“No.” Tears filled my eyes, but I blinked them away. “Actually, yes. I am fine. Let’s get back to the radio thing. Should we turn the volume backup?”
She opened her mouth to say something, but then seemed to think better of it. She turned to her lover and said, “Why don’t you go and get some rest? We’ll take over the radio shift fromhere.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Rourke stood and made his way out of the room. Lilith stared after him, lust and affection blazing in her eyes. After a moment, she cleared her throat and moved to the radio, turning the dial until we could hear the unmistakable sound of…well, absolutely nothing. It was just static. Lots and lots ofstatic.
“Now, you see why we turned it down. Not really a good soundtrackfor—”
“I get it.” I held up my hands. “Trust me, I get it. No need to explain beyondthat.”
She chuckled, eased into the wing-backed chair that had replaced the recliner, lacing her hands behind her head. “You didn’t seem nearly so allergic to affection in New York. Trouble inparadise?”
“If by paradise, you mean my love life, then there’s no such thing asparadise.”
“Ouch.” She leaned forward and propped her elbows on her knees. “I thought you and your lovers were getting alongsplendidly.”
“We were. And then I got dumped. Twice. Well, I guess four times since one of them dumped me for the rest of them. It turns out that dating four fallen angels at once isn’t acceptable even down onearth.”
“Honey, that kind of thing isn’t acceptableanywhere, but we’re in the middle of the apocalypse. I say you do whatever you damn wellwant.”
“Thanks, but they don’t seem to agree.” I sighed and shrugged. “I guess I’m officially in the forever aloneclub.”
“Have you ever thought about, I don’t know, just choosingoneof them?” Lilith lifted an eyebrow. “I know you have feelings for them all,but—”
I shook my head so hard that my long dark hair slapped my face. “Ramiel seems convinced that any romantic relationship between Order members will only lead to major problems. Besides…” I let out a light sigh. “I couldn’t choose, Lilith. I could never choose. My heart will always belong to all of them. It wouldn’t be right or fair to anyone if I tried to pick one and ignore theothers.”
“Least of all you.” She gave me a knowing look. “You have a big heart, Erela, as evidenced by the rat that seems to be scurrying over to seeyou.”
My lips tilted up into a smile when the rat in question climbed up my pant leg and perched on my knee. “Mr. Whiskerson. At least you haven’t abandonedme.”
He twitched his little whiskers, scurried down my leg, and then raced across the room to the radio. Frowning, I watched as he spun in circles, almost like he was trying to tell ussomething.
“What do you think that’s about?” Iasked.
“I haven’t the foggiest. You’re the one who can speakrat.”
“Funny,” I said, still watching the creature dance his little jig in front of the radio. “He’s obviously not doing that for the hell of it. Is there something wrong with theradio?”
“Honestly, Erela. He’s a rat. How couldhe—”
But I’d stopped listening. Instead, I stood and walked over to the radio, bending down to stare at the wires and antennas and the various little knobs. As soon as I’d begun to approach, Mr. Whiskerson had stopped spinning. Clearly, he was trying to tell me something about thisthing…
“What happens when I twist this knob?” I pointed to one of thedials.
“It changes the station. But every news alert I’ve ever heard has been on this stationhere.”
I turned the dial. At first, nothing happened. Just more static. And more and more and more. But after I’d spun the dial about halfway around, crackling voices filled theroom.
“Stop!” Lilith jumped to her feet and raced across the room. Her eyes wild and her cheeks dotted with pink, she took over, spinning the dial a bit further until the crackling dropped away, revealing a very clear female voice, speaking in a Britishaccent.
“We don’t quite know what to do. There have been at least two hundred more deaths in the past few weeks. Our communities are suffering. The food supply seems to be cut off, and there’s no way out. If anyone, anyone hears this, please help. Or please stay away. I honestly don’t know which would be worse. We need your help, but there are hundreds ofthem.”
Lilith and I exchanged a glance. There was only one thing this woman could be talking about, and that was the portal. The demons had discovered that it was open then, and they’d been swarming through. Killing innocent humans, destroying food, and god knew what else. We needed to figure out where she was, and we needed to get there stat. If we didn’t…things would only getworse.
* * *
We listenedfor a few moments longer, and the woman began her news alert again. This time, we got to hear the beginning. She and her friends were located in London. They’d holed up in the Tower of London, the perfect location to keep humans safe from the demons outside in the streets. Until a new portal had opened. Frominsidethe Tower. Knowing Berith, it made sense. It was the exact kind of move I would have thought he’dmake.
The survivors had holed up in one of the dungeons until the demons got bored and broke out of the Tower. They’d spilled out onto the streets, leaving behind a trail ofbodies.
