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.” He walked away with his hands in his pockets, whistling loudly.Arsehole.Daimhín calmly watched him leave.“Don’t get used to his presence.He won’t last long as alpha.” But in the car, hidden from everyone else, she lost her patient mask.“What are we going to do? Seth will take over everything.And if he has two tainted nephilim—two!—I don’t know how I’ll recover from this.Oh, it’s just one thing after another lately.Why can’t I have a century or so of peace like the old days?”“One: calm down.Two: calm down.Has Eloise seen anything yet?”“Oh, you know how she plays.She denies it, but she’s probably already certain how this will pan out.”“Keep an eye on her.Or maybe I can talk to her.”“No! Certainly not! Besides, you have your own seer.”“Running empty on our end, too.Does that mean something, you think? Could he control what a seer… sees?”“I have no idea.I’ve never had dealings with him personally.I know my master did, and he was terrified of the first.I don’t think we can discount anything at this stage.”“Are we in this together?” I asked, feeling awkward.“I mean, are you planning on selling me out to appease him, or are we on the same page about getting rid of him for good?”She hesitated a beat too long.“It’s not that I want to work with him.But if he dies, then so does our last chance to reproduce.”“Look at what reproduction has done for you lately,” I said angrily.“Jules and beasts.Those days are over.Deal with it, Daimhín.”She glared at me.“There’s no need for arrogance, Ms.Delaney.” She smoothed her linen trousers over her thighs.“As long as you oppose him, I will do the same.We can never be allies, but sometimes we share a purpose.If you side with him, I’ll make sure somebody ends you.I seem to recall you don’t do well against bullets.”I forced a laugh.“Really? Funny how I’m still breathing then, isn’t it?”She sniffed.“Confidence doesn’t suit you.”She leaned out the window and beckoned Zion.He walked over, got into the driver’s seat, and started the engine.“We’re taking Ms.Delaney home.”We rode in silence.When the car finally slowed to a stop outside the cul-de-sac, she looked at me.“Is it possible?”“What?”“This… thing about Lucifer being freed.Is that something you can do?”I sighed.“I have no idea what’s possible anymore.”I got out of the car, and Zion immediately drove off.Half of the residents were waiting for me with umbrellas shielding them from the downpour.“Okay,” I said.“I take it we’re doing this on the street.The meeting was a mess, but the vampire queen is ridiculously worried, so I’m thinking we need to do the curfew thing.Maybe Seth can live in daylight, but I don’t think so.Well, I’m hoping he can’t.So at night, we stay indoors.But we’re back to keeping watch.If you see or hear anything unusual, sound the alarm.Nobody watches alone.If he can mind-control us, then we need to be extra careful.”“What happened at the meeting?” Carl asked.“The usual.The shifter thinks it’ll be easier to kill me and Jess than to deal with Seth.But everyone has a job to do.They’re all on the lookout for information, so that should make our lives easier.On a similar note, the shifter alpha plans on coming here to take out Esther.Anyone heard from Esther?”She wasn’t staying in the house I had transferred into her name, which made me believe she was hiding with Aiden.Everyone shook their heads.“We have to warn her,” I said.“He’s a mean prick, that one.I doubt he’s going to come here while he thinks Seth is stalking the place, but we’ll have to deal with him eventually.”“We need to leave,” Adam said.Parker appeared to be holding him up, and the seraph was shaking violently.“I’m telling you,” I said.“This is the safest place for Jess.”“I’m not running anymore,” Jess told her father.“Ava’s going to help me.You’re not well, so she’s going to train me instead.And when we find out how to kill Seth, we’ll do it.Okay, Dad?”She spoke to him as if he were a child, but he nodded obediently.She caught my eye and shrugged.I wasn’t sure if I was the best person to train a teenage girl, but she had no one else.“Carl, set up the watch system,” I said, then I sneakily gestured to Margie to check on Adam because he seemed feverish again.“Everyone else get some sleep.We’ve a lot of work to do tomorrow.”Once the crowd had wandered off, Peter asked, “How are you doing?”I looked at him as if he were crazy.“I’m fine, thanks.”“I can help with the girl.We could work together, and—”“Thanks.”“We’re going to be okay.” He took my hand and squeezed it.“We’ve been through wars.One measly vampire isn’t going to take us down.”I blinked some rain out of my eyes.“He’s not really a vampire, though.You would think vampires would know a lot about him, right? Daimhín said she’d question her vampires, but she’s an ancient.Why doesn’t she know more about him?”“We’ll find out the truth, me and you.We could go check out that vampire bar again.” His eyes flickered with excitement.“Just like the old days.”I smiled.“Those days aren’t so old.You should take Val, instead.She’ll put the fear of, well, Hell into them.”His face fell.“Okay.I will.”I looked over his shoulder and saw Lucia waiting for me.“I have to go talk to Lucia,” I told Peter.“I’ll see you in the morning.”I felt his eyes on my back as I walked away from him.I knew I wasn’t giving him what he wanted, but I couldn’t help expecting him to turn back into old Peter.I was terrified of old Peter.Old Peter had more of a hold on me than new Peter ever would.“You doing okay, Luce?” I asked the mute fae.She motioned for me to follow her, and we strolled toward the mouth of the cul-de-sac.For a moment, I worried that she was under Seth’s control, but then she stopped walking and held out her hand.I glanced around to see if anyone else was watching.We had kind of promised to stop sharing visions in that way, partly because it made Lorcan feel left out, but mostly due to the effect the visions had on me.I swallowed hard then placed my hand in hers.I squeezed my eyes closed when I felt the pressure of her fingers, and then I was somewhere else entirely.The sky was dark, but a full moon provided some light.We were standing outside the cul-de-sac.I could see my body on the ground.I was alive… barely.There was a healing cut across my nose, but the rest of my body looked newly broken.My other self reached out with a shaking arm, face distraught.Looking around in the vision, I saw Jess walk confidently up to Seth and take his hand.Sticking out of the back of her jeans waistband was my dagger.She didn’t look at my dying form as she strolled away with the first vampire.“No!” I fell out of the vision and realised I was lying on the concrete inside the cul-de-sac.“It can’t be.” I swiped at my wet face, and my hand came away bloody.Lucia knelt next to me.Her dress was flecked with what I assumed was my blood.She shrugged, a pitying look on her face.“It doesn’t have to happen that way.” I spat out some blood and rose to my feet.“We can always change your visions.”She took my hand again.I wasn’t prepared, but it didn’t matter much.That time, there was nothing, only darkness.However, I sensed the presence of others in the vision, though they seemed to be hidden or blocked.Frowning, I let go of Lucia’s hand.She gave me a meaningful look.“Wait,” I whispered as realisation hit me.“Those are other visions.Hidden by someone? But the first one was as clear as anything.Do you think you were meant to see that one? Or that your visions are being manipulated?”She shrugged again and helped me back to my house [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]