Payable On Death: A Jax Rhodes Novel, Book One (The Jax Rhodes Series 1) (14 page)

Dane's guy worked
on the edge of the safe zone, about a block outside of Bolton Hill. I could almost see the lights of Mount Royal Tavern, my mouth practically watering at the thought of something to drink besides communion wine. Of course, heading into a bar full of demons and angels in the state we were in wasn't a good idea. So we kept going.

"I thought you said it wasn't far." Tired, hungry, and in pain, I'd bitched almost the entire way.

"Would it have changed anything apart from how much you complained? We don't have any other options."

I punched his shoulder when he laughed at my grumbling, wincing along with him when I realized I'd hit him right on a cut. He wrapped his hand around mine, lacing our fingers together, probably to keep me from hitting him again as much as to simply hold it.

We crossed the street and headed toward his friend's practice. Something with the sign seemed off, not the same medical insignia I'd seen at other doctor's offices. The soft glow of a fluorescent sign surrounded by juniper shrubs in a small mulch bed which created a sort of semi-circle drive caught my eye.

"Your guy is a vet?" I couldn't hide the shock and concern in my voice as I stared at the image of a cat and dog curled up together above the words
twenty-four hour emergency service
.

"She's not going to try to deworm you or anything. She's stitched me up before. The last time I worked in Baltimore, one of the family members didn't agree with me being there. Stuck me with a steak knife in the ribs, just missed my lung. Don't worry, she's an ace. Could have been a surgeon if she wanted, although she swears animals are better patients. I think she just prefers them to people in general."

She? I thought he said Rob. Rob wasn't a woman's name.
Please, please, be old. And unattractive
. Petty and immature as those thoughts were, they played on repeat in my mind until we walked in and found her leaning over a reception desk, reaching for a file and quickly jotting some notes down.

Of course she was gorgeous.

Smart, beautiful, no doubt witty. The vet was a trifecta of hotness, a leggy blonde with blue eyes and an hourglass figure. A genuine smile lit her face like a Christmas tree when she looked up at the sound of the little bell on the door and saw Dane, wavering slightly when she caught sight of me and the condition we were in.

"Pam, if someone comes in, put them in room one, assess the situation. If it's non-emergency, don't disturb me. I'll be in the surgical room. You two, come with me."

"Sure, Robin, no problem. Hi, Dane." Pam's eyes widened as we walked behind the counter. Her gaze roving from head to toe, taking him in. Apparently he had that affect on women. I know he did with me. The man was ridiculously handsome, even covered in blood and grime. Dane waved to Pam before we made our way back to the room.

The surgical suite, like any other operating room, was white, sterile with stainless steel everything, and a temperature about fifteen degrees below the rest of the building.

"You'll have to stand. I don't have a table large enough for you."

Large enough? Oh no, she didn't. I was about to tell this Dr. Rob where she could stick her too-small table when I saw Dane's amused expression, pointing to the literally too-small-to-fit-a-human table. I tucked my indignation back in and waited to be treated.

"Who's first?" Dr. Rob asked, disappointment flashing on her face briefly when Dane said my name. She'd been looking forward to getting her hands on him again.

The thought of anyone else touching him lit a fire of jealousy deep inside me and I wondered if he felt the same way. I must have been contemplating that a little harder than I'd realized or I'd lost more blood than I thought because I missed it when she called my name the first time.

"Jax? Are you ready?" Her tone, calm and firm, said we were starting whether I was ready or not. "Take off your shirt, please."

Dane didn't look away, both of us sucking in a breath for different reasons as I pulled the shirt over my head. Me from the pain of raising my arms above my head and him from watching me undress, seeing more of my bare skin, even if it was covered in cuts and bruises. I thanked the heavens, though I was pretty sure no one up there wanted to take credit for it, that I'd chosen a matching black bra and panty set.

I only flinched once when the needle for the local anesthetic pierced the skin below my ribs. Dane hadn't overstated her surgical skills. She stitched me up in record time with a precision that ensured minimal scaring. Patched up, I grabbed my shirt and started to move out of the way so she could sew up Dane.

"Wait. Looks like there's a nasty gash on the back of your leg. Better let me have a look at it." Dr. Rob picked up the dreaded squeeze bottle of water to flush out the wound. Cleaning hurt worse than stitching. "You'll have to remove your pants."

I sighed, a wave of self-consciousness hitting me at the thought of dropping trow in front of someone who looked like her. Misinterpreting my reaction as shyness, she asked Dane to wait outside in the hall.

