“If he didn’t like you very much, you wouldn’t be here, Mia,” Caim said with a brilliant smile. “Trust me, when Az doesn’t like you, youknow. He makes it clear.”
I nodded. “Yeah, and he’s made it more than clear.”
“No, darling.” He stopped and gave my shoulder a solid pat. “You’re one of us now. He’s brought you into the circle. If he didn’t like you, you’d be out, and you would never, ever see us again.”
My heart thumped. Surely Caim wasn’t right. Az acted as though he could barely tolerate me most of the time. AndIcould barely toleratehim. I didn’t want him to like me. It made things a hell of a lot harder. Could we…actually be friends?
No. Absolutely not. There was that whole demon contract thing! He’d hidden the truth from me when I’d signed it. Ugh.
We all gathered in the meeting room. As soon as the door shut, the place transformed into a supernatural detective agency. The curtain came off the wall. The map and its hundred little pins stared at us, reminding us exactly what was at stake.
“All the recent murders happened here.” Phenex stabbed his finger at the corner of the city labeled Hell’s Kitchen. “He knows Mia works and lives here now, too. I doubt he’ll stray far.”
“It’s likely he’s watching and waiting,” Caim piped in as he strode from one end of the room to the other, his beefy arms folded over his chest. “I bet he’s hiding in the shadows, making note of your routine and schedule, and planning for a time when he knows you’ll be alone.”
My mouth went dry. “Yeah, that’s not at all terrifying.”
Caim’s lips quirked in the corners. Az narrowed his eyes and stepped in front of him, almost like he was blocking Caim from view. I rolled my eyes and leaned back into my chair. Okay, this was officially getting ridiculous. Caim was part of his Legion. He trusted him with his secrets and his life. So, what the hell was his problem?
“We want you to walk home alone tonight,” Valac said in an eerie voice, continuing as if nothing odd had happened. “You did it once before. So, he might not find it strange.”
“Wait.” I leaned forward and palmed the table. “You want to do this whole bait thing tonight? As in…now?”
Stolas gave me a solemn nod. “The sooner we take care of this asshole, the better.”
“Well, shit.” I blew out a hot breath, my mind reeling. When I’d agreed to this crazy plan, I’d imagined some distant, faraway scenario that I didn’t have to face for awhile. Maybe in a few weeks. After I’d had time to get used to the idea. I’d never thought it would happen so soon.
“And we don’t want him to get bored and target someone else,” Phenex added. “Right now, he’s focused on you. That’s a good thing.”
Yeah, sure. If you weren’t me.
Az stepped in close. I swallowed hard and desperately tried not to stare at his lips. The lips that had been kissing me. Also, there had been tongue. “You’ll be safe, Mia. I swear I would never let anything happen to you, not while you’re under my protection. We’ll be up on the rooftops the entire time. The second the killer appears, we’ll be right by your side.”
“Wait.” My heart stopped. “You’ll be on the rooftops? But it will take you ages to…oh.” It was a demon thing. “Don’t tell me you have wings.”
A slow wicked smile crept across his lips. “Maybe one day I’ll show you.”
19
The Hell’s Kitchen streets were full of shadows. Every thud of my boots brought on a fresh wave of unease. Frankly, it was stupid. The fear, not the trap. I had a Legion of demons watching my back. There was no reason to panic.
My breath shook in my lungs as I rounded the corner. Az’s building sparkled one block down, a beacon in the dead of the New York night. Only a few more minutes, and I’d waltzed through that revolving door safe and sound. No one had jumped out of an alley to attack me.
Strange, really. Why hadn’t the killer taken the bait?
Just as I started to relax, two massive forms stepped out of a doorframe and blocked my path. It was the beefy angels. Gabriel and Suriel. And they didn’t look very pleased to see me.
Also, um, fuck? The demons were watching me from above. They wouldn’t miss me chatting with two angels.
I took a step back and dropped my voice to a whisper. “I told you not to contact me anymore.”
A deep frown pulled down Suriel’s lips. “Your texts concerned us. How could we be sure they were coming from you? Maybe someone, like Asmodeus, stole your phone. We needed to see you were safe with our own eyes.”
“Well, now you’ve seen me,” I hissed back. “Go away.”
Gabriel stiffened and glanced up. “They’re watching us right now. Aren’t they?”
“They are, and they’re going to think it’s pretty weird that I’m talking to you.”
