The Quest (4 page)

My heart pumped fiercely. I couldn’t hide the truth from him any longer. I’d have to tell him everything from my memory loss to my true nature. Could I trust him enough to keep the knowledge to himself? I’d soon find out.

Chapter 3

Jackson escorted me down the steps of the Statehouse with his hand wrapped around my arm after I told Lizzy I was taking a break. The sun had disappeared, allowing darkness to settle in over the city. A strong breeze cooled my exposed arms and legs while the fresh air perked me up. Though I’d only been outside a minute, I wanted to stay out and play in the night instead of returning to a stale smelling dungeon.

“You owe me an explanation,” Jackson repeated.

Yes, I did, but I’d hoped to wait to tell him until I had evidence against Galluzzi.

“I know what you must be thinking,” I said.

The hand signal flashed red, telling us to stop. Jackson spun me to face him while we waited at the crosswalk.

“Oh, you do?” he asked arrogantly. “Then you know I think everything you’ve ever told me is a lie.”

Okay, maybe I didn’t know what he was thinking.

“I don’t have the time for this, Stephanie–”

“Shelley,” I corrected.

“Whatever your name is,” he snapped as he shook his head.

“Will you let go of me, please?” I asked, noticing his grip tightening on my arm.

He gripped my other arm and pulled me closer to his solid body. “I’d like some answers. After what we’ve been through, I think I’m entitled to know the truth.”

“Not now.”

“No,” he barked, glaring at me. “I want them now.”

His firm voice lit a spark of annoyance within me. How dare he try to intimidate me? Using my vampire strength, which outmatched his muscle, I jerked my arms free and shoved him.

The force of my push sent him back a step. “What the fuck?” He glared at me with his light brown eyes. “How did you do that?”

I took the opportunity to place distance between us and stepped back. “Because I’m not like anyone else.”

“You’re a half-breed demon. You can’t have more strength. It’s not possible.” His brows furrowed as he stared at me with a questioning gaze.

He suspected I was different before, and now that he’d felt my strength, he had evidence to support his belief. I wanted to come clean with him, but I’d hoped to tell him in a more private setting.

“This isn’t the time or place to talk about this.”

“Let’s start at the beginning.” He took a step toward me. “Who are you?”

“My real name is Shelley Baxter. I wanted to tell you the truth. I planned to tell you
everything
.”

“When? Why couldn’t you at least tell me your name?”

“Because I didn’t fucking know it!” I spat. Why did everyone fail to believe me? No matter how many times I repeated the words, I still received the same disbelieving looks.

“What do you mean you didn’t know your name?” He stared at me, dumbfounded.

“Just that. I didn’t know it until I completed my deal with Sal.”

He shook his head. “I don’t understand any of this. I knew you were hiding something, especially after our date. You didn’t return my calls.”

Silence passed between us, allowing time for my temper to cool. Uneasiness stirred like butterflies in my stomach, knowing I’d soon have to share the truth about what I was. Part of me feared he might not react well, but he deserved to know. The werewolf had a kind, passionate and profoundly protective heart. Would he ever hurt me? No. His show of frustration and threats were his way of motivating me to talk. I understood him well.

The wind picked up, blowing my hair across my face. I brushed strands aside, tucking them behind my ear. “People died because of me. I don’t want any more death.”

A patrol car pulled along the curb with the lights flashing. I glanced in the front and saw Louis behind the wheel.

“We have to talk about this. I need to know what’s going on. No more delays,” Jackson said.

I gave a slow nod. “I work nights now. If you stop by, I’ll take a break and we can go for a walk.”

“How about a lunch date?”

I crossed my arms and shifted my weight onto one foot. Any kind of date with him spelled trouble. For some reason, we couldn’t keep our hands to ourselves. In all honesty, I didn’t want to hurt Jackson’s feelings. Yes, we were attracted to each other, but I wasn’t in love with him, and I didn’t want him to claim me like werewolves typically did with females.

“Are you coming?” Louis yelled through the open passenger window.

Jackson grazed his fingers along the side of my face. “You’re special. I’ve always known it. Whatever it is you’re hiding, I want you to know you can trust me. I can protect you.”

When we first met, he offered to protect me. I found it amazing that he still wanted to, knowing that I hid a deep secret from him.

“I’ll call you,” I said.

