Whingeing demon bloods got on her nerves. Instead of complaining, why didn’t they get off their arses and do something constructive, like enter politics?
There was nothing in any of the public access areas. She went deeper, using AI that Eblis had shared with her, that allowed her to enter private sites. The Elite would freak the fuck out if they knew she possessed such technology and hadn’t shared it with them.
Finally, she hit pay dirt.
There’s a big cover up going on in Romania.
I don’t give a shit what the vampires are doing.
Nah, word has it, an archangel was almost destroyed.
Her breath stilled and mind whirled. Octavia was in Romania. A few days ago, she’d met the archangel responsible for the Great Massacre of dhampirs.
Nate had told her his friend had recently been attacked. And Eblis had dismissed the possibility that Nate might be the archangel behind bringing the immortal forged sword to Earth. But he’d been clear about one thing.
“He’ll go to any lengths to acquire it.”
There were a thousand reasons why Nate might want that sword. But once again, the barely disguised horror in his voice as he’d spoken of the attack echoed through her mind.
It must have been an extraordinary injury, to have shocked an archangel. She doubted he’d care if the victim had been a mere mortal, which pointed one way. His friend was another archangel. Was the weapon used the same one Eblis sought?
And was Nate’s friend the same archangel that Octavia had met?
She owed Eblis so much. He wanted that sword, and this was a possible lead.
There was only one thing for it. She needed to go to Romania.
Nate
Nate teleported to the medieval castle in Romania, where only days ago he’d fought dhampirs and vampires side-by-side with Azrael and Nic. It was early afternoon and raining as he marched across the forecourt to the castle’s massive double doors. The timing of Nic’s call fucking sucked, no pun intended, but at least he was seeing Isabella tonight.
He let out a long breath. She intrigued him, and he was going to enjoy every moment until their inevitable parting. But before then, he intended to discover every secret she kept.
She was hiding something he needed to know. Yet the more he learned about her, the less he understood.
It was why he was still so utterly charmed by her.
As Nic strolled out of the castle, he forcibly dragged his mind from her tempting lips, addictive scent, and mesmeric eyes. He’d never had trouble focusing on work before.
First time for everything.
“What have you discovered?” he said by way of greeting. In general, archangels and vampires didn’t get on but he and Nic went back centuries. The vampire, who had no problem with sunlight, was one of his closest friends and the founder of an ancient order of immortals, the Strigoi Echelon.
“Octavia is still analyzing the unidentified sample we found in Sakarbaal’s lab.” Nic’s lips thinned at the mention of the ancient vampire that Azrael had slain. The vampire who had raised a dhampir army with the apparent intention of conquering the planet.
Among other things.
They entered the castle. There was no sign in the great hall of the battle they’d waged or blood that had been spilled. It was scrubbed clean and the faint smell of disinfectant hung in the air. “But you think it’s connected to his attack on Az?”
“Possibly. We need you to question him and see if he knows anything about it.”
“Sure.” They had reached the lab, located in the dungeons, and he nodded a greeting to Octavia who was supervising her team. Against his better judgment, his gaze slid to the flagstone floor, but no trace of Azrael’s blood remained.
“Hey, Nate,” Octavia said when they reached her side. “Have you ever seen anything like this before?” She handed him a small phial half-filled by a strange, liquid smoke.
Eerie shudders of revulsion chased over his fingers. Evil exuded from whatever the phial contained, and he crushed his instinctive reaction to drop the glass cylinder onto the floor.
“No.” His voice was rough. He couldn’t help it. What the fuck was this stuff? “How much of this did Sakarbaal have?”
“You’re holding about a quarter of what we’ve found. So far, we’ve not identified any of its elements.”
It burned through the phial into his skin, and nausea churned. “It’s not from Earth, then.”
“I doubt it’s from this universe,” she responded.
Well, fuck. “What the hell was that twisted piece of shit up to?”
“That’s irrelevant,” Octavia said. “I’m interested in what this is, and where it came from.”
“And what it’s capable of doing.” Nic picked up a cylindrical case and handed it to him. Obviously, Nate hadn’t hidden his reaction as well as he thought he had. Relief clawed through him as he slid the phial into the case, muting the alien malevolence. “From the way you handle the phial, it appears the substance affects your physiology in a way that it doesn’t ours.”
The implication drilled through his skull. There were many things that could adversely affect mortals and even vampires that didn’t have any impact on archangels. This was the first time the opposite held true.
“That’s fucked up.” He’d visit Azrael, but he’d also take a sample to Astrid. With her knowledge of elemental forces, it was possible she’d come across this substance before.
“This whole thing is fucked up.” Nic swept his condemning gaze around the lab.
“I agree,” Octavia said. “But his science is fascinating.”
“I’ll get back to you as soon as I have any news,” Nate said, as Octavia’s phone rang. He and Nic left the lab and Nate glanced at the antique furniture and priceless artwork that gave the castle a deceptively cultured air. “Are you moving your base here?”
Nic flashed his fangs in a humorless smile. “Only temporarily, and only because I don’t have your advantage of long-distance teleportation. There’s a great deal of work to be done here. It’s easier than transporting everything to London.”
