The Darkening (25 page)

"So that's what the initiation ceremony last night was all about? Meeting the quota for converts?"

"You know about that?"

Darius nodded.

Paddy shook his head. "Then you know what a disaster it was. Now I have to find replacements. How can I possibly find that many people and get them converted by the full moon?"

"Why the full moon?" Darius asked.

"Because that's when he's going to open Satan's Gate."

Darius could only stare at Paddy in amazement. He'd forgotten all about Satan's Gate. How long ago was it that Re and Eosphoros, the "dawn-bringer," fought? Eosphoros, later known as Lucifer, had unleashed his 666 shade demons on the world in an effort to destroy all human life. Many had died before Re had succeeded in luring the shade demons into a secret dimension, where he'd locked them away for all eternity.

But if what Paddy said was true, then Amadja had found them and was planning to release his "hounds of hell" once more on an unsuspecting world. He was about to ask the little man more when several policemen walked in.

"When I call your name, line up at the cell door," one of them instructed.

He started calling out names and, one by one, men from the cell went to stand by the door. Paddy was one of them. They were led off and didn't return. About twenty minutes later, the police came back for another group.

Darius began thinking about his escape. He considered using his key, but he wasn't about to fight the entire New York City police force to get out of jail when he knew it was just a matter of time before he was released.

Finally, he was led to another room where police questioned him about why he'd been in the bar. He assured them that he'd been there for a drink only, and after hours of no doubt hearing the same story, they believed him.

"Okay, Darius with no last name. Do you have anyone who can come down to the station and vouch for you?" one of them asked when they were done with their questions.

Darius gave him a bored look. "Can't you just let me go?"

"Normally, yes, but since you don't have any ID on you, we're going to have to run your prints through the system first. That could take a while."

Darius was afraid "a while" might turn out to be a very long time. "You can try calling Lexi Corvin," he said. "Her number is with the things you took from me."

The officer nodded. "I know Lexi. You're a friend of hers?"

The exact nature of their relationship was not something Darius cared to go into with a stranger, so he nodded and watched the officer leave.

He returned a short while later with an amused expression on his face. "The good news is that she knows you. The bad news is that she's not coming for you. You two have a fight?" The officer laughed. "You might as well get comfortable, friend. I'll start running your prints through the system."

Darius couldn't say he was surprised. He'd lived enough years with Sekhmet to know that hell truly hath no fury like a woman scorned.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Lexi walked into the office the next morning feeling drained and tired. She'd had no idea Darius was in the bar when she'd made the call to the police, so when Mike from the station had called asking if she could vouch for him and pick him up, she'd been stunned.

Unfortunately, she had just returned from the police station with Mai, who was already talking about going back to the Crypt that night. There was no way Lexi could afford to leave her, and she hoped Darius would understand.

Dealing with Mai had been a nightmare. Lexi had spent the whole night trying to convince her how dangerous the Crypt was. In the end, she was afraid her cautions had fallen on deaf ears. Mai was likely to return to the Crypt at her first opportunity, and Lexi simply could not spend every waking minute making sure she didn't. Hence her reason for going into the office a little earlier than normal.

Marge eyed her when she walked in. "You're not looking so hot," she said bluntly. "And don't tell me it's that time of month, because I've known you for three years and 'that' time of month has never been this hard on you."

"This month is the exception," Lexi muttered, nodding toward the back. "Is TJ in?"

"Yeah, he's in."

"Is he alone?"

Marge shrugged and went back to working on the computer. "Would it matter?"

Lexi realized Marge was right. "No."

" "Before you go back there," Marge hollered after her, are you working today?"

Lexi didn't even break stride. "No."

"Today is some skip's lucky day," she heard Marge mumble.

Lexi walked past her own office to Us. His door was closed, and she was about to just walk in, but at the last minute changed her mind. She was, after all about to ask him for a favor.

She knocked and waited for him to growl, "Come in," before opening the door..

TJ was sitting at his desk, scowling fiercely at his computer.

`And I thought I was in a bad mood," she observed.

He clicked something on the screen and then sat back in his chair to give her his full attention. "Damn paperwork," he grumbled. "It's bad enough we have to fill out so many forms at the police station, but then for Jonathan to pile all these others on top ... it's enough to make you want to quit." Lexi hated the paperwork too, and they shared a sympathetic moment. Then they both smiled. "You love the job as much as I do," she said. "We both know

we'll never quit."

He smiled and ran his fingers through his hair. "What brings you here so early?" he asked. Outside, Lexi could hear cars driving along the street. The garbage truck was making its weekly circuit, and the banging of a Dumpster lid was a loud staccato in the otherwise relatively quiet morning.

"I need a way to keep track of someone without them knowing it," she said simply, getting straight to the point. "Something nonmagical. I thought maybe you might know of something I could use

`A personal tracking system?" He nodded. "Sure, I might have something you can use. How close can you get to the subject?"

"As close as I need to-she's a friend

His expression turned grim. "You know that if she finds out you put a trace on her, she'll probably get pretty mad."

Better mad than dead,
Lexi thought. "I'm willing to risk it." She figured putting a tracer on Mai was the only way to keep her safe at this point.

