Curse of the Fallen by Eve Archer
Chapter Ten
Dominick
I jogged down the staircase that led us deep underneath the fortress, Rami by my side. The brown-stone ceiling above us was high and vaulted, making our footsteps echo. Wrought iron candle sconces clung to the walls every few meters, making the cold stone glow gold, and sending shadows flickering across the polished steps that we hurried down.
“I need to know where that plane went,” I growled.
“Asbeel and Armaras are tracking down the pilot,” Rami said. “They’ll get him to talk.”
Rami had dispatched our Fallen brethren across the globe to hunt down any trace of Ella and Jaya. Where we found one, I knew we would find the other.
We passed through a wide, rectangular doorway; the latticework iron door propped open. I inhaled the familiar scent of seawater that had always permeated this underground space that dipped below the island’s sea level, and gave a small shiver at the cooler, dank air.
“What about Gad?” I asked as we entered the war room.
“I thought he’d be our best bet to talk to more of the succubi. Jaya might be working with the dark demons, but she’s not one of them. There must be she-demons who are still loyal to her. If there are, Gad will find them.”
I nodded. Gadriel might not be as dangerously seductive as the incubi, but he was a skilled charmer and lover, not to mention the type of man to draw the female gaze wherever he went. He was well matched to the talents of the succubi.
I strode to the enormous table in the center of the room. Maps with curled edges lay strewn on top of each other, and heavy, leather tomes were stacked to one side. Memories of gathering around this table with the Fallen rushed back to me. It was where we’d spent many an hour plotting our return to heaven, and then later, when we’d abandoned that futile dream, it was the place where we’d tracked demon activity and planned our business expansion.
Rami joined me, running a hand under the lip of the table and pressing a hidden button. A wooden panel against one stone wall rotated to reveal a huge screen, the modern technology starkly out of place beside the ancient weapons displayed on the walls. A colorful world map appeared on the screen, bright red dots illuminating our properties and headquarters throughout the world.
“We do know some things.” Rami turned to face the screen. “The plane flew to its destination one evening and returned to Croatia by the next day.”
I walked closer to the map, narrowing my eyes as I located the coast of Croatia. “Which means it couldn’t have made it across the globe and back.”
“Exactly.” Rami joined me and made a circle around Croatia that encompassed Europe, part of Africa, and bits of Russia and Asia. “This is roughly the area we’re looking at.”
I rocked back on my heels. It wasn’t the entire world, but it wasn’t inconsiderable either. I fought the urge to scream. Despite being back in our fortress and standing in the war room where I’d planned endless strategies, I felt helpless for the first time in thousands of years. It wasn’t lost on me that we’d have more success finding Ella by working systematically, but all I wanted to do was hunt down demons and rain holy retribution onto them. I curled my hands into hard fists. I could always start with the demon prince in Paris.
“Dom?”
I swiveled my head toward my second in command. “What?”
“I asked if you wished to ready the helicopter.”
“To go where?” I asked, waving a hand at the map. “I could storm into Paris and demand an audience with Mastema, but I doubt demanding anything from the prince of demons would go well. I’m sure Jaya was hoping to send me into a spiral of vengeance, but I don’t want to play into her hands. Regretfully, the she-demon knows me too well. She knows I’m prone to excess. She’s counting on me acting fast and making another mistake.”
“So, we wait?”
I clenched my jaw, hating the thought of allowing Ella to be away from me for even one more second. “Until we are sure. I’ve fallen into too many demon traps lately. It won’t be long until we know where that plane went. Then we strike.”
Rami gave me a sympathetic look, but his phone buzzed in his pocket before he could offer me words of wisdom. When he pulled it out, his brow creased in confusion.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Epicurus New York.” He scowled at the name and image of the elite nightclub illuminating the screen. “They know we’re in the middle of something. They were too far away to be summoned, but they are aware of the attack. They should know better than to disturb me when we’re preparing for a retaliation.”
My fingers tingled. “Answer it.”
“Ramiel,” he said into his phone by way of greeting. His face remained motionless for a moment as he listened, then his eyebrows popped up. “Who does she claim to be?” He nodded, shaking his head. “Put her through.” Then he held the phone to me. “It’s for you.”
“For me?” The Fallen knew to pass most things through Rami before coming to me, and only a few of my brethren knew how to contact me directly. I sucked in a shallow breath. “Ella?”
