“That’s not what I mean, Gladas. See, it’s fairly common knowledge amongst us magical types that a Nephil can’t harm another Nephil. Now, they’re also not allowed to directly interfere in human lives, unless provoked or approached directly—say if someone is attacking them or requesting a pact.”
Xander sat back in the seat.
“Honestly,” I said, “I lost my train of thought halfway through that little speech, so I’ll just kept talking until it comes back to me. Which it has! Since you have free access to Nephil power, you are under the same set of laws preventing you from directly interfering with humans. You needed Xander and me to decide to tag along. You needed us to put our own handcuffs on, right?”
Gladas bit his lip. “You are technically right. A Nephil can’t interfere with another human unless through a pact.” Sweat formed on his brow. “But you’re not human, demon. Like any other Sorcerer, you are open game for any Nephil to take out, be it through their Acolytes, their Cursed, or their own means. The same goes for Xander. He is not protected under the laws of the Nephilim Council, as his pact comes from a celestial host.” He scowled and pushed his head back into the headrest.
I cracked my neck, making sure I still had an intimidating edge after his solid point. “Don’t you dare think I forgot about that burger. And we’re taking our talents inside that greasy joint so I can use the big boy’s powder room.”
As we ate at a sticky table with soda stains all over it, two uniformed officers entered the establishment and ordered their meals at the front counter. One had a military haircut, a massive chew wadded into his lower lip, and he had to turn his shoulders sideways to fit through the double doors. The second officer was built more or less like a twelve-year-old girl who would rather dress up as a princess and ride a horse than scuff her knuckles on some nerd’s face. They found an empty table two places over from ours and set their triangular order number down.
I pulled my hood further over my head, hunched my shoulders forward, and kept my hands over my face. Xander stiffened, nudging my thigh with his knee, as if I hadn’t noticed.
“Hey, Gladas,” I said, swallowing my bite and clearing my throat, keeping a fist over my mouth. “I say we head back to the warehouse and scout the area a little more.” Despite his stirring words back in the car, I still didn’t trust him or his crazy girlfriend, and I didn’t want them knowing about my recent troubles with law enforcement if I didn’t have to. “We can finish eating in the car.”
“I think Joey makes a good point,” Xander said. “We only saw the place from that one side. It would be good to take a look at the perimeter and check for any inconsistencies. Maybe there’s a broken window we can sneak through, or armed soldiers moving around the lot we should know about.”
Gladas set his burger down—a turkey burger with avocado, no cheese, mayonnaise, or ketchup. I’d never been more disappointed in anyone in my whole life. Dabbing his lips with a paper napkin, he glanced at his watch. “I think that’s a good idea.” Sliding his chair back, the Demi stood and straightened his suit.
Xander stood next, followed by Annie, who was murmuring nonsense to herself—making us very conspicuous to the police officers. I remained seated, not wanting to do anything that Gladas agreed with. Why had he been so willing to go back? Why had he glanced at his watch before concurring with our proposal? What did he know, what did he plan? I didn’t know, but at some point, we would have to head back to the warehouse and see this idiotic plan through.
I stood, dropping my napkin onto the tray and leading our ragtag group out of the restaurant. I didn’t look back to see if anyone followed, including the cops. My attention was fixed forward on what lie ahead. Tired of looking back, tired of chasing leads every which way, tired of being scared and running further from my goal, I decided it was time to end this shit. If that meant trusting Gladas’s word and walking blind into a trap without mastery of my new powers, then I would bury my feelings and do that. To have a chance at defeating her, I would have to control my abilities, though—and I knew of only one way to make that happen.
“We’re making one more stop,” I said without looking back.
15
Xander handed me his set of keys to the MIS office building, and more discreetly, his cell phone. Near the front door, a new pair of agents disguised as bums rested against the wall. I didn’t have the energy or the humor to banter with them. I unlocked the door and shot through to Xander’s office.
Gladas and Annabel waited in the car with Xander, holding him as collateral in case I decided to try something sporadic. At first, Gladas had insisted that Annabel attend me while I prepared my weapons. But he backtracked, thinking I might kill her, and probably believing she didn’t have the mental capacity to defend herself. For a moment, I know he considered leaving her with Xander while he accompanied me into the building—but that left him with the same dilemma, with Xander and Annabel. In the end, the Demi settled on killing Xander if I took longer than one hour or attempted any surprises. Threatening to kill Xander if I failed to return bolstered my belief that Gladas was still working with Circe. Call me paranoid if you must—I know the man was desperate to cure his childhood crush, but still.
