"Was it a contract?" Daniel asked.

Oliver laughed, an ugly sound. "Halfer wouldn't dare try to contract with Felix. It was a weakness that left Felix vulnerable. He was always too concerned about the beings on this plane, and it cost him mightily."

Felicity placed a hand on Oliver's shoulder. "What Oliver is trying to say is Felix was kidnapped by Halfer and taken to the h.e.l.l plane where he is being held and, I fear, tortured."

"Do not fear it, sister. Fear the unknown. Avenge what we know is happening," Oliver swore. "Felix is being tortured by the demon. There is no other reason for him to have been taken from us. The demon is feasting on his blood. He's is gaining strength by draining our brother."

"So you want us to get Felix when we pick up Sarah," I surmised. "Not really seeing the upside for us. I mean, I'm sorry about your brother and all, but it's going to be hard enough to get one person out of h.e.l.l. If I start trying to fill a truck and cross the border, I'm going to get caught. I mean, in this case, one really is easier."

"And how do you mean to get to the h.e.l.l plane?" Felicity asked.

That was something that had figured itself out. In one of those wonderful coincidences, this was the year that demon kind and the Vampire Council renewed their treaties. Like anything involved with the two tribes, there were many rituals that took place as the contracts were renegotiated. There was a particular clause that would come up about uninitiated companions, and I really hoped they called it the Zoey Clause. Apparently after several days of arguing, all the demons and all the vampires got together to party. The party was held on the h.e.l.l plane, since reality didn't really have to come into play there. It was a no-holds-barred free-for-all, and this year Zoey Wharton would be attending.

"Let's say I have an invitation," was all I offered.

"Of course, the vampire king would be invited to the ball," Felicity reasoned. "It's a way onto the h.e.l.l plane, but once you're on there, how do you intend to navigate?"

And so the blonde woman neatly summed up problem number one with my whacked out plan. h.e.l.l isn't some city laid out with neat roads and street signs. And I was pretty sure that no GPS would lead me to the building where Lucas Halfer was most likely to house his b.i.t.c.hes.

"I haven't figured that one out yet." I was open to suggestions.

She leaned forward, the shaft of light that seemed to follow her illuminating her face. "What if I told you I know of a particular artifact that will help you find your way around the h.e.l.l plane?"

I would probably dance around like an idiot doing that whole "the roof is on fire" thing. To Felicity, I merely gave her a cool, "I would be interested in such an artifact."

"It is called the 'Revelation.' It's a very odd piece of jewelry." Felicity leaned close to me as though she wanted only me to hear. I could have told her she could whisper straight into my ear and the boys would have heard her loud as day. Instead I leaned in because I wasn't going to burst her bubble. "It was fashioned by an alchemist to find his true love."

"You mean the guys who thought they could turn everyday metal into gold?"

Felicity laughed and pulled back. "They didn't think, dear. They took objects and fashioned them into gold and other precious things. This particular alchemist worked in Italy during the Renaissance. He met a woman and fell in love, but she was different. She would change form on occasion, and he needed a way to find her without using his eyes."

"She changed forms?" Several options floated through my brain. There were many creatures that could change form and many creatures who would be more than willing to take a human lover.

"A shifter?" Neil leaned in like a child eager for a bedtime story.

"Nothing so common, little wolf," Felicity said, and there was a certain amount of affection in her voice. She actually reached out and touched his hair, ruffling it like a loving mother. "This creature loved the alchemist, but it went against her responsibilities to be with him. Though it tore out the heart she didn't realize she had, she forced herself to hide from him. He was in her charge, you see, but as sometimes happens, he was more beautiful than the others. He made her wish she was alive in that way."

"So he made some jewelry and found her?" Daniel asked tersely. I made a face at him. It wasn't his kind of story since no one had mentioned laser guns or s.p.a.ceships shaped like fireflies.

"Ignore him," I said.

"The alchemist was clever, like you," Felicity continued. Behind her I saw Oliver roll his eyes. He might not like Daniel but they had a lot in common. "He knew that if he was in danger, his love would appear to save him. He threw himself from a bridge, and right before he drowned, she came. As he clutched her, he managed to steal a single strand of her hair. He kept it hidden. It was still in his hand when she vanished later. It was this single strand of hair that the alchemist used to fashion the Revelation."

"So the dude took a trophy and it's supposed to get us through h.e.l.l?" Daniel asked.

"Do I need to give you the same speech she gave Ollie back there?" I shot back. "Feel free to wait in the car if we're boring you with details. I'll call you when the killing starts."

Daniel tossed up his hands in submission. "I just don't see how a piece of some chick's hair is going to guide us to Sarah."

"It won't," Felicity said. "It will, however, guide you to Felix. Well, not you, Mr. Donovan, but rather your companion. It actually won't work at all if you're around."

