Darkness Divides (Sensor #3) (26 page)

Lucas won her over? I wished I’d been there to see that.

“If I know Lucas, he wouldn’t have been all that charming during his trial. What could he have possibly done to impress you?”

“I admit he was rather difficult with us at first.” She adjusted her brown hair so that it no longer covered part of her face. “But in the end he was willing to do whatever it took to protect you.”

I cocked my head. “How so?”

Ariel was the first person willing to talk to me about the trial. I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity for details.

“It is not my place to say.” She gave a secretive smile. “But I will tell you that he sacrificed every shred of his pride to gain your immortality and protection.”

A lump rose in my throat. I didn’t know exactly what she meant, but a few possibilities ran through my mind. Lucas had a lot of pride, but I wouldn’t put it past the archangels to force him to beg for my life. How else could he have gotten them to agree to such a plan? It would also explain why he didn’t want to talk about what happened. Still, I’d be dead if he hadn’t done it.

“I have to get him out of there,” I said.

Ariel nodded. “I’ve been waiting for such an opportunity to arise.”

“The device Zoe stole from the fae could do it, right?”

“It could,” she agreed. “But the difficult part will be obtaining the device.”

“I’m trying to figure out where it is now. Zoe must be keeping it close to her.” I looked back in the direction of Fairbanks. “It’s just a matter of locating her base of operations.”

Ariel paced in front of me. She moved with a grace and finesse I could never match. “Zoe has the device well-guarded. A female sensor is near it at all times, as well as a host of other supernaturals. It would take careful planning to reach it, but I believe if anyone could, it would be you.”

“Can’t
you
just take it?”

She was an archangel. Surely she could just flash in there and grab it.

“If I take it, then I must immediately return it to heaven and report the fae for losing it. You must be the one to acquire the device.”

I lifted my brows. “Don’t your people know it’s missing?”

“No.” She shook her head. “It is impossible for angels to keep track of everything that happens on earth. We’re assigned areas of responsibility, but the fae device has been kept safely for so long that none of us pay attention to it anymore. I only discovered it missing because I was given the power to watch over you.”

My very own guardian angel. Swell.

“Wouldn’t your responsibility have ended when news of my immortality came out?” I had to assume she’d been part of the veil of protection over me. Not that anyone had told me that part, but only a power higher than the angels could use magic on me or bestow the ability for one of them to use it on me. It had to have come with the same deal.

“I was freed of the obligation when your immortality became known, yes, but I was not required to stop nor did I lose my ability to watch over you. For now, I’ll retain the duty and help you when I can.”

Well, that wasn’t creepy or anything. I hoped she wasn’t watching me in the bathroom. A lot of personal stuff happened in there.

“If you want to help, telling me where the device is would be a great start.” I didn’t particularly care for having her around, but I wasn’t above using her to my advantage.

She looked off in the distance. “You will find it at the Holiday Inn locked within a safe in Zoe’s suite. She leaves each evening for several hours to check on her people. If you wish to obtain it, that would be the best time. Though you will still have to get past the female sensor and other guards who will be watching for you.”

My mind raced at the possibility of pulling this off. Then I thought of another problem. “Okay, say I get this device. How do I find the portal to Purgatory?”

Charlie had implied last night that even sensors couldn’t locate it with our abilities.

She pulled a round stone out of her pocket. It had an iridescent quality to it. “Take this. If you get the device, hold it in your hand and call my name. I will come as soon as I am able.”

I frowned at the stone. “Is this how sensors used to call on angels before?”

“Each stone is designed to work for a specific angel and sensor. After so many of your race died, we stopped bestowing them. It is only now that I’m choosing to give you this, but don’t call upon me until you have the device. I will tell you how to find the portal then.”

“Okay. Any other words of wisdom?” I asked.

“If you wish to continue receiving my assistance, tell no one you’ve spoken to me. Should you succeed in your endeavors to free Lucas from Purgatory, you’ll need my help to keep him out, but I will only be able to do so if you keep your silence.”

