The wind tore at her hair as the rain pelted down with bruising force. The storm had come out of nowhere, a freak blip on the radar of nature. Fighting against the wind, she walked around to the front of the car, eerily conscious that there was absolutely no one else on this stretch of road. Maybe people had decided to wait out the rain. Blinking water from her eyes, she figured it'd be a long wait.
There was a leaf on her windscreen, stuck to one of the still-running wipers. A solid branch lay a few feet in front of the car. Relief whispered through her, but she checked under and behind the vehicle to be sure. Nothing. Just a branch thrown by the wind. Getting out of the rain, she slammed the door shut and turned on the heater, chilled to the bone. Freezing from the inside out.
Wiping her face with an open palm, she drove the rest of the way to Raphael's with a steely focus on the here and now. The ghosts kept whispering in her ear but she refused to listen. If she didn't listen, they wouldn't be able to touch her, wouldn't be able to drag her back into the nightmare.
She was pulling up in front of the house when her cell phone rang. It had been in her pocket and was drenched, but seemed to function fine when she turned off the engine and flipped it open. She recognized the incoming number. "Ransom?"
"Who else?" Jazz in the background, the singer's voice smoky and low. "I've been hearing things, Ellie."
"I can't tell-" she began.
"No," he interrupted. "I'm hearing things I think you need to know."
"Go on." Ransom had contacts the rest of them didn't, having grown up on the streets. Most people who got out lost their street cred. He hadn't-being a hunter was considered an even better position in the hierarchy of the streets than being a gangbanger.
"There's been a lot of vamp and angel activity over the past few days. They're everywhere."
"Okay." That wasn't news. Raphael had his people looking for signs of Uram or his victims.
"Whispers of girls disappearing."
"Uh-huh."
"Should I be warning the pros?" His voice was tight.
She knew some of those streetwalkers and high-end call girls were his friends. "Let me think." She considered everything she'd picked up about the victims. "I think, for once, they're safe."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. The targets all looked . . . innocent."
"Virgins?"
Elena realized she hadn't thought to check. A mistake she'd rectify as soon as possible. "Yeah, probably. But still, it wouldn't hurt to tell your friends to look out for each other."
"Thanks." He blew out a breath. "That's not why I called, though. Word is, there's a hit out on you."
She froze. "What?"
"Yeah, it gets better." Anger vibrated through the wires. "Apparently an archangel wants you dead. What the hell did you do to him?"
Her forehead furrowed. "Not him. Her."
"Ah. I wouldn't worry about it, then." Pure snark. "According to the gossip, your head's wanted on a silver platter-literally, by the way-"
"Gee, thanks for clearing that up."
"-but the hunt's not authorized to begin yet."
Michaela, the bitch, was playing mind games. "Appreciate the warning."
"So what are you going to do? Get the hell out of Dodge or kill an archangel?"
"I do love your confidence in me."
A snort. "Hell, no. I just know I'm in your last will and testament."
"I'm too valuable alive right now."
"And when the job is done?"
The car door was pulled open from the outside, wings filling her vision. "Then I'll reconsider my options. Talk to you later." She closed the phone before he could say anything else, and looked up into eyes so blue they shouldn't have been possible. "Michaela really wants me dead."
Raphael's expression remained unchanged. "I don't let anyone break my toys."
It should've pissed her off, but she smiled. "Wow, I feel all mushy inside."
"Who were you speaking with?"
"Possessive much?"
He cupped her cheek, his hand wet, his hold uncompromising. "I don't share my toys either."
"Watch it," she murmured, twisting in her seat until her feet touched the sodden earth outside. "I might decide to be irritated. I have a question."
Silence.
"Were they virgins?"
"How did you know?"
"Evil is predictable." A lie. Because sometimes evil was an insidious thief that crept in and stole what you most treasured, leaving only echoes against a wall.
A thin shadow, swinging almost gently. Like on a swing.
Raphael rubbed his thumb over her lower lip. "I see nightmares in your eyes again."
"And I see sex in yours."
He rose, tugging her out of the car and trapping her with her back to the opening. Behind him, his wings flared out, gleaming with rain wetness. There was an edge to that sensual mouth, a touch of savagery in the way it curved.
Elena leaned forward and put her arms around his neck, letting herself luxuriate in the sheer strength of him. Today, she was going to break all the rules. Forget about sleeping with a vamp, she was going straight to the top and to hell with it. "So, how does an archangel do it?"
A gust of wind buffeted them, stealing away her words. But Raphael had heard. Leaning in, he brushed his lips over hers. "I haven't agreed yet."
She blinked. Then scowled as he drew back. "What, you're playing hard to get now?"
He turned. "Come, Elena. I need you healthy."
Cursing him under her breath, she shut the car door-the interior was already soaked-and walked toward the house, Raphael a quiet presence by her side. But not restful. No, he was quiet like a jaguar was quiet. Lethal danger momentarily contained. She was still scowling when they reached the door.
The butler held it open. "I've prepared the bath, sir." A glance at her, a hint of curiosity. "Madam."
Raphael dismissed Jeeves with a look and the butler melted away into the woodwork. "The bath is on the next floor."
She headed up the stairs, stomping more than stepping. He'd teased her to fever pitch, but now, today, when she actually needed the release, he was playing with her. Exactly as you did with a toy, she realized. Fine, if he wanted it that way, she'd focus on work. "Were you able to confirm if he had sex with the women?"
"Yes, but only at the town house. The warehouse victims were all untouched in that way-that's why we believe the others were also virgin before he took them." He was at her back, following close enough that his breath whispered over her nape as they reached the top. "Down the hall, third door to your left."