He grinned. He should have known she’d call him out.
“No,” he whispered back. “But Jon’s an ass.”
Her laughter followed him into the Harrowgate, cutting off when the door closed and left him inside a black box with glowing symbols and a map on the wall. Next to the map, Underworld General Hospital’s caduceus pulsed. The moment he touched it, the box opened, and he limped into the demon hospital’s Emergency Department.
Chu-Hua, a Guai demon nurse he’d known since he was an infant, hurried over, her piglike feet clacking on the obsidian floor.
“Hey, Chu.” He braced himself on the corner of the reception desk before he fell over. Man, he felt like shit. He hadn’t felt this bad since his transition. “I need to see Eidolon.”
“Dr. E is off today,” she said in her high-pitched squeal.
“Lucky me,” came a familiar voice from behind him. Fuck. Groaning, Mace turned to see his half-brother sauntering over, looking as cocky as ever in black scrubs embroidered with the UG caduceus andDr. Talon. “Today, you’re my problem.”
Yep. Splitting up the teamalwaysended badly.
Blade didn’t like this. Didn’t like sending Mace to the hospital while he and Scotty remained behind. And judging by the expression on Scotty’s face, she didn’t like it, either. She was still pale and shaky from opening the gate, but the worry in her eyes was for Mace.
“You sure you guys don’t want to join him?” Skoll asked. “We can start the search without you.”
“We stay on mission.” Blade grabbed a long-sleeved tee from his pack. “Mace is in the best hands now. There’s nothing we can do.”
What he’d said was true, but Blade didn’t have to like it. Especially because, as Mace always pointed out, every time the team split up, bad shit happened.
It’s bad luck to separate us, man. You know it is.
He’d told Tayla and Kynan that a million times.
We’re a team. You can’t break up a team.It’s bad juju.
Skoll nodded and flicked his finger across his wrist comms. A glowing 3D map popped into the air. As Blade shrugged into his shirt, Skoll manipulated the image, zeroing in on the area surrounding the cabin.
“Sightings of the creature were reported here, here, and here,” he said, tapping red markers indicating multiple areas on the map. He gestured at several spots tagged with black dots. “And these are the last known locations of the men who went missing.” He flicked off the map. “We should split up into two groups. Since Jon and I are both more familiar with this area and case than you two, I suggest that Jon pairs up with Blade, and I’ll take Scotty.”
I’ll take Scotty.
That was a hard no.
“Kynan sent us because we work best as a team,” Blade said. “Scotty and I will pair up.”
“But—”
“We can communicate via the comms or handhelds if we have questions.” Scotty started toward the bathroom with an armful of clothes. “This isn’t about not wanting to work with you guys. It’s just that we’re a package deal. We operate as a unit.”
Skoll shrugged and let it go, but Jon shook his head and rolled his eyes, muttering something uncomplimentary under his breath.
“You got a problem?” Blade asked quietly.
“No problem.” Jon swung around to him, his broad shoulders blocking the view of the entire north wall. “Unless wondering how overrated yourlegendaryteamis happens to be a problem.”
Before Blade could put Jon on his ass, Scotty changed course and thrust herself between them like a pissed-off cat.
“Overrated?” She was at least a foot shorter than Jon, but she got all up in his grill, somehow seeming to tower over him. It was hot, and Blade couldn’t find it in him to feel shame about thinking that. “Wanna put our record up against yours?”
“Sure,” Jon said, baring his teeth in a cynical smile. “But you can’t count the times you got help from all your Horsemen and angel buddies.”
What a dick. “You think we need help to do our jobs?”
The dick shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out, won’t we?”
