Deliver Me from Temptation (21 page)

The phone rang. Thinking it was Logan, she practically jumped across the room, lunging for her cell and yanking it from the charging chord.

“Hello?”

“Jessica!”

Not Logan, but she was pretty sure she recognized that voice over the static. “Grim?”

“Oh thank fu…essica! …need your ..elp.”

“What’s wrong, Grim? Where are you?”

“…chasing me…iding in…arehouse on…stre…”

“What street?” More static. “Damn it. I can’t hear you. Say the street again, Grim!”

“Manid…eet…Jess …urry, please…” the phone broke up into more static, then the gut-wrenching silence of a dropped call.

Jessica hurriedly slipped on her holster and jacket and grabbed up her keys and partially charged cell phone, pressing through her contact list for Mike. But as she flung open the door, Jessica learned one undeniable truth, even if it wasn’t the one she searched for: Logan wasn’t the delusional one, she was. Because the thing staring down at her from the other side of the door was most certainly not human.

***

Logan stared at the five intruders standing on the dais of Haven’s main hall. Five
human
men. No, not exactly human, just mostly so. And certainly not the breach by the horde of merkers that he expected after Roland’s call, though something
was
different about them. Something that screwed with not only his Paladin mojo but with every magical thing in the room. Including the relic that kept Haven bridged between the realms.

Maybe
not
our
enemies, but for what they’ve done they might as well be.
The moment the group entered the hall and their magic-negating effects came in close proximity to the cross embedded in the altar, Haven fell fully into the human world, the only protection a flimsy chain-link fence, and a hope and prayer that their real enemies wouldn’t stumble upon their location before the threat could be removed.

“The one in the middle. She’s the null,” Alex said under his breath from where he stood on Logan’s left side.

“She?” Valin, flanking Logan’s other side, asked, cocking his head.

Logan also took another look, his eyes narrowing on the tall individual heading up the group. Okay, so one wasn’t a man. That was a woman under all that Kevlar and face paint. Hips didn’t lie and that Amazon had them. She also had shit-kicker boots, more ammo than Rambo, and spiky red hair.

Valin leaned in front of Logan toward Alex. “So which ancestor liked to dip his wick in the vat of human genes?”

Alex glared at him, clearly not amused.

Knowing the best policy with Valin was to ignore his tainted humor, Logan took half a dozen steps forward to close some of the distance with their trespassers. He tried to look nonthreatening—meaning he didn’t draw the knife he’d strapped on to his thigh—but they tensed, some of the men stepping to the fore, forming a tight circle around Amazon, who reacted with a “hey” and an elbow to the ribs of her nearest companion. The man grimaced, but didn’t move. Not that he had to for her to see. She was taller than him. In fact, Logan noted, she was taller than everyone in the room save himself and Alex.

“Idiots,” she said, rolling her eyes.

It was clear that Amazon thought she could take care of herself. She was probably right. Besides the arsenal she wore, she had an aura of competence about her that suggested she was comfortable with or without them. More importantly, though, was
what
she was, and Alex hit that right on the head. Amazon was a nullifier. No magic would work when she was near. Which explained how her little group got into Haven in the first place. What it didn’t explain was whether they realized when they entered that they were putting the entire order in danger. Given the fact they hadn’t used any of the weapons they carried, he was inclined to think not.

The back doors to the hall burst open and Bennett and his team of three swept in, Logan’s father and two other council members marching in behind them. It didn’t escape Logan’s notice that both his father and the other council members were winded. Logan figured they must have run from the far side of the underground facility when the null’s squelching power had Logan blipping off the projective thought radar. Judging by the taken aback look on the council members’ faces, and fact that Bennett and his team were all holding their knives, they’d believed Logan dead or at best incapacitated.

