offer of tea.
“Yeah, that’d be right. So where does everything else go?” Les poured two servings of tea, his hands visibly shaking. After he set the pot down, he looked between Mariel and Reed. “I think the Infernal absorbed the rest. That’s how it grew.”
Mariel accepted the cup Les handed to her. “Were you responding to a herald?”
A herald was an instinctive cry for help from Mark to handler that was so powerful it was sometimes felt by mortals. A sixth sense, some called it. The sensation that something was “off,” something they couldn’t put their finger on.
Les shook his head. “I didn’t wait for it. I’d senther after some
Patupairehe
faeries that were causing trouble for tourists. They were her specialty, so when I felt her fear, I knew something was wrong.”
Reed leaned back in his chair. “Raguel didn’t say anything about the Infernal growing larger.”
“He doesn’t know.” Les broke off a piece of a scone. “Uriel wanted to keep the news to himself until he could figure out what to do with it.”
“This is not the time for the archangels to be territorial,” Mariel protested.
“My thoughts exactly, which is why I’m telling you. There is something else.” Pushing away from the table, Les twisted around in his seat and collected an item from the counter behind him. He set it down in front of Mariel.
She picked up the zippered sandwich bag and examined its contents. “It looks like there’s blood on this rock.”
“There is. Open her up.”
Mariel did as directed. Instantly the honey-sweet smell of Mark blood filled the air. It was unusually robust and Reed found himself breathing through his mouth to diminish the potency of the scent.
“Your Mark’s blood,” she noted. “Why are you keeping it?”
Les’s lips thinned. “That’s the Infernal’s blood. I put a hole in the thing when it came at me.”
“If your scene is anything like the one I saw,” Reed muttered, “that could be Mark tissue. There was nothing within three yards that wasn’t completely covered with gore.”
“I shifted some distance away before I discharged my pistol,” Les said. “That blood didn’t come from my Mark, because we were at least a kilometer’s distance from where she was killed.”
“How did the Infernal know where you were shifting to?”
“That’s the question, isn’t it, mate? My theory is that the Infernal absorbs not only the blood and bone of the Marks it kills, but also some of the connection to the handler. I’m guessing it’s only temporary. Before I finished emptying my clip, it became impervious to the bullets. Could have been some kind of warding or could have been acquired vulnerability from my Mark that faded when the connection did. The Infernal certainly had no idea I was going to shoot it.”
“Even temporary is too long.” Reed’s foot tapped against the floor. “How much information can it absorb? How long does it retain what it learns? We need to know if your theory is right.”
Mariel carefully closed the bag. “Can we go to the scene? I’d like to take a look for myself. I’m the only one who’s seen all the locations of attack. I would like to see if a usable pattern emerges.”
“Of course.” Les drank his tea in one swallow. “The area is remote. Stick close during the shift.”
He disappeared.
Glancing at Mariel, Reed stood. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 4
Reaching around Izzie—who refused to move—Eve set a large bowl of salad on the makeshift dining table. They had combined three folding card tables into one larger table in the men’s dining room. Seating was still cramped, but Gadara insisted they eat together. Eve understood that he was trying to foster a familial connection between the Marks, but after three weeks of sharing lunches at Gadara Tower, she couldn’t see why it would work now when it hadn’t before.
“I hate tomatoes,” Laurel griped, looking into the bowl. “Couldn’t you have kept
“Yeah, that’d be right. So where does everything else go?” Les poured two servings of tea, his hands visibly shaking. After he set the pot down, he looked between Mariel and Reed. “I think the Infernal absorbed the rest. That’s how it grew.”
Mariel accepted the cup Les handed to her. “Were you responding to a herald?”
A herald was an instinctive cry for help from Mark to handler that was so powerful it was sometimes felt by mortals. A sixth sense, some called it. The sensation that something was “off,” something they couldn’t put their finger on.
Les shook his head. “I didn’t wait for it. I’d senther after some
Patupairehe
faeries that were causing trouble for tourists. They were her specialty, so when I felt her fear, I knew something was wrong.”
Reed leaned back in his chair. “Raguel didn’t say anything about the Infernal growing larger.”
“He doesn’t know.” Les broke off a piece of a scone. “Uriel wanted to keep the news to himself until he could figure out what to do with it.”
“This is not the time for the archangels to be territorial,” Mariel protested.
“My thoughts exactly, which is why I’m telling you. There is something else.” Pushing away from the table, Les twisted around in his seat and collected an item from the counter behind him. He set it down in front of Mariel.
She picked up the zippered sandwich bag and examined its contents. “It looks like there’s blood on this rock.”
“There is. Open her up.”
Mariel did as directed. Instantly the honey-sweet smell of Mark blood filled the air. It was unusually robust and Reed found himself breathing through his mouth to diminish the potency of the scent.
“Your Mark’s blood,” she noted. “Why are you keeping it?”
Les’s lips thinned. “That’s the Infernal’s blood. I put a hole in the thing when it came at me.”
“If your scene is anything like the one I saw,” Reed muttered, “that could be Mark tissue. There was nothing within three yards that wasn’t completely covered with gore.”
“I shifted some distance away before I discharged my pistol,” Les said. “That blood didn’t come from my Mark, because we were at least a kilometer’s distance from where she was killed.”
“How did the Infernal know where you were shifting to?”
“That’s the question, isn’t it, mate? My theory is that the Infernal absorbs not only the blood and bone of the Marks it kills, but also some of the connection to the handler. I’m guessing it’s only temporary. Before I finished emptying my clip, it became impervious to the bullets. Could have been some kind of warding or could have been acquired vulnerability from my Mark that faded when the connection did. The Infernal certainly had no idea I was going to shoot it.”
“Even temporary is too long.” Reed’s foot tapped against the floor. “How much information can it absorb? How long does it retain what it learns? We need to know if your theory is right.”
Mariel carefully closed the bag. “Can we go to the scene? I’d like to take a look for myself. I’m the only one who’s seen all the locations of attack. I would like to see if a usable pattern emerges.”
“Of course.” Les drank his tea in one swallow. “The area is remote. Stick close during the shift.”
He disappeared.
Glancing at Mariel, Reed stood. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 4
Reaching around Izzie—who refused to move—Eve set a large bowl of salad on the makeshift dining table. They had combined three folding card tables into one larger table in the men’s dining room. Seating was still cramped, but Gadara insisted they eat together. Eve understood that he was trying to foster a familial connection between the Marks, but after three weeks of sharing lunches at Gadara Tower, she couldn’t see why it would work now when it hadn’t before.
“I hate tomatoes,” Laurel griped, looking into the bowl. “Couldn’t you have kept
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