Drop Dead Demons (17 page)

“Son of a—”Mr. Ishida slapped the metal crown thing on the counter with a violent
clang
, shoved to his feet, and buttoned his jacket, stabbing a warning finger at his children and Logan, his tone a razor’s edge. “Not. A. Word.”

Sophina Cacciatori, the Mandatum hunter in charge of tracking down the Divinicus Nex, and one of the people with the most power to ruin my life, shimmered into view.

On close inspection, her form was somewhat transparent and a bit shiny, due to some magical Mandatum science called Holocom which transmitted her 3-D image across space in real time, and into hologram form. In this case, while we saw her here, she was actually in Paris. France.

But that didn’t make me any less terrified.

Not that she looked scary. In fact, she was an attractive woman somewhere on either side of forty, with strong features and a throaty laugh that I found rather infectious. Her thick brunette hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, and she wore a fitted jacket over a pale dress that loosely skimmed her voluptuous figure and showed off her, as Blake always remembered, “great legs.”

Looking furious, Ayden flew in through the game room door, mouth open and ready to rant. At the sight of Cacciatori he stopped, eyes wide. Jayden pulled him over, but Ayden kept glancing around, leaning over, trying to glance under furniture, even open a cabinet in a nonchalant way.

Jocelyn surreptitiously tapped his arm, shook her head, then pointed up. Ayden lifted his eyes more than his head, and when he finally saw me hanging, he looked positively ill. He closed his eyes briefly, swallowed, then stared hard at Cacciatori.

“My goodness!” Madame Cacciatori exclaimed in a heavy Italian accent and smiled broadly around the room. “I am being given such an expansive audience.”

You have no idea.

The guys and Jocelyn remained silent, taking heed to Mr. Ishida’s orders. That’s right. Smile and wave, boys, just smile and wave.

“Always a pleasure, Madame.” Mr. Ishida gave a deferent nod. “And please accept my apologies. As I told your assistant, this personal…visit from you, such an important and extremely busy member of the society, is a waste of your valuable time. My wife isn’t here and is currently unreachable, but I’ll convey your request as soon as I’m able.”

The boys shared a wary look.

“It is I who must apologize for the intrusion,” Cacciatori said pleasantly. “I simply feared my assistant did not perhaps translate the dire nature of the circumstances and how much your wife is needed. Did he mention that Donal Jensen was seen? An exceedingly rare occurrence and an opportunity we cannot fail to take advantage of. As you know, the Council Directive Kill Order With Extreme Prejudice is still in place. He is considered a most dangerous threat.”

“Yes. Your assistant conveyed the severity of the situation most eloquently, I assure you.” Mr. Ishida clasped his hands behind his back. “As soon I establish communication, I’m sure my wife will respond promptly to your request. As she always does. Now if you’ll excuse me?”

“Yes, of course.”

Thank goodness.

Mr. Ishida had his finger on a button when Cacciatori stopped him and turned to the boys. “But I do have a question for the young hunters.”

“Certainly. Jocelyn, let’s go.” Mr. Ishida gave the boys a warning look then exited with his daughter, a protective arm wrapped around her shoulders. 

My body sagged, muscles losing the battle for contraction. Sweat dripped off my face. Water dripped off the knives. One or both dripped onto Ayden’s head. He twitched, his hand jumping to his scalp, but he caught himself from looking up, and covered the movement by running his fingers through his hair.

“Have you had any progress on the Flint files?” Cacciatori asked.

“None, Madame,” Ayden lied without hesitation.

“Unfortunate.” She tapped a knuckle to her chin. “But there is hope. When we get the tracker back online, you will be notified immediately.”

The boys stiffened but kept eyes on Cacciatori.

After a beat, Ayden said, “Tracker?” Putting good use to that whole repeating thing he liked to do.

“Trackers are electronically embedded in the files. A standard security precaution with our most vital documents.”  Cacciatori tipped her head sideways. “Did Father Bancroft not tell you?”

I stopped breathing. Tracker as in track the files down? Here? To us? I didn’t know where the boys had the Flint files but the documents had to be somewhere close. They had been on my front lawn! If the Mandatum could track their progress, pinpoint everywhere they had been, I was toast.
We
were toast. 

“No.” Ayden’s voice had an edge. “Father Bancroft must not have had a chance to mention it since our meeting was cut short.” His eyes slid toward Jayden and Logan. “Due to an unexpected pressing matter.”

Like my kidnapping. Super.

“What data did you reclaim before the tracker became inoperable?” Jayden said.

“It traveled west,” Cacciatori said. “Over the Atlantic, toward the States.”

Jayden interjected quickly, “ Or Canada or South America, or even—”

“True,” she agreed, “but we will have answers shortly. The files disappeared from my station here in Paris so it is a personal affront, and I must rectify this myself.” Her eyes glittered darkly. “As you know, electronics are my…
forte,
so even if the files and the tracker have been destroyed, I can trace the ghost of the path they traveled until then. We will have answers in a matter of days.”

