Unawakened (25 page)

“I asked you to entertain them, daughters of mine. Why are our guests on the floor?” Minangi strode out from behind the bar carrying a black lacquered box. “Are you all right?”

“Muriel got a little excited.” Rob worked his hands under me and lifted me upright. “I forgot to warn Alexa.”

“He forgot to warn himself, too” the dragon corrected. “You can trust our brother to speak half the truth without ever uttering a single lie.”

I filed that tidbit away to think about later.

Minangi snickered, setting the box on the table. “Of course he did. When was the last time he remembered before he ended up sprawled on the floor knocked senseless by your beauty, my daughter?”

“Flattery gets you nowhere, Father. What have you done now?”

“I have done nothing nefarious, I assure you. I have learned a few things for you, Rob. You have chosen an interesting woman, that much is certain.”

“Hardly.” I needed Rob’s help to get back on my feet, and I didn’t stay upright for long, choosing to sit before my wobbly legs got tired of me and I oozed to the floor. “He’s the freak.”

“She knows you well.” Minangi took the seat across from us, setting the box among the dishes still scattered around the table. “Daughters, do prepare some dishes for them to take home while we discuss.”

A shroud of smoke closed in around Muriel, and when it dissipated, she once again resembled a human, although her jade eyes remained hard as stone without whites or pupils. “Yes, Father.”

Both of the women left.

Rob pulled his chair close to mine and reached across the table to grab a dish of green vegetables, small black beans, and a blackened meat. “You’ll want to eat, or you’ll feel terrible in the morning.”

“Foregone conclusion. I have to be at work at nine.”

“Food is sleep,” the dae replied, spooning a large serving onto my plate. “I have you starting at two. You can sleep in my office and pretend you’re working.”

“Great. Not only do I have to go to work in a dress, I’ll be doing it on no sleep. I hope they don’t expect me to hit any targets,” I complained.

“You should eat, too. Yes, I’m aware of your unique dietary needs, but humor me.” Minangi glared at Rob until he served himself. “I have not found as much as you will like, but it’s a start. As you have already determined, the purpose of the disc is to track Miss Alexa’s movements. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you who is behind the wish. I can tell you, however, who is granting it.”

Rob froze, his fork halfway to his mouth. “Who?”

“Ahriman.”

Rob grumbled something under his breath before taking out his annoyance on his food. “Great. That lot has made it back already?”

“So it seems.”

“Who is this Ahriman?” I asked between bites, keeping an eye on Rob.

“He’s not someone you want to meet.”

“You weren’t, either. You had a convincing argument.” I stole a bite of meat from Rob’s plate. “What’s so bad about him?”

“He’s a portal dae with a mean streak a mile wide. He makes Arthur Hasling look like a nice guy.”

I didn’t like the sound of that one bit. “Okay. So, what does that mean?”

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find out. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything at all.” Minangi picked up the box and set it in front of Rob. “The good news? There’ll be plenty willing to jump at a chance to ruin Ahriman’s day, and interfering with such a minor wish would make him look bad. Are you willing to start playing the game, Rob?”

“Have I ever?” There was a sharp edge to Rob’s voice.

Minangi smiled. “No, and that’s part of what makes you so interesting.”

I added yet another question to my list of things to ask Rob once we were alone. Until then, I would stick to more important matters. “Is there a way to stop these discs from showing up?”

“There is. My daughters and I will take care of it. We will need some time, but we can make arrangements. A day or two should be sufficient. Until then, try to be careful. May this offer you both luck. You need it.” Minangi offered Rob the black box. “Try to get it right this time.”

The history between the two men—the two dae—intrigued me. “Get what right?”

Rob scowled and stared at his plate. Minangi smiled, but said nothing.

Chapter Sixteen

I never got a chance to ask Rob any questions about Minangi, Muriel, her unnamed and quiet sister, and everything I had learned from our dinner at the restaurant hidden beneath Baltimore.

My memories were fragmented, but one minute we were stepping out onto the street heading to Rob’s car. The next, there was a teeth-rattling bang. The beeping of a machine warned me something was wrong, but it was the cool air trickling in my nose that jolted me to awareness. A white world greeted me, and it took several long moments to force my eyes to focus.

I’d been hospitalized enough times over the years to recognize the sterile white room and its machines. The prick of an IV at my elbow accompanied the oxygen, and the lack of other attachments relieved me. Whatever had happened hadn’t done too much damage to me; I’d dodged the invasive tubes and other accessories associated with life support.

In the fringe, I’d been subjected to large rooms crammed full of beds to maximize the efficiency of the doctors and nurses. Private rooms were unheard of, and the lack of a roommate offered me a few clues. Wherever I was, it was meant for the upper castes.

There weren’t even any stains on the white ceiling to offer me a focal point, and the machines were designed to be as unobtrusive as possible, blending in with the white walls. A splash of color to my left drew my attention.

At the restaurant, I hadn’t paid much attention to the box Minangi had given Rob, but with nothing else to focus on, I soaked in every detail. The dragon emblazoned on the box was Muriel in her full glory, and her jade eyes were tiny stones. Gold and silver inlays bordered the box, leaving me to wonder if the patterns were significant.

Rob had been carrying the box when we had left the restaurant. Why was it with me?

