Blood of the Demon (14 page)

Shit.

There was no way she could have left without him noticing. Could she?

“Brynn?” He twisted the knob and pushed open the door. His timing couldn’t have been worse.

She chose that moment to walk out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped over her head. And not a stitch of clothing elsewhere. She let out a sharp scream, snatched the towel from her head, and used it to cover herself.

“Sorry,” Ronin choked out, slapping his hands over his face. It was too late to un-see what he’d seen, though, and the image of that would stick with him. Her curves were subtle, but they were most definitely there. If Keegan found out, he’d be a dead man.

“What do you want?” Brynn gasped.

His cheeks grew warm, and he opened his mouth to reply, but the hot air that blew along the back of his neck choked off his response.

Oh shit.

Keegan’s voice growled behind him, sounding more animal than man. “What the hell’s going on here?”

Chapter Twelve

Keegan speared Ronin with his glare, waiting for him to respond.

“Nothing,” Ronin said, though it was obvious that wasn’t true. “Nothing’s going on.”

He tried to calm the unreasonable bloodlust that rose within him at the thought of his brother seeing Brynn naked. Clearly, that had been a mistake; Ronin’s crimson face betrayed his embarrassment. Still, the beast within him wanted to fall on his brother in a mass of snarling fury.

“Why didn’t you knock?” Brynn asked Ronin irritably.

“Sorry.” Ronin opened one eye, and once he was sure she was fully covered, the other. He glanced at Keegan, and Keegan knew Ronin’s words were mostly for his benefit. “I did knock. Twice. I got a little worried when you didn’t respond. Guess you didn’t hear me.”

“Oh,” Brynn said in a soft, embarrassed voice. “What’s going on?”

Keegan stopped glaring at Ronin long enough to look at her, but then he wished he hadn’t. He couldn’t stop thinking about what was underneath that towel. “Nothing new.”

“You spoke to the Council?” Ronin asked.

“You did?” she asked eagerly. “What did they say?”

“Nothing new,” he said. Which was true. They hadn’t made any headway in locating the whereabouts of the
Book
.

“Oh, that’s too bad,” she said, her face falling into a little frown.

“Listen,” Ronin said to Keegan, “I heard from Taeg. He’s got a hunch on something.”

Thank the devil. Keegan honestly didn’t know how much longer he could stand just a few feet away from a barely clad Brynn. Knowing she was one tug from being naked drove him insane.

“Wait,” she cried, as Ronin started closing the door. “I want to hear this, too.”

“It, um, doesn’t really have much to do with you,” Ronin said.

She bristled at those words. “Doesn’t
everything
about this mess have to do with me?”

Ronin gave him a questioning frown, and Keegan shrugged. As long as what his brother had to say didn’t have anything to do with the Council’s possible death order, what did he care if she listened in? As long as she was fully clothed.

“Get dressed, then meet us in the parlor,” Keegan said. Fighting the urge to indulge in another once-over of her body, he turned and left.

Ronin followed him. “So, really? Nothing new from the Council?”

Keegan was beyond frustrated. “They’ve got their scholars searching their records, but there aren’t any clues on the tomb’s location. Mammon’s already placed a team there, under the guise of being a wealthy investor funding a major archaeological dig, and they don’t want to red-flag human leaders to a potential problem.”

Ronin sighed. “Bureaucratic bullshit.”

“Never ends,” Keegan agreed. “By the way, stay the fuck out of Brynn’s room. Got it?”

“Yeah, got it.”

He seemed appropriately embarrassed, so Keegan moved on. “What’s Taeg’s theory?”

“Oh, get this,” he said, excitement spreading across his face. “What if everyone’s searching for the book in the
wrong place
?”

“What do you mean?”

Ronin relayed the conversation he’d had with Taeg.

“No shit.” He had to admit that something about his brother’s hunch seemed dead-on. If a high priest was going to make a power play against a mighty council of otherworldly beings, wouldn’t he want to do it from his ceremonial headquarters?

Brynn’s voice sounded behind him. “What is it?”

Keegan watched her stride into the parlor, a curious expression on her face. “Taeg thinks we might be searching in the wrong place for the
Book
. There’s a good chance the tomb it’s buried in is located in Memphis.”

“Memphis?” she echoed, lifting a brow in obvious disbelief.

“The ancient Egyptian city of Memphis,” Ronin clarified.

A pink flush brightened her cheeks. “Oh, that one.”

“If we could only find out exactly where he was when he was captured... ” Ronin trailed off, his mind apparently already occupied by thoughts of the ancient city. “I’m going to go do some research.”

He left the parlor.

Keegan was struck by the uncomfortable realization that this was the first time they’d been alone since he’d almost kissed her. How foolish he’d been.

Worse, he still wanted to kiss her. Very much.

Seeking to break the tension, he walked to the window and glanced out of it. Crowds of revelers swarmed the streets. It would be so easy to get lost in a crowd this size. So very easy.

He surprised himself by turning back to Brynn. “Want to go out for a bit?”

