Chapter 16 #3
Cleansed and strengthened, Adrian slowly lowered into the backyard with a limp and satiated Lindsay in his arms. For the first time in days, he was thinking clearly, and he was grateful for that when he spotted an unknown car in the driveway. “Someone’s here.”
Lindsay lifted her head from his chest. “Can you do that mind-flashy-thingy and put some real clothes on me?”
He thought of the clothes she’d packed for the trip and willed a pair of black pants and an off-the-shoulder T-shirt on her. For himself, he went with slacks and an untucked white dress shirt. He was rolling up the sleeves as he moved to open the back door for his mate.
“You forgot my underwear,” she whispered fiercely as they stepped into the kitchen.
His mouth curved. “No, I didn’t.”
Their guest was waiting in the living room, laughing over something shared with his guards.
The two lycans stood at attention when he entered the room, but the lovely Asian woman who’d been entertaining them rose to her feet much more leisurely.
Dressed in a pinstripe pencil skirt, silk blouse, and Louboutins, Raguel Gadara’s messenger was dressed for her secular life.
In her celestial one, she favored worn jeans, a 9mm, and Doc Martens.
“Evangeline.” Adrian greeted her, clasping her extended hands and sifting through her thoughts via that connection, learning all he needed to know. “Good to see you.”
She smiled. “You say that so smoothly, I could almost believe you.”
He pivoted to bring Lindsay into the conversation. “Lindsay, meet Evangeline Hollis. Eve’s presently overseeing the interior design of the Mondego casino. Eve, Lindsay was briefly the assistant manager of Raguel’s Belladonna property in Anaheim. Now, she’s mine.”
Eve shook Lindsay’s hand. “Count yourself lucky to have dodged the bullet of working for Gadara.”
Lindsay frowned, confused by the other woman’s statement because she didn’t yet know that Gadara’s underlings were conscripted rather than indentured like the lycans. Adrian would catch her up later.
“What brings you by?” he asked Eve, diverting the conversation from explanations he didn’t want to get into now.
She pointed at the tiny biohazard cooler at her feet. “Archangel blood. I watched Gadara draw it and place it inside. He said you’d believe me that he hadn’t tampered with it or made a switch. I figured you’d mind-rape me when you touched me and prove it for yourself.”
“You know me so well.”
Eve laughed, but her dark gaze was hard. “There’s some comfort in knowing most angels are predictable.”
Lindsay looked at the cooler. “Why didn’t Gadara give us the blood when we asked for it yesterday?”
“Control,” Eve and Adrian responded simultaneously.
“Hell,” Lindsay muttered. “This isn’t a game.”
“In a way it is,” Eve explained. “A game Gadara doesn’t want Adrian to lose, but he doesn’t want Adrian to win without his help.
Ambition is the Achilles’ heel of every archangel.
In this case, Gadara knew he had the upper hand because it was his blood to give…
or not. He just wanted to make sure Adrian knew it, and that Adrian understands he now owes Gadara something for giving it up—it’s always good to have a favor from a seraph in your pocket. ”
Lindsay looked at Adrian. “Well, shit.”
“Lucky you, neshama,” he teased her. “You have an entire seraph in your…pocket.”
She shoved at his shoulder. “Why not come himself and rub it in?”
Eve’s mouth twisted ruefully. “To put me in my place while insulting Adrian by sending an emissary from the bottom of the totem pole. Two birds, one stone. He’s good at that.”
“Wouldn’t it irritate him,” Adrian murmured, “if he knew how delighted I was instead?”
Eve shot a deliberate glance at the two lycans.
“There are rumors. I’ve heard a large portion of your workforce has gone on strike.
Gadara’s hoping to step in and help you out with that, of course.
But if you’re looking to avoid his hefty commission and don’t mind working with grunts under the table, I can get you some referrals. Just let me know.”
Adrian deciphered the message clearly and was grateful. His Sentinels weren’t completely hanging in the wind without his lycan “workforce.” There was help available if he decided they needed it. Whether or not he did anything with that knowledge wasn’t as important as possessing it to begin with.
Eve moved toward the door. “You should have someone pull your trash cans off the curb. I figured you’re probably not used to worrying about that at Angels’ Point, but some neighborhoods penalize residents who leave them out after trash day. Mortal lives are a bitch.”
He stared after her as the door shut in her wake. Air conditioning…trash…
“Someone’s been staying here,” Lindsay muttered. “We lost track of that with Vashti showing up, but she wouldn’t mind the heat, would she? She wouldn’t even think about messing with the AC.”
“No.”
“Who would dare use someone else’s place like this?”
“Perhaps it’s not daring,” he murmured. “Perhaps it’s desperation. Navajo Lake is only a few hours’ drive away.”
“Oh.” The compassion in her eyes stirred his soul.
He could stay and wait them out, but if they feared reprisal, they’d steer clear. They would need reassurance of a different sort.
Glancing at the two lycans, he said, “Ben. Andrew. I’m going to leave you two here. You can deal with the situation. Bring whoever it is back to Angels’ Point, if that’s what they want. If not, let them know this property is going to be listed for sale next week.”
The two guards were quiet for a moment. Then one nodded; the other smiled. “Thank you, Adrian.”
“For what?”
“Trusting us,” Ben said.
“And taking us back,” Andrew added.
Adrian looked at Lindsay, at a loss for what to say. Her encouraging smile got him back on track. “Let’s pack up and get to the airport. We need to get these samples to Siobhán.”
She reached for his hand and squeezed. He wondered if she knew what that simple gesture meant to him, how much love and support it conveyed, how quickly he’d come to depend on it. On her.
He’d come to Vegas for blood and was leaving with something far more precious—a deeper connection to the woman who held his heart.
In the chaos of his life, facing terrible odds and even more horrifying decisions, Lindsay was his light in the darkness. Shining even when he couldn’t see her.