Before I could ask anything more, she disappeared. Sable rubbed at my leg and meowed. I guessed it was time to get us something to eat. Shoving the stone into my pocket, I headed toward the Jeep with the shape-shifter kitty following close behind me.

Chapter Twenty-nine

“It’s about time you got back,” Charlie said when I walked through the door.

“I had to see things for myself.”

“Then you probably worked up an appetite.” He nodded toward the kitchen and beckoned me to follow him.

Lisette and Emily were in there making fried chicken and mashed potatoes. It smelled so good my stomach rumbled. I was putting away a lot more calories since becoming immortal. My body had mostly adjusted to it, but I got the feeling it would take a while longer before the transition fully took hold.

Sable changed into a full-sized black leopard and nudged Emily’s hand. The teenager was the one getting the chicken out of the hot grease. Sable had long since figured out she got bigger servings of food if she begged while appearing as a larger species of cat. Where all that food went later when she shrank back down, I had no idea.

Emily picked up a chicken breast and blew on it a few times before putting it in the cat’s mouth. Sable took it gingerly before running off to the front of the house to eat. I made a mental note to clean up whatever mess she made later on.

Charlie waved at me to take a seat at the kitchen table with him. Derrick came wandering in a minute later and settled in as soon as the food was served.

“So what did you find out?” the werewolf asked.

“My best guess from driving around is Zoe’s got at least a couple hundred minions in town. I sensed at least half a dozen really strong ones, but most aren’t much more powerful than our guys. It wasn’t easy, but I figured out she’s headquartered at the Holiday Inn and she’s got a female sensor there helping her guard it. I had to make a run for it when I discovered her, but I’m certain that’s where she’ll be keeping the fae device.”

With Emily in the room, I had to be extra careful how I worded things. The archangel hadn’t lied when she said I better keep her visit to myself. It would take weaving a lot of truth with the smallest of lies for Emily to not catch on. Even if she did notice, though, I’d filled her in on enough of my secret mission that she probably wouldn’t call me out.

Derrick let out a heavy sigh. “A female sensor with their group is going to make things more difficult.”

“Yeah,” I said, nodding my thanks at Emily when she put a plate of food in front of me. “It is.”

I took a bite of my chicken. It had turned out much better than anything I’d ever made.

“Is there any way to get around her?” Lisette asked.

I finished chewing, hating to give her the answer. “Humans. They’re the only ones who could get close enough without being detected.”

Charlie sopped some bread into his gravy. “Every human in town who knows about us has been rounded up and either compelled or confined. I think they already considered that.”

Of course. I’d forgotten about that.

“Then we’ll have to bring in someone who doesn’t know about us and isn’t easily compelled,” I said, grabbing another piece of chicken.

“Like who?” Emily asked. “You told me before there aren’t many like that.”

Yeah, I had. Even a month ago I wouldn’t have been able to name a single person with those traits in the Fairbanks area.

“Cori is one,” I said reluctantly. “She’s lived here a long time and knows a lot of people. She may even be able to get others to help without knowing it’s for us, which would get around any compulsion Zoe’s people are using.”

I didn’t like using Cori, but I didn’t see that we had any other options.

“How do you know she’s immune?” Charlie asked.

I shrugged “She isn’t—completely. Back a few weeks ago Micah had to compel her when she saw him flash into my house. She had a strong resistance and he had to use a great deal of power to do it. Since I doubt Zoe went around doing all the brainwashing herself, Cori should have been able to shake it off.”

Hopefully she didn’t give herself away in the process. Having a vampire show up and give her strange commands would be tough for anyone to handle when they didn’t actually work.

“Okay.” Lisette picked at her salad thoughtfully. The pixie might have cooked the chicken, but she’d become a vegetarian in the past year so she wasn’t eating it with us. “Say we bring her on board. What can she do to help?”