Understandable. Innocent in intent or not, the interlopers’ presence
was
alarming. When Logan arrived, Haven was a mass of confusion. It was an attack, but it wasn’t. Past the first breach there wasn’t any outright aggression, just the occasional blur of movement that hinted at an uninvited presence within Haven’s previously impregnable walls. The entire hall was in lockdown mode. Draw back, protect the relics, send out sweep teams led by Paladin with strong projective thought to try and track the intruders down. Logan’s team had simply been the lucky ones who stumbled across them, ironically on their way to protect the holy objects housed in this very hall.

Probably a good thing it was his team. There were a number of Paladin who wouldn’t have hesitated to attack first, ask later, when they saw the five humans lounging in the council’s chairs upon the dais.

Good thing they’d since stood up. Logan didn’t want to think of the apoplexy his father and the other council members would have if they’d seen them sitting in those chairs. As it was his father was already issuing orders, his hand cutting toward the intruders with the command to neutralize them. Which was not good. His brothers would try to neutralize the intruders using their gifts. And when that failed?

Guns and ammo verses knives? Logan could hazard a guess at how that might turn out.

“Do you realize where you are?” Logan raised his voice over the commotion, holding his hand up toward his brothers, asking them to wait. There was an uneasy shuffle but their grip eased somewhat on their blades, their curiosity enough to stay their attack for the moment.

They were probably as curious as he. The others were now close enough it should be obvious that someone in the room was a null, and that it was her power that allowed the group to find and enter Haven. Logan had no doubt where, or rather from whom, the interlopers’ powers came. Those “disappointing” half-Paladin offspring weren’t so disappointing after all, the recessed genes finally having worked their way to the forefront. What astounded Logan was how far removed these mixed breeds were from their original Paladin ancestors, and yet how strong their powers were—or at least Amazon’s, since it was hard to tell what the others were with her around. But the real question was whether they had simply stumbled upon Haven and decided to take a peek? Or had they purposely sought the order out?

Amazon’s brow furrowed her head tipped slightly, as if asking her companions for advice. One of the guys leaned in from the side. “I think he wants to know what we’re doing here.”

“Ah,” she nodded, but didn’t answer.

“Well?” Logan’s father voice demanded, his impatience obvious.

Amazon glared at Logan’s father. Her eyes narrowed with something akin to disgust in them. “None of your beeswax, grandpa.”

Logan had never seen his father sputter before. He figured all hell was about to break loose unless he jumped in and stopped it, because as annoying as Amazon was turning out to be, and as alarming as it was for the little band of misfits to have breached Haven’s walls, they were, after all, family. Too bad his father didn’t see it that way.

Not relishing the thought of going toe-to-toe with his father in front of his brothers, Logan hesitated. Surprisingly it was Valin who stepped forward, his hands held up in a placating manner.

“Actually, it kind of is. You did breach our walls and disarm us of our gifts in our own sacred hall.” He flashed Amazon a smile that said that was some cool shit you pulled, but you can understand our position here.

She pursed her lips, but nodded. “Guess I’d be pissed too if someone crashed my pad.”

“Exactly. Especially if you thought your pad was well hidden, right? That we, in fact, were hidden.”

Amazon sighed, hand planting on her cocked hip. The choke on Logan’s gift eased. Around the room there was a collective expulsion of breath, indicating his brothers, too, were released from her null effects. More relieving was she’d somehow reined in her gift enough for the relic to resume working; the almost painful sting of recognition from the cross signifying that Haven had slipped back into that space between realms once more, pulling him and the others in the hall with it.

“We knew you were around. Generational stories passed down. Sightings.” She quoted this with her fingers. “And the fact that someone was hunting and killing off the demons and vampires. You know, things like that.”

“So this is just a little hello, how are you, cousin?” Valin asked.

“No.”

“No?”

She shrugged. “I’m supposed to deliver a message. From Red.”

Valin’s eyes narrowed. “Red?”

“Who the hell is Red?” Logan’s father exclaimed, his gaze narrowing suspiciously on Alex.

Alex firmly shook his head, though his brow furrowed, his own gaze catching Logan’s and Valin’s as he mouthed, “The succubus?”

