Chapter 52

Katya woke to Anya"s frightened screams echoing through the walls. She grabbed her gun, charged into the hallway, and followed the voices coming from Anya"s room. Trajan was crouched on the ground next to a massive golden dingo. There was no sign of Anya.

"Trajan, who the hell is that?" Katya pointed her gun at the creature.

It let out a low, threatening growl. It was answered by the large black wolf which moved in from behind her.

"Easy, Katya. He"s a friend," Trajan said. He was toying with a small piece of torn red material while studying a trail of blood along the carpet. Something feral passed over his normally placid face, and Katya"s hand tightened instinctively on her gun. She had never seen him so angry.

"Where"s Anya?" she demanded.

"They have taken her," Yvan said, coming through the doorway, his eyes burning like flames. "How did they get past your security systems to begin with?"

Izrayl let out a small whine when he sniffed the blood trail.

Trajan"s voice betrayed no emotion. "I don"t know."

"Settle down, Yvan. Blaming others won"t help get her back," Katya said before turning to Izrayl. "What can you smell?"

Izrayl continued to track around the room before he shifted back. "It"s strange. There isn"t much of a scent. It just smells like death, and it"s dark." He shook his head. "It"s unlike anything I have encountered before. It is like…despair."

Katya passed him a towel from Anya"s bathroom. "Cover up."

"I could say the same to you," he retorted, eyeing her singlet and black panties. The big golden dingo shifted into a strapping golden man.

"I should"ve bought another towel," Katya said, keeping her eyes focused firmly on his face.

"That"s okay, love. I"m not shy," the stranger said with a big smile. "Nice to see you again, Izrayl."

"You too, Hamish." Izrayl shook his hand.

Trajan looked up from the smashed glass of the window. He ran his fingertips along the sill.

"So what the hell are you? Some kind of were-dingo?" Katya asked.

Hamish shrugged. "I"m just plain old cursed."

"Good to know." Katya rubbed at her scar on her brow, a headache already brewing. "I"m going to ring Isabelle and tell her to get her ass over here to help us. She might be able to pick up something from the room that we can"t."

Isabelle arrivedat Trajan"s within the hour. Katya was waiting for her in a pair of faded jeans and a shirt, looking wired and ready to shoot something.

"Morning, Belle. Welcome to my nightmare," she greeted before leading her to the lounge room where everyone had gathered.

Trajan stood with Izrayl and the Twins while Yvan was filling Cerise in on what had happened. Isabelle"s eyes found a tall man standing in the shadows. He leaned forward into the light, and her world tilted on its axis. It can"t be.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" she demanded, her shock robbing her of her manners. The room fell silent.

Hamish"s mouth opened and closed a few times before his face flushed in anger.

"I could say the same to you. You"re the one who fucking disappeared off the face of the earth." Hamish was moving in on her quickly. "I thought you were dead. You"re human!"

"Not anymore," she said, stepping backward so he wasn"t looming over her.

"What"s going on?" Trajan asked. "You are both being incredibly rude to each other."

"This is Belle Holland," Hamish all but spat at her.

She raised her chin and smiled. "Isabelle Blackwood, actually," she replied.

"Just what we need," Trajan muttered.

"You didn"t even tell me your real name? Or that you"re a supe?" Hamish demanded. "You are a piece of work, woman."

Isabelle looked at the confused faces around her and was suddenly aware that they were making a scene. It went against her British sensibilities so she said coolly, "Now"s not the time for this fight, Hamish."

Hamish growled. "This conversation isn"t over."

"This conversation hasn"t even begun, but we will do it in private," Isabelle snapped. She turned away from him and looked pointedly at Izrayl. "You said something about death and despair?"

"It"s close to that. I can"t describe the scent any better. I"m sorry," Izrayl replied.

"It"s just all good news tonight. If I can have a look in Anya"s room, I might be able to get a clearer picture of what happened."

"Show her, please," Trajan said. He was calm on the outside, but Isabelle could feel the anger pouring off him.

Katya took Isabelle quickly to the trashed room, and she felt the presence of the thing that had been there as soon as she stepped inside. Her hand reflectively went to the rosary in her pocket.

Get it together, it"s gone.

"Definitely incorporeal," Isabelle said as she touched the broken window and shuddered. "Fuck. You won"t find any prints or a trail. I think a Nehemoth took her."

"I thought Nehemoth were just some Jewish fable," Katya whispered.

"They exist. Although I"ve never gone up against one."

"But how can a ghost be strong enough to not only break in, but carry away a woman?" Katya asked.

"Nehemoth aren"t technically ghosts. They could be classed as a demon if you wanted to get down to the nitty-gritty, but this one was definitely under someone"s control."

Katya frowned. "How can you tell?"

"They can only be summoned by a powerful magic-user. They are hard to control, so usually, only someone strong can be its master. If Vasilli has enough power to control one, we are in deeper trouble than what I initially thought."

"Do you know of any other buildings that belong to the Darkness in the city that they might be holding Anya in?" Katya asked.

Isabelle thought about all the research she had on her laptop. "I have found three that could be used for their operations. After what we found a few nights ago, I know they will still be in the city somewhere. Just because they had temporarily abandoned that building doesn"t mean they don"t have another lab set up elsewhere."

"We"ll have to attack all of them," Katya replied, starting to pace. "It will be the only way to find her in time and not alert the others that we are coming. I don"t think they will kill her, but she"ll be made to suffer."

"I would hate to see what that thanatos would do if they harm her," Isabelle commented.

"You"re not wrong." Katya turned to her suddenly, a grin on her face. "So what"s going on with you and Hamish?"

"Our paths crossed a long time ago."

"Care to elaborate?" Katya asked, her smile crooked and cheeky.

Isabelle didn"t smile back. "I tried to kill him."