“There’s been no sign of them at all,” Ben added. “I’ve got everyone I can spare out looking, even the trainees.”
She sat up straight in her chair. “Trainees? Are you nuts?”
He looked offended. “They’ve been ordered not to engage.”
“Oh. Well, that makes it okay then.” Sarcasm all but dripped from her voice.
Jeremiah coughed to cover his laugh. She took that to mean he’d had the same conversation with their boss while she was incapacitated. Nice to know everyone she worked with wasn’t a complete idiot.
“One thing I know—you’ve got two demons working together, behaving themselves in an effort to not be found. As long as they keep a lid on their violent tendencies, we aren’t going to find them,” she said. They sat in silence and absorbed the direness of their situation for a moment.
“What are we going to do about Nathaniel?” she finally asked.
Ben leaned back in his chair. “Obviously I can’t send anyone but a Walker after him. Anyone else is going to get killed. You’re sure he was demon-ridden and not just louped out?” Demons had been known to make shifters forget their human sides before.
“He usually lights up like a Christmas tree for me. He didn’t even register.”
He sighed. “You’re the logical choice to send after him. You’ve got the most experience with demons and I think you’d be the most likely to get him back in one piece.”
“But...” she said so he didn’t have to.
He shook his head. “There is no but. It’s got to be you.”
Jeremiah leaned forward in his chair, eyes wide. “Wait just a minute. You can’t be serious.”
“Why not?”
“Because she just got out of the cursed infirmary. That’s why not.”
Juliana said nothing, just shifted her gaze between the two of them.
“And what would you propose, Agent Grace? Sending trainees after the demons for real?”
“I propose you call in Walkers from other territories and give her a chance to recover.”
She put a hand on Jeremiah’s arm to stop him from saying anything else. He shifted his glare to her. “As much as I appreciate you sticking up for me, I’ve got to agree with Ben on this one. I need to be out there. I don’t know about Nathaniel’s demon, but the other one is cognitive.”
“It spoke?” Ben asked, surprised. “You had a conversation with it?” Most of the demons encountered in their realm were low level grunters capable of little beyond simple words and base destruction.
Juliana nodded in answer.
“That means it’s at least seventh level,” Jeremiah said. There were ten levels of demons, with a first level demon being the most powerful and therefore most dangerous.
She pursed her lips. “I’d give it fifth, maybe even fourth if it’s hiding like this. That means it’s smart, thinking things through.”
Jeremiah slumped back in his chair, indignation no longer enough to keep his spine stiff.
“That’s not all,” she said. “It knew who I was.”
“You mean it knew you were a Walker?” Ben asked.
“No, I mean it called me by name.”
Their eyes widened and they blinked at her for several long moments. “Well, I have no idea what to make of that,” Jeremiah finally said.
“Thanks. That’s helpful.”
“On a not entirely unrelated note, I received a call from the Council.” Ben looked at her expectantly, but she said nothing. She knew of no reason for the vampire Council to call him. And even less reason why she should care they had. “They advised me you should be kept from the more dangerous assignments and you shouldn’t be permitted to return to work until you are completely healed. And they didn’t even mention the demon. They were hung up on the troll bite.”
She froze, fear slicing through her body like a dragon’s talon. “The Council has no authority over me.”
“They claim that since you were raised in a coven they do.”
This had to be a joke. She waited for him to get to the punch line.
“I informed them that whether that was true or not, the Agency superseded the Council’s authority when it came to you. They weren’t happy about that. I’m sure I’ll hear about it at my next coven meeting.”
“Sorry, Ben,” she told him. “But they don’t own me. They never have.”
He grinned, flashing fang again. “Figured you’d say that. Here’s the deal. You’re off duty until tomorrow. Hopefully that will appease the Council and Grace here. That should also give you time to heal enough to be in fighting form. And find out why the vampire Council is suddenly interested in what you do.”
She knew who to blame for the Council’s intervention without even asking. Thomas had sat on the Council for years. This was no doubt his way of trying to control her without her knowing who pulled the strings. Did he think she was a complete idiot?
“Go home. Get some rest.” Ben waved them out of his office.
“He forgot to eat again,” she said to Maria the receptionist as they passed her desk. She rolled her eyes and picked up the phone while mouthing a thank you.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Jeremiah stopped walking and leaned against the wall. “You didn’t seem horribly surprised by the Council’s intervention. What’s going on?”
She sighed and leaned against the wall opposite him. “I don’t talk about my past. You know that.”
“I’m waiting.”
Obviously he wasn’t going to let her get by with her normal evade and dodge technique. “You know I was raised in a coven, right?”
He nodded.
“Thomas Kendrick pulled me off the streets when I was twelve. He gave me a home and his protection, but I didn’t see much of him.” Not until she was older anyway. She smiled a little. “I might have neglected to mention that Sara’s maiden name is Kendrick. She’s Thomas’s little sister. Anyway, I’m assuming he’s using his sway with the Council to try to control me. He never cared for my independent streak.”
“That’s not everything,” he said after a moment.
“That’s all you’re getting.”
He shook his head as he straightened. “You’re never going to run out of secrets are you?”
“Gods I hope not. There’s stuff I really don’t want you to know.”
He laughed. She was glad he found her amusing but she wasn’t joking. The people that knew about her past were small in number for good reason. Safety being the primary one, but it was followed closely by embarrassment. While it was true she’d be a target for multiple people should her union with Thomas get out or certain aspects of her origin, Thomas walking out the morning after their union was beyond humiliating. It wasn’t something she was going to share unless she had to.
The Agency knew more than most because it was part of the application process, which meant that Ben knew because he was her boss. Sara knew most of it, which meant James knew. Anna knew some. But almost half of Juliana’s life was unknown even to her. And Thomas had tried to find out where she’d been those first twelve years, had hired detectives even, to no avail. That shit screwed with your head. And it made her keep the parts of her life that she did have that much closer. Her secrets were nobody’s business but her own.
She ran a hand down her face. “Go home to Anna. I’m going to pick up my blade and head out.”
He looked down at her. “Take care of yourself and don’t go after Nathaniel on your own. Promise me.”
“That’s an easy promise to make. I’m sick of seeing the inside of the infirmary.” Besides, with Michael in town, she had a ready and able partner. All she had to do was call.
His lips pursed. “Me, too.”
He walked around the bend toward the portal room and she headed to the armory. She wasn’t stepping foot out of the Agency without her blade in hand. The fact she couldn’t wield it at the moment was beside the point. There were two demons in town summoned by dark fae magic. And she just happened to possess a sword forged and blessed by one of the gods of the dark fae. She loved when she had an advantage, especially when the opposition knew nothing about it.
