Gerry checked himself in the rearview mirror of the muscle-car one more time as he put it in park. The gravel was still settling behind him from the hairpin turn he’d made into the makeshift parking lot of the church. It was the same church he’d gone to with all the other members of Charlotte’s supernatural community, but this time he didn’t have imps on the corner turning tricks or mercenaries with high-powered rifles on a nearby rooftop. Today it was all him.

he repeated to himself as he straightened his vest and got out of the car.

The church wasn’t in a great part of town, and there was more than one face looking at him with surprise. He was dressed in a dark gray three-piece suit. It was the first time he’d worn a modern suit, and he had to admit he liked it more than the eighteenth century formal wear he’d been forced to wear as a member of Boston’s merchant class. The designs weren’t that much different from each other, but the materials were worlds apart, and the modern suit was much more maneuverable than its older counterpart. If it came down to a fight, Gerry wouldn’t be able to blame a loss on his clothing.

He gave the sports car one last pat before walking toward the wooden double-doors to the Divine Sanctuary. He expected some type of vandalism when he returned, and just hoped they didn’t remove the tires. He looked down at his watch as he walked confidently toward the door. He was five minutes late, but unlike his Prince, he didn’t expect the Dominion to rip his arm off and bash his skull in with it.

He easily pulled the heavy doors open and stepped into the sanctuary. The second he crossed the threshold a shiver went down his spine. It felt like he’d walked through a wall of cold water.

He hid his concern, and reminded himself that his human form was absolute. Unless he decided to change he was for all intents and purposes just another human. He purposefully wasn’t carrying a lot of æther to avoid detection. If he needed it, he could draw on it at a moment’s notice. Even then he wasn’t sure how much help it would do him.

His eyes were immediately drawn to the single figure in the room. She was sitting in the first row of pews, and it was impossible to miss her. She was wearing a simple white dress that was enhanced by the soft glow of power surrounding the woman. Her hair hung limply around her deceptively delicate shoulders. In her hands was a book. She was flipping slowly through the pages and took in every word. At the sound of his footsteps she bookmarked her spot, set the book down on the wooden seat, and turned to meet him. Her eyes met his and it seemed like she was reading him just as easily as she had been reading that book.

Her eyes held no judgement or even irritation for him being late. Even though they didn’t, he felt shame settle on his shoulders.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” he apologized, and he meant it.

“Don’t worry,” she smiled and it almost knocked him flat on his ass.

She had a beautiful smile that made little dimples out of her high cheekbones. It was hard to believe that she was the mortal enemy of his kind.

“Please have a seat.” She gestured toward another pew.

He accepted, and she took a seat on the pew in front of him. Gerry didn’t trust himself to speak, and was amazed at how at-ease she was with everything.

“You felt the warding when you entered.” It wasn’t as much a question as it was a statement. “It tells me that you have no ill will toward me.”

Gerry wasn’t sure about that, so it must be something localized within a time span. He certainly didn’t intend to try anything during this meeting.

“I will also know if you speak any lies to me. I don’t want this to be an interrogation, but you are new to the city, and some suspicious things have happened since your arrival. I’m not blaming you, or criticizing your line of work, but I need to get all of the facts straight.”

It didn’t surprise him that she would be able to tell if he was lying. “Another ward?” he asked for clarification.

She shook her head back and forth, “Experience.”

He nodded and gestured for her to ask away.

“What is your name?”

“Gerald Fuller, but a lot of people just call me Gerry.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Gerry.” She extended her hand toward him. He didn’t sense any lie in her words, but just because she was pleased to meet him didn’t meant she wouldn’t try to rip his arm off.

He only hesitated for a moment, and he hoped she chalked it up to his nervousness. She was an angel after all. When their skin touched it was like lightening shot through him. He could feel her immense power. The æther swirling around inside of her was so clear and bright it made his eyes water.

“You can feel the æther?” It wasn’t a condemnation, just a question.

“I am a master of my discipline, Ms…”

“Just Ava is fine.” She smiled that award-winning smile again.

“Ava,” he returned her smile with one of her own. “As a master of my discipline we are more attuned to what you call æther than average magic wielders, but I have sensed nothing like you before.”

“It’s just my nature,” she answered before moving on. There were more important things she needed to cover. “How long have you been here?”

