"WHEA' THE HELL did that guy go?" Melinda's nasal voice pierced the stunned silence left by Azrael's sudden departure.

Warren looked at me. "He warped somewhere safer than here."

"Warped? What is this—Star Trek?" Melinda asked, curling her lip up on one side.

Nathan laughed.

Everyone else seemed too shocked to move. Some of the guys were looking around the grounds, a few others were searching the sky. Enzo finally pointed toward the building he'd come from with Taiya. "We need to get her back inside." He slipped his arms underneath Taiya's knees and behind her back. "Follow me."

Nathan fell in step between me and Warren. "I'm really confused. When did Taiya get here?"

My teeth were still clenched with rage. "I don't know," I said. "How long has she been gone?"

Nathan looked at me. "You think she's been here all this time?"

I nodded. "Looks like it."

"I got here Christmas night," Melinda called over her shoulder to us. "Taiya was brought in a few days before me."

"Yep. Then she's been here the whole time then," I said with a sigh. "Why would he do this?"

"I have no idea," Warren answered.

Nathan looked over at me. "Did you cut your hair?"

"Adrianne did."

"I like it."

We crossed the lot to the building he'd come out of, an unremarkable structure that was five or six stories high and made out of concrete. There were no windows and only one door in and out.

"Cooper, get the door," Enzo said to the guy I'd seen earlier.

I suddenly realized why he looked familiar. I'd saved him from being tossed off a cliff at Calfkiller River.

"I can do it," Warren said, moving his hand past the lock.

Nothing happened.

Enzo shook his head. "That won't work at Echo-10, sir. You have to be scanned into the building."

Cooper used a retina scanner to unlock the door.

"This is Echo-10?" I asked.

"Yes, ma'am." Enzo carried Taiya inside, then we followed him and Melinda with Reuel and Nathan on our heels.

Nathan paused at the doorway. "I'm not sure of protocol now. Am I allowed in here?"

Warren waved him forward. "Protocol left the planet, man."

A little bewildered and still very sleepy, Nathan scratched his head and walked inside.

Compared to the outside, and considering its bland and simple shape, the interior was remarkable. The doorway led into an L-shaped lobby with an elevator to our left. To the right of it, two glass sliding doors appeared to lead into some kind of living space with a loft. Straight down the long tiled hall in front of us were a series of open doors off to the right.

We followed Enzo down the hall. The first couple of doors led to large office rooms, but the third door was marked with a medical cross. Melinda opened it to what looked like a commercial urgent care facility.

There was a nurses' station that faced two square rooms with glass doors. Enzo went into the one on the right and settled Taiya onto the hospital bed. A plump nurse in black scrubs reconnected the I.V. to Taiya's hand and then checked the pulse in her wrist. She was grumbling about moving patients in the middle of the night and not being paid enough.

"What's happening with her?" I asked the nurse as I watched from the door.

"We're slowly weaning her off life support," she answered, checking one of the machines. "She's been off the ventilator for a few weeks now. We're hoping she wakes up soon so they can take out the feeding tube. Her vitals look good."

Melinda shot a hateful glare across Taiya's bed at Enzo. "At least her vitals did look good before people started yankin' her out into the dead of winter!"

I looked back at Nathan. "You really didn't know she was here?"

He shook his head. "I had no idea, and I've literally been right next door. How did you know where to find her?"

"It's a long story," I said.

"Where have you been?" Warren asked him. "Sloan's been trying to call you for a week."

Nathan patted his empty pockets. "No phone, remember?"

"I wasn't using the phone. I tried to summon you but I couldn't, like the same way I couldn't find Taiya."

"It's in the walls," Enzo said, joining us outside Taiya's room. He pointed over to what I assumed was an external wall. "It's the way they're designed. A half an inch lead plate with two layers of a composite metal foam called high-Z, and then concrete and steel."

"High-Z?" Warren asked.

"It's a new material that was recently developed for the military by a research team at NC State," Enzo said. "They discovered that it blocks radiation, so we started testing to see what else it might block." He shot us a knowing glance. "This place is a fortress. Your powers bounce right off."

"But Nathan's never been in this building before," I said.

Enzo nodded. "Most of the structures have been modified in the last year. If he was indoors, he was off the grid."

"I've been indoors a lot lately with the bad weather," Nathan said.

"Wow," I said. "Why is it called Echo-10?"

He pointed up at the ceiling. "There are four floors above this one. The top is the private owner's floor, and the other three are comprised of ten separate four-man housing units."

