Page 9 of Ramiel
Amaros and Zoe were in the kitchen when their neighbor ambled into the room.Grace headed for the great room to play cards with Wynter.
“Queegly,” Amaros said in greeting with a nod.
“Howdy,” Queeg said respectfully to the commander and his female.“I’m glad the doc was on hand to heal Grace so quickly,” he said, taking the mug of coffee Zoe poured for him.
“You saw what was going to happen to her?”Zo asked.She hadn’t even been given a hint about it.
The Mad Prophet nodded and spooned some sugar into his mug.“I don’t think it was an accident,” he said and didn’t realize everyone in the great room froze.“It felt more like a warning to me.”
“A warning of what?”Amaros asked, feeling his mate’s concern.
“That we can’t always control everything,” Queegly said.“Sometimes, things happen and we just have to deal with the aftermath.We won’t always have Dr.Forgan on hand to fix the things that go wrong.”
A creeping chill swept over Grace when everyone turned to look at her.She hunched her shoulders at the compassionate look Wyn gave her.“This doesn’t mean he’s talking about something that will happen to you,” the redhead said.
“Sure,” Grace agreed, but her instincts said otherwise.The worst part was that she didn’t know what was going to happen, or how long she would have to wait.She’d rather be punched in the face by Vic a thousand times than live in fear of the unknown.But at least it wouldn’t be a complete surprise whenever the shiz eventually hit the fan.
Chapter Six
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JAZMINE SAT ON HERcouch, staring at the painting of the boy wearing blue.She wasn’t sure why she was so entranced with it, or why it brought her mind so much calm.Her imagination had always been vivid, probably from being locked up for almost two decades of her life.In her mind, she walked through a field with the mysterious boy.They talked about what the world was like before and after the Rapture.She told him about her powers and that she’d killed dozens of humans.He listened without judgement and encouraged her to keep practicing her talents.
Something tugged at the edges of her radar, snapping Jazmine out of her daydream.She turned to the window to see the sun was beginning to set.Her sire had come to check up on her again.Lachial had been hovering around at nightfall for the past few days.Word had finally spread to the soldiers about the militants’ deaths.Her father was trying to catch her in the act of murder.
“I’m too smart to fall into his trap,” Jazmine said craftily.Lachial didn’t seem to realize how strong her senses were.He had no idea she could detect him before he sensed her.Her more powerful skills had kept her from being busted several times now.She knew she was stronger than any of his previous offspring, but it was still a mystery why.
The walky-talky she’d stolen from a dead mercenary came to life on the couch beside her.“There’s no movement here so far,” a soldier reported from the back of her building.Two of Lachial’s guards were stationed there to keep watch.
“It’s not dark yet,” her sire snapped.“She won’t leave until the sun goes down.”
“I won’t be going anywhere while you idiots are spying on me,” the cambion murmured.She always switched the device off and hid it under the couch cushion when she sensed her father entering the building.There was no danger of that with him lurking outside, waiting futilely for her to emerge.
Darkness slowly encroached on Manhattan.The tall shadows cast by the skyscrapers began to fade, then the streetlights came on.Nightbirds called out to each other as they flew past her building in search of food.No one moved on the streets below when she got up to peer out through the window.Even the humans sensed danger near her building and avoided the place.
A smile lifted her lips for a moment at that thought.Jazmine knew she exuded an aura of menace that kept people away.It had helped keep her safe during her incarceration, but it wasn’t infallible.Even Lachial was affected by it.She’d seen a hint of fear in his icy pale blue eyes from time to time when he came to bring her some supplies.
