“Duh.” Jax rolled his eyes. “What did you say that made him stop so suddenly? He didn’t leave Gemma alone after Kerry had a little talk with him, and Kerry’s way scarier than you.”
“You’ve never seen me angry,” John said. “I reminded him that my mom is an investigative journalist with a major news outlet and asked him if his parents would like the world to find out that their son was a sexual predator.”
“Whoa! Did you know that Hubler—”
“No,” John interrupted, “but I’d heard a rumor that one of his parents was a politician. I thought maybe like a mayor or something.”
“Worked, though.” Jax grinned. “Ha! Bet he crapped his pants at the thought ofthatheadline splashed all over the networks and newspapers.”
“Anything else to report right now, John?” Kerry was getting impatient.
“No, but Tara’s working on a different angle. We’ll call if we find more.”
After John hung up, Gigi frowned up at me.
“What?” I asked her.
“Where’s your ward bracelet?”
“My what?”
She pushed up her sleeve and tapped a gold band around her wrist.
“Oh.That. I pawned it. Why?”
“It hides our Divinity. I’ve been thinking about your warden and wondered if he or she ever issued you one.”
“Well, crap. That woulda been handy a coupla years ago.” I blinked. “Wait! I hocked it at a human shop. It won’t hurt anyone, will it? Humans, I mean?”
“No,” Rome reassured me. “It has no effect on humans.”
“What were you thinking about my warden?” I looked back at Gigi. “I didn’t even know Ihadone until I met you people.”
“Every neph has a warden assigned to them at birth. If they’re living in the Real World, the warden is supposed to ferry them to the nearest outpost of the Sanctuary if there’s any sign of trouble at home or with the Diabolical. Why didn’t your warden do anything when your home life deteriorated?”
“I dunno.”
“Text Hank,” Kerry growled to Jax, “and ask if he can find out who Mira’s warden is.”
“You don’t have to take time and energy away from what we’re doing just for that.” I waved a hand.
“It won’t take long to find out, and I’d be interested in hearing their answer,” Kerry said. “Hank’s looking into why it took so long to replace my original warden, too.”
“I’ve never heard of a nephilim child left to fend for themselves before you two.” Rome shook his head. “Do you think there’s a connection? Or is more going on with wardens in the field than we’ve been led to believe?”
“Or is there a breakdown in the Council protocols?” Gigi asked. “Or is it our traitor at work again?”
“You both sound like conspiracy theorists,” Jax said with a grin.
“I don’t believe in luck or coincidence,” Rome said, “but fate is attracted to nephilim like magnets to metal.”
“Yeah,” Kerry agreed. “We found Mira for a reason. Maybe there’s a connection and maybe not, but it won’t hurt to look into it.”
“Sure.” I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to me.”
Kerry caught Jax’s eye and gave him a nod, and he whipped out his phone.
#
