He'd known, she realized.
He'd known why Jeffrey had summoned her, why he'd finally deigned to speak to a daughter he considered worse than the lowest street trash.
Not only had he known, he'd accurately predicted her reaction.
And he'd provided her with the most perfect revenge possible. She started to grin. Jeffrey Deveraux's unwanted daughter was considered important enough for an angelic escort so flamboyant, she'd be surprised if there was anyone in the state who hadn't already heard about it.
Her phone rang on cue.
She was at a stoplight, so she answered. "Sara, you have big ears."
"And you're keeping company with what I hear is an angel straight out of wet-dream territory."
"They're all good-looking." But that wasn't enough. Not for her.
"But most don't have wings of blue touched with silver."
"TV?"
"Camera-phone images. Don't usually see angels walking the streets." A whispered sigh. "I've had reports of this one being in the city, but no close-up pictures till now. He's some kind of pretty. I could just take a bite out of that firm-"
Elena started laughing. "Down, girl, you're married, remember?"
"Mmm, talk about taking a bite out of something. Deacon-"
"Too-much-info alert!" The light changed. "I'll call you back in a few minutes."
She was about to turn into the garage when a blue feather fluttered into her lap. Her lips twitched but it was too late to glance up by then. Nosing the car into the darkness of the garage, she brought it to a halt near the still figure of the vampire who'd driven her to Raphael's. He was wearing sunglasses in spite of the underground gloom. She supposed if she had eyes like his, she would, too.
Getting out, she undid her ponytail and quickly braided Illium's feather into her hair just above her ear. "If Bluebell isn't careful," the vamp murmured, "he'll lose his feathers all over again."
Ponytail redone, she retrieved the map and nodded at the old-model sedan behind him. "Keys?" She threw him the ones for the Ferrari.
"In the ignition." Sliding the keys into a pocket, he straightened from his leaning position against the passenger-side door. "Raphael wants you to check in every ten minutes."
"Tell the boss I'll call him when I have something to report, Snakey."
He pushed the sunglasses to the top of his head, giving her the full impact of those eerie eyes. "I prefer Venom."
She raised an eyebrow. "You're not serious."
"It's better than a pansy-assed name like Illium. What the hell does that mean anyway?" A sharp smile that flashed fang.
Deliberate, very deliberate, she thought. Despite his flawlessly modern speech, Venom was far too old to make mistakes. "Are you?"
"What?"
"Venomous?"
Another savage smile. He touched the tip of one fang with his tongue and when he drew it away, she saw a pearl of golden liquid. "Try me and see."
"Maybe later, after I've survived Michaela."
He laughed, a rich masculine sound that caused a woman stepping off the elevator at the other end of the garage to drop her purse and stare openmouthed. Venom didn't seem to notice, his eyes fixed on Elena. Reaching up, he slid the sunglasses back over his eyes. "No one survives the High Priestess of Byzantium."
Goose bumps crawled over her flesh at the ancience implied by that title. Not responding, she opened the door to the sedan and got in-after cranking down all four windows. As she drove away, she saw Venom head for the woman by the elevator.
Chapter 29
She'd been driving for ten minutes when she realized she'd forgotten to call Sara back. Spotting an unoccupied loading zone, she pulled off and dialed.
Her friend picked up on the first ring. "Rumor mill's going crazy. They're saying the blue angel flew away with you in his arms."
"Angels don't sully themselves carrying mortals." Except when they wanted said mortal somewhere pronto. "Anything else I should know about?"
"Missing girls-fifteen in the past week." Her voice was pure Guild Director. "Get the bastard, Ellie."
"I will." Fifteen? Where the hell were the other seven bodies? "Any timelines?"
"You don't have this already?"
"No." So either the angels didn't know everything, or they were keeping her in the dark. Her hand tightened on the phone. "Give it to me."
"Not much to give. One bunch disappeared two days ago-looks like the same night. And the second lot was last night, maybe very early morning."
"Thanks, Sara. Kiss Zoe for me."
"You okay?" Concern in every word. "I swear, Ellie. You give the word and we'll find a way to pull you out."
She knew they would. The Guild had survived centuries because it was built on a backbone of absolute loyalty. "I'm fine. I have to get this guy."
"Fine. But if it gets too hairy, remember we've got your back."
"I know." Her throat grew thick. Sara knew. Because her next comment was designed to make Elena grin.
"You know how spooky Ashwini is. She called an hour ago to tell me she has a secret stash of handheld grenade launchers she thought I might want to know about. My response was, 'What the f**k?' "
"As usual with Ash," Elena said, laughing.
"But you know," Sara continued, "the damn things would come in handy against you-know-whats. Just one word, Ellie. That's all we need."
"Thanks, Sara." She hung up before she could give in to the urge to say too much. Then, taking a deep breath, she restarted the engine and continued on toward Archangel Tower. Unsurprisingly, Michaela had spent most of her time either at her estate or around the Tower, with the occasional stop at a high-end department store. Elena was waiting to turn off the main avenue, intending to circle around, when it whispered past.
The bite of acid laced with blood.
Screeching to a halt, she got out, ignoring the swearing cabbie behind her, and did a very careful three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn. There. Jumping back into the car, she double-parked and stepped out. Now that she had the scent, she'd be far more effective on foot.
Rich, dark, chocolate. Sinful. Seductive.
She halted, sniffed. "Dmitri." The vampire had either passed this way or was in the vicinity. With most vampires, it wouldn't have mattered-she could separate out the scents. But Dmitri's presence was too strong, and when added to the fact that Uram's trail was older . . . "Shit." Pulling out her phone, she called Raphael.