Darkness Unmasked (Dark Angels 5)

“If I had the time, I’d be offended by that statement.”

“It can hardly offend when it is the truth.”

“Only as you see it. Meet you back home.” I dropped a quick kiss on his lips, then slung my handbag over my shoulder and called to the Aedh. She came in a rush, and within a heartbeat I was trailing after the taxi.

We followed Hoddle Street, went under the Swan Street rail overpass, then followed Punt Road for several miles until the taxi turned left into Greville Road and stopped at a redbrick and concrete house that looked totally alien among all the more traditional terraces.

I waited until Genevieve had stepped inside and slipped in after her. A quick look around her house didn’t reveal anything out of the ordinary. It was neat and obviously well lived in, with plenty of clothes in the wardrobe and little dust on the furniture. I briefly wondered how long she’d been away, because surely if it had been any length of time, there would have been dust. And if she’d had the time to dust, why wouldn’t she have collected her mail?

She dumped her coat and bag on her bed, checked her answering machine, then headed into the bathroom. I waited until she’d filled her bath and climbed in before I gave up and retreated.

“Anything?” Azriel grabbed my arm as I reappeared in my bedroom, steadying me.

I shook my head, gulping down air as dizziness swept me and my stomach briefly rose. But this time, there was no my-head-is-going-to-explode pain accompanying the shift back to flesh form, and though my legs felt weak, they didn’t collapse underneath me. Although no doubt Azriel’s grip had something to do with that.>His nod was decidedly regal; then he offered me his arm and said, “As you wish.”

I slipped my arm through his and we walked down to the park, where I found a bench seat near the fountain and had my snack, listening to the dance of water and the songs of the birds in the trees. It was, I thought, another one of those rather pleasant—almost ordinary—moments to treasure in a life gone crazy.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last. Just as I tossed the empty Coke can into the nearby bin, my phone rang. I dug it out of my handbag and hit the vid-phone’s ANSWER button.

“Stane,” I said. “How’d the date go?”

“Ah, the date,” he said, a somewhat bemused expression on his face. “You could say it wasn’t what I expected.”

“Meaning it was worse, or better?”

“Better is something of an understatement.”

I smiled. “So your mother wasn’t so far off the mark when she arranged this blind date?”

“Nope. Holly Green is not only pretty, but she’s a gamer.” He sighed. “I think I’m in love.”

“You haven’t invited her around to your place yet. She might yet be a clean freak.”

“No one who is a gamer can be a clean freak. The two are totally incompatible.”

My grin grew. The lone wolf had been snagged, and bad. “I take it you’ll be seeing her again—sans mothers this time?”

“Oh, hell yeah.”

I laughed. “Is that the only reason you’re ringing? To boast about your hot date?”

“Uh, no.” He composed himself, his expression becoming a touch more serious. “Got a hit on that storage locker. Someone just came out of it.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know yet. I’m running a scan, but nothing has come up yet.” He disappeared briefly as he scooted from one screen to another. “I just sent you a picture. It’s a woman, so it might be Genevieve Sands.”

“How long ago did she actually leave?”

He hesitated. “Just going out through a side door now.”

“Let me know the minute anyone else enters or exits. And thanks, Stane.”

“No probs.”

As I hung up, my phone chimed, telling me a message had been received. I pulled up the pic, then glanced at Azriel. “You want to take us there?”

He nodded and did so, depositing us again in the side parking lot near all the shrubs. I swung around, but didn’t immediately see anyone matching the image on the phone. Then I spotted the tail end of a white overcoat disappearing around the Hoddle Street corner and raced after her.