I’m bad at lying. I shouldn’t have been the one tasked with the enticement. I didn’t know how my new jewelry worked. But the Boss listened, maybe even watched, and Shannah’s life depended on me getting this right.
“I’d risk everything,” Lev rasped.
“I feel the same way about my family,” I whispered.
“Tell me what you know.” Lev’s glassy eyes glittered beneath the office lights. I could have drowned in the depth of the pain that lurked there. He knew the pain of loss.
My pulse thundered in my ear. I had to convince Lev. If Lev chose to come, I could implore to Jason’s loyalty and Jason would come, too.
“I can’t tell you much.” That was true. He had to believe me.
The secret to a great lie was using bits of truth. Other than what I had been told to say, I didn’t know anything.
I clutched my hands. “You’ll understand when you see it.”
The toy wasn’t even mine. She’d given it to me before her henchmen dumped me in an apartment on Unseen Street. I couldn’t say any of that out loud.
A glaring Jason stepped between us, his arms crossed. “Why should we believe you?”
You shouldn’t! I wanted to scream it at him.
But I stepped around the priest and crouched in front of Lev and laid my hand in his knee. “What do you have to lose?”
“More than you know, lass,” he said, and his gaze cut to Jason. “More than you know.”
“Will you come?” The silence stretched, and Lev puffed on his cigar. Every moment dashed my hopes of ever seeing my sister again.
Jason paced in front of the desk, lifting things and slamming them down.
At last, Lev took a deep breath. “I’ll come,” he said. The words left him in a shuddering sigh, the echo of it reminded me of a faraway island surf.
As I stood, my stomach churned, and I pressed my fingers to my lips. The truth of it struck me mute, because, for a moment, Lev’s voice sounded like home.
8
Utility Belts
Woe
Our Lady of the Park, Catholic Cathedral, New Haven City
Still seated on the velvet cushion, I took the magenta drink from Vic and cradled it in two hands. The Librarian had returned to his old-fashioned, digital document searching.
“That should help,” Vic said as she plopped down on the adjacent cushion.
“Thank you,” I whispered, taking a sip and relishing the tartness. The bubbles tickled, and a sneeze threatened to force the liquid from my mouth. I pinched the bridge of my nose until the urge passed.
The nausea went with it, the reprieve always welcome. Almost fourteen weeks along, nobody hoped more than me that the end of the first trimester would bring an end to the round-the-clock queasiness.
“Who do you think came to visit Lev?” Vic asked. “His family?”
I shrugged and took another sip. “His wife died in New Berm after he disappeared in the waves. That leaves his son as the only question mark, but Librarian says it’s a woman upstairs.”
“It’s a woman that’s come to tell him he overpaid for an issue of Whales Weekly and offer a refund.” Vic wagged an eyebrow.
Her expression made her words salacious, and I couldn’t stop my chuckle. “Don’t be ridiculous. They don’t make anything like that.”
“Not in New Haven, maybe,” Vic said, moving the pieces on the abandoned chess board. “But New Haven isn’t the only place on the planet.”
“He hasn’t been out of the Cavern in ages. He says it’s been years.”
Sadness dulled Vic’s playful expression. “As long as I’ve been here, he hasn’t gone out. He says he doesn’t have a reason to. Except for the day…” She paused and cleared her throat.
“The day Arún died,” I prompted. Emotion made my voice sound harsher than I meant. “You can say it. It’s a thing that happened.”
She grimaced. “Except for that day, Lev is the farthest he’s been in at least fifteen years.” She lifted her chin to stare at the ceiling.
“I bet it’s been longer than that.” I stared at the same piece of ceiling Vic did.
“I’m glad Arún didn’t stay dead,” she said.
“Me, too.”
“What could be going on up there?”
I didn’t have an answer, so the silence stretched. There were so few things it could be, it almost surely had something to do with his missing son. I hoped it was something that would bring new life to his old bones. The guy needed it.
