“Not at the moment,” he said. “But alert your entire team to be safe.”
The line went dead before I could ask anything else. It took me a second to process everything. Opening the desk drawer, I pulled three dense metal rods the size of my thickest finger andpushed them into a back pocket. They were the perfect weight for converting matter into energy.
We’d trained for this, but now that it was happening, I felt woefully unprepared. I pulled up the group text and started typing as I rushed out of my office. After a few seconds, I realized I needed to talk if I wanted to explain things properly. I hit Trevor’s number as I ran down the steps.
“Henry?” Trevor said when he answered. “Did you learn anything new?”
“I need you to listen carefully,” I said. “There’s a D’val in the city and it’s tracking Nick.”
The conversation with Trevor took longer than I’d expected. He had a lot of questions, justified given the circumstances, that I needed to answer. Still, the longer we spoke, the longer it took me to get to Nick.
I debated flying to him, but showing up in an Uber was easier than explaining why I had wings. It also helped me conserve my strength. It didn’t take long for me to regret my decision.
The car arrived within a minute, but the good start ended at the first turn. Traffic heading toward Dupont Circle was heavier than normal for pre-rush hour on a Monday afternoon.
I pulled out my phone to check the map, and four text messages showed on the screen. Brenda and Vicky were the closest and on their way. My cousin was skeptical of anything Uriel said or did, but she didn’t hesitate to join us. Hopefully they avoided the traffic that ensnared me.
Zeke and Orion were too far away to drive, so they were going to fly. Trevor, however, wasn’t able to fly and conceal himself yet, so he’d need to drive. “Of all the fucking days to work from home,” he complained. He wasn’t wrong about his timing, but itwas probably for the best. Trevor was the weakest fighter in our group. This way, no one had to protect him if we got into a fight.
My backup confirmed, I extended my senses to find Nick. The faint pulse of his energy didn’t help me pinpoint his location—I assumed he was still on the Metro—but his aura had hardened into something more resolute.
The irony of the situation wasn't lost on me. After weeks of keeping the truth from Nick, I was now racing to tell him everything.
Traffic slowed to a crawl after just three blocks. Cars clogged the intersections, and impatient drivers leaned on their horns.
“What's going on?” I asked the driver as if he could see better than me.
“Dunno.” He tapped his GPS screen and zoomed out. “Must be a bad accident. That’s a lot of red.”
At the edge of my senses was a presence that didn’t belong. It stood out like an adult in the Pre-K room. The D'val's presence. I didn’t need to check to know it was the cause of the traffic jam.
My phone vibrated.
{Victoria: Police reports of large animal near Dupont Circle. Multiple injuries.}
How stupid was I to think a D’val in the middle of DC wouldn’t cause a commotion. I didn’t text her back. She knew where I'd be. I checked my position on the map, and decided to mitigate my mistake. “I'll get out here.” I had the door open before he could answer.
“Your call,” the driver said.
He’d be stuck in this mess for a while, but I didn’t feel too bad. I paid for the full ride. I weaved between the stopped cars and heard the retort of small arms fire. A few people stood beside their vehicles, looking ahead. One woman spoke excitedly into her phone about a “bear loose in the city.” A man suggested it was a terrorist attack.
The problem with forcing the unfamiliar into known categories was the downside if you were wrong. A D’val was worse than anything these people could imagine. I doubted the police could stop it without help.
Sirens wailed, but the cops were as stymied by the traffic as everyone else. I passed two empty police cruisers with their lights still flashing. The sudden, continuous sound of gun fire sent the crowd headed in the opposite direction. Swimming through the fleeing people, I noticed the police had established a perimeter at the next intersection. They were waving people away from whatever lay beyond.
“Stay indoors,” a cop with a bullhorn shouted. “Do not come outside. This is a police emergency. Clear the area now!”
I pushed forward, earning a hard stare from the nearest officer. “Back away.” He snapped his finger toward the way I’d come. “This area is off limits.”
The cop seemed more interested in exerting his authority than protecting citizens. “My friend's in there,” I said, trying to see past the barricade. “I need to find him.”
“Not possible,” he said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “If your friend's in there, he’s been ordered to stay inside. Now move away.”
The man was a jerk, but I felt sorry for him and his fellow officers. They had no chance, which meant people would get hurt.
A scream cut through the air, followed by a sound no human had ever heard. The chittering roar raised the hair on my neck. Glass shattered, followed by more gunshots and people screaming in terror. “We need backup on Connecticut! It's heading west!”
West. Toward Alex's place. Right where Nick was headed.
