Chapter 7
Tiara sat curled up in her chair in front of her desk memorizing the addresses of all the cemeteries in Los Angeles. She’d been at it for a few hours now and her eyes were starting to burn. This job was very important to her and she’d vowed to be just as good at it as Myra had been.
She loved her mom but the one thing she didn’t want was to stand in Myra’s shadow. She had a different plan in mind. In order to use her necromancy night after night, she would have to pick a lover and eventually a mate.
She smiled remembering all the times she’d used her mother’s log in to access the PIT database. She’d had a habit of waiting until her mother was out for the night before borrowing her laptop with the excuse that she was bored and wanted to watch a movie on it.
The first thing she’d always done was scour the database for any mention of Zachary… the only PIT member that knew her mom’s secret. Any new information on him and his whereabouts were few and far between but she’d always felt a rush when she found something. She wondered what Zachary would say if he knew a little girl had crushed on him. Biting her bottom lip Tiara focused back on the screen.
Looking at all of the graveyards PIT had already red-flagged in the database, she wondered if they hadn't already lost the war. It would take months to get to them all… even if she did two or three a night. That many at once would be pushing it even for Myra.
Maybe after the city was secure and everything had settled back down, she’d take the time to look for a true mate like Myra had found in her father. But until then, she didn’t want to have a whole pack of lovers that would rip out each other’s throats at a moment’s notice.
Only her mother had thought her team of men had been the perfect setup. However, Tiara had eavesdropped more than once on the men when her mother was not around. It surprised her when she saw and heard the jealousy they had for one another. The only reason they hid it from Myra was because they didn’t want kicked off the team and shipped off somewhere else.
Sure, most of the guys were fine with sharing, but for the ones that weren’t… Tiara had felt sorry for them. The worst part is none of them completely understood why Myra couldn’t choose between them… even before Deth had come into the picture.
In light of what she’d learned from her experiences and from listening to Myra’s team bicker amongst themselves, Tiara made up her mind early on to pick only one man as a type of placeholder for her true mate. However, Myra’s situation had been different as her mate had made his presence known by rattling PIT’s cage enough to earn himself a top position on their demon hit list.
Tiara sighed forlornly at the only option open to her. She knew she should have asked more questions while her mother was still alive but truthfully, at the time she hadn't wanted to know the answers.
When she’d asked her mother how she would know if it was the right man, Myra had laughed and said, “When I first met your father… I tried to kill him. He would make me so mad.”
Tiara couldn’t help but smile thinking about it now. Maybe she should just wait to see who she hated the most.
Myra and Deth had been meant to be from the very beginning and sacrificed everything to be together. Now that they’d crossed into another realm to spend eternity as lovers and out of the dangers of this world, Tiara was alone. Not alone in the sense of not having someone to keep her company, alone as in who she was going to direct her questions to if something happened that she couldn’t explain.
The only connection she had to her parents was Deth’s ring. Tiara opened the desk draw and took out the small jewelry box she’d placed there. Sitting it on her desk, she slowly opened it.
The simple silver ring inside shone back at her as she ran her index finger over the top of it before taking it out and looking at it. With this ring she could summon Deth if she absolutely needed to, but her mother would never be able to return to this world with him… ever.
Deth was an extremely powerful demon and had always had the ability to come back to this plane of existence if he chose. However, the stipulation to that was he refused to return unless there was a damn good reason for it… he had promised Myra at least that much.
Both her parents had agreed that when Tiara finally chose a team, one of them would be human and wear Deth’s ring. That human would have the power to protect their daughter in their stead. If the human wasn’t near Tiara and she needed him, then that need would call to the person wearing the ring and he’d come to her.
The ring itself was an enigma. It had been forged by Deth’s hand and given to her by her mother with instructions that only a human could wear it. Myra had explained the reason for a pure human wearing the ring… they were powerless.
