“No spikes,” he said. “I think I can handle that. How about I tell you about the time
I hung out with David Bowie and he gave me one of his saxophones?”
Sofia lifted an eyebrow. “Gave it to you?”
He shrugged, grinning. “I could tell he wanted me to have it. Even if he didn’t actually
know I was hanging out with him.”
Sofia laughed and nodded. “All right. Tell me.”
He made it so easy to pretend they were a real couple, lovers and friends without
any sort of danger involved. She was on a slippery slope, and she knew it. But for
tonight, Sofia let herself indulge in the fantasy. Phenex was funny and cynical and
completely impossible, she thought. And as he pushed his plate between them to share
his fries with her as he started to spin the tale of what sounded a lot more like
a break-in than a visit, she realized she wouldn’t have him any other way.
Chapter Eighteen
She was going to kill him.
“Damn it, Phenex,” Sofia muttered, and paced the length of the family room for the
hundredth time. When he’d agreed to get her out in the sunlight, she’d assumed he
meant the next day. Instead, tomorrow had stretched into a series of tomorrows, until
three days after he’d made her the promise it seemed obvious that Phenex was trying
to convince her that spending extra time aboveground wasn’t worth the trouble. At
this rate, she wasn’t even going to make it to work on time. Did he think trapping
her down here was going to make her like it better?
That would only be true if depressing her into a catatonic state would count as “better.”
It wasn’t all bad. It wasn’t even mostly bad, if she were being honest with herself.
Dru had arrived on her doorstep more than once to entertain her when Phenex needed
to meet with one of the other Fallen, and Justin’s sister was a refreshing challenge
to all her preconceived notions about what a vampire might be. It was good to have
found a friend here. Especially since yesterday’s visit with Sara, her elusive newly
immortal ex-roommate, had decreased her friend count by one.
That had been bittersweet. Sara had decided that not only did she like being a vampire,
but that she had almost no interest in her old life. Though their conversation had
been friendly enough, Sofia didn’t miss that she seemed to be included in her friend’s
list of things to leave behind. And though Sara swore she’d let her mother know that
she was fine, just busy, Sofia felt sorry for the woman.
The most awkward thing had been the offer Sara had made right before they’d gone their
separate ways.
“You know, Sofia…I could make you a vampire, too,” Sara had said, her eyes beginning
to gleam an unsettling shade of red. Phenex had warned her to be careful, that fledgling
vampires had a harder time controlling their blood lust. He’d stationed himself right
around the corner in the next room in case anything went wrong. But he hadn’t needed
to worry. Sara hadn’t been violent when Sofia refused her. Just disappointed.
“That’s sweet, Sara, but I think I’ll stick to being human. There are things I just
don’t want to give up.”
Sara had shrugged, looking disgusted, and risen to go. “Suit yourself,” she’d said,
heading for the door. “If you ever decide that the trade-off is worth it, let me know.”
And then she’d been gone, without ever thanking Sofia for having saved her life long
enough to allow her to become a vampire in the first place.
It was a hell of a way to find out a friendship had run its course. And it hadn’t
helped Sofia’s mood that Phenex had actually looked disappointed that she’d refused
Sara’s offer.
Terra Noctem was dark and interesting and beautiful. But it wasn’t the sort of place
she would ever choose as a home, no matter how much she liked some of the other people
in it. Especially Phenex.
Even when he was trying to make her late for work again.
She looked at her watch, ran a hand down the front of her scrubs to smooth away imagined
wrinkles, and then tipped her head back to sigh. This time, she might finally have
to call in. And since it was last-minute, she was going to get her ass chewed. Just
another day she’d barely get to see.
Phenex had shown her that there were things she could actually enjoy about his world.
Why couldn’t he let her share more of her own with him?
The front door opened just when she was getting ready to go hunt him down. He’d gone
over to ask Meresin something, an errand Sofia was glad not to join him on. Meresin
had made himself scarce since Dru had frightened him off, and what Dru had told her
about him didn’t make her feel any more at ease about the dangers he might pose. Meresin,
it seemed, didn’t like to be touched. Dru didn’t know why, but it only reinforced
Sofia’s perception that there was something terribly broken about him.
Especially because the thing he hadn’t forgiven Dru for was nothing more than a simple,
impulsive kiss. One that Dru seemed more than a little fixated on herself, actually.
