The Mephisto Covenant (5 page)

Jax hoped they’d find Boggs soon. He wasn’t sure how long he co
uld last before his frustration
caused him to do something really stupid, like abandon the search. Key would kick his ass, then call a council, and his brothers might give him six months of solitary on Kyanos, the tiny island in the north Atlantic where they grew up. Still, it might be worth the risk, just to see Sasha again and relieve the unsettled feeling that was gnawing at him. He had a sense of urgency that began as soon as he heard the alarm, almost a premonition. He needed to get to Sasha as soon as possible.

---

Time passed in fast-forward, every second bringing Sasha closer to the moment when she’d have to say good-bye to Mom. She had to pack anything she wanted to take to Colorado and box up what wouldn’t fit in her suitcase; the boxes would be shipped to her later by a friend of Mom’s from work.

Numb, her mind strangely blank, Sasha jacked up the volume on her iPod and packed as fast as possible. When she was done, she went to her mom’s room and he
lped her, listening to her sing
songs she’d learned as a child in the small village in the Urals where she grew up. She’d been singing those songs to Sasha since she could remember. They usually made her happy, but today they made her angry. “Was it all a lie, Mom? Did you really grow up on a sheep farm?” “Yes, Sasha. My family owned
several properties, but I spent
most of my childhood there, with the housekeeper, Marta.” “How did you meet Dad?” “I applied for a visa to the U
nited States and was denied. He
knew about it, and contacted me, to see if I’d be willing to help him in exchange for him seeing that I got the visa.”

“Did you love him, or did you only marry him so you could become a citizen?”

Mom dropped the sweater she was folding and turned to her, looking hurt. “How can you ask? Of course I loved him! Would I have stayed married to him if I didn’t? It’s not as if our marriage made any difference to me becoming a citizen.”

Sasha picked up another sweater and folded it, trying hard not to cry, wishing none of this were happening. She waffled between anger at her mother for not telling her about Dad, and feeling sad and afraid for her. If Mom had told her, she wouldn’t have gone to that stupid meeting last night. She wouldn’t have been nearly killed. But listening to her mother cry softly, she felt horrible for her. “Maybe you should have gotten rid of the lockbox. Taken all the letters and memos and pictures and destroyed them.”

“I know that now, but I never dreamed anyone even knew about it. Until Alex showed up, I hadn’t thought about that lockbox in several years. Now, it’s too late. If I were to go to Geneva, I’d be followed and the papers and photographs would be taken from me before I could destroy them. All I can do is refuse to hand over the box number and code.” She looked up from the trunk she was packing. “Someone may come to you and ask to have the box number, but you’ll know nothing, and this is how it should be.”

“I just don’t get what could be so bad about what’s in the box.”

Mom sat on the edge of the bed. “I don’t remember a lot of what’s there, but to give you an example, I recall a taped phone conversation between a man in Afghanistan and a man in Britain who gave him the name of an arms dealer in exchange for fifty thousand pounds. When the tape was made, the British man was a low-level staff of a member of parliament. ” Mom turned to look at her. “Now, years later, he’s planning to run for prime minister. Can you imagine if that tape fell into the wrong hands?”

Sasha sank to the bed. “Maybe it’d be good if people know he’s a scumbag. Or maybe the British police would arrest him.”

“I doubt there’s anything else that would provide enough solid evidence to arrest him, but if it hit the news, of course he’d be ruined. If he’s elected prime minister, Alex’s boss would threaten him with the tape to force him into policies favorable to Russia, even if they were bad for Great Britain. And that’s just one example.”

“If you can’t go to Geneva, maybe I could. No one will be following me.”

Mom shook her head vehemently while she got to her feet.

“Out of the question, Sasha. It’s far too dangerous.” “If it meant keeping you from getting hassled by Alex’s boss,

or anyone else in Russia, wouldn’t it be worth it?” “I can handle them. What I could never handle is something happening to you. It’s not a solution I’ll consider, ever, so let it be.” She bent to the floor and opened the air return for the heater, pulled out the filter, then reached into the wall to withdraw a white plastic tube, maybe two feet long. Standing, she turned to Sasha and handed it to her. “This is the painting I found in Vladivostok. Keep it safe and don’t ever show it to anyone, especially not to Tim. He’ll s
ell it, or give it to a museum,
and that cannot happen. Do you understand?” Sasha nodded, grasping the tube in both hands. “When I showed it to Alex
, I noticed it was beginning to
flake, so I had it sealed in this tube to protect it. It’s best if you don’t take it out. Find somewhere safe to hide it.”

“If it’s valuable, why don’t we sell it? We could go somewhere and be together, like South America.”

