As my luck would have it, Layla wasn’t at Danto’s place, just a freaked-out vampire.
Danto, still on the mend, had nearly collapsed at the sight of us barging into his place, especially at the sight of Jenna. And it all went to hell at the mention of Layla.
Danto was a mix of hysterical anger and feverish fear. He wanted to save his Layla, and my heart ached for him. It took a few minutes of convincing and skillful lying to get him to go back to bed. I didn’t want Gareth to dust him into a coma. My vampire friend had gone through enough. He’d only allowed me to help him back into bed when I told him that Jenna, the angel, was going to cure Layla. Total lie, and I was surprised she actually played along. Guess she’d do just about anything to get her hands on the Holy Grail.
I hated having to lie to Danto, but there was no way I’d let him come with us. His movements were stiff and slow, and he could barely walk as it was. Finally, with the vampire safely tucked into his bed, we’d hurried out.
There was only one other place I could think of where I knew Layla would be safe and alone until the arrival of Lucian—a place she’d been before, somewhere she knew no one would look for her.
It took us nearly forty-five minutes to drive north to Parks Hollow, to the late Lisbeth’s lab. Combined with the short excursion to Danto’s back in New York City, we’d lost a total of ninety minutes.
We had approximately thirty minutes left to find Layla and somehow manage to overpower her and grab the Holy Grail. Yeah, it sounded impossible.
Gareth’s pickup truck jolted over the railroad tracks. The angel bodies in the back hitting the sides of the box were a reminder of how powerful Layla had become. The four of us sat in a collective anxious silence as we drove into the old part of town, me next to Gareth with Tyrius on my lap and Jenna next to the window. It was uncomfortable at best. I’d never been so close to an angel before, and I made sure I was pressed up enough against Gareth without looking like I was sitting on his lap. I didn’t want to have my thigh accidentally brush hers. Because that would be awkward. She was a celestial being, a walking corpse. She wasn’t mortal.
But then I had Tyrius, a baal demon sitting comfortably on my lap.
It didn’t help that twenty of her dead comrades were riding in the back with us.
By the time the address 1295 Industrial came into view, I was feeling slightly claustrophobic. Gareth pulled into the driveway and parked. He’d barely turned off the ignition as I scrambled for the door, pushing him out with me.
The smile he gave me as he helped me out the door before I fell out flat on my face nearly made my heart melt. The warmth of his hands seared through my thin shirt, and he held me there longer than necessary.
“This is the ugliest building I’ve ever laid eyes on,” claimed Tyrius as he padded on the cement walkway. “It looks like a giant aluminum box just threw up its lunch. No wonder Lisbeth picked it. It threw her up too.”
Regretfully, I broke away from Gareth’s grip. “I never thought I’d see it again,” I said, remembering how Lisbeth had nearly killed my gran, Kora, and Tyrius and had nearly finished me off too. Bile rose up in the back of my throat at the sight of it. I didn’t think you could actually hate a building, but what I was feeling now was pretty close.
It was also where Ethan, Miguel, Hannah and James had all perished—all because they didn’t want to share the gift. Dumbasses.
“You think she’s in there?” questioned Jenna, a slight grimace on her face as she took in the rust-covered building.
I wasn’t sure how I knew, but I was certain she was. “Yeah. She’s in there.” I hoped my instincts were right this time because I couldn’t afford to be wrong again.
“You were wrong about the vampire’s apartment.”
Touché. What the hell did she want me to say? Yes, I was wrong and you win? I clenched my jaw tightly so I wouldn’t cuss out the damn angel—because I really, really wanted to.
I looked at Jenna and her expression became empty of emotion again. Fantastic.
With my temper rising like a fever, we all made our way towards the rust-plagued warehouse and headed for the large metal doors. Gareth pulled them open, and we rushed in.
The interior of the warehouse was exactly as I remembered, big and ugly, except for one huge difference. It was empty. All those thousands of moisture-wrapped wood crates that had packed the warehouse were gone. And the racks that had reached the ceiling were empty. What remained, though, was the reek of disinfectant and bleach. What the hell happened here?
It was also darker. I counted only one tubular light fixture spilling down light from the ceiling. The others were burnt out.
“What?” questioned Tyrius, seeing my reaction.
“It used to be packed with crates,” I replied, my voice low. “Thousands of them.”
The cat whistled low. “Looks like the Gray Council hired a cleanup crew,” said the baal demon, and he padded forward without a sound while my boots clanked loudly on the cement floor. I needed a better pair of boots.
