“It’s unlikely Nanette’ll do anything else. If she was going to kill Georgina, she would have already.” There was an almost gentle tone in Peter’s voice. I think Dante’s outrage and concern had convinced the vampire that Dante might not be the complete and total bastard he’d always believed.

My immortal (or not so immortal) friends finally decided I was in reasonable enough condition to leave me in Dante’s care. Hugh promised to check on me tomorrow, and I thanked him again for his help. He and the others looked like they wanted to hug me, but with my back, they knew better.

When they were gone, Dante went out to the kitchen and came back with a bowl of ice cream. “Good for what ails you,” he said.

I was surprised to discover I had a considerable appetite. Judging from the time, I’d been out quite awhile before Mei had shown up. It had only felt like a few seconds.

“Careful,” I teased. “People are going to think you’re a nice guy.”

“Well, I’ll have to go rob some orphans to save my reputation.”

He lay in bed beside me, curled on his side so that he could gently keep his hand on my arm and talk to me. As the evening passed, our conversation mostly touched on inconsequential things, topics to distract me from Seattle’s increasingly dangerous situation. Finally, when it came time for both of us to sleep, Dante brought up the attack again.

“Succubus . . . who was here earlier?”

I knew he didn’t mean Hugh and the vampires. I frowned. Even with Mei’s healing, my memories were sketchy. “I don’t know. But I think . . . I think it might have been Carter.”

“Really? I still can’t believe that angel hangs out with you guys. But if it was him, why didn’t he heal you? He could have fixed everything.”

Through the fog of that ordeal, I recalled my rescuer’s words. I can’t heal you.

“Because he’s not supposed to interfere,” I said slowly, remembering my earlier rumination on whether blowing up a stove was interference. “Heaven’s supposed to stay out of this. He probably shouldn’t have even carried me to bed—which is why he would have then gotten out of here and left it to Hugh to patch me up.”

“An angel breaking the rules and a demon healing the sick,” Dante said. “You and your associates just get more and more fucked up.”

I shifted slightly, cautious of my back, and rested my head against him. “That’s for damned sure.”

Chapter 17

Chapter 17