a bookend on his head,” Beezle said.
Gabriel turned away, rubbing his face. “I fear there will be consequences for this.”
“There always are,” I said, wrapping my arms around myself. The apartment was freezing in the January cold now that half my windows were open. “What should we do with Metatrion?”
“Call Lord Azazel,” Gabriel said. “Perhaps if you explain the incident to your father first, it will go better for you tomorrow.”
“Not a chance,” I said. “First of all, Azazel will be a lot more annoying about this than the rest of the Grigori. He’s always going on about how my actions reflect poorly on him. And he’ll try to use this incident as leverage to make me do something he wants me to do, like marry Nathaniel.”
“You must contact one of the fallen,” Gabriel said. “They will be furious if you do not return Metatrion’s body to them.”
“I’d sooner call Lucifer than Azazel. At least Lucifer seems to like me.”
“Madeline, do not be deceived by Lucifer’s affection for you. If he allows you more leverage than others, it is because he desires something of you.”
“I’m not stupid, even though you and everyone else insist on acting like I am. I said I’d
sooner
call Lucifer than Azazel, not that I
would
.”
“Then what will you do?” Gabriel asked.
I shrugged. “I’m going to Azazel’s court tomorrow. I’ll bring Metatrion’s body with me then.”
“I am not certain that would be a wise decision, particularly when you will be arguing for Samiel’s life. It might be…inflammatory.”
“Maybe,” I said, thinking of something Lucifer had said the day before. “Or maybe it demonstrates strength. The Grigori respect power.”
“As long as it does not conflict with theirs,” Gabriel said.
“Look, let’s just put Metatrion in the basement for now, okay? We need to get these windows covered before we die of hypothermia.”
“I just hope the neighbors don’t see us putting a body in the basement,” Beezle muttered.
I snorted. “Are you kidding? They haven’t noticed demons on the front lawn, decaying dragons in the backyard, crazy shapeshifters committing murder in the alley or any of the other insanity that goes on around here. If I didn’t know better, I’d think the house existed in a pocket dimension.”
“There’s a first time for everything. Demons can be explained away as a hallucination, but no one can ignore a dead body.”
“Can we just get through this without hearing one of your premonitions of doom?” I said, walking back to the hallway to Metatrion’s prone form.
I picked up the feet of the dead Hound, and Gabriel took the shoulders.
“Fine. Don’t listen to me. You’d just better hope that he doesn’t start to smell.”
Gabriel and I wrestled Metatrion into the basement and covered him with a tarp. It looked totally conspicuous, exactly as if we’d covered a body with a piece of plastic.
“I’m taking a shower,” I said.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Beezle said as he followed me up the stairs.
“I haven’t forgotten your reward,” I said, wondering just when I was going to get to Ann Sather for cinnamon rolls with everything else I had to do that day. “I’m not going anywhere until I’m clean.”
Gabriel walked silently behind. I wondered what he was thinking. Was he thinking of his half brother being taken before the Grigori? Was he thinking that I’d made yet another gigantic faux pas by killing the Hound of the Hunt? Or was he thinking of what had happened before Lucifer had shown up the night before, and what might have happened if the Morningstar hadn’t interfered?
I knew we needed to talk about it—
again
—but I had too many other things on my plate at the moment. I wondered how Jude and the pack were managing the cubs. I needed to get those camera things to J.B. They were definitely related to the ghosts that had been appearing all over Chicago. And that reminded me.
“Beezle,
Gabriel turned away, rubbing his face. “I fear there will be consequences for this.”
“There always are,” I said, wrapping my arms around myself. The apartment was freezing in the January cold now that half my windows were open. “What should we do with Metatrion?”
“Call Lord Azazel,” Gabriel said. “Perhaps if you explain the incident to your father first, it will go better for you tomorrow.”
“Not a chance,” I said. “First of all, Azazel will be a lot more annoying about this than the rest of the Grigori. He’s always going on about how my actions reflect poorly on him. And he’ll try to use this incident as leverage to make me do something he wants me to do, like marry Nathaniel.”
“You must contact one of the fallen,” Gabriel said. “They will be furious if you do not return Metatrion’s body to them.”
“I’d sooner call Lucifer than Azazel. At least Lucifer seems to like me.”
“Madeline, do not be deceived by Lucifer’s affection for you. If he allows you more leverage than others, it is because he desires something of you.”
“I’m not stupid, even though you and everyone else insist on acting like I am. I said I’d
sooner
call Lucifer than Azazel, not that I
would
.”
“Then what will you do?” Gabriel asked.
I shrugged. “I’m going to Azazel’s court tomorrow. I’ll bring Metatrion’s body with me then.”
“I am not certain that would be a wise decision, particularly when you will be arguing for Samiel’s life. It might be…inflammatory.”
“Maybe,” I said, thinking of something Lucifer had said the day before. “Or maybe it demonstrates strength. The Grigori respect power.”
“As long as it does not conflict with theirs,” Gabriel said.
“Look, let’s just put Metatrion in the basement for now, okay? We need to get these windows covered before we die of hypothermia.”
“I just hope the neighbors don’t see us putting a body in the basement,” Beezle muttered.
I snorted. “Are you kidding? They haven’t noticed demons on the front lawn, decaying dragons in the backyard, crazy shapeshifters committing murder in the alley or any of the other insanity that goes on around here. If I didn’t know better, I’d think the house existed in a pocket dimension.”
“There’s a first time for everything. Demons can be explained away as a hallucination, but no one can ignore a dead body.”
“Can we just get through this without hearing one of your premonitions of doom?” I said, walking back to the hallway to Metatrion’s prone form.
I picked up the feet of the dead Hound, and Gabriel took the shoulders.
“Fine. Don’t listen to me. You’d just better hope that he doesn’t start to smell.”
Gabriel and I wrestled Metatrion into the basement and covered him with a tarp. It looked totally conspicuous, exactly as if we’d covered a body with a piece of plastic.
“I’m taking a shower,” I said.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Beezle said as he followed me up the stairs.
“I haven’t forgotten your reward,” I said, wondering just when I was going to get to Ann Sather for cinnamon rolls with everything else I had to do that day. “I’m not going anywhere until I’m clean.”
Gabriel walked silently behind. I wondered what he was thinking. Was he thinking of his half brother being taken before the Grigori? Was he thinking that I’d made yet another gigantic faux pas by killing the Hound of the Hunt? Or was he thinking of what had happened before Lucifer had shown up the night before, and what might have happened if the Morningstar hadn’t interfered?
I knew we needed to talk about it—
again
—but I had too many other things on my plate at the moment. I wondered how Jude and the pack were managing the cubs. I needed to get those camera things to J.B. They were definitely related to the ghosts that had been appearing all over Chicago. And that reminded me.
“Beezle,
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