Demon Forged

do?”
    “Do you think this is how I wish it to be?” His eyes darkened. A hint of Spain bled into his voice. “The vampires must choose a side. They don’t have to actively join the Guardians’ fight, but if the demons come to them, they should take up arms . . . or inform us, so that we can. The nosferatu were cursed because they wouldn’t choose between Heaven or Lucifer’s rebels, and if that is not a lesson of history for the vampires to learn, I do not know what else could be. And Khavi’s prophecy—” He paused as Irena snorted again. “That is your response, and yet you are in this room because of Khavi.”
    “What prophecy?” Joe said.
    Lilith spoke to Irena over him. “Our standard procedure is to send a team of vampires to follow up after Alejandro has slain the demons. Then we’ll send someone to train them properly—or have a few from their community come here. We won’t leave the community to wonder what comes next.”
    Irena nodded, her gaze still on Cordoba, but no longer glowing with toxic light. “I see.”
    “What prophecy?” Joe repeated.
    Lilith glanced at him, then at her watch. “The prophecy might have bearing on this investigation, so Cordoba can fill you in after you get to Ohio. In about five minutes, Selah will be here to teleport you; a car will be waiting for you there.”
    Taylor saw Joe was speechless and stepped in. “Are you going to tell us why we’re going to Ohio?”
    “ You aren’t. Cordoba and Preston are. You and Irena—”
    “Steele,” Irena said with an unfathomable smile.
    “Steele will be talking to Margaret Wren at Rael’s house. As for Ohio, they’ll be interviewing Mark Brandt, whose daddy wanted to go public about Guardians, demons, and vampires—and/or wipe us off the face of the Earth. And that was before he died and a nephil possessed his body. So Brandt might have heard if anyone is following in his daddy’s footsteps.”
    “Brandt?” Taylor frowned, her memory ticking. “Senator Brandt? Died of a heart attack on the steps of the Capitol Building—that was one of the nephilim?”
    “No. That was him.” With a slight grin, Lilith nodded toward Cordoba. “The nephil had been slain three weeks before, in Seattle.”
    That was too much. Taylor turned to Cordoba. “You impersonated a senator ?”
    “Yes.”
    The way Cordoba said it, so calmly and without humor, deflated most of her outrage. However Lilith saw it, the impersonation hadn’t been a game to him. And what would the alternative have been? Announcing that they’d slain a demon-possessed senator?
    “So, Cordoba is talking to Brandt, checking in with Bradshaw at the FBI, then hitting Rael’s office to speak with his staff. Taylor—you have Wren, the follow-up from that, then Rael. Your appointment with him is at his house, at one this afternoon.”
    She’d be interviewing the demon? Jesus.
    Lilith pushed two folders across the desk. “Wren was CIA. She went into the private sector about three years ago. Most of her records are sealed; Savi will work on cracking them tonight, but see what you can get now.”
    What could they get that a regular team wouldn’t? But Taylor didn’t argue. “All right.”
    “Taylor,” Lilith said as she stood. “I’ve got Guardians who can kick any demon’s ass, but who don’t have investigative experience. You do, and that’s why I’ve pulled you in. Now, Jorgenson made sure I knew that Preston and you have been playing real-life good cop, bad cop—with a side of Kolchak: The Night Stalker thrown in—and that you are one step away from playing real-life mall security guard.”
    Anger shook through her. She opened her mouth. Lilith held up her hand. “Let me finish, detective. I’m telling you that I don’t give a fuck about his issues with you or how he thinks you’ve gone off the deep end; I just want to know if Rael is the reason Julia Stafford is on a slab in the morgue. So get the job done, however it needs to be done. I’ll cover your ass if you have to bend any rules.”
    Taylor hadn’t expected that. Not from Lilith. Her throat tightened. “Yes, sir.”
    “But try not to bend the Rules. You know the ones I mean?” At her nod, Lilith said, “And for fuck’s sake, if you play good cop, bad cop during Rael’s interview, let Irena be the bad one.”

    “What prophecy?”
    Preston’s tone told Irena that he wouldn’t be teleporting anywhere without hearing this first. She liked that he’d gotten his teeth