A simple human had no latent abilities nor were they descendants of other demons whose power could interfere with the power of the ring. That and Tiara could take no chances of anyone in PIT recognizing Deth’s power hidden in the ring… which would immediately become apparent to the wearer upon putting it on.
If Tiara didn’t have a protector wearing the ring and felt threatened, all she had to do was slip the ring on her own finger and Deth would automatically be summoned.
It was strange to think that all this time she’d never been allowed to meet her father but could now summon him at will. Deep in her heart she wanted nothing more than to simply slide the ring on her finger just to meet him. The temptation was almost too much for her to bear but she refused to give in to it.
She bit her bottom lip and smiled at the thought. Sure, bring Deth to the castle where a bunch of PIT teams would do a dog pile on him and figure out he was her father… not going to happen. Plus, she’d be taking him away from her mother during what her mother had said was their honeymoon. That would be mean and very selfish on her part.
Tiara sighed again and slid the ring into a small leather bag hanging from her belt loop. As far as she knew, the only human at the castle was the man Storm had pointed out this morning.
He hadn't seemed very happy about being chosen but that was alright, Tiara could remove the ring at any time and give it to another human if she needed to. The problem was, finding a human with enough of an open mind to handle the kind of things PIT dealt with on a regular day–to-day basis.
Her mother had always told her to trust Storm’s judgment and decisions before trusting anyone else. So, if Storm had chosen Jason then she would trust Jason to be the right human. But that didn’t mean she didn’t have her reservations about him. He was new to her and to the work PIT participated in. However, he had been marked by a demon and as bad as that sounded… it was a point in his favor.
The only other dilemma was the original question… Who should she ask to be her one and only lover… for now with no strings attached?
Everyone on her team had massive potential, even Trevor but for some reason her heart wasn’t really into any of them. Zachary’s image flashed in her mind as if to call her a liar. Storm had made it clear to her that Zachary needed to have the breath of necromancy… and that meant…
“Stop being such a scaredy-cat,”
Tiara looked toward the door when she heard Zachary’s voice then flinched when it was followed by a quick knock. “Come in.”
The door opened and Jason was unceremoniously pushed in ahead of Zachary.
“Why is it so important that we have a pure mortal in the group?” Zachary demanded. He usually didn’t disagree with Storm’s judgment but Jason simply wasn’t the best choice… especially since he didn’t want any part of the supernatural.
Jason immediately felt his hackles rise and went on the defensive, “Shut up, you make it sound like I’m a virgin or something.” He instantly grabbed the back of his head where Zachary smacked him, “Ouch!”
“May we come in?” Guy asked as he entered and shut the door behind him.
Jason cocked an eyebrow wondering why Guy had said ‘we’ when he was obviously alone. Not for the first time did Jason believe he was in a castle full of weirdoes.
“Guy, Carley,” Tiara smiled as she opened another door that led into a sitting room.
“Is there an invisible woman I need to know about?” Jason asked deciding to be a huge pain in Zachary’s ass. “If there is, let me know so I don’t accidentally sit on her.”
“Nope, just a ghost,” Zachary smirked when Jason paled.
“Oh… that’s not creepy at all,” Jason muttered then flinched when Storm popped into existence. “Speaking of creepy,” Jason glared at the time walker accusingly. “It’s about time someone clued me in on why I’m even here. I feel like I went to see the doctor about a headache and ended up in the hospital with a brain tumor.”
Everyone ignored Jason’s ranting and instead focused on Tiara as they sat down on the two sofas facing each other in the center of the connecting room.
“I’ve never known Myra to use a human on her team so it is an intriguing question,” Storm said taking a seat which put Jason between him and Zachary. Myra had never really played by anyone’s rules, much less his, and she’d often caused trouble for herself because of it.
A necromancer’s job was one of the most dangerous jobs within PIT, so he hadn't been quick to judge anyone. Myra’s biggest downfall had been the fact that she loved to take on too much at once. He’d always found out after whatever disaster had occurred had already been cleaned up by her and her men, so he’d stayed out of it.
