Stepping out of the old freight elevator that served as an entrance to my apartment, I found the studio empty. Tyler had stayed away, and that was saying a lot, considering how he preferred to be stuck to me like Super Glue lately. I was basically over the whole episode, but having a knife held to the chest by a loved one sends a pretty strong message. Though I regretted doing it after my temper cooled, I wasn’t quite ready to eat crow. He’d been wrong, plain and simple. And when I’ve been offended, I’m not a run-away-and-cry-in-my-pillow type of girl. I’m a jab-someone-with-something-sharp kind of girl, and if he wanted to be with me, he’d just have to get used to that.
I discarded my duster, hanging it on a dining room chair, and absentmindedly shucked my boots. I let my feet sink into the deep pile of carpeting that marked my living room and slid down onto the overstuffed chair, propping my feet up on the coffee table. Warmth pulsed at my thigh, and I dug in my pocket, pulling out my strange new bauble by the chain. The gem had grown dark, its previous glow a tiny twinkle of light somewhere in the fathomless center of green. What was this thing? It looked like a pendulum. The gem was a pointed teardrop, and the fastener of the chain was a large silver loop and toggle. Unfastened, the gem dangled from the toggle, allowing the chain to be held by the loop. It hummed with energy, a powerful magic, indeed.
I couldn’t just leave it sitting out, and I couldn’t trust anyone with the knowledge of its existence quite yet, so I shuffled to the kitchen, my socks skating across the polished oak floor. A quick jimmy loosened the bricks that made up the false wall, revealing my safe. After a turn to the left, right, and left again, I pulled the heavy door open wide, staring inside at all of the meager keepsakes of my long life, along with a few bundles of emergency cash. I placed my newfound trinket amongst all of my other secrets and on impulse reached deep into the safe, pulling out a stack of postcards rubber-banded together.
The heavy stock was yellowed with age, and the individual cards stuck to one another even after I’d removed the band. I flipped through the images, pictures of landmarks frozen in time, that started coming sometime around 1932. Las Vegas, Atlantic City, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco, New York…Lorik had bounced around a lot while running from his father’s murderers. I flipped the cards over. My address had been the only thing written on the cards, along with a single message: Wish you were here! It pissed Azriel off to no end that Lorik sent the damned things, and he never knew I’d kept them. But it connected me to someone else in the world besides just Azriel. Grounded me when I had no footing. And now, decades later, all Lorik had to show for his life was stacks of old postcards. I rewrapped the cards with the rubber band and shoved them to the back corner of the safe. As I shut the door, the pendant glowed bright green, as if in protest. I turned the lock, secured the loose bricks back into the wall, and tried to forget about not only the past, but the way that glowing stone had calmed the rush of time, if only for a moment.
I had no doubt the mysterious gift had been meant for me. But why? And the identity of my benefactor had me stewing. Could it have been the same person who’d killed the Lyhtan and tried to kill me? Hardly. Why would someone attempt to kill me and then give me a gift? Hey, great job not getting killed. Here’s a token of my admiration! No, whoever had sent the falcon to me had not been my alleged assassin, but the two were more than likely related. And my gift giver obviously had no intention of revealing himself. Otherwise he would have given me the pendulum in person. I leaned against my kitchen counter, massaging the worry line from the middle of my forehead with my fingertips as I racked my brain for some clue.
The studio felt barren-so empty, in fact, the feeling seeped right into the marrow of my bones. I shouldn’t have been so testy with Ty. He’d been trying to protect me, foolish though it might have been. And what had I done to thank him? I shoved my knife at his chest. Good job, Darian. Way to go. If I felt abandoned, I had no one to blame but myself. I’d been an arrogant ass, and I probably deserved to feel like shit. But it didn’t mean I had to like it.
As I settled into my bed, the warmth of my down comforter urging me toward sleep, I tried to ignore the stabbing pain of loneliness that had stuck with me all night. I didn’t want to sleep alone; I’d grown used to Tyler’s body pressed against mine and needed to feel his reassuring presence. “I wish Tyler were here,” I murmured, half asleep, not sure if I’d said the actual words out loud or not.
I rolled to my side and recognized his weight beside me. My lips curved into a sleepy smile as he gathered me up in his arms. “Don’t stay away,” I whispered. “Even if I’m mad.”
