Page 98 of Cry of the Firebird

Get it together, it's gone.

"Definitely incorporeal," Isabelle said as she touched the broken window and shuddered. "Fuck. You won't find any prints or a trail. I think a Nehemoth took her."

"I thought Nehemoth were just some Jewish fable," Katya whispered.

"They exist. Although I've never gone up against one."

"But how can a ghost be strong enough to not only break in, but carry away a woman?" Katya asked.

"Nehemoth aren't technically ghosts. They could be classed as a demon if you wanted to get down to the nitty-gritty, but this one was definitely under someone's control."

Katya frowned. "How can you tell?"

"They can only be summoned by a powerful magic-user. They are hard to control, so usually, only someone strong can be its master. If Vasilli has enough power to control one, we are in deeper trouble than what I initially thought."

"Do you know of any other buildings that belong to the Darkness in the city that they might be holding Anya in?" Katya asked.

Isabelle thought about all the research she had on her laptop. "I have found three that could be used for their operations. After what we found a few nights ago, I know they will still be in thecity somewhere. Just because they had temporarily abandoned that building doesn't mean they don't have another lab set up elsewhere."

"We'll have to attack all of them," Katya replied, starting to pace. "It will be the only way to find her in time and not alert the others that we are coming. I don't think they will kill her, but she'll be made to suffer."

"I would hate to see what that thanatos would do if they harm her," Isabelle commented.

"You're not wrong." Katya turned to her suddenly, a grin on her face. "So what's going on with you and Hamish?"

"Our paths crossed a long time ago."

"Care to elaborate?" Katya asked, her smile crooked and cheeky.

Isabelle didn't smile back. "I tried to kill him."

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

Hamish stormed into his room and tried not to punch one of Trajan's perfect walls. The room was clean and exactly the way he had left it two years ago. He pulled on a T-shirt and boots and opened his gun cabinet. He had missed these particular weapons when he was back in Australia. He had left Europe on a drunken whim last time but knew one day he would come back for them.

Hamish put on his gun belt and holstered his pearl-handled revolvers before reaching for his Winchester rifles. He slung leather holsters on his back and slid them in position. They were long rifles, but Hamish was tall enough that they fit snugly between his shoulder blades.

Pulling on his Driza-Bone coat, he started to swear long and inarticulately. Bloody Belle was alive to screw him over all over again. Be damned if he would let her get the better of him. The top of his left butt cheek started to ache where he wore the scar of a bullet she had put in him.

"How are you holding up, Hamish?" Trajan appeared in the doorway. He was dressed in a black trench coat, his face twitching slightly from holding in his anger.

"Tip fucking top, mate," Hamish snapped, his accent getting thicker the angrier he got. "I'm more concerned about your mental wellbeing. You can't hide it from me. I know you're fucking fuming. Best keep it in check before that pretty human coating you are wearing goes to shit."

Trajan ran a hand over his face. "I'm doing my best. I still can't believe that Isabelle was the girl that messed you up."

"Yeah, I thought she was dead. I swear she was human when I knew her," Hamish said through his teeth. "I watched her building blow up minutes after she walked into it. Christ, I found her bloody clothes." His hands curled into tight fists to stop them from shaking. He had tried to kill himself more than once after that, and Trajan had managed to pull him back from the darkness. He owed Trajan his life, and that was a debt that meant something.

Trajan's hand rested on his shoulder. "I'm sure she had a reason for doing what she did. You have a chance to finally find out, and it can stop haunting you."

"I don't even care anymore," Hamish lied and shoved Trajan's hand away. "Let's go find your girl."

In the 18tharrondissement of the city, a tall man in a navy leather trench coat watched as a team of Illumination investigators combed through the ashes of a destroyed building. Fire, deliberately lit, had been the overall cause, but that was not what he was there to investigate.

"Excuse me, General, sir?" a nervous, sweating young man pulled him out of his thoughts.

"What is it?" Aramis asked.

"The team has uncovered some peculiar remains that could confirm this building was used by the Darkness."

---