Dominion

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Jesse tapped lightly on the apartment door, listening for any sounds of movement on the other side. Several seconds passed, but he waited patiently. He knew Mrs. Peggy Heston was home, and he didn’t want to leave the building until he had the chance to talk to her. His patience was rewarded five minutes after he knocked, when the door pushed open a crack, exposing green, questioning eyes.

“Mrs. Heston?”

“Oh. Mr. Madding, is that you?” She opened the door slowly, revealing a cluttered apartment, two little girls, and an orange and white cat. “I didn’t think I would see you this morning.”

Jesse smiled. “How are you? And the kids?”

“Everybody is good.” She looked over her shoulder, then back to Jesse and lowered her voice. “We can talk in the hallway. I don’t want them to know what’s going on.”

Jesse took a step back, watching for any signs of injury or exhaustion as she left the apartment, shutting the door behind her. She seemed healthy. As healthy as he had ever seen her.

“He was here last night, Mr. Madding. He kept pounding on the door and shouting. He scared the girls, but…”

“We found him last night,” Jesse said gently. “Well, early this morning. You were right. He had changed.” He paused. He never liked this part of the job, but it was his, whether he wanted it or not. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Heston.”

“He’s not coming home, is he? My Frank isn’t coming home.”

It was a common story. One that he had seen dozens of times, if not hundreds of times, since he began working with Gideon Keel. Sometimes, loved ones didn’t come home. Sometimes demons took their place. And sometimes, it was difficult to tell the difference.

“He was a vampire.”

“You’re sure?” Her watery green eyes pleaded with him. It’s not true. Please tell me this is not true.

“I’m sure. We had conclusive evidence.” In the form of three dead bodies, but Jesse didn’t think all of the details were necessary or desired. “We had to stake him.”

He winced mentally. It sounded like he was talking about putting down some wild animal. But Gideon had only slammed a stake through Frank Heston’s heart after he attacked an innocent bystander, then turned his deadly strength against Jesse when Jesse had intervened.

“What am I going to tell the girls?” Her lower lip trembled, and Jesse reacted without thinking, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She turned into his chest, her body shaking with silent sobs. “Maybe I should have let him come in last night. All he wanted was to see us. Maybe I should have…”

“No,” Jesse said sharply. “What happened to him wasn’t your fault. It probably wasn’t his, either.”

“I just want things to be different.”

Jesse’s other arm went around her. “I know. I know you do.”

She didn’t speak again. She couldn’t. Her tears absorbed her breath. Jesse didn’t try to offer any more explanation or apology. He knew he couldn’t say anything to comfort her, or to make her understand that sometimes bad things happened to good people. So he let her cry, rubbing her back soothingly while he listened through the door for any signs that her girls could hear her.

Mrs. Heston finally lifted her head. She looked impossibly young with tears streaking down her face. Too young to have children. Too young to be a widow. “Thank you. I know you would have saved him if you could.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.” He gently pushed her toward the door. “Go be with your daughters. They need you almost as much as you need them.”

“Will you…will we see you again?”

Jesse pulled a small package of tissues out of his pocket and handed it to her. “I’ll come by to make sure you’re okay.”

“Can you find out who did this to Frank?”

A part of Jesse wanted to tell her no. In a city the size of Chicago, it would be impossible to trace back an individual’s death to one murderous vampire. But Gideon wasn’t the best for nothing, and if anybody could find the guilty vampire, it would be him. Even if he had to beat and burn a swath through the city to do it.

“We’re going to do our best. We both want to see justice for your husband.”

She dug a tissue out and wiped her face, though she didn’t accomplish any more than smearing the tears and make-up across her eyes. “Let me know if you learn anything.”

“I will.”

“I just wish I could have said goodbye.”

Jesse’s heart twisted and he couldn’t resist giving her one more, brief hug. If nothing else, he wanted her to know that he understood. She returned the embrace, then broke away and ducked back into the apartment. He remained in the hallway for several seconds, unsure of what he was waiting for. Perhaps a sign that she really would be okay, but he knew that was impossible.

