“I do not know if you are determined or merely foolhardy,” Camael told me.
I figured I was both.
“You need to have two personalities to win at this sort of thing. When I get on stage and the cameras start rolling, everyone wants to see the cock-gobbling, horny she-beast who wants to be used by everyone in all kinds of dirty ways. But leave that girl on stage. Well, if you can. And if that’s how you really are, give your stage persona a sexy lisp or something.”—
Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Porn,
by Remy Summore
~*~
Several weeks later
I had never been so glad to be back on American soil. I looked out the window of Noah’s private jet at the landing strip and sighed, feeling weary. Soon. Very soon.
We disembarked, grabbed our luggage, and headed for customs. Remy gave Camael a pair of sunglasses and we paused for him to put them on. I pressed a hand to my wounded side out of habit, but I was getting used to the dull, throbbing ache.
“Now, I’ve done this sort of thing before,” Remy said to him, moving to his side. “It’s a little game we like to play called Two People, One Passport. You’re going to pretend to be blind, and when he reaches for your passport, you slip him mine. I’ll touch his hand and implant some memories that make him think he’s already checked us both in, and then off we go. It’ll be easy.”
“Lead on, then,” Camael said quietly, holding out his arm for her to take.
We breezed through customs and moved out to the taxi stand. I paused in front of a newsstand, frowning at the headline.
CULT KILLS 30 IN MASS SUICIDE.
A smaller byline read
Churchgoers believed that demons walked among them.
My stomach gave a sick little clench. I knew of one demon who walked freely. I stopped to buy the paper and then tucked it under my arm, moving to rejoin the others.
Noah stood there, waiting for me. His hair brushed the white collar of his shirt, a light gray jacket covering his shoulders. He looked like something out of a men’s magazine—tall and strong and powerful. The dozens of tattoos were carefully hidden by the clothing.
“We ready to go for the final battle?” I asked him, moving to his side and pulling out the newspaper I’d just purchased. “I have an idea of where our demon might be.”
He didn’t glance down at my paper. Instead, he regarded my face. “Jackie, I’m afraid this is good-bye.”
“Good-bye?” I stared up at him, uncomprehending. Then I waved my newspaper at where Remy, Ethan, and Camael stood waiting for the taxi. “But we’re so close. In just a few hours, we could have that halo away from her—”
“Jackie,” he said, grabbing my hand and clasping it in his. The paper fell to the ground. “We both know that I’m not going to get that halo.”
I bit my lip and said nothing.
He smiled down at me, his blue-eyed gaze fond, and he took my other hand in his, then clasped them both to his chest. Noah studied me for a minute and then shook his head, as if regretting how things had turned out. “You want Zane back so badly that you’ll move heaven and earth to save him. I lost Rachael. How can I possibly stand in the way?”
My throat went dry, and I gave him a sad smile. “You’re ruining my master plan, Noah Gideon. Here I was going to have to be all badass and somehow you before you turned it over to the Serim Council.”
“The Serim will only use that halo for their own purposes. They are immortals with too much time on their hands, and the games they play are beneficial to no one. They don’t need the halo. Not like you do. And you don’t need me there. My presence will only cause more problems. You only need Camael.”
I looked at his open collar, where I could just see the hint of one of the words written on his skin peeking out. “But what about… you? Your promises?”
“It’s not compulsion for me,” he said gently. “They are debts of honor, no more.” His hand went to his shirt and he unbuttoned the first button, then pulled the shirt aside to expose one tattooed word written directly over his heart. He tapped it. “I’ll wear this one for you.”
I stared at the name emblazoned on his chest, unable to read it. It was a promise written in the angelic language. A promise that Noah had made, and was going to break. For me. For Zane.
Shit. I was not going to cry again. My lower lip wobbled a bit but I managed a soft smile and rebuttoned his shirt for him. “You’re a good man, Noah. I wish I could have loved you like I love Zane.”
“It wouldn’t have been fair to either of us,” he said, and a slow smile curved his mouth. “Zane and I have never been good at sharing. You would have had to pick sooner or later. I’m only sad that you have such poor taste in men.”
I laughed softly and smacked his chest with my hand. “I have excellent taste, thank you.”