He shook his head, his expression serious. “Not Ella, but you want to take this call, Dom.”
I grabbed the phone from his hand. “This is Dominick.”
“Dominick Vicario?” It was a female, and one with an American accent. A sharp, abrasive American accent.
“Yes, who is this?”
She huffed out a breath. “It fucking took long enough to find you. I’ve been calling all morning. What kind of business doesn’t open until noon?”
I held the phone away from me for a beat, peering at the screen and reminding myself that she was being patched through from our New York location of Epicurus.
“A nightclub?” I said, gaining me another annoyed huff.
“Yeah, I guess. Listen, are you the guy who swept my best friend off her feet and has been carting her all around Europe?”
My heart pounded at the mention of Ella. “You’re Ella’s best friend?”
“That’s right. I’m Sara. She probably mentioned me.” She paused for a beat then continued talking. “Anyway, I don’t know what the hell is going on with you two, but she said you got separated?”
I pivoted and walked back to the table, leaning one hand on the surface. “You talked to Ella?”
“Yes. This morning, but it was super weird and then she hung up suddenly. Or we got cut off. I’m not sure. She claimed everything was fine, and she was okay, but I’ve known the girl for years, and I know when she’s lying. Something’s up, and you’re going to tell me what’s going on.”
I held the phone without answering. I was unused to being told what to do, especially by a woman I’d never met before. But she had spoken to Ella, and she was our best lead so far. I found it curious that Ella hadn’t told her best friend that she’d been kidnapped, or that she was in danger. It gave me hope that she was safe and not with Jaya.
“Did she tell you where she was?” I asked.
“Actually, she did. But I’m not telling you anything until I’m convinced that you aren’t some kind of psycho.”
I bit back a cutting response, gripping the edge of the table to calm myself. “I assure you I only have Ella’s best interests at heart.”
“That may be true, but I’ve never met you before. All I know is she goes to a hotel bar and meets you. Then she’s dumping her boyfriend, quitting her job, and jet-setting all over Europe. Trust me when I say that this is not in character for Ella.”
“You wished she hadn’t dumped her boyfriend and quit her job?”
“No. She should have done both a long time ago. I hated Christopher, but that doesn’t mean you’re any better.” She took a breath. “Let’s just say that my best friend doesn’t always have the best judgment when it comes to guys. She has no idea how pretty she is, or how amazing.”
“Then you and I agree on something, Sara.”
She made a harrumphing sound. “Doesn’t mean I like you yet.”
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to laugh or scream. “Understood. What can I tell you to convince you that we both want the best for your friend?”
“I’m not sure. I’m still pretty freaked out that she called me in the middle of the night from someone else’s phone and asked me to contact you.”
My heart squeezed, and I pressed my eyes closed. “She asked you to call me?”
“I guess she doesn’t know your number yet.” She mumbled something about barely knowing me at all, so it wasn’t a surprise she didn’t know my number. “Are you going to tell me what’s actually going on between you two?”
The woman was tenacious, I’d give her that. I couldn’t help admiring the fact that she was so protective of her best friend that she wasn’t going to back down, even against me. Ella deserved a friend like this Sara, even if she was on the annoying side and currently slowing down me finding Ella. “This doesn’t have anything to do with what’s going on between us, but I can assure you that I care for your friend very much. I would plummet into the pits of hell to save her.”
There was silence on the other end, and I glanced at the screen to assure myself that the call hadn’t been dropped. “Sara?”
“I’m here. Has anyone ever told you that you’re a pretty intense guy?”
I thought about tossing Mateo Solano across the canal and pinning Asbeel against the wall. “A few times.”
“Okay, Romeo, here’s the deal. I’ll tell you everything Ella told me, but you have to bring me with you when you go get her. I’m still pissed you stole her away for the entire summer.”
A clueless human joining the rescue mission did not make things any easier, but she was the only person who knew Ella’s location. “Agreed. Now where is she?”
“I’m from New York, man. You aren’t going to trick me like that. I’ll tell you when you pick me up.” She rattled off an address and disconnected.
I handed Rami his phone, thinking that I might prefer to meet a demon over Ella’s intense best friend. “I was wrong. We need the helicopter after all.” I headed for the door, glancing back and beckoning him to follow me. “We’re going to New York.”
