Fated (Relentless Book 6) Read online

  “Beth, right? Fancy meeting you here.”

  I nodded. “Small world.”

  “Indeed.” Wes looked at Adam. “You ready?”

  “Yes,” Adam replied. He stepped closer to where I sat, his expression hopeful. “I can’t leave without asking you to have coffee with me this week. As friends,” he added when I opened my mouth to answer.

  I smiled apologetically. “I wish I could, but…”

  “But you are involved with someone.” He didn’t try to hide his disappointment.

  “Yes.”

  He looked at the waiting car then turned back to us. “It was nice to see you again. And to meet you, Jordan.”

  “Nice meeting you, too,” she said.

  I had my hand resting on the fence. Before I could react, he lifted it to his mouth and kissed it. “Until next time.”

  “Wowsers.” Jordan waggled her eyebrows at me after Adam had gotten into the car. “I might need to consider higher education if all the college boys look like those two.”

  “Adam does seem to have it all. Good looks, personality, and intelligence.”

  “Not everything. He can’t have you because you’re involved.”

  I made a face at her, and she snickered.

  “Sorry. My bad. You’re temporarily involved with a sexy-as-hell warrior who makes mere mortals swoon. And whom you’ve been in love with since you hit puberty. Did I forget anything?”

  I crossed my arms. “Just eat your lunch.”

  * * *

  I walked into the guesthouse and came up short at the sight of the person sitting on the couch, reading a book.

  “What are you doing in here?” I demanded.

  “Hello to you, too, roomie.”

  “Roomie?” I croaked.

  Chris took his sweet time setting the book down on the coffee table. Following his movements, I spied the duffle bag sitting on the floor beside the couch.

  He smiled, looking completely at home. “One of the Las Vegas teams is staying at the command center until we set up some extra safe houses in the city. I offered up my room to Abigail. It was the least I could do.”

  “Why didn’t you take one of the couches in the main house?” I asked, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. This place was my refuge. How was I supposed to relax – or sleep – with him in the next room?

  “Those are taken.” He patted the armrest. “And I like this one.”

  The door opened behind me, and I turned to see Mason enter the house. He looked from me to Chris.

  “What’s going on?”

  Laying my shopping bag on the table, I said, “Chris is going to crash on our couch for a few days because the main house is full.”

  I expected Mason to ask why Chris couldn’t stay somewhere else, but he only nodded.

  “That explains the extra bikes parked by the garage. Guess it’s going to be crowded here for a while.”

  He walked past me toward his bedroom. Before he went inside, he looked at Chris. “Just try to leave some hot water for me in the morning. And for God’s sake, don’t touch her milk or coffee if you value your life.”

  I stared at him as he entered the room and shut the door. Since when was he okay with Chris moving in? Where was my best friend who always had my back, especially when it came to Chris?

  Chris chuckled, drawing my attention back to him.

  “What?” I snapped, feeling like I’d been ganged up on.

  He stood, holding his hands up as if to ward me off, a small smile playing around his mouth. “If it really bothers you, I can find a spot in the house somewhere. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

  His offer deflated my anger, and I was suddenly ashamed of my rudeness. “No, it’s okay. You can stay.”

  “It’s not like we’ll be here that much anyway,” he said, looking far too pleased by my concession. “And being work partners, this will be more convenient for us.”

  “Great,” I muttered, trying not to think about being around him night and day.

  I started toward my room and stopped when a new thought occurred to me. “I was supposed to go on patrol tonight with Raoul. Does our new working arrangement mean I can’t do that anymore?”

  “For now, Jordan is taking your place on his team. We’ll go back to regular patrols once the Lilin threat is gone.”

  “What will we do tonight then?” I asked, and regretted it immediately when he gave me a slow smile.

  “I’m sure we can think of something to occupy us.”

  I sighed because I’d walked right into that one.

  This was going to be a long few days.

  Chapter 10

  Chris

  I pulled on a pair of jeans and combed my fingers through my damp hair one more time before I opened the bathroom door. Walking into the living room, I went to find a fresh T-shirt, and I grinned when I saw the wrinkled contents of my duffle bag.

  When Sara had told me Geoffrey’s team would be staying at the house for a day or two, I’d immediately offered up my room to Abigail and threw my things in the bag to move to the guesthouse. I wasn’t above using any excuse to spend more time with Beth.

  A small sound made me straighten and turn to the kitchen where Beth stood with a coffee cup halfway to her mouth. She wore a camisole and sleep shorts, and her hair was still messy from sleep. I’d seen her all dressed up to go out, but this was by far my favorite of her outfits.

  “Morning.”

  She blinked, and her eyes lifted from where they had been staring somewhere below my chin.

  “Hi.”

  Fighting back the smirk tugging at my lips, I donned the shirt in my hand and walked into the kitchen.

  “Coffee smells great. You make enough for two?”

  “Yeah, um…help yourself.”

  She stepped back to let me through and then walked around to sit on one of the barstools at the breakfast bar.

  I hid my smile as I poured a cup for myself and turned to her. Suddenly, I had an image of the two of us living together and doing this every day. I’d never considered myself a domestic person, having spent most of my adult life on the road, but I’d never known a woman I wanted to make a home with. Until now.

