“He didn’t say goodbye to me,” I grumbled, placing my hands on my hips and squaring my shoulders as I glared at Ryuu. “Maybe ask my permission before you give my hair to Wrath’s manservant.”
Ryuu rolled his eyes. “It was not your hair,” he said, looking entirely too proud of himself. I frowned. “Claire,” he explained, reaching into his pocket to pull out another strand. “I took a few from the brush on her nightstand when you grew concerned about her loyalties. I wanted my ninjas to keep an eye on her for you.” He saw the anger flicker away from my face, and the concern rapidly replace it. “I have not sent anyone after her. I was going to discuss it with you before making such a decision, but I wanted to have the means to do it promptly if you agreed to it.”
I stared at him, not sure if I was proud, relieved, or troubled by his well thought out plan. I had almost forgotten about Claire and the concerns I had about her proximity to Envy while he’d been snooping around Castle Dracula. “Why was her hair on your shoulder?” I asked.
He smirked, sheathing his katana. “When you shook hands, I pulled it from the vial in my pocket while you were both distracted.” He lifted a small glass vial from his pocket, slipped Legion’s hair inside it, corked it, and then tucked it back into his pants. “I knew we would need a way to track him. That is why you purposely antagonized him, correct? Subconsciously encouraging him to check on the rest of the Sins so we could locate them?”
I nodded, deciding that I really wanted to slap and kiss Ryuu at the exact same time. Competence was the sexiest quality a man could have, but add in the brains to scheme, a graceful lethality, and a body designed to inspire Classical Greek statues…
And my panties practically felt combustible.
But I was a professional, so I didn’t actually leapfrog his face and ride him down to the ground while gripping his hair for handlebars. Yes, I envisioned it, but I was a lady, first. “I really need to call Nate,” I muttered to myself under my breath.
Judging by the way Ryuu’s pupils dilated, he definitely heard me and wholeheartedly agreed. I shrugged off the thought, still concerned about Lust and Aphrodite’s potential manipulation of my sex drive.
“So, you can track his movements with that hair?” I asked, gesturing at the vial.
“My men can do it without being seen. They will work in rotation so that they are not recognized.” He pulled out his phone and made a call, speaking in low tones as he paced back and forth. I watched him, absently; my eyes appreciated his not overly muscled frame, but my mind was a tornado of anxiety.
Halo. Ryuu had said I’d almost struck Legion’s halo. What the hell? Had I actually seen a flicker of his halo, not the fly or mosquito I had assumed? Or had I seen a fly and simply made a serious social faux pas while trying to shoo away the pest?
Ryuu finished his call and turned back to me. “Legion just privately told me he anticipates at least two murders every day until Pride and Wrath are found. Could be more, of course, possibly two from each of the remaining Sins. I told my men to ratchet up the patrols on the streets.”
I blinked at him. “Wait. They’re going to attack my people until I give them something I don’t have?”
Ryuu nodded with a grim resignation in his eyes. “Falls in line with Lust’s parting threat. We need to find Wrath and come up with an answer about Pride.”
I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. “Or we could save ourselves the trouble and kill all the Sins,” I growled.
He grinned wolfishly, nodding. He opened his mouth to speak, but then his eyes shifted beyond my shoulder right as I felt a familiar wave of power flare up behind me. “Sense a disturbance in the Force, I do,” I said, turning to face our newest uninvited guest.
Eae, the angel known as the Demon Thwarter loomed before me, his wings flared out for dramatic effect.
I groaned. “Did you put up a damned internet ad about our location?” I asked, glancing at Ryuu.
Both men ignored me. “Callie Penrose!” Eae’s voice boomed through the clearing like a megaphone. “Eden calls, and you have been summoned for judgment—”
“Remember that time we ran you over with a car?” I interrupted him. I leaned forward, cupping one hand around the side of my mouth. “Twice!” I whisper-shouted. Then I leaned back, assessing his wings. “I can hardly tell. Promise.”
