Requiem (24 page)

He nodded, clearly conflicted. “Let’s
go.”

The streets were filthy, lined with mounds
of dirty snow. The Escalade flew at three times the speed limit,
racing against the moment Shax realized we’d found him.

Jared slammed on the breaks in front of an
old apartment building on the outskirts of town, and he and Kim
rushed in. Bex was stoic, waiting patiently for a signal. My knees
bounced nervously as I bit at my thumbnail.

“
Here,” Bex said, pulling a
handgun from the back of his pants. “If I go in, keep this with
you. The safety’s on, so—,”

“
Take it off before I fire,
I know.”

Bex smiled. “You’ll be fine. Just don’t go
in.”

The waiting was excruciating. The night was
too quiet; the building too dark. I had expected immediate flashes
of gun fire, and Jared and Kim to run out, with snarling, misshapen
beasts in pursuit.

Bex picked at his nails, seeming bored, but
patient. I checked my handgun again, making sure it was loaded and
ready.

“
We really need Claire
here. We have to figure out how to get the three of us in the same
room with Shax and keep you protected at the same time.”

“
You’re just itching to get
one in on him, aren’t you?” I smirked.

“
On Shax?” Bex said.
“Jared’s fought a hundred of ‘em. They react to me the same way
they do Kim. They won’t come near me. It’s irritating.”

“
Why?”

“
I don’t know, but it
better not be because of my age, or anything like that. I’m ready,”
he sniffed.

“
You are,” I said, my voice
absent of sarcasm.

Bex turned to me with a small smile,
reminding me of his innocence. “Yeah?”

“
Absolutely. How much time
have we spent together, with Jared nowhere in sight? I’m the
hardest Taleh case there is: dirty cops and demons after me day and
night, and I don’t have a scratch. Maybe they stay away because
they’re scared?”

Bex nodded, satisfied. “Yeah. Probably
so.”

Suddenly, Jared and Kim appeared, walking
slowly from the back of the building.

“
No go?” Bex asked as Jared
slammed his body into the driver’s seat.

“
They were already gone,”
he seethed, his jaw muscles flitting under his skin.

“
Shax is playing games with
us,” Kim said. “Otherwise he’d move it out of town…or out of the
country. He wants you to doubt your judgment, and he’s using me to
bait you…wear you out.”

“
There has to be another
way,” Jared said, slamming the shifter into gear. “We’re making the
same mistakes.”

“
Are they all the same?” I
asked.

Jared, Kim, and Bex turned in my
direction.

“
The books. Are they all
the same? You said there were others. Is there another one we can
get to? One that belongs to a demon that doesn’t know we’re
coming?”

Jared and Kim traded glances.

“
It’s not a bad idea,” Kim
said.

“
Waste of time,” Bex
replied.

“
Nigh, Shax’s book is the
only one that we know of that has been brought to this plane. The
others…we’d have to go to Hell to get,” Kim explained.

“
So that’s out,” I
said.

“
Unless,” Bex
began.

“
No,” Jared said, cutting
him off.

“
Unless what?” I said,
touching Bex’s arm.

“
We could talk someone with
access in to getting one.”

Jared sighed. “No one is going to do that,
Bex, it would start a war.”

“
Samuel would.” A small,
amused smile touched Bex’s face.

“
Enough,” Jared said,
pulling into Cynthia’s driveway.

Kim stretched, and then patted my back side.
“See you in class tomorrow.”

I shook my head in disbelief. She was so
unaffected by it all.

The headlight of Bex’s motorcycle shuttered
as Claire pulled into the drive. She was noticeably upset.

“
What is it?” I asked,
watching her place the bike on its kickstand.

She fidgeted, and then put her hands on her
hips, looking down. Her long bangs fell into her eyes as she
procrastinated. “I missed one.”

“
Who?” Jared
said.

“
Kit Anderson.”

“
That will be a problem,”
Jared replied.

I frowned. “Who’s Kit Anderson?”

