As he stepped through the shimmering portal, Aethan’s deadly power streamed out of him like a wave of lightning and consumed the building, turning everything toash.
* * *
Night shroudedthe castle as Dagan took form on the portico. He gratefully breathed in the fresh air, expelling the acrid stench of sulfur from his lungs. It took a little while to get his equilibrium back and the burning sensation on his skin toease.
He pressed a hand to the throbbing wound on his side and grimaced as hunger clawed athim.
First, he had to see Shae. They hadn’t parted on a good note. He scanned and found her in the gym, so he made his way to thebasement.
He entered, half expecting a bottle of water to come flying at his head. Instead, Shae pounded the treadmill in a hard run, wearing knee-length black tights. Sweat dripped off her face and chest, dampening her dark-green tank. She looked incredibly delicious. By the stars, he’d missedher.
She looked up and stopped the machine. Gray-gold eyes stark with worry. “You were gone so long. Almost twenty-four hours! And it’s nightagain.”
He crossed to her. “I’m sorry, I forgot that time moves differently in the Dark Realm. We were gone three hours at most for us. We haveher.”
She faltered on the slowing belt. “Mom’shere?”
He nodded, helping her down. Reaching out, he released a coppery strand of hair stuck to her damp face. “She wasn’t in the Bronx. They used the warehouse there as a front to open a portal into the DarkRealm.”
“What?” Shock leeched the flush running had installed in her cheeks, leaving her ashen. “Who would do such athing?”
“A rogue angel namedSamael.”
Her mouth opened thenshut.
How the hell did he tell her that the mother she’d just gotten back was the killer he’d been tracking for months. That she could die? No need to add to the shitload of pain that was about to come crashing down on her. At least he could let her have this time with her mother. “C’mon.”
She grabbed her hoodie from the bench press and followed. On the ground floor, when she would have headed for the stairs going up, he turned her toward the short hallway leading to Hedori’s quarters. “She’s there, in the guest room.” He grasped her hand before she could leave. “Shae, your mother doesn’t remember things from before or what happened to her. Except foryou.”
Her eyes swam with unshed tears. “They took away hermemories?”
“Yes. We will find him,” he said quietly. “He will pay for what hedid.”
Her delicate jaw firm, she nodded then sprinted to the doorway and grabbed the doorjamb as if needing the support. Daganfollowed.
“Mom,” she whispered and darted inside to where her mother sat on a couch, still wrapped in the bluecoat.
He waited at the entrance as Shae dropped to her knees and put her arms around Jenna’s waist. Her tears fell likerain.
His chest tightened, her anguish squeezing his lungs like a damn vise. For all the pain she’d suffered, he couldn’t wait to get his hands on the bastardSamael.
He telepathed Michael,Found Jenna. Samael had her. She’s too traumatized. Memoriesblocked.
I’m not surprised. All right. Let her rest for now. I’ll be theretomorrow.
Until Michael met Jenna and gave the go-ahead, Dagan couldn’t tell Shae anything. And that wasn’t something he looked forward to, revealing the truth about hermother.
* * *
Shae bolted awake.Sunlight streamed into the room. Darn, she hadn’t meant to sleep so late. But with all that had occurred and Dagan finding her mother, exhaustion had her crashing in the early hours of the morning. Dagan must have put her to bed, but he wasn’taround.
Shae hurried through her shower, changed, and was pulling on a tawny sweater when she realized she wasn’t alone. She looked up and found Dagan at entrance, wearing sweats and a t-shirt.
“You should have woken me up. It’s solate.”
“You needed therest.”
She got out her boots from the closet. “Thank you,” she whispered, her fingers tightening on the leather. “For finding my mother and bringing herback.”
