After a short pause, the two Luren stepped back. The blond one pointed his weapon at me. “This isn’t over, Corine Solomon. You owe Sibella a debt, and one way or another, it will be paid. You cannot hide forever.”
“As long as she’s in Texas, however, you can’t have her,” Jesse said flatly.
So if I go home, I’m screwed. Awesome.
Maybe Tia knew who ran Mexico City, however. Possibly I could apply for protection, swear fealty, something that would make it worth his or her while to keep the Luren away from me. But I wouldn’t be going home without Chance . . . and I needed to find out what had happened to Kel. The demons strode away, around the side of the house, but before they left my sight, a cloud of darkness swathed them, and when it dissipated they were gone.
“We’ll finish this dance another time.” Barachiel sheathed his sword. Then he turned to me. “I have shed blood on your behalf. That constitutes an agreement.”
Shannon glared at him. “My ass, it does. She didn’t ask for your help . . . you assumed she wanted it. Looked to me like you picked a fight with those assholes on your own.”
“I agree,” Chuch’s grandmother said in Spanish. “No compacts were made, spirit. You did not await her answer.”
Saved by a technicality. I might’ve asked Barachiel to step in, but we’d never know, now. His countenance darkened with fury, mouth pulling taut. For a few seconds, he couldn’t find the words. Then he spat, “In this war, you cannot sit on the sidelines. You must choose, and if you’re not my ally, you are my enemy.”
I thought, Bullshit, but had the good sense not to say it out loud. He was still laboring under the presumption that I couldn’t find a plan C. I had gotten pretty good at spotting unlikely solutions. His agenda wasn’t mine, but I needed to stall him a little longer while I figured out what happened to Kel.
Unlike the demons, Barachiel vanished in a shimmer of silver light. Chuch’s grandmother lowered her shotgun. After her prior moxie, I expected her to offer up a one-liner like, I’m getting too old for this shit, but she just sighed, rolled her shoulders, and shuffled over to a patio chair.
Eva collected the guns, presumably to hide them again before the cops arrived. Of the huge crowd, only Booke, Dolores, Chuch’s immediate family, Jesse and Shannon remained. It would help that Saldana was here to run interference, but I didn’t envy him and Chuch the task of making this attack sound remotely sensible.
Leaving them to manage damage control, I went into the house on a mission. Once I was sure I had sufficient privacy, I called Kel. With a capital C. He had said I didn’t have the power to compel him anymore, but if he was able, he would surely respond. Moments passed in tense silence. I hoped he would appear in the room, mildly annoyed at my presumption.
He didn’t.
Barachiel was here, I thought. He’s getting impatient. I need you, Kel.
I didn’t want to, but I did.
A prickle stirred at the back of my mind. It wasn’t strong, like it had been when I heard his thoughts. This was like sitting on a hairbrush . . . in my brain—obviously uncomfortable, but nonspecific. Help me out here. Give me something.
I suspected just this much contact was draining him; a full connection might kill him, if Nephilim could die. Fear spiked through me like a gladiator’s gauntlet. Closing my eyes, I willed my energy through that tenuous connection, knowing that was more wishful thinking than true magick.
But maybe, maybe it was enough. Because a place popped into my head, or rather, the image of one. Unfortunately, I had no idea where it was. From the surrounding countryside, it was probably on the Tex-Mex border, scrubland full of broken mesas and dry as dust.
Then even the prickle left me.
I got a piece of paper before the image left my mind’s eye. Though I wasn’t much of an artist, I captured the shape of the rock. I hurried out to the patio, where Jesse and Chuch were talking to some uniformed officers. Three squad cars had turned up, and since there was a dead body on the premises, they’d call the crime scene unit out too.
“. . . dunno who they were,” Chuch was saying. “Never saw ’em before.”
“You had trouble with the Montoya cartel, correct?” At Chuch’s nod, the officer made a note.
I could already see who would get the blame for this. It would probably be the first severed head in Texas that the Montoyas could honestly say they had nothing to do with. The two surviving brothers weren’t running the op anyway. A second in command had stepped up, from what I heard, and eventually it would be known as the Ramirez cartel, once he consolidated power. Not my business. I was finished with the cartels. I wanted to be done with angels, demons, and decapitations as well.
It took hours for them to gather all the witness statements and wrap up the scene. Since the criminals never entered the house, it minimized the inconvenience to the Ortizes, at least. Jesse stayed, overseeing the process, and offering plausible theories whenever another officer picked a hole in Chuch’s story. I was grateful to have him here.
At two a.m., the last of the city officials finally left. I touched Eva on the arm. After all the drama, I hated to bother her, but I intended to get moving as soon as I had enough information. “Who would know the famous rock formations nearby?” I asked.
Her jaw dropped. “You want to go sightseeing? Tonight?”
“No.” I hastened to explain, then showed her the drawing I had done.
“Oh. So you’re looking for Kel. You think he’s trapped?”
“I’m afraid he is.”
“Honestly, my mind’s a blank. Let me sleep on it. I’m sure I can come up with a local expert in the morning.”
That was frustrating, but it wasn’t like I could do anything about it. If I’d known where to look on my own, I’d already be asking to borrow the Charger. In their shoes, I didn’t know whether I’d loan me a ride, as I had a history of losing them. Over the past few years, I had gone through three vehicles; only the Mustang had withstood my reign of terror, and technically speaking, that belonged to Chance. Which was probably why it had survived.
So many problems to solve and I had so few resources. I closed my eyes on a sigh, resting my head on the back of the couch.
“That was more excitement than I’m used to,” Booke said, breaking my reverie. “Well, in person at least.”
Dolores laughed. “Stick around, you’ll get used to it.”
“If you get the chance, bid the others bonne nuit for me, will you?” He offered a cheery salute. “Oh, and don’t wait up.”
The slender woman blushed a little, and swatted at him with one of her myriad scarves. But she didn’t dispute his assessment of the situation. The two strode out to her car, entirely in charity with one another. Apparently Dolores only cut and ran if the spatter got on her outfit, which was a pretty impressive line in the sand. Otherwise, like most of Chuch’s relatives, she was rock solid. Of course, maybe she’d be more upset if the deceased had been fully human.
“We ID’d the host,” Jesse said, coming to the doorway a few minutes later. “Gigolo out of Vegas who went missing a few months back.”
“Is it possible for the Luren to take an unwilling host?” I asked.
“I’m not the expert, but I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure they can only be summoned into a willing body via sex magick.”