“
Ryan’s partner,” Claire
said, combing her hair back with her fingers,
frustrated.

“
You sure?” Bex asked,
surprised.

“
Ryan went to his house
tonight,” Claire said. “Donovan called while he was there. Anderson
was only on the phone for a moment, but it was Donovan.”

“
What are you going to do?”
I asked.

They all craned their necks at me.

Claire made a face. “What do you think,
Nina? I’ve got to get rid of him.”

My mouth fell open. “But it’s Ryan’s
partner. He just lost his whole unit. You’re going to kill his
partner?”

“
Better than you,” Bex
said, climbing onto his bike.

“
Where are you going?”
Jared said.

“
Home. I need to check on
Mom, make some calls.”

Jared nodded, and then looked at me. “Let’s
get you inside. You’re cold.”

I looked down at my ensemble: a coat over my
robe, and tennis shoes. I’d been in such a hurry to ride along, I’d
barely dressed. “Okay,” I said, following him inside. Jared had
told me over a year ago that he could sense my feelings, but I
would never get used to him noticing them before I did.

In my bedroom, I kicked off my sneakers and
peeled off my coat, falling into the bed. Jared crawled into bed
beside me, outlining my body with his. Sleep came quickly, despite
the excitement of chasing after Shax.

It felt as if the moment I closed my eyes, I
jerked awake, covered in sweat, screaming for my father. Jared held
me, this time silent. There was nothing left to say that hadn’t
been said already. Reassuring me that it was just a bad dream was
pointless.

“
Coffee?” he
said.

“
No,” I said, pulling on
his shirt. “Don’t leave me. Just…stay,” I said between
breaths.

He kissed my forehead, whispering sweet
comfort in French in my ear. I didn’t know what the words meant,
but it was so soft and soothing, I was relaxed against his chest in
moments.

I took in a deep breath, inhaling his
incredible scent. A tingling traveled the length of my body, and I
extended my neck to kiss the lobe of his ear.

“
Nina,” he
warned.

“
I miss you,” I said,
kissing tiny sections of his skin until I reached his
lips.

“
It’s not a good time for
us to—,” he began, but I kissed him, cutting off yet another
lecture.

“
I don’t care,” I said,
tears filling my eyes, “I need to forget. Just for a little while.
Help me forget.”

Jared returned my kiss, cautiously giving
in. His soft, full lips worked against mine, but not in the way I
wanted.

I pulled his t-shirt over his head, but when
I tugged at the belt of my robe, he gently held my wrist.
“Sweetheart….”

The frustration and fear finally boiled
over, and I fell flat against his body, face down. My tears pooled
between his chest and my cheeks.

Jared sat up, bringing me with him. “Don’t
cry,” he said with a frown. “Please don’t….” he trailed off,
sighing at the messy sight of me. Finally he kissed me, leaning me
tenderly against the bed.

I shamelessly took advantage of his moment
of weakness before it passed. For the first time in months, we lost
ourselves in each other. Not a single moment did I worry or regret,
and neither did Jared…until it was over.

Peaceful against his skin, my head rose and
fell with his deep breath. “Don’t say it,” I said with a smile.

“
It’s a little late to say
anything,” Jared said, kissing my hair.

“
You know, the Christmas
party is next weekend.”

“
I know,” he smiled,
beginning to relax.

I stretched. “I assume you’ve bought a
suit.”

“
I did.”

“
I need a dress,” I said,
my brows pulling together.

Jared laughed, momentarily forgetting about
anything but the mundane details of our normal life.

We giggled and snuggled until the sun
filtered through the curtains, and then Jared walked across the
room to dress. I turned on my side to watch him, propping my head
with my hand. Knowing how many bullets and wounds he’d sustained in
the last few years, his skin was flawless. Every inch of it.

“
What are you plotting over
there?” Jared asked, smiling.

“
Absolutely nothing, I’m
simply appreciating your form.”

He pulled a pair of light blue boxer briefs
up his legs and over his bare backside. “Is that so?”

