Holly felt her throat lock. “I only ever thought of him as a monster,” she whispered to Venom. “I never even considered that he’d had a life before he became a monster. That he loved a woman and flew across a starlit sky with anticipation in his blood.”
Venom’s hand closed over hers. “He and Raphael were friends once.”
Holly tried to see it and today, she could. Two angels, beautiful and strong, laughing together, their feathers glinting in the sunlight, and their eyes bright. “It must’ve hurt Raphael to have to kill him.”
“There was no choice.” Venom pointed forward to the next balcony. “Do you think you can cross the gap?”
Seventy seconds to go.
She had to force her eyes away from the sky, the wings deep inside her wanting to stretch out and sweep off this balcony. The urge was so strong that she had to remind herself that she wasn’t an angel. She wouldn’t soar; she’d crash to the earth, bloodied and broken. The internal battle ate up five precious seconds.
“Yes,” she said after mentally measuring the gap.
Venom went first, landing on the opposite side in a silent crouch. Breath shallow, Holly crept up on top of the balustrade . . . and then she flew to land on the far side of the other balcony. Venom’s eyes gleamed when he turned toward her. She lifted her shoulders and opened her hands in a silent I don’t know how I did that answer.
Another balcony lay beyond.
Sixty seconds to go.
Jumping again, they found themselves at the corner; a turret rose up on the far side of the balcony. And Holly’s chest glowed so hard that she could feel the rays attempting to pierce the black fabric of her jacket.
She gritted her teeth and, putting her hand on Venom’s arm, pointed up with her other. Whatever it was that called to her, it was in that turret. Venom ran his hand down her back as he put his lips to her ear. “There were rumors Michaela might be pregnant. Any chance we’re about to break into a nursery?”
Joy and anger unfurled within her. Along with a violent dose of jealousy.
“I don’t know,” she said through the dark pulse of it. “Unless archangels stay pregnant for years, any child won’t be his.”
“Michaela could’ve inadvertently transferred part of Uram into the child.”
All the blood left Holly’s face, to be replaced by chill horror. “What do we do? If it’s a child?”
“We do the only thing we can,” Venom answered. “We tell Raphael.”
“Just like that?”
“We are talking about the child of an archangel.”
Yes, said the powerful whisper inside her head, the weak have no place here.
Holly closed her hands into fists. “It’s getting harder to stay me.”
Venom’s jaw grew tight. “Turret windows look like they’re welded shut,” he murmured as he crouched in the darkness, “and there’s no way to climb that surface. We’ll have to go through these balcony doors, then figure out the rest.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Twenty seconds left by my count. If we don’t make it in before he turns, go flat on the balcony.”
Horror a twisting intruder in her gut at the idea an infant might be dealing with the same dark urges that howled inside her, Holly nonetheless took out her penknife and gave Venom the toothpick. It took him fifteen agonizing seconds to access the darkened room. Entering just as the sentry angel began his turn, they waited for their eyes to adjust.
A shirt thrown over a chair, boots lined up neatly near the doorway, a comb and what might’ve been cologne or aftershave on the small dresser. An opening to the right, darkness beyond.
The bed was empty.
Not relaxing, Holly padded quietly across the carpet to peek into what turned out to be a large dressing area with sanitary facilities on the right behind a glass door. All empty. She gave Venom the thumbs-up and he emerged from the pool of black where he’d concealed himself so he could provide stealthy backup should Holly be caught. Their next problem was the closed door to this room. It would open out into the same mezzanine passageway that held the two angelic sentries.
Turning the doorknob with jaw-clenched care and tortoise slowness, Venom nudged open the door a fraction of a fraction. Barely enough of a crack to slide out his mirror to examine the passageway. His grim expression told her what he’d seen.
Now what? she mouthed.
29
We wait, Venom mouthed back.
They both took a seat on the floor behind the door.
“What about . . .” She pointed at the bed and its missing owner.
“Vampire or mortal from the size of the bed,” Venom murmured directly against her ear, his lips brushing a part of her body she’d never before realized was so sensitive. “I can mesmerize vampires far older than I am, so as long as it isn’t someone of Dmitri’s age, it won’t be a problem.”
“And how did that happen?” Holly whispered after tugging down his head with her hand pressed against his cheek. He was warm under her palm, his stubble having begun to emerge to give his skin an intriguingly rough texture. “I get that you’re still developing, but from mesmerizing human prey to old immortals?” The surge in Holly’s power made sense because of the creepy stuff that had forced its way into her body, but Venom had no such excuse.
“Dmitri says he grew stronger in sudden bursts, too. As if the body builds up to a certain point, then pushes over in one go.”
That made sense in an immortal way. “Well, hypnotizing powers or not, it’s not a good bet to hope this guy is under your mesmerism age limit. We’re in an archangelic stronghold.”
Venom grinned and shrugged.
When she scowled at him, he mouthed, Kitty. She punched him lightly on the arm. He took her fisted hand, pretended to sink his fangs into her knuckles. Her lips twitched . . . and it was okay. Because they were in this together.
An hour passed, with Venom using his mirror to check the hallway every few minutes. The pain in Holly’s chest slowly intensified to the point that she pressed her palm to her chest in a futile effort to ease it. Venom saw the movement, put his hand on her thigh. She gripped that hand, held on hard. And tried to breathe.
“The angels are walking in the opposite direction,” he said three minutes later. “The turret entrance should be directly to our left.”
“Let’s do it.” Trying to sneak past under the angels’ noses was a massive risk, but so was sitting here when her chest was threatening to crack in half, leaving her a bloody, broken mess.
Opening the door, Venom slipped out to watch the angels while waving her out. Holly didn’t argue or hesitate. She padded on silent feet to the only possible door that could lead to the turret—it was angled into the corner.