Boreal and John Grey Season 1 (34 page)

“I’ll kill him when I get my hands on him.” Dave hummed like a broken engine.

Which made her narrow her eyes. Was he? A broken robot, gone rogue? Her head pounding, she slid into a chair and closed her eyes. What she needed was a full night’s sleep, without nightmares.

Too much to ask for these days
.

“Ella,” Dave said quietly, “have you told me everything?”

That snapped her eyes open. “What?”

“Those notes about your childhood.” Dave sat at his desk, his face tired. “Are there things you’re hiding from me, abilities you’re not telling me about?”

Ella hid a wince. “I swear I’m not working against humankind.”

“And what about Finn?”

Anger flared. “He saved your life the other day when the Shades attacked the HQ.” She leaned forward, remembering Finn throwing himself in front of Dave, slashing at the trolls and goblins. “Would you have done the same for him?”

Dave sat, staring at her as if he was trying to read her face. She stared back, hoping only sincerity and righteous anger showed in her eyes. She did believe Finn was on their side. And, in his way, he was more human than most people she’d met over the years.

“That’s not what I’m asking,” Dave said.

“Then what are you asking? He’s on our side. How many times does he have to save my life, and yours, to make you believe it?”

Dave scowled. He rubbed a hand over his face. “How come he’s not hiding behind your skirts anymore?”

Fuck you, Dave
. “He went to get weapons. The Shades may be silent but they aren’t idle. They attack anywhere, at any time. Better be prepared.”

***

Simon’s apartment was silent as a grave and wasn’t that an apt comparison? Ella shivered and huddled into her jacket. It was the second time she’d broken in since Simon’s death. Once she’d come looking for clues, hoping to find him. Now she knew where he was — in the mortuary until the ground thawed for the funeral — and what she was looking for was information about her past, Simon’s past, Dave’s nature and possibly, hopefully, John Grey.

Odd that the apartment hadn’t been cleared yet but she was grateful for it as she stood in the living room alone. She’d asked Finn to wait in the car, and for a single moment, hurt had flashed through his eyes, quickly hidden, replaced with his usual glare. It was obvious he believed she didn’t trust him at all, and she wanted to shake him and tell him she did.

But couldn’t. Couldn’t explain that she’d only asked him to stay behind because she needed to be alone in Simon’s apartment to hear her own thoughts, to recall things and make connections she couldn’t make with Finn there, distracting her.

Though even now, alone in the apartment, she couldn’t take him out of her thoughts. How pathetic was that?

She moved to the kitchen, every memento of Simon a splinter in her heart. She wasn’t angry with him anymore; the doubts Dave had planted in her mind about her ex-partner were mostly gone. Simon had most assuredly been human, whereas Dave...

Shaking her head, she opened a cupboard and stared at the neat lines of cups and glasses. She didn’t know what she hoped to find. A lost page, a note left somewhere, a file with the answers to all her questions.

Dream on
.

Sighing softly, she ran a finger over the dust on the shelves and the table. Ghost memories of herself and Simon drinking red wine and talking until late at night teased her, imprinted on the air of the room.

“Simon...” She hesitated. She didn’t believe in ghosts, but weren’t the Shades something similar? “If you can hear me...” Dammit, desperation sucked. “I need your help, all right? I need to find who the hell John Grey is, and Dave... And Dave, too.”

Only the wind whistled through a crack in the window. Feeling stupid, she entered Simon’s bedroom and sat on his bed. Why should she expect to find anything at all? The Bureau had surely gone through the apartment with a fine comb many times over.

Then again, she’d found the code to the book, the Grarsaga, hadn’t she? Although Dave had apparently read the book and found nothing interesting in it.

Hell
.

If Simon had hidden something for her eyes only, where would he hide it? Had he known he’d die that day? Had he been afraid of something like that?

The headache returned, the blood pounding in her temples like a drum. She massaged her scalp. What was important to the two of them that Dave wouldn’t have known about?

Getting up, she went to the shelves covering one side of the bedroom, filled with mementos and books. She’d never known anyone who owned so many books apart from libraries. She’d bet Dave had gone through every one of them. She caressed a plastic toy knight Simon had brought from one of his trips to Europe. Germany, she remembered. From some castle or other. Next to it stood a bust of Aristotle, carved from white stone. Marble. And a silly little wooden car, green, with an S she’d drawn on it, a gift for him when he’d gotten his last car. Her heart beat painfully fast. She lifted it, turned it over, placed it back.

Yeah
. No secret messages there.

Although she felt like an idiot, she nevertheless picked up the next item she had given Simon — a candle in the shape of a cake slice. He’d often joked he might eat it one day if he was hungry enough. It was dusty and cold, and she left it back where she’d found it. The next item was a lighter, covered in embossed leather in the shape of a chameleon. She’d found it in an open-air market with Simon, and she’d bought it for him because he’d seemed to like it. He’d laughed, said he’d start smoking to use her present, and she’d threatened to replace it with a real chameleon if he ever did. He detested chameleons, he’d admitted to her later, because they could hide and watch you and you wouldn’t even know they were there, invisible in their camouflage.

