Page 29

We made it into the Magi City in a little over an hour. Kaine was right. The train would have taken at least double the time. Irwin and Reed split off from us once we hit the outskirts, each with their own assignments I wasn’t privy to. Kaine seemed to operate as the de facto leader when Azrael wasn’t around, and the other took their lead from him.

“We’ll lay low for now,” Kaine told me as we stopped to let me stretch my legs and regain feeling in my ass. “The Council isn’t scheduled to meet till later this evening, so that gives us a few hours to get eyes on the key players. Adoranda will show, no doubt about that, but Lynette still hasn’t been sighted again.”

I wrung the hem of my sweater out, the rainwater spattering the ground like an animal relieving itself. Thankfully, the rain moved on just as we entered the city, but the oppressive clouds stayed behind, blotting out the stars. With the wind funneling through the buildings, I couldn’t escape the chill.

“My apartment isn’t too far from here,” I told Kaine. “There’s no need for us to skulk on the street like a couple of vagrants. Plus, we can get dry. And I think I owe you dinner, if I’m not mistaken?”

“That’s not part of the plan,” Kaine argued, brushing the rain-slicked hair from his eyes.

“Plan or not, I need dry clothes. There’s no chance they’ll let me anywhere near the Council looking like a drowned rat.”

Kaine seemed to chew on the idea for a moment longer before conceding.

“I go in first, and if there’s anything suspicious, we hightail it outta there. Understood?”

“Whatever you say,” I agreed.

I gave him the directions, and we were off again, thundering down the familiar city streets. Once we arrived at the high-rise that contained my apartment, Kaine stashed his bike in the alleyway, muttering a string of words under his breath to make it vanish before my eyes.

“That’s handy,” I said, eyeing his work.

“Being ‘Unseen’ certainly has its perks.”

The air around him shimmered and he disappeared next, tapping me on the shoulder to alert me that it was time to move.

Inside, the doorman thankfully let me by without a fuss. He even provided me with my spare key so I wouldn’t have to resort to breaking in my own door. The lift carried Kaine and I up to the twenty-seventh floor, and a short walk down the hall later, we were inside my apartment.

I had only been gone for a few days, so the space still felt lived in. Materializing, Kaine went straight for the fridge, rummaging around and making the odd comment about how I didn’t have any real food.

“Order something,” I told him, pointing to the stack of menus by the rotary phone on the wall. “Tell them to bill it to my account.”

This seemed to please Kaine as he excitedly flipped through the pages.

Down the hall to my bedroom, I closed the door behind me, exhaling a sigh of relief at the sight of my own bed. The cleaning staff had been in since I last left, so the sheets were tucked tightly, and the pillows arranged just so. Peeling the wet, mismatched clothes from my body, I tossed them into the bathroom. No amount of laundering would ever get the smell of wet-Kaine off of them, so I’d probably end up burning them after this was all over.

I took a moment to refresh myself, washing my face and passing a comb through my damp hair. My reflection was hardly recognizable at this point, the dark bruise-like circles under my eyes, something I would normally conceal, on full display, my shoulder bandaged together, and my lips splintered from the wind. It was hardly the time to care about such things, however.

Pulling on a clean pair of jeans and a sweater that actually fit, I swapped the dirty sneakers for my favorite pair of boots and headed back out into the hallway.

“What kind of food did you decide on?” I called ahead of me, stopping short of the living room to grab a jacket from the hallway closet.

Silence.

“Kaine?”

The hum of the lights above my head was the only thing I could hear. Dread swelled in my gut, and I moved slowly toward the end of the hall.

I spotted Kaine first, sitting straight up on the end of the sofa, a scowl on his face as he stared in the opposite direction of me, his claws digging into his knees where he clutched them. Moving further in, I found the reason.

“Nice place you got here,” Lorelei said, standing at the opposite end of the sofa from Kaine, a long-barreled metal contraption in her hand, pointed at him.

Was that a gun? I had only read about them in novels set in times before the first Awakening. Magic had made most mortal weapons obsolete, so if it were real, it must have been a relic.

“Hands where I can see them,” Lorelei ordered.

I raised them slowly above my head, palms facing outward.

“My, my. You’ve been a busy little boy, Tobias. No sudden movements, now. I wouldn’t want your friend here to ruin this beautiful sofa. I must say, your taste in furniture is far better than your taste in company.”

Her escape from Chateau Greene seemed to have left Lorelei unscathed, her appearance just as immaculate as the first time we’d met. Not a curl out of place.

“What do you want?” I questioned, throwing a quick glance at Kaine, then back to her. “My mother can’t possibly be paying you that much money. Why are you still?—”

“Quiet,” Lorelei snapped, her blood-red lips curling into a snarl. “My reasons are my own, and what I want is for you to come with me without any more lip, you brat.”