“Can’t be,” Logan muttered in reply, breaking their conspicuous gaze. He sincerely hoped Alex was wrong, just as he sincerely hoped his father hadn’t noticed that little exchange. Though based on both Valin’s thoughtful expression and his father’s glowering one he was probably wrong.

“Who is Red?” Logan’s father asked again, his voice dangerously low and the words evenly enough spaced for an imbecile to understand.

Amazon’s mouth thinned, a tight white line in the black paint. Yup, that was a zip, click, and lock if Logan ever saw one. Thankfully they didn’t have to convince her to dig the key out of the trash before his father blew a gasket, because one of her male companions stepped forward.

“We don’t know her real name, but she’s been invaluable. Things have been kinda tense lately, you know with the bump in the night creatures and all. She knows a lot of shit and has been helping us with our defenses.”

“Wait, you said things have been tense lately. Have you been having a lot of run-ins with the creatures?” Logan used their word choice, not knowing if their creature-of-the-night sensei had gotten around to giving them the complete rundown on all things evil.

“Yeah, you always had to be careful, but the last few months? Things have been intense.”

Logan’s father pushed forward. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe this ‘Red’ was setting you up? That she’s been helping you because she wanted you to do exactly what you’ve done?” He shook his head, glaring at Amazon. “Stumbling in here, your power unchecked. Do you have any idea the ramifications of your actions? You’d better hope this
mentor
of yours is as benevolent as you say because if not, then you’ve just painted a nice big ‘X’ on our door and given our enemies the key inside!”

“They weren’t very good defenses if all it took was me to get inside,” Amazon snapped.

His father’s face went frighteningly stony. “Bennett, take our new guest down into the sublevels under the grounds. That should be far enough for her little talent to not create any more mayhem.”

“You think I’m going to kowtow to your orders, grandpa?” Amazon sneered.

His father rounded back on her, his voice menacing as he waved his finger at her. “You
will
comply. You and your little “gift” is nothing more than a bomb waiting to go off in our faces. Bad enough your little band of mutts found your way in here, but I will not allow you to leave again to present yourself to our enemies to be used as a Trojan horse!”

Amazon growled, trying to push past the ring of men surrounding her.

“Enough!” Logan cut both of them off before they could exchange more insults—or worse. He had a headache brewing. Logan suspected his father’s obvious dislike of this band of “mixed” bloods was based on a blown-up case of extreme paranoia. And though he could honestly understand his father’s fear, the way to gain this little group’s cooperation wasn’t by insulting them.

Calm, civilized discussion. Where they had it didn’t matter, as long as they talked.

“Bennett, why don’t you contact Warren and have him take his team for a sweep of the surrounding area to make sure our guests weren’t followed. Then we can adjourn to someplace where we can discuss our options.”

Amazon shook her head, glaring at his father. “Me and my ‘mutt’ friends aren’t going anywhere but out of here.” She looked back at Logan. “Though you’re welcome to join us; Red’s message was for you, after all.”

“Me,” Logan said, his brow rising.

“Yeah you, Pretty Boy.”

Pretty
Boy
. Logan was about to ask how in the hell she’d come by that nickname, when it hit him. Pain: A soul-scorching, fiery stab of agony collapsing him to his knees. At first he couldn’t pinpoint its source.

But then he did. And the bottom of his world fell out from under him.

“Jessica!”

His father was staring at him.

While Bennett and Alex took him down to the ground, covering him as if he were a fallen warrior, and everyone else scrambled around, weapons raised and ready as they tried to figure out where the attack came from, his father stood perfectly still staring at him through narrowed eyes.

I
called
her
name. He must realize.

Logan sucked in deep breaths. The pain was easing now. Enough for him to understand the ramifications of what just happened. He’d all but told his father he was mated, and since the only women of note in his life right now were his sister and the human he’d recently wiped the memories of, it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out to whom.

