"How am I meant to do this all alone?" I wrapped my arms around myself, thrusting my trembling hands under my armpits so Josiah wouldn't see them shaking.

The seer was silent for a moment; clearly still shaken himself by what he had seen. After a few seconds, he visibly composed himself, straightening his broad shoulders and exhaling deeply. Walking back over to where his gym bag lay discarded on the floor, he rummaged about inside it and pulled out a grey hoodie. Tugging it on, he fastened the zip as if he suddenly needed protection from the cold, despite the fact it must have been seventy degrees in here.

"Josiah?" I asked again.

His eyes fell on me, almost reluctantly. "What do you want me to say Megan? I don't know where he is. This is irregular, to say the least. But like I said before, whatever he has done, it's because there's something big about to go down."

"Can't you try and search for him?"

"I am not in the habit of seeking out the Archangels. I've already stepped over the line by trying to find him once, I'm not about to do that again."

"Please, Josiah," I implored him.

Walking over to me, he placed his hands on my shoulders, his big palms heavy on my skin. "I'm sorry, okay? But if I start messing with their business, I'm going to have all eyes on me and it's not always a good thing to fall under their attention. There are just some places we seers cannot go. If you want to find Michael, you're going to have to work that one out on your own."

"What if I can't find him? What in the hell am I meant to do then?"

"Maybe you're not meant to find him?" he shrugged. "Look, if he's given you this role, it's for a damn good reason."

"But I can't do what he does!" I cried. "I'm just a ...well, I was a human. Now I'm a vampire. And whether human or vampire, how am I meant to step into the shoes of an Archangel? I'm already overwhelmed by the dead. I don't know how much longer I can withstand their calls for help. The only thing that keeps them at bay is when I feed and I've tried doing that already. It hurts, Josiah. It hurts all the time. I can't do this. I just can't."

"Listen to me. He created you, so you can do this. It's what you were made to do. You are much stronger than you could ever imagine and yeah, it's a weighty responsibility to bear, but you are more than capable. He's made sure of that." His thumb brushed my collarbone, sending a delicious tingle shooting through my shoulder blades. "Forget being a human, forget being a vampire. You are Michael. And Michael the Archangel is a warrior. He is the Angel of the Dead. That means that you decide who makes it out of purgatory. So take charge. Don't let them rule you. Fight back, Megan."

I shook my head. "How do you fight what you cannot touch?"

"But you can touch them," he insisted. "I've seen you do it already."

I stared at him, puzzled before hearing the pieces click firmly into place. "Lucius," I gasped. "Lucius is the key."

Josiah stepped back, plunging his hands into the pockets of his jersey top. "You can make contact through the boy. He can help you reach out to them, keep them at bay until the time is right and you know what it is Michael wants you to do. Do that and the pain you are feeling now will ease. And trust me; you will need all your energy for whatever task Michael has in mind for you so use the boy, do what you need to do? But remember one thing; it's dangerous for you and Lucius to be together. You both hold answers that certain people are seeking and if these people find you both, well then, they've won. Destroy you and they're free to use him to open the gates."

Icy fingers reached out and encased my body in a tight embrace when I thought of the little boy.

"Garrick says that Lucius isn't evil but he's capable of doing evil in the wrong hands," I said. "I've seen some of what he can do but I can't believe he would willingly unleash Hell."

"And he wouldn't, but then again there's not a great deal anyone can do when their throat is cut and they're bled to the very last drop."

"What?" I cried, jumping down off the table edge. I couldn't breathe. The pain wracked my chest, thundering through my rib cage and crushing the air out of my lungs.

Josiah cooly raised an eyebrow in response. "Well I'm guessing Garrick didn't quite tell you everything?"

"No," I croaked. "No he certainly fucking didn't." My hands were trembling again. Hell, my whole body felt like it was trembling. "So you're saying that to open the gates, they have to kill Lucius?"

