“Welcome back,” Roz murmured.
“Are you telling the truth? Are there people out there, fighting for us?”
“Of course. Now, you two have to get out of here. Go as quickly as you can.”
“We can’t leave you,” Ryan answered.
“You have to get Maria away. She’s still weak, and you can’t help me.” She gave him a smile. “Don’t be so worried. I have a plan and you being here won’t help—they’ll just be able to use you against me, and all this will be wasted.”
He gave her a long look before nodding once.
“Good.” She turned to Maria. “You must go to the Order. Tell Piers what happened. Tell him…” She shook her head. Hopefully, she didn’t have to tell him anything else. He would know. Soon both she and the Key would be destroyed.
She hoped he felt guilty for spoiling her last night alive. He should, the bastard.
Lowering her arm, she stepped back. “Go.”
Maria paused as she passed and kissed her on the forehead. “Thank you—you’re a good person, whatever you may think.”
“Yeah, yeah.” But she couldn’t prevent a small smile creeping over her face.
Ryan hugged her. “Keep safe.”
She watched as they hurried away along the embankment, then closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. Turning, she surveyed the small group. On to phase two.
Ryan and Maria needed a few more minutes to get clear of the area. She shoved her hands in her pockets, tried to appear cool, and strolled over to where Andarta stood beside Jack. The lesser demons formed a semi- circle around them, but as she drew closer, they shifted to form a ring, which circled her inside them.
She halted just in front of Andarta and looked up. Why the hell was everyone taller than she was? “I want in,” she said.
“In?”
“To be part of what you’re doing. I want a place in your new world.”
“And why would
“You saw a little of what I can do, and I’m also a Seeker. I can be of help to you.”
“Hmm, you have power, that’s true. You healed those two with no effort whatsoever. But the problem is, I don’t trust you. I don’t understand you—why give over something as valuable as the Key for a couple of humans who’ll be dead in a few years anyway?”
She shrugged. “I’m loyal to my friends. I could be a good friend.”
“And you seek to be friends with me? Why?”
“I need your help.”
“In doing what?”
Roz unbuttoned her shirt and slipped it down off her shoulder to reveal the sigil wrapped around her upper arm. “I’m enslaved to a demon, and I’d prefer to be free.”
Andarta pursed her lips. “A powerful demon, but I think we can get rid of that with a little effort. Now show me the Key.”
Roz reached into her pocket. She peered over her shoulder; Maria and Ryan had vanished. They’d be safe by now.
Phase three.
The part she really wasn’t looking forward to.
…
“Well, we can be pretty sure she’s somewhere close by,” Christian said.
“What?” Piers had been thinking about what he was going to do to Roz once he found her. He had a few options; it was which one would come first he couldn’t decide upon. Christian was driving, but now he slowed the vehicle and pulled up at the side of the road. Through the side-mirror, Piers could see the black van with Carl and his men pull in behind them.
He glanced up ahead as Christian gestured toward the couple who were heading their way. Sister Maria he recognized immediately even without the habit, but the tall man beside her, helping her along, he didn’t know.
They saw them at that moment and came to an abrupt stop about fifteen meters away. Piers climbed out of the car. Sister Maria obviously recognized him. She spoke quickly to the man and hurried up to them.
Piers examined her closely; she had a bite mark on the side of her neck, her skin was pale, but otherwise she appeared unharmed. The man had an impressive set of bruises that were healing fast, fading as Piers stared.
“Mr. Lamont—” Sister Maria began.
“Where’s Roz?” he interrupted her.
“We need to call the police, get back-up,” the man beside her said. “I’m Detective Ryan of the Metropolitan police.”
Piers turned to him. “Do you really think the police can help here, detective? Now where is Rosamund?”
The detective opened his mouth, no doubt to argue, but they didn’t have time for this. Christian stepped forward. “We have to get Roz first. Afterward, we can call the police, if they’re needed. I can assure you we’re better equipped for this than the police. You’ve seen what we’re up against.”
The detective studied the group. Christian stood beside him at the front, Carl with four of his werewolves behind, and Jonas looking frail and old in the middle. The magic had exhausted him, but he’d insisted on coming, and Piers hadn’t tried to dissuade him. The warlock might come in useful, and this was to some extent his fault. He claimed he couldn’t reverse the spell, but it was still better he was here in case magic was required.
“Go get her,” Maria said. “She’s by the bridge. She gave us time to get away, but they’ll kill her—or worse.”
Piers didn’t believe there was anything worse than killing her. Death was final. But he didn’t bother explaining that to the sister. Religious types tended to have some weird ideas on the subject of dying, though he suspected Sister Maria’s beliefs might have undergone a radical turnaround in the last few days. He looked a little closer and saw that she was holding the ripped pieces of her shirt together at the front. He removed his coat and handed it to her, revealing the firepower beneath.
“Hope you’ve got licenses for those,” Ryan said. “Though come to think about it, I don’t think it’s possible to get licenses for sawed-off shotguns.”
Piers didn’t bother replying. He glanced around. The night appeared quiet, but he preferred not to involve any more humans in this. Time to get it over with.
“How many with her?” he asked.
Ryan answered. “A guy called Jack, a whole load of these monster things, and a woman—I don’t know her name; she just turned up tonight.”
“A blond woman?”
“Yeah, with these weird marks on her face.”
“Shit.” Andarta. She must be getting stronger.
He could feel something building up inside him and realized with a flash of shock that it was panic. Jack and a whole bunch of lesser demons they could deal with, no problem. Andarta was another matter entirely.
“Come on.” He had a feeling time was running out. “Carl, your guys take on the lesser demons. Christian, you take Jack.”
“And you?”
“I’m going to save Roz, then go after Andarta.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Chapter Sixteen
This was it.
