Demon's Doorway (25 page)

"Don't bother," she said. She detected nothing. No scent, no heartbeat. "He's not really here."

Anatol smiled and tapped his head. "You're very smart, and lovely. I'm sorry we couldn't talk more at the airport today, but I had to leave in a hurry. I would love to know each of you. You all seem so fascinating."

Alex leaned forward, gripping the deck railing. "You tried to kill us tonight."

"No sir, young man. I don't want to hurt any of you. Tonight was the end of some personal business, and a warning, nothing more. I just want to be left alone. And of course, I'll leave you alone."

Victoria said nothing. She simply studied the unique supernatural being. Confident, bordering on arrogant. There was no concern in his eyes as he looked at any of them, even Kevin. Half witch or not, he was powerful.

Anatol faded away, reminding her of when Alex vanished into his different realms. Everyone was quiet, reflecting on what they'd just seen and heard. Cindy was the first one to speak.

"Who was that?"

Alex squeezed her hand. "That's the guy who caused all that trouble today." He removed his shirt and popped his wings. "What's the address? I'll fly ahead and check it out."

"No, you won't," Victoria said, pointing at Cindy. "That's your task, now. Cindy's your wife. You take her home, and take care of her."

Kevin stepped forward. "I'll go with you. You know I can help."

She tenderly grabbed his shoulder. "Kevin, do you really want to help?"

"Come on. Of course I do."

"Then stay here, and put your nose in that book of yours. How did he do that little projection trick? Is there a range limit? Is he one…or five states away? That sphere today, what exactly was that? He's a witch, just like you, and we'll need to know everything we can."

He paused, then nodded reluctantly. "Okay."

Jack waved. "And while you're studying magic shit, you could always…you know, get me a damn cure."

Victoria looked at Alex and gestured to the woods. "Drop that man off wherever. A homeless shelter, a street corner, I don't care. I'll call you if I need anything, believe me."

The three mortals looked at each other. Alex and Kevin didn't look happy with their assignments, but didn't protest. Even Cindy wasn't comfortable. Victoria knew that
go home
wasn't the closure Cindy was looking for, nor was it reassuring, but it would have to do.

"Jack, it's just me and you."

He let out a half smile. "That's how it should be."

*****

Victoria insisted on driving her Porsche over Jack's rental car. Neither one said a word as they wound through the streets and took the ramp for the beltway. She kept thinking back to the hotel, at Bradley's corpse. Finding Anatol and stopping whatever he had in mind went past saving mortals. It also meant revenge for one of her best friends. She hated thinking in terms of revenge. After four centuries she liked to believe she was above such raw emotion.

She wasn't. Rage, hate, passion, lust. Sometimes they were a vampire's best companion.

"How did he go?" Jack asked, breaking the silence. "Fire? Beheading?"

She wasn't surprised at his questioning. It was difficult to slip anything past Jack.

"Fire. Mercenaries similar to the ones Alex fought. They staked and burned him."

Jack nodded. "He got too careless, let his guard down. I never did like Bradley."

Victoria waited for the
but
.
But I respected him. But I know you were close friends. But deep down, he was a good man.

The
but
never came. His sentence was complete. Jack simply didn't like Bradley.

"Thanks. You know how to cheer someone up."

He laughed. "I hope you're not relying on
me
to cheer you up. You're in for some problems if that's the case. Bradley was egotistical, hypocritical, arrogant, a control freak…Let's see, what else was he?"

"He's also dead, Jack, not even for sixty minutes. Could you please wait…I don't know, maybe five more minutes before being yourself?"

Jack, to his credit, said nothing, but the emotions came anyway. Victoria felt herself unraveling, and pulled over on the side of the beltway.

She cried for the second time that day. Crying was rare for her. She cried earlier in the day at Alex's wedding. The time before that was tears of joy at the end of World War II. Now she cried for her lost friend. She mourned humanity's loss, as Bradley was their greatest benefactor. She also mourned her own loss.

She didn't bawl, didn't sob. The tears simply ran down her face. Jack put an arm around her shoulders, a surprising gesture from him. She lay her head against his cheek as the few cars on the beltway drove past.

"I don't like it when you're upset," he said. "That makes
me
upset. I don't like being upset."

"Sorry."

"You know what will make you feel better?"

"Well, let's see, this is coming from you. So, killing anyone that gets in my way?"

"I was just gonna say Grigori. But sure. The more, the merrier."

She laughed shortly and straightened up behind the wheel. She pulled onto the beltway once again.

"I don't have to tell you, wherever we're going, it's empty," Jack said. "Grigori definitely isn't there, and his employees are long gone."

"I know. I just want to see if they left anything behind. A simple breadcrumb will do."

"True. Mortals are pretty careless. But even if there's a crumb, it won't lead to Grigori. They don't even know his name, and I'm sure every transaction was done with no names, no faces."

"Is that how you do all your…business?"

"I have a few trusted people. But yeah, you got it. If someone doing a job for me gets caught, they don't know me."

Listening to Jack was unnerving at times, but he was a great ally to have. Despite their age difference, he knew of subjects she tried to steer clear from. She had a dark side, but it was nothing compared to Jack's.

"Whatever we find, wherever this goes, I don't want Alex and Kevin involved," Victoria said.

"Two of the most unique assets I've ever seen, and you want to keep them on the bench?"

