Fallen Kings

2

My heart beats faster at the thought we might finally catch Grace and get the Staff. I step forward and unfurl my wings, but a hand on my right wing pulls me back. I whirl in shock, and Callan yanks his hand back as if scalded. Narrowing my eyes, I give him a look cold enough to make sure he knows I don’t appreciate him touching my wings. It’s an intimate act reserved for lovers and family, and we are neither of those right now. Not after what he did.

He scowls at me and points to the window, then whispers, “I’m going in first.”

Using all my energy not to snarl at him, I step aside and sweep out my arm. After you, asshole. Of course he wants to be the first inside. One of these days he’s going to realize I don’t need his brute strength to save me all the damn time. I can take care of myself.

He flies to the window and slips inside, tucking his wings at the last second to go through the narrow opening. Jonah pushes in front of me with Eveanna in his arms, then hovers in front of the window while she enters first. With a sigh, I grit my teeth and enter the same way, slamming my wings together to slide in the window. I land on my tiptoes to stay quiet and straighten up. Bastien and Marcus arrive only seconds behind me.

We stop and listen, but all I hear is the soft creaking of the trees outside in the breeze. The house is pitch black, with a damp, moldy smell that makes me wrinkle my nose. The air carries the chill of an Oregon that hasn’t yet felt the touch of spring, but luckily cold doesn’t bother me the way it does angels. Thanks to my demon blood, I can also see better in the dark than they can.

Dust covers every inch of the bedroom we’ve landed inside, including on the rusted metal frame of a twin bed and on a wooden rocking chair in the corner. The rest of the room is empty, with a small bathroom that Eveanna scopes out, and a closet door standing open. I stick my head in the closet and nearly jump out of my damn skin when I see what’s inside—a creepy doll with glass eyes. I shudder and close the door quickly before the doll steals my soul or some s**t. I’ve seen plenty of horror movies, thank you very much.

Callan makes his way into the hall, followed by the rest of the crew. I’m mildly miffed at being last, but at least I’m here and not waiting at home for them to get back, worried sick yet full of hope they’ll find the Staff. The only other times I’ve been off my father’s property in Angel Peak all winter was to go visit Bastien at Seraphim Academy, to see Marcus at the house he shares with Callan, or when I sneaked out to meet Kassiel.

The thought of Kassiel sends a quick pang through my chest. After quitting his job as professor at Seraphim Academy—partly because Callan told everyone he’s the son of Lucifer—Kassiel has been following his own leads on the Staff. I only see him once a month when he makes time to visit me. I hate the idea of him searching alone, but he refuses to work with the Princes, and I know Callan would never agree to it either. Stubborn, prideful, idiotic men. Don’t they know we’re all on the same side here?

The hallway is empty except for a ratty dust-covered rug that I think used to be blue. There are two other doors, and Callan gestures for Bastien and Marcus to take one, while Jonah and Eveanna take the other. That means Callan and I are going downstairs.

This time I go first, and I make it to the bottom step before Callan catches up. He grabs my wrist to make me stop and gives me a hard look. I roll my eyes at him. He can try to intimidate me all he wants, but that’s never worked on me before, and it’s definitely not going to start now.

He releases my wrist and turns away, shaking his head. We quickly do a sweep of the first floor, my hands hovering over my sheathed daggers the entire time, ready in case someone jumps out at us with a weapon. But all we find are empty rooms.

In the kitchen, Callan pulls out a trash can and opens it up, finding frozen food containers and empty water bottles inside. He holds up a Valentine’s Day themed candy wrapper and raises his eyebrows. Valentine’s Day was a few weeks ago. The stores have all moved on to Easter candy now. Dammit. Another dead end.

“House is clear,” Jonah says, and I nearly jump out of my skin. “Find anything?”

“Some food and candy wrappers,” Callan says, as he continues to riffle through the trash. “It looks like they stayed here for a few days last month.”

Bastien enters the room with Marcus. “We found some blankets and pillows in the cleanest bedroom upstairs, but I sensed they hadn’t been used in some time.”

“How can you tell?” Eveanna asks.

Bastien tilts his head. “Sometimes I simply know.”

“Ofanim are like that,” Jonah explains to Eveanna. “They detect truth and stuff. Some of them even have visions.”

Callan rises and brushes a cobweb out of his golden hair but doesn’t get it all. Before I realize what I’m doing, I reach up and pluck the rest of it out. He stares at me as I jerk my hand back, before turning to the others. “Another false lead, as expected.”

“As expected?” I bristle and glance at the others. “What are you talking about?”

“I knew this house was empty as soon as my feet touched the ground,” Eveanna says, as though it’s obvious. As an Autumn fae she has earth magic, but I didn’t know she could do things like that.

Jonah rubs the back of his neck and won’t meet my eyes. “Uh, yeah, we were pretty sure this was a cold lead. The tip we got said no one had been seen here in a while.”