Page 7 of Kiss the Dawn (Order of Helsing #4)

I ’d heard about the dome perimeter guard, seen photos of the huge arch that marked one of four exits from our haven, but seeing it firsthand was something else. A mammoth stone structure covered in runes, it reached for the sky, crackling with power that had my hair standing up on end and goosebumps teasing my skin.

The arch was protected by a military base and a ten-foot electrified fence. Several two-story gray buildings made up the base with a control tower and uniformed men and women running about.

Our ride waited for us by the fence. It looked like a large camper van but was sleek and black with tinted windows. The driver hopped out and ran over to us as we approached. “Paperwork is handed in. We’re all good to go,” he said to Lorenzo before throwing a smile my way .

“Rodney, this is Orina,” Lorenzo said. “Orina. Rodney.”

“Good to meet you,” Rodney said.

“Likewise.”

Lorenzo took my bag off me, and we followed Rodney back to the van. We’d picked up some essentials on the way here, underwear, some clothes, and washing stuff, so the bag wasn’t heavy, but Lorenzo was one of those old-time gentlemen.

To think, Ordell and Hemlock went through an arch like this every time they left the dome for their hunting.

This whole paperwork stuff had me curious, though. “Who authorizes exits?”

“The council has the power to authorize passes,” Lorenzo replied. “Some are one-time passes; others are regular passes. Bounty hunters and trackers usually have permits.” He slid a glance my way, a silent communication not to probe too deep in front of our driver because there were other ways. Secret sneaky ways that Lorenzo had used in the past to smuggle people out.

Rodney opened the side door, and I climbed inside, letting out a low whistle at the opulent décor of black and silver that gave the relatively small space a penthouse suite feel. There was a neat kitchen and dining area, a sitting room section with a long sofa and coffee table, and a closed door behind which was probably the sleeping area .

Lorenzo joined me. Doors slammed, and the engine started up. I braced myself on the front seats, peering out the windshield as we drove toward the gates. They glided open to let us out onto the dusty road that led to the arch, which was so much larger up close.

My teeth buzzed, skin singing. Closer and closer toward runes burning brightly against gray stone, until they were almost blinding in their intensity.

Rodney hit the gas, and we shot forward, hurtling toward the gate at a reckless speed that made me want to whoop. We zipped under it. My heart expanded and my stomach flipped, then we were through, rolling down a dirt track onto barren land as the electric grip of magic fell away.

I wasn’t sure what I’d imagined the Rim to look like, but it wasn’t this lush green vista of fields and forests that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see on either side of the road we were on. I guess I’d thought the outside of the dome would have been arid and dead.

Lorenzo sat facing me at the dining table as I watched the world whizz by.

“How much do you know about the Rim?” he asked .

“Just that it’s dangerous. Wild and open. That the people who live out here are broken.”

He shook his head. “Of course that’s what they’d teach at the magisterium.”

“It’s a lie, then?”

“Not all of it. It is wild and open out here, but it’s also beautiful, and there are plenty of broken people inside the dome as well as out here. The Rim is home to many humans and supernatural beings, and their lands are governed.”

“The consortium has power out here too?”

“No. The gargoyle council does.”

“Did you just say gargoyle ?”

“How about I make us some lunch while I tell you what I know.”

“Sounds good to me.”

There was a fully stocked fridge in the house on wheels, and Lorenzo pulled out a couple of steaks and some salad stuff, rolled up the sleeves of his black polo shirt, and set to work.

Lorenzo made chopping tomatoes look sexy. “You sure you don’t want a steak?” he called out to Rodney.

“Positive,” Rodney called back. “I’ll take a break and grab a bite later.”

Lorenzo continued chopping, leaving me fascinated by the play of muscle up his forearm. I had to stop staring at him. “So…gargoyles?”

“Yes. They protect the Rim against creatures called graynites. Have done for the longest time. Although the consortium hasn’t had a threat report for a few months.” He paused to frown. “I’ll have to check on that when we get back.”

“Wait, back up. What’s a graynite?”

“Creatures from another realm that made it into our world a long time ago. It was why we created the dome in the first place.”

This was all new information to me. “We were told the dome was created because the outside world got dangerous.”

“It did. After the event that brought the graynites to us. How do you like your steak?”

Huh? “Oh, medium please.”

“Perfect.” He flashed me a smile and my tummy fluttered because I was in a house on wheels with Lorenzo Crescent. A man who’d featured in way too many of my bedtime fantasies.

He started searing the steaks, and the smell had my mouth watering. “There are other creatures out here too,” he continued. “Beings created by the power of imagination. They call them tulpas.”

“Yeah, we have those in Dracul territory too.”

“Ah…yes, of course. As well as tulpas, you have your regular bandits and gangs, of course. The ga rgoyle guardians keep the peace working alongside human enforcement.”

“Because the city isn’t big enough for everyone?”

