Shadow of Temptation (Asylums for Magical Threats #2.5) (10 page)

He didn’t have to wait long.

“I’m not about to spill all of the
Feiru
Liaison office’s secrets, but we’ve found a way around the blood tests. I underwent the necessary treatment, and I passed without a hitch.”

His first objection answered, Jorge realized the enormity of her confession. He managed to take a step toward her, but he faltered and barely managed to keep from falling over. “You were already in the Fed League when I joined. Just how long have you been undercover? Has everything been a lie?”

“It’s been about two years. But no, not everything has been a lie.” She darted a glance to Neena—who was chomping on a pastry of all things—and then back to him. Her voice was low when she said, “I hate causing people harm, let alone like participating in assignments that result in deaths. But your friendship was the one thing I never regretted. You helped to keep me sane, Jorge Salazar, and I hope you won’t hate me for keeping this from you.”

He hadn’t expected that confession.

He ran a hand through his hair and said, “I can’t deal with all of this right now.” He pointed a finger at Neena. “Stop eating that damn pastry and tell me why you’re doing all of this. You seem to have more information than me or Sabrina about Watkins, the Fed League, and even the
Feiru
Liaison officers. So why the hell aren’t you doing all of this yourself? Is this just a game to you? Because let me tell you, this is our fucking lives, and I, for one, don’t like people playing with them.”

Neena chewed the last bit of pastry in her mouth and brushed the crumbs from her hands. “I know you had a rough time of it with the Collector, but you’re going to have to work on those manners of yours. You can be alpha and pushy all you like with anyone else, but you’ll soon learn that I won’t tolerate it.”

He growled. “Manners? What the hell do they matter? Being nice is what ended up getting me fucked up in the first place.”

Neena sniffed and looked toward Sabrina. “I’m not sure how you straight women deal with men. Frankly, they’re too much work.”

Sabrina’s mouth dropped, but Jorge didn’t care about whether Neena preferred men or women. He was tired of the lies and answer dodging.

He stumbled over to Neena and grabbed her arm. Before he knew what was going on, he felt a prick in his side and the room started to spin. “What the hell?”

He fell to his knees and then tumbled to the carpet. Neena’s voice was faint when she replied. “You’re going to take a little nap while I talk with Sabrina here. I’m sure she can have a rational conversation without needing to bang her fists against her chest like a caveman.”

Sabrina’s face came into view. “Jorge?” She put a hand on his cheek and her touch helped to ease his anger. “What did you do to him?”

“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. The nap will actually do him some good.”

He tried to reach a hand to touch Sabrina’s thigh next to him, but he lacked the strength to move. The last thought he had before he blacked out was that Sabrina was going to be left alone with the crazy woman, and he wouldn’t be able to protect her.

Sabrina caressed Jorge’s cheek, but he didn’t respond. He was out cold.

Anger welled up inside her at what Neena had done to Jorge. She’d been too sluggish to stop Neena from injecting him with some type of drug, and now he lay on the floor, helpless. She’d just have to protect him until he woke up. He might be angry at her for keeping secrets, but the look he’d given her right before he’d passed out told her volumes about how much he didn’t hate her.

Despite learning she was human, he still might even want her.

However, she’d never get the chance to talk with him about it if they both ended up dead.

She tried to think of how she could trick the woman behind her. Because of her fear for Jorge’s safety or her anger for Neena attacking him, Sabrina had no idea, but whatever Neena had done to her earlier was starting to wear off. The best she could do was pretend to still be under the effects of the woman’s magic and find a way to restrain her.

She still had the gun gripped in her right hand. If she could just knock the woman unconscious, she could tie her up and get answers that way.

Sabrina shifted her feet and was about to try out her plan when she heard Neena’s voice. “Despite his obvious lack of manners, you feel something for that man and you want to protect him, but fighting me isn’t the way to do it. If you listen long enough, I can give you the information you need to take down Watkins tonight.”

Sabrina nearly fell for it, but she wasn’t going to let the woman sweet-talk her into anything. She rose slowly and faced Neena, keeping her body ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. “If you think I’m going to trust you, you’re crazy. Jorge did, and look what happened to him.”

“I helped him. The drug I injected will help his body regain the necessary energy to shift again. He won’t have to wait until tomorrow. By the time he wakes up, he’ll be ready to go.” Neena tilted her head. “You can apologize any time you like, my dear. The sooner you stop planning to attack me, the sooner I can give you the information you need and get out of your hair. Believe me, I have a million other things I’d rather be doing right now than trying to convince people not to kill me. Besides, I’m your best bet at avoiding relocation and isolation for the rest of your life.”

As if she’d take that bait. She didn’t trust Neena, but she did have an idea. “How about you tell me the information you have on Watkins and leave? Do it without a fight, and I might consider trusting and using the information you provide.”

Neena shrugged. “If that’s how you want to play it. Just put the safety back on your gun, and I’ll spill the beans.”

Since she could still use the gun to whack Neena upside the head if something happened, she did as she was asked. “Now, tell me what you know.”

Neena moved to the window and sat down on the sill. “Let’s not forget our manners. Say please.”

Sabrina grit her teeth. At this point, she’d do anything to get this woman to leave. “Fine. Please tell me what you know.”

“Better. I’m starting to see why you and Mr. Grouchy-pants over there get along so well.”

She took a deep breath and decided it was best to ignore the comment and press Neena for answers. “I said please; now tell me how I can get Watkins tonight.”

Neena sniffed. “Fine. He’s going to move up the school bombing. He’ll be installing the device himself this evening.”

“What? Why?”

Neena waved a hand. “Some rival nonsense, blah, blah, blah. Basically, Watkins is afraid you’ll share his plans and he’ll have to abort his mission, and this is one he can’t afford to screw up.”

