Guardian's Joy #3 (24 page)

He should have known. Why hadn’t he seen it?
With all the unsolved killings he double checked, why did he miss
this one? “Demon,” he said. Some demons had an extra claw at the
wrist, like a dog’s dew claw only these were thin, straight and
razor sharp. They often broke off during a battle and it was
theorized that only young demons carried them.

JJ shifted a little so she could see Nardo’s
face. There was concern, but no pity. He waited patiently for her
to go on.

“It was after second shift. Before work I’d
dropped my car off for an oil change and John was driving me home.
It was stupid. I could have gotten it changed before work, but I
was lazy. Anyway, it was early June; one of those nights when it’s
just warm enough to make you believe summer is on the way. John
gave me a hard time about opening the window, said he didn’t want
any street dust in his car. I said his car smelled like a high
school locker room and rolled down the window. John started
grumbling. You know, not mad, just tired, pissy. He’d wanted me to
spend the night at his place, but I’d said no.

“We were stopped at a light on Third and I
thought I heard a scream. I told John ‘Shut up a minute’ and there
it was, a scream and a woman calling for help. John’s out of the
car and running. He didn’t even close the goddamned door. I’m
wasting time, unbuckling, finding my phone, grabbing my badge and
weapon out of my bag.

“You don’t have to do this, Joy,” Nardo said
quietly. “Reliving it won’t change the outcome.”

His hand was sliding up and down her thigh.
She found it comforting. “I know it won’t, but I need to say it,”
she confessed. “I’ve kept it to myself for so long. There was no
one I could tell, no one who’d believe me. I need it say it once,
out loud, and then maybe I can let it go.”

JJ rested her head on his shoulder. It was a
good shoulder to lean on, a strong shoulder and feeling its muscle
and bone beneath her cheek made her feel small and safe and
protected. She liked that he didn’t argue with her, only settled
them more comfortably on the floor and waited silently for her to
continue.

“I ran after John into the alley. Most of
them along Third are dead ended, but on this one the fence was torn
away and it opened up onto a lot over on Fourth where they’d torn
down one of those old tenements. The place was fenced off
everywhere but that alley. There were piles of brick and concrete
rubble everywhere. It looked like a bomb site. John had his weapon
drawn, looking around for the screamer. I saw the monster, the
demon, come up from behind a pile of concrete. I saw it, Nardo, and
I froze.”

JJ’s breath was coming fast, as it had that
night in the lot. She could see it all, every little detail. John’s
right front shirttail was pulled from his pants and the two bottom
buttons were undone. One eye was partially closed and his left hand
was reaching up to rub it. He must have gotten caught on something
or fallen. That was why she saw the monster and John didn’t.

“I must have made a sound or said something.”
Her voice faltered and she paused. She was losing control like she
had that night and she couldn’t let that happen. Never again. She
took a deep breath.

“And another,” Nardo instructed above her.
“And again,” he said when she released the second breath. “Good
girl. You go on when you think you’re ready.”

How did he know she needed strength not
sympathy?

“John looked at me and started to say
something and that’s when the demon hit him. Whatever he was going
to say turned into a scream and then he was falling and the thing
was standing there staring at him as if it was as surprised as John
and then it turned toward me. It smiled, Nardo. I swear it smiled.
It took a step toward me and my hand came up and blue lightning
shot out of my fingers. I didn’t know what it was or where it was
coming from. I jerked my hand and the lightning grazed the demon’s
leg. It screamed and ran and I stood there like an untrained
civilian and watched John die.”

“You didn’t kill him, baby. The demon did and
second guessing won’t change it. If I had, if I hadn’t, if he had,
if he hadn’t. You need to dump it all in a box labeled Shit
Happens. John was a dead man the moment he ran down that alley. You
can’t blame yourself for not knowing about the power in your
fingers.” Nardo spoke softly, but firmly as he ran his fingers
lightly through her hair.

“But I did know about it,” JJ confessed
bitterly. “I had to have used it before because after that night I
could call it up at will and control it.” She placed her hand on
top of the one stroking her hair. “It was in there buried with all
the other things I can’t remember. And you know the scream? The one
I made him stop for? It wasn’t a woman at all. It was a goddamned
fucking parrot. Its owner had his window open, too. John died for a
fucking talking bird.”

