Merrick shrugged. “Your funeral.”
“What’s with you, Merrick?” Tamberi snapped. “You don’t butt into things that have nothing to do with you. Walk away.”
“A gun battle in the street outside the muse’s holiday party will be trouble for everyone. Marco, who gave the order for you guys to come?”
“It came from the top,” Marco said.
“By way of what messenger?” Merrick asked, glancing at Tamberi and Cato.
“Piss off, Merrick,” Tamberi snarled. “This is none of your business.”
“It’s not syndicate business, either. I’d stake my patch of the Varden on that,” Merrick said coolly. Merrick’s dark eyes bored into the others. The stare was pure vampire. Challenge me, it said, and I’ll drown you in your own blood. Kate shuddered, even as she wondered, Why is he helping us?
The ventala assassins looked around at each other. Marco cleared his throat. “Let me check this with the boss.”
“I am telling you!” Tamberi said. “That bastard has been killing ventala. Haven’t you?” she demanded of Nathaniel.
Merrick leaned casually against the wall.
“Ventala are not my natural enemy . . . but I’m flexible. There need not be a battle for me here, but attack me and I will answer in kind,” Nathaniel said, pressing Kate toward the doors of the Grand. She took the steps slowly, unable to tear herself away.
“Go in,” Merrick said to Nathaniel. “You’re burning midnight. If the syndicate wants you dead, the fight will come to you soon enough.”
Nathaniel spoke, but not in English. Then he strode up the steps to Kate.
“And in they f**king go,” Tamberi snapped.
“You bunch of gutless pussies,” Cato yelled. “Get out of my way,” he said, shoving the other ventala away from the car. “And, Merrick, you cross me again, you better grow eyes in the back of your f**king head.”
“Sure, and I’ll buy a pair of boots so I can quake in them,” Merrick said flatly.
Kate stifled a smile as the door closed, cutting off whatever Cato and Merrick said next.
“You’re friends with Merrick?” she asked.
“No, but we’re not enemies,” Nathaniel said, leading her into a glass elevator with shiny brass rods between the panes.
“What did you say to him before we came inside?”
“I was glad he suggested that I not waste the night waiting for a fight. I told him that his advice is worth more than it costs.”
“There’s more to this story, isn’t there?”
“I knew you would want more information. You always do,” he said, idly tapping the tips of his fingers together. “I don’t need advice on fighting, but my experience with the other parts of life is limited. Merrick’s experience extends beyond killing. He knows about . . .” Nathaniel extended a hand in a vague gesture.
She raised her brows when he hesitated.
“Women,” he said.
She fought not to smile at the heightened color in his cheeks. “I’m sure he does,” she said dryly, finding it almost inconceivable that Merrick, black-hearted ventala enforcer, would offer advice to anyone about anything. “So what words of wisdom did he share?”
“You’re not my wife yet, Kate.”
“Meaning the advice was too graphic to tell me about?”
“No!” Nathaniel said, his flush deepening. His jaw tightened. “I meant, you’re not my wife yet, so I don’t have to tell you everything. And I don’t intend to,” he said stubbornly.
“If you plan to marry me, Nathaniel, I suspect whatever experience you lack, I’ll find out about it pretty quickly.”
He shrugged broad shoulders and said coolly, “I suspect when that time comes, I’ll be too preoccupied to worry about it.”
The smile won out. “I bet you’re right.” Kate, who prided herself on having been worldly from a young age, found it a huge surprise that she was charmed by the fact that Nathaniel was not.
“The view from here is great,” Nathaniel said, pushing open the door to reveal another rooftop garden. Apparently, they were quite popular, and Kate could see why. The Grand’s was just as beautiful as the Clarity’s and had an accompanying tent creating a covered bar and dining area.
Clearly delighted, Nathaniel beckoned her. She guessed that it wasn’t surprising that angels liked heights. With their wings, they were used to having a bird’s-eye view of the world.
Flecks of snow dotted the ground, and when they rounded the fabric wall of the large tent, she slowed. Steam rose from a hot tub, and snowflakes disappeared as they fell through the smoky condensation. An echo of her dream reverberated through her, and she went still, looking around sharply.
“This way,” Nathaniel said, tugging her hand to lead her to the roof’s edge. “The Etherlin lights are—what’s wrong?”
“I’m cold,” she said, shivering as thoughts rushed through her mind. The first two ventala attacks were unsuccessful. High-ranking syndicate members like Cato and Tamberi Jacobi would’ve known that, so if they’d realized that the third team to attack Nathaniel might fail and end up dead, why had they come along? And why had they been looking for him in the first place? Did they perhaps serve a demon named Gadreel?
Nathaniel slipped his warm tuxedo jacket around her shoulders. “Just have a look, and we’ll go in and light a fire.”
The ring’s dead weight dragged on her thumb. She hadn’t wanted to destroy the ring without talking to Nathaniel about it first, but now she wished she had.
The night’s stillness hovered, and she walked uneasily to the roof’s edge. The Etherlin holiday lights made the night sky blossom with color. Another time, she would have stared and been compelled to take photographs, but now Kate only wanted to escape the roof.
She backed away from the rail, holding tight to Nathaniel’s hand to keep him with her.
His eyes narrowed. “It’s not the cold. What’s wrong, Kate?” he asked.
She glanced around. No swooping demon in sight. “I really need to talk to you about something. Let’s go to the room.”
“All right,” he said.
It wasn’t possible to drag an archangel anywhere, but as she rushed across the roof, she pulled hard on his arm. Her heels clattered on the stairs as she descended to their floor. Shoving the door open, she checked the hall. Satisfied of its emptiness, she strode out and thrust a hand into her purse, clutching the dagger. Nathaniel used a key card to open the door and she stalked into the room, sweeping through it to be sure that no demon lay in wait for them, checking even under the bed.