The sun was almost at its apex when he emerged from the building, and he squinted against the bright light. There wasn’t a cloud in the summer sky, and while everybody was scurrying around for lunch, he just wanted to collapse and sleep for the next twelve hours. Unlike Gideon, he couldn’t just go to sleep after they solved a case—one way or the other. First, he had to contact Derek and let him know why the police department would never find a body in their missing person case. Then he had to supervise any clean-up in the area. He couldn’t just leave weapons and blood and possibly guts and body parts around for the neighborhood children to find. After that, he had to contact the family—or find out if there was any family to contact.

But his tasks were completed, and it was Emma’s day off. He could go home, crawl in bed between both his lovers, and sleep without disturbance until after the sunset. The fact that his shirt was still damp with Mrs. Heston’s tears just made him want to get home faster. He was all too aware of how fragile they all were, and he didn’t like being away from them a second more than he had to be.

Jesse considered stopping for something to eat on the drive home, but decided against it. There was enough for a sandwich or two at home, and he didn’t feel like dealing with the beginning of the lunch rush. Especially since he was groggy and felt heavy-limbed and half asleep.

The acrid stench of smoke filtered into the Jeep before he saw any flames. Even as the rational part of his mind insisted the smell could be coming from anywhere, a flood of adrenaline dumped into his blood stream. The smoke could have been coming from anywhere, but it wasn’t. And when it came to Gideon and Emma, Jesse was far from a rational thinker. He didn’t always have the luxury of logic.

The reek of smoke only grew more oppressive as he drove toward their office. Black clouds billowed from the window he left open next to the door. There was no sign of Emma. Or Gideon’s car with the darkly-tinted windows. Neither of them had called him. There were no emergency vehicles. Jesse took all of those facts in at once and slammed to a stop outside the front door.

He rushed into the building without thought, covering his mouth with one hand as he stumbled toward the stairs.

The heat made his eyes burn, rolling through the stairwell in palpable waves. Keeping his head low, he only stopped when he reached the door, touching its surface to test how hot it was.

He got lucky. It was only slightly warm.

Jesse pushed the door open and immediately started coughing. The heat was higher in here, and flames licked the exit to the stairs that led up to the office. The rest of the living room wasn’t burning yet, but smoke was everywhere.

“Gideon!”

He didn’t wait for a response. He bolted for the open door to the bedroom.

Two bodies curled around each other under the thin sheet. Emma lay on her side, her dark blond hair splayed against the navy pillowcase, while Gideon spooned behind her, his arm coiled protectively around her waist. It was a familiar position. Gideon always sought out the heat when he slept. Even through the haze of smoke, the sharp lines of his handsome face made Jesse’s gut twist, but it was the lack of motion he could see in either of them that drew his feet forward.

With his heart thudding in his ears, he leaned over and tested Emma’s pulse. She didn’t stir at his touch, but he could still feel the fragile flutter of her heart beating. He gripped her shoulder and shook her, but she didn’t respond to that either. Smoke inhalation? Could have been. But why didn’t Gideon notice they were just minutes away from a raging inferno?

Jesse switched his attention over to Gideon. He didn’t respond to the light shaking either. It was never a good idea to startle a vampire from sleep, regardless of how much he might have personally trusted the vampire. But the thickening smoke reminded him that he didn’t have a choice.

“Gideon! Wake up!”

Nothing happened. Jesse grabbed the hard arm and shook again, repeating the shout.

This time, his eyebrows moved. Only slightly, though. They drew together to form a darker line.

When Jesse tightened his grip to shake again, he felt the muscle tense beneath his hand. He froze, watching as Gideon’s frown deepened, and then his nose twitched.

“What’s…” His sleep-rough voice faded away as Gideon woke up more fully, and his lashes finally parted to reveal the deep brown eyes. “Jess?”

