Chapter 16

Chapter

Sixteen

DASH

Beelz had changedfrom his demon form into his Jay-Frick form. Thank fuck he put that hammer he was swinging away. The size of the man’s dick was intimidating as hell.

“So, what’s the plan, Key?”

I turned to the prince of Hell and raised an eyebrow. “I’m going to look for Paxton De Vil, and I’m gonna beat the fuck outta him.” I couldn’t say it any plainer than that.

“You can’t do that. One, he’s a warlock, and they’re nasty business. Two, he’s the only one who can release the demon from Doppelgänger’s body. We’ve gotta find another way.” Michael turned to Beelz, who nodded in agreement.

Trent had taken Amelie into his small office. I saw through the open door that she was sitting in the desk chair, and Trent was speaking quietly to her as he rubbed a few crystals over her arms, chest, and neck. I wasn’t sure what he was trying to do, but she didn’t appear to be glassy-eyed anymore.

“Then what the fuck can I do?” There had to be a way to deal with that asshole if I couldn’t beat the hell out of him.

Michael and Beelz stared at each other for a moment before Beelz flashed an evil grin. “Guess what trumps evil warlock?”

Michael sucked in a breath before he began laughing loudly. Thankfully, the shop was empty. Finally, he calmed himself and studied Beelz. “No… You think it would work?”

“I don’t know why not. Lilith is attached to Key here, plus she’s in love with a human. Maybe Paxton De Vil made advances on her man?”

I glanced at Beelz. “But I don’t think he did.”

The prince chuckled. “We don’t have to tell everything we know. You don’t follow the human around all day. How do we know the warlock didn’t make a play for the mechanic?”

“That’s one way to go, but I was thinking of Adonis Steward, Lilith’s son. What if Paxton De Vil comes to the funeral home and Adonis is there? He’s a good-looking vamp, and he has the gift of persuasion.” Michael winked at me.

I turned to Beelz. “I don’t know what that means.”

“It means he can compel the warlock to do his bidding if De Vil doesn’t have any protection wards on himself. We gotta catch him off guard, though. Now, how will we do that?”

I chuckled. “We gotta talk to Jonas and Vale. De Vil really liked Vale, so maybe we could use him as bait? It might be a hill to climb, but⁠—”

“Jonas is a guardian, so he’ll be there to protect his beloved. He might not like it, but to get the Gatekeeper back, he’ll agree.” Michael then put his hands on his hips as if that was the last word. I seriously doubted it.

I glanced at Doppelgänger, who was still silent. “What do we do with him?”

“I’ll hide his presence at the funeral home and have him with me.” Michael grinned and walked over to where the guy was sitting. “Come on, demon. Let’s get you home.”

Michael helped Doppelgänger from the chair and led him out of the building. I walked over to the open door of the office and gave a two-beat knock before I stepped inside. “Everybody okay in here?”

Trent nodded. “We’ll be fine.”

“What happened? Out there with the demon?” I glanced between Amelie and Trent, waiting for someone to answer.

“It was like someone was singing a sweet song to me, and I wanted to hear more. I’ve never had it happen, but I couldn’t stop myself from going toward the sound.”

I’d never heard of that. I glanced at Trent. “Wanna meet for breakfast in the morning?”

He quickly nodded, so I closed the door and approached Beelzebub. “When are Frick and Scotty coming back?”

I escorted him out of the shop and locked the door from the inside. We headed to my SUV, and I unlocked it, getting in on the driver’s side. I didn’t need another wild ride with Mr. Toad.

“I’m not sure. They’re currently doing some tracking for Lucifer that’s of particular interest to them both.” He provided no additional information, which was odd. The guy was a talker, and I didn’t think he knew what discretion meant.

“Well, I wish them the best of luck. Now, let’s get rid of a warlock.”

Beelz nodded, and we were off. I hoped to hell it happened sooner rather than later.

I textedJonas and Vale to meet me at the funeral home after I dropped Beelz at Frick’s place. When I pulled into the driveway, I saw Jonas’s bike near the garage, so I left my SUV parked outside.

