Sarah Gilman - Deep in Crimson

Lexine ignited flames on her fingers and held her hand to the side of her tear-reddened face. She lacked eyeshine, a characteristic of demon retinas that reflected light, enabling night vision. “It’s a rare earthborn defect. I can’t see well in the dark, and bright light doesn’t bother me.” She cleared her throat. “You must have realized I wasn’t human, though. Why have you kept coming back?”

“I got close to you that first day, but you didn’t notice me. If I’d been a hostile human, or even another demon with ill intentions, you’d have been caught off guard. You really should be more aware of your surroundings if you’re going to work alone.”

She half sobbed half laughed. “You’ve been protecting me?”

“I’ve been keeping watch.”

“I’m not a silly little girl. If humans came near that cemetery, I’d hear them because they don’t know how to walk quietly in the woods—”

“Never make generalizations and assume you’re safe. Some humans are remarkably well trained, like the ones who took Bryce.” He paused. The cemetery, located on a hillside, had a good view of the archangel house, not that he couldn’t find just as decent a vantage point high in a tree. He’d chosen the cemetery because the illusion of having company had been…nice. “You object to me watching out for you, then?”

“No.” The corners of her mouth curved upward in a hint of a smile. “It’s sweet of you, actually.”

Sweet? He’d been called many things in his life. “Sweet” definitely did not make the list.

“Doesn’t matter.” He stood and tested his balance, but stumbled. He braced himself against the tree. “First, I’ll deal with Lawrence. Then, I’m going to move on from this colony.”

She opened her mouth but Vin returned, pushing a low branch out of this way. “They lost the scent trail on the main road, but they’re going to continue to search the area. I had a brief conversation with our liaison in Montpelier, and an Amber Alert is going to be issued.”

Jett blinked. “An Amber Alert? For a demon?”

“Not every available station will broadcast it, but yes. We do have some supporters out there.”

Lexine stood, maneuvered toward Jett over the sprawling roots of the old tree, and slipped. He caught her arm, but let go as soon as she had her balance. Her gaze lingered on him. “Thanks.”

Vin took a step closer. “I’ve called for cars, weapons, supplies, and my best available Guardians. They’ll be here momentarily. Where are we going?”

“New Hampshire.”

“Care to be more specific?”

“Not really, no. I don’t like you and I don’t trust you.” He sighed. As a youth, everything he’d done had been about self-preservation. As an adult, he’d worked for the poacher, under threat of being returned to the laboratory. His job had been to spy on, and be suspicious of, everyone, all the time.

But what would he do without their vehicle? How would he get Bryce out safety and kill Lawrence, without the other demons to occupy the security personnel and the rest of the staff? “Damn it.”

“We’re on the same side here, Jett,” Vin said, his tone tense.

After muttering more curses, Jett said, “Lawrence’s lab is in the White Mountains region of New Hampshire, a no-stop-light, more-moose-than-people town called Dearly.”

“What kind of security and defenses are we walking into?”

“Lawrence has the financial resources for substantial security, but he is a civilian and his research is a one-man show, so we’re not looking at an impregnable military bunker. Fences, guards, cameras, dogs. Of course, I haven’t been back to Lawrence’s lab in nearly six years. He may have made improvements.”

“We’ll be prepared,” Vin said.

“Is this the part where you tell me to go back to the colony and wait?” Lex moved to stand directly in front of Vin. No way she’d let him leave her behind. “The forecast calls for a sunny day. I can drive and spare someone a migraine.”

Vin’s lips thinned, but he nodded. “I can’t argue with that. This is going to be a bitch of a drive.”

Headlights pierced the foliage. Jett walked next to Lexine out from under the trees onto the logging road. Three black SUVs pulled to a stop. Overhead, the sunrise smeared half the sky with pink and gold, the brightness already uncomfortable. The daylight glinted off specks of gold in Lexine’s pale copper irises. Her eyes were a fraction too big for her face—a beautiful feature on a female. Resisting the urge to stare, Jett pulled his sunglasses from his pocket.

“I’m driving.” Lexine shooed the driver out of the first vehicle. She got behind the wheel and adjusted the mirrors. Vin slid into the backseat.

Jett sat in the front passenger seat. “Do you drive in human traffic often? We need to travel the main roads to save time.”

“Often enough. It’s a good skill to have, so I practice.” She shifted into drive with a shaking hand and hit the gas far too hard.

The force of her sharp U-turn pressed Jett against the passenger door and the tires skidded in the dirt. “Are you sure you’re all right to drive?”

“I’m fine. If I sat around and waited, I’d lose my mind. I need to help. Besides, I know that’s what Jac would want me to do.”

“Okay.” Bravery, a quality even more captivating than her eyes. He cleared his throat and averted his gaze to the windows. The SUVs sported tinted glass, thank goodness, but it would still be difficult to focus on the road for a long period of time in the sunlight. He kept his sunglasses on.

They drove in silence. The logging road met the wider dirt road that connected the colony to the rest of the world. Twenty miles later, unseen Guardians opened the heavy gates that marked the border between Sanctuary’s land and Vermont state land. The scenery remained the same—nothing but trees.

Tears slid down Lexine’s cheek. Jett sighed and the air whistled past his fangs. “If it makes you feel any better, Jac didn’t suffer. Neither did the other children. No one survives wounds like that for more than a few seconds. And I killed the two individuals who wielded the knives against your brother and the children.”

“The only thing that’ll make me feel better is getting Bryce back and seeing Lawrence pay for those murders.”

“I doubt vengeance will truly make either of us feel better,” he muttered. “But vengeance we will have.”

…

Welcome to Dearly, New Hampshire, Established 1761.

Lexine’s fingers hurt. She relaxed her white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel and glanced at the clock. They’d been on the road for three hours. The late-morning sun gleamed overhead.

Vin’s men had called a half hour ago. Their search of the area around Sanctuary, where they’d lost the scent trail of the kidnapper’s car, had turned up no leads. No credible responses to the Amber Alert, either.

“Where to now?”

Jett, who’d spent most of the trip in silence, stretched and adjusted his sunglasses. His voice dripped acid. “Home sweet home. Take this left.”

“Here?” Lexine turned. “The Dearly Motel?”

“Yeah. Dearly is a small town, but a tourist trap. Law-rence’s people won’t notice three black SUVs with tinted windows at a place like this, but on the back roads closer to the lab, we’d draw immediate suspicion. We’ll walk the rest of the way through the woods behind the building.”

She parked near the few other cars, and the two other SUVs parked nearby. The motel, a single-story, L-shaped building, lacked the run-down face of similar establishments. White paint gleamed. Hanging pots full of mixed flowers hung every ten feet along the porch that ran the length of the building.