His chest expanded as he took in a deep breath. “Do I have your word?”

“Yes, I will call you.”

He cupped the sides of my face and pressed his mouth gently to mine. The warm touch of his lips tickled and excited me.

“Jackson, come on man,” Louis said loudly.

Pressed for time, Jackson backed away, taking his sweet kiss with him. “I want to know what you’re hiding.”

I removed his hands from my face. “We’ll talk soon.”

Clenching his jaw, he opened the door and fell into the front passenger seat. Seconds later, the car zoomed off with the siren blaring.

For a minute, I stood on the sidewalk, enjoying the cool breeze and tranquility of the night. Across the street, the white light flashed, signaling it was okay to cross. Since I still had time left on my break, I decided to take a stroll around the block and enjoy the night air.

I walked across the street with the heels of my boots clacking on the bricks. Reaching the sidewalk, I leaped onto the curb. At the late hour, traffic was next to nothing, and buildings on both sides of the street looked deserted with darkened windows. Downtown seemed quiet and peaceful, a safe place to wander around at night.

Passing an alley, I heard an unusual clunk. My curiosity stopped me. I peered through the darkness and saw a large trash bin next to the wall. Movement near the ground captured my eye. It had looked like a leg. I took a step closer, and then another with my eyes fixed on the spot where I had seen movement. Hearing a groan, I stopped. I waited as seconds passed. When a hand smacked the trash bin, I flinched unexpectedly. A homeless man wearing dirty clothes and smelling of vomit and alcohol emerged, bent over and with his arm over his abdomen. He groaned again.

Not wanting to see him puke, I twisted around to leave and ran smack into someone. I gasped in surprise and noticed a burning aroma coming off the stranger. As I stepped back, he grabbed the nape of my neck and shoved me face-first into the side of the brick building. I braced my hands against the wall, but it didn’t help. My head hit hard, sending a sharp pain through my skull. He let go of my hair, and I stumbled around. My wobbly legs gave out, and I crumbled to the pavement.

As I lay on the ground, a heavy fog closed in on my thoughts, preventing me from thinking straight. Though my eyes were open, I couldn’t see through the thick haze coating my eyes. Deep pain throbbed violently in my head while something wet and warm trickled down the side of my face.

Warm hands pushed me onto my back. Moaning, I blinked my eyes. “Please…” I said softly.

The warm hand slid up the side of my face before gripping a handful of my hair. Sharp stings branched down into my head. After blinking profusely, my vision cleared, and I saw a man hovering over me, his arm above my face. A silver watch hung loosely around his wrist. I focused my gaze on the watch and noticed two dials showing two different times.
My father’s watch?

“You are a useless creature.” The man’s deep voice sent a chill down my spine. “You know nothing of politics or what it’s truly like in our world. Leave the city at once.”

Meeting his gaze, I saw red rings glowing bright around the dark centers of his eyes. He had a wide forehead and short, dark hair. “Who–”

In one swift move, he wrapped his hand tightly around my throat and cut off my oxygen supply. “Leave or I will cut you open and play with your intestines before I feed you to the gargumen.”

My heart pounded in rhythm with the throb in my head. I choked, trying to breathe. A loud click echoed in the alley.

“Let go of her or I will blow your fucking brains everywhere.”

I shifted my gaze and found Jonas standing nearby with his gun pointed at the man’s head. A split second later, the grip on my throat was gone and the man disappeared.

“Fuck!” Jonas spun around, holding his gun tight and pointing it in every direction. “Where did he go?”

I held my hand to my throat while I sucked in deep breaths of air. The demon had vanished, misted away.

“Do you see him?” Jonas asked, aiming his gun down the alley.

I sat up and swiveled my head slowly, searching for a dark mist. My breaths became steady, but the pounding in my head continued. “No, I don’t.”

“Shit!” Jonas slid his gun into the holster underneath his jacket. “Are you all right?”

I brushed off my knees. Thankfully, I didn’t have any scrapes on them. “I’ll be okay.”

“Here,” Jonas said, extending his hand.

I gripped his hand, and he pulled me to my feet.

“You’re bleeding.” He stepped closer and examined my forehead. “This needs to be cleaned up. You may need stitches.”