  “Did you sleep well on the couch?” she asked shyly.

  “Like a rock,” I lied.

  I’d gone to bed late, weary after a long call with Tristan and the rest of the Council. Instead of falling asleep, I’d lain awake thinking about Beth sleeping in the other room. It was a good thing I was used to functioning on a few hours of sleep, because I had a feeling I was going to suffer from insomnia for the foreseeable future.

  She fidgeted with the handle of her cup. “Good.”

  I took a sip of the rich brew and set my cup on the counter. “Sara’s friend Kelvan gave her the names of some local vrell demons who might know something about the Lilin’s whereabouts. I’m planning to visit them today, and I’d like you to come along.”

  “Okay.” She gave me a small smile, looking relieved to be discussing work. “What time do you want to go?”

  “We’ll leave at ten and –”

  A ringing cut me off, and I went to the living room to find my phone beneath one of the couch cushions. Nikolas’s name flashed on the screen.

  “What’s up?”

  “We just got word on two missing girls in San Francisco. Eighteen-year-old twins. The parents were out of town for three days and got back yesterday to discover them gone. We don’t know yet how long the girls have been missing, but they match the profile of the other missing girls.”

  I swore softly. “If this is him then he’s gone statewide. Going to be a lot harder to find him.”

  “I know,” Nikolas said. “One of us needs to go to San Francisco.”

  “You deal with the Council. I’ll take a team and check it out.”

  “Thanks. Keep me posted.”

  I ended the call and looked up to find Beth standing a few feet away, watching me with a worried frown.


  “He took another girl, didn’t he?”

  I shook my head. “We don’t know yet if it was him. That’s what we need to find out.” I glanced at the time on my phone. “Get ready to leave in an hour.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “San Francisco.”

  Less than three hours later, Beth, Mason, Brock, and I left a private hangar at the San Francisco airport and drove to the home of Natalie and Nicole Thomas. The front yard of the upscale suburban house was crowded with people who looked like they were planning a search for the missing girls. The police had already come and gone, making it easy for us to enter the place without arousing suspicion.

  I parked the SUV in the closest spot on the street and turned in my seat to look at Beth and Mason, who had never worked a scene like this before. Both wore expressions of barely-concealed excitement.

  “Brock, you and Mason stay outside and question the people out here. Beth, you’re with me. Just follow my lead.”

  “Okay.”

  We entered the house, which was just as crowded inside, and found Mr. and Mrs. Thomas in the kitchen with an older black man who resembled the girls’ mother. I introduced Beth and myself as detectives, and we showed them our fake badges and IDs.

  The older man gave us a wary look. “You two don’t look old enough to be detectives.”

  I smiled. “We get that a lot.

  “Dad, not now,” Mrs. Thomas said hoarsely, her eyes red-rimmed.

  “How can we help you?” her husband asked me.

  “We know someone’s been here already, but we’d like to ask you a few questions and take another look around.”

  Mrs. Thomas gave us a hopeful look. “What do you need to know?”

  “Tell us what you told the other officers you spoke to,” I said. I’d studied the police report on the plane, but it was always better to get a firsthand account.

  The couple took turns telling about how they’d gone to a bed and breakfast in Monterey to celebrate their anniversary, and the last time they’d spoken to their daughters was the day they’d gotten there.”

  “I called them to let them know we’d arrived,” their mother said between sniffles. “They told me to have a great time and not to worry about them. I tried calling them again before we left to drive back, but no one answered.”

  “And when you arrived home?” I asked calmly.

  Mr. Thomas put an arm around his wife’s shoulders. “The back door was unlocked and no one was home. Natalie and Nicole are responsible girls. They’d never leave the house unlocked or go off without telling us.”

  “Was anything disturbed?”

  “Not that we can see.” He ran a shaky hand through his hair. “Where could they be?”

  “Mrs. Thomas, may I see the girls’ bedrooms?” Beth asked.

  The woman nodded jerkily. “Of course. I’ll show you where they are.”

  The two of them left the kitchen, and I heard their steps on the stairs. I stayed with Mr. Thomas, asking him questions about his daughters’ friends and whether or not they had boyfriends. I wanted to rule out the possibility that the girls might be off with someone they knew.

  Ten minutes later, when Beth and Mrs. Thomas still hadn’t returned, I went upstairs to look for them. I found Beth in one of the girls’ bedrooms, studying photos of the Thomas twins. Tall and slender with creamy dark skin, hazel eyes, and long braided hair, they were a stunning pair, and exactly what a Lilin would find appealing.

  “Find anything?”

  “Yes.” She plucked something from the mirror and turned to face me, holding a piece of paper.

  “What is it?”

  She passed it to me, and I turned it over. It was a ticket stub for a nightclub, and when I saw the name, my eyes lifted to meet hers.

  “Luna,” I said.

  She nodded. “It looks like the pass I had to the club in Los Angeles. Only this club is in San Francisco.” She held up her other hand, revealing a second stub. “I found this in Natalie’s room. They’re both from two nights ago.”

