Kingdom of Lies (Imp Series Book 7) (12 page)

“What’s going on,” I asked a businessman slogging his way through the parking lot to his car.

“Beats me.” He barely raised his head as he replied. “Probably an accident.”

Or an elf hit by a bus. I decided to check it out. There didn’t seem to be quite the level of security at the train station as there was at the airport. I’m sure other passengers would have noted an elf in costume traveling with an attractive young woman, but they would all be long gone by now. My only hope was that the ticket agents might have noticed them, even if they purchased their fare through one of the machines.

Accident first. Ticket agent second.

“Can you take us there?” I pointed to a cluster of cars near the highway entrance ramp.

“Yes I
can
. No, I
won’t
.” Gregory began walking.

“I’ll just steal a car,” I called after him.

“I’ll just render the car incapable of motion,” he called back.

I walked, Terrelle staggering behind me, wiping her mouth.

It was an accident. Three cars sandwiched together, long, black skid marks marring the road. What made this accident special was the torn section of asphalt that sliced across the roadway ending where a burned tree lay smoking on the shoulder. Lightning. And there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

“Another demon?” I wasn’t sure why the two would have anyone else chasing them. Swifty was exiled, and as far as I knew, Gareth was pinning all his hopes for gem recovery on me. Pouchain may have enemies, but I doubted any were pissed off enough to risk a trip through the angel gates just to take him out. No, I would have heard about any feud that intense.

Gregory examined the pileup of vehicles, while injured drivers and paramedics were oblivious to his presence. “No, they had a fight with an angel.”

Oh yeah. Pouchain was a demon, and the Grigori were tasked with taking them out. Normally I would have gotten a courtesy heads-up, but in cases of imminent threat, the angels were allowed to take immediate and lethal action. Yes, every encounter was classified as an imminent threat, which meant my courtesy heads-up wasn’t worth the angelic paper it was written on.

“Which of your enforcers handles Boston?” As if I didn’t know. Atlantic City wasn’t all that far away by celestial standards.

He didn’t need to answer. A wordless summons and Eloa stood before us, his male form shifting into a sexy Marilyn Monroe the moment the angel saw me. Her toothy smile wasn’t fooling anyone. This angel wanted Gregory more than a junkie wanted a fix. And in her eyes, I was the major roadblock between her and the object of her desire.

“Sir.” The word purred from full, red lips.

My angel made a sweeping gesture. “Lost one, Eloa? That’s not like you.”

I’d expected her to stiffen at the slight. Instead, a tiny frown wrinkled the perfect forehead as the angel looked toward the accident. “Lost one of what, Sir?”

Gregory leaned forward, his shadow encasing the other angel. “I know some of the angels assigned to me have divided loyalties, but I’d expected different from you.”

She cringed, her eyes meeting his then sliding away to focus on the scorched pavement. “It was a luck demon, Ancient Revered One. I had a lock on him, had injured him, and then I saw... something that distracted me.”

“Like an elf?” I asked.

Eloa shot me an icy glare then turned back to Gregory. “It couldn’t have been, Sir. I know there have been rumors of elf sightings this past year, but why would one be sneaking around the train station in the company of a demon?”

Elf sighting. Like a spaceship landed on the highway and aliens started beaming humans aboard. “Because demons know their way around the human world while elves get hit by busses and chased down by airport security?” The angel ignored me. Actually, both angels were ignoring me.

“What happened when you were distracted by the elf, Eloa?” Gregory’s voice was soft and gentle. I shivered, because when he got that particular tone with me, it was usually followed by some very physical actions. My knees grew weak just thinking about how his teeth got all sharp and pointy, how his black irises encompassed the entirety of his eyes, the way his fingers felt digging into my arms as he shook me and smacked me against some hard surface. I could jump him right now just imagining it.

Eloa’s knees got weak too, but I doubted her fall to the pavement was inspired by lust. “I only turned my head for a moment, Ancient One. Just one moment and a recreational vehicle ran me down. By the time I got to my feet, the demon and elf were gone, and all these cars and trucks were on top of each other. I await your punishment for my lapse in duty.”

I snorted. That angel couldn’t possibly try any harder to climb up Gregory’s ass.