"You're impure," Oliver pointed out, malice dripping from his words. "Too much demon in your blood, vampire. The Revelation will only work on the purest of souls."

Neil burst into laughter, to my everlasting regret. "You've got the wrong girl. Pure? Do you have any idea what she did for those shoes? Let me tell you there was nothing pure about it."

I kicked him solidly with my twelve hundred dollar torture devices before returning my attention to Felicity. "What do you mean it won't work around Daniel? And why will it guide me to Felix?"

Felicity shot Oliver a nasty look before explaining. "It won't work around your mate because Oliver is right. He is part demon, as all vampires are. The Revelation was fashioned to find a very particular creature. The alchemist was careful and put in certain safety features. One of these features is the amulet doesn't work when too close to demon kind. I am afraid your husband's blood is too strong. You'll also find it won't work in close proximity to your wolf friend."

Daniel shook his head, anger evident in the straight line of his jaw. He didn't like to be reminded of his close DNA relationship to demon kind. "Well, then you've wasted our time. I can promise you I'll never allow my wife to walk into h.e.l.l without me. It will not happen. I might be willing to let her go with Neil, but I won't allow her to go alone. Besides, you seem to have forgotten that h.e.l.l is sort of full of demons, so I don't know how that's going to work."

"The h.e.l.l plane isn't some city," Felicity countered. "It's actually quite large and the population is spread out. There isn't a demon on every corner. I a.s.sure you it will work on the h.e.l.l plane. But not if you're close to her."

Daniel shook his head. "You can take your amulet and shove it up your a.s.s. Let's go, Z."

He took my hand, and I was willing to let him because like I said earlier, alone gets you killed in the regular world, much less on the h.e.l.l plane. I cared deeply for Sarah, but I wouldn't be much help to her when I got caught trying to navigate h.e.l.l with a magical compa.s.s.

"It will work around the faery." Felicity's words echoed through the church.

Daniel kept walking, but I stopped. I turned and ignored Daniel's muttered curse. "It'll work if I'm with Dev?"

"Devinshea Quinn is pure enough for the Revelation to work." She looked almost sad, like she hadn't wanted to reveal that piece of information. I had a feeling Dev was her last resort. She would have preferred I'd gone alone.

"Again, I'm not understanding the definition of pure," Neil said, shaking his head in confusion.

"Why Dev?" I didn't understand her version of pure either. Dev was absolutely the filthiest man I'd ever met, and I meant that in a very affectionate way.

She stepped forward. "You and Devinshea are closer to what the Revelation was meant to find than the others. The amulet will work, and Devinshea can be your guard. It is a solution that should satisfy your vampire."

"You don't understand my definition of satisfaction, lady," Daniel shot back. "I told you it's me or Neil. I don't trust anyone else. I'm not sending her in there with some douchebag lothario who'll get her killed because he has no idea what he's doing. How is he supposed to help? If I need a f.u.c.king DJ, I'll call Dev."

"He would die for her," Felicity said quietly.

"He still might," Daniel swore.

Daniel was missing several points of the conversation due to his emotional outburst. I wished Dev hadn't come up, but if he was the solution then I would deal with it. It was time to bring the conversation back to business. "How does the amulet find Felix?"

"The amulet will point the way to where Felix is." Oliver stepped up. He seemed to be giving his sister time to recover. "The amulet is worn on a chain by a pure soul. When used properly, it will light the way to the one you wish to find."

"But the one we wish to find is Sarah," Neil pointed out.

Felicity nodded. "I believe she is with Felix. From our reports, she is housed in the same area."

"What are you not telling me?" I asked because she was suddenly blank.

"I believe your friend is being used to torture my brother," she said quietly.

My stomach took a dive. The thought of Sarah, who loved men and having fun and dying her hair silly colors, being twisted into something evil killed me. It had already taken longer than I planned. I was worried if I waited too long, what we found wouldn't even resemble the girl we'd lost. I was running out of time and options.

"So Dev and I could use the amulet to find Felix, and Felix should lead us to Sarah." If that was true, and I had no reason to believe this Felix was going to lead the way to the woman who was torturing him, I still had other things to deal with. "I still have problem number two."

Problem number two was even worse than problem number one. If I was good enough to bust Sarah out of h.e.l.l, there was nothing I could do when Halfer found us, and he would find us. Her contract was iron clad. There was no clause that stated she could go free if her crazy-a.s.s friend managed to bust her out. Halfer would simply show up and drag her back, and no one would try to stop him.

"I can take care of that," Felicity said.

"Great, and how will you do that?" Demon contracts weren't easily broken. They were almost never broken. It was far easier to find a creative way to fulfill the contract, but Sarah had already lost at that game.

"Trust me," she said with a glowing smile. "I will see her redeemed if you bring our brother back to us."