I glanced around the now empty warehouse, wondering what else they’d taken and why. What had Lisbeth been hiding in those crates? Now I would never know. Oh well. I had a feeling discovering what was inside those crates would have been very interesting.
Tyrius halted, standing with his right front leg bent close to his body and his tail straight out behind him like a pointer. “She’s here.”
I threw out my senses, scanning for angel and demonic energies similar to my own. I felt the familiar throb of energies, faint, but there. But I couldn’t detect anything else, and no smell of cigarette smoke either. Lucian wasn’t here yet.
But there was another presence, something stronger—the channeling of very old, ancient power. It filled my senses, my aura, like a bright, dazzling glow of energy. It leaked over my soul and spindled a wad of it in my head. The rush of power struck hard, and I clenched my fingers as I felt it leave through me. Holy shit.
“You feel that?” questioned Tyrius, and I cursed. “That’s got to be the Holy Grail. I’ve never felt anything like it before.”
My pulse thrummed. “It means she took it out of the box.” We shared a look.
“Maybe she doesn’t want to give it to Lucian.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know if that’s worse or better.”
With my heart in my throat, I made to move, but someone grabbed my arm.
“Rowyn.” Gareth held on to my arm, his expression shifting to alarm. “You know that’s not your sister in here. Not anymore.”
I’d already gone through all the technicalities about Layla’s DNA with Tyrius. Now was not the time to go through it with the elf.
“I get it. Let go of my arm please.”
“You can’t let your emotions get in the way,” said the elf, and I hated that Jenna had moved closer to listen to our not-so-private conversation. Damn that angel.
“I won’t.” If I didn’t try to save her ass, who would?
He bobbed an eyebrow at me, never letting go of my arm. “The darkness is in her now. Don’t forget that. She nearly killed you and Danto. And from how you described it to me, she wanted to kill him.”
“I know.”
“The Layla we know loved that vampire,” he stated, his expression grim. “She would never have harmed him. This isn’t Layla. She’s an extension of Lucian. He’s in her. Controlling her.”
“I know that too.”
“I know you care for her,” the elf exhaled softly. “She’s not about to hand over the Holy Grail. She’s under Lucian’s spell.”
“He’s not here yet,” I said, my insides twisting. “I can get through to her. She’ll listen to me. I just need to talk to her and make her see who Lucian truly is. That he’s a selfish asshole.”
“Maybe,” said Gareth. “Maybe not.” He pressed his lips together and then said, “You need to be strong. You need to think about what will happen if she doesn’t listen.”
Pissed, I yanked my arm out of his grip. “What the hell are you trying to say?” I hissed as low as I could. “I thought we agreed. If things got hot, you would restrain her with your elf dust.” When the elf said nothing, I pressed. “Gareth?”
The elf bowed his head closer to me and said, “There’s a chance my magic won’t affect her.”
I glowered and pulled back. “What about the dragon’s breath?”
Gareth shook his head. “I used it all on Danto.”
I inhaled slowly, trying to find a state of calm. “We don’t have time for this.” Lucian will be here at any moment.
And when Jenna yanked out her soul blade, I nearly lost it.
Frustrated, my anger fueled my legs, and I was practically jogging as I reached the back door. Tyrius was already next to it.
“Ready?” Tyrius looked up at me, and his loyalty and belief in me fueled me with confidence.
“Ready,” I answered, blood pounding through me.
“You know what you’re going to say to her?”
“Not really. I thought I’d just wing it.”
Tyrius grinned. “You’re crazy. You know that?”
“It’s why you love me.”
The truth was, Layla could have hit me harder with her new powers back at Danto’s apartment. In fact, she could have killed me. But she didn’t.
I had to believe that meant something. I had to believe under all that darkness, that power and the demon, my sister was still in there somewhere. I could still reach her.
With Gareth and Jenna behind us, I pulled open the door and stepped through. We piled into a large workroom where there’d been tables teeming with computers, microscopes, and other elements normally found in a modern lab when I’d first seen it. There had been a large metal cage with my gran, Kora and Tyrius imprisoned in it. I’d never forget it.
Now it was empty, save for a few footprints scattered on the dust-covered concrete floor, the only evidence that the Gray Council had come and gone—and Layla.
She sat on an empty crate. A small silver metal box lay open at her feet.
And on her lap was a golden cup. The Holy Grail.