He had reservations about Tiara being the same way but decided to push that aside as well. The only hope he had was that she didn’t try anything foolish before she was ready for it.
Myra had finally reached the point to where she was so powerful that when she laid a cemetery back to sleep, the backlash of power would knock her team out. He hoped by paying closer attention to Tiara then he had her mother and by putting her with Zachary, that they could keep her and her team as safe and under control as possible.
Hopefully that was enough to keep Tiara from turning his fears into a reality.
“I will always need one human on my team,” Tiara looked toward Jason catching his gaze and gave him a smile. “But I promise he won't be in any danger.”
Jason felt himself calm when their gazes locked and he heard her words. She was so sweet looking… so soft and beautiful that he suddenly had the knee-jerk need to be there to protect her tonight. He settled back against the sofa when she turned her attention to Storm.
“I never had a chance to meet my father, but Myra told me that before he died… he’d given her a gift to hold for me until I came of age.” Tiara told the half-truth/half lie she’d practiced telling to the mirror many times in the last couple weeks.
Reaching into the small leather bag hanging from her waist, she pulled out the silver ring. The setting was a circular black onyx with a lightening shaped crack in it that glowed. “She said that whoever wore this ring would protect me in my father’s place… but that it has to be a human who wears it.”
“May I see the ring?” Storm reached across the narrow coffee table, taking the ring from her fingers. He’d seen this symbol before and blinked wondering how Deth’s ring had found its way into Myra’s hands… much less a present for Tiara. Deth was one of the oldest and most powerful demons on PIT’s hit list since the demon wars had ended… he was not a demon to be taken lightly.
“What does the ring do?” Jason asked, intrigued by the lightning bolt design.
“Whoever wears it cannot be hurt while protecting the owner of the ring… in this case that would be Tiara,” Storm announced before Tiara could. “And she is right… only a human can wear it. If a shifter or an immortal were to put it on, it would have no effect on them.”
Tiara lifted her gaze to clash with Storm’s. For a couple brief seconds, her natural calmness faded and panic set in. How did Storm know so much about this ring?
Swallowing his shock, Storm handed the ring back to her. “It will only work if you are the one that willingly puts it on his finger. You’re also the only one that can take it off.”
Tiara nodded, quickly looking back to Jason, “Will you wear it… at least for tonight?”
“Sure he will,” Zachary flexed his hand in warning then smirked when Jason leaned forward so she could slide it on his finger.
“I now pronounce you man and wife,” Zachary laughed loudly when Jason jerked back and instantly tried to take the ring off.
Jason tried several times to get the ring off his finger but it wouldn’t budge. “That had better have been a joke,” he glared at Zachary giving up on getting the ring off.
“Yes, Mr. Gullible… I was joking,” Zachary opened his palm and a small fire ignited in it, “But this part is no joke.” He grabbed Jason’s hand, gripping it tight and pulled it into the flames.
“What the hell?” Jason instantly struggled to get away from the fire but Zachary kept a firm hold on him. He was the last one in the room to realize he wasn’t burning.
“Let me try.” Guy said and pulled a dagger from his shirt sleeve, slicing it across Jason’s arm.
Instinct had Jason flinching again and crying out. Zachary finally released his hand and Jason shot off the sofa like he’d been stung by a bee.
“You’re right, he’ll be in no danger at all,” Zachary frowned not so sure that meant Jason would be any help to the team or Tiara if they were attacked.
“You’re all insane!” Jason yelled before inspecting every inch of his hand and arm. Suddenly the same dagger came sailing through the air, hitting him blade first right in the chest before harmlessly bouncing off and clattering to the floor. “Stop!”
“You’re open season Superman… at least until we teach you to stop flinching.” Guy laughed.
“You mean I can fly?” Jason asked stunned.
“No, you ninny,” Zachary teased, “You’d drop like a stone. But come to think about it… at least the hard landing won't kill you.”
