He had questions to ask Roz, and if she did have this Key, she’d better hand it over. She’d definitely left that part out of her storytelling last night. Why? At a guess, she still planned to hand it over to her demon protector in exchange for her freedom, and he couldn’t really blame her. He’d probably do the same if he’d been indebted to some demon for more than five hundred years. But while he couldn’t blame her, he still wouldn’t let her get away with it. The Key was too powerful. In the wrong hands—and that was probably any demon—it could be a powerful weapon. Also, if the fae caught a whiff of the fact that it still existed, he was going to have to deal with them—and he hated dealing with the fae. He’d no doubt have that bastard the Walker on him again, as though the Order had nothing better to do than babysit a bunch of fairies.
There was only one fae—or half-fae, at any rate—that he wanted anything to do with right now, and that was Roz. He wondered who her father was. She bore no resemblance to any fae he’d ever met, though the majority of them kept to themselves in the Faelands. Then he dismissed the issue —it was unimportant. Her father was hardly likely to come into the picture. No, Roz was nothing to do with the fae; she was his.
The thought surprised him. But he liked her, and not just for the sweetness of her blood.
“You’ve gone very quiet,” Jack said. “What are you thinking about?”
Roz. But perhaps he’d rather not share that with Jack. “That perhaps it’s time we got you off the streets.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t just lock me up at our last meeting or…” He trailed off, probably deciding it might be better not to put the options into words.
Piers grinned. “I’m considering the ‘or’ at the moment.”
“Bastard,” Jack muttered. “You’ll have to find me first.” And he hung up.
Straight away, Piers called the crew who were watching Roz. “I need you to up the surveillance. Whatever you do, don’t lose her.”
“Too late, boss. She’s already given us the slip.”
“Shit.”
Chapter Twelve
“We’re being followed.” Roz had known it from the moment they’d stepped outside the building. “Don’t stop,” she muttered as Maria ground to a halt. Maria shuffled forward. “And don’t look back,” Roz added as Maria started to glance behind her. “We don’t want them to know we know.”
She’d spotted them straight away. It was difficult not to—they were really hard to miss. Piers should employ some nice ordinary people if he expected to follow someone without being seen. These guys looked like what they were—badass vampires—or maybe she was just starting to recognize the type. Perhaps she should have gotten Asmodai to meet her during daylight hours, though she was sure the Order must have employees other than vampires. Hadn’t Tara mentioned a werewolf?
Did Piers still suspect her of something, or was he just being cautious? Either way, she had to lose the tail and fast. They were in the business district, and the place was quiet at this time of night, so there weren’t even any crowds to mingle with.
She glanced into a large, dark window as they strolled past, trying to catch a glimpse of her followers. Something moved about two blocks back. Good—they were keeping their distance.
Up ahead she could see the entrance to an underground parking garage. She touched Maria lightly on the arm, and the sister jumped. She’d been calming down, but it was obvious that all it required was a little setback— like being followed by scary badasses—to bring her nerves to the forefront. And who could blame her? This was a big turnaround from living in an enclosed convent. “Just be ready to move when I say,” Roz whispered.
She walked past the entrance, risking a quick glance back—her followers were out of sight. Grasping hold of Maria’s wrist, she tugged her backward onto the ramp that headed underground in a continuous circle. Then she ran, taking them down to the lowest level and into the huge parking area.
Down here, the light was dim—just overhead fluorescent strips, and the place was almost empty of cars. Their footsteps sounded loud on the bare concrete floor. Roz kept hold of Maria’s wrist as she ran lightly across the large echoing area. She paused for a second behind a concrete pillar and peered back toward the entrance of the ramp. Nothing moved, and she continued. She found the elevators opposite but ignored them, following the rear wall until she found a doorway, which she knew would lead into the stairwell.
Pushing open the door, she sniffed the musty air then hustled Maria in front of her. The narrow staircase led upward, and she took the stairs two at a time. At the top were two doors, one presumably the entrance into the building, the other a barred double door. She was guessing it would lead into the street, but on the opposite side of the building from where they had come in. She lowered the bar and cautiously pushed the door. It opened into an alley. Up ahead a rectangle of light indicated a brightly lit street, but the alley itself was in darkness, shadowed by the tall buildings all around. A faint scent of decay permeated the air, presumably coming from the trash dumpsters opposite rather than anything more sinister. Roz could sense no living things present. She opened the door wider and slipped outside.
“Come on,” she said to Maria. “I think we’ve lost them.” Though it had been rather easy. Obviously, Piers hadn’t been too serious about keeping tabs on her. Or maybe he hadn’t expected her to make a run for it.
As she headed toward the brightly lit street, her cell phone rang. Although she didn’t recognize the number, she could guess who it would be. For a second, she considered ignoring the call, but then she shrugged and raised it to her ear.
“They were there to protect you.” Piers’ voice sounded soft. And angry.
“Protect me from what? I don’t need protecting. You said I wasn’t a prisoner, but you have me followed like I’m some sort of criminal.” She injected her voice with as much anger as she could manage. She wasn’t angry; she would have done the same in these circumstances. But it would be better if Piers believed she had lost her tail because she was pissed off rather than because she was up to no good. Which she was.
“What are you up to?”
Obviously, she hadn’t been convincing enough. “Nothing. I just needed some fresh air. Again.”
He was silent for a minute. It felt like an hour. Finally, he spoke. “If you have the Key, or know where it is, bring it here.”
Damn. How had he found out? Or was he just guessing? “The Key?”
“Roz, you won’t like the consequences if you become an enemy of the Order.”
“I don’t plan to become your enemy—I just wanted some space.”
“Well, you’ve had some. Now get back here.”
She sighed. “I’m on my way.” Without waiting for a reply, she ended the call and shoved the phone back in her pocket. That would give her half an hour or so before he realized she’d been lying.
They’d come out onto a main road now, and the occasional car drove past. A black cab appeared around the corner, and she hurried forward, her arm raised. The cab pulled up beside her and she opened the back door, motioning to Maria to climb in. “London Bridge Hospital,” she told the driver and clambered in beside her.
“Was that Mr. Lamont?” Maria asked.
“Yeah.”
“The vampire?”
Roz glanced at the back of the driver’s head, but she doubted he was listening, and if he was, he’d probably just think they were a couple of nutters.
“Yeah.”
She hoped Maria wasn’t going to lapse into hysterics, but she appeared quite calm. “I think he’s a good man.” She gave a small smile. “Even if he does make me nervous.”
Roz shook her head at the comment, though actually, she believed the same. Well, as good as a vampire could be. There had to be people willing to do bad things in order to keep the world safe. Maybe when this was over, she could be part of that.
One of the good things in her life had been helping Ryan. She’d make a great detective. Perhaps there would be a place for her at the Order, a job. After all, they employed Jonas, the warlock. Why not her?
But of course, she knew why not. After she had given the Key to Asmodai, she was likely to be a little
