Every Last Breath (The Dark Elements #3)(42)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Disgruntled and red-faced, Paul drew his shoulders up. “We’ve been keeping a close eye on the Church of God’s Children for a while now.”

Oh man, I’d all but forgotten about them, which was insane, but a lot had been going on. The Church didn’t belong to any mainstream sects and they were some of the worst kind of human beings I’d ever had the displeasure of meeting. Not only did they hate demons, they loathed Wardens.

And they really disliked me.

I tried not to think of the day two of them had followed us into the parking garage, or how I’d lost my cool, doing something really horrible that involved a bible and a man’s face. My actions had led to one of their deaths, and although they were really terrible, knowing I’d caused the death of a human was hard to swallow.

“Their fanatical beliefs make them just as dangerous as any demon,” Paul continued. “They’ve been active up until this past Wednesday. Not a single member has been seen or heard from since then.” He paused, lips thinning. “We infiltrated them long ago, but our brother has also not been in contact with us.”

“We are not foolish enough to check it out,” Serifina said. “We are too vulnerable to put ourselves in harm’s way, but assuming our suspicions are true, if you find the Church, you may find the darkness—and the Lilin.”

twenty-one

THE WHEREABOUTS OF the Church of God’s Children was no secret. Its address was plastered all over the many flyers I’d ripped down from storefronts and telephone poles. It was near Adams Morgan, which I’d always thought was a strange location for the church since that neighborhood was pretty lively and known for its nightlife. It was becoming more and more of an entertainment district, so the building used as a church truly did stick out like a sore thumb.

But we didn’t rush off to Adams Morgan.

The three of us remained in the empty club after the witches left, taking Bambi with them. Roth was the embodiment of barely leashed anger as he stood in the center of the dance floor, his hand opening and closing repeatedly at his side.

He was the first one to speak. “I think we need to be smart about this instead of bum rushing the Church. If the Lilin really is there, I doubt it’s sitting and singing hymns with those people.”

I glanced at Cayman, who still looked stricken by what had just happened, and then I refocused. Why in the world would the Lilin be with them? And vice versa?

“As much as I hate to suggest this, we need to call the Wardens,” Roth continued as he walked to where the witches had sat, picked up one of the chairs and carefully, meticulously, placed it under the table. “Yeah, their perfect pearly souls would be at risk, but they could act as backup.”

“Roth…” I stepped forward.

He ignored me, fixing the other chair. “We have the necessary weapons to take out the Lilin. So do the Wardens. Let’s do this.”

“Roth,” I repeated, this time stronger and louder. His dilated eyes locked onto mine. The glint in them was downright murderous. “Let’s stop for a second.”

“How about we not?” he replied calmly—too calmly.

The ache in my chest tripled. “What just happened…we have to acknowledge that.”

His lips were pressed into a thin, formidable line. “Do we? Because dwelling on it seems pretty pointless. What does it change?”

“It doesn’t change anything,” I said, as Cayman turned sideways, thrusting his hand through his fair hair. “But we can’t pretend it didn’t happen. Bambi—”

“I think it’s best that I pretend exactly that.” Shadows had begun to form under his skin as his features sharpened, forming harsh angles. “Because I am this close to ripping that coven apart, and if I do that, it’s going back on the deal Cayman made.”

Cayman hung his head as he placed his hands on his lean hips. “I had hoped that they would not come to collect.”

Roth didn’t respond to that, and I didn’t know what to say to make this better. He had lost a loved one. It didn’t matter that the loved one was a familiar who mostly took the form of a giant snake. Those two were bonded on a level that even I couldn’t fully comprehend, and I had bonded with Bambi. I placed my hand over my side, where Robin rested. I was already bonding with the fox.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

His shoulders tensed. “Why are you apologizing? You didn’t take her.”

“If anyone should apologize, it is me. I brokered the deal,” Cayman interjected morosely. “I knew—”

“You were doing your job,” Roth snapped, his anger surfacing. “I told you I’d give anything, therefore you made the deal. There is nothing you should be sorry for.”

