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for round two. Could this day get any worse? But it wasn’t
Damien—it was the brunette vampire. I looked at him cautiously,
warily, stealing a breath before asking, “What do you want?”
    His lips curved into a small smile,
revealing a glimpse of fangs. “I thought I would help you…since
you’ve gone to so much trouble to find me and all.”
    I studied him for a moment. His hair looked
soft and shiny, like silk lying out in the sun. It hung along the
sides of his head, modestly framing his perfect, creamy face. He
stood casually, arms crossed over his chest, his left eyebrow
slightly raised. I’d guess his age was somewhere around twenty-five
in human years, which was a littler older than the age I went for
in my human form. “You’re Luke?”
    He nodded. “Why are you looking for me?”
    Hoping the truth would be best; I dove into
explaining the situation. “I was told you could help me by, um, an
acquaintance. A vampire has been kidnapped by an otherworldly
demon. I’m willing to help Typhon—”
    Luke held his hand out. “Whoa! Wait just a
minute. How do you know all of this? I can buy that you know about
vampires, and even demons. But no human knows about Typhon.”
    I stared at him a moment, the reality of
what I was doing hitting me. But I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t turn
around and leave. Cole needed my help. More importantly, I needed
to help Cole. My face felt flushed, a mixture of raw emotions and
the sting from the position I was in. I swallowed hard. It was time
to get real with Luke. “My name is Selene and I’m an angel.”
    He gaped at me, eyes wide with shock.
“Aren’t you out of your jurisdiction here, Angel?”
    “Yes, I am. And that’s why I need your help.
I can’t force Limos to show me where Cole is. But if Typhon knew, I
believe he would do something about this.”
    “Did you say Cole?” He said that name with
recognition, familiarity, yet there was a mischievous gleam in his
eyes I couldn’t quite place.
    I nodded—slowly up and then back down.
    “I know Cole. I just saw him the other day.
He can’t possibly be missing.”
    “But he is. Limos took him!” I said, my
voice rising.
    Shaking his head, he replied, “That just
isn’t possible. Typhon wouldn’t allow any otherworldly
demons on Earth without permission, let alone give an opportunity
for one of his dark ones to be taken from him.”
    I looked down at the ground and then back
up, meeting Luke’s eyes. A lone tear rolled down my cheek. With a
tight chest and muffled voice, I told him everything. How I took
Cole to Charon and everything that went wrong once we were
there.
    He snorted in disbelief. “An angel…romancing
a vampire?” He nearly spat the words. “I’ve never heard—”
    “We’ve been together a little over a year.
Fourteen months, one week, and three days to be exact,” I stated
matter-of-factly.
    He considered me for a moment, as if he
didn’t know what to say at first. I’d never heard of any other
angel-vampire relationships either, so I guess I couldn’t blame
him. “I’m guessing Typhon didn’t know that Cole left Earth?” was
what he finally asked.
    “No, I don’t think Cole told him.”
    Another minute of silence.
    Luke ran his fingers through his hair. His
head tilted slightly. “If Typhon decides to aid you in this, he
will want something from you in return.”
    “I know.” I explained to Luke how I’d made a
deal with an Earth demon just to find him and how I was hoping
Typhon would accept that as part of a deal.
    “All right.” Luke turned around and started
walking.
    I went after him. “Wait! All right what?
Will you help me?”
    He turned around, staring deep in my eyes.
“I said all right. I’m going to see Typhon.”
    “Just like that?” I asked, a little
surprised at his willingness to help. Especially without asking for
something in return.
    “Yes. And we’re wasting time by discussing
this anymore. We need to know if Typhon will help