laughter comforting. He didn’t offer any further commentary, which was just fine by me. I was sick to death of the whole situation, and I didn’t care if I saw either one of their sorry asses ever again. I was in the mood for a fight, and Raif would help bring one to me.
“Enphigmale,” I said, slapping my palm down on the table. “I want to know everything.”
Raif stood and took up his chair, spinning it around and scooting it close to me. He straddled it and rested his arms on the high back. An expectant gleam, the bloodthirsty sort, shone in his eyes, and I waited for him to speak.
“As the legend goes, when the British Isles were a wild, nameless place and the human race was in its infancy, the land belonged to the extraordinary. Change came, as it always must, and the human population exploded. We hid ourselves as best we could, but even then there were humans who could see us for what we were. Sometime in the years before Christ’s teachings, I believe, it’s said that a group was gathered and formed. A collective to . . . police the supernatural community, and keep the natural order, you might say. They called themselves the Enphigmale, which, to tell you the truth, doesn’t mean much to me, but it could have meant something then.
“Anyway, the stories say they were a ruthless bunch of bastards, and even took it upon themselves to regulate us as they saw fit, if it seemed like our populations were increasing to an
“The Lyhtan said, ‘The Enphigmale will see to the end of your kind,’” I reminded him. “What do you think that meant? That they’re planning on exterminating us?”
Raif shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. Lyhtans aren’t exactly eloquent speakers, as you already know.”
“What about Azriel, then?” I tucked a leg up underneath me and leaned forward, resting my chin on my fingertips. “He has to have
Raif shook his head in that disappointed-father way that always drove me crazy. “Why kill her?” he asked. “She has value.”
“As what?”
He raised a brow.
“An Oracle,” I said, answering my own question.
“Perhaps.”
“So apparently they weren’t willing to make the sacrifice to buy Delilah’s services. From the looks of her, they decided to beat a vision out of her. Maybe they didn’t see anything at all,” I said, more to myself than to Raif. “Maybe the Lyhtan was just blowing smoke—or propagating something.”
“Could be,” Raif agreed.
“What else do you know about them?” His little story couldn’t possibly be all there was to the elusive group. There had to be more.
“Stories, for the most part,” he said. “Conjecture, guesses. Faerie tales passed down from one generation to the next. They’re a tight group and very secretive. Not much is known about them. Over the years the legends change; their role increases or diminishes. Who’s to say if there’s any truth to the tales at all?”
“What are the other versions of the stories?” I asked.
“I’ve heard some say the Enphigmale aren’t human at all. That they’re something else entirely, and the stories of secret societies are nothing but a smoke screen meant to scare the supernatural community. Boogey- men. It was once rumored that they were the guardians of something. Something so ancient it predates history.”
“Like what?” I could barely contain my curiosity. It burned like a forest fire, to mingle with my rage and need for vengeance. “What could they possibly be protecting? And what are they? Do you think they’re like us?”
“No, not like us. But who knows? Maybe they’re something dark and evil—a creature that answers to a specific master. Maybe the group itself is named after the animal that served them.”
“I don’t exactly consider us bringers of the light,” I said ruefully. “Would you?”
“Since when is everything black and white, Darian?” Raif asked in a reproachful tone.
“You’re forgetting another important question,” Raif said.
I raised a brow in question.
“How do
I suppressed a shudder. Somehow, I
“Find them?” Raif said. “Yes. And kill every last one.”
I smiled. Finally, someone who wasn’t insisting I hide and protect myself. “And what about Azriel? Are you certain he’s orchestrating all of this?”
Raif smiled back. “I hope so.”
I’d stopped at my apartment to grab a few things for the night, fully intending on returning to Xander’s to help Raif stand guard. Somehow the thought of being housed up with Tyler and Xander, not to mention the reminder of poor Delilah and her battered body, slowed my efforts. I wasn’t afraid of the danger. Cutting your eyeteeth in battle has a way of making a person swell with pride. And truth be told, I’d have much rather gone one-on-one with an enraged Lyhtan than spend the evening in the company of Xander, Tyler, or both. Hell, even Anya would have made a better companion, as far as my current circumstances were concerned. I just needed some time to clear my head. Get my shit together. But rather than think about anything, I curled up in a ball on the couch and fell asleep.
It must’ve been around midnight when I sensed a disturbance in the air behind me. I lay suctioned to the surface of my couch, barely breathing. I refused to wish for help. More than capable and deadly, I wasn’t about to go down without a fight. I tried to calm the shallow drafts of breath, slow the brisk thrumming of my pulse, as I waited for my guest to formally make his presence known.
“Hello, my love.” That cool, seductive voice snaked into my soul, pulling me unbidden into memories I’d tried to banish. He’d found me. I hadn’t been able to track him down, not for decades. And he’d found me. I hoped Azriel hadn’t come to kill me, because despite my claim of strength, I wasn’t sure I could kill him.
My voice froze inside my throat. Words formed on my tongue, but something prevented me from pushing them through my lips. My heart hammered inside my chest, and I suddenly felt the urge to swallow more than usual. I had often wondered how I’d feel if I ever came face-to-face with him again. Well, in this case, face to back of couch, but his voice was enough to send me over the edge. My nerves crumbled like dry bread, and I tried to make myself believe he’d leave if I could only manage to stay still for a moment longer.
Azriel’s soft laughter rippled over me like rings on a pond. I tried to clear my throat in an effort to jump-start my vocal cords, and the sound came more like a whimper than anything with force behind it. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to sit up.
“I was expecting the Big Bad Wolf, and instead I get Red Riding Hood. I have to say, Darian, I thought I made you tougher than that.”
I tucked up my knees closer to my chest. As if that could save me. I took three deep breaths, the kind deep- sea divers take, and I pushed myself to a sitting position. My back was still turned to him, and I felt more than heard the rise and fall of his chest behind me. His presence burned like an open flame in the center of my existence.