“And that’s another thing for the Shit
Happens box,” Nardo said as if his decision was final. JJ found
that comforting, too.

“What happened afterward? How did you explain
it?” he asked.

“I sat holding him for a while, a long while
as it turned out and then I called it in. They were kind. I was in
shock. All I could say was I’m sorry. They took me to the hospital
to make sure I was okay.” She smiled without humor. “Or to get me
some drugs so I wouldn’t freak out. It was almost noon before they
started asking questions again.

“I told them about hearing the scream and
John running from the car, not waiting for me. By the time I caught
up, he was dead. They wanted me to talk to a shrink. All that would
get me is locked up. I took a six month leave to get John’s affairs
in order – he didn’t have anyone but me – and to get my act
together and figure out what I was going to do. I resigned from the
force on the day we met. It wasn’t a snap decision,” she said as if
Nardo had questioned it. “I only stayed as long as I did because of
John.” She sniffed a little, but refused to let herself cry.

“You loved him.” Nardo’s expression was
sympathetic but there was an undertone in his words that JJ
couldn’t grasp.

“I guess I did. Since I… uh… woke up, I’ve
only had one friend and that was John. He knew about my amnesia and
my magic. I knew how to do the little things like making a flame
dance in the air; things I learned before… ah, before the missing
time. I’d light his cigarettes from across the room and make him
jump. It drove him nuts.” She laughed and then winced. “He knew my
papers were fakes and I was a witch. I knew he was gay and an
alcoholic.” She tapped her nose. “He couldn’t lie to me. Of course,
everybody knew about the booze. It was how we became partners.
Nobody wanted to ride with a drunk who regularly fell off the wagon
and I wasn’t the nicest person to spend eight hours in a car with.
So…” She shrugged and spread her hands. “Two rejects evenly
matched.”

“They didn’t know he was gay?” Nardo asked,
trying to keep the relief from his voice. “I thought the force
accepted that nowadays.”

“It was John, not the force. He’d spent his
whole life in the closet and he just couldn’t open the door.
Anyway, we became friends. I kept him from drinking and he kept me
from… being lonely.”

Her sad smile broke Nardo’s heart and he was
ashamed for finding happiness while she suffered.

“People thought we were a couple and our
captain pretended he didn’t know so we could stay partners. The
arrangement worked for everyone.” She looked up into Nardo’s eyes.
“John left me his house and enough money to last me for years. If
Canaan changes his mind, says I can hunt, I can pay my way.”

This time he ruffled her hair and laughed.
“Room and Board is free and you get a share of the House monies if
you patrol. There’s some hinky stuff going on with our finances
right now, but no matter what happens, we’ll make it work.” Nardo
groaned and stretched his legs.

JJ scrambled to her feet. “Goddess! I’m
sorry. Every time you turn around, I’m making you sit on the floor.
You’re going to dread seeing me…”

He rose to his feet. “Not even close.” He
laughed and reached for her.

JJ stepped away, suddenly embarrassed by her
weakness for a second time. She’d never wanted or needed a man to
lean on. Two slips of her resolve didn’t make a habit, but it could
very easily become one. She began to right the boxes she’d knocked
over earlier.

Nardo grabbed her hand and rather than pull
her to him, he stepped into her. He stole a quick kiss and slipped
his free hand about her waist.

“Oh no you don’t,” he said, touching his
forehead to hers. “You don’t curl up with me, share your fears and
sorrows, make my heart ache and my legs cramp and then walk away as
if nothing happened.” JJ tried to pull away and he tightened his
hold, but not too much since she hadn’t put much effort into her
bid for escape.

“I’ll hold you and comfort you and make love
to you and mate you, but I won’t be your pillow to cry on and then
toss away.”

His mouth came down on hers, not kind or
gentle or whispery soft. His lips were firm and demanding. Her lips
were crushed beneath his and her mouth opened in surprise and
pleasure at the sudden surge of heat running down the center of her
body.

