O’Connell glanced at me. “We were going to let you leave.”
I laughed. “That’s a lie.”
“No, it’s not.” He had the nerve to look offended.
“Yes, it is,” I assured him. “It’s always been one of my abilities and why I was good at my job. You can’t lie to me without my knowing it. So you’re going to have to adjust fire and get used to it.”
He collapsed back in his seat. “Did you come here to kill us?”
“If I wanted you dead, I’d have already slit your throat with that knife you gave me. Hell, I would have killed you and your agents last week.” I lifted a brow. “Note that I didn’t.”
Kerbasi stirred. “If she truly wants to punish you, she’ll make you watch something called ‘chick flicks’.”
I glared at him. O’Connell gave the guardian a strange look before turning back to me.
“We did notice you left us alive. It’s why I believed you wouldn’t use the knife against me. If we could shoot you multiple times and you still didn’t kill us, I figured I was fairly safe.”
“But you still planned to capture me.” I sighed. “I’m disappointed in you, Agent O’Connell.”
“Why did you come here, if you suspected that?” he asked.
“Because there are higher powers who want me to pass on a message.”
He glanced at Kerbasi, then back at me. “What is it?”
The agent was definitely interested. The guardian and his brilliant gray wings had probably lent me some credibility.
“There is going to be something big happening a few months from now—though we don’t have an exact date yet. The people who sent me are aware of your work and believe you could be an asset.” So far, so good. My hand wasn’t burning from the spell. “If you want a warning and some help, then you need to leave Fairbanks as soon as possible.”
He rubbed his face. “I’m not sure I can sell that to my superiors.”
I was going to have to up the stakes a notch.
“You better.” I gave him a hard look. “Because believe me when I tell you that you’re going to want this warning. It will help save human lives, which is the one area where our interests unite.”
He balled his fists. “You’ve got my attention, but can’t you give me more specifics?”
“Sorry, but no. That’s all I’ve got for now.” In a way, I felt bad. It was hard to plan for something when you didn’t know what it might be and had to sell the idea to your superiors. He had a tough task ahead of him.
He nodded at the two men. “You can lower your weapons.”
The sound of the men shifting let me know they’d complied. I had hoped I wouldn’t have to find out if whatever was in those darts worked.
“And another thing—I want the pixies back.”
“That’s not possible. They’re beyond my reach now.” He gave me an apologetic look.
It was worth a try, but he wasn’t lying. Wherever they’d been taken it was probably above his pay grade. I’d just have to hope Ariel could come through for me.
“And leaving town?” That much I wouldn’t compromise on.
“I’ll see what I can do. If you say your intel will help us save human lives then that might be enough to convince them. Fairbanks isn’t a high priority at the moment anyway, though it would be nice if you could tell us about the earthquake from a few months ago.” A hopeful tone entered his voice for that last part.
“Since I’m feeling generous I’ll tell you this much. It wasn’t an earthquake and it didn’t originate in Alaska.” Let him stew on that information. Without all the facts, he and his agency were unlikely to figure it out anyway.
He gave me a smile. “Thanks. That at least crosses a few things off the list, assuming you’re not lying.”
“I have no reason to.” I shrugged. “If I don’t want to tell you something, I just don’t.”
“Fair enough.” He tapped his fingers on the table. “Just one more thing. Do you know anything about some recent explosions northeast of town?”
“If I were you, I’d rely on the police reports.” The ones Nik and Kariann had doctored last night.
O’Connell stared at me for a full minute, as if that would persuade me to elaborate. It didn’t. He stood up.
I followed his example. “Can I go?”
“Yes,” he said, glancing at the door. “But you better come through for me on that intel or I can’t say what my agency might do if something big happens and we didn’t get any warning.”
“You’ll get it around the same time I do, I imagine. Keep training. You’re going to need it.” That was one piece of advice I had to give.
“Do you still have my card?”
“Yes.” It was at my house, but I had it.
“That’s the best way to reach me. Be sure to use it when the time comes.”
“And you let me know what your bosses say about leaving. Because if I do catch you hanging around town after tomorrow I’m going to assume we don’t have a deal and act accordingly. And I won’t be as gentle next time,” I warned.
He rubbed the back of his head where I’d probably given him a concussion.
“I hope it doesn’t come to that,” O’Connell said, meaning it.
“You and me both.” I looked at Kerbasi. “Please put your wings away. We’re going.”
He gave a disdainful look at the humans. “Good. The more I see of humans the more I realize you’re far more entertaining than they are.”
“What does he mean by that?” The agent lifted his eyebrows.
“You don’t want to know.” I took Kerbasi’s arm and strolled out, passing the agents who’d move from the doorway to allow us through.
Chapter Thirty-seven
Kariann wasn’t at Nik’s place when I went over there a couple hours after sunset. Instead, a two-hundred-year old vamp named Teego stood guard. He played back-up sometimes when one of the regulars couldn’t be present. I’d never said more than a word of greeting to him, and his idea of a greeting wasn’t exactly conventional.
A blade sailed across the foyer to land in a round birch board target. That was his thing, throwing knives. With vamp speed and reflexes—and many decades of practice—he never missed. I might have seen the knife fly by, but I hadn’t been in danger of getting hit.
“Hey, Teego,” I said, walking past him.
He grunted and fingered another knife.
Voices came from the living room. Nik had called me over because of something important, but he’d refused to explain until I got there. I walked in on him and Felisha arguing.
“You can’t do this!” Her face was red and her eyes were swollen.
She wore an ankle-length green dress held up with spaghetti straps. It fit the contours of her slim body well and showed just a hint of cleavage. Normally she wore more casual clothes, but since Josslyn had come along she’d upgraded her wardrobe.
