Chapter 21 - Above Cursed Winds

Zia’s teeth grated together. Agitation filled her as they’d gathered the requisite information on the address and contacted Kane, the immortal leader closest to the area.

The vampire had sent several plain-clothes reconnaissance scouts to scope out the location Jeremiah had uncovered, and they’d deemed it a boring apartment building. For their purposes, that was a good thing.

Zia couldn’t quite shake the feeling of unease. Now, gathered around in Nero’s office with several of the other lieutenants and one snarky Elemental, the sovereign pinned her with a knowing stare.

“Anxious, Zia?”

“Not quite,” she lied. “Just having a bad feeling about this one.”

Key took the opportunity to speak up, her eyes frosting white as the other woman turned to regard her. “We must go. It’s imperative.”

“Does that mean we find something? Discover who’s taken the data?” Zia grumbled, “Forgive me, but your words don’t inspire confidence.”

“Then how about these words?” Taking a dramatic sigh, Key spoke again. “A kiss is always a kiss, except when it’s not.”

“What does that even mean, Key? How is that helpful?”

“Oh, it’s very helpful.” Raising her eyebrows suggestively, Key smirked then looked to Nero. “If they don’t go soon, it’ll all go wrong. Please kick them out.”

“Them who?” Nero frowned.

The plan had always been for Nolan to go in alone, with Nero and Zia on telepathic standby on the island should he call for assistance. Key, on the other hand, seemed to be suggesting at least two people on the ground.

“Zia and the redhead.” Key waved flippantly in Jeremiah’s general direction. “He goes, too.”

“Not that I don’t appreciate being volunteered for the death-by-random-home-invasion mission, but I didn’t sign up for wet work. And I need Zia for our investigation, so she shouldn’t be endangered either. Hard pass.”

“You’ll go, Jeremiah, or I’ll teleport you back to Paracel, inform Gideon and Rukia why you’re purposefully avoiding them, and chain you to the floor while they lecture you about the merits of friendship and honesty.” A sickly-sweet smile stretched Key’s features while she batted her eyes at him. “Your choice, handsome.”

Jeremiah flicked incredulous eyes to Nero. “Is she serious?”

“Dead serious, Elemental. We learned to stop questioning Key long, long ago. Might as well just do what she says.”

“Fine.” Then, Jeremiah’s eyes narrowed. “Keep your silence, Raeth.”

Key’s smile was eerie. “Oh, the things I know, Jeremiah. If you want a future, you’ll do as I say.”

Apprehension churned in Zia’s gut as she caught Jeremiah’s confusion once more, but Nero’s question tugged her attention back to him. “Zia, you good with taking Nolan’s spot?”

“Of course, sovereign.”

“Good. Considering the hurricane, this needs to be a quick in and out, you two,” Nero said. “We’ll need everyone back here when it hits, no exceptions. Jeremiah, I know you’re not finished here, but if you’d prefer to return to Paracel during the worst of it, I’d understand.”

“Nah. I’ve always wanted to be in the center of a hurricane,” the Elemental replied. “I’ll stay and help if I can.”

“Crazy kid.” Nero’s lips curled in a smile. “Time to go, Zia. Keep communication open and let us know what you find.”

It took them less than five minutes to prepare to leave. Though she longed to ask Jeremiah what Key had meant about his purposeful avoidance of Gideon and Rukia, she couldn’t bring herself to ask.

“Ready, partner?” the Elemental said with a cowboy twang.

“Yes, rookie.” She holstered her favorite silver daggers and continued in a serious tone. “I’m teleporting us to Kane’s location. Nero gave me coordinates.”

“Don’t drop us in the ocean, m’kay?”

“Scared of getting wet?”

“Oh, about as much as you are, Z.”

Deeply seductive, Jeremiah’s’ voice purred into her ears, and she shivered when his hand gently caressed the small of her back. Leaning into the contact, Zia let him gently cinch around her waist, savoring the contact she was starved for.

“Beam me up, Scotty.” His eyes were playful. “All systems go. Houston, we’re ready for takeoff.”

“Do you ever stop being the comic relief?”

“Not if I can help it.”

Zia closed her eyes to concentrate. Though she’d never been as proficient as Nero—nor any sovereign, really—she could handle teleporting two people anywhere across the states.

As long as she could focus.

And Jeremiah’s hand, a warm steadiness against her back, was most definitely not helping matters. The gentle way he held her, as though she was something to be prized, was so different to Sehrin.

After Key had confirmed that Sehrin wasn’t her mate, Zia had decided he was the only man she could regularly see without her curse becoming true. She quickly realized, however, that intimacy with him would never quench her thirst for tenderness and passion. On the rare occasions Sehrin had held her, it had felt begrudging and forced, a cold means to an end.

Shrugging off the shiver of desire for the Elemental, Zia focused on her task. Within seconds, they were weightless. The teleport completed only seconds later, their feet solidifying on solid ground in Kane’s House.