Nardo took advantage of this small breach in
her defenses. His tongue pierced through the opening of her parted
lips and waged a frontal assault on her teeth which succumbed as
quickly as her lips. His invasion of her mouth was complete. While
teeth clashed and tongues battled for supremacy, Nardo lifted her
to the table where he was rewarded with a soft moan of surrender
instead of the counter attack he expected.

He sucked her lower lip between his lips and
worried it gently with his teeth. Damn but her lips were as soft
and inviting as he remembered. Her arms were wrapped around his
neck and when he covered her mouth again, she leaned into the kiss,
relishing it as he did. His hands went to her waist and he pulled
her shirt up from where it was tucked tightly in her jeans. When it
was free, she wrapped her legs around him and lifted her arms.

At the pounding on the door, they both
froze.

“New rule,” Dov shouted on the other side.
“No sex in public rooms. I couldn’t finish my workout this morning
wondering which mat you guys used and now I’m supposed to put that
stuff you ordered together. How am I supposed to work not knowing
which surface you used to do the nasty? You both have bedrooms. Use
‘em!”

“I’ll turn him,” Nardo snarled.

“Not if I turn him first,” JJ laughed.

Chapter
24

The first four stops yielded nothing. The
first address was an abandoned building and the downstairs tenants
were pretty sure the guy on the third floor had left for warmer
climes. The humans passing along the info were pretty high at the
time, but believable. The Paenitentia in question had kept them all
fed and they missed him.

The second actually returned from a visit to
his cousins while Joy and Nardo were rifling through his
belongings. They hastily explained their reason for being there,
apologized profusely and apology accepted were on their way.

Stops three and four were definitely missing
in action. Their apartments still held their belongings, but the
refrigerators and cabinets were empty and the toilets had black
rings, the kind that come with long term lack of use. A search of
the closets yielded evidence that some clothes were missing and in
one, a deep rectangular indentation in the carpet was suitcase
sized. Newly turned vampires cared only for blood and nothing for
their appearance, so packing clothes, toothbrush and razors didn’t
fit the profile. Wherever these men had gone, they went
willingly.

Nardo itched to get at their computers, but
didn’t dare. Both places looked too much like temporary absences
and he couldn’t justify such an invasion of privacy.

Since parking was at a premium on this side
of town, they left JJ’s Mustang where it was and walked the six
blocks to the next address on their list. Halfway there they passed
a small bakery. The lights were on in the back and they could see
the shadows of someone moving around in the back.

“Care for a donut?” Nardo asked.

“Sounds good, but they’re closed.”

“Yeah, but the baker’s one of us. He and his
mate live upstairs. The owner thinks he’s a little weird, but he
works cheap and he’s a terrific baker.”

Two minutes later they were seated at a tiny
corner table with coffees and a box of six donuts, still warm from
the fryer. They sipped their coffee and ate a donut apiece in
silence. Then JJ cleared her throat.

“I know you were born with the red tear,” JJ
began awkwardly, “But Grace said the choice to become a Guardian is
yours. So how did you know this was what you were meant to do?” The
two sides of his life, computer whiz and warrior, seemed like polar
opposites.

She’d shared a secret with him. Was she
looking for one in return? Or was this her attempt to get to know
him? Nardo hoped it was the latter. “I was born in a botanical
research facility in the Yukon. My parents are both researchers,
both well known in the human world. I’m not sure why they mated,
but it wasn’t for love. Anyway, for whatever reason, it was
approved.” He pointed to the ceiling and smiled wryly.

“What do you mean, approved?” She mimicked
his pointed finger.

“Higher power. Didn’t the women tell you
about the roses?”

“Lilies, but no roses.” Nardo frowned and she
knew he was searching for the right words. She sipped her coffee
and waited.

“Okay. We Paenitentia don’t just sign a piece
of paper and seal the deal. Well, that’s not true either. We make a
statement of intent before witnesses, usually family, and papers
are signed, but then the couple has to make a pledge to each other,
usually in a church. The couple has to be honest in their reasons
for mating. It doesn’t have to be for love, though that’s the
ideal.” He pointed at the ceiling again. “If the couple’s been
honest, a small white rose appears over their hearts. They’ll be
tied to each other for the next twenty years or twenty years after
the birth of a child.”