To Love and Serve (16 page)

Chapter Twenty-seven

Michaela glanced at the GPS on her smartphone and the round blue circle that marked her route to the location where Benjamin had texted her to meet him. Having safeguarded Central Park on more than one occasion, she recognized where she was headed—a tunnel like the one where the homeless man had been slaughtered.

If she remembered correctly, the tunnel had a number of offshoots that led beneath the street and into some of the underground areas of Central Park—sewer tunnels, a valve chamber used for the water system, and a number of underground streams and springs.

The tunnel was well north of Midtown, near the edges of Harlem.

Not far from where Aja lived. And if Aja was like any of the other Council members, her home contained an escape exit. Maybe even one that connected to the tunnels that wound under Central Park.

If Aja had been harboring Benjamin’s brother, Bartholomew, all this time, he could have come and gone through that escape exit whenever he wished, without being seen.

Which made her wonder what had happened between Benjamin and Aja when he confronted her earlier today. Had she admitted to a relationship with Bartholomew? To having violated the Council’s termination edict?

Or had Benjamin discovered Bartholomew’s hiding place all on his own?

She took another look at the GPS and confirmed she was almost there. Good thing, because it was just after ten and she’d agreed to call Ryder before midnight, and check in with Jesus by eleven. He’d been spending long days on a case while she’d pulled this duty for the Council. It had given them little time together lately, and she missed him. Which was a new development for someone who had not seen herself being involved again, much less developing genuine affection for the man.

She pushed forward, hurrying to meet Benjamin and find out what they’d do next to capture his murderous brother. She’d spent her whole life hating the undead, hated having to be in league with them. Even if it was for the good of the slayers, and possibly humanity.

As she neared the mouth of the tunnel she slowed, sensing the vibrations of slayer power just beyond.

Benjamin. Except…
the pulse of his life force was erratic. Weak, like that of a slayer who was gravely wounded. This couldn’t be good.

Reaching to the small of her back, she retrieved her small pistol. It had been a present from Jesus, who thought her medieval weaponry out of date for the twenty-first century.

Moving forward carefully, she stepped into the darkness of the tunnel. The vampire power in her veins brought clarity to the night, and she saw Benjamin slumped against the wall, bloodied. His dark hair was matted with more dripping blood as he leaned there, unconscious. Immobile. His breathing was shallow, but regular. Maybe too regular…

Opening her senses to any other otherworldly power, she detected none, only the weaker slayer power pulsing from Benjamin. If Bartholomew had done this, he was long gone. But she still remained cautious. Something was not right.

“Ben?” she called out as she slowly approached.

“Mikey,” he said in a whisper.

Only Benjamin had ever called her Mikey.

She raced forward, fear surging through her. “Oh, Ben.” She bent toward him to help. Hot pain stabbed through her side, sending streams of stinging agony into her blood.

Silver.

She glanced down at the wooden stake buried deep in her ribs, blood slowly leaking from the wound. She peered uncomprehendingly at Benjamin’s hand, which was driving the stake even deeper. Wood grated against rib bone before popping free through her back with a moist, sickening sound.

Groaning, her knees buckled, but Benjamin rose and grabbed her, supporting her with his hand on the stake and an arm around her waist.

“Ben…
?” she whispered.

The pain was so great that even lifting her head to look at his face took an immense effort. But she did, and met a gaze glimmering with excited evil.

Brown, not blue. Not Benjamin.

Bartholomew.

Fuck
, she thought as she passed out.

Chapter Twenty-eight

Diana’s body was peaceful as she rested on Ryder, deep in restorative sleep after nausea had consumed her again, so bad he feared she would never recover. He had happily served as her body pillow for hours, wide awake in the night that was his milieu. Doing his best to contain the tension as each second ticked by with no call from Michaela. Where was she?

He’d been surprised Diego hadn’t called yet for an update, so when his cell phone rattled against the wood of the nightstand, he reached for it. But it wasn’t his phone vibrating.

It was Diana’s. And the caller was ADIC Hernandez.

She woke immediately, sitting up to take the phone from him. Finger-combing her sleep-tousled hair from her face, she answered, “What’s up, Jesus?” A puzzled look danced across her features as she handed him the phone. “He needs to talk to you.”

Alarm spidered through him. “It’s late. Is something wrong?”

“Is Michaela with you?” Agitation colored Hernandez’s words.

“No, she isn’t.”

He looked at Diana as he spoke and she mouthed, “Speaker.”

