Hear No (Hidden Evil, #1) (29 page)

“Too late. Got here the same time Zyra did. Troy beat us both, and it looks like Eddy is the one who outsmarted everyone.”

“Never thought I’d say this, but thank god for Eddy,” Nathan said.

Maggy stared at him for a long moment. “You really like this girl. I wonder if it’s affecting your judgment!”

“Still killed her, didn’t I?” he replied. “Someone swapped out the poison for saline. I used a knife.”

Maggy’s eyes widened.

“You are one cold-hearted bastard,” Troy remarked, approval in his tone. “I don’t think I could do that.”

“I didn’t have a choice,” Nathan said. He began to wonder if he’d fucked up worse than ever before. It was one thing to try the risky plan to get rid of Shadowman, another to place her welfare in the hands of Eddy. “We need to find Eddy.”

“We gotta beat Zyra to him. She’s obsessed.”

“Or she wants to redeem herself,” Nathan replied. “They were the ones who killed Mike, not knowing he wasn’t the anchor.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. So we know they’re serious and willing to kill whoever it takes.”

Maggy was quiet for a moment. She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Nathan, but I still don’t think they’re wrong about this one. Taking an innocent life, yeah, that’s bad. But they’re trying to prevent a portal to Hell being opened.”

A week ago, I would’ve agreed.
Nathan touched the back of his head and flinched. He had a booming headache, and his blood was racing, adding to the pounding. He found himself clenching and releasing his fists, needing to know if Kaylee was alive. Worse, what if they waited too long to revive her, and her mind and body were irreparably damaged?

“You’ve got insight on where to find them?” he asked Maggy.

“We’re looking. I sent out an emergency request for assistance to every guide on the eastern seaboard.” She glanced down at her phone. “We know about where they hang out in this area, but I doubt Eddy will be stupid enough to risk going anywhere we know about.”

Nathan wanted to stab something or run a marathon – anything to alleviate the fear charging through his system. He recalled too clearly how her warm blood ran down his hand and wrist. He’d felt regret stronger than any other emotion in his life when he heard her heart slow then stop. He should’ve said the words – any words – to let her know he cared.

He hadn’t. He didn’t even know if he was capable of voicing such a private emotion, not after all the years he spent burying his feelings in order to survive the job.

You don’t exactly make it easy to understand you.

He never thought he wanted anyone to try to understand him before Kaylee.

“Wake up.” Maggy snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Let’s get out of here. We gotta figure out how to track them.”

“Well,” Troy said slowly. “I might be able to help.”

“You sober?” Maggy asked, ignoring him.

“More or less.”

Nathan snorted. “How?”

“Amira. She knows a little more than she let on.”

“Where is she?” Nathan glanced towards the two parked vehicles. One was clearly Troy’s F350 while the other was a car.

“In the truck.” By the irritated look Troy cast in the direction of his vehicle, he wasn’t pleased.

“You know Shadowman is looking for her and brought you with you?” Maggy asked.

“It wasn’t exactly the plan,” Troy said nonchalantly. “She’s fine.”

“Let’s go.” Nathan started towards the truck. “Mags, you wanna head to town to see what you can uncover and I’ll go with Troy?”

“Yeah.”

Nathan didn’t let himself dwell on her insistence that Zyra was right. He climbed into Troy’s truck and twisted to see Amira in the dim light.

She was shaking, and he smelled blood.

“Nathan,” she said in a forlorn voice. She leaned forward and hugged him, almost dragging him out of his seat.

He chuckled and squeezed her back.

“What is it with you and chicks?” Troy complained, hopping in and closing his door. “Don’t get blood on my seats.” He reached under his bucket seat to grab a rag and tossed it on Nathan’s lap.

Nathan released Amira, resting his forehead against hers as they exchanged energy. This time, she pushed warmth into him, sensing he needed it.

He withdrew from her and took the rag. “This isn’t gonna help.” He said with a quick glance down at himself. He handed it to Amira instead.

She sat back and Nathan looked out the window. There were two bloodstains lit up by Troy’s headlights. The larger one was his, the smaller that of Kaylee.

Exhausted but wired with worry, he leaned forward and gripped his head in his hands.

“I’m in a car with two people who have more secrets than me,” Troy said casually. “I have a feeling you’re going to talk first, for once.”