“Do you mind if I take a look around?”
“Be my guest.” Sarcasm dripped from each word. Nate was fully aware of how much Nic despised everything about Sakarbaal, including his cursed castle. He grasped his friend’s shoulder, before making his way to the stairs. The last and only other time he’d been here all he’d seen of the place was the great hall and the lab.
The opulence continued in every room and passageway, with the image of the phoenix interwoven in tapestries and furnishing. Considering how the bastard had tortured his captive bird, it was fucking obscene.
Dhampirs who worked for the Echelon were scattered throughout the castle, as well as several vampires who didn’t need to hide from the sun. He entered a circular room in a tower, that besides being unusually sparse, also afforded a breathtaking aerial view of the surrounding countryside. From his vantage point at the window, he could see the edge of the forest to his right, and in the distance to his left, beyond rolling meadows of snowdrops, was the nearest village.
A lone figure approached the earthen ramparts of the castle. He knew the castle was visible to mortals, but Sakarbaal had cloaked it in a protective glamour that caused humans to subconsciously avoid the area. The vampire’s demise hadn’t destroyed the protection.
This human didn’t skirt the perimeter. This human appeared to know exactly where they were going.
He leaned forward, narrowing his eyes. A tall woman, her hair hidden beneath a beret, hurried across the grass. No way. He was so fucking obsessed by Isabella, now he was seeing her in random strangers. It would be funny, if it wasn’t slightly alarming.
But he couldn’t drag his fascinated gaze away. Because she was Isabella. Or her doppelganger.
“Fucking losing it,” he muttered, before he teleported beyond the ramparts. It was still raining, and the figure was some distance ahead of him. Without warning, she stopped dead and swung aroun
d. His heart slammed against his ribs. There was no mistake.
It was her.
Her eyes widened in obvious shock as she caught his gaze. For endless seconds the world stilled as raindrops glittered on her eyelashes.
He let out a harsh breath and broke the spell. “Isabella?”
For an incredulous moment he had the certainty she was going to deny her identity. But then she blinked, shook her head, and stepped forward. “Nate. What are you doing here?”
He could ask her the same thing. Fuck it, he would ask her the same thing.
“How did you get here?” Okay, not exactly the same. But he’d been with her in London barely three hours ago. How the fuck had she traveled across Europe so quickly?
“The same way you did, I should think.”
Yeah, he doubted that. Belatedly, his scrambled brain righted itself. Just because he’d never flown in a plane was no reason to forget that was how mortals navigated their planet. “You didn’t say anything about going to Romania.” What the hell? Now he sounded as though he expected her to confide her every move to him. Which he didn’t.
“Neither did you,” she countered.
Fair enough, except he could visit the Andromeda Galaxy and still be back on Earth in time for their dinner date.
Stop thinking about that fucking date.
It was an effort, but he managed to drag his gaze from her and cast a deceptively casual glance at the castle. “A minor emergency came up. I needed to visit a friend.”
When she didn’t answer right away, he gave into his need to look at her again. Tendrils of blonde hair had escaped her beret and clung against her rain streaked cheeks. Was he imagining that wary expression in her eyes?
She cleared her throat. “You’re not going to believe this. But me too.”
She was right. He didn’t. But what other explanation could there be for her unexpected appearance?
“Your friend lives in the village?”
“Uh, no.” She shifted, as though his question made her uncomfortable. Or maybe she was just uncomfortable from standing in the rain. “She’s working at the castle.”
But there were no humans in the castle. Did she know that?
It didn’t seem likely. Humans weren’t the most accepting of races. She probably had no idea her friend wasn’t human. Although considering the operation currently being undertaken there, he doubted Nic wanted any oblivious visitors. Who was she meeting?
“Are you going inside? Or waiting for your friend out here?”
“Out here. What about you?”
He shrugged. “I’m done. Want some company until she arrives?”
“If you don’t mind getting any wetter.” She pushed her hands into the pockets of her coat and looked adorably bedraggled. Did I really just think that? “Is your friend also in the castle?”
It hardly mattered if he told her the truth, considering they were standing right outside it. “Yes.”
“And is the reason you’re here connected to my club?”
Since he’d already told her Inanna was on his radar, he figured there was no harm in once again telling her the truth. “Possibly.”
She shivered in the chilly breeze and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. If he couldn’t teleport them both somewhere out of the rain, the least he could do was share his body heat. She didn’t melt into him, but she didn’t shove him away, either. It seemed she still hadn’t completely forgiven him for having stalked her club before meeting her.
They walked across the forecourt. She might not be allowed inside, but she could at least be sheltered from the weather in the entrance.
“I wish I knew what you were really doing.” She glanced up at him.
“I haven’t lied to you.” He pulled her closer and this time her tense muscles relaxed. “But if I told you the whole truth, I’d have to kill you.” He grinned at her and was rewarded with a clearly reluctant smile.
“Okay. Now that I believe.”
He laughed. “Sometimes I think you have a very low opinion of me.”
“You have no idea.”
