Page 61 of Inflamed By an Incubus

He stepped up to her, his voice a black commanding snarl. “I said go back. That’s an order, Evelyn.”

“You’re not out for air, are you? You’re up to something. I want to know what it is.” She stood her ground, denying the part of her that wanted to back off because he was scaring her.

He backed off instead, the hardness leaving his eyes. “I can’t tell you that. I’m on a mission and you’re not on the list of those I can speak to about it.”

That hurt.

“We’re not partners anymore, Archer?” She wrapped her arms around herself as a cold gulf opened inside her and backed away from him when his expression softened and he reached for her.

On a long sigh, he closed the distance between them and touched her arm, his caress light this time. “We are. I would tell you if I could, Evelyn. You know that. This… it’s a paygrade thing.”

She could understand that, but it did nothing to soothe the hurt. Archer was her only friend at Archangel, had been there for her for a long time, and now she had the terrible feeling she was about to lose him and she would be alone.

She didn’t want to be alone.

He nudged her arm, his tone gentle. “Go back. Get some rest. I’ll swing by in the morning and we can have coffee on the roof. Sound good?”

She forced herself to nod. “Sounds good.”

He gave her a little smile and then turned away, and Evelyn watched him go, that heavy feeling in her chest growing worse with each step he took.

With every moment she tried to make herself believe what he had said and found she couldn’t.

Because she knew him, better than he thought she did, and she had developed a talent for telling when he was holding something back.

He was lying to her.

He wasn’t on a mission for Archangel.

He was on a mission for himself.

And she was going to find out what it was.

Chapter 18

Fenix blanked the trio of males clad in black who sat up and took notice of him as he entered the enormous onyx reception room of the assassin’s guild. Their gazes tracked him as he crossed the polished obsidian floor and he kept his locked on the door in the far-right corner of the room, making a beeline for it. Not one of them tried to stop him as he had anticipated.

He pushed the door open and strode along the corridor on the other side, an equally black affair that had several doors leading off it to his left and right. The smell of the oil lamps that illuminated it was strong as he sharpened his senses, trying to figure out which door led to the office of the male he had met.

When he spotted the one at the far end, it hit him that he didn’t need to check every room with his senses.

The elf would be there.

If he had been the boss of an assassin’s guild, he would have chosen the office at the far end of the corridor too, ensuring he looked powerful and in command.

The door opened just as he reached it and the same violet-eyed male he had met locked gazes with him. Only now the elf looked tired and a little worse for wear. A cut darted over his left cheekbone, slicing towards his dishevelled blue-black hair. His eyes held a dark edge that slowly dissipated as he stared at Fenix.

“It’s you.” Hartt’s deep voice rolled with authority along the corridor and Fenix sensed movement in the office beyond him.

The other male he had met, the one who was clearly tainted, appeared in view just behind Hartt. Fenix expected to see the same dark, hungry intent to kill in his eyes as he had last time. Only when he flicked a glance at the male, he looked relieved and muttered something in a lyrical language Fenix didn’t know.

“We’ve been looking for you.” Hartt stepped back into his office and gestured for Fenix to enter, waving his right arm out at his side.

“I should have left my details. I would have come sooner, but I still don’t have everything in place. I don’t have time to get everything in place now.” Fenix stepped into the room and the male closed the door behind him. “I don’t like it, but I need my mate away from Archangel as soon as possible. Some kind of shit is going down and I think it’s going to affect all of us. And I mean all of us. Everyone in Hell and the mortal realm. I was hoping you would know some of the people in charge of the realms here… so you could warn them.”

“Warn them?” Hartt frowned at him, a flicker of concern lighting his violet eyes. “About what?”

“I’m not really sure yet. I saw some stuff here in Hell, close to the dragon realm… research Archangel was doing before a fallen angel slaughtered them all.” Fenix worried his lower lip with his thumb as he thought about Evelyn. He told himself that she was back in London now, but it didn’t give him the relief he needed. She was in as much danger there as she had been in Hell. “I spoke to Talon and Kyter… they work at this nightclub in London called—”

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