Bitten in Two (31 page)

I took his arm and pul ed him aside. “Raoul, is that how you died?” I whispered, jerking my head back toward the door. “Because I can stil try to make it right for you. The sons of bitches who captured you are probably stil alive. I could—”

He shook his head. “It wasn’t me. Maybe it should’ve been.” He looked bleakly at the door. “But it wasn’t.” And that was al he’d say.

We both stood staring at his shiny black boots, until Cole’s steady swearing sank into our brains.

I said, “Cole, you’re offending Vayl. Plus you never swear, so you’re probably upsetting yourself at some level.”

“That’s just dumb. Plus, Vayl? Am I?”

“I simply believe other words are more effective,” Vayl said dryly.

“Like what?” Cole demanded, throwing his hands into the air. Luckily, he’d holstered his gun, otherwise we’d have al been ducking at random moments while he gestured wildly to match his mood. “Oh, phooey, the demon has absconded with our map! Shuckey darn, she’s so irritating, because I
fucking
thought she had some
fucking
good in her!”

“Cole?” I went over to put my hand against his forehead. Nope, pretty cool despite our recent run.

“I’m not sick!” he bel owed.

I dropped my hand. “You’re betrayed.”

“Yeah!”

“By a demon.”

“Wel , yeah!”

“Who’s been lying, cheating, and stealing since the day she was born.”

He took a second to check his nails. “She’s a pro, isn’t she?”

“Um, yeah. The miracle is that Cassandra ducked her for so long.” I turned to Vayl. “So what does this mean? Is our psychic off the hook, or what?”

“I believe so,” he said. “The demon obviously feels she has fulfil ed her end of the bargain, which means Cassandra’s soul should be safe.”

“I don’t like that word ‘should.’ We need to be one hundred percent on this one.”

“There’s a test she can do,” Sterling said. He sat in the middle of the doorway, his legs in the lotus position, his palms lifted upward above his shoulders like he was checking for rain.

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

“Absorbing the power inherent in this doorway. It’s great. Kind of like lying on a magic-fingers bed, only this gets you everywhere.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

“And I mean everywhere, Chil . You should try it.” I yanked my hair over my eyes. “I am surrounded by perverts.” I crouched down in front of my warlock. “Sterling.

What about the test? Do you think she knows which one you mean?”

“Maybe. She’s pretty wel -read, right?”

“Maybe? Should? You guys are driving me nuts!” I pul ed my phone out of my pocket and tossed it to the warlock. “Cal her. Tel her what it is. Tel her I said to do it warlock. “Cal her. Tel her what it is. Tel her I said to do it now. And if she comes up with a bad result, I want to know instantly. Because I wil go straight into hel after that bitch and tear her head off her shoulders if that’s what it takes to make Cassandra safe.”

Sterling gazed up at me. “I’m glad we made up.”

“Me too. Now make the cal .” Only when he opened my phone did I turn to Vayl. He’d picked up Astral and was giving her such a close once-over he could’ve been mistaken for a vet. “What do you think?” I asked.

“She does not seem to have been tampered with,” Vayl said. “Though, of course, Bergman is the only one who can tel us for sure.”

“So you think the map in her head…”

He nodded. “It is the one she recorded from Kyphas’s hand.”

“We’re not being very careful about the demon’s name now,” Cole snapped. “Don’t we care if she can spy on us anymore?”

“No,” Vayl and I chorused. “Later for sure,” I added. “But right now she’s so busy trying to get her ducks in a row she doesn’t have time to worry about us.”

“Would you care to describe her ducks?” Raoul asked.

“We figure she’s organizing a raiding party to help her retrieve the Rocenz before we can get to it,” I said.

“Yes,” Vayl agreed. “But remember, since no demon has the power to move from its world to ours at wil , she and her people must be summoned for another purpose as wel .

That gives us at least some time to find the Rocenz before she does.”

“And you’re sure the location is locked inside Astral’s mind?” Raoul asked.

“Absolutely,” I said. “We just need to get her somewhere safe so we can pul a copy out of her and figure out how to interpret it.”

“Somewhere safe… are you talking about the riad?” Cole asked.

