Her phone rang, and she was tempted to let the machine get it, until Eidolon’s number popped up on the caller ID.
“Doc E,” she said. “Hello.”
“I’m sorry I missed your call.” His deep voice rumbled over the phone line. “I got the copy of Gethel’s lab results you left on my desk. But I had a question about the other item you left.”
“The tracking device.” Her hand shook as she took a long pull on the beer bottle. “Dr. Soduchi found it inside my mother.”
“How did you know what it was?”
“Revenant told me.”
“He was here?” he barked. “Again? You were supposed to call me.”
She winced. “I didn’t want to bother you unless he requested my participation in another house call in hell. Besides, you were busy.”
“I’m still busy. I fucking hate Nightlash demons.” She heard him take a sip of something she assumed was coffee. “I’m going to research this device. I’ll have Wraith do some snooping as well.”
Eidolon’s brother Wraith had an uncanny knack for locating things no one else could. When his vampire mate, Serena, was with him, there was practically nothing they couldn’t find.
“Blas,” E said slowly, “is there any reason you can think of why your mother would be tagged with a tracking device?”
Even though she’d decided she needed Eidolon’s help, she stood there for a long time, weighing her options and considering how much, if anything, she should tell him. Ultimately, the undeniable truth of her situation became clear. She was in trouble, and if there was anyone in the world she could trust, it was the demon on the other end of the line.
“Whoever put it there might be looking for me.”
There was a moment of silence, and then, “I think we need to talk. Get a good night’s sleep, and meet me in my office tomorrow. I’ll text you with a time.”
“You got it, boss.”
“And Blaspheme?”
“Yeah?”
“Be very careful. I don’t want to lose you.” The line went dead, and her stomach went sour.
What had she done? For nearly a hundred years her mother had stressed that she couldn’t trust anyone with her secret no matter how upstanding that person might be. Feared by angels and fallen angels alike, vyrm were born with a price on their heads, a price large enough that few could resist the temptation of either reporting them to authorities or killing them outright.
She doubted Eidolon would kill her for riches or fame or favors, but on the off chance that she was wrong, she was gambling with not only her life, but that of her mother as well.
She glanced at her watch and swore. Now, on top of everything else that was a shit sandwich today, she’d missed the first five minutes of Doctor Who.
Forgetting the popcorn, she hurried to the living room… and stopped in her tracks at the raw stench of fresh blood. A cold fist of fear squeezed her heart as she backed slowly toward the kitchen, her only thought to grab a butcher knife off the counter.
“Blaspheme.” The familiar voice rasped through the room.
“Revenant?” Very cautiously, she pressed her back to the wall and inched toward the sound of labored breathing. As she peered around the corner, she caught a glimpse of Rev’s giant boots on the floor on the other side of the couch. “What the hell?”
Rushing forward, she was shocked to find him sitting on the tile, propped against the wall, his clothes shredded and charred, a massive laceration extending from his right pectoral to the bottom of his left rib cage. Blood seeped between his fingers as he held pressure against the wound.
“Oh, shit,” she said as she crouched next to him. “What happened?”
“Bomb… blast,” he breathed. “I fucked up, Blas. Fucked up so hard.”
She had a feeling he wasn’t talking about the blast, but right now what mattered was getting him fixed. “I’m going to get you to UG —”
“No.”
“You’re in bad shape. You need —”
“What is with people?” He snarled, flashing fangs. “I said no.”
Okeydokey, then. “Let me grab my medic kit.”
As she pushed to her feet, his hand snaked out to circle her wrist. “I mean it. No hospital.”
“Yeah, I got that.” She peeled his fingers away. “I’ll be right back.”
Quickly, she grabbed her old paramedic jump kit from the cupboard beneath the bathroom sink and returned to him. His head had fallen back against the wall, and he was paler than he’d been a moment ago, his blood spilling in a pool beneath him. So much for her cleaning deposit.