"And the Echo part?" I asked.

"Like I said, nothing gets through these walls," he said.

Warren looked at me and winked. "So, no one to hear the screams."

Reuel chuckled.

Enzo smiled. "Come with me, please." He led us all back to the lobby. "The elevators go up to the living quarters, and these doors are for the common area."

The glass doors slid open and we walked inside. There was a large living area with two sectional sofas facing a flat screen television. A huge open kitchen to its left had an industrial size refrigerator and cereal dispensers on the counter. And up the center staircase was a workout room, judging from the two ellipticals and two treadmills that lined the glass loft wall. Enzo motioned to the large table near the kitchen. "Have a seat."

We all sat. "Do you know where your boss went?" Warren asked.

Enzo shook his head. "No."

"Do you think he'll come back?" I asked.

He shrugged.

"I say good riddance!" Melinda was suddenly standing beside my chair, pointing an acrylic nail that was in desperate need of a fill-in at Enzo's face. "Your boss is as crazy as Abner."

"Abner Tuinstra?" I asked.

Her eyes cut to me. "You know him?"

"I killed him two months ago."

She beckoned me with her fingers. "Get up, honey, and let me kiss your feet."

I didn't move, but it was hard to suppress a smile.

"Two months, you say?" she asked, walking around the table and pulling a chair out next to Nathan.

"About that long," I said.

"That makes a lotta sense."

"Why?" Warren asked.

"Because that's when they locked me up. For years they said I was nuts. That I imagined the whole thing." She tapped her temple. "But I knew. And it musta been when that son of a bitch died that I really remembered everything. Nah, I wasn't nuts."

"How did you get here?" I asked her.

She gestured toward Enzo again. "Crazy bastahd had me kidnapped."

Enzo sighed. "You were not kidnapped."

Melinda put her thumb to her ear and her pinky to her mouth like a telephone. "This guy calls me up at the hospital in New York and says they've got my girl down here. Asks if I want to see her for the holidays. I say yes and they send me a bus ticket. I get to the bus station in Podunk B.F.E. and what happens? This whole damn army picks me up and brings me here. And they won't let me leave!" She looked at me. "Don't that sound like kidnappin' to you?"

I nodded. "A little."

Reuel nodded as well and held up two fingers millimeters apart.

Enzo crossed his arms. "We told her she could stay or she could leave on her own. Those were the terms."

"They expect me to leave here without my girl. Can you believe that? It's been years since they let me see her, now they want me to just leave. Don't tell nobody, he says. This guy," she muttered and flicked her hand toward him.

I liked Melinda.

Nathan leaned his elbows on the table. "Does this mean I'm out of a job?"

"The company isn't built around Azrael," Enzo said.

"Great," I said with a smirk. "Who is it built around?"

Enzo pointed at Warren.

"Me?" Warren asked.

"Yes, sir," Enzo said. "Our orders are clear. In Azrael's absence, you're in charge."

I found that hard to believe.

Warren looked at Nathan. "Nate, you're fired."

Nathan shot him the bird.

I looked around. "Seriously, what happens now? I mean, we can't drop everything and come here to live. What the hell? We have a house to close on this week."

"A house?" Nathan asked.

"We're buying a bigger house over by her dad," Warren said.

Nathan was surprised. "That was fast."

"Yeah, and we can't miss it!" My words were coming out a little more frantic than I would have liked, but I realized this may have been the stupid archangel's plan all along to lock me up in his compound. "Enzo, we can't stay here and run Claymore. That's insane."

Enzo held up his hand, chuckling—no, he was straight-up laughing at me. "No one says you have to stay here. We'll be fine."

Warren put his hand on mine. "It's a big company. There's a whole corporate office that runs this place, remember?"

I nodded, still not completely convinced this wasn't some sort of trick.

Warren looked around the room. "Enzo, is there a place we can crash here tonight? Sloan needs to rest."

"Or maybe a couple of days," I said. "I'd like to stay with Taiya for a little while."

"Absolutely," Warren said.

Enzo stood. "The top floor is all yours, sir. The door has a fingerprint lock, and yours is in the system."

Warren shook his head. "The suite is really not necessary. Just a bed is fine."

Enzo seemed a little confused. "Sir, the room is yours and Sloan's. That's what it's there for."

Warren and I exchanged a puzzled glance before he looked back at Enzo and nodded. "If you insist," Warren said. "Sloan, are you ready to go to bed?"

No. I was still way too keyed up for sleep, but I got up and nodded my head.

