Angels of Darkness

right?”
    He nodded. “It was everyone’s fault. She used to scream and throw fits, and then she wanted to fuck and she wanted me to beg for it. I was young and stupid. She was older, smarter, and beautiful.”
    Karina raised her hand and touched his haggard face. “You loved her.”
    â€œYes. And I was so dumb, I thought it was enough. That’s why I let it go that far. She once told me that we, the House, had stolen her life. She wanted to stroll the streets of London, visit the Tate Modern, go to concerts in Royal Albert Hall. I offered to take her. She told me that it wouldn’t be the same. My presence would poison London for her.”
    â€œShe sounds charming,” Karina managed.
    â€œI am what I am,” Lucas said. “No illusions. Life with me is hard, but she made a personal hell for me and her. I wasn’t the one who started sex, but I finished it. I dealt with it for four years and when I turned twenty-two, I decided I was done. I went on synthetics and told Arthur to find her a different place. He transferred her to a technical work crew. She tried to stab me with a knife when she found out. Galatea was never fond of getting her hands dirty. Three months later, during an attack, she disappeared. The next time Henry sensed her presence, we ran into the Ordinators.”
    â€œShe betrayed you.”
    â€œYes, she did.” Lucas shifted her carefully. “And now you know the whole story.”
    â€œDo you miss her?” she asked.
    He peered at her face. “How did you know?”
    â€œI miss my husband,” she whispered. “I don’t blame you, you know.”
    â€œFor what?”
    â€œFor any of it. For the motel, for the feeding, for this.” Karina tried to swallow the pain away, but it remained. She wouldn’t make it. She could feel death crouching just a few feet away. “Lucas, you’re not a bad person. You have no idea how scary you are, but you’re kind and patient. If things were different . . . It has to start right . . . And we just can’t, because I would never be more than a slave and you would always own me. Please take care of Emily for me. Don’t let anyone hurt her. She’s a great kid.”
    He didn’t answer. He just held her.
    Â 
    Â 
    K arina awoke slowly. Within her body, the pain subsided, gradually, like a receding tide, fighting for every step of its retreat.
    She opened her eyes and saw Lucas’s neck. Her face was buried in it.
    He was kneeling on the floor, looking up. She was wrapped in his arms.
    Her voice shook. “Why are you holding me?”
    Lucas turned to look at her. His face was too close to hers. “I didn’t want you to die alone on the floor.”
    She said things. Stupid, stupid things. Maybe it was a dream. His eyes assured her that it wasn’t.
    â€œPlease put me down.”
    He let her go slowly. Karina slid down onto her knees and sat clumsily on the floor. Her legs shook a little. She felt light, so light and cold. “Is my change over?”
    â€œYes,” he said.
    She had survived. “I don’t feel any different.”
    â€œThe change isn’t always obvious. Something will trigger it sooner or later.” He was looking up again. She glanced up, too, and saw a monitor in the ceiling. It showed an empty hallway.
    A man in dark clothes darted across the hallway, brandishing a machine gun, and hid behind the wall.
    â€œWe’re being attacked,” Lucas said. His voice was calm, almost casual.
    â€œHow is that possible?” Emily. Henry had her. If they were being attacked, her daughter would be in danger.
    More people flickered past on the screen.
    â€œThe Ripper must have been an Ordinator mole,” Lucas said. “We should’ve gone to a ranch in Montana—that’s our evacuation route from that base. Instead we’re in Detroit. This building is nearly abandoned; only the bottom three floors and the top five—those are ours—are operational. The blocks in a one-mile radius around it are basically deserted. We’re sitting ducks here.”
    â€œWhy didn’t Arthur evacuate us?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Lucas said. “The Ordinators likely blocked the exits. We landed into a trap.” His face was dark. “Our best chance is to stay here.”
    No. No, she had to go and find Emily. “Why?”
    â€œI’m at my limit. Normally I would be