Pure Destiny (PureDark Ones #12) - Aja James Page 0,35

only two steps behind her, slowing just enough to impart:

“The Paladin has Benjamin. Warriors down. Jade injured. Shield on lock down. He’s moving through the east wing. Stay here.”

Like hell!

Sophia charged after the two Elite warriors, heedless of Tal’s command. She didn’t know whether Seth and Eveline followed and didn’t care.

She had to get to them—Dalair and Benji.

She didn’t know what she’d do when she got there, she just knew she had to. If anything happened to either one of them… It didn’t bear thinking, so she shut down those thoughts.

Even so, she could feel the change coming on. The blackness within her. She could feel it spreading in roiling tentacles of bleakness and rage throughout her body, crushing her soul.

She raised her wrist to her mouth as she ran down the corridors, speaking through the communication device.

“Do not engage! Everyone stand down! Keep them in the Shield. Block all exits. Do. Not. Engage.”

The last words came out in a voice Sophia barely recognized as her own. It was deep and resonant, a hissing growl.

Goddess help them all if anyone dared disobey her.

She disengaged the small communicator from her wrist and lodged it in her ear, tuning into the Royal Zodiac’s frequency. In situations such as these, the members of her inner quorum, both the Elite and Circlet members, had their own communication channel to coordinate emergency actions.

“Target isolated,” Gabriel’s roughened voice came through loud and clear, as if he was speaking directly into Sophia’s ear, right next to her.

“Garden rooftop through Tal and Ishtar’s chamber. Ishtar is with them.”

Shit.

That was the only exit that wasn’t automatically locked down. And for good reason. The Shield was located in a fifty-story high-rise in downtown Manhattan, surrounded on all sides by a cluster of taller skyscrapers. The rooftop was a dead end, unless someone wanted to hurl themselves off of it to a violent death. That couldn’t be Dalair’s end game.

Unless…

Sophia shuddered through a hot and cold flash, staggering off stride before regaining forward momentum.

What if it was his mission? What if their enemies purposely wanted to snuff out both of Sophia’s sources of Light at once to bring out the Destroyer?

But no. Couldn’t be, she immediately tamped down the fear. If that was the case, Dalair could have easily killed both of them as soon as he located Benji. Instead, he was taking Benji with him.

Benji was his target. Perhaps because their enemies knew what Sophia and the others had just realized—that Benji was the key. Whether as the Light Bringer himself or something more, they couldn’t be sure. Regardless, the boy was critically important to the Universal Balance. They all felt the truth of it.

But what could Dalair possibly do once he was on the rooftop? There was nowhere to go.

At that thought, Sophia careened around a corner and arrived at Tal and Ishtar’s apartment.

Cloud, Valerius and Rain stood vigilant at the entrance as Sophia pushed past them.

The two Elite warriors gave her a brief nod, signaling without words that they were there as backup, should Dalair come back this way. Rain’s attendance was a precaution in case immediate medical attention was needed. Though she was less effective in healing the most severe wounds since she lost her Gift, she was trained in modern medicine as well as emergency procedures.

Sophia prayed that training wouldn’t be put to the test this day.

She sprinted up the spiral staircase that led from inside the apartment to the private rooftop terrace that she’d commissioned for Tal and Ishtar specifically, so that Tal could have his own slice of open-air paradise while living in the confines of the Shield. After millennia as Medusa’s prisoner, she’d wanted him to feel free even in this concrete jungle.

How did Dalair know about it?

No one knew about the Pure Ones’ new base since relocating from Boston. Not even their allies in the New England vampire hive knew the exact location, save Ryu Takamura because of Rain’s work with Ava.

Perhaps Dalair’s hyper senses helped him follow the air currents? Or perhaps…

Erebu was the only one outside of their inner circle who had been here. He knew about the terrace. He was even now in the clutches of their enemies. He’d warned them of his capacity for betrayal.

But Sophia didn’t believe it. She didn’t want to believe it. Just as she refused to believe that Dalair was beyond redemption.

As she burst through the doors at the top that opened to the garden, she slowed her footsteps on approach, taking in the