They reached the end of the alley to see two Grigori with human women wrapped around them. The women moaned with pleasure, but as the Grigori turned their heads, the twin expressions on their faces chilled him.
Dead. Malachi had never seen colder eyes. No smirk of pleasure. No vengeful gleam. They were animals, feeding from prey. They shoved off and stepped away from the women in unison, turning to the Irin scribes as they zipped up their pants and pulled out their knives.
“Rhys,” Lang called, “get the women inside somewhere. They’ll die of exposure with this wind.”
Rhys waited until the two soldiers were distracted by Malachi and Lang, then he bent down and tried to help both of the humans up with gloved hands, careful not to touch their skin for fear of harming them further.
The Grigori didn’t stop. They didn’t charge. They walked steadily toward Malachi and Lang, no expression on their pale faces, no caution in their steps. Their dead faces were eerie. Malachi and Lang spread to opposite sides of the alley and the two Grigori split to mirror them.
Malachi raised his dagger, feinting right before he lunged left, flipping the dagger to his left hand and trying to slip under his opponent’s arm, which had lifted to stab him. He felt a quick slice along his shoulder, but within seconds, the Grigori was shoved up against the wall of the alley, and Malachi’s blade was piercing his spine.
The soldier said nothing in his last breaths. Then his dust rose to heaven and the silent monster was gone.
Malachi turned to see Lang with the other soldier propped against a wall. The Grigori’s face was bloody and his hands hung limply at his sides.
“Who sent you?” Lang didn’t yell, and his voice was all the more frightening because of it. “Hmm? I understand what you need. Do you think I do not pity you? To have to touch these… humans, just to feel alive. No one pities you more than I. But tell me, who sent you to my city, eh?”
The Grigori soldier said nothing, perhaps sensing Lang’s false sincerity. He looked exactly like his brother. Pale and ethereally handsome, the two could have been runway models. Their light brown hair was close-cropped and their skin unlined. The two humans would have been entranced by the sight of them, Malachi was sure.
Undiluted by generations, Grigori were bred from the Fallen themselves. Direct descendants of the ancients, and their looks proved it. Not even the Irina were immune to their unnatural charm. But for Malachi, Grigori perfection prompted an instinctive revulsion.
“There are more of you this past week,” Lang continued to speak softly, but the Grigori still had no expression. “Is there a master in the city? Has Volund come for a visit?”
With any luck, Rhys would have both of the women at the hospital. Human medicine couldn’t do much for them if the Grigori had drained too much of their energy, but the doctors would provide a safe place for the women’s bodies to heal themselves if they were able.
“Tell me what is happening,” Lang said, “and I will let you go. You can chase after the human again. She probably didn’t go far.”
Finally, the Grigori’s expression changed. The corner of his mouth lifted. “Why run after the humans, scribe, when far more delectable flesh awaits those who please my father?”
The air might have been sucked from Malachi’s lungs.
“We know…” The soldier grinned, the smile of a predator assured of his prey. He sang, “They’re baaaack. We know—”
He broke off when Lang’s fist met his mouth. But the Grigori only spit out blood and smiled again.
“My brothers look forward to welcoming the Irina home.”
Lang did not hesitate. He pulled the soldier forward by the ear and smashed the monster’s nose into his knee. Then the silver knife plunged in, and the Grigori dust rose.
The watcher said nothing, staring at the grimy wall while music and voices from the bar filtered through the alley.
“It’s happening again,” he said. Spinning around, Lang walked quickly, his long legs eating up the length of the alley while Malachi hurried to keep up.
“Find Rhys. Keep hunting. I need to make calls. We’ll not be taken by surprise again. Look for Max and Renata. If anyone knows what the Grigori may be up to, it will be Max. And Renata will be able to contact Sari.”
“I’ll keep hunting,” Malachi assured him, halting near the car while Lang opened the door.
“This will not happen again,” Lang said. “Not in my city.”
Then he got in the car and shot out into the street. Rhys found Malachi only a few moments later.
“Hey.” Rhys’s breath froze in the night air. “Where did Lang go?”
“The Grigori know the Irina are back,” he said. “He went back to the house.”
“Damn.”
“We need to find Max.”
Rhys shrugged. “No need. He keeps a flat downtown. He’s not nearly as secretive as he’d like to think.”
“Is it far?” It was cold, and Malachi didn’t relish trudging through the dark streets, though it was possible they would pick up a few more Grigori kills along the way. The two they’d just hunted had been their sixth and seventh of the night. The city truly was flooded with the creatures.
Rhys watched the taillights of Lang’s car turn left at the light. “Does it matter? We’re walking, whether we like it or not.”
“Lead the way.”
They turned in the opposite direction and began walking. Silent, at first, then remarking on the streets they passed and the human traffic, which didn’t seem to slow, even so late at night. They passed many young people, but no other Grigori crossed their path. By the time they made it to the nondescript apartment building where Max kept a flat, Malachi was ready for a drink.
“Do you think he has beer?” he asked Rhys.
“You know, even without your memories, you’re still remarkably you.”
“And even though I don’t remember you, I know that statement should annoy me, and yet it doesn’t.”
The two scribes entered the building smiling, only to be met in the lobby by a muttered curse. Malachi lifted his eyes to see a stunning, dark-haired Irina, as tall as he was, though far better dressed. He didn’t know how he knew she was Irina. Some instinct drew him. Her aura radiated power.
“Ren, do you know where I put my—” Max stepped out of the stairwell, breaking off when he saw them. He halted in the act of wrapping a dark red scarf around his neck and practically shouted, “You’re here!” His smile made no mystery of their welcome. “We were just about to drive to Oslo house to find you.”
Max walked over and embraced Rhys, slapping him on the back, but Malachi’s eyes never left the woman that Max had called Ren.
She stared at him, her face growing pale. He could see her hand trembling and knew just by looking at her that the gesture was uncharacteristic. Max went to her side.
“Renata?”
“You told me… I didn’t believe you. Not really. But it’s really him.”
“I told you.”
“He’s really alive.”
Malachi might have been mistaken, but he thought he saw tears in the corners of the woman’s eyes. She walked over, tentatively reaching out a hand.
“I’ve seen you, scribe. In pictures. In her visions. Her memories of you. She sang them to us. Her grief… To see you here, I cannot—”
“I told you,” Max said quietly, putting an arm around Renata’s waist.
“You tell me many things, Maxim.” Her voice held a note of irritation, even as her hand lifted to Malachi’s cheek. It rested there while he met her wondering eyes.
“She thinks you dead, Malachi.”
“Please.” He fought back the hitch in his voice. “Where is she?”