Blood Before Sunrise

My equilibrium was off as I traveled to the PNT headquarters. Up was down, north became south, and the emerald pendulum glowed so hot, I thought it would scorch a hole right through my pants. I don’t know why I didn’t leave the damned thing at home, but for some reason, I felt I simply couldn’t part with it. The pendulum seemed to have a knack for knowing when and when not to make its presence known. And right now, it wanted me to stand up and take notice. After being mostly dormant, the gem had come to life over the past few days, growing hotter and hotter in my pocket, where I’d stowed it away. I had a feeling it was trying to deliver a message, but whatever that message was would just have to wait.

I focused my senses, tried to ignore the flow of time, and sent out invisible feelers for my genie. Even though I knew Ty would be safe while I searched for Brakae, I needed to feel some kind of connection to him, the reassurance of his presence. I’d felt something arc between us when Moira had attacked Tyler with whatever magic she wielded against him. Maybe I could feel our bond again. Tyler claimed he could sense our connection. He’d found me at Reaver’s house. He could find me almost anywhere. I’d taken care of that, though. I’d wished him confined to the city, forbidding him to come after me. And the fact that I’d once again brushed his help to the side, not allowing him to be strong enough for both of us, left me feeling empty and lonely-incomplete.

I’d arrived thirty minutes early, too damned antsy for patience of any kind. I’m sure there were toddlers out there with better waiting skills than mine. My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I checked the caller ID: Ty. Well, what did you expect? Did you really think he’d just shrug his shoulders and say, “Well, okay then. If you say so.” I stared at the phone, holding my breath until it quit ringing. A few seconds later it started up again, buzzing incessantly, and I pictured Ty’s furious expression when the buzzing stopped and my voice mail undoubtedly answered.

Fallon approached the gate at two minutes past one, his swagger evidence of his satisfaction at the turn of events. He walked to the gate, careful to avoid the security cameras, and pressed his face against the metal bars. The wild glint in his hard gray eyes sent a shiver from my head to my toes as he looked to where I stood, as if he could see me in my shadow form. “Do you have what I want?” his cold voice pierced the night.

“Do you have what I want?” I asked in return. I wanted Fallon to go down so bad, I could taste it. I hated opportunists.

“You know I do,” he answered, running his forefinger down the center of the gate. A golden light glowed from his fingertip, and the gate swung open wide enough to permit my shadow form to slide through. “Careful.” He looked to the guard station behind him. “If you touch the gate, the wards will react. I’d hate to see you caught when you’re so close to getting what you want.”

Yeah, right. Like Fallon gave two shits about what I wanted. He’d seen an opportunity to steal something he wanted without getting his hands dirty, and the bastard had taken it. Remaining cloaked by night, I slid through the opening in the gate. With another touch of his finger, he sealed up the entrance, effectively sealing me in.

Fallon led the way back toward the complex. His black military-style garb seemed fitting for his role as PNT security high roller, but another thing I planned on doing once I had Delilah’s information was make sure he no longer carried his position here. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I tried to ignore it, though every pulse came with a mental image of Tyler’s furious face. Brakae. I kept my eye on the prize: Find Raif’s daughter and end the grief that had followed him for centuries and spurred a blood feud that had almost destroyed an entire kingdom-not to mention me.

We entered the building, and Fallon secured the door behind us. He looked at the empty reception desk, his hands balling into fists at his sides. “Can you believe they allow a human to work here?” He ran his hands through his hair. “It makes me sick.”

“What the hell do you care about who works here?” This guy had some serious antihuman hang-ups.

“Humans are like insects,” he spat as we made our way to the elevator. “Or worse, rodents. They multiply like rabbits-or rats,” he laughed. “Humans are filthy rats. A pestilence contaminating the world with their presence.”

“Give me a break.” I hated him more by the second. “They’re not much different from you, or from me, for that matter. Live and let live.”

We stepped in the elevator, and Fallon took a step toward me, close enough to my shrouded form that he could have almost touched me. “You’re not anything like them,” he said, inhaling the air where I stood. “You are something else entirely. Special.”

