“Untrustworthy? He filled me in on Nephilim and fallen angels, which is more than I can say about you!” I gathered my cool. I didn’t want to talk about Scott. I wanted to talk about us and force Jev to open up on our past connection. I’d been fantasizing about seeing him for days, and now that I had what I wanted, I wasn’t about to let him slip away again. I needed to know who he’d been to me.
“And what did he tell you? That he’s the victim? That fallen angels are the bad guys? He can blame fallen angels for the existence of his race, but he isn’t a victim and he isn’t harmless. If he’s hanging around, it’s because he needs something from you. Everything else is a pretense.”
“Funny you should say that, since he hasn’t asked me for a single favor. So far, it’s been all about me. He’s trying to help me get my memory back. Don’t look so surprised. Just because you’re a closed-off jerk doesn’t mean the rest of the world is too. After shedding light on Nephilim and fallen angels, he told me Hank Millar is building an underground Nephilim army. Maybe that name means nothing to you, but it means a lot to me, since Hank is dating my mom.”
The scowl faded from his face. “What did you just say?” he asked in a genuinely menacing voice.
“I called you a closed-off jerk, and I meant every word.”
He narrowed his gaze beyond the window, clearly thinking, and I got the distinct impression he’d found something I’d said important. A muscle in his jaw clenched, a dark and frightening look bringing a cold edge to his eyes. Even from where I sat, I sensed the tightening of his body, a current of underlying emotion — none of it good — flexing under his skin.
“How many people have you told about me?” he asked.
“What makes you think I’ve told anyone about you?”
His eyes pinned me in place. “Does your mom know?”
I debated another snide comment, but was too exhausted to put in the effort. “I might have mentioned your name, but she didn’t recognize it. So we’re back at square one. How do I know you, Jev?”
“If I asked you do to something for me, I don’t suppose you’d listen?” When he had my attention, he continued, “I’m going to take you home. Try to forget tonight happened. Try to act normal, especially around Hank. Don’t mention my name.”
By way of an answer, I shot him a black look and swung out of the Tahoe. He followed suit, coming around to my side.
“What kind of answer is that?” he asked, but his voice wasn’t nearly so gruff.
I stalked away from the Tahoe, in case he thought he could use force to stuff me back into the car. “I’m not going home. Not yet. Ever since the night you saved me from Gabe, I’ve been thinking of all the ways I could run into you again. I’ve spent way too much time speculating how you knew me before, how you knew me at all. I might not remember you or anything else from the past five months, but I can still feel, Jev. And when I first saw you the other night, I felt something that I’ve never felt before. I couldn’t look at you and breathe at the same time. What does that mean? Why don’t you want me to remember you? Who were you to me?”
At that, I stopped walking and turned back to face him. His eyes were dilated to full black, and I suspected all kinds of emotion hid there. Regret, torment, wariness.
“The other night, why did you call me Angel?” I asked.
“If I were thinking straight, I’d take you home right now,” he said quietly.
“But?”
“But I’m tempted to do something I’ll probably regret.”
“Tell me the truth?” I hoped.
Those black eyes flicked over me. “First I need to get you off the streets. Hank’s men can’t be far behind.”
CHAPTER 18
AS IF ON CUE, THE SCREECH OF TIRES RANG OUT BEHIND us. Hank would be proud; his men didn’t give up easily. Jev yanked me behind a crumbling brick wall. “We can’t outrun them to the Tahoe, and even if we could, I’m not dragging you into a car chase with Nephilim. They’ll walk away from a rolled or totaled car, but you might not. Better to take our chances on foot and circle back to the car after they’ve given up. There’s a nightclub a block from here. Not the cleanest place, but we can hide there.” He took my elbow, propelling me forward.
“If Hank’s men check the club, and they’d be stupid not to since they’ll see the Tahoe and know we’re on foot, they’ll recognize me. The lights in the warehouse were on for a full five seconds before you dragged me out. Someone in that room had to have gotten a good look at me. I can try to hide in the bathroom, but if they start asking around, I won’t stay hidden long.”
“The warehouse you broke into is for new recruits. Sixteen or seventeen in human years and newly sworn, making them less than one in Nephilim years. I’m stronger than they are, and I’ve had a lot more practice when it comes to toying with minds. I’m going to put a trance on you. If they look at us, they’re going to see a guy in black leather chaps with a spiked choker, and a platinum blond girl in a corset and combat boots.”
Suddenly I felt a little light in the head. A trance. Was that how the mind-tricks worked? By enchantment?
Jev tipped my chin up, searching my eyes. “Do you trust me?”
Whether or not I trusted him didn’t matter. The hard truth was, I had to. The alternative was facing down Hank’s men alone, and I could guess how that would end.
I nodded.
“Good. Keep walking.”
I followed Jev into a retired factory that now served as Bloody Mary’s nightclub, and he handled the cover charge. It took my eyes a moment to adjust to the strobe light pulsing my vision between black and white. The interior walls had been knocked down, allowing for open space that at the moment was crammed with gyrating bodies. Ventilation was poor, and I was immediately hit by a wave of body odor mingled with perfume, cigarette smoke, and vomit. The clientele was a good fifteen years older than me, and I was the only person dressed in cords and sporting a ponytail, but Jev’s mind-tricks must have been working, because amid the sea of chains, leather, spikes, and fishnets, no one batted an eye in my direction.
We fought our way to the center of the crowd, where we could hide and still keep watch on the doors.
“Plan A is to stay here and wait them out,” Jev yelled at me over the throb of music. “Eventually they’ll have to give up and go back to the warehouse.”
“And plan B?”
“If they follow us in here, we’ll leave through the back exit.”
“How do you know there’s a back exit?”
“I’ve been here before. Not my top choice, but it’s a favorite when it comes to my kind.”
I didn’t want to think about what his kind was. Right now, I didn’t want to think about anything but making it home alive.
I glanced around. “I thought you said you could mind-trick everyone. So why do I get the feeling people are staring?”
“We’re the only two people in the room not dancing.”
Dancing. Men and women who bore an impressive resemblance to Kiss band members were head-banging, shoving, and licking each other. A guy with chain suspenders holding up his jeans climbed a ladder affixed to the wall and hurled himself into the crowd. To each his own, I thought.
“May I have this dance?” Jev asked with a sympathetic tug of his mouth.
“Shouldn’t we be finding a way out of here? Devising a couple more backup plans?”
He clasped my right hand, drawing me against him in a slow dance that was at odds with the racing music. As if reading my mind, he said, “They’ll stop staring soon. They’re too busy competing for most extreme dance move of the night. Try to relax. Sometimes the best offense is a good defense.”