“Something like that.” He set a plate of steak and salad in front of me. “Dig in.”

We ate in silence, just as well because the steak was too delicious to ruin with conversation, but afterward we talked. About the Rim and the gargoyles of Arcadia—they had a whole settlement to themselves, a stronghold it seemed—then moved on to Nyx and the strange lockdown with Morningstar territory. I was worried about my friend. I’d seen firsthand the political intrigue of Morningstar and felt the threat that lurked around her when I’d visited a few months ago. I wish I’d been able to go back to her like I’d planned, but the Order had given me the watcher assignment. We moved on to me and my experience in Dracul territory. I told him about Ezekiel and how unpredictable and horrific he’d been when I’d first arrived as his watcher. How he’d killed innocent people to satiate his hunger, and how things had slowly changed. How he’d changed.

“Are you falling in love with him?” Lorenzo asked, his gaze unreadable.

“Yes.” I didn’t need to think about it. I felt it.

“And the others.”

I ducked my head. “You obviously heard me and Ordell.”

“Sex doesn’t mean love, Orina. ”

I looked up at him sharply. “I know, but I’m sure you know the rules around sex for blessed Order members.”

He smiled wryly. “I do.”

“Everything?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re not going to ask me why I…”

“Why you gave up your blessing? No. Because I know you well enough to appreciate that it would not have been a decision you made lightly, and it would not have been simply for physical gratification.”

The strange weight that had settled on my chest as our conversation drifted into these waters lifted. “Thank you. And yes, I gave it up to save Ordell from his curse.”

His eyes narrowed. “I see. The beast.”

“Do you know everything ?”

He chuckled softly. “Enough. I’m assuming that mark I saw on your shoulder this morning was a mate mark?”

I’d come out of the bedroom briefly in my undershirt and jeans to grab my phone charger. He must have seen it then.

“Yes. It is.”

“Hmmm…” He gathered our plates and set them in the sink. “Coffee?”

“Please.” Was that it? He wasn’t going to probe?

“Someone took you from your family,” he said, his back to me. “Maybe the same person who sent you to Dracul territory? But why? They couldn’t have known what importance you had. There is no way for them to know. No, the motivation must be something unrelated.”

“Hemlock is going to look into it.”

“Good.”

“Although I did ask Micah to dig around too.”

“Your mentor?”

“Yes. He called before we left to check on me.”

“And you told him where you were going?”

“Protocol. I’m stationed in Dracul as a watcher, and part of that contract is to keep my Order contact in the loop if I have to leave the territory. I didn’t go into details, just that I had family on the Isle and that my Order parents weren’t my biological parents.”

“And?” He carried two cups of coffee over. “What did he say?”

“He told me not to go. Said it was too dangerous and asked me to hold off until he could find out the truth on his end.”

“And yet you’re here.”

“It makes sense to be.”

He sipped his coffee. “It does, and I won’t let any harm come to you.”

I believed him. “I know you won’t.”

He held my gaze for several seconds, and my face grew warm. He released me with a smile. “Do you believe in destiny, Orina?”

“I’m not sure. ”

He settled in his seat and looked out the window. “Interesting.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He sat up straighter, his attention on something out the window that I couldn’t see. “Rodney, do you see it?” he called.

“I see it, boss,” Rodney said.

“What is it?”

“I think we have a tail.”

There was indeed a vehicle not too far on the road behind us. But if Lorenzo was worried, he wasn’t showing it.

I, on the other hand, wasn’t so cool about it. “Who’d want to tail us? Can you check who else left the dome today?”

“They wouldn’t have necessarily come from the dome,” Lorenzo said. “They could have been waiting for us to leave the dome.”

“But who out here would know about our trip?”

“Did your friend Crush kill the bounty hunter and his people or simply beat them black and blue?”

“I…I don’t know. But the bounty is off. The Circle retracted it.”

“Doesn’t matter. The hunters know that you’re valuable to them, and not everyone is averse to blackmail.”

“Fuck.”

“Yes. Precisely. Rodney, how far to the pockets?”

“Twenty-five miles.”

“Then maintain speed till we get to the bridge.”

All right, Lorenzo obviously had a plan. I wanted in on it. “Why the bridge?”

“The bridge is the boundary where magic begins to weaken. The pockets begin later.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The pockets hold areas that don’t house magic, where the supernatural becomes mundane. The fact that these hunters are making themselves known now means that they’re supernatural and are relying on magic to take us down.”

“So, we get to this bridge and then what?”

He smirked. “The bridge is where magic is at its weakest, and even at my weakest, I’m stronger than most. They probably don’t realize how they’ll be affected, though.”

The silver rings around his pale gray irises glowed brightly for a moment, and my pulse lurched in response, because I suddenly had no doubt that although this man came across as cool and collected, the persona was merely a facade to contain the wild forces that raged within him.

I couldn’t wait to watch him unleash.