everything while he’s dealing with an unexpected family emergency in his home state.”
I snorted. “More like an unexpected demonic emergency.”
Nicolai smiled. “Got some of us wondering if the senator is even still alive.”
“Based on previous experience with demons like Bael, if the senator is no longer useful, then you can bet we’ll hear about an untimely accident resulting in death,” Zayne commented.
“I hope not.” The three of them looked at me. “Well, he’d be a dead end then. Literally.”
“Good point.” Gideon carefully wrapped up the spikes. “I’ll tap into the street cameras and ones from nearby stores to see if they caught anything tonight. Hopefully they’ll show us something. What might not have been visible to the human eye could’ve been captured on film.”
“Like with ghosts?” I suggested.
Gideon nodded.
I grinned, thinking of how often people dismissed ghostly images on film as being a weird trick of the camera. I was willing to bet a case of root beer that people caught evidence of ghosts more often than they’d want to know.
“Let me know what you find,” Zayne said. “Even if it’s nothing.”
Looking down at the bundle he held, Gideon nodded. “The one thing I can tell you is that these spikes weren’t created by humans, and they’re not something I’ve ever seen a demon use.” He looked up. “Makes you wonder where they came from, doesn’t it?”
21
The moment the door closed behind Gideon, I faced Nicolai and Zayne. “If humans didn’t create those spikes and neither did demons, that doesn’t leave a lot of options.”
“Exactly,” Zayne agreed, watching me.
Chest feeling strangely tight, I crossed my arms. There was one potential source I could think of—one that made no sense. “I’ve never seen angelic weapons before.”
“I have. Both of us have,” Zayne answered, glancing at Nicolai. “The Alphas carry swords. Not like yours. Yours is special.”
Mine was super special.
“Alphas’ swords appear to be some strange mixture of iron and gold,” Nicolai explained. “At least, from what we’ve been able to see. None of us have actually held one.”
“You know what’s messed up?” I shifted my weight from foot to foot. “I’m part angel, and the only angel I’ve ever seen is my father, but you see the Alphas all the time.”
“Yeah, well, none of us have seen an archangel,” Nicolai replied.
“Except for me,” Zayne reminded him.
“And doesn’t that make you unique.” Nicolai brushed a strand of shoulder-length brown hair back from his face as Zayne smirked. “I’ve never seen an angel carry anything like that, and besides, why would this Harbinger have something that was forged in Heaven?”
That was a good question. “Maybe it was stolen from an angel,” I offered with a shrug. “I mean, if it’s not of human or demon creation, then what does that leave? Aliens?”
Zayne’s brows lifted. “Aliens are the next reasonable conclusion.”
“Do you know of a race or species I’m not aware of but everyone else is?” I asked.
“Yes, everyone knows there’s a whole other species out there and only you don’t know.” Amusement trickled through the bond, annoying me. Zayne’s grin kicked up a notch. “It’s more likely that it’s an angelic weapon we’ve never seen before. And yes, I always have value to add.”
Ugh.
What he said was more likely.
But...
My stomach dropped a little. “But that would mean that this Harbinger took it, and that would mean—”
“Aliens?” Zayne asked.
“I’m going to punch you. Hard,” I said. “As I was saying, that would mean it was able to take out an angel. And what can do that?”
“Well, Roth’s familiar ate an Alpha once, so killing angels isn’t unheard of,” Zayne mused. “And yes, witnessing that was as disturbing as you might think.”
The image of the snake that made anacondas look wimpy formed in my thoughts. Bambi was terrifying, but I remembered how happy she had been to see Roth. Like a very eager puppy, and she had...smiled at me.
For killing Faye.
“And it burned the other Alpha to death,” Zayne went on. “Thumper turned that angel to nothing but ash in, like, a nanosecond.”
I stared at Zayne. “You’re not talking about Bambi, right?”
A ghost of a smile appeared. “Roth has several familiars. One of them is a dragon,” he explained, and I remembered seeing the vibrant blue-and-gold tattoo on Roth. “Long story, but yeah, Thumper got a good meal that day.”
“Wow,” I whispered, wondering how Roth was still alive after that. “And you don’t seem concerned about the fact that Roth’s familiar killed two angels?”
Looking up, Zayne met my stare. “The Alphas were there to kill