A Devil in the Dark

Chapter 9 - Blane

Wren looked peaceful in sleep. On the ride back to Vegas yesterday, her features had grown more pinched the closer we got to the city limits, and when she stumbled out of her brother's car and through the back door of Club Dead late in the evening, she'd worn the look of a condemned woman. Scared yet stoic, ready to accept her fate, whatever that fate may be.

Two days of running, and she was ready to give up.

Or maybe she'd been running her whole life? When Joseph asked Kayden about their parents, Wren had gone rigid beside me in the back seat, and Kayden had shaken his head and said they weren't in the picture. Hadn't been for a long time.

Well, I wasn't giving up on her.

The lines in her forehead were smoother now, her lips parted slightly as she breathed softly. And before you assume I was a creep who'd snuck into her bedroom, I should mention that she passed on the couch within three seconds of sitting down, and when I tried to wake her, she just mumbled something uncomplimentary and keeled over sideways. Leaving her there had seemed like the best option.

What was keeping Joseph? I'd sent him out to fetch breakfast an hour ago, something light from the French bakery along the street, but he'd gone AWOL. And now Wren stirred, stretching languidly like a cat before she opened her eyes.

"Oh, crap," she muttered, then closed them again.

"Is my apartment really that bad?"

The interior designer I'd hired had described the decor as "modern with a twist." The twist, presumably, referred to the oversized armoire and the giant bookcase with the rolling ladder that my little sister had fallen in love with in an antique shop and insisted I purchase for her to enjoy on her occasional visits. I never had been able to say no to Aurelia.

Wren's entire body shuddered as she sighed. "I was hoping the last forty-eight hours were just a bad dream."

"Sorry to disappoint."

Another sigh, and her eyes flickered open again. They were the brightest brown, almost amber, but the fire that used to lurk within them as she dealt cards in Tilt had been all but extinguished. The sparkling flecks of gold had gone.

"I guess I should start by saying thank you," she said.

"For what?"

I hadn't done anything, not yet. When Joseph deigned to return, we'd have a chat with Zion and see what he had to say, but at this rate, we'd be paying a home visit and rousing him from his bed in pyjamas. I could have walked to the bakery and back ten times by now. Or made croissants from scratch. Probably. If I knew how to cook.

"For caring. For not being mad when I didn't show up for work."

I was a tiny bit mad, mainly because I'd had to suffer the indignity of riding in that abomination of a truck, plus a perfectly good suit had been ruined when I got shot. But I kept that to myself.

"Next time, just talk to me before you leave the state, okay?"

Her bottom lip quivered, and dammit, I knew what that meant. Where had Joseph left the tissues? I didn't carry a handkerchief in my pocket when I was in my apartment, but perhaps I should start?

"Don't be upset. There's nothing we can't fix, I promise." Even as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. I used to make that same promise to Nevaeh, but it turned out to be a lie because I couldn't fix her. Don't think of the past. Even Great-Uncle Tiberius hadn't managed to invent a time machine, although if he had, we'd have faced unmitigated disaster. One wrong calculation, and some poor fool would have been stranded with the dinosaurs. Although if he'd convinced Decima to volunteer... I swallowed a sigh of my own, then gave Wren an awkward pat on the shoulder. "I'll start asking questions about your friend, but first, I need you to tell me everything you know."