“But it is beyond me. I can’t do what you and Azriel do.”
“You have my essence, Charity. And you’re half Nephilim. You’re more powerful than you know. Once Azriel releases the imps, we’ll need you.”
His voice was cold again, as it had been those last moments in the Void. Had she done something to anger him?
She didn’t answer his last statement. Instead, she bit her lower lip and stared down at her slippered feet. “I’m a data entry clerk,” she said at last. “I can’t help. I couldn’t even escape Azriel. When he left me alone in the tunnels and those rogues chased me, I was so scared, Raven. I could barely breathe.”
He clasped her face in his hands and forced her to meet his gaze. “You’re not a data entry clerk. You haven’t been a data entry clerk for days.”
She shook her head.
“Listen to me, Charity. You’re half Nephilim. You hear me? Don’t you know what that means?”
“What if I fail you and everyone else? What if someone dies because of me?”
“You’re half Nephilim,” he repeated. “An angel doesn’t need a light to see in dark places. And neither do you.”
“How much time do we have until the imps are free?”
“We’re almost at the end of the tunnel. But I’d say a day. Two, if we’re lucky.”
“That’s what Azriel was told. But I think he’s likely to force the issue. He didn’t seem happy about waiting two days.” When Raven didn’t respond, she continued. “What do we do until then?”
He was silent. When he spoke, his voice was cold with obvious irritation. “I can’t listen out for intruders, Charity, with your incessant chatter filling my ears.”
“I…” She trailed off.
He turned away from her and faced the corridor again. “Go retrieve Myrddin and Aliceanna. Fifteen minutes have passed, and I’m ready to go.”
“Raven? Did I do something—”
“Go. Another hour or two, and we’ll be out of here.”
Swallowing, Charity backed away from him and sought out Myrddin and Aliceanna.
Chapter Seventeen
When Charity saw the massive house come into view, she thought she was dreaming. She’d never seen anything like it in her life. Even Raven, Myrddin, and Aliceanna’s explanations to her about who Ikarius was and what they did hadn’t prepared her for the enormity of their sprawling estate. The others constantly referred to the Ikari lands as a compound, and for the first time since hearing the word, she saw why. Even in the gloom of night, she could tell their land spread out for miles. There were forests on the land, a number of small outbuildings, fields, gardens, and one huge structure centered on the land that Raven told her was the main house where all the Ikari who guarded the fifth portal lived. The property reminded her of a college campus, it was so large.
Myrddin was the first to enter through the doors of the main house, with Aliceanna a step behind him. Raven, his hand placed securely on her lower back, had to give her a gentle push to prod her forward.
She moved through the wide double doors, but came to an abrupt stop after she crossed the threshold and found herself in what she supposed was a foyer, but seemed more like an enclosed courtyard. Stuffed sofas were positioned around the room; piled carpets with vibrant designs covered the floor. A split stairway stood like bookends at either side of the room. Further, there was any number of people filling the room. Every one of them had frozen to the spot when their small party entered. Still, none of these things had been what made her legs stiffen and refuse to move forward. What had caught her off-guard was the sight of Damon standing in the center of the room, arms folded imperiously over his chest as he regarded them. From the look on his face, you’d have thought they were errant school children returning home from school hours later than expected.
She felt his eyes fix to her and she dropped her gaze to the ground, unable to meet his stare. Their last meeting had been more than a little embarrassing on her part. He and Alaric had cornered her outside the library of Alaric’s home in Prague and proceeded to toy with her. While Damon had disrobed her, displaying her nakedness for Alaric to see, Alaric pressed in close and…he’d kissed her with such heat, he’d nearly scorched the skin right off her bones. All the while Damon had stood behind her, running his hands over her naked thighs and talking dirty into her ear.
Even the memory made her flush with embarrassment. She’d run away from them in terror when the pair had flashed their fangs. Her last memory of them was the commingled sound of their laughter. She realized then that they’d never had any intention of biting her or even having sex with her, they were simply amusing themselves with her.
