“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.”