Tiara’s eyes had widened while watching them torture Jason. She was suddenly feeling sorry for him. Standing up, she walked toward Jason holding her hand out, “Would you like for me to remove it? You don’t have to go with us if you don’t want to.”
Still caught up in the wiggly-boos, Jason held his hand out letting her slide the ring back down his finger but before she could pull it all of the way off, he closed his hand glaring over her shoulder at Zachary’s flaming hand that had just reignited.
“On second thought… I’m safer with it on,” Jason mumbled darkly. “I need some form of protection against the sociopaths around here.” He moved his gaze to Tiara and couldn’t help but smile, “And I guess you need a shield for tonight… right?”
Tiara hesitated for a moment then slid the ring back into place when he relaxed his hand. Her mother had warned her to make sure the one wearing the ring was always with her when she entered a graveyard because if her father caught wind of the fact she was ignoring his protection… he might come for her himself.
“Thank you,” she whispered softly, this time giving him a real heartfelt smile
Jason swallowed wondering if you could really drown in a girl’s eyes or if that was just a saying. She was the type of girl that if you see walking down the street you’d have to turn and look just to make sure she was real.
Zachary cleared his throat when it looked like Jason was starting to develop a crush. He pretended it wasn’t him when Tiara turned to look but he smiled inwardly when Jason glared at him.
“Jason can wear the ring tonight on a trial basis. If he decides he doesn’t want the job, then Tiara can remove the ring and we will choose another human tomorrow,” Storm announced, settling the matter for now.
“Where’s Trevor? Isn’t he supposed to be here?” Jason asked as he leaned back against the wall so he could keep an eye on Zachary and Guy.
“He’s still at the police station doing damage control on all calls dealing with anything paranormal,” Storm answered. “He’ll meet up with you at the graveyard. Since this will be Tiara’s first time out in the field, I’ve chosen a small graveyard that’s off the beaten path.” Storm glanced again at the ring Jason was now wearing.
He felt frustrated at the fact he couldn’t go back in time and shake the truth about the ring out of Myra. He just couldn’t risk the time jump right now. All he was allowing himself was teleporting across space but not long distance time. At least not until he was sure this area was stable enough that he’d be able to make it back.
Noting the direction of Storm’s gaze on the ring, Tiara innocently moved in front of Jason, “Were the two of you able to find a spell that would allow Carley to be seen?”
“No, the only ones we’ve come across so far would make her a risk of being seen by more than just the team.” Guy answered. “But we haven’t given up looking. We’ll find something.”
“Carley, until I get used to my powers, will you stay here or join one of the other teams?” Tiara smiled softly to ease the harshness of the statement, “I would hate to accidentally break the link between you and Guy and if you are with us in the graveyard tonight, I can’t promise you my necromancy won't affect you, too.”
“Come to think of it,” Storm agreed, “it would be best if Carley was kept available for any of the PIT teams that need a spy or a search and rescue. She can still hang out with her brother whenever she wants but this team is not the place for her… Tiara is right.”
“No problem,” Carley said happily. “Now that I have my dream job, there’s no way I’m gonna lose it.”
A loud beep startled all of them and Storm looked down at his cell phone. Taking it out of his pocket, he smirked at the text message before rising from the sofa.
“I have other matters to attend to,” Storm said apologetically. “I bid you all a good day.”
Storm abruptly vanished and Carley got a big grin on her face. “I’m going to see what the rest of the teams are up to.” she said brightly and faded from Guy’s view.
“And I’m going to go and see if I can keep her out of trouble,” Guy shook his head and left the room.
Zachary’s phone chose this time to start playing the William Tell Overture and he quickly silenced it. Looking at the text he grinned, “Storm just sent us the address for the graveyard.”
Jason shivered needing a place to hide and worry about what the hell he was getting into. He glanced at Tiara, “They gave me the room across from this one. I guess that’s where I’ll be until you need me.”
Zachary waved at him, “Good night.”
