“All right.”
Juliana pretended not to see the sheen of tears in Anna’s eyes as they hugged.
Jeremiah took her place when she moved away. He said nothing, just stood in front of Juliana and looked at her. She stepped forward to lay her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. He was always so warm. All fire elementals were, for obvious reasons. He held her for a long moment with no one saying anything, but she felt the tremble in his hands.
Anna once told her that she was as much a part of the family as their own children. Juliana thought about how many times Jeremiah had brought her here hurting or half-dead and how many times these same four people were waiting for her when she woke up. Tears lodged in her throat and she swallowed them back down. She stepped back to keep from crying.
Jeremiah cleared his throat and handed over her phone. “I called Sara. Told her you were fine. Thanks for not making me a liar.”
She scrolled through the missed calls, frowning when she saw the same number over and over again. Thomas. It had to be. She cleared her calls and looked at the little family in front of her.
Anna was a head shorter than Jeremiah with flaming red hair and brilliant green eyes. She’d been a Celtic demigoddess of love once upon a time and she looked it. She’d given it up when she fell in love with a fire elemental from northern Africa. Not that one could ever quit being a demigod, but she’d retired from the responsibilities that had come with her former position. No more matchmaking for her. Unless it was Juliana or one of her sons, then the gods help them.
Their boys were both bigger than Jeremiah, broader through the shoulders. Their pure black hair was set off by the pale skin and green eyes they’d inherited from their mother. Twins. Gorgeous twins. Simon and Seamus would never be more than friends to her, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate the view. Especially when the gods were nice enough to give it to her twice.
“You had some other visitors, dear,” Anna said looking sheepish. “One of them ran off before we caught his name. The other one was Michael, but he was only here a moment. We told him we’d have you call when you woke up.”
“The other one was another vamp,” Seamus piped in. “He came in here acting like you were no one’s concern but his, but I’d never seen him before.”
Her heart sped. There was only one person it could be. She didn’t want to care that Thomas had been there. That he’d been possessive of her. But she did. She groaned as she realized how horribly disappointed she would have been if he hadn’t come by. Curse him.
“I was ready to escort him out when Michael showed up and they both left,” he finished.
She looked at Anna. “My vampire’s back in town. So far he hasn’t received the welcome he anticipated.”
Her eyebrows crawled into her hairline. “Well, you have had an interesting few days. We really must talk more often.” She kissed her husband’s cheek. “You better go talk to Ben. I’ll see you at home when you’re finished.”
Jeremiah put a hand on Juliana’s elbow and steered her from the room and down the hall. He kept a tighter grip than normal and she knew he was worried she wasn’t as steady on her feet as she appeared. “
“Thomas Kendrick,” she answered and instantly wished she hadn’t.
He stopped, took both arms in his hands and turned her to face him. “You know Thomas Kendrick well enough to call him yours?”
She looked at him without saying anything. To explain, she’d have to tell him more than she was ready for. Even Anna didn’t know everything. Not only had Juliana been trying to pretend Thomas didn’t exist for the most part, she’d be painting a huge target on her back should word get out they were United. Particularly since they weren’t together. Thomas’s enemies could go through her to hurt him and wouldn’t have to get past him to do it. Even the Agency didn’t know about the union. Thomas hadn’t registered it. She’d checked. Unions were required disclosure. If the Agency found out about it they’d reprimand her at best. At worst, she’d be out of a job.
When it became obvious she wasn’t going to answer his question, Jeremiah released her and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Never mind. I don’t think I want to know.”
She patted his shoulder. “That’s probably a wise decision. Come on, let’s get this over with.”
She tapped lightly on Ben’s door and swung it open even as Jeremiah was asking the receptionist if he was in. Ben looked up when she entered. Dark circles ringed his eyes and she wondered how long it had been since he fed. He smiled when he saw her, flashing a bit of fang. Yeah, he was overdue.
“I was worried about you, Norris,” Ben said, his English accent heavier in his exhaustion. “All right?”
She nodded and lowered herself into one of the chairs in front of his desk.
Jeremiah took the other chair and started talking. “Our vic at the warehouse was a witch. A woman in Nathaniel’s building opened the door to our agents assuming they were there about the sons she reported missing.”
“Sons...as in more than one?”
Ben nodded and looked at Jeremiah. “What was it you called them?”
“The Summoner and the Sacrifice. Positively identified. Visually for one, dental for the other.” Jeremiah ran a hand over his head. “Fifteen and seventeen. The Witness was fifteen, too. A friend of both the boys.”
Several deep breaths failed to ease the tightness in her chest. Babies. Nothing more than babies. And their mother had lost them both. For what? What did the Master want so badly that he’d sacrifice three teenagers to achieve it?
She cleared her throat. “How did they get involved in something like this? Did you get anything useful out of the mother?”
Ben tapped his fingers on the desk. “Not really, she was too distraught. They had to medicate her. The search didn’t turn up much either. None of the stuff we usually find when someone is learning how to summon demons in their spare time. The mother did say the eldest was an adept spell caster.”
“There was a new video game system and several unopened games in the brothers’ room,” Jeremiah said. “When we asked her, she claims the boys told her they were doing odd jobs for the neighbors to earn extra cash.”
“So they were hired, just like we’d figured. Money’s a big motivator for a kid.” It wasn’t until they got older that people realized some things just weren’t worth any amount of money. “And mom had no idea who it might have been?”
“Quite frankly, she seemed pretty clueless about what went on in her kids’ lives. She claims there was no one new around. We’ve got agents questioning all the neighbors,” Ben said.
“What about the book?” she asked, shifting in her seat.
Jeremiah shook his head. “Mother didn’t know anything about it, either. James has it in lockdown at the Apocryphan. He’ll let us know if he finds anything.”
All of the especially dangerous magical items they found went to the Gathering’s headquarters for safekeeping. They’d also study the object on a consultant basis for the Agency if asked. Gods forbid they do anything for free just to be helpful. Well, they’d do it for her, just not the Agency. Partly because she was a mage, but mostly because James and Sara claimed her as family. And since James was the Director of the Gathering they did what he said. Which generally included not pissing him off, and helping those he considered his.
James disliked the Agency both because he felt they tried to butt in where they weren’t welcome and because he didn’t like Juliana working for them. And because he couldn’t do anything about either of those situations, he exerted control where he could. Namely the assistance he provided to the Agency with magical artifacts. James told her more than once her employer could suck his balls before he’d do anything for them without sending a bill.
Juliana sighed. They had gotten absolutely nowhere in the investigation while she’d been out of it. “So the demon jumped from our victim to the fae. No question why there, that kind of power would be hard for a demon to pass up. Any word on the host yet? What about other victims?”
“No word on the fae,” Jeremiah answered. “There haven’t been any other victims that we know of.”
“Nothing since the pier?” That was odd. Maybe the demon had completed its task and returned to its realm. But if that was the case then where was Nathaniel?