He grinned at me, so easy. We were so comfortable now that we were just friends. Why couldn’t it have always been like this? “I just ask one thing, if you can.”
“Name it,” I told him and meant it.
“If you can somehow find a way… bring Sophie back, too.”
I gave him a surprised look.
He shook his head, waving a hand. “Nothing like that. I just think…” he shook his head. “She was so determined to be unbroken, despite her succubus nature. I liked that. I admired her.” His gaze grew distant. “She deserved more.”
“I’ll bring her back too,” I said. “And I’ll tell her to look you up.”
He smiled. “You do that.”
We stood there for a moment more, merely facing each other. Good-bye was so… final. I knew Noah would never be more than a phone call away, and yet… Sadness filled me. “You’ve been good to me, Noah. Thank you. For everything.”
He reached over and pulled me into his arms. I stiffened, expecting a kiss, but he only hugged me, tucking me under his chin and holding me close. My wounded side flared, but I ignored it. “I will always be there if you need me. All you have to do is ask.”
I nodded against his chest. “I will.”
He released me and stepped away, smiling. “Now go and save the day.”
I scooped up my newspaper, smiled at him, and raced for the waiting taxi.
Soon, Zane.
~*~
Last I’d checked, we were somewhere in Pennsylvania. I’d stopped paying attention. My thoughts were on nothing but Zane.
“Here,” Camael said as Remy drove down a narrow one-lane road.
I looked out the window and noticed that there was nothing but rolling green fields around us. In the distance, cows grazed. “Here?” I asked.
“This is empty of people. It is a good place.”
Encouraging. I nodded at Remy, indicating she should pull over. The car edged into the grassy ditch and I slid out, putting my hands on my hips as I looked around. Very distantly, up a hill, I could see a small farmhouse. The road we drove on was deserted despite it being midday.
“Okay,” Remy said cheerfully. “This is where we set up?”
I looked over at Camael, but he was staring off into the sky, as if deep in thought. I stepped around him and shook my head at Remy. “I want you and Ethan away from here.”
Ever at her side, Ethan scowled at me. “I do not approve of this.”
“Me either,” Remy protested. “You need us—”
“No,” I interrupted, and moved forward to hug Remy. “This is going to be a one-shot sort of thing. Either Cam can destroy Mae, or we’re accidentally handing her a second halo.” I patted my belt, as I’d come prepared for anything and everything. Holy and unholy water. A rosary, a crucifix, and a pentagram locket. I also had my phone strapped there, and I gestured at it. “I’ll call you. If I don’t call in a few hours, just keep on driving and try to get some distance between you and her. Understand?”
Remy looked at Ethan, eyes wide. Then she shook her head at me again. “No, Jackie. We’re here with you.”
I smiled at that and turned to Ethan. “Ethan, can you protect Remy by making her do what I say? Please?”
His eyes flashed bright with the power of the boon. “I will.”
“Oooh, you tricksy bastard,” Remy said with a scowl, then grabbed me in a fierce hug. “If you die, I’m totally burning all your shitty clothes.”
“Deal,” I said, hugging my best friend in the entire world. “But I’ll be back for them.”
This would not fail. Would not.
Remy looked rather misty-eyed, but she gave me a bright smile and then turned to Ethan. “Okay, love dumpling. Let’s hit the road. My cell’s on, Jackie. Call me. And I mean that.” She wagged a finger at me and then pulled her keys out again. And hesitated. She looked back to me.
Ethan plucked the keys from her hand and strode to the car door. “Come, my beautiful sugared rose petal. We must go.”
She sighed, gave me one last look, and then followed him.
The rental car started and then moved down the empty road slowly. I watched them go, feeling a twinge of sadness. Would that be the last time I ever saw my friend? When they had disappeared and several minutes had passed, I turned to Camael. “Are they far enough away? Can you feel them?” My tuning fork had been drowned out by the constant presence of the fallen archangel.
He tilted his head, as if sensing their presence. “They have parked the vehicle a short distance away.”
I swore and pulled out my phone. I dialed Remy, and as soon as she picked up, I barked, “I’m serious, Remy.
Move
it. I will call you when it’s safe.”
