Michael took a deep breath and grimaced. Then he nodded. "I had a feeling they might be in town."
"Oh?" I asked.
The front door of the house opened, and a large, dark-skinned man appeared, dressed in blue jeans and a dark leather jacket. He wore a gym bag over one broad shoulder, and had one hand resting casually inside it. He paced out into the cold and the snow as if he'd been wearing full winter-weather gear, rather than casual traveling clothes, and stalked over toward us.
Once he got close enough to make out the details his face split into a broad, brief grin, and he hurried to stand beside Michael. "Harry!" he said, his voice deep, rich, and thick with a Russian accent. "We meet again."
I answered his grin. "Sanya," I replied, offering my hand. He shook it with enough force to crack bones. "What are you doing here?"
"Passing through," Sanya said, and hooked a thumb up at the snow. "I was on the last flight in before they closed the airport. Looks like I am staying for a few days." His eyes went from my face to the notebook, and the pleasant expression on his dark face turned to a brief snarl.
"Somebody you know?" I asked.
"Tessa," he said. "And Imariel."
"You've met, huh?"
His jaw clenched again. "Tessa's second...recruited me. Tessa is here?"
"With friends." I sketched the sigil I'd seen on the blackened denarius a few moments before and held it up to them.
Sanya shook his head and glanced at Michael.
"Akariel," Michael said at once.
I nodded. "He's in a Crown Royal bag in the ashtray."
Michael blinked. Sanya too.
"I hope you have one of those holy hankies. I'd have taken it to Padre Forthill, but I figured they'd have him under observation. I need someplace quiet to hole up."
Sanya and Michael traded a long, silent look.
Sanya frowned, examining my brother. "Who is the vampire?"
I felt Thomas stiffen in surprise. As a rule, even members of the supernatural world can't detect what a vampire of the White Court truly is, unless he's actually in the middle of doing something vampity. It's a natural camouflage for his kind, and they rely upon it every bit as much as a leopard does its spots.
But it can be tough to hide things from a Knight of the Cross. Maybe it's a part of the power they're given, or maybe it's just a part of the personality of the men chosen for the job-don't ask me which. I'm fuzzy on the whole issue of faith and the Almighty, and I swim those waters with extreme caution and as much brevity as possible. I just know that the bad guys rarely get to sneak up on a Knight of the Cross, and that the Knights have a propensity for bringing the truth to light.
I met Sanya's gaze for a moment and said, "He's with me. He's also the reason Akariel has a date with the inside of a vault."
Sanya seemed to consider that for a moment. He glanced at Michael, who gave a grudging nod.
The younger Knight pursed his lips thoughtfully at that, his gaze moving to the backseat.
Hendricks had woken up, but he hadn't moved. He watched Sanya with steady, beady eyes.
"The woman," Sanya said, frowning. "What is she?"
"Hurt," I said.
Something like chagrin flickered over his features. "Da, of course. You would not bring her here if you thought her a danger."
"Not to you or me," I said. "Tessa might have a different opinion."
Sanya's eyebrows went up. "Is that how she was wounded?"
"That was after after she was wounded." she was wounded."
"Really." Sanya peered a little more closely at Gard.
"Back off," Hendricks rumbled. "Comrade."
Sanya flashed that swift smile again and displayed open palms to Hendricks.
Michael nodded to Thomas. "Pull the truck around to the back of the house. With all this snow piled up it should be hidden from the street."
"Thank you, Michael," I said.
He shook his head. "There's a heater in the workshop, and a couple of folding cots. I'm not exposing the children to this."
"I understand."
"Do you?" Michael asked gently. He thumped the truck's dented hood once, lightly, and waved Thomas toward the back of the house.
Twenty minutes later we were all warm, if a bit crowded in Michael's workshop.
Gard lay on a couch, sleeping, her color improving almost visibly. Hendricks sat down with his back to the wall beside Gard's cot, presumably to stand watch, but he'd started snoring within a few minutes. Sanya, with the help of Molly and her siblings, was off rounding up food.
I watched as Michael wrapped Akariel up in a clean white hankie embroidered with a silver cross, muttering a prayer under his breath the whole while. Then he slipped the hankie into a plain wooden box, also adorned with a silver cross. "Excuse me," he said. "I need to secure this."
"Where do they keep those things?" Thomas asked, after Michael had departed.
I shrugged. "Some big warehouse with a gazillion identical boxes, probably."
Thomas snorted.
"Don't even think it," I said. "It isn't worth it."
Thomas ran his gloved fingers over the white scarf. "Isn't it?"
"You saw how these things operate. They'll manipulate your emotions and self-control, and something bad would happen to Justine. Or they'd wait until they had you hook, line, and sinker and you were their meat puppet. And something bad would happen to Justine."
Thomas shrugged. "I've got one demon in my head already. What's one more?"
I studied his profile. "You've got one monster in your head already," I countered. "She barely survived it."
He was still for a moment. Then he slammed his elbow back against the workshop wall, a gesture of pure frustration. Wood splintered, and a little cold air whooshed in.