“That is where we left the equipment,” Vayl said.

I held up a finger. “Except Bergman knows how to work it better than anyone else. Especial y when it comes to Astral. He was only just starting to train me. This would go a lot faster if we had him on board.”

“Are you certain?” Vayl asked, his eyebrows at ful lift.

“He is recuperating, after al .”

“What a nice way to say he’s newly stitched and out of his mind on painkil ers,” said Cole.

“Even bandaged and half-blitzed, Bergman’s stil better than any four regular people. What do you say?” I asked the guys. “Should we go break him out of the hospital?” Vayl smirked. “While I enjoy your sense of the dramatic, I think al that is required is the proper paperwork. This should only take a few minutes.”

Half an hour later Monique was wheeling Bergman out the front door while he bounced the IT’S A GIRL bal oon we’d tied to his wrist and giggled hysterical y at the bal ed-up towel we’d stuffed under his sweater to signify stil -to-be-lost baby weight. We hadn’t even had to bother with makeup. Just wrapped his head in my new black scarf and shoved Astral wrapped in a blanket into his free arm.

I leaned over so Bergman could see my face as I said,

“Miles, most moms don’t squish their babies so hard that they squeak. Relax your hold. No, don’t cover her whole face with your hand. Pretend she has to breathe, okay?”
God? This guy doesn’t need kids anytime soon. Or
even a fish. I’ll get him a stuffed animal next time I’m
home. We’ll see how that goes and then I’ll be in touch.

“This rocks!” he said in a stage whisper as Cole pushed him toward the Galaxie.

“I can’t believe you need Miles this desperately,” Monique said again, more doubtful y than ever.

“Earthquakes are no laughing matter,” Cole told her gravely. “Only he can tel us if the data we’ve picked up points to a big one.”

I jumped in. “Would you like somebody to ride back to the riad with you, Monique? Maybe Sterling? Or”—I pul ed Raoul up beside me so she could get an eyeful of the muscular chest and thighs even his camo couldn’t hide

—“my friend Raoul could ride with you. He’s very protective.

Better than a bodyguard.”

Nothing. Her glance skittered off him like he was holding a mirror and went straight back to Bergman. “Thank you, no,” she said. “I drove Miles by myself, and I can get back the same way.” She leaned over him as we reached the car, giving him such a great view of her cleavage that he settled back in the chair like he was in it for the long haul. “You wil be al right?” she asked, her voice dropping into that velvet purr only French women can seem to pul off.

He grinned, his eyes rising to her lips as he licked his own. “You should probably ask me in the morning,” he said.

“Al right, then, I wil .” She kissed her fingertips, laid them on his cheek, and then went off to find her car. The guys watched her go. Al except Vayl, who was unlocking the doors and pul ing a blanket out of the trunk so we could make Miles comfortable.

As we began to help him into the car Bergman looked up at me and said, “That woman is after my body.”

“Yes,” I agreed as Olivia Newton-John’s voice suddenly hooted out of Astral’s mouth. While she sang, “Let’s get physical, physical,” he looked down at himself in utter bafflement.

“Do you have any idea why?” he asked.

I eased his feet inside the car and said, “As far as she’s concerned you’re the total package. Twenty years younger, skinny enough to relish good food, with one of the finest minds on earth. Just, uh”—I motioned to his side, which was so heavily bandaged it looked like he was hiding a bomb under his shirt—“don’t let her hurt you, okay?”

“Okay.”

I slid in beside him and Astral jumped into the back with Sterling, Raoul, and Cole. We’d put the top up, which meant Bergman’s bal oon kept knocking everybody in the head but him. In fact, “Where’s my bal oon?” he demanded as soon as Vayl slid the Galaxie into the street. We’d agreed he should drive so I could look after the patient. Who was starting to panic. “My bal oon disappeared!”

“It’s on your wrist!” I held his hand up to his face. Just barely thought better of slapping him with it.

“Oh.”

Silence. Not just golden. Jewel-encrusted and brimming with stardust. Vayl drove while the rest of us zipped it. We didn’t even move for fear we’d set Bergman off and make him undo al the work the doctor had put in on him. The tension had just begun to seep out of my toes and fingertips when Bergman said, “Jaz!”

