"Dmitri."
Ransom got up and began to pace, as if unable to sit still. "He's a vampire."
"I don't know what the hell is going on." It certainly seemed as if the vampire, not another angel, was in charge. Deacon had used his sources-and he knew some very unusual people-to come up with the same answer. Dmitri was running the show, in effect, running Manhattan.
"This is probably useless information," she continued, "but the latest word is that another one of the archangels, Michaela, left the city soon after Uram was killed." Everyone knew which archangel had died-it was the biggest news story of the millennium, even with the angels refusing to offer even a crumb of information.
"Three archangels in one city?" Ransom shook his head. "That's not coincidence. Deacon?"
"You're right. But that just raises more questions, answers none."
Trust Deacon to cut to the heart of it. So apparently calm. But she sensed his fury in the rigidity of his muscles. Her husband chose his friends with care-Ellie was definitely one of them. Touching him lightly on the thigh even as he put one big hand on her shoulder, she said, "There are rumors Archangel Tower's closed itself off even from other angels."
Ransom thrust a hand through his unbound hair, hair that Elena had taken such delight in teasing him over. Now it lay uncared for around his shoulders. "I think you're right-it sounds like Raphael's dead and they're scrambling to find a replacement."
Still at her desk, Sara stared out into the lights of a city that remained half black. So many of the power relays and wires had been destroyed in the archangel-to-archangel fight that the repair job was going to take months. "But why won't they give us Ellie?" That, Sara couldn't understand. "She's mortal. She's not theirs." Sara would take care of her best friend, with all the honor and love in her heart.
Ransom turned to shoot her a probing look. "You in shape?"
She understood in a split second. "Good enough to sneak into the damn Tower."
"You'll go in wired," Deacon said, proving once again that she'd seriously lucked out in the marriage stakes. "Both of you. Anything goes wrong, I'll be waiting with an extraction team. Who's here right now?"
Sara thought rapidly. "Kenji's in the Cellars. So is Rose. Just downtime, so they can come out."
"Call them up. I'll get the wire kit."
An hour later, she found herself crouching beside Ransom in the gardens around the heavily guarded Tower. Incoming and outgoing traffic in the area surrounding it was now so restricted that no one had managed to get this close since the night the city went dark. Sara saw a possible entry point, signaled the information to Ransom, and moved. They were inside the unlit expanse of the ground floor a few seconds later.
"I expected you days ago," a smooth voice said from somewhere on the other side of the room. Soft light filled the lobby, as if a switch had been thrown.
Sara recognized that voice at once. "Dmitri."
A small nod. "At your service." His gaze shifted. "Ransom, I presume."
"Cut the crap." Ransom lifted a crossbow loaded with some very illegal control chip-embedded bolts, Sara's current weapon of choice.
"I wouldn't," Dmitri said evenly. "You'd be overwhelmed by my men within seconds, and I'd be in a much worse mood."
Putting her hand on Ransom's arm, Sara met Dmitri's eyes. "We've got no fight with you-we just want to know about Ellie."
The vampire straightened. "Follow me. Leave the cross-bows on the floor. You're safe here."
Maybe it was stupid but they decided to trust him, both of them. The vampire got into an elevator. As they went to enter, Sara realized Ellie would probably haunt her if she put herself in harm's way and deprived Zoe of a mother, Deacon of a wife. But Ellie was family, too. Jaw set, she got into the elevator.
The wire-actually a high-tech transmitter nestled inside her ear, with backups in her wristwatch and collar-vibrated just a fraction. Enough to tell her that Deacon had her, that he was with her. The tightness in her stomach loosened. You can be mad with us later, Ellie. After we know you're okay. We love you too much not to do this.
Dmitri said nothing as they shot skyward, exiting the elevator on a floor that gleamed black in every direction. Still silent, their guide led them into a small room and closed the door, enclosing them in darkness but for the glittering spread of the city outside. Even at half strength, Manhattan shone diamond bright. "What I tell you tonight can't leave this room. Do you understand?"
Ransom bristled but let Sara answer. "All we care about is what you've done with Ellie." Sara couldn't say "body." Until she saw Ellie dead with her own eyes, she couldn't-wouldn't-believe.
"You're her family." Dmitri's eyes met hers. "Chosen, not born."
"Yes." Sara saw a depth of understanding in the vampire's gaze that she hadn't expected. The old ones-and Dmitri was very old-seemed to forget they'd once been human, with human dreams and fears. "We need to see her." Even then, part of her, a stubborn, irrational part, hoped for a miracle.
"You can't," Dmitri said, then raised a hand when Ransom snapped out a curse. "But this I can tell you-she lives. Perhaps not as she would've wished, but she lives."
Sara was so relieved, she almost didn't hear the last sentence. Ransom was the first to understand. "Aw, Jesus. Ellie's going to be so pissed if you've turned her into a vamp."
Dmitri raised an eyebrow. "You won't castigate us for taking the choice from her?"
Sara answered for both of them. "We're selfish. We want her to live." Her throat was so thick with emotion, she had to concentrate to form the next word. "When . . . ?"
"The recovery will be slow. Her back was broken, most of her bones shattered," the vampire said with a blunt honesty that was far easier to hear than vague platitudes. "There are those who would use that vulnerability to harm her. Until she can defend herself, we protect her."
"Even from us?" Ransom asked, pain held so fiercely to his heart that Sara hurt for him. "That what Ellie wants?"
"She's in a coma," Dmitri told them. "I'm making the decision and I'd rather be too cautious than chance her life."
Sara sucked in a breath but nodded. "I'd do the same. If I pack a bag of her things, will you have it taken to her? For when she wakes." Because Ellie would wake. She was too damn stubborn not to.
Dmitri inclined his head in acquiescence. "Elena is lucky to have such a family."