As Shadows Fade (The Gardella Vampire Hunters 5)

Of course, Sebastian Vioget had run a clean and well-ordered pub, so that was no surprise.

The back of her neck did not feel cold, nor did she smell anything like demons lingering above or below the environment’s normal stench. She sensed nothing to fear, no trap, nothing out of the ordinary.

Victoria didn’t bother to knock. She kicked at the door, and it splintered easily. George could have done it himself. She glanced at his round face and pudgy gloved hands. Perhaps.

He lingered again, but she snagged him by the arm and yanked him behind as she ducked through the door. Inside, the small space looked just as miserable as its exterior suggested, with broken crates and sparse furniture in shambles. Dark, dank… and empty.

Before Victoria could turn to George to demand an explanation, he shrugged off her grip and walked to the center of the room. Turning around in a circle, looking about him in dismay, he said, “They’re gone!”

Eight

Wherein a Frothy Pink Confection Leaves Little to the Imagination

“It’s worse than we thought, isn’t it?” Victoria asked as soon as she saw Wayren’s face. She’d been summoned to her presence the moment she walked in the door of the town house. It was already late in the afternoon the day after they’d rescued Wayren from the cemetery.

So many things had happened since Victoria had left for the dinner dance in her red dress, less than twenty-four hours earlier.

The older woman nodded and gestured for Victoria to sit. “The fact that those demons had not only the power, but the insolence, to attack me… It has weighed heavily on my mind since yesterday. ”

Victoria sat, regarding the taut expression on Wayren’s face. Her aura of serenity faltered, yet strength glowed in her eyes. Whatever evil they faced, it would not be simple or weak.

Not for the first time, Victoria acutely felt the loss of her aunt Eustacia, and simultaneously, a wave of relief and affection for the wise, peaceful woman in front of her.

Wayren seemed to understand, and she reached for Victoria as she often did, closing her fingers over her wrist. As always, tranquillity seeped into her and the leaping of her nerves settled. We’ll do this together.

“What have you learned?” she asked, slipping away from Wayren’s grip, unwilling to cause the woman further weariness.

“As you have remarked, the demonic activity you experienced at the cemetery is unusual, and carries a malevolence that has not often been experienced on this earth. Those demons were from true fallen angels, Victoria. Not merely creatures that have been imbued with the spirit of evil, as Akvan-and other demons you’ve previously faced. The fallen angels have great power, and are not so simpleminded as those of Akvan’s ilk. ”

Wayren shifted in her chair to reach toward her ever-present satchel. “It’s my belief,” she said, pulling a crackling parchment tube from the depths of the bag, “that these demons are escaping through the Midiverse Portal. ” She slipped square glasses on and unrolled the brown paper.

“The Midiverse Portal?” Victoria repeated. “Portal… like an entrance?” She frowned, yet that uneasy feeling continued to build inside. This was so different from anything she’d encountered. She felt rather like she had when she first began hunting vampires: nervous, unsettled… yet determined. “From where?”

Wayren nodded. “Yes, indeed. ” She settled in her seat, her slender hands moving as she continued. “An entrance from Hell, Victoria. These demons once were angels, and roamed freely throughout the earth and heavens. When they fell from divine grace, and decided to follow Lucifer, they were banished from Heaven and Earth and sent to Hell with their new master. They cannot move easily onto this earth. They can only gain access through certain passages. Or portals. They’ve all been sealed for millennia, but it seems as though one has been opened. Or at least, the seal is broken. ”

“Fallen angels,” Victoria repeated. “Why would they want to harm you?” But even as she spoke, a little shiver traveled up her spine.

“Because they know me. Because they know I am here to help you. And because once, countless aeons ago, I knew them. ” She nodded at the question in Victoria’s face. “Because they fell… and I did not. ”

Because she didn’t fall …?

Prickles exploded over her shoulders as Victoria looked at Wayren, aware of the shock and sudden comprehension that must be washing over her face. That simple statement explained so much about this woman, who never seemed to age. Who seemed to be able to be anywhere she was needed, whenever she wanted to be. Who knew so much about everything.

And how she could fit so blasted many books in a satchel that was too small to hold them.

Victoria wondered absurdly why an angel would wear reading glasses.

Wayren merely smiled at her, as if she knew what she was thinking, and replied, “We’re not perfect either. ”

At that moment, the door to the parlor opened, and Max came in. Victoria couldn’t help but notice the weariness in his demeanor and the strain around his eyes. Doing the work of a Venator, without the blessing of a vis bulla , took a great to

ll on a man.

She wondered if he knew that Wayren was an angel; then she realized. Of course he did. It seemed as if Max knew everything.

He probably assumed she knew.

Max flashed a glance at her, but said nothing. Instead, he took a seat near the cabinet that housed the Gardella Bible. “Wayren,” he said by way of greeting.