"I'm not leaving her side." His voice and expression dared me to argue. I was too tired to even bother.

I turned, getting her up close and personal with my backside as I unzipped my jeans, stepping out of them when they hit the floor. A string of expletives flew from my mouth as she prepped and scrubbed my leg. Another prick of the needle followed by several hard tugs and she'd completed another set of perfect sutures.

Without thinking, I bent over to pick up my clothes, providing Dane with a better view than he'd had any of the nights he'd watched me from outside my apartment. He shuffled uncomfortably in his chair, practically sitting on his hands to prevent himself from groping me in front of the good doctor. Fully aware of his effort to restrain himself, I took my time getting dressed, sliding the jeans slowly up my legs. I put my shirt on, pulling my hair through the neck before the rest of the back of the tee slipped down, exposing the wings tattooed on my back for the first time.

Dane stood, lifting my top back up, hooking the hem on my shoulders before tracing the outline of each wing. Nothing overtly sexual, still it promised something more. Shivers wracked my body under his touch. I wanted him, wanted his hands to explore more than just the artwork on my back.

"It's perfect." He said a lot in those two words.

Acceptance, safety, desire, passion, so many feelings packed into a few syllables. The air between us was charged with a need and, for a moment, the world faded away.

Until the doctor cleared her throat, breaking the tension.

"If you'd like, I could wait outside in the hall, but we are working within a small window of opportunity to close those wounds." Her words were clipped, no doubt from irritation and even a twinge of jealousy.

I got the impression she did more than stitch him up the last time he was here. I doubted Dane made any promises or alluded to something more, nevertheless, when she first saw him walk through the door, she hoped he was back for her.

And then she caught sight of me.

Dane seductively stripped down to his boxers with a ‘pay backs are a bitch’ look on his face and let Dr. Rob go to work. Too bad he didn't notice she had a similar expression on her face. She'd gotten liberal with the water to flush out his wounds and frugal with the anesthetic. Poor guy felt every one of his fifty-four stitches.

A couple hours later, we were in the lobby stuffing a few dollars in the money slot in a cardboard box on the side table in the waiting area, picking from the less than healthy selection of snack items. Beggars can't be choosers, so I took the cinnamon Pop Tarts and a pack of peanut butter crackers while Dane selected the granola bar and a pack of oatmeal cookies. Because what else do you eat after fighting a legion of demons and receiving medical treatment?

I followed Dane outside, still trying to trade one of my crackers for a cookie. Engrossed in my attempt to barter snack foods, I missed it when he stopped, bumping into the back of him and spilling half the pack of crackers. I started to bitch about losing my gourmet dinner when I felt their presence.

Shit just got real.

"You entered the church."

"Nice to see you, too, Thomas."

"You went into the church, followed Lazarus."

"You obviously know I did. Isn't that why you sent me there?"

"And when you saw the number of demons, when you heard him, you felt it wise to continue. Outnumbered, under armed. With the Sin Eater as your back up?"

"Thomas." His brother Joseph issued a warning with just his name.

"What did they find down there?" Dane tried to steer the conversation away from him and back to more pressing matters.

"What they were looking for is of no consequence to you. Let's go, Jax." Thomas lasered his focus on me, laying down the gauntlet. Whether I chose him or followed him because I was duty bound was irrelevant.

"Actually, it is of consequence to him." I said, throwing his words back at him. "He saved my ass back there. I could have died in that basement if not for Dane."

"You can't die." Joseph reminded me, already tired of the theatrics.

Dane raised a quizzical brow at Joseph's statement, but I waved him off. I'd explain the bonus clause in my divine contract later. I needed to clarify a few things with Thomas first.

"Well, I could have been taken and something tells me I'd wish I were dead if that happened. That church would still be teeming with demons if I didn't have his help. There's no way I could have cleared that many on my own. I don't care how well you trained me. Outnumbered is outnumbered. Plain and simple. He's on our side, my side, and that's where he's staying."

"He's on no one's side. That's the problem." Thomas's voice was about a decibel below a shout. "That's always been the problem. He upsets the balance, defies the rules, and cares for no one except himself."

"I care for her." Tired of everyone talking about him like he wasn't there, Dane came to his own defense. "I care for Jax more deeply than I have for another in all the years I've roamed this Earth."

He spoke to Thomas, but looked at me, willing me to believe what he said was true. His eyes begging me to choose him over Thomas because he couldn't bear it if I walked away again, forcing him to stay in the shadows, following me, with only stolen glimpses and no contact.

