19. Even More Tuesday
EVEN MORE TUESDAY
IN WHICH JAMISON IS A FAILURE (AGAIN)
Jamison’s chest heaved as he looked out the broken window, craning his neck over the sill to see that the Vamp had landed on his feet and was now a sprinting blur down the road.
Apparently not even a stake to the gut or something as silly as a three-story drop could kill these things.
He flinched as Rhett’s companion jumped out of the window in pursuit, holding his breath until the second Vampire also hit the ground with a roll and took off running.
Jamison was never going to get used to this place.
He turned around just as Dessa slumped to the ground, blood dripping from the gash at her temple. “Whoa, hey.” He leapt across the hall, barely catching her before she hit the floor.
“I, Julia, she’s…” Dessa’s words slurred together, her eyes unfocused. “Dead.”
Jamison looked up to find Rhett staring at the open storage unit, his string of curses all but confirming Dessa’s words. Jamison’s ears rang and his body went cold, leaving him with no idea what to say.
It’ll be okay? It definitely wasn’t.
Tears trickled down Dessa’s cheeks for the second time that afternoon, and he hugged her closer to him. “You’ll be all right.”
“She’s clearly not all right,” Rhett snapped, dropping to one knee in his black suit. “She’s bleeding.” His eyes seemed to darken at the sight of a crimson bead trickling down her cheek, and he lingered on it a moment before his gaze finally found hers. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”
“H-he was taking her blood, her f-fangs,” Dessa stammered. “And there was something wrong with that guy. He was twitching like…” She trailed off, her eyelids half closing again.
“We need to get you checked out,” Jamison said. “You’ve got a concussion.”
“Need to call…regional…” Dessa breathed, her voice growing fainter.
“No need for that,” Rhett cut in, and in a blink, he’d swept Dessa from Jamison, carrying her in his arms as if she weighed nothing.
“Since this was a Vampire-on-Vampire affair, our clan is on the way over to clean this up, and I can assure you we will bring the culprit to justice before you know it.”
“Yeah right.” Jamison followed at a jog as a team of suited Vampires ran by them with all manner of bags and equipment. “Carly’s been gone for three weeks, and you haven’t done a thing.”
“Well, we didn’t know it was a Vampire then,” Rhett said smoothly, punching the button for the elevator. “And honestly, we still don’t know. But this is a situation we can take care of.”
Jamison stepped into the elevator with him, practically simmering at the sight of a barely conscious Dessa hanging from his arms. “Okay, since you’re going to take care of it and all, why would a Vampire try to strip another Vampire for parts?”
The elevator closed on them, and Rhett’s head whipped to Jamison, his voice lowering.
“Because that was undoubtedly a clanless Vampire working for the Hexxers and was clearly on withdrawal from something. But isn’t that interesting that he also mistook you for a Hexxer?
Have any extracurricular activities you need to tell us about? ”
Jamison’s foreboding buzzed along his skin. “Are you accusing me of having something to do with this?”
Rhett’s voice lowered. “You had certainly better not, or I’ll be the first one to rip your head from your shoulders and pay whatever fee they demand of me.”
“Not…Jamison,” Dessa mumbled, her eyes fully closed now.
Rhett’s jaw muscles flexed. “Perhaps, but I think we might be able to narrow it down to the Hexxer compound at this point. After all, we know their magic is drawn from paranormal items, and now we know that they’re sourcing them from unwilling participants.
Which means when we find this man, we are going to torture him until he spills all his secrets, and only then will we call the regional office to deliver the judgment.
” He straightened, his gaze facing forward.
“After that we can finally burn that blight of a complex to the ground.”
Jamison’s foreboding buzzed harder, and his hands fisted at his sides. The Hexxers did give him the creeps, but he had a feeling that what Rhett was suggesting was extremely close to the neighborhood war AzRIO was supposed to prevent. “What about Carly and Zach? They’re still alive somewhere.”
“And hopefully they’ll remain that way until the regional office has enough evidence to produce a warrant,” Rhett said as the elevator dinged on the first floor, an ambulance whining outside. “Otherwise, you might only find pieces of them.”
Rhett strode outside and laid Dessa on a stretcher, bending down to whisper something in her ear before squeezing her shoulder and stalking away. Jamison walked up to her on shaky legs, and she caught his hand in her fingers.
