Do not ball your fists. Do not clench your jaw. Do not pull away.

“Shall I leave straightaway?” I ask.

This brings him back to the moment and he drops his hands.

“Yes. You’ll take my BMW and head north.” He picks up his mobile from a side table and swipes through it. “She was last seen on Interstate 95 in South Carolina, heading north. I will text you updates as I receive them. We’ve got Neph and whisperers tailing her for other purposes, but I won’t trust this job to anyone but you.”

“Thank you, Father,” I say. “I’m honored.” And truly, I’m grateful. If they had asked another Neph . . .

Do not growl.

“My whisperer Rafe will escort you.”

My eyes go wide, and I quickly neutralize my face again, but Father catches the look and smiles.

“Is that a problem?”

Yes, actually, it’s an enormous problem. “No, sir.”

“Good. The spirit will report to me as soon as the job is done, and we’ll retrieve her when we’re prepared to deal with her.”

“I understand. Would you like me to be in contact with the other Neph myself?” I ask. “To save time?” And to find out who’s against us?

“I think not,” he says with a half grin. “Not all Neph are to be trusted these days. It’s best if we deal with all of you directly ourselves.”

I nod, pretending not to care that his words clearly include me.

He pulls keys from his trouser pockets and I take them.

“Drive fast. I don’t care how many bloody tickets you get. Find her and ruin her once and for all, Kaidan. Make me proud.”

“I will, Father.”

I turn away and head to the garage. When I’m out of his sight I clench my jaw and silently curse him straight to hell before his stupid minion spirit flies in and I fall into false relaxation mode again.

Leave it to my father to unknowingly sabotage the one good thing in my life. I have no bloody clue how to get out of this. I wish like hell I could contact Anna to tell her she’s being tailed, and to let her know I’m on my way. I’ve no idea what I’ll do when I get there.

On the way out of town I stop at a drugstore and buy an over-the-counter men’s fertility test to make sure I’m completely sterile. Just in case.

I cannot have sex with her. She has to remain a virgin—it’s the only way she’ll be able to use the Sword of Righteousness. I’ll just have to take this charade as far as I can until I can go no further. This could be it. This could be the thing that kick-starts the prophecy. Because when it comes right down to it, if I cannot find a way to fool them, I might have to take Anna away; I might have to run. I’ve told her myself that she cannot hide from the demons, but damn it, I cannot let them have her without a fight, either. If our only other option is to stay put and be captured, then we will run like hell.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Not Like This

“Keep my eyes open, my lips sealed.

My heart closed, and my ears peeled.”

—“Hurricane” by MS MR

I drive through the night, stopping only once for petrol and coffee. Each time a text comes from Father I reprogram my GPS with the new information. I cannot wait to get to Anna. To see her safe, with my own eyes. I’m desperate to have her out of their sights. After a while I think something must have happened with the Neph tailing her, because the updates from Father simply stop and only whisperer sightings are being given now.

Father’s whisperer has been a nasty thorn in my side for far too many hours now. It keeps whispering excitedly about all the foul things it wants me to do to the “Neph girl,” things I’ve never done to anyone. I try hard to keep from shuddering.

“I’m not into Neph,” I tell it. “I’m not planning to stay all day.”

It begins a breathy whine in my ear. “But—”

“No. Just a quick job—nothing for your entertainment.”

It proceeds to throw a tantrum, stiffly flying from the car and bashing into the earth, out of sight, then back up, kicking at cars and flailing its grubby arms at trees as it passes them. What an idiot.

As I’m driving through Wythe County, in the mountains of southwestern Virginia, I see a whisperer swoop down in the grassy median to relay something to the other. It then flies to me, right in my face. I lean to the side, keeping an eye on the road. I can’t stand the cold sensation when they touch me.

“Blacksburg,” it whispers creepily. I nod. I’m not too far from her now.

I’ve been trying to figure out for hours what I’ll do when I get to her. How will she react? With the whisperer there, we’ll have to pretend we hardly know each other. If Anna cries or tries to hug me, or does anything remotely Anna-ish, we’re as good as dead.

Our biggest chance of making it through this is to somehow lose the whisperer, and based on how closely he’s been at my side, that will be difficult. The only other thing I can think to do is get her under the covers and pretend to shag her. That, however, could be awkward for poor Anna, and very, very difficult for me, especially if we’re naked.

You can do it, I tell myself. I just hope she’ll play along with whatever I decide. I grip the wheel and take a cleansing breath as the murky whisperer leads me to Anna.

It’s early in the morning. The sun has risen, but the town is still sleepy. I park outside the hotel and listen while the whisperer circles the car. Anna is stirring, her murmuring breaths sounding as if she’s not sleeping very soundly. When the whisperer ventures away from me for a moment, like a dog sniffing around, I whip out my phone and pull up Anna’s contact info: Hot Chick From Gig. Before I can type a word, the whisperer is back and I quickly close the screen.

“What are you doing?” it asks. Damn it.

“Seeing if I missed any messages,” I mutter out loud. “But I haven’t.”

“Let’s go.”

Bugger. I hate being here, so close to her, under these pretenses. It kills me not to warn her. I get out of the car and note exactly where it’s parked and where the nearest exit is. I walk with purpose, fighting to keep my cool as my spirit escort flies up and down beside me. His wing keeps swiping my back and I grit my teeth. I desperately search each room of the hotel with my hearing, but everyone is sleeping or doing boring morning things.

Then my senses snag on something in one of the first-floor rooms. Something that sounds like it’s just getting started. Something right up this whisperer’s alley. It’s better than I could have hoped. I take the long way around so we can pass that room on our way. I take note of the number on the door: 108.

This is a long shot. My first instinct is to distract the demon right away, but Father will be extremely suspicious if he learns I sent his whisperer away before the job had even begun. The spirit has to see me with Anna. He has to think we’re having sex. And then, if I’m lucky, I can convince him to leave, to take in the more exciting events of room 108.

I head up the stairs, my pulse at an all-time high, and I knock on Anna’s door. Inside, I hear her go still. Abruptly, she begins scrambling and shuffling through her things like mad.

Don’t be frightened, I want to say. Trust me, Anna. Play along.

Anna whispers suspiciously, “Who is it?”

“Kaidan Rowe. Son of Pharzuph.” Impersonal. Formal. Please take the hint, luv.

I hear the quick pad of her footsteps to the door and I’m filled with fear that she’s going to fling it open and jump into my arms. I’m immensely relieved when she stops at the door without opening it. “What do you want?” she asks. She’s being smart.