I was too numb, too frozen to process the full emotion that I would have experienced under normal circumstances. I heard the couple clambering to board the boat.
My teeth began to chatter, and I could no longer control it. With slow movements, Kaidan turned me to face him so my head rested on his shoulder, which helped my teeth not clink together. But now my breaths were ragged. Too loud in my ears. I sensed movement in the water and shifted my eyes to see Blake and Kopano surround Zania, who was in much the same state as I.
I closed my eyes and let my brain rest, too disoriented to think anymore.
Minutes? Hours? I didn’t know.
We waited until footsteps once again shook the dock as Duke Astaroth escorted the woman back up to the house. Minutes later all four Dukes and Flynn came down and stood on the dock by the boat. I had to look and see what they were doing.
A palpable tension gripped the small space between all of us under the dock. The four Dukes stood in a tight circle, talking in low tones while the two whisperers circled overhead, but we could hear. They were close. Too close. Flynn stood back from them with his arms crossed.
“They’re all up there, crying,” Astaroth said about the women. “Sweet regrets. Good thinking about the island, Melchom.”
“Yes,” Melchom agreed. Blake’s father looked small compared to the other three Dukes. “I just wish we could ditch them now. This’ll be one hell of a ride back to the mainland.”
“Sad women are so boring,” Pharzuph said. “At least you have something fun to look forward to after this.” He elbowed Melchom who nodded.
“I can’t wait to be rid of this old body. Should be a lot of good ones to choose from in China.”
We all looked to Blake who raised one eyebrow as he listened.
“You bringing your Neph boy with you?” Astaroth asked.
“Eh.” Melchom shrugged. “He’s got a great setup out here.”
“Well, don’t let him get too comfortable,” Astaroth warned. “This generation of Neph are lazy. They’ve no clue how good they’ve got it.”
Flynn stiffened but didn’t move.
“That’s the truth,” Pharzuph said. “Especially after the New York summit. I still say we should’ve killed that daughter of Belial.” My stomach turned into a block of ice and Kaidan’s grip tightened around my waist. “Belial was too quick to defend her, don’t you think?” The others nodded immediately. “She left a nasty taste in my mouth, that one. A bad influence on the others. I swear my son’s been off his game since then. Lacking the focus he once had. I should keep a better eye on him. Seeing those bloody angels might’ve screwed with his head.”
“Made us look weak.” Astaroth spit into the water. “I can’t bleeding wait to destroy them.”
“You know . . .” Pharzuph began, almost hesitant, lowering his voice even further. “Rahab thinks the daughter of Belial is the one.”
My heart rate, which had slowed severely, now spiked hard in my chest.
Flynn looked like he wasn’t even breathing. The other Dukes were quiet, processing this.
“Ah,” Mammon said. His gold jewelry glittered with reflected moonlight at his neck and wrists. “You mean that old prophecy nonsense?”
My heart spiked again, a shooting pain.
“I thought that was a farce,” Astaroth said.
Pharzuph shrugged. “Rahab doesn’t think so. He started an investigation of Belial after that summit, but so far he’s clean.”
“If he thinks this girl is the one, he should be investigating her,” Melchom said.
“She’s a bit daft.” I bristled at Pharzuph’s words. “Hard to believe she’d be a threat, but that badge of hers is not right. I say we have her killed . . . just in case.”
Oh, crap.
I needed to talk to Dad right away. Kaidan’s grip around me tightened so hard I could barely take a breath. I had to pinch his forearm with my weak hand to make him ease up.
Flynn shifted his stance, carefully keeping his eyes out at sea as if to appear uninterested.
“Too many strange coincidences recently,” Pharzuph said. “Perhaps Rahab was right when he said the Neph race should be extinct for good.”
Mammon took a curious glance toward his son, who wasn’t looking, and then back to the other Dukes.
“I’m sick to death of mine,” Astaroth said of the twins. “They argue over the simplest commands. Neph don’t provide the help they once did.”
“And they’re putting their noses where they don’t belong,” Mammon said. He cracked his knuckles and his eyes shone red. “Isn’t that right, son?”
No . . . God, no.
All the Dukes turned their attention to Flynn. He blinked at them. “Pardon me, sir?”
“Did ya hear about the strange guy lurking around the prison where Sonellion’s daughter was being held?”
Bile rose from my stomach.
Flynn shook his head at his father and cleared his throat. His forehead crinkled. “No, sir.”
“They say when the guy got in a fight and his head covering fell back, he was a redhead.” Mammon stepped closer to his son.