Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Sorcha wasn’t sure how to react. Luke had told her that Rory was Nephilim and she had believed him, but seeing the proof of it was harder than she thought. It was also scary.
Why would she see it now? These weren’t the powers she was used to. Not that she’d ever really grown fond of seeing ghosts.
Still…
Aside from Luke and those who wanted her to see them, she’d never before witnessed the hidden side of other preternatural creatures. That was Luke’s skill set.
Since Rory continued to act normal on his approach, she assumed he had no idea that she saw his wings right now. Never once had he mentioned to her that he was anything other than human.
In fact, he’d gone out of his way to appear just like everyone else. To keep any and all hints of paranormal abilities away from her.
Rory stopped in front of her and scowled. “You look like you just saw a ghost. Are you okay?”
No. Luke was right. There was a lot more to Rory than she knew and the fact he hid it, bothered her a lot.
But she didn’t want to let on to what she’d seen. If he couldn’t detect her powers, she was happy to keep his secret in turn. “Fine. Been a long day.”
Before Rory could say anything else, Luke joined them. The grimace on his face made her wonder if he’d seen Rory’s wings, too.
“S’up,” he said in that tone they all knew irritated Rory.
A tic started in Rory’s jaw. “Where were you?”
“Taking a piss. Why? You need someone to hold your hand while you go potty?”
Rory shot her a look that said he pitied her for having to put up with Luke’s attitude. “I think we’ve got this. Not sure why y’all are here, but it looks human enough for us.”
“No problem.” Luke stepped around him. “Happy hunting.”
Rory scowled. “Hunting?”
“This missing head. You know? Head hunting…never mind.” Luke pulled the tie from his pocket and secured his long hair for the drive back.
Sorcha followed as he led the way to his car. Damn that lope was dangerously sexy.
She waited until they were alone before she spoke again. “What did you find out?”
“He was killed here. Two men and two women. One of them a necromancer who told the ghosts what to tell us, so I don’t know if the ghosts are lying or telling me the truth.” He opened the car door for her.
“You can’t tell?” She thought he always knew whenever others lied to him.
“They’re dead. No heartbeat or other indicators. Can’t even read their minds. Friggin’ bastards. I hate not knowing when someone’s lying. Brutal.”
Sorcha slid into the car as she considered those words. “Bernadette said that Murdoch wasn’t the one who contacted her. So whoever killed our poor vic wanted us to know about it and see the scene.”
He nodded slowly before he closed the passenger door and went to his side to get in. “Hey, D…get out of the car.”
A disgusted growl sounded from the dash. “Why?”
“I need your skills.”
Delilah—yeah, that Delilah—made another irritated groan. “I’m not your servant.”
“No, you’re my stalker. Now get out of the car before you piss me off.”
The car roared to life before a shadow spiraled out of the air vent. Two seconds later, an incredibly beautiful woman appeared on the other side of the driver’s door. Her wavy dark hair fell to the middle of her back and framed a perfect face.
Sorcha hated how jealous she was of Delilah and her physical perfection. No wonder Samson had fallen for her sultry beauty. She was perfectly gorgeous.
But Luke wasn’t so foolish. His unrelenting resistance to Delilah’s charms was what made the ancient seductress so determined to have him.
Glaring at him, Delilah put her hand on her hip. “What would you have of me, dominus?”
“Stay hidden and watch Rory. There’s something weird about all this. Let me know who he talks to.”
She curled her lip as if the very thought disgusted her. “How long am I supposed to follow him?”
“Until he fills out a report about the murder. Then bring me a copy.”
“I’m not your imp.”
He gave her an evil grimace. “True. Helly wouldn’t argue with me. She knows better.”
Hissing like a cat, Delilah headed for the flashing lights with a walk Sorcha wished she could duplicate. Gah, if she even tried, she’d probably trip and break her leg.
Or worse, her neck.
Whatever unholy power Luke had to turn heads, Delilah also possessed it.
Luke put his car in reverse and headed back toward their office. “Did you find out anything else?”
“No. But I think you did.” The ghosts always loved speaking to Luke.
To her amazement, he shook his head. “Not really. Nothing about this makes any sense and it infuriates me to see a good beast taken out like that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“’Preciate it. Whatever you might think of me, Lawson was a decent guy who deserved better.” He glanced over to her. “You saw them, didn’t you?”
She wasn’t sure what he meant. “Saw who? The ghosts?”
“The wings.”
Oh. Those.
Sorcha wanted to deny it, but it was useless as Luke had the ability to read her mind. She was just grateful that he normally didn’t. “I did.”
“Now you believe me?”
