Venom took in the delicate lines of her face and thought of those wings with feathers sharp as blades shoving at her. “Is the pull to a person or a place?”
“I don’t know. A . . . direction.” Placing her hand on her chest, fingers outspread, she took a couple of steps backward to give herself clear air, then began to turn in a slow circle. And a faint acid green glow speared through her fingers.
26
Venom heard Dmitri suck in a harsh breath, but the other man didn’t ask Holly to stop. She did two full revolutions before coming to a standstill. “This way.” Her voice was definitive. “And it’s far, far from here.”
Lifting her hand, she pointed.
“Europe,” Illium said into the silence. “That way lies Europe.”
Michaela.
The other archangel’s name was a silent vibration in the room. “It makes sense,” Dmitri said, as if they’d spoken the name aloud. “Michaela was also impacted by Uram. Holly could be drawn to her the same way she was to Daisy.”
Holly nodded slowly. “When we entered the house where we eventually found Daisy, I did feel a compulsion toward the room where she was hiding, but it was like static. Cutting in and out. This is far stronger, must be linked back to whatever passed from Daisy to me.” Her fist on her chest, knuckles massaging the impact spot.
“Except,” Illium said, “there’s a problem.” He took out a slim black phone and brought up a program before asking Holly to point again and holding the phone out along the same line as her arm.
As the acidic glow reappeared, the blue-winged angel said, “If we draw a line from Holly’s fingertip to Europe and keep going, we slice right through Budapest.”
The heart of Michaela’s territory.
“Then what’s the—” Dmitri bit off his question. “Michaela’s currently with the Cadre and away from home.”
“Exactly,” Illium murmured as Holly finally lowered her hand and, with a wince, breathed deep. The glow pulsed for another three seconds before disappearing.
Honor leaned forward on Dmitri’s desk, deep green eyes tilted up at the corners troubled. “It could mean Michaela has Made someone else like Holly.”
“A possibility.” Venom knew too well that people were always driven to replicate the unusual and unexpected. “Holly, do you feel a draw toward Morocco?”
“Add the path to China to the mix,” Dmitri said. “I planned to call you and Illium in for a meeting this morning anyway. I’ve had word that Elena is homeward bound and will be arriving soon, but Raphael and the rest of the Cadre have left for Lijuan’s territory.”
Illium helpfully pointed out the correct directions.
Holly turned, concentrated, but shook her head. “Nothing,” she said. “But the second I go back along this line”—she angled herself toward the heart of Michaela’s territory again . . . and the glow pulsed—“there.”
She turned away to rub at her chest. “It’s as if I’m tied to something with an invisible thread and it’s pulling me closer. It’s getting increasingly difficult to fight the urge to head that way.”
Venom ran her tail of rainbow-colored hair through his fist. “Do we need to reloca—”
“No.” A scowl up at him, her voice firm. “No more running. I need to know what this is, and I need to face it.” She looked across to Dmitri. “I want permission to leave the territory and follow the pull, wherever it leads.”
Dmitri held her gaze for a long time before shifting his attention to Venom and Illium. “Security assessment?”
“New York will be fine without me,” Venom said, because they all knew Dmitri wouldn’t authorize Holly to head into another archangel’s territory on her own. “The squadrons are strong, and you have access to both Janvier and Trace.” Neither vampire was as powerful as Venom, but together, they came close.
“And,” Illium said, “if we are going to send our small kitten into Michaela’s territory, what better time than when Her Beauteousness is absent?”
“It’s possible that Michaela parted ways with the Cadre,” Dmitri pointed out.
Illium shook his head. “No, I can’t see it. Michaela would never permit such a large gathering of power to occur without her.”
Looking back over her shoulder, Honor met Dmitri’s eyes. No words passed between them, but the leader of the Seven put his hand on his wife’s shoulder. “If you leave now”—his gaze catching both Holly and Venom—“you can probably beat Michaela back to her territory.”
Adrenaline punched through Venom’s blood, but the leader of the Seven wasn’t finished. “You’ve both got reckless streaks,” he said bluntly. “But this is an archangel we’re talking about—you could be the two most powerful vampires in the universe and you couldn’t take her down. Don’t be stupid.” An order. “And don’t try to deal with something that you simply can’t.”
“Reckless doesn’t mean suicidal,” Venom said to the other man. “As you’d know.”
Dmitri’s smile was that of the man who’d raced them through the streets of Manhattan. “Stay under the radar. We don’t want to incite a political incident.” A pause before he added, “If she comes to harm, Venom, I’ll take it out on you.”
Beside Venom, Holly scowled, but Venom nodded.
Holly couldn’t believe it. She hadn’t imagined the entire conversation with Dmitri. She was actually on a high-speed jet that was about to land in Michaela’s territory. The pilots had gone in the direction she pointed, and not eased up on their speed until Holly told them they were nearly at the point to which she felt drawn.
Not Budapest after all, but the mountain range prior to it. Where Michaela had a hidden and far more private stronghold than her stately showpiece of a palace on the Danube.
The knowledge was an eager, dark whisper in her head.
Glancing at Venom while trying not to listen to the words spoken by that mad voice, she said, “How did you find a landing strip so close to Michaela’s stronghold?”
“We didn’t.” Venom rose from his seat. “The plane is going to keep going on a path that leads to an international airport. Officially, they’re here to pick up an artist from Raphael’s territory, a woman who was permitted to come to Michaela’s territory to study under a master.”
“Then how are we—” Holly stared at the backpacklike thing he held up with a wicked grin. “Is that a parachute?”
“I hope so, kitty. Or we’ll have a long fall.”
“Not funny.” She went and stared some more at the thing. “No, seriously?”
“Naasir gave me the idea.” Another grin, his eyes brilliant and unshielded. He was dressed in camouflage green cargo pants and a black T-shirt, along with combat boots; it was the most casual she’d ever seen him outside the training ring.
It was ridiculous how good he looked. Wild.
Then he put on the parachute backpack and did up the straps across his chest.
“Where’s mine?” Holly put her hands on her hips and began to tap her boot-clad foot. “If you’re planning to leave me here, I’ll deck you.”
“Do you know how to jump out of a plane?”
“Well . . . no.” She scowled at him when he pulled out another harness.
“Come on, then, Hollyberry.” That grin just kept digging its way further and further under her skin. “Let’s get you ready.”