Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
“Sam, you’d better fucking be alive in there!”
Sam heard the voice. Hollow. Distant. He lifted his eyelids, aware that every part of his body hurt.
“I’m gonna get you out of there! Just hold on.”
There was nothing to hold on to.
“Damn. What did you do to yourself?”
Sam managed to stare stared down at his chest. The claw was still embedded in his flesh and muscle. “Wanted…to get to her…” If he’d been close to dying, if he’d shed enough blood, then he’d thought that maybe the hound would come for him.
Come for me instead. He’d screamed those words as the fire erupted, and he drove the claw into his own chest. But those weren’t the rules. Sam had tried to break them, but— not the rules.
The hellhound had taken its real prey.
Mateo chanted and threw ash in the air, and Sam fell out of his prison.
He didn’t look back at Rogziel’s body. No fucking point. He rushed across the room. He slid in the blood that continued to pour from his body and soak the floor.
It should have been me.
“Seline!” The flames burned low now as they flickered red and gold near the edges of the room.
Az lay in the corner with his skin scorched, but he was still breathing.
Seline was just…gone.
Nothing left. No blood—just nothing.
“Where’s the succubus?” Mateo asked. Then his eyes narrowed. “That Fallen looks like shit.”
Where are you, Seline?
If she’d died, where had she gone? Not to the fire, not her. She couldn’t be in the fire. He wouldn’t let her be. He shot to his feet and grabbed Mateo. “Our deal.” Talking was hard. Too much rage and fear and pain poured through his veins, hotter than the fire.
Seline.
Mateo stared at him with wide eyes. “What are you?—”
“I got my wish. We had a deal. Now send me to hell.”
Mateo blinked at him. “No, you don’t want to go there.”
“I’m not leaving Seline in hell.” This was because of Rogziel. Fucking bastard, having his vengeance. “He sicced his hound on her. She was the prey. Now she’s gone. And I’m not leaving her there to burn.”
Mateo tried to break free of his grip. Sam didn’t let him. His full power was out now and blazing. The only thing he’d ever cared about was gone.
No, I won’t let her go.
“You can’t bring the dead back,” Mateo said, voice rumbling. “I’m sorry, but you can’t do that.”
“Watch me.” Hell couldn’t have her.
“You don’t know what you’re messing with!”
Love…you…
He was one of the oldest angels. The strongest. He’d walked heaven and hell long before men knew to fear the monsters in the dark. “She’s not dying.”
She’s already dead, a sly voice whispered in his mind.
“You’d burn for her?” Mateo shook his head. “Because that’s what will happen. You’ll get in, you’ll burn, and you’ll stay there forever. You don’t have wings anymore. No one will pull your ass out.”
He was the only one who could get Seline out. He could trade for her. Sacrifice. He’d gotten out once. He could do it again. “Send me to hell.” They had a fucking deal.
“It’s not that easy,” Mateo snapped as he tried to jump away from the flames that ate at his feet. “I have to prepare, find the right spell?—”
“Find it.” He was shattering apart on the inside. Only fury kept him in one piece.
“Even if you get there, how do you think you’ll get her out? She can’t get out! Other than power-freaking-houses like you, only punishment angels can walk out of that prison.”
Angel…no wings.
He shoved Mateo away and raced out of the room. He searched every inch of that place for Seline, but she wasn’t there. He couldn’t smell her, couldn’t feel her— nothing.
It wasn’t just like she’d died. It was more. Like she’d just ceased to be entirely.
Angel…no wings.
“Delia!” The hallway shook with his bellow. “Delia, get down here, now!” He was desperate. So desperate he’d turn to an angel for help.
He burst outside of the old house. The dark night stared back at him. No stars glittered. Just a pitch-black sky.
“Delia!”
The angel didn’t answer him. He raged, but she didn’t appear.
Mateo came out with Az’s unconscious body slung over his shoulder. “We need to get out of here.”
No angel. No heaven for him. Hell…hell was now. Seline, gone, burning.
He stared at Az. His brother had actually tried to help him. That should matter for something. But he couldn’t feel anything right then. Just an icy numbness that suffocated him.
“I…saw her die, in my vision.” Mateo’s voice was halting. “I told you. She was covered in blood.”
She had been.
“You knew the way this would end.” But there was sympathy in Mateo’s voice. Sadness.
Sam flinched. “I thought I could protect her.” His arrogance. His shame. He’d actually thought he could change the future.