“Yeah,” Nathan replied. He could still almost feel her body in his arms, smell her scent. “I can’t detach this time. I need to find her.”

“Something tells me Amira can help. She let me in on one of her secrets, but I know she’s got more. You ever get that feeling?”

Nathan snorted, gaze going to the trees whipping by his window.

“Nathan, did you tell Troy that the host is your OTL?” Amira asked from the back seat.

“Your
what?”
Troy asked, slamming on the brakes a little too fast as they reached the bottom of the hill.

“Dammit, Amira,” Nathan muttered. “I was hoping no one picked up on that.” He twisted to look at Amira.

She smiled.

“You have a predestined OTL?” Troy shook his head.

“Why the fuck is that so hard to believe?” Nathan snapped.

“For one, you’re the most Scorpio-ist Scorpio I’ve ever met. Two, you’re an asshole and a whore. Three … really? No offense, Nate, but who in the universe would you be able to put up with long term? You never commit to any girl.”

“Obviously no one. I killed her, didn’t I?”

Troy’s shock turned to consideration. “Then again, the problem is you, not the girls you date. If you somehow changed, I could maybe see it. I always hated the term OTL. It’s definitely an angel thing.”

“And you’re my best friend?” Nathan rubbed his face hard, not caring if he smeared blood everywhere. “I can’t think not knowing if she’s alive or not.”

“She’s alive.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Zyra is pissed.”

“Troy, we have to tell Nathan about the archdemon,” Amira chimed in. Unable to hear them talk, she was spilling secrets right and left, without knowing how stressed out Nathan already was. “Do you have any sparkles, Nathan?”

He shook his head at her then addressed Troy.

“I can’t believe that. I can almost believe a fallen guardian now, but an archdemon? They were just myths. I can even believe Zyra shot me after professing her love for me yesterday.”

“There isn’t a woman out there who wouldn’t fuck you or shoot you if she could,” Troy replied. “We couldn’t figure out why Shadowman was connected to … what’s your girl’s name?”

“Kaylee.”

“We couldn’t figure out why he was attached to her. Shadowman is too smart for a normal demon.”

“I noticed that,” Nathan said. “He’s strong and getting stronger fast. Or was getting stronger, before …” He shook his head, frustrated trying to focus with the memory of Kaylee dying in his arms saturating his senses. “Okay. I believe it. He’s sentient. He can’t be a normal demon.”

“Exactly. We heard rumors they existed and now we know they do. So what kind of human would be a compatible host for an archdemon to attach itself to?”

“Someone of equal standing?” Nathan thought for a moment. “Only an archangel incarnated.” His heart dropped. “I swear to god, I’m going to kill Pedro. He sets me up with an archangel, knowing I can hardly stand most angels? Seriously?”

“Well, there’s never been one before. If anything, I’d say it’s a good thing.”

“If I didn’t sense that, then she must be in generation ten million or something. There’s no way I wouldn’t notice a first gen archangel.” Nathan never thought his situation could get any worse. After three thousand years of thinking he’d seen it all, Pedro threw him for a loop he never expected.

“I wouldn’t put it past Pedro to have helped disguise her.”

“We need chicken nuggets, Troy,” Amira said, sounding distraught.

“I’m thinking a bottle of whiskey instead,” Nathan muttered, facing the girl.

Amira was gazing out the window. Something was clenched in her hand.

When he turned, she met his gaze.

“Who has the host?” she asked.

“Satanists,” he answered.

Her eyes widened a moment before the first gen angel burst into tears.

“What the hell?” Troy glanced back. “I see the red rock in her hand. So they can’t find the portal to Hell.”

“That’s how they do it?” Nathan’s gaze rested on her closed fist. “Amira.” He tapped her leg.

She refused to look at him, instead twisting to bury her face in the back of the seat.

“What am I missing?” Nathan demanded of Troy. “Are nuggets that important?”

“Like I said. She’s hiding something, and I think whatever it is, she’s about to crack and tell us what.”

“Because something went horribly wrong,” Nathan guessed. “I can’t stand it when they cry.”

Amira’s sobs were heart wrenching, like only a truly innocent soul could procure. Distressed enough with his own mess, he couldn’t handle her crying her heart out.

He unfastened his safety belt and crawled in back with her. Amira wrapped her arms around him, and he pulled her close. Her slender body shook with emotion. He didn’t try to talk to her, needing a hug himself, but rested his head back against the seat and held her.