"Yes. The blood of The Lost is very precious indeed. It's an exquisite mix of human and angel, stained with the shame of their ancestors' past transgressions. Spill his blood and Lucifer's army will rise from the depths."

"Does Lucius know this?"

"Of course he knows. He's known since the day he first blinked into existence."

I wanted to vomit. The first bilious touches of nausea crept into my throat and I swallowed hard, desperate to repress the urge to throw up right there. I clutched my aching chest and fought to control my breathing and all the while, Josiah just studied me, his white eyes boring into my skin.

"If Lucius is so dangerous, why hasn't God killed him already? And why hasn't Lucifer found him?"

Josiah smiled wryly. "They don't call them The Lost for nothing, darling. Quite simply, Lucius is lost to their eyes. They can't see him."

"But you can?" I was angry now. Angry with Josiah. Angry with Garrick. I couldn't help but feel that Lucius should have remained lost, that maybe the curse to be eternally alone in this world wasn't really a curse at all. Why seek that which should never be found? But for whatever reason, that is what they had done and in doing so, they had damned him.

"We seers see everyone and everything. Nothing is hidden from our view."

Fear spiked in my gut when I thought of Lucius. But it was no longer a fear of the boy himself, instead I feared for him. I felt it like the inevitable spread of damp rot, a blackness that crept through your walls and you could shove a wardrobe in front of it, you could try and paint over it, but concealing it would never rid you of what lay hidden beneath.

"I have to go," I murmured, feeling the first grip of panic seize my soul. "I have to get back to him now."

Before I could move, Josiah grabbed hold of my arm and tugged me back, pulling me against him. His hand cupped my chin gently. "It will do you no good to go down this route, Megan."

For the first time, being so close to Josiah held no attraction for me. I felt stifled by his presence and crushed under the heavy weight of his cold stare.

"I don't know what you mean," I frowned, trying to pull away, but he held me firm.

"You can't blind a seer with feigned innocence. It is not your responsibility to protect him. Whatever it is that you seek; the boy can never be your salvation. He cannot be your heart and he cannot be the family you never had. He is The Lost, destined to wander forever alone, destined to be forever cursed."

His tone was kind but his words hit me hard, again and again, as if he were pummelling that worn leather punch bag, sending me reeling under the force of his great fists. The anger welled inside me and I wrenched my face from his grasp with a growl, shoving my hands against his hard chest and freeing myself.

"If he is cursed, then so am I," I spat, my lips curling back from my teeth. "And I will fight with every last breath in my body to keep him safe. He is a child, Josiah. A child. Am I meant to just leave him to his fate? Leave him to the Varúlfur and to Drachmann?"

"But do you seek to protect him because you fear what he can do in the wrong hands or are your motives more personal?" He sighed wearily. "Please Megan, don't put your faith in some misguided vision of what you think your life should have been. All that is done now. You would do better to protect yourself because should Michael's enemies find you, then sentiment be damned. Dreams be damned. None of that will save you."

I stepped out of the shadow of his huge bulk and glared defiantly up at him.

"Well you said it yourself. Michael is a warrior. And I'll fight to the end for Lucius if I have to, so to Hell with all of them. Drachmann, Walter and Noble, Brandon. I don't care. I'm not giving him up."

Josiah said nothing for a moment, before shaking his head, his mouth turning up slightly at one corner.

"Fucking hell, sweetheart. I don't know whether you're incredibly brave or the stupidest bloody woman I've ever met, but one thing I do know, you've got bigger balls than Garrick and Harper put together."

I struggled to conjure a small smile. "I'm guessing that's a compliment. Thank you Josiah. I mean it, this has been a big help." I turned away and began to head for the door, desperate to be free of this hellish sauna and back to the cool confines of the asylum; back to Lucius.

Once again, his hand snaked out and gripped me, whirling me back round to face him. "Woah," he said, narrowing his eyes as he looked down at me. "You don't get to just leave. We still have the small matter of payment to discuss."