“It’s daylight you jerk” Jason growled before slamming the door behind him.
Tiara’s eyebrows disappeared under her bangs when she heard her bedroom door echo with the slam. “Is he going to be alright?” she asked trying to make conversation since Zachary looked like he had no intentions of leaving just yet.
“Don’t worry about Jason,” Zachary said. “If he’s brave enough to mouth off to me, then he’s not as big of a coward as he pretends.”
“Why was he here at the castle in the first place?” Tiara frowned.
“Jason was lucky enough to get marked for death,” Zachary shrugged. “Angelica removed it last night.”
Tiara remembered the girl in the window. How could she have forgotten that Zachary had a girl friend? She felt instant dread thinking about him touching her tonight if he already had a lover. It wasn’t right.
“Angelica, she’s your girlfriend… right? Do you want her to join the team with you? What was Storm thinking when he told me to share the breath of sight with you,” she babbled nervously as she started for the door between rooms. “I’ll tell him it can’t be you.”
Zachary frowned in confusion for a few seconds before it dawned on him what the hell she was talking about. By the time he caught up with her, she was dialing Storm’s number on the phone beside her bed. He quickly took the phone from her hand and slid it back into the cradle.
Tiara froze staring at the phone he’d taken away before slowly lifting her gaze to lock with his. “What are you doing?”
“It can be me,” Zachary stated firmly. “Angelica was my partner, but only for PIT jobs… not in any other way.”
Tiara felt heat rise in her cheeks being so close to him. “Are you sure?”
“Do you want it to be me?” Zachary’s voice was horse but he refused to touch her if she didn’t want him to.
Tiara bit her bottom lip not wanting to admit to him that she did want it to be him, “Storm wants…”
“Forget what Storm wants,” He reached up and touched her cheek with the back of his finger to see if she would flinch… she didn’t. “No one should take that decision away from you.”
Tiara felt hope swell in her chest and she couldn’t help when that hope lit in her eyes giving her away.
“That’s what I thought,” Zachary let his hand drop from her cheek and his voice hardened. “I told Storm he didn’t have a right to order you to let someone touch you.” He turned to leave.
“Storm wasn’t wrong… because I don’t have a mate,” Tiara pointed out feeling better about her plan of only picking one lover. “If I don’t choose someone, then when the hunger hits… it will choose for me. Myra told me that the hunger will consume me because it’s fighting to keep me alive. It’s not something I can run from. I need a lover until I find my mate.”
Zachary had stopped walking the moment she spoke, but he didn’t turn around to face her. He was half tempted to just grab her temples so he could look into her mind and see what she was thinking… to see if she wanted the same thing Myra had. He knew that his alter ego was bleeding through his personality in an attempt to solve this problem for him.
Finally turning around, Zach gripped the tall bedpost to keep himself firmly rooted to the spot. “You want to survive. I get that.”
Tiara felt herself shrink back from not only the look in his eyes but the tone of voice he was using. He was angry with her… and if she thought about it, she couldn’t blame him for being mad. She’d just hinted that she wanted him to be a stand in until she could find a mate. In his eyes she was saying he’d be good enough until she found someone better. She didn’t want to give herself away like that, so what gave her the right to ask him to do the same thing?
Zach gritted his teeth when her hand inched toward the phone. So, she thought to call the whole thing off did she? In two long strides, he was standing over her with the phone once again in his hand.
“Let’s make a deal that will help the whole team survive this,” Zach offered his voice still tight with anger. “Tonight we do as Storm suggested. Like you said, I don’t have to be inside of you for you to share the breath of life. I’ll be able to protect you better and it will give you more time to choose your lovers.”
“Fine,” Tiara raised her chin defiantly, not liking the fact that he’d reminded her to put the team first. “It’s a deal.”
Zach leaned down a little closer to her before righting himself and leaving the room. If he didn’t leave, he would end up making a fool of himself and taking away her choice of who would be her first lover.