And
he
won’t lift a finger to help her. Help me. Not when my bond mate is an undesirable human.

“What is it, Logan? What happened? Where are you hurt?” Bennett asked as he shifted back, his brow crunching up with confusion as he looked Logan over. Of course, there was no wound on him. Nothing visible at least.

But there would be on Jessica. The pain, though it had hit him throughout his body had originated from a physical wound. He wasn’t sure how he knew that but he did. Just as he knew she was still hurting, though no longer in immediate danger.

He struggled to stand up, but got nowhere against Bennett’s and Alex’s strong arms.

“Let me up,” he growled.

“Not until you tell us what happened, because I’m telling you now there ain’t nothing here that should have caused you to scream like a girl,” Valin said after resolidifying behind Bennett’s shoulder.

Logan’s gaze tracked to his father, who was still immune to the commotion around him. He was blatantly ignoring the other councilmen’s questioning as well as the rest of Bennett’s team as they finished their own sweep of the hall and confirmed Valin’s pronouncement that the room was clear.

“My bond mate needs me.”

Bennett jerked back as if struck. “Bloody hell, Logan. Since when have you been hiding that you’re mated? And why?”

“She’s human. Fully human,” he added lest they think perhaps he’d found another half-breed like his sister somewhere—or a mixed blood such as the cluster of humans currently standing on the dais, weapons raised and ready.

The solemn looks on his friends’ faces told him they got it. Having a human bond mate, one with no Paladin blood, was akin to being cursed. At least it had been for Ganelon.

It was Valin who broke the silence, shaking his head. “Shit. You really don’t know how to do anything in half measures do you?” He glanced over at Logan’s father, rubbing his hands together and grinning. “Well, I’ve always wanted to see how much it would really take to get your dad to blow his gasket.”

“What are you going to do?” Alex asked.

“That’s not for you to worry about,” Valin replied. “Just get ready to bolt out of here, ’kay? And Bennett, use that pretty little machine of yours to get Logan to his mate, pronto.”

“Will do,” Bennett replied, nodding solemnly.

Tense and ready for action, Logan waited impatiently for Valin to do whatever he was going to do. Even though it was only a minute or two since he’d been hit with Jessica’s pain, the aching pull pulsing through their tentative bond was enough to spin him into crazy if they didn’t get moving.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Valin to get a move on. He shifted into his ghost form, the black smudge of particles racing across the room toward Logan’s father. A second later, Calhoun Senior was engulfed in a cloud of darkness, his curses the only thing that penetrated outside it.

Logan stumbled up, relying on Alex and Bennett to steady him for the few steps it took to adjust to the aching pain and get his feet under himself fully. Behind him, he heard his father yelling, ordering the rest of his brethren to stop him.

No way in hell.

Logan pushed himself faster, taking advantage of his brothers’ confusion to reach the door before they could cut him off. They hadn’t cleared the anteroom when behind them Logan could feel a pull of power and then, wham, the lights in the room dimmed, screams of confusion ringing from the hall as all within Valin’s realm of influence were plunged into the chaotic darkness of the shade’s twisted reality.

Shit, the crazy fuck must have done something to enhance his gift. Man that was going to cause all sorts of problems later.

He didn’t spare the time or energy to worry too much about Valin’s welfare, but followed Bennett as they sprinted to his Lotus. The fact that it felt like they were making a jail break didn’t elude him, especially as they passed through the chain-link gate marking the cross from Haven back into the real world, and Bennett peeled rubber out onto the mostly deserted streets.

“Where to?”

“Fuck, I don’t know.” He’d left Jessica on the Island but was she still there? The only time he had a clear connection with her was when the pain first hit him and he’d been too shocked to try and pinpoint where.

Bennett scooped up his phone, flipped through a couple screens, then tossed the high-tech gadget back at Logan. “Type her cell number into that app. If it’s on her and her security is as bogus as most commercial phones, we’ll find her down to the square foot.”

