of court are kings and queens, like the Faerie.”
“So they have little courts that are overseen by one big court?”
Nathaniel nodded. “You are thinking that the vampire king had to know about this prior to the attack.”
“If he’s got a good grip on his kingdom, then he should definitely have known about this. Is his court in Chicago?”
Nathaniel shook his head. “No. He is based in New York.”
“Isn’t it interesting?” I mused. “Lucifer’s court is in Los Angeles. The vampire king’s court is on the opposite coast. The high court of Faerie is in some dimension all its own. And yet all this trouble is here at my door.”
“Lord Lucifer has made it very clear through both word and deed that he would like you to be his heir.”
“So you’re saying that as long as Lucifer keeps going around talking me up, the other courts will swipe at me?”
Nathaniel’s eyes were troubled. “You would be safer if you would accept Lord Lucifer’s offer.”
“I don’t want to be his heir,” I said. “More important, I don’t want my child to be his heir.”
“I do not know if you can resist for much longer. Your life is becoming more dangerous by the moment. And Lord Lucifer has a way of boxing you in before you realize the walls are there.”
Emotion flickered across his face.
And what did he do to you? I wondered.
“Look, let’s just get these people as safe as we can so wecan go home. I need to figure out some way to eliminate these vampires.”
“I believe that we can put some form of protection over the hospital,” Nathaniel said. “But in order to do it correctly we will need to leave the building, which will put us at risk.”
“Why will we need to leave?”
“Because the conditions of the enchantment will prevent creatures of supernatural origin from entering. If we are inside when the magic is settled, we would be forcibly ejected by the spell.”
“But what about the Agents that are still in the hospital? Samiel and Jude got Chloe out—at least I hope they did,” I said, fumbling for my cell phone so I could see whether Samiel had sent me a text. I patted all of my pockets and came up empty. “For the love of the Morningstar. I lost it again.”
“The Agents will be protected,” Nathaniel said. “Their magic is different from a supernatural creature’s.”
“How?”
“Agents are human,” Nathaniel said simply. “They may have magical abilities, but at the core of it they are human. Their essence is not born of the otherworld, but this one.”
“But the spell will keep out vampires and pix demons and all that?”
Nathaniel nodded. “If it works correctly. If we can project enough power. This is a very large hospital, and I am presuming that you are not simply interested in protecting this building.”
I shook my head. “Of course not. Why would we protect the helpless patients in this building and ignore the others? I wonder if the whole complex is under the sleeping spell.”
“We are not going to check,” Nathaniel said.
“So what are we going to do?”
Nathaniel looked uncertain for a moment, like he knew I wouldn’t like what he was going to say. “We have to combine our powers.”
“Okay…”
“We will need to mingle our blood in order to most effectively achieve this.”
“Are we talking about an I’m-your-blood-brother paper cut here, or a gaping wound? Because I’ve had enough gaping wounds today, thank you.”
“The cut itself will be relatively small,” Nathaniel assured me. “But combining our magic will feel…intimate.”
Now I was the uncertain one. “You mean, I’ll feel you inside me? And you’ll be able to feel me?”
Nathaniel nodded. “I understand if such a thing is reprehensible to you.”
Reprehensible? Not exactly. More like a betrayal. Because there was only one man I’d ever been intimate with, and mingling anything with Nathaniel felt a lot like I was spitting on Gabriel’s grave.
But if I didn’t do
“So they have little courts that are overseen by one big court?”
Nathaniel nodded. “You are thinking that the vampire king had to know about this prior to the attack.”
“If he’s got a good grip on his kingdom, then he should definitely have known about this. Is his court in Chicago?”
Nathaniel shook his head. “No. He is based in New York.”
“Isn’t it interesting?” I mused. “Lucifer’s court is in Los Angeles. The vampire king’s court is on the opposite coast. The high court of Faerie is in some dimension all its own. And yet all this trouble is here at my door.”
“Lord Lucifer has made it very clear through both word and deed that he would like you to be his heir.”
“So you’re saying that as long as Lucifer keeps going around talking me up, the other courts will swipe at me?”
Nathaniel’s eyes were troubled. “You would be safer if you would accept Lord Lucifer’s offer.”
“I don’t want to be his heir,” I said. “More important, I don’t want my child to be his heir.”
“I do not know if you can resist for much longer. Your life is becoming more dangerous by the moment. And Lord Lucifer has a way of boxing you in before you realize the walls are there.”
Emotion flickered across his face.
And what did he do to you? I wondered.
“Look, let’s just get these people as safe as we can so wecan go home. I need to figure out some way to eliminate these vampires.”
“I believe that we can put some form of protection over the hospital,” Nathaniel said. “But in order to do it correctly we will need to leave the building, which will put us at risk.”
“Why will we need to leave?”
“Because the conditions of the enchantment will prevent creatures of supernatural origin from entering. If we are inside when the magic is settled, we would be forcibly ejected by the spell.”
“But what about the Agents that are still in the hospital? Samiel and Jude got Chloe out—at least I hope they did,” I said, fumbling for my cell phone so I could see whether Samiel had sent me a text. I patted all of my pockets and came up empty. “For the love of the Morningstar. I lost it again.”
“The Agents will be protected,” Nathaniel said. “Their magic is different from a supernatural creature’s.”
“How?”
“Agents are human,” Nathaniel said simply. “They may have magical abilities, but at the core of it they are human. Their essence is not born of the otherworld, but this one.”
“But the spell will keep out vampires and pix demons and all that?”
Nathaniel nodded. “If it works correctly. If we can project enough power. This is a very large hospital, and I am presuming that you are not simply interested in protecting this building.”
I shook my head. “Of course not. Why would we protect the helpless patients in this building and ignore the others? I wonder if the whole complex is under the sleeping spell.”
“We are not going to check,” Nathaniel said.
“So what are we going to do?”
Nathaniel looked uncertain for a moment, like he knew I wouldn’t like what he was going to say. “We have to combine our powers.”
“Okay…”
“We will need to mingle our blood in order to most effectively achieve this.”
“Are we talking about an I’m-your-blood-brother paper cut here, or a gaping wound? Because I’ve had enough gaping wounds today, thank you.”
“The cut itself will be relatively small,” Nathaniel assured me. “But combining our magic will feel…intimate.”
Now I was the uncertain one. “You mean, I’ll feel you inside me? And you’ll be able to feel me?”
Nathaniel nodded. “I understand if such a thing is reprehensible to you.”
Reprehensible? Not exactly. More like a betrayal. Because there was only one man I’d ever been intimate with, and mingling anything with Nathaniel felt a lot like I was spitting on Gabriel’s grave.
But if I didn’t do
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