“A few weeks, maybe a month, my exact arrival is a bit foggy.” It was the truth. The way Seere had transported him to Eden was still unclear.

“Why did you pick Charlotte?”

“It was chosen for me, but I’m glad I’m here. There is something about this city…” he let himself trail off and smiled.

There was something special about Charlotte. There was an undertone to everything. The virtues that powered his Infernal nature were present here in force.

“Your family wanted you to come here?”

“Not my family per say, but a father figure. He wanted me in Charlotte, and judging by all the contracts I’ve received I know why.” He was toeing the line with his answer, but the angel didn’t attack, so it seemed he was telling enough of the truth to avid her suspicions.

All the best lies had kernels of truth in them. Too much deception would eventually trip an Infernal up just as easily as a human.

“I see you were fulfilling one of those contracts,” she read out the wrong date.

“I believe it was the day before when I was hunting the werewolves. Although it was late so it might have crossed over into that day, but yes I was doing a contract during that time period,” he clarified.

“So you did not kill The Dark Mage of Charlotte.”

“No I did not,” he answered with the confidence of an innocent man.

“Do you know who did?”

She’d walked him right into that one, and the slight hesitation caused one of her eyebrows to rise.

“I have my suspicions,” he quickly explained. “I also don’t have all the facts. I’ve only heard rumors that he was bitten, so that makes me suspicious of the wolves. I know there are more out there.”

Suspicion of the wolves was natural, and everyone had their suspicions about anything, so nothing was a lie. She still watched him closely, but pushed on.

“Did you know the Dark Mage?”

“I just saw him at the gathering we had here, but I never talked to him.”

“Did you hold anything against him?”

“I didn’t know him, so I didn’t have anything to hold against him. I’m not the biggest fan of necromantic magic, but who is?”

Having to fight the same warriors over and over again on the battlefields of Hell made his dislike for the reincarnation of the dead that much more true. He full understood his bias was hypocritical since he’d been revived dozens of times over the centuries, but he chose to ignore that part of the argument.

“Do you bear any ill will toward this city?”

“Toward this city? No. It’s a great city, but that can’t be said for everyone in it.”

“Elaborate please.” Her eyebrow was raised again. It was such a lovely eyebrow.

“I have my contracts, Ava. I review them and some of them are for me to end certain people in this city. Of course, I have discretion who I take action against, but in the end something is going to happen to someone and I have no idea if that is going cause ill will toward the city. Unless you can see the future, I don’t think anyone really knows.”

“Seers are very rare.” She mused, and nodded at the response. “Very well, Gerry. Thank you for coming to see me. I don’t often interact with the community in this city, but the death of a gifted child needs to be investigated.”

“Of course.” He made sure not to agree or disagree. “It was lovely meeting you. I hope if we meet again it is on friendly circumstances.”

The truth in his own words surprised him. She was an angel, an agent of the Divine, but she was also a beautiful woman who’d been around for God only knew how long. The things she’d seen and experienced, not to mention her expertise in combat, would be something Gerry would very much enjoy speaking with her about.

More than likely their next meeting would not be so civilized, and equally as likely only one of them would be walking away from it.

Gerry gave her a slight bow – because that was what felt right – before turning his back and leaving. He tried not to sweat as his exposed spine was ripe for the slicing, but someone with nothing to hide wouldn’t be afraid to show their back to a friend. He breathed a short sigh of relief when he passed through the door and into the parking lot. A kid was spray painting a giant penis on the hood of his car, but took off running when he saw Gerry walking toward him.

In Hell, he would have fileted the child alive, but here he let him go. There was still a slight tingle and vibration running through his body from being in the Dominion’s presence. It was exhilarating being in the presence of that much power. Similar to when he’d first been around Prince Seere, minus the fear. Being in Ava’s presence was different. He almost wanted to be caught to see which of them would win the fight. There was something primal about going up against someone like her to test himself, even if he had a good chance of losing.

The plan was to complete the mission with Lucian without the Dominion finding out, but even the best plaid plans got blown to shit when the first shot was fired. He’d just have to wait and see.

His lieutenants were already hard at work to set the stage for the sacrifice. A second look at his watch showed that Vicky should be arriving at her school with Jezebel, Jeb, and Lono to begin the initial preparations. The rest of the show would begin tomorrow.

He gave one look back over his shoulder at the slightly rundown church before hopping in the car and driving away.