Lucca (23 page)

“What’t wrong?”

“Just wondering if the cookies were laced
with Brugmansia. I haven’t shared so much since…” He looked at Eli.
“Heck, ever.”

Eli’s lips curved. “It’s not a bad thing.
Trust me.”

Lucca had come this far, why not keep going.
He shoved the rest of the cookie in his mouth, chewed, and
swallowed before he spoke again. “Did Gideon pick up anything at
Purcible’s?”

“Yeah. Gideon picked up hellish energy, dark
and thick. He had thought perhaps a demon was involved, but he
could find no traces of an exact breed.”

“Just what I thought. Kasadya was there,
too.”

“It might be a good idea to see if Zaiden
can find Arizul,” Eli said. “Then we’ll go from there. If we can
find your father and question him, maybe we’ll have a better
picture of what they’re after.” Eli sipped his coffee thoughtfully
before he looked at Lucca over the rim of the cup. “Do you know
where the
Book of Magic
is?”

Lucca hesitated. He shared enough for the
day. He knew where the book was, but he didn’t have it in his
possession… yet. “It’s locked away.”

“Good. Maybe it should stay there at least
until we know what we’re up against.”

“Sure.” He had no intentions of leaving it
where it was now. His father knew where the book was located,
too.

“Now,” Eli cleared his throat. “Why don’t
you tell me what brought you to my house the other night?” He
leveled his gaze at him.

Lucca sighed and put down his coffee cup. “I
was curious.”

“Curious?”

“How did you know Ryden was your soul
mate?”

Eli looked surprised, but he recovered
quickly. He shoved the chair next to him out with his foot. “Have a
seat and I’ll tell you.”

Chapter Thirty

“Auntie Jules, I don’t feel well.” Owen
exaggerated a cough for good measure, hacking a few extra times
when she didn’t respond. He wanted to go to the Comic Book Store.
Gideon Sharpe’s new issue for his Fallen Angels series was released
last night. The comic book store had a few more signed copies
available, courtesy of the author leaving extras behind after his
book signing. Owen’s comic book buddy, Dylan called Owen this
morning with the news.

Juliet reached for the rearview mirror and
adjusted it so she could see what Owen was up to. “It’s not going
to work, you know. So you can stop faking. You’re going to
school.”

He scrunched up his nose at her and stuck
out his tongue.

“You can stop with the faces, too.” She had
to smile when Owen’s mouth dropped opened in awe. For a split
second he wondered how she knew. Then he looked up and saw her
eyeing him in the mirror. He crossed his arms against his chest and
looked away. “Fine.”

Owen didn’t want to go to school and Juliet
had half a mind to keep him home, but she needed to do a little
sleuthing. Owen wouldn’t exactly be discreet.

Raziel blessed her with the perceptive radar
to detect anything remotely otherworldly. She didn’t sense anything
preternatural about Lucca. Not unless she counted her over zealous
attraction to him as a sign.

She threaded her hand through her hair,
pushing the long strands away from her face. She wanted Lucca. Even
with his hot and cold signals, she knew he wanted her, too.

I’ll be damned.
Zaiden’s words came
back to haunt her.

He said the proclamation as though he
discovered something unexpected about her and Lucca. Whatever that
could be. One minute he wanted to pummel Lucca. The next, he eyed
Lucca and her as if he were seeing them for the first time. “What
was that about anyway?” Then Lucca gave his smart mouth
response.

Isn’t that the point for us?

Lucca’s actions, his hostility all spoke of
a falling out with the Watchers. Something had happened between
them. Mistrust hung in the air like a flammable substance,
threatening to ignite at the slightest cause. Lucca’s knowledge
about the Watchers didn’t concern her. It was the way Lucca spat
his cutting response to Zaiden that disturbed her. He said
us
. He included himself in the statement and Zaiden didn’t
refute it.

