by Noree Cosper
“Not at all,” Adrian stepped back, opening the door wider. “I just didn’t want you to slip on our mess.”
I looked up with a sheepish smile. “Forgive me. I just can’t seem to stay coordinated.”
She studied me with a furrowed brow. “Hmm, maybe it is a side effect. Are you experiencing loss of limb function?”
“I think it’s just the stress.” I nodded to Tres. “I’m really worried about him.”
Her look turned sympathetic, and I let out a quiet breath. She walked to Tres’s bed and began checking the monitors. She pulled out a penlight from her front pocket, opened each of his eyes one at a time, and shone the light in them. Then, she picked up his clipboard and walked to the end of the bed.
“Unfortunately, there isn’t much of a change,” she said. “He is stable, though.”
My shoulders slumped as a weight pressed on my chest. Had the Fates rescinded their deal? A dejected tension filled the air. Jonah lowered himself in one of the chairs with a deep heavy sigh. Lucy gave the floor a few jerking swipes. Adrian leaned against the wall, casting me a dark look.
“While this isn’t good news, it’s not terrible news either,” Dr. Harrison continued. “Conditions like this could take a while, but I have seen worse pull through.”
I glanced at Tres and my breath caught in my throat. His eyes blinked open in rapid succession. He gave a soft moan as he turned his head, taking in the room. Lucy’s head snapped up with a soft gasp and Jonah jumped to his feet. Adrian’s shoulder straightened. Dr. Harrison glanced at us and turned back to Tres. In two steps, she was by his side and checking him over again.
“Good to see you back with us,” she said. “How are you feeling?”
“Groggy,” he said in a hoarse voice. “Like I had a lot to drink last night.”
“Do you remember what happened?”
“Our building collapsed.” Tres glanced at the rest of us. “Did everyone make it out?”
“For the most part,” I said softly.
Dr. Harrison glanced at all of us. “I’ll give you a few minutes, but I’ll be back soon. I want to run a few tests. I’d like you to stay here for a few more days to make sure everything is all right.”
Tres reached for her hand. “Thank you, Ede.”
I blinked at the two of them. “You know each other?”
“Tres volunteers at the same clinic I do,” Dr. Harrison said. “We’ve worked together a few times.”
She smiled down at him before heading to the door. She glanced back at us, her gaze coming to rest on me. “Congratulations. It seems your family is blessed.”
As Dr. Harrison closed the door, Lucy and Jonah rushed forward to Tres’s bedside. Lucy ducked down and rested her head on his shoulder, flinging her arm around his chest in a hug. On the opposite side of the bed, Jonah rested a hand on his shoulder.
“Good to have you back, my boy,” Jonah said with a gentle squeeze.
Adrian came to stand at the foot of the bed. He crossed his arms and stared down at his brother. “Morning, sleeping beauty. Took you long enough.”
Tres stared up at him and smirked. “I needed a nap after saving your ass.”
Adrian glanced down at the floor. “You deserved it.”
“Hmm, this is a surprising day. A compliment from Adrian.” Tres chuckled and glanced at me. “I guess I can really call you my dream girl now.”
I shook my head as a smile crept to my lips. “Only in your dreams.”
“For now,” he said.
“As much as I want to continue this reunion, we don’t have much time until the doctor returns,” I said. “We need to plan for what to do next.”
“What have I missed?” A hopeful look crossed Tres’s face. “Did Esais come back?”
My heart squeezed in my chest. Tres had always been closet to Esais. “He would be here, if he had. Unfortunately, Sariel still has him.”
Tres’s shoulders slumped. “How long have I been out?”
“About a day and a half,” Lucy said.
“That gives us less than five days,” I said.
“And we still don’t know where Sariel and the nephilim are,” Jonah said.
“We don’t,” Adrian said, “but Delilah may.”
Tres’s head jerked up, his eyes lighting up. “Delilah’s alive?”
“She was apparently saved by Sariel,” Adrian said.
“She came to see you,” I said.
Tres stared at his legs as his brow furrowed. “She’s working with Sariel?”
“We don’t know,” I said. “He’s using her for something, though.”
“You have to find her,” he said.
“I’m already tracking her,” Adrian said. “Hopefully, she’ll lead us to Sariel or the nephilim.”
Tres’s jaw tightened. “You’re using her?”
“Not much different from what she did to you with the demon,” Adrian said.
“He is still keeping an eye on her,” Jonah said. “With Adrian monitoring, we can make sure she stays safe and out of trouble.”
“Are you watching out for her, too?” Tres asked. “If it’s just Adrian, he may try to off her or something.”
“Only if she was a threat,” Adrian said.
Jonah patted Tres on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. Adrian can stay with me and we will track her together.”
“And she’s not the only way we can track, Sariel,” Lucy said. “I can consult my cards or try some dowsing.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t stop him,” Tres said. “I mean, he’ll give us Esais back after his day are up, right? And he’s trying to kill the demons in New York.”
“At what price?” I asked. “He and the nephilim don’t seem averse to the loss of human lives.”
Tres looked down at the blanket, biting his lip with a troubled expression on his face.
