“Yes?”
“Please do whatever you need to do and be on your way. However, if it includes anyone dying I will smite your sorry ass to Hell and make sure it stays there for a few centuries,” the Angel promised with a benign smile on his angelic face.
“It’s no wonder I fell, you Angels are utterly boring, with no fucking sense of adventure or humor,” Satan said flippantly. “You used to be ssssssssssssoooooo much fun, Roberto.”
Roberto snarled. Satan grinned and blew him a kiss.
When had the Devil developed a lisp? Out of habit, I turned to ask Raquel and realized although she was next to me no one could see her. I lightly touched the air and felt her. Her presence kept me centered instead of distracted.
“Do it now, Satan. Have your fun and be gone,” Roberto snapped.
“So be it. I’ll be right back. I need to get Dracula’s buddies. I locked them in the trunk of my Aston Martin so they wouldn’t get away. It’s so difficult these days to get kidnap victims to play nice. Do you feel me, Roberto?” he asked the now fuming Angel.
“Lucifer,” Roberto growled.
“Don’t get your panties in a wad, Bert,” Satan purred, undeterred as he strolled out of the room. “Stick around. I think you’ll enjoy this. And please don’t any of you think about leaving… I’d hate to have to drag you back in for the show.”
As he left the room, impenetrable iron bars instantly appeared on all the windows and doors essentially trapping everyone in the large ballroom. The shouts of fury came fast and magic flew around the room like bullets. I had a very limited amount of time to put plan B into action, but that didn’t stop me for a second. I felt Raquel’s cloaked hand touch my shoulder and I sprang into action. The melee was actually to our benefit.
“Roberto,” I said as I took the powerful Angel’s arm and steered him to the outside edges of the room that were far less populated. “We believe Vlad is the catalyst in trying to eliminate the Royal Family.”
“Very serious accusation, Heathcliff,” he replied flatly as he glanced down at my hand that held his arm in a vise like grip. “What proof do you have?”
Slowly removing my hand, I gave him a tight smile and a shrug. “Not much at the moment, but if you follow my lead I believe you’ll be able to take the bastard into custody within the hour.”
His gaze narrowed and a small smile played at his lips. “This interests me,” he allowed cautiously. “However, if you’re wrong it will be both you and the Royal Family that will suffer.”
“If I’m wrong, the entire immortal world will suffer,” I shot back.
The Angel stared long and hard as he considered my request. His posture was relaxed, but his eyes revealed his rabid fascination. The Vampyres were not the only ones who wanted to be rid of Dracula…
“Does your King believe this to be true?” he asked.
“I speak for myself, but… ” I started.
“I do believe it to be true,” the King said as he, Pam and Jean Paul quietly approached. “My children have been cursed and disappearing. Vlad is aware of the curse which leads me to suspect his involvement.”
“He has the power to place curses?” Roberto hissed as silver and white glittering sparks flew from his fingertips about his head.
“Calm your fucking jets, Roberto,” Pam advised sharply as she doused his flames with a wave of her hand. “If you blow up the room, we all lose.”
“Pam,” he said through clenched teeth. “Your alliances are spread thin. You are an Angel mated to a Vampyre. Why should I believe any of this? The undead are not the most trustworthy race.”
“And neither are the Angels,” Pam added cryptically as she stared Roberto down. “I seem to have a few recollections that might interest a couple of higher ups.”
“Are you threatening me?” he inquired with a raised brow.
“Do I need to?” Pam asked innocently.
The tension was fucking palpable. The standoff was intense and if we weren’t under a time constraint it would have been interesting to watch the deadlock play out. However, time was of the essence. Forcing the hand of an Angel was risky, but the consequences of letting Vlad get away with what he was doing were far more risky.
“Can you cloak and hide you scent?” I asked Roberto, interrupting the silent face off between him and Pam.
The Angel snorted derisively. “Do you have any more ridiculous questions?” he huffed in exasperation as his eyes narrowed dangerously. “I am three thousand years old. What do you think the answer to that ludicrous request is?”
“I’m going to go with a yes on that one,” I replied as I catalogued a reminder to myself to have Pam share what she had on Roberto.
He was an uppity son of a bitch, but I already knew that. Most Angels were. But the truth was I needed him and his self-righteous ass at the moment. Unless we had a witness that wasn’t a Vampyre, we’d have information and accusations coming from only one side. His unwillingness to participate was not working for me—at all.
Wait the fuck a minute… I didn’t need Pam to tell me anything. I opened my mind and let it flow to Pam’s. She was ready for me. Roberto’s indiscretion was forefront in her head. Her covert wink let me know she was expecting me. Holy shit, this was good. Roberto was a bad boy.
“Garden of Eden,” I said flatly. “That damn snake was a pesky little bastard wasn’t he?”