“We can never sell it. The value of it to us isn’t the art.” Mom drew her close, shaking with emotion. “I love you very much, Alexandra.”

With the tube in one hand, she clung to her mother, her heart breaking into a billion pieces. She was so afraid—for herself, for Mom. What would happen to her in Russia? “I can’t believe this is happening.”

Mom hugged her more tightly before she dropped her arms and turned away. “It’s only for a little while that you’ll be with Tim and Melanie. After you graduate next May, I’ll have something worked out and we can spend the summer together . . . somewhere. Then you’ll be at university.” She reached into her purse and withdrew an envelope. “This is cash I keep in case the bank goes from business. It’s almost two thousand dollars, all I have to give you on this short notice, so keep it safe and spend wisely. If you need something, Tim will get it for you, and I will pay him back as soon as I’m able.”

Sasha folded the bills in half and shoved them into her pocket. “Why was there bad blood? Why did Dad and his sister hate each other?”

Her mother looked down at the white tube in Sasha’s hand. “Your papa never hated her, because he couldn’t hate. He was born that way, a good soul.” She raised her gaze to Sasha’s. “But some are born with darkness they can’t escape. Mikhael tried to be a brother to her, but she was jealous and angry of anything he did, always looking for some way to hurt him. It’s why she seduced his best friend to marry her, to drive a wedge. Tim was once a handsome man, but marriage to her and his lost friendship with Mikhael made him what he is now.”

“She’ll hate me.” Mom flinched and turned away, toward the bedroom door.

“She may resent you, Sasha, but no one could hate you.” Remembering the Ravens’ rage against her, Sasha knew that wasn’t true. They hated her so much, they had wanted her to die.

In the living room, Tim was watching TV. As they came in, Sasha saw another familiar face on the screen and heard her mother gasp. Alex Kasamov’s car had been found idling on the Golden Gate Bridge, his cell phone, laptop, and briefcase still in the seat. Alex had vanished.

The police assumed he was a jumper.

---

By the time they found the spirit of Frank Boggs, it was past three o’clock in California. With anxiety practically choking him, Jax hurriedly showered and put on clean clothes, then popped himself to Oakland.

In the lobby of her building, he looked at the mailboxes and ground his teeth in frustration. No names. Mallick hadn’t come inside, just followed and watched Sasha. While Jax stood there debating whether he’d have to pop into every apartment in the building to find her, the elevator doors opened and a guy with a load of furniture on a dolly wheeled out. His uniform was marked with a thrift store logo. Jax didn’t pay him much attention, until he noticed one of the boxes had the name Annenkova written across it.

“Hey,” he called out to the guy, “let me get the door for you.” “Thanks.” As soon as they were outside on the sidewalk, Jax asked,

“Somebody moving? I’m looking for a place, and it’s slim pickings.”

“Two bedroom, up on five. Weirdest thing, man. Like they took off in a hurry. All this nice stuff, left behind.” Jax’s heart stopped. “Yeah, t
hat is weird. Wonder where they
went . . . ?” “Beats me, but maybe that lady
up there could tell you if the
apartment’s available.” “Lady?”

“Yeah, she’s the one who called us to pick this stuff up. Number five-twelve.”

Jax went back inside and dematerialized, popping up to five. The apartment was at the end of the hall, last one on the right. The door was open and a woman stood in the empty living room, writing something on a clipboard. “Hello,” he said after rapping on the door, “I’m looking for Sasha Annenkova. Is she around?”

“I’m sorry, no,” the woman said, looking uncomfortable. “Sasha moved away today.”

Damn and hell. Thinking fast, he walked closer to the woman, but not too close. He had on shades, but humans didn’t need to see his eyes to be afraid. They could sense it, knew instinctively that he was dangerous, something dark and evil. She looked tense, though not quite frightened. “She didn’t tell me she was moving. Isn’t this kinda sudden?”

“Yes, it was very sudden. Something of a family emergency.” “Are you family?” “Oh, no, I worked with Sash
a’s mother. I’m just closing up
the apartment for them.” Why had she left in such a hurry? Was it because of what happened last night? Had the Ravens’ stoning scared her enough that she moved? This was his worst nightmare. He found an Anabo, one meant for him, and now she was gone. No wonder he’d felt so unsettled all day.

His entire life, he’d been susceptible to premonitions. It was part of the reason he was the one who led his brothers during takedowns. He knew before they popped into a situation if something was off, which is why he’d gone ahead of everyone last night, because he’d felt edgy. They’d planned the Ravens takedown for over a week, ever since Zee saw a lost soul at a concert in San Francisco, followed the guy home, then to school, where he discovered thirteen others. As soon as they’d found the group’s Skia, Phoenix worked out a plan to take them out, but just before they were set to leave the Mephisto Mountain, Jax was hit by a bad vibe. He told them to give him ten minutes, and went ahead.