He turned on the speaker so she could hear.

“She was supposed to call me by eleven. It’s past midnight.”

Diana jumped into the conversation. “I assume that’s not like her.”

“She’s as punctual as you are, Di. Something’s wrong. I know it in my gut.”

Ryder said, “She told me she was meeting with one of the Council members, Benjamin. She said he had more info for her on the killings.”

“Killings?” Diana repeated, her look both accusatory and guilt-stricken.

“You’re kidding me, right? I can’t believe you still haven’t told her what’s going on,” Hernandez shot back, exasperated.

“Do you know where Benjamin lives?” she asked calmly, but her hands gripped her knees tightly.

“I do,” Ryder answered at the same time Hernandez said, “No.”

An uneasy look passed between them, then Ryder rattled off the address. “The entrance is around the back and very secure. It’ll be hard to get in.”

“My badge will take care of that,” Hernandez replied.

“You mean badges. We’ll meet you there in half an hour,” Diana said.

A charged silence followed before her ADIC agreed. “All right. Half an hour.”

The line went dead. As dead as Diana’s gaze when it met Ryder’s. As lifeless as her voice when she said, “Want to tell me what’s going on?”

“Separate, but together, remember?”

She blew out a ragged breath, and again, she jammed her fingers through her hair, holding it off her face. “
Separate?
Do you think that’s possible when Jesus is involved?”

Ryder narrowed his eyes. “Is that how I draw the line in the sand? I only ask for your help if it’s one of
your
friends?”

She let her hair drop and scrubbed her face with her hands. Shaking her head, she said, “No. No, of course that wouldn’t be fair.”

“
Fair?
” he blurted out. “Nothing about what’s happening is fair.”

“You’ve always told me I was born to serve, Ryder. And you’re right.”

“You just spent another night puking up your guts, your heart racing like it’ll burst from your chest. Your health is—”

“At risk. I know that. I’m tired. I’m sick. But I’ve been tired and sick before. I didn’t let it stop me.”

He nodded, and held out his hand to her. Yeah, he’d seen her during those times, even before she’d been contaminated with his blood. She slipped her hand into his. The hand with the sapphire and diamond engagement ring he’d placed there earlier. He ran a finger over the ring and asked, “What about your job? You’re still on limited duty.” He didn’t think Hernandez could protect either her- or himself if anyone found out she was on the street investigating. Hernandez knew that, too, which meant he was really worried to ask for help.

“This isn’t easy for me,” she said. “I may have to decide between my life and someone else’s.”

“And between your world and mine, because I’m not sure you should be involved in our undead stuff.”

She regarded him. “Is it that sharp a line? Your world or mine? Because both worlds are right here in this bed with us, day in and day out.”

Ryder said nothing, just glanced down at their hands. At the engagement ring he kept fingering, almost afraid she would remove it.

But she wouldn’t. She loved him.

“I need to get dressed,” she said when he remained silent, and slipped out from under the covers. “I can’t go meet Jesus looking like this.”

He kissed her hard. Filling the kiss with so much hope and love, the cold knot he sensed in her center loosened, and warmth flooded through her into him.

When they broke apart, she ran her thumb across his lips in a caress and smiled. “Come on. Let’s get going.”

…

Diana let out a small sigh of relief. Their badges had worked. The doorman at Benjamin’s building was not going to challenge two FBI agents waving their IDs in his face.

But as they boarded the elevator, Ryder said, “The doorman just made a phone call.”

“To the Slayer Council?” Diana asked. Ryder shrugged. “Probably. Just like I report to Diego, Benjamin and Michaela no doubt report to their Council.”

She turned to Jesus. “Do you know who they report to?”

Her friend shook his head. “We tried not to talk about those things. It was too hard when our worlds collided.” He bumped his fists together and then mimicked an explosion, complete with sound effects.

Diana frowned. “So all we know is that Michaela was meeting with Benjamin tonight? But not where?”

Jesus’s lips thinned. “Correct.”

They got off on a floor with only one door. Jesus opened it using a passkey the doorman had provided, and they entered. He let out a low whistle at the spectacular view of the city from the floor-to-ceiling windows, the over-the-top artwork on the walls, the designer furnishings, and the flat-screen television large enough to be seen from the Jersey Palisades across the river.

“Where do you guys get the dough for these kinds of digs?” he muttered.

