“I need to make sure there are no hidden surprises.”
“I should do that,” she countered. “You remain with the girl.”
His brows snapped together. “Nefri.”
“I won’t take any risks, I promise.” She interrupted the inevitable argument, knowing this wasn’t about who had the most power, but his primitive need to protect her. “Only I can break through illusions. Besides, the human has attached herself to you. She’s likely to panic if you leave her now.”
His jaw tightened, but he gave a reluctant nod. “You’re right,” he admitted. “I’ll try to question the female.”
She lowered her gaze to the girl, who was clinging to Santiago like a barnacle, her soft whimpers muffled against his chest.
“Can you reach her? She appears . . . broken.”
He ran a gentle hand over the girl’s hair. “You have your talents and I have mine.”
Nefri didn’t doubt him for a minute.
For all of Santiago’s swagger, there was something unquestionably comforting about his presence. A safe harbor a woman could depend on . . .
She took an abrupt step backward as the dangerous words whispered through her heart. “I won’t be long,” she muttered, turning to hurry from the room.
Speaking the words of power that would break any lingering illusions, Nefri moved through the remaining classrooms before heading upstairs. She concentrated on the gaping holes in the floors as well as the steel lockers that threatened to topple above the unwary. Anything to avoid examining her unruly emotions.
Santiago was right about one thing.
She’d become a master at sticking her head in the sand.
The ultimate ostrich.
It took only a few minutes to make her way through the upper rooms, but slipping out a broken window, she stood on the fire escape and motioned toward the gargoyle, who was on the highest peak of the sharply angled roof. “Anything?” she asked.
“Non.” Levet’s wings fluttered, shimmering in colors of blue and crimson and gold in the chilled moonlight. “Nothing is stirring, not even a mouse.”
She paused at his odd words before giving a slow nod. He wasn’t exaggerating. The surrounding countryside should be alive with nocturnal animals foraging for food and the predators that hunted them.
Instead an echoing silence spoke of a complete lack of wildlife.
There wasn’t even the buzz of an insect.
The spreading fear had affected even the most basic of animal forms.
“There’s a girl inside we must question,” she at last said. “Can you remain on guard?”
Despite the gargoyle’s unease, he gave a ready nod, his courage astonishing for such a small creature. “Oui. You can depend upon me.”
Without conscious thought she reached to brush a light hand over the tip of his wing. It was only when she was climbing back through the window that she realized how natural it felt to make physical contact.
Something she hadn’t allowed herself for centuries.
Obviously being in this world was altering more than just her powers.
Affection, desire, concern . . .
What was next?
Love?
With a shake of her head, Nefri made her way back to the lower floor. How often did she have to warn herself that now was not the time to be distracted by such foolishness?
In fact, never seemed like a good time.
Smoothing her expression into a calm mask, she entered the classroom and crossed to where Santiago remained seated on the floor with the human cradled in his lap. “The building is clear,” she assured him.
“This is Melinda.” He lifted his head to send her a speaking glance as the girl trembled in his arms. Nefri halted, belatedly realizing her presence was adding to the girl’s distress. “Sssh, mija,” Santiago murmured, running a comforting hand over her tangled hair. “No one is going to hurt you.”
Nefri slowly bent down to sit on the floor. Towering over the child wasn’t going to help. “Does she know what happened to her?”
“We were just getting to that, weren’t we, Melinda?” His attention returned to the female, who gave a violent shake of her head.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I know it was horrible for you,” he sympathized in soothing tones.
“It was worse than horrible.”
“Let’s return to the beginning,” Santiago urged. “Can you do that for me?”
Melinda shuddered, but clearly as susceptible as every other female to Santiago’s potent charm, she sucked in a deep breath. “I’ll try.”
“Good girl. How long have you been here?”
Her brow wrinkled in genuine confusion. “I’m not sure. A day, maybe two. Does it matter?”
“No. Everything’s fine.” He tilted back her chin, studying her pale, tearstained face. “Why were you at this place?”
Nefri watched the girl struggle to swallow, the sound of her pounding heart thundering through the room.
“It was a party. A birthday party for Brian,” she at last managed to rasp. “We always come here because the police never drive out this far.”