“Tell me about Ziva.” Vic shifted in her seat. “Does she still see things?”
It was an abrupt subject change, and I got the impression she was trying to jumpstart a conversation. Even so, after days of a sullen Jason and the naturally quiet Lev, it was a welcome change. Arún needed to hurry up and get back from wherever he had gone.
I nodded. “She does, but I’m trying to help her through the harder parts of it. Her mom is… indifferent… to my involvement.” I bit my lip. “I think she’s just glad someone else is trying to mentor her daughter. The school labeled her a trouble maker, and she’s an outsider. The things she sees make it hard for her to interact with others. I had no idea other kids could be so cruel.”
“Does the mom know what you are?” When I shook my head, Vic asked, “How does Jason take her?”
“I think it irritates him.” As if of its own volition, my hand settled below my belly button. It felt natural, but still surprised me every time, and I studied my fingers. “It’s like he thinks I only do it because I’m crazy from mom-hormones.”
“Are you?”
“What do you think?” I didn’t think pregnancy hormones were the cause of my attachment to Ziva, but the answer to Vic’s question was obvious.
“Wasn’t a little girl the reason you lost your wings?” she asked.
“You could say that.”
Hannah twirled through my thoughts, and tears filled my eyes. She’d been murdered by evil men, gone before I met Arún. Out of retribution, I killed one of the men that had a hand in murdering her. As a result, my wings had been stripped from me as punishment. I’d given up a thousand years of existence to avenge a little girl.
I wiped my cheeks and laughed. “I cry a lot more since I’ve gotten knocked up.”
“Have you talked to him much since Arún left?”
I didn’t meet her eyes. “You mean Jason?”
“Who else would I mean?” She lightly punched my shoulder.
The movement startled me, and I jerked my gaze up to meet hers. There was no ridicule or censure in her eyes, only mirth showed through.
“No,” I said. “It needs to be done, I guess, but he’s always got Lev around when I’m here, and it’s not something I want to talk about with Lev around.”
“Wings, you can’t let it go on like it is. You have to talk to him. It’s the only way he’s going to move on.”
“I’m carrying Arún’s baby. That’s who I picked. How do we talk about that?” My voice broke again. “You know, it’s really annoying to cry at everything.”
“I’m sure.” She laughed then, and her gaze drifted back to the ceiling. “What are they talking about?”
Arún was patient, even-keeled, and confident. He was an anchor, and we’d grown together as a couple. He was a source of strength when I had none of my own, and he chose me over everything else.
Since Arún had been gone, Jason had changed from a steady rock, dogged in his logic to a passionate and mercurial, prone to outbursts and rash decisions. But when he thought I wasn’t looking, I saw tenderness in his eyes that almost worried me. He still had feelings, emotions that I didn’t share.
I didn’t want to hurt anymore, and I didn’t know what to do. “Do you have a tissue?” My stuffy nose muffled my voice.
She retrieved some from Jason’s desk and took her seat. “Have you been flying lately? Do you like having your wings back?”
“My belly will eventually interfere with my aerodynamics…” She grinned. “But it’s b
een all kinds of amazing.”
Vic’s eyes drifted upward again. “I could sneak up there and eavesdrop.”
“It’s a shame you’re not a morph.” I blew into the tissue and tossed it into the morning-sickness trash can I kept underneath the coffee table.
“Oh, Wings, I’d get into so much trouble if I could morph.” She scanned the room. “Where did that Librarian get off to? I bet he could listen in.”
Thankful for the subject change, I studied the bubbles in the last of my fizz-tonic before I lifted the bottle to my lips to take another drink.
Vic touched my knee, and when I looked up, her face had softened. “Besides all the weepies, how have you been?”
“Decent. It’s hard since nobody really knows how this is supposed to go. Not even Arún.”
Despite my need for it, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Fae Baby wasn’t a title readily available in the Athenaeum. There were no medical records we could search regarding pregnancy in a fallen angel, so nobody knew how my pregnancy would go.
