Page 58 of White Little Lies
The other option was the street, but I could already hear it getting loud out there. Almost as loud as it was starting to get in the bar. I slid from the stool, already knowing Gabriel would be following me to wait outside the door.
Once I was alone in a stall with a loudly buzzing electric light overhead, I answered the call.
“Eva?” Seraphina’s voice was strained. I could hear shouting somewhere near her.
“Yeah, it’s me. What happened?”
“They did it. They took the well out of our realm. It’s here in the park. It’s utter chaos.”
My heart skipped a beat. “What! Fiorus was underthe impression that they were still just plotting. Sebastian was going to—”
“Whatever my father wanted with your devil is moot. The well is here now, in the middle of the city. Everyone is fighting.”
I hated to ask, but, “Why are you there?”
She huffed loudly into the phone. “The well is the power source of my entire clan. Of course I felt it as soon as it became available to me once more. But that’s not important. These idiots have made my clan vulnerable and now everyone is in danger. I need you to come here and help us return the well to where it belongs.”
“Um, I have no idea how to do that.”
“Then your devil. Bring him. Surely he can figure something out.”
“He’s missing.”
“Eva!” she hissed.
“Okay, okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
She hung up before I could, and I just stood in the bathroom for a moment, letting my mind catch up. So much for waiting for Lilith.
Gabrieland I stepped out into the street. Crispin and Braxton had agreed to stay behind with Elena. She could gather her information bartending, and speak with Lilith once she arrived. And if she didn’t, Ringo was scampering around listening for any dirt he might dig up. I trusted Braxton to look after him.
Laughing couples strode past us dressed in black lace and crimson velvet. Most of them were human, but when in the Dark District, a particular level of flair was expected.
“What do you plan once we reach the park?” Gabriel glared at a pair of young guys coming a little too close, swerving and already drunk, and they quickly gave us space.
“I don’t know.” I started walking, wondering if we would be lucky enough to catch a cab. “Calm Seraphina down, I guess. I might be able to help hold their portal open, but I sure as hell can’t move some giant magical—”
Arms clamped around my torso so abruptly that my breath shot out of me. In a heartbeat my feet were off the ground. Gabriel spun to grab me, but I was already airborne. I watched helplessly as he was lost to the street lights below.
“What are you doing here?” Lucas’ words were nearly lost to the rushing wind and the massive beat of feathered wings.
“Looking for you, you psycho!” I rasped, then clamped my jaw shut after having the realization that he might not care about me staying alive anymore.
He flew us through the dark night, his arms like iron bars around my ribs, bruising as I couldn’t help but kick my feet below me. It didn’t seem to bother him, and heflew effortlessly higher until we reached the flat top of a building that had to be about twenty stories high.
He unceremoniously tossed me onto the concrete, then landed gracefully beside me.
Groaning, I half rolled over to look up at him. “What in the hells is your problem?”
He stalked around me, blond hair fluttering in the wind, his great feathered wings flicking with irritation. “The missive I received wasnotfrom your mother.” He turned to pace in the other direction, flicking his wings again.
I managed to sit up, wincing at the bruises that would already be forming under my jeans from the fall. “Yeah, I know. That’s why I was trying to find you. I heard you were after the devil who tricked you.”
He spun on me, fury widening his eyes. “She did nottrickme. She somehow came into possession of the feather I had given your mother.”
I wasn’t about to point out that that was exactly how she hadtrickedhim. “Do you know who she is? The devil?”
“I do not. And now Marcie evades me as well. I believe she was involved in the whole scheme.” He stopped pacing to stand directly over me. “But why would she care about keeping you alive?”