“You have a great way with words. Anyone ever told you that?”
“It’s one of my superpowers.” Her voice was dry, but another smile tugged at her lips. Why did she seem so unwilling to share a laugh with him? It was a bit extreme if she was still pissed off that he’d been casing out her club for a couple of weeks. “You bring out the worst in me.”
They reached the doors where they were finally protected from the weather, and he backed her up against the stone wall. “I noticed. Are you staying overnight in the village?”
Confusion flashed across her face. “What?”
“I’m guessing you’re not flying back to England tonight. We could have our date here, instead.”
“Oh.” She appeared to be thinking it through. This woman would end up crushing his ego to the size of a walnut. He snorted with laughter at the incongruous image, and she narrowed her eyes at him. He shrugged, feigning innocence, and she let out a sigh. “Okay. Why not?”
“Don’t sound too excited. I might get ideas.”
“You’re so—” She bit off her words, gazed at him for a moment and then shook her head, almost in wonder. “Weird.”
One of the doors opened before he could ask for clarification because what the hell did she mean by weird? She sounded as though he contradicted everything she expected, which pointed to the possibility that whoever had told her he’d been checking out Inanna had also shared some unsavory personal details.
Nobody knew his personal details to share.
He’d ask her later.
A sharp intake of breath caused him to look over his shoulder, where an all too familiar dhampir was standing, her deep auburn hair pulled into its usual French plait. “Octavia?”
“Nate.” Her startled glance darted from him to Isabella. With reluctance, he pulled back.
“Isabella, this is Octavia.”
Silence greeted his introduction. Realization dawned.
They knew each other. He’d assumed Isabella’s friend was a regular dhampir, one nearer her own age that she could have met anywhere and who passed herself off as a human. Dhampirs, after all, blended into the mortal population without any problems. But he hadn’t expected her to know one so high in the hierarchy, or one of the Echelon’s most eminent scientists.
It reinforced his conviction that he needed to uncover the secrets she seemed so keen to keep.
Chapter 8
Bella
Bella hitched in a shallow breath as awareness pummeled through her mind.
Nate and Octavia knew each other.
Did Octavia want to acknowledge their friendship or not in front of him? She wouldn’t do anything to put her friend in an awkward position, but they couldn’t remain in this stalemate for much longer without Nate getting suspicious.
She took a chance. “Hello.”
It was a neutral response, and Octavia could take it in any direction she needed to.
“Hi.” Octavia’s voice gave nothing away. Heat swarmed through Bella’s body and as Nate folded his arms and transferred his gaze between them, she knew he hadn’t been fooled for a second.
Once again, an excruciating silence descended. She half wished she’d stayed in London and just spoken to Octavia on the phone. But there were some things that could only be shared face to face. Which was why she’d arranged to meet her here.
“Right,” Nate said at last, breaking the deadlock. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
For endless seconds his intense gaze burned into her, as though he could read all her secret thoughts. Or maybe he was simply debating whether or not to kiss her.
Did she want him to kiss her?
Hell yes.
Despicable regret surged through her when he merely gave her an enigmatic smile and walked away.
Don’t watch him go.
It was harder than it should have been to tear her besotted gaze from his retreating back
and face Octavia. She could pretend all she liked, but the truth was she relished her interactions with Nate. If that wasn’t a sign of a warped obsession, she didn’t know what was.
Concern etched her friend’s face. “How long have you known Nate, Bella?”
Was it really only yesterday they’d met? It seemed he had been a part of her life for so much longer. In any case, she was fully aware of what Octavia was really asking.
“I know what he is.”
Shock flashed across Octavia’s face. “I had no idea you knew any archangels, let alone…” Her voice trailed away before her gaze sharpened. “That you were in a relationship with one.”
“I wouldn’t call it a relationship.”
“Even so.” Octavia grabbed her arm and pulled her into the castle. “I thought you despised them all.”
“I do.” She sighed, because how hypocritical did she sound? “Obviously, I didn’t know what he was when we met. Otherwise I never would have got involved with him.”
“No wonder you wanted to see me.”
Oh yes, about that. She’d almost forgotten the reason why she’d contacted Octavia. “No, he’s not the reason I called you. I didn’t even know you knew him.”
“Hmm.” Octavia frowned. “I don’t know him that well, but he’s been around the Echelon for years. He’s one of Nico’s oldest friends.”
Great. Soon after befriending Octavia, when they’d discovered each other’s immortality, Bella had learned her friend worked with an ancient vampire who had founded a powerful Order. She’d had no idea the vampire hung out with archangels.
Nico was the Nic that Nate had spoken to on the phone earlier today in her office.
“Is there somewhere private we can talk?” Because what she was about to tell Octavia, wasn’t something she could do in public.
“Sure.” Octavia gave her a curious glance before leading her across the hall. Bella couldn’t help herself as she ran a critical eye over the great hall. What was with the obsession with phoenixes? Their images were carved into the ornate wooden furniture and woven into breathtaking tapestries that hung on the walls. Sure, the mythical bird was fabulous but, in this castle, it also seemed somehow ominous.
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