Yield the Night (7 page)

At the end of the hall, Kylee prodded the call button for the elevator. The two guards drifted closer, supposedly in deep conversation. Piper didn’t know why they bothered pretending. The doors dinged and rattled open. She and Kylee got on. The two guards started forward quickly.

As they reached the doors, Piper said, “Oh, I forgot something,” and stepped into the elevator’s threshold as though she were getting off. The guards backed up so she could exit. She stepped out.

The doors rattled into motion. At the last second, Piper hopped backward into the elevator and waved as the doors shut. One merely looked startled, but chagrin flashed across the face of the creepy one.

Kylee blinked at her. “What was that all about?”

“Oh, just ... you know, admirers, I guess. They’ve been following me around.”

With a smile, Kylee poked at the already lit Floor 8 button. “People seem to like you a lot.”

Piper shrugged, her mind racing through Step 2 of her plan. Or to be more precise, racing to figure out what Step 2 was supposed to be.

“A couple of the boys were talking about you earlier. I think they want to ask you out after seeing your ... fight.”

Piper twitched. Oh joy. That would be fun. She needed out of here.

The doors creaked open. Piper let Kylee get off then stopped in the doorway. “Actually, I did forget something.”

“Oh.” Brow furrowed, Kylee turned to get back on.

“No, no,” Piper said as the doors began to close. “Just wait there.” She smiled, guilt squeezing her as Kylee’s confused frown disappeared.

Since a better plan hadn’t occurred to her, she hit the M button. Hopefully her guards would waste time checking the eighth floor before coming after her. As the elevator trundled downward, she pulled her hood up and tucked her hair inside it. Shoving her hands into her pockets, she affected a slouch and waited for the doors to open.

As soon as a large enough gap appeared, she slipped through and into a lobby with chipped marble floors and a dry fountain with a broken sculpture in the middle. The entryway opened up to the second floor, with balconies on either side looking over the fountain. It was a straight stretch to the triple set of glass doors—most of the glass missing—and the fading afternoon sun beyond.

She strode straight for the doors, eyes scanning alertly while she kept her body language relaxed. Nothing to see here. Just a haemon teen out for some fresh air.

“Hey there.”

It wasn’t an aggressive call. Glancing over, she didn’t break stride. Two people came into view on the other side of a wide pillar. They were sitting behind a desk, looking bored and sleepy.

“Don’t forget to sign out,” the woman called out in a friendly tone. “Don’t want to get barred on your way back in.”

Piper didn’t slow, just extracted one hand and gave a casual wave.

“Hey, you need to sign out.”

She sped up. Footsteps sounded behind her—the two Gaians circling the desk to follow her. She broke into a run, shooting for the doors. Dodging crumbled marble, she jumped a smashed statue and aimed for one of the broken doors—

An unseen blow caught her in the chest, knocking her backward. She stumbled and tripped, falling to one knee. Where had that come from? Damn hood had cut off her peripheral vision.

A man stood in front of her, dressed in dark, military-like clothing. Shoving her hood off to prevent a repeat blindsiding, she spun and kicked hard. Her boot hit his ankle. He staggered. She sprang up and struck his diaphragm. He backpedalled, faint surprised registering on his face.

Two more guys came running as the first two caught up with her. Damn it. She’d been expecting more goons like Travis guarding the entrance, but these guys were older and probably a lot more skilled.

Dropping to the floor again, she swept out her leg, taking out the legs of one man. The other jumped over her kick but stumbled on the landing. She jumped to her feet and spun around to see a hand flashing toward her. She threw herself backward, going into a backflip as she kicked out with one foot, forcing her attacker back. On landing, she dropped into a crouch to avoid the fist of the woman.

Spinning around, she ran at the two between her and the doors. At the last second, she turned on one and jumped, slamming both feet into his chest. Her weight and momentum knocked him over backward. She landed on his chest and bolted for freedom. The Gaians scrambled after her as she shot out of the broken doors and onto the sidewalk. A sharp wind gusted across her face, wonderfully fresh. She skidded around the corner and tore down the sidewalk.

