Now, what’s the emergency?”
“I need to get out of here.”
“And by here you mean . . .” He sniffed, tilting his head as if mentally calculating. “Away from a panther shifter, a male fae, and . . . a demon?”
Shit.
This was a bad, bad idea.
And also a fitting start to a terrible joke. Wait. Did that mean Adrik had left already?
In my panic, I forced myself to concentrate and hurried to cover Fergie’s presence.
“Jax burnt dinner, but I hardly think the charred smell is as bad as a demon’s stench.” I batted my lashes in mock innocence.
Azrael just laughed. “Oh, this is much more fun than investigating illegal portals and level seven hell-monsters.”
My mouth fell open. “Wait. You know about the level seven?”
“It’s nothing we can’t handle,” he said, waving me off. “Now, about this emergency exit.”
“If I leave, my friends will track me, and I need to do something off the radar.”
“You mean track down that list Starla mentioned.”
I nodded.
“Don’t worry about the list,” he said. “Starla’s got someone else on it.”
Starla had someone else?
“Fine. If not the list, then I’ll track Raguel. I slipped a device into his pocket earlier. It’s only a matter of time before he leads us to a portal—”
His smile turned sharper. “Why would you think Raguel is behind the portals?”
I crossed my arms, fully aware this guy was Nephilim, no matter how friendly and gentle he seemed. “He’s the one who ordered the wipeout to frame Lester. And he tried to kill me earlier today.”
Azrael laughed. I glared at him.
“Suppose you’re correct, little fae. You think—what? You’ll just show up and tell him about his crimes and he’ll surrender to you? Darling, come now. You’re smarter than that.”
I scowled. “I’m not going to hide forever.” “Of course not.”
“Whoever’s opening these portals killed my dad.”
Azrael fell silent. Judging by the look on his face, I wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t know. But he let me talk anyway.
“Starla knew it,” I went on. “And you know it too. After he died, I made a promise to him.” I swallowed hard. “Or to his memory. That I would avenge him. So, I can’t hide, and I can’t walk away. But I also don’t want to put anyone else I care about in danger.”
“You’re a noble soul, Gem Hawkins. A rarity. Is it your deeply caring nature that led you to adopt the demon child, I wonder?”
“Fergie’s off-limits,” I said quietly, hoping my threat wouldn’t piss him off.
“Relax. I don’t intend to interfere.”
A beat of silence passed between us.
“Does that mean you’re going to help me?”
He studied me for so long I was sure he meant to refuse me.
“Does my brother know you’re working with us?” “Your brother?” I repeated.
“Adrik. Your . . . handler, I believe he calls himself now.” His mouth quirked like he knew something I didn’t. “Adrik’s your brother?”
“And Selaphiel is our sister.” He cocked his head. “He didn’t tell you?”
Sister?
My ovaries did a happy dance at that news, but I forced my expression to remain blank.
“He doesn’t tell me a lot of things,” I mumbled.
Azrael didn’t ask, and I didn’t offer any more than that. Instead, he only studied me some more. I squirmed underneath the weight of his gaze. Nephilim power roiled between us. It wasn’t angry or violent. In fact, Azrael was, by far, the most peaceful Nephilim I’d met yet. But even so, the amount of strength and force he emanated was enough to send adrenaline pumping through me at a constant rate.
I didn’t dare interrupt whatever it was he seemed to be weighing.
Finally, he nodded, his eyes gleaming with a mischief that reminded me of Milo with an adventure up his sleeve. “In that case, I think I have the perfect assignment for you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
My boots stomped heavily against the pavement as I stepped from the cab. The streets were already filling with tourists too eager to wait for dark.
Music spilled out of the bars where the doors already hung open in anticipation of another night of revelry. New York might have been the city that never slept, but the Quarter never stopped partying. Even drunk and blacked out, if you could hold a hurricane in your hand, you showed up.
I ignored the humans and kept my expression carefully grumpy. This wasn’t my first time wearing a man’s skin, but it was definitely my least favorite. And since I’d almost died the first time, that was saying something.
But it was a necessary disguise.
For more reasons than one, hopefully.
I barely allowed myself a glance at the yellow tape blocking off the entrance to the dead zone on my left. The remnants of the wipeout were impossible to ignore. An entire city block just . . . gone. I still couldn’t quite believe the Neph had done something so obvious. Not the Neph. Just one of them. Whoever was behind the portals and greater demons had ordered the wipeout. After meeting Az, I couldn’t believe the order had been voted on.
In fact, the assignment he’d given me suggested there were a lot more moving parts to this than I’d realized. No wonder he and Starla hadn’t gone after the guilty party directly. There were a lot more Nephilim than just Raguel to take down.
Maybe after tonight, there’d be one less.
I felt the prickle of eyes on me as I walked. A quick glance revealed agents stationed at nearly every corner. They didn’t do more than glance my way, probably thanks to their supe senses pegging me for one of them and their inability to recognize me for who I was. But there was definitely a jump in the number of agents patrolling compared to before.
All thanks to these secret portals. Like supply and demand.
Up ahead, my building came into view, and I kept my steps even, my chin up. To anyone watching, I was a highly regarded—if not secretly pervy—SSF agent. No need to hide or hesitate.
I was allowed to be here.
