As Suzanne and Declan traversed the McKay-Taggart office hallways, he couldn’t believe how surreal everything felt. The last time he was here, just days ago, he hadn’t known demons existed. He hadn’t known Suzanne was an angel.
He hadn’t had sex with an angel.
And people were walking around, clueless. Like everything was okay. Like a Biblical apocalypse hadn’t almost destroyed mankind.
It was maddening.
When they got to Tag’s office, his assistant, a temp from an agency filling in for Sadie, balked at their lack of an appointment, but Declan insisted that this was important, and after consulting with Tag, she let them inside.
Tag was sitting at his desk, his bloodshot eyes glued to the computer screen. He looked up when they entered, his brows climbing inquisitively when he saw Suzanne.
“Declan. Ms. D’Angelo. This is unexpected.” He let out a long, drawn-out breath. He looked tired, sad, and more than a little pissed. “You got the message about Steve?”
“Yeah.” Declan shuddered. God, he was going to miss Steve, but Declan swore he’d take revenge. A dagger through the eye sort of revenge. “I can’t believe it.”
Tag growled. “I’ve got everyone I can spare working to find out what happened and who’s responsible. We’ll find the psycho cocksucker who killed him. I swear it.”
“Yeah...about that.” Declan and Suzanne sank into the chairs across from Tag. “I know who did it.”
Taggart went as stiff and straight as the barrel of a rifle, his gaze locking onto Declan like a laser-guided missile. “Who?”
Here we go. “Okay, first, I need you to listen to us, and I need you to not think we’re crazy.”
“Or on drugs,” Suzanne added.
“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try. Probably not as hard as you’d like.” Taggart jerked his head in the barest of nods. “Don’t keep me in suspense. What’s going on?”
Declan’s gut churned. Tag was going to freak. “Yesterday something attacked us. I didn’t know what it was, but Suzanne did.” He shot a glance at Suzanne, who squeezed his hand reassuringly, a move Tag noticed. The guy didn’t miss anything.
“Well?” Tag prompted sharply. “Spit it out.”
Declan spit it all out. The whole damned story. In one jumbled rush. And he made sure to tell his boss that his sidewalk face plant hadn’t been a life-altering medical issue. Just a life-altering demonic one.
Tag didn’t say a word during the entire thing. He shifted uncomfortably at times, stared out the window more than once, and twice the vein in his temple throbbed with his rapid pulse. Finally, a full sixty seconds after Declan and Suzanne stopped talking, he sat back in his chair.
“Huh.”
Declan blinked. “Sir?”
“I’ve been having these fucked-up dreams. I haven’t told anyone because they’ll think I’m insane. It’s bizarre shit. Monsters coming out of the sewers. Angels blasting them with lightning. A big, armored dude on horseback popping out of thin air. The dreams feel real.”
“Because they are,” Suzanne said. “They’re memories, not dreams.”
“Okay, let’s say all this psycho demon crap is true, and I admit I’m pretty skeptical. I might even be planning an intervention for you as we speak.” He braced his forearms on the desk and leaned forward, his eyes hooded and unreadable. “So why are you telling me this?”
Man, Tag was handling this a lot better than Declan had. Probably the difference between the truth being revealed calmly in an office and being revealed in the midst of a demon attack.
“Because all of this started when I killed this demon’s buddy a couple of years ago,” Declan said. “And you were there. So was Steve. And Remy. You’re both in danger now, but we might be able to stop this demon if we can get the dagger you stored in your office safe.”
Tag scowled. “There’s no dagger in my safe. You know I barely use that safe. It came with the building. I haven’t put anything in it in years.”
“You should check,” Suzanne said softly.
Looking at her like he was just doing it to humor her while they waited for the guys with straightjackets to show up, Tag pushed out of his chair and went over to the panel in the wall that concealed the safe. Seconds later, he cursed under his breath and removed a dagger, its bone handle still stained with blood.
“Jesus,” he breathed as he turned back to them. “It’s been in there all this time, but I never saw it until now.”