“Sorry,” Phenex said, immediately filling up the space with his presence. “I was taking
care of something. Took longer than I thought.”
Sofia sighed with a mixture of irritation and affection. “It’s fine.”
Another voice caught her attention as a familiar blond head poked around the corner
of the door. “Yes, I am. Glad you noticed.”
Gadreel stepped in, big and gorgeous and still far more obnoxious than his angelic
looks let on. There didn’t seem to be any hard feelings on his part from their first
meeting, but Sofia had a tough time getting comfortable around him. However difficult
Phenex was to read, Gadreel was a thousand times harder. And unlike Meresin, he always
seemed to be underfoot.
“Hi,” Sofia said. “Everything okay?”
“Better than okay. We’re a threesome tonight.”
Sofia looked at Phenex, who just shrugged. “We’re all going up today. Justin’s not
going to be happy when he finds out, but he’s pretty used to us making him unhappy.”
She looked between them. “All of you? You’ve finally heard from Uriel.”
Most of what she’d heard about the archangel assigned by Heaven to deal with the pack
of renegade Fallen had been bitching about his lengthy absences between meetings with
them to dole out assignments and insults about what a Goody Two-Shoes he was. Sofia
had decided it was best not to express how interested she was in meeting an actual,
white-winged angel. Raum sort of counted, but he still had a foul mouth when he wanted
to.
Gadreel grinned. “You catch on more quickly than most humans, I’ll give you that.
Beautiful, perceptive…shame about that mortality thing, or I’d have stolen you from
Phenex already.”
Sofia snorted. “You could try.” The only way to deal with him, she’d noticed, was
to play along and not take anything seriously. Phenex seemed to forget that long enough
to punch him, not at all playfully, in the shoulder. Gadreel glared at him and hissed.
“It’s Uriel,” Phenex agreed, ignoring the display of temper. “We’re actually meeting
him at the hospital, so you won’t be on your own. I’ll be close by.”
“Archangels. Always so accommodating,” Gadreel muttered. “This had better be as urgent
as it seems, now that he’s kept us waiting so long over this. I hate hospitals. They’re
full of the dead.”
His words sent a queer chill down Sofia’s spine, but he didn’t elaborate, and she
didn’t really think she wanted him to.
“Ready to go?” Phenex asked. He looked tense, Sofia saw as she got closer. Worried.
She wondered why…and knew that if she asked, she wouldn’t get an answer. For as much
as he let go in bed with her, the rest of the time he was just as inscrutable as he’d
been from the start, giving her little but fragments of himself before backing away
again.
Maybe eventually, Sofia thought, suddenly wistful. Maybe someday he’d let her know
him the way she wanted to. Or maybe he would walk away as much a mystery as he’d always
been. That was one of the things she brooded over the most in her quieter moments.
“Okay,” Sofia said, pushing all her worry back into the shadows where it belonged.
“Let’s go.”
…
Gadreel wasn’t the only one who hated hospitals. Still, Phenex thought as he stood
near the emergency entrance watching Sofia go inside, he was glad Uriel had been paying
enough attention to know that this would be the best place, maybe the only place,
for a daytime meeting. At least if he wanted to get Phenex there with a minimum of
bitching.
Sofia turned back right before she went in, giving him a small wave and a smile. He
lifted a hand and was rewarded with a flash of her grin before she vanished through
the doors. Phenex simply stood there for a moment, staring after her as a chill wind
ruffled his hair. Everything out here was gray and cold without her.
And there was an irate spirit standing by the ER doors repeatedly attempting to clock
people in the head with his immaterial walker. The more he missed, the more pissed
off he seemed to get.
Hellfire, he hated the wandering dead.
Phenex turned and walked toward a tree around the corner of the building, which at
the moment was full of a motley assortment of creatures. A thrush squatted irritably
on one branch beside a large crow. An immense snake had wrapped itself all the way
up the trunk and then down around a couple of branches, where it sat flicking its
tongue at the thrush. Beneath the tree lay what appeared to be an extremely lifelike
sculpture of a griffin, a mythical beast with a lion’s body and an eagle’s head and
wings. It rested with its head in its front paws, still as stone. Then it saw Phenex
and blinked. Beside the griffin sat a man with long black hair pulled back into a
braid, pale oceanic eyes, and an expression that marked him as a restraining order
waiting to happen. Far above them, violet lightning arced across a gray sky, seemingly
out of nowhere.