"Bulls.h.i.t," Daniel spat with a deep cynicism that had become a part of his core. "They're cons, Z. They can't redeem her. They're playing us. It's a simple setup. 'Hey, we've got this magic amulet that will solve your problems but it won't work if you keep your muscle around you.' They're trying to cut you off from your major resources. They're trying to get you into h.e.l.l with only Dev as a backup. Now they claim they can break a contract? What does that sound like to you?"

I knew what it sounded like. It sounded too good to be true, and too good to be true usually went really bad.

"They're working for Halfer," Daniel reasoned. I was inclined to agree with him. If Halfer knew a weakness of mine, it was that I got impatient and was willing to try some crazy things. He also had a definite beef with me. "If he can catch you on the h.e.l.l plane, he has us right where he wants us. These two are nothing but cons, pure and simple."

"You insect!" Oliver shouted, his fair face turning red with rage. "How dare you? I could extinguish you with a thought, yet you insult me?"

I rolled my eyes because Danny's beast was already close to the surface, and Oliver was waving that red flag. Daniel's fangs had popped out, and his hands were twitching like he needed to wrap them around something. His eyes were already bleeding blue.

"You should start thinking then, a.s.shole," he growled, but held his position.

Oliver squared off like he was ready to go ten rounds with Daniel. "Do you understand how it pains me to stand in the same s.p.a.ce with you, nightcrawler?"

I got close to Danny. Felicity took up the same position next to her brother. Oliver might talk a good game, but I was betting Daniel was meaner, and he'd been itching for a fight since I walked in the door earlier tonight.

"Oliver, please," she begged.

But Oliver plunged on. His eyes seemed to darken, proof he wasn't human. "You disgust me. All of you. If it were up to me, I'd send you to the h.e.l.l plane myself. You belong there, you perverted animal." That was said to Neil, who shrugged because he really couldn't care less what anyone thought of him. Oliver turned back to Daniel. "Blood sucking, junkie low life. You did not wish to be Halfer's attack dog, but you are the Council's a.s.sa.s.sin? How many innocents have you sent to their deaths, but you dare to stand before my glory?" He turned to me. I sighed because I've found, when running down a litany of sins, you usually save the best for last. "And you, you're the worst. The blood that runs through your veins is pure, yet you wh.o.r.e yourself to the demon."

That was when my gun made an appearance because I was betting this was just his opening salvo, and Daniel was about to blow. I eased the Ruger into my fist, clicking off the safety. I didn't really care if Daniel killed Oliver Day, but later on he would feel bad about it, so I might have to put an end to this little battle.

Oliver didn't seem impressed by my firearm. "You could be so much more, but no, you choose a life of crime. You steal from those weaker than you. You can't even be faithful to your demon husband. You have to wh.o.r.e yourself to another man and your husband stands by. Does he know the things you've done with the faery? The things you never let him do to you?"

"Daniel," I said, knowing as the word left my mouth I could do nothing to stop him.

Daniel closed in on the other man. He didn't bother with a weapon. He wanted to feel the flesh tear and smell the blood run. Daniel roared as he reached his target, the sound visceral and all encompa.s.sing. I nearly closed my eyes because I didn't want to watch as he killed my only path to success.

Then, just as he was about to tear Oliver Day apart, he went flying backward, hard and fast. I watched helplessly as his body flew past me. He was flung across the sanctuary and smashed into the wall, the wood giving way and cracking under the force of his impact.

"You want to know what I am?" Oliver asked as I started to back away, the gun in my hand forgotten.

I suddenly really didn't want to know. I had an idea now, and it scared me more than any demon could, but Oliver was no longer playing with us. It was like the air in the room rushed to be around him as his wings unfurled. I had an awful glimpse of righteous wings and monstrous rage. Then there was nothing but the thought that I had to get to Daniel. The light was blinding, and it was starting to fill the church.

Here in this old structure, in the middle of the night, the dawn was coming for him.

Yes, this was the part I'd been waiting for. This was that moment of the evening when we started to run for our lives.

Chapter Five.

Daniel was already trying to get to his feet when Neil and I started to sprint toward him. I could see blood running down his forehead, a stark red arrow shooting down his face. It was just sheer luck the wooden panels hadn't pierced any important parts of him.

Neil was faster, but I did my d.a.m.nedest to keep up. The light coming from the angel followed us like a tidal wave, threatening to crest. I ran faster to try to get to Daniel before that light did. I wasn't sure the light wouldn't hurt me, but I knew d.a.m.n well it could kill him. Neil hit Daniel and knocked him to the ground where he should have stayed if he had any sense. Given the fact that Daniel had just angered an angel from the Heaven plane, I doubted he had any real sense at all.

I heard Felicity yelling at Oliver to stop, but it didn't seem like he was in the mood to listen.