“Promise,” he said, close to my ear. His breath stirred the hairs near my temple, and I snuggled in deeper to the curve of his body. Now, I could sleep.
My cell vibrated on my bedside table, crawling across the flat surface and making its way closer to my hand. I slid it the rest of the way across the tabletop and dragged the phone up to my ear, not bothering to check the caller ID.
“’Lo?” I said, my face still buried in my pillow.
“We’re moving the Oracle today.” Anya sounded almost pleasant.
I sat up in bed, awake, and looked to my left. Tyler was already gone. At least I could head to Xander’s without opposition or worry. Anya didn’t wait for me to respond; she probably hadn’t expected me to. “She’s going to be transported to the PNT’s Oregon headquarters in Portland, and His Majesty would like you to accompany the security team escorting her to the rendezvous point.”
Easy-squeezy. “I can do that,” I said, clearing any trace of sleep from my voice. “But I don’t work for free.”
Anya snorted through the receiver, and I smiled. “He expects you within the hour.”
It didn’t bother me that Ty had left while I slept in. He had to make a living just like anyone else, and he’d complained lately that by working for Xander, I’d cost him a few jobs. Though I didn’t fully understand the larger scope of all of Ty’s business dealings, the area that concerned me was his job as a “death for hire” contractor. If you wanted a sleazy criminal offed, you contacted Tyler. He brokered the deals and contracted the hits, which usually passed down to me. Always understanding, Ty hadn’t made it into a big deal that I hadn’t been as available lately. I needed a break from killing, even if it meant not taking out the bad guy to make the world a safer place for some other person. Azriel’s death had meant more to me than I’d let on, even to Raif. We’d been together; he’d saved me from a life of abuse, and for a while I’d thought I loved him. And in return, I’d taken his life.
I wondered a lot lately if Azriel’s spirit lingered somewhere near. Xander had once told me that Shaedes pass forever into shadow when they die, but he didn’t really elaborate on what happens afterward. He probably didn’t know. Did they go to Shaede heaven, where it was always lovely and dark? Did they stick around, prowling the shadowed corners of the world? Did they remain earthbound to haunt their murderers? A chill raced up my spine, spreading like icy water over my scalp. The last thing I needed right now was an avenging spirit. “Are you here, Az?” I whispered. “Watching me?”
Security detail meant I’d be decked out in black for the day. I needed to look serious, not to mention deadly, and I wasn’t going to pull it off dressed in a lovely white blouse. I pulled out my usual ensemble, nice stretchy pants, a long-sleeved nylon shirt, and, of course, my duster and black boots. I gathered my hair at the nape and braided the long strawberry blond curls before strapping the katana to my back, adding to the severe appearance I’d been looking for. I paused at a pair of black sunglasses and slipped them on, surveying myself in the mirror. “I’ll be back,” I said in my best Schwarzenegger voice before deciding I looked a bit too cliché-better to leave the glasses behind.
Raif met me at Xander’s front door and gave me a brief once-over. “I see you’re going for badass today,” he said, noting the extra set of throwing knives I wore at my waist in addition to the dagger strapped to my thigh. “I think you overdid it, though. This won’t take long.”
Sheesh. Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed. “Well, I don’t care if it takes ten minutes or ten hours. I wanted to look the part.”
“You succeeded. Let’s get going, then. I don’t want her under this roof for another minute.”
I wanted to ask Raif why, all of a sudden, Delilah was being hastily ushered from Xander’s care. Sure, I knew that eventually the PNT would take her, but I figured she’d be here for weeks until someone came to deal with her. “How is this going down?” I asked instead. “Are we taking her to the airport and loading her up, or are we dragging her all the way to Portland?”
Raif looked at me as though I had an eyeball hanging out of its socket. “Taking her to the airport?” he repeated slowly. “Of course not. She’s a high-profile prisoner. We’re escorting her to an exchange point, where she’ll be housed temporarily. She’ll be transported by a PNT team and taken to the Portland facility later.”
“Okay, don’t get your Calvins in a bunch, Raif. It’s not like Oracle Prisoner Transport is something I do on a daily basis. Shit.”