What are you, Lucca Marlowe?
She
gripped the stirring wheel tighter as she drove. She learned long
ago nothing was black and white. Humans weren’t the top of the food
chain on earth with rogue vampires, werewolves, and other predatory
creatures that didn’t follow the preternatural world of conduct.
The Fallen Angels, the Nephilim and the Archangels, weren’t the
pretty boys depicted in paintings either. They were rugged warriors
ready to exact justice if need be. Thank goodness most of the
otherworldly beings followed the rules and didn’t go psychopath on
the humans. Then again, humans weren’t exactly perfect either. Find
anything different than what they termed the norm and secret labs
were created for unauthorized tests or worse—termination. All
beings had their sadistic side, but usually she had a good idea
what
being
proved the threat. She worried her lower lip as
she thought. Where did Lucca fall in all this? Good? Evil? Watcher?
Human? She didn’t know, and for once Raziel’s angelic fillers
weren’t working for her.

Chapter Thirty-One

Blaize landed with grace born of his kind,
his dark wings so black they glistened with a blue sheen from the
overhead lights. His god-like features were only marred by the
scowl he wore, and even then his good looks didn’t diminish. “Are
you ready?” he growled, fangs bared.

Lucca nodded. “If it is any consolation,
relying on your help isn’t considered my night of fun either. I
wouldn’t involve you if the elders hadn’t bound my wings.”

Blaize shook his head. “That’s the problem
with you, Watchers, you think you can handle anything that comes
your way. Loners, the lot of you. This job is a two man gig,
especially if you don’t know what the hell to expect.”

He snorted. “And the Darklins have oodles of
friends. Makes me all warm and cozy inside thinking about it.”

Blaize’s eyes glowed red, blocking out the
violet. “Shut up and take my hand.”

Lucca grabbed his outstretched hand in a
firm grip.

“Don’t think we’re going steady,” Blaize
grumbled, shimmering with a surge of magic that encased them
both.

One minute they were standing in the park
around the corner from his apartment, and the next they crossed the
veil to the Otherworldly realm where Angel, Darklins, and other
preternatural roamed. The world stood adjacent to the human realm
where the humans couldn’t see it or breach it without glamour.

The only time preternatural beings may roam
the earth’s realm without glamour was during the times the veil
thinned between the worlds. Like during Ol’ Hallows Eve on October
thirty-first and Yule, the traditional time being in December not
January as most humans thought. These dates are for the
preternatural beings, giving them freedom to reveal their true self
without consequences.

Lucca had preferred to spend his time in the
Otherworldly realm when he hadn’t been forced to watch and record
human events. The Grigori were meant to keep track of history in
the human realm, but with Eli breaking the rules and falling for a
human, the Grigori were rethinking their existence. Since Lucca had
been left out of the loop since his banishment, he didn’t have
details until his impromptu meeting with Eli. Who would have
thought the one Watcher who had every reason not to trust him had
offered the olive branch—well, so to speak. He didn’t expect to
become all warm and cozy with the Watcher anytime soon, but they
had formed a truce for now.

The elders believed the Watchers did possess
souls after all. The discovery proved a big deal, especially when
the Nephilim had always been considered damned. They had a chance
for happiness if they found their soul mate to lift the chains that
kept their souls buried.
Yada, yada, yada.

The whole ordeal made Lucca’s stomach churn
and not in a completely bad way. His talk with Eli only proved to
worry him more. Eli confessed Ryden’s scent drew him. Apparently
the soul mate’s essence is only potent to the Nephilim meant for
her or him, which ever the case may be. It all sounded vaguely
familiar.

‘
You’ll want to mark her, make her yours,
the feeling will be so strong, common sense evades you,’
Eli
told him.

He could contest to the out of control
response. Just another problem he had to deal with as if he didn’t
already have enough on his plate. He couldn’t defend himself
without his wings. How could he defend a mate and keep her safe?
His mate didn’t come unattached either. He would be responsible for
Owen’s safety, too.

He needed his wings. Now.

True his banishment would end if the elders
believed he had changed, that he had embraced his human side with
respect. His path was in the right direction, but the elders
wouldn’t just overturn his punishment because he said he’d changed.
They would want proof and that would take too damn long. His father
was out there and he was in league with something vile. He couldn’t
wait to go through the right channels. He’d get the
Book of
Magic
and give it to Barachiel in exchange for his wings.