His words frightened me. The desire in his tone, laced with violent need, touched every part of me in a way that made me feel violated. There was nothing sexual about it. What I’d felt from his voice ran deeper than physical desire. I suddenly regretted wishing into uselessness the only person in this world who could offer me protection.

“Humans are bred from the mundane,” Fallon continued to complain as the elevator took us into the bowels of the building. “Before the humans poisoned the earth with their vile presence, the Fae and creatures like them ruled. We walked in freedom without fear of revealing our true natures. It sickens me how low we’ve sunk. Hiding, pretending to be nothing more interesting than a leaf dangling from a branch.” He leaned in toward me again, tracing the air around me with his hands. “But if you look closely at the leaf, you will see its intricacies. The various patterns and weavings in its construction. You will see the extraordinary. The magic living within each cell. We are passed over as common things when we should rightfully hold dominion over this world.”

Wow, evil dictator, anyone? I didn’t respond to his tirade. Honestly, I doubted he’d care one way or the other how I felt on the issue of supremacy. Xander believed that Shaedes and Fae, Jinn and Sylphs, even Lyhtans and the rest of the supernatural world, were just as much a part of the natural order as humans, animals, grass, and even insects. He believed that nothing was infallible or immune to the laws of nature. It didn’t mean that he didn’t recognize the supernatural community’s need for discretion, though. Humans weren’t superior to the supernatural, but the one thing humans were not good at was stepping out of their comfort zones. And discovering the neighbor could become a gust of wind whenever she might choose, well, that just wouldn’t fly with most of them. Best to leave Sylphs, Fae, and the like in legends, where they belonged.

The elevator door slid open, and I stepped out into the darkened corridor leading to Delilah’s cell. “You’ll soon see, Darian,” Fallon said. “And you will be amazed.”

For shit’s sake, this guy got creepier by the second. If simply turning him in wasn’t good enough, I might have been tempted to run him through with my katana if the occasion arose. All I wanted was to get the information locked in Delilah’s crazy head and get the hell out of here. I tried not to dwell on the fact that I was trapped inside the walls of the PNT facility until Fallon let me out. I fought for control of my nerves as his presence frayed them to shreds. The emerald pulsed in one pocket, my phone buzzed in the other, each reminding me of unfinished business. But I pushed those things to the back of my mind and followed the path of fear to Delilah’s cell.

Fallon entered the security code into the electronic pad, and the door slid open in a flash. Delilah sat exactly where I’d left her days before, huddled in a ball, pathetic and useless. “You see?” Fallon said, nudging her with his booted foot. “I kept her safe and sound for you.”

I drifted from my shadow form and raised a quizzical brow. What the fuck was his definition of “safe and sound”? From the looks of her, Delilah was neither. “Let’s get this show on the road.” I squatted down to Delilah’s level. “I’ve got places to go and people to see.”

“The hourglass?” Fallon asked with an icy tone.

“Will be yours once you hold up your end of our bargain.”

“How do I even know you have it?” he asked. “I could free the Oracle’s mind only to be rewarded with a piece of trash.”

I rolled my eyes. Apparently Fallon had been double-crossed before. Maybe then he wouldn’t be too surprised when I turned him in to Reaver. I slung a small backpack from my shoulders and dug through the largest pocket, retrieving the hourglass carefully protected in a towel. I took care in unwinding the relic from its wrappings and held it aloft for Fallon’s inspection. The sparkling grains of golden sand floated upward into nothing before pouring back into the bottom of the glass. His gray eyes flashed with quicksilver when he saw it, his hands reaching out to take it.

“Whoa, boy,” I said, covering the hourglass and stowing it in my bag. “Not until you give me Delilah.”

A calculating smile lit up his face. “Can’t have one without the other.” He knelt beside me at Delilah’s feet. “What do you say, my dear?” he whispered near her face. “Are you ready to come out and play?”

Like some kind of freaky Stepford wife, Delilah stood. Her empty milky blue gaze stared straight ahead, though