Logan’s hand shook as he typed the number in and waited. When the little blue dot finally popped up on the map, he quickly rattled off the familiar address.

She was at her apartment. Why the hell was she at her apartment? Why hadn’t she stayed at the beach house like he told her?

“I’m going to call Roland,” Logan said when they began to hit more steady traffic and the rumble of the engine evened out.

“Good idea,” Bennett said, without hesitation.

The drive through the city was agonizing at best. Especially since it took a couple tries to actually reach Roland, which squashed his hopes that his friend, being closer, could reach her quicker.

They ended up arriving at the same time, meeting in the stairwell a floor away from Jessica’s. Logan pushed through the fire door first, taking off at a run down the hall.

The floor was swarming with police.

Sheer determination broke him through the first line of uniforms, momentum allowing him to get close enough to the door to get a real eyeful. Cops moved about the apartment, tagging and logging a stream of objects on the floor. Cell phone and keys were mixed in with jagged pieces from the shattered bowl from the console that were strewn across the entryway. Further along in the walkway between the foyer and her living room lay an overturned pile of books. That’s where the knife he gave her lay—and where the blood started.

Blood in the living room, blood smeared in a steady line toward the kitchen counter and beyond.

Logan would have lost it completely if not for the persistent thread of pain that he continued to feel from Jessica. Wherever she was, however badly she was hurt, she was still alive.

“Where is she?” he demanded, trying to push past the uniform at the door.

The man who Logan assumed was in charge—suit jacket, tie, and a face aged beyond his years with deep scowl groves—gestured to a barrel-chested cop and then at them. “William, secure this scene!”

“I’ve got them,” someone else piped up.

“You sure, Mike?” Suit asked.

Guess so because a plainclothes brushed past Buffalo Bill, steam-boating toward them.

“Crap, not him again,” Roland muttered.

Logan blinked, gears clinking. This was Jessica’s Mike? How would Roland…Of course. Mike must be the sensitive cop that took Roland in. Ergo, Jessica’s partner and the man full of all kinds of helpful advice and concern. Despite the direness of their meeting, Logan couldn’t fully suppress a wave of jealousy.

So fucked.

“Gentlemen, if you would step back a bit?” the Mike character said, gesturing down the hall.

“Where’s Jessica,” Logan asked again, grinding the words from between his gritted teeth, though he allowed himself to be ushered. Jessica wasn’t there anyway, and if cooperating would get him her location faster, then so be it.

“I don’t see how that is any of your business,” Mike replied.

“Is she at Lenox Hill Hospital?” Bennett asked, his British accent playing with the mix of x, h’s, and l’s.

Mike smiled, his eyes on Roland as he answered. “No.”

Fury slammed through Logan and he grabbed the cop’s shirt, ready to twist him around and smash him against a wall, any wall.

“Logan!” Alex grabbed his arm, using enough steady pressure to keep him from lifting the man.

“Tell me where the fuck she is or I swear to God I’ll—”

“Logan!” Roland snapped from his other side, his hand closing around his and prying Logan’s fingers loose. “We don’t want to make a scene now do we?” he muttered in Logan’s ear, nodding at the cop guarding the door who’d started toward them.

Yeah he wanted to make a scene. A big scene. But his friends were right. This was not the way to make friends and influence people.

Mike cocked his head, his gaze intent as he stared at them. Logan took a steadying breath, consciously reigning in both his temper and the power he felt building deep within him. Alex and Roland both said this cop was a sensitive. He didn’t need to do anything to make the man more inclined to not help them.

Play
nice. Fly low. This Mike may be your only ticket to finding Jessica.

“You need assistance, Detective Ward?” The door guard asked, his hand hovering over his issue.

“No. We’re fine here.” Detective Ward arched his eyebrow, his eyes questioning. “Aren’t we gentlemen?”

Logan clenched his teeth but nodded, letting Roland and Alex push him back toward the far side of the hall. The other cop hesitated, but he eased his hand from his gun’s grip, and took a couple steps back toward his post.