She studied Neena a moment and finally said, “And how do I know you’re telling the truth? Sure, you claim that drugging Jorge will help him, but I have no idea if that’s even possible. The holes in the
Feiru
Liaison office’s knowledge about the
Feiru
and their abilities are big enough to drive a train through.”

Neena crossed one leg over another. “I’ll tell you something that might convince you, but I’d suggest that you take a seat first.”

“I prefer to stand.”

Neena shrugged. “Fine, although you might change your mind. You see, I have some bad news for you, my dear. Do you know how that Night-Weaver found you at the market?”

Sabrina frowned. How did Neena know about that? “Jorge said it was because someone saw him with me, and that the Collector woman planned to use me to coerce him again.”

Neena made a buzzing sound with her voice. “Wrong. They were there because Watkins tortured Yolanda until she told them about you and your relationship with the
Feiru
Liaison office. By decoding your message, he knew about your meeting with Juan Marquez and sent the Night-Weaver and others to capture you.”

Sabrina’s heart skipped a beat. Juan’s name wasn’t common knowledge. “My identity is compromised?” Neena nodded and she forced herself to ask, “What about Yolanda?”

Neena shook her head. “I’m sorry, but she didn’t make it, my dear.”

Somehow Sabrina managed to keep on her feet. Now was not the time to grieve for the woman she’d barely known, but who had continuously risked her life to help Sabrina’s mission. The best thing she could do was finish this damn assignment and make sure Watkins was put into custody to receive justice.

She took a step toward Neena. “I’ve been working for the
Feiru
Liaison office for a little over five years, and your knowing all of this is too much of a coincidence. Tell me how you got this information and I might start to believe we’re on the same side.”

“Clever girl.” Neena buffed the nails of her right hand against her shirt and looked at them. “First, answer me this: What does your office know about latent abilities?”

“Only rumors, and most of them are from nearly a hundred years ago. Why?”

Neena looked up. “While Salazar’s ability is pretty nifty, I have the rarest ability of them all. In addition to being an elemental wind first-born, I can see snippets of the future.”

“What?”

“You say that a lot for no reason.” Neena uncrossed her leg and stood up. “I told you, I can see bits of the future. While things can always change, I have a pretty good track record of figuring out what will come true or not. And for you, my dear, I think I’ll be right again.”

Sabrina avoided saying “what” again. Her mind was clear enough to fall back on her years of intelligence gathering. In any situation, it came down to asking the right question at the right time.

She was pretty confident that Neena wouldn’t divulge Sabrina’s own future, but there was something she wanted to know, something that would affect the whole world. “Okay, so tell me what’s going to happen to
Feiru
and human relations in the future?”

Neena’s face grew serious. “A lot of people will die, but eventually the
Feiru
will live side-by-side with the humans and the way we both live will change forever.”

She studied Neena’s features and body language, but if she were lying, she was damn good. Besides, Sabrina’s gut told her Neena believed her words to be true. She didn’t look forward to the “a lot of people will die” part of the prediction, but she only hoped the integration of the races would lead to a better tomorrow worth the sacrifice.

“Fine. I’ll talk with Jorge about going after Watkins tonight. For now, I think it’s time for you to leave.”

Neena smiled. “I have an ever-growing list of things to do, so I think I will leave. But I’ll see you again soon.”

Jorge moved on the ground and Sabrina looked at him a second before she glanced back to where Neena had been standing. The woman was gone.

She brushed off her irritation. The woman was annoying, but if she were right, tonight would be big. If Jorge could confirm that his powers were recharged and ready to use, she would finally finish this assignment. That thought sent a thrill through her—one mixed with relief and a little bit of fear. Now that her identity had been compromised, either she would spend the rest of her life at a desk job in some secret location, or the
Feiru
Liaison office would “relocate” her to who the hell knew where.

But at the moment, none of that mattered. She moved to Jorge’s location on the floor and sat beside him. He was restless and moving about as if he were having an active dream. She put a hand on his forehead and he calmed.

She stroked his hair and hoped he woke up soon. She wanted to finish this business with Watkins so she could talk to him about her revelation. She had no idea what he would think of her being human.

Part of her hoped he would accept her, but another part of her was afraid that this would be one lie too many and he’d never learn to trust her ever again.

Chapter Ten

Harry Watkins watched the woman with dark skin and short, curly black hair sitting in the chair in front of him. She was silent with her eyes closed, gripping the pillowcase his people had retrieved from Ono’s apartment. It wasn’t in his nature to be patient, but this woman was extremely valuable to the Collector. If he harmed her in any way, Watkins wouldn’t live to see tomorrow.

There were few people who could threaten him and mean it. The Collector was one of them.

So he waited with his arms crossed over his chest. The woman in the chair was a Locator. All she needed was something that had been worn or touched by a person in the last twenty-four hours, and she could pinpoint their approximate location down to twenty or thirty feet. It wasn’t an exact science, but Watkins would use whatever he could to find the traitor.

Earlier, his men had succeeded in breaking the waitress, and she’d told them as much as she knew about Sabrina Ono. The only important facts had been that Ono worked for the
Feiru
Liaison office, she’d had a meeting with her office’s boss this morning, and she was human.

His borrowed latent soldiers had fucked up this morning, which had led to him using the Locator’s abilities. Watkins needed to find Ono. She was the only real threat capable of ruining his plan against his rival, which he needed to succeed to please the Collector. Since Ono was determined to thwart his plans, he needed to find her before she could finish the job. The tricky part was the Shadow-Shifter, Jorge Salazar, seemed to be working with her.
Feiru
with latent abilities were always harder to catch, but since Salazar had used his shadow-shifting abilities to escape earlier today, he’d be easy to capture until tomorrow, when the man could shift again.