“Focus,” Diana said firmly. “Look for anything that could tell us where they might have gone.” She went to one side of the immense room where a glass and chrome table held an all-in-one computer, keyboard, mouse, and nothing else. She moved the mouse, and the screen sprang to life. Password-protected, naturally.

She cursed beneath her breath and turned to find the men. “Anything?”

The whole place was neat as a pin and from the looks on Jesus’s and Ryder’s faces, there was little to be found on this floor.
Damn
.

She jerked a thumb in the direction of the floating staircase and headed that way, but the front door flew open before she could reach the first step.

An Amazon of a woman marched in, her long strides practically chipping the marble floor with her killer stilettoes. They’d make formidable weapons. Her wiry muscles bound together the sturdy bones of her warrior’s body. Scars on her arms and shoulders proclaimed that she’d seen her share of battle. Diana suspected the bulky leather vest the woman wore hid weapons she could use quite effectively.

The Amazon stalked straight to Diana and blocked her way up the stairs.

“What is the meaning of this?” Her regal tone matched the stately way she stood before them, arms bracketed on her hips. The doorman and another large, muscular man flanked her.

A second later, Jesus and Ryder assumed similar positions, guarding Diana.

“We’re looking for Michaela,” Diana replied, unintimidated. “She’s missing, and from what we can see, so is the Council member she was going to meet—Benjamin.” She mirrored the other woman’s stance, hands on her hips, drawing back her suit jacket with the action. It was a well-practiced move that displayed her badge and the grip of her gun nestled in her holster.

The other woman sneered. “Do you think that peashooter frightens me?”

“Probably not as much as the thought of Benjamin and Michaela betrayed by one of your trusted Council members,” she countered with dead calm.

Her answer cut the woman’s aggression, bringing the first hints of doubt. “Impossible.” But even as she said it, she glared at her two foot soldiers. “Leave us,” she commanded.

They scurried out of the room like two whipped dogs. Once they were gone, Ryder jumped in, “One of them failed to carry out the termination order on Benjamin’s brother.”

The woman’s face was a mask of disbelief. “There’s no way a Council member would fail to comply with such an order. The penalty for defiance is death.”

“Michaela believes it’s possible. Benjamin, too. He came to you, didn’t he?” Ryder challenged, and Evangeline’s proud stance deflated, along with the last of her arrogance.

“Yes, he did. This morning. Benjamin told me his theory, but…I didn’t believe him.”

“And now you have doubts, since both Michaela and Benjamin are missing,” Diana said.

Evangeline gave a majestic rise and fall of her head. “He said he was returning to the home of one of the Council members to confirm his suspicions.”

Diana pushed out a breath. “We have to assume Benjamin thought that was the member who’d defied the Council’s order. We should retrace his later steps and see which member he visited.”

Evangeline shook her head. “Not a chance. I know where you’re going, but I won’t release the locations of our people. It would be too dangerous.”

Diana shot a frustrated glance at Ryder and he laid a restraining hand on her shoulder. “So what do you plan to do?” he asked the slayer.

Evangeline motioned to Benjamin’s apartment. “This area is already compromised. I’ll call the other Council members and ask them to meet us here.”

Without waiting for their response, she flew up the stairs.

Jesus bounded forward a step or two, then whirled back to face them. “We’re running out of time. I’ve seen this guy’s handiwork and if both Michaela and Benjamin are under his control—”

“We’ll find them,” Diana promised, praying she was right. The whole thing was even more gruesome than the usual human serial killers she dealt with.

The minutes ticked by, seemingly endless, until Evangeline slowly descended the stairs. Her hand shook on the banister, and beneath her smooth brown skin was a hint of pallor.

“I haven’t been able to reach Aja.” A thread of uncertainty tangled in her tone.

“Are you surprised?” Ryder said. “You know what Bartholomew can do.”

Evangeline leaned forward, almost nose to nose with Ryder. “Why do you think we failed him out of slayer training? We saw the evil in his soul. Saw the danger he presented. There was only one way to put an end to it. So we did.”

Ryder wouldn’t be cowed by the slayer, and even from a few feet away, Diana felt the two powers grating against one another like sandpaper against rough metal. She stepped between them before it got worse, forcing Evangeline to look down at her from her much greater height.

“Didn’t do a very good job, did you?” Diana said evenly.

Evangeline curled her hands into fists and raised them at her sides, but Diana didn’t back away. “While you delay, their lives could be at stake. We need to know where to find Aja. Now.”

“You’re not going without me,” the slayer said.

Diana gestured toward the door. “By all means, lead the way.”