could follow her.
Her plan was to lead Haatim somewhere quiet after she dealt with George Wertman, confront him, and explain that he wasn’t cut out for this life and then delete all of the images he had of her. Finally, she would send him on his merry way.
No sense killing him if she didn’t have to.
She was handling a job on behalf of the Council; mostly, it was just tracking and information gathering against the Ninth Circle, but now her mission had changed to elimination. George was a low-level threat to the Council and they had decided to eliminate him. It wouldn’t be difficult.
Which was why they put Abigail on the job: they still didn’t trust her with anything important. Not after what happened in the Church. It had been a long time since the incident and she lost Arthur, but they still refused to cut her any slack. At first, she’d been so sore and miserable she didn’t care, but now it had been several months and it was getting downright patronizing.
Her phone started buzzing. She slipped it out of her pocket and read the name on the screen: Frieda. Abigail blew out an annoyed breath and accepted the call.
“Yeah?”
“Abi? Where are you?”
“I hate when you call me that. My name is Abigail.”
“And I hate when you dodge my calls. I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for two days.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“Doing what?” Frieda asked.
“What you sent me here to do.”
“Where are you?”
“In Arizona.”
“You aren’t finished yet?” Frieda asked.
“I only got the order this morning.”
“What order?”
“To eliminate Wertman.”
Frieda was silenced. “Who signed it?”
“Doesn’t say,” Abigail replied. “But it’s legitimate.”
“I didn’t authorize anything.”
“Then someone else must have. Do you want me to hold off?”
“No,” Frieda said. “Go ahead and take care of it. I’m sure I just missed the memo. Do you need backup?”
“Nope,” Abigail said. “Not for George.”
“Yeah, it shouldn’t be too difficult. George isn’t much of a threat.”
“That’s what pisses me off,” Abigail said. “It’s been five months, and you’re still holding my hand. I’m not a child, and I need some free reign to do my own things.”
“It’s not me. It’s the Council.”
“You are on the Council,” Abigail noted.
“Barely. I don’t have much sway. I’m on your side. I’ve been telling them we should trust you for weeks, they just don’t listen.”
“I need to look into Arthur and find out what happened.”
“They don’t want you to,” Frieda said. “Arthur is entirely off-limits.”
“For me?”
“For everyone,” Frieda said.
“I don’t care.”
“You should. I’m working on getting you cleared, but it’s hard to stick up for you when you go off the radar like this. You need to answer my calls.”
“I do,” Abigail said. “When I’m not busy. I’m going to take care of Wertman tonight.”
“Good, because we have something else for you to look into.”
“I told you I’m not doing anything else for the Council until I track down the demon who took Arthur.”
“That isn’t how this works,” Frieda replied. “You were ordered to stop looking into it.”
“I thought you were on my side.”
“In most things. This isn’t one of them. Just drop it, Abi.”
“You know I won’t.”
“Then you’re treading on thin ice,” Frieda replied coolly. “And no one is going to rescue you when you fall through.”
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
“Forget about him.”
“You know I can’t do that,” Abigail said. “He’s been saving me for my entire life.”
“Then let him save you now, too.”
“No,” Abigail said. “This time, I’m saving him.”
“The Council is pursuing various avenues—”
“Various avenues?” Abigail interrupted, incredulous. “What avenues, Frieda? The avenue of pretending everything is OK? They barely even admit anything happened at that Church, and you
Her plan was to lead Haatim somewhere quiet after she dealt with George Wertman, confront him, and explain that he wasn’t cut out for this life and then delete all of the images he had of her. Finally, she would send him on his merry way.
No sense killing him if she didn’t have to.
She was handling a job on behalf of the Council; mostly, it was just tracking and information gathering against the Ninth Circle, but now her mission had changed to elimination. George was a low-level threat to the Council and they had decided to eliminate him. It wouldn’t be difficult.
Which was why they put Abigail on the job: they still didn’t trust her with anything important. Not after what happened in the Church. It had been a long time since the incident and she lost Arthur, but they still refused to cut her any slack. At first, she’d been so sore and miserable she didn’t care, but now it had been several months and it was getting downright patronizing.
Her phone started buzzing. She slipped it out of her pocket and read the name on the screen: Frieda. Abigail blew out an annoyed breath and accepted the call.
“Yeah?”
“Abi? Where are you?”
“I hate when you call me that. My name is Abigail.”
“And I hate when you dodge my calls. I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for two days.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“Doing what?” Frieda asked.
“What you sent me here to do.”
“Where are you?”
“In Arizona.”
“You aren’t finished yet?” Frieda asked.
“I only got the order this morning.”
“What order?”
“To eliminate Wertman.”
Frieda was silenced. “Who signed it?”
“Doesn’t say,” Abigail replied. “But it’s legitimate.”
“I didn’t authorize anything.”
“Then someone else must have. Do you want me to hold off?”
“No,” Frieda said. “Go ahead and take care of it. I’m sure I just missed the memo. Do you need backup?”
“Nope,” Abigail said. “Not for George.”
“Yeah, it shouldn’t be too difficult. George isn’t much of a threat.”
“That’s what pisses me off,” Abigail said. “It’s been five months, and you’re still holding my hand. I’m not a child, and I need some free reign to do my own things.”
“It’s not me. It’s the Council.”
“You are on the Council,” Abigail noted.
“Barely. I don’t have much sway. I’m on your side. I’ve been telling them we should trust you for weeks, they just don’t listen.”
“I need to look into Arthur and find out what happened.”
“They don’t want you to,” Frieda said. “Arthur is entirely off-limits.”
“For me?”
“For everyone,” Frieda said.
“I don’t care.”
“You should. I’m working on getting you cleared, but it’s hard to stick up for you when you go off the radar like this. You need to answer my calls.”
“I do,” Abigail said. “When I’m not busy. I’m going to take care of Wertman tonight.”
“Good, because we have something else for you to look into.”
“I told you I’m not doing anything else for the Council until I track down the demon who took Arthur.”
“That isn’t how this works,” Frieda replied. “You were ordered to stop looking into it.”
“I thought you were on my side.”
“In most things. This isn’t one of them. Just drop it, Abi.”
“You know I won’t.”
“Then you’re treading on thin ice,” Frieda replied coolly. “And no one is going to rescue you when you fall through.”
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
“Forget about him.”
“You know I can’t do that,” Abigail said. “He’s been saving me for my entire life.”
“Then let him save you now, too.”
“No,” Abigail said. “This time, I’m saving him.”
“The Council is pursuing various avenues—”
“Various avenues?” Abigail interrupted, incredulous. “What avenues, Frieda? The avenue of pretending everything is OK? They barely even admit anything happened at that Church, and you
Similar Books
