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"I’m still in Berlin It’s a zoo here… hold on"

She heard coround, a lot of voices, so The names Tayla and Kynan came with some curses, and then, finally, Val was back on the phone

"Serena?" His guttural rasp told her she was in trouble "Byzamoth has the necklace, yes? But does he have the charm?"

Oh, God

"Serena!"

"No," she whispered "Josh has it"

There was a curse and then a tense moment of silence before he said, "As furious as I aood news… Look, I need to go There’s so on, and it see to do with you I’ll call as soon as I can Just get to the address I send you The Aegis will have people there as soon as possible"

"They aren’t there now?"

"All cells within the region have been sent to Israel It’ll take tiet help to you In theand hard Finally, she heard the chair squeak again, heard his forceful exhale Kneas stroking his tidy beard "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, right now" She was a little nauseous, but there was no point in worrying Val evendo you think? Before, you know…"

"I don’t…" His voice hitched "I’ress rapidly now"

"Bottoed breath "I’d say you’re down to days, maybe hours"

Wraith was not onboard with this plan When Serena said they were going so bells had rung, and now as they drew closer to the place, on the outskirts of Alexandria’s Greek quarter, the clanging in his head could have been cootten out of the taxi several blocks back He’d wanted to approach from the rear, co watched Byzamoth still wanted her, couldn’t know that Wraith already had her charht about what could have happened, what the fallen angel still wanted, it made Wraith’s killer instinct shove its way to the front of the line ahead the rest of his baser instincts Weird, because usually nothing got ahead of sex

And he definitely wanted to knoas tipping off Byzaut the bastard and strangle him with his own intestines

They were nearly there when Serena began to wheeze badly enough for Wraith to step off the sidewalk and draw her into the shade of a lush palm Pink splotches colored her cheeks and shadows had tinted the crescents beneath her eyes, but still, she smiled

"Do you need to rest?"

"It’s the dust in the air It’s nothing"

Her lie irked him He wanted her to be able to lean on hiet her somewhere safe, where they were less exposed and she could rest

They arrived at a nondescript house set between other, equally nondescript houses But right away it becae about this place No one asn’t military special forces, a thief, or Wraith, would notice the well-concealed alarm trip wire that had been set into the door andframes The extra thick walls that Wraith would bet had been reinforced The fla that had been sprayed on the walls and roof Or the "decorative" slits that had been cut into the plaster below the roof overhang and that were the perfect size to cradle the barrel of a rifle

When he crouched next to an ornamental rock at one corner of the property line, he noticed tiny protective symbols carved into it

"I don’t like this," he said as he straightened to his full height "So’s off"

"Val wouldn’t send me someplace unsafe"

It definitely wasn’t unsafe Too safe, was ain, and he set aside his paranoia Nothing was too safe for Serena Still, he kept a watchful eye on their surroundings, taking note of the vehicles, the houses, even the fking birds, as he spoke "You’re sick We need to get you inside"

"My throat is dry That’s all"

Wraith swung around, stared at her through the ah too h that he wanted to bundle her up and take her to UG, where he knew he could keep her safe From Byzamoth, at least Her illness was a beast he didn’t kno to fight

"I know" She hugged herself Shifted her weight He hated that he’dlove and pretending she hadn’t cohter, and he was in kill-the-threat mode

Especially since the threat was now to Serena

He eyed the building "What did he say about this house?"

She pulled back a decorative shutter Behind the wooden flap was aShe pushed some numbers on the keypad and retrieved a key "He said it’s warded against vale" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>