My brow wrinkled in confusion. "But I thought...?" My eyes flitted over to where the desk stood, thinking about what had passed between us just a while ago.

Josiah chuckled, the sound almost menacing as it rumbled low and deep in his throat, something between a laugh and the warning growl of a predator.

"You thought that was the payment?" He raised an eyebrow and I found myself floundering in the milky hue of his gaze. "Oh Megan, darling, I think you'll find I ain't that cheap."

Grinning, he slipped his hand around my waist, fingers brushing under my T-shirt and clutching at my back.

"Now, shall we discuss my terms?" he asked.

********

"If I don't agree?" I leant upon the wall, my body sagging against the cool brick and flaking paintwork.

"You don't have much of a choice."

"So you give me what I want and then you decide the payment. How is that even fair?"

He smiled a demon's smile, full of teeth and devilish intent. "How is it that you were even under the impression that dealing with a seer was fair? Garrick really hasn't told you anything, has he?"

"He said there was nothing divine about the seers," I sneered. "He was right about that."

Josiah snorted. "I'm quite sure you wouldn't have said that when you were gripping me on that table," he smirked as I shot him a burning scowl. "Why the Hell do you think that Garrick and Harper were so against you agreeing the payment with me? You should listen to them once in a while. On second thoughts, don't. This way is far more fun, don't you think?"

"Fuck you," I hissed.

"Unfortunately, a deal is a deal. It's too late to add extras into the contract now, although I can't say it wouldn't be worth bending the rules for." He winked and stepped closer.

"What if, when the time comes, I can't pay?" I said, feeling my neck muscles tense at the thought of what Josiah had demanded.

"If the client fails to repay the debt by the allotted deadline, then the client forfeits their life to the creditor, wholly and without refusal." His words were monotone, like some kind of twisted automated phone voice reminding me that I had just royally fucked up by signing on that dotted line.

"My life?" I gasped. "You're going to kill me?"

The seer laughed, rubbing a hand over his grey-tinged goatee. "Why on earth would I want to do that? Although, if that's what I desire, then by rights, I can do that too." He moved towards me and I almost shrank to the floor as he placed his hands on the wall either side of my head and gazed down at me.

"By life, I mean you. You break the contract and you're mine. Everything you do will be governed by me and me alone. I will own you."

I sucked in a pained breath. "Garrick would never let that happen," I glowered at him.

"Garrick knows the rules, trust me. He would be powerless to do anything about it. That's the price of the seers, Megan. You either agree to the payment or you give yourself to me completely."

"But what you're asking...." I trailed off.

"Is non-negotiable." His face was just inches from mine. "When the time comes, if you decide to refuse payment and somehow get an idea in that pretty little head of yours that it might be a good idea to run, I'll find you. No matter where you go, no matter how dark a hole you hide yourself away in, you won't ever be free of me. We're linked now, you see, and I'll come a calling, don't you worry about that."

"Fine," I sighed, defeated. "I get it."

"I hope so, Megan. I really do. And remember what I told you, the agreed payment terms are strictly a matter of client-creditor confidentiality."

"What if they ask me?"

"They won't," he said simply. "Can I just say that it has been an absolute pleasure doing business with you, Megan Garrick. It really has."

"I'm sure," I said dryly. "And why not when you win either way."

"Man's got to make a living, you know," he shrugged.

Before I could respond, the door burst inwards, slamming against the wall close by with so much force that the handle dented the plaster, sending fragments of white powder floating to the floor near my feet.

Garrick appeared with his mobile phone in his hand, his face clearly agitated and pale. "We have to go right now," he cried. "Kale and Blaine have been attacked down near Old Street. Kale is dead."

"What?" I gasped, pushing past Josiah. Over Garrick's shoulder, I could see Harper, his eyes blazing with fury.

"It was an ambush," Garrick spat. "A fucking ambush! Blaine's hurt, he needs us. Let's go, Megan, now!"