I clipped the mike inside my jacket, stuck the earpiece into my ear. “Here goes,” I said, then got out of the car before I could lose my nerve.
The brief walk should have given me a chance to try and calm my jangled nerves, but I couldn’t stop the worries from crowding in. Could Tracy sense that I’d destroyed his focus diagram? Or would he only know that when he tried to fire the gate up? Surely he would have said something on the phone if he knew. And how much would that affect the gate? Kehlirik had said it would still work but not as well. How much was “not as well?”
“Can you hear me?” Ryan’s voice came in through my earpiece.
“Loud and clear,” I murmured under my breath as I approached the double glass doors. The previous tenants had apparently been in some sort of stucco business, to judge by the faint imprint of painted letters that still remained on the doors.
“And you’re coming in strong too. I’m worried about how it’s going to work in the metal building though.”
“Guess we’ll find out the hard way,” I replied, pausing before I entered. Here goes. Let’s not fuck this up, ‘kay?
I stepped into a foyer area that looked like it might have once held a number of cubicles. Horribly ugly wood paneling covered the walls, and a dust-covered metal desk squatted against a far wall. I could see my breath in the musty air. The air didn’t feel any warmer than the outdoors, but at least I was out of the wind.
A set of metal doors in front of me probably led to the warehouse proper. My earpiece popped and hissed with static as I moved forward, and I grimaced. So much for staying in contact. I took hold of the door handle in front of me, then paused and peered into the corner.
“Greetings, honored zhurn,” I said, taking a chance that my hunch was correct.
I waited several heartbeats and was rewarded by the sight of two red eyes. “Greetings to you, summoner,” it responded in its distinctive crackling voice.
Okay, so at least my over-caution had been warranted. I didn’t bother trying to find out what this demon’s terms were with Tracy. The tenth-level demons were insanely reticent even under the best of circumstances. I had no doubt that if it was here, it was tasked with guarding the place. And since zhurn were able to communicate mind-to-mind with the one who summoned them, I was sure he was currently reporting to Tracy that I was here.
No sense in keeping them waiting. I yanked the door open and barged on in.
Inside was simply a vast open area. The ceiling above me rose at least thirty feet. There were no furnishings or interior walls. The only thing to look at was in the middle of the warehouse floor. That’s where Roman was sitting in a chair with his hands behind him—I assumed tied or cuffed. He looked shaken as all hell but didn’t seem to be injured or beaten up. Behind him stood Tracy, holding a gun to Roman’s head.
Tracy gave me a broad smile. “Look who finally decided to join the party!”
My earpiece crackled again as I walked forward. “Jill…owners…corporation.” Shit. I had no idea what Ryan was trying to tell me.
“Let’s not waste time, shall we?” Tracy said. “If you’d be so kind as to step into that diagram, we can get on with this whole thing.”
I opened my mouth to tell him to release Roman, then paused as Ryan repeated what he’d said. I could hear him this time. Well, now…that changes everything. “You’re sure?” I said.
“Quite sure,” Tracy replied.
“One hundred percent,” Ryan said in my ear. “As soon as we deal with the zhurn, we’re coming in.”
“Excellent.” I stopped and crossed my arms over my chest. Tilted my head. “And what happens if I don’t do as you ask?”
Tracy gave a bark of laughter. “I shoot your ex. Do you really think I won’t? You know I won’t hesitate.”
“Okay. Shoot him,” I said. “And no, this isn’t some stupid bluff. Why the fuck should I care if you shoot your partner?” I locked eyes with Roman. “Isn’t that right, Posterula Inc?” I snorted. “You’re listed as the CEO, right? Posterula…secondary door or gate. Very imaginative.” I resisted the urge to pump my fist in the air and give an exuberant shout. Damn straight! My instincts weren’t off!
Roman shot to his feet—not bound after all. He rounded on Tracy, scowling. “You said no one would figure it out!”
Tracy’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “I said the chances were low. It doesn’t matter now. Grab her and put her into the goddamn diagram.”
I spread my hands as Roman stalked toward me. “Oh, you don’t have to manhandle me into the diagram. I’ll walk there on my own, but first I want to know why the hell you tried to get me busted for murder.” Then I winced, shook my head. “Never mind. I know why.” Fucking hell, I could be dense sometimes. I looked at Tracy. “You wanted into my summoning chamber, didn’t you? You set me up just enough to get them to do a search warrant.”
“You did a good job cleaning up your diagrams,” he said. “But like all good summoners, you use blood as a component when tracing them out.”
Shit. “Luminol. You sprayed the floor with luminol.” It would have glowed like the Christmas decorations on my house. And since the glow usually faded after about thirty seconds, all he’d needed was a few minutes alone in the basement to spray the floor down and take a long-exposure picture. Then he could go back and build his own storage diagram. No wonder he was able to summon two major demons back to back.
I shifted my attention back to Roman. “Okay, I get why Tracy—or Raymond—would want to get some revenge against me. But why the fuck are you helping him with all this? What the hell did I ever do to you?”
Roman shrugged. “Not a damn thing. You were convenient. You’re the only summoner I know, and it helped that you had plenty of people who could serve as victims to link the portals.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I said before I could censor myself. “I was convenient? What kind of sociopath are you? Dude, you need serious therapy.”
I barely had time to throw up a block before he closed the distance between us and clocked me hard in the side of the head. My arm took the brunt of it but he still hit me hard enough to drop me to my knees and make me see stars. I sent up a silent thanks to Eilahn for her attempts to teach me self-defense. I’d be out cold if not for her relentless drills.
“Cut it out, Roman,” Tracy snapped. “She needs to be alive and conscious.”
Roman grabbed my arm and jerked me to my feet, frog-marched me to the center of the diagram and then dumped me in the middle. “I financed this whole thing because with this gate I can be a summoner as well. Then I won’t need those fuckers at ESPN or anyone else.” He backed out of the diagram and folded his arms across his chest.
I gave a dry laugh and shifted my attention to Tracy. “Is that what you told him? That’s hysterical.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed but Tracy just shook his head. “Don’t listen to her, Roman. You’ll see for yourself in just a few minutes.” He holstered his gun and then lifted his hands, eyes unfocusing briefly. Queasiness hit me, and I had no doubt he was activating the diagram. I couldn’t see the energies, but I was quite sure that he was getting things started.
Roman smiled. “I’m not a summoner, Kara. But I do have sensitivity to the arcane—enough to allow me to work the gate. That sensitivity is one of the reasons I was drawn to you, though I didn’t realize it at the time. It wasn’t until I met Tracy, and we became friends, that I figured it out. He’s the one who told me I didn’t have to sit on the sidelines. And after the Symbol Man murders he knew you were a summoner.” He gave an ugly laugh. “You were an obvious choice.”
The queasiness grew a fraction, and Tracy’s forehead furrowed in concentration. Clearly he was expecting something to happen, and it wasn’t. “But he was wrong, Roman,” I said, shrugging. “I’m not a summoner.” I gestured around me at the diagram. “The gate would be open if I was, right?”