He loved me? I must have heard him wrong. My chest tightened, my stomach flipped. I wasn't sure if I wanted to jump in his arms or throw up. My emotions warred with my body as elation over those three words competed with fear that I'd screw it up.

"I must say, you're pretty convincing, and yet you can't honestly expect her to believe anything you say. Not after you lied to her before. About Joan, about who she is, who you were working for." Thomas went in for the kill.

"He told me the truth when he realized what was happening. That he was being used, he told me." I stepped between them, coming to Dane's defense when he clearly didn't need me to.

"You mean all the things that you knew about her? The things you've known since the moment of her conception? When her Nephilim father fell? When the rest of the Elioud fell, ensuring she became the Chosen? When she almost fell herself? When demons haunted her every step, whispered darkness in her ears, tormented her sleep for the last five years? Those same things?" Dane cut the legs out from underneath Thomas's argument and went in for a kill shot of his own. His was by far more effective than the angel's.

Thomas's crumpled expression gave him away. The truth hurts and Dane's words had been devastating. My angel ward clenched his fists, prepared to defy further orders and possibly cross the line, increasing the ranks of the fallen by one.

"Enough," Joseph roared, interrupting the argument before it came to physical blows. He knew the dangerous path his brother walked and would see me with Dane for no other reason than to save him. "Tobias is waiting back at the apartment. The Sin Eater comes with us."

The walk back to Bolton Hill was awkward, to say the least, with Thomas brooding beside his brother leading the way. Dane and I fell in step behind them with our hands locked together. It felt a little bit like rubbing salt in an open wound, but Thomas needed to see it, needed to believe what Dane said, and that I felt the same before he did something rash and it was too late. He was a power, pure in heart and deed, and he needed to remain so. I wouldn't allow that to change for some misguided infatuation with me.

Tobias greeted us
at the door, a dire look on his face as we shuffled into the apartment. He caught sight of Dane and nodded in my direction, relieved I'd understood his message. I hadn't chosen one way or the other because of what Tobias, Thomas, or even Dane said. It was something I felt—maybe it was destiny or fate. Whatever it was, Dane and I were supposed to be together.

I went to the fridge and grabbed two bottles of water, a platter of meats and cheeses, and a bowl of grapes, setting them down on the coffee table by the couch. I'd eaten both Pop Tarts and all of the crackers on the way home. The carb-laden snacks barely put a dent in my hunger. I needed to eat, to rebuild my strength, if I had any hope of making it through whatever bad news Tobias had to tell us.

"They found the book."

Thomas stopped moping, his expression changing to one of shock at Tobias's statement. Joseph seemed stricken. I shoved a piece of cheese in my mouth as Dane settled in beside me, both of us trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

"What book?"

Thomas opened his mouth, no doubt to snap at Dane again, when Tobias spoke up. "The book that chronicles the history of the Spear and its movements."

"What spear?" Even as Dane asked the question, I could see realization dawn on his face. "
The
spear? The Spear of Destiny?"

Just when I thought things were bad, they got worse.

"The only weapon that can kill me, completing my contract with the Devil and, through my death, unlock Tartarus, freeing the ninety remaining fallen who've no doubt become darker in their imprisonment than the ten who remained behind and became demons." I suddenly lost my appetite, taking a swig of water to rinse the taste of cheese turned to ash from my mouth.

"What were the odds of the book being in that church? If I'd have thought for one moment it was here in the city, I'd have torn Baltimore apart myself." Thomas shoved his hands through his shoulder-length blond hair, taking his frustrations out on his beautiful locks.

"I'd say pretty damn good, considering she's here." Tobias pointed at me. "For some reason, everything is converging on this city. The Chosen, the Chronicle, an infestation of demons influencing the populace. We should have expected this. We've been two steps behind, out-maneuvered at every turn. It's time we went on the offensive. Strike now while they least expect it."

Dane and I looked at each other, coming to the same conclusion. Tobias was right. If the demons found this book, basically a map to the Spear, it wouldn't be long before they found it. And then found me.

"What do you have in mind?" I leaned forward, elbows on knees, and started to rest my head in my hands then thought better of it when I felt my stitches tug.

"We start taking out the nests." Tobias unrolled a map of the city, sliding the plate of food to the side to make room, and spread it out over the table. "I've highlighted around the areas where the highest concentrations are and circled the buildings they've taken refuge in."