Seeing that Lexi wasn't going to change her mind, TJ picked up the set of keys on his desk, selected one and opened the lower file drawer.

He pulled out three necklaces, a pair of earrings, a pin and a small plastic bag filled with flat metal discs no bigger than the end of a pencil eraser. Then he pulled out a small handheld receiver. "You have a couple of choices," he said, laying everything out before her. "Each piece of jewelry has a transmitter, which works great if she wears one of them."

Lexi tried to remember if she'd ever noticed Mai wearing the same jewelry two days in a row. She couldn't remember. "What about these?" She pointed to the bag of discs.

"These you can slip into pockets, or use the adhesive back and stick them on clothing."

She couldn't decide which would be better, and, seeing her dilemma, he came to her rescue. "Tell you what-take them all. Use what you want and then bring me what's left when you're done."

"Thanks. Are they all synced to the same receiver?"

"Yes." He picked it up and turned it on. After adjusting a couple of buttons, he handed it to her. She saw a grid for the lower west side of Hell's Kitchen. There was a blinking dot of light on the spot where their office was located.

She looked up at TJ, and he smiled. "Watch." He took one of the small flat discs from the plastic bag and wadded it up in a piece of paper. Then he went over to open the window. The sound of the garbage truck grew
louder. TJ
waited, and when it lumbered by, he tossed the ball of paper out the window Lexi's eyes were glued to the screen of the receiver where a small dot of light started moving along the line that represented their street. She continued to watch as it turned the corner and continued down the next street.

She looked up at TJ and smiled. "Very cool."

He laughed. "I thought you'd like it." He gathered up the jewelry and remaining discs and placed them into a velvet bag, which he held out to her. "Here you go."

"You're sure?" Lexi wanted to double check. "I know this stuff is expensive."

"I won't refuse any contribution you want to make," he said suggestively. Lexi just rolled her eyes, and he laughed. "Seriously," he continued, "I have a friend who's an electronics engineer. He likes to tinker with new things. He gives me a lot of these. The receiver is another matter. Break or lose it, you just bought it, and don't ask how much it costs, because neither one of us can afford it."

Lexi wasn't so sure she wanted to take the chance and started to hand the stuff back to him.

"No, keep it. Just don't let anything happen to it."

She thanked him, took the stuff and headed home. She was exhausted, but worse than that, she was in pain. The buildup in sexual energy had become a continuous ache.

When she walked into her apartment twenty minutes later, she was surprised to see Darius there, making himself at home.

"How'd you get in here?" she growled at him, trying to harden herself against the sudden excitement of seeing him.

He gave her a lazy smile. "I have a key, remember?"

"But I had wards guarding the apartment. How'd you get past those?"

"Those wards only work to keep out the things you want kept out. They obviously don't apply to me," he said with a smile.

She rolled her eyes and, doing her best to ignore him, carried the bag of electronics to the kitchen table.

"Where have you been?" he asked, getting up from the couch to follow her.

"I've been with Ti," she replied automatically, her at tention focused on getting out the necklaces so she could decide which to give to Mai.

"All night?"

"What?" she asked distractedly.

"Your bed hasn't been slept in."

She held up the first necklace, searching for the transmitter. "That's right."

"I see."

It was his tone that finally made her realize he'd drawn the wrong conclusion. She was tempted not to set him straight, but seeing his closed expression made her change her mind. "I was with Mai all night. She was determined to go back to the Crypt after I picked her up from jail." She paused and looked at him. "I'm sorry I left you there. I was afraid to leave

Mai alone."

He raised an eyebrow "So you didn't leave me there because you're mad at me?" "No."

That seemed to lighten his mood, but then he frowned. "Who's TJ?"

She picked up a different necklace to study "He's the other bounty hunter in my office. I needed to talk to him about tracking devices, so I went in early"

Darius gestured to the array of jewelry laid out on the table beside the receiver. "What's all this?"

"Micro-transmitters and a GPS receiver." At his confused expression, she went on. "It's the stuff I got from TJ."

"What's it for?"

"I'm hoping it will help me keep tabs on Mai without her knowing it. That way, if she goes to the Crypt again, I'll know it. Then I might be able to stop her before she gets herself into trouble." Of course, she couldn't call in a raid each time, she thought. She'd have to think of other tactics.

"Are they magic?" Darius asked, coming over to take a closer look.

"No. Technology Here's how they work." She went through the same demonstration TJ had given her, and the look on Darius's face afterwards made her smile.

He seemed truly awed.

"It's fascinating." He picked up the receiver and looked at the screen. "What happens if one of the transmitters goes beyond the area shown here?"

"There are ways to adjust the view to show as much or as little of the city as you want-up to a limit. After that, you lose the signal."

She stood next to him, leaning over so he could see the screen as she zoomed the view in and out. She tried hard to ignore the warmth of his muscled arm, and when he took the receiver from her, she couldn't help remembering how those strong hands had felt against her naked skin.

She suddenly realized that she'd stopped talking, and, feeling the heat of his gaze on her, she looked up and her breath caught in her throat.

Seeing the way she looked at him, Darius wanted so badly to pull her into his arms, but knew he shouldn't. "I ran into Paddy Darby while I was in the Crypt," he said, stepping away from her. "We ended up in jail together and had an interesting conversation."