“It’s about time,” Damon said, clearly annoyed.
Though she wasn’t looking at him, his Spanish accent was unmistakable.
“Everyone’s in the library,” he went on to say. “We’ve been waiting for you for hours. Alaric is flying to New York in an hour.”
Again, the press of Raven’s hand on her lower back made her move further into the house.
“Alaric is here?” she asked Raven as their small group followed Damon through a Victorian parlor done up in antiques and down a back hall.
“I wouldn’t worry about Alaric if I were you,” Raven said. “Seems our favorite vampire has become enamored with an Ikari female.”
Aliceanna swung her head around. “What?” she demanded.
But Raven didn’t have a chance to answer. Damon, walking briskly, led them into a room, pausing only to shut and lock the door behind them.
Immediately, Charity realized it was another library. But it wasn’t anything like the public libraries her mother used to take her to. This one was styled more like Alaric’s. It was the kind of library one would expect to see in the home of a scholar. Tall bookshelves lined the walls, and numerous sofas were positioned in the center of the room around a stone fireplace.
More interesting, she saw Alaric was settled on one of the sofas. Beside him was a large man with a head of hair nearly as red as Aliceanna’s. Next to the man was a faery-looking woman with long pale hair and delicate features. Across from them were two men she’d never seen before. One was dark-skinned, like her. Though he couldn’t have been older than forty, something in his eyes told her this man had seen much. Beside him was an older man, maybe sixty, with long gray hair and a perfectly groomed mustache.
“Raven,” the red-haired one said, getting to his feet. “We’d begun to fear you ran into trouble in the tunnels. We were about to send a search party. This must be Charity,” he said, fixing her with a hard gaze. “The last human Nephilim we’ve heard so much about.”
Taking her by the hand, Raven led her deeper into the room. She had to struggle with her desire to hide behind him, but she forced herself to walk by his side with her head up.
“Yes,” Raven said. He took a moment to introduce her to everyone.
The faery woman— Raven had called her Valetta— got to her feet. She pulled a heavy afghan off the back of the sofa. “You could have taken a few minutes to allow her to clothe herself, Raven.”
Only then did Charity recall her dire state of dress. Though ’undress’ would have been a more appropriate word. The sheer robe with the matching slippers whose soles were worn thin from all of the walking she’d done in the last two days barely covered her. Worse, not only was she standing before these strangers nearly naked, but she realized her legs were streaked with dirt and dust. Her arms had small scratches running along their length from her headlong run through the tunnels when the ghouls had been chasing her. She probably didn’t smell very good, either.
Valetta wrapped the afghan over her shoulders and pulled her to the sofa. Charity allowed herself to be seated beside the woman. She murmured a thank you, to which she received a broad smile.
“The Warlord has a daughter who’s about your size. When we’re finished here, I’ll get some of her clothes for you to wear.”
Charity returned the smile. “Thank
you.”
“If you’re finished talking fashion,” the Warlord said, “can we get on with this?”
Myrddin settled beside the two men Raven had introduced as Caleb and Quinn. Aliceanna sat on the floor closest to Damon, who was perched on the arm of the sofa next to Alaric. Aliceanna glanced up at them periodically, an activity Alaric seemed completely oblivious to. Damon, however, settled one boot in her lap and gave her furtive rubs between her thighs with his heel when he thought no one was looking.
Raven, who had remained standing, was the first to speak. “Before anything else is said, I want to make sure everyone’s agreed on the pact. I have your word, Galen, that none of the Ikari will move against any member of the Alliance?”
Galen nodded. “Aye. On my honor, no action will be taken against any member of the Alliance.”
“And you, Alaric. Do I have your word no immortal will act against Ikarius?”
Alaric seemed to suddenly remember his part in all this. “You have my word.”
