Dinner had bored him to tears, but Anubis refused to leave when things were just starting to get interesting. He thought Nefertem was onto something with his new plan for the future and wanted to see it through; to be on what he was certain was going to be the winning side, especially now the little brother was involved in things. To a point, anyway.

Shezmu never really signed on to anything, but he was changing, that much was obvious. And Seth…well, like so many of the oldest of them Seth was changing to a point where he soon wouldn’t pass for human at all, and would rely on them to hide him in their shadows, unless something drastic changed in the future. Hiding their teeth was easy, their ears and skin not much more difficult. But hiding wings…that was something else, and that was just one of the changes Anubis had noticed.

(more…)

Connor grumbled a little when Sahriel left early in the morning to go ‘catch up’ with Israfel, whatever the hell that meant, but since they were both apparently going to be at breakfast he let it go with only a mutter of discontent, sighing when he was alone again and deciding instead to go and find the rooms where Teague and Jack had been stashed, and make sure they were doing alright.

(more…)

Nefertem looked around his table and smiled, more than a little pleased with himself. It had taken a lot of work to gather the people he had, and yet more time to convince them their time was worth spending with him. They knew some things, but not all, and certainly nothing he didn’t wish them to be aware of, but they knew enough to know pleasing him was also in their best interests. They were, after all, going to change the world.

(more…)

Akhenti hovered around Nefertem for as long as he would tolerate her, following him everywhere he went and commenting occasionally, because ruffling him up was always fun, but mostly just watching, because she hadn’t had this much uninterrupted time with him in ages and she was, honestly, curious as to how long it would take him to tell her to just go the hell away already.

(more…)

It had taken hours for Nefertem to get Seth to calm down, and even then he was sure it was more what he spiked the wine with than anything that had put Seth to sleep. Nefertem had sat for hours, spelling him into a deeper sleep, tucking his brother into his bed and sitting there, just watching him for a long time before returning to his own room to start planning things.

He got entirely absorbed in his work, sitting at the desk and watching the sun rise, slaving at his plans, because really this mess with Sahriel was such a massive side step from his usual activities and he was trying to keep track of every demon on earth. Far from an easy task, and it left him tired and exhausted trying to figure out what each was planning and what their next move would be and if he needed to stop it or let it happen.

(more…)

One minute they were standing in a wood, Sahriel clinging to Seth, head spinning with the energy rampant in the air around them, the next they were standing in the foyer and Sahriel recognised it immediately as the manor in Paris. He gaped, not having known any demon could do such a thing and wondering just how long ago Seth had figured it out, but he couldn’t bring himself to care, stumbling immediately toward his rooms. He didn’t get more than a few steps before Seth had scooped him up, charging down the corridor, wings unfurling, his face a perfect mask of fury barely leashed.

(more…)

By the time they reached the coast, Nefertem knew they had gotten ahead of Seth, who he could sense a day behind them, trying to drag Sahriel through the woods. He also knew he had miscalculated in his planning, because he was going to have to allow Akhenti to fly them. By the time they reached France, he was so airsick he had to hurry off to find a tree to puke behind, and he knew he owed Akhenti a favour he didn’t want to have to repay, regardless of what it was. So he scowled darkly as he went to procure the horses he had arranged before leaving for England a week ago. It was good, just to get away from the group and have some time to process events.

(more…)

Following Sahriel didn’t turn out to be the easiest thing in the world, considering they weren’t sure exactly where the rescue troop had gone, but with Teague’s general idea of what direction they’d taken, they had a place to start, and Jack’s long career as a spying snoop had given him a fairly good grasp of tracking. Once they picked up the trail, it was fairly easy to follow, but they had to move fast to have a chance of catching up – the rescue party was moving at a pretty good pace already.

(more…)

Teague wasn’t sure what to think about anything, but he knew he wanted to talk to someone and that someone was waiting back in his room, in the bed Sahriel used to sleep in, when he could be bothered sleeping at the Inn at all. Usually he just disappeared, apparently to be with Connor James and that just sort of broke his brain. Sahriel didn’t seem the type to fall for someone like James, and James didn’t seem the type to fall for anyone at all, but Sahriel was persistent so it wasn’t that strange, really.

(more…)

There was something wrong. Teague figured it out as soon as Sahriel didn’t turn up for his shift. His friend had been looking increasingly tired, and asking for more days off and Teague had done his best to help out and cover when needed but there had been no sign whatsoever of the little man this evening and as soon as he was let off his own shift, Teague agreed to go to the cottage to see what was going on. Maybe Sahriel was sick? It wasn’t unlikely, all things considered.

(more…)