My angel shook his head. “I’m putting someone else in charge of this area temporarily while you track the demon. You have his energy signature, know his human form as well as the appearance of his traveling companion. Do not rest until you have found them, and make sure they remain alive until the Iblis and I arrive.”

Eloa stood, bowing deeply before vanishing with a flash of light. Gregory turned to me, folding his arms across his chest. “It’s time we discussed this elf. I’ve just committed significant resources to tracking him down for you—resources I cannot afford to divert at this time. Please explain why this is so important.”

In the big scheme of things, as far as everyone else besides Gareth and I were concerned, it wasn’t important. The theft of a spell enhancement gem wasn’t a life-or-death situation.

“It would clear my debt to a sorcerer in Hel and give me some additional time to deal with matters here and all the elf shit in Hel.”

Gregory regarded me. “What ‘elf shit’? I thought the war was over and the humans were free?”

I squirmed. “Yes, but they’re still harassing the humans, and they’ve merged their kingdoms into some kind of mega-empire. And put a bounty on my head.”

Lame. I’d brought Gregory running to taxi me and Terrelle around, sent his angels off tracking a demon, all to solve my personal problems. I expected the angel to be pissed, to call Eloa back and tell her to forget about it, to dump my ass in a ditch and tell me to get my priorities in order.

Instead, he surprised me. “After two-and-a-half-million years, an elf has crossed the gates. Why?”

I hadn’t really pondered that question. We demons crossed all the time. Messing with the humans, risking our lives for a bit of fun—those were our reasons. But an elf? “I don’t know. I just assumed he was selling the gem to a demon and this was their agreed-upon exchange spot.”

“Why not do that in Hel? Elves and demons have been conducting business there for millions of years. What would happen to change that?”

“I don’t know.” I felt like such an idiot.

“What’s his motive?” I expected Gregory to suddenly be smoking a pipe and addressing me as ‘Watson’. “Why would an elf steal such a gem geared toward human magic and bring it here?”

I frowned. “Maybe his desire to leave Hel isn’t connected. He’s exiled. Elves in exile used to find another kingdom willing to take them in, but now they’ve merged into one giant elven mass. Living with the demons can’t have been ideal. Could be this was a better choice.”

Terrelle snorted. “He’s still living with a demon until he figures his way around. It could take months for him to learn the language, get an identity, some kind of suitable employment and housing. That is, if he doesn’t get run over by a bus again. I doubt he’s planning on applying for permanent residency as the only elf on the planet. They’re snobs. They like the company of other elves, not lowly humans.”

True. And I remembered how difficult Nyalla had found the process when she’d first come here. She’d been a slave. Swifty was an elf used to some degree of comfort and status. I refused to believe things in Hel were so bad for him that a life of poverty—a very short life if he didn’t quickly learn how to avoid vehicles, gang members, and law enforcement—would be any kind of alternative.

“So the trip here is temporary?” I asked. “I’m assuming his goal would be to get back into elvish good graces. Something here involving the gem could be his ticket back into Li.”

“That’s assuming he stole the gem after he was exiled,” Greggory commented. “Swiftethian is seen fraternizing with freed humans, is exiled, and steals the gem, brings it here to achieve reinstatement. Or maybe he has done more to offend the elves than associate with human magic users. If he has a price on his head, then life here would be better than death in Hel.”

“Unlikely,” Terrelle chimed in. “Elves don’t have a problem with death when the alternative is washing dishes for minimum wages and living in a cardboard box under a bridge.”

I wasn’t sure about that. If he could get enough money for the gem, he might not need to make a cardboard box his home. But there was another question nagging me. “Did he steal the gem before or after he was exiled? Maybe he was going to sell it in Hel, but the exile caused him to change plans.”

Terrelle waved her hand. “Either way, what would he be doing with that enchanted gem on this side of the gates that would get him in good with the elves?”

Shit if I knew. The gem enhanced a spell. As far as I knew, the elves didn’t have any spells going on over here. He could sell it to a human magic user, but he lacked the skills to find one, and a wad of cash wouldn’t mean squat in our reinstatement theory. Selling it to a demon would earn him some money, but he could just as easily do that in Hel, and I wasn’t sure what the appeal would be to living here, so far away from other elves.

