Sentinel Lost (Mind Sweeper Series Book 5) (27 page)

She squeezed my hands, and I marveled at her childlike enthusiasm coupled with innate, natural wisdom…except when I looked into her eyes. They gazed back at me with a mix of melancholy. As if she had a secret she wasn’t ready to tell.

I squeezed her hands back. “I’m not going anywhere, Trina.”

Chapter 33

I was still buzzing from my banana French toast sugar overload as I walked through the office parking garage to the elevator. A limo pulled up to me and stopped, blocking my path. The back window rolled down, and there was Nicholas. And just like that, my buzz disappeared.

He gave me a slight nod. “Kyle.”

“Nicholas. What brings you back to the office so soon?”

His eyebrow rose at my question. “The case. May we talk for a moment?”

The driver got out of the car, circled around the back, and opened the door for me.

“We’ve been keeping you apprised on what’s going on.”

“Yes. Misha just filled me in on your interview with Sylvia. Please, Kyle. Get in.”

I crossed my arms over my chest.

“We won’t leave the garage.”

I settled in the seat across from him, and the driver closed the door with a soft
click
.

Nicholas continued, “Do you think this Sylvia will be able to find the demons?”

“I think she has a better chance of locating them than we do. She is part of their world.”

“And then what?” Nicholas asked.

“We get the artifacts and send the demons back to their realm.”

Nicholas leaned forward slightly. “That’s the short-term answer.”

I blinked at him. “I’m not following you.”

“How do we keep this from happening again, Kyle? How do we protect the Key?”

I frowned. “I won’t let you hurt Dalton.”

He held up his hands, palms out. “I have no intention of hurting Joe. According to Misha, he hasn’t shown any sign of remembering or of possessing the Key. We have to assume the Key has moved on.”

I swallowed hard. Was he fishing for information? Did he know I possessed it now? Or, rather, that it possessed me? “What are you saying, then?”

He paused as if to collect his thoughts. “I’m saying you’re trying to cure the symptoms without understanding the disease. Why are they after the Key in the first place?”

* * *

I left Nicholas in the garage, my mind spinning with his questions. When I entered the office, I found Jean Luc, Misha, and Dalton taking turns pacing like expectant fathers. At least I wasn’t the only one going stir-crazy. I poured a cup of coffee, because caffeine was absolutely what I needed right now, and sat at the office table between Jean Luc and Dalton. It was Misha’s turn to pace in front of the whiteboard.

“Where are Talia and Jason?”

Jean Luc answered, “Talia is meeting with Sandy, the fledgling from the coffee house. She is trying to teach her how to acclimate to her powers.”

“She’s got her work cut out with that one.”

“Jason’s gone to the lab to drop some things off,” Misha added.

I sat up straighter. “I hope Doc’s there. It’s time those two talked,” I added for Dalton’s benefit. “They’re fighting their attraction for each other. Hopefully, they’ll both get over their stubbornness.” I took a sip of my coffee. “I’ve been thinking, guys.”

Misha and Jean Luc exchanged cryptic glances.

“What?”

“Usually when you start with that sentence we end up in trouble,” Misha said.

I scowled at them. “You’re exaggerating.”

“Case 69742—you had an idea for how to trap that kleptomaniac Traman demon, and I ended up with thirty stiches in my posterior. Case 96832—you came up with a way to track the shifter cage fighting ring, and Jean Luc had to sleep for forty-eight hours to recuperate from ingesting bad blood.”

“Okay! This is what I get for hanging around a demon with an infallible memory. You going to let me talk now?”

I took their silent glares and Dalton’s slightly amused look as permission to continue. “I ran into Nicholas in the parking garage.”

“With your car?” Misha asked.

“No! I mean I talked to him. He brought up a good question. We haven’t been thinking about why this demon is after the Key.”

“Because of the power associated with it?” Jean Luc suggested.

“Yes, of course. But there has to be a reason why someone wants power. I mean, why would you escape the realm and then rob a museum and kill a guard? If your wish is to live on earth, why call attention to yourself?”

Misha picked up a marker from the whiteboard tray and rolled it between his palms. “He wants the Key to control earth?”

“Maybe. Or does he want the Key to help free the other demons from the realm? I’ve been thinking about Sylvia.”

“I wish she would call,” Misha groused. “She’d better not flake on us.”

“I don’t think she will. I’ve been thinking about what she said.”

“Which part? She was on her soapbox for a while,” Dalton said.

“About the demon realm. We don’t know whether they’re all truly bad or not. None of us know what really happened during the war that forced the demon realm closed. And I would like to have more information about how and why only certain clans were forced into the realm. It doesn’t feel right to me. Didn’t Katya tell us history is written by the victors?”

Dalton turned to Misha. “Can we talk to Irina again and see what she remembers? Maybe she can shed some light on it.”

“I don’t see why not.
Babushka
loves to talk about the past.”

Sixty minutes later, Jean Luc pulled into the Shamat compound, and Misha directed him to the community building. “
Babushka
will meet us here.”

We were greeted by a very pissed off Aleksei. “Why do you keep bringing these people into our private compound?”

Misha sighed. “Aleksei, I don’t have time to fight with you. I’m here to see
Babushka
on official business.”

“Grandmother doesn’t need this stress in her life.”

“She has been more alive in the past few days than I’ve seen her in years. She wants to help, Aleksei. We’re trying to stop a killer.”

“Yes. And because of you, we had a portal open inside the compound. We don’t need any more trouble,
brother
.”

