I snorted. It might well be capable of withstanding the fires of a pyro, but he was forgetting one thing—I was a fire spirit. Of course, at this particular moment I was a fire spirit stuck in flesh form, but under normal circumstances, a cell of any sort wouldn’t have held me. Not unless they’d employed witches to create magical barriers.
But I wasn’t about to tell him that—why give him a heads-up? Hell, even if I didn’t find myself in that cell, another phoenix might. While there was generally only one pair per city, it wasn’t unusual for youngsters to linger in an occupied city for a few weeks or months while they were looking for a place to call their own. And there were always free cities—no older pair could ever remain in one place their entire lives. Sooner or later, it paid to move on—especially in places where hatred for nonhumans was high. Melbourne was pretty mild compared to some cities, but even so, Rory and I would risk only a few more rebirths here before we went searching for somewhere new. Personally, I was voting for any city that had more warm days than it did cold. Somewhere with bigger, wider sunsets where a firebird could enjoy the freedom of the skies every single night.
“For god’s sake, Sam,” I said, shoving away pleasant thoughts of warm skies and freedom, “when did it suddenly become okay to sacrifice even one life? You’re still a cop, even if the department you work for has a fancy title. Didn’t you swear to protect and serve? To—as the force’s motto says—uphold the right?”
He didn’t answer. Didn’t even look at me. But that lone muscle along his jawline was back in action. My words were hitting home, even if he wasn’t responding. But would they make any difference? Once, maybe, but whatever had happened in the years since we’d parted had obviously altered at least some of the core beliefs and values of the man I’d once loved.
Would always love, no matter how much I fought it.
I sighed. “Look, I know we can’t give the sindicati what they want, but, by the same token, you cannot seriously be saying you’re going to let Jackson die. If you do, then you and PIT are no better than the things you hunt.”
“Sometimes,” he said, his voice holding a deep edge of bitterness, “you have to become the darkness if you’re to have any hope of hunting it.”
And he had become that darkness. It was in him, around him. But it hadn’t yet totally consumed him. He wouldn’t be arguing with me like this if it had. “The minute any society starts that sort of thinking, it dies. Trust me. I know.”
He gave me another of those dark glances, blue eyes glinting fiercely in the gloom of the car. A tremor ran through me, fear and desire combined. “Just how old are you, Red?”
“Didn’t your mother tell you it’s impolite to ask a woman’s age?”
“Meaning, I take it, you’ve had more than a few rebirths.”
“Yes. I’ve seen Death in all her forms, and I have no desire to see her visit anyone I care about.” I met his look evenly. “Hell, I don’t want to see her visit someone I used to care about, which is why I saved your useless ass in the first place.”
“Bet you’re regretting that decision now,” he muttered. “Look, I’ll do what I can, but if it comes down to the notebook or Jackson, the Fae is a goner. We need those notes to have any hope of gaining ground on this virus. The sindicati—or anyone else—are not getting their hands on it.”
“Unfortunately,” I said, “they’ve already warned that the minute they suspect PIT or police involvement, Jackson is dead.”
“Then he dies. We have no other choice.”
“There are always choices, Sam. You’ve just got to be open to them.”
He made a short chopping gesture with his hand. “There is no alternative in this case, Red, and you know it.”
The time had come to reveal the ace up my sleeve. And, hopefully, it would be an ace and not another brick wall.
“That’s not exactly true,” I said. “You know how we’d presumed they’d taken my laptop along with the notes? Well, they didn’t. Rory has it.”
“And you’ve known this how long?” he said, voice remote and all the more scary for it.
“Since about five minutes after I woke up in that field.”
“And you didn’t think to mention this earlier?”
“I did think about it, but I decided to see how reasonable you were going to be first.”
He shook his head, his expression a mix of annoyance and frustration—which was infinitely better than that dark and scary anger. “And this alternative of yours?”
“We find the notebook,” I said, “and you take it. In return, you let me keep the laptop so I can exchange it for Jackson.”
“Haven’t you listened to a single word I’ve said? The sindicati are not—”
“Getting Baltimore’s notes,” I interrupted. “Heard it, understood it. But I’m not intending to give them the notes. Not in their original condition, anyway.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You intend to alter the formulas?”
“I may not understand what I type, but I’m familiar enough with Baltimore’s work that I could fudge a couple of formulas and no one would be the wiser.”
“Unless, of course, they check when the file was last accessed. I would.”
“Yeah, but it’d be natural for me to open it to ensure it was still there.”
“You don’t have to open it to ensure that.” He paused, expression thoughtful. “There is another option, however.”
“What?” It was warily said, but I supposed I should be thankful he wasn’t threatening to grab everything and lock me up. Not yet anyway.
“We insert a Trojan into the computer. One that will destroy all files the second time it’s booted up.”
I frowned. “Why the second time?”
“Because they will undoubtedly want to check that the file is present—and not obviously tampered with—before they hand over Jackson.”
“Oh.” I bit my lip for a moment, then added, “Can you access such a Trojan, though?”
He gave me the sort of look one would give a particularly thick child. “I wouldn’t have suggested it if I couldn’t.”
“Meaning if you put this thing on the laptop, you’ll let me meet with the sindicati? Alone?”
“If that’s the way you want it, then yes. But just remember, the sindicati are not to be trusted. They are just as likely to kill you as release Jackson.”
I remembered the vampire’s promise. Remembered his anger at my doubting his word. They would let us walk away. Just how far we got—particularly now that I’d pissed him off—was anyone’s guess.
“They wouldn’t want to try,” I said quietly.
His gaze met mine. After a moment, he nodded. “We’ll head to your place first—”
The ringing of a phone cut him off. He picked up the earpiece sitting in the cup holder and slipped it on. “Yes?”
I couldn’t hear what was being said, but if Sam’s expression was anything to go by, all was not well at PIT.
“When did this happen?” he growled. Darkness crowded the car’s cabin again, its caress sending goose bumps down my spine. And yet the element of sensuality was perhaps even stronger, attracting as fiercely as the darkness repelled.
I really, really wished I knew what the hell it was.