She dropped off Gethel’s blood sample at the lab with orders to expedite the tests. She even flirted a little with the lab tech, partly to ensure that her request was honored, and partly to maintain her False Angel reputation. False Angels were the biggest flirts on the planet, and it was becoming harder and harder to act like a False Angel now that she no longer felt like one.
She used to daydream about what it would feel like to no longer need to seduce people for fun, to no longer trick humans into thinking she was a Heavenly angel sent to guide them on a life path. But now that her daydreams were becoming reality and the gifts she’d relied on, like the X-ray vision, were failing, she was a little frightened. She’d never known anything but what her fake False Angel instincts made her feel, and suddenly, she was swimming in unknown, and possibly dangerous, waters.
Speaking of dangerous waters, she gave Eidolon a quick call to see if he was available for a meeting.
“My office in five,” he told her.
The Seminus demon was sitting at his desk when she got there, his short dark hair slightly flattened in the familiar shape of a surgical cap. He waved her inside, and she closed the door behind her.
“Blaspheme,” he said, leaning back in his chair to peg her with shrewd black eyes. “How’s your mom doing?”
He knew damned well how she was. Eidolon didn’t miss anything that went on in his hospital or his clinic, but she humored him.
“She’s doing as well as can be expected, thank you.”
“Any word on the identity of her attacker?”
“Not so far.” It wasn’t as if she could go to the police, and while demons did have a justice system – which Eidolon used to be part of – it was limited in scope. Plus, as the dam of a vyrm, her mother was sort of an outlaw, so she couldn’t seek help through normal channels such as a species Council or the Judicia.
“Are you in any danger?”
“Nothing immediate,” she said, hoping it was true. When his concerned gaze lingered on her for a heartbeat too long, she sat up straight in alarm. “What is it?”
“It’s probably nothing, but there have been a couple of angel sightings around the hospital.”
“What?” She gripped the edge of the desk so hard she was sure she’d leave dents. “How did they get in —”
“They didn’t. They’ve been spotted on the Manhattan streets directly above the hospital. It could be coincidence, something going on with the humans. But since your mother was attacked by an angel, I thought you should know.”
“Oh. Thank you,” she said with as much nonchalance as she could muster, given the fact that angels were sniffing around.
Eidolon steepled his hands together over his abs and studied her in that unnerving way he had. “I hear you had a visitor today.”
Of course he had. “Revenant is why I’m here.” She blew out a long breath, still rattled by the angel news. “He needed me to handle a medical issue.”
Eidolon scowled. “His medical issue?”
Ha. She couldn’t imagine Revenant ever asking for help. He struck her as the macho idiot type who wouldn’t go to a doctor even if he had a battle-ax sticking out the top of his thick skull.
“Someone else’s.” She met Eidolon’s gaze with a steady one of her own. “It was Gethel.”
Gold flecks shimmered in the doctor’s eyes, a twenty-four-karat sign that he was either angry or turned on, but she could guarantee it wasn’t the latter. Mated Sems could only be aroused by their mates.
“Gethel,” he said flatly. “You’re saying you treated a female who betrayed everyone who trusted her in order to usher in the Apocalypse? An angel who tried to slaughter a newborn infant I delivered with my own hands and who is now my godson? Who helped Pestilence to torture my brother’s mate, Idess? That Gethel?”
Shit, this was not going to go well. “It’s not what you think.”
Very slowly, he sat forward, propping his thickly muscled forearms on the desk as he clenched and unclenched his hands. “Then you need to explain yourself, and fast.” At least he was calm, even if every guttural word dripped with menace.
“Did you know she’s pregnant with Lucifer’s reincarnated soul, and that his father is Satan himself?”
“I’m aware.” There were red flecks mixing with the gold now, which meant he’d hit a new level of pissed. “Get to the part where your treating her isn’t what I think. Because right now I’m thinking you helped the mortal enemy of pretty much everyone I know, and I’m wondering if I made the right choice in putting you in charge of the clinic with Gem.”
“Right. Okay.” She swallowed dryly, wishing she’d grabbed a bottle of water from the machine outside his office. “I didn’t know it was Gethel he wanted me to treat. As soon as I realized who it was, I refused.”
The red in his eyes swallowed the gold and was beginning to eat up even the black of his irises. “Did he force you?” His voice rumbled like a nine-point-zero earthquake.
“No.” Perspiration beaded on her brow, but whether it was because she was nervous or because she was getting hot flashes as her cover wore off, she didn’t know. “But Eidolon, he gave me the opportunity to find out what’s going on with her. I got a blood sample. It’s in the lab right now being analyzed. I’m hoping you can use anything I learned to destroy her.”