“I doubt it. I heal fast.” Because I had blood from an ancient vampire in me, my wounds mended quickly. Boss was fourteen hundred years old, and I healed quicker than he did. Regardless, as soon as I returned to the capital, I’d find a bathroom. I sure couldn’t walk back into the cage with blood on the side of my face. “What are you doing here?”

Jonas inhaled a deep breath. “I decided to stick around for a while in case anything popped up. I’m glad I did. Did you see who that was?”

“I saw his face, but I didn’t recognize him. Obviously, he was a demon.”

“I know I’ve seen a picture of him before.” His gaze drifted. “He’s someone important.”

“Do important people typically threaten to cut open women, play with their intestines and feed them to gargumen?”

Jonas’s eyes grew wide. “He said that to you?”

“Yeah, and I noticed he had a watch with two dials on it.”

Jonas raked his hand over his head and held it there. “You have got to be shitting me.”

I lowered my gaze and shook my head once. Without a doubt, Jonas and I both thought the same thing. The demon watch could’ve been the same one I’d sold to a pawnshop before someone took my memories. We discovered I’d sold the rare watch by means of a receipt and a mental interrogation on the owner of the pawnshop. Boss conducted research and discovered only thirteen existed in the world that told both the time in Hell and on Earth, and could open portals to Hell. When I first met Galluzzi, she somehow knew I’d sold the watch and tipped me off it belonged to my father. How I got the watch from my father and why I sold it remained a mystery, as did the person who purchased it.

“I have to get back to work.” I stepped around him.

“Shelley, it may not be safe for you to go back.”

Actually, the Statehouse was one of the safest places with the special security cameras that detected mist formations.

I stopped and faced him. “Let Boss know what happened. I have plenty more to share when I get off work. And if you can find out who the demon was that threatened me, I’d really like to know. Next time I see him, I want him to meet my dagger.”

Not waiting for his response, I headed for the sidewalk.

“Be careful, Shelley,” Jonas called out.

I waved my hand at him right before I rounded the corner and he left my sight. His words made me silently chuckle. I spent the last six weeks without any incidents, no demons or gargumen had attacked. And nobody came searching for me even though I was registered publicly on the demon clan website. I’d thought that maybe my father would make an appearance, but no, he didn’t. After I’d had a flashback about a mysterious vampire lover, I wondered if he might show up. Again, no. So, I roamed the days and nights peacefully. Why now, on my first night on a job, did someone have to attack me?

The question repeated in my head. It didn’t make sense. Why now? The demon said I was a useless creature. Did he know I was part human, demon, vampire and angel? If so, how did he come by the information? Galluzzi, Boss, Jonas, Tabby and I were the only ones who knew such information. Out of all that knew the truth, Galluzzi was the single person I didn’t trust. Maybe she sent someone after me.

Reaching the steps of the Statehouse, I recalled more of the demon’s words. He said I knew nothing of politics. Did that mean he did? If such were the case, then I suspected he had a connection with the Senator. Jonas said the demon looked familiar to him. I really needed to know who he was. As soon as I found out, I would confront the bitch. Did she really think she could get rid of me that easily?

After scanning my new ID on the detector, I found a bathroom and cleaned up my head. Using damp paper towels, I managed to wipe my face clear of blood. Fortunately, I didn’t have a scrape or scratch on my forehead–no visible mark at all. If only the pounding ache in my head would disappear as fast. When I realized I’d spent more time than I should’ve on break, I tossed the towels in the trash and headed back to the subbasement.

Stepping off the elevator, I recalled the path I’d taken with Morgan. One hall led to another and another, reminding me of a maze or labyrinth. When I reached the double doors with no label, I stopped. The smell of sterile chemicals seeped through the crack. How strange. I turned my head and leaned my ear closer to the crack between the doors. Electricity buzzed and soft clicks continued with short pauses. Someone was typing. Had I stumbled upon some kind of lab?

I took a step back and stared at the doors. My gut instinct told me I’d been in the room before, hence the déjà vu. If only I could recall the memory. I’d had flashbacks before. The first one came to me in a bookstore while I stared at a notebook. I recalled writing in an ancient language. The second one occurred when I bathed in the sun. The memory of walking in a desert toward my mysterious vampire lover came to me. Boss tried countless times to find memories in my head, and found none, but obviously, I had some buried deep in my brain. I just needed a way to trigger them.