“IS HE COMING up here?” Jem growled. “Or should we just go ahead without him?”

Angel frowned, exchanging looks with Cowboy before glancing at the green-eyed seer. She noted the scowl on his face as he stared down at the flat-screen monitor embedded in the metal table top, and found herself thinking he wasn’t really angry.

He was worried.

More than that, it struck her that he was sad, maybe even grieving.

Remembering how he’d lashed out in that meeting with Brick, she frowned, wondering exactly what was going on with him.

She was still staring at his face when Jem turned, giving her a hard look.

“Do you mind, cousin?” he said, his voice cold.

“Do I mind what?” she said, nonplussed.

“Thinking quieter,” Jem growled. “Or maybe just fucking the hell off?”

“Hey.” Cowboy looked up, sharp. His normally good-humored face hardened, losing every speck of friendliness, and reminding Angel he’d been in a federal penitentiary when Black found him, and not for shoplifting. “Watch your fucking mouth… cousin. You talk to her like that again, and you and me are gonna have a goddamned problem.”

Jem’s long jaw clenched.

Then, looking between Cowboy and Angel, he nodded, once.

“I apologize,” he said, his voice subdued.

After another bare pause, he gave Angel a direct look.

“You’re right,” he said, blunt. “I’m sad. I’m angry. I’m worried. I’m grieving. I’m a lot of fucking things right now. I know you don’t mean anything by it, but having you stand right there and think all of them back at me isn’t helping.”

That time, Angel felt her own face warm.

“Sorry,” she said.

He shook his head, again once, in that seer-like way.

“Not your fault,” he said.

Pointing at a door in the wall of the conference room, not the glass one back to the bullpen full of cubicles but a metal one that led to storage, he lowered his voice.

“You know if they’ve got weapons in there? Other equipment?”

Cowboy followed his pointing finger, then frowned.

“What’re you looking for?”

“A GPS tracker,” Jem said at once. “Preferably a tagger.” He held out his hands until they were about a yard apart, which only made Angel frown since she didn’t quite understand the gesture. “A rifle, if there is one. Hell, I’ll take a bow and arrow. Any kind of propulsion system would be preferable. If not, something I can inject, but that’s a last resort.”

Cowboy frowned, glancing at Angel.

She folded her arms, quirking an eyebrow back at him.

Cowboy wasn’t the type to ask questions though, not without good reason.

“He’s got an RFID chipper in there,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand. He made a gun out of his forefinger and thumb. “More like a nail gun though, not exactly a rifle. I don’t know about any propulsion system for that kind of thing, but knowing Black, he might have something like that back there, too. If he doesn’t, you might be able to rig something up, or ask the lab folks to do it, depending on how soon you need it.”

“Just show me what you have,” Jem said.

Angel and Cowboy just looked at him.

Jem seemed to feel their stares.

Glancing at Angel, then back to Cowboy, he frowned, then took a deep breath, seemingly with an effort.

“…If you don’t mind,” he added, his voice subdued.

Cowboy shook his head, but didn’t hide the puzzled frown that came to his lips.

“It’s no trouble, brother,” he said. “Come with me.”

They were just starting to walk towards the metal door, when the glass door, the one leading to the bullpens at Angel’s left, opened instead.

Black strode through the opening with wet, freshly-showered hair, a black T-shirt, black dress pants, and black leather shoes. She smelled him before he even got halfway to where he stood, and nearly smiled at the scent of shampoo and soap that filled the room. He wasn’t quite scowling, but he looked preoccupied.

“All right,” he said. “I’m here.”

“Time for a parade,” Angel murmured.

Black quirked an eyebrow at her, but smiled, as if in spite of himself.

He looked at Jem and Cowboy then, who’d been part of the way to the metal door. Apparently deciding to not ask whatever that was about, Black clicked under his breath, then looked back at Angel, his strangely perfect lips flattening into a determined look.

“Get Dex in here, would you? And whoever else from the main team who’s still up here. We should talk. Then I want everyone who’s not specifically on-shift to go to bed.” His lips curled in the faintest of scowls. “I have a feeling we’re going to need the sleep.”

“What’s the topic?” Jem said, walking back to Angel’s side of the table and focusing his pale green eyes on Black. “Or are we allowed to know that?”

Black aimed his gold eyes at the older seer.

