Page 120 of True Dead
“Yeah, I know all about it,” Eli said. “Alex showed me the footage. You were pretty pissed off.” He gave me a side-eye grin. “You missed an amazing battle while you were saving my life, but that ending was appropriately gruesome and bloodcurdling. Did you know you had blood dripping off your hair? Bet you scared the pantaloons off the old EVs.”
“I saw.” I had seen the footage too. Once. But I had turned away when Eli died, and I still couldn’t talk about him dying on the floor at my knees. Not yet. Maybe not ever. “Leo visited you once while you were in the hospital,” I said, changing the subject.
“I remember. Outclan priest,” Eli mused. “Never been one of those has there?”
“No,” I said. “He had already claimed outclan status, but...” I stopped.
“Out with it.”
I huffed a breath. I hadn’t told anyone this yet. “When we were trying to save you, Leo accidently ended up with me in my soul home, with the angel Hayyel.”
Eli frowned. “So that made him a priest?”
“Hethinks he was a priest from the time he rose from the dead for the second time,” I said, my tone saying I wasn’t so sure. “Thrice born does mean extra power and gifts, but Leo doesn’t want his blasted city back, and being outclan means he’s outside of fanghead political structure, and the fact that he saw an angel in my soul home means he’s more special than the usual outclan, soooo—.” I stopped, not sure what to say next.
“Lucky you, Queen of NOLA.” Eli was way too calm for all this. I was freaking out.
I blew out a breath. “Whoopie. The amulet Shaun was wearing disappeared off his beheaded body in the carnage at the clan home. I’m guessing that one of his people took it when they stuck him full of knives and pinned him to the wall like a bloody butterfly. And there’s worse.”
“Always is.”
Alex stuck his head out the side door and said, “Ayatas is here.”
“Send him back here,” Eli said, before I could answer.
“Copy.” Alex disappeared.
I glowered at Eli and continued, “Hayyel is chained, or partially chained, wherever he is. I’m guessing partially chained, since he still manifested in my soul home. There’s a silver and iron ingot chain around his waist. He says my enemies are on the way and intend to do something to him. Use his power somehow.”
“And you have how many of the amulets with arcenciel blood in them now?”
“A flying lizard, a locket, and one the diggers found at Sabina’s chapel.” I pulled the ring out of my pocket and extended it to him. “It’s a crystal, sealed with silver, with arcenciel blood sloshing beneath. It has power in it.”
Eli touched the crystal and yanked back his finger. His mouth turned down just the tiniest bit. “Is this as powerful as I think, or did I get something else from your blood?”
“Beats me. Maybe it’s arcenciel blood you feel, something you got from Leo’s offering.”
“Rule of three,” Eli said. “You have three arcenciel amulets. They have one. You have three brothers. They have one—Maniet. So when do we go hunting the location of the chained angel?”
Ayatas stuck his head out the door. “Did someone say chained angel?”
“When?” I asked Eli. “Soon as you can dance, my bro. Soon as you candance.”