“Wow, impressive,” Ayden smiled wide. “How many days would that be?”

“Four.” She paused, thoughtful. “Five, perhaps, but only if the one who disengaged it is of supreme ability. And if Gossamer Falls is their destination, tactical support teams can be at your doorstep in mere hours.”

Yippee. Good news being that I wouldn’t have to worry about that demon hoard stampeding my way in a week.

Cacciatori turned in a slow circle to survey the room. “I see perhaps you could use several of our latest upgrades.” Her gaze remained eye level or below. At first. Then it started to lift. Higher and higher and…

My body trembled. I felt her eyes coming for me.

“You know what?!” Ayden blurted.

Blake burst into the room. “Madame Cacciatori!”

Matthias entered with Blake and noticed Logan’s subtle chin-bob. The Aussie glanced up. His eyes turned to chipped ice, his jaw locked. His foot stepped in front of Blake’s ankle, and he threw a subtle elbow into Blake’s back. 

Blake was grinning at Cacciatori. “You’re a vision of beauty and— Oh! Omph!”

And the mountain came tumbling down.

Momentum took possession of his massive frame, and arms flailing, Blake stumbled and rolled and showed no signs of stopping. Like a supercharged ball in a pinball machine, he slammed into countertops, knocked over equipment, shot paperwork into the air, sent wheeled chairs shooting across the room to crash into tables and cabinets, rattling vials and glassware, and clattering microscopes and expensive looking machines off their shelves.

There was
clanging
and
banging
and a barrage of noise, and as he finally thumped to the floor, the holographic image of Madame Cacciatori stuttered and blinked out.

Blake sat up, grimaced, and reached underneath his butt. He pulled out the metal crown thing which had lost some of the pieces attached to the side, the top was bent, and the circular shape was seriously warped.

Mr. Ishida rushed in. “What happened?”

Blake said sheepishly, “Sorry, dudes, I think I broke it.” He pointed at Matthias. “He pushed me!”

“Sorry?” Mr. Ishida breathed deep, grasped Blake’s hand and yanked him up. “You…are,” his face broke into a beaming smile, “brilliant!” He grabbed the sides of Blake’s head and kissed his cheek.

“I am?” 

“Dad, we can fix this,” Ayden said.

“No!” Mr. Ishida snapped. “Don’t touch a thing. Well, clean up but the Holocom
stays
broken. Got it?” Halfway out the door he stopped, a hand gripping the frame. His face faltered. “Not a word to your mother. Don’t answer calls from Cacciatori. I’m leaving to talk to Bancroft. We’ll figure something out. The Grants may have gone on this miserable mission, but…I have to agree with Tristan on this one, his grandparents are crazy.”

Couldn’t agree more.  

After he left, the door
swished
closed, the knives disintegrated, and I plummeted to the floor.

A gust of wind stalled the brunt of my fall and I dropped into Ayden’s waiting arms. He gave me a playful grin. “Hang around here often?”

“Ha ha.” I squirmed.

He clamped his arms around my body and shifted me closer, whispering in my ear. “About earlier. We need to talk.”

No thanks! Not ready! With a hard twist, I spun out of his arms, and landed in a less-than-graceful belly-flop on the hard floor. Not that any belly-flops were graceful. Mine least of all. Ouch.

He looked down at me, amused. “I take it you don’t want to talk right now?”

“Or ever,” I winced.

Ayden bent to help me up, but Jayden shouldered him out of the way. “Of course she doesn’t want to talk about it.”

Ayden frowned. “You don’t even
know
what we’re talking about talking about.”

“I assumed you were going to ambush her with a barrage of questions about the tests we were running. Which are simply routine.” Jayden had me up and was brushing off my body.

“Jayden, it’s okay. Don’t—” I used my arms to block him. “No, not the—” Not the boobs, Jayden, not the boobs. God, he was clueless.

“Then why all the secrecy?” Ayden knocked Jayden’s hands aside. “Quit touching her.”

Jayden scowled. “I should probe for injuries since you just dropped her.”

“No probing,” Ayden snapped. “I didn’t drop her, she…jumped. Kind of.”

Jayden gave his brother a disapproving look. “Since you have proven inept to the task, perhaps I should take over as her boyfriend.”

“What?” Ayden and I said at the same time.

Logan rushed in to shove Jayden off and usher me away. “Don’t listen to him. He’s been reading relationship books to, ah, improve his social skills and thought he could use Aurora to experiment on.” Logan made an exasperated noise. “I told him it was stupid.”

Jayden looked offended. “I never—”

“Jayden!” Logan pointed to the computer screen that monitored the game room. Jocelyn was staring straight at the camera. “I think we’ve got more important things to worry about right now.”