10
The angel pursed his lips and his wings sunk a few feet lower at my cruel reminder. He had been disgraced in recent years after failing to manage a problem with Nate Temple in St. Louis. He had since chosen to hitch his wings up in Kansas City, relegated to being the guardian angel of one of the most awful, spiteful old women I had ever had the displeasure of meeting: Greta, former assistant to the CEO at Temple Industries.
She was worse than any demon I’d ever met. She was the embodiment of holier-than-thou.
I think Eae would have preferred falling from grace. At least demons could have dignity. The side benefit to working for her was that she was now employed at Abundant Angel Catholic Church—A2C2, for short—so he moonlighted with First Shepherd Fabrizio.
If he had expected a more welcoming reunion between us, he had been sorely mistaken, and had now been corrected with extreme prejudice.
I didn’t hate him or anything. He was actually the best angel I’d met, but I had learned that angels were better remembered than experienced. A rearview mirror look was recommended when it came to angels. They were the vacuum cleaner salesmen of yesteryear, popping up unannounced to convince you to invest in something you couldn’t responsibly afford and didn’t even know you needed three minutes ago. If they managed to slip past your defenses and set up shop in your living room, it was in your best interest to grant whatever vague, non-binding assurances were necessary to get them walking, tumbling, or flying out your front door, depending on your state’s definition of self-defense.
Missouri had the Castle Doctrine.
And very few vacuum cleaner salesmen, coincidentally.
Yippee-ki-yay, Carpet-sucker!
Unfortunately, the Castle Doctrine offered no protection from angels.
“I was sent here to put you on notice,” Eae said in a calmer tone, even though his words were actually a direct threat. He pulled out a rolled parchment and extended it to show me one side that was decorated with elaborate runes. “This is the arrest warrant for Archangel Michael. Heaven has questions about his involvement in the mass execution of a dozen innocent Nephilim. There are…conflicting stories, so we must detain and interrogate him.”
I managed to keep my cool, knowing that the claim was utter bullshit. The Nephilim had not been even remotely peaceful. Eae swallowed uneasily after he finished speaking, and I could tell that he did not want to be here. At all. He was working under orders. From one of the other Archangels, most likely. Like the Sins, there seemed to be seven who received the most notoriety in the Bible. I really needed to brush up on that topic, because it seemed they were part of the legal team investigating me. “What does that have to do with me?” I finally asked in a calm, crisp tone.
“You were a witness to the event in question. This writ demands you turn over Michael or share any information you have on his whereabouts.” He swallowed again. “Upon threat of execution. The Nephilim will have justice.”
Ryuu took a step forward and I held out my arm, halting him. Eae immediately shielded himself with one of his wings and pulled the parchment away to keep it safe. Ryuu smirked. “Made you flinch.”
Eae’s lips thinned. “I have no quarrel with you, Halo Breaker, but I am aware of your reputation. I am merely the messenger of this decree, since it is was determined that I have experience negotiating with Miss Penrose.” And to his credit, I realized that his tense attitude and somewhat prickly demeanor did not seem to be directed at me, per se. He came across as frustrated about his current assignment, knowing that our history would offer him no protection and that it was essentially a suicide mission or a declaration of war against the White Rose, the Hor
seman of Despair, Count Dracula, and the wielder of the Holy Spear.
He wasn’t wrong.
His boss had thrown him into the gladiatorial arena as a sacrifice and it pissed him right the heaven off.
I studied him, thoughtfully. “Who sent you, specifically? If this is about Michael, does that mean Gabriel sent you?”
Eae shook his head, but I noticed a flicker of unease in his eyes upon hearing Gabriel’s name. “We have not seen Lord Gabriel in some time. Do you know where he is?”
I was silent for a few moments, trying to get a firm understanding of the shifting sands beneath each possible answer I could give. Gabriel had been working with Wrath, but it sure didn’t seem like Eae knew that—neither had Lust or Legion. Did Eae’s boss know—whichever Archangel had sent him to me—what Gabriel was up to? Had Wrath been working undercover for Gabriel or the other way around? Who was good and who was bad? Because I was getting pretty damned confused about who I could trust these days: some Olympians, but not all Olympians; some angels, but not all angels; some demons, but not all demons.
