convince him.
Well, hell. Ryder knew Angie wasn’t up to something. She really was concerned about her sister.
But he was being honest with her when he told her that getting her together with Isabelle was a bad idea. It was best to keep them separated for now.
Was she serious about giving up the black diamond, though? Wasn’t that his goal, to get the diamond from her? Could he trust that she meant what she said, that she’d lead him right to it in exchange for his taking her to Isabelle?
He had to weigh the options. Maybe she was right. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to take her to Isabelle. Hell, maybe she could find out information about Isabelle better than Dalton could. Then again, it might do more harm than good. Dalton was working on Isabelle without her knowing who he was. The last thing he wanted to do was blow Dalton’s cover by marching in there with Angelique in tow and having Angie spill all their secrets.
Then again, it would solve a lot of their problems to have the black diamond-if Angie was being honest about leading him to it. Could he really trust her?
Shit. He was going to have to consider his options, then make a decision by tomorrow morning. He went inside. Angie was in the tiny kitchen.
“There’s chicken salad. Eat,” she said, keeping her gaze averted.
They ate, neither one of them talking. After, he helped her with the cleanup and she went to the bedroom without a word or a look.
She wasn’t angry, though.
He supposed there wasn’t any more she could say to him.
Or, for that matter, that he could say to her. They’d both said it all and they were at a stalemate. At least until he figured out what the next step would be.
He sat back on the sofa and stared down the hall at the closed door to the bedroom. A couple hours later, the light was still on. He worked on the weapons, occasionally glancing toward her bedroom door.
The light stayed on. Maybe she’d fallen asleep. Maybe she was reading.
Maybe he shouldn’t care.
He finally lay down on the sofa, making sure he was positioned so he wasn’t looking toward her room, since he felt ridiculous enough wondering what she was doing.
But he wasn’t at all tired-which is why he heard the click of the door opening to her room. Senses on full alert, he wished he hadn’t been so goddamned stubborn and had turned around to watch her bedroom. Was that her coming out, or someone going in?
He tightened his grip on the hilt of the knife at his belt, waiting and listening. Whoever or whatever it was crept closer to him. He could hear breathing, low to the ground, approaching the sofa where he lay.
In two seconds someone or something was going to be face-to-face with him.
He clenched the knife.
He was ready.
CHAPTER NINE
Ryder.”
He exhaled when he realized it was Angelique. He took his cue from her and didn’t move. “Yeah,” he whispered back.
“I heard something at the window to my room.”
“Back up.”
She inched over and he took a slow roll off the sofa, using his hands to break his fall so he made no noise. They lay side by side, flat on their bellies, while Ryder studied the hallway and her room.
Deathly silence filled the air, the two of them barely breathing. He strained to hear noises around them, anything that would signal something out of the ordinary.
He waited for a crash through the window or door, but it didn’t happen. Instead, a mist began to materialize at the bedroom door, a slow appearance of white smoke, drifting upward from the floor.
“Do you see that?” Angelique asked.
“Yeah.”
“I need a weapon.”
He pulled a blade out from his stash and handed it to her. “If anything comes at you, use this. There are more weapons around the house.”
“I know where they are,” she said.
He felt the steeled tension in her body as they both raised up on their knees.
“Get behind me. Until we know if there’s just one or more, let me handle this.”
She moved, and he was glad he wouldn’t have to argue with her. He was pretty sure that after the last time she faced one of these new demons, she wouldn’t want to go another round unless she had to. At least now she was armed, which gave him a bit of comfort and worried him at the same time.
If she had a weapon it could be used against her. He hoped there was only one demon, but who could tell