Pushing through the building’s door, I inhaled the familiar scent of home. It was mostly stale and earthy—nothing spectacular or inviting. But it was familiar. It was mine.
With boots that clomped way too loudly, I climbed the stairs to my apartment. More yellow crime scene tape covered the door, but the seal had been broken, which meant someone else had already returned after the official agency investigation had wrapped.
I hesitated, using my senses to detect what—if anything—lay waiting for me inside.
“Excuse me.”
I bit back a curse at the sound of a familiar voice. Not the person I’d come here to draw out. Dammit.
“What?” I demanded, channeling my inner asshole.
Rourke frowned at me from where he’d emerged from the stairwell at my back.
“Do you have business here?” he asked, glancing between me and my apartment door. Had he seen the broken seal on the crime tape too?
I drew myself up to my full (newly borrowed) height. “I’m agent Rigo Garcia for the SSF. My business here is none of yours, kid.”
Hearing my words in Rigo’s voice was disturbing. Not as disturbing as my “self” inside his body, but still. Weird.
At my sharp words, Rourke’s eye twitched. “You go around announcing what you are to just anyone then?”
“You’re a warlock,” I scoffed. “You couldn’t be sure,” he argued.
But I leaned in until Rourke was forced to blink and back away. Then, I gave a very deliberate sniff. “I’m sure,” I said in obvious disgust.
Rourke looked ready to spit at me.
I took that as evidence I was pulling off the illusion. No one who met Rigo left smiling.
For a moment, I thought he might lash back, but Rourke only stepped away, saying, “Apartment’s been swept already. You won’t find anything. The tenant skipped days ago.”
I didn’t answer, and after another moment, he left the way he’d come.
Faintly, I heard him mutter in a language I didn’t understand, but I was beyond caring what the strange words meant.
Shoving through the door, I stepped into my apartment.
The air inside was stale and smelled faintly of gummy bears. That made me smile despite the fact that Rourke had been right. The place was wrecked. Couch cushions ripped open, drawers lying on the floor, my mattress overturned.
The agency had been looking hard for something. Or maybe just a select few supes inside the agency. A few who reported to a certain corrupt Neph.
I stepped over the mess someone had made of my Diana Gabaldon book collection. Pages had been ripped and the spine cracked.
“Monsters,” I muttered, picking them up carefully to see what could be salvaged.
“I didn’t peg you for a Jamie fan.”
I dropped the book.
It crashed against the others, but I ignored the mess and stared across the room at the blonde perched on the windowsill.
Faith?
Of all the people I expected to draw out by coming here, she wasn’t even on the list.
I blinked, forcing myself to remember who I looked like right now.
“What the hell are you doing here, Burkhart?”
She smiled knowingly. “Enjoying your new look, for one.” She shoved off the window ledge. Behind her, my crooked curtains blew in the breeze from the open window.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I suggest you get the hell out of here before I report you for trespassing,” I said. “The agency has sealed this location for investigation—”
“The agency might like to know Gem Hawkins is hiding in plain sight.” Her gaze raked over me before she added, “In the body of the perviest guy I’ve ever met.” She shuddered. “You’re braver than I am.”
I hesitated, but there was no use attempting to lie anymore. I blew out a breath, shoulders sagging. “How did you know?”
She rolled her eyes. “Please. I aced Charms and Glamours. Not to mention I kicked your ass in impersonation. And,” she leaned in, whispering, “I’ve known for a while now you were a shapeshifter. Not that I agree with your current choice, but . . . it works.”
I sighed. “You shouldn’t be here. I’m—”
“Drawing out the enemy?” She arched a brow, still way too smug about shit she shouldn’t know.
What was happening here?
“Looks like it’s working,” I said, eyes narrowed in suspicion. She smirked. “I think you have my allegiance confused.”
Her smug expression irritated me, but as she blinked back at me, the pieces clicked suddenly into place. “You’re the one Starla assigned to find the list.”
“Bingo. Not as dumb as you currently look.”
I bit back the urge to shift into a giant hand and wipe that look right off her Bitchy Barbie face.
“Fine. If you’re not the dirty agent spying on my place, what are you doing here?”
She pulled out a knife. “I’m your backup.”
A tentacle landed on my shoulder, its poison burning right through my clothes and singeing my skin.
I yelped and jumped away as I turned to face the demon behind me. I blinked in shock at the sight of the octo-demon. It looked vaguely similar to something I’d read about in my training, but the official name escaped me.
As did its poisoned tentacles, though barely.
With a battle cry that would have made Xena-the-warrior-princess proud, Faith leaped from her place at the window and brought her knife down on the limb that had tried grabbing me. She severed it with her blade and went to work on the next one.
In a quick glance, I counted eight more still to go.
Shit, make that nine, I realized as I watched the severed tentacle grow back.
“That knife isn’t doing us any good,” I yelled to Faith, who was trying to round the demon’s large torso and scoot in behind it.
“Better than just standing around, slacker,” she called back.
I scowled, weighing my options.
The space was way too small for my griffin. But knives were also useless at this point.
Unless…
I leaped clear of a tentacle as it swung out for my chest. Then I sidestepped a second one and hurried for my bathroom.
“Where are you going, Hawkins?” Faith demanded. “Hold it off,” I yelled. “I’ll be right back.”