Misha stood toe to toe with him and spoke between his teeth. “I’m not here looking for trouble,
brother
.”

Whoa. Childhood baggage alert, line one. “Guys…umm. Let’s take a deep breath, okay? You’re right, Aleksei, the last thing we wanted to do was bring danger to the compound. But right now, your Grandmother might be able to provide us with some information to help stop the killer.”

“And how do you think she can help do that?”

I answered, “She was alive when the realm was shut down. We need to hear about what actually happened. You’re more than welcome to sit in on the conversation with us.”

Aleksei’s eyes widened at the invitation. “I’ll do that.”

I nodded, and we all walked into the community room. Irina was once again sitting at the front of the room at the head table. Misha was right. Her eyes sparkled when she saw us, and she smiled with obvious delight.

“Good to see you up and about, Joe. Kyle.”

Misha leaned down and kissed her cheek.

Irina frowned, although it did not reach her eyes. “Mikhail, I am meeting with you in my official elder capacity. No kisses.”

Misha winked. “Yes,
Babush
…I mean, Irina.”

She gestured for us to sit, and the four of us sat across from her. Aleksei strode around the table and sat next to her. His stiff body language screamed that he would put a stop to the conversation if he could.

“Mikhail told me you wanted to discuss the time before the wars?”

“Yes,” I said. “Do you remember what it was like before the realm demons were sent away?”

“Vaguely. I was a small child then. But Katya may be able to help.”

The door behind Irina opened, and Katya entered the room. Aleksei jumped to his feet, clasped her hand, and escorted her to a seat on the other side of Irina. He squeezed her hand slightly and smiled at her before taking his seat. He’d just moved one notch lower on my pompous ass meter.

Irina spoke. “Since Katya is older than I am, she may be better able to answer your questions.”

Katya grimaced. “I’m not
that
much older than you, Irina, so don’t make them treat me like I’m infirm.”

Irina smiled. “Of course not.”

“Go ahead with your questions.”

I started. “You both mentioned the last time we spoke that before the wars demons could move freely back and forth between earth and the demon realm.”

“Yes. There were established portals then, so you could travel back and forth whenever you wanted. My father went there on business quite frequently. He was the second in command for our clan, and the clan council often met in the demon realm.”

“When did the fighting begin?” I asked.

“I was a young woman then. But I heard others talk about it. How the clans had begun to squabble among themselves about land and possessions. And then, one night, several of our males came home bloodied. They’d been attacked by a neighboring clan who had always been friends with us. More stories came to our small village. And as the fighting escalated, humans became part of the casualties.”

“Did you interact with humans?” Dalton asked.

“Back then, there were far fewer people, and so much land the demon clans were able to avoid humans. But when the war grew, so did the bloodshed.”

Katya looked up slightly, as if losing herself in her memories for a moment. “My father would come home and tell my mother how things were going. We lived in a small hut, and he would wait until my brother and I were asleep to discuss it with her. He told us we were too young to hear about war. But sometimes I would pretend to sleep and listen to his reports.

“And they were scary. How he didn’t think the fighting would end soon. How every clan wanted to dominate the others. Then we started hearing rumors that the clans were banding together. The Majock and Kelmar were first. Then the Dragans, Lagfel, and Palthat joined them. They were the strongest clans, and when they came together, they destroyed the weaker ones.”

“How did the war finally end?”

Katya frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean how were the demons with weaker powers able to force the stronger ones to remain in the realm?”

“One night, several clan leaders came to our village. They met in secret. I followed them to a clearing and hid in the trees. The leaders were standing around a campfire discussing how to stop the invading clans.

“While they talked, a male appeared in the circle. He was unlike anyone I had met before, and I knew he was not a demon.”

I sat up straighter. “Another supernatural? A vamp or a shifter?”

“He was not a vampire. Vampires wanted nothing to do with our war. I think they hoped we would annihilate each other so they would not have to deal with us any longer.”

Jean Luc leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. “That makes sense.”

“And it wasn’t a shifter. Shifters were just evolving back then. They were skittish of anything outside their packs. I think the male I saw that night was an angel.”

My breath hitched. “An angel. The same ones who always tell us they don’t get involved? Those angels?”

Katya lifted her brows and tilted her head with a small smile. “One and the same.”

“What did this angel have to say?”

“He talked about the clans standing up together. He said he could close the portals permanently and trap the power-hungry demons in the realm. But someone would need to watch over the realm to ensure they didn’t escape.”

“The portal guard,” Dalton said.

“Yes.”

“Did you see the angel again, Katya?”

“No. But within a year, the wars had ended, and the most aggressive clans were trapped in the realm. Members of the patrol were chosen from each clan to oversee the in between.”

“And you had peace after that?” I asked.

Katya and Irina chuckled together before Irina spoke. “We have as much peace as any other species on earth. We still squabble, but the threat of being sent to the realm has squelched many uprisings.”

“And do you think the punishment fit the crime?” I asked.

Katya paused for a moment. “I think most who are left in the realm are not the ones who caused the strife to begin with. I think they should be free, as should the portal guards who have given up their lives for generations to protect us.”

Irina frowned. “I agree to a certain extent, but a millennia of animosity can build into an ugliness that could explode on earth. If we were to ever consider letting them come here, we would need to proceed with caution.”

I said, “I think, after our visit to the realm, I would have to agree with you.”

Katya’s eyes widened. “Tell me about the realm, what was it like?”