Nathan stood and looked at his watch. "I guess I'll go take a shower."

"Five a.m. roll call?" Warren asked.

"You know it," Nathan said.

We all walked back out to the lobby. "If you need anything, I'm on the third floor, unit one," Enzo said. "Reuel? I'm assuming you'll take your bed in unit three?"

Reuel grunted in confirmation.

Warren shook Enzo's hand. "Thanks for everything."

Enzo smiled. "It's good to have you back here, sir."

"I'd like to say the same, but I'm not going to," Warren said with a laugh.

"Roger that, sir." Enzo waved to the rest of us as he opened the door to the stairwell. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," we replied.

The elevator doors dinged and slid open. Melinda stepped inside. "You guys goin' up?"

I held up a finger. "One sec." I turned back to Nathan. "We'll see you tomorrow?"

He tapped his watch. "You'll see me again today, hopefully."

I nodded. "It's hard to keep the days straight when you haven't slept."

"You both need to try to get some rest. I have a feeling this isn't over," he said.

I walked over and gave him a hug. "For now, I'm glad you're OK. It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too." He stepped back and offered Warren his hand.

Warren shook it. "See you later, man."

Nathan pulled Warren back when he tried to withdraw his hand. "Hang on, I have a question." Nathan jerked his head toward me. "So, since Azrael orchestrated the whole me almost hooking up with Sloan thing, does this mean you'll finally forgive me?"

Warren laughed and shook head. "Not a chance, man. Not a chance."

Nathan hung his head and sighed. "Damn."

"You guys in or out?" Melinda barked from the elevator. "It's way past my bedtime."

"Bye, Nathan," I said.

He waved at the door before pushing it open. "See you after a while."

We said goodnight to Melinda on the fourth floor, then took the elevator up to the top. The doors slid open into a short, empty hallway with one door at the end of it. There was a nameplate on the door marked PRIVATE, nothing else.

Warren placed his index finger on the digital scanner above the handle, and after a quiet beep, the lock tumbled. He opened the door and I followed him inside. "Holy smokes," I said out loud.

The top floor was actually two floors. It was an open concept on the bottom with a living area and a huge eat-in kitchen centered around a bi-level staircase in the center up to a loft. It was minimally, but elegantly, decorated with off-white walls around the perimeter and dark charcoal walls around the stairs and in the kitchen. The living room had simple black tables and a large white sofa with oversized pillows.

It was like something Adrianne would have forced me to watch on a home improvement reality show on cable. A show that could have been called Extreme Home Makeover: Warehouse Edition.

"This place is insane," I said, running my hand along the dark walnut dining table.

He was checking out the biggest flat screen television I'd ever seen that was mounted on the wall. "Insane." Warren shook his head. "None of this makes any sense, Sloan."

"I know it doesn't. And, honestly, not understanding is the most terrifying thing about it to me." I walked over to him. "I'm afraid of Azrael, but I'm even more afraid of not having him around."

"I know what you mean."

"Warren, what if he makes you leave me?" I asked.

He gently gripped my arms and bent to look me in the eye. "That's not going to happen."

"You don't know that." I swallowed. "We don't know anything anymore."

"Come here." He pulled me against his chest as I started to cry.

It felt like we were being forced to the edge of a great precipice with nowhere else to go but to jump. And jump into what, I wasn't sure. All I could see looking off our proverbial cliff was darkness.

"You have to try to get some sleep," he said softly against my hair. "This will all be clearer tomorrow."

I sniffed. "There's no way I'm falling asleep now."

Smiling, he pulled away and took my hand. "Let's see if we can find a bed."

He led me up the stairs to a loft that overlooked the living space and two bedrooms, one on each side. The one on the left had a crib. The one on the right, a king bed with a fluffy white comforter like mine at home. I scratched my head. "This is so weird."

Warren pulled a dresser drawer open. "There's not much," he said, moving its contents around, "but here's a clean t-shirt and some Claymore sweatpants."

I changed into the outfit that was too big for me, but not quite big enough for Warren. The t-shirt fit snugly around my middle. Warren pulled the comforter back for me and I slid underneath it. The bed sunk under his weight when he sat beside me.

"Are you going to sleep?" I asked, knowing for him it was an option rather than a need.

He shook his head. "No, but I'll stay right here."

"You won't leave me?" I asked.

He tugged the blanket up around my chest and bent to kiss my forehead. "I'll never leave you, Sloan."

And in an instant, I was fast asleep.