by Larissa Ione
The chair squeaked again. “What?” She didn’t answer, and his voice dropped to a low, dangerous whisper. She’d seen him truly angry only once, and it was something she never wanted to experience again. “What happened?”
“It’s Byzamoth.”
“The demon?”
She swallowed dryly. “He’s more than a demon. He’s a fallen angel.”
“Tell me everything, and tell me now.”
He was using his don’t-argue-with-me-or-else voice, and she knew better than to push. She started at the beginning and ended with, “He killed the Regent. And… and he attacked me.”
“Did he get the necklace?”
“Yes.”
“And the charm?”
“It’s gone, too.”
His harsh curse was followed by a long, ragged breath. When he spoke, his words were broken, distorted. “I should have known. There have been demon attacks all over the globe.” The sound of his breathing joined the frantic click of his fingers on computer keys. “Are you… okay?”
“Josh is taking care of me.”
“Not well enough! Where was he when Byzamoth was attacking you?”
“He fought him, Val. Things could have turned out a lot worse than they did.”
Val muttered something she couldn’t hear. “When you get off the train, head straight to an address I’m having David text to you. He’ll include instructions to get in. Wait until I arrive.”
“Will do. Where are you?”
“I’m still in Berlin. It’s a zoo here… hold on.”
She heard commotion in the background, a lot of voices, some raised. David was shouting. The names Tayla and Kynan came with some curses, and then, finally, Val was back on the phone.
“Serena?” His guttural rasp told her she was in trouble. “Byzamoth has the necklace, yes? But does he have the charm?”
Oh, God.
“Serena!”
“No,” she whispered. “Josh has it.”
There was a curse and then a tense moment of silence before he said, “As furious as I am with you, this might actually be good news.… Look, I need to go. There’s some sort of emergency meeting going on, and it seems to have something to do with you. I’ll call as soon as I can. Just get to the address I send you. The Aegis will have people there as soon as possible.”
“They aren’t there now?”
“All cells within the region have been sent to Israel. It’ll take time to get help to you. In the meantime, stay alert.”
“Okay.”
Val cursed again, long and hard. Finally, she heard the chair squeak again, heard his forceful exhale. Knew he was stroking his tidy beard. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine, right now.” She was a little nauseous, but there was no point in worrying Val even more than he already was. “How long do you think? Before, you know…”
“I don’t…” His voice hitched. “I’m not sure. The disease should progress rapidly now.”
“Bottom line?”
He drew in a ragged breath. “I’d say you’re down to days, maybe hours.”
Wraith was not onboard with this plan. When Serena said they were going somewhere Val had told her to go, every one of his warning bells had rung, and now as they drew closer to the place, on the outskirts of Alexandria’s Greek quarter, the clanging in his head could have been coming from Hell’s marching band
They were on foot, having gotten out of the taxi several blocks back. He’d wanted to approach from the rear, come in as inconspicuously as possible, in case they were being watched. Byzamoth still wanted her, couldn’t know that Wraith already had her charm.
Mine. And so is she.
Man, every time he thought about what could have happened, what the fallen angel still wanted, it made Wraith’s killer instinct shove its way to the front of the line ahead the rest of his baser instincts. Weird, because usually nothing got ahead of sex.
And he definitely wanted to know who was tipping off Byzamoth about Serena’s location. Wraith was going to gut the bastard and strangle him with his own intestines.
They were nearly there when Serena began to wheeze badly enough for Wraith to step off the sidewalk and draw her into the shade of a lush palm. Pink splotches colored her cheeks and shadows had tinted the crescents beneath her eyes, but still, she smiled.
“Do you need to rest?”
“It’s the dust in the air. It’s nothing.”
Her lie irked him. He wanted her to be able to lean on him, accept his help. And he needed to get her somewhere safe, where they were less exposed and she could rest.
They arrived at a nondescript house set between other, equally nondescript houses. But right away it became clear that there was nothing average about this place. No one who wasn’t military special forces, a thief, or Wraith, would notice the well-concealed alarm trip wire that had been set into the door and window frames. The extra thick walls that Wraith would bet had been reinforced. The flame retardant coating that had been sprayed on the walls and roof. Or the “decorative” slits that had been cut into the plaster below the roof overhang and that were the perfect size to cradle the barrel of a rifle.
When he crouched next to an ornamental rock at one corner of the property line, he noticed tiny protective symbols carved into it.
“I don’t like this,” he said as he straightened to his full height. “Something’s off.”
“Val wouldn’t send me someplace unsafe.”
It definitely wasn’t unsafe. Too safe, was more like it. Serena wheezed again, and he set aside his paranoia. Nothing was too safe for Serena. Still, he kept a watchful eye on their surroundings, taking note of the vehicles, the houses, even the fucking birds, as he spoke. “You’re sick. We need to get you inside.”
“My throat is dry. That’s all.”
Wraith swung around, stared at her through the amber filter of his sunglasses. “Don’t BS me. We’ve been through too much.” Enough that he wanted to bundle her up and take her to UG, where he knew he could keep her safe. From Byzamoth, at least. Her illness was a beast he didn’t know how to fight.
