Page 47 of Paris and the Reaper

Paris leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees, fully engaged in the conversation, actively participating in the planning. “If we completely destroy the altar at the Stick, what happens?”

“They build a new one in its place,” Adam replied. “If we don’t also cleanse and secure the territory.”

“And like you said, if we do that at the Stick, we’ll control all of them in and around YB, other than the Canyon Lands, which I assume we’ll never control?”

“Maybe the kid’s not so useless,” Robin said, straightening off the wall. “We could trap them.”

Icarus scoffed. “Why would they be stupid enough to do that?”

“Because we have the one who got away,” Robin said, his smirk bordering on feral. “The ultimate soul channeler. With Paris, they can rip the veil wide open.”

“Exactly,” Paris said, nodding. “I can do?—”

“Absolutely not,” Mac dissented, at the same time Icarus and Mary likewise expressed their objections.

“We have a week,” Adam said, stepping into the fray and cutting short the debate. “Let’s continue to work the case. We’ve got two serial killers, access to their backer’s records, and a crime scene with potential witnesses.” He raised his brows in question at Paris.

“I can reach them,” he confirmed with a nod.

“Then let’s see how far we get.”

TWENTY-SEVEN

The risingsun did little to cut through the naturally occurring fog at the Stick. It painted Mac’s windshield with a heavy, windswept mist that would’ve required wipers if they’d been moving instead of parked. As it were, he could barely make out Liam’s raven-shaped form standing sentry on the car’s hood as they waited for Jenn’s advance team to confirm the giant was nowhere near the altar.

“Tell me why Robin hates Atlas so much.” Paris shifted in the passenger seat, angling toward him and pulling up a leg, propping his chin on his knee. “Did Atlas really kill his sister?”

“Histwinsister. And her husband.”

“I don’t follow.”

Of course he didn’t; he’d only heard bits and pieces of the story, usually in the midst of a heated argument. “Deborah and David were feds,” Mac explained. “Adam and I were assigned as their local department contacts. Adam fell in love with them at first sight and married them a month later, conflict of interest be damned.” He couldn’t help but smile, remembering the Adam—then, Gabriel—of those days. Lighter, hopeful, his heart on his sleeve; a lot like Paris. After their deaths, he’d adopted the nameAdam as a cover and drawn into himself, using the phoenix—his Devil—as a boogeyman against Vincent and as a shield to keep others at bay too. Until Icarus had bullied his way past the Devil and into his heart, bringing out a little more of Gabriel every day.

“Was David a coyote too?”

Mac shook his head. “David was a phoenix.”

“Fuck.” Paris lowered his chin, forehead on his knee, correctly anticipating the worst. “What did my father do?”

“We were building a case against him, were close to nailing him, when he sent an army after us, including Atlas. Deborah got hit with a blast of his magic.” Staring out the windshield into the gray mist, Mac recalled that sunny morning ten years ago like it was yesterday. “David overtaxed himself. He was about to flame out, and he carried his wife back to the safe house where they’d left Adam. But Adam wouldn’t leave them. David’s flameout brought the entire structure down and started a fire that took weeks to put out. Adam was the only survivor.”

Paris laid a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry for your loss.” The warmth of his touch dissolved the knot of emotion in his throat, allowing him to tell the most critical part of the story, at least where Robin was concerned.

“Robin wasn’t there when it happened. He’s a merc, and he was halfway around the world on a job when Deb called the pack. He didn’t answer.”

“Oh shit.”

Mac nodded, the sentiment spot-on. “Robin’s as angry at himself as he is at Atlas.”

Paris laced his hands around the front of his shin, then rested his temple on his knee, staring out the windshield. “So, if Robin wasn’t there, who saw Atlas? You? Adam or Jenn? Someone else?”

“We all saw him.”

“And you saw him kill Deb?”

“Me, no,” Mac said. “But plenty of others did.”

“I don’t buy it.”

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