The air a few feet in front of her rippled. A flash of black.

Something hit her in the face, snapping her head back and throwing her off her feet. She hit the ground, her head slamming against the sidewalk. Sparks flashed across her vision, almost obscuring the black swirl as it shimmered and solidified into a man—the creepy, pale-haired guard she’d left in front of the elevator on the fourteenth floor barely five minutes ago.

With dark eyes colder than ice, he leaned down and grabbed her chin with rough fingers. Tingles rushed across her skin—magic. As the other Gaians ran over, his spell swept through her, sucking her mind into darkness.

. . .

Piper sat cross-legged on her cot, glaring out the window at the dark buildings silhouetted against the fading sunlight. Locked up again. What a delightful pattern this was becoming.

Her muscles ached and her head throbbed, but that was the least of her concerns. She closed her eyes and gently massaged her temples as she went over her failed escape. That flash of darkness. That blow out of nowhere. The sudden appearance of the creepy guard.

She knew what that flash of darkness had been; she’d seen it before. Teleportation was a skill possessed only by reapers.

Even knowing that, she could hardly believe it, though it explained how the guy had gotten outside the building so fast. But how could she have failed to recognize him as a daemon? He’d been following her since yesterday. She’d been trained to recognize daemons in glamour. Could he be a haemon with reaper blood who’d somehow unlocked a caste ability? Or was he a daemon very skilled in hiding his true nature? She didn’t know whether either alternative was possible, but her gut said he was a reaper.

If he was, what the hell was he doing masquerading as a Gaian?

Her hands clenched into fists. Did Samael know Piper’s mother was a Gaian? Had he planted a spy on the off chance she would renew contact with Mona? And what would this supposed spy do now that she’d been trapped here? He definitely didn’t want her to escape, nor did he seem to want her dead—yet. Had the guard already told Samael she was here?

Whatever his plan might be, she couldn’t stay where she was and wait for the Hades assassins to close in. She needed to escape now more than ever.

Exhaling, she prodded the painful lump on the back of her head. No Plan B came to mind. Her father and uncle thought she was dead. Chances were Lyre thought the same after discovering the half-demolished Consulate last night, which meant Ash would believe it too. Her only potential ally was her mother, but she couldn’t tell Mona about the reaper, not unless she intended to explain why a reaper was after her. There was no way she was telling her mother, and thereby the Council, that she could use the Sahar.

Almost as though the thought had summoned her, Mona opened Piper’s door and stepped inside. Her mouth was a thin, angry line. Walter came in behind her, all shiny bald head and ebony skin. He didn’t look any happier.

Piper turned to face them, quickly hiding her anxiety.

“I asked you not to wander around,” Mona began, clearly revving up to go into full Righteous Parental Lecture mode.

“And that is such a legitimate request,” Piper cut in with biting sarcasm, “when you’re holding me here against my will.”

“You’re not a prisoner, you—”

“If I’m not a prisoner then why did your goons attack me when I tried to leave? Why did that guy knock me out? And why am I locked up
again
?”

Mona swelled like a bullfrog.

“You’re not a fool, Piper,” Walter said before Mona could explode. She deflated with an irritated glare at her counterpart. “I know you understand perfectly well that by being here, you are privy to highly confidential information. Of course we need to protect that information.”

“So why do you keep pretending I’m not a prisoner?”

“We don’t intend to keep you imprisoned. What use would that be? What possible purpose could it serve? We brought you here because we want you to join us. We want your help. If you choose not to, then we will arrange to return you to your father with the necessary precautions.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Such as what?”

“I assume you don’t know what city you’re in?”

“No.”

“So, you see, we can’t have you walking out the door. But we certainly don’t intend to keep you here if you decide you’d prefer to leave.”

She scowled. “It’s hard for me to decide anything when I’m stuck here.”

“Unfortunately, that’s the reality of the situation. We’re going to have to insist you remain in your room until tomorrow afternoon. We’ll see then what you’ve decided and proceed from there, either preparing permanent accommodations for you or arranging to send you home.”

“I don’t have a home. You blew it up.”

Mona folded her arms and glowered.

