Enemy Mine

Chapter 45

"Hand over the phone, Reese."

I wasn't in the limo five seconds before Dale had his hand in my face, making demands. Since he and his demon cohort were a lot bigger than me, I obliged him, but I was in no mood to be fucked with. He had duped me, and I was pissed.

"Can't anyone just use the damn phone to relay a message?" I snarled.

Dale offered nothing as he stashed my phone in his jacket.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see," he snapped.

I threw Dale a halogen glare, hoping to remind him what happened the last time we tangoed. "Why don't we talk on the way? It'll save time. You probably don't have much of it before the cavalry arrives."

Dale's dark eyes narrowed. "Your intimidation methods might work on Christoph but they won't work on me. I plan to follow my directive without distraction."

"Directive from who? Cecile? She clearly doesn't know the meaning of trust."

Dale's face puckered as if I'd just cussed him out. "My orders don't come from Cecile. They come from Hadria... and Ori, here." He pointed to the tan-skinned man driving the limo, and the man's piercing black eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. Ori looked damn serious about the directive.

"So, Cecile doesn't know what you're up to?"

I hadn't expected an answer and I didn't get one, which probably proved I was right. Dale and his nameless companion were traitors, and they sat like concrete statues while the limo maneuvered through traffic. It wasn't until I recognized the buildings of my neighborhood that my stomach rolled down the window and jumped out of it.

Sylvie.

"Why are we here?" I asked as we pulled up to my apartment. When I scanned the alley, there was not a gollum guard in sight. No doubt, the demons had been casing the joint, waiting for their window of opportunity. The engine cut, plunging the car into an eerie quiet, but Dale didn't give me time to enjoy the silence.

"Let's go, Reese. We're losing the night."

"Let's go where? You still haven't told me."

"We're here to visit your friend and have a chat. I'll let you lead the way."

"I don't have my key to the building. You should have asked me to bring it before we left home."

Dale adopted a 'don't fuck with me' scowl. "Do you think we need a key to get to your friend? Call her." He handed my phone back, and I set it on my lap.

"I'm not afraid of you, Dale." 

Dale sat forward in his seat and tapped on the screen of my phone. "Call your friend, now."

"I don't think I will. I'd rather sit in the car until the streets fill with pedestrians and Sylvie leaves with the morning rush."

Based on the glint in Dale's eyes, my luck was about to run out. "I haven't forgotten that I owe you a good, hard fuck, and if you're not afraid of me after that, we'll just have to do it again until you are."

"You would be trading your life for that fuck. Not only would Vincent rip your throat out, but Christoph would help him do it."

This asshole really knew how to push a girl's buttons, but I had no intention of backing down, and I kept him engaged in a stare-off until he glanced away to motion to the driver.

"Ori, show Reese who's riding up front with you."

The driver reached toward the passenger seat and held up a dagger, holding it so the blade reflected off the dome light. The iridescent blues and grays were striking, probably from the adamantium qualities.

"We serve at the pleasure of Ori until this mission is complete," Dale explained. "And his methods of persuasion will be far more brutal than a punishing round of sex."

Shit.

Sylvie arrived at the door wearing her VS pajamas under a silk robe, and I hated myself for convincing her I was alone and not in the company of three thugs. Her stunned silence only lasted a few seconds before Ori and his dagger hustled us through the foyer into her first floor apartment. All the while, she clung to my arm interrogating me.

"What kind of trouble have you gotten into now?" she said in a less-than-discrete whisper.

"The kind that'll have Vincent flipping his shit."

We sat on the couch, holding each other's hands, while Dale assumed a stance in front of us, looking proud of himself. The cocky bastard.

"We need the amulet, Reese. Where is it?"

Oh. The amulet.

"I've already told Christoph numerous times. I don't know where it is."

"You lie!" Ori blurted out his accusation but declined to follow it up when Dale looked at him sideways. Who was working for who, again?

"What's going on here?" I asked boldly. "Are you betraying the hive? Is Christoph in on this?"

"Christoph's allegiance will never be swayed. He's a priv and he'll probably die fighting against our cause." Dale and his sidekick exchanged mutual head juts before Dale returned to the interrogation. "We know you're lying about the amulet. We need you to give it to us, or your friend will suffer unpleasant consequences." He raised his eyebrows at Sylvie, causing her to clutch tighter to my arm.

"I don't know where the amulet is, so I'd like to know how you're so sure I have it?"

Dale gave a nonchalant shrug. "We've been tracking you."

"No shit. I can't even walk into my own lobby and not be dragged off against my will."

"At the church... you opened the door," Ori said. "You need an artifact to do it, or the eternal flame. You did not make the flame. You must have the artifact." He spoke in broken English, but there was no mistaking the conviction behind his words.

"How do you know all that?" I asked.

"I have studied gollum and demon lore since I was a child. I know of every artifact related to them. I will do anything to secure the amulet until the new queen is ready for it." He gripped his dagger tightly as he spoke, causing my eyes to focus more on the blade than his explanation.

"So, based on this lore, you think the amulet was at the church when I opened the door?"

"Maybe not inside, but close."

I hated to admit it, but Ori was right. If Vincent picked up the amulet in Venice, he could have had it on him when we visited the church. In the time it took me to contemplate this, I had gained an attentive audience.

"Well?" Dale said.

"Well, the amulet might have been nearby, but I didn't have it on me."

"Vincent was with you," Ori said. "He had it in his pocket. I am sure of it."

"You're jumping to conclusions," I argued. "How do we know it's not hidden somewhere in the church? How do we know your lore is accurate? The word lore has a loose interpretation."

Ori cocked his head, probably confused by the word interpretation. "You know where the amulet is and we do not leave until you tell us." He swooped in and snatched Sylvie's hand, holding her wrist against the arm of the couch and pressing his knife blade to her inner wrist.

I waved my hands in the universal sign for 'WTF, dude!' "I'm telling the truth. I don't know where the amulet is. Believe me, I would give it to you. Nothing is worth my friend's life."

I watched Ori carefully. How long could I stall him before someone from the gollum rescue party arrived? Did anyone even know I was missing? Ori's scruffy brows lowered and so did his knife as he jabbed the tip into Sylvie's skin, piercing the surface.

"Stop, please!" I begged him. "I'll get you the amulet."

Sylvie screamed in pain and Ori quickly silenced her with his hand, showing her the dagger at point blank range. She nodded her understanding, and Ori turned his hard eyes on me.

"Tell Vincent to bring the amulet and come alone, or someone is going to bleed for it."