"They're not assets, Jack. They're people. They have lives, and I'm trying not to disrupt them as much as possible. Alex is married now—"

"Yeah, can you believe that woman likes to screw him when his wings are out?"

She ignored him. "And Kevin. He's…."

Victoria couldn't finish her thought, and Jack laughed.

"You baby him."

"I do not baby him. It's just…he lost his biological parents, didn't even know them, and his adopted parents died in a plane crash."

"Are you afraid he's gonna snap? Try to take over the world or something?"

"No. I've told you before. I trust Kevin. But the last thing I want for him right now is the stress of some vampire, witch hybrid trying to do bad things. I'm trying to show him good things."

"Eh, you definitely did that. He couldn't wrap his magic little mind around Blondie wanting to dance on his pole."

"Hey, her name is Alicia, and she's a very close friend of mine. She does not want to dance on his pole."

"Yeah, she does."

"Jack, just because they find each other attractive doesn't mean…Why am I even arguing with you?"

"It's not much of an argument, when I'm right."

"Oh, hush. And you owe me a hundred dollars."

"The hell I do. Glinda hasn't done shit yet. Anyway, stop babying him. The kid's stronger than you give him credit for."

Victoria looked at him sideways, confused. It was usually her defending Kevin from his critics.

"Jack, you…actually like Kevin, don't you?"

"I like the fact that he's a full-blood, and you haven't killed him. That's what I like best about him."

She smiled, letting the subject drop.

They found the address they were searching for, an old abandoned steel mill in the middle of nowhere. There were no houses nearby, only trees on two sides. Victoria parked in the deserted lot and killed the engine. The only sounds were the crickets nearby, and the wind whipping through the empty building. The only light came from the moon occasionally peeking from behind the clouds, but that didn't bother her. She could see very well in the dark, even better than Alex, and studied the surroundings.

There wasn't much to study. Like they'd both assumed, no one was there.

"I'm guessing you don't see anyone?" Jack asked.

"No. No light talking, no scent in the air. It's empty."

"Let's go check it out."

She leaned across the seat to grab a flashlight from the glove compartment. Jack had an amazing mind, keen for detail, but it would do them no good if he couldn't see.

They approached a closed dock door, with a smaller standard door next to it. Victoria pulled on the handle, and it opened easily.

"Wait," Jack said.

She froze as he pointed the light at the ground, checking the area near both doors.

"They had a generator here, and ran cords under the dock door."

She poked her head inside, scanning the steel mill. Old, rusted workstations were everywhere. A few desks were nearly destroyed along the outer wall, where paperwork was done long ago. But Victoria didn't need Jack's eyes to tell there were people there recently. There was a spot in the middle of the floor that wasn't nearly as dusty, where a table probably sat. There were drag marks from the dock door to different areas.

Jack pointed the light at different spots, confirming her thoughts.

"A work-light sat there. Some wires ran here. A few small tables, and a larger table in the middle here. My little tongueless friend didn't lie, just like I knew he wouldn't. They used this as a prep area."

Victoria let out a disappointed breath. "And now they're long gone."

Jack didn't say a word for nearly thirty minutes as they toured the mill and walked the grounds. In the end, he had to agree with her.

"I don't see any breadcrumbs. I can tell you there were two vans here, but that's it."

"Damnit," Victoria said.

The trail was cold.

"I know," Jack said. "I was really looking forward to killing with you."

"I'll call my own people, and get in touch with Bradley's. I'll get every known alias of Anatol, where he likes to hide out. Will you do the same?"

"Yeah. I'll make some calls, and then get my daughter and head back home."

"This isn't over, Jack. You don't really believe Anatol when he says he'll leave us alone, right?"

He laughed. "No. But he doesn't want me or you. He might be interested in Alex, or Glinda. But us? We're nothing. I came with you this far, but I'm not gonna sit on my ass waiting for you to find which direction to piss in."

"Just stay for a few days, help me sort this out. I'm telling you, Anatol's planning something."

"Of course he is. But let some other hero take him out. You're not the only hero left, I hope? You've got to stop thinking you're the one that has to save everyone."

"And you have to start caring about others outside that tiny zone you have."

He looked up for a moment, thinking it over.

"Nah."

"Jack—"

"I'll stay for a while, but not long. I have a life too, now. Sometimes trails disappear, and you don't pick them back up. But just to push the little witch in the right direction, I'll stay."

Victoria was relieved. She could accomplish a lot, but even more with Jack helping her.

"Thank you."

CHAPTER 13

Kevin jumped when he was shaken from his sleep. He looked around, trying to remember where he was, pick up where he left off. He was sitting at Victoria's work desk in the basement, the lamp the only light in the huge space. Victoria stood just behind him, wearing her pajamas, with a hand on his shoulder.

He held in a dreamy, surprised laugh. Victoria almost looked
not
beautiful. The pajamas weren't flattering of her figure, and her red mane was a mess.

"I thought you slept naked," he said.

"That depends on who's in bed with me."

"I didn't need to hear that. But I guess it's my fault for bringing it up."

"Did you fall asleep at the desk? What are you doing?"

Everything slowly came back to him, and he pointed at different things scattered around him.

"That's the written ingredients to the potion that made Jack immortal. Disgusting stuff, but I figure having it written out and in front of me might help out with a cure. That there is just a sketch I put together of the sphere Anatol made. Same thing, having it drawn might help me with what it is. I'm throwing together a few other potions that don't need heat, and I've read my spell-book two times. I guess it finally put me to sleep."