Ian’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, the right mixture of blood?”

A shrug. “His acolytes have tried many varieties. Blood of a virgin, blood of the slain, blood of the damned, blood of a vampire, blood of a ghoul, blood of a demon, blood of a demigod—I sold them that one—and countless combinations of all the above. Nothing worked. Some believe only the blood of a tri-bred will raise him since Cain also created the first ghoul.”

I stiffened, then forced myself to relax. Good thing Ashael hadn’t been looking my way. Ian hadn’t moved so much as a muscle though he had to be thinking the same thing I was.

“A tri-bred?” Ian’s voice was smoother than water. “You mean part human, part vampire, and part ghoul, like the little girl the vampire council executed recently?”

Ashael gave us a knowing look. “They were quick with that, weren’t they? Almost like some on the council knew the rumor that Cain could rise if given that child’s blood.”

“Why wouldn’t the council want a vampire with supposedly unrivaled powers like Cain back among them?” I countered.

Ashael snorted. “The same reason most people don’t want their god among them, all protestations aside. Gods tend to point out their followers’ hypocrisy, and few want that.”

I didn’t argue. History wouldn’t be on my side. Instead, I said, “Best to let sleeping gods lie, then.”

Ian extended his left arm to Ashael. “I don’t care what the horn wants. I told you I’d fetch it for you, so here. Take it.”

Ashael gave the horn a look I couldn’t read. Then he met Ian’s gaze and smiled as if he had never wanted it in the first place. “Who am I to argue with an ancient relic’s preference? But you did fulfill your end of our bargain, so I’ll fulfill mine, and take you and Veritas to Yonah’s now.”

“Wait.” Both men turned. “We need to get Silver first,” I told Ian. “He’s already been alone too long.”

Ashael’s expression darkened. “I did not agree to transport anyone else.”

“Believe me,” I said with a dry laugh. “When you see Silver, you won’t mind.”

Chapter 21

The small plane bounced like a stone skipping across a pond. If we got any closer to the ocean’s surface, we’d soon sink like that proverbial stone, too. But Ashael seemed more concerned with staying below radar than keeping a safe distance between our aircraft and the Pacific.

Ashael teleported us everywhere else, so I’d assumed he’d teleport us to Yonah’s, too. Wrong. After we picked Silver up back in Pennsylvania, Ashael had teleported us to a small, private airport in California. The Cessna Skyhawk he rolled out could have been his plane, or he could’ve been stealing it. With demons, either was a possibility.

Then Ashael had flown us out over the Pacific. The flight had been smooth until an hour ago. Now, another rough patch of air shook the Cessna hard enough to make us bounce in our seats. Silver whined. I reached over the short distance to his seat to give him a reassuring pat. Ashael glanced back at the Simargl and for a second, his gaze softened. Then, he caught me watching and his coolly arrogant expression returned.

Too late, I thought in amusement. I saw that.

Ashael’s appreciation for celestial-created rarities like the horn obviously included Simargls. And Silver, who’d had a horrific experience being owned by a demon, seemed oddly at ease with Ashael. Maybe it was because Silver sensed Ashael’s duel lineage? After all, Silver had loved my father on sight, too.

“You might want to hold on to your pet now,” Ashael said. “It’s about to get rough.”

“Any rougher and we’ll crash,” I muttered, but picked Silver up and held him in my lap.

“Exactly,” Ashael replied in a mild tone.

I waited for the punch line. When Ashael said nothing, I realized he wasn’t joking.

“Explain,” Ian drew out.

“If getting to Yonah’s was easy, he’d be dead by now,” was Ashael’s reply. “Still, if either of you object to the risk, I’ll turn the plane around, but then my part in this is done.”

Asshole!

Not much could kill vampires, but a plane crash could. I couldn’t even use the endless expanse of ocean below us to deter Ashael. The demon could teleport away before a drop of that salt water, burning to demons, touched him.

Ian pulled out his mobile. I couldn’t see who he was texting because he was too quick. Then he turned it off.

“If we don’t return from this flight, consider yourself marked for death by three of the world’s strongest vampires,” Ian said coolly. “That’s only if I don’t kill you myself first.”

Ashael’s scoff was both elegant and contemptuous. “As if you had the power to kill me.”

Ian’s arm slammed across Ashael’s throat. The horn also shot out, its tip now elongated and very close to Ashael’s eye.

“That a dare?” Ian asked.

Not a muscle on Ashael moved. Good thing, too, since one wrong slant on the yoke might slam us into the ocean.

“Ian,” I said in as calm a tone as I could manage. “Please don’t stab the pilot while we’re still on the plane.”

Ian kept staring at Ashael, the ram’s horn a twisting, tangible threat between them. I didn’t know how Ian had made it move, let alone in such a way. But he had, and Ashael acted as if the horn’s tip was coated in demon poison.

“Veritas will not be harmed,” Ashael finally said, his former mockery gone. “Neither will you,” he added somewhat reluctantly. “You will both arrive safely. I give you my word.”

Ian lowered his arm. The horn lost its rapierlike shape to coil back into the flexible one where it resembled a 3-D armband. Ashael gave the magic relic a look I couldn’t read, then said, “Hold the yoke” and let Cessna’s version of a steering wheel go.

Ian grabbed the yoke when Ashael closed his eyes and raised his hands. I didn’t have time to ask what he was doing before his power blasted out. My eardrums ruptured from the sudden, explosive pressure shift. Ian ground out a curse I could no longer hear as blood ran from his ears, too. Still his hands remained rock steady on the controls.

Light exploded ahead of us, flashing in simultaneous bursts of colors that looked like lightning coated in rainbows. A tunnel formed amidst the dazzling display, showing a glimpse of something large and dark on the other side. Ashael opened his eyes and grabbed the controls from Ian with one hand. The other was still aloft, pouring more power into the tunnel/temporal anomaly/whatever it was. Then he steered us right into the circular kaleidoscope.

The small plane shook so hard, the metal sounded like it was screaming. I was tempted to scream, too. The plane couldn’t take more of this without coming apart. I had to clutch Silver to keep him from hitting the roof from how violently we were thrown around. Still, my head bashed against the plane’s side panel until I saw and tasted blood.

Suddenly, the dazzling flashes of color ceased, revealing a calm sky with a moon casting silvery beams on the ocean and island beneath it. The island was almost entirely taken up by the tall, imposing mountain I’d glimpsed from the other side of the tunnel. The punishing turbulence stopped, too, but my sigh of relief turned into a gasp when Ashael pointed us right at the mountain and increased speed.