Rage and Ruin by Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,106
about fifteen seconds.”
“Is it possible someone did this to the feed?” Zayne asked. “Sabotaged it?”
“Possible on the feed from Eastern Market, but these feeds from the church aren’t monitored, and you know that since this was a Warden, police wouldn’t have pulled the feed.”
Zayne nodded. “Police wouldn’t get involved unless we went to them.”
“Exactly,” he replied. “And I checked for video manipulation or cutting of the film. I see no evidence of that. The interference came from outside the feed.”
“What could do that?” I asked.
“An alien?” Danika offered.
A slow grin pulled at my lips as I looked up at her. “I like the way you think.”
Zayne’s tone was bland when he said, “Let’s not start the alien conversation again. Please.”
Danika’s eyes narrowed.
“Look, I’m a believer. Not for one second do I think God created Earth and mankind and called it a day,” Gideon said. “So, I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I scoured all the demonology books, including the Lesser Key, and I haven’t found a single demon that can do that to film without destroying it.”
Like Roth had done. He hadn’t caused a disruption at the hotel. He’d outright destroyed the camera. This was different.
Then I realized what he’d said. “The Lesser Key? Like the Lesser Key? The real one?”
Gideon eyed me with open interest. “If you’re thinking about the Lesser Key of Solomon, then yes.”
“Holy moly,” I murmured. The Lesser Key was a demonic bible of sorts, containing a whole lot of incantations that could summon just about any demon out there. Thank God it was in the Wardens’ hands.
“Whatever this thing is, it has weapons we’ve never seen before and abilities that we can’t even comprehend.” Gideon closed the laptop. “And that’s not much help, but all of us are on high alert. Even more so now.”
The conversation moved on to other Warden business, and then they prepared to leave, heading to some store to buy a new TV for Jasmine. Something about one of the twins having knocked hers over. I was still surprised that Danika was out like she was. It was dangerous for her, and I admired the Hell out of her for not staying in her gilded cage.
Gideon motioned Zayne to the side, and they stepped away. I watched them, wondering what he was saying to Zayne.
“Hey,” Danika whispered, and I looked at her. She slid off the island, landing nimbly on her flip-flops. She bent down so that she was close to me. “I’ve got to ask you something.”
Figuring it was going to be about Zayne and me sharing a one-bedroom apartment, I braced myself. “What’s up?”
Her gaze flicked from me to behind me and then she said in a low voice, “What are you?”
Okay. I hadn’t expected that.
“I know you can’t just be some girl that grew up with Wardens,” she continued. “No one in the clan believes that.”
Muscles stiffened as I met her gaze. That was not a good sign, but also not unexpected. I didn’t know how Zayne expected to keep his clan from finding out.
I didn’t sense anything other than curiosity from her, but that didn’t mean it was caring and sharing time. “I’m just a girl who grew up with Wardens.”
“Really?” Her voice dropped as she drew the word out.
“I was trained to fight,” I said. “That’s about the only unique thing about me.”
“Interesting.” She wrinkled her nose. “Never heard of humans being trained to fight, because you could be a trained assassin, but you’d still be a field mouse compared to even a lower level demon. You’re not a field mouse.”
“Danika?” Zayne called. “What are you whispering about?”
She straightened, raising her brows. “What were you two whispering about?”
“Nothing.” Gideon tucked the laptop under his arm.
“Oh.” She winked at me. “We were talking about periods and cramps and bleeding—”
“Okay.” Zayne raised his hands as I choked on a laugh. “Sorry I asked.”
She pulled away from the island. “I hope I get to see you again soon. Get Zayne to bring you by. Or leave him here. That would be even better.”
“Thanks,” Zayne muttered.
Danika ignored him. “I’m sure Izzy can’t wait to wing herself at you again.”
I smiled at that, wishing I could visit her. Somehow I didn’t see that happening anytime soon. I waved goodbye as they stepped into the elevator bay.
“Hold up,” Zayne called to them as he snatched his keys off the counter by the stove top. “I’ll walk you guys out.”