“You’re going to stow that shit now, brother,” Black growled. “I don’t know what the fuck kind of command structure you’re used to, but I get tired of being second-guessed, fast.” Pausing at Jem’s silence, he added, “I want to talk about the vampires. And about Nick. There’s not much we can do to influence Charles, not directly anyway, but we need to talk about whether it still makes sense to go for an alliance… and what kinds of terms we should ask for.”

Jem’s eyes grew puzzled.

He glanced at Angel, then at Cowboy, then back at Black.

“For example?” he said.

Angel couldn’t help noticing Jem’s voice was considerably more deferential that time.

Black exhaled, clearly noticing it, too. Combing his fingers through his damp hair, he exhaled again, making a vague, graceful gesture with one hand.

“Like, should we stipulate Nick can’t be anywhere near this,” Black grunted. “Do we try to find ways to make it safe for our people to be around them… and where do we draw the fucking line, before they can cross it.”

Scowling a little, Black leaned his palms on the table.

His gaze turned inward as he shook his head.

“I don’t want to ally with the fuckers at all,” he growled. “I know Miri isn’t crazy about the idea, either. But truthfully, we don’t have a lot of choice.”

Glancing at Angel, he gave her a once-over before scowling harder.

Angel studied his face, folding her arms.

“Are you thinking about killing Nick?” she said, pointed. “Taking away their leverage?”

Black exhaled in open exasperation that time.

“Of course I’m thinking about killing Nick,” he growled. “For a lot of fucking reasons. And not only because him continuing to be alive, and a vampire, poses a serious fucking danger to me and my wife.” Straightening up from the table, he met Angel’s scowl defiantly, his gold eyes unflinching as they met hers. “Jesus, Angel. Do you really want to see Nick live like this? Even apart from what he did to Kiko… and what he tried to do to Miri… do you think the old Nick would have wanted this?”

“We don’t know what he’ll even be yet,” Jem said, his voice warning. “Unless you think they’re lying, the vampires said he’ll change. They said he’ll become different once his emotions come back.”

Black gave him an openly skeptical look. “Because all the other vampires we’ve encountered are such sweet, fluffy bunnies?”

Jem’s expression hardened. “Are you being serious right now? You’re seriously thinking about killing him? Behind your wife’s back?”

“Not behind her back,” Black growled. “Jesus fucking christ… I want to discuss it. I want to bring whatever we discuss to her, assuming the rest of us can come to some kind of agreement. I’d rather give her a purely logic-based argument to assess, since she can’t be expected to look at this objectively.”

“And you can?” Angel muttered, biting her lip.

Without looking away from Jem, Black jerked his head in Angel’s direction. “Do you really think, if I was trying to pull something behind my wife’s back, I’d do it with her goddamned best friend in the room?”

“Her best friend who is human,” Jem said coldly, folding his arms.

Black grunted humorlessly, shaking his head.

He didn’t bother to answer the other’s implied accusation.

He only looked at Angel. “You open to talking about this at least, Ange?”

“Talking about it?” Angel grunted, folding her arms. “Sure. I’ll talk about whatever you want, Black. I should tell you though, I’m with Jem on this. I don’t think we should do anything with Nick until we have some idea of what he’ll be like when he gets through this ‘newborn’ thing or whatever.”

Black’s frown deepened, but he only nodded.

“Why wouldn’t you want to wait for that?” Cowboy said, when Black didn’t speak. “He could be an ally for us, not only Brick. Isn’t it worth putting any action against him on hold, until we find that out?”

“For how long?” Black gave him a hard look. “Months? Years? We may not have that long, brother.”

“There’s the Brick issue, too,” Angel reminded him. “Who takes Brick’s place if he dies? And what makes you think that vampire would work with you in the first place, versus trying to exterminate every seer he encounters?” She paused, then made her voice pointed. “What if it’s Dorian, Black? Dorian… after you killed his vampire king and bff?”

Black shook his head, once. “Any plan that takes out Brick would have to take out Dorian, too.”

When they all just stood there, staring at him, Black’s frown returned.

“Well?” he grunted. “Are we having this conversation now? The four of us? Just so we can have it again with everyone else? Or do you want to call the people I fucking asked you to call so we can hash it out for real?”

