He ground his teeth together and smashed his fist into the desk.
“Ouch,” said a voice behind him.
Piers turned to see Carl lounging against the door, arms folded across his chest. He hadn’t even heard the werewolf come in. Graham hovered behind him as if reluctant to join them. “Where the hell is she?” Piers snarled. “You were supposed to go with her if she left the building.”
“Unfortunately, you never told her that. Look, you never said she was a prisoner. She was gone before I knew she was leaving. If you hadn’t wanted her to go out alone, you should have given more specific instructions.”
He was right. That didn’t make Piers feel any better. Maybe she was in danger. Who had she been fighting with last night? Could the demon have found her, taken her? Could he be punishing her even now for failing to get the damn Key?
After last night, he should maybe have considered the possibility that she would run. She hadn’t been particularly pleased with him, but still he thought she would stick around. And he still didn’t believe that she wouldn’t come back. She was just sulking.
“I followed her to The Crooked Hat,” Carl said, “but she gave me the slip. Where she went after that, I have no clue.”
“She went to see Jonas?”
The other man shrugged. “I presume so. He’d left by the time I realized she wasn’t coming out through the front door.”
“Is he in the building yet?”
“Yeah,” Graham replied. “He arrived just before dark. You want to see him?”
“Hell, yes. Get him in here.”
Graham looked relieved to have an excuse to get out of there. “I’ll go find him.”
Maybe Roz had just gone to see the warlock to find out about what she was, but Piers suspected there was more to it than that. What could she have possibly sought from Jonas? Shit, why hadn’t he stayed with her last night?
“There’s something else,” Carl said, interrupting his thoughts.
“And are you going to tell me what that is?”
“You asked me to investigate the woman who was working with the police. The one who helped them find the missing girl.”
“The one at Jack’s house?”
“Well, from the description, I’m pretty certain it was your friend, Rosamund.”
The information should have surprised him more than it did. “She’s a Seeker. She must have helped the police find the girl. She probably even gave them Jack’s description. Why the hell didn’t we put this together sooner?” It made perfect sense now. “Christ, she does have the Key.” She’d lied to him. Why did that hurt? Why had he believed her?
She must have found it that night at Jack’s place. But she hadn’t had it with her last night. He was sure of that. So, the question was, where was it and what did she mean to do with it? He was guessing she still planned to hand it over to her demon master and gain her freedom. And could he blame her?
Hell, yes.
She should have brought it to him. He would have kept her safe, found some way to pay off her debt to this demon. And if it was Asmodai—as he suspected—he was going to beat the shit out of him. Or get Tara to do it.
He hated that Roz hadn’t trusted him enough. From what she’d told him, he reckoned she’d gotten too used to taking care of herself. She didn’t know how to ask for help.
Or maybe that whole show last night had been her way of asking. Or her way of saying good-bye. He ran a hand through his long hair, pressing his skull, trying to make sense of it all. To work out what she was doing, where she could have gone.
“I take it you’ve tried her cell?”
“She’s not answering,” Carl said. “I’ve left messages, but so far nothing.”
“We’ll just have to hope that we can find her before she hands it over.”
The door opened, and Jonas slipped into the room, Graham behind him. The old man’s expression was blank. Was he hiding something? And if he was—would he tell? Piers was quite aware that the warlock had his own reasons for working for the Order; it gave him access to things that might otherwise have not been available, but despite that, he believed Jonas wouldn’t work directly against them.
“Roz came to see you this morning. Why?”
“That’s between us.”
Piers flung himself into the chair behind his desk and tried to work out the best way to get Jonas to talk. “Are you aware that she has the Key?”
“She does?” Jonas came farther into the room and sat down on one of the upright chairs. He stroked his chin as he considered the information.
“I think it’s time you decide where your loyalties lie,” Piers said. “We employed you here at your own request, but I won’t have people working for me that I can’t trust.”
“I want a place on the Council.”
Piers studied him. He should have known the warlock was after something; Jonas never did anything without good reason. “Swear a blood oath of loyalty to the Order and the position is yours,” he replied.
“Done.”
“Now what did Rosamund ask of you?”
“To make a spell of destruction.”
“And did you?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe she wants to make sure she is free of this demon for good,” Piers mused out loud.
“Well, she’ll certainly be that.”
Piers glanced at him sharply. “What do you mean?”
“She’ll be dead. The only way to trigger the spell is up close and personal. And the spell wasn’t for a demon—well, not purposefully, though it might take one out if he were very close by. It was for a magical object.”
“The Key? But why?”
“Maybe, as you say, she wants this demon off her back. But if she has the Key, why not just hand it over to him and complete the period of debt? It was what she always planned to do.”
“Conscience?”
“Maybe.”
Piers thought back to last night. There had been an edge of desperation to her. Had she known even then what she planned to do? He had a feeling there was more to it than getting the demon off her back. She had lived with the threat of the demon for five hundred years. Why would she suddenly decide to kill him now?
What else had happened last night? She’d left here with the nun and come back without her.
He turned to Graham. “The Little Sisters of Mercy. They have a mother house in Devon. Get them on the phone for me.”
Ten minutes later, he slammed the phone down. He’d been put through to the Mother Superior when he’d said what he was phoning about. She’d asked what he knew about the convent and had claimed that Sister Maria had definitely not turned up last night.
So the sister had vanished between leaving here and when he had picked up Roz.
It had to be Jack.
The vampire must have found them after she had slipped his men. Must have taken the sister and was using her as some sort of leverage. It made sense. The Key for the sister. And he’d no doubt been right about the conscience. She was going to get the sister away from there and then destroy the Key and herself with it. Shit. He turned to Jonas.
“Can you find her?”
The warlock shrugged. “Probably. I have her blood.”
Piers regarded him for a minute. The fact was, if Jonas hadn’t intended them to find Roz, he would never have come here tonight.
“You always meant us to go after her.”
“Of course. I’ve never come across one with such raw power. I’d hate it to go to waste.”
“Is the spell you gave her real?”
“Oh yes. I don’t give out bogus spells; it would ruin my reputation. If we don’t get to her, she will die and destroy the Key and anyone within a ten meter radius.”
“Well, you’d better find her then.” He pushed himself to his feet and strode around the desk to stand in front of the werewolf. “Get as many of your men as you can and meet me in the weapons room.” He turned to Graham. “You get hold of Christian, tell him we could do with his help—sooner rather than later.”