Chapter 6

Chapter

Six

DASH

Trent left,exhausted from trying like hell to find out anything more about Keir’s disappearance but coming up empty. I burned up a tank of gas, driving around Sacramento looking for Keir. I also came up with nothing.

I went to Clegg Cycles and up to Quinn’s apartment. When Lilith opened the door, she immediately frowned. Thankfully, she was wearing more than she had worn the first time I’d met her, which was next to nothing.

“God, you stink of desperation. What’s wrong?”

I snarled at her. “Thanks for going to find my boyfriend and getting him to come home without him running away in horror.” I mimicked her voice, though a little whinier than she sounded. Sue me. I was worried sick about my own guy.

Jonas had confirmed that Keir wasn’t dead, so I was banking on him being right. I’d tear up Heaven and Hell if anything happened to Dearly.

Lilith sighed. “I’m sorry. All that stupid shit you expected me to say, I was thinking it. Now, get in here. What’s wrong?” Lilith stepped aside and let me in.

“Keir’s missing. I’ve been told he’s not in Limbo, but I have searched everywhere up here I can think of, and there’s no sign of him. He’s just evaporated.”

Quinn entered the living room, shirtless with wet hair. Apparently, I’d just missed the magic.

“Did you say something stupid?” Quinn’s voice had a chuckle that pissed me off. I decided not to stick around very long.

“No. He was working with a guest when I left to go find your stupid ass. When I got back home, he was gone.”

“Come sit and have a beer. Let me make some calls.” Lilith took my hand and led me to the couch and pushed me down. Quinn went to the kitchen, returning with two beers and a bag of pretzels.

Lilith pranced down the hall in six-inch heels and booty shorts Quinn couldn’t take his eyes off of. Heteros… So weird.

“Dude, you just got out of bed. Give it a rest.” I screwed off the top of my beer and opened the bag of pretzels.

After a few minutes, I stared at my friend. He didn’t appear to be as freaked out as I thought he’d be after hearing his girlfriend is the former mistress of Lucifer and a blood drinker. If I wasn’t worried about Keir, I’d aggravate the shit out of Quinn about it.

“You okay after your talk with Lilith?”

“About what?”

I waited for the punchline, but he just munched on pretzels and stared at me, the dumbass. Surely, she didn’t wipe his memory.

“Did she fuck your brains out? Her, uh, history?”

“She didn’t fuck me. I… I don’t know if I want to⁠—”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t give a fuck about that, and it’s a lot more fun than you might think. I mean what she told you about herself. What that ring told you about her.”

“Oh, that. Yeah. Wait—how do you know she’s a demon?”

“I’m the Key to Keir’s Gatekeeper. I know a lot more about shit than I ever imagined. Did you decide how much you want to know? Some of it might keep you up at night.”

Quinn smirked. “She already does.”

I finished my beer and took my bottle to the kitchen. “Okay, Sex Machine. I’m outta here. Have Lilith call me if she finds out anything.”

“You sure you wanna leave? We can get some food.”

It was a nice offer, but I needed to get home. Maybe Keir would call me on the landline? I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it earlier.

“Thanks. Raincheck. See ya tomorrow.”

I headed out and stopped at a pizza place across from The Mystical Palm to pick up a pie Keir loved in case he came home. I pulled into the parking lot and went inside, ordering the meat lovers on thin crust.

“I’ll be back in half an hour to get it.” I paid for the pizza and gave the young woman my name before I headed over to see Trent.

The bell over the door jingled as I stepped inside the weird store he’d been gifted by the former owner. Amelie was behind the front desk with Jamie Gryner, Lake’s six-year-old daughter. The little girl was all smiles.

“Hey, ladies.” Jamie was holding the tablet I’d bought her. It was to keep her company when she had to go for checkups, and she had downloaded a few educational games with her mom’s permission.

Jamie was in remission, and I’d happily helped Lake move them into Danny’s old condo, which was on a bus line so Lake could go to cosmetology school without a problem. She was on our rideshare app, so she could come to the funeral home at our expense.

For now, she was helping Keir at the mortuary, but eventually, she’d move on, and hopefully make a nice salary to support her daughter. She was no longer dancing at the Tip Top Club, which had been my goal.

“Hi, Dash. How are you? My mommy’s at school, and Amelie is taking me for ramen and then home. We’re going to watch a movie.”

Jamie returned to what she’d been doing, and Amelie motioned for me to follow, so I stepped into the literature aisle with her. “Has Keir come home? I’ve been calling him, and he’s not answering.”

“I don’t know where he is.” My eyes were stinging, but I wasn’t ready to cry yet. My guy was fine—wherever he was. I had to believe that.

Amelie wrapped her arms around my neck, a hug I needed more than I knew. “Has Trent found anything else about him?”

She tilted her head toward the office where Trent was sitting at his desk with crystals in front of him. His eyes were closed, so I guessed he was trying to find information for me. The best group of people was on our side, and I hoped someone could find the man I loved.

“Not yet, but he’s trying to contact his family on the other side to see if anyone can find Keir. He’s also put out a call to David Dearly. I know David can only come back once more, but with Keir missing, this might be the time.”

I nodded, knowing she was right, but Keir would hate the idea. “Do you know what Keir was working on with his latest guest, the veteran?”

“He was trying to find Mr. Green’s daughter. When should he be embalmed? His internment is scheduled for November 28th. The honor guard will be at Dearly & Son for the funeral on November 11th. Keir thought it was a great day to honor a vet.” Amelie hugged herself as she spoke.

Keir and I hadn’t had a chance to talk about the plans, but hearing what Amelie had to tell me made perfect sense. My man would have thought about the details. Goddamn, I had to find him.

I swallowed. “Do we know anyone who can step in to embalm Mr. Green tomorrow? Keir hadn’t gotten to it before he disappeared.” It needed to be sooner rather than later, and since I couldn’t find Keir, I needed to carry on with his work. He’d expect that from me.

“I’ll make some calls, but we’ll have to lie about where Keir is to get someone to help us. You and I can hold the memorial if Keir isn’t back.” Amelie was so sweet and sincere when it came to Keir’s work. She was truly a beautiful soul.

“I’ll call Jonas and ask if he can speak with Joachim. Maybe he can do it? I’ll let you know what he says. If he isn’t available, Keir has friends who could maybe step in, right?”

Amelie nodded. “Please find him. He’s such a wonderful man.”

“He’s one of a kind, Amelie. He’s my one-of-a-kind.”

That was as much as I could say. It was a pure and simple truth.

I wentto pick up my pizza, while standing in line, I saw Keir sitting at a table to my right with a slice and a soda. I immediately ducked out of the line and approached the table. “Where the hell have you been? Do you know how worried we’ve all been about you?”

I was shouting, but I wouldn’t apologize. He had a hell of a lot of people worried about him. How the fuck could he be so thoughtless?

Keir looked up at me, his face filled with confusion. “I’m sorry. Do I know you?”

I chuckled. “You fucking better. We’re getting married as soon as you pick a date.”

Keir’s face morphed into alarm. “Married? I’m marrying a man?”

Something was unmistakably wrong. I studied him and noticed his hair was parted on the opposite side than usual. It had been cut, as well. Keir had been waiting a couple of weeks to get it cut right before Thanksgiving.

“You got your hair cut? I thought you were waiting.”

He stared at me. “How do you know me?”

“Engaged, remember?” I glanced at his left hand to see he was wearing a ring, but it wasn’t the one I’d given him.

“Where’d you get that ring? Did you not like the one I gave you?”

He looked at his hand, then back at me. “What ring?”