Page 111 of The Demon's Fire
Rein cast a puzzled look at her. “I’m curious. Why the trip to Darque? The realm is dangerous enough without Dermott’s attack.”
“Anna, my administrative assistant, found a missing page from my father’s journal. She arranged it last minute.”
Rein propped open the office door with a boot. “You two can search for answers to the big questions. Way above my pay grade. You’re back, Kole, I’m demoted to soldier. Perfect. The gaffers are warming up the surviving demons and Uwrick. Maybe we’ll squeeze them for the name of who hired them.”
Skyler patted her smooth platinum-blonde hair, pulled back in a knot low on her head. She had slipped on her professional mask, having showered and changed in the Firebrand gym. Bounty had provided the duds. Tailored pants. Button-down blouse. Heels. Kole realized he liked her both ways. The frosty, capable businesswoman. The disheveled explorer with a sweat-soaked blouse sticking to her curves.
She rested her hands in her lap. “I’ll wait to see if you get anything from the prisoners before I head to Earth.” Skyler’s cool gaze turned warm, soft when it met Kole’s eyes.
“I’ll see you home. I want to be sure you’re safe. But I’d feel better if you stayed on Scath for the time being. At least, until we find out who’s trying to kill you.”
Her chest rose and fell with a breathy sigh. “I must get back to my job. I’m so far behind, but I’ll wait for you to escort me there. When I get to the office, security will assign agents to guard me.”
Kole pictured some of the agents he’d met. Scrawny, poorly trained, and incompetent by his standards. He wasn’t being fair, but hell. “Yeah. They’re great in a pinch, but… Fuck it. No, they’re not. They’re wimp-ass weaklings.”
Skyler stiffened her spine. “That’s neither fair nor true. Besides, Kole, I need some space to think.”
“About what?” Now there was a crazy question. Kole wasn’t ready to put his feelings for Skyler into words. He needed his own think time.
He had seen the heart beneath Frisca’s ice, damaged by an unfit parent but emerging strong and vibrant. His gut and his brain were still battling it out. Though he didn’t want her to leave, he wasn’t ready to say something stupid. He was tied to a dangerous job. That’s how he liked it. He had never considered taking a mate and certainly not a human one with a short life span. Some space was a good idea.
“What I’m doing. Where I am. What you mean to me.”
For whatever insane reason, his mouth developed a mind of its own. “Skyler, I want…”
Bounty threw open the door and strutted in on stiletto boots. “I hope I’m interrupting, but the guys down in the Cubes are waiting for their commander. I’ll keep the chief here. She’ll be safe with me. Maybe I can teach her to make her own coffee. Then she won’t insult your executive assistant by asking her to fetch like a mutt.”
Kole pried his massive frame out of the chair. Bounty had saved him from being a complete idiot. He’d been about to propose Skyler dump her fiancé and take on a long-distance relationship with him. Swift move.
Thanks for the save, Bounty.
Skyler cast a genuine smile at the vampire. “Go, Kole. I’ll be fine here. Like your executive assistant said, she can teach me to make my own coffee and, I bet, a few other things.”
Bounty’s fist went to her hip, but she looked at Skyler with narrowed eyes. “Hmm. Maybe there’s hope.”
****
Kolestormed into the Cubes to find Uwrick strapped to the rack. The lines in his face had deepened, terror squeezing his brow. He was stretched out horizontally on a slab with his ankles tied to a roller on one end, his wrists chained at the other. His robe had been removed, leaving him in his boxers.
Chay gripped a handle on the torture device and cranked it enough to make it squeak. “Hey, Com, I was about to explain to our guest how this machine works. This wheel turns. Now when it does, you’re gonna start hurtin’ a whole lot. You’re gonna hear the gears grinding along with a whole bunch of loud popping noises. Cartilage, ligaments, bones. Snap. Snap.” Chay rolled his eyes. He shivered. “Ugh. Makes me hurt just talking about it.”
Moving closer, Brak hitched up his leathers. “What’s really ugly is when you start to break apart. Shoulders, elbows, knees, wrists. Hurts like a sonofabitch. Or so I’m told.”
“Uwrick, we can avoid all this if you tell us who hired you.” Rein leaned against the concrete wall, cold, his eyes half-lidded with boredom.
Tears streamed from the warlock’s eyes. “I told you. Dermott hired me. He said it would be a simple job. Big pay. All I had to do was stay within range of Kole and the female to jam their devices. That’s all.”
“How did you know where they were?” asked Chay.
“I overheard something about a tracking device. That’s all I know.”
“Who hired the demon?” asked Kole.
“I don’t know. I only worked with Dermott. No one else.”
“Didn’t you ask about the gig? Why? Who? You know the ushe?” Chay gave the crank another turn, drawing screams from the mage.
“Why would I care? I was in it for the money.” Tears streaked the warlock’s face, drool leaking from the corner of his mouth.
