world, et cetera.” He gave her a wry smile. “This is my city, Callie. I’m here for a reason, and it isn’t to sit on the sidelines while you risk everything.” He swept wisps of hair from her face. “I’m Marked too, remember.”
Callie returned his smile. “I lost your ring in there.”
Liam shrugged and got to his feet, offering her a hand up. “I never cared much for it, anyway.”
Behind them Chase groaned as he came to.
“What now?” Donal wanted to know. “I hope we came away from that grand cock-up with something .”
Callie recalled the demon’s words. “We need to get in contact with the Tír . This is so, so much bigger than Maeve let on.”
Liam frowned. “How big are we talking?”
“Apocalypse big.” Donal nearly dropped Chase in his efforts to help him to his feet. “It’s starting?”
“Let’s just say Lilith hasn’t held back in regards to her opening salvo.”
Liam took Chase from Donal. “Let’s get back. It sounds like there’s a lot to talk about.”
Liam handed Chase a glass of whiskey rattling with ice. “Sorry.”
Chase took a swig and pressed the glass against his jaw, the bruise spreading like a sunset as he glared with what Liam suspected might be grudging respect. “Could’ve been worse,” the hunter allowed.
Liam brought the bottle over to Callie and Donal, who faced one another across the vast oak expanse of his library table. A rush of prickling heat coursed through him as he remembered kissing her there, reveling in firm muscle and soft skin, losing himself in her.
Callie leaned forward, pressing her fingertips into the table.
“I mistranslated,” Donal was saying. “But it still makes sense. The unrequited love was Lilith’s, who never got over being cast out of Eden, even though it was her choice to leave. When a Crossroads deal is made with one of her emissaries, that’s her way in. Unrequited love twisted to obsession is just one of her many keys to opening the door.”
Callie’s expression gave away nothing, even when Liam refilled her glass. “Maeve is more than an emissary from the Underworld.”
Donal ran a hand through his short dark hair. “That’s what’s worrying me.”
Callie raised an eyebrow. Her tone dripped sarcasm, much like her glass bled moisture onto a map of the French Quarter. “Is that all?”
Liam interrupted. “Who is Maeve, exactly? She brokered my Crossroads deal over a century ago, but I landed in New Orleans and haven’t seen her again until now. What’s her part in all this?”
Callie didn’t look away from Donal as he answered. “Maeve was one of the most powerful—and most feared—queens of Irish legend, dating way back before pre-Roman times. Her cunning was infamous, enough to give even Lilith a run for her money. It was assumed she died in battle, but her body was never found.”
Callie took up the tale. “She had a choice between redemption and Brighid, or serving Lilith to become an immortal queen after the End of Days.”
Donal nodded. “She could have become the first of Keepers.”
Liam set the whiskey bottle on the table. “You won’t be able to face her alone.”
Callie shook her head. “I doubt all nineteen Keepers could take her down.”
“You’re right—Yshotha must be Lilith’s preemptive strike in the apocalypse,” Donal reasoned.
Callie’s mouth thinned. “This is it. Lilith’s opening gambit. The war’s starting.”
After the Seven-Year war, Liam didn’t know if humanity could handle another one so soon, let alone the War of Wars. So much had been lost already, and it was clear humanity had reached the lowest point in its history.
“So how do we handle it?” he wanted to know.
Donal blinked. “Handle it?”
“Every demon has a weakness, right? What’s Yshotha’s? How do we kill it, or banish it? Something .”
Donal rocked his hand back and forth in midair. “This isn’t some lesser demon, one of the pestilent, mindless hordes of twisted
Callie returned his smile. “I lost your ring in there.”
Liam shrugged and got to his feet, offering her a hand up. “I never cared much for it, anyway.”
Behind them Chase groaned as he came to.
“What now?” Donal wanted to know. “I hope we came away from that grand cock-up with something .”
Callie recalled the demon’s words. “We need to get in contact with the Tír . This is so, so much bigger than Maeve let on.”
Liam frowned. “How big are we talking?”
“Apocalypse big.” Donal nearly dropped Chase in his efforts to help him to his feet. “It’s starting?”
“Let’s just say Lilith hasn’t held back in regards to her opening salvo.”
Liam took Chase from Donal. “Let’s get back. It sounds like there’s a lot to talk about.”
Liam handed Chase a glass of whiskey rattling with ice. “Sorry.”
Chase took a swig and pressed the glass against his jaw, the bruise spreading like a sunset as he glared with what Liam suspected might be grudging respect. “Could’ve been worse,” the hunter allowed.
Liam brought the bottle over to Callie and Donal, who faced one another across the vast oak expanse of his library table. A rush of prickling heat coursed through him as he remembered kissing her there, reveling in firm muscle and soft skin, losing himself in her.
Callie leaned forward, pressing her fingertips into the table.
“I mistranslated,” Donal was saying. “But it still makes sense. The unrequited love was Lilith’s, who never got over being cast out of Eden, even though it was her choice to leave. When a Crossroads deal is made with one of her emissaries, that’s her way in. Unrequited love twisted to obsession is just one of her many keys to opening the door.”
Callie’s expression gave away nothing, even when Liam refilled her glass. “Maeve is more than an emissary from the Underworld.”
Donal ran a hand through his short dark hair. “That’s what’s worrying me.”
Callie raised an eyebrow. Her tone dripped sarcasm, much like her glass bled moisture onto a map of the French Quarter. “Is that all?”
Liam interrupted. “Who is Maeve, exactly? She brokered my Crossroads deal over a century ago, but I landed in New Orleans and haven’t seen her again until now. What’s her part in all this?”
Callie didn’t look away from Donal as he answered. “Maeve was one of the most powerful—and most feared—queens of Irish legend, dating way back before pre-Roman times. Her cunning was infamous, enough to give even Lilith a run for her money. It was assumed she died in battle, but her body was never found.”
Callie took up the tale. “She had a choice between redemption and Brighid, or serving Lilith to become an immortal queen after the End of Days.”
Donal nodded. “She could have become the first of Keepers.”
Liam set the whiskey bottle on the table. “You won’t be able to face her alone.”
Callie shook her head. “I doubt all nineteen Keepers could take her down.”
“You’re right—Yshotha must be Lilith’s preemptive strike in the apocalypse,” Donal reasoned.
Callie’s mouth thinned. “This is it. Lilith’s opening gambit. The war’s starting.”
After the Seven-Year war, Liam didn’t know if humanity could handle another one so soon, let alone the War of Wars. So much had been lost already, and it was clear humanity had reached the lowest point in its history.
“So how do we handle it?” he wanted to know.
Donal blinked. “Handle it?”
“Every demon has a weakness, right? What’s Yshotha’s? How do we kill it, or banish it? Something .”
Donal rocked his hand back and forth in midair. “This isn’t some lesser demon, one of the pestilent, mindless hordes of twisted
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