Honestly, Patrick was so fucking done with tonight.
“We’re leaving,” he said loudly.
“You have until summer solstice,” Hermes warned. “Find a way to stop them.”
When Patrick turned around, Hermes was gone, having disappeared through the veil. The sudden quiet in the warehouse made his skin crawl. He stared across the lit-up space at where Lucien stood.
“Are we done?” Patrick asked.
Lucien turned his back dismissively on the group. “For now. I’ll contact you when the rest of the weapon shipments arrive. You and your magic aren’t enough to deal with this problem. You never have been.”
Patrick’s mouth twisted bitterly. “Right.”
Taking a trip down memory lane was never fun. If Patrick could bury his ghosts, he would. They just never stayed dead.
Patrick moved to sling Marek’s other arm over his shoulders, and all of them got the hell out of there. Jono and Leon guarded their retreat while Sage cleared them a path in the face of Lucien’s Night Court with a fearlessness that impressed Patrick.
They reached the exit and crossed the threshold. Patrick felt as if he could breathe again once they were outside Ginnungagap.
“I have such a headache,” Marek moaned.
Leon came up to take Patrick’s place, helping Emma carry Marek’s weight between them. Patrick pointed at the mouth of the alley. “Let’s go. I don’t trust what lives in the walls of this place.”
“You talk as if it’s alive,” Sage said.
“It’s something,” he muttered.
“Lucienis something,” Leon retorted, looking a little wild around the eyes. “Madre de Dios, Patrick. How the hell do you know that psychotic bastard?”
“Long story, highly classified. If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”
They cut down the alley for the street, huddling on the sidewalk amidst a nightlife that seemed out of place now. All the unsuspecting people out to have a good time were completely unaware of the monsters that had settled in their midst.
“We shouldn’t have asked for his help,” Sage said when they were half a block away.
“Weare doing nothing,” Patrick retorted. “Iam dealing with Lucien, not you.”
Marek flapped a hand at him, head tilted back, eyes closed. He looked drunk, providing the perfect cover for why the group was in the area. “Not alone.”
“I’m not getting rid of Jono, if that’s what you mean.”
“No.” Marek breathed in carefully through his nose, gritting his teeth against whatever pain was pounding through his head and body from channeling an immortal. “That’s not what I meant. You’re not fighting alone.”
“I have backup now.”
“Fucking illegal backup, is what it is,” Jono snapped. He reached for Patrick and carefully tilted his head back to get a better look at the now-healed skin on his throat. “That arsehole wanted to kill you.”
Patrick blinked up at him, trying not to lean into Jono’s touch, and failing just a little. “Lucien always wants to kill me. That’s nothing new.”
Everyone stared at Patrick with disbelieving looks on their faces. Well, everyone except Marek, who tipped forward and promptly got sick all over the pavement.
“We need to get Marek home. That shitshow in there gave him a migraine and probably caused him to lose another shade of color,” Leon said angrily.
“Think it affected red this time,” Marek slurred. “Your hair looks a little lighter, Patrick.”
Patrick ran a hand through his dark red hair. “I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault I was born like this.”
