Chapter Four
But now Dave moved back to the couch and sat down leaning forward. He waited to open the second beer, and Jake looked up to see his grave expression.
Jake didn’t like that expression. It meant bad news. Every time. He started to open the file.
“This part’s not in there, bro.”
Jake froze again. His gums twinged. It was something that happened when he was irritated and his fangs reminded him they were right there, ready to back up his knee jerk reactions. He pinned David with green-gray ice. “Okay?” he asked tightly.
Dave twisted off the top of the beer, but held Jake’s gaze. “She’s Santiago’s personal recruit. And the one he’s most proud of.”
Jake’s strong jaw clenched. Gabriel Santiago was head of the Vega clan. He was good at what he did, one of the best, which meant he was well trained in dealing with troublesome vampires. Jake was man enough to admit that what was even worse was that Santiago was attractive. He was one of those men capable of making a daily choice on whether or not they would be sleeping alone that night.
Worst of all was that Santiago was a reputable man. He was one of the good guys, a former soldier like Jake. And Angela Clemens was working right under him.
In short, Gabriel Santiago was worrisome competition.
“To the trained eye, it’s obvious Gabe has designs on her,” said Dave. “He’s shrewd. He’s careful and he’s patient. A little meticulous scheduling, and the two are partners on all the longest jobs.”
Jake felt his body stiffen. “Does she know how he feels?”
“Honestly I’m not sure,” Dave said, sighing. “Like I said, he’s careful. It took me a while to find the pattern, and that’s rare. He covers his tracks, too. Angel isn’t the only one Gabriel schedules on these jobs with him.”
Jake swallowed the news and returned his attention to the manila folder he had yet to open. He could see paperclips over the sides, probably fastening things like photographs or newspaper clippings. He could feel Dave holding back, though. There was something else, something big, in this file that Dave knew Jake probably didn’t want to know.
Like maybe about the last name “Clemens.”
“How did she become a warden?” Jake asked, giving voice to the question like a death knoll.
Dave said, “Remember I said some things were hidden really well? This is one of those things. But I managed to get to it anyway.”
Jake waited.
“I know you tried to read her mind at the first meeting and failed, so you’re already aware that she was hosting magic cast by someone with enough experience to block vampire probes,” said Dave.
That was true. The very first thing Jake had tried to do when he’d laid eyes on Angel at that first meeting with the sovereigns was enter her mind. Immediately, he’d come up against a well-placed wall. While it was common practice for wardens to block their minds with magic pretty much all the time, this wall was stronger. It was like the difference between a rock wall placed atop the ground and one that sunk several feet into it just in case. It was extra careful, and it took an impressive amount of inherent magic to cast it.
“What you don’t know,” Dave continued, “is that Angel is the one who cast the spell.”
Jake blinked. Angel was a mage? And not only a mage, but a damn powerful one?
But from the shit-eating grin on David’s face, it was clear he wasn’t finished. “What’s more, she’s not only a practiced mage… she’s a healer.”
Jake felt well and truly stunned. He could hear his blood moving through his veins, hear his heart hammering. There was a buzzing in his ears. It had been a long time since he’d experienced that.
Slowly, he looked down at the closed folder. Then he mechanically took a long pull from his beer. “I’ll be damned,” he whispered after he swallowed.
Healers were exceptionally rare. That he knew of, literally only a handful existed or had been discovered by the sovereigns, and hell, most of them were sovereigns. And Angel was one. He was suddenly very grateful for the protection she’d been wearing to mask her true nature in front of him. If he’d been able to smell that magic in her blood….
“Crap,” he muttered, shaking his head. He didn’t even want to think about what might have happened.
But Jake tensed up again. Other than the fact that being a healer made her even more invaluable to her clan, this wasn’t exactly devastatingly bad news. It was good news, if anything. Which meant David hadn’t given him the bad news yet.
“There’s something you’re not telling me. Spit it out, Sharpe,” said Jake tersely.
David pursed his lips, obviously not wanting to move forward. Finally, he sucked in a breath and said, “Fine. Here’s where you start to regret having her vetted.” He looked defeated. “Angela Clemens is licensed to ride a motorcycle but she doesn’t ride. There’s no bike in sight and she won’t even look at them.”
Jake was instantly torn between intense intrigue and intense concern.
“She sold it and bought a Jeep fifteen years ago.” His face grew very serious. “When her boyfriend was killed laying it down in Duluth, Minnesota. His name was Michael Clemens.”
Jake closed his eyes and felt the world sink beneath him. He swore internally. That was already bad enough, but he knew – just knew – that David wasn’t finished with him. He braced himself.
David didn’t disappoint. “She adopted his last name and joined the wardens because of that ‘accident’,” he said, making the quotation sign with his fingers. “And yeah… though the records all but vanished, I managed to learn there were fangs involved. Apparently at the time, Angel had the unwanted and devoted attention of a very infatuated, very determined vampire.”
Dave’s voice lowered, and he shook his head as if weary. “Man, I’m sorry. This information was killer to get, it was locked up so tight. But it’s pretty clear it was this vampire who caused the bike accident and took Michael’s life. It looks like she faced off with him in the end and set things right. But now….” Dave shrugged helplessly.
She hates bikes and vampires, Jake’s mind supplied.
He vehemently swore out loud before he finally bit the bullet and opened the file to start reading.