Angel rolled her eyes, but yanked her phone out of her back pocket, where she’d shoved it. Cowboy waved her off, pointing to where he already had his phone against his ear.

“Dex is rounding people up now,” he told her, his voice quiet.

Angel nodded, then glanced at Black. “Pissy, pissy,” she muttered under her breath. “I thought getting laid would calm you down.”

Black glared at her for real. “Not when there are at least two people currently hunting my wife. Both of them fucking psychopaths… with supernatural powers. One of whom she’s still got a damned soft spot for and won’t shoot.”

“Where is she?” Jem said. “Your wife?”

Black’s eyes jerked to him.

“Your wife,” Jem repeated, once Black was looking at him. “Miriam. Where is she right now? Why isn’t she part of this?”

“She’s fucking asleep,” Black growled. “I hope she is, anyway––”

“Alone?”

Black gave him an even harder look.

After a pause, he clicked at the green-eyed seer, but answered in a flat voice.

“I’ve got Wendall, Cross and Avers on the door,” he said. “They’ve got swords, tranq guns loaded with those anti-vamp drugs, and assault rifles. The suite’s got motion detectors on the windows, the balcony and the front door. I’ve got that whole floor restricted, and security is covering the elevators downstairs.”

Folding his arms, he added,

“I also asked Yarli to put at least four seers on her, and on her guard detail. There are cameras in every room but the bathroom and the bedroom, and I’ll probably install them in both places tomorrow.” His voice dropped to a growl as he glared at Jem. “You and the rest of the depraved assholes on my security detail will just have to deal with watching me fuck my wife.”

Jem nodded.

Angel saw the seer’s expression visibly relax.

Cowboy set down his phone. “Dex is on his way. He’s bringing Luce, A.J., Javier, Kiessa, Zairei, Yarli, Manny, Frank, Easton, Lawless, Lex, Michelle. A few others, too.”

“Hasn’t anyone gone to fucking bed yet?” Black grumbled.

“You want him to thin the list?” Cowboy offered. “I could call him back.”

“No.” Black shook his head, exhaling. “If they’re here, they might as well get their say. If I’m going to get a bunch of damned people yelling at me and telling me I’m a monster, I’d rather get it over with all at once––”

“You really want to kill Nick?” Angel blurted.

The reality of his words was sinking in now, even as she stared at his handsome face.

When he didn’t look over, or answer, she felt her throat tighten.

“You know Miri will never forgive you, if you do that,” she said. “Ganging up on her with a bunch of her friends isn’t really going to help with that.”

Black grunted, but she saw a flicker of pain cross his expression.

It was there and then gone.

He still didn’t look at her.

“But you will?” he said, gruff. “Forgive me?”

“I didn’t say that,” Angel said, sharper. “But I’m not married to you. I didn’t figure my opinion would hold as much sway.”

Black didn’t answer, but again she saw that tightness pass over his features.

After a longer pause, he only shrugged.

“Come up with a better idea,” he said, motioning gracefully as he stared sightlessly at the frosted glass. “Give me some realistic options, Ange. First one I hear that doesn’t sound like wishful thinking bullshit, and Nick comes off the table.”

He turned his head, giving her a hard look.

“But telling me you ‘don’t think’ Nick will kill my wife if we let him roam free––given what he did to Kiko, and likely would have done to Miri if we hadn’t gotten there when we did––probably isn’t going to be enough to sway me, Ange.”

Frowning, Angel exchanged looks with Cowboy.

Cowboy folded his arms, frowning back.

Then he turned, his gray eyes holding a harder scrutiny as he studied Black’s face.

Before Angel could think of anything more to say, the glass door at the end of the room opened, and Dex walked in, trailed by all of the people Cowboy listed earlier, along with at least five more from Black’s human team, and at least three additional seers from Yarli’s infiltration group. Angel watched them file into the room, noting that most watched Black’s face even as they looked for a chair around the brushed steel table.

It hit her again that they were really doing this.

They were really having a meeting about whether to kill Nick Tanaka.

And Miri wasn’t even here to be a part of it.

She was about to open her mouth, to try one more time to reach Black before he opened the floor, to maybe convince him to wait for Miri to have this conversation––

When the floor under her feet trembled.

She reached out, grabbing hold of Cowboy, letting out a gasp when it stopped, when everyone in the room fell silent, looking around at the frosted glass walls. The monitor embedded in the table top continued to play, showing police in riot gear getting pummeled by flaming bottles somewhere off Van Ness in the Mission District.

