“And,” Illium said, “if we are going to send our small kitten into Michaela’s territory, what better time than when Her Beauteousness is absent?”
“It’s possible that Michaela parted ways with the Cadre,” Dmitri pointed out.
Illium shook his head. “No, I can’t see it. Michaela would never permit such a large gathering of power to occur without her.”
Looking back over her shoulder, Honor met Dmitri’s eyes. No words passed between them, but the leader of the Seven put his hand on his wife’s shoulder. “If you leave now”—his gaze catching both Holly and Venom—“you can probably beat Michaela back to her territory.”
Adrenaline punched through Venom’s blood, but the leader of the Seven wasn’t finished. “You’ve both got reckless streaks,” he said bluntly. “But this is an archangel we’re talking about—you could be the two most powerful vampires in the universe and you couldn’t take her down. Don’t be stupid.” An order. “And don’t try to deal with something that you simply can’t.”
“Reckless doesn’t mean suicidal,” Venom said to the other man. “As you’d know.”
Dmitri’s smile was that of the man who’d raced them through the streets of Manhattan. “Stay under the radar. We don’t want to incite a political incident.” A pause before he added, “If she comes to harm, Venom, I’ll take it out on you.”
Beside Venom, Holly scowled, but Venom nodded.
• • •
Holly couldn’t believe it. She hadn’t imagined the entire conversation with Dmitri. She was actually on a high-speed jet that was about to land in Michaela’s territory. The pilots had gone in the direction she pointed, and not eased up on their speed until Holly told them they were nearly at the point to which she felt drawn.
Not Budapest after all, but the mountain range prior to it. Where Michaela had a hidden and far more private stronghold than her stately showpiece of a palace on the Danube.
The knowledge was an eager, dark whisper in her head.
Glancing at Venom while trying not to listen to the words spoken by that mad voice, she said, “How did you find a landing strip so close to Michaela’s stronghold?”
“We didn’t.” Venom rose from his seat. “The plane is going to keep going on a path that leads to an international airport. Officially, they’re here to pick up an artist from Raphael’s territory, a woman who was permitted to come to Michaela’s territory to study under a master.”
“Then how are we—” Holly stared at the backpacklike thing he held up with a wicked grin. “Is that a parachute?”
“I hope so, kitty. Or we’ll have a long fall.”
“Not funny.” She went and stared some more at the thing. “No, seriously?”
“Naasir gave me the idea.” Another grin, his eyes brilliant and unshielded. He was dressed in camouflage green cargo pants and a black T-shirt, along with combat boots; it was the most casual she’d ever seen him outside the training ring.
It was ridiculous how good he looked. Wild.
Then he put on the parachute backpack and did up the straps across his chest.
“Where’s mine?” Holly put her hands on her hips and began to tap her boot-clad foot. “If you’re planning to leave me here, I’ll deck you.”
“Do you know how to jump out of a plane?”
“Well . . . no.” She scowled at him when he pulled out another harness.
“Come on, then, Hollyberry.” That grin just kept digging its way further and further under her skin. “Let’s get you ready.”
Ten minutes after that dangerous invitation, Holly found herself jumping out into the ink-black skies above the lightless dark of the uninhabited land below, while harnessed to an insane vampire who laughed when they tumbled out into the cold air. “Oh my God!” She’d always wondered what it would be like to fly.
They raced through the air, Venom having told her how to hold her body during each phase of the jump. He gave the countdown in her ear. “Brace for the tug,” he said just before he opened the chute and they swung up a little before gliding back down through the silken darkness. When Holly looked up, she couldn’t see the parachute canopy except as a patch of darker blackness against black.
It made sense now that Venom had asked her to dress in black, and to wear long sleeves. His skin tone blended better than hers.
They hit the ground with a smoothness she hadn’t expected. She was unclasped seconds later, Venom pulling in the chute with a speed that told her this was far from his first jump. She watched the deathly quiet of the landscape around them while he finished. It looked like they’d landed on top of a small and flat mountaintop.
The landing area wasn’t that large, so she had no idea how Venom had pinpointed it in the dark.
Those beautiful eyes.
The plateau proved to drop off into a steep gorge about thirty feet to the south. When Holly looked down in the hope of spotting their supply packs, which had been dropped behind them, she had the sense of dense foliage, the same as grew in every other direction surrounding their landing spot.
No visible sign of the packs.
When she turned to look back at Venom, she belatedly realized that this “plateau” was just a ledge that jutted out from a much larger mountain. And she had the feeling they were going up. “I can’t see the packs down there.” Taking out the little tracking device Venom had given her on the plane, she switched it on.
Two quiet, blinking dots appeared on the grid.
Holly blew out a relieved breath. “Both are higher up on the mountain.”
“Good. We can get them on the way.” Venom hid the chute under a bramble of some kind, ignoring the resulting bloody scrapes on his arms. “Do you feel anything?”
Holly shook her head, her braid sliding across her back. She’d taken off her black knit cap for now, stuffing it into a back pocket—even with the crescent moon, there wasn’t enough light for the colors in her hair to shine and betray their presence. “I haven’t felt a directional pull since I told you we were at the right spot to jump. Do you think we drifted too far?”
“No. I think it’s”—the faint brush of his fingers over her breastbone—“satisfied now that you’re headed where it wants you to go.” He began to climb up the mountainside. “Only way to find out for sure is to infiltrate Michaela’s stronghold.” A dangerous smile over his shoulder. “Haven’t you always wanted to risk death and torture at the hands of an archangel?”
Holly grinned. “Let’s do it.”
The moment of levity faded quickly, the two of them becoming more wary the higher they got in the darkness. It wasn’t the darkness itself—Holly and Venom were both creatures who had no fear of the night. It was what that darkness might conceal. This was the heart territory of an archangel, after all. Michaela had many residences, but, according to Dmitri, this one was considered her most private retreat.
“Stop.” Holly checked the device again. “We’re almost on top of a backpack.”
Venom looked around. “Got it.” He grabbed the pack from on top of a bush. “It’s yours.”
They located his larger pack two minutes later.
Sliding away the device, she continued to walk with him through the massive old trees. Their large canopies meant there wasn’t too much undergrowth. When Venom held up a hand, she froze. He looked up. Following his gaze, she saw nothing . . . but heard the distinctive sound of wings in the air.
They pasted themselves against the closest tree trunk.
The angel passed overhead seconds later. He was skimming the tops of the trees, clearly doing a patrol. A single pale feather drifted down to lie against the toe of Holly’s boot right before he flew out of view.
Her heart thundered. “That was close.”
“We have to be more careful. We must’ve hit the secure border.” Venom began to walk nearer the trunks of the ancient trees, using their shadows to conceal himself.
Holly had no hesitation in copying him. He’d had a lot more training than her. They flowed through the forest like ghosts, dropping to the ground to make their profiles smaller the instant the sound of wings whispered on the air.