Raif’s shoulders slumped for the briefest of moments. If I hadn’t known any better, I would have sworn he felt bad for copping an attitude with me. But since I did know better, it was only my smart mouth, spurred by ignorance, that frustrated him. In my defense, it’s not like I could run down to the corner bookstore and buy a copy of Supernatural Existence for Dummies or What to Expect When You’re Expecting Preternatural Company. I’d been forced into a world I never knew existed, and it hadn’t been a gentle introduction by any means. I was learning as best I could, one slow, agonizing step at a time.
Delilah sat on her bed, looking as if she hadn’t moved a fraction of an inch since I’d last seen her a couple of days ago. Still cross-legged, still rocking back and forth, still muttering incoherent words to herself. If anything, she appeared more feral. “It’s time to go, Delilah,” I said, taking her wrists and fastening them in iron cuffs marked with swirling silver symbols. The silver had been woven with magic, according to Raif, and coupled with the iron to ensure Delilah couldn’t escape the manacles. Given her willowy, weak form, I doubted she’d be able to fight her way out of a paper bag.
“The Man, the Man, the Man…,” Delilah sang as I pulled her from the bed. She weighed no more than a small child. “He’s coming, coming, coming…”
“That’s right,” I said, leading her along, “and you’re going, going, going. Move along, out the door, and up the stairs.” I looked at Raif and shook my head. This Oracle was off her nut.
“Marking time, time’s Keeper weeps, along a crumbling path she creeps. Moments long and short she reaps, until the dawning seconds meet!” Delilah laughed as she rhymed, emitting a deep, guttural sound that reminded me of a diabolical cartoon character.
“Sure, sure,” I said through my teeth, pushing her up the stairs. God, could she walk any slower? “The Man is coming, and his girlfriend too. They’re probably crying because they have to follow your slow ass! I get it, Delilah. You’re one crazy bitch.”
She continued on, babbling and laughing and babbling some more. From the look on Raif’s face, he was about to spontaneously combust at any second. It was probably a good thing we were unloading her on the council. Better them than us. Besides, if he’d had to keep her one more day, I doubt I could’ve prevented Raif from granting Delilah’s wish and sending her after her dead sister.
We loaded her into a sleek black Lincoln Navigator, and I couldn’t help but feel a little “covert ops” riding around with the SUV’s tinted glass windows shutting out the world. Raif sat shotgun while I sat in back with Delilah. A Shaede I’d never met before drove us; his straight back and serious countenance in Raif’s presence told me chauffeuring us around town was the high point of his life. Raif was just one of those sorts. No matter whom he met, people wanted to please and impress him. I hated to admit, I did too.
We drove toward the outskirts of the city, away from the Sound and the noise and the people. Crowded streets became an open four-lane freeway, and within twenty minutes we were leaving Seattle behind. “Care to tell me where we’re headed?” I asked, willing to test Raif’s foul mood.
“Away from the city,” Raif said, staring out the window.
“Thanks, Captain Obvious. I could tell that on my own.”
Raif didn’t take the bait, and I folded my arms, put out that I hadn’t been able to engage him. Another fifteen minutes of our prisoner’s crazed mumbling filled my aching ears before we turned onto a paved and gated drive. Our driver stopped, pushed a button on an intercom, and waited.
“State your business,” a crisp male voice said through the speaker.
“We’ve come to deliver High King Alexander’s prisoner,” our driver said. “The Oracle, Delilah.”
The gates whined, slowly opening, and we passed through with considerably less fanfare than I expected. Our driver nodded in greeting as we passed the guard station a few yards past the gate, and he waved us on. I marked the passage of another two minutes and forty-four seconds as we drove up the winding drive before coming to a stop in front of a mirrored glass building, bigger than a grocery store, but considerably smaller than a skyscraper.
“PNT Washington headquarters?” I ventured.
Raif nodded his head.
He didn’t wear a CIA-issued black suit, but the PNT’s security escort looked no less intimidating. My bones hummed in my body, a reaction to the energy projected by the man approaching us, no doubt Fae. I’d become quite astute at recognizing other creatures by the way their energy made me feel, and the Fae, well, standing next to them was like wrapping myself up in a vibrating massage pad. Not an altogether unpleasant sensation.
