“Like what?” Cole demanded, throwing his hands into the air. Luckily, he’d holstered his gun, otherwise we’d have al been ducking at random moments while he gestured wildly to match his mood. “Oh, phooey, the demon has absconded with our map! Shuckey darn, she’s so irritating, because I fucking thought she had some fucking good in her!”
“Cole?” I went over to put my hand against his forehead. Nope, pretty cool despite our recent run.
“I’m not sick!” he bel owed.
I dropped my hand. “You’re betrayed.”
“Yeah!”
“By a demon.”
“Wel , yeah!”
“Who’s been lying, cheating, and stealing since the day she was born.”
He took a second to check his nails. “She’s a pro, isn’t she?”
“Um, yeah. The miracle is that Cassandra ducked her for so long.” I turned to Vayl. “So what does this mean? Is our psychic off the hook, or what?”
“I believe so,” he said. “The demon obviously feels she has fulfil ed her end of the bargain, which means Cassandra’s soul should be safe.”
“I don’t like that word ‘should.’ We need to be one hundred percent on this one.”
“There’s a test she can do,” Sterling said. He sat in the middle of the doorway, his legs in the lotus position, his palms lifted upward above his shoulders like he was checking for rain.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
“Absorbing the power inherent in this doorway. It’s great. Kind of like lying on a magic-fingers bed, only this gets you everywhere.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me.
“And I mean everywhere, Chil . You should try it.” I yanked my hair over my eyes. “I am surrounded by perverts.” I crouched down in front of my warlock. “Sterling.
What about the test? Do you think she knows which one you mean?”
“Maybe. She’s pretty wel -read, right?”
“Maybe? Should? You guys are driving me nuts!” I pul ed my phone out of my pocket and tossed it to the warlock. “Cal her. Tel her what it is. Tel her I said to do it warlock. “Cal her. Tel her what it is. Tel her I said to do it now. And if she comes up with a bad result, I want to know instantly. Because I wil go straight into hel after that bitch and tear her head off her shoulders if that’s what it takes to make Cassandra safe.”
Sterling gazed up at me. “I’m glad we made up.”
“Me too. Now make the cal .” Only when he opened my phone did I turn to Vayl. He’d picked up Astral and was giving her such a close once-over he could’ve been mistaken for a vet. “What do you think?” I asked.
“She does not seem to have been tampered with,” Vayl said. “Though, of course, Bergman is the only one who can tel us for sure.”
“So you think the map in her head…”
He nodded. “It is the one she recorded from Kyphas’s hand.”
“We’re not being very careful about the demon’s name now,” Cole snapped. “Don’t we care if she can spy on us anymore?”
“No,” Vayl and I chorused. “Later for sure,” I added. “But right now she’s so busy trying to get her ducks in a row she doesn’t have time to worry about us.”
“Would you care to describe her ducks?” Raoul asked.
“We figure she’s organizing a raiding party to help her retrieve the Rocenz before we can get to it,” I said.
“Yes,” Vayl agreed. “But remember, since no demon has the power to move from its world to ours at wil , she and her people must be summoned for another purpose as wel .
That gives us at least some time to find the Rocenz before she does.”
“And you’re sure the location is locked inside Astral’s mind?” Raoul asked.
“Absolutely,” I said. “We just need to get her somewhere safe so we can pul a copy out of her and figure out how to interpret it.”
“Somewhere safe… are you talking about the riad?” Cole asked.
“That is where we left the equipment,” Vayl said.
I held up a finger. “Except Bergman knows how to work it better than anyone else. Especial y when it comes to Astral. He was only just starting to train me. This would go a lot faster if we had him on board.”
“Are you certain?” Vayl asked, his eyebrows at ful lift.
“He is recuperating, after al .”
“What a nice way to say he’s newly stitched and out of his mind on painkil ers,” said Cole.
“Even bandaged and half-blitzed, Bergman’s stil better than any four regular people. What do you say?” I asked the guys. “Should we go break him out of the hospital?” Vayl smirked. “While I enjoy your sense of the dramatic, I think al that is required is the proper paperwork. This should only take a few minutes.”
Half an hour later Monique was wheeling Bergman out the front door while he bounced the IT’S A GIRL bal oon we’d tied to his wrist and giggled hysterical y at the bal ed-up towel we’d stuffed under his sweater to signify stil -to-be-lost baby weight. We hadn’t even had to bother with makeup. Just wrapped his head in my new black scarf and shoved Astral wrapped in a blanket into his free arm.
I leaned over so Bergman could see my face as I said,
“Miles, most moms don’t squish their babies so hard that they squeak. Relax your hold. No, don’t cover her whole face with your hand. Pretend she has to breathe, okay?” God? This guy doesn’t need kids anytime soon. Or even a fish. I’ll get him a stuffed animal next time I’m home. We’ll see how that goes and then I’ll be in touch.
“This rocks!” he said in a stage whisper as Cole pushed him toward the Galaxie.
“I can’t believe you need Miles this desperately,” Monique said again, more doubtful y than ever.
“Earthquakes are no laughing matter,” Cole told her gravely. “Only he can tel us if the data we’ve picked up points to a big one.”
I jumped in. “Would you like somebody to ride back to the riad with you, Monique? Maybe Sterling? Or”—I pul ed Raoul up beside me so she could get an eyeful of the muscular chest and thighs even his camo couldn’t hide
—“my friend Raoul could ride with you. He’s very protective.
Better than a bodyguard.”
Nothing. Her glance skittered off him like he was holding a mirror and went straight back to Bergman. “Thank you, no,” she said. “I drove Miles by myself, and I can get back the same way.” She leaned over him as we reached the car, giving him such a great view of her cleavage that he settled back in the chair like he was in it for the long haul. “You wil be al right?” she asked, her voice dropping into that velvet purr only French women can seem to pul off.
He grinned, his eyes rising to her lips as he licked his own. “You should probably ask me in the morning,” he said.
“Al right, then, I wil .” She kissed her fingertips, laid them on his cheek, and then went off to find her car. The guys watched her go. Al except Vayl, who was unlocking the doors and pul ing a blanket out of the trunk so we could make Miles comfortable.
As we began to help him into the car Bergman looked up at me and said, “That woman is after my body.”
“Yes,” I agreed as Olivia Newton-John’s voice suddenly hooted out of Astral’s mouth. While she sang, “Let’s get physical, physical,” he looked down at himself in utter bafflement.
“Do you have any idea why?” he asked.
I eased his feet inside the car and said, “As far as she’s concerned you’re the total package. Twenty years younger, skinny enough to relish good food, with one of the finest minds on earth. Just, uh”—I motioned to his side, which was so heavily bandaged it looked like he was hiding a bomb under his shirt—“don’t let her hurt you, okay?”