Draining the last drop in the beaker, I turned to Vic. “Where have you been anyway?”
She’d been gone a few extra days. She didn’t care about Jason’s stiff expectations, but it wasn’t like her to be late without a word to me. She’d become my closest friend.
Rather than the sass I expected, her expression turned pensive, and she bit her lip. “I’m not sure. I went to a rave in the Himalayas.” She glanced at me and flashed a grin. “You know the Yeti know how to party.”
“Did it last that long?” I couldn’t imagine attending a bash that lasted weeks.
“Well, I met someone,” she said, leaning forward to study her bare nails, effectively hiding her eyes. Her oversized earrings circled her cheeks. “Or someone met me. It’s confusing.”
“A big hairy beast?” I poked her leg. She had a thing for them. “Isn’t that normal for you?”
She shrugged.
“Oh, Vic,” I breathed.
She offered a sad smile. “Another story for another time.”
“I’m sure it’ll work out.” I squeezed her hand, and she squeezed back. Love was a hard thing to carry alone.
“I’m just a sucker for a happy ending.” She stood. “Have you been out hunting?”
“You mean for the shifter?” Bitterness welled up, a white-hot heat behind my sternum. Once the grief ebbed, rage had taken its place.
Vic dipped her chin in a nod.
“Every spare moment,” I whispered. “She tried to take Arún from me.”
Vic pressed her lips together as she studied me. “The baby?”
“Fine. Healthy.”
“No problems?”
“None that I know of.”
“Don’t you think you should take it easy?” Her eyes dropped to my middle. “For the baby?”
“When the shifter is dead.” I stood, ready to end the interrogation.
It was the same conversation I had had with all of them. It was like they took turns trying to convince me to let the shifter go free, but I owed it to Arún.
“Maybe it’s time to put your vendetta to rest,” she said. “Arún doesn’t want his wife to waste her life on revenge.”
“It’s not a waste.” It stung that she would even suggest it.
“Are you sure?”
I stared at Vic, suddenly feeling very alone. “I’m going out.”
I tossed the words over my shoulder as I crossed the room. At the door, I scooped a utility belt off a coat hook. I’d hung it there when the last of the fizz-tonic had worn off.
“I could come with you,” she said.
“No, I’d rather do this alone.” That was more hard truth.
It was my job to bring justice to the shifter that had tried to consume my husband. I didn’t care if the creature had been held captive and nearly starved to death. I fastened the belt around my middle, checking my weapons and my flashlight before I slammed the door behind me.
I’d rest when I could sleep easy, knowing that we weren’t in danger anymore. It wasn’t fair that Vic asked me to give that up. My pace faltered when my conscience pricked my heart.
I wavered at the threshold. I could give it up. I chose not to.
Maybe that meant my hormones impacted more than I realized. I might be obsessing over something I shouldn’t.
In the cold of the park, under the dark of night, the stars above shimmered, and my life shattered. Arún’s life had faded while I’d held him in my arms, and I wouldn’t go through that again.
I would make the shifter pay for stealing Arún’s life by taking hers, and I would be able to tell our baby that I had avenged their father’s death.
A whir sounded around the room, and I stepped back in.
The Librarian re-appeared, tugged on his mustache, and glanced toward the office above us. “I must find that file. Something about that bracelet on her ankle.”
Vic spun toward him and crossed her arms. “What’s going on up there?”
The Librarian’s holographic face shimmered, but he didn’t respond.
Dread slithered like a snake into the room, and I couldn’t wait downstairs anymore.
9
The Set Up
Jason
Our Lady of the Park, Catholic Cathedral, New Haven City
Mara lives on Unseen Street.
Maybe that explained how she could know about us, but we’d never met. Lev might be known there. Rumors ran rife every place, and whale shifters weren’t common.
Lev lost his mind to a pretty face. He’d already agreed to go.
A bit of white hair and a sob story. That was all it took for him to take leave of his senses completely. Lev knew better.
