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Okay, that was new information. The official version of the story was that the pregnancy was Regan’s idea and not endorsed by The Aegis. But according to this, she was sent there to seduce the Horseman because The Aegis believed the resulting child would prevent the Apocalypse. When Thanatos found out what she’d done, he imprisoned her, and then new information came about and—
Dear God.
Eva slapped her hand over her mouth as she read the rest.
Oh, holy shit.
Holy, holy shit.
Logan was wrong about his conception, but he’d been right about The Aegis.
“Oh, Logan,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
StryTech Tower, a shiny diamond rising from the center of Sydney, was both formidable and delicate, a work of art designed and built by a collaboration of demon and human architects and contractors. Somehow, it managed to be both creepy and elegant, forbidding and welcoming, a brilliant feat of one-of-a-kind engineering that wouldn’t look out of place in either Heaven or Sheoul.
Logan strode to the entrance, past fountains and parklike green spaces where people on breaks strolled with their lunches from one of three food trucks in the square. Logan actually stopped and considered hitting the taco truck, or maybe the Aussie pie truck, but his stomach was a little too unsettled. Which definitely made the Sheoul food specialty truck a hard pass. Eyeball blood aspic wouldn’t sit well, even on a settled stomach.
He kept an eye out for security personnel but doubted Stryke would make them obvious. No, there would be layers of concealed security, from wards and traps to invisible demons, and demons disguised as humans. The one exception was the sixteen-foot-tall, red-eyed, pitch-black devil standing near the corner of the building, its malevolent gaze taking in everything and everyone. It wouldn’t move unless it sensed danger.
Logan made sure he didn’t think any murderous thoughts.
The front doors opened, and he walked through a state-of-the-art demon detector. He passed, but then Stryke had made sure none of his tech flagged Horsemen or Seminus DNA.
At the front desk, he gave his name and was immediately escorted to the nearest elevator. A big male wearing sunglasses held his hand over the control panel, which lit up with floor numbers and demonic symbols. The guy pressed a combination of the symbols, and the elevator began a smooth ascent.
“You didn’t press a floor number.”
“No.”
Friendly dude. After way too many uncomfortable seconds, the doors slid apart, and Logan stepped out into an open floor of windows. Logan had heard that the mirrored glass all over the building was bullet and magic proof, and there was no reason to believe it wasn’t. Stryke wasn’t only brilliant and wealthy, he was prepared.
The white marble floor was etched with more demonic symbols. Logan didn’t recognize any of them.
Ahead, behind a wall of desks and lab equipment, Stryke was talking to a familiar male who appeared to be in his late fifties, his expensive suit perfectly pressed, his shoes shiny, and his red face glistening with sweat. Another guy, younger and sweating even more, stood next him.
Stryke didn’t so much as look Logan’s way as he stood slowly, his gaze locked on the man in front of him.
“Chancellor,” Stryke began, “I don’t give a shit if you spent too much money on our competitor’s demon detection systems. We aren’t giving you a discount for stupidity. We gave you a quote, and you went with the other guys, which was your prerogative. But then you badmouthed us publicly, saying our system is overpriced. So, if you want our inferiorproduct after all that, you’ll have to pay full price for it. And if you jerk me around again, I’ll double the price and cut in half the number of demon species it can detect. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand,” the guy said in a German-accented voice.
Holy shit. Now, Logan knew why the man was familiar. He was the fucking German chancellor. Just standing in front of Stryke with his head down, sweating bullets and swallowing like he was trying to choke down a plea for mercy.
“Well, I don’t understand,” the other guy said. “One of the reasons we chose the other company was because they offered free updates when they have new demon DNA to add to the detection database. Now, you’re offering free updates, but not for us?”
“William,” the chancellor snapped. “Let it go.”
“Yes, William,” Stryke said, his voice velvet-smooth but edged with warning. “Let it go.”
“Go to hell—”
Suddenly, two of the symbols on the floor flared orange. Two nine-foot Ramreel demons materialized on top of the symbols, their massive horns rising out of their skulls and curling over their heads. Their dinner-plate-sized hooves clacked on the tile as they lumbered toward the piss-their-pants-terrified humans.
“Escort my friends to the Sales department. Use William’s blood to sign the contracts.”
William lost all color in his face as he and the chancellor were all but dragged past Logan to the elevator. Only after the doors closed did Stryke seem to notice Logan.
“Logan.” He looked down at his desk as Logan walked across the bare expanse, his boots thudding on the shiny tiles. “Right on time.”
