“You have friends?” She cringed as soon as she spoke. It wasn’t like her to be cruel.
He seemed unaffected. “Of sorts,” he repeated as he led her to the street. It was already almost empty as people sought refuge somewhere safer.
Senses heightened—she scanned the area for any new threat. With each step she took, some of the rage and sickness left her. They walked toward home since it was their only option. After a couple of blocks, she curled her fingers between his.
He gave her hand an almost imperceptible squeeze.
“What was that about?” she asked. “Lucifer sent me on a hunt to get me out of your warded apartment. Then Gabriel shows up and tries to kill me. Why? I thought that was your job.”
He didn’t stop, didn’t slow. If anything, he was moving faster. “Maybe he believes your death will hurt me in some way. Maybe he’s hoping I’ll get tired of protecting you and kill you to get him off my back.”
“And will you?” It was a fair question, but he glared at her, his black eyes burning as red as any demon’s.
Chapter Twelve
To say he was pissed was the understatement of the century. What was Gabriel up to? Lucifer, he understood. The devil wanted him to get closer to Morrigan so she’d have an opportunity to kill him.
Or was that his purpose at all? She wasn’t skilled enough to handle him. And that wasn’t a slur on her skills but a testament to his own. Maybe Lucifer was hoping he’d kill her but was being sneakier about how he went about it.
Whatever their motivation, when Gabriel had fired a bolt of light at Morrigan, his instinct had been to protect her. Not himself.
That made her extremely dangerous. She weakened him in a way he’d never been before. Made him vulnerable. And now the archangel knew it.
Maybe that had been the entire point of the exercise.
But Morrigan had used her intelligence instead of a weapon to outwit her enemy. Opening the door for the humans had been inspired. Ignoring her question, he asked one of his own. “Why did you call your supervisor?” Bringing another paranormal—especially one on the devil’s side—into the mix was risky.
“Emmett?” When he nodded, she continued. “I figured Gabriel would try to kill the demon. Lucifer could say I didn’t complete the bounty and would have no choice but to drag me back to Hell. Calling Emmett was the lesser of two evils.”
“Smart thinking.” He kept a tight grip on her, enjoying the way their fingers laced together. It was an unusual sensation. One that wasn’t familiar, but he liked it. He checked both ways before stepping out into the street to cross it. “Will there be repercussions?” He had no idea how much power this Emmett had over her.
She shrugged and hurried to keep up with him. “Probably. If he recognized you or Gabriel, he’ll have questions. But since I’m on a secret project for Lucifer, I can’t say anything. On the plus side, I did collect the bounty.” She tilted her head back and looked up at the darkened sky. “He’ll likely give it some time to see if this blows over and things go back to normal, or if I end up dead and back in Hell. Emmett isn’t stupid. You can’t get to his position without some brains. He has to realize the boss has a hand in this.”
“Good. Then he won’t be a problem.” If he became one in the future, Maccus would deal with him. He might have been asked to leave Hell. That didn’t mean he couldn’t go back and kick some ass if he chose to.
“Crap.” Morrigan’s tone had him searching the darkness for enemies. He trusted the shadows to warn him. They were more sentient than people—human or inhuman—believed. And they spoke to him, giving him information, sensing a kindred spirit, treating him as one of them.
“What is it?” If there was some trouble that he couldn’t find, he had to know what it