Bel sighed. “I don’t want to do this. Mishetsu isn’t bad.”
“We have to. For Eva’s safety.”
Bel nodded and gestured for Eva to unlock the door, so she did. Ash held her back with a hand and Bel entered the apartment.
“Shit.”
That didn’t sound good. Heart speeding up, she filed inside behind Meph and Raum and surveyed her home. The smashed window had indeed been fixed, and the carnage from the battle was mysteriously absent. The upended pots were righted, the paintings hanging straight, the instruments put in their places. The only thing that didn’t belong was the sigil drawn on the living room floor, this one even more complex than the hellgate.
It was empty.
“Motherfucker,” said Meph.
“Where’d he go?”
Bel crossed the room. “The line is broken here.” He pointed to the infinitesimal smudge with his shoe. “It’s enough for a demon as powerful as him to escape.”
Eva wandered into the kitchen. “What the hell?” There were dishes in the drainer that had already been cleaned. Dishesshehadn’t used. She opened the fridge. There was a pot of food she hadn’t cooked in it.
“I think someone’s been living here.”
As if summoned by her very words, the bedroom door creaked open, and a tall, gray-skinned demon stepped out, rubbing sleep from his yellow eyes and stretching his arms above his head and his wings out to the sides.
He froze when he saw them all staring at him, arms still in the air.
His arms dropped.
“What the fuck?” Meph echoed Eva’s thoughts precisely.
The Hunter’s black hair was mussed from sleep, hanging in thick strands onto his face and over his chest, a few sticking straight up. His long, whip-like tail waved steadily as if it had a mind of its own.
“You escaped,” Bel said, stating the obvious. “Why are you still here?”
Mist looked at Eva and at Ash, and then he looked back at Belial. “I have decided to take a vaca—”
He stopped, head snapping back to Eva. Then he sniffed once, and his eyes widened.
“Nephilim.”
29
Home Is Where theHeart Is
Abunch of stuff happened really fast.
Eva cursed, and so did Meph and Raum. Ash growled and lunged at Mist, and so did Belial. And Mist dissolved into, well, mist. They were left frantically searching around the room, until the demon reformed on the other side of the kitchen island.
“I would like to negotiate,” he said calmly.
Ash wasn’t hearing it; he lunged again. Again, Mist dissolved.
“What kind of negotiation?” Belial asked.
Mist reformed again, this time in front of the newly replaced windows. They all swiveled around at the sound of his voice. “I have been watching you since the day I found Asmodeus. Actually, I’ve been watching her.” He pointed a claw at Eva.
Ash growled and moved to attack again, but Bel stopped him with a palm on his chest. “Let’s hear him out.”
Ash glared at his brother. “He knows about Eva. We have to kill him.”
