reached out with her magic. The Key called to her, and she found it easily in a drawer in his bedroom, hidden beneath his boxer shorts.
For the first time, she examined it closely. Such a small thing to cause so much trouble. It appeared to be an ordinary, old-fashioned key of plain black iron. But if she concentrated, she could sense the pulse of magic. Old, powerful magic.
Jonas had told her that more blood was required to bind the spell to an object. She took the Key into the kitchen, found a sharp knife, and pricked the ball of her thumb. After squeezing a few drops onto the Key, she whispered the words that would start the spell.
Now, she need only speak the final words and the thing would self-destruct, hopefully taking Jack with it.
It was still before noon—she had most of the day to get through. She should do something momentous, but instead, she crawled into Ryan’s unmade bed, cuddled the pillow to her chest, and drifted into an uneasy sleep.
…
Piers awoke as the sun went down. He came instantly awake, a sense of anticipation bubbling inside him.
He still had the Andarta problem to solve, but without the Key, her movements were limited.
He frowned. If Roz didn’t have the Key, who did? Roz was a Seeker, so maybe the Order should employ her. They could get this demon off her back, and she could work for them and find the Key—if she didn’t already have it. He could keep her close by while he worked out just what it was that intrigued him so much.
Oh, the taste of her blood, so sweet, was a big part of it. As was that delectably curvaceous body. He’d been an idiot last night; he should have taken her, bound her to him by whatever means possible. He would put that right; it was first on his to-do-list. Take Roz to bed and show her how great they could be together.
His good mood didn’t last for long.
“What do you mean she hasn’t been seen all day?” Piers didn’t even attempt to hide his temper. He’d been on his way up to the penthouse when Graham had waylaid him with the news that Roz was not in the building.
Graham appeared unfazed by his foul mood. He’d seen it before. “She left this morning. Hasn’t been seen since.”
“Get Carl and meet me in my office now.”
He paced the room while he waited for them to arrive. Where the hell had she gone this time? And why? He was betting she was still pissed off with him and this just a way of getting him back for leaving her last night.
But he didn’t know. The fact was—he knew very little about her. Except he wanted her in a way he hadn’t wanted anything or anyone in a long time.
Hell, last night, he’d backed away because it meant more to him than a quick shag. Now he wished he’d dragged her down to his underground lair, fucked her brains out, then chained her to the wall.
He ground his teeth together and smashed his fist into the desk.
“Ouch,” said a voice behind him.
Piers turned to see Carl lounging against the door, arms folded across his chest. He hadn’t even heard the werewolf come in. Graham hovered behind him as if reluctant to join them. “Where the hell is she?” Piers snarled. “You were supposed to go with her if she left the building.”
“Unfortunately, you never told her that. Look, you never said she was a prisoner. She was gone before I knew she was leaving. If you hadn’t wanted her to go out alone, you should have given more specific instructions.”
He was right. That didn’t make Piers feel any better. Maybe she was in danger. Who had she been fighting with last night? Could the demon have found her, taken her? Could he be punishing her even now for failing to get the damn Key?
After last night, he should maybe have considered the possibility that she would run. She hadn’t been particularly pleased with him, but still he thought she would stick around. And he still didn’t believe that she wouldn’t come back. She was just sulking.
“I followed her to The Crooked Hat,” Carl said, “but she gave me the slip. Where she went after that, I have no clue.”
“She went to see Jonas?”
The other man shrugged. “I presume so. He’d left by the time I realized she wasn’t coming out through the front door.”
“Is he in the building yet?”
“Yeah,” Graham replied. “He arrived just before dark. You want to see him?”
“Hell, yes. Get him in here.”
Graham looked relieved to have an excuse to get out of there. “I’ll go find him.”
Maybe Roz had just gone to see the warlock to find out about what she was, but Piers suspected there was more to it than that. What could she have possibly sought from Jonas? Shit, why hadn’t he stayed with her last night?
“There’s something else,” Carl said, interrupting his thoughts.
“And are you going to tell me what that is?”
“You asked me to investigate the woman who was working with the police. The one who helped them find the missing girl.”
“The one at Jack’s house?”
“Well, from the description, I’m pretty certain it was your friend, Rosamund.”
The information should have surprised him more than it did. “She’s a Seeker. She must have helped the police find the girl. She probably even gave them Jack’s description. Why the hell didn’t we put this together sooner?” It made perfect sense now. “Christ, she
She must have found it that night at Jack’s place. But she hadn’t had it with her last night. He was sure of that. So, the question was, where was it and what did she mean to do with it? He was guessing she still planned to hand it over to her demon master and gain her freedom. And could he blame her?
Hell, yes.
She should have brought it to him. He would have kept her safe, found some way to pay off her debt to this demon. And if it was Asmodai—as he suspected—he was going to beat the shit out of him. Or get Tara to do it.
He hated that Roz hadn’t trusted him enough. From what she’d told him, he reckoned she’d gotten too used to taking care of herself. She didn’t know how to ask for help.
Or maybe that whole show last night had been her way of asking. Or her way of saying good-bye. He ran a hand through his long hair, pressing his skull, trying to make sense of it all. To work out what she was doing, where she could have gone.
“I take it you’ve tried her cell?”
“She’s not answering,” Carl said. “I’ve left messages, but so far nothing.”
“We’ll just have to hope that we can find her before she hands it over.”
The door opened, and Jonas slipped into the room, Graham behind him. The old man’s expression was blank. Was he hiding something? And if he was—would he tell? Piers was quite aware that the warlock had his own reasons for working for the Order; it gave him access to things that might otherwise have not been available, but despite that, he believed Jonas wouldn’t work directly against them.
“Roz came to see you this morning. Why?”
“That’s between us.”
Piers flung himself into the chair behind his desk and tried to work out the best way to get Jonas to talk. “Are you aware that she has the Key?”
“She does?” Jonas came farther into the room and sat down on one of the upright chairs. He stroked his chin as he considered the information.
“I think it’s time you decide where your loyalties lie,” Piers said. “We employed you here at your own request, but I won’t have people working for me that I can’t trust.”