“Stay with me, Jamison.” Her deep blue eyes opened and locked on his with a need that threatened to undo him. “Please? I just need a minute.”
“Of course,” he whispered, taking her outstretched hand.
But internally, he was running over the Vampire’s hesitation during the attack.
The horror in his eyes and the desperation—he’d been afraid that Jamison would hurt him somehow.
But the Vampires were so strong, what could the Hexxers possibly be doing to him to get that reaction?
“Thanks for coming to get me,” Dessa said, her voice unbearably soft from the stretcher.
“No thanks needed.” Jamison tried for a smile. “I’m your backup. That means I’ve got your back whether you like it or not—anytime, anywhere, I’ll catch you.”
Dessa gave him a pale smile, her gaze lingering on his neck where he was sure to sport bruises. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”
Jamison’s chuckle came out strained. “You shouldn’t be the one apologizing, and I’m not the one on the stretcher.”
“Julia’s dead,” Dessa whispered, her gaze straying to the gray sky above them. “I…I wasn’t able to do anything to save her.”
“Hey.” Jamison bent closer to her. “That’s not your fault. We ran as fast as we could, and you confronted that guy yourself. There was nothing else you could’ve done.”
“I should’ve been able to kill him right away.” Silent, unchecked tears streamed down Dessa’s cheeks. “But I hesitated.”
“Of course you did.” He squeezed her hand, her fingers icy in his. “You were trying to understand the situation, and we’re not supposed to be the ones doing the killing anyway.”
“I hesitated last time too,” she whispered. “That’s why he got away, and now I feel like it’s happening all over again. Except it’s not even the same guy. Maybe I shouldn’t have come back at all.”
Jamison tried to imagine AzRIO without Dessa in it and found that he couldn’t.
Melba was much too old to go sprinting into storage buildings, and Arthur looked like he would rather have a colonoscopy than leave his desk.
While there was so much Jamison still didn’t know about this world, there was no way he’d be able to navigate it without Dessa as his guide.
He’d probably be stuck in the office making copies and sending emails, never doing any actual good—like Werach’s stupidly useless enforcement office.
“Brad was able to leave because he knew you could take care of things,” Jamison said.
“He trusted you, and I trust you. We’re all trying to solve the case, and the reason that we have any leads at all is because you dug them up.
You saved that Were-girl, and we now have a face for this guy too.
” He reached out and brushed a lock of her dark hair away from her tear-soaked cheek.
“I know it doesn’t feel like it, but you are doing good here. ”
The Vampiric paramedics came over then, bandaged the gash on her head, and checked out the bruises around Jamison’s neck.
Pronouncing them battered but in good health, they were free to leave.
Dessa still swayed on her feet—from shock or concussion, he wasn’t sure.
Then he pulled her in close, putting an arm around her to keep her upright.
“Let’s get you home.”
“Is it home though?” Dessa asked. “When I’ve only lived there for…what? A week?”
“Well, you have a budgie now,” Jamison reminded her, grasping for any distraction to keep her mind off what had happened. “And having a pet makes it home.”
“I lived in New York for five years, and I don’t think I ever thought of it that way,” Dessa said as they navigated across the street.
“Well did you have a budgie?” he asked.
“No, but I had a fiancé,” Dessa said, and Jamison had to force himself not to react.
There were still so many details he was missing about that story that he couldn’t bring himself to ask.
“And I had a best friend, and a start-up we thought was going places. They were Magickers who were also trying to make their way in the Nesci world, and I thought we fit so well together. But even then, I was the odd one out.”
“No way.” Though Jamison’s voice was light, his words still vibrated with an earnest intensity.
“Dessa, you may be singular, but you were never the odd one out. In school, you always seemed so above it all. Like you were playing chess while the rest of us were still playing Candyland. I can’t tell you how many times I tried to get your attention, but you were just beyond my reach every time. ”
“Except I always saw you, Jamison Kane. I mean, how could I not?” Dessa’s lips curved, and Jamison’s heart tripped with the silent victory.
“You seemed to have your own aura. Like you drew people to you while I naturally pushed them away.” She tilted her head at him, her brow furrowed. “But you’re different than I expected.”
“Let me guess. Stronger, handsomer, funnier.” He flashed her a grin as they crossed another street. “I know; I get that a lot.”
Dessa snorted, but her words were soft. “You’re a lot smarter than anyone gives you credit for, but you just have to believe it.”