Bitten in Two

seemed to have the ancient sadness of one of Lucifer’s groupies.

She never Fell, my Inner Librarian corrected me, giving her bun a twitch to keep a stray curl from running amok.

Kyphas was born in hell. That makes her spawn, not angel.

Now you’re just playing with semantics, I told her.

Spawn are the children of fallen angels.

And other things! noted the Librarian.

I’ll give you that. Sometimes. I couldn’t take my eyes off Kyphas’s face, almost grieving as she absorbed the information on the map she’d unrol ed. But maybe Cole was right about her after all. Now wasn’t the time for theorizing though. I whispered, “Astral. Copy that map.” The cat set her recorders to key to the Enkyklios map. I felt my chest tighten as I realized I was about to find out where the Rocenz was located. When my shoulders slumped Vayl said, “What is wrong?”

“The map. It’s just a bunch of colored circles surrounded by rectangles. There’s some writing I can’t see at the top and bottom of the map. But no X to mark the spot where the tool is hidden.”

He said, “Then we wil take the demoness and the map a s soon as she exits the building.” Vayl’s tone didn’t change, which, of course, it wouldn’t. He took shit like this in stride. I guess after overcoming a mil ion or so setbacks you learn how to keep on keeping on. But damn, you’ve gotta live a long time to get to that place.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

We were waiting on the steps of the palace when Kyphas emerged, holding Astral in one hand and the map in the other. She looked only mildly surprised to see us. This, I was discovering, was the drawback of working with old souls. They’d seen so much they were tough to startle.

Vayl held out his hand. “Give me the map, Kyphas.” She hugged it closer to her chest. “I don’t think so.”

“Remember your contract? You vowed to help us find the Rocenz.”

She nodded exactly one time. “I did.” Her eyes never wavered from Vayl, but she seemed to tighten, as if some invisible machine had surrounded her with shrink-wrap. I’d already drawn Grief. Now I aimed the barrel right between her eyes.

“You also promised to fight with us,” he reminded her.

“The fighting’s over,” she said. She jerked her head back toward the museum. “I’ve kil ed the rest of your enemies.”

She may be right, said Granny May, who’d put aside her sewing to set up another game of bridge.

Who’s side are you on anyway? And does Winston Churchill really need that big a bowl of Doritos?

Cole had also drawn. But his Beretta remained pointed at the ground as he said, “Kyphas. I thought we were…

friends. What the hel ?”

“Exactly,” she replied. When she looked at him, the longing in her eyes actual y churned up some sympathy from somewhere deep inside me. She tore her gaze away from him and pinned it back on Vayl. “Here’s your map.” She launched Astral, not at him, but at me, fouling my shot as she threw herself behind a huge white pil ar.

I dropped my arm and stepped out of the way as robokitty came flying through the air like a claw- laced torpedo. She landed on her paws on the street beside me with the harsh clunk of granite hitting brick. I checked her out, relieved to find her in one piece, but pissed off as wel .

Now, by handing Astral back, Kyphas had kept her end of the deal. As far as she was concerned our contract was complete.

“Raoul!” I yel ed. “Tel me you brought your sword!” He couldn’t kil her with it here, of course. But if we could get her through one of the fire-framed plane portals, then the sword would destroy her. I knew one had to be close. They tended to fol ow me, though neither one of us had figured out why.

Raoul gave his cap a frustrated jerk. “I just came from the worst date of my life. Why would I bring a weapon along?”

Cole and I both said, “People do it al the time!” We looked at each other. Cole slapped his hand against his chest. “Not me, though. I’m just saying, there was this girl once who got real y pissed and—”

“I’d never suggest something like that about you,” I assured him. Then I realized al the guys were staring at me with that slightly stressed look that suggested they suddenly weren’t quite sure they were safe. “Aw, come on! Real y?” Stil keeping an eye on Kyphas, who’d emerged from hiding when we stopped trying to splat her, Cole slid over and patted me on the shoulder. “Forgive us, Jaz. You’re right, it’s sil y to think you’d ever shoot an ex when you already know twelve ways to kil him with your bare hands.”

“More like thirty, but that’s okay. I think.” Vayl stepped forward. “Kyphas, come with us. Whoever cal ed you to recover the map, whatever deal you have made with them cannot technical y supersede our contract.

You could stil be our al y. We would even offer you more if you cared to take it.”

“Like what?” she asked.

“Bergman is starting a new business that could use people with exactly your sorts of skil s. Jasmine and I are considering becoming his partners. If, as time passed, we al seemed agreeable to the notion, you might even consider joining our Trust.”

Like hell! I nearly squeezed the trigger just to prove how opposed I was to his last statement. But Vayl had given me the signal for play-along-with-me-on-this-one, two crossed fingers tapping the