Since no one seemed to have knowledge about Gabriel and Wrath’s rekindled brotherhood, I could not in good conscience give either Heaven or Hell a firm answer. I was the rope between both sides of the family tug-of-war.
“I saw Gabriel a few days ago, and it was not a cordial meeting,” I finally said.
Eae cocked his head, reading my wary tone underlying the words. “Why would a meeting with the leader of the Archangels not be cordial? Did he disapprove of your actions?”
I could tell that Eae was also speaking between the lines, as if he believed he was being watched. Hell, maybe he wasn’t sure if I was trustworthy, fearing that I was attempting to entrap him. Talk about trust issues. Neither one of us knew if we were on the same side, but both of us believed that, as individuals, we were on the right side. We just didn’t know if our supposed teams were on the right side.
“Gabriel was working undercover at Castle Dracula as a servant, spying on my people. And me, of course,” I explained, gauging his response.
Eae’s eyes widened slightly at my accusation, but then narrowed with suspicion and doubt. “Impossible. Gabriel would not hide his awesomeness.”
I grunted at his dated application of the word. “Awfulness, perhaps. There was nothing honorable about his undercover work. It was straight up spying, and I don’t know why he thought it necessary.”
“Did Michael know about this?”
I shared a long look with Ryuu, hoping for guidance. He gave me a discreet shake of his head. Finally, I turned back to Eae. “Listen, don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m not sure you are at the right pay grade to hear the answers to your questions. Neither of us has enough verifiable information to continue this conversation without frightening the crap out of each other. There are things happening in this city that make no sense, and I’m not talking about the Freaks. I’m talking about your family squabbles. The Sins and the Archangels.”
Eae took a dangerous step forward. “You are not listening to me,” he hissed, with an almost manic look in his eyes, more like he was pleading with me—almost like a hostage trying to send a coded message in a ransom demand or proof-of-life video. “The Nephilim demand justice, and they will have it.”
Ryuu drew his blade a few inches to reveal cold black steel. “Careful, Demon Thwarter. Callie Penrose is listening, and I am watching,” he warned, pointedly glancing at Eae’s feet. “The White Rose is being as honest as she possibly can. We have observed agents of Heaven working at odds with each other, and it leaves us in the moral conundrum of having to judge their motivations and pick one over another—which seems a contradiction. We do not desire this duty, but we will fulfill it with all the honor it requires, which means we need to ask difficult questions and stand firm on our convictions.” Eae nodded after a few moments, looking as if he wanted to commiserate with us and speak freely. Problem was, I knew he couldn’t do such a thing. Eae was a stickler for red tape and following the rules. “Having said that,” Ryuu continued in a dispassionate tone, “your brothers have provided adequate provocation for an…attitude adjustment.”
I slowly turned to look at Ryuu and his lazily calm demeanor. Eae opened his mouth to argue, thought better of it, and finally closed his mouth with the sound of clicking teeth. I burst out laughing. “Attitude adjustment?” I asked, dryly. “Subtle.”
Ryuu frowned pensively and then nodded. He sheathed his blade all the way and cracked his knuckles, and then shook his wrists as if to loosen them up before a workout. “You are correct,” he said, smiling at me. He shifted his attention to Eae. “I should take a more hands-on approach. Any attempt to lay a finger on Callie Penrose, and I will choke you to death with your own halo. I will not need Angel Killer to make you weep. Your brothers will hear you cry and they will quiver in fear. The Pearly Gates will weep blood and as the Pillars of Heaven crumble and fall, I will stand tall beside the White Rose.” Eae’s face paled and he stared into Ryuu’s eyes with palpable, silent fear. “Tell me my threat is an empty one, Eae. Please. The White Rose hasn’t outright said so, but I think she believes my reputation is…overinflated or dramatized.” He did not look over at me, but rather stared into Eae’s eyes. “Tell her that my threats are empty and that I will not do this thing. Please.”
