Jared’s arms tensed. Bex’s light footsteps rushed down the stairs, and the door opened. After a few moments, another set, heavier, returned with him, and Kim appeared in the doorway, out of breath and wide-eyed.
Jared sprung from the bed, pulling on his jacket. “Stay with her, Bex.”
“I should go,” Bex said.
Knowing they were going to try to capture the book, I jumped from the bed, pulling on a pair of sneakers. “He should go. I’ll go, too, and if anything happens, Bex can help.”
Jared frowned while he made his decision. “Nina….”
“We don’t have time for a lecture,” I said. “You know you have a better chance if Bex is there.”
He nodded, clearly conflicted. “Let’s go.”
The streets were filthy, lined with mounds of dirty snow. The Escalade flew at three times the speed limit, racing against the moment Shax realized we’d found him.
Jared slammed on the breaks in front of an old apartment building on the outskirts of town, and he and Kim rushed in. Bex was stoic, waiting patiently for a signal. My knees bounced nervously as I bit at my thumbnail.
“Here,” Bex said, pulling a handgun from the back of his pants. “If I go in, keep this with you. The safety’s on, so—,”
“Take it off before I fire, I know.”
Bex smiled. “You’ll be fine. Just don’t go in.”
The waiting was excruciating. The night was too quiet; the building too dark. I had expected immediate flashes of gun fire, and Jared and Kim to run out, with snarling, misshapen beasts in pursuit.
Bex picked at his nails, seeming bored, but patient. I checked my handgun again, making sure it was loaded and ready.
“We really need Claire here. We have to figure out how to get the three of us in the same room with Shax and keep you protected at the same time.”
“You’re just itching to get one in on him, aren’t you?” I smirked.
“On Shax?” Bex said. “Jared’s fought a hundred of ‘em. They react to me the same way they do Kim. They won’t come near me. It’s irritating.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, but it better not be because of my age, or anything like that. I’m ready,” he sniffed.
“You are,” I said, my voice absent of sarcasm.
Bex turned to me with a small smile, reminding me of his innocence. “Yeah?”
“Absolutely. How much time have we spent together, with Jared nowhere in sight? I’m the hardest Taleh case there is: dirty cops and demons after me day and night, and I don’t have a scratch. Maybe they stay away because they’re scared?”
Bex nodded, satisfied. “Yeah. Probably so.”
Suddenly, Jared and Kim appeared, walking slowly from the back of the building.
“No go?” Bex asked as Jared slammed his body into the driver’s seat.
“They were already gone,” he seethed, his jaw muscles flitting under his skin.
“Shax is playing games with us,” Kim said. “Otherwise he’d move it out of town…or out of the country. He wants you to doubt your judgment, and he’s using me to bait you…wear you out.”
“There has to be another way,” Jared said, slamming the shifter into gear. “We’re making the same mistakes.”
“Are they all the same?” I asked.
Jared, Kim, and Bex turned in my direction.
“The books. Are they all the same? You said there were others. Is there another one we can get to? One that belongs to a demon that doesn’t know we’re coming?”
Jared and Kim traded glances.
“It’s not a bad idea,” Kim said.
“Waste of time,” Bex replied.
“Nigh, Shax’s book is the only one that we know of that has been brought to this plane. The others…we’d have to go to Hell to get,” Kim explained.
“So that’s out,” I said.
“Unless,” Bex began.
“No,” Jared said, cutting him off.
“Unless what?” I said, touching Bex’s arm.
“We could talk someone with access in to getting one.”
Jared sighed. “No one is going to do that, Bex, it would start a war.”
“Samuel would.” A small, amused smile touched Bex’s face.
“Enough,” Jared said, pulling into Cynthia’s driveway.
Kim stretched, and then patted my back side. “See you in class tomorrow.”
I shook my head in disbelief. She was so unaffected by it all.
The headlight of Bex’s motorcycle shuttered as Claire pulled into the drive. She was noticeably upset.
“What is it?” I asked, watching her place the bike on its kickstand.
She fidgeted, and then put her hands on her hips, looking down. Her long bangs fell into her eyes as she procrastinated. “I missed one.”
“Who?” Jared said.
“Kit Anderson.”
“That will be a problem,” Jared replied.
I frowned. “Who’s Kit Anderson?”
“Ryan’s partner,” Claire said, combing her hair back with her fingers, frustrated.
“You sure?” Bex asked, surprised.
“Ryan went to his house tonight,” Claire said. “Donovan called while he was there. Anderson was only on the phone for a moment, but it was Donovan.”
“What are you going to do?” I asked.
They all craned their necks at me.