“No…what will be, that’s what always comes.” Mateo dropped Az onto the ground. “She was marked for death. I knew it from the first moment I took her blood. She didn’t belong in this world.”
Without her, he didn’t, either.
Sam grabbed Az. Hefted him over his shoulder. His brother, his burden. Then he began to walk into the night. One foot in front of the other.
He kept walking, walking, and he knew that he was already dead.
Seline opened her eyes to a world of white. Since the last thing she remembered was a fire so hot it scorched her breath, she hadn’t quite expected…this.
“I was wondering when you’d wake up.” The woman’s voice was familiar.
Seline glanced to the left.
Delia smiled at her. “Hello there.”
Seline jumped up. She’d been placed in some kind of bed. Some kind of really fancy white bed. The whole place was fancy. With big, white columns, and wow, was that a golden floor? She paced quickly away from the bed, aware that her heart was racing far too fast. “Where am I?” The first question on her lips, but… this place… a twist in her gut told her just where she was.
Hair fluttered over Seline’s shoulder. She shoved it back. But…it wasn’t hair. Something softer. Smoother.
Delia inclined her head. “Welcome home.”
Seline threw her hand back over her shoulder. She touched—wings. Actual, real, soft-as-down wings. “No.” This can’t be happening.
“I said you were special.” Now Delia walked around her and studied Seline with an appraising eye. “It doesn’t usually happen this way. Angels are born here, not on earth, and your, ah, your blood line wasn’t exactly pure.”
Had the woman just called her a mutt? Seline glared at her. “Where’s Sam?”
“Sammael is where he should be.”
Yeah, that was a big, giant answer of nothing.
“Do not worry.” Delia’s voice was so carefully modulated. No emotion slipped in at all. “It will take some time to adjust, but soon you won’t miss your old life at all.” A faint shrug of her shoulders sent her wings sliding into the air. “It’s possible you won’t even remember it.”
There were sure parts she’d like to forget. Getting her throat ripped out by the hound. Rogziel. The bitter years she’d spent with him. But there were other parts…
Riding on a motorcycle with Sam, the wind blowing back her hair as she held him tight.
Listening to the low rumble of his voice…Feeling his heartbeat beneath her ear as they lay in bed together.
No, no, there were parts she did not want to forget. Sam. “I didn’t ask for this.” The words shook.
Delia blinked. “No, this is your reward.”
Her gaze flew around the room. There had to be a way out.
“Your mother loved a demon. She turned her back on her duty for him. That was a crime.” Delia’s footsteps tapped lightly over the floor. “But not one she had to die for. Fall, yes, but not die.”
Seline stared at her. “My father didn’t kill her, did he?” A lifetime of hate had hardened her heart. Yet Sam had made her doubt. “It was Rogziel.” Her voice was more certain than she felt.
“From what I can tell, killing your parents was the first time Rogziel crossed the line and acted on his own.”
Fury had her gut tightening. “And so what? You—” She waved her hands to indicate the fancy room, and all the angels that were probably behind the walls. “You gave him a free pass because it was just an incubus and a Fallen who suffered?”
Finally, some emotion showed on Delia’s face. “No.”
“Bull—”
The massive doors flew open. A man strode inside. No, not a man. An angel. With midnight wings, blond hair, and a lover’s face.
“Leave us, Delia.”
“Uriel, she’s not?—”
“Leave. ”
And Delia left. Very, very quickly. Seline straightened her spine. She was aware that this Uriel had to be someone pretty damn important on the old angel hierarchy scale.
At first, he didn’t speak. He circled her, and his gaze swept from her head to her feet. After a few moments, he stopped in front of her and said, “You feel too much.”
A choked laugh slipped from her. “What can I say? I’m a succubus. Feeling is kinda my thing.”
“No.” Flat. “You were a succubus. You shed that coil when you left your mortality behind.”
Oh, she did not like the sound of that. Seline leapt forward. No, maybe she actually flew. Weird. She grabbed his arms and glared at him. “I don’t want this.”
“You do not want heaven? Paradise?”
Yeah, okay, maybe saying no to that did sound kinda crazy.
“And you do not want the chance to punish the wicked? To follow in your mother’s footsteps? To show the sinners the error of their ways?”
No way. Who was she to judge sin? “I’ve had enough punishment and vengeance. I just want—” Sam .
She didn’t say it, but Uriel’s eyes narrowed, and she wondered if he had read her mind. Especially when he said, “You know what he’s done.”
She nodded.
