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“You’ll just waste good soldiers. ’Cuz I’ll fucking kill them.”
“Jealousy is boring.”
“So is infidelity.”
“We are not in a relationship.”
The demon’s exquisite face froze into a mask, and he enjoyed the hurt she couldn’t hide, no matter how much she tried.
Lash refocused on the women for a long moment. Then he raised his voice. “Ladies, this way,” he said as he indicated the storage room. “Four at a time.”
It was, after all, a new era.
Wasn’t it.
* * *
Up on the second floor of the Brotherhood’s mansion, Lassiter got to the study first and did the duty with the door for his future cousin-in-law. Assuming Rahvyn would have him. And as soon as he opened things, all the heads in the room turned to him, except for Wrath’s because the King was already staring straight ahead.
After Sahvage went ahead, Lassiter followed and had a thought that he couldn’t imagine not walking into yet another of these meetings and seeing all these faces. Add Rahvyn to the mix? There had to be a way out of the Creator’s—
In the far corner by the hearth, two males who shouldn’t have been at any kind of get-together in the mansion lifted their hands in a wave—and Mike Myers went through his mind: Exsqueeze me. A baking powder?
No, wait, that was the other guy with the rubber face. From In Living Color. The Mask. That pet detective movie…
“So we move the venue,” Vishous said into the silence, like he was continuing a discussion. “That’s the answer. We don’t stop the meetings, we just go somewhere else.”
No, it was Wayne’s World, Lassiter thought as he started to make his way over to the other angels. But goddamn, why couldn’t he remember the other guy.
Then again, like he didn’t have a couple of things on his mind?
Phury stepped back to give him a little room, clapping him on the shoulder. Then Butch gave a smile from where he was sitting on the pale blue love seat next to his roommate. After that, Xcor nodded and leaned to the side so he could squeeze by. There were other acknowledgments, too, as he made progress through the crowded-subway-SRO, and he couldn’t help thinking that, in spite of his best efforts to be a jackass, they valued him and they wanted him here—
“Ace Ventura,” he hissed as he arrived at his destination. “And Jim Carrey.”
“No, I’m Eddie,” the angel said as he put his thumb to his sternum. Then he pointed next door. “And he’s Adrian.”
“Nice ta meet ya.” Ad stuck out his hand. “It’s been ages—”
As they got shhh’d, Lassiter put both palms up, mouthed WTF?, and then motioned back and forth between them.
“Long story,” Eddie muttered. “And I’m not talking about it.”
A sudden lift in Lassiter’s mood made him feel like he’d gone to see Dr. Now and “made good progress.” And then Eddie was repositioning him so that the three of them were standing shoulder to shoulder and he could see out into the room.
As new sites for the King to meet with civilians were discussed, Lassiter kept glancing over at his immortal buddies. But every time he did, they were still there, Eddie looking like someone had just made him eat a rotten egg, and Ad, as always, pierced and happy, rolling along with whatever.
You’re supposed to be going to the Creator, Lassiter thought at Eddie. My twenty-four hours is almost up.
Eddie’s lower jaw started grinding. Not talking about it.
So you’re staying? To help? When nothing came back at him, he looked at Ad. Hello?
For once, Ad looked him in the eye and got really fucking serious. The Omega was on their property last night. So there are two malevolent entities in this town now, and our prime directive has always been to engage evil.
Lassiter again went palms-up. But that was true last night and you were determined to finish your mission then.
How do we know there aren’t more coming, Ad thought. What if one of the barriers between planes has opened and there’s going to be a run of demons? Besides, do you want to argue with this? Really.
Nope, sure don’t, Lassiter thought back.
Plus hey, at least they would all be in trouble together—and under the theory that there was only so much of the Creator’s wrath to go around? Divide and conquer had always been an effective strategy, and at least now the pissed-off from on high was going to be split three ways.
“So that’s what we do,” the King announced from behind the great carved desk. “We move locations—and I want all rotations out in the field. Let’s go looking for lessers again.”
There was a growl throughout the room, low and threatening. Also annoyed, as if none of them could believe they were up to their daggers in the war again.
“I’ll get the word out about a change in venue,” V said. “And no one goes back to that house. If it was Lash—and it has to be because he’s the only part of the Omega left—he’ll stake out the site, and while we watch him, I don’t want any collateral damage or distractions.”