“What?”

“I am so horny!”

I dropped my forehead into my hand as Cole and Sterling broke into laughter. Maybe even Raoul added a chuckle or two, though I couldn’t tel because the other two were honking so loud.

Bergman asked, “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been with a woman?”

“I don’t—”

“Five years! And then I had to pay for it. Which is so humiliating. Although I real y shel ed out the cash so she was supergreat. Like Cleopatra. Only not dead.” He turned completely around to face me, a feat only somebody as heavily drugged as he was could accomplish, considering he was both injured and seat belted. If we crashed he’d probably shoot straight out the top of the thing and smash into the roof. But no way would I worry about him now because he wasn’t even close to done grossing me out. In fact, he was asking me earnestly, “Is it so wrong to want a woman I don’t have to become a criminal to make love to?” I shook my head, wishing I was anywhere but here. Yes, even chasing Kyphas through hel would’ve been a more attractive option.

What are the chances that he’ll totally blank on this
conversation in the morning?
“That’s reasonable,” I said.

Bergman had clearly thought this out. He pointed to me, which made me gulp loudly, but he said, “Monique would be nice.”

“Okay.”

“Except she scares the shit out of me.”

“Also reasonable.”

“She’s very experienced.”

“And that’s a problem for you?”

“Yup. I’ve done a lot of reading. But, uh, theory is not at al like practice in these cases. I don’t think.”

“I see. So what do you want to do?”

“I have no idea.”

Silence. This time not even close to a precious metal.

Cole leaned forward, began to rub Bergman’s shoulders like he was getting ready for a big boxing match.

“So, uh”—he stopped to clear the laughter out of his voice

—“you want some advice from somebody who’s been there, buddy?”

Of course he’s been there.
This was my Inner Bimbo, sizing Cole up like he was a big old cheesecake and she hadn’t had dessert in a year. Then her eyes strayed to Vayl.

Hmm, I wonder if…

Shut up. This is about Miles. Getting with a cougar. Oh
crap, I’m imagining it now. I think I’m gonna puke.

Bergman said, “Yeah, okay. What do I need to know?”

“You think too much,” said Cole.

Sterling spoke up. “Waaay too much is my guess.” I looked over my shoulder in time to catch Cole winking at the warlock and nodding.

“Just relax and see what happens, al right?”

“Okay.”

“Great! Now that Bergman’s love life is back on track can we talk about Astral?” I asked.

“What about Astral?” Bergman frowned, picking up first one foot, then the other, like he thought he might find her flattened form underneath one of them. “Here, kitty!”

“No!” I pointed back at the cat, who’d taken her favorite spot on the ledge beneath the back window. “You stay right there, missy.” Thankful y she was programmed to obey my voice above al others, so al she did was flick her tail and half close her eyes at me, as if to say, “I’m too comfortable to move anyway.”

I leaned forward so I could catch Vayl’s eye.
Okay, I’m
about to give the tech-head here another reason to be in
the hospital. Are you sure this is going to be worth it?
I asked him silently. He gave me a short nod.

So I told Miles what had happened in the smal est words I could manage. I ended with, “We need to get that map out of Astral. Your equipment—”

“Should do the job,” Miles said, suddenly, remarkably, businesslike. “How far are we from the riad?”

“Perhaps ten minutes,” Vayl said.

“I think I’l catch a nap then. I should try to be as alert as possible when it’s time to do the transfer.” And he promptly passed out.

I watched him slide about five inches down the seat until the belt final y caught him just below the armpits. “Wow.

He is so weird.”

“Yes.” Vayl patted him on the head. “I am final y beginning to see why you like him.”

With only an hour until dawn and Kyphas an entire printed map ahead of us, we couldn’t waste a second babying our wounded, morphine-dazed comrade. That’s what I told myself, using Albert’s stern, no-arguments bark to make my point as I watched Vayl carry him upstairs to his equipment-packed room. But as soon as Bergman sat back in the orange cushioned chair he’d drawn up to the desk he’d transformed into computer central in the seating area of his suite, I checked his bandages. No blood had seeped through, so I felt sure the stitches had held.