Neil rolled with Daniel, who finally seemed to understand the danger he was in and was willingly letting Neil maneuver him toward the relative safety of the pews. It didn't offer a ton of cover, but we couldn't make it out the door. I felt the minute that light hit my back. It didn't hurt per se, but I was filled with it. It scared me more than anything I have felt before. That light was real and had ma.s.s and motion. I closed my eyes because they didn't seem to work anymore and leapt toward Daniel and Neil.

"To your left, Zoey," Neil screamed because a loud hum had filled the room until it was bursting with the sound.

I twisted as hard as I could to my left and hit Daniel's big body with a thud. From here, we had a little cover. I could see Neil as he tried to shield Daniel with as much of his body as he could. Though Neil was strong, he was small-framed and Daniel was not. Even as I tried to cover the parts Neil missed, I could feel my husband's flesh charring, the smell sickening to me. Daniel gritted his teeth and shoved his head into my shoulder in an attempt to keep his eyes.

I covered his head with my hands. I've never held onto anything the way I held onto Daniel, but it wasn't working. That light was finding its way into everything. I could feel him coming apart in my hands, his skin burning beneath me. His face was in my neck, and I had the horrible feeling that this was the way I would lose him. I would hold him so close to my heart, and he would fall apart until there was nothing but ashes in my hands. There was nothing I could do.

"Feed." Neil looked over Daniel's body into my eyes. I squinted, trying to see. "He needs to feed. His body will try to heal itself if he can feed!"

I pulled Daniel's head away, alarmed at how weakly it fell back. Neil was right. It was our only shot. If we could just keep him alive through the onslaught, his body would heal eventually. "Danny, you have to feed. You have to feed now. Do you understand? No bulls.h.i.t. Don't you leave me like this."

He let his head slump forward again, but I felt his fangs trying to find a good place to penetrate. With flawless accuracy, he found his sweet spot, and I felt him bite down. For the first time, it hurt. All I'd ever known from the feeding process was pleasure. The blood was entwined with s.e.xual energy until the two didn't exist without the other. When Daniel fed, we made love. It had never been different until tonight.

I winced against the pain but held him to me. Tears p.r.i.c.ked my eyes, the pain was so bad, but I wouldn't let go. He began to draw against the vein, his strength steadying. His hands tightened on my waist. His will was back and though his flesh continued to char, I knew he would make it. Me, that was another story. I was used to donating for the cause, but he was drawing heavily off me, and I couldn't keep it up forever.

"Are you all right?" Neil shifted, covering Daniel's burning arm. "I can pull him off. He won't like it, but I can feed him, too."

Neil was very sure of his physical strength, but I doubted he'd ever tried to get between a dying vampire and his companion. He had no idea what was going through Daniel's mind as he drew the blood from my body into his. In these times, I wasn't his friend. I wasn't the girl he'd grown up with and loved and explored everything with. I was his. I was a possession, and he would allow no one to take what was his. He would surely kill Neil if he tried to move me. There would be no thought behind the act. Daniel would regret it later, but he was one large ball of primal instinct right now.

"No, I'm fine." I forced myself to say the words even as I felt myself weakening.

And then just as quickly as that righteous light had flooded our world, it winked from existence.

Neil sprang up, giving us cover. Daniel took one last long drag from my neck, but this time it started to resemble something like pleasure. He was back in some semblance of control. He let his head fall back, his eyes rolling to the back of his head before he closed them. Even though his flesh was still burning in places, he looked blissful, like a man who'd had his first full meal after days of starvation. He reached up to touch me, but his hand fell back, exhausted.

Neil held a gun in his hand, one of Daniel's. I'd never seen him with one before. I sat up and pulled Daniel's head into my lap, smoothing back that sandy hair of his while he shook slightly. I tried not to think about the agony in my neck. I could feel the blood continuing to trickle out and knew when I looked in the mirror I wouldn't see the twin delicate holes he left when he was careful.

"Look, b.i.t.c.h, I have no idea if this will do anything to you, but I am willing to try." Neil's voice was harder than I remembered it ever being. He held the gun properly, and I wondered if Daniel had trained him.

Felicity Day approached, her feet moving with caution. She looked very apologetic, and I did not give a s.h.i.t.

"You stay away from him." I pulled my own gun, hoping I wouldn't have to hold it steady for too long. It wouldn't do any good, anyway. I doubted an angel could be taken out with a bullet. I knew that, but my empty gesture made me feel better. I felt very vulnerable with a half dead vampire shaking in my lap and nothing but useless metal between me and that light.

"I do not mean him harm. I am so sorry Oliver did that. Please believe me. I didn't come here to harm any of you." Felicity held her hands out as if to prove she wasn't armed. It didn't make me feel better since apparently she could call the freaking sun to her defense.