17. The Second Sortie

Simeon was waiting for him, standing beside Batiste as always. Angel spared no glance nor thought for the city master, slipping into Simeon's embrace with the ease of long practice.

Impossibly strong arms, the scent of pine trees and blood. Not at all off-putting—it was as familiar as his own heartbeat.

Simeon cupped his jaw and tipped back his head, and Angel sighed into the kiss, eyes falling shut. Happy to be kissed and uncaring of his audience, Angel let himself be delicately mauled, big hands traveling around his waist to clutch his hips, fingers digging into the waist of his pants. A hint of claws made Angel shiver in delight. Simeon kissed like he was going to eat Angel whole, without reservation or inhibition, and Angel wanted to know what had his mate so revved up and ready to devour him.

So he could do it again later.

Simeon let him go so he could breathe, and Angel licked his lips and smiled up at his mate. "What was that for?"

Simeon's emerald eyes glowed a bit, showing his aroused state. "We had to oversee feeding today with some fledglings. It left us…" Simeon trailed off.

Angel finished the thought. "Ravenous?"

Simeon hummed in agreement, teasing Angel's bottom lip with a fingertip talon, longer than normal.

Movement in his periphery had him looking, and Isaac was getting the same enthusiastic greeting from his mate. Angel winced and looked away, not wanting to see his brother engaged in anything sexual under any circumstances. "Oh gawds, not here."

Simeon chuckled and put an arm around Angel's shoulders, guiding him back to the arch where everyone was waiting on the other side. Angel snuggled into Simeon as they walked. "Why were you overseeing feeding? I thought the latest crop of fledglings were safe to feed on their own a while ago?"

Simeon shook his head and grimaced. "Their usual donors are either missing or ghosted them. Several donors, all around the same twenty-four hour period. Too many to be a coincidence. The fledglings were hungry, but foolishly waited several days before coming to me with the problem."

"Fuck, they could've killed people if they lost control. Are they alright now?"

"Yes," Simeon answered. "I helped them feed and Ellora is watching them personally for the next day or so until the unrest calms. Several experienced, older donors volunteered to take over their feeding until they found replacements for the missing donors."

"That's good. I'm glad. That could've ended so badly."

"Truly, mo ghra."

They went through the freestanding arch and returned to the zombie pit, where Eroch and Cian were occupied by the teeming horde below, with Rory and Daniel several feet away, absorbed in each other.

They went to the edge and looked down. Simeon stiffened, and a low hiss escaped his mate.

His mate had not exaggerated. There was a zombie pit in the sidhe temple. Well, not the temple—the underhill, as his ancestors would have called it. His people knew of the grand worlds within worlds that the High Court Sidhe controlled, but he had never seen it with his own eyes. When he faced and fought Cian in the mound over a year prior, he had assumed the temple to be a singular structure, underground with a city built atop it, immovable and permanent. Learning that Cian could go anywhere he pleased in the world was enlightening and nerve-wracking.

He was never more thankful that Rory's resurrection was successful and that it restored Cian to his sanity—a mad sidhe with a mound at his beck and call was terrifying, and the fact that Cian had been obsessed with healing Rory and not destroying the planet was as close to a miracle as Simeon ever saw with his immortal eyes.

The fact that the formerly mad sidhe had a zombie pit paled in comparison to the power he already wielded.

The writhing mass of the dead stank, and his sensitive nose objected, but he was used to ignoring unpleasant scents so he did his best not to show his discomfort at the stench. Angel leaned into his side, body warm, arm around Simeon's waist, and he buried his nose in soft strands of dark hair, breathing in the scent of his mate to banish the stink.

There was little Simeon could say to describe the undead mass at their feet.

"Mo ghra, this is an army."

"I know."

"In the wrong hands, a weapon of great devastation."

"That's why I'm going to destroy it. Cian has asked me to, and I'll do it gladly."

"How does he have this?" Simeon waved a hand to encompass the pit and the hundreds of creatures within.

