I was a Trueborn, and in the giant pecking order of things, this Upper Level demon was a declawed cat compared to me.

The shadow ball pulsed and then collapsed into a fine dust of unspent power. “What are you?” he gasped.

“The official roof police,” I retorted. “And you and I are going to have a little chat.”

4

“You foolish, idiotic human,” the demon sneered. “I’m—”

“Not very observant and uncreative? We’ve already established that and it’s time to move on.” I pressed the throat-level dagger against his skin, and I think the demon stopped breathing. “Answer my questions, and maybe I won’t impale you to the roof through your throat.”

The demon glared at me, silent.

I smiled back at him. “Are you working with Bael?”

There was a slight flaring of the demon’s nostrils, but he remained quiet.

“You’re going to want to play along and do so quickly, because I have the patience of a hungry toddler and a severe problem with impulsivity. I don’t think before I act. Are you working with Bael?”

His lips peeled back in a snarl, revealing jagged sharklike teeth, and I wondered if he had a little Nightcrawler in him. “Bael isn’t topside.”

“Bull. Poopy. Yeah, he is. I’ve seen him with my own two eyeballs, and he’s been spotted in this very area of town. Try again.”

He growled.

I rolled my eyes. “You do realize that unless you have helpful information, you’re going to be dead before you can find a breath mint.” I paused. “And you need one. Stat. Because your breath is kicking.”

“Aren’t you a cute little thing,” he snapped back. “Well, not so little. I think your ass is crushing my diaphragm.”

“That’s my knee, you idiot, and that’s not going to be the only thing that gets crushed.” To drive home the point, I slid my knee down his stomach, stopping just below the belt. “Tell me where Bael is.”

The demon stared up at me for a moment and then he laughed—deep belly laughs that shook me. “You stupid cow—”

I flipped the dagger at his throat so that it was handle down and swung my fist into the side of his head, cutting off his words. Wet warmth sprayed against my palm. “Didn’t your mommy demon teach you if you don’t have anything nice to say, shut the Hell up?”

He cursed as I pressed the other dagger harder into his chest, tearing the fine material of his shirt. “You’re...obviously out of...your mind if you think...I’m going to say crap about Bael. I’m not afraid of death.”

“But you’re afraid of Bael?”

“If you know anything about Bael, then you know that was about seven different levels of a stupid question.”

“Do you think he can do worse to you than I can?” Anger flared, and the need to dominate got the best of me as I leaned down so that we were eye level. I knew I shouldn’t do it. It was wrong for a hundred different reasons, but I let just the tiniest bit of my grace spark. The corners of my vision, which were usually shadowy and dark, flipped bright white. “Because I’m here to tell you that he can’t.”

His eyes widened, and when he spoke, there was a mixture of horror and awe in his voice. “You’re it. You’re the nephilim.”

I reigned the grace back in, and the white light faded. “First off, the term nephilim is so outdated, and second, you have been talking to Bael, because—”

“If it was common knowledge that one of your kind was in the city, you’d already be dead.” His eyes went half-mast, and a lazy smile crossed his swirling orange-and-black face. “Or worse. Right? Is it true? What they say about your kind and mine?”

My lip curled as I stared at him. He looked near orgasmic, and that was more than a little disturbing. “Is what true?”

“That if a demon eats you—”

I shifted, digging my knee into his groin. He shouted in pain, withering under me. “Yeah, I’m just going to stop you right there. Tell me where—”

“It wasn’t Bael that...” He dragged in a deep breath, gasping through the pain. “It wasn’t Bael who told me about you, you stupid cu—”

Punching him again, this time in the jaw, I made sure the dagger handle got in on the action. “That better have been the word cutie that was about to come out of your mouth.”

After spitting out blood and possibly a tooth, the demon straightened his head. “It was him.”

Coldness seeped into me even as I became aware of the increased pulsing warmth in my chest. “Who?”

“The one who sold you out. What was his name?” The demon laughed, spit and blood leaking from the corners of his mouth as his arms fell limp to his sides. “Ah, yeah. Misha. Funny thing is, I haven’t seen him in a couple of days. Wonder what’s going on with him? Other than being dead.”

