It was only minutes before sunset and Fang was buzzing with vampire activity. Tabbris would pop into the room with Ryan once in a while, but she hadn’t said anything to Gena or Ryan since he got his hands on a computer to locate his cell phone.

Gareth was halfway convinced Gena and Ryan were messing with him, but if them believing an invisible angel was in the room still got him what he wanted, he seemed to be okay with that.

As Gena watched the vampires walk around her and arm themselves with various items of silver, including bullets and knives, she tried to deal with the realization that she wasn’t going with them.

As much as she wanted to help Marcus, Vlad was right. She was in over her head. It was one thing to take one vampire by surprise, but there would be no surprise now, and there was probably more than one vampire.

The more of these men who had to watch her ass, the fewer men were available to save Marcus. She paced back and forth across the room in frustration. Tabbris said she could help, but where the hell was the vague angel?

Ryan sat just to her left and watched her as she paced. Gareth had untied him as he used the computer to locate his cell phone and didn’t feel he was enough of a threat anymore to tie back up. He was doing his best to come to terms that he was surrounded by vampires, and, considering his past history of violent outbursts, he was doing rather well.

He would ask her basic questions every few minutes, but Gena only gave him short and abrupt answers. Somehow he’d gone from wanting her dead to believing she was his protector.

She could not deal with his mood swings when so much else was happening around her.

Tabbris’s voice came from behind her. “It’s time for us to leave.”

Gena raised an eyebrow at the suddenly appearing angel. “That’s a brilliant observation, O Vague One. How do you propose I get out of here?” she asked, not even caring that the vampires in the room could hear her, yet it still appeared as though she was talking to no one.

Tabbris grabbed Gena’s and Ryan’s hands instead of answering. “Hold on tight,” she said as an overwhelming dizziness came over Gena.

She stumbled backward and her hand lost contact with Tabbris. She brought her fingers to her forehead as she tried to see straight. The world around her slowly came into focus and she realized that she was no longer at Fang.

The three of them stood outside on some street with tall apartments on either side of them. It definitely looked like New York, but she didn’t know where. Maybe Upper East Side, but there was still so much of the city she was unfamiliar with... Gena had felt dizzy, but she hadn’t felt any sort of motion, nor did she remember the scenery changing.

Did they travel while she blinked?

“Did we teleport?” asked Ryan.

“My job is very complex and time-consuming. Human modes of transportation are impractical for me,” said Tabbris.

“That’s a really pretty way of not answering his question,” said Gena, no longer willing to be given half-answers by any angel. “It’s time for you to be straight with us. What are we doing here? Is Marcus in one of these buildings?”

Tabbris seemed unfazed by Gena’s attitude. “Marcus is not around us. Vlad and his men should be able to bring him back to you. Have faith. However, the men responsible for taking him have been living in the building behind us.”

Gena turned to look at the gray brick building that looked the same as so many other apartment complexes in the city. Ryan stiffened. “What the fuck is that?” he asked as a tall man walked out of the front door to the building.

“What do you mean?” asked Gena. The man was relatively tall and was obviously well built under his leather jacket, but nothing about him set off alarm bells to Gena.

“Well, you and Tabbris have a bright white glow around you. The vampires we just left all had some sort of gray surrounding them. That guy is surrounded by jet-black darkness.”

Tabbris nodded approvingly to Ryan. “You are a very gifted young man to be able to see all this so easily,” she told him. “That man is what you would call a vampire, but he is different from the ones at Fang. These vampires do not belong here and it’s my job, and by extension your job, to make sure they do not thrive here.” With that, Tabbris walked to the entrance of the building in question, leaving Gena and Ryan to follow.

Gena allowed Ryan to go in front of her, still leery of having her back to him. He seemed stable enough, but who knew when he’d decide she was evil again?

Tabbris opened the front door with no problem and led Gena and Ryan up a flight of stairs. When they reached another door, Gena was curious to see how Tabbris planned to get it open but was surprised when she opened it as though it was never locked.

“No locks?” she asked.

Tabbris shot Gena a sly grin. “Locks are no barrier to me.”

“Must be nice,” muttered Gena as she walked inside the apartment.

Tabbris held up a hand to halt Ryan. “I must speak with Gena alone. This is her mission to bear.”

Ryan silently nodded, but Gena could tell he wanted to be of some use. She didn’t have time to feel bad for him as Tabbris once again walked away from them.

The room she entered was less like the bedroom it was meant to be and more like a shrine or showcase. There were no lights, and the windows were boarded up, and in the middle of the otherwise empty room was a pedestal that housed a glass-looking sphere.

The outside of the sphere was green, but it appeared to be shining an eerie orange light throughout the otherwise dark room.

“What is that?” asked Gena softly.

Tabbris positioned herself on the other side of the glowing orb. Her face was bathed in that strange orange glow, and her serious eyes met Gena’s. “This is known as leverage.”

Gena shook her head in frustration. “Stop evading my questions. What is this?”

“I have overstepped my bounds already by talking to you, let alone bringing you here. Some things you will need to learn on your own. I can tell you that this orb is the most prized possession of the rebels. You need to use it to stop their attack on the tower.”

Gena’s interest was piqued. “Can I use it to get Marcus?”

“They will do anything to get it back unharmed. However, before I allow you to take it, there’s one requirement. It needs to be destroyed tonight. No matter what promises you make them, they cannot have this back. Do you understand?” asked Tabbris with a deathly serious tone.

“Believe it or not, when you actually answer questions, you’re not that hard to understand,” replied Gena.

“The second part of your job is more long-term,” said Tabbris. “Ryan needs guidance and time to learn and accept his gifts. I am trusting you with him.”