“Raif.” The tall Fae with auburn hair greeted us, his eyes the color of forest moss. His build was lean, though I could tell every inch of him beneath his black military-style garb was corded with muscle. A short saber hung at one side and a set of knives at the other. He reached out his hand, and Raif took it before standing aside.
“Adare, this is Darian. Darian, meet Adare.”
I stepped forward, looking him straight in the eye as we shook hands. “So, are you running this show?”
“Cordial, this one,” Adare scoffed. “Bet she’s fun to hang around.”
Raif smiled as he led the way back to the SUV, where Delilah sat, still blathering on about absolutely nothing. “She’s been like this since we found her,” Raif said. “Frankly, I’m glad to be done with her. Will you be taking her to Portland straightaway?”
Adare looked Delilah over in the way a three-year-old looks with terrified awe at a stalking tiger caged at a zoo. Little bat-shit crazy Delilah had warriors crawling out of their skin. I had to admire her intimidation tactics. Raif inclined his head, and I ducked inside the vehicle. “Come on, Delilah. The train stops here. The PNT is going to babysit you for a while.”
I reached for her arm to pull her out when she lurched forward. Her sour breath hit my face before she laid her cheek to mine, her mouth close to my ear. “You belong to the Man now. Maybe he’ll introduce you to Brakae before he kills everyone you love.”
My fingers constricted around Delilah’s bony arm. Raif was right. We should have killed her and done the council a favor. “I don’t respond well to threats,” I said. “Especially ones from bony-assed bitches like you. Threaten me again and you won’t make it to Portland to stand trial-you got me?”
Delilah giggled in my ear, the sound sending rivers of chills across my flesh. “He will become the master of time and command the Keeper. He will finish what I started. You should have let me bleed you dry. Now it’s too late.”
I hauled her ass out of the seat so fast, her head lashed back from the force. I’d had it with her smart mouth, and what I really wanted was to shut her up for good. Let her be the PNT’s problem. They could try to decipher the crazy shit pouring out of her useless mouth. Threatening my loved ones, whether directly or indirectly, had been the last straw. She could rot in hell for all I cared, dead sister or not.
With a less than gentle shove, I handed Delilah over to Adare. He caught her before she tumbled to the ground and set her right on her feet. “You are hereby taken into custody of the Pacific Northwest Territories Council,” Adare instructed. “You are to stand trial for kidnapping, in addition to conspiracy for your malicious acts against the Shaede Nation. You are forbidden to speak or take action against any living thing until the next full moon when the council will hear your case.” He touched his thumb to a spot on her forehead just above her nose, the third eye. A glittering gold spark ignited between their skin, and Delilah fell completely silent. Her eyes glazed over; her limbs hung limp. She’d effectively become a rag doll. Since she offered no resistance, Adare was able to lead Delilah toward the mirrored building.
Raif waved in parting and didn’t waste any time jumping back in the front seat of the Lincoln. Adare stood stoic at the building’s entrance, waiting for the second member of his security team. I watched his partner emerge through the glass doors, his energy hitting me as if a king-sized tuning fork had been driven right into my skull. The vibration nearly sent me to my knees, but I fought the toppling sensation, fixing my gaze on the man whose power barreled toward me like a shock wave.
He was eternally young and vibrant, his dark hair framing his face and making the gray of his eyes all the more startling. A corner of his mouth tugged into a sardonic smile, the kind that invites a challenge. He stared straight at me, ignoring his partner as well as Delilah, who shrank away from his presence, her tiny shoulders hunched and quivering.
I took my seat and quickly shut the door. An involuntary spasm shook my body as I felt the weight of his stare right through the tinted glass window. Power surged from him, as if he knew I could feel it and wanted me to know exactly what kind of heat he was packing. This guy was the Excalibur of otherworldly energy. My vision blurred, and the sound of my blood pulsed in my veins and echoed in my ears. His gaze never left mine, and my chest began to ache, as if he were staring right through my soul. “Who is that?”
“That,” Raif said as our driver pulled away from the building, “is Fallon, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay as far away from him as possible.”
“But who is he?” I had to know. No one had ever unnerved me so, not even Azriel. I didn’t like it.
“I don’t know. But Adare says he’s dangerous,” Raif said. “That’s all you need to know.”