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“Where are we going?”

“Roman’s,” Darien said. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay right now.”

“Your heart sounds stable,” he agreed.

The elevator lurched, dropping down to the ground floor at a speed that was jarring. Loren avoided looking at herself in the mirrors—surrounded by four of the Seven Devils, their leader carrying her, his hands wrapped around her thighs. This all still felt like one really long, really bizarre dream.

A dream she hoped she wouldn’t wake up from.

“We should get her some food,” Joyce said. “I gave her some juice when she got changed, but I think she should have more.” Gods, listening to them talk about her like this made her feel like a child, but she was well aware that she needed as much help as she could get, and she wasn’t about to refuse it.

Darien glanced down at her, their faces so close that she had to duck her head to keep her nose from skimming his. “Let’s see your tattoo.”

With Darien balancing her, she unwound her arms from around his neck and pushed up her sleeve. The serpent-entwined rod was glowing red again.

“You’ll need to eat straightaway,” he said.

“I think I’ll be okay until we get to Roman’s.” Wherever that was. She had so many questions but didn’t know where to start.

“If you feel faint or off in any way, I don’t care how minor, you’ll let me know. Okay?”

She wound her arms around his neck again, pulling the sleeves up to cover her fingers—avoiding direct skin contact. Touching him made her feel all funny inside, and truth be told she was worried about her heart. It was already unpredictable, and it seemed to act out of line whenever Darien was around. She wished she could control it. “Okay.”

The elevator doors slid open with a hiss, and they walked out into the bottom floor of the skyscraper. A wet floor sign sat in the center of the big open space, water shining around it.

Darien carried her through the revolving doors at the front of the building, to the two vehicles that were parked by the curb. One was a big black truck with matte-black rims and smoked taillights. The other was a black sports car with a stream-lined body—beautiful and aggressive, the model clearly very expensive. The windows of both were heavily tinted.

It was rainy and cold out, the wind nipping at her cheeks and ears. The buildings on this street were very new and tall, skyscrapers piercing a sky studded with stars. Traffic zipped down a multi-lane road, tires clacking on cobbles that were drenched with rain.

“We’ll take the car,” Darien said, letting go of one of her thighs so he could retrieve a set of keys from the pocket of his jacket. He tossed them to Tanner. “We’ll meet you back at the house.”

He set her down on her feet beside the car and opened the passenger’s-side door. She got in, breathing in the scent of leather and the same mouth-watering cologne she could smell on Darien.

Once she was buckled in, he shut her door. Loren peeked at him as he rounded the car, street lights gilding his hair, and got in his side, As he started the engine. Loren noticed a succulent keychain attached to his keys.

“Are you cold?” he asked her, his fingers moving to the dials.

“A little.”

He turned on the heat and tilted a couple vents so they were facing her.

And then he put the car in drive and ripped out into the street, the others following in the truck. The glow of street lights pulsed through the sunroof.

Loren tucked her numb fingers between her thighs. “Where are Dallas and Sabrine?”

“Angelthene.”

“Do they know I’m here?”

“Yes.”

“What about Roark and Taega?”

“Roark supported my decision to bring you here. He was the one who told me about the Caliginous Chambers.” Loren found that hard to believe, but she knew Darien was telling the truth.

A lot more than new and unlikely friendships seemed to have happened these last six months.