“I just got back. I’m not sure how the fire started. We’ve got to get out of here. I think Emma is unconscious.”

Gideon’s gaze slid down to the blond hair he’d had his nose buried in, but it was the mention of the word, “fire,” that brought sharp awareness into his eyes. Releasing his hold on her waist, he brought his hand to her chest, covering the center of it with his palm. Though it took biting the inside of his cheek, Jesse remained motionless, granting Gideon precious seconds to assess Emma’s condition.

“Her breathing isn’t right.” Gideon sat up, looking at the smoke curling around the ceiling. “Where’s the fire? Are the stairs blocked?”

“Not the stairs up to the office. But the entrance to the garage is blocked. We need to get you to my Jeep. And of course, it’s a beautiful, cloudless day.”

“No, you need to get Emma out of here.” Gideon climbed out of bed, wrapping her in the sheet. “I’ll figure something out.”

Jesse knew Gideon was right. He wouldn’t suffocate from the lack of oxygen. But he was highly flammable. One spark and…

“I can’t leave you down here.”

“You don’t have a choice.” Scooping Emma up into his arms, Gideon pressed her against Jesse. “Emma needs you.”

There was no more room to argue. His arms went around her automatically, and he held her as tightly as he could. “Follow me up to the office. I don’t think the flames have spread there yet.”

“No, first priority is Emma. Get her out the way you came in.” Gideon was already moving to the dresser, his naked body gleaming in the smoke. “I’ll get dressed, grab the fire-resistant tarp out of the hall closet, and follow you.”

“You’ll get dressed? There’s no…” Jesse bit his tongue. There was no time to argue about it. “Just hurry.”

He didn’t wait for Gideon’s response. He took the stairs two at a time, and his lungs burned, but he barely noticed it. He could see the sky, wide and blue, just outside the door, and he raced toward it. Emma didn’t stir as he ran, but Jesse couldn’t let himself think about that.

He pulled the Jeep’s backdoor open and pushed the various weapons and books out of the way before gently placing her on the seat. Soot covered her fine features, and her full lips were parted, pulling in wheezing breaths. They needed to get to the hospital.

Jesse looked up, expecting to see Gideon jumping from the door, protected by his tarp. But the seconds crawled by, and Gideon didn’t appear. Jesse’s heart lodged in the back of his throat. Pure fear clawed up his spine, but he didn’t have to think about what he needed to do. He ran back into the billowing smoke and growing flames.

“Gideon? Where are you? Gideon?”

“Over here!”

Over here translated to just inside the open bedroom door. Gideon filled the frame, jeans and a long-sleeved pullover now covering his body, but it was the portion of the ceiling that had crashed to the floor in front of him that made Jesse’s pulse leap. The flames were nearly as high as he was, and they were spreading quickly along the carpet. Gideon was already inching back, farther into the room, in order to get away from flying sparks.

“You have to get the tarp,” Gideon barked. “Hall closet. The box on the shelf.”

Jesse was moving before Gideon finished speaking. He knew exactly what Gideon was referring to. Gideon had a fire extinguisher in the same closet, and Jesse grabbed both as soon as he flung the door open. He turned back to the bedroom, but he forgot to hold his breath, and the heavy, ashy air seared his throat and nose. His first impulse was to double over and cough, but he pushed beyond that.

The flames were growing around him, licking at his feet and his shoulders. His palms were hot and slick, his skin tight, and he aimed the extinguisher at the wall of fire that separated him from Gideon. The foam subdued the fire there for precious seconds, and he tossed Gideon the tarp.

It unfolded slightly as it soared through the smoke, catching the edge of the doorframe. Gideon snatched it out of the air before it could fall to the ground and immediately wrapped it around his broad frame.

“Go!” he barked over the roar of the flames. He took a step back and tensed. “I’m right behind you!”

Jesse retreated without turning around. He couldn’t tear his eyes away until he saw Gideon leap over the fire that was already surging back to life in front of him, landing softly on the other side.

