Feigning a stretch, he moved his foot to the alarm on the floor. “Are you one of the fallen?”
The question seemed to amuse her. “Do I look like one?”
“You’re asking about one, which begs the question. Not to mention we both know that once you fall it becomes very easy to manipulate perception.”
“I wouldn’t bother manipulating your perception. If I wanted basic information I would have taken what I needed from your mind, erased the event from your memory and left. What I need requires something far more substantial than that. Which I’m sure, by now, you’re aware.” She took a step to the side and slid into the chair across from him. “You’re not a stupid man, Mr. Newlander. Anyone who does what you do and manages to remain alive for an extended period of time has to be given credit for remaining vigilant. That’s why I’m going to trust that you’ll understand that I’m not here to shoot the shit or ride the breeze.”
“It hardly seems fair that you know me but I haven’t been offered the same courtesy.”
She smiled then, enhancing her very delicate and distinct features, displaying slightly pointed canines. “You do know that even if I tell you who I am I can wipe the memory clear before I go.”
He nodded. “So what’s the harm in an introduction?”
“None at all.” Her smile remained intact. “Although I think it’s only fair to mention that all of your electronic devices are disabled, including the cameras at your back and the alarm at your feet. So if you’re hoping to do a playback after I go, you won’t find anything.”
Alarm prickled the back of his neck but he didn’t allow it to show. “How did you manage that?”
“In the same way I managed to walk into your building, stroll into your office and wait until you arrived. Honesty, I can’t believe you haven’t figured it out by now.” She nailed him with a look of sheer amusement. “Where a fallen dares to tread, a templar is certainly sure to follow.”
Fuck almighty.
It was almost impossible to keep a straight face when what he wanted to do was wrap his fingers around the stock of his gun, whip it out and level it at her head. Laughably, it wouldn’t matter if he did, which was the only reason he remained as he was, unmoving and passive. She could kill him before he saw it coming and if she thought for a second that he was in league with the vampire she was tracking she wouldn’t hesitate.
“What is it that you want to know?” He didn’t shoot the shit or ride the breeze either, not when his throat was at stake.
“I’m aware he stole information from your archives. I need to know what he learned and why he’s in New York.”
“I can’t tell you why he’s in New York.” Her irises changed color, going white as her eyes narrowed and he quickly added, “I can tell you what information he gained.”
“Then do it.”
“He found out about an artifact crafted during the Holy Wars that was used to convince nonbelievers that heaven did, in fact, exist. Over the years it changed hands and forms, so that most assumed it was lost in the passage of time. We weren’t even aware it existed until we were propositioned for the piece. Fortunately, at the time it was in a safe place that Aldon couldn’t locate. Otherwise you’d be in shit up to your neck, pardon my expression.”
“Would this artifact, by chance, have a name?”
He met her unwavering gaze. “It’s a zephyr.”
She didn’t even blink. “That’s impossible. They were all destroyed.”
“The weapon wielding the magic was lost but not the jewel imbued with the power. It was that stone that was used one hundred and sixty years or so ago to create a locket—an heirloom that has been passed along from generation to generation. Aldon managed to track down the family who procured the trinket but it turned out getting close to the owner wasn’t as easy as he thought.”
“And why is that?” she finally asked in an exasperated tone when he didn’t continue.
“She’s mated to a shifter.”
Sadie tried to keep her face blank, her expression unreadable. Erasing the man’s memory was easy enough but she’d be damned if she allowed him to know, even for a moment, that she’d been caught with her panties down.
So Aldon had finally found a way to gain an advantage, using a goddamn zephyr. She didn’t know what it was that he wanted specifically but she would wager several guesses. Mental manipulation of supernatural races wasn’t possible for him as a fallen but if he had a magically enhanced charm to guide the way there was no limit to what he could accomplish in a city like New York, where the population contained a wide variety of supernatural beings. Beings that, with a zephyr, he would have more of an influence over.
Including—ironically enough—shifters.
She stifled a wince as she shifted in the chair and the wretched agony in her chest returned, burning deep in the flesh and along portions of bone. The wound was a stark reminder of why she couldn’t become involved with the bestial creatures, a warning of the thanks she could expect to receive for her assistance.
To think she’d actually been tempted to reveal herself to Trey Veznor. To daydream about what might have been. To consider something other than a fixation from afar…
A warm trickle beaded down her stomach, slick and gooey against her leather top and shredded flesh. The claw marks were extremely deep and would mend slowly without the healing pools of her coven but she couldn’t return to them until she had some notion of what was going on. They would expect some kind of information from her, no matter how small or, in this circumstance, mediocre.
“Where is the zephyr now?”
“I believe I’ve already answered that question.”
Craig bestowed a smug smirk, which made her want reward him an ear-ringing slap across the face. She’d been warned he was a consummate asshole and prick, protected due to the secrets he kept and the downfall that would occur upon his demise. It was impossible to kill someone who could inevitably unveil all the dirty skeletons preternatural races were determined to keep buried inside the proverbial closet.
He didn’t say anything more, studying her quietly with an arrogant fucking expression on his face.
“Let me rephrase.” She tried not to sneer. “Who has the Zephyr?”
It wasn’t difficult to sense his unease, accompanied by a notable span of silence. She could smell his fear, a bitter repugnance that wafted through the air. She sat forward in the chair, bracing her elbows on her knees, and tried not to squirm as the wetness trapped between her skin and leather made a disgusting, squeaky sound.
“Have you heard about the tragedy in Rainbow City, Mr. Newlander?”
She’d anticipated the curt nod he produced. Of course he’d heard of it. One of the largest factions of Villati worked out of New Orleans, which wasn’t all that far away from the devastation left behind in the aftermath of the storm. Besides, the panic over the unrecognizable and unexplainable plague was almost impossible to ignore, especially when it was broadcast all over the world and the CDC was forced to quarantine the entire area until the outbreak was contained. An entire city of twelve thousand had been wiped out within a matter of hours—not days or weeks.
“That was a result of a pestilence demon,” she said, tickled pink when the asshole smirk was wiped from his face.
Good, he was finally starting to get the big picture.
He started to speak and stopped, obviously disturbed by the revelation. Then he said, “A pestilence demon hasn’t been conjured into the mortal plane since—”
“The Third Pandemic?” she finished, liking him more and more when he was humbled, off balance and too shaken to speak. “Look around you. The world isn’t the place it used to be. Crime is on the rise, humanity is on the brink of a meltdown and morality has gone down the shitter. There is a reason for that.”