Bloodspell (The Cruentus Curse, #1)(93)

"And what did you say?"

"I lied." For a minute her dark, mousy face looked almost proud that she had bested her warlock brother by successfully concealing her mind from him.

"Why?"

"It was my fault that she got into all of this. He saw her do an invisibility spell in the library, and he forced me to tell him what she was. He was attracted to her before that, but the fact that she was a witch made him ecstatic. Gabriel thought they were meant to be." She took a deep breath. "And then you came into the picture. He was so angry after that night at the bar that he went up to her aunt's place looking for her when she didn't show up to class." She trailed off, staring into her palms. Christian realized that she was crying. "That's how he got her to come to New York. He kidnapped her aunt."

"He kidnapped Holly? What does he want, Angie?" Christian knew the answer even before Angie gave it but he had to know.

"How much do you know about Tori? About her power?"

"I know enough." Angie raised tear-filled eyes to his.

"Gabriel knows who she is. He wants her. He wants her power for himself." Angie was sobbing now, the words running into each other. "I told him. I'm so sorry. I didn't have a choice. He was going to kill Leto and I knew he would. You don't know what he's capable of. He killed our parents. I think I knew it all along but when he said it to Tori, I knew I couldn't protect him or lie anymore."

"Did Tori know that you knew about me?" he asked.

"Yes, I told her. We were friends, sort of," Angie said softly. "She asked me to get you. She said 'find Christian,' and so I did." Angie was unprepared for the brilliance that illuminated Christian's eyes.

"Where are they?" he said, his voice choked.

"She's being held in a cell underground. I can take you to her," she said. "Don't worry, he won't hurt her. He wants what she has too badly. It blinds him to everything else." Angie noticed his indecision. "I'm not lying, please, you have to trust me."

Christian knew that he had no choice but to trust her. If she deceived him, there would be hell and more to pay. He brushed her mind quickly with his feather-light vampire senses, and apart from her anxiety at being discovered, he could detect no deception. He did see something else though. Without speaking, his eyes softened, and he pulled her toward him gently. She winced. Christian caught the scent before he saw the crimson streaks seeping through her light-colored sweater, and he stared at her, his question obvious.

"Gabriel," she said hollowly. "I tried to protect the cat." His jaw clenched into a hard line. It was all he could do not to break something right then and there. "It's okay. It's not the first time. I've endured worse from him over the years. Everything heals ... eventually." Her eyes were downcast. "And it's no more than I deserve."

"Angie, no one deserves to be treated as you've been. You give yourself too little credit for the courage you've shown tonight. I am indebted to you."

Color rose in her face at the unexpected praise. "It's this way," she murmured, flustered by his startling kindness.

Christian followed Angie down Madison Avenue keeping to the shadows. It was clear that she was terrified of Gabriel, given his anger and what he had done to her, repeatedly it seemed. His fury surging to dangerous levels, Christian kept himself under tight control. If Victoria had been hurt, he wouldn't be accountable for his actions.

They reached 47th Street and Christian saw the entrance to Grand Central, but it was dark and the doors appeared to be locked. He looked at Angie, eyebrows raised.

"Not here. The entrance is around the block," she said, walking past the doors. They walked across 47th Street toward the East Side and then Angie made a sharp right turn onto Lexington Avenue. Slatted between two buildings was a small, dark alleyway with greasy black steps disappearing down into the darkness. Angie glanced around and then climbed down the steps. Christian followed.

The air was rank with the smell of decay combined with the hot stench of the sewers and the subway trenches. Angie pulled out a small flashlight that cast a thin light down the gloomy tunnel, and Christian's vampire eyesight adjusted naturally to the darkness. About halfway down the tunnel, Angie, who'd been counting quietly under her breath, stopped and pushed against a nearly invisible metal door. It swung open, creaking loudly in the silence and she jumped nervously, looking over her shoulder at Christian's wary, white face.

"It's just down here," she said, her voice harsh in the quiet. "This is another entrance, not the one that Gabriel knows. I found it looking at the rats one day."

Christian stared down the hallway and noticed the glow of lights toward the end. He walked on silent feet toward it. "What is this place?"

"I think it used to be some kind of secret meeting room in the nineteen thirties. The floor in the main room is marble, and there are paintings on the ceilings," she whispered back.

Christian wasn't surprised. New York City was full of secret meeting rooms and buildings located in unlikely places, and he himself had been in several of them over the decades. This one, however, was new to him. He stepped past Angie and walked stealthily down the corridor, noticing that at the first light-bulb there was a large wooden door. Angie remained in the darkness, her part finished for now, and he could hear her moving slowly back the way they had come.