Hunted

lobby above. It was huge, about half the size of a basketball court. A set of grand stairs coiled to the second floor, then to the next ten floors. From the glass doors and walls, and the wide patios with potted plants and flowers, this wasn’t a business establishment. This was their home. The ceiling had a huge painting of the sky with a few clouds adrift, giving the illusion of outdoors.

We appeared to be headed toward a double door with wicked etchings. It reminded me of the doors to the Guardian Academy, except it was twice as big and twice as wide. They opened to reveal a large room with a vaulted ceiling, dominated by a large round table with twenty-four chairs at one end. Half of the chairs were occupied.

The room pulsed with demonic energy. The arrogance on the faces of the seated occupants indicated we were in the presence of the Order. None was my father. Disappointment washed over me. Annoyed with myself, I tried to remind myself that he was behind Kim’s kidnapping.

Unlike the demons with masquerade masks, the members of the Order made no attempt to hide their faces or hair. Horns, cat eyes, pointed batlike ears, hairy or scaly faces looked almost comical against their outfits, which were similar to those of their guests. At the end of the table was a tall, pale man with pitch-black hair tied in the back.

Lottius walked to edge of the table. “Father.”

“Thank you, daughter. You can leave us now.”

As she walked away, my gaze connected with her father’s. He didn’t offer us seats, just watched me with cold yellow eyes.

“You should not be here,” he said.

Bran stepped forward, “Gabreel, we—”

“Silence!” the demon hissed. “You don’t speak until I give you permission.” He turned his attention back to me. “And you can address me as Lord Gabreel.”

I didn’t respond.

“We gave you a chance to make a deal with us, Lilith, but you ignored it. Why?”

“We are here now.” The door closed with a loud click, bolts sliding into place. We reached the same conclusion: a trap. Hands reached for waists and thighs, and came up with daggers, sickles, knives, and a whip. Heat shot up my back then down my arm, the writings etching themselves under my skin. I’d expected that. The surprise was that they flowed to the Kris Dagger, which began to glow. My gaze connected with the others. They were all grinning.

The Kris Dagger was back!

The scraping of chairs on the floor filled the room as the members of the Order scrambled to their feet and tried to put distance between them and my dagger. Gabreel grew paler. Our grins probably made us appear crazier than the Mad Hatter.

Lord Gabreel cleared his throat. “Lilith—”

“Cardinal Lilith,” I corrected him, slipping the dagger into its sheath. I tried to release the hilt, but it clung to my palm, the writings racing from the blade back to me. Weird. The flow of power had changed. “I believe Cardinal Bran was about to explain why we are here, Lord Gabreel. Oh, and if you think you can trap us in here…” I turned and pointed at the door. Blasting it with a lightning bolt would have proved my point, but that would have drawn the archangels. I opened it, turned, and faced them.

The demons walked back to their seats.

“We are here for Cardinal Kim,” Bran explained.

“She is not here,” Lord Gabreel said.

“I think you misunderstood my words, Lord Gabreel. We know she is here, so bring her out or we’re burying all this,” he indicated the building, “along with every demon in it.”

Mocking laughter resounded in the hall from behind us and we turned to look as a woman entered the room. Wearing tight leather pants and high-heeled boots, black hair cascading behind her like a waterfall, and bright red lips, I’d recognize her anywhere.

Solange. My half-sister.

- 23 - THE DEAL

“No humility even in defeat,” Solange said, then threw a disdainful look my way. “Little sister, nice to see you again.”

“I hardly think we are defeated,” I said, recovering. I’d known we would meet again. I just hadn’t spent time thinking about it.

“Wait until you meet the archangels,” she said.

“Already did,” I shot back and grinned. “Raphael is quite the character, but I wasn’t impressed.”

Her smile faltered. “You are lying.”

I faked boredom, even pretended to study my nails, which was childish, but Solange rubbed me the wrong way every time our paths crossed. Why couldn’t I have gotten a nicer sister?

“Believe what you want, Solange, but we kicked ass. Bran even clipped a few wings.”

Gasps came from the occupants of the table. Solange’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, as though she wasn’t sure whether or not to believe me. I went for the kill.

“Isn’t funny how every time our father comes up with a diabolical plan, you are always at the center of it? When are you going to understand that you will never please him?”

“Oh, but I have. Without me, the Tribunal would not have brought him back. Without me, the archangels wouldn’t be after you now.”

I wanted to wipe the smug smile off her beautiful face. “Yet, as soon as he returned, he came looking for me. No matter what you do, he’ll always need me more.”

“He doesn’t need yow. He needs your dagger and the power that comes with it.”

“Not from the message I received through Gavyn. He’s willing to summon the Tribunal and ask them to rescind the orders given to the archangels if I agree to join you.”

“That’s a lie,” Solange yelled. “We presented our case and the Tribunal ruled in our favor. The archangels will come for you and the Kris Dagger will be ours.”

I shook my head. “Oh, you are about the dumbest daughter ever. The dagger belongs to us, and it always will.”

A snicker drew my attention to the other Cardinals. I’d completely forgotten their presence. A flash of amusement flickered in Bran’s eyes. Sykes smirked while Remy’s scowl hadn’t changed since we left home. Esras looked like he’d landed in the Twilight Zone. Guess he hadn’t heard of my evil sister. Solaris…

“Watch out, Lil,” Solaris yelled.

I whipped around, instinctively knowing that the threat came from Solange. A knife whipped through the air, the blade glistening. I froze it a few inches from my neck. Her aim was good. Pissed, I flipped the knife around and…someone grabbed my arm. It was Remy.

Don’t. We need her, he said.

No, we don’t.

Silver flashed in his gray eyes. She knows where Kim is.

She tried to kill me. That I couldn’t do anything about it pissed me off. I jerked my arm from Remy’s hand, reached out, and closed my hand around Solange’s knife. Her eyes widened when it burst into flame.

“You are such a freak,” Solange said, the sneer marring the perfection of her face. “No wonder no one wants you to live. Your presence is destroying the balance between good—”

“Already heard the speech from Raphael,” I cut her off. “Where is Kim?”

“With our father of course.” She moved closer and sat at the edge of the table, one booted leg resting on a