“Good,” Raven said with a nod. “We have a day, maybe two, before Azriel comes with the imps. I’m confident the ghouls won’t act against us again until they have Azriel at their side. Have you heard anything from the other Ikari compounds, Galen?”
Galen leaned forward on the couch. “Like us, they’ve sent their women and children to a safe house, just as a precaution. But no one has reported any attacks. Seems the Ikari outside the seventh portal and us are the only ones who were attacked by ghouls yesterday.”
“What I want to know,” Caleb said, “is why the ghouls outside the seventh portal were so strong.” He’d set his gaze on Charity, and Charity eased back in the sofa.
Raven spoke again. “She can’t answer your questions. She was a captive at the time, and didn’t know what was going on. As far as she knew, Azriel was taking her to Hir na Gog.”
“Still, the girl must have something she could tell us. She’s spent the last two days with Azriel, after all.” Caleb studied her. “Did you learn nothing from the demon in all that time?”
Damn, Charity thought, they wanted her to talk. After realizing she’d been completely oblivious to Azriel’s plan of holding off on freeing the Nephilim, she had hoped she’d be able to melt into the scenery, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen.
Raven began to speak for her, but she interrupted. “I’m fine, Raven. I don’t have much to add to what you already know. Your brethren, the ones who lived at the large estate Azriel attacked, were outnumbered four to one. And Azriel surprised them, caught them completely off-guard. They didn’t stand a chance.”
“There’s something else,” the Warlord said. “Once he sees Charity is gone and he’s told of Raven’s arrival on the scene and rescue of her, he’ll know we’re on to his little plot. What if he changes his plan to attack us?”
“What would be the point?” Caleb asked. “If he wants to cut off the Ikari head, he has to attack here.”
Charity nodded. “I’m sure he would have wanted surprise on his side, but he won’t let the loss of it discourage him. He’s that confident.”
Raven, who’d been watching her closely, folded his arms over his chest. His voice was cold when he spoke and the sound of it chilled her. “You seem to know a lot about Azriel.”
“When you spend two days trapped with someone, that happens.”
His obsidian eyes fixed to her face and narrowed. An almost imperceptible curl lifted his lip. The effect was so sinister, it reminded her that Raven was a fallen angel and capable of performing any number of horrible things if he chose. Her first impulse was to drop her eyes and stare docilely at her feet. But after everything she’d been through, she refused to be intimidated. She met his stare head on.
Their eyes locked. She started when a voice in her head demanded, “What else do you know about Azriel?”
Her spine stiffened as indignation washed through her. What exactly was he accusing her of? That he was accusing her of something was obvious. “Do you ask for Figlio’s sake, or have you forgotten you discarded me minutes after sleeping with me?”
Idly, she realized this silent exchange wasn’t going unnoticed. Before Raven could respond, Alaric cleared his throat and exchanging a frown with Damon, spoke.
“I’m leaving tonight. If Raven’s right, I’ll have at least a day before Azriel’s attack on the compound. By that time, I hope to have the eastern leg of the Alliance in agreement. I’m going to stop at Figlio’s New York home as well. Who knows? Maybe he’ll be there and surprise us by returning with me.”
Charity gasped at that comment, a move that had the direct effect of refocusing everyone’s attention to her. “Figlio is coming here?” she demanded of Alaric.
“If all goes well.”
She turned on Raven, who still stood, staring at her. “Is that why you came for me?” she asked.
“Now isn’t the time, Charity,” he said.
Though he spoke quietly, she didn’t miss the dangerous quality to his voice. She just didn’t care.
“Answer me, Raven.”
“Not…now.”
She rocketed to her feet. “I think right now is the perfect time! This is why you’ve been so distant, why you’ve been so cold, isn’t it? Damn you, Raven, answer me!”
Raven started forward. His eyes flashed hot fury as he advanced, but Charity stood her ground.
“You lying rat bastard of an angel!” she accused. “The only reason you came for me is so you can hand me off to Figlio.”
