When she didn’t reply, he growled both through the bond and out loud. If you don’t start talking—
Stop, she whispered urgently, then he felt her tug on his soul, yanking him closer. An odd sensation, considering he remained in Gabriel’s house. They know you’re here. Oh, Fates! They’re coming. You need to run. Run!
But it was already too late.
A Seraphim with translucent gold feathers misted into the room before Sethios could even speak.
Fuck.
The world swam around Stas, her vision whirling in a cacophony of colors. One minute, she’d been kneeling on the floor trying to talk to her father, and in the next second, she was flying.
Not of her own volition. Not with her own wings, either. But a black blur she couldn’t decipher.
When her feet touched sand, she shoved herself away from a body much larger than her own and froze upon meeting a pair of tired black eyes. The gold flecks of his irises swirled with a touch of insanity, his long, dark hair pulled back into an uncharacteristic ponytail. He was also missing his trademark leather coat.
“Ezekiel?” It came out as a question. Of course she knew the assassin’s name. She just didn’t understand why he’d—she frowned, taking in her surroundings—yeah, she didn’t understand why he’d taken her to Hydria. “What the hell?”
“Skye,” he rasped. “She had a vision and I reacted.”
“A vision? What kind of vision?”
“One involving golden feathers and your capture,” he explained as Jacque appeared beside them with Luc and Alik on either side. “I need to trace back, but stay here.”
“What about Issac?”
“He can handle himself.”
“And I can’t?” she demanded.
Silence.
Because the damn Ichorian was already gone.
She had half a mind to follow him back to Stark’s house and teach him a lesson, but her intelligent side held her in place.
If he’d traced her here, it’d been for a reason. One Issac confirmed less than a second later as he murmured, I assume Ezekiel kidnapped you because of the golden-winged Seraphim in Gabriel’s great room?
He said Skye had a vision of golden feathers and my capture.
I see, he replied, his English accent thicker inside her thoughts than when he spoke out loud. She rather liked the sexy inflection. Not that now was an optimal time for her to think about it in that manner.
If Gabriel’s surprised by the intrusion, he’s not showing it, Issac continued. Sethios appears equally unfazed by it. Where did Ezekiel…? Actually, no, never mind. Don’t tell me in case they can locate you through me.
“Stas?” Luc prompted, his muscular arms folded over his chest. “What’s going on?”
Jacque had already disappeared, perhaps to Stark’s place to check in on the situation there. Or maybe he’d been called to another part of Hydria. The poor teleporter was constantly working.
“A Seraphim just arrived at Stark’s place,” Stas said. “Ezekiel traced me here before I could be seen. Or I assume that was the purpose, anyway.”
“Which Seraphim?” a feminine voice asked as a swirl of purple graced the air. Leela materialized, her blonde hair glowing in the moonlight. It’d just been morning on her side of the world. It seemed to be closer to eight or nine at night here.
This whole teleporting thing was intense.
Stas narrowed her eyes at the stunning Seraphim, recalling her father’s commentary with Gabriel regarding Leela’s job to monitor the council. She’d either failed in her task or was playing a dangerous game of double agent.
The female blinked. “What the hell is that look for?”
“Is my grandmother awake?” Stas countered.
