“Hey, man, what was that about?” Remy asked as he plucked the knife out of the mat.
Michael stared at the door. Lily was gone. “What she said.”
Remy arched a brow, but he didn’t push it. Rafe launched into another round of training, but this time Michael went at it with a fierceness he had never displayed before. His anger and frustration gave him an edge he didn’t have earlier. It was the first time he knocked Rafe down, and Lily wasn’t even there to see it. Nor would she ever know she was the cause of it.
…
“What is going on?” Luke demanded the moment he reached Lily’s side.
She rubbed her arm absently. That was going to bruise. Why had she told Michael the truth like that? “What are you referencing?” she asked tiredly. “There are so many things.”
“Don’t be a smart-ass,” he said as he cast a dark look at one of the Nephilim. “You know exactly what I am talking about. What the hell is going on?”
She sighed as she walked beside him. “You know what happened. You were there—for part of it at least.”
“Is that where you were all day yesterday?”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she walked past him.
“You were with him, weren’t you?” His question exploded through the hallway like gunfire. Several Nephilim en route to the training room stopped. Some were openmouthed, while other’s watched with morbid fascination. This wouldn’t be the first argument they witnessed between Lily and Luke. Their spats were legendary.
“Jesus,” she muttered, picking up her pace.
“What the fuck you looking at?” he yelled at a group of enthralled Nephilim. “Lily, what are you thinking?” he asked, and this time his voice was, thankfully, much lower. “Damn it, Lily, slow down.”
She came to a complete stop. “Is this better?”
He towered over her. “I’m supposed to bring you to Adrian, you little idiot. I would like to know exactly what happened before then.”
“Yeah, he said he wanted to talk earlier,” she responded blandly. She pushed the button for the elevator. “Are you going to tell me where we need to go?”
“The rooftop,” he answered. “Lily, I don’t think you understand how serious this is.”
She was starting to get the hint. Really, she was. She was just so freaking annoyed that she couldn’t muster up the concern. She waited with a sullen expression on her face.
“On top of everything else, Gabe returned this morning with his brother,” he explained, darkness settling over his face as he pushed the button to close the elevator. “Two more Nephilim children were taken.”
She rubbed her hands across her thighs. “Shit.”
“Exactly. So you can understand why the circle is a bit pissed right now.” He pushed the emergency stop button.
“Luke?” She turned to him, exasperated.
“Now you are going to tell me what you did to piss off Nate, and I mean besides the fact you attacked Micah over that Fallen.”
“His name is Julian. He has a name. He doesn’t answer to ‘that Fallen’ or whatever. It’s Julian.”
Luke stared at her. “Do you even hear yourself?” He didn’t wait for an answer, which was good because it was going to be a whopper of a smart-ass response. “He has a name? Well fucking la-di-da! That doesn’t change that he’s the enemy last time I checked.”
Her irritation grew. “Luke, I know. I know you’re concerned, but don’t ask me anything about him. You won’t like the answers…and it’s really none of your business.”
“Shit! Are you kidding me, Lily?” He placed his hands on her shoulders. “You are talking to me—Luke. I’m not the enemy here.”
Pressing her lips together, she shifted from one foot to the other. A flash of guilt went through her. She didn’t need to be such a jerk to Luke. He hadn’t done anything. “I’m sorry. I know.” She ran a hand over her head, smoothing down the fine strands of hair that escaped the bun. “Don’t ask me about him. Okay? I understand you won’t see him like I do, and I’m not ready to try to convince you any different.”
Luke moistened his lips. “Okay. Forget…Julian, for now.” His pale eyes flashed. “What happened between you and Nate? I’ve never seen him so angry. He about took off my head this morning when I stopped by the office.”
“Sorry about that,” she murmured. “He’s a little pissed off at me.”
“A little?” he asked with a harsh laugh. “After chewing me a new asshole for letting you run off, he then launched into a tirade about how we need to lock you up.”
“Lock me up?” She bit down on the string of curses that weren’t going to make anything better. “Nate needs to lock up Micah! He was admittedly following me. I caught him snooping around Nate’s office. No one seems to care about that.”
“Oh, Lily,” he groaned. “He was following you to keep you safe and because he thinks you’re the traitor.”
“Likely excuse,” she grumbled. “What about the office?”
“Who knows? Come on. Adrian is waiting on us.” He pressed the emergency button but didn’t say anything more. Not as the elevator started or as it went up a couple of floors. His silence didn’t soothe her like she thought it would. It made her more worried.
“Luke?” she asked finally.
He studied her, his eyes dark and troubled as he folded his arms across his black shirt. He looked like someone who was leading a condemned man on his last walk.
She swallowed. “What’s going on?”
“What do you think, Lily?”
She didn’t know what to say to that, and there wasn’t any time left to respond. The elevator came to a stop. Luke stepped forward, adjusting the fallen strap of her tank. Then he smoothed back her hair. His brotherly preparations really made her feel like she was taking her last walk.
As the elevator door opened, she tried to convince herself she would be able to clear things up. Hopefully she could come up with a couple of good reasons that explained her recent behavior, because right now she had none that she knew any of them would care about. At least none any of them would appreciate.
The bright summer sun beat down on her, and she shielded her eyes from the glare. Why had they picked the rooftop in the hot August sun? Did they plan on tossing her off the roof?
Her stomach fluttered nervously as she spotted Adrian. When he turned to face her, she couldn’t gauge what he was thinking by his expression. He was as impassive as ever. Being almost as old as Nathaniel, Adrian was a mystery to her. All she really knew of him was that he was someone you didn’t want to mess with. Then again, every Nephilim knew that.
Tall, with hair reaching his shoulders, Adrian reminded Lily of a warlord, one of those on the front of a trashy romance novel about to raid a village and whisk away the virgin princess. He was decked out in leather pants and a black, long-sleeved shirt. You’d think he’d be sweating bullets like Lily already was, but Adrian never seemed warm enough. Whatever cold and bleak country he had originated from had left him with piss in his blood forever.
Luke placed his hand on the small of her back, inching her forward. She hadn’t realized she’d stopped walking. Adrian wasn’t going to be like Luke or even Nate. There were no personal bonds between them that would save her ass or let her get away with snide, offhand comments. If he asked her a question, she was going to have to answer it.
Whether she liked it or not.
When she stepped closer, she realized Adrian wasn’t alone, and Luke hadn’t been entirely forthcoming with her. Across the rooftop and hidden in the shadows of the fearsome gargoyles stood Danyal and Nathaniel. As she neared Adrian, they converged on her all at once.