He hesitated for a moment, as if he were considering arguing some more, but I’m sure he realized he wasn’t going to get a better offer from me.
“Very well. I look forward to proving my worth to you,” he said, some of his old arrogance returning. “How shall we travel to L… Azazel’s mansion?”
I pretended not to notice that he’d nearly said “Lord Azazel.” I imagined some habits were very difficult to break.
“Portal is fastest, but I don’t want to arrive inside the property.”
He nodded. “That is wise. Even if Azazel has abandoned his home, there may yet be soldiers loyal to him that were left behind.”
“I don’t know why you would bother staying loyal to someone who would ditch you, but whatever. Can you get us close to the house without putting us directly in it?”
“There is a little-used road that runs along the front of Azazel’s property,” he said slowly. “The disadvantage of arriving there is that we will be easily seen by anyone looking out the front of the mansion.”
“Yeah, but that will be a problem no matter which direction we approach from. The house is surrounded by open lawn. There’s no tree cover close to the mansion,” I said, picturing Azazel’s estate in my head. “The road is probably the closest we can get without actually being on the property.”
“The portal will be less conspicuous if we leave from your backyard,” Nathaniel said.
“I’m not sure I should even bother trying to be inconspicuous at this point,” I said, but I followed Nathaniel into the back.
“Hold on a sec,” I said, crossing to the small shed that I used to store gardening supplies.
It was one of those home-supply-store do-it-yourself jobs, and several Chicago winters had taken their toll on it. The doors didn’t quite shut all the way, and the metal sides and roof were dented and rusted. I yanked one of the doors open and gagged at the smell that billowed out.
I covered my nose with my sleeve and peeked inside. The corpse of the Bad Man was propped in the corner. It was decomposing far too rapidly for the frigid temperatures. Chunks of burned flesh and skin had already fallen off bone, and it seemed as though the body had shrunk.
“You may not have to worry about disposing of the corpse,” Nathaniel said. “It will likely be completely gone by tomorrow.”
I shut the door. “Let’s just hope the police don’t show up in the meantime. J.B.’s got enough to deal with already.”
4
NATHANIEL RAISED AN EYEBROW AT ME.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “It’s an Agency thing.”
He conjured a portal in the center of the yard. Litter from the alley behind us skittered across the ground and into the swirling tunnel. The branches of trees bent toward the portal.
“My lady,” Nathaniel said, indicating I should enter.
“Uh-uh,” I said, shaking my head. “While I’d normally be thrilled at this demonstration of respect for my skills, I think you can go first.”
“You believe I would deliberately send you into harm,” Nathaniel said flatly.
I just looked at him, my arms crossed.
“Someday you will realize you can trust me,” he said angrily, and stepped into the portal.
“That day is not today,” I muttered, and followed him. I hoped there wasn’t an assassin waiting for me on the other side.
My head felt like it might collapse under the pressure of traveling through the portal. This kind of travel was a lot harder on me than it was on Nathaniel. The strain of mortality in me made negotiating the supernatural world several degrees more difficult than it was for all the immortals that hung around.
I tumbled out the opening, expecting to fall flat on my face as usual (somehow I still haven’t mastered the knack of landing on my feet). Instead, Nathaniel caught me easily around the waist, holding me just at his eye level.
His hands were hot. I could feel their warmth through the layers of clothing I wore. There was an unwelcome flare of something I didn’t want to name inside me, and I was reminded of all the times Gabriel had caught me just this way when I’d come through a portal behind him.
“Put me down,” I said. I didn’t need to feel any more confused about Nathaniel than I already was.
He lowered me to the ground, but didn’t release me, his eyes searching mine. I pushed his hands off and stepped back.
“Keep your hands to yourself,” I said, now embarrassed beyond measure because I’d revealed something to him that I’d have preferred he’d never seen.
“Of course,” he said coolly, and moved away from me.
Then a gigantic wolf slammed into him.
A second later Nathaniel was flat on his back with a red-and-silver wolf snapping at his throat.
“Jude!” I shouted.
The wolf growled, glancing back at me.
“Don’t kill him,” I said.
Jude growled again, turning to Nathaniel and showing the angel his teeth.
“Don’t,” I repeated.
He gave one last menacing grumble close to Nathaniel’s face. The angel had lain very still while Jude stood on top of him, correctly interpreting that the wolf would kill him without blinking if he moved an inch.
Jude stepped off Nathaniel’s chest. He went blurry for a moment, and then there was a man standing before me. A six-foot-four, 220-pound naked man.
I covered my eyes. It was like seeing my brother naked. “Where did you put your clothes?”
“Why is he here?” Jude said angrily. “I thought the ceiling fell on him in Azazel’s court and he was dead.”
“Please get dressed and I’ll explain,” I said, getting tired of staring at the backs of my fingers.
Jude blew out a breath; then I heard him move noisily through the grass. I knew it was deliberate because Jude can be more silent than air when he wants to.
“The wolf has gone into the woods,” Nathaniel said.
I uncovered my eyes and took a look around for the first time. We stood on the edge of a forest that ran along the road across from Azazel’s mansion. The house itself was directly opposite us, perched on top of a small rise. It was surrounded by a long, open slope of snow-covered grass on three sides.
I knew from my last visit that the back of the house had a similar open expanse, filled only by flower beds and topiary animals. The remainder of the property stretched away into the woods.
Gabriel had once told me that Azazel’s estate covered dozens of miles. There were certainly no sounds of humanity anywhere—no cars on the road, no people hiking through the trees. There weren’t even any planes flying overhead. It was almost as if they wouldn’t dare to cross Azazel’s airspace, or perhaps he had arranged for them not to.
Jude emerged from the trees wearing what I thought of as his tailgating outfit—gray sweatshirt topped with a down vest, jeans, work boots and a knit hat. Since he was from Wisconsin, his hat was dark green with a Packers logo.
“Remind me to buy you a Bears hat,” I said.
“Tell me why this traitor is here with you,” Jude said, giving Nathaniel the evil eye.
I sighed. Jude was never one for levity. I quickly explained about the deal Lucifer had made with Nathaniel, and my subsequent agreement to allow him to stay.
“I don’t like it,” Jude said flatly.
“Yeah, well, big surprise that you don’t like anything to do with Lucifer,” I muttered. “I don’t love it, either, and I’m not entirely sure I trust him.”
“I don’t trust him at all,” Jude replied, his ice-blue eyes burning daggers at Nathaniel over my head.