“We need to get back to work,” Walter said. “We’ll send someone in with your dinner.”

She nodded curtly. They left, locking the door behind them. Huffing, she flopped back on her cot. Walter’s insistence that they would send her back to her father if she turned them down made sense; Mona certainly wouldn’t let them permanently silence her daughter. Keeping her prisoner would eat up their resources and they had to realize that Piper would be a troublesome inmate. Sending her home with no more information than “an office building in a city and a black guy named Walter” wouldn’t get anyone very far in locating them. Come to think of it, Walter probably wasn’t even his real name, and he hadn’t introduced any other member of the Council either.

Throwing an arm over her face to block out the light, she closed her eyes. A reaper was way more than she could handle alone; as long as he was preventing her escape, she was stuck here. But what would he do if the Gaians themselves tried to take her back to her father? Would he strike then? She would have to be very careful.

Tomorrow she had to decide what she would do. Join the Gaians and unseal her magic? The answer should have been obvious. No to both. A resounding no. But she couldn’t quite let either idea go. They tantalized her with
maybe’s
and
if only’s
that made her heart squeeze with longing. Purpose. Power. She wanted both.

Rolling onto her side, she wished there was someone, anyone, she could talk to. Someone to tell her she was crazy for considering the offer. Someone to tell her this was her chance to get what she’d always wanted. Or someone to tell her everything would be okay no matter what she decided.

CHAPTER
6

P
IPER
was waiting when Mona came to get her the following afternoon. She stood as the door opened, tugging the ratty hems of her shorts down.

Mona gave her a long look. “Are you ready?”

She nodded. Mona scanned her expression, trying to decipher her mood. Piper folded her arms and raised her eyebrows. Her mother motioned for her to follow.

The hall was empty, as was the elevator. Mona hit the button for the top floor. They waited in silence as they ascended, if the creaking of the elevator counted as silence. She let out a huge breath when it dinged and the doors opened. She strode out and shook the tension out of her hands. Mona led her past a set of open double doors. Piper glanced in and saw an immense meeting room with a wall of windows. At the far end, three steps led up to a dais where a podium and a single wooden chair sat. The room was large enough to hold a dinner function for a few hundred people.

“Is that where the meeting is happening?” Piper asked, catching up to her mother.

“Yes, people will be arriving soon.”

How many people were they expecting? The Council sure was leaving it to the last minute to find out what Piper would decide. The sun had already begun to set.

The hall ran the length of the building before ending at a small antechamber. Walter and the rest of the Council waited around a table inside, but one member was missing. The cranky woman wasn’t there. Piper glanced around at the bare space. A second door probably led into the meeting room beside the dais.

The Council members were in their finest suits and jackets. The men wore ties, the women necklaces. Piper felt ludicrously underdressed.

“Piper, welcome,” Walter said, gesturing for her to sit. “Since time is short, I’ll skip the prelude. Have you made a decision?”

She folded her hands in her lap and surveyed each person. Finally, her gaze came to rest on her mother.

“I’ve given it a lot of thought. I really like what the Gaians do to help haemons and build a community for them. I think that’s great.”

She glanced at Walter before turning back to Mona and continuing. “As for the Consulates, I admit they have their flaws. But I don’t think they should be destroyed, and I won’t help you tear them down, especially not when you plan to use outright violence to do it. I won’t help you kill innocent people.”

Mona stared at her lap, her brow furrowed, refusing to meet Piper’s eyes. She exhaled and turned to Walter instead. He nodded solemnly.

“I see. I’m very sorry to hear that.”

“Well ... thanks for the offer anyway.” But not for the kidnapping. She could have done without that part.

Walter waved at one of the other Council members. “Could you see if the drivers are ready for Piper?”

She leaned back in her chair, relaxing for the first time. She really had been worried that they would say she had to stay for another week or month or year until she agreed to join them. In fact, they’d taken it so calmly she wasn’t sure how to react. Mona continued to stare dejectedly at her lap, chewing on her lower lip. Piper buried a stab of guilt. Now she just had to worry about the reaper ambushing her on the way out.