His energy flowed into her, calming her some. Troy went through the drive-thru of McDonald’s for her nuggets, and she settled down even more. Clinging to him, Amira took the bag Troy passed back to her.

“I have an OTL, too, Nathan,” she said. “Nugget?”

He took one, more because he didn’t know what to do with his anxious energy than because he was actually hungry. He wanted to ask about her soul agreement but knew she couldn’t read his lips in the dark of the cab. Instead, he did what he often did and closed his eyes, syncing himself with the energy from the Other Side that constantly flowed around him. It connected him to Amira in a way few guides could do, and he was able to read who her OTL was.

He smiled then laughed.

Sensing his energy intertwined with hers, Amira giggled.

“What?” Troy asked. “What’re you doing, Nate?”

“Nothing.” Nathan released the energy and popped the nugget in his mouth. “You think you’ll ever settle down, Troy?”

“God help me, no. Haven’t given up on quitting and ending up dead in a ditch.”

“Someone’s gotta take care of Amira.”

Troy was quiet, and Nathan sensed that some part of Troy liked Amira enough to stick around instead of trying to get himself killed.

It would have to be enough for now. Troy would take some work. The only rule Nathan followed was preventing a first gen and a spirit guide from getting together.

But this wasn’t a normal first gen, and Troy needed someone who could help him see the good in life again. Sweet, gentle and smart, Amira was the person Pedro chose to give Troy life and hope again.

So what did it mean that Pedro assigned
him
an incarnated archangel? Was it a reward?

Or a sign that life was about to go to shit?

“That son of a bitch,” Nathan growled. “You think it’s because of my rating?”

“I don’t think Pedro gives a shit about ratings. I think that’s something the guides started that Pedro adopted to try to be more like a human boss. I’d say you probably earned being saddled with an archangel. I mean, you’re …
you.
The strongest guide in history. Maybe ever. Why not give you a challenge only you can handle?”

“Yeah, true. I am the best. Normally, that’s enough. It’s no consolation now, though.”

Troy snorted. He pulled into his driveway and parked out front.

Nathan untangled himself from Amira, who had wolfed down her nuggets and started to doze, comforted by his heat. She woke and climbed out of one side of the truck while he got out on his side.

Troy led them into the house and the kitchen, where he set down another McDonald’s bag.

Amira reached for it, face tight and features pale.

He crossed his arms and glared down at her. She clutched the bag in her hand but held his gaze.

“Talk,” he ordered.

Her shoulders sagged, and tears filled her eyes. “The host has the stones. She can find the others. So can the Satanists that have her. I ruined everything!” She turned to leave.

Troy caught her arm and perched on the counter, pulling her back to his large frame.

Nathan leaned against the doorway and watched, darkly amused to know his unsuspecting best friend was dealing with the woman destined to be his OTL.

“I know about the red stone. You’re saying there are more?” Troy asked.

Amira nodded.

“How many?”

She hesitated, and Troy absently wiped the tears from her face with the back of an index finger then drew her closer to his body.

Nathan smiled.

“Four,” she said in a voice so faint and tight, Nathan barely heard it.

Troy smoothed her hair from her face and tilted her chin up, so she didn’t lose focus.

“What do they do?” he asked.

“They locate … the others.” Her voice trembled.

Nathan moved closer, sensing she was about to tell him what Pedro wouldn’t.

“Three of us hold keys to open portals to Hell, where different demons will come out.” She dug into her pocket to pull out the red stone. “But it’s not just this. It’s us, too. We were chosen, and I think we’re meant to prevent the demons from coming, but I don’t know how. The stones tell me where the others are. They were dormant until a couple of months ago, and then they started to communicate with me. I didn’t understand why, until the fourth one came alive. It’s … Shadowman’s. And his host’s. They share a stone. The stones were warning me. Scott helped me figure it out but that woman killed him.”

“What woman?” Troy asked.

“The one Maggy was arguing with.”

Nathan’s senses sharpened. “Zyra?” His mind began to race even more at the revelation. “She killed Scott and Mike, chased down Kaylee to try to steal her body, probably shot me, blew up an office building and killed a fellow spirit guide to try to get to Amira. Anyone else thinking she’s the bitch of the year?”