Free Misguided Angel by Melissa de La Cruz Page A

fearless leader of the Coven, she could do anything she wanted. It was the first week of November. She'd been in office for a month now, and had yet to wield her power over something she dearly wanted--taking care of the Coven had come first. But today was final y the day. Today she would have a little conversation with one Oliver Hazard-Perry. She'd had him fetched from the bowels of the Repository, and her secretary rang to inform her of his presence in the waiting room.
    "Send him in, Doris," Mimi ordered, preparing herself for what was sure to be a fight. The wretched human Conduit was her only link to her traitorous brother, and she was determined to beat any information as to Jack's whereabouts out of him.
    Oliver walked into her office. She barely knew the boy, and in the past had only paid attention to him because of his proximity to her rival for Jack's affections, but even she could discern that he looked different since she last saw him--something in his eyes--a hooded stil ness that wasn't there before.
    But then again, who hadn't changed since the bonding disaster? She herself had looked in the mirror the other day and had been horrified to see a haggard, grief-stricken spinster looking back at her. Tragedy was wreaking havoc on her sun-kissed cover-girl looks. It had to stop.
    "You rang?" Oliver asked. His face was a mask of deeply felt suffering, so it surprised her that he could stil made jokes.
    Mimi tossed her hair over her shoulder. "That is not the way a human addresses his superiors."
    "Forgive me, madam." Oliver smirked. He made himself comfortable in the guest chair. "How may I be of service?"
    She got right to the point. "You know where they are." The minute her brother had left town, Mimi had sent an army of Venators and mercenaries after him, but so far none had been successful in bringing him to justice. Once Jack had left the Coven, he had disavowed its protection as wel , so that his spirit was not traceable through the glom.
    " They ?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.
    "My brother and his . . ." Mimi could not bring herself to say it. "You know where they went; the Venators told me you were there at the airport when they disappeared."
    Oliver clasped his hands together and looked firm. "I can neither agree nor disagree with that statement."
    "Don't be coy. You know where they are and you have to tel me. You work for me now. You dare defy the Code? You know the punishment for Conduit insubordination is twenty years in solitary," she snarled, leaning over her desk and baring just a hint of her fangs.
    "Oh, we're bringing the Code into this, are we?"
    "If I have to," Mimi threatened. As a Repository scribe, Oliver was low man on the totem pole. He was col ateral--nothing more than an underpaid clerk. Whereas she was Mimi Force. She was Regent now! She was the only thing keeping the Coven together at this point.
    Oliver smiled a crafty smile. "Then in my defense, I must plead the Fifth Commandment."
    "The Fifth?" Bel s of recognition began to ring in the back of her head, but Mimi ignored them. She was al -powerful; he was the one playing games.
    Crush the human cockroach! No one dared defy Azrael when she wanted something.
    "Forgive me if I sound patronizing, but according to the Fifth Commandment of the Code of the Vampires, there is such a thing as Vampire-Conduit

    "Forgive me if I sound patronizing, but according to the Fifth Commandment of the Code of the Vampires, there is such a thing as Vampire-Conduit Confidentiality. It is within my rights not to divulge any information about my former Blue Blood mistress. Look it up. You'l find it in the Repository Files. You can't touch me."
    Mimi picked up a Tiffany lamp from her desk and hurled it at Oliver, who managed to dodge it at the last moment.
    "Temper, my dear. Temper."
    "Out of my office, worm!"
    Oliver made a show of slowly straightening up and gathering his things. It was obvious he was enjoying her frustration. Yet before he left, he turned