“I always believed you.”
He scoffed. “Not stupid, Sorcha. You’ve doubted me about him the whole time.”
That wasn’t entirely true. “To be fair, it is a hard thing to believe. I mean, seriously, why would a Nephilim work for the police department?” Even in their line of work, that seemed ludicrous.
“Don’t know, but I find it weird that he joined the force not long after I started working for IA. Anytime a winged delegate from the other place shows up and starts getting in my face, it makes my sphincter clench.”
“I thought he was already with the police before you arrived.”
Luke shook his head. “He came in about a month after I did.”
That was interesting. “You think he was sent to spy on you?”
“Don’t know what to think right now. Just a lot of bad going down and it’s not from our side. If this was anything infernal, I’d be all over it.”
And Luke didn’t believe in coincidences. Any more than he trusted others. Those were two truths she’d learned about him.
Yeah, this was a weird night.
Unsure of what else to do, Sorcha dug her tablet out of her purse and made a few notes while they drove in silence.
Occasionally, she’d glance sideways to watch the lights play across Luke’s perfect features. He really was gorgeous and she wished she could read his thoughts as easily as he read hers.
As they finally neared the garage at their converted office building, Helly appeared in the backseat without warning.
Sorcha gasped in fright. “Helly! Don’t do that! You scared the crap out of me.”
“Sorry. Wasn’t trying to. Just wanted to rejoin the party. Did you find out anything from the murder scene?”
“No, but we left Delilah behind.”
Luke’s words brought a smile to Helly’s face. “Really? The great evil isn’t in the car?”
Sorcha nodded.
Clapping her hands enthusiastically, Helly looked like a kid.
Frowning, Sorcha understood why Luke wasn’t fond of Delilah, but Helly… “Why do you hate her so much?”
“She’s entirely too predatory when it comes to my charge. I don’t like watching her make eyes at Luke. It brings out the evil in me. If she ever lays hands to him…she’ll be the one who wakes up bald.”
Luke rolled his eyes. “I keep telling her not to worry. I’d sooner geld myself than bed down with someone that treacherous. Even in Hell, we have our standards.”
Was that good to know? Sorcha wasn’t quite sure.
“I heard that.”
They all lifted a brow at the sound of Delilah’s voice through the car speakers.
Luke growled. “What are you doing back here? I told you to shadow Rory.”
“You said I could leave after he filed a report.”
“Did he file it?” Luke asked.
“I’m here, aren’t I? It says nothing more than what you know. I sent a copy of it to your phone. Total waste of my time.”
Luke exchanged a peeved glance with Helly. “Did any other angels show up?”
“Not that I saw.”
Without another comment, Luke got out of his car to manually open the garage door.
Why?
Because Delilah was petty and any time he’d tried to use an automatic door opener, she prevented it.
Which made Sorcha wonder something. “Can’t you use your powers to open the door?”
Standing in the butter-colored headlights, Luke paused, then grinned. “I do that when it’s raining.”
That only confused her. “What?”
“Arbitrary rules. This is one of mine. I don’t mind getting out to open the door…unless it’s raining.”
Huh. Now that she thought about it, they’d never been out in the car when it was raining. She’d always attributed it to the fact that Luke couldn’t stand the cold. Or to be cold. Whenever he was in water, the temperature was boiling.
Being born and bred in Hell, he was used to a lot hotter climate than Savannah as hard as that was to believe.
But how interesting that Luke refrained from using his powers on the door. He was truly a strange beast.
And speaking of…
Sorcha watched the seductress turn into a shadow and drift back into the car. “Delilah? You don’t know where the closet demons are, do you?”
Delilah waited until Luke opened the garage door before she pulled the car into it and shut off the engine.
Scowling at Delilah’s actions, Luke closed the door, then removed the tie from his long hair to free it. “You two fighting again?”
“No,” Sorcha said. “I just asked her a question.”
“Tell your human pet that I don’t answer to her.”
Luke let out a long sigh. “Behave, D. I’m not in the mood to deal with a hissy fit.”
Delilah turned off the lights and caused the engine to rumble off.
Sorcha got out of the car. “I just asked if she might have a clue what happened to the demons.”
“Do you?” he asked Delilah.
“Of course not. Why would I?”
Luke shrugged. “You hang with a lower class of demon than I do. If you hear something from one of the others, let me know.”
Sorcha could just imagine the furious glower Delilah was giving Luke. But Delilah knew better than to test him.
Or have him see her smirking.
Luke opened the door that led to his upstairs apartment. “It’s getting late. Why don’t you go on home?”
“I’d rather help you search for the demons. Four eyes are better than two.”