“Come where?” I questioned, hoping if I talked long enough, I’d draw her attention fully to me, leaving Kaine a window of opportunity. But right now, the barrel of the gun was still trained on him.

“To a little family reunion,” Lorelei answered, her focus uninterrupted. “It’s sure to be an evening to remember.”

This wasn’t working. I had to do something, or I’d be playing right into her hand.

Reaching for the magic in Bastien’s gem, I pressed my aura outward, hoping to catch her off guard. If I could just get a command through for her to drop the gun, that would be all the time Kaine would need?—

“Just like your mother,” Lorelei said with a sigh.

A deafening bang sounds and Kaine exhales a wet breath. My eyes were drawn to him as the scarlet stain bloomed across his chest, and he slumped back against the sofa cushion.

“No!” I shouted, my legs propelling me forward, but Lorelei was there, standing between us with her sights on me now.

“Want to try that little move again?” she asked.

I gritted my teeth, my vision narrowing in on Kaine. He was still breathing. I could hear the ragged sounds from where I stood. If I could get him to a Hallowed soon enough, maybe I could save him. But how was I going to convince her to allow that?

Taking the risk, I moved slowly toward the sofa. Lorelei’s gun made a noise, like the next bullet loading into the chamber, but I didn’t let it stop me. I assumed she needed me alive for whatever awaited me. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t hobble me, so I did my best to seem non-threatening, still holding my hands above my head.

Kaine’s eyes were half-lidded when I got to him, his breaths coming in quick, shallow spurts. There was so much blood already. It oozed from the entry wound and pooled behind him in the cushions.

“You’re a terrible host,” he joked, his eyes half-focusing on me.

“I know,” I went along, my voice hollow. “I didn’t even ask if you wanted something to drink.”

“Do you think I’ll get to haunt your apartment now? Gotta say, I’m not looking forward to watching you wank on the daily.”

A broken laugh escaped alongside my tears. “Then don’t look.”

He tried to laugh, but then he was coughing, and his mouth was filled with blood. My mind raced, my hands going to the wound out of panic, applying pressure that was too little, too late.

I cursed under my breath. I was powerless. If only Bastien were here, or Cirian. They could fix him up in seconds with their magic.

But Bastien’s magic was here. Or at least, in the Anima stone he gave me. Did that mean…?

I didn’t know the incantations. I didn’t speak the language typically required to draw on the magic that could mend flesh. I was Adored. Our magic was tied to emotion. Intention. Bastien had entrusted me with his magic, but did that mean it was truly mine? And if it were, did that mean I was limited to only feats the Adored could manage?

The questions buzzed through my brain till they were silenced all at once by the reality of the situation.

I had to try.

I’d never be able to face Azrael again if I was the reason his right-hand man died. I’d taken enough from him already.

So, I did what felt natural. I extended my aura to Kaine, wrapping him up in it. His pain flared in my chest, but it was dull. Fading. He was fading. I’d have to be quick. I focused in on that spot, the wound that seeped blood under my palm. The gem burned hot against my flesh, but I couldn’t tell if it was working, not when the wound was covered up. Still, I didn’t relent. I poured every bit of intention I could into the spot I focused on, willing it to close. Willing the skin to knit itself together. For the arteries to regenerate. For Kaine to keep drawing breath. I wished, and I hoped, and I prayed to the gods who had always been silent that this would work.

“It’s time to go, Tobias.”

Lorelei’s voice was close like she was standing right behind me. I didn’t care. I would stay with Kaine until the magic worked. Or until he left this place. Either way, I wasn’t moving.

“Mourn on your own time. We’re running late.”

“Fuck you,” a sputtering voice sounded. “We’re having a moment.”

I gasped, my hand retracting in surprise. Kaine’s skin was smooth once more, a clean spot amidst the blood smeared across his chest.

I had done it. But… how?

Lorelei clicked her tongue, then moved to point the gun at Kaine once more. I quickly moved between them, pushing my chest into the barrel. “I’ll go with you,” I said quickly. “I’ll go if you just leave him be.”

She pondered that for a moment, a manicured finger on the trigger that could end me. “Alright, I guess you’ve learned your lesson.”

Lorelei lowered the gun, lifting her other hand to her mouth. She stuck two fingers between her lips, letting out a sharp whistle. The door to my apartment opened, and a hulking man hurried to her side.

“We’re taking this one to go, Grigori. Wrap him up.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the hulking man answered, his voice thick.

A weak grip on my hand made me turn, Kaine holding me by the wrist.

“No…”

“I’ll be fine,” I lied.

The man pulled a shroud over my head, the room going dark. My arm was yanked out of Kaine’s grip and forced behind my back, tied to the other. With little effort, he hefted me over his shoulder and whisked me away to whatever venue would see my second life end.