Page 86 of Demons in My Bed
Talon was walking in circles, his red hair sticking out in every which way. “There has to be a reason for it… She wouldn’t do this. I just know she wouldn’t.”
“You don’t know that, Tal,” I said, trying to be gentle about it but fuck, the proof was right here. And paired with what I knew on top of that? The bitch was guilty.
“Let’s go find her.” Ashland hopped up and stormed out of my room. I followed him, trying to think of some way to stop him—at least for now—but the stars intervened, and his phone rang.
“What?” he snapped at whoever was on the other end. “It’s done? Are you sure?”
Talon and I shared a wide-eyed look. “It’s done” could only mean one thing.
“We’ll be there in twenty minutes. Yep. Sounds good. Bye.”
Ashland slowly turned around, a maniacal grin on his face. “Well boys, the hunt will have to wait for now. That was Balor. The gas is ready, and we’re needed at the lab, stat. Asrael’s latest stunt seems to have sped the timeline up substantially.”
“Fuck yes!” Talon fist-pumped the air, and I cracked a smile for the first time in what felt like days. National media had released a ton of press coverage on Montague Industries and the great strides that the CEO, Asrael Montague, was making in regards to cellular manipulation.
“Right, listen to me and listen good. All thoughts of Palmer are getting pushed to the very back of our minds right now. We’ve waited too long, worked too fucking hard to let our plans get derailed over a traitorous cunt.” Ashland glanced at Felix. “Go find Misha and tell him what’s up. We’re leaving in five minutes.”
Chapter twenty-one
Tearsstungmyeyesas I wandered down the street, and that pissed me off more than Rhodes being a Grade A dick. I was furious that he’d affected me enough that I fucking cried—in front of him, no less. I’d had no idea that Talon and Felix had a brother, nor that he was dead. Where was all of that information when Asrael had set me up for this fucking assignment?
Having all of the facts was critical to completing a mission successfully, and I was furious that I’d been caught so off guard. I needed to figure out a new plan, and I needed to fucking think. And sleep. Gods, I was so damn exhausted.
A small squeak was all the warning I got before Snake landed on my shoulder. “Hey, buddy,” I murmured, reaching up to give him some scratches under the chin. That was the nice thing about Snake—I never had to worry about him. He somehow always managed to get out of sticky situations, and it really helped that he was so agile.
Raindrops began to fall from the gray clouds, making me groan. Perfect. Just what I needed. I needed to find a place to crash for today, maybe a little longer if possible.
What had happened to Jasper? Speaking of the ghost, his ass conveniently wasn’t here with me for me to rage against. Smart on his part. Why hadn’t he told me who he was?
I picked up my pace, not thrilled with the heavier rain that was starting to come down. An awning over one of the businesses a block away was calling my name. Snake abandoned my shoulder in favor of a tree he could huddle in and ride out the storm clouds. Little traitor.
“Son of a bitch,” I swore, once I was safely underneath and protected from the downpour.
“Awful weather, isn’t it? I’d never be able to live in such a shithole city, but if it’s raining in Brussels…” a deep voice said, and I reached for my bunny blades that were luckily still on my body.
A man seemed to appear out of thin fucking air at the opposite end of the storefront. He wore a well-fitted, dark blue suit with a matching hat, the brim angled down over his eyes, not giving away much of anything. His side profile wasn’t familiar, and my fingers wrapped around the handles of the daggers.
The man tsked. “Ah, don’t forget who taught you how to use blades in the first place, young lady.”
My heart skipped a beat as my brain finally caught up. Smiling, I replied, “If it’s raining in Brussels, then it must be snowing in Barcelona.” Brussels was Asrael’s city code name. Mine was Barcelona.
Staring out at the deluge pouring from the sky, I sighed a breath of relief. When dealing with shapeshifters, it was important to have a system in place to verify identity, otherwise you could literally be talking to your arch-enemy and be none the wiser. At Montague, we’d established code names for ourselves to be able to verify our identity to other agents in the field. Shapeshifters were rare, but Asrael had made sure we knew that they were out there and that they were sneaky.
Asrael was all about pushing your abilities to the limits to see what you were capable of. By pushing his own, he’d mastered the ability to shapeshift. He was incredible.
I exhaled a shaky breath. Asrael was here.Here.I felt so much relief knowing that someone who knew me, who cared about me, was here at this moment when I was feeling so fucked-up. I slowly moved closer, noticing when he looked up that his normally dark eyes and hair were now golden and a gray-blue respectively. It always boggled my mind, knowing this was Asrael but having him look so wildly different…
“I didn’t want to risk it, even in the rain. There are cameras everywhere,” he explained, gesturing at his new face that was now complete with a beard. Asrael was always impeccably groomed—he never normally had long hair or a beard.
“Everything okay?” I asked, biting my lip. If he was here, it likely didn’t mean everything was great. Hopefully, he’d just wanted to see how things were going.
He leaned back against the bricks and crossed his ankles. “Mostly. With you here, it’s not like I could call or email. Curiosity has gotten the best of me though. What have you found out?”
I sighed. “Well, true to their background files, they have a lot of criminal dealings. I’ve witnessed murder, as well as illegal shipping and receiving, and yeah, they’re all crazy as hell.”
“That’s all?” he asked, lifting a brow.
“For now, yes. To be honest, I’m having a hard time knowing what to look for when I don’t know exactly what I’m supposed to be focusing on.” My stomach was twisting uncomfortably as I thought about betraying them. The way Rhodes had gone off and threatened me… I’d found out really fast that I didn’t like the way it made me feel. I felt lower than low.