"The previous owner of the mound was a collector of dead things."

That shocked Simeon. "A sidhe who collected dead things? I've never heard of such a thing."

"I have a feeling it was a long time ago. I think Cian has been the owner for centuries."

"My Master has known them for nearly two thousand years; they may have had it for that long, or longer." Simeon paused. "He never mentioned it to me, but then he does not share secrets belonging to others, not even with me."

"Does that bother you?"

"No. I respect his choices. There was no reason for me to know."

"I would have told you if the twins had not bound me to secrecy, my Elder." Batiste said from a few paces behind them. Simeon turned to his Master.

"I know. I am not bothered by the secrets," Simeon said. "Secrets have kept us alive, and helped keep others alive, too."

"Secrets are a vampire's currency in many ways." Batiste gave him a wry smile. "You've guarded your fair share of mine these last few hundred years."

Simeon nodded once to Batiste to acknowledge the compliment.

"Come, the wee beastie wishes to play," Cian called, drawing their attention.

"And how are we doing this safely? I don't want anyone hurt," Angel asked Cian, hands on his hips.

"Little Trouble shall pick a handful of opponents, and I will provide a ramp for those chosen few to come up one at a time. If you'll assist, necromancer, you can hold back the horde and call forth the targets."

"Alright," Angel agreed, though he sounded less than enthused. "If this gets dangerous at any point I am destroying them, no arguing." That last bit was to Eroch, who flicked his long tail and nodded once.

"Pick, Little Trouble. Not the giant lizard—that one is the last of its kind and I'd like to keep it. Any others are fine."

Eroch leaned over the edge, all four feet anchoring him to the top, and he seemed to thoroughly examine all the choices.

Watching Eroch destroy zombies was rather fun. Eroch might have been drawing on Angel's powers to achieve his current, larger size, but his wings were breakable, as was his neck. And Angel worried a bit despite the fun factor. Not that he was going to admit his enjoyment to anyone. Maybe Simeon, later. When they were alone.

Eroch, giant as the T-Rex in the pit, pounced on a giant creature whose name escaped Angel's limited knowledge of ancient creatures. It resembled a mammoth, but wasn't—its tusks too small, and its trunk too short—but it was more intact than the mammoth zombie had been, and it gave as good as it got, wrestling with Eroch across the ground beside the pit.

Angel paid close attention to the combatants—Eroch's hide was impenetrable, and the zombie had not been a predator when alive, but Eroch could get hurt if he fell into the pit. Plus, Angel had never destroyed naturally created zombies before—while he could see how to do it, he'd never done it before and it made him a bit nervous. He knew the theory behind their creation—a mass extinction event or a mass casualty event released colossal amounts of death magic at once. It was too much to disperse naturally, and some of the death magics resettled into the corpses left behind, making them rise as zombies. There were no spells to remove—no servantus curse—but the power was there, and any necromancer could rip it free and drop the natural zombies where they stood.

In theory.

Eroch roared and latched onto the back of the skull of his opponent, both shaking the ground as they fought, and with his jaws locked, Eroch released a bout of flame that charred the rear of the creature's skull to ash, dropping it instantly. Eroch spit it out, mantling his wings high, tail whipping, and he roared his victory to the hidden sky above them.

The death magic animating the creature released, and Angel, curious, pulled it to him. It was ancient energy, as old as the energies that fueled the sentient undead, and Angel funneled it into himself, breathing in sharply at the influx of fresh magics. It felt familiar and yet new at the same time, a dichotomy that made him unsteady for a heartbeat or two. Simeon braced him, and he smiled in thanks to his mate.

"What did you do?" Simeon asked as Eroch cavorted about his fallen opponent, blowing flames into the air over his head, flapping his wings and making a racket of joy and excitement.

"I absorbed the magic released when Eroch killed it for good." Angel thought about it. "It's ancient magic, formed thousands of years ago, and it…almost tastes different. It's not harmful—just newish. Still death magic."