I closed my eyes, forcing myself not to say what I wanted to. Guilt beat at me, but I knew he didn’t need to hear that from me right now. As much as I wanted to rage about losing Bambi, this wasn’t about me, and whatever I felt was nothing compared to what Roth had to be feeling.

Tucking my hair back behind my ears, I pulled my tattered emotions together, shoved them down and focused. “Okay. I can reach out to Zayne.”

Roth nodded and we headed back to his loft so I could grab my phone. Cayman didn’t follow, and I felt just as bad for him as I did for Roth. Walking into his room and knowing I would never see Bambi slither her way over to the piano again kicked the breath out of my chest as I walked to my bag, by his desk.

“She’ll be okay,” Roth said quietly as I drew my phone out. I turned around and found him staring at the piano. “I know she will be. Bambi won’t allow herself to be mistreated.”

I bit down on my lip. The back of my throat burned.

Sighing, he looked up at me and the anger was still there, brimming just below the surface, but so was the shattered disappointment. “I really hope those witches were right, because I have a lot of pent-up aggression I need to get out of my system.”

“I…” I trailed off helplessly, clutching the phone.

His thick lashes lowered. “It’ll be okay.”

Walking over to him, I placed my free hand on his shoulder, and then stretched up, kissing his cheek. He stiffened for a moment, and then he folded his arms around me, burying his face in the crook of my neck for only the briefest of moments before he pulled away, rubbing his palm along his chest. “Text Zayne.”

And that’s what I did.

* * *

Roth and I waited for the Wardens on the rooftop of a bank near the Adams Morgan area after the sun had set.

Nervous energy made it hard to stand still, and Robin was picking up on it, racing across my stomach like it was his own personal drag strip. Luckily, only about ten minutes passed before movement in the sky drew our attention.

From a distance, they looked like birds of prey at first, as if they’d swoop down and snatch people from the group. But as they drew closer, there was no mistaking what they were. Even those down on the streets below would be able to pick out the differences.

I could also tell that a whole crap ton of Wardens were coming.

“Damn,” I muttered, stiffening.

Roth was beside me in under a second. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Obviously what was about to go down was a big deal, and I’d known that eventually I was going to have to face more than just Zayne, Dez and Nicolai.

But a part of me wasn’t ready.

Nope.

“This is going to be awkward,” I said, brushing my hair back out of my face.

“No.” Roth placed his hand on my lower back. “But it may be bloody.”

I shot him a look. “Behave.”

“I cannot promise that whatsoever.”

“These are not the ones you need to take out your aggression on.”

He smirked. “Let me be the judge of that.”

This was so not going to go well, but it was too late to change our plans. The pearly white glows faded and Zayne landed first. In his true form, he was massive. His skin a dark gray, his horns curved back, parting his blond hair. Not ugly or frightening, to me at least, but his gaze was an arctic blast as it drifted over us, a painful reminder of how much had changed.

I wanted to hide from that gaze and everything it dredged up, but I found my lady balls and held them close. I’d put myself in this situation with him and I had to deal with the consequences.

Dez and Nicolai were next, followed by two more clan members, but it was the final arrival that caused dread to explode like buckshot in my stomach and punched a harsh curse out of Roth.

Abbot was here.

The roof shook when he landed behind the clansmen and straightened, a good half a foot taller than the rest. With his hair as golden as his son’s, brushing broad shoulders, he’d always reminded me of a great lion.

In a way, Abbot was king.

For years, I’d trembled at the mere sight of him in his human and Warden forms, as he had been the greatest authority I’d known. And for years, I’d struggled to obtain the smallest sliver of pride from him. I’d basically operated on the theory that any attention was good attention, like a puppy. Now? Unfettered rage was what shook me and I sure as Hell didn’t care if he was proud of that or not.

Abbot had believed the worst of me with little or no evidence backing it up. It was no wonder why I’d had such loser self-esteem and had also thought the worst. While he hadn’t been the one who shoved a freaking dagger into my stomach, he had me caged like an animal, and then chained like one.