Page 47 of Death Deals

“How do we know what she says is true,” Dreadlocks asked, bringing the attention back to me. “She could be in league with the others—”

Imani threw him a harsh glare. “To what, Dacian? What could be her goal in telling us such a lie?”

He couldn’t seem to come up with a reasonable argument, so he stepped back, head low in apology.

“Of course, we will have our own people look further into this for legitimacy, but what she says makes sense.” Imani turned to Andre. “What of you? What do you have to say of this?”

“Like so many others, I am tired of the warring between us and the constant death. I will accept any truth that brings peace,” he replied.

Imani let out a short laugh. “I believe that as well.”

After a few tense moments, she stood again. With a subtle dip of her head, every Omari found a seat and the noise settled. “Archangel—”

“Jade,” I corrected. “You can call me Jade.”

“Jade, then,” she recovered quickly. “This can’t be why you have come to earth. To only help us.”

“It isn’t,” I replied. “I sort of got caught up in that along the way.”

“Tell me your purpose.”

Did all vampires share the nosey trait? Seemed that way.

How many more bombshells could I drop on these people today? The truth was working for me so far, so let’s try for one more.

“The apocalypse is coming.”

“As in the End of Times?” Dacian asked, eyes wide.

“End of Times, Armageddon, the final war, the rapture, Heaven versus Hell… Whatever you prefer to call it, it’s a-coming,” I said.

“I’m sure you’ve seen the shift yourself, Queen Imani,” Andre added in. “Demons are walking on this side of the veil without the solstice. Their influence has changed our world already.”

Imani’s gaze dropped as if she was mentally putting the puzzle pieces together herself. After another bout of silence, she said, “Yes, I’ve felt the balance change. Have seen it, too. This world is headed for destruction.”

“It’s another reason you should be working together to save your kind instead of fighting each other,” I made sure to include. Really drive the message home.

She nodded. “We would be stronger together.” Then, she gestured toward the back of the theater. Two vampires rose from their seats and opened the doors. “Jade, we thank you. You have given us much to consider. In return, we release you from this place. You and yourclaimer.”

Her skeptical expression told me she wasn’t exactly buying that fib we’d tried to weave, but she didn’t press. She was letting us go and that was all that mattered.

“And the others at the hotel?” I asked, probably pushing my luck.

“My brothers and sisters will keep a watchful eye on The Grand, but no more unnecessary blood will be spilled. You can pass through our territory without worry.”

That was all Andre needed to hear. He grabbed my hand and pulled me off the stage so fast, I almost tripped over myself keeping up with his fast pace. The Omaris stepped aside to allow us easy passage up the aisle. Their eyes remained trained on us as we went.

Right before we reached the doors, Queen Imani’s voice boomed once again, freezing us in place. “There will be a New Year’s celebration here tomorrow night, one we participate in every year. We welcome you and the Perezes to attend.”

A genuine invitation or something more? Not sure. But Andre turned and bowed to her one more time to show respect and appreciation before tugging me through both sets of doors and into the freezing winter air.

He continued to speed walk down the sidewalks and streets, back toward the hotel. I didn’t ask him to slow, though, the danger of our situation still felt very real. We’d only gotten out of that theater alive because of some fast-talking and luck, and now that Queen Imani knew we were in Michigan, in her territory, we were under her rule.

Of course, I hoped everything she said had been true, but there was no way of truly knowing. I was sure Andre was thinking the same thing, so the smartest thing to do now was to get back to the Grand Piazza and lie low for a bit.

When we passed through the hotel’s doors, a chill passed over me at the thought of the Omaris keeping a watchful eye over the place. Andre said nothing as we stepped into the private elevator and the doors closed. He barely finished punching in the code to the suite before he spun around, grabbed the sides of my face, and crushed his mouth against mine.

My body’s reaction was instantaneous. With adrenaline still shooting through my veins from the whole ordeal with the Omaris, my heartbeat kicked into maximum overdrive. My head spun, and the need to have him grew stronger by the second. When he pushed me into the corner, his body pressing against me, I lost all sense of time and space. It was pure ecstasy in a single kiss, like drinking a glass of water after days traveling in a scorching desert. Ineededhim, and I couldn’t think of anything in the moment except giving in to that craving.

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