The instant he landed in that warehouse, he saw the golden glow of Anabo surrounding the blonde girl in the center of the room, and a nanosecond later, he was awash in the sweet, salty scent of her. He’d found his Anabo, a moment he’d anticipated for over a thousand years.

Now, she was gone, and he’d do whatever it took to find her.

Quickly assessing the situation, he knew this called for some serious acting. And lying. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his trench coat to keep himself from grabbing the woman and scaring the information out of her, and said hesitantly, “I, uhm, go to school with Sasha. We, uh, well, we go out, and . . .” He forced a look of total confusion and distress to his face. “I don’t get why she didn’t call, didn’t tell me.”

“She didn’t have time, but I’m sure she’ll call you once she gets where she’s going.”

“I hope so. We have tickets to a concert tonight.”

“Oh.” The woman looked conflicted. “Actually, I don’t think she’ll be there. She didn’t move somewhere else in town. She moved to Colorado, to stay with her aunt and uncle for a while.”

“Do you know where in Colorado? My family owns a house in Telluride, so maybe when we go for Christmas, I can see Sasha. Is she anywhere close to Telluride?”

The woman smiled then, obviously pleased. “What a happy coincidence! That’s where she’s staying.”

He didn’t believe in coincidence. Everything was connected, everything happened for a reason. Sasha moving to Telluride, only twenty miles from the Mephisto Mountain, was a sign from God, a return on the deal he made with Jax and his brothers so many centuries ago. The Mephisto Covenant. If they kept Eryx from taking over Hell, they would each find an Anabo, and if each could win his Anabo—if she stayed and became Mephisto— they would have what they wanted more than anything: peace in their restless, angry souls and the same chance of Heaven as every other human.

Elation made him return her smile, watt for watt, before he turned and left the apartment, w
ent to the end of the hall, and
disappeared. Seconds later, he was back in Colorado, bugging the new Lumina, Brody, a major computer geek, to find out the name of Sasha’s uncle.

---

Sasha remembered breaking her arm when she was twelve, during a volleyball game. At first, she hadn’t felt anything but a jarring sensation, then it was a couple of minutes later before the pain of the break hit her.

Flying into Telluride on a dinky puddle jumper they’d caught in Denver, she stared out at the mountains and wondered if this was like when she’d broken her arm. She felt nothing now, but it couldn’t last.

Tim never said much at all, didn’t speak unless she asked him a question, then answered in short, curt sentences.

They got off the plane, collected her luggage, and went out to the parking lot, to a Toyota sedan. The drive into town was as silent as the flight. She stared straight ahead, uninterested in the houses, the turn-of-the-century buildings, the quaint shops. Once or twice, the memory of last night came to mind, but she shoved it away and concentrated on the clouds overhead. They were thick and dark, turning everything gloomy.

Her mother’s voice was in her head, making her throat tight with unshed tears, but she wasn’t going to think about it right now. She wondered what her friends at school were doing, how everyone took the news about the Ravens. They’d never know Sasha went to that meeting. Not that it mattered now. She’d probably never see any of her friends again. Tim eventually turned o
ff of the main street and drove
through a neighborhood of old Victorian houses, until he pulled into the driveway of one that was painted green, maroon, and pale pink. Most of the houses on this street were nice, but the Shrivers’ paint was peeling, the yard was overgrown with dead weeds, and the front porch sagged on one end. The detached garage wasn’t in any better shape.

Tim parked in the drive next to a Hummer and opened his door. “Let’s go in and I’ll send the boys for your luggage.”

She followed him to the back door, then inside, into a kitchen that smelled like burned coffee. Dirty dishes covered the countertops, and M&M’s were scattered across the floor. “Melanie!”

His shout startled her, but she didn’t move from where she stood, just behind and to the right of him. Footsteps approached, and she prepared to meet her aunt, who was bound to hate her.

Instead of a woman, a guy with spiky blond hair and a Jay-Z T-shirt came around the corner of the entryway into the family room. He looked straight at Sasha and frowned. “Who the hell are you?”

Tim grasped her arm to pull her forward. “This is your cousin, Sasha. She’s going to be staying with us for a while. Sasha, this is Brett, my oldest boy.”

“Hello,” she said without smiling. Why would she smile at a guy who just gave her the once-over, stopping to stare at her boobs before he met her gaze and grimaced, making it clear she didn’t measure up? What a tool. “Go get her bags and take them
up to the guest room,” Tim
said. “Is her leg broken? I’m not th
e f’ing bellboy.” He turned and
left the kitchen. Expecting Tim to go after him, or at least yell for him to
come back, she couldn’t believe it when instead he walked to the refrigerator and said over his shoulder, “Wait for Chris to get home and he’ll get your bags.”

