Holyshit.
So that’s where vampires originally came from.
I have so many questions racing through my mind.
But right then, a loud beeping alert comes from the computer behind Phoenix. We both spin to look at the screen simultaneously.
Then Phoenix leaps for the mouse to click on the flashing alert. “Oh my god! It’s Ammit.”
“Where is she?”
Phoenix clicks through rapidly to get to the specific camera feed that caught Ammit’s image. She clicks play on the footage. Then she swears viciously. “I’ve got to call John Paul right now.”
“John Paul?” I ask in confusion, then remember that’s Professor Dickhead’s first name. “Wait, Ammit’s at the university?”
Phoenix stabs frantically at the buttons on her phone. “She’s headed straight toward the building where he’s got his morning class in just a little bit. Maybe he was trying to hunt her down himself and somehow managed to make contact with her? Or she heard about his research on ancient goddesses? It can’t be a coincidence that she’s heading directly there, can it? Dammit, pickup the phone!”
The phone’s on speakerphone mode. I hear it ring several times before going to voicemail.
She grabs me firmly by the hand with genuine fear in her eyes. “We’ve got to get there now. We’ve got to help him before Ammit kills him.”
I nod in agreement. Together, we sprint for the garage at the opposite end of the compound. Me and my goddess wife, who bargained and lied and stole her way into this world through a path paved in generations of blood.
A wife who just told me she’s actually an ancient spirit who possessed her own bloodline in order to be born.
A wife who I’m somehow falling even more in love with despite everything.
TWENTY-TWO
LAYDEN
“We need a plan,”I say to Phoenix as we run for the garage. “What’s to stop what happened last time from happening again if we manage to catch her?”
Dammit, I should have spent last night planning for the moment when Ammit popped her head up instead of doing what I was actually doing. Now we have to come up with something on the fly.
Phoenix’s stride falters slightly, but she keeps going while pulling out her phone. “Vlad, we found Ammit. I need a driver and to borrow your car.” She rolls her eyes at whatever he says. “Look, do you want this problem solved or not? I need it now if we have any chance of catching her.” She nods into the phone. “Good, have Lucian meet us at the garage immediately.”
We finally reach the door leading to the underground level of the garage.
“So what are we doing?” I ask while pulling the heavy door open for her.
“I have an idea.” She bites her lip nervously. “But it’s a little out there.”
“I’m game for whatever you’re thinking.”
She nods at one of Vlad’s minions, who slides smoothly into the driver’s seat of a sleek black limousine with blackout windows. I open the back door for her. She slides in gracefully, and I climb in on the long bench seat beside her.
“What’s the idea?” I ask while settling in. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“To the university,” she instructs the driver firmly. “No interruptions.” Then she pushes a button on the console, and blackout glass slides up smoothly between the front and backseat.
“It’s soundproof,” she says while turning to face me. “He won’t be able to hear anything we say or do back here.”
I nod slowly. “Okay, so what’s the plan? Should we call Sabra and coordinate?—”
Phoenix just waves her hand dismissively. “There’s no time for that right now. We only have about thirty minutes until we get there, and we’ll barely have enough time as it is.”
“For what exactly?”
