“It’s not like you’ve gotten much sleep, either,” I argued. “Why don’t you just explain what’s going on?”
A frustrated look came over his face.
“It’s complicated. If I tell you now, you’ll simply have more questions.” He stuffed his wallet and cell phone in his pockets. “I promise I’ll explain everything after I return.”
Lucas meant it. I had to give him that.
“Stay here until I return,” he said, leaning down to give me a kiss.
Then he flashed away. It seemed like he was always rushing off somewhere.
I headed off for the bathroom to wash up. By the time I finished and got dressed a young female sensor came within range. As Ariel and Micah had promised, it was Honor—the female sensor I’d met a few months before in Fairbanks.
She was off to the west, moving at a pace that told me she was walking. I went downstairs and checked on Kerbasi. He was still passed out on the couch and snoring away. I didn’t bother with the vamps. They were in their light-tight bedrooms and wouldn’t be up this early in the day no matter their age. Good. At least I wouldn’t be missed.
As soon as Honor got within a block I stepped outside to wait for her. At nineteen years old she should have been off in college, not acting as a supernatural errand girl. She crossed the street and headed over to me. Her brown hair was loose and reached just above her shoulders and she wore a red and white print sundress. As I’d thought before, there had to be some Latina heritage in her with her naturally tan skin. Like all sensors, though, she had blue eyes.
“I was surprised to hear you’d be coming, Honor.” I leaned against the doorframe. “You seemed rather intent to get away from supernatural politics the last time I saw you.”
There was no one nearby to overhear me. The closest humans were a man and woman across the block who gazed into a gallery window.
Honor smiled. “I have a new master now. It was time for an upgrade.”
I lifted my brows. “An upgrade?”
She’d worked for Zoe. A thirty-two-hundred-year-old nephilim. It didn’t get much higher than that. At least, I’d never met any older supernaturals—if one didn’t count angels and guardians.
“Yes.” She stopped in front of me. “My new master is looking forward to meeting you.”
“How do I know this isn’t a trap?” I asked, crossing my arms.
With the way Honor flitted about she could have worked for more than one person.
“So suspicious.” She shook her head. “I can promise no harm will come to you before, during, or after the meeting. He told me to tell you he’s the one Micah wanted you to meet.”
“Do you know what it’s about?”
She lifted her shoulder in a small shrug. “I can’t say.”
“I don’t have much time.” I looked over my shoulder and up at the condo. “Lucas will be back soon.”
“From what I understand, he’ll be busy for a while.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Doing what?”
“Come on.” She jerked her head. “My master will tell you whatever you need to know.”
Honor didn’t wait for me. She turned and started walking back down the sidewalk in the direction she’d come from. I could stand there staring at her back, or follow. Curiosity might have killed the cat, but I couldn’t help wanting to know what this new master had to say.
We headed in a westerly direction toward Rampart Street. Many of locals and tourists were already out, wandering the streets. The sunlight was different in the French Quarter from everywhere else I’d been, though I couldn’t quite explain how. It was just more—alive. An ironic thought, considering Honor led me to St. Louis Cemetery Number One.
It was a good thing we didn’t have to go any farther. We were very close to hitting the half-mile range from Kerbasi and I didn’t think I could go another block. At least, not without pulling him through the condo window and onto the street. As amusing as that visual was, the whole point of drugging him was so he didn’t notice I’d left.
My senses hummed and my skin tingled. Someone had spelled the cemetery.
For the next hour it would scare off anyone who came near it, including tourists. The gate was closed, but Honor pushed it open and continued inside. We wove our way past new, old, and very old crypts of all shapes and sizes. Some were falling apart, some had fences around them or special designs, and one was a white pyramid.
We headed toward the tallest society tomb in the cemetery. It was huge and constructed of baroque marble with numerous vaults for bodies. The word “ITALIA” was carved on one side with a niche above that containing a statue of a woman. Another statue of Mary rose from the top. I had to stop ten feet before I reached it. A couple more steps would push past my range with Kerbasi. Maybe it had been planned.
I glanced at Honor, who was typing something into her phone. She looked up and smiled. The sensor knew as well as I did that we’d gone as far as we could.
“You have to wait. He’ll be here soon.” She turned around to leave.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“Home. I’ve done my part.”
I glared at her back as she disappeared between tombs, heading for the front gate. She was going to abandon me in an empty cemetery. I considered following her out. It wasn’t like there was anyone around to stop me, but a flash of light had me rethinking that idea.
A man wearing a blue and green kilt and worn boots appeared at the top of the Italian Society tomb. He had tan skin, shoulder-length brown hair, and muscles as thick as the ones on Lucas. He’d have no problem turning female heads but it wasn’t his appearance that concerned me. Rather, it was the fact he was about five thousand years old and not something I’d ever sensed before.
An angel-demon hybrid.
Holy fuck. There wasn’t any other way to put it. I had a really strong urge to run right then, but forced myself to stay put. Ariel and Micah had sent me here for a reason and at the very least I needed to find out what they were up to—other than the little they’d already revealed.
The immortal man glanced at the statue that was positioned just above him, then plopped down on the curved roof of the tomb. A large bowl and spoon appeared in his hands and he started eating from it as if I wasn’t standing there staring at him.
Wonderful. Honor had brought me to meet a crazy person.
Nearly a minute passed while he ate what looked like jambalaya. If his grunts of pleasure were anything to go by, it was quite good. His gaze eventually drifted from his meal and moved down toward me. False surprise reflected in his eyes.