Angel opened her mouth––

When the floor under her feet jerked again, harder that time.

It threw her into Cowboy, who caught her around the waist, tugging her to him and bringing her low, down by the table.

Black fell to a crouch next to them, along with Jem, whose knees bent a split second after Black’s. Others in their group stood still and dropped, most of them clutching and huddling around the sides of the table as they looked up at the swaying light fixtures.

No one spoke as the earth continued to shake.

THE BED UNDER me rumbled.

I felt it shake, a vibration so fast and hard, it seemed to go through my bones, like it was trying to detach them from my flesh.

My heart started pounding harder, faster.

I couldn’t open my eyes, though.

My mind fought with what was happening, trying to categorize it in some way.

Earthquake. Night terrors. Sleep paralysis. Bad dream. Earthquake.

Earthquake.

I fought to open my eyes.

Light filled the spaces behind my lids, so much light I got confused, until I thought I’d actually opened them. A sick, nauseating lurch closed my throat and chest as I tried to move, to sit up, to throw my legs over the side of the bed––

Everything went dark.

THE SHAKING GREW so violent, Angel cried out, gripping Cowboy’s arm in her fingers. He held her around the back and shoulders, and they knelt there, half under the table, sandwiched between Black and Jem on one side, Manny and Yarli on the other.

When the floor didn’t stop rippling under her knees, she started to wonder if they should leave, try to get out of the building.

But they always said not to do that. The earthquake advisories said not to leave, no matter what kind of dwelling you were in––definitely not a steel and glass monstrosity like Black’s building, which stood in the middle of the financial district of downtown San Francisco.

This thing had to be up to code.

Even so, she gasped a little, hearing things fall in the other room, hearing glass break, hearing people yell out to one another on the other side of the frosted glass walls.

She watched the walls themselves, knowing she should turn her face away when she saw the surfaces ripple under the movement of the earth.

Then… slowly…

The shaking began to subside.

Angel knelt there, panting, as the rumbling grew further away.

The building continued to sway gently around her, maybe because of casters under the earth, like they put some of these bigger buildings on, maybe from aftershock or her own mind playing tricks on her.

The ground felt mostly solid again, though.

Black was the first to climb back to his feet.

Using the steel table to pull himself up, he walked around Jem, bending over the table and tracing a code out of light on the touch-screen built into the steel surface.

Angel didn’t realize what he was doing until he spoke.

“Avers?” Black didn’t wait for a response. “Is she all right?”

“Cross is inside now, sir,” a female voice answered. “Wendell’s out here with me. We didn’t hear anything from her room, and the keycard wasn’t working when the worst of the shaking was happening…”

Angel saw Black’s jaw clench.

No doubt he was filing away the access card thing for another day.

“I’ll stay on the line until he comes back,” Black said. “Unless you can patch me through to him right now––”

A male voice rose, unintelligible as it shouted something on the other end.

Then the female voice returned to the line.

“Sir?” Her voice lost its professional veneer, sounding panicked. “Sir, you’d better get down here. Right now. She’s gone, sir. Your wife. She’s just… gone.”

Fear trembled her voice.

“I can’t explain it, sir. We were here the whole time––”

But Black wasn’t listening to her anymore.

He wasn’t even by the monitor, but was already heading for the door.

His face had hardened into a mask.

Angel jerked to her feet to follow him, when he stopped abruptly, his hand on the door’s handle. He turned to face all of them.

“One of you have a gun for me? I left mine in the room.”

Cowboy stepped forward, along with Dex. Angel heard the scrape of leather and vinyl as at least six more guns were unholstered, as seers and humans stepped towards him, offering him their weapons without a word. Glancing over all of them with a single flicker of his gold eyes, he took a Glock from Dex, meeting his gaze.

“Run a sweep. Send as many teams as you need. The whole goddamned building.”

Dex was already nodding. “On it, boss. Just go down there. We’ve got this.”

Black looked at Cowboy, then at Angel.

“You two with me,” he said.

He didn’t wait for them to respond.

He didn’t even wait for them to nod.

He was already out the door, heading for the elevators.

Angel glanced at Cowboy, even as her boyfriend broke into a loping jog to follow him.