I pulled the sheet across the room with me,
hunting for something casual to wear to Brown.

“
That’s not fair at all. I
should be allowed to appreciate as well,” he smiled. That smile
quickly faded as he pulled me behind him.

Bex knocked twice before walking in. “Geez!
Really?” he yelled, closing the door.

“
Knocking doesn’t count if
you just walk in!” Jared growled.

I backed into the closet, mortified.

The door opened again, and
Jared sighed. “We
are
allowed privacy,” he said, his voice low and
angry.

“
I’ve seen it all before,”
Claire said. “Hey,” she smiled, poking her head into the closet.
“You wanna hang out today?”

“
Don’t even think about
it,” Jared warned.

“
She’s learning, isn’t
she?” Claire snapped. “She’s got to see it sometime!”

“
She’s not learning that,”
Jared said.

“
You’ve got business today,
anyway,” Bex said.

Kim walked in, confused by the number of
people in the room coupled with our lack of clothing. “I’ll just
wait outside.”

“
I’ll go, too,” Bex
said.

Jared glared at Bex, and then at Claire.
“She’s not ready.”

“
I need her for a
distraction in case Ryan shows up,” Claire said, irritated that she
had to explain.

“
So now she’s bait?” Jared
seethed. “No.”

“
Why don’t you tell me
what’s going on and let me make the decision?” I said. Being spoken
about as if I weren’t in the room was quickly becoming my least
favorite thing.

“
Claire’s going to take out
Anderson,” Jared said, frowning.

“
You’re going to kill him?”
I asked. Claire nodded. “Right now?”

She watched me, annoyed.

“
But, I have class,” I
said, completely aware of how ridiculous the words
sounded.

Jared pushed Claire and Bex backward. “That
settles it. Out.”

Claire ducked under her brother’s arm. “If
Ryan shows up, you could help. Otherwise it could get bad. He might
try to protect him.”

“
Wait,” I said.

Jared froze, and then turned to face me.
“This is a bad idea. We can figure something else out.”

“
Kim has class, too,”
Claire said, her voice smooth and persuading. “Jared needs
her
help
today.”

“
She doesn’t go to class
half the time, anyway, and still has a four-point-oh,” I grumbled.
“Watch you take a man’s life?” I said, unsure.

“
Yes,” C.aire said. “And to
help if Ryan shows.”

“
Okay,” I shut the closet
door to dress.

I put on black jeans, a black turtleneck and
pulled my hair back into a low bun. When I emerged, Claire’s face
lit up.

“
I have boots that would
look amazing with that.”

“
I can’t wear stilettos on
a hit,” I said, shaking my head.

Claire wrinkled her nose. “Why not? I do it
all the time.”

With that, we all made our way down the
stairs and out to the drive. Jared and Kim took the Escalade, and
Bex, Claire and I piled into the Lotus. She drove us to North
Providence, and turned on Mineral Spring Avenue, parking in a
McDonald’s parking lot, not a block from the red brick
building.

“
You’re kidding. It’s seven
in the morning! You’re going to gun down a cop in broad daylight?”
I said in disbelief.

“
Will you pretend I know
what I’m doing for two seconds?” Claire snapped. She slipped on her
large glasses and nodded to an officer walking out to a
cruiser.

“
Anderson?” I
said.

“
Yep,” Claire said, waiting
a beat after Anderson pulled out onto the road before she turned
the wheel and pressed on the gas to follow.

She stayed so far behind the black and white
that I thought a few times we’d lost him. Claire’s eyes were
focused, however, and what I couldn’t see, she saw as if it were
right in front of her.

“
Okay,” she said, slowing
by the curb. “Let’s set up shop,” she said to her
brother.

Bex nodded once, pulling a hot pink duffel
bag from the back seat.

I eyed the bag, and then smiled at Bex.

He rolled his eyes. “I’ve tried to get her
to bring black ones. Or even brown or green. She won’t.”