Nik gave her a firm look. “I must.”
Kerbasi flashed into the room and took a seat at the far table with the chess board. I’d told him to stay at the house, but as usual he hadn’t listened. Now he pretended to study the game pieces as if that was the only reason he’d come, though I knew damn well it wasn’t.
“What’s going on?” I asked, settling on a couch arm.
“We have to stop him, Melena.” Felisha’s gaze ran between the master vampire and me. “He’s going to die if he fights in this duel tonight!”
I stilled. She believed that with every fiber of her being. I’d worried Derrick might issue a challenge and now it was confirmed. The two men would have to fight to the death and by morning, one would be gone from us forever. I swallowed a lump in my throat and met Nik’s eyes.
“She speaks the truth—as she believes it. I’d listen to her.”
He shook his head. “She’s wrong. Derrick is not as strong or as skilled as I am.”
The idiot man refused to listen no matter how many warnings he got. I didn’t want to see him lose his position, but I couldn’t discount all the other things I’d heard. There were those who wanted him out of power. Whether Derrick knew it or not, he was the tool being used to make Nik go.
“Lesser strength didn’t stop Lucas,” Kerbasi said, looking up. “He still beat an archangel in a duel, though we were all certain he’d lose.”
“He what?” Nik and I asked at the same time.
He returned his attention to the chessboard. “Of course, you’re not supposed to know about that.”
“No.” I marched over to him and stuck my finger in his face. “You’re going to tell me or I swear I’ll give you nothing but bologna sandwiches to eat for the next month.”
He pursed his lips and didn’t look at me. “I should say nothing more on the matter, but that would be a fate worse than death.”
“Then tell me,” I demanded.
He sighed and looked up. “How do you think he convinced the archangels to let him give you immortality? He challenged Remiel to a duel for the privilege.”
Apparently, not to the death, since both were alive and well. “And if he’d lost?”
“With the life you lead, I imagine your body would have been feeding the worms months ago. And he’d still be mine to torture.” Kerbasi’s eyes turned mournful. “I do miss my job.”
“My heart bleeds for you.”
Kerbasi didn’t say anything by accident. He’d meant for that to come out and for me to get upset over it. I wouldn’t. The lengths Lucas had gone through to keep me safe might be hard to hear about, but it was the past. Now that I had the truth I could wait for him to tell me in his own words. For at least a few months. If he didn’t confess by then I’d just badger him to death.
I turned away and rejoined Nik and Felisha.
Tears ran down the fairy’s face. “Do you see? Nothing is impossible.”
“I’ll be fine.” Nik didn’t sound quite as confident, but he took the fairy in his arms and hugged her. “Do not worry for me.”
Her body shook against his. “I can’t help it.”
Watching her, I realized I didn’t stand a chance if she couldn’t talk him out of it. His emotional ties to me weren’t nearly as strong. I could try shooting him, but he’d still fight and I’d have weakened him beforehand. It was a no-win situation.
I cleared my throat. “Not that I want to interrupt you two, but Josslyn and Kariann are on their way back. Nadine is following behind them.”
They’d just popped up on my radar, though I couldn’t imagine why those three would be together.
Nik let go of Felisha and put a healthy distance between them. “Good. I’d hoped they wouldn’t take long.”
“Where’d they go?” I asked.
“To a small orc community about thirty miles northeast of here. They make excellent dueling swords. When Derrick issued the challenge this evening I suggested we obtain the weapons from there to ensure a fair fight. Nadine insisted on going along.”
He was being so calm about it. One of them was going to kill the other and he showed no signs of it bothering him. I wanted to run up and smack some sense into his thick vampire skull. Actually, if Derrick was around I’d smack him, too. Maybe even twice for starting it.
Kariann and Josslyn entered the room. The blond vampire had a sword in her hand. A blade made of tempered steel with a plain metal cross-guard. It had been polished to a high shine and sharpened to its tip. There was no decoration, but for its purpose it didn’t need any.
Josslyn looked like she was going to be ill as she glanced over at it in Kariann’s hand. Vamps might be immune to viruses and other human ailments, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t make themselves sick through stress and strong emotions.
“Nadine approved of them?” Nik asked, reaching for the sword.
“Yeah, she’s outside with the other one.” Kariann handed it over. “I swear she inspected the blades for twenty minutes before agreeing we could use them.”
“It is her right as his second. Just as it was yours to do the same,” Nik said, holding the blade up to the light.
It looked fine to me, but Kariann had only taught me the basics about sword craftsmanship. I still had a lot more to learn.
“I, for one, will be glad when this matter is concluded,” Kerbasi said, moving pieces around the chess board. “It has grown wearisome.”
Everyone ignored him.
“Nik, please reconsider this.” Josslyn said, walking up to him. “Why don’t we just go away and live somewhere in peace?”
He lowered the sword and set it on a nearby table. When he turned to face her again his expression was hard. “Don’t start that again. All of you should be standing with me, supporting me. Instead I must listen to pleas for me to accept defeat.”
“You are doing what you feel you must. There is no dishonor in that.” Lucas had flashed into the room during Nik’s speech.
Relief came over the master vampire’s face. “Good, you’re here.”
“I’ve come merely to observe, but I wish you the best.” Lucas went over and put an arm around Nik, clapping him on the back.
“Thank you.” Nik returned the gesture and stepped away. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to speak to my second alone.”
He waved at Kariann to precede him out of the living room, taking the sword before he followed. They headed down the hallway toward the stairs. There was a training room up there. Maybe he planned to do a warm-up before the big fight.