He closed his eyes and I pushed myself up, leaning over his face. I ran my fingers across the stubble on his cheeks and brushed the pads of my thumbs over his long, black lashes, making his eyes twitch. Touching him because I could. Because he allowed me to see his insecurities.
“My boyfriend is so sweet,” I whispered. “And not bad looking, either.”
An oncoming grin worked the corners of his mouth, and he rolled toward me. I snuggled down with him, our limbs automatically reaching out to make claim, entwining, regardless of our earlier silent pact to keep distance between us.
“My girlfriend is a party-girl angel who can kick some arse and cook.”
I laughed and placed one last peck on his lips. We lay there with our faces close until we drifted to sleep. Together.
The room was dark and quiet when I awoke. I glanced bleary-eyed at the clock, which read 5:23, wondering if Kaidan had spoken in his sleep. And then I heard it again.
“Daughter of Belial.”
Kaidan and I both shot up in bed, and I snatched the leather-clad hilt from his nightstand.
A whisperer with its wings outstretched hung above us. Even after I adjusted my eyes and noticed his feline features, my heart still slammed in my throat.
My voice shook when I said, “Azael.” I dropped the hilt in my lap and exhaled.
“Belial sends a message,” Azael said. “Turn on your phone.”
“Oh, shoot!” I scrambled from the bed, falling to my knees in front of my bag by the door. I’d forgotten to turn my cell back on after the airport! I couldn’t believe it’d been off all this time. I fumbled around for my phone, finding it and turning it on. Kaidan squatted next to me.
Text messages and voice mails blinked from Patti and Dad and schoolmates. My stomach dropped with regret. Patti had been expecting me home hours ago and she was probably scared to death!
The texts from my father showed a progression from frustration to anger. The voice mails from him were all stewing silences, then hang ups.
I looked up, searching for the spirit. “What’s going on, Azael?”
“He left,” Kaidan said.
“Crap,” I muttered.
I first texted Patti to tell her I was okay. I then dialed Dad and he answered on the first ring. A chill prickled my scalp at the steady fury in his voice. “Do not. Ever. Turn your phone off.”
My body wasn’t sure whether to cry or puke or speak. Thankfully, speaking won, though my voice sounded tiny. “I forgot to turn it back on earlier today. I’m sorry.”
“I take it you’re with the son of Pharzuph,” he ground out. I sat up a little taller, remembering how he’d threatened Kaidan not to have contact with me.
“Yes. I am.” It came out bold. I was glad. And I wasn’t going to reassure him that I’d been “good,” because if he didn’t trust me by now, that was his problem.
There was a long pause as I awaited his temper. But it never came. Instead, he sighed, a deep, guttural sound of fatigue.
“We had our summit last night, as you know.”
“Yes?” I asked, because it sounded like he had news. My pulse spiked again as I wondered if the Dukes wanted to follow up on me after the last summit. Or if that disgusting demon had told them about seeing Kaidan and me together yesterday. Oh, please, no.
“I’m calling from Reno, and I’ve got to get back to Vegas. The summit’s been extended one more day. We’re having a changing of the guard, but that’s not why I called.”
I gave Kaidan a confused look about the changing-of-the-guard thing, and he waved it off like he’d explain later, giving the phone his rapt attention.
“Okay,” I said, prompting Dad to continue.
“Zania’s in prison.”
My heart sank, followed by every other internal organ, making me feel heavy all over. I crawled to the wall and slumped back against it, my eyes burning.
“In Damascus?”
“No. She’d been working farther out, in a more conservative area. She was taken in for being drunk and lewd.”
“What’s going to happen?” I pressed a palm to my forehead.
“Sonellion’s done with her. Says she’s a lost cause now. He’s given them permission to do whatever they want with her. Most likely they’ll beat her publicly to set an example. Then, if they keep it quiet afterward, they can sell her to the highest bidder. Underground slavery.”
I felt Kaidan tense next to me as he listened with his Neph hearing. Because of his father and Madam Marissa, this was a sensitive subject for him.
I got to my feet and began pacing. “We have to do something.”
“You’re not getting involved in this, Anna. Sonellion will be back over there soon. He’ll be keeping an eye on the situation to be sure she gets what’s coming to her. He’s disappointed that he’s not there to see it unfold himself. There’s nothing you or I can do.”
An image of Zania in prison came to mind, surrounded by men whose disdain for her was nearly as thick as her hate for them. And all the while she’d be going through withdrawal.
I sat heavily on the bed and rubbed my forehead, which was tight with an oncoming headache. Kaidan watched me, leaning against the wall.
“There has to be some way,” I said.