Chapter Twenty-Three
Jacob Crow studied the electronic pad in his hand as he entered the safe house living room, sat down on the couch, and braced a boot on the coffee table in front of him. It was the job that had just come down from Cain. A rogue Apex running rampant through the City by the Bay.
The pad screen displayed a map allocated with seven red “X” marks that formed a perfect circle across part of the city of San Francisco. Five of the marks were in the Vega clan’s province, and two of them were in his. The last two.
It was exceedingly fortunate. The Storyteller must have been on his side for once. Because at the center of that circle was the residence of the Vega clan’s second-in-command, Angela Clemens.
Jake wasn’t stupid; he knew she was the target. Angel was special. She was beautiful, smart, strong, and magically inclined in the rarest of ways. The Apex was watching her. After all, Jake had been watching her too. She wore her wards strong, and Dave had been right; she kept her guard up to an OCD level, but she was getting weary. In that weariness, she was slipping up, displaying moments of weakness.
Like her night out with her friends. She’d been wide open to him. He’d been able to read every surface thought she had, and though he’d been happy about it at the time, in the end it troubled him. She was a pro; why had she been so careless?
Something was wrong. His instincts had never failed him. He could sense trouble around Angel in the wind. Something wanted her. Something other than him. And it was haunting her.
Jake had come to a decision. Angel was called in on the same big job as every other available warden that night. So, he was able to keep an eye on her while she fought in that forest. But as soon as the fight was over, she headed home. And he turned to the Monsters.
They’d all been more or less keeping tabs on her for weeks, from the moment they’d found out she was special to him. That was just what they did for each another; it went without saying. But he amped up her protection after that night at the cafe. Now there was always at least one of them with visuals on her.
And a few of them had sensed the danger around her too. It was impossible to pin-point, and nothing ever happened. But it was like feeling a storm on the wind, being able to smell it coming.
Now Jake knew why.
He frowned at the information in his hand. The fact that the Apex hadn’t yet attacked or killed Angel meant he had something much different in mind. Apex weren’t known for their discretion. It took serious amounts of control to rein in that kind of crazy potency; only a few circumstances made it possible. One, it had to be worth it to the Apex for him to hold back on his main mark this long while killing all around her. And two, the Apex had to be very old. Control that strong only came with centuries of practice.
Jake was grateful as hell the last two victims were in his territory, landing this job in his lap. Something big and bad was targeting his girl. You couldn’t ask a man to stand down in a situation like that.
She’s not your girl, Jake, his conscience reminded him.
Oh yeah? Just wait, he ruthlessly shot back.
Jake had only been seated and studying the job for a few minutes when he heard a few of his MC brothers come in through the garage door of the Monsters safe house. Most of them stayed in the garage, but one continued on through the kitchen door to enter the living room.
James Killian stopped there and addressed Jake. “She’s gone rabbit, Crow.”
Jake’s body went stiff. He looked up.
Killian’s storm gray eyes looked serious as he re-pocketed his phone. “Clemens has left the Vega district,” he explained. “She fled from Santiago and was spotted crossing our border on the east side two minutes ago.” He paused meaningfully. “Obviously we let her come.”
In his true form, Killian’s eyes would lighten to nearly white and start glowing. But Jake’s went red – and that’s what they did now. His brothers knew how he felt about Angela Clemens, so not only would they have let her come, they would have helped her if needed.
“She stopped her vehicle a few blocks in, and hasn’t gotten out,” said Killian.
Jake ran that over in his head, but all he could hear was that she’d been running from Gabriel Santiago. “Why was she running from him?” He was unable to keep the growl from his question. He was standing and didn’t remember getting to his feet.
Killian raised his hands placatingly. “I don’t know, Jake. The Vega safe house is too warded for Dave to get any video from inside, and you know it’s sound proofed like all our houses. But once she left the building, it was clear no one had physically harmed her. She was just in a big hurry.”
Jake forced himself to calm down. She was safe. Whatever the reason, she was on his turf now.
“But we do have a problem,” continued Killian carefully, his tone even as if he were speaking to an unpredictable beast. “Nate and Val have eyes on her, and both of ‘em can tell she’s not doing well.”
“How?”
“Something about her blood.” He shook his head. He didn’t know.
Jake felt his teeth lengthen. He tried to push them back in, but they refused to go. “There’s not enough iron in it,” he said between those fangs. “She’s got some kind of anemia.”
She’d no doubt left all of her medications on the other side of that warden line when she’d run. What could make her leave in such a rash hurry?
“What the fuck did he do to her?” It took a second for Jake to realize he was now standing only a foot away from Killian. He’d paced across the room without realizing it. “Shit.” He ran a tense hand through his hair, focusing hard and fast.
Angel needed help. There was a store of every pharmaceutical known to man inside of every warden safe house. The Monsters clan stash was in the lowest level of the bunker. It was never touched; the Monsters clan members never needed medicine. Not the mortal kind. But they had it on hand anyway for others.
Not that it mattered. Any pill he had to force down her throat would take too long to work if she was in a bad way. There was really only one solution. It would throw everything to Hell, and the charade would be up then and there, but he would deal with that later.
He could feel Killian’s eyes on him as Jake rapidly brushed past him to grab his jacket from the open kitchen bar. But as he exited the kitchen door and entered the garage, Killian called out behind him. “Jake, hold up! You’re gonna scare the crap out of her looking like that!”
Jake could hear the urgency in his clan brother’s voice, so just before he reached his bike, he stopped. He felt time pressing in on him. But he also felt his eyes burning fiery red, and he felt his fangs fully lengthened, and he knew Killian was right. He glanced back at the man.
Killian shook his head. Jake was going full monster. It was bad enough he was going to make Angel take his blood. If she saw him like this?
Killian’s phone beeped. He pulled it back out, looked from Jake to the phone, and silently read the message. When he was finished, he tapped a few times and held the phone up for Jake to see. The screen displayed a text, and thanks to Jake’s vampire sight, he could read it even from across the garage.
Cain: “I’m taking care of this.”
Jake’s guts filled with a heady mixture of relief and dread. His entire body was on red alert. When Cain felt the need to get involved in something, it usually meant things were even more serious than any of them thought. The text moved up a slot as a second message came in. Jake read that one too.
Cain: “Tell Crow to meet me at my place in ten with Angel’s things.”
Cain knew him well. And as always, he was on top of the situation, even from a distance.
A third message appeared.
“Also tell him to calm the fuck down. His girl is in good hands. He’s probably in kill mode right now, and that won’t win her over.”