I opened my mouth, but there was a knock and the door opened to allow Dr. Harrison and her team of nurses inside.
“All right,” she said. “I know you didn’t have much time, but I’d like to get started on the tests. You can visit him tomorrow.”
I glanced at Tres. “Do you want any of us to stay in the waiting room?”
He shook his head. “I’ll be fine in Eden’s hands. You have other things to worry about.”
We filed out and one of the nurses closed the door behind us. I sighed as we made our way to the elevator.
“I’ll try to track down Marge and see if she’s found anything from her contacts.” I stifled a yawn.
I staggered to the side and Adrian gripped my shoulder to steady me. A weariness came crashing down on me. The jaunt into the Eclipse seemed to have taken more out of me than I had thought. Combined with the poor sleep from the night before, all I wanted to do was lay down.
“First, you should get home and get some sleep,” Adrian said. “You’ll be useless otherwise.”
I wanted to argue, but instead my shoulders just slumped. “Fine. I’ll start in the morning. But call me if Delilah makes a move before then.”
We split up at the entrance of the hospital. I took a cab back to my apartment. Despite my exhaustion, I tossed and turned in my bed for several hours.
After all, I had a city full of demons, the Archangel of death, zealot nephilim, and three days to deliver a death to the Fates. Who could sleep with all of that?
Chapter 25
I wait in the closet. The door is slid shut except for a small crack that lets a sliver of gold light shine through. I take a deep breath and count to ten again. He should be here by now. What if things had gone wrong? I stare at the sticker a previous resident has stuck on the back of the closet. The writing has worn away and only the silver Star of David reflects in the light.
The door to the hotel room opens and shuts. The murmur of two voices drifts to my ears. I move to the slit and peer through. Dimitri takes a woman’s coat off and sets it on the chair. Her back is to me, not that it matters. I open my eyes to the spirit world.
S
he’s chosen a blonde to possess this time, with a long set of legs that she’s shown off with the little red slip of a dress. I can see past it though. I can see that mauve skin and black claws of the demon inside the body.
Dimitri’s aura has a golden sparkle to it along with the colors of his anticipation. I feel it too. The tickle that runs through my veins and shortens my breath. I grip my sword tighter. Just a few more seconds and my suffering will end.
He’s done it. He’s lured Allegra here. Now all that is left is to poison her and for me to come out and end her life.
Allegra glances in my direction and smiles. She spins, her hand darting out at Dimitri’s chest. His training takes over and he dodges to the side. Her nails rake his chest, shredding his shirt and sending a spray of blood along her arm. I yank the door open so hard it slams against the wall on its track. I am too late. She raises him up with her hand gripped around his neck.
“Choose,” she says. “My death or his life.”
The buzzing of my phone against my nightstand jerked me awake. I sucked in a breath as the last moments of my dream played through my mind. It was so different from my normal dream of Allegra killing my husband and son. Something tickled at the back of my mind, but I couldn’t quite place it.
My phone buzzed again. It could be Adrian with a location on Sariel or one of the nephilim. With a groan, I yanked the phone from its stand up charger and peered at the screen with bleary eyes.
Two messages from an unknown number.
If you are interested in the Archangel or his nephilim, you should go to the Queens Court Mall.
Hurry.
Chapter 26
I rode up the escalator to the second floor of the mall with my eyes narrowed as I searched for Viktor’s blue hair, Irae’s blonde, or Aaron’s brown. The midmorning shopping crowd was light enough I should have been able to pick them out.
My scan of the first floor had come up with nothing. The second held more stores in their little pockets and the food court. It had been partitioned off in its own little island with a series of metal bridges connecting it to the rest of the floor, like a castle and a moat. Potted plants with fronds as tall as me were spread out amongst the plastic tables with their faux marble design. The smell of fried bread, grease, and meat hung in the air.
There were about ten people seated at the tables with a two or three more in line at the food stands. My heart pounded in my chest at the sight of Tres riding up the escalator with Delilah. What was he doing out of the hospital? She took his hand and pulled him across the bridge into the food court.
I ducked behind one of the plants as Aaron and Irae approached from the opposite side. They took a seat near the Chinese food place. After a few minutes, Tres and Delilah joined them. I chewed the inside of my cheek as I scanned the sea of tables. I could probably wind around the back and get closer without them noticing me.
I crossed the bridge back to the main part of the mall and wove between a man and his girlfriend and a woman wrangling her two children. As I walked, my hand brushed my cheek.
“Adrian,” I murmured into the comm in my ear. “Are you listening?”
After a moment, there was a crackle of static and Adrian’s voice. “I’m here.”
“You need to get to the Queen’s Court Mall. Aaron, Irae, and Delilah are together. With Tres.”
Adrian muttered a curse in Romanian. “What is he even doing out of the hospital?”
“Not sure,” I said. “I’m getting closer, so I can listen in on what they’re saying.”
“I’m already en route,” Adrian said. “I’ve been tracking Delilah’s movements.”
“You weren’t going to tell me?”
“If I had something useful, but you found it first. How did you find them, anyway?”
I glanced at my phone, now dark and sleeping. “I’ll explain it later.”