“This is great,” Phenex said. “Really inconspicuous. Like Charles Manson hosts
National Geographic
.”
“You’d rather we waited inside?” Levi asked, getting to his feet. Physically, from
his size and his striking looks, he could have been one of the Fallen. But while he
was in many ways their leader, Leviathan would always stand apart. Maybe, Phenex thought,
there was no other way when you’d been formed in a hellpit for the express purpose
of terrifying the shit out of anyone who saw you. He had been a monster, a sea beast,
Lucifer’s prized pet…and, it was clear now, in a perfect position to hear secrets
that the Council didn’t want getting out. Nobody understood what had possessed Leviathan
to change his lot in life, much less take others along with him. But he had decided
to save them, whatever his purposes might be. And here they were.
But Levi’s secrets remained his own.
“No. Not inside. Okay, part of me wants to see how people would react if all of you
went inside like this, but no. Sofia deals with enough in there. I’ve watched her.”
And he had, from the shadows, becoming not invisible but
thin
, so that most humans wouldn’t see him even if they were staring him in the face.
She was smart, efficient, capable…and he had seen a depth of compassion that fascinated
him even as he struggled to understand it.
It reminded him of what he had once been, things he hadn’t thought of in so long he
was surprised he still
could
remember. Sofia helped so many, the living and the dying, the young and the old,
some of whom thanked her and some of whom were among the most awful, ungrateful specimens
of humanity he had ever seen. Even when it frustrated her, Sofia thrived on what she
did.
It made him remember…
He didn’t want to remember. Not that. Not the pain when he had finally given up.
“You’ve gotten awfully attached to your work,” Levi said, his disapproval clear. But
he didn’t lecture, instead looking to the sky. “Meresin needs to get down here. Someone’s
going to notice his…weather.”
“Better he let off some of that aggression up there than down here,” Phenex said.
Levi only grunted noncommittally.
There was a burst of warmth at Phenex’s back, and then a rich, beautiful baritone
sounded behind him. Phenex hated that his first instinct was to appreciate the tonal
quality of that voice. Uriel had always been a wonder when engaged in song. He remembered…
Why the hell was he remembering?
“Gentlemen,” Uriel said. “You present quite a picture.”
He strode into the middle of them, a golden-haired warrior in a charcoal-colored suit
and topcoat, a vibrant red scarf at his neck. His wings were nowhere in sight, but
Phenex could sense them, white edged in gold, blinding and brilliant.
Uriel’s eyes, the blue of the morning sky, swept the group of them. His gaze lingered
just an instant longer on Phenex, and he could sense the curiosity there.
Hellfire. He was not going to be another redemption project. The archangel could forget
it.
“I’ve secured a meeting room inside. Shall we?” When Gadreel slithered down the tree
and began to make his way across the ground, looking like something out of a horror
movie, Uriel’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “On foot, Gadreel. Points for style,
but come on.”
In an instant, Gadreel reappeared, wearing jeans and a smirk.
“Nice to see you, too, Urinal.”
A blink, and the thrush became Caim, the crow Raum. The griffin stretched languidly
and then rose to become Murmur. And after another impressive bolt of lightning, Meresin
landed in the midst of them.
“What’s this about?” Murmur asked, scrubbing a hand through a crop of white-blond
hair. His voice was one of the most compelling in the Above or Below, able to draw
secrets from even the most reluctant subjects. Uriel, however, was unfazed.
“Inside. I’ll tell you then, and not before.”
The archangel led the way, choosing to bring them in through the main entrance and
acting as though he had every right to be there, as an owner, perhaps, or a senator
touring the facility. They attracted stares, especially from the women. Phenex ignored
it, wishing that Uriel had thought of a less conspicuous way to get all eight of them,
each well over six feet tall and looking like trouble, into this conference room.
Finally, though, they managed to get where they were going, filing in and flopping
into flimsy wheeled chairs while Uriel locked the door.
When he turned around, his handsome, polite veneer had been dropped. His eyes, his
skin, his hair, everything glowed now, lit from within. This was a warrior angel,
a scourge of evil, and Uriel looked every bit of that.
“Terra Noctem must be moved,” he said, his voice filling the room.
There was dead silence for a moment, and then Gadreel gave a mocking laugh. “Great.
What do you want us to do, hitch ourselves in front of it and drag it away? Talk to
Justin. This is his deal. We just live there.”