“Maybe you need to have an informative conversation with your sorcerer friend.” There was an edge of irony in Gregory’s voice that revealed his belief that this conversation would include me becoming the tough guy. I might be doing this job to pay off a debt to Gareth, but that didn’t give him the right to withhold important information. Keeping information that was essential to the completion of my task could be seen as a breach of trust, negating the debt entirely.

And it just pissed me off. I’d been running around like a fool for too long. Yes, a serious chat was at the top of my to-do list.

Gregory wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Meanwhile, I have my enforcers looking for this demon. Eloa has his energy signature, so it shouldn’t take too long for us to track him down.”

“Make sure they don’t kill him,” I urged. If the demon was smart, he would have ditched Swifty and headed for the nearest gate. Just in case he was stupid, I wanted to be able to question him before they dusted his ass.

“They won’t.” My angel seemed rather smug. “Unlike someone else’s household, my Grigori do as their told.”

I snorted. Yeah, right. “Is that why there’s a rebellion in Aaru? Is that why one of your Grigori is fucking a demon? Oh, wait, that’s two if I’m counting us in that equation.”

“Yes, there have been a few slips, but I’m not the one getting shot out of the air by a bunch of pre-pubescent elves.”

I was regretting telling him about that little incident. Still, I smiled and snuggled against him. There wasn’t much for us to do until Eloa found the demon and/or the elf. I knew Gregory would eventually want to go after the manticore if it was still on the loose and look for the gateway, but I was hoping we could wait. I had other activities I wanted to engage in right now.

“Home?” He murmured into my hair.

“Home,” I confirmed.

T
errelle was sprawled on my couch, hair tucked behind her ears as she simultaneously read a book and surfed the Internet on my laptop. She seemed engrossed, but I knew she heard every word we said. I shot a quick glance her way and gave Gregory a knowing nod before leading him outside to the flagstone patio beside my pool. There I could carry on a conversation with some assurances of privacy and keep an eye on the newest member of my household.

“An information demon,” Gregory drawled. “Not who I expected to be tagging at your heels, Cockroach.”

“She’s like a fucking encyclopedia on legs. Well worth having tagging at my heels.”

He nodded. “I like her. Maybe you should try and set her up with Gabriel.”

My eyes nearly left my head. Gabe would probably approve of her—serious, studious, dedicated. But the angel had an explosive side to him that needed someone crazy enough to bring it out. “I’ll consider it.” I wouldn’t, but whatever. “But I didn’t bring you out here to discuss Infernal Mates. I found out the name of the demon who has the Traveler’s Veil.”

Gregory stared. I’d shocked an angel. I was so proud. ”You found the Veil? Already? Where is it?”

“I haven’t found it. Yet. A demon named Orias has it, and wherever the fuck the manticore lives isn’t the only gateway he’s opened. An old school friend in Eresh has a melusine he got from Aerie through a passage Orias opened.”

Gregory sucked in a sharp breath. “So that’s one more gateway we have to track down and close, in addition to finding this Orias and retrieving the Veil.”

“He’s... .” I wasn’t sure how to put this. “He’s my age. I went to school with him. He’s not a bad guy.”

“He killed an angel, Cockroach. He may not be a bad guy, but such an action has repercussions.”

“I killed an angel,” I argued.

“You were acting in self-defense, and the angel in question had violated the treaty. It fell under the heading of your Iblis duties. This Orias ambushed an angel, killed him, and stole an item. He doesn’t get a pass on this.”

I winced. He was right. It sucked to know that unless Orias got his ass over to Hel and stayed there, he would soon be dead. Although there were other things the angels needed to concentrate on that might buy the demon a little time. “There’s that manticore that killed the human and shot my wing. Don’t forget him. That’s a priority.”

Gregory shook his head. “Not anymore. He’s dead. A human already has the body at a taxidermist who has sworn he won’t say a word about his client shooting what appeared to be an escaped zoo lion.”

Humans. I loved them. “Awesome! One less thing you’ve got to do. I’ll let you know if I catch wind of Orias.” And hopefully he’d be in Hel before I caught wind of him.