A Darker Past (The Darker Agency #2)(37)
I let out a breath, and Lucifer laughed.
“You will receive no additional punishment for releasing Gressil.” He wheeled and started toward the door at the back of the room. When he got to the entry, he turned and pinned me with an icy glare. “This is for you and Lukas to resolve. No aid from Shadow Realm resources is permitted. Fix this problem—soon—or both your lives will be forfeit.”
Chapter Fifteen
One by one, in puffs of thick smoke, the demons around the huge round table disappeared until there were only four of us left in the room.
“Damien,” Valefar said, in an almost bored tone. “You’ll need to keep that boy on a leash if he has any hopes of surviving the next century.”
“He was doing his job,” Dad said with a growl. He stood and took a step toward his old boss.
“To protect your daughter. Yes, I’m aware. And, as I’m sure you know, that’s entirely unnecessary. Did I not protect you for thousands of years?” Valefar’s voice grew dark and his expression heated. I wanted to get back to Mom, but jumping into the middle of a demon scuffle seemed like a bad idea. “Do you dare imply my inability to keep my minions safe?”
“Of course not. You were always a good Master. You made sure we were all taken care of. Lukas is protecting my daughter from you.”
Valefar laughed. “From me? The little demon owes me fifty-five years of servitude. Do you really think I’d harm her?”
Dad slammed a hand down on the table. The noise echoed through the cavernous room, bouncing off the walls and reverberating in an almost eerie way. “This is a perfect example. Making her your Regent? You’re going to get her killed.”
Valefar looked ready to explode. In a deceptively calm voice, he responded, “Jessie Darker will not come to harm in my care. You, Damien, should know that better than anyone.”
Dad’s jaw twitched. “Do not—”
Enough was enough. “Stop!” I yelled. The meeting was over, and there were more important things to worry about now. To Dad, I said, “We have to go. Mom was hurt—”
His fury toward Valefar was instantly forgotten. “What?”
Valefar nodded. “We will do this another time, Damien. Take your daughter to the hospital and tend to Klaire Darker.”
In an explosion of black, Valefar was gone. Dad grabbed Lukas’s wrist and took my hand, and shadowed us out.
…
The wait was killing me. Lukas and I had been forced to sit in the waiting room while Dad talked to Mom’s doctor. Twice I’d tried sneaking into her room only to be blocked by the nurse on duty with a stern shake of her head and a finger extended toward the waiting room. When Dad finally came around the corner and sat down across from Lukas, I was ready to scream. For the first time in my life, he looked exhausted.
I jumped from my seat, doing all I could not to shake him violently when he didn’t launch into an explanation right away. “What did the doctor say?”
Dad ran a hand across his face. “She’s okay. Banged up but alive. The doctor says she’s very lucky.”
All I wanted now was to see her. I needed to see she was okay for myself. With my own eyes. “Can I go in?”
“They want her to rest for awhile. Let’s go back to the office, and we’ll come back first thing in the morning.”
I stared, sure I’d heard him wrong. “You mean, like, leave her here alone?”
“She won’t be alone. I have eyes on her.”
My dad, the demon mafia king. Somehow it didn’t make me feel better. Gressil had done this. He could come back at any time to finish the job. He’d pretty much said he would if we didn’t deliver the prison. I needed to be there to protect her.
Dad saw it in my eyes. He shook his head and pointed toward the door. “Shadow home. I won’t be far behind you.”
The finality in his voice didn’t leave room for argument. A retort about bad puppies bubbled up to the surface, but died almost immediately. My charm was a trait Mom appreciated, but Dad? Not so much. I nodded and let Lukas lead me to the elevator.
“She’s going to be okay,” he said as the doors closed. His hand in mine, so warm and comforting, eased some of my worry. He was right. Mom was a tough cookie. And the doctors had confirmed she’d be fine. But I was still shaken.
“She could have been killed.” My voice wobbled a little as the weight of it all came crashing down. “This thing is serious. How are we going to recapture Gress—” Lukas’s hand flew to my cover my mouth. Heart pounding, I took a breath and removed it, nodding a silent thanks. “—the demon? My mom, Lukas. He took down my mom. That’s not easy to do…”
Lukas pulled me to him, and I tilted my head so it was leaning against his shoulder. He smelled of mint soap with just the smallest hint of sulfur. I’d noticed it after Dad saved him, and realized it was getting stronger as each day passed. As he became a demon. “We’ll do it. The Darkers are known for pulling off the impossible.” He stepped away from me and took a sweeping bow. “I’m living proof.”
“Well, if you wanna be technical, you’re dead proof, but yeah. I get ya.” Then I remembered how he’d shown up in the field right before we were summoned to the Shadow Realm. “Wait a sec. Where did you come from? In the field earlier?”