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Chapter Twelve
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ZARI HAD GONE BACK to sleep when Alexandru slipped out of her apartment and made his way up to the rooftop. His pet's boss was already there waiting, and Alexandru once again caught the scent of the other man's jealousy.
Micah's jaw was tight as he fought for control. It was one thing to hear Zari say she was going to have sex with another man, but it was another fucking thing entirely to watch that same man walk towards him and see the truth for himself.
The languid pace in which the centuries-old vampire approached him, the taunting glint in his eyes, and when Alexandru finally came to a stop in front of him—-
"Micah, is it not?"
The lazy arrogance in the half-demon's voice pretty much made it loud and clear: Alexandru Gheorgiu had just spent the last forty-plus hours having his way with Zari, and the fact had the angel seeing red.
Alexandru studied his rival with unconcealed interest. He had encountered his fair share of angels in his admittedly long existence, and they were generally a cold-blooded bunch.
Zari's boss, however...
"If you are wondering whether my pet will join us—-" Alexandru's tone took on a note of apology. "I'm afraid my attentions have her rather exhausted." Again, the scent of jealousy, but this time, combined with a touch of barely restrained violence.
Micah's teeth gnashed at the mocking gleam in the vampire's gaze. "Fuck you."
But this only had the vampire baring his fangs with a laugh. "Civility not your strong suit, I take it? Could that be why you were kicked out of Ciel?"
The words nearly had Micah cursing again. Ciel, one of the ducal territories of the kingdom of Chalys, was his birthplace, and the only ones permitted to cross its (literally) pearly-white gates were angels...of pure blood.
A muscle started ticking in Micah's jaw. When he had described himself as a half-angel, otherworlders and humans alike had found no reason to question him, much less guess the truth...until Alexandru Gheorgiu.
As much as he was loathe to admit this, the few doubts he had of the vampire's prowess as a hunter were completely eliminated now. This, he thought grimly, was the reason why otherworlders liked to tell stories of Alexandru to scare their kids into behaving, and why - as much as it had chafed his pride to do so - he had agreed with Zari's request to send his men away.
The human trappers under his watch, not having grown up in Chalys and listening to the countless legendary exploits of Alexandru hunting down rogues and demons alike, had simply seen Alexandru as a vampire infected with demon blood.
None of them had the wits to see past Alexandru's ill-fitting clothes or, more importantly, the way the vampire had deliberately muted the tremendous amount of power contained within him. Even worse, one of his regrettably millennial trappers had even dared to describe Alexandru's reputation as 'overhyped', and despite his own dislike of the half-demon, the term had Micah wanting to smack some sense into the trapper's head.
Micah might not be as old as the vampire, but he was no callow youth either. He had courted death enough times to know when he was facing a killer, and Alexandru Gheorgiu?
The man was capable of assassinating an entire army without blinking an eye, and it fucking grated on Micah, now that he knew Zari wasn't just the vampire's pet...but his heartkeeper as well.
Just thinking about Zari and Alexandru together had him seeing red again, but Micah forced himself to get past this, saying finally, "I haven't asked for this meeting to discuss my lineage."
Alexandru's gaze glinted at the admission. "If you are going to say that is because of Zari," he advised silkily, "it's best that you forget any romantic notions you have of my pet. If you weren't able to make her turn your way while I was gone, you absolutely do not have a chance of doing so now that I'm back."
"If you're that certain about Zari's feelings for you," Micah couldn't resist taunting, "then why bother with a warning?"
"For my pet's sake, of course."
Micah was caught off guard by the ring of truth in Alexandru's words.
"She enjoys working in your agency for some reason. It would be unfortunate if you were to make things uncomfortable and force my pet into handing over her resignation."
"And you really think she'd do that?" Micah challenged. "Choose you over her job?"
The amusement that gleamed in the half-demon's lazy green eyes made it seem as if he had said something even a toddler would think stupid, and Micah's fists clenched against the urge to drive a fist in the other man's too-perfectly-chiseled face. Even he knew the damn half-demon was goading him, but he was still unable to keep himself from rising to the bait.
"You are free to believe whatever you wish." A nonchalant shrug accompanied the words. "But enough about my lovely pet for now. She is not what you came here to discuss, is she?"
Micah didn't like the way the vampire seemed to find it too easy to read him, but reminded as he was now of his true purpose, he had no choice but to temporarily set aside his contempt. "Things have significantly changed since you left," he said abruptly, "and your precious Demon Duke of Brimstone became the Red Witch's slave." He waited for Alexandru to say something but was unsurprised when the vampire's expression only turned inscrutable in response.
"We have our own sources to verify this," Micah stated flatly, "so there is no need for you to confirm it."
"Then what are you here for?" Alexandru asked curtly.
Decision time, Micah thought broodingly. Angels like him had been raised to distrust demons without question, but since Zari had unequivocally declared herself as this man's heartkeeper...
"The Devil's Door." Micah saw the vampire frown. "You've heard of it then?"
Alexandru fought to keep his face expressionless. "Naturally." The most inhumane sacrifices alone had the power of opening such a portal, and even then only archdemons were able to pass through them.
"Z—-" The half-demon's gaze noticeably cooled at the way Micah referred to Zari, and he realized he had finally found a chink in the other man's armor. "Apologies."
Albeit quickly issued, the apology - Alexandru was irritated to note - sounded anything but sincere.
"It's what I'm used to calling her. She doesn't like it, of course, but then I'm sure you've noticed the same thing yourself." Micah paused then added silkily, "Z also looks a lot cuter when she's mad, don't you think?
It was Alexandru's turn to see red and bite back an expletive. "Just get to the point."
Satisfied at having scored a point against the vampire, Micah had no problems ignoring the brusqueness of the other man's tone. "Z had already been working at AGNEX for about six months when she told me about a tip she's received from her contacts in Chalys."
"I see." Alexandru himself had taught Zari to use that line, in instances she found an unavoidable need to speak of her visions to people who didn't know she was a soul seer.
"I had a feeling she's had that tip a lot longer than that, but she was waiting to see if I could be trusted. She told me her source had a strong reason to believe someone at AGNEX would turn traitor and eventually open a Devil's Door from this side."
Alexandru's gaze narrowed. "And you believed her?"
"Whatever I thought of it at that time is immaterial," the angel said quietly, "since it's already happened. I've had the whole city under surveillance since Z's tip, and nothing's happened until recently. Two Devil's Doors have opened in the past forty-eight hours. You were the one who went through the second...and judging by your current expression, I already know you haven't told Zari about it."
"Is this blackmail then?" Alexandru questioned coldly.
"Think of it as cutting a deal." Micah's tone was equally cold. "I'll keep your secret, and I'll make sure no one else finds out about it...if you help us kill whatever it was that went through the first Devil's Door."
"And that's it?" Alexandru derided. "We are simply to trust each other's words on this?"
"I never said anything about trust, have I?" Micah's lip curled. "Zari seems to trust you, and for that I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. As difficult as it is to accept," Micah forced himself to say, "I've seen you with Z. I know how much she means to you, and how far you'll go not to let her know the truth about yourself."