“All right,” he said. “Keep an eye on them. I’ll be there soon.”
I passed the Chinese stall and slipped behind another of the plants to take a table. Tres and the others were three tables away and their voices carried in the nearly empty food court.
“Like I said,” Aaron spoke, his voice rising an octave, “it’s always good to be on the winning side, and that’s ours.”
“This is our chance, babe,” Delilah said. “After all this, we can go anywhere we want. Besides, your family hunts demons, right? These people can take them all out and you don’t have to worry about it anymore.”
“What about all the humans in the city?” Tres’s voice rang with uncertainty.
“The city will be purged as a testament against those who consort with demons,” Irae said.
“But most people here don’t even believe demons exist, much less work with them,” Tres said.
“They are just as sinful in their disbelief and inaction,” Irae said.
I glanced past the plant at the table. Tres stared down at his lap with his brow furrowed. His jaw shifted as if he was trying to work the entire problem in his mind.
“Your brother wants you to do the right thing,” Aaron said.
I gritted my teeth and stood up, knocking the chair to the ground. Delilah started. Her surprised expression changed to a scowl when she saw me. Aaron and Irae glanced in my direction. A smile spread across Aaron’s face while Irae pressed her lips together, her eyes burning with resentment. Tres looked up, and he paled.
“Gabby…” he gulped.
“Your brother would want you to do the right thing.” I marched over to tower over him, one of the few chances I would get. “But Sariel and the nephilim don’t know what the right thing is. Do you want the blood of a city on your hands?”
“It is the right thing,” Aaron said. “It’s the best choice to ensure the corruption doesn’t spread to the rest of the world.”
“That’s not our choice to make,” I said.
“You claim to know the domain of an Archangel?” Irae’s face suffused with red.
“No,” I said. “But I will question it if there are so many lives at stake.”
“Where is your faith?” Aaron asked.
“Angels have fallen before,” I said.
“What does it even matter?” Delilah rested her hand on Tres’s arm. “We’ll be safe.”
Tres looked at her with raised eyebrows. “You don’t care about the other people?”
“I care about you,” she said.
“No, I don’t think you ever have.” Tres’s expression grew sad and he stood up. He turned to Irae and Aaron. “Tell Sariel I want my brother back. I’m coming for him, and I won’t be alone.”
Aaron chuckled. “You think you can contend with an angel?”
Irae gnashed her teeth and stood, slamming her hands on the table. “You won’t get past us.”
“We have ways,” I said.
Irae raised her hands with the flames flickering on her fingertips.
“I won’t fight you here,” I said. “But remember who rescued you from a demon a week ago, little girl.”
Aaron laughed as he stood up. “I’m sure that Sariel will find you when he feels it’s time.”
“You don’t even know where he is, do you?” I asked.
“We are in his service, not the other way around.” With that parting line, Aaron turned and walked away.
Irae glared at us with the tiny flames still licking at her fingertips. If only we were in that abandoned house I’d found her in instead of the mall.
I took Tres by the arm and shot Irae look. “See you soon.”
“Tres, wait.” Delilah reached to grab his jacket, but he shook her off.
We walked away from them, taking the opposite bridge Aaron had taken. Arron turned down one of the halls towards the Macy’s department store. I needed to get Tres away from the nephilim, but we still need to track them.
“Adrian, are you here?”
His voice came over the comm. “Just got here.”
“Aaron left in the direction of Macy’s. Thi
nk you’ll be able to track him?”
“On it.”
I spun on Tres, shooting him a glare. “What the hell were you thinking by leaving the hospital?”
He sighed. “Delilah called, saying it was an emergency.”
I shook my head. “And you decided to go running after her.”
“That will be the last time,” he said. “For real, this time.”
“Sorry about Delilah.” I took his hand and squeezed it. “How are you feeling?”
“Physically? Fine. Emotionally?” He shook his head with a bitter laugh. “I’m not sure how much more I can take.”
Delilah’s scream rang out as if to punctuate Tres’s words. I turned in time to see a ball of orange flame flare up where she had been sitting. It caught the chair and table. Irae stood over the small inferno with fire dancing across her hands and a crazed smile on her lips.
Chapter 27
Delilah hit the ground, her cries echoing as she flopped around for several seconds. Irae snapped her flaming fingers and the fire around Delilah flared. The girl seized up and fell limp. Alarms blared through the mall and water began to rain down from the ceiling. Screams echoed through the mall as employees and customers alike scrambled away from the crazy girl with fire on her hands.
“Delilah!” With a yell, Tres took off in the direction of her burning body.
“Tres, wait!” I called.
A group of six people who were rushing to leave the food court blocked my way across the bridge as I tried to catch up with Tres. Even from the bridge, the stench of burning flesh permeated the air, causing me to choke at my gag reflex. I shoved and elbowed my way through the stampede and came face to face with Detective Anderson at the other side of the bridge. How did he get here so fast? Had he been following me?
He shot me a glare before pulling out his gun and pointing it at Irae. “New York Police Department. Put your hands up!”
A cackle left her lips and she raised her still flaming hands in the air. Tres fell to his knees at Delilah’s body with his hands hovering over her. I rushed to his side.
