Demon Fire (The Angel Fire Book 3) by Marie Johnston (best authors to read .txt) 📗

When the front door was shut and locked, Sierra handed the laptop to Dionna. “Find someone who can get into that.” It couldn’t be her. They wouldn’t trust the information that was found if she was the one who uncovered it. “I’m willing to bet that Andy stored a lot on it—plans, outlines, copies of articles, whatever would stroke his ego. It should be enough to clear you all of what happened at the club. You saved people because you were there.”

Dionna stared at the computer like it was going to bite her. The awkwardness from the others stifled the air in the room.

Sierra sank onto the sofa. “So. You all know.”

“That’s what Stede had on you?” Bryant asked, his normally rough voice even harsher.

“Yes.”

“Is there anything else?”

“No. What will happen to my father?” She ignored the burn of Urban’s stare at her back. The way Bronx propped himself in the corner, his dark eyes hiding what he was thinking. How Dionna watched her with more curiosity than disgust. Sierra was a spectacle. Something to be studied.

“Bloody hell, Sierra.” Bryant made a disgusted noise and ran a hand over his bare scalp. “I don’t know. Obviously this hasn’t happened before.”

“He did what he thought was right.” She had no other way to defend him, but they had to understand. Papa couldn’t suffer more than he had because of her.

“By hiding a half demon in a realm of angels?” Bryant asked.

“Is it worse than hiding a half angel in Daemon?” The scrutiny on her increased. She wished she was next to Boone, soaking up his quiet strength. But he sat on the stairs, where he could be apart from the conversation but hear everything. “Sandeen. Right?”

Bryant’s eyes flared. “The demon that was in Alma?”

Sierra nodded. “He’s clearly not a full demon.” She’d thought it was obvious, but then the possibility wasn’t new to her. The silence in the room was enough of an answer.

“Then why did he need your blood?”

“I dunno.” Numen angels needed approval to roam this plane. Sandeen didn’t have it; he had been raised a demon. And he wasn’t her problem. “What about Papa?”

Bryant shook his head, his hands on his hips as he paced in front of her. “We’ll worry about another half-breed when we figure out what to do with our own.”

“I’m not your own.” He cut a sharp look toward her and she met it with an equally hard stare. She wasn’t part of their team. And she wasn’t Numen. “I’ve never been a demon and I’m not going to start now. I’m fallen.”

Bryant stopped. “You make it hard to hate you. Did you really plug that bastard?”

“Yes.”

“Harlowe told me he claimed to be your brother.” His voice softened. “Andy controlled all of Jameson’s money.”

“I don’t need it. He only got it from people he was hurting.”

“So . . . what will you do?”

She snuck a peek at Boone, but he was staring at the floor in front of him. “I don’t know yet. The baby is my first concern.”

“Look.” Bryant cleared his throat and looked at all the members of the team. “I’m sure we all agree that sharing your secret with the senate would be a bloody mess.” The other warriors nodded. She snapped her gaze to his. “And Dionna’s one of the best warriors I’ve met, but she’s pure shite with electronics.”

“What are you saying?” Her heart pounded. There was no way she could be part of the team. Bryant would be risking his position.

“I mean that the senate has concluded that we need to keep tabs on fallen, and I don’t have a fucking clue how to do it. You’ve found them all before. You can figure out how to keep monitoring them. That’ll give us a buffer between our own people and the fallen.”

No one in Numen would want that job. It would lead to complications from the fallen’s family members wanting to know what was going on.

“You can see demons,” Bryant continued. “You can see us. We’ll figure the rest out later. You need to get some rest, and me and the rest of the team need to talk.”

“You really aren’t telling the senate about me?”

“We’ll tell them everything but that. Figure out the Sandeen issue—but first we have to find him. I’ll take the fall for it when it comes out.”

“But they need you—you’re the director.”

“There’s another male in the realm who’s done the job before.”

Director Richter. Her heart twisted. There’d never be a time she didn’t regret what had happened. “How is he?”

“Not dead.” Bryant jerked his head toward the stairs. “Go on. There’s a room up there with your clothes.”

She was dismissed. Her circumstances weren’t that different than before she’d walked into that club, but there were no secrets between her and those she cared about. That was the most important thing.

Boone rose and went up the stairs first. She followed him, going into the same room he did.

“Boone.” His shoulders tensed. When he turned, she read the determination in his eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

He took a long breath. “You can’t help what you are, Sierra. You’ve become so much more than the circumstances of your birth.”

“What is it, then? I can feel the giant chasm between us.”

“You’re never going to be a fallen that blends in with society.” He closed the distance between them and put his hands on her shoulders. “You’re never going to sit around while others get hurt. Your team? They gave you a job. A mission. It might not be dangerous, but . . .”

“But what?”

“I can’t do it again.” He leaned his forehead against hers. “Sierra, he had a gun on you. We made it out alive, but you’ll always have one foot in the warrior world. It’s who you are. I . . . can’t do it again.”

“You’re scared?”

He drew back and dropped his hands. She instantly missed his heat. “Fucking terrified.” He took a step back. “I’m going to drive Alma back to Montana. Go back to the