Page 24 of Harbinger

Kazmi closed her eyes briefly, the answer she’d been given evidently not the one she’d been looking for.

“Okay,” she said in a leaden tone. “You know what needs to happen if I don’t survive. Just follow protocol.” The Argonaut mage ended the call and met their apprehensive stares steadily, as if she hadn’t just given her subordinates instructions on what to do upon her death. “We have fifteen minutes before that thing reaches us.”

Brianna paled and clasped Eden’s hand, her fingers trembling.

Jasper and Reuben huddled closer to Charlie. Julia and Zach framed Adrianne and Bailey protectively.

“Goddammit!” Strickland smashed his fist on his desk, face twisted in a bitter scowl. “Even if we give orders to evacuate the city right now, there will still be thousands of casualties!”

Something scratched the glass outside his office, making everyone jump.

Cassius’s eyes rounded at the sight of the small, black shape on the narrow ledge beyond one of the windows. “Loki?!”

The demon cat’s faint meow reached him as he stormed across the room.

“How the hell did he get up here?!” Bailey muttered.

Loki looked nervously at the drop behind him while Cassius carefully opened the casement. The demon cat purred affectionately when Cassius scooped him up into his arms. He rose to lick Cassius’s face and leapt out of his hold, body shifting into his imp form before his paws hit the ground.

Theo came over and hugged him as he shook out his fur. “That was dangerous!”

Delight brightened Loki’s expression. “Theo!”

He rubbed his face against the demigod’s chest, his ears and tail flicking contentedly for a moment. The imp sobered when he pulled back and spied the barrage of tense stares directed at him.

Kazmi studied him with a heavy frown. “Cassius tells us you foresaw this plague?”

She indicated the screen on the wall with her cane.

Loki’s eyes darkened as he studied the shadowy band racing for the coastline. “Yes. That’s why I’m here.” Crimson flared in his pupils. “I think…I know what’s causing it.”

Cassius startled, his surprise reflected on everyone’s faces. “You do?!”

Loki bobbed his head. “This energy smells familiar. I am pretty certain we’re dealing with one of the Black Fates.”

A memory flared into life in Cassius’s subconscious.

“You mean the Keres?” he said sharply. “The Goddesses of Death?!”

“The what now?” Bailey said numbly.

Loki ignored the wizard. “Not just death. They are bringers of plagues and disease too.”

Julia clenched her fists. “Why the hell is one of the Black Fates attacking Earth?!”

A muscle jumped in Zach’s jawline where he stood beside her.

“It’s Elios,” Theo said flatly. “It has to be! He must be behind this!”

“Finding out who’s at fault is not going to help us right now!” Brianna snapped. She jerked her chin at the satellite display. “By my count, we have less than thirteen minutes before that thing reaches the city.”

Eden dipped her head. “Mom is right. We have to stop this plague.” She met Cassius and Theo’s gazes, her expression resolute. “The three of us are the only ones who stand a chance against her.”

“The four of us,” Loki said in a hard voice.

The Eternity Key appeared in his hand, the golden dagger blazing with power.

Cassius knew not to dissuade the imp. Loki had proven himself in battle more than once before.

---