Instead of going up to the apartment where I was sure Michael had Doppelgänger, I went in through the front door of the funeral home. We had things set up for Sergeant Green’s service in a couple of days, and I was anxious for everything to be out in the open and to find Keir and bring him home.

“Vale!”

“Back here in the hospitality room.”

I followed the sound of his voice and found Jonas and Vale sitting on the couch watching television. They had soft drinks and popcorn, and they looked quite cozy.

“Thanks for coming over. I realize I might have interrupted a reunion, but I need your help. It’s just a simple thing, really. Vale, I need you to play decoy for me.” Just as I was about to lay out the scheme, Adonis strolled into the room from the back garden.

“Sorry I’m late. Mother spoke to the prince, and he explained everything to her. She then relayed it to me, and I’m in. I’ve got a personal axe to grind with the magical community, so I’m happy to take it on. We won’t need to put anyone in danger. I can handle it myself.”

Adon then looked at Jonas. “If De Vil has his sights set on Valentino, you’ll need to be extra cautious with leaving him alone. If the warlock put a finder’s hex on Vale, he’ll find him wherever he is. You’ll need to get someone who can assess whether that’s happened yet. You need a holy man.”

The shock on all our faces was predictable. The vampire demon playing bodyguard for my missing fiancé had just said we needed to find a holy man. Was there a Bingo card somewhere I was missing?

“You mean like a priest or a minister?”

Adonis laughed. “I’m of a mind we could put all the popular religious leaders in a bag and shake them, and none would fall out as holy. No, we need a real holy man. Jonas, you should be able to find one. Preferably tonight. We don’t have time to waste. I need to take care of some things. We’ll handle this tomorrow after Sergeant Green’s funeral. I’ll be here at seven in the morning to help.”

Adonis walked out the front door of the funeral home, so I guessed the rest was up to me.

“The uniform came. I put it in the mortuary. You want me to call Lake?” Vale turned off the television and pulled Jonas up from the sofa.

I sighed. “Yeah. Tell her to bring Jamie. I’ll get a friend of mine to watch her here.” Vale nodded and scurried off.

I went to the funeral home office and called Georgia, my good friend and manager at Clegg Cycles. “Hello? Keir?” There was worry in her voice, and that was when it occurred to me that I’d called from the landline of the funeral home.

“Hey, Georgia, it’s me. I need a favor. How would you and Rena like to spend the evening with a dear friend of mine while I help Keir in the mortuary? We’re under a bit of a time crunch right now. I’ll provide the pizza and wine.”

Georgia had a great laugh at my request. “Who’s this dear friend?” Of course, she was skeptical. She’d been my only female friend until Rena, Lucy, and Lake came along.

“Her name is Jamie Gryner, and she’s six. I think the two of you could be BFFs. She’s had a rough road like you, but she’s in remission. Any word from your oncologist?”

I loved Georgia like a big sister, and when she’d found out she had breast cancer, I hadn’t known what to do. She’d been there for me through thick, thin, and the death of both of my parents. She deserved the same from me, but I hadn’t been that great of a little brother to her since I met Keir. I owed her a lot, and even though I’d set up her boys and her with anything they could ever need, money wasn’t always the answer.

“I had my last round of chemo a few weeks ago, and I go back every three months for checkups. Right now, I’m cancer free. My doctor thinks I’m a great candidate for remission, so Rena and I are keeping our fingers crossed. What time will the young lady be there? I’m watching her in the apartment, right? You know that funeral home creeps me out.”

Damn, Michael was upstairs with Doppelgänger. I’d have to move them down to the office in the funeral home. It wouldn’t hurt Michael’s feelings—I’d move the beer to the fridge down there for him and make sure there was popcorn. There was a big screen outside the office, and the couches were comfortable.

“Of course. What kind of wine?”

Georgia gave me a grocery list that included ice cream, root beer, whipped cream in a can, and candy sprinkles. That would be a job for Quinn or Fish if I could get ahold of them. They were as afraid of Georgia as I was, and they, too, would do anything she needed.

I’d have to figure out how to get Sergeant Green into his uniform, but maybe I could ask Lilith? After all, she’d drank my blood when she needed it. Friends swapped favors, right?