“Oh, good, you’re here.”
He shoveled another bite into his mouth. I had to give him credit for not spilling any considering how much he topped each spoonful.
“What’s up with the kilt?” I asked. “That’s not exactly your time period.”
He shrugged. “My mate lives in Scotland and she likes it.”
At least he was considerate enough to do something that pleased the woman he loved.
“I hope I’m not disturbing you.” I nodded at the food in his hands.
He waved his spoon around. “No, no. I’ve just found a good bowl of jambalaya can do wonders when plotting world domination. Helps spice things up, if you know what I mean.”
“Actually, no, I wouldn’t. Is that your plan? World domination?” I couldn’t believe Ariel and Micah sent me to talk to this man.
He set the bowl down on the roof of the tomb and leaped to the ground. His expression turned serious as he stalked toward me. He looked like one of those Highland warriors between the kilt and the hairy chest and arms, but there was nothing natural about his glowing vermilion eyes.
“Forgive me. World domination might not be the best term. I’d say it is more like a revolution.” He stopped three feet from me. “From the tyranny angels have placed on us for too long.”
My throat went dry.
“What…are you planning to do?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Stop hiding.”
“From who?”
“The humans, of course.” He looked at me as if I might be dense. “There was a time when we didn’t hide, but then the archangels changed that. They forced us to live like rats in the dark and watch our every step for fear of their retribution.”
I’d heard the supernaturals used to be out in the open a millennia or so ago, but the few who’d lived back then didn’t talk about it much.
I cocked my head. “Who are you?”
“You may call me Yerik.”
I thought back over everything I’d heard through the years. Wanda, my former mentor, had taught me a lot of history and I’d picked up even more since moving to Fairbanks. The significance of the name didn’t come to me right away. Then I remembered a story I’d heard from my mentor when I was still a teenager. It had seemed too unreal to be true.
She’d told me about an immortal of unknown origin who had fought an archangel and survived. After more had come down on him he’d disappeared, never to be heard from again. No one knew if he’d lived or died. If I recalled correctly, the timing had been somewhere around the dark ages.
“Did you fight an archangel once?” I asked.
His expression turned stormy. “I did. And after I killed him others came for me. If Ariel had not warned me in time I might be dead now.”
“Why would she warn you?” The more I learned about the female archangel the less I understood.
“She has always sympathized with us.” Yerik’s harsh expression relaxed a couple of degrees. “Ariel knew I didn’t start the fight and had no choice but to kill one of her brethren to survive.”
“And you went into hiding after that?”
“I did. Until recently when other things took on greater importance than my safety.” He reached for me.
I sidestepped him. “Don’t.”
“I’m curious.” His hand was still raised. “You are the first mortal to be successfully made into a living immortal. Here you are out in the sunlight and not burning. When they told me about you I couldn’t believe it and had to see for myself.”
“That doesn’t mean you get to touch me. I didn’t agree to that.” I glared at him.
“Give me your hand.” He reached for it.
I batted him away. “No.”
“Don’t be stubborn.” His vermilion eyes twinkled. “My God, you are as bad as Lucas.”
“What do you know about Lucas?” I asked, moving again to avoid his hand.
His expression turned contemplative. “I found him a few years after his father died and he had struck out on his own—he and his brother. I trained them both in how to use a sword and other weapons. Though both of them were good, Lucas took to it the most naturally. We spent more than a century together, searching for battles to fight. He was very angry in those years.”
“That hasn’t changed much.”
“It hasn’t?” He gave me a triumphant smile.
It took me a moment to realize he’d taken hold of my hand. I’d been so desperate for any information about Lucas I’d focused on Yerik’s words and not his actions. He sliced open my palm using his thumbnail. The pain cut deep. I tried to jerk my hand back, but he was too strong. Using my free hand, I punched him in the balls as hard as I could. My strength might not have matched his, but it was well above that of a human.
He let go of me and bowed over.
“Did…you have to do that?” he wheezed.
It was good to know age didn’t help a man recover any faster from that kind of assault.
“Did you have to cut me?” I flexed my hand.
He slowly straightened. “Yes.”
“Then there’s your answer.”
“It’s almost as if you were made for him.” He shook his head. “Let me see your hand or we can start this over again—and I promise I won’t fall for your trick a second time.”
He’d backed me to the edge of my range with Kerbasi and left me no easy way around him. I didn’t have much of a choice except to let him see my hand. I held it out and Yerik gripped it, staring in amazement.
“It really is true.” He looked up. “How did Lucas manage it? I attempted to turn a human once long ago and failed miserably.”
“You’d have to ask him.” I wasn’t about to reveal that secret.
He sighed. “You’re making this more difficult than it has to be.”
“Tell me something.” I cocked my head. “How do
you
exist?”
“Let us just say I am nearly as uncommon as you. Only three of my kind have ever been born and the other two were killed by archangels long ago.”
“And yet you’re risking yourself now with this plan to come out to humans. That’s sure to draw some attention.” He’d probably be the first one they’d come after once they noticed him.
“The stakes are higher.” His gaze turned inward. “I promised the woman I love I’d free our son before she dies.”
Wow, he was willing to throw away his life for her. Crazy man or not—I had to give him credit for that. Then the rest of what he’d said hit me.
“Your son is in Purgatory.”
Yerik’s face hardened. “Yes, he is. My mate went into hiding after he was born so that I wouldn’t be around when the archangels came. She returned after he was gone to break the news. It hurt her to give up our son, but she swore she couldn’t risk losing me, too.”