“You spoke to Misha?” A tremor coursed through me. “What did he say to you? What did you—”

“You killed him. Right? Sent his soul to Hell. That’s where he is now, because he was just as evil as I am.”

A shudder rocked me. “You’re lying.”

“Why would I lie?”

“I can think of a lot of reasons,” I seethed, but even as I said the words, they rang untrue. “Tell me what he said or—”

“Or what? You’ll kill me? You’re the nephilim. I’m already dead,” he said, and I had no idea what that meant. The demon lifted his head off the roof, thick tendons standing out of his neck. “You killed him, and it’s already too late. You have no idea what kind of storm is coming your way.”

I slammed his head back down. “Tell me what you did to him!”

“He was chosen.” He laughed, chilling me to my very core. “The Harbinger is finally here, and there’s no stopping what is coming. Rivers will run red. End times, baby, and there’s no way you can stop the Harbinger. You’re going to be a part of it all.”

I opened my mouth, but the demon suddenly moved. Not to roll me off or to attack. He gripped the wrist of my hand that held the dagger to his heart, and then he thrust up as he pulled me down.

Impaling himself.

“What the—” I shouted, jumping up and stumbling back as flames spilled from the hole in his chest and licked over his body.

Within seconds, he was nothing more than a scorch mark on the roof.

I looked at my dagger, then at the spot, and then back to my dagger. “What in the ever loving—”

The warm ball in my chest next to my heart pulsed, and a moment later, a ginormous thing dropped out of the sky and landed nimbly on the ledge like a Trinity-seeking missile of pissed-off-ness.

Oh, crap.

The Warden rose to his full height. Wings fanned out as wide as the body was tall and then some. Under the silvery moonlight, golden hair stirred between two proud, thick horns.

Zayne was a fearsome sight as he stepped onto the roof and stalked toward me, chin dipped low. Some people might think Wardens in their true form were grotesque, but not me. I thought he was beautiful in a raw, primitive way, like a coiling cobra moments before it struck.

In Warden form, Zayne’s skin was slate gray, and those two horns could puncture steel and stone, as could those wickedly sharp claws, and I thought for probably the hundredth time that it was a damn good thing Wardens were on Team Good.

As he drew closer, I realized his fangs were out. Those things were enormous, and I knew him well enough to know that they meant he was very, very angry. But even if I hadn’t seen his fangs, I’d have known. I could feel his anger right next to my heart. It felt like how cold medicine smelled, and it was further confirmation that this bond was a two-way street, feeding feelings to each other.

Slowly, I sheathed my daggers and then clasped my hands. A few seconds passed, and then I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind. “Do you know I love fireworks?”

Wow. That was random, even for me.

“This would be an amazing place to view them,” I tacked on. “Wish I’d known about this building before the Fourth of July.”

Zayne ignored that. “You’re not where I left you.”

I glanced around the empty rooftop. “I’m not.”

“What part of ‘stay where you are’ wasn’t clear?”

“The part where you thought I’d actually listen to you?” I suggested.

Zayne stopped a few feet from me. “Trin—”

“Don’t.” I cut him off with a wave of my hand. “You left me.”

“I left you for a handful of minutes so that I could see who this demon was before involving you. That’s my job—”

“Your job is not to leave me on the sidewalk like a dog that can’t go into a restaurant.”

“What?” Wind caught his shoulder-length golden hair, tossing several strands over his horns. “A dog—”

“You left me behind, and I get that this whole Protector thing is new to you, but leaving me behind—”

“Is apparently not the smart thing to do, because when I turn my back on you for five minutes, you end up on a rooftop several blocks away from where I left you,” he interrupted. “How did you even get up here? Better yet, why are you up here?”

I folded my arms over my chest. “I ran and jumped.”

“Really?” he replied dryly, tucking his wings back.

“Onto a fire escape,” I added. “No one saw me, and I’m here—”

“What in the Hell?” Zayne was suddenly next to me, staring down at the scorched patch of cement. Very slowly, he lifted his head. “Please tell me you did not follow a demon up here.”

“I hate that you asked so nicely when I’m going to have to tell you what you don’t want to hear.”

“Trinity.” He angled his body toward me. “You engaged with a demon?”