What was important was that Zayne was still in there. I just needed to figure out how in the world I could pull this off.
I tugged the blanket up to my chin as I stared at the stars. Finding Zayne seemed damn near impossible. Was I going to need to put myself in harm’s way with a demon for him to show up again? I didn’t make a good damsel in distress, so I doubted that plan would work. Not only that, what if I ended up in Gabriel’s hands? Even if I figured out a way to lure Zayne back out into the open, how would I be able to use the Sword of Michael? Since he could sense me calling on my grace, there would be no element of surprise. I was going to have to fight him, and somehow gain the upper hand. I was going to need everything in me to pull that off. It would be like fighting Gabriel all over again, and I knew how that had ended.
I wished I could find something that not only brought him to me but knocked him unconscious.
I sighed. I knew wishes on stars weren’t answered, but I was willing to try—
My eyes widened. It was then, as I stared up at the softly glowing Constellation of Zayne, that my wish was granted in the form of an idea.
There was one person that I had a feeling could get Zayne to come to me, whether he wanted to or not. And if anyone knew how to incapacitate a fallen angel, it would have to be her.
The Crone.
* * *
There was no way I could sleep after discovering what I hoped was a way to get Zayne where I needed him.
Energized, I swung my legs off the bed and turned on the bedside lamp. The only problem was that I had no idea where that hotel had been that Roth had taken me to when we’d met the witches. It wasn’t like I’d been able to see any of the street signs or had the foresight to ask directions. There was also a chance that the Crone had already left the city, like the rest of the coven had. Well, the ones who were still alive.
Wasn’t like I could ask Roth or Layla since I figured Hell didn’t have cell phone coverage. Gideon probably could find its location, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to put what was left of the coven on the Wardens’ radar. Sure, they had bigger problems right now. We all did, but witches were definitely on the to-kill Warden list. Some of them, namely Faye, had deserved it after providing a spell to the senator that basically turned humans into cannon fodder, but not all witches did.
Just ones who wanted to use parts of my body.
But there could be a chance that after everything, if there was an after, the Wardens could go after the witches. As bad as I needed to know that information, I couldn’t do that.
However, I did know a certain demon who wasn’t returning my calls who had showed up at the hotel to break the contract that freed Bambi.
Realizing I’d left my phone in the kitchen, I rose and went to the door, opening it.
The explosion of tingles along the base of my skull was sudden and sharp. My hand went to my thigh, only to discover that I didn’t have my iron daggers with me. They were on the dresser? Nope. The bathroom counter. Dammit.
But I had my grace. It pulsed in my chest, not as intensely as usual. I needed rest and time, but neither thing was going to happen.
The open space in the narrow hallway warped. Really hoping this wasn’t another creepy Ghoul and trying not to be freaked out by the implications that a demon was about to pop itself into the apartment, I tapped into the grace.
A second later, a dark-haired demon stood in front of me. Relief swept through me as I recognized Cayman.
I pulled the grace back in. “I was this close to killing you. How did you get in here?”
“Since I’ve been invited in, I can come here whenever I please.” He dropped the bomb of information like it was nothing, knocking windswept hair back from his face. “And yes, before you ask, that’s where the vampire mythos came from. Needing to be allowed in to enter. And no, vampires aren’t real. Demons are.”
I hadn’t been planning to ask about the whole vampire thing, and I also didn’t remember either Zayne or me inviting him in here at any point. I also superdoubted Zayne would be pleased to learn this, but at the moment, it didn’t matter. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of you.”
“Have you? Well, you see, I’ve been busy running around the entire damn city, getting all the Fiends out while trying to stay alive,” he told me, and come to mention it, he did look a little frazzled. He was normally quite polished, but the black shirt featuring the band BTS was wrinkled and torn at the collar, and I had no idea if the hole in the knee of his jeans was a fashion statement or not.
“That’s why I didn’t sense any demons tonight. Why?” I asked, wondering what else could possibly be going wrong. “What’s happening?”
“What’s happening?” His dark brows climbed up his forehead. “Are you serious right now? As if you don’t know?” He stepped closer, and I caught the scent of...burned wood? And his eyes, normally a golden hue, were now like heated coal. “What did you do, Trinity?”
I frowned. “Uh, yeah, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I didn’t do anything, and yet, here you are, in my personal space. Do I need to remind you that you’re afraid of me?”
“Yeah, you were one of the baddest creatures walking these streets and I was afraid of you, but that was until I met a certain freaking fallen angel rocking a Heaven ton worth of grace who apparently has amnesia and a sudden, extreme dislike of all demons.”
“Oh,” I whispered, tensing. “You’re talking about Zayne.”
“Oh? Oh? That’s all you have to say? Yes! I’m talking about Zayne, who just happens to be a very, very powerful fallen freaking angel, in case you didn’t hear me the first time around.”
“I did hear you. That’s why I’ve been trying to get ahold of you. I had no idea he was going to go after you or any demon, but I tried to give you a heads-up. You didn’t answer.”
His eyes narrowed. “I don’t like to talk on phones.”
“I texted you!” I shot back. “And I quote, ‘I need to talk to you. It’s important.’”
“And as I said, I was kind of busy trying to stay alive.”
I crossed my arms. “And how was I supposed to know that?”
“Did it occur to you to leave a message that said, ‘Hey, my favorite demon broker, Zayne is back. He’s a Fallen, so you better run for the freaking hills’?”
“I didn’t think that was something I should text or leave as a voice mail considering no one has believed me when I first told them that,” I reasoned. “And I had no idea he would go after any demon.”
“Of course he’ll go after demons!” he said like it was something I should’ve already known. “He’s obviously a recent Fallen. They go after any and everything that has an ounce of power in them, and they especially hate demons. It takes decades for them to get over the whole ‘I’m still better than you lowly demons’ attitude, which, hello, where do you think the Wardens got that from? Which is why not many of them joined Team Hell.”