22
Idropped the note like it was made out of poisonous snakes. It might as well have been. Its venom stung worse than the point of even the sharpest sword. My heart shook violently in my chest. It was pounding so hard I swore it would beat its way through my ribs.
This couldn’t be happening. Serena had to be safe. She justhadto be. I’d seen her at the party, not long before I’d left. She’d been fine at the time, surrounded by her fellow lawyers, her clients, and her boyfriend. How had the killer gotten to her? Why had she left the party?
Unease slithered through my gut. Horrified, I pressed my fingers to my lips. She must have seen me arguing with Az. And so she’d followed me out into the dark night when I’d left.
Fuck.
The Legion wouldn’t have been watching for her. They’d been too busy watching me.
I began to pace the length of the silent room, my steps growing more frantic by the minute. This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t. Not to Serena.
Az stepped into the room. His presence pulsed along my skin, dark and dangerous. “Mia?”
With a shaky breath, I hurried over to him and shoved the note into his hands. As I did, the signet ring glimmered beneath the harsh light. My eyes flew wide. Every single inch of my body stiffened. In the terror of the moment, I’d forgotten all about that damn ring. I fisted my hand around it, desperately hoping he hadn’t spotted it.
With a lethal glint in his eyes, Az ripped the note out of my hand and then slowly pried open my fingers. He gazed down at the ring. Obviously, he would know what it was, even ifIdidn’t. And me having it was a very bad thing.
“Why do you have my ring?” His voice was edged in steel and full of danger. Shadows whorled through the room. Nervously, I couldn’t help but wonder where Az had stashed his sword. Would Abaddon hear the anger in his demon’s voice and fly out of the shadows to attack me?
I swallowed hard. “I want to tell you, but I don’t want you to freak out.”
Caim and Phenex chose that moment to step into the room. The former took one look at us and the ring, clasped his hand on Phenex’s shoulder, and then practically yeeted the both of them out the door.
Traitors.
“Explain,” Az demanded, barely missing a beat.
“Right, so.” I took a deep breath and decided I might as well go down in a blaze of glory. All I could do was tell him the truth, even if it meant he’d throw me into the murky, polluted Hudson River to swim with the radioactive fishes. “The first night I worked here, some angels cornered me in the street when I was walking back to your penthouse.”
He sighed and closed his eyes, tension bouncing off his clenched jaw. “Gabe and Suriel. That’s what they’re up to. I should have known.”
“They asked me to spy for them. And before you immediately toss me into the river, I need you to know that I never, ever told them a damn thing about you or the Legion. Nothing.” I didn’t even take a single breath. “All I did was take their card and this stupid ring, alright? I even texted them and told them to leave me alone. The reason they came after me again was because they wanted to change my mind. I’m not a spy for them. I didn’t tell them anything. I haven’t betrayed you. Please don’t kill me.”
Slowly, Az opened his eyes. The torment in them shook me to my soul. “You really believe I would kill you, Mia?”
Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. “No. I mean, I don’t know, okay? You killed the other spy because he threatened to destroy everything you and the Legion have worked so hard for. If I did the same, why wouldn’t you kill me, too?”
He sighed and held the ring up before him. His expression was blank, unreadable. “You’re under my protection. I swore an oath to you. I would rip a man’s spine from his body if he tried to harm you. And then I would grind up his bones and give them to the fae.”
“Oh.” I blinked, cheeks flushing. “Well, that was oddly specific.”
“I mean it, Mia.” He curled his fingers around the ring and then pocketed it. “I wish you’d told me sooner. I can’t trust you if you can’t trust me, and I’ve told you how important loyalty is to me. But this ring certainly explains a lot.”
“Explains what?”
“The carving on the signet. That’s my demon seal. It holds power.Mypower,” he replied. “It explains why you were able to hold your own against the killer that night in the alley. You used it against him, didn’t you?”
“I did. I think,” I admitted. “I didn’t really know what I was doing. All of a sudden, I just kind of threw him away from me with an invisible…fireball? But when I tried a second time, nothing happened.”
He nodded. “It’s because you don’t know how to use it. You got lucky, Mia. Most humans wouldn’t have been able to tap into the power without being taught how. If you hadn’t been carrying this ring, he would have claimed another life.”
My heart dropped. “Az, heisgoing to claim another life. Read the note.”
Frowning, he unfolded the paper. A few moments passed before he said anything. It was only then that he seemed to notice the shredded map, the scattering of pins. He crumpled the note and hurled it against the wall.
“Dammit!” His voice boomed, echoing down the silent hallway of the club. A moment later, the Legion appeared in the doorway. We quickly filled them in on what had happened. One by one, they shuffled into the room and dropped into a chair. The night had begun with eager excitement. Now, every eye was hooded and dark. The killer had won. Again.