If someone had told me I’d be wrestling a dead soldier into a dress uniform, I’d have said they were nuts before I smashed them in the mouth.

I wasin the mortuary looking over the uniform supplied by the Army. Unfortunately, the Bronze Star Jonas had mentioned during his initial discussion with Keir was missing.

“Sergeant Green, where’s your Bronze Star?”

I pulled the envelope from the desk again and dumped the contents out. Everything was still there, including the keys. They had tiny numbers on them, but nothing I could see to identify where they came from or what they went to, unfortunately. They could be for damn near anything.

“I don’t know. Did you find Rachel? They’re still saying those things about me. Please, I don’t want her to remember me that way.”

I glanced up to see Sergeant Green’s spirit standing near the walk-in where Lilith and Mr. Smythe had put him after he was embalmed. Keir had mentioned to me that it wasn’t unusual for a spirit to closely guard their husk. I remembered when Jay Frick was jerked out of his body and Scotty grabbed his husk and took it with them to Hell—or wherever they went. I sure as fuck wished I didn’t know all this strange shit.

“Naomi changed her last name. She changed both their last names, so I couldn’t find them. I don’t know what she chose.”

There had to be more to the story. The woman took out a restraining order against Green and basically disappeared. I felt bad that he was dead, but hell, why was she pushed that far?

I turned to Sergeant Green. “Either you tell me your part in her leaving you, or I take you up the street and have you cremated. I’ll sprinkle your ashes at the garbage dump and throw this shit in the trash.” I pointed to the things on the desk that had been with him when he died.

An instant later, I flew into the wall that had recently been repaired after Jay Frick’s body was flung into it by Erebus. I didn’t break the wall, but it hurt like fuck.

“What’s going on?” It was the archangel, with Doppelgänger following him.

I stood from the floor where I’d landed and did a mental check on whether anything was broken, grateful there was no pain shooting through me as I moved. “I told him it didn’t make sense that his wife had changed her name and the daughter’s. I said if he didn’t tell me the truth, I was going to cremate him. He got pissed, and I got thrown across the room.”

Michael stared at me. “Why would you say that?”

“I thought you others knew everything. Why would his ex-wife fight so hard to get away from him if he was a model husband? He came here unescorted. What’s that mean?”

Every decent person we’d had come through Dearly & Son since I’d met Keir had someone waiting for him to offer guidance, love, and support. Horace Green had nobody.

I glanced up to see Horace Green disappear into the walk-in. When I went over and opened the door to look inside, he wasn’t at attention next to his husk, but it was still on the gurney.

Did Horace leave through the portal? If he did, I was sure where he was headed. Did he deserve it? That was really a great unknown.

Grabbing the gurney, I tugged it out behind me. “He’s gone, and I doubt if he’ll be back. I’m glad Keir’s not here through this. It would break his heart.”

“This key goes to a safe-deposit box.” It was Doppelgänger speaking as he pointed to the keys on the desk.

I turned to Michael. “I thought you had his presence hidden so Paxton De Vil couldn’t find him.”

Michael smirked. “I do. Have you called him to come over yet?”

“I was kinda waiting to hear from Jonas about whether he’d found a holy man.”

“I suggest you get in touch with De Vil and get his ass over here for tomorrow’s memorial. There will be other people in attendance, which will help mask Doppelgänger. Do it now!” Michael turned to Fake Keir. “How do we find out which bank?”

The possessed man reached out, and Michael dropped the keys into his palm. Doppelgänger examined the keys before he went to the computer on Keir’s desk and turned to me. “May I?”

I nodded, unlocking it for him and pulling out the desk chair. He sat and began typing into a search engine. An instant later, search results popped up. “River City Bank. Seven locations in the Sacramento area.”

“How’d you find that?”

The guy pointed to the tiny numbers on the key. “Bank routing number. You just need to find out which branch has the safe-deposit box.”

Damn. I’d have never thought of that. “How do I do that?”

He picked up the cordless phone on the desk and held it out. “Call and tell them you’re Horace Green’s lawyer, and you’re looking for your client’s safe-deposit box. Give them this number. I’d start with the main office.”

