style="font-size:15px;"> Sam inhaled. “Okay. Be kind. But take my advice. Kind and caring won’t get the demons dead. It will get you dead.”
Kit grimaced. “I’m working on it,” she finally said. Sam couldn’t read minds, but she knew Kit was thinking she was a real hard-ass. “Good. That will make Papa Nick proud. So, what’s this?” Sam pulled the newspaper forward. Her eyes widened at the sight of Rupert Hemmer’s photograph on the front page and then she was thoroughly diverted by the accompanying headline. Hemmer Acquires Rare Celtic Manuscript For 212 Million.
Sam dragged the paper forward, her excitement instantaneous. There had been an auction at Sotheby’s the night before, and Hemmer had bought a page from a centuries-old Celtic manuscript, believed to be the oldest written Celtic text ever discovered. Sam cried out as she kept reading. Historians claimed the page was part of an ancient and holy book called the Duisean, which had been enshrined in a monastery on the island of Iona in medieval times. Some historians thought that the shrine had been guarded by a secret brotherhood of pagan warrior knights, and that the book had been the key to their power in the medieval world.
Sam looked up, her pulse racing. She happened to know that the Duisean existed. In fact, parts of it were believed to be floating around the present time. As for the secret warrior society, it existed, too. She was smiling now. “Did you get an invite to Hemmer’s tonight?”
Kit nodded. “Yeah, I did. And I’d already seen this earlier today, but I didn’t read it or notice the bit about the Duisean. Now it’s starting to make sense. Sam, he had the page transported to his penthouse last night in an armored vehicle. He has an extensive art collection there, and apparently he keeps it in an impregnable vault.”
So that was why they were going to the Hemmers’. Locating whatever they could from the ancient book was on HCU’s master agenda. Sam stared at Kit as she sat down in a chair facing the desk.
Nick probably knew more about the secret brotherhood than any other person living in modern times. Last year, Brie had been abducted by a medieval Highlander who had been turned to evil. Brie had also worked at CDA and Nick was notoriously obsessed with not “losing” agents in time. He’d chosen Sam to go back to help him find Brie. When she and Nick had brought her cousin back to New York, Brie had been thoroughly debriefed. The warriors called themselves Masters; at HCU, they’d been dubbed the Masters of Time.
Of course, Brie had gone back to Aidan of Awe anyway, having fallen in love with him even before helping him return to the Brotherhood. But HCU had gained lots of new information to play with—including the possibility that the missing Duisean might be in New York City, and in the hands of a great demon.
Sam’s excitement increased. She believed in the Duisean. The Rose women had their own book, the Book of Roses, which contained all the magic and wisdom entrusted to them by higher powers, and passed down through the generations. The Book was now in Tabby’s keeping—it was always in the keeping of a Rose witch. One of the Highlanders had come for it, to bring it back to her. Why wouldn’t the Masters of Time have a book of power? They were a warrior society sworn to protect Innocence, and they needed warrior powers to do so. It just made sense.
“Is Hemmer evil?” Sam asked flatly. Finding the Duisean—and making sure it did not fall into the wrong hands—was a priority.
“I wondered that myself. I already checked, and there is a file on him. It’s flagged for possible demonic connections.”
“That could make him anything—the real deal, a mixed breed or possessed.” Sam wet her lips. “But it doesn’t matter. He can’t have any part of the Duisean. Shit.” It began to dawn on her how dangerous a demon or a half demon could become, if armed with power meant for the good guys.
“It might not be authentic, Sam,” Kit pointed out.
“Yeah. We need to see it up close and personal.” She was wry. “Where are the near-immortals when you need one?”
Kit ignored that. “Getting into that vault is almost impossible and it won’t happen tonight,” she said. “No one goes into that vault without Hemmer, and he’s very picky about who he invites for a viewing.”
Sam deliberately folded her arms and crossed her long, sculpted legs. Her idea of a great day was competing in a triathlon. She also ran marathons, kick-boxed, biked and skied. She was wearing her usual denim miniskirt, this one gray and frayed, with a studded belt and midcalf, high-heeled tan boots, despite the heat. She wagged her booted foot at Kit.
“I agree,” Kit said, grinning. “You’re the most likely candidate to persuade him to take you into the vault.”
Based on his memo, Nick obviously thought so, too. In spite of his new wife, Hemmer was notorious for his infidelities. Tonight, he’d be toast.
“No one is persuading Hemmer of anything tonight,” Nick Forrester said, walking into their midst. He was a tall, good-looking man and a legend in the agency—for his conquests, both demonic and not, and because of the rumors that he’d been around for decades, although he appeared to be in his late thirties. He was controlling, which was annoying, but damned good at organizing and directing the war on evil—and he’d die for any of his agents. Sam hated to admit it, but she liked him. And she respected him immensely.
He was also impossibly sexist. He glanced at Sam’s legs, but she was used to it. She expected men to look at her. “Tonight is strictly surveillance,” he told them. “I don’t know if the page is the real deal yet and we don’t know just how tainted Hemmer is. I want photos, ladies, lots and lots of photos, so Big Mama can make up architectural and mechanical plans. And while you’re at it, you can bring me a swab of Hemmer’s DNA.” He smiled at Sam. “Just pique Hemmer’s interest—for now.”
“No problem,” Sam said, standing. Sometimes tainted humans had the barest percentage of demonic blood, but it was enough to make their evil frightening. “Are you coming to play, too?”
“Not a good idea. Hemmer and I have never met, so let’s just say the timing isn’t right.”
The easier for Nick to catch Hemmer by surprise, Sam thought.
“I want a word with you,” Nick said to Sam.
Without having to be told, Kit picked up the newspaper and left.
Nick stared, his blue eyes piercing. “Maclean is on the guest list.”
Sam worked really hard to keep her facial muscles frozen.
“Give it up,” he said. “You want Lover Boy, and we both know it.”
NOT ONLY DIDN’T SHE want Maclean, she couldn’t stand him. Sam followed Nick down the hall and into his office, aware of a new tension riddling her body and the fact that her fists were clenched. Instantly she loosened them. The only thing she wanted in regards to Maclean was payback. Because he was a son of a bitch.
“Take off the dress.”
She seethed, standing with him in a fancy salon in his fancy Scottish mansion. “You are an unbelievable bastard.”
He laughed. “I’ve heard it a thousand times. What’s wrong? Are ye afraid of the bright lights?”
She didn’t have a drop of cellulite on her body. Sam lifted the spaghetti straps of her silk dress