“Hater,” she muttered, then said, “Love you girl. Give ’em hell,” and hung up.
“I will,” I said to the dial tone, and then clicked the phone off and replaced it in my utility belt.
Camael looked over at me. “Come.”
“Lead the way,” I said and gestured for him to move ahead of me.
He did, maneuvering easily over the low barbed-wire fence. I had a bit more trouble with it, settling for squeezing in between the wires. The quick movement aggravated my wound. Even though I’d been stabbed well over several weeks ago, it hadn’t healed. I wasn’t having sex, and my body was stuck in an unnatural state. Instead, I simply bled, and bled, and lived with the aching, stabbing pain in my gut.
I’d come this far, gotten this close to getting Zane back, and a little wound wasn’t going to make me seek out another man when I was so close to success.
Or total failure, my brain reminded me, but I ignored it. Failure was not something I was even considering. There would be no failure, because I couldn’t contemplate a life without Zane. The last eighteen-plus months had been pure hell every minute of every day. I still felt that ache reminding me that one of my masters was gone. Remy had said hers had faded after a few weeks, but mine seemed to grow stronger every day. Perhaps because I wouldn’t let his memory go.
I reached into the pocket of the leather duster and pulled out a cigarette as I followed Camael into the field. I needed the taste of Zane on my lips. It bolstered me. I took a quick drag, grimaced at the smoke, and then dropped and stepped on it. The taste lingered on my lips and I resisted the urge to lick them out of longing.
Camael walked to the center of the field and nodded at me. “This is the place.”
“And this will work?”
“It will. She will not be able to resist the lure we will set out for her.” His clear eyes focused on me. “Do you have it?”
I pulled out the gold necklace and dangled it in front of him. “It really doesn’t look much like a halo to me. Sorry to be a party pooper.”
He took it from my hand and pinched the links between his fingers. I felt a pulse of power and watched as he carefully stiffened the links, shaping it until it was a thin, gleaming circle. His power pulsed again and it began to glow from within.
“How’d you do that?”
He shrugged carelessly. “It is a simple trick.”
For an archangel, maybe. When he held the halo out to me, I took it with careful fingers. It felt cool to the touch and still felt like the golden chain it was. But to my eyes, it was a softly glowing halo, a perfect circle of power. I looked to Camael. “And she’ll buy that I have this?”
“Demons are not clever,” he said. “And Azazel dwells inside her. He will wish to seek out the source of my power. He knows me. He will want to touch me again in some way.”
“Well, call away,” I said, gesturing with the halo. “I’ll stand here and be your decoy—”
Before I could even finish the sentence, I was knocked backward by a pulse of power so strong that it sent me sprawling to the ground. Wave after wave of the power rushed over me, the grass around me whipping like knives into my skin. I shut my eyes and hid my face to protect it from the angelic supernova.
Then, just as quickly, it died away again.
I squeezed one eye open to look around. Distant trees swayed, and cows picked themselves up off the ground, struggling back to their feet. Camael was gone. Okay. That was weird. “Hello?”
Silence.
I got to my feet, brushing off my coat with my free hand, the other holding the chain-halo. “If you’re still here, give me a sign that I haven’t been abandoned?”
A caress brushed my cheek.
“Okay then,” I said, sitting cross-legged and adjusting my clothing. “I don’t see how archangels got to hog all the superpowers, but it’s pretty handy for this, I have to admit.”
I could have sworn I felt amusement in the air.
I stared at my surroundings, waiting. Every instinct in me told me to grab one of the blades I kept at my waist and hold it at the ready, but the demon needed to think that it was me giving off all this power so she would attack me and then Camael could get the drop on her. It was the world’s most obvious decoy plan, but it was brilliant in its simplicity.
Except I was the only one in the equation who didn’t have archangel superpowers. That seemed like a flaw in this grand plan, but I was in this too deep to think about backing out now. I rubbed the wet bandages in place over my wound as I waited, letting the pain keep me alert.
Something twinged at the edge of my consciousness, like a gnat. It grew stronger, the buzz harsher as the seconds passed, and the air grew heavy and ominous.
She was coming. I felt Camael brush my cheek, but it was unnecessary. I already knew she was on her way. I could feel it in the air.