“He can’t be redeemed. His future has been foretold. One day, he will bring hell to earth.”
“Y-you don’t know that.”
“Yes.” Absolute certainty. “I do.”
Her knees did a little jiggle, but her resolve didn’t falter. “I know what he can be. Sammael isn’t evil.”
“We shall see.”
She didn’t like this angel too much. “Rogziel was the twisted freak. Why did he get to stay in heaven while Sam fell?”
“Because Sam was given a chance for redemption. He lost his wings, but he kept his life.” His gaze actually seemed to see right through her. “No such concession was to be made to Rogziel. He would die, but not at the hand of another angel.”
“So what? Sammael was your executioner?” Let a Fallen kill him instead of an angel. Nice way around that whole not “another angel” bit. “You used him to kill for you.”
“It’s what Death has always done well.”
“He’s more than that!”
Uriel exhaled on what could have been a sigh. “I do not expect your transition to be easy.” A faint smile curved his lips, but no emotion flickered in his eyes. “Though you are a first, angels are usually?—”
“Born here, got it.” She waved her hand. “ How did I get here?”
“Delia suspected the truth about you from the first. She could feel the power in you, and then when you linked with your hound, we could all see the possibilities.”
Oh, “we” could? The wings were a light weight on her back. One that felt strange. Wings.
“We realized that you would either die in that final battle with Rogziel or you’d evolve and become something more when your demon side ceased to be.”
Wait. Back up. “What do you mean, ceased to be?”
Uriel just stared down at her with that pretty face of his. “The death angel’s touch doesn’t work on angels. Not winged angels and not those who possess the pure blood of angels within their?—”
“I have angel blood.” And she had a mental flash of that fire-filled room. A man had bent near her. Pale skin. Intense eyes. The scent of flowers had filled the air all around him. Her heart thumped hard in her chest. “A death angel came for me?”
“He came for your demon side.” Uriel’s lips tightened, then he explained, “The succubus you were is dead. The angel that was trapped inside you…well, she is free now. Jeremian’s job was to watch you in your final moments, and then to ferry you back to the place you truly belong.”
Her wings trembled. “I don’t feel like an angel.” Too much rage. Too much need. Emotions stirred and fought within her.
“Angels do not feel.”
Her wings curved around her, and she had the weird impression they were trying to give her a hug. “This isn’t me.”
“This is what you will be.” Then he turned and walked away, his steps slow and certain. “All you need is time to forget.”
The doors opened instantly for him, and then they closed just as quickly in his wake.
“I don’t want to forget,” Seline whispered. She hurried toward the doors. They didn’t open. Not even when she shoved them with all her strength. They. Wouldn’t. Open.
Seline paced back to the bed. Trapped in paradise. How could that even happen? This place was supposed to be perfect. No fear. No worry. No pain.
But she wanted pain. She wanted every bit—good and bad—that came with her life.
The succubus you were is dead. How long had she tried to smother that demon side? But now, without that part of herself, Seline just felt lost.
Because I can still feel. She wasn’t like the angels here. She felt, and her feelings were close to ripping her apart.
Sam, I need you!
She needed him, and she’d have him.
Breath catching, she climbed onto the bed. Seline closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Maybe the angels were wrong. Maybe her demon side wasn’t gone, not yet.
Please, not yet.
Sam…Sam, be there.
She let her mind drift and pushed hard for powers that didn’t want to rise. She’d never been able to contact someone from this kind of distance before—she didn’t even know how damn far away she was. But she’d never been this desperate before, either.
She dug into her soul, grabbed the power she could still feel—weak, but there.
Her heart ripped in two, but she pushed and pushed…
Sam, take a walk with me.
In dreams.
After three days, Sam slept. No, he collapsed. He’d searched nearly all of Mexico, but there’d been no sign of Seline.
Mateo hadn’t carried through with his end of the deal. The witch had given him more of that containment powder, but so far that had been pretty fucking useless. There were no angels around to contain.
Don’t want angels. Don’t want heaven. Mateo knew exactly what he wanted. The lying bastard. How hard was it to get a ticket to hell?
The numbness took him first, weighing down Sam’s body. His chest burned even though the wound near his heart had healed.
Seline.
When Sam closed his eyes, the nightmares came. Because what more did he have but nightmares? He dreamed of fire and a fall that never ended. He dreamed of pain. Agony. Of wings that burned and of an unforgiving earth that broke all of his bones.
Then…her.
The beast was at Seline’s throat. Her eyes were on Sam.
