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“I don’t need a vest,” she protested.
“It’s cute that you think I’m asking whether you want it or not.” I took the vest from Keaty and handed it to her. “You’re wearing it. I’m not even going to threaten you with an or else. Just put it on.”
She took the heavy, navy-blue vest and put it on, tightening it so it fit more snuggly. All the same it was clearly designed for a full-grown man, and it dwarfed her small frame. Her magic wouldn’t be hindered, though, and that was where Genie’s strength was.
I didn’t bother suggesting Holden or Desmond wear a vest, nor did I take one for myself. I needed freedom of movement, and honestly one of the last things I was worried about was getting shot.
Perhaps I should have worried about it more, considering I’d taken two silver bullets only three days earlier, but the fact of the matter was, I still didn’t think of guns as a credible risk to my health. My dismissive attitude might come back to bite me one day, but I would burn that bridge when I got there.
Once everyone was protected and armed, we agreed to meet back at the brownstone two hours later for a progress report and with any additional manpower we’d acquired. When we parted ways on the sidewalk, I tried not to think I might be seeing any of them for the last time.
The smoke had thickened since we were last outside, and a hazy blackness settled over the streets, making it hard to see more than a few feet in any direction. We hadn’t even gone a block when I lost sight of our other party. Each team had taken a walkie-talkie since we’d now lost cell signal entirely. The walkies had a decent range on them, but I wasn’t sure we’d be able to remain in contact as we moved farther and farther from each other.
I’d given Desmond the map book, leaving him in charge of our directions.
“Where to?” I asked.
“We’re about a half mile from a vamp named Imogen, according to the book.”
I stood next to him, peering over his arm. I flipped a few pages, then tapped the book. “Here.” There were no circles in the immediate vicinity of where I was pointing, yet Desmond knew me well enough to understand.
“Does she even know you’re back, Secret? She might not be there.”
“She’ll be there. You think she’d be anywhere but work at a time like this? And Tyler told me that’s where they were, so unless something has changed, that’s where we’re going.”
“Well, we can at least make a few stops on the way. There are three names on this list between here and the station.”
I handed my cell to Genie. “I know it’s a long shot, but find Mercedes Castilla’s number in there and keep trying to reach her. If you get a connection, tell her I’m on my way, okay?”
Genie nodded and took the phone, giving it the serious focus of someone who needed a job to keep herself distracted. Who could blame her? She’d tagged along on this trip hoping for a fun-filled vacation in New York. Instead I’d brought her to the brink of hell and was asking her to climb right in. Some big sister I was.
I swore to myself if Tyler had a way to extract her, I was sending her to safety the second it was an option. I should have made her take the car and leave, but the idea of her going off on her own scared me more than having her here with me.
I let Genie wander a few steps ahead on her own, then took Desmond by the arm and forced him to look at me. “Des, if anything happens to me…” My words drifted off, the idea lurking at the end of my sentence too heavy to say out
loud.
“Hey, don’t get ahead of yourself. We’re going to be fine.” He placed his hands on my shoulders and gave me one of the smiles that had made me fall in love with him. Even in the midst of all this madness he managed to appear calm. He kissed my forehead. “Nothing is going to happen to you.”
“If, though. If something happens, you promise me you’ll take care of her, okay?”
“I promise,” he said, without hesitation. “But what did I just say?” He raised his eyebrow, and the expression on his face was so cheeky I couldn’t take it seriously, which I think was the point.
“Nothing is going to happen,” I said back, offering my best approximation of a smile.
He pressed my fingertips to his mouth and kissed them, then flipped my hand over and placed a kiss on the ring he’d given me. “That’s right. Because I’m going to marry you, and don’t you forget it.”
“Not to put a damper on your cute little make-out session, but we probably ought to keep moving.” Genie had returned and looked both annoyed and amused in equal measure. It was better than the terror she’d shown earlier, so if she wanted to play the part of grossed-out baby sister, I’d gladly take it.
I had my first real pang of missing Holden when we moved from Keaty’s block to the edge of Central Park where the darkness encompassed things entirely. I used to run in the park at night, and I’d never thought twice about how dark it could be, but that was with lampposts guiding my way. Now there was nothing.
How could a city this big be so dark? In spite of experiencing it right now, I still couldn’t quite believe how intimidating the blackness was. It was different, somehow, than even the most recent blackout the city had experienced a few years earlier. This didn’t feel like it had an end. There wasn’t a switch to flick, or something electricians could manipulate with generators.
There was malicious magic at play here, and worry gnawed at my guts. This didn’t feel right, for obvious reasons, but what was worse was the sense of doom looming over me. I hoped this would be a simple matter—relatively speaking—of finding some necromancers and dispatching them from the earthly plane. No big deal, right?
So why was my mind telling me things were going to get a lot worse before they got better?
Probably because that was the way things most often went for me.
