“Holy shit,” Maddox blurted, spewing wine all over Hawk’sboots.
Groaning, Journey scrubbed his hand over his face.“Youdipshit.You fucking dipshit.”
Rico gaped.His eyes were going to dry out if he didn’tblink.
Cipher stood silently, his gaze analyzing Hawkyn’s words,expression, posture...The guy was a master at reading people.No doubt he knewexactly how much shit Hawkyn was in.“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Take her back,” Rico suggested, as if Drayger’s House ofHorrors had a return policy.
“You’re an idiot,” Cipher said.“Even if Hawk did that,there’s no guarantee that it’ll repair the fated timeline.Like Maddox said,what if she was supposed to have killed the Primori?She never would have beentaken.He could be returning her to a killer for no reason.”He looked atHawkyn.“Man, you’re fucked.”
“Thank you,” Hawkyn muttered.“That was helpful.”
“You said it first.”Cipher shrugged.“Sowhat is your plan?”
“I don’t have one.Which is why I’m talking to you guys.But, as it turns out, you’re idiots.”
“Well,” Journey began, “can you contact the Memitim Counciland see what they know about your Primori’s fate?”
“I tried.Talked to someone from the embassy.Got nowhere.”
“Is your Primori human?”Rico asked.
That was the question of the day.“I’m not sure.The filesand diary Atticus kept on him before he Ascended indicates that Drayger’shuman, but he can somehow track his victims once he sheds their blood.Atticuswrote that a victim escaped, but she didn’t go to the police because she was awerewolf and she feared being caught.”A lot of cops were secret Aegis members,so the victim’s paranoia was justified.“Instead, she used a Harrowgate to gofrom Portland to Sydney, and the bastard caught up to her within days.”
Atticus had spent every available minute watching Drayger,documenting his every move.For some reason Atticus had been obsessed with thebastard.He might have even admired him.The diary he’d kept had been detailedand often complimentary.
He has a single-minded focus.He can’t sleep or eat.Hisonly desire is to find Lexi.He took leave from work.Spends his time hunchedover his computer and a giant map of the world.He’s looking for her.
Next entry:Jason Drayger is fascinating.EverythingI’ve learned about the man leads me to believe he’s human, and yet he can sensesupernatural abilities in females.(But not males.) And as far as I can tell,he can track anything once he tastes their blood.I’m certain that he practicedmany times before Lexi escaped and forced him to hunt her.I think he’ll findher.
Several entries and twodays laterlater:He found her.
Lexi’s death photos now took up five pages in Drayger’sserial killer album.
“Soyou’re left with a choice,”Cipher mused.“Leave her be and see if he catches her and the fated timelinefixesitself, orprotect her to keep her out of hishands in case she wasn’t meant to be a victim.”
“Exactly.And if he can track her, I’ll have to make sure Ikeep her someplace where he can’t sense her or where he can’t access her evenif he does findher.”He could bring her here, hesupposed, just until he could figure out what to do next.
He’d just have to be sneaky about it, because no one besidesthese four morons could know what was up.Not even Suzanne could know.Hetrusted her, but he was her mentor, and he couldn’t hold the moral high groundif she knew he’d buried himself six feet deep.He was in a definitedo as Isay, not as I domoment.
He was so fucked.
“Sucks to be you,” Cipher said, his nose in the air as hesniffed out the charcoal aroma of something being grilled nearby.
“Says the guy who got his wings cut off and his ass bootedout of Heaven.”Maddox dug a Sheoulin coin out of his pocket and flipped itinto the nearby fountain that had run with blood for thousands of years beforeLilliana tamed Azagoth’s inner demon.Two seconds later, the fangfish thatlived in the fountain spit the coin out.
“My punishment was totally unfair,” Cipher muttered as hesnatched the coin out of the air.
Hawkyn stared at his friend in disbelief.“You seduced myPrimori, which affected her status and left a big black mark on my record.”
“I didn’t know she was a Primori when I seduced her.”
“Bullshit.I told you.”
“Sureyou did.”Cipher’s gazelocked on a female Unfallen standing near the newly constructed stage thatwould soon be the battle ground for a band competition, and later, forwrestling matches—except these matches were fought with the mind.“AfterI decided I wanted her.”
