The Sweetest Burn (Broken Destiny #2)(90)

"Yes, I've been to Poland," he said in a stiff voice.

I let out the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. Now, for the million-dollar question. "Any particular place?" If he'd been all over that country, it would blow a huge hole in my theory, but the look he gave me sent chills up my spine.

"There was one that I kept going back to."

"Was it a church?" Costa asked, his tone almost urgent.

Adrian answered while keeping his gaze locked with mine, and what I saw in its depths convinced me that I was right. "Calling it a church is an understatement."

Zach appeared, walking over as casually as if he hadn't left in an angelic huff. "Are you ready?"

"For what?" I asked, wary.

He smiled, a rare real one. "To go to the Salt Cathedral."





  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

ZACH LED US through the gateway to Wieliczka, Poland. All of us, even though I had wanted Jasmine to stay behind. Zach refused, saying that he had important tasks to carry out and couldn't continue to act as our supernatural doorman. That analogy would have amused me if he didn't follow it up by disappearing as soon as he'd pulled the last of us through.

"This is just great." I could still feel the gateway, but true to Zach's warning, I could no longer cross through it. "Get your Archon ass back here, Zach! You can't strand us in a tiny foreign town with no passports, money, transportation or weapons!"

No response. I resisted the urge to give the gateway the middle finger only because I didn't think Zach could see it. The only person more upset than me was Brutus. He snarled at the bright light around us, hitching his wings up to cover himself. Then he glared at me as if to say, More sunshine? How could you?

"Don't worry," Adrian said, rubbing my back. "I can call someone and get what we need. We just need a phone."

Costa pulled out Father Luis's cell phone, tried to turn it on and then put it back. "Yep, battery's definitely dead."

I forced myself to relax. Okay, so we might have a long walk ahead of us, but there were worse things. At least it wasn't dark, making this area demon-free for a few more hours until the sun went down. After that, well, where there was a light realm, there was a demon one. I could only hope that it wouldn't drop on us or leak out onto us, either.

Adrian looked around. "I know this place. It's the town's version of an urban market."

The quaint buildings arranged in a square around us didn't strike me as that, but whatever, it meant that phones were close. And hey, one of the shop's names was even in English. Granted, it was called Fuck Luck Tattoos, but all I focused on was that if the title was in English, then someone in the shop probably spoke it.

Adrian must've felt the same way. He took my arm, murmuring, "Let's try here."

"I'll stay with Jasmine," Costa said. Brutus had already run toward the shop because it had a sun-blocking awning.

I glanced at my sister. She met my gaze, then deliberately looked at the diamond ring on my hand before looking back at me. After her blowup following Adrian's parentage reveal, I expected accusation in her stare, or anger, but instead, the only emotion I read was sadness that bordered on grief.



       
         
       
        

Don't let him hurt you, she mouthed at me. Please.

Adrian's back was turned, so he didn't see it. I closed my eyes for a moment, wishing I could reassure her that her fears were groundless. Adrian wouldn't betray me. He'd only hidden the true purpose of my destiny from me before because he'd been trying to help me, and while that had been a betrayal of my trust, he'd had good intentions. Just like I'd had good intentions when I'd hidden my knowledge of Demetrius from him.

Adrian tugged on my arm again, turning around. "Ivy?"

"Coming," I said, adding, "I'll be fine," to my sister. Then I went into the tattoo shop with Adrian.

The proprietor did speak English, and he agreed to let Adrian make an international call after he dropped a hundred-dollar bill onto the counter. I didn't think he'd had any money, so I was more than surprised to see several more Benjamins in his wallet. At my questioning look, Adrian shrugged.

"I brought some emergency cash along with our dry clothes."

"You didn't get any sleep earlier, did you?" I muttered.

Adrian only smiled as he accepted the phone from the proprietor and dialed. After a moment, he began to speak in French, judging from the few words I recognized. The conversation lasted about five minutes, and when Adrian hung up, he looked satisfied.

"We now have a hotel reservation and a car on the way. The rest of what we need will arrive tomorrow."