you the rest of my collection. So you’ll keep it then, Belleeza?”
“Most definitely,” I answered. “I’ll carry it proudly.” I was every bit sincere; this is something she would be proud of. “I will be honored to wield a weapon made by you. I had no idea you were an infuser. It’s a rare ability, and you’re beyond gifted.”
* * *
W e were all packed and ready to go. Liam gave us a brief explanation of his tracking ability.
“So how does it work?” I asked, suspiciously. “Will you have to take us individually?”
Liam shook his head proudly. “No, we’ll emerge as a group. I can track angels and demons by scent, but only to where they emerged or vanished.”
“And we can’t tell in advance where we’ll end up, right?” I didn’t like that part of the plan so much.
“Afraid not,” he said, shrugging apologetically.
At last, we were ready start tracking Big Jack. I wanted to be hopeful that this would lead us somewhere useful—that tracking Jack would get us closer to someone with information on Theodore—but the truth was, this would probably just put us in danger, and all for another dead end. We stood side by side in case we ran into trouble right away. We positioned ourselves so that if we needed to fight immediately, no one would be in anyone else’s line of fire.
“So, what now?” I asked impatiently, waiting for something to happen.
Colton laughed. “Always so impatient, Beauty.”
I held my hands up, my lips quirking into a small smile.
Liam looked at us seriously. “I have to open up the part of me that controls my tracking ability. Kind of like how our emotions connect. You all have to focus on me, utterly and completely. If you don’t, the timing will be off and—”
“You’ll arrive before us,” I finished. We couldn’t let that happen.
He nodded, grimly. “Well, here goes nothing.”
I closed off everyone except for Liam. I blocked out everything. I could no longer feel Colton’s emotions, I could no longer hear anything. I could not even feel the blade in my hand, though I knew it was there. There was only Liam.
I felt it—whatever it was that Liam did to track a scent—and suddenly we were in a dark corridor. It felt like I was floating, then suddenly 0I was on Willy Wonka’s boat. The air around me was flashing as lights sped by in a blur, and suddenly we came to a screeching halt. It took my eyes only a second to adjust, and I saw we had arrived at precisely the same moment.
There was a little light from wall torches scattered sparingly along the walls. It seemed to be a secret passageway of a very old mansion or building. In the movies, the actors and actresses always take a torch from the wall and use it to light their way. In reality, that is just a good way to alert your enemies of your presence and keep you from being armed. So we stayed silent, armed, and ready to act.
We had no idea which direction to go, and I was torn. We didn’t know where we were, who was there, or how many. Part of me wanted to go stealth so I could scope out both directions first and keep my team safe. At the same time, I didn’t want to leave them like sitting ducks in the hall, waiting to be ambushed.
Colton signaled me to listen carefully and pointed ahead. I heard it then—the barely audible sounds of muffled, whispering voices. I nodded my head, indicating that I heard it too, and I began to move forward. Colton stood at my side, while Liam and Olivia followed side by side behind us. We moved as one, staying hidden in the shadows and avoiding the light of the torches. We walked on without any sign of movement. It seemed to be some sort of secret meeting place or hideout for the demons, so the lack of security unnerved me.
Colton grabbed my wrist and pushed me slightly behind him. I reached my hand up and touched my racing heart as if I could force it to slow down. I didn’t like being shoved back like a damsel in distress and definitely didn’t like the
“Most definitely,” I answered. “I’ll carry it proudly.” I was every bit sincere; this is something she would be proud of. “I will be honored to wield a weapon made by you. I had no idea you were an infuser. It’s a rare ability, and you’re beyond gifted.”
* * *
W e were all packed and ready to go. Liam gave us a brief explanation of his tracking ability.
“So how does it work?” I asked, suspiciously. “Will you have to take us individually?”
Liam shook his head proudly. “No, we’ll emerge as a group. I can track angels and demons by scent, but only to where they emerged or vanished.”
“And we can’t tell in advance where we’ll end up, right?” I didn’t like that part of the plan so much.
“Afraid not,” he said, shrugging apologetically.
At last, we were ready start tracking Big Jack. I wanted to be hopeful that this would lead us somewhere useful—that tracking Jack would get us closer to someone with information on Theodore—but the truth was, this would probably just put us in danger, and all for another dead end. We stood side by side in case we ran into trouble right away. We positioned ourselves so that if we needed to fight immediately, no one would be in anyone else’s line of fire.
“So, what now?” I asked impatiently, waiting for something to happen.
Colton laughed. “Always so impatient, Beauty.”
I held my hands up, my lips quirking into a small smile.
Liam looked at us seriously. “I have to open up the part of me that controls my tracking ability. Kind of like how our emotions connect. You all have to focus on me, utterly and completely. If you don’t, the timing will be off and—”
“You’ll arrive before us,” I finished. We couldn’t let that happen.
He nodded, grimly. “Well, here goes nothing.”
I closed off everyone except for Liam. I blocked out everything. I could no longer feel Colton’s emotions, I could no longer hear anything. I could not even feel the blade in my hand, though I knew it was there. There was only Liam.
I felt it—whatever it was that Liam did to track a scent—and suddenly we were in a dark corridor. It felt like I was floating, then suddenly 0I was on Willy Wonka’s boat. The air around me was flashing as lights sped by in a blur, and suddenly we came to a screeching halt. It took my eyes only a second to adjust, and I saw we had arrived at precisely the same moment.
There was a little light from wall torches scattered sparingly along the walls. It seemed to be a secret passageway of a very old mansion or building. In the movies, the actors and actresses always take a torch from the wall and use it to light their way. In reality, that is just a good way to alert your enemies of your presence and keep you from being armed. So we stayed silent, armed, and ready to act.
We had no idea which direction to go, and I was torn. We didn’t know where we were, who was there, or how many. Part of me wanted to go stealth so I could scope out both directions first and keep my team safe. At the same time, I didn’t want to leave them like sitting ducks in the hall, waiting to be ambushed.
Colton signaled me to listen carefully and pointed ahead. I heard it then—the barely audible sounds of muffled, whispering voices. I nodded my head, indicating that I heard it too, and I began to move forward. Colton stood at my side, while Liam and Olivia followed side by side behind us. We moved as one, staying hidden in the shadows and avoiding the light of the torches. We walked on without any sign of movement. It seemed to be some sort of secret meeting place or hideout for the demons, so the lack of security unnerved me.
Colton grabbed my wrist and pushed me slightly behind him. I reached my hand up and touched my racing heart as if I could force it to slow down. I didn’t like being shoved back like a damsel in distress and definitely didn’t like the
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