"Ahh," Simeon replied. "I was slightly worried. You looked alarmed."

"I'm good, I promise."

Cian approached Eroch and he stopped his celebrations. "Pick your next opponent, Little Trouble."

Angel's phone rang at that moment, and he was still amazed he had a signal in the mound to begin with—it was Milly calling.

"Milly? We're in the temple…"

"Angel!" Milly gasped out over the line. "The Council tried nabbing me off the street. I went shopping, but they stopped my car about a block from my townhouse and tried arresting me."

"Where are you?" Angel asked, already turning to the archway that led back to the exit of the mound. The others, most able to hear Milly's side of the conversation, followed him as he headed away from the pit.

"I made it back to the townhouse on foot, but I had to fight my way out."

"Are you hurt?" Angel asked even as he bolted through the arch, running across the main temple to the final arch that exited the mound. He had to get to Milly's place. Angel began shouting orders over his shoulder as he ran.

"A bit banged up. They pulled me out of the car."

"We're coming."

He stepped through the archway into Milly's townhouse. She was leaning on the arched threshold to her living room, a scrape across one cheekbone, hair pulled from the usual glamorous coif she sported daily, and her clothes, usually pristine and in immaculate condition, were torn and dirty.

She was missing one of her heels, too.

"Angel!" He caught her in a huge hug, clutching her to him. She shook, with adrenaline and anger based on the fire in her eyes.

"I was outnumbered, but I took out at least three of the bastards. Left their bodies smoking on the sidewalk and I ran back home as fast as I could."

"Do you want me to get Rory over here to heal you now?" The others had to remain behind, as Milly's house was not warded for sunlight protections, but Rory had volunteered to come help Milly. However, she had vetoed that while still discussing the plan with Angel over the phone.

"No, keep him there, my house is only so big and I need to pack. Nothing is broken, it's mostly bruises and scrapes."

"Thank Hecate you're a badass," Angel murmured, and he shifted them both to the side so the other practitioners among them could come through—a sad Eroch was under strict orders to stay with Cian, who remained back at the Mansion with the young dragon.

Rael stepped through, wide-eyed and a bit nervous, but he nodded once to Milly. Angel had found him in the foyer of the Mansion, looking to see where they had all gone after he set up the garden for the picnic—which they had canceled to come to assist Milly. "Ma'am, I'm here to help you pack."

"Oh, you're a sweet young man," Milly sighed. "Get the brown leather bags in my walk-in. Second door on the right up the stairs. I'll be up shortly."

Rael nodded again and sprinted up the curving stairs in the foyer of the townhouse. Isaac and Daniel were the next through, both young men tackling Milly in a gentle hug, and Angel let her go so they could fuss over her.

He went to the front door, and saw to his relief that the property shields and wards were fully activated and running. No sign of attempts to bypass them, but Angel looked out the small glass panels set in the door and saw a black car parked out on the street, idling. He couldn't see how many people were in there through the tinted windows, but he was going to assume at least four people. He had no angle to see down the block, so the enforcers she took out could've gotten up or received help, so they were looking at probably another three enforcers on the street, or reinforcements coming.

Milly freed herself from the boys and headed up the stairs to her bedroom, calling for Rael as she went.

"Isaac, check the living room, eye the street for Council minions. Daniel, stay in the townhouse, but check the kitchen and the garden for anyone lurking in the rear. I'm going to set our surprise for the Council."

"Got it," Daniel said, and both young men sprinted for their respective locations without hesitation.

Angel went down the hall a bit, near to the center of the townhouse, and closed his eyes. In the dismantling of the kinetic bombs, Cian had inadvertently shown Angel how to reverse engineer them—and he had his own flair to add to the bomb.

He knelt and touched the wall down near the floor, focusing. Placing the tiny shields necessary to encapsulate the pestilence curse was tricky—too thin, and the others would be at risk; too thick, and the shields would fail to drop at the right time.

