My eyes widened.
“That’s not going to happen.” His eyes flashed an intense pale blue. “Ever. I can promise you that.”
I found myself nodding slowly. “It won’t.”
He held my gaze and then went back to his internet search. Muscles stiffened as a burst of fear spiked me in the chest, followed by the sudden clarity that Zayne...he would die for me. He already almost had, and that was before we were bonded. He’d pushed me out of the way when Aym had made a run at me, and nearly paid for that with his life. Aym had been horrifically talented with Hellfire, which could burn anything in its path, including a Warden.
As my Protector, giving his life for mine was in Zayne’s job description. If I died, so would Zayne, and if he died protecting me, I would live on, and I guessed another would replace him—another like Misha, who was never supposed to have been bonded to me.
“You don’t need to be afraid,” he said, staring at the laptop screen.
My gaze shot to him. The glow from the screen lit his profile. “What?”
“I can feel it.” He placed his left palm against his chest, and my shoulders tensed. “It’s like an icicle in my chest. And I know you’re not afraid of me or for yourself. You’re too much of a badass. You’re afraid for me, and you don’t need to be. You know why?”
“Why?” I whispered.
Zayne looked at me then, his gaze unflinching. “You’re strong, and you’re a damn good warrior. I might be your Protector in some instances, but when we fight, I’m your partner. I know you’re not going to put my ass in a sling because you’re not holding your own. There’s no way I can fall with you beside me, and no one will best you with me beside you. So, get those fears out of your head.”
Air lodged in my throat. That was possibly the nicest thing anyone had ever said about me. I sort of wanted to hug him. I didn’t, though, managing to keep my hands and arms to myself. “I like it when you say I’m a badass.”
That got a grin. “Not remotely surprised to hear that.”
“Does this mean you’re finally going to admit I beat you and won that day in the training room back at the Community?” I asked.
“Come on now. I’m not going to lie to make you feel better about yourself.”
I laughed as I gathered up my hair, twisting the thick length. “Are we going patrolling tonight?”
Patrolling was what Wardens did to keep the demon populace in check, but that wasn’t the kind I was talking about. We were looking for a certain demon and a creature we had no idea what to call other than the Harbinger.
He paused. “I was thinking we could just chill for the night. Take it easy.”
Take it easy with Zayne? A huge part of me jumped at that, but the fact I wanted to do it as badly as I did was a clear indication it should be the last thing I did.
“I think we should look for the Harbinger,” I said. “We need to find it.”
“We do, but is one night going to make a difference?”
“Knowing our luck? Yes.”
A quick grin appeared and then disappeared. “You sure you’re up for it? Yesterday...”
I tensed. “Yesterday was yesterday. I’m up for it. Are you?”
“Always,” he murmured. Then louder he said, “We’ll patrol tonight.”
“Good.”
He refocused on the screen. “Found something. It’s an article dated back in January in the Washington Post where Fisher talks about acquiring funding for a school for chronically ill children. I quote, ‘This school will become a place of joy and learning, where sickness does not define the individual and disease does not determine the future.’ And then he talks about how there will be medical staff on-site, along with counselors and a state-of-the-art rehab facility.”
“It can’t be real, right? That he’s building a school for sick kids? Like a demonic St. Jude’s?” Sickened, all I could do was stare at the words I couldn’t see clearly enough to read. “Using ill children as a cover? Man, that is like a whole new level of evilness.”
“Well, wait until you hear this.” Zayne sat back, crossing his arms. “He says the entire proposal and plan are in honor of his wife, who passed away after a long battle with cancer.”
“God. I’m not sure which part of that is worse.”
“They’re equally terrible.” He glanced at me. “It says he’s already acquired the land for this school, so it’s interesting that Gideon hasn’t found a record of it yet. Makes you wonder why that’s not easily findable public information.”
I took a drink of my Coke. “I can’t believe this is real. That he really is building a school. Like, why, because I sincerely doubt it’s for the betterment of anyone.”
