“What’s wrong?” I stopped next to Dash, who was frowning.
“Jo, Lake, and Jamie have left Limbo. We tracked them to the gate outside Reardon but lost their trail. Have you talked to Jo?” Scotty’s frown told me there was more to their inquiry.
“And?”
I stared between him and Jay until Jay finally cracked. “Beelz asked us to keep an eye on the condo where Jo was hiding Lake and Jamie. We’ve been checking on them this whole time, though we didn’t interfere with the illusion that they were in Monterey.”
“Was it one of you who knocked on the door when Lake opened it?” Dash’s voice was controlled, but I could hear the tension.
“What? No. We’d never approach them that way. Jay assigned his guard to sit across from the building and watch who came and went. When did someone knock on the door? Was it one of the neighbors?” Scotty glared at Jay, who began whistling as he stared at the ceiling.
“Jameson, do you have something to tell me?” Scotty arched an eyebrow at his partner.
“It was Bobby Miller, your old lover, looking for Asmodeus. Apparently, he didn’t get the memo that Dear Old Dad had done away with Asmo, and I’m now the epitome of lust.” Jay’s smug expression cracked Dash up. He was the epitome of something, all right.
Dash’s phone rang, so he stepped away. “Any idea where they might go? Have your people been keeping tabs on Nyx and her followers?”
I was ready to rage over the lack of assistance from the underworld. It was their damn problem in the first place. Shouldn’t they be more interested in what’s going on?
“Yeah. They’re working their way across Russia, looking for portals. Nyx and Erebus have no idea the portals have been closed. They’ll have to get here on their own, no short cuts. You’ve got about a week, I figure,” Jay stated.
Dash returned to where we still stood in the hallway of the funeral home. “That was Quinn. Lilith’s gone. Left him a message that she’s helping us with something and she’ll be gone a few days. He’s not happy.”
I turned to Scotty. “Can you check in with Jo? Dash has been trying, but she’s not answering.”
Scotty gave a curt nod before he went through the front door of the funeral home, taking off his shirt as he went. Jay chuckled. “He’s going where I can’t go. Anyway, when are you Boy Scouts leaving on your little camping trip?”
“Want a beer?” Dash asked as he led us to the stairway to our apartment. The cleaning could wait. I wanted to hear more about this Bobby Miller person and how he fit with Scotty.
Chapter Four
Dash
The three of us went upstairs, and Keir went to the fridge, grabbing three beers and a bag of pretzels. He put everything on the peninsula, and Jay and I sat on the stools while Keir went about opening the pretzels and pouring them into a bowl.
“So, Bobby Miller?” Keir asked. I could see he was anxious for the gossip, and to be honest, I was interested as well.
“Yeah, back when Scotty was human, he worked as a bartender in a speakeasy toward the end of prohibition…1932, I believe. Bobby Miller worked there with him, and they developed a relationship.
“One night, Scotty went to get more whiskey and caught Bobby blowing some stranger. Scotty was so heartbroken that he shot Bobby in the head and the stranger in the gut, if you catch my drift.”
“Whoa!” I could never imagine Scotty doing such a thing. He was one of the nicest beings I’d ever met.
“What happened after that? Did Scotty go to prison?” Keir and I were both invested in the story.
“Bobby died. The stranger lived, and Scotty took off. He traveled the country doing odd jobs to get by until World War II came along and he enlisted in the Army. He was killed in Normandy, France, in 1944.”
Keir stared at Jay for a moment before he shook his head. “My ancestors are from Normandy. There’s a story I used to think was just family lore about one of my descendants being cursed back in the eleventh century by a woman who practiced dark magic. She fell in love with him and had his child.”
Jay smirked. “Hey, we all like a little trip to the dark side.” He slid his hand down his body and puffed up his chest, the ham.
I chuckled at his joke as Keir continued, “Henri was a monk and ended up leaving the woman Maria for her brother Adam. Maria went on to have their child, but she cursed the boy Francois, and anyone in his lineage that they would never have any peace in their lives. Many of the men in my family have been able to speak with the dead because of this alleged curse, and we haven’t had a daughter born into our family—until now, as you know—for centuries.”
Yes, our daughter would be the first Dearly female in centuries. Keir cleared his throat. “My hope is that our daughter’s birth will signal the end of the curse. That’s why Jo hid Lake. We don’t believe Nyx wants the curse broken because she gave Maria the dark powers to cast the spell in the first place, according to my father.”
“What are you going to do about that woman, Lorraine, who has targeted you?” Jay drained his beer and put the empty bottle on the counter.
“Is this the one who caused that mess at The Mystical Palm?” I sat forward awaiting Keir’s response.
