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Chapter 1

The office phone rang with a sharpness that jolted ht, peeled a ard bit of paper from my nose, and stared at the phone blankly Then the caller ID registered and I groaned The call was coe of the Directorate of Other Races, but was a leading h vampire council, too She was also the very last person in this world--or the next--who I wanted to hear froiven that she was now nore

I hit the vid-phone’s ANSWER button and said in a less-than-polite voice, "What?"

She paused, and soreen of her eyes A darkness that spoke of anger But all she said was, "I have a task for you"

A curse rose in ed to leash it "What sort of task?"

But even as I asked the question, I knew There was only one reason for her to be ringing me, and that was to track down an escapee from hell She had not only the Directorate at her coh council’s elite killing force--and they dealt with all manner of murderers and madmen on an everyday basis

I even had one followingh on her list of good traits

Not that I think she had all that ood traits

"A close friend of ht" Her voice held very little emotion, and she was scarier because of it "I want you to investigate"

Hunter had friends Iine that I scrubbed a hand across my eyes and said so for you, the reality is the Directorate is far better equipped to handle this sort of murderer"

"The Directorate hasn’t your experience with the denizens of hell," she snapped "Nor do they have a reaper at their beck and call"

So I’d been right--it was an escapee frouess it was ht have becoates to heaven and hell, but the only one I’d ed to find so far had alate to hell had been perer dereat numbers--not yet--but that was thanks only to the fact that the reiven the choice, I’d rather not find the other keys After all, if no one knehere they were, then they couldn’t be used to either perates But it wasn’t like I had a choice, not anymore It was either find theiven to ue Aedh priests who’d helped create the keys, and also thethem stolen--watch my friends die

"Azriel isn’t at my beck and call," I said, unable to hide the annoyance in my voice "He just wants the keys, the same as you and the council"

Not to odda the keys"

I snorted "Since when?"

That darkness in her eyes got stronger "Since I walked into my lover’s house and discovered his corpse"

I stared at her for alittle in the way of true emotion in either her expression or her voice And yet her need for revenge, to rend and tear, was so strong that even through the vid-phone I could alht with a shiver, was not so I ever wanted ai it wasn’t sensible, I couldn’t help saying, "I’ree with that assessment"

I think if she could have jumped down the phone line and throttled me, she would have As it was, she bared her teeth, her canines elongating just a little, and said in a soft voice, "You should not be worried about what the rest of the council is thinking right now"

The only ti about the rest of the council hen she achieved her goal of supre a threat to h to actually co for your friend’s killer is going to steal precious time away from the search for--"

"And," she cut in coolly, "just where, exactly, is your search for the keys?"

Nowhere, that here My father iventhose was another ured it was sole, but given that particular region encompassed more than nine thousand square kilometers of land, that left us with a vast area to explore It was fucking frustrating, but all Azriel and I could do was keep on searching and hope that sooner or later fate gave us a goddamn break

"It’s probably in the same place as your search for my mother’s killer"

The retted theonize, and yet it was her daree to work for her and the council in the first place And while I’d kept ain, she hadn’t