“Agreed. Most messed-up part? People could use a school like this, and there will be no shortage of people willing to be involved.” That was a terrifying truth. “My imagination can come up with a million different terrible motives behind this, especially since he’s linked to Bael and the Harbinger.”
And all of them—Bael, Aym, the Harbinger—led back to Misha.
Which was why I needed to get out there and find Bael and this Harbinger. That was imperative. Not just because the Harbinger was hunting Wardens and demons, or because my father had warned us that the Harbinger was a sign of the end times, but also because it was personal.
Misha had said that the Harbinger had chosen him, and I needed to know why...why he’d been chosen, why he’d gone along with it all. I needed to know why he’d done what he had.
I needed to understand.
Looking down, I realized I was clenching my fists so tightly that my blunt nails were digging into my palms.
Tonight couldn’t come fast enough.
3
“Stay here, Trin. I’ll be right back.”
“What—” I turned to where Zayne had been standing, but it was too late.
The mofo had already disappeared into the throng of people out enjoying the balmy evening in Washington, DC, moving faster than my vision could track.
My mouth dropped open as I stared at the blur of unfamiliar faces. Had Zayne seriously just left me on the sidewalk while he went off after the Upper Level demon that I had sensed, like I was third-string or something?
Stunned, I blinked stupidly, as if Zayne would somehow reappear in front of me.
Yep.
He’d done exactly that.
“You have got to be freaking kidding me!” I exclaimed. A man on his cell phone frowned in my direction. Whatever he saw on my face caused him to not only take a healthy step away from me, but to then cross the street.
Probably a good thing, because I was armed and irritated enough to launch an iron dagger at some random person.
I couldn’t believe Zayne had just left me, especially when seeing an Upper Level demon was kind of important. They were the most dangerous demons to walk this Earth, cloaking themselves by appearing human so that they could move in circles that contained some of the most powerful, influential people in the world. With their ability to manipulate people, they used humans’ God-given free will against them. Upper Level demons were the most formidable adversaries in the never-ending battle to maintain the balance of good and evil in the world, but they’d been scarce since the creature known as the Harbinger had appeared on the scene, months before I’d arrived in the city.
Seeing or sensing an Upper Level demon was huge, but it was even a bigger deal than normal because of where we’d seen it. Zayne and I were patrolling the area of town where the demon Bael had been seen with Senator Fisher.
There was a chance that this demon might lead us to Bael, or that we could use it to find out what the Hell the senator truly planned to do with the school. And if this demon had nothing to do with the Harbinger, I’d still be able to work out some of my aggression. But instead of joining Zayne on the hunt, I was standing here like a leftover thought, and that was not cool.
Zayne obviously didn’t comprehend that being my bonded Protector wasn’t code for leaving me—his Trueborn—behind while he went off to track down demons. Granted, our bond was new, so I was going to give Zayne this one get-out-of-jail-free card, but still.
I was not a happy camper.
A horn blew in the street and someone shouted. I plopped down on a bench, letting out an aggravated sigh as I looked around. Because my vision was so damn blurry, it was hard for me to tell if the people walking past me were ordinary humans or the dead.
Ghosts and spirits—and there was a world of difference between the two—often not only sensed me but knew that I could see and communicate with them before I even realized they were there. Since no one was bothering me, I was guessing those around me belonged to Team Alive and Breathing.
I kicked one leg over the other and jabbed an elbow into my knee and jammed my chin into my palm. Over the scent of exhaust, I smelled cooking meat, making me hungry even though Zayne and I had grabbed a bite to eat only an hour or so ago. The ever-present warm tingle at the nape of my neck told me there were demons nearby, probably low level ones like Fiends, so I wasn’t going to do anything about them as long as they weren’t actively harming humans.
I wasn’t familiar with the city, and with my poor vision, roaming around wouldn’t be the brightest of ideas, but sitting here like a dog given an order kicked my irritation into overdrive.