“I can do it, if you’ll just tell me where to take them.”

With a slice of cold pizza in his thick fingers and the first bite in his mouth, he walked past her toward the family room. “First door on the left at the top of the stairs.”

Ten minutes later, just as she reached the landing with her second bag, the front door opened in the foyer below and she heard a woman say, “Is she here?”

Tim, who was parked in a gigantic recliner in front of the TV, said, “She is.”

“You lousy bastard, I can’t believe you’d bring that son of a bitch’s kid into my house. You have no right!”

“It’s my house and my best friend’s daughter. If you don’t like it, leave.”

“Maybe I will.” “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.” Sasha had turned to look d
own, but Melanie never noticed,
moving out of sight and into the family room without glancing up. The door remained open, until a guy with dark hair walked in, closed it behind him, then looked up and saw her. He darted his eyes toward the angry voices in the den before he headed up the stairs. “You must be Sasha.”

“You must be Chris.”

He took the bag from her hand and walked toward the guest room. She followed and watched him set it on one of the twin beds before he turned to look at her. “Dad said he was bringing you here to live with us. Bummer about your mom.”

Sasha only nodded.

“Well, I’ve got some stuff to do.” He walked past her into the hall and then through the doorway just next to hers, and closed the door behind him. A few seconds later, she heard the familiar sound of a video game intro.

She reached to open the first bag and start unpacking, but hadn’t even begun unzipping it when Melanie stormed into the room. “Do not unpack! You won’t be here that long.”

Sasha stared at her, not really sure what to say. She’d expected the woman to hate her, and the way things were going, she’d probably be sleeping in a cardboard box tonight.

Melanie moved farther into the room, to the edge of the bed. With jerky movements, she unzipped the largest of Sasha’s bags and started yanking everything out, throwing the items to the floor. “Where is it? I know that bitch gave it to you and I want it, right now.”

“What are you looking for?”
“My father’s ring! Mike ripped it off after he died, but now Mike’s dead, too, and I mean to have it. It’s mine.”

“I don’t have the ring. My mother took it to Russia.”

“Liar. You’re a liar, just like Mike.” She reached the bottom of the bag, then turned to the other. Sasha watched her empty everything to the floor, then caught a fearful breath when she pulled out the white tube.

“What’s this?” “A portrait of my mother,” Sasha lied. Melanie dropped the tube as if it burned her hand and kicked

it beneath the bed. “If you hang it up, if you even take it out, I’ll light it on fire. You got it?”

“Yes.” Sasha tried not to look relieved that Melanie hadn’t opened it. She forced herself to have no expression at all, hoping Melanie would finish searching and go away.

When it became clear that Sasha wasn’t a liar, that she really didn’t have the ring, Melanie went off on her. “I’m glad your mother was deported. The only thing better would be if the Russians executed her. She was always so high and mighty, looking down her nose at me, thinking she was something special. Just like Mike. Mr. Perfect, could do no wrong. But he got what was coming to him. I was never so happy as when I heard he’d been shot. Arrogant bastard, always—”

“Stop,” Sasha interrupted, thinking Melanie was scary as hell and it was no wonder Tim was miserable, and Brett was a total douche, having a mom like this. “I get that you hated his guts, but he was my father and I loved him. I can’t listen to—” “Don’t you dare talk back to me!” Melanie moved closer, her eyes wild with fury, and Sasha stepped away, seriously afraid she was about to be slapped. “It’s b
ad enough I have to put up with
you at all, but I’ll be damned if I’ll tolerate your talk!” Wow. Hypocritical much? “I’
m sorry to be an inconvenience,
but it’s not like I have a choice. Can’t we just get along?” “I can’t look at you without thinking about my brother.” “What did he do to you that made you hate him so much?” “He was born! He lived, he b
reathed, and he was so perfect,
so much the golden child, it’s like I stopped existing.” Dad had done nothing to deserve her fury. This woman was insane with jealousy, paranoid, and eaten up with bitterness: a victim of her own twisted mind. There was something else about her, something scary evil that went beyond her hate and rage, but

Sasha couldn’t pin it down. “I don’t want you here, don’
t care if you live or die. Push
me just once, and you’ll be out in the street. Do you understand?” When Sasha said nothing, she moved closer and shouted, “Answer me! Do you understand?”

Tim said from the doorway, “Back off, Melanie.”

Melanie wheeled around to face him. “You’re taking her side over mine?”