“I’ve been tracking the rogues for months,” he said proudly. “Each of the pins marks a spot with a flare-up of demonic energy in the past few weeks.” He approached beside her and pointed at the map. “The red pins mark the highest energy points, descending from yellow to blue.”
“Oh.” Her voice was hoarse.
“Since none of my tracking spells brought any results, I assumed they must have a magical means to stay hidden. Possibly Nephilim blood, though I was certain the last of them had been eradicated.”
Sunshine swallowed around the lump in her throat.
“Without being able to use tracking spells, I had to think outside the box. I’ve heard numerous accounts of the way these demons seem to stick together. Unusual behavior, certainly, but it makes them more predictable. I reasoned that wherever they are hiding would have an abnormal amount of demonic activity. You can’t put five demons of that level of power in one place without there being traces.”
“Yes, that’s very—” She cleared her throat. “Very astute.”
She studied the map closer, her stomach nearly leaping out her throat when she saw an obvious red pin stuck over the area of Montreal. Worse, there were only about a dozen red pins on the entire globe. How long until Raphael inspected each area and found what he was looking for?
Refraining from drawing any attention to that pin suddenly became her number one priority. She turned away from the map completely, terrified Raphael would somehow pick the thought right from her head. Her only hope was to distract him completely. “What other research have you done?”
“Just a lot of reading on their histories.” He walked to the table and began shuffling books and papers. “Learning how they formed this strange alliance will hopefully give me insight into how they think and make it easier to predict their movements”
Sunshine stifled any thoughts of Raum. It felt as if even the slightest whisper across her mind had the potential to betray him. “But you didn’t notice the defaced record?”
“I haven’t done much research on Raum. He’s not the only target, and there is plenty of information about the others. If I get what I need from them, they’ll lead me to him anyway. At the end of the day, their pasts are irrelevant once we find and destroy them.”
Sunshine choked but covered it with a cough.
“I’ve been formulating plans, as I said, and I’ve narrowed down my suspected locations for their hiding place to several choices. I’ll be ready to make a move soon.”
“Why are you telling me this?” she asked suddenly. “I mean, you’re doing important work, and I’m just a guardian, not of any help to you…”
“On the contrary, your relationship with Adriel puts you in a position of influence. When I’m ready to set the trap, I’ll need assistance, and now that I know you’ve also been studying the rogues, I was hoping—”
At that moment, whether by coincidence or divine intervention, a summons from Adriel himself rang through her mind. The energy was clear and bright, and she knew Raphael would sense it just from being in her vicinity.
If her mentor had been there at that moment, she would have hugged him. His timing could not have been more impeccable.
“Are you being summoned?”
“Yes, I— It seems Adriel wants to see me.”
Raphael’s eyes glinted with some unreadable emotion, and she recalled his desire to have a mentor of his own.
“I’m sure you’ll be granted an audience with Adriel or another Power soon,” Sunshine assured him. “You’ve certainly earned it.”
“You honor me.” Raphael bowed his head and then smiled. “Go now. I’ll be in touch when I have more information. We can go after the rogues together.”
“I look forward to it.” She’d never spoken a more blatant lie.
She flashed away with her next breath, straight into the room she usually met Adriel in. It was the only time she was permitted access to his private domain, and the only room within it that she’d ever seen.
Too much had happened at once for her to process, and all she felt was a vaguely nauseating sense of panic. All she wanted was to get back to Raum on Earth, but she couldn’t ignore a summons from her mentor.
And maybe…he could give her some answers.
She expected the same greeting she always received: Adriel seated upon his chair, rising gracefully to his feet, offering her tea.
But instead…the room was empty.
Even stranger, the door across from her to a part of the house she’d never seen was ajar, and she heard the hum of voices on the other side.
She stood rooted in place. Adriel had summoned her; he had to know she’d come immediately. Why request her presence if he still had company?Whowas his company?
