The door suddenly flew open, and the thunder of footsteps followed. A tornado of muscles, sweat, and blood hurtled into the room and slammed right into Az. I stumbled back, mouth dropping when I caught sight of Caim’s familiar head of long dark hair. He clutched his arms around Az, nearly choking all the life out of him.
“Caim?” Az’s voice came out a whisper at first. And then he wrapped his arms around Caim’s back and roared. “Caim!”
I pressed my hand to my mouth, overwhelmed by emotion. Tears poured out of my eyes, my chest shuddering. The relief I felt wobbled my knees, and I had to sit hard on the bed before I tumbled to the floor. I’d had no idea how terrified I’d been until Caim strode in with his big smile and boulder biceps.
“You’re okay,” I whispered, terrified to believe it. Maybe this was another trick. Lucifer could have gotten to the fae and made someone else look just like our Caim.
But no, Caim couldn’t be faked. He was too much personality in that massive frame.
He pulled back from Az and held out an arm. I leapt to my feet and joined the hug, leaning into the both of them. We formed a circle, shoulder against shoulder, thigh against thigh. All the hope I’d had was suddenly magnified.
If Caim was safe, maybe we reallycoulddo this.
As if reading my mind, Az stepped back and dropped his fisted hands to his sides. “Where are they? Is Lucifer there with them? How easily can we get them out of where he’s holding them?”
Caim winced. “You’re not going to like this...I have no idea. When the vamps jumped us at the warehouse, we fought like hell. Managed to take out a few of them. Phenex was on the warpath. But one of them sneaked up on me and hammered my face with a massive plank of wood. When I woke up, everyone was gone, and there was a letter left for me.”
Az’s jaw rippled with anger. “Where’s the damn letter?”
“It’s gone. Burned up as soon as I’d read it.”
“Damn witches,” Az cursed. “What did it say?”
“Same thing I’m guessing Lucifer told you, judging by your reaction when I walked through that door.” Caim sighed. “He’s taken the Legion. If you and Mia don’t go your separate ways, he’s going to destroy them.”
Az growled.
“What’s going on out there?” Caim jerked his thumb at the door. “Looks like Legion 2.0 with all the maps and beer.”
“They’re trying to help us find a way to get the Legion back,” I said softly. “We thought we might be able to figure out where Lucifer is hiding them.”
“Ah.” He nodded. “I see.”
“And now that you’re here, you can help.” I paused halfway across the floor. Az and Caim hadn’t moved from their spot beside the window. “Aren’t you coming? We don’t have much time.”
Az and Caim exchanged a weighted glance and then followed me back into the living room. We all settled into our roles, scanning the maps, looking at Valac’s notes. Lucifer had visited New York on at least three dozen occasions during the past several decades. He never stayed long, so it was easy to track his assets and the buildings he owned.
After several long hours, the midday sun poured into the quiet penthouse. I could barely keep my eyes open, and the girls weren’t having an easier time themselves. When I’d nodded off for at least the fifth time, Az finally gathered me into his arms and carried me into his bedroom.
“We need to keep looking,” I whispered, too tired to raise my voice any louder. “We need a list of places to check...”
“You need to sleep first, Mia.” He gently lowered me onto the bed and climbed in beside me. With a sigh, I curled up on his chest, giving up the fight to stay awake.
“I don’t want to sleep,” I whispered as my eyelids grew heavier than an elephant’s feet. I’d definitely been awake for over twenty-four hours, and not a single one of them had been relaxing.
But if I slept, I’d lose the last hours I might ever spend by Az’s side. I wanted to squeeze out every last drop of time we could. In my past life, I could have fought against sleep for days. No such luck now. I might have a little magic in my veins, but I was still one-hundred percent human.
“You can’t keep going like this, Mia.” He pressed his lips to my forehead. “At least sleep a few hours. Then, you can pick back up your notepad and pen. You can scribble away your plans as long as you’d like.”
“Not as long as I’d like,” I pointed out. “We don’t have much time.”
“Sleep, Mia,” he whispered.
I opened my mouth to argue. As tired as I was, I couldn’t ignore that we were both in his bed. And there was no telling what would happen tomorrow. Or...later today, actually. Maybe this bed should be used for something else other than sleeping.
I reached toward him.
But he’d done that damn thing to me again. The one that made me rest.