Gena couldn’t hide the disbelief on her face. “You’re an idiot. The man tried to kill me twice. Once would be hard enough to forgive, but he wanted me dead so badly that he tracked me down to put two bullets in my chest.”

Tabbris waved off her concerns. “Are you forgetting that you’re not dead? You’re fine. Your family and close friends all know you are fine. Ryan is a wanted murderer who can no longer see anyone from his former life, nor does he have access to any of his funds. Unlike you, he is helpless in this world.

“He was wrong to hurt you like he did, and no one is saying that he wasn’t wrong. The poisons he filled his body with were preventing his gifts. It was only after he tried to better himself that he started to realize how deep the mysteries of this world are.”

It was no secret that Ryan had done his fair share of drugs. His attendance record had always been shaky, and it was apparent when he was hungover at the hospital. Even worse were the times Gena suspected he was actually using while working. Really, though, if you knew you couldn’t lose your job, why not get high in your office?

Gena tried to put herself in his position for the first time. She tried to imagine giving up something that had such a strong hold over her life and soul, only to start seeing angels and monsters. “I can’t deal with this right now. Isn’t there an attack that has to be stopped?”

Tabbris pursed her lips. “You are right,” she admitted. “However, in order to make it in time, you will have to run. Turn right when you leave and run until you see the Tower.”

Gena nodded in agreement as Tabbris reached out to gently pick up the sphere. As soon as the sphere was moved, bright lights surrounded them as an alarm blared out a warning. Tabbris quickly and delicately moved the sphere to a satchel, where the glowing orange was still slightly visible through the fabric.

Tabbris handed the bag to Gena and met her eyes. “Run!” she shouted.

Gena sprouted into action as she turned and hightailed it out of the apartment as fast as she could. Gena rushed past Ryan and out the still open door as she heard one final warning from Tabbris. “You must destroy it. They can never have the key back!”

Gena was down the stairs and out into the cold night air in seconds. She heard footsteps behind her and saw Ryan was following. Let him, she thought. According to Tabbris, he could be useful, and as long as he didn’t slow her down, he could follow her anywhere.

As Gena ran faster, her mind floated away from her. All she focused on was the pounding of her feet as they hit the pavement and making sure her breath was controlled. Random people were scattered on the sidewalk, but she dodged them without ever slowing her pace, only thinking of the Tower and making sure she got there in time.

She had no idea how long she ran for. Time was just as much of a blur as the scenery that flew by her. As zoned out as she was, she was no distance runner. It wasn’t long before she gasped for additional air and her legs protested her long strides. Gena pushed the discomfort and pain aside. She just kept running.

Just as she thought her legs couldn’t take another step, she saw it. The Tower was surrounded in bright lights as formally dressed partygoers elegantly walked in, oblivious of any danger. Gena stopped in her tracks before she was seen by anyone at the entrance to the Tower.

Ryan also came to a quick stop at her side. Her lungs greedily sucked in all the air they could get as she tried to assess the situation. “There are more of them there,” he pointed out. She noticed he wasn’t nearly as out of breath as she was.

“More of who?” she breathlessly asked.

“The ones surrounded by black. Just like the guy we just saw with Tabbris.”

“There are rebels here?” asked Gena, though she supposed she already knew they would be there. Before Ryan could respond, she asked, “Which ones are they?”

Ryan pointed to a few men at the entrance and Gena cursed her luck. “Those look like guards,” she pointed out. “How am I supposed to get in there if the people I’m meant to stop are guarding the damn place?” she asked, not expecting Ryan to have any idea.

“There could be a back way to sneak into,” he said.

She shook her head. “No time. Tabbris made it very clear I needed to run the entire way here. I need to be in there now.”

“I can go in first,” he said. “While they’re dealing with me, you can sneak in.”

She looked at him in shock. What surprised her most was how serious he sounded. “Those are vampires. Most of them aren’t especially nice. You would be killed in under a minute.”

“You said it yourself. I owe you. If Tabbris said this place needs to be protected, I will do what I have to do.”

Gena looked into his face and studied him carefully. The dark eyes that everyone else had always found so attractive but had always somehow turned her off looked back at her, but something was different. He seemed older, somehow wiser. More importantly, she really believed he was willing to die to help her and save the Tower. Maybe Tabbris was right about him.

“Ryan, I really appreciate the offer, but, if you remember, I’m not easy to kill. I’ll go in first. Maybe I’ll see the king Marcus was talking about and he’ll help me before I get into any trouble.

“You just stay here and stay safe,” she told him. “Don’t worry about me. I don’t think Tabbris would send me here without a whole army of guardian angels looking after me,” she assured him.

He looked uncertain but nodded in agreement. Gena was unsure of what to say. He’d offered to die in her place. She reached out for his hand and gave it one quick, comforting squeeze before she turned and walked toward the well-guarded entrance.

She took a steadying breath as she clutched the sphere closer to her. Tabbris assured her it was valuable to the rebels and Gena prayed she was right.

She tried to be inconspicuous, but it was hard when everyone entering the Tower was dressed in elaborate evening gowns. Her jeans and t-shirt stood out in this crowd, and it wasn’t long before her approach was noticed.

Gena saw one of the guards Ryan had identified as a rebel look in her direction as she stepped onto the steps that led to the Tower entrance. By the time she was halfway up the steps, he and another guard approached her. There would be no sneaking in. Gena grabbed the sphere close to her chest as she started a full-out sprint to the door.

One of the guards moved at a speed so fast he appeared as only a blur, but Gena somehow managed to dodge him as his momentum carried him farther from the building. She managed to get two steps inside the door before she felt a large hand wrap around her jaw.

She wasn’t certain, but she thought she could actually hear the sound of her neck breaking.