"These are all old churches." I'd familiarized myself with most of the churches in the area a couple years ago, back when I was still trying to figure out if I was banned from just one or all of them without my soul. Even then, the majority of them were closed down. "How can they be hiding out on holy ground? How were they at that church tonight?"

"A church only remains sacred so long as it houses the followers of God. Once the people and the prayers have moved on, there's nothing left to maintain the holy consecration." As if sensing my next question, why had I been prevented from stepping foot on the grounds, Tobias continued. "There's residual power for a year or two. After that? Nothing. It is officially up for grabs."

"I never realized how many abandoned churches there were in the city. That's a lot of ground to cover." Dane poured over the map, trying to figure out where we were earlier in conjunction to the others.

"Congregations merge as the flocks thin. Hard times and a lack of faith have primed the city for an insurgency. I think we should start here." Tobias tapped his pointer finger on a circle just outside neutral ground, a few blocks from the apartment. "If we need to beat a hasty retreat, we won't have far to go. If we're successful in annihilating the first nest, we press on before the demons can sound an alarm."

"We'll need supplies. Weapons." Thomas began pacing, making a list of the things we'd need in order for our operation to succeed.

Tobias rose from his position, bent over the map, and looked at Thomas. What did I say before? From bad to worse. If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn this hunter gig came with some psychic abilities. Tobias cleared his throat, not once but twice, displeased with whatever it was he had to say and dreading the reaction he'd receive once he did.

"You'll be working directly with the Principles, Thomas. They've asked that you fulfill the position of herald, bringing news back and forth between us and them. I am your primary contact, from my position here, which will continue to serve as our home base. I'm sorry, Thomas, truly."

"A messenger? How am I to help her from there?" Thomas voiced his frustration, even though he knew he could not defy his orders.

"You will be a great help, providing information the Principles procure from negotiations only they have the authority to approve. Without it, we could be fighting blind. Joseph is in charge of munitions. If he has need of a specific relic, he is to bring his request to you. You are overseeing the entire operation from a vantage point we all envy." Tobias did his best to defuse the anger rolling off of my ward, highlighting the importance of his new role.

"And what of Jax?" The pain and regret in Thomas's eyes rocked me to my core.

So many things unsaid between us. Most of them would and should remain that way, as if giving voice to his feelings gave them life and by doing so propelled him into damnation. Knowing it was for the best, that nothing came of our time together, didn't make it easier to say goodbye.

"The time for us to take up the sword has long since passed us by, brother. We serve in other ways, influencing the course of events, never the driving force behind them. Jax has chosen who will stand by her side in the face of evil and she has chosen wisely. I've engaged in more than one negotiation with the Sin Eater and have always found him honorable. One misguided decision should not be cause for immediate condemnation. The Principles have accepted my recommendation on this matter. I ask that you do the same." Tobias moved closer, clasping Thomas's forearm, pulling him into a half-hug. "You need time to atone, for prayer and reflection, reconnect with the host. Rejoice in your time with Him, serving Him and your brethren."

The last bit was meant for Thomas alone, but it was impossible for the rest of us not to hear him. Joseph went to his brother in life and in service to God, offering consolation and a prayer he find peace and purpose once he rejoined his fellow powers. With an arm slung over his shoulder, Joseph walked his brother toward the door. Their wings, in all their glory, were visible as they turned away. Thomas was leaving without so much as a backward glance.

I didn't blame him. I don't think I could bear it if he did.

With each step, the brothers faded, their physical forms dissipating until there was nothing left apart from a single feather on the floor. I rushed to pick it up, recognizing the opalescent sheen as Thomas's, my fingers absently stroking the soft down. I took it to my room, carefully stowing it in the top drawer of my nightstand as a keepsake before rejoining Tobias and Dane in the living room.

Dane took my hand in his, giving it a squeeze before entwining our fingers, acknowledging losing Thomas was difficult for me. He'd been a part of my life in one form or another for the last few years, a rarity since I didn't let many people in. Without realizing it until he'd gone, Thomas was my touchstone. And I missed him instantly. Adjusting to life without him, without the consistency of his presence, would be painful, awkward. The hole left behind would eventually fill with other things. But I'd always know what I had and what I lost because I couldn't be more, couldn't feel more for him. And even if I could, it was forbidden.

With a heavy heart and mind, I raised Dane's hand, placing a kiss on his knuckles and turned my focus back to the problem at hand.

The demons.

"Are you ready?" Tobias asked, more than one or even two meanings to that question.

"As I'll ever be."