Page 83 of Immortal Unveiled

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Manus had gotten up early, letting Kim sleep in while he’d updated his brethren on the news he’d gotten from Virginia. He’d made it clear to them that Kim would stay at the compound from now on. It was too dangerous to let her go back to her own condo because if the demons got desperate, they might snatch her to use her to help them find the book her mother had hidden. He wasn’t going to risk that.

Nobody had protested.

Pearce had communicated with the council compound and arranged for an urgent meeting for Manus, while the others left the command center to join their mates for breakfast. Manus nodded his thanks to Pearce and looked at his watch.

“Before you leave,” Pearce now said. “There’s something else.”

“Regarding?” Manus asked.

“You asked me to look into what Nancy was doing for us in the weeks and months before her death.”

Interested, Manus nodded. “What did you find?”

Pearce swiveled in his chair. “As was to be expected, she checked in with her liaison regularly, even if she had nothing to report. During one of those calls she mentioned that she didn’t feel that she could defend herself with the dagger she’d been issued should she ever come in contact with a demon.”

Manus was aware that many of their human spies received a weapon forged in the Dark Days to defend themselves should their work warrant it. It was a relatively new policy, implemented after many emissarii had lamented the futility of human weapons. “And?”

“According to the notes, Nancy was wondering if the dagger’s metal could be used to make a more modern weapon. When the liaison warrior asked what she meant, Nancy said that it should be relatively easy to melt the metal into bullets.”

Stunned, Manus stared at his compound comrade. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. Why did nobody notify us about this?”

Pearce grimaced. “Because the guardian in charge discouraged Nancy from trying it, telling her that it wouldn’t work, that the potency of the weapon would be lost. And he told her that even if it worked, the bullets were something that could only be used once, whereas a dagger was good for many fights. He explained to her that we have a finite supply of weapons and can’t afford to lose any.” He turned back to the screen and read something. “Yeah, and apparently she said fine, and he figured that was it. So he didn’t send it up the chain.”

Manus shook his head. “She said fine? Does that guy know nothing about women?” He let out a breath. “When a woman says fine, she means anything but fine!”

“Yeah, well, what can I say?” Pearce said.

“That would explain why I never found the dagger when I search her house after her death. I’d assumed that the demon had taken it.” He shook his head again, surprised at what Nancy had done. “She must have used the workshop at the museum to melt down the dagger and make bullets from it.” He sighed. “I wish she’d had them on her the day the demon followed her. She might have actually been able to kill him.”

“Particularly since we now know that the bullets work.” Pearce pointed to Manus’s upper arm, where Kim had shot him with her mother’s gun. “I think we should bring this up with the Council.”

“Good idea,” Manus agreed, “but not today. Let me get through this crisis first.”

Pearce nodded. “Agreed.” Then he glanced at this watch. “You’d better get out of here or you’ll be late.”

With a quick nod, Manus hurried out of the room and headed for the kitchen.

Kim sat at the kitchen island and was just starting her breakfast. She smiled at him. “Hey.”

“Hey. I’ve gotta go. The Council is waiting for me.”

She nodded. “Will they punish you?”

“Punish me? For what?”

“Delilah implied last night that the Council doesn’t approve of relationships like ours.”

“Don’t worry about that. They’ve got bigger fish to fry than being concerned about what’s going on between us.” At least he hoped so. In any case, there was no reason for the Council to even know about it. None of his compound brethren would have told them. And Manus wasn’t going to volunteer the information. Nor disclose the fact that Kim was staying at the compound.

“I hope you’re right,” she said.

He nodded, feeling awkward because he wanted to reassure her by taking her into his arms, but they weren’t alone. The kitchen was teaming with his brethren and their wives.

“I’ve instructed the hybrids to protect you while I’m gone. Stay in the compound. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“And what should I do in the meantime?” she asked, looking frustrated.