Page 16 of Vanish Into Light

“Whoa!” Gavin said.

Lance caught him by the front of his jacket and gave him a light shake, one that left Gavin’s mouth dropping open, and his eyes bugging wide.

Rose felt a stab of surprise herself. Lance had never been that kind of CO, not even when Gavin – and she – badly deserved a good shake.

“Undermine me in front of that bastard,” Lance growled, “and you’ll be forcibly reminded of who’s in charge. Understand?”

Rose glanced toward Gallo, and saw his smirk slip away; saw him frown instead. He glanced back, brows lifting in question. She shook her head.

“Understood,” Gavin said, in the most subservient voice she’d ever heard from him.

Lance held him a moment longer, tendons leaping in his throat, in the back of his hand. Then he released him and whirled; stalked toward their Hummer.

Rose hurried to follow.

~*~

The city was a little less on fire in the daylight. They passed drug deals, and more than a few fights; a few trashcan blazes spitting and smoking beneath the drizzle. But the really bad shit happened at night. No one tried to stop them, though all held a gun across their laps, had their helmets strapped on, and kept their heads on a swivel.

They’d brought Morgan along, and Rose rode beside her in the back. In a low voice, hopefully too quiet to be heard above the rumble of the engine and the whine of the tires, she leaned in and asked, “You really don’t have any idea how the rifts were opened?”

Morgan, whose head looked comically small beneath her camo helmet, turned toward her with the faint hint of a frown tweaking her mouth. “It would take a great deal of power – power a human could never possess.”

“I gathered that.”

Rose’s dry tone was lost on the conduit. Still almost-frowning – her humanity seemed to grow day by day – she said, “When Anthony Castor’s conduit opened the rift at the mansion – it was a blood sacrifice and the dagger, yes?”

“A dagger forged in hell, supposedly. One I don’t have anymore.” She missed it, sometimes; missed the assuredness that it was the strongest weapon she’d ever owned in this fight of angels versus demons. But she wouldn’t trade Beck for it.

Even if…

Best not to think of that.

“There are weapons in heaven, too,” Morgan said.

Rose felt her brows go up. “There are?”

“Of course.”

“Okay…”

“Whoever opened the First Rift, it must have been with a heaven-forged blade.”

“The Second Rift was the hell blade.”

“Yes.”

“Any idea where we could find one?”

“No.”

The Humvee slowed.

Lance said, “We’re here.”

The mansion looked as Gothic, imposing, and abandoned as it had before – but low-energy yellow lights glowed in the front windows on the first and second floor.

“Makes sense he’d wanna make camp in a fucking haunted house,” Gavin muttered under his breath. “I hate this place.”

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