  I exhaled harshly. I’d held out a small hope that the Lilin hadn’t taken the sisters. But to discover he’d set up a second club here to draw in prospects told me this was bigger than we’d feared. A lot of money went into this kind of setup, and it had to have been planned months in advance, maybe longer. The most troubling fact was that this demon wasn’t keeping to one city, which didn’t match the behavior for a breeding Lilin. What else was he doing that we hadn’t accounted for?

  “Good work, Beth.” I stuck the club pass in my back pocket. “Let’s go check this out.”

  The address on the pass took us to SoMa, which was the perfect location to set up a trendy underground nightclub. The building was small and nondescript with no signage to indicate what type of business it housed.

  My first instinct was to tell Beth to stay outside, but I stopped myself before I opened my mouth. I had no good reason to exclude her except for my strong need to protect her. Singling her out would only anger her.

  I picked the lock, and the four of us entered what had obviously been a nightclub, but it looked like it had been deserted in a hurry. The furniture remained, but the bar area was empty, and there were passes and plastic cups littering the floor. The smell of stale alcohol was no more than a few days old.

  “I’m going to bet this place closed the same night we raided the club in Los Angeles,” I said as I walked around the main room. I bent and picked up one of the passes, confirming my suspicions. The date was two days ago.

  “You think he took Natalie and Nicole from here?” Beth asked.

  “The unlocked door at their house suggests his Incubi followed them home and took them from there. But I believe he discovered them here.”

  She pressed her lips together, her expressive eyes showing her revulsion for this place and what it stood for. “He’s probably taken more girls,” she said.

  “I know. We had our guys start looking at other missing persons reports here as soon as we heard about the Thomas sisters.”

  Her eyes grew troubled. “We have no idea how many girls he has now or how long he’s been taking them, which means he could be ready to breed any day. We have to help them, Chris.”

  “We will.”

  I resisted the urge to go to her and wrap her in my arms, knowing how well that would be received. Instead, I pulled out my phone and called Nikolas to let him know what we’d found. As expected, he was not happy about the discovery, and he said he’d asked our guys to search for more of the clubs.

  “I don’t like this,” I said in a low voice as I watched Beth walk over to talk to Mason. “I’m already afraid to let Beth out of my sight.”

  “I know,” Nikolas growled. “I tried to get Sara to go home for a visit, and she’s a little upset with me now.”

  I would have laughed at his morose tone if I wasn’t in the same situation with Beth. I raked a hand through my hair. This was going to get a lot worse before it got better; I could feel it in my gut.

  “It looks like they cleared out of this place in a hurry. I’m going to go over it, see if I can find anything they might have forgotten.”

  “Are you coming back today?” he asked.

  I looked at Beth again, weighing whether she’d be safer here or in Los Angeles. The command center was protected by a state-of-the-art security system that included perimeter alerts and cameras. On top of that, Eldeorin had warded the place with his powerful Fae magic as a favor to Sara. The only demons that could pass through the ward were Mori demons, making the place impervious to vampire and demon attacks.

  But the Lilin was in Los Angeles. He would not have driven off and killed all other Incubi there otherwise. The need to be near his captives would keep him mostly to his lair, but his sons’ fanatic loyalty to him made them a serious threat. The longer I kept Beth away from that, the better.

  “I think we’ll stay here tonight, unless you need me there.”

  “No, we’re good here. Let me
know if you find anything.”

  I hung up and called the others over to me. “The place looks empty, but I’m not taking any chances. We’ll split up into pairs and search for anything that might tell us who was here and where they could have gone. Beth, you’re with me.”

  She frowned but didn’t argue, quietly following me down a short hallway to what had been the office. The two of us went over every inch of the room until I admitted there was nothing to find. The club owner had been very careful not to leave a scrap of paper behind, more proof that we were dealing with a meticulous adversary.

  “Back to the airport?” Brock asked as we left the club half an hour later.

  “No, we’re staying in San Francisco tonight.”

  Ignoring their inquisitive looks, I called the two local safe houses to see if one of them could put us up for the night. I’d stayed at both places in the past and knew all the warriors stationed at them.

  We worked it out that two of us would stay at each house. Beth was not happy when I told her she was coming with me.

  She crossed her arms. “Why can’t I go with Mason?”

  I ignored the prick of pain in my chest at her wanting to be with her friend over me. I knew she was afraid of her feelings for me, but as much as I hated causing her discomfort, I would not even entertain the idea of her and me in separate houses.

  Mason surprised me by stepping in. “We’re just sleeping at the other house. We’ll all be together until then.”

  Her shoulders relaxed, and relief flashed in her eyes before she nodded.

  I wasn’t sure what had changed with Mason, but he seemed to have softened toward me in the last few days. Maybe he saw that I truly cared for Beth, or maybe he knew she still loved me. Whatever the reason, I was grateful, and I shot him a look to let him know that.

  The closest safe house was in Pacific Heights, so we headed there to check in before we made plans for the evening. The previous owner of the three-story building had been a classic car collector, and he’d converted the entire first floor into a garage. The second floor was the kitchen, living area, and control room, and on the top floor were three bedrooms.