Eae’s shoulders shook and he stared back at my ninja, actually quivering. “You…do not exaggerate,” he croaked, sounding like he hated himself for admitting it where anyone else could overhear. His eyes flicked up towards the sky and he shuddered, looking torn.
I stared at Ryuu, wondering if I really wanted to know about his past or not. “Did you just accuse me of nagging?”
He smirked. “I defended your right to nag, technically.”
“We will talk about this later,” I grouched, turning back to Eae. “Ryuu will stop threatening you. Right, Ryuu?”
He shrugged. “I’ve already finished threatening. All that is left is the doing. As long as I’m here, Callie is behind my aegis, and everything in front of my aegis will be destroyed, utterly. Archangel, Archdemon, Nephilim.” He shrugged. “These titles are meaningless to me. They are all lightning bugs at dusk, proclaiming that their ass makes them worthy.”
Eae nodded stiffly, obviously not appreciating the metaphor. “Understood,” he said, very wisely slipping my execution order out of view.
“I feel like we got off on the wrong foot, Eae.” He turned to me with a wary look. “How have you been? Having fun with the Shepherds?”
He considered my words. “They are under new management, and there have been some…growing pains.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Did they fire Fabrizio as First Shepherd?”
Eae shook his head firmly. “No. They cleaned out the Conclave and hired a new leader. Father Ignatius. My time is mostly spent at Abundant Angel Catholic Church, so I often hear First Shepherd Fabrizio’s vociferous displeasure.”
I smiled. “He used naughty words, didn’t he?”
Eae just smiled, the first genuine smile of the morning. But his eyes remained haunted and paranoid.
“Okay. What do you think you know about the Michael situation?” I asked, not wanting to be the first one to share my side of the story with the Nephilim. Because…Michael had killed a dozen of them, but only to protect me and Pride from their overzealous hunger to see me dead. They’d been deceived with false accusations about me. We’d had to hide Michael and Pride from a full-scale manhunt from both Heaven and Hell as both sent out arrest warrants blaming the other side of the family. The biblical Hatfield and McCoy’s feud. But there was an entirely good chance that I might let slip one tiny sliver of information that would reveal I knew much more than they thought and that I had been complicit in aiding the fugitives escape from the law. Which would then mean angels, not Nephilim, would be hunting me down for execution, and Ryuu would be forced to kill large swaths of heavenly hosts because he was very adamant about keeping his word, and he’d just m
ade a declaration to Eae that he now had to stand behind. If I was in danger, angels would die by his hand.
“The dead Nephilim,” Eae said. “You were there, as was Pride and your godfather, Samael.”
“For the record, they shot a rocket-propelled grenade at me before even announcing why they were there. They intended to interrogate my smoldering ruins, but Michael, Pride, and Samael had strong opinions against that—each for different reasons.” I took a calming breath, knowing that it was best if I didn’t say more. Gabriel and Wrath had both seen me after that altercation, but if they were now both missing…
I wasn’t required to volunteer incriminating information. I felt a strange sensation that made my shoulder blades twitch, as if we were being watched. I glanced up at the sky, frowning, but I saw nothing alarming.
11
Finally, I shrugged, turning back to Eae. “Why do you think they haven’t returned to Heaven or reached out to you? Any theories? What’s the running gossip around the blessed wine cooler? Maybe they don’t believe they will get a fair trial. The terms martyr and black flag comes to mind.”
Eae shook his head. “I am not at liberty to say. What are your theories? What’s the running gossip around the cursed blood cooler?” he asked, trying to sound cool by flipping my words.
“Cold blood is gross, from what I hear. Maybe a blood fondue fountain would work, but I’d have to take a closer look at Castle Dracula’s operating budget for office equipment.”
“What can you tell me about Michael? Give me something,” he pleaded.
I folded my arms. “I’m not sure I can do that. Even if I could, I don’t know if I should. Something smells off about this whole thing. Why did they send you when they know I have Ryuu as a nuclear deterrent? And what did you mean about the Nephilim demanding justice? Speak plainly.”
Trinity: Feathers and Fire Book 9 Page 6