Why hadn’t the government confiscated it? If I was in a hospital, something had happened beyond Rob’s ability to handle. That the dae wasn’t present filled me with a different fear, one that started in my chest and smothered me, restricting my breathing to a panicked wheeze.

A machine beeped a warning.

In the fringe, nurses did their jobs with as little interaction with their patients as possible. When a man wearing green scrubs stepped into the room, closing the door behind him, I braced for the silent treatment, watching him go from machine to machine, checking the displays monitoring whether or not I still lived.

“Excellent, you’re awake.”

My dry throat kept me quiet, as did my tongue, which resembled a crumbling brick in my mouth. As though reading my thoughts, he offered me a cup with a lid and straw, tilting it so I could drink while sparing a little of my dignity.

“What happened?” I rasped. That I needed to catch my breath after two words alarmed me almost as much as my body’s numbness.

I didn’t need a nurse or doctor to tell me I’d been drugged. Without Rob on guard, my old fears resurrected and began to consume me.

“What do you remember?”

“A flash and a bang. Outside of a restaurant, I think? We were headed home.”

“Do you have any memory of what happened to Mr. Lucrage?”

They didn’t know what had happened to Rob? I held my breath, my eyes widening. “Where’s Rob? What do you mean what happened to him? Where’s Rob?”

I could hear the panic in my voice, and the drugs in my system stole away my ability to hide my fear and worry.

The nurse flinched. “We don’t know. You were found alone shortly after the attack.”

“I don’t remember.” The confession slipped out, and my voice wavered.

Where was Rob?

Someone had taken Rob and left me behind. The bomb, such as it was, had been a crowd control device meant to incapacitate those in the blast radius. Seventeen hours after admittance, the doctors decided it was safe for me to return home.

I clutched the black box Minangi had given to Rob like a lifeline, wondering who had wanted Rob and why. His kidnapping clarified a lot of things for me.

I wasn’t the only one who thought Rob was valuable, and someone had gone to a lot of trouble to take him. My anger surged. If I were a fire dae, I would’ve burned the entire hospital to the ground.

Was my rage an echo of what had been driving Rob? He had hovered and jumped at shadows, and Arthur Hasling’s name was enough to infuriate him.

Too late, I understood. All I wanted was to lock Rob in our bedroom and keep him there, safe and sound. I had decisions to make, and they involved finding the dae; I wanted to share each and every victory in my life with him. When Arthur Hasling paid the price, I didn’t want to celebrate alone. When Kenneth’s empire crumbled to dust around him, I didn’t want the bitter ache of loneliness to consume me again.

When I found justice for the women murdered by Terry Moore and Dean Lewis, I didn’t want my hand to be the only one moving in the shadows.

I had to hunt down whoever had taken Rob from me. If I needed to sell my soul to Kenneth to do it, I would, but I’d turn to the police first.

During the day, I’d pretend to be a hard working, upright citizen of good standing and integrity. When night fell, I’d hunt the streets.

I’d play my first card by earning my gun license on the merit of my skill with my weapon. I’d defy the system however necessary to find Rob.

Whoever had taken him would pay. If they believed in a god, I’d make certain no number of prayers would save them. Flexing my hands, I asked the nurse at the discharge station if I could make a phone call. She passed me a cell phone, and I dialed the operator, requesting a connection to the police station near Rob’s home.

The call took less than three minutes. Fifteen minutes later, Sergeant Gildroy met me at the hospital with two other cops. The lingering effects of the device and the preventative medications the doctors had pumped into me despite my protests left me unsteady on my feet.

The man grabbed hold of my elbow to keep me from falling. The burn of an allergic reaction enveloped my entire arm. The pain focused my thoughts as little else had since learning of Rob’s disappearance.

“The entire left side of your face is purple.”

“How wonderful.” I straightened, concentrated on my balance, and freed my elbow from his hold. There’d be no hiding the rash; the spot was already turning red. I clasped my hand over the mark, hoping it wouldn’t result in my palm ending up with a rash, too. “I apologize for the inconvenience, sir.”

“We were wondering what had happened when you hadn’t appeared for work. It is not like you to be late.”

I wondered about that. I hadn’t exactly been the image of perfection after the Dawn of Dae. I had put the blame squarely on Rob’s shoulders for my tardiness that life-changing morning.

Maybe Rob’s sway truly extended further than I had thought possible.

“I want on the team searching for Rob Lucrage.”

Both of Sergeant Gildroy’s eyebrows rose. “That may not be possible, Miss Daegberht.”

“I will tear up every last stone of this city to find him.”

“There are rules, Miss Daegberht.”

“For him, I’m willing to break them.” My declaration could send me to prison for a long time, but the rage boiling my blood wouldn’t accept sitting quietly waiting for good things to happen.

He had come for me when I had needed him. I wasn’t a knight, I didn’t have shining armor, and I didn’t have a horse, but I had a gun. Whatever it took, I’d do it.

If I had to leave a sea of blood and bodies in my wake, I would.

“Your determination is good. What do you bring to the table?”

Rob had been the only thing his kidnappers had taken. Even his dagger had been left behind. My gun was beneath my jacket, and I whipped it out, disengaging the safety and aiming for the far wall of the hospital. “See that poster there, sir? The one detailing custodial and guardian rights?”

Instead of a happy couple, the image was of a man and a women fighting over a crying child, and the advertisement encouraged citizens of good standing to immediately report aggressive behavior and any incidents of home violence.