Jayden squinted at his sister. “Yes, the security breach.”

Inside the Ishida’s pub-styled brass, wood, and leather infused game room, you would’ve needed a friggin’ chainsaw to cut through the tension. 

Situated in the back of the house, on the second floor, the vaulted ceilings and wall of windows offered stunning views of the lake and mountains, currently blurred from a slight drizzle misting over the scene. The weather mirrored the ominous overtones in the room. A cold wind howled, ushering in dark clouds of slate and asphalt, thickening the air with an earthy, wet scent fluttering in through several open doors to the covered balcony.

The adverse outdoor climate made the room all the more inviting with its cushy, overstuffed furniture and endless entertainment opportunities. From the carved mahogany billiards table, to the round, cherry wood game table covered in felt in the center, to dart boards, pinball machines, a jukebox, the home audio and theater system, and big screen TVs with your pick of an epic supply of video games and movies.

But at the moment, no one cared.

Under the oblong stained-glass Tiffany lamp hanging above the billiards table, Blake repeatedly gathered the colorful balls in his hands, then ricocheted them across the felt. They rumbled and cracked like the thunder and lightning threatening to erupt outside if the storm kept coming in.

Behind the gleaming brass bar, Matthias was on his second — no third — can of Milo, not even bothering to grab his usual glass from the racks on the mirrored wall behind him. Jayden’s thumbs rolled in and out of joint with wet pops as he babbled on and on, and Logan had smoothed his tie so many times it was missing a layer of fabric.

I sat on the couch between Jayden and Logan. Careful to avoid Ayden’s eyes. And
that
smile.

Aunt M was right. I was a hot mess. Best to keep my distance. I hugged myself, rubbing my biceps.

Almost immediately, I heard someone close the French doors to the balcony cutting the chilly draft, saw the logs in the hearth burst into roaring flames, and felt a chenille throw blanket being laid gently over my shoulders. Warm hands brushed my neck as they lifted my long curls and tucked the soft material against my skin.

So much for distance. 

Ayden’s fingers squeezed my shoulders. Fighting the urge to lay my cheek upon his hand, my body stiffened. He paused, then removed his touch, and in spite of the toasty coverlet, I shivered. As if someone cranked the furnace, heat suddenly radiated across the space and warmed my back.

I closed my eyes. Hot mess. Definite hot mess.

“Jayden, stop.” Jocelyn held up a dainty hand glittering with rings. “You’re doing that thing where you talk in circles using big words no one understands in hopes they give up asking and walk away.” She lowered gracefully into an overstuffed leather chair. “What I did get is that she sees demons but no one can know because there’s a threat. You have to protect her and I have to keep my mouth shut.”

Jayden looked annoyed. “Affirmative.”

Jocelyn’s gaze flicked from me to Ayden. “And you’re her bodyguard, not her boyfriend?”

Oh, thanks for pointing that out.

“Yes,” I said before Ayden had a chance, hoping I didn’t look as miserable as I felt.

The heat at my back vanished. Logan and Blake shot me odd looks.

“Really? You two sure seemed…cozy.” Jocelyn twirled one of her braids in her fingers and frowned at her brother. “Then Ayden, why are you—”

“Joce!” Ayden’s sharp warning whiplashed across the room. She flinched. “Enough questions. We’ve got some serious Mandatum problems. You know the family wants you out of the Mandatum business. It’s too dangerous. Even Dad just had to lie to protect Mom.
Mom!
Of
all
people.”

“Of course, I’d never do anything to hurt Aurora.” Jocelyn snapped at Ayden then smiled at me. “You saved my life from Echo. I’ll keep my mouth shut. Besides, it’ll be nice to have a girl around to talk to. Help cope with these idiots.” She glowered around the room. “But you guys know I hate being kept out of this stuff! I know more about the Mandatum than Blake!”

“Hey!” Blake protested.

“Okay.” Jocelyn fluttered thick lashes at the big guy. “What are the names of the High Council members?”

Blake tossed a cue ball in the air. “Ahhh…”

Matthias rolled his eyes. “Mate, come on! You’ve got to know. They’re the seven
leaders
of the Mandatum!”

“I know.” Blake rapped his knuckles against his skull. “Give me a sec. There’s that blonde chick.”

“That was the assistant,” Logan sighed.

“There’s Madame Cacciatori,” Blake said with confidence.

“No!” Matthias slammed down his can. “She’s not on the High Council. She answers directly to them. She’s in the intelligence division. Runs the Divinicus Task Force. You’ve got to know one name.”

At Blake’s silence, Matthias gave up with a growl.

“See?” Jocelyn smirked.

The doors to the game room burst open.

“My dad!” Tristan wheezed. “He’s missing!”