I caught his eye and tipped my head toward the interloper. He rolled his cigar from one side of his mouth to the other but didn’t relent from his agreement.
I took a deep breath, testing the air. The woman didn’t smell paranormal. I crossed my arms and stroked my chin, puzzling out the limited details. Glamours weren’t usually a problem for my sixth sense, but sometimes camouflage spells did a number on my ability to tag them. The last priest didn’t just recruit me for my pretty beard; I could detect supernatural creatures from several blocks away. I caught Lev’s eye and barely shook my head. I didn’t have a clue what Mara was.
Lev rubbed the top of his knee. “I presume that we must go… now?”
Mara nodded.
“Naturally.” He glanced at me, and I glared at him. His lips tightened.
“Hmmm,” Lev rumbled. “Perhaps we can wait?”
“My survival depends on getting the toy to you as soon as possible.” Mara looked more like a frightened girl than the mature woman that she was. “I didn’t even know something like that shifter existed there. The bird said she would find me if I didn’t do as she asked. I came right here. I had no choice.” Her chin quivered, and she was babbling. Supposedly, the peahen had scared her that much.
I didn’t buy it. There was something else at play. I wasn’t fooled by Mara’s pitiful act. She’d been sent to drag us into a trap. I just didn’t know who was behind it.
I said, “You must understand how you seem suspi—”
“Well, we best go with her, Jason,” Lev said, interrupting as though I hadn’t spoken at all.
My jaw slacked, and I spun toward him.
“I’ll go with or without you,” he said. The tightness in Lev’s face eased, and his hand grazed the woman’s shoulder.
Lev was the old softie of the group—chivalrous even when he stared a traitor in the face. He wasn’t stupid. She’d hexed the man. That was the only explanation, and I wasn’t about to let him stroll into a trap alone.
I crossed to my desk. Taking a seat in the leather swivel chair, I quickly typed out a status update to send to the Librarian. He would forward the message on to Vic. Between them, they would be able to locate us anywhere in the city.
“Do you mind if I smoke?” Lev asked Mara.
S
he murmured her assent, and Lev drew another cigar from the interior pocket of his suit coat. The lighter clicked several times as he turned the rolled seaweed to get an even burn. He puffed a few times and sweet-scented smoke curled around his head. He smoked as often as he thought, and he thought most of the time.
Tugging on a middle drawer, I pulled a nickel-sized tracker from inside and dropped it into my deep cassock pocket. I grabbed another for Lev. It wouldn’t make sense to go into the invisible parts of New York without a tracker. If we wound up missing, Vic would scour every part of the city to find us. In addition to the tracker, I retrieved my lock kit. It consisted of two items: a lock pick and a tension wrench. Both were tucked in a small leather pouch. I slipped that into my pocket, along with a small notepad and a pen.
Glancing sidelong at Mara, I asked, “Do we need to take anything?”
Maybe her body language would be enough to give something away.
“A Winged Warrior?” She gave a nervous little laugh.
I jumped up, and my thoughts landed on the only Winged Warrior I had ever met.
Arún. It couldn’t be a coincidence that she’d mentioned him.
“Why,” I drew the word out, “did you say that?”
Mara’s eyes widened, and Lev frowned.
She pulled back. “I’m not sure. Something…”
Her explanation died away, and every synapsis in my brain buzzed at the same time. Winged Warriors weren’t well known in the mortal world. They were the secret service, the ninja assassins, and an elite fighting force—all rolled into one.
My mind whirled as the three of us stared at one another.
As the Fae prince, Arún had been trained as one and operated as their commander-in-chief up until his grandmother had a vision and prophesized some mumbo-jumbo about Woe.
Arún left the Winged Warriors to take up residence in New Haven, waiting for Woe to make her appearance. Prophecies often had a way of changing people’s lives.
I wasn’t sure how Mara knew about them, but her arrival couldn’t be random.
Leviathan's Rise Page 5
