Revenant

“It wasn’t me! It was Stamtiel —”

Reaver punched the archangel in his lying mouth, relishing the sound of knuckles striking flesh. Too bad Raphael healed instantly, the blood from his split lip vanishing almost before it formed full droplets.

“You gave the order,” Reaver snarled. “It’s time. It’s time you paid for every heinous act you’ve committed. But do you want to know what act truly secured your place at the top of my revenge list?”

Reaver moved toward the archangel slowly, using every step to ratchet up the fear in the bastard’s eyes. Raphael tried to flash out of there, but Reaver had already placed a restrictive shield over the residence. Raphael wasn’t going anywhere.

“Please,” Raphael begged. “Everything I’ve done was for the good of the realm —”

“The realm? Seriously? Was it good for the realm when you stole my daughter’s unborn baby and tried to implant it in Gethel’s womb?”

“I gave the baby back,” Raphael protested, his voice degenerating into a pathetic whine that only pissed Reaver off more.

“Only because Harvester agreed to sleep with you in exchange.” Reaver caught the archangel by the throat and lifted him into the air. “I’d kill you now, but I have other plans.”

“Please —”

“Shut up. It’s time that you paid for your evil deeds. You, Raphael, are going to reap what you have sown.”

Thirty

Blaspheme paced around the cafeteria table that had become her temporary office, her mind spitting out a million different ideas to end the hospital siege, get Satan and Raphael off her back, and still be able to keep Revenant. Most of her ideas could solve one of the issues, a few could solve two, but not one touched on all three.

There had to be a way. She couldn’t give up Revenant. She didn’t care if she had to be on the run for the rest of her life. But she couldn’t put him at risk for Satan’s wrath, either.

Revenant materialized a few feet away, and she immediately ran to him. “What happened? Where’s Reaver?”

Revenant drew her into his arms and held her tight, but the sensation of rightness and comfort shifted to tension when she felt the taut lines of his body. Something was wrong.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” he whispered into her hair.

His chest muffled her voice. “Revenant, you’re scaring me.”

“Listen to me,” he said, pulling back so he could look her in the eye. “Raphael is no longer going to be a problem for you or your mother, and the angels outside are already dispersing. But I need you to go through with the Pruosi spell.”

“Dammit, what’s going on?”

He framed her face in his warm hands with such care that she could hardly believe this was once the infamous male known as The Destroyer. “I’m going to make sure that Satan never bothers you again.”

Her stomach churned, and she wondered if her lunch was going to be making a second appearance. “I really don’t like the sound of this.”

“This is important,” he said gravely, which did nothing to ease the nauseated tumble in her belly. “If I don’t return, Reaver will make sure you’re safe. Just promise me you’ll perform the spell.”

Her pulse went all erratic, as if it were tapping out Morse code for Oh, shit against the walls of her arteries.

“If you don’t return?” She gripped his biceps, digging her nails into his jacket as if trying to muscle him into staying. “Revenant, no. Whatever it is you have planned, you can’t do it.”

“I have to. I need you to be safe.” He stroked his knuckles along her jaw so gently she wanted to weep. “And it’s been a long time coming. I’ve never believed in fate before, but this feels… right.”

“Please don’t,” she begged, not caring that her pride was in the toilet. “You can’t. You can’t come into my life, make me fall for you, and then leave me!”

“You fell for me?” One side of his mouth ruffled in a cocky smile.

“How can you not know that,” she whispered.

Dipping his head, he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her sweetly. Reverently. “Thank you. I’ve lived more in the last week than I lived in my entire life. You are a butterfly, Blaspheme. Your beauty transforms everything around you.”

He stepped back, and panic seized her. “No.” She reached for him, but he sidestepped and nodded to someone behind her. Too late she realized what was happening. Eidolon’s strong arms folded around her, caging her against his broad chest and rendering her unable to get to Revenant no matter how hard she struggled. “No!” she screamed. “Don’t do this.”

For a torturous, fleeting second, she swore she saw tears in Revenant’s eyes. And then he was gone. She stared at the empty air where Revenant had once stood, and when her brain caught up with her eyes, she collapsed against Eidolon and sobbed.

Sobbed until there was nothing left.

Revenant was still reeling from his good-bye with Blaspheme when he flashed to Gethel’s residence. By some miracle, Blaspheme had fallen for him, which made leaving her even worse. Especially because he’d fallen for her, too, and the very real possibility that he might not ever see her again made his heart clench.

It also made him angry. He’d lived five thousand years alone, and he’d finally found the female who brought out the angel inside him he hadn’t known existed… and Satan was going to take that away from him.