“I know.” She hugged herself. Shifted her weight. He hated that he’d made her uncomfortable, but the time for making love and pretending she hadn’t committed suicide was over. He was a fighter, and he was in kill-the-threat mode.
Especially since the threat was now to Serena.
He eyed the building. “What did he say about this house?”
She pulled back a decorative shutter. Behind the wooden flap was a metal box mounted on the side of the building. She pushed some numbers on the keypad and retrieved a key. “He said it’s warded against vampires.”
“Vampires?” He hoped she didn’t notice the way he’d choked.
Her hand fluttered to her throat, dropped again. “I asked him why the house wasn’t warded against demons, too, and he said that spells to repel vampires are narrow in scope and long-lasting. But with demons, it’s different. Unless you ward against specific species of demons—”
“You’d need a very general anti-evil spell, and those don’t last long.”
She nodded. “Exactly.”
She stepped inside, but he hung back, unsure how the anti-vampire spell would affect him. He wasn’t a true vampire, but he didn’t want to take chances. The ward might work only on the undead—which would be smart, given that they were sitting in the middle of mummy land—or it could be some tweaked version that worked against any blood-drinking creature.
“You coming in?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “That an invite?”
“You a vampire?”
“Yep.”
“Good.” Her sultry tone hit him in the groin. “Come on in.”
“Your vampire fetish is going to get you bitten someday,” he warned, only half playing, because he really, really wanted to be the one biting her.
“I can only hope.” She opened the door wider.
“You’re hopeless.” He didn’t need invites t
o get into houses, but if the place was warded… an invite couldn’t hurt. “I’m going to do a perimeter check first,” he said. “Can’t be too careful.” That, and he wanted to see what other security tricks had been built into this house.
“I’ll see what kinds of supplies we have here. We’re probably going to need to go shopping.” She stood in the doorway, her hair blowing in the breeze and glinting in the sun, and he wanted her. Right then, right there.
He shot to her like he’d come out of a cannon. Her soft sound of surprise was muffled by his mouth, easing into a contented sigh as she melted against him. Now wasn’t the time or place to do everything he wanted to do, but he made his message clear.
He would take her ten ways from Sunday when she was cured, because he refused to believe it wouldn’t happen.
And then he’d find a way to make her his. Humans couldn’t bond with Seminus demons, but there had to be a way. Somehow, it could happen.
Right. As soon as she forgave him for lying to her, seducing her, oh, and being a demon.
Shit. He was living in fantasyland. All he needed now were mouse ears and fairy fucking dust.
Cursing silently, he broke away from her and made the circuit around the house. Nothing was out of place, but he discovered more subtle signs that told him this house was more than what it seemed. The entire property line had been carved out with a very narrow, shallow ditch almost invisible to anyone not looking for it. This would be where someone might put out a protective circle of salt, ash, holy water—any substance meant to guard against evil.
His inspection turned up several more curious features, including a number of tiny silver stakes in the ground, set out in the shape of a giant pentagram that spanned the entire property.
He headed for the front door, pausing at the threshold. He heard Serena coughing somewhere in the house, but she was nowhere she’d see if the ward worked on him. Taking a deep breath, he stepped through the doorway.
Nothing happened. Cool. He wondered if the ward should have affected him, or if the charm was doing its thing.
Serena was drinking a glass of water in the kitchen, so he poked around the other rooms. In one of the back rooms he found a wooden chest. When he opened it, his blood ran cold.
It was full of weapons—swords, stakes, bottles of holy water, ropes, blades, and stangs. The double-ended blades of the stangs were each coated in a different metal to kill different types of demons. These were Aegis weapons.
Suspicion confirmed: Wraith had walked right into the middle of a fucking Aegis stronghold.
He slammed the lid shut and stalked into the kitchen, where Serena had set two colas out on the small dining table.
“I found drinks and canned goods. Some pasta—”
He slapped his hands down on the counter on either side of her hard enough to make her jump. “When is the rest of the crew showing up?”
Caged in, she looked up at him in surprise. “Crew? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I think you do.”
She ducked beneath his arms and jammed her hands on her hips. “I don’t like your tone.”
“I don’t like being lied to.”
“And I still don’t know what you’re talking about,” she shot back.
He believed her, but by now his nerves were frayed and he was juiced. He was a freaking demon standing in the middle of Demon Slayer Central. “I thought only Val was coming.” Which was going to be a difficult situation as it was. He’d have to get into the guy’s head again and do some creative memory reconstruction when it came to the real Josh.
“Well, gee. I’m so sorry I forgot to mention we’d be joined by people who can help us. Why does it matter?” She put her palm on his forehead. “Are you okay? You’re acting strange.”
Oh, hell. He was making her suspicious by flying off the handle like this. “I’m fine.”
“You owe me more than that, Josh. We’ve shared too much for you to shut down now,” she said, throwing his words from earlier right back at him.
Fuck. She was right, and it only pissed him off. Mainly because his lies were sitting on him like a two-ton lava beast, and guilt was practically leaking out of him. Maybe he should tell her the truth. If she knew what he was… what? She’d only hate him sooner.