The vampire himself stood up from his desk in greeting, offering them a tight smile.

“Welcome to my House. You know where you’re going?” Zia nodded in reply. “Good. We need you to be in and out of there, no heroics. Also, Jeremiah, Gideon left a message for you.”

“Don’t care.”

Zia elbowed him, intent on stopping this petulant child act. “What if someone’s dying?”

“Gideon already pulled that trick outta the hat, Z,” he muttered. “Didn’t take.”

Kane inclined his chin but said nothing else on the topic. “You’ll be interested to know that we’ve spoken with the majority of our House leaders. They’ve seen no change since the addresses were released, but they’re prepared regardless.”

“Glad to hear it, Kane,” Zia said. “Jeremiah and I are still working on our end, but we hope this scout will provide some insight.”

“Call if you run into any trouble.”

A brisk nod, then the pair was on their way to the apartment building. Inky blackness met them as they breezed into the oppressive heat outside.

Jeremiah struck her as too enthusiastic for a man who’d refused the mission only minutes earlier. Perhaps his joy was directly linked to the fact that Zia found herself snuggled into his side, one of her arms curled around his waist. Other than with Myko and Nero, she couldn’t recall the last time someone had been so overjoyed with her physical closeness.

Their task wouldn’t wait for her to make sense of her feelings. “That’s the building. Kane’s scouts said it only sees the normal amount of foot traffic, no one suspicious. The apartment we’re looking for is on the eighth floor, and the blinds are always drawn.”

With a bit of telekinesis, she unlocked the ground floor door, then opted for the stairs instead of the elevator. The longer path gave Zia’s psychic senses time to spear outward and inspect the building. Except for the two of them, everyone was human.

Jeremiah dutifully held the eighth-floor door open for her, bowing low at the waist and courteously held out a hand to wave her through. “After you, milady.”

“What’s got you so happy?”

“Good company, I guess.”

Unable to resist beaming at the compliment, Zia began checking the apartment numbers along the hallway, finally coming to a stop outside 812B.

No minds inside. Unlocking the door was uneventful, and within moments, they’d entered the space, letting the door close behind them.

What they found wasn’t what they expected. A barren living room. Empty kitchen. A fine layer of dust had settled on the windowsills, the few tables, and even the floor. The only thing they found was a desk in the bedroom with a high-powered computer, surveillance equipment, and a collection of photographic evidence.

Of immortals.

Every single person who’d made the Accords list or attended regularly. The vampires: Kane, Drake, Rona, and Lucius. The wolves: Aidan, Nova, and Riaz. Gideon, Rukia, Jeremiah from the Elementals, and the Raeths were represented by Zeke, Nero, and Nina.

They all had a handful of snapshots in the folder, no more than three or four, candids taken from a great distance and nearly all of them on the street or in a public location. Each of them was from a different time and place, carefully cataloged on the back of each picture, and most looked relatively recent—no more than a decade old. Some were taken individually, but several included the subject’s mate or their subordinates.

Nero had four pictures in the pile, and one of them included Zia. She could remember the day: it’d been two years ago when they had taken a day trip to Lahaina. Zia hadn’t been aware they were being followed, and certainly hadn’t noticed the picture being taken. If the picture had been taken by an immortal, she would’ve sensed it.

Jeremiah upended the last folder on top of the desk, and a heap of pictures spilled out. Zia’s hand went to her throat in shock. It was Isaiah.

Too many to count, the images of the Raeth sovereign far outweighed all the rest put together. Isaiah’s photos were less grainy and tighter than the others, as if the photographer had gotten closer to the Sylth sovereign than anyone else—and been obsessive about capturing him, like a stalker. Given the different locations and different outfits that Isaiah wore, he’d been photographed on multiple occasions throughout the years.

Jeremiah was just as perplexed as she was. Her mind spun with the ramifications of such deliberate espionage. Trying to get her bearings, Zia fisted a hand against the desk.

“Can you see what’s on the computer?”

Her breath came shorter, and her heart pounded in her chest. The reality of the situation had kicked her in the gut and left her breathless.

“Yeah, but I think we should leave as quickly as possible. This place creeps me out. I’ll just grab the hard drive.”

Though the Elemental made quick work of it, Zia found herself struggling to hold back the whispers of darkness along the edges of her vision. Her fingers started tingling, and something tickled her throat. Giving in to the urge, she coughed once, then twice.

She staggered. Scrambling to stay upright, Zia gripped the edge of the desk, but with her compromised balance and numbing fingers, she couldn’t hold on.

“I’ve got you, Z.”

Concern lined his summer blue eyes as he caught her. His warmth seeped into her through the arm at her waist, and she tried in vain to stay upright. Her vision spotted black along the edges.

In one move, the Elemental had yanked the hard drive from the computer, gathered the photographic evidence, and secured her against his side.

When her symptoms clicked into place, she choked on a gasp. “It’s silver! There’s silver in the air, Jeremiah!”