“I’ll see what I can find,” Bennett murmured and then walked off down the hall, away from the apartment, already tinkering with his phone. Good, he was on top of it too. Hopefully, Jessica was someplace that could be tracked down with Bennett’s combination of electronic savvy and golden tongue.

The detective cleared his throat, straightening his shirt. “I know your friends,” he said, nodding at Roland and Alexander, “but I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced yet.”

The way the plainclothes said it sounded like he didn’t care to be either—that he viewed them as suspects and not concerned civilians. Logan didn’t give a damn what the man thought other than how it might matter in getting Jessica’s location out of him.

“I’m sorry about…” he nodded at the cop’s rumpled shirt. “I’m just worried about Jessica.”

Okay, and that was a definite no-go on the man’s face.

Suck
it
up.
Logan took another deep breath, offering his hand.

“I’m Logan Calhoun. And you must be Jessica’s partner.”

The cop’s brow winged up, even as he pointedly ignored the hand. Oh yeah, Logan was right, though it was obvious Mike was not all that thrilled with Logan’s advantage.

“Jessica’s mentioned you a couple times,” he gave in explanation.

“Well she didn’t mention you,” Mike said, his voice still laden with suspicion.

“We’re new.”

“Yeah, I gathered. New as in the last week new? Because Jessica has been having an awful lot of problems recently.”

The accusatory tone, the slow drag of the cop’s eyes as he said this made Logan’s jaw tighten and his body still with an ice-cold fury. That anyone would suggest he could harm his mate…“I would give my life to keep her safe.”

“Wow.” Mike rocked back on his heels. “Those are pretty powerful words for being ‘new.’ And something I’m not inclined to believe either.” He reached into his back pocket, pulling out a small notepad. “Where were you about, oh, forty minutes ago? And while you’re at it you can tell me where you were Thursday evening or better yet, between midnight and 4 a.m. on Wednesday morning.”

“You being a dick because of me?” Roland asked, planting himself between Logan and the cop.

“No. Not just you.” Mike flipped the notebook shut, stuffing it away. His gaze landed on Logan, the sneer saying it all. Mike considered Logan lower than slime and not even worthy enough to breathe the air needed to say his partner’s name. Given that Logan had failed to protect her, twice, Logan might’ve agreed, but in the end it didn’t matter. Jessica was
his
mate.

Easy
on
the
possessiveness
there, Cal. You may be her mate, but you’re not the only one who cares.

Breathing out a deep breath, Logan glanced back at the swarm of cops coming and going from her apartment. Out in force. She was theirs too. One of their own had been attacked and they were going to figure out who and why. Though that might prove difficult if Logan was right and the suspect wasn’t human.

“Please, just tell me where she is,” he said, forcing his tone to be calm, reasonable, even soothing. See? Even on the brink of totally losing it he could be polite.

“Why?” Mike retorted. “So you can go and fuck her life up more?”

“No, but I’m going to fuck you up if you don’t tell me where she is,” he snapped, anger licking the edges of his sanity.

The detective’s eyes narrowed and he stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Threatening an officer of the law. Nice. And the perfect excuse for me to bring you in.”

Logan clenched his teeth, running through the list of reasons why he shouldn’t let loose and show Mike all the inventive ways his power could be used to send the asshole to kingdom come. There were witnesses. Exposure. Jessica wouldn’t want him to kill her partner. Okay, that last one worked. Sort of.

Mike rocked back on his heels, his lips parting in a cocky, cat-got-your-tongue smirk. Logan began chanting to himself as he tried to cap his power.
I
will
not
kill
Jessica’s partner. I will not kill Jessica’s partner.
The smirk slid off the cop’s face. He made an odd sound and scratched at the back of his neck, rolling his shoulders. Oh yeah, he was a sensitive. Logan wondered what the cop would do if Logan took the lid back off and lit up this hallway like a supernova.