“We’ll find her, and if she’s still alive we’ll get her back. I’ll call Piers and see if we can get the trackers on to this right away.”
Tara needed to do something; she couldn’t face sitting around thinking about what Chloe might be going through—she wouldn’t allow Christian to shut her somewhere safe while he hunted.
Christian was speaking softly on the phone. He glanced at her, then turned away and lowered his voice. Tara tried to tell herself that it wasn’t more bad news, but couldn’t rid herself of the dread lodged in her middle.
She sipped her drink to get rid of the bad taste in her mouth, but the coffee made her sick, and she put it down. Her bag needed to be packed and she had to find Smokey. There’d been no sign of him since they’d arrived, and she couldn’t bear to leave him here alone.
Christian made no move to stop her as she left the kitchen. Smokey was nowhere to be found, and in the end, Tara gave up and went into the bedroom. She remembered the last time she’d packed this same bag. Chloe had been next to her, joking and full of life, and finally the tears spilled over. Tara sank onto the bed and sobbed. When she stopped, she found Christian regarding her from the open doorway. He had his blank face on, and the fear inside her spiraled out of control.
“We have to go to the Order.”
“I haven’t finished packing.”
“Leave it. We’ll sort it out later.”
“And Smokey’s not here. I have to find him.”
“I promise we’ll come back for the cat, but we need to get over there now. They’ve found Chloe.”
“I don’t understand. Who’s found her?”
“The Order. I don’t have all the details. We’ll find out once we get there, but the description fits Chloe. And we need to get over there fast.”
Chapter Twenty
This would be bad, and Christian didn’t know to make it any easier.
He would have preferred to drop Tara at his place, where she would be safe, but he wasn’t convinced she would stay put. And Piers had been blunt; if they wanted to talk to the girl, they had better get there fast.
He cast a sideways glance at his passenger. Tara appeared so small huddled in the seat, her arms wrapped tightly around herself, her face pale. He wanted to hold her, tell her it would all be all right, but he knew that wasn’t the case.
He sighed. “Come on, let’s get this over with.” He came around and opened the door for her, and she climbed out. At least she’d stopped shivering.
He led her toward the elevators and frowned as he noticed Piers in the shadows by the doors, one shoulder resting against the wall, his arms crossed. He appeared relaxed, but Christian could sense his tension. His eyes were fixed on Tara, and he did not look happy.
“What the fuck’s she doing here?” he asked.
“Just leave it, Piers,” Christian growled. “Where’s the girl?”
“You’re too late,” he said. “She died ten minutes ago.”
Christian put his arm around Tara as she sagged against him. “Thanks Piers,” he muttered.
Piers raised an eyebrow. “You brought her here. I did warn you. If she can’t take it, you should have left her at home. Where she belongs.”
Tara tugged at his arm. “Is he talking about Chloe?” Christian could hear the edge of panic in her voice. She was close to losing it. “Tell me. Is it Chloe?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well let’s go and find out, shall we?” Piers said.
Christian held her in the crook of his arm as the elevator descended deep below the building. She seemed to have gone somewhere within herself.
“Why did you bring the girl here?” he asked Piers softly. “You don’t usually bother with humans.”
“This one was a little different.”
Christian frowned. He hated it when Piers went all cryptic. “In what way?”
“Well, for one thing, she’s got Christian Roth written all over her. Literally. I thought you’d want to see. Besides, she was still alive. I thought she might be able to tell us something.” He pursed his lips, studied Christian for a moment. “You know this is shaping up into some sort of vendetta, and you’re the target. Just what was this girl to you?”
“If she’s who I think she is, then nothing. She’s Tara’s neighbor, I only ever set eyes on her once. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Like just about everything going on around here.”
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Piers led them out and down the corridor to the medical center. He stopped in front of a door.
Christian turned to Tara. “Wait here. Let me check if it is Chloe first. If it isn’t, there’s no reason for you to see this.”
Tara shook her head. It was what he’d expected and he resigned himself to coping with the inevitable fallout. He’d seen demon kills before, and this wouldn’t be pretty. And if they’d killed the girl to get at him for some reason, they would have made sure it would make an impression.
Piers glanced between the two of them. “Christian, this is not a good idea.”