Dominion: Zoë Martinique Investigation, Book 6 by Phaedra Weldon

Or have you
forgotten?"
    "Tone that down." Azrael
held up a hand. "We all know you're pissed off. And that was a
shitty thing for her to do. But you have to admit, it wasn't all
her. Geist had a hand in that, because he believes your
relationship with the Grimoire is a bad idea."
    "I don't fucking care what some kind
of weird program thinks." I was getting really upset. And I thought
I deserved the right to. Damn it all. I was having a really
screwed-up year. And it wasn't getting any better. I mean…even my
vacation was ruined…and it wasn't even New Year's yet!
    I grabbed my coffee and walked around
to the stools to sit beside Azrael. Joe stayed on the other side,
his mug in his hand. "Sorry."
    "Eh, I'm used to it," Joe said, and
sipped more coffee. "So let's go backwards on that list. I'd
personally like to know why Nona lied to you about sending the
rapist after you."
    I was sipping my own sugar-infused
coffee when he said that. Joe hadn't been with Azrael and me at the
park when Azrael explained to me that mom had been lying. So I
nearly choked. "Wait…how do you know that?"
    "Because I confronted her before I
quit." He grabbed the counter with both hands.
    "You okay?" Azrael narrowed his
eyes.
    "It's this Orbital Veil," Joe said.
"It's going to take a few days to get used to it. I mean, it's
working and I'm getting the hang of it, but sometimes I move one
way and it moves the other."
    I couldn't see all that stuff spinning
around him, but I could remember it moving about that room at the
Society House. The fact that he was right in front of the counter
made me wonder if what was in the Veil was somehow phasing through
the wood of the counter, the floor, and even the ceiling, depending
on the diameter of the circle.
    Ooh. That sounded smart!
    "So what did she say?" Azrael asked.
"Why did Nona lie like that about this rapist?"
    Joe's phone rang. I sipped my coffee
and started listing out the priorities myself. The only problem
was, which one should I start on first? This rapist killing people?
Finding Dags? Or finding Daniel?
    "Mastiff…"
    At first I thought he was answering
his phone as Mastiff, but then I realized Mastiff was the one
calling. Mastiff was Joe's partner. They were assigned together
after Daniel went crazy, killed all those people, and killed his
captain—
    I really hated that I kept thinking
about that.
    "Look, you weren't there. You didn't
see what I saw. And I am not going to spy on Zoë just so you can
catch—"
    When he stopped, Azrael and I looked
at each other, then at Joe. The former APD detective had one hell
of a look on his face.
    "Joe?"
    He held a hand up for me to be
quiet.
    :P
    "….and you're sure. You can see it's
him?"
    That perked me up. Him who?
    "Okay…yeah. But do it alone. My place.
And if I see any backup…yeah, right." He disconnected and looked
right at me. "They found Daniel."

 
     
     
    Chapter Eleven
     
    "What do you mean, they found Daniel?"
The question was out of my mouth before I realized I'd opened it. I
also noticed I was breathing heavy and my heart decided arrhythmia
was a good idea.
    Joe looked…well, flummoxed. "Mastiff
wouldn't say. All he'd give me was 'you have to see this.' So, I'll
see it." He fixed me with a rather worried look. "You need to stay
hidden. I don't want him knowing you're here."
    "And me?" TC looked disappointingly at
the empty bowl of grapes.
    "You…well, you have to hide, too. But
I figured you'd want to know what it was he found."
    "Of course I would. Inanna's my
sister." He turned and grinned at me. "So, should we be incorporeal
together?"
    And that's pretty much what we did
when the doorbell rang twenty minutes later. In the interim, Joe
showered and cleaned up the apartment and stowed the empty grape
bowl and milk. He also put away my jacket before he glanced back at
us—me all Wraithy and gruesome looking—and TC, well, looking like
himself.
    I made a mental note to ask him later
why I looked like this. I mean, why didn't I just