I’d considered that on the way back to Charlie’s house. How to use humans to our advantage.

“We’ll need her—or a friend of hers—to drug the female sensor into unconsciousness. They’d need to do it during daylight hours when most of the vamps will be knocked out so there will be fewer sups to deal with once it’s safe to go into the hotel.”

I couldn’t do anything about the female sensor who was stationed elsewhere in the city, but I doubted there were more than two of them. The group only had five total and wouldn’t risk bringing more than that. I was actually surprised they brought as many as they did, but Zoe must have been rather persuasive. It made me wonder what she had on the sensors to get them to cooperate for something like that.

Emily shifted in her seat. “Why not just kill her? It would make things easier.”

The teenager had turned bloodthirsty since brain surgery.

“Because there aren’t enough of us to be killing off the few females we have. Plus they were probably manipulated into doing it. I’d prefer to avoid killing them over misguided beliefs if at all possible.”

Lisette twirled a lock of her white hair around her finger. “Assuming we can get the sensor drugged, who goes in to search for the device? We’re still short on people and Nik’s not going to like going after it until we’ve rescued some of them.”

I held up a finger, chewing slowly as I thought it over. This whole thing was going to be tricky because if even one sup at that hotel got suspicious, then they might call for backup. I’d already experienced how quickly that worked. Then we’d have a whole army of them converging on the hotel and it’d be tough for us all to escape.

“Charlie.” I looked at the shaman. “How many of our people do we have available right now?”

He finished chewing the last bite of his chicken. “If we’re only counting those who will be operable during daylight hours, perhaps thirty. Half of Derrick’s pack lives outside the city and managed to avoid capture by camping out on my land. Some of the fae are available as well.”

Charlie must have had even more land than I realized because I hadn’t noticed the other sups while out driving except the trolls. If we added all the others to the ones here at the cabin, it might be a big enough force for what I planned.

I nodded at the shaman. “Then you and Derrick will set up a group, using as many of our guys as possible to attack Nik’s house. It will serve two purposes. You can rescue our people from there and draw attention away from the hotel. It’ll have to be a quick operation, though, or you’ll get overwhelmed.”

Derrick eyes narrowed on me. “And what will you be doing?”

“I’ll go to the hotel to get the device. It’s better if we keep that part as a one-person operation since it would reduce the chances of being noticed or caught. If I change how I look, it’s unlikely they’ll recognize me even if they have my description.”

“No.” Derrick stood up. “You’re not putting yourself at risk like that.”

I stood up as well. “I’m immortal now. No one knows how to kill me and I promise you it’s not easy. We need every fighter we have to go to Nik’s house to get our people out. This is the best way to accomplish both agendas.”

Derrick slammed his napkin down on the table. “We’ll just see what the master has to say about it.”

***

“Absolutely not, Melena.” Nik paced the living room.

I’d just outlined my plan to him. Derrick leaned against the wall with a smug grin on his face. He’d been convinced all afternoon that the master vampire wouldn’t agree to it, but we’d had to wait until Nik got up from his day sleep to run it by him. Aniya and Josslyn had just woken up as well and they sat on the couch watching me and the master vampire argue.

“It’s a sound plan and you know it.” I stepped in front of him so he’d have to look at me.

“You’ve barely gained your immortality.” He raked a hand through his dark hair. “This is no time to be testing it.”

“It’s already been tested and proved,” I pointed out.

He gave me a disgruntled look. “Don’t remind me.”

“We need to rescue as many of our people as we can. As soon as we attack you know it’s going to be that much harder to get near them again and we can’t leave the fae device with them any longer than necessary. This is the best way if we want to get as much accomplished as possible in one shot.”

I knew the part of the operation involving the fae device was going to be the toughest sell, but I had to do everything possible to convince him. Getting Lucas back was even more important to me than reclaiming Fairbanks. Maybe that was selfish, but at least I’d considered how he’d be useful to Nik. I just couldn’t tell the master vampire that.