Her smile widened as he opened his hand under a shard of light and stared at it, slowly turning it over to feel the sun's warmth without the hissing burn.
"How is this possible?" he whispered with reverence.
"Darling . . . you have no idea the extent of my powers now."
CHAPTER TWO
So, how'd they take it?"
Lilith stared at her husband's sinewy back with a smile. "They were positively hysterical."
"I'm sorry I missed that one . . . but you know what they say, I'm always busy."
"You would have loved it, Lu," she crooned, risking going near him.
"Hold it in your mind and show me later?"
"You know you don't even have to ask."
He chuckled deeply as he slowly materialized a white button-down shirt, drawing on the crisp cotton fabric before adding the designer navy-blue suit and sophisticated paisley silk tie. His smile widened as she gaped at his attire, watching black wing tip shoes glisten at his feet as he adjusted his tie and then cuffs beneath his jacket sleeves.
"I must know . . ." she murmured, still enthralled as he smoothed his palms over his once long onyx curls to their now present freshly barbered precision and then checked his watch."A world conference?A political soiree inWashington,D.C. ? Oh, tell me-I love the havoc you wreck when you go topside . . . where are you going this time?"
He gave her a dashing smile."Where else?To church."
This was so far past bad that his mind couldn't process a point of entry. Where did one begin? Carlos raked his fingers through his hair as he trudged back to the house. The King's Council had to be informed, and a visual on Yonnie had to be given, lest they smoke a brother outright just for breathing. Things were hair-trigger fragile, everything wire-tight. He knew that going in.
When Carlos opened the front door and four senior Guardians drew on him, he just froze for a moment, holding his hands up before his chest until clarity prevailed.
"What's the word, man?" Shabazzsaid, the first to drop his weapon.
Silence looped over Carlos's head like a noose and tightened around his throat as the team drew nearer to hear the verdict.
"He's cool," Carlos said flatly, his gaze scanning the group and settling on Damali for a moment.
"Dude, you know you're gonna have to come in here better than that," Rider said and headed for the back door. "He's cool? Kiss my ass, Rivera."
"Hold it, man," Mike said, stopping Rider with an outstretched forearm. "Hear the brother out,then we smoke the daywalker. Cool?"
Rider pounded Mike's fist and lowered his weapon.
Sweat beaded on Carlos's brow, and he could feel it making his T-shirt cling to his torso. The adrenaline spike on the team was so crazy that he could practically taste it in the back of his throat.
"Y'all are gonna have to chill and fall back," Carlos said after a moment. "This is a Level Seven high-security breach of the worst kind. My inside man is still cool. . . . He told me that after Masada, Lilith's old man was so happy with the results that he gave her the daylight bite to pass on to them. They can't pass it, though. So far, none but them have been made. She was only authorized to give it to her councilmen-that means three, plus Lilith, can come topside in broad daylight."
"What the hell . . . ?" Berkfield glanced around the team. "I thought we blew forty thousand demon troops to smithereens? Happy with the goddamned results, are you serious?"
"Yeah," Carlos said, and went to the cabinet to get a coffee mug. He poured the dark liquid into his cup very slowly, avoiding eye contact with the team.
"So, what brought on the party?" Jose asked, his eyes following Carlos's every move.
Silence strangled the kitchen.
"Those troops were cannon fodder-expendable," Carlos finally said and then took a slow sip of coffee and winced. "Damn!"
"We didn't get it, did we?" Damaliasked, her voice tense and low.
Carlos shook his head and dropped his gaze. It was the thing they'd avoided speaking of for far too long. "The little bastard got away."