“I don’t think anyone is looking to buy right now,” Roth tossed out there.
“Damn, here I thought you were looking for an upgrade,” Zayne retorted, and I grinned as I pushed my glasses up my nose. “The reason why I’m bringing that up is because under property details it lists state-of-the-art video surveillance. Getting onto the property is going to be hard enough without Gabriel being aware, but it should be noted there are apparently cameras everywhere, including the barn.”
“And how confident are we that Gabriel is there?” Nicolai asked.
“As confident as we can be,” I spoke up. “I believe Senator Fisher was telling the truth. It’s the best lead we got.”
There were murmurings from the phone from the Warden side, and then I heard Nicolai ask, “So what’s the game plan, then?”
Zayne looked over at me.
What? I mouthed.
He raised his brows as his jerked his chin toward the phone, telling me this was my show basically.
Which I appreciated.
But I squirmed a little, unused to, well, to being in control of anything so major. “I think we...” I cleared my throat as I focused on the phone. “We need to move on him fast. Get as much of the element of surprise as we can, especially since he has to be aware of what’s happened with Zayne and that Lucifer is topside. The longer we wait, the more time it gives him to gather forces and prepare.”
Zayne’s gaze met mine when I looked up. He nodded as he said, “Agreed. We need to go at him fast and hard.”
“That sounds dirty, Stony,” Roth purred.
I shook my head at the phone.
“So, you’re thinking...what? We do this tomorrow?” Nicolai asked.
My stomach tumbled a little. Tomorrow. Less than twenty-four hours, and that seemed like nowhere near enough time to prepare myself for coming face-to-face with Gabriel again.
But truth was, I’d been preparing for this all my life.
My thoughts settled, along with my stomach. “Tomorrow,” I said, nodding. “Probably close to dusk. It will make it easier for us to get closer to the property instead of broad daylight. There’s a lot of trees surrounding it, based on the pictures Zayne found, so that should help.”
“Up to a certain point,” Zayne tacked on. “I’m sure he has eyes on the area, but based on the listing, it looks like the property is off a private access road in a fairly wooded area.”
“Which makes me think we should meet up at the closest but safest point,” I said.
“Agreed,” Nicolai said. “You have the entire clan backing you up on this.”
“And we have all the demons that have come here,” Roth said. “Is that going to be a problem? Wardens and demons working together?”
Zayne and I exchanged a look as we waited for Nicolai to speak.
“We got bigger problems than demons at the moment,” Nicolai said. “We will not engage any demons who are working toward the same goal as long as they play nice.”
“They’ll play nice,” Roth assured.
“Good,” Nicolai clipped out.
I smiled. Demons and Wardens working together to stop an archangel Hell-bent on ending the world. Who would’ve ever guessed that?
“I think we let him see only me first,” I said. “He’s going to know that others are with me, but hopefully not all we have on our side. We need that element of surprise.”
When Zayne didn’t disagree with that, I went on. “From there, it will be up to us to take care of Gabriel.”
The conversation went on for a little bit after that, and then the time was picked, and when we ended the call with everyone, Zayne closed his laptop and looked over at me.
“How are you feeling about this?” he asked.
I thought that over. “Good, I think. Hopeful. In twenty-four hours, this could be all over.”
His gaze flickered over my face as he nodded. “It’s a good plan. We will stop Gabriel.”
“We will.” My gaze met his, and there was a catch in my chest.
This would end tomorrow night. Either we succeeded or we failed, but it would end, because there would be no second chances after this.
The reality of that struck me then as I stared at Zayne. If we didn’t succeed, we wouldn’t be able to launch another attack, because people would be wounded in this. Failure meant Gabriel would capture me, and that I couldn’t allow. So either Gabriel died or...
I didn’t let that thought finish, but the heaviness was still here. The weight of what I would need to do if we failed had already settled on my shoulders.
Heart kicking around in my chest, I took off my glasses and carefully folded the arms, placing them on the coffee table.
I didn’t know what Zayne was thinking when I picked up the laptop, tossing it on the nearby cushion, and took its place. There was a fire in his eyes, though. A golden-white glow behind his pupils that burned bright.
The tips of his fingers brushed over the line of my cheekbone and the curve of my jaw as I skimmed my fingers along his lower lip. “I love you,” he whispered.
I dipped my head, my lips replacing my fingers. This kiss started slow and gentle and we took our time, as if we were mapping the layout of our lips and committing the shape to memory. The kiss became fierce, full of soul-burning yearning and a hint of desperation, consuming both of us. Somehow, we made it to the bedroom, and our clothing came off with a speed that was rather impressive and then...then our bodies melded together.
Behind every touch and every kiss there was the knowledge that I didn’t want to give life to. So I used my mouth, my hands and my body to say what I couldn’t ever say to Zayne.
If we didn’t stop Gabriel, I wouldn’t be coming home with Zayne. This would be our last time together.
* * *
The following day started off like any other normal, good day.
Zayne and I had breakfast with Jada and Ty that lasted till lunch. They wanted to be there tonight, but as trained as Ty was and even though Jada could defend herself, neither were ready for this. They weren’t happy, but they understood.
Hugging Jada goodbye as we parted ways was hard, because those words I didn’t want to give life to the night before haunted me. It could be the last time I saw her.
Zayne and I spent the rest of the time alone. We watched several episodes of Fresh Prince. I got Zayne to drink a can of soda as we shared a bowl of superyummy berry-flavored Italian ice and then we shared ourselves with each other.
And as I dressed an hour before we were supposed to meet with everyone, I kept searching for Peanut. As I strapped on my daggers and then braided my hair, I listened to hear any sign of him. As we walked out the door, I stopped to look for him once more...just in case.