About the size of a softball, the shielded pestilence curse glowed a faint hellfire green, and he pushed it through the wall so only a hint of the shield sphere was visible. He fed it power, just enough to last less than an hour before the shield disintegrated, releasing the pestilence curse.

He estimated it would be less than an hour until the Council managed to force their way through the wards into the townhouse. Milly's wards were exceptional, but over a dozen sorcerers working in concert were more than enough to bring them down. In their frustration at not being able to find Milly, he guessed they would remain to tear apart the house looking for clues, and since Angel was not expected to be present, he doubted they would be on the lookout for death magics.

He finished the trap and stood carefully, backing away. "Daniel, I set the trap in the wall of the hallway. It's shielded, so you'll be safe if you don't touch the walls." Angel called loudly enough for his former apprentice to hear him from his post in the rear of the house.

"I can see it from here, no worries!" Daniel called back, confident.

"Good! Get ready to leave soon!"

Milly's townhouse was blessed with windows and skylights, and not safe for vampires, so Angel texted Simeon an update as he took the stairs three at a time.

He reached Milly's bedroom suite just as Rael was leaving, carrying a large suitcase. "Take it to the Mansion then come back for the rest. Ask Rory to be on standby to heal Milly once she's done."

Milly was not one to brush off injuries—she was bruised and scraped up, but not too badly injured. She took on at least five enforcers and got away.

"Yes, sir," Rael said and ran down the stairs with the suitcase.

Milly was changing, pulling on a pair of exercise leggings and a slouchy tee, and she shoved her feet into a pair of running shoes. Her hair was up in a high ponytail off her neck, and Angel winced at the growing bruise on her cheek and the side of her face, and what looked like a handprint on her neck.

"Did someone grab your neck?" Angel asked, the question bursting out of him.

"Yes, and I killed him for it," Milly declared. "Blasted a hole through his chest, the bastard."

"Oh, good," Angel said, heart beating quickly, trying to calm down the sudden burst of rage he felt at seeing the marks on his best friend. "Ready?"

"In a moment," she replied, and she picked up two more bags, one of which Angel took immediately. "Alright, let's get out of here."

Angel followed as she led him out of the bedroom and back downstairs. Isaac and Daniel met them in the foyer.

"There's at least two more cars with enforcers out there; I can't see how many, and I was able to hear an ambulance come close. Maybe for the enforcers Milly took out." Isaac said.

"And I sensed a handful of practitioners in the back alley beyond the fence. Two sorcerers included." Daniel informed them. "I think they're gonna try to bust through the wards."

"If there's enough of them they might be able to, but I've no intention of being here for it," Milly declared. "This is just a house, and I have no desire to hide behind these walls while the Council pens me in."

"I set a welcome gift in the hallway for them, should go off by the time they get inside." Angel shared. "Let's get out of here."

Rael stepped back through the archway, and saw the small group of them waiting. "Mr. Brennan is waiting for you, ma'am."

"Ma'am, how delightful," Milly said with a sharp smile. "Angel, I like this one."

Daniel made a face at Milly, who laughed.

"Alright, let's get out of here." Angel ushered his apprentice, best friend, and family back through the archway.

Cian waited in the library, Eroch snoozing on a couch, exhausted from his brief hunting experience. The others moved out of the way, and Angel handed Milly's bag to Isaac as Rael and the others helped Milly carry her bags to a guest room upstairs.

"Cian, I need the archway in Milly's home removed in case the enforcers make it into the townhouse before the bomb I made goes off."

Cian nodded. All he did was tilt his head to the side, close his eyes a moment, then open them again— "Done. The arch is gone. No one can find their way from her home to the temple now."

"Thank you. Rory?" Angel asked.

"Meeting Dame Fontaine upstairs in her new room. She will be just fine."

Simeon entered the library just then, and Angel went straight to his mate, strong arms wrapping around him, helping to calm his racing heart.

He almost lost Milly. If she weren't so formidable she'd be dead or under arrest. Likely dead. The Council was willing to kill for what they wanted. And Angel was not losing anyone else, not ever again.