Gods, this was fucked up.
He didn’t answer her because his tongue felt glued to the roof of his mouth, and eventually she rubbed her temples and shook her head.
“Serena? What’s wrong?”
“Headache,” she muttered. “I need to lie down. Do you mind?”
Yes, he minded. He minded so much his heart was ripping in half. Because somehow, he knew that once she was down, she wasn’t getting back up.
Serena had just put on a tank top and shorts and was looking at the bed like a lover when her cell phone rang. Feeling unreasonably weak, she dug it out of her backpack and flipped it open
“Val?”
“Where are you?” he barked.
She sighed. “Hello to you, too.”
“Where are you?”
A sudden spike of dread made her legs wobble, and she sank onto the bed. “I’m at the house you sent us to. Why?”
“Us. So you aren’t alone?”
“Josh is with me.”
There was a moment of tense silence, broken by the sound of someone near him whispering. David. “Serena, listen to me very carefully.”
“You’re starting to scare me.”
“Good. Are you somewhere private? Where you can’t be heard?”
She glanced at the closed door. “Yes, but what is this about?”
“In the smallest room at the back of the house, there’s a chest full of weapons. As quietly as you can, I need you to arm up, and then lock yourself in the bedroom and wait. We should be there in a matter of hours.”
Goose bumps crawled over her skin. “Val?” Her voice was trembling as hard as she was. “What’s going on?”
“I just spoke with Josh,” he said, the chill in his tone sending her into an emotional tailspin, “and the man you’re with isn’t him.”
Chapter 24
Wraith turned off the stove burner and searched the cupboards for a bowl. He’d made Serena soup, and he wanted to get it down her before she fell asleep.
His pocket vibrated, and he checked his phone. E. “What?” he said, as he poured soup into the bowl.
“You need to come home. Get to the nearest Harrowgate.”
“Not happening.”
“Wraith, listen to me. You’re in danger. Byzamoth is going to come after you.”
Wraith went taut. “I thought you said the charm can only be transferred through sex. If he thinks he can take it from me that way… ah, well, I don’t play for that team, and even if I did, man, you should see him when he morphs—”
“He doesn’t want to have sex with you.”
Wraith dug a spoon out of a drawer. “I’m oddly crushed and relieved.”
Eidolon’s voice sounded frayed with annoyance, as usual. “He needs charmed blood. Once he figures out that Serena is no longer charmed, he’ll want yours.”
“He’s not getting that, either.”
“Dammit, Wraith, you need to come to the hospital where he wouldn’t dare try to get to you.”
Wraith peeked down the hall to make sure Serena was still in her room. “I’m at full strength now, bro. I can take him.”
“He’s immortal.”
“He can still be hurt.”
“It’s not worth the risk. We spoke with Reaver. The charm is ineffective against fallen angels. Come to the hospital.”
“I’m not leaving Serena.”
“Get your ass in a Harrowgate. Now.”
“You know what?” Wraith dropped the pan onto the stove, splashing soup all over the wall. “Fuck you, E.”
“We’re coming to get you.”
Wraith took a deep, soothing breath, in what was probably his first attempt to be calm. Ever. “Eidolon, this i
sn’t one of my rebellious, death-wish, stubborn-for-no-reason moves. For once in my life, I’m doing something for someone else. I’m going to keep Serena safe, and I’m going to find a cure for her.”
“Really?” Serena’s cold voice came from behind him. He spun to find her standing in the hallway. Fire sparked in her eyes… and she was holding a stang. “What do you plan to do, Josh?”
“Ah… hey. What are you—”
She launched the S-shaped blade at him, and though he was certain she had deadly aim, the weapon veered to the left and took out the bowl of soup. “I knew it wouldn’t hit you, seeing how you’re charmed and all, but it felt good to throw it.”
Whoa, she was lit up. Wraith threw down the phone and moved toward her. “What’s going on, Serena?”
She took a few steps back, until she was at the bedroom doorway. “Who are you? Who are you, really?”
Oh, shit.
She shook with fury. “And don’t you dare tell me your name is Josh.”
“It’s Wraith. I told you, my name is Wraith.”
“Why should I believe that, when everything else you’ve told me was a lie?” Her voice sounded empty, as though she’d been carved out by pain.
Guilt made his chest hurt, because for the first time in his life, he understood how it felt to inflict pain on someone who didn’t deserve it.
“Not… everything has been a lie,” he said lamely, because the important things had been.
“Uh-huh. Why did you do it? I mean, I can guess, but I want to hear it from your filthy, lying mouth.”
“I was dying, Serena. I needed the charm to live.” He inched toward her. “It’s not as bad as it seems.” It was far worse than what it seemed.
“Did you know I would die? Before I told you?”
He averted his gaze, but dragged it back to meet hers once more. She deserved that, at least. “Yes.”
She blanched and stumbled back. “Oh, my God. You disgusting, murdering, bastard!”
“Serena, listen to me—”
She slammed the door in his face. And locked it. She had to know it wouldn’t keep him out, but he gave her credit for trying. He kicked it in.
“We aren’t through yet.”
