and I knew as soon as you showed up with your armored car and band of merry men—”
“I’m not Robin Hood, and that armored car is for your safety!” I shouted. “Tell me where you are, Aviana. Right now.” I focused on the sounds coming through the phone. Birds. Crickets. Humans speaking English. My heart pounded, and my stomach churned at the danger she was in. The borough lines were clearly drawn, and if she’d stumbled into another territory, I couldn’t guarantee her safety unless she was wearing a Alek is my brother so don’t fuck with me t-shirt.
“I’m in the park father mentioned in his journals. Briarwood. The one across from the—”
“Slatemark Opera House,” I growled. “Damn it, Avi, you’re in demon territory.” I shoved back from the table and stood, my men instantly following.
“I’ll get the car.” Benedict didn’t wait for me to approve, he ran, disappearing from sight before the door had so much as closed. Every man in this room was tasked with protecting the royal family. They knew the multitude of powers in my blood. They also knew that Avi didn’t possess any beyond her considerable beauty and typical compulsion.
She couldn’t even wend—couldn’t shift herself through space.
“I’m on my way. Stay exactly where you are.” I pointed at Lachlan and Ransom, who both nodded. Hawke would only scare the shit out of Aviana, so that introduction would have to wait. Besides, there was no one better to leave behind to protect the compound.
“You’re overreacting, Alek. I’m fine! We’re just enjoying some of this delicious blue fluff the man with the cart sold us—”
“Us?” Cotton candy cart. I knew exactly where she was.
“I have Olivia, of course. I’m not completely naïve.”
She had her bodyguard. At least there was that.
“Just stay there.” I looked to Hawke. “Call Xavier now. Tell him if a demon puts a finger on my sister, I’ll—”
“You’re being ridiculous, but I’ll wait right here, as ordered.” She muttered, “jackass,” before the line went dead.
“Fuck!” I shoved the phone in my back pocket, then reached under my leather jacket and unholstered my Glock as I looked at Lachlan and Ransom. “We go now.”
I focused on the trees just behind the cotton candy cart in Briarwood Park and wended. My skin embraced the ice of the between in the seconds it took to shift places, and then the scent of sticky sugar and a hundred subtle variations of human blood filled my nose.
The park was in the center of Edgemont City, and of the three million humans that lived here, there were less than a few hundred that knew of our existence, all of whom were compelled to keep their mouths shut.
I took a deep breath, sorting through the scents in an instant. Citrus, iron, cannabis, and apples. Vanilla and cinnamon hit me especially hard. My fangs descended despite having fed only a few hours ago. I pushed past that tantalizing warmth I knew had to be a human and caught the light hint of freesia that was Aviana.
“There.” I started down the path at a normal walking pace. The covenant’s first commandment was to never expose the world of immortals that dwelled alongside the humans. Besides, it would have taken precious time to compel any human to forget they’d seen us if we did anything that brought undue attention.
“Son of a bitch.” There was a demon just ahead, headed in the same direction as Avi’s scent, passing an oblivious human jogger.
I wasn’t surprised the jogger looked unbothered by the set of horns that had just blown by. Demons wore permanent glamours. They were invisible to the human eye.
My pulse galloped at the thought of Avi in demon hands, and I increased my pace. We came around the corner of the curved path to see the blue-horned demon shove a human woman out of his path, revealing a dagger in the moonlight.
My heart fucking stopped as if the scent of vanilla and cinnamon was a physical fist around the blood-pumping organ. The blond hit the pavement with a sharp cry, a stack of books skittering around her.
Aviana was only a hundred feet away, just beyond the next curve. I could smell her from here, and yet I was powerless against the overwhelming, unbreakable urge to make sure the demon hadn’t killed the human. The clean-up is a pain in the ass.
I didn’t have time to stop, and in the seconds it took to reach her, I battled the primal, base instinct that called me to