Suzanne shifted in her seat to face him. “That’s because when angels altered your memories, they tapped into the part of the human brain that either invents outlandish explanations for what it can’t understand, or it simply doesn’t consciously ‘see’ objects that don’t make sense. That dagger was part of a world you didn’t remember, so your brain didn’t register it. Demons have been using that human failing for centuries. They build structures and drive demon ambulances right in front of your noses, and humans don’t even notice.”
“This is some crazy shit.” Tag handed the dagger to Declan. “I’m still not sure I believe it, but on the off chance that all of this is true, you’re going to use this to kill the demon that murdered Steve, right?”
“Absolutely,” Declan said.
A low growl rumbled in Tag’s chest. “I want to be in on it.”
“Absolutely not.” Suzanne came to her feet, which were clad in strappy high-heeled gold sandals that seemed like a poor choice of battle footwear. But then, angels probably didn’t need combat boots. “And no one else can know about this. It’s bad enough that we told you.”
Tag did not look happy about that. “Why can’t anyone know?”
“It’s not time. But I have a feeling it’ll be soon. People who can handle the truth, the ones who adapted and fought well when demons breached the human realm, are being brought in first.”
“So you’re planning on just leaving me with this knowledge that I can’t share with anyone?” Tag’s fists clenched at his sides, anger rolling off him in a palpable wave. “That’s fucked up.”
“No.” She tapped her phone’s screen. “Your memory is going to be erased again.”
“The hell it is,” Tag barked, and Declan couldn’t blame the guy for his reaction. He wouldn’t want to go back to ignorance, either, and if angels tried to wipe him, he’d put up a hell of a fight. He and Suzanne definitely needed to have a talk later. “Demons exist and you want me to let my friends and family be at risk?”
“Yes, demons are real,” Suzanne said, “but truthfully, right now your friends and family are in far more danger from other humans.”
Tag looked like he was going to explode, so Declan stepped in real quick. “Isn’t there another way?”
“I’m sorry,” Suzanne said, genuine sympathy in her eyes. “But it has to be this way. I’m in enough trouble as it is for telling you the truth. If I let this go, I could earn a thousand years of punishment. Or worse.”
Declan didn’t know what could be worse than a thousand years of punishment, but he didn’t want Suzanne to be subjected to any punishment at all, let alone centuries upon centuries of it.
Tag was just going to have to go back to being blissfully ignorant of the supernatural world for a while. It was probably better for his sanity, anyway.
A flash of light suddenly filled the room, and a heartbeat later, the tattoo angel guy, Jim Bob, was standing in the office, his massive white wings extended, the tips brushing the walls on either side of the office.
“Holy mother of…son of a bitch!” Tag leaped backward, slamming into a bookshelf, his eyes glued to the angel. “Who the fuck are you and what is up with the wings?”
Weird how Declan had already grown used to this insanity, because he hadn’t even blinked in surprise when the angel popped in. Had Declan looked like Tag, all bug-eyed and slack-jawed when he’d seen his first set of wings?
Yeah, probably.
Okay, definitely.
Suzanne’s voice went low and soothing as she tried to keep Tag from freaking out. “This is Jim Bob. He’s an angel, and he’ll be making sure you don’t remember this conversation.”
“Don’t worry,” Declan said. “I’ll bring you some literature to keep you up on the truth.”
Tag looked over at him, still all kinds of freaked out. “Literature?”
“You know how you make fun of me for my comic books?”
Tag’s eyes were wild, rapidly shifting from Jim Bob to Declan. “Yeah...”
Declan grinned. “Mr. Jim Bob? Do you think that while you’re in Tag’s head you can give him an appreciation for the Demonica comics?”
When Jim Bob nodded, Tag cursed at Declan. “You nerdy motherfucker.”
Yup. And proud of it.
* * * *
After leaving the McKay-Taggart offices with Declan, Suzanne flashed them back to the mansion, where Hawkyn, Cipher, Journey, Sexy, and Maddox were already waiting. She’d texted them while Jim Bob rearranged the mental files in Tag’s head, and now they needed to brainstorm a plan.
