Women of the Otherworld 09.5 - Angelic by Kelley Armstrong Read Free Book Online Page A

Dantalian’s voice slithered past.
     
    I snorted and strode to the couch.
     
    “I see you brought your boyfriend,” he said, a petulant note creeping into his voice.
     
    “No, I brought my lawyer.”
     
    Kris walked to the center of the room. “You had a binding agreement with Eve, Dantalian, and you’re in violation of section three, clause two, which means—”
     
    “I like the lawyer even less than the boyfriend. I’m quite sure you and I can work this out, Eve.”
     
    “He stays. Kris? Continue please.”
     
    “You’re in violation of section three, clause two of Eve’s agreement to visit you biannually in return for services already rendered. Therefore, she is now free of her obligation and you may consider this your last visit from her.”
     
    “Perhaps we can renegotiate.”
     
    “You’re not even going to deny what you did, are you?” I said.
     
    “I respect you too much to engage in such petty machinations—”
     
    My burst of laughter cut him short.
     
    He started again. “It was business not personal, and I’m sure of all people, Eve, you understand that. I’m really very fond of you.”
     
    “Fond? Your djinn tried to drive me crazy.”
     
    “Only temporarily, and I assure you that when I was freed, I had every intention of compensating you for that inconvenience.” His voice slid around me on a warm breeze. “You’d find me much more useful as a free demon.”
     
    “Nice try. But you’re staying here. I captured three of your djinn. They told me everything.”
     
    “Ah.”
     
    “They’re on their way to the Fates now, and when they hear the story and relay it up the food chain, then over to Lord Baal…”
     
    “Ah.” He sighed. “I suppose I’ll be serving my full sentence then. Pity.”
     
    My eyes narrowed. “You don’t seem very upset about that.”
     
    “No sense raging against fate. Or the Fates, in this case. As you so quaintly put it, it was a nice try. Now, about our contract. I believe renegotiations are in order.”
     
    “You really aren’t the least bit worried about what Baal—” I stopped short. “Shit!”
     
    I spun on Kris. “Can you get yourself back home?”
     
    “Go, I’ll wait here.”

Thirteen
     
    I popped into the Fates’ outer chambers first, in case I was wrong, but as I feared, there was no sign of Marius. I returned to the theater. Jaime and Jeremy were long gone and, again, there was no sign of Marius, but I searched the building and finally found him backstage, sitting on the floor, shell-shocked.
     
    When I shook him, he didn’t respond, just kept staring, unblinking. I shook him harder, calling his name, and was about to resort to a magical wake-up call when he jumped, right hand sailing to his sword hilt… only there was no sword there.
     
    “Marius?”
     
    He looked up at me, blinking. “Eve?”
     
    “Where are the djinn?”
     
    “Djinn?” His lips formed the word as if he didn’t quite recognize it. Then he leapt up, looking about. “No. No, no, no!”
     
    “What happened?”
     
    “I—” He blinked hard. Then he looked up at me. “I don’t know. I had them on my…”
     
    He glanced down at his empty hands, then into his empty scabbard, and he swore, the end of the curse rising in panic. Outstretched fingers trembling, he stammered through the incantation. When the sword appeared in his hands, he tottered with relief. I didn’t blame him. For an angel to lose his sword to a demon? Let’s just say it was one of those things I’d heard about, but I’d never met anyone it had happened to, and suspected there was a good reason for that.
     
    “You must have unconjured it and they escaped,” I said. “Do you remember anything?”
     
    He gave a slow, mournful shake of his head. Then his eyes snapped wide. “I remember…” He glanced down at the sword still lying across his palms. His voice dropped to a whisper. “I saw an angel sword. Then everything went dark.”
     
    An angel