“Really? I mean, yeah, I’d love to.” She hesitated. “I hate to ask, because I really, really would like to go, but is it safe?”

“Should be safe enough in the crowd of people. The odds of Mammon finding us here are slim. It’s not as if he has a GPS tracker on you. Your apartment and your gallery, on the other hand, won’t be safe to return to until this mess is figured out.”

“My gallery.” Her face took on a pained expression that disappeared so swiftly he thought he might have imagined it. She grabbed her long, black coat and followed him to the door. “Why do I need to stay inside at all, if Mammon can’t track me?”

“I said the odds are slim. Not impossible. He’s got demons working for him everywhere. Given the consequences if he does find you, I’d say it’s better to err on the side of caution.”

Brynn appeared lost in thought as they hopped in the elevator and he pressed the button for the opulent lobby. When she turned to him, a vulnerable look haunted her gaze. “Are you going to be able to find him, Keegan? Do you think you’ll be able to stop him?”

The quiver in her voice just about killed him. Hoping to reassure her, he lifted his hand to caress her cheek. “Yes, Brynn, I do.”

Something hot and heavy blazed in her eyes, something that made it impossible to look away. His breath caught.

The elevator opened and three interested pairs of eyes peered at them. For the first time he realized they’d edged closer together, until they stood mere inches apart. Clearing his throat, he hastily broke away.

Brynn hugged her coat to her as they stepped into the frigid cold. The smell of stale beer and piss stained the air around them. Drunken revelers wearing masks and beads careened past them, laughing riotously as they zoomed down the street carrying beer cups.

“I didn’t realize it was Mardis Gras until we got here,” she said.

“Mardis Gras?” He frowned, unfamiliar with the phrase. “What’s that?”

With an exasperated shake of her head, she said, “How is it that you seem so normal, yet you know nothing about popular culture?”

“We learn as much as we can before visiting other worlds, but our timelines are usually pretty short.”

“Sometimes you amaze me.”

She explained the history behind the celebration while he watched the throngs of people walking past, some barely dressed.

“I’m afraid some of these people are going to freeze to death,” he told her.

Brynn followed his gaze to a thin woman wearing nothing more than a mask, pasties, a thong, and what looked like her weight in beads. She laughed. “Most of them have probably had so much liquor they barely even notice.”

Surely, a dangerous state for beings as fragile as humans. He saw something ahead and grabbed her hand. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

Fighting to pull her through the crowd, he led her to a booth where a man sold masks and beads. Keegan picked an elaborate purple and gold full-face mask with feathers on one side. “This one suits you.”

“It’s pretty.” She put it on and he moved behind her to tie the strings in the back. “If I’m wearing one, you need one, too.”

Keegan shrugged, then chose a black and gold jester mask that he figured was masculine enough. He squatted, waiting impatiently while Brynn tied it behind his head. Her intoxicating scent closed in on him, overwhelming even the foul stench of the streets.

Too close. She stood far too close for comfort.

As soon as she finished tying the knot, he pulled away and turned to face her.

“That looks great on you,” she said.

Laughing, he paid the man at the booth. He led her away from the huge, swaying mass of people on one end of the street. When they approached another crowd pocket, he grabbed her hand, and this time he didn’t let go. He told himself it made sense, given the amount of people on the street. But he didn’t try to fool himself—touching her felt good. Her cool hand warmed in his, and he envisioned what it would feel like for her soft fingers to caress other parts of his body.

Cursing inwardly, he forced himself to think about something else. He scanned the crowd, searching for any signs of danger, but found nothing. “Maybe Ronin was right about hiding out here.”

Her glance was curious. “Why do you say that?”

“The crowd—not to mention the masks—should provide more than enough safety.”

“Ooh, does that mean I actually get to leave the hotel room?”

Keegan laughed at her eager tone, squeezing her hand. “As long as one of us accompanies you, I don’t see why not.”

They walked for several long minutes, taking in the craziness around them, before he paused in front of a restaurant with only a small line of people waiting to eat.

“Do you like French cuisine?” he asked her.

“Love it.” She practically skipped to the end of the line.

Later, when they’d sat at a private booth and ordered their food, she asked, “So do you need to eat, just like huma—you know, just like
we
do?”

“Not quite the same. Our foods are similar, but I could get by eating once a month if I had to.”

“Weird.” Brynn blinked. “How about liquids?”

“Same.” She opened her mouth to ask another question, but he decided to beat her to it. “Do you find it difficult to restrain your natural abilities in crowds like this?”

“Huh. I never thought about it.” Her gaze tilted upward while she mulled over his question. “No, I suppose not. My powers are hidden, waiting to be called out. But for the most part, I control them, and not the other way around. What about you, with your powers?”

“Same.”

Brynn studied him carefully. “What is it that you can do, anyway? You never told me.”

Damn.
He hadn’t considered his question might lead to this. He tapped his fingers on the table as he considered how best to answer. “It’s my blood that has the ability to heal, and it happens quickly.”

“Can it heal just you, or others, as well?”

“It can heal others, too.”

“Impressive. So how does that work? People don’t have to drink it or anything, do they?”