“Yeah, I bet he was way surprised when you jumped him.”
Archer bent his gimlet stare from the retreating intruder to her. “Not as surprised as when you did it.” He pushed open the balcony door into an empty suite. “Get inside.”
He stripped off his shirt and made a rough sling. She winced as he cradled her arm.
“Broken,” he said. “Give the demon a few hours before your next crazy stunt.”
“Oh, it’s crazy when I do it.”
“I had him in my fist.” Archer’s violet-shot eyes closed to slits. “He was after you. He won’t get his way.”
Bruises blossomed and faded on his bare torso—his teshuva dealing with the damage. She brushed her fingers along the clear mark of a large hand spanning his neck, with a darker imprint where a band like a ring had scored his skin.
He shuddered and closed his eyes.
“You are not to die for me,” she said softly.
When he opened his eyes again, only tarnished bronze remained. “Not your call.”
He wheeled away, leaving her to follow.
The hotel lobby swarmed with agitated talyan in various states of undress and even more varied states of armament. No one was leaving despite the thickening stink of sulfurous smoke.
“Where’s the fire department?” The image of her burned-out apartment flashed through Sera’s mind.
“I pulled an internal alarm,” Archer said. “The authorities won’t be alerted unless absolutely necessary.”
She eyed him. “There’s a fine line between secret society and mass delusional psychosis.”
“How convenient that talyan make excellent tight-rope walkers.” He waited until Liam was free, then slipped in among the gathered talyan. “Sera’s apartment building was torched late last night. Looks like we’re the djinn-man’s second hit.”
Liam spiked his fingers through his hair. “Haji found birnenston leaked down from the roof. We stopped it in the vents. For now.”
Archer’s expression turned grimmer yet. “Who’s trying to douse it?”
“Perrin and Lex have the knack, but this might be more than they can handle. I gave them ten minutes. Then I’m calling the fire department.”
“Won’t help,” Archer warned.
“They’ll keep secondary fires from spreading to the neighbors.” Liam ran a hand through his hair. “This djinn-man leached out enough birnenston to poison two buildings in less than twenty-four hours. He might be more than all of us can handle.”
A talya ran up, gesturing for Liam. They left together. The rest waited tensely, poised to escape with the league’s treasures.
She caught Archer’s eye. “Birnenston?”
“An incendiary substance left behind in tenebrae lairs. They foul a place just by existing in this realm. Chemically, it’s hydrofluoric acid with an etheric mutation. The more potent the demonic emanations, the nas tier the birnenston.”
“I had a hospice patient who died after an industrial acid accident.” She shuddered at the memory of the fatal blistering.
“Hydrofluoric acid is the worst. It seeps into the body without surface burns and melts the victim from the inside. Birnenston is literally burn-stone, but the stone is human bone. And with the etheric mutation, the damage can go soul deep.”
“Birnenston.” She rolled the word on her tongue. “Brimstone? As in ‘fire and . . .’?”
He nodded. “Impossible to extinguish through mortal means. Only a bane-class teshuva can burn it out.”
Ten minutes passed, although to Sera’s mind, it felt more like hours. Liam returned, looking grim. He commanded attention without a word, the talyan radiating out from him like a wheel.
“The birnenston is contained.” His low voice carried in the still room. “But it exceeds the definition of unholy mess. Judging from the virulence, we’re dealing with one tough djinni. And now he’s targeting us.”
“Let’s make that mutual,” Ecco growled.
Liam kept talking. “We need time to isolate and extinguish the birnenston. Until then, I’m closing the building.”
Archer leaned close to her ear. “Birnenston acts like a slow poison. It doesn’t kill, but it saps demonic power. Bookkeepers think chronic birnenston toxicity helps contain demons in hell. Out here, it weakens our teshuva, which can get us killed by the next feralis we take on.”
“Demons have kryptonite,” she murmured. “The more you know.”
Liam continued. “Zane has the list of safe houses and will be assigning teams. Take charge of your inventory and let’s get going.”
Archer took her arm as if she were part of his inventory. “We move on when our cover is compromised among the human population. Doesn’t happen often, especially in a city this size. We’ve never been forced out by djinn.” He scowled. “They haven’t cared enough about us to bother.”
“One cares now,” she said.
As if he’d overheard them, Ecco pressed his point. “The djinn-man. What are we going to do about him?”
Liam shook his head. “Once we’re secure—”
“I smell defense,” Ecco said. “I hate playing defense.”
“We need a base of operations,” Liam said.
“For what? Screwing with malice?” Ecco paced around the outer edges of the crowd. “Time’s past for that.”
A few murmured as the agitated talya passed them—whether in agreement or annoyance, Sera couldn’t tell.
“That’s our calling,” Liam said. “We—the teshuva—fight against the tenebraeternum for our souls.”
“Djinn are eternally shadowed too,” Ecco pointed out.
Sera glanced up at Archer’s expressionless face.
“That’s for the angelic—,” someone started.
“Fuck the angels,” Ecco growled. “They haven’t gotten anywhere in two thousand years. It’s our turn.”
“That’s not the way it’s done,” Zane said.
Ecco spun to face him. “Things are different now.” He pointed across the room at Sera. “I saw her extinguish a demon. Not just bleed it off. Destroy it.”
She stiffened as every eye turned to her.
Ecco pressed his point. “She wasn’t taking out the trash just to do it again tomorrow. She snatched that malice out of the ether and sent it back to oblivion where it belonged.” He grinned toothily at Sera. “Who puts the repo back in repentin’?”
Archer stirred. “You’re a poet, Ecco. But we’re not sure what she did, or how.”
She wanted to elbow him, but her broken arm refused to twitch. It hadn’t been her alone. Only together had they banished the malice and the two ferales. Was he so determined to keep her at a distance that he’d deny what they’d done?
“Djinn-stuffed bastard wants to make this war personal,” Ecco said. “I say let’s man up. Or woman.”
Liam shifted, glancing at Archer. “Does he make any sense to you?”
Archer shrugged. “What happened was odd. Bookie’s working on it.”
“Now this,” Liam said.
Ecco stepped inside the circle. “We have to—”
Liam silenced him with a look. “We’re evacuating this building. We’re checking in at our new assignments. We hunt tonight. Same as always.”
Ecco scowled.
Liam continued. “Whatever new wrinkle we find, the old wrinkles don’t go away. We’re still the hottest iron in the fire to smooth it out.” He rubbed his forehead. “Analogy fails me. Get going, people, before the birnenston makes us all as foolish as Ecco. If he’s right and the apocalypse is now, I’ll be sure to page you.”
There was a general chuckle, and the talyan started to move. Sera listened to them make plans to rendezvous with their assigned partners.
She started when Archer’s hand fell on her shoulder. “Ready?”