Lucca glanced around, seeing his realm in a
new light. The Otherworldly realm didn’t look much different than
the human realm other than the architecture spoke of a time past.
Castles, pyramids, and pantheons made up their cities coexisting
with each other like planned neighborhoods of historical finds.
Time past differently here, too. They could spend hours here, while
days passed in the human realm. It was why preternatural life spans
were so much longer than humans. They may be able to live on the
human plane of existence, but their bodies ticked off time on the
Otherworldly plane.

Blaize had shimmered them in front of the
Temple of Moqaddas where Raziel’s
Book of Magic
lay locked
in the Vault situated in the underground cave below the temple.
He’d look for The Tomes of Nasarm, while he was nosing around in
the Vault, too. Not that he planned on handing the tome over to the
Hashasheens, but a least he’d have it in his possession if Kordon
came gunning for him again. It was always wise to have bargaining
tools at your disposal.

Lucca glanced at Blaize. The Darklin would
use his expertise of
breaking and entering
. The
preternatural didn’t call him the
Legend of Stealth
for
nothing.

Lucca had been with Arizul the day he placed
the
Book of Magic
in the Vault. Lucca was no more than seven
earth years at the time, but he understood the importance of the
tome. His father blathered on how Adam and Eve once possessed the
tome. They passed the knowledge of the book to their children. Noah
used the book to build the Ark and King Solomon used the book as a
reference when he wrote the Key of Solomon. Solomon’s book
contained convocation and curses to summon spirits of the dead and
demons, forcing them to do the conjurers bidding.

How his father came by Raziel’s Book, Lucca
didn’t know, but the tome was one book among many his father had
collected and locked away in his treasure room.

Arizul took Lucca to the Vault on two other
occasions. On the third visit, he memorized the intricate
passageway to the Vault. The chamber lay hidden behind a bolted
door, his father having the only key. At the time, Lucca hadn’t
realized the knowledge of the passageway would come in handy. It
also helped that he stolen the key after his father had Kit Marlowe
killed. He wanted to hurt the bastard and he knew his father would
be devastated when he learned he no longer had access to his
treasures. “Events do happen for a reason.”

“What did you say?” Blaize looked over his
shoulder at him.

Lucca shook his head. “Nothing. Just find us
a way in.

“There’s no place I cannot enter,” the
Darklin boasted. They both knew the claim could be backed up with
proof.

It didn’t mean Lucca couldn’t rib Blaize
anyway. “You boast, but I’ve yet to see this profound ability.”

Blaize harrumphed with a curse. He obviously
didn’t like his abilities left in question. Good. He would work
harder to find a way in.

The temple rose skyward, a marble structure
with columns. The steps were also gleaming white marble and at the
top of the platform on the right stood a relief carving of the
story of David and Goliath. Goliath had been one of the Nephilim, a
giant among men. It was a humble reminder that no being is
invincible. On the other side there stood a relief of Enoch’s
anointing and investiture during his ascension into heaven. Enoch
had been the only human known to become an Angel. Lucca and Blaize
entered through the ornate doors carved from gold inlays. They made
their way past the ancient scrolls set out on display. Blaize kept
them shielded from prying eyes. His ability to camouflage and
shimmer from one place to the other, made it difficult for
preternatural authorities to apprehend him.

“Where to?” Blaize looked over his shoulder,
his gaze leveling on Lucca.

Lucca pointed to where a large rock molded
into the wall as if the temple backed up to a cave and the rock
marked the original entrance. Maybe at one time it was true, but
Lucca only knew of the temple and not what was there before.

“Are you friggin’ kidding me?” Blaize
narrowed his eyes at him.

Lucca didn’t answer but moved forward. His
hand rested on the cold stone, sliding his fingers over the crevice
on the right side adjacent to the wall.

“There’s a hidden lever?” Blaize asked. He
glanced over his shoulder as Lucca worked, watching the Grigori
guards at the front desk. The guards’ wings were tuck beside their
bodies in a relaxed state. They didn’t suspect a breach.