He clamped a hand to her wrist and whirled, pulling her along behind him as he half walked, half flew toward the library doors. She didn’t have time to look behind her to see the numerous looks of surprise that surely greeted this little performance. She was too stunned.
When they neared the doors, Raven lifted a hand and they flew wide, slamming into the corridor walls. Once released from the confines of the library, Raven moved forward with a speed that made her head spin. In a blur, she saw the hall, the parlor, the stairs. In less time than it would have taken her to walk through the library, they’d traversed three levels and were standing outside a closed door.
She whirled to face him, her anger so extreme she couldn’t control it. “Damn it, Raven, what’s your problem?”
He kicked the door in and pushed her inside. A moment later, he kicked the door shut and she heard the lock slip into place.
Whatever was about to happen, she thought, it wouldn’t be good.
Chapter Eighteen
Al-Kenna settled herself in the passenger seat and dropped her bag on the floorboard between her feet.
The stranger who’d been kind enough to pick her up watched all this, a slight smile on his face. When he began speaking to her, she made sure she could easily reach her bag and the weapons inside, then turned to face him.
“So, where you headed?” the man asked.
He had an easy voice, soft and non-threatening. Now that she was settled in the car beside him and had ample time to study him, he seemed a pleasant enough person. He had the round, chubby face of a child, though she was sure he was much older than she was. There was gentleness about the man, a kindness. She hadn’t seen any malevolence in him, though in truth even if she had, she’d still have gotten in the car. There’d been no other choice. The compound was twenty miles away, and she couldn’t very well walk back. This man would be safe to travel with for the short distance she had to go. The only thoughts she’d gleaned from him were confusion and concern. He wondered what a lone female was doing walking the rural roads of nowhere Virginia, when the nearest town was more than fifteen miles away. Well, she’d just let him wonder. The important thing was that she’d be at the compound soon.
“Blue Ridge Parkway?” she said. “The airport.”
“I was heading to the Blue Ridge myself. Going to see the Appalachian Trail. Ever been there?”
She nodded. And for the next twenty minutes, they talked about Liberty Inn, where he was staying, the wonder that was
the Shenandoah Valley, and the amazing views he hoped to see in the Allegheny Mountains.
When Al-Kenna recognized the line of old willows that hung over the north gate of the compound, she stared at them. She eyed the north gate entrance and searched for any signs of battle. Long ago, the trees surrounding the compound had grown thick. Thatches of weeds grew unchecked along the forest floor. Even in the darkness of night— especially in the darkness of night— the land looked overgrown, unkempt, uncared for, and dangerous. Even the enclosing gate looked as though it had seen better days. It was impossible from this side of the gate to see the buildings and grounds. From where was, the old cement slabs that made up the gate looked decrepit. But this was all as it should be. Civilians weren’t supposed to know what Ikarius was. The compound itself was centered on ninety acres of land, a distance no curious traveler ever ventured through untamed land, and if they tried, there were enough sentries guarding the property to dissuade them.
“The airport’s a few miles from here. It’s a little out of the way.”
“I don’t mind,” he said. “What I’d mind is leaving you out in the middle of nowhere.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
Once they got to the airport, she quickly shoved her car door open, grabbed her bag, and eased out of the seat.
“You sure you’ll be okay here? This place looks…oh, looks like someone’s flying out of here tonight. A friend of yours?”
She glanced over her shoulder and saw there was a plane on the tarmac being tended to. It was a sleek piece of equipment. Instead of the plain gray of most planes, this one was painted midnight black. This plane, this jet, was nothing like the prop planes that typically flew in and out of the airport.
“Yeah,” she said absently. “A friend.” She stepped from the car and bent to look in. “Thanks a lot.” She shoved the door shut and stepped back.
He waved and mouthed, “Don’t mention it.”
With that, he turned the car around and drove away. She caught the last flash of rear lights as he turned left out of the airport and cruised down the road.
Nephilim War: Book 2 Page 16