Afterwards, as pleasure still racked her frame, he kissed her and smoothed the hair from her face until she drifted away into an exhausted sleep.
Twice more in the night he woke her and made love, until her body ached with the overload of pleasure. After the third time, he spoke the first words since they had entered the room.
“I love you.”
She was sure she heard, and she wanted to answer him, tell him she loved him. But she was drifting into unconsciousness…
When she woke again, a sense of wellbeing rolled over her. She reached for Piers but found him gone.
Instead, on the pillow beside her, lay the Key.
Chapter Twenty-two
In a flash, the wellbeing was gone, replaced by a sense of nothingness. Roz hadn’t realized, but Piers had been there lodged in her mind, and now he was gone.
She grabbed the Key and scrambled out of bed. Her clothes were scattered on the floor by the front door, and she pulled them on. Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was just after five. Dawn. Maybe that was all it was—Piers was asleep. But where? Why not in his apartment? Her mind hunted for answers but came up with nothing. Besides, she usually knew when he was sleeping; he was still in her mind but muted. Now where he had been was a great big empty place.
She ran out of the apartment and stood for a moment, unsure where to go. Who to go to.
Christian would be at home with Tara. No doubt, Jonas would be at The Crooked Hat.
In the end, she took the elevator up to reception. Graham was at the desk. He glanced up, his smile fading as he caught sight of her face.
Did she look that bad? Obviously, she did.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“Have you seen Piers?”
He shook his head. “No, but I can page him if you like.”
“Please.”
She gripped the edge of the desk while he pressed a few numbers. “He’s not answering.”
Roz had expected nothing else, but still a shaft of fear shot her in the gut, so she swayed. Suddenly, she realized something. Last night, he’d been saying goodbye. The bastard. He’d been making beautiful love to her and all the while, he’d known it was for the last time.
But why? What had happened? Where had he gone?
She shook her head, forcing her mind to function. Maybe it wasn’t too late to get him back.
“Is anyone else around?” she asked.
“Jonas.”
“Where is he?”
“I’m here,” he said from behind her.
She turned slowly. He was watching her, with something in his eyes that looked suspiciously like pity.
“What has he done?” she asked.
“Do you have the Key?”
The thing was still clenched in her fingers. She raised her hand to show him. “How?”
“He’s enslaved himself to Andarta in exchange for the Key and her promise to stay in the Abyss.” The voice came from behind her, and she turned to see Christian standing there.
“We have to get him back.”
“It’s too late. He wears her sigil.”
She couldn’t bear the thought of Piers in slavery. He’d make a shit slave. Would Andarta hurt him if he defied her? Why had he done it?
Christian answered her unspoken question. “He did it because he knew she would win otherwise.”
“How do we get him back? How do we get him away from her?”
“We don’t.”
“We can kill her.”
“If she dies, those bearing her sigil will also perish.” He came to stand in front of her. His face held pity but also resolution. “This is what he wanted. His grand gesture. He did this for all of us. The best thing you can do is accept it and live your life.”
Yeah, like that was going to happen. “You’re his friend—you can’t leave him there.”
“Maybe it won’t be so bad. He loved her once. Perhaps he still does.”
The memory of his words drifted through her mind.
Christian’s expression softened. “Do you think he would have done this if we could think of another way? For the past week, we’ve been searching for a means to defeat her and we’ve come up with nothing. The attacks that have been happening were only the beginning. Millions would have died, the rest been enslaved—”
“Instead it’s only Piers.”
“Yes.”
She had to get away. Think this through. There had to be a way. Someone who would help. She looked at Jonas, and he shrugged. His loyalty was to the Order.
Around her neck, she could feel the ring her father had given her. He hated Piers. He’d probably love this. But he claimed to care for her, and she also guessed that her father held the answer to unlocking her own powers. She remembered enough to know that it was with his help that she had shut them away when she had been little more than a baby. She wasn’t sure what he could do, but if she was going to outwit Andarta, she needed every bit of help she could get.
“What shall I do with this?” She held up the Key.
“We’ll hand it over to Asmodai, and he can destroy it as he should have all those years ago.”
“Well, perhaps someone should watch him this time. Here.” She gave the Key to Christian and walked away.
She needed to do something before she contacted her father next, and she headed to the elevator. The doors slid open, revealing Ryan and Maria.
They appeared very chummy, and was that guilt that flashed across Maria’s expressive features as she glanced up and noticed Roz? She shifted a little distance away from the detective.
“Not gone back to the mother house yet?” Roz asked.
“I may not go back. Tara has offered me a job here. She runs a refuge for people who have been damaged by contact with this world. She thinks I could help.” Maria shrugged a little helplessly. “I’ve seen so much now. I can’t go back and hide behind the convent’s walls. I must do what I can to help.”
“Good.” She glanced at Ryan. “And what about you? Have you decided?”
“Yeah. I’m staying as well. It’s that or let these fuckers mess with my head—not going to happen. I told Piers and Christian last night. I just have to work out my notice and then I’m moving in.”
“I’m glad. They need good people like you.”
“Forget the good. They just need people. This place is full of monsters.”
“Including me.”
“No, not you. I don’t know what you are, but you’re not a monster.”
She realized this could be the last time she saw her friends, and she couldn’t even say goodbye. Finally, she moved aside so they could pass and stepped into the elevator.
“Look, I have to go, but I’ll see you both later.”
“Will you?” Ryan asked.
Roz ignored the comment and jabbed her finger on the button to close the doors. She made her way up to the roof where they’d met with her father the last time. Sitting on the low wall that ran around the edge, her legs dangling, she decided how best to approach him. She required information as much as anything. Christian had told