I glanced at Michael, who was wearing a big grin. “Maybe he’s a good guy?”

“We won’t know until we get the demon out of him.” Yeah, Michael had a point.

I sighed and reached for my cell to call Paxton De Vil. Tomorrow was going to be a long fucking day.

Lake and Jamiearrived at the apartment just after Georgia. Rena was running an errand and promised to return in a bit, giving Georgia time to get to know Jamie. I wanted to make sure the little girl was comfortable with her.

“Georgia, this is Lake Gryner and her daughter, Jamie. Ladies, this is my dear friend, Georgia Lane. She runs Clegg Cycles for me. Georgia, Lake is the makeup artist here at Dearly & Son. She’s apprenticing under Keir, but for this particular funeral, she’ll be handling it in Keir’s absence.”

“Where’s Keir?”

Of course, Georgia would ask the question. She really liked Keir, so she wanted to say hi. My mind was spinning with a plausible lie when Lake spoke up.

“Licensing conference in Los Angeles. This will be our last service until after Thanksgiving, so Dash will pick him up on the way to Monterey. It’s very nice to meet you, Miss Georgia. Jamie, can you say hi to Miss Georgia?”

“Hi, Miss Georgia. I like your nails.” Jamie walked over to Georgia and touched her fancy manicured nails with her index finger.

Georgia smiled and turned to Lake. “Can I…?” She made a motion to indicate painting Jamie’s fingernails, and Lake nodded enthusiastically. Georgia pulled out her phone and sent off a text.

“So, Georgia you know where everything is and how it all works. Lake and I are going to go downstairs and get started.”

Georgia waved us off as Jamie led her over to the couch and opened her book bag, pulling out a puzzle and other toys. I watched as Georgia settled in to play with the adorable little girl. They were going to be just fine.

Lake followed me down the stairs to the mortuary without comment. I flipped on lights as we went—more because it creeped me the fuck out than because I was worried about her. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to my new life, but it was mine, and with Keir, it was worth it.

“Where’s Keir really?” The skepticism in Lake’s voice was justified. It was too much to hope she’d believe the lie she’d told earlier.

My turn to lie. “He’s taking a little time for himself.”

I watched as Lake went to get Keir’s large makeup chest from the shelf where he housed extra supplies. Obviously, she was no stranger to the setup.

I grabbed Sergeant Green’s file to show her a picture of the deceased to give her a guide. “He’s older and has a beard, now.”

“Okay. I’ll neaten it up, along with his hair. Where’s Keir really?”

I went to the walk-in to find Sergeant Green’s husk was alone. I didn’t know if Horace was ever coming back or if he’d crossed over, but I still planned to find his daughter to ensure she got his personal effects. I was also dying to know what was in that damn safe-deposit box.

I pulled Horace’s gurney out behind me and pushed it over to where Lake had set up her station. I locked the wheels and went to sit at Keir’s desk. I punched up some nineties’ disco music, so it wasn’t so damn quiet, and let out a worried breath.

“I don’t know where Keir is. You could say he ran away from home.”

It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t exactly the truth. Fuck if I really knew the truth.

Lake went to the sink and wet a face cloth before returning to Horace. I could tell she’d learned from Keir as she gently placed the hot cloth over Horace’s face before she foamed the shaving cream.

I suddenly became filled with emotions, and the tears came before I could stop them. I turned to the monitor to try to hide them, but it was no use. It was like I’d turned on a faucet.

“Look, Dash, you’ve been very frank with me since I met you, so let me be frank with you. Keir loves you very much. If he needed some time away, there’s gotta be a good reason. Don’t get mad, whatever it is, and when he comes back—because he will—listen to him. You guys work so much. You need to find a work-life balance if you want your relationship to make it for the long haul.”

Hell, she wasn’t wrong, even if she didn’t know certain elements of Keir’s disappearance. Was it time for me to stop going to the garage and stay at the funeral home with him, especially if he had a guest? Things were heating up in the otherworldly realm, and how easily Keir could be taken from me was a lesson I needed to learn.