“That’s really cool,” Declan said, after they’d materialized in the living room. “I always said that if I could pick a superpower, teleportation would be it.”
“It’s handy,” she admitted. She glanced around at the waiting crowd. “Anyone hungry? I can whip up a quick snack to nosh on while we make plans.”
Journey, who never turned down food, raised his hand. “I could eat.”
“Dude.” Maddox reached up from his chair and punched Journey in the thigh. “You just ate two large pizzas. Sit your ass down.”
No one else wanted anything, so she dove into their situation. Well, she started to, but Declan interrupted.
“Before we start plotting, can I get some assurances that after this is over, I won’t be flashy-thinged?”
Everyone stared, including Suzanne.
“What?” That was from Hawkyn and spoken with a good dose of annoyance.
“Flashy-thinged,” Declan repeated. “From Men in Black. You know, Will Smith? Tommy Lee Jones? They wipe memories with a little flashy thing.”
“I totally got your reference, man,” Cipher chimed in, his fingers ripping on the keyboard. “Didn’t need to explain it to me. The other losers in the room, however…”
“Okay, okay.” Suzanne took a step forward into the center of the room. “I think we get the gist.” She swung around to Declan, knowing he must be worried. Until it came up at Ian Taggart’s office, she hadn’t even considered what would happen to Declan’s memory after all of this was over. Yes, they’d been busy, but this was only more evidence that she wasn’t cut out for being a Memitim. “Declan, we’ll petition the Memitim Council to make an exception for you. You’re clearly an asset. It won’t be a problem.” She was totally talking out of her ass, as Maddox liked to say, but she’d always been an optimist. Besides, she had a brother with influence on her side. “Isn’t that right, Hawkyn?”
She gave him a back-me-up glare, and he rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that’s right. It won’t be a problem at all.”
“See?” she said brightly. “All good.” Before Declan could ask for more detail, she launched into their coming plan of action. “We have the weapon Declan used to kill the Siecher that started this whole mess. We just have to make sure we meet Morroc in a controlled environment where we’ll have the upper hand.” She glanced around the room. “I don’t suppose any of you can take apart a body at the cellular level?”
“Huh?” Maddox froze while unwrapping a stick of gum. “Can we do what?”
“Atomize them. Turn them into red mist,” Declan said. “No chunks. Like spaghetti sauce.”
“Not like my spaghetti sauce,” she muttered. “Also, eew.”
No one claimed to be able to make spaghetti mist out of people, but she’d expected as much. “Okay, so how do we draw it out?”
Cipher tapped a few keys. “Flail said the Siecher will be drawn to Declan’s pain.”
Flail. The fallen angel had been worming her way into Azagoth’s service for the last few months, and Suzanne didn’t like her at all. Not that Cipher cared about Suzanne’s opinion. All he saw when he looked at the evil beauty was big boobs and long legs.
Which reminded Suzanne to ask about Lilliana and when she was going to go back home to Sheoul-gra. The slinky, flirty Flail didn’t need to be sniffing around Azagoth.
Declan’s brow popped up. “My pain? I need to hurt myself?”
“Or someone else can do it,” Cipher said, his gaze still glued to the computer screen. “But yeah, you need to be in agony.”
“Mental or physical?”
“Both is probably best.”
Hawkyn stepped forward. “I’ll volunteer to deliver the physical pain.” At Suzanne’s glare, he blinked innocently. “What? It’s for a noble cause. I’m noble.”
“You’re an asshole,” Declan said under his breath, and both Maddox and Journey nodded in agreement. “But it’s probably best that you do it.” He took a deep breath and looked over at Suzanne. “And if it’s mental agony you want, I think I have the perfect setting. It’s in the middle of nowhere, good for a battle, and I swore if I ever saw it again I’d burn it down. So yeah. Agony.”
It broke her heart in half to hear that he associated a place with pain. So if he wanted to kill one demon and exorcise others, he was going to get what he wanted.