She used to daydream about what it would feel like to no longer need to seduce people for fun, to no longer trick humans into thinking she was a Heavenly angel sent to guide them on a life path. But now that her daydreams were becoming reality and the gifts she’d relied on, like the X-ray vision, were failing, she was a little frightened. She’d never known anything but what her fake False Angel instincts made her feel, and suddenly, she was swimming in unknown, and possibly dangerous, waters.
Speaking of dangerous waters, she gave Eidolon a quick call to see if he was available for a meeting.
“My office in five,” he told her.
The Seminus demon was sitting at his desk when she got there, his short dark hair slightly flattened in the familiar shape of a surgical cap. He waved her inside, and she closed the door behind her.
“Blaspheme,” he said, leaning back in his chair to peg her with shrewd black eyes. “How’s your mom doing?”
He knew damned well how she was. Eidolon didn’t miss anything that went on in his hospital or his clinic, but she humored him.
“She’s doing as well as can be expected, thank you.”
“Any word on the identity of her attacker?”
“Not so far.” It wasn’t as if she could go to the police, and while demons did have a justice system – which Eidolon used to be part of – it was limited in scope. Plus, as the dam of a vyrm, her mother was sort of an outlaw, so she couldn’t seek help through normal channels such as a species Council or the Judicia.
“Are you in any danger?”
“Nothing immediate,” she said, hoping it was true. When his concerned gaze lingered on her for a heartbeat too long, she sat up straight in alarm. “What is it?”
“It’s probably nothing, but there have been a couple of angel sightings around the hospital.”
“What?” She gripped the edge of the desk so hard she was sure she’d leave dents. “How did they get in —”
“They didn’t. They’ve been spotted on the Manhattan streets directly above the hospital. It could be coincidence, something going on with the humans. But since your mother was attacked by an angel, I thought you should know.”
“Oh. Thank you,” she said with as much nonchalance as she could muster, given the fact that angels were sniffing around.
Eidolon steepled his hands together over his abs and studied her in that unnerving way he had. “I hear you had a visitor today.”
Of course he had. “Revenant is why I’m here.” She blew out a long breath, still rattled by the angel news. “He needed me to handle a medical issue.”
Eidolon scowled. “His medical issue?”
Ha. She couldn’t imagine Revenant ever asking for help. He struck her as the macho idiot type who wouldn’t go to a doctor even if he had a battle-ax sticking out the top of his thick skull.
“Someone else’s.” She met Eidolon’s gaze with a steady one of her own. “It was Gethel.”
Gold flecks shimmered in the doctor’s eyes, a twenty-four-karat sign that he was either angry or turned on, but she could guarantee it wasn’t the latter. Mated Sems could only be aroused by their mates.
“Gethel,” he said flatly. “You’re saying you treated a female who betrayed everyone who trusted her in order to usher in the Apocalypse? An angel who tried to slaughter a newborn infant I delivered with my own hands and who is now my godson? Who helped Pestilence to torture my brother’s mate, Idess? That Gethel?”
Shit, this was not going to go well. “It’s not what you think.”
Very slowly, he sat forward, propping his thickly muscled forearms on the desk as he clenched and unclenched his hands. “Then you need to explain yourself, and fast.” At least he was calm, even if every guttural word dripped with menace.
“Did you know she’s pregnant with Lucifer’s reincarnated soul, and that his father is Satan himself?”
“I’m aware.” There were red flecks mixing with the gold now, which meant he’d hit a new level of pissed. “Get to the part where your treating her isn’t what I think. Because right now I’m thinking you helped the mortal enemy of pretty much everyone I know, and I’m wondering if I made the right choice in putting you in charge of the clinic with Gem.”
“Right. Okay.” She swallowed dryly, wishing she’d grabbed a bottle of water from the machine outside his office. “I didn’t know it was Gethel he wanted me to treat. As soon as I realized who it was, I refused.”
The red in his eyes swallowed the gold and was beginning to eat up even the black of his irises. “Did he force you?” His voice rumbled like a nine-point-zero earthquake.
“No.” Perspiration beaded on her brow, but whether it was because she was nervous or because she was getting hot flashes as her cover wore off, she didn’t know. “But Eidolon, he gave me the opportunity to find out what’s going on with her. I got a blood sample. It’s in the lab right now being analyzed. I’m hoping you can use anything I learned to destroy her.”
