At least he wasn’t covered in monster gunk.A casual observer might not even notice the rips in his jacket or the faint marks of bruising or scrapes healing in fast-forward.There was barely any evidence left of last night’s games.
She meant to ask where precisely they were going, what was going to happen when they got there, and maybe follow it up withare you sure you won’t let me go home?Instead, what came out was a wistful, completely ridiculous question.“Why am I shaking?”
“It’s normal.”The SUV took the bump up into the Pilgrim’s lot gracefully.The coffee shops were everywhere, and at least they had good scones.Erik shifted, reaching for a back pocket, and a knifehilt peeked out from between two rips in the leather jacket.“Adrenaline crash.Fight-or-flight’s hard on the body; you’re tired.”
“Oh.”It made sense.Her head was tender, and her stomach just wouldn’t stop rolling.No doubt he’d have an explanation for that too.“Okay.”
“We’ve got you, Liv.Me and Jake, we’re good at what we do.Don’t worry.”
“I’ll try not to.”But now she was thinking of Ignatius’s dry, quiet, precise tone.
You will never be left alone with only one of us, and all three of us will require examination once we reach our destination.
Except here she was, alone with Erik, and she didn’t evenknowtheir destination.Liv stared out the window, wishing the sun would pierce the clouds even for a moment, and Erik said no more beyond asking what kind of coffee she wanted, and if she was hungry.
Liv, far from trying to get the barista’s attention and signal her kidnapped status, simply asked for a plain latte and a cranberry scone, letting Erik handle the ordering.He had a wallet, just like any other guy, and no shortage of cash.Which was thought-provoking in its own way—just like the sense she had of being watched while she peered out the passenger window, wondering where Jake was.
Daylight Attack
The clouds thickenedas noon approached, a beaten-iron ceiling hung threateningly low.He took the exit with careful braking, his nerves raw and skin tingling with her nearness, and even the consciousness of Jake running guard wasn’t truly comforting.
Not with what he suspected.
“Rochester?”Hislirai—oh, it was stupid to even think in such possessive terms, but he couldn’t help it—stretched catlike, looking around with bright interest.Her shining dark hair was a glorious cloud, obviously glad to be free of confinement, and once he’d handed over the latte she’d relaxed all at once, abruptly, and even smiled at him.“Why am I not surprised?”
“You know the town?”Erik should have been feeling an active temple’s pull the instant they got off the freeway.Instead, they rolled to a red-light stop at the end of the onramp and a few heavy, feathery flakes whirled down, whisked from the windshield by a quick flick of wipers.He felt nothing but mounting unease.The wind was rising, too, and everything pointed to a blizzard soon.
He wanted her safe in an active temple with otherliraiexplaining everything and other Sons handling his and Jake’s debriefing.He’d expected Ignatius to reappear long before now, too; Father’s absence was… troubling.
If Erik had fought off twosarnaki, what had the older man come across once the hounds were led safely away?More goatmen?They could mass like theleng-spiders and bring a lone fighter down.Ignatius was old and canny; it would be an undignified return for long years of sacrifice and service.
You didn’t get into this line of work without knowing it could end that way, bleeding out alone in the snow while the Mad God’s minions snacked on your entrails.If a control liaison had turned, who knew how much damage had been done?If it was one of their trio, though…
He was well on the way to even suspecting himself.It wasn’t anything new, but it was distinctly uncomfortable.
At least hisliraiwasn’t so anxious now.“We lived on the west side when I was in elementary school, after my dad… well, my grandparents lived off Shaffee Road, too.Never thought there would be monstershere.”Her faint smile widened—good childhood memories, looked like—before fleeing, but at least it had been a fact for a few milliseconds.
“An active temple should keep them away.”Erik decided left was the correct direction and waited for the light to turn, still uneasy.There should have been a tingle of anticipation all along his arms and legs, but all he felt was emptiness and a swimming, indefinable dread.I don’t like any of this.
“Should?”She managed to raise a single eyebrow, a feat Erik had tried once or twice in the mirror when younger and failed dismally at.Of course she would be able to, and of course she’d fasten on the one word in the sentence that said more about his unease than he wanted her to know.
“Well, some of the unclean aren’t very bright.”Erik sensed familiar, disciplined attention behind them, approaching quickly.Jake would have been riding the giant refrigerated semi Erik had been careful to keep in range, making sure little brother didn’t have to jump too often to keep up.Jake might even complain about the bone-slicing windchill, though it rarely bothered a Son.
The same thought returned, swirling through his skull just when he needed clarity and calm the most.It can’t be him.But if it wasn’t Erik, and it wasn’t Jake… it couldn’t be Ignatius either, especially since the older man had drawn the hunting hounds away.
There had to be some other explanation.Heknewthem, both of them; Erik had trusted his life to Jake and his conscience to Ignatius more times than he cared to count.It just wasn’t possible.
Still…
“Green light,” Liv said, and the smile was gone.Instead, she eyed him sidelong, and any small progress he’d made toward soothing her was more than likely demolished.
“Yeah.”He checked, though the intersection was deserted, and the green SUV slid smoothly to the left.A few more flakes whirled down, heralds announcing a dignitary’s arrival.“Just waiting for Jake to catch up.”
“Is he back there?”She twisted to look, a stray breath of heated air from the car’s vents bringing her scent, with a thread of harsh hotel soap and the deep spice of a pretty dark-haired woman, across his nose.“I don’t see anything.”
“You won’t unless he wants you to.”Erik’s nape crawled, tiny dread-tipped fingernails trailing down his back.“Better luck feeling him, but don’t try right now.”
“Why not?”The question wasn’t a challenge.Another civilian might have been sunk in shocked apathy, but hisliraiwas curious, attempting to gather any information she could.