Jesse moved as fast as he could through the hallway and up the stairwell, but he paused and turned often, using the extinguisher to kill any of the flames that jumped at Gideon’s feet. The door was encircled with new fire by the time they reached it, and Jesse was forced to pause once more. Gideon would make it out of there with the tarp, but Jesse wasn’t going anywhere unless he could buy a few seconds.

There was nothing as reassuring as having Gideon’s solid body at his back. As Jess used up the last of the canister, Gideon used his tarp-covered side to pound out more of the flames. The walls shook, groaned. Somewhere in the bowels of the building, something crashed.

“Just run,” he heard Gideon hiss. “We can make it.”

Jesse believed it because Gideon said it. He didn’t even pause to take another breath before sprinting through the flames. He had to push his body with the last of his energy, his lungs desperate for the clean oxygen waiting for him on the other side of the blocked door. He heard Gideon behind him as they burst through the flames, and he didn’t stop running. Not until he reached the Jeep and threw the door open for Gideon.

The vampire was a black blur as he dove for the sanctuary of the vehicle. Jesse slammed the door shut as soon as his feet were clear and ran around to the driver’s side.

“Fire trucks are on their way,” Gideon said, his voice muffled where he was curled up on the floor under the tarp. He barely fit. “But if you stick around, they’re going to ask questions we don’t need right now. Get Emma to the emergency room first.”

Jesse couldn’t do anything except nod as a coughing fit wracked his body. Fluid ran from his nose and eyes, but he wiped it away with the back of his hand and started the engine. As the adrenaline rush began to fade, he promised his body it could succumb to exhaustion after Emma was checked in to the hospital and examined.

“Is her breathing better?” Jesse rasped.

The Jeep was silent for several seconds.

“No, not really.” Gideon sounded small, more so than the tarp would have done to him. “What about you? Are you holding up okay?”

“Fine.” The word was a short croak, but it was enough.

He heard the sirens behind him, but he knew it was too late. His books, Gideon’s history, their life together and with Emma, everything, was gone. But it didn’t matter. Jesse would happily give up everything he possessed for Emma and Gideon’s safety.

The midday traffic was surprisingly light, and Jesse drove with a heavy foot. He’d estimate that it only took six or seven minutes to reach Mercy Hospital, but it felt more like several hours.

“Thank you.” The soft words were nearly lost by the road noise, but Jesse was far too attuned to Gideon’s voice to miss them. “I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t shown up, Jess.”

“The heat would have woke you.” Jesse said the words flatly, because he needed to believe them. The thought of returning to nothing but ashes was too awful to contemplate.

“We can’t guarantee that I would’ve done it in time.” Gideon fell silent, not speaking again until Jesse approached the hospital. “Do you have your phone? I’ll call Derek while you’re taking care of Emma.”

Jesse leaned to the side and fished the phone out of his pocket. It appeared to be unharmed, and he passed it to Gideon. He stole a quick glance at Emma. She almost looked like she was just sleeping. But her face was too pale and lax, her breathing too shallow.

“Are you going to come inside?” Jesse asked as he parked as close to the emergency doors as he could.

“As soon as I talk to Derek. We need to know as soon as possible if the fire was accidental or…something else.”

Jesse hoped it was accidental. A short in the electrical circuitry, maybe. But the heavy feeling in his stomach made him think it was the something else Gideon alluded to. He stepped out of the truck and pulled open the back door, careful not to disturb Gideon’s tarp. He blocked the sun from hitting Gideon directly and gently pushed the tarp aside to brush his fingers over Gideon’s brow.

“You would have woke up in time.”

Gideon turned slightly into the touch. “Make sure Emma gets the best doctor. Then make sure he looks at you, too.”

“I will.”

Jesse bent and carefully gathered Emma in his arms. She was still unresponsive. He only spared one more glance at Gideon before kicking the door closed and turning toward the hospital. The stench of the smoke still clung to his skin, following him all the way into the emergency room where Emma was almost immediately taken from his arms.