Love…
Why? He tried to shove the images away. He’d failed her. He’d watched while she died. Why the hell had she loved him?
The fire flared hotter. He couldn’t see her anymore. Could only see the flames.
Just the fire.
Then…
Nothing.
Seline, come back to me.
“I can’t.” Her whisper.
The darkness lifted a bit, and he saw her on the bed. Shadows cloaked her.
“Seline?” Hope had him leaping toward her.
She lifted her hands to him. His mouth crashed down on hers. She tasted, oh, damn, she tasted like life. His heaven. Everything he’d ever wanted but never realized he needed. Her body trembled against his. His lips lifted—reluctantly—and he growled, “I thought you’d left me.”
“I did.” The pain in her voice broke the heart that was hers. S he will always own my heart. Her fingers smoothed over his chest. “I don’t know how to get back.” A tear slid down her cheek.
He caught the tear with his mouth. Tasted the salt. Tasted her. Real. “Sweetheart, you are back, and I’m not letting you go. Stay. Just…stay.” He had to make her stay. “I’m more than what you’ve seen. We can have a life together. We can have everything.”
Because he’d give her anything.
“Stay.” His hold tightened on her.
“I don’t know how!” Her hand seemed cool on his chest. She eased away from him. Her head tilted back as she studied him. Her neck was smooth, unlined. No scars, no blood.
And he knew this wasn’t real. Fuck, no. Just another nightmare. She’d leave him, and reality would be his hell on earth. “I love you.” Just a nightmare, but he’d tell her anyway. Why hadn’t he told her before? Why hadn’t he realized the truth? “I’d trade my life for yours in an instant.”
Something whispered in the darkness, a soft rustle of sound. Wind seemed to brush over his face. He stared into the shadows around him, aware that his heart had started to thud too fast.
“I can’t get back to you.” Now her hands were on his face. Her fingers trailed down his cheek, over his jaw. As if memorizing him. “I don’t want to forget.”
“You won’t.” A vow. “I won’t.”
But she was fading. Her lips pressed against his once more. He tasted her breath. Life. Love.
Seline.
She vanished. The fire came back. The pain. The torture. But he wouldn’t forget. His Seline had come to him.
And she’d had black angel wings.
She hadn’t been dragged to hell. His angel had been sent to heaven.
He fought through the fire in his nightmares and opened his eyes. He glared at the cracking ceiling above him. “You aren’t taking her!”
Sam knew he didn’t have to fight his way through hell to get Seline back. But he would have to knock down the gates of paradise.
If you wanted to see an angel, sometimes you had to raise a little hell. Sam stood in the middle of the crowded street, his gaze on the dark sky above him. Power crackled in the air around him.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Az’s voice. Very slowly, Sam turned his head to the right. He’d dumped Az in a motel three days before. He hadn’t wanted to deal with him. Killing him…well, shit, Az had tried to sacrifice himself so that Sam would be protected. Killing Az after that just hadn’t seemed fair. So he’d let the bastard walk away with his head still attached to his body.
Only it seemed Az was walking back to him now. The fool must have a death wish.
Sam sure did. Gotta be a family trait.
Sam smiled and knew the grin would flash with evil intent. “I’m about to call down some angels.”
Az blinked. “Uh, you sure that’s the best plan you’ve got?”
This was a much darker part of Mexico. The men and women filling the cantinas on this beaten street weren’t human. Shifters. Demons. Some good, some in-between, and some so vicious he could feel their taint in the air. “It’s the only one I’ve got.”
Az frowned back at him. “Look, I’m sorry about the woman, but she’s dead. Sacrificing yourself won’t bring her back.”
A gust of Sam’s power slammed into his brother and knocked him back a good ten feet. Bones popped when Az landed.
“She’s not dead. ” Sam pointed to the sky and glared at the heavens. “She’s just up there.”
Az rose slowly. He snapped his shoulder back in place and adjusted his broken wrist. “You’ve finally gone crazy, haven’t you?” Said with a bit of sadness. “I always thought the day would come.”
“Maybe I have. Doesn’t matter.” He pulled back his hand and let a line of fire race down the street. Voices rose. Shrieks filled the air. “I’m about to make a fire so bright that heaven has to see it.”
Screams filled the air. The Other scattered as they raced away from the flames.
But he just poured out more power. More . He wouldn’t stop. The world didn’t realize just how dangerous he could be. Time to show them.
Bring her back.
Or he’d destroy everything, and, perhaps everyone.