"Maybe you're right," he said in a dull voice.
"Holy crap," I said. An idea crystallized in my head, and a chill went down my spine.
Thomas rubbed his elbow lightly. "What?"
"I just had a really unpleasant thought." I gestured at Marcone's exhausted retainers. "I don't think the Denarians took Marcone so that they could erase him and make an example of him."
My brother shrugged. "Why else would they do it?"
I bit my lip, my stomach turning in uncomfortable flips.
"Because," I said, "maybe they want to recruit him."
Chapter Fifteen
Thomas stood watch over our sleeping beauties while I went inside to talk with Michael and Sanya at the Carpenter kitchen table.
I laid all the cards down. See above regarding the general futility of lying to Knights of the Cross-and besides, they'd both more than earned my trust. It didn't take me very long.
"So," I said, "I think we've got to move fast, and get Marcone away from them before he's forced to join up."
Michael frowned and folded his broad, work-scarred hands on the table before him. "What makes you think he's going to tell them no?"
"Marcone's scum," I said. "But he's his own scum. He doesn't work for anyone."
"You are sure?" Sanya asked, frowning thoughtfully.
"Yeah," I said. "I think that's why they wanted to grab Hendricks and Gard instead of killing them. So they could force him to take the coin or they'd kill his people."
Michael grunted. "It's a frequently used tactic."
"Not for Tessa," Sanya said, his voice absolutely certain. "She prefers to find those already well motivated to accept a coin. She regards their potential talents as a secondary factor to raw desire."
Michael acceded the point with a nod. "Which would mean that Tessa isn't giving the orders."
Sanya showed his teeth in a sudden, fierce grin. "Nicodemus is here."
"Fu-" I started to swear, but I glanced at Michael and changed it to, "Fudgesicles. Nicodemus nearly killed us all last time he was in town. And he did did kill Shiro." kill Shiro."
Both of the Knights nodded. Michael bowed his head and murmured a brief prayer.
"Guys," I said, "I know that your first instincts tend to be to stand watch against the night, turning the other cheek, and so on. But he's here with maybe twice the demon-power he had on his last visit. If we wait for him to come to us, he'll tear us apart."
"Agreed," Sanya said firmly. "Take the initiative. Find him and hit the snake before he can coil to strike."
Michael shook his head. "Brother, you forget our purpose. We are not given our power so that we can strike down our enemies, no matter how much they might deserve it. Our purpose is to rescue the poor souls trapped by the Fallen."
"Nicodemus doesn't want to be rescued," I said. "He's in full collaboration with his demon."
"Which changes nothing about our duty," he said. "Anyone, even Nicodemus, can seek redemption, no matter what they've done, as long as they have breath enough to ask forgiveness."
"I don't suppose a pair of sucking chest wounds could get us around that?" I asked him. "Because if they would, I'd be tickled to provide them."
Sanya let out a bark of laughter.
Michael smiled, but it was brief and strained. "My point is that we can undertake such an aggressive move in only the direst of circumstances."
"Faerie stands poised on the brink of an internal war," I said. "Which would probably reignite the war between the Council and the Vampire Courts-and in the bad guys' favor, I might add. One of the most dangerous men I've ever known is about to have involuntary access to the knowledge and power of a Fallen angel, which would give the Denarians access to major influence within the United States. Not to mention the serious personal consequences for me if they succeed in making it happen." I looked back and forth between the two Knights, and held up one hand straight over my head. "I vote dire. All in favor?"
Michael caught Sanya's hand on the way up, and pushed it gently back down to the table. "This isn't a democracy, Harry. We serve a King."
Sanya frowned for a moment, glancing at me. But then he settled back in his chair, a silent statement of support for Michael.
"You want to talk talk to them?" I asked Michael. "You've got to be kidding me." to them?" I asked Michael. "You've got to be kidding me."
"I didn't say that," Michael replied. "But I will not set out to simply murder them and have done. It's a solution, Harry. But it isn't good enough."
I settled back in my chair and rubbed at my head with one hand. An ache was forming there. "Okay," I said quietly, trying to make up a plan as I went along. "What if...I set up a talk? Could you be lurking nearby for backup?"
Michael sighed. "There's a measure of sophistry in that. You know they'll try to betray you if it seems to be to their advantage."
"Yeah. And it'll be their choice to do it. That's what you're looking for, isn't it? Some way to deal with the problem while still giving them a choice about what to do? Preferably in some manner that will get as few good guys killed as possible?"
He looked pained, but Michael nodded.
"Fine," I said. "I'll try to set it up."
"How?" Sanya asked.
"Let me worry about that," I said. I checked the clock on the wall. "Crap. I'm late for a meeting. Can I borrow your phone?"
"Of course," Michael said.
I glanced around the quiet house on my way to the phone and frowned. "Where is everyone?"
"Charity took them elsewhere for a few days," Michael said. "There won't be school in this mess, anyway."
I grunted. "Where's Molly?"
Michael paused and then shook his head. "I'm not sure. I don't think she went with them."