 She turned the leather case in her hand, and tugged at the lighter. It slid out. Something white inside the tube caught her eye, and she pulled it free. A piece of paper.

With trembling fingers she unfolded it. And stared at the strange name written smack in the middle of it.

A rustle from the doorway caught her attention.

“Don’t move,” said an icy female voice. Slender hands holding a handgun, the grip steady and sure, a tube skirt, long legs and high heels. Short dark hair and green eyes, cold with fury.

“Sarah?” Ella blinked. “What are you doing?”

“Stopping you from making this into a bigger mess,” Sarah said. “What’s on that piece of paper?”

“Nothing important.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Drop it to the floor.”

Ella dropped the paper. “What do you want?”

“Remove your gun and your knives and place them on the floor.”

Cursing inside, Ella did as told, putting her gun and two knives on the floor and stepping away. “Now what? I thought we were on the same side.”

“So did I,” Sarah said. “Do you deny you’re working for John Grey?”

“Are you serious?” Ella pushed through gritted teeth. “Of course I deny it.”

Sarah’s full lips pulled back in a sneer. “Before the Shades fell silent, they mentioned David Holborn, your boss, together with John Grey. I bet they’re one and the same.”

Oh shit
. “Don’t think it hasn’t crossed my mind,” Ella muttered. “But I have yet to catch him opening a Gate.”

“So you say.” Sarah stepped forward, gun never leaving the target, and picked up the paper. “You seem close.”

“Close?” Ella shook her head. “I work for the Paranormal Bureau and he’s my boss. How close that makes us, I don’t know.”

“You seem to be friends.”

“Not really, but I see you’ve got it all figured out.”

“Working on the details. I’ll make...” Sarah glanced down at the paper and frowned. “Who’s this supposed to be?”

“You tell me,” Ella muttered.

“You sneaked into Simon’s apartment to get this piece of paper and now you want me to believe you don’t know?” She snorted. “What’s the connection to John Grey?”

“I don’t know who the hell John Grey is,” Ella said. “Why do you care anyway?”

“None of your business—” Sarah’s eyes widened and she stepped forward from the doorway into the room.

What the hell?
Ella frowned when Sarah clicked the safety on her gun and put it down on the floor carefully before straightening again.

Then Finn appeared behind her, filling the doorframe, his gun held in both hands. He seemed to glow in the dimness. “Back off,” he said, his voice soft but sharp.

“Good timing,” Ella whispered and went to retrieve her weapons, sighing in satisfaction at the familiar weight of the knives at her belt. Holding her gun loosely in one hand, she approached Sarah who was sending them wary looks, her hands held up.

“Now let’s start again,” Ella said and snatched the piece of paper from Sarah’s grip. “As I said, I don’t know who John Grey is and I’m most definitely not working for the elves, so why don’t you tell us who
you
’re working for?”

Finn sighted down his gun, for all the world as if he was about to shoot. Ella really hoped he wasn’t having a flashback.

The same doubt seemed to cross Sarah’s face, and a shiver went through her. “Wait,” she said.

Finn’s mouth tightened and he nodded. Ah good, he was all there.

Ella cleared her throat. “Well?”

“Why should I tell you anything?” Sarah said, swallowing, her gaze darting from Finn to her. “I know what the Shades said.”

“The Shades say many obscure things,” Ella muttered, checking her gun, more for show than anything. “Dave may or may not be John Grey, but I swear to you Finn and I have been doing all we can to stop this invasion.”

Sarah’s mouth thinned. “And I’m supposed to take your word, just like that?”

“You’re the one who put a gun in my face.” Ella lifted her chin. “What stops me from arresting you for assault?”

“You broke into Simon’s apartment.”

“I’m police.”

“And I’m his girlfriend.”

Silence fell, heavy with distrust.

“I think it’s time you convinced me to trust you,” Ella said, keeping her voice even. “You said you don’t want the Gates to open; neither do we. Who sent you?”

Sarah bit her lip, glaring. Then her shoulders slumped. “I belong to an organization for the protection—”

“—of the Gates.” Ella sighed. “A secret organization that has existed for centuries, ever since the elves last crossed over in the Middle Ages? Has the spiral as its symbol?”

“How do you...?” Sarah blinked.

Anger burned in Ella’s chest. She raised her gun, making the other woman flinch. “Do you think I’m stupid? You say you don’t trust Dave and you’ve been collaborating with him all this time?”

“What?” Sarah inched back a step. “Dave told you he’s a member of the organization?”

Ella narrowed her eyes. “Are you saying he’s not?”

“I’m saying I had no idea. I don’t know all the members. We’re a—”

“—secret organization. Right.” Scrubbing a hand over her face, Ella regarded Simon’s girlfriend. No wonder she knew how to use a gun. Pieces of the puzzle fell into place. “Did Simon know about this?” She stabbed a finger at her. “Is this whole business the reason you were with him? Were you using him to get information?”