Tempting Nora (33 page)

After
a few minutes passed, she peered over the hood of the van to check for Dmitri again. The porch light was on, but nobody came out the door.
Please don't tell me Dmitri and Chloe are kissing again.
A healthy married relationship was all well and good, but this was an emergency.

Just as she was about to go inside
to see what was going on, she heard a click as the van doors were unlocked.
Finally!
Nora thought as she scrambled into the passenger seat. She fastened her seatbelt and settled down.

"What took you so long?" Nora asked. "I thought you fell down the stairs or something."

"I'm glad to hear that you missed me," Kali said.

Nora
felt the blood drain from her face. Instead of Dmitri, Kali was sitting behind the wheel of the car.

"You,"
Nora whispered.

"Yes."
Kali grinned. "Me."

Before Nora could
try to escape, she was hit over the head. Everything went black.

Chapter Nineteen

When Nora opened her eyes, pain seared through her skull. As she groaned in confusion, she slowly sat up and looked around. She was in an unfinished basement that she didn't recognize.
What happened to me?
she wondered, biting her bottom lip. At that moment, her memories came rushing back. She'd gone outside to wait for Dmitri. Unfortunately, Kali had arrived instead of him and had knocked her out.

No, no, no. Nora clutched her head,
trembling.

She'd been scared countless times in her life, but this was the first time she
thought that she might die from terror.
I feel like my heart is going to beat itself right out of my chest,
she thought, wincing. Her vision was fuzzy too—though honestly, that could have been from the blow to the head more than anything else—and she could barely sit up straight without wobbling.

As she wrestled with her fears, she
pressed her hand to the back of her head and recoiled when she touched a swollen bump. Well, she had to look on the bright side of things. If she died tonight, then at least she wouldn't have to endure the painful swelling for too longer.

Nora let out a hysterical laugh.

"It's good to hear you're in such fine spirits," Amon said, stepping into the room.

Nora blinked rapidly, wondering how long he'd been watching her
.

"You're here," she said.

"Of course I'm here," Amon said. "Stupid woman."

The insult didn't even register. She was too scared to care.

"How did you find me?" she asked.

Amon laughed as if she
'd told the world's funniest joke.

"
I never lost you to begin with," Amon said. "The only reason I couldn't make a move was because Gideon was protecting you."

"He was protecting me?" Nora gasped. "But I didn't see him."

"Of course you didn't," Amon snapped. "Gideon knew he would only frighten you further if you were aware that he was around, so he made it so you couldn't see him. Unfortunately, his constant presence made it difficult to snatch you up again. I never imagined he could be such a thorn in my side."

Gideon was protecting me the whole time. He really does love me!

"He'll come rescue me," Nora said.

"I know." Amon's eyes lit up. "I'm counting on it."

"What?" Nora tensed in surprise.

"Why do you think you're still alive?
I need you to lure him here," Amon said. "Kali could have slaughtered you the instant I distracted Gideon for long enough to rip you away from him."

"Distracted him?
" Nora's eyes widened in horror. "Did you hurt Gideon?"

"Do you care?" Amon
examined her.

"Of course I do," she spat. "I love him."

"My, my, my, so you have a little more gumption than I thought." Amon circled her. "I assure you I wouldn't hurt Gideon. He's too valuable. I just had my friends attack the man who was helping you…What was his name? Oh, yes, Dmitri."

"No!" She flew to her feet, even as her head stung. "What did you do
to Dmitri? He has a family."

"Yes, well, Gideon
felt bad for him too." Amon grinned. "He did a valiant job of protecting the man."

"Gideon saved him?" She breathed a sigh
of relief.

"Unfortunately, yes." Amon's
blue eyes grew colder. "It would have been fun to kill the fool before I captured you. I suppose you can't win them all, though."

Up until th
at moment, Nora had never been sure that true evil existed. Yet this person—no, this demon—was the very essence of everything wicked in the world. She no longer doubted the existence of evil. Now she just feared it.

Unfortunately for her, she also had to fight it.

"I don't know what you plan to do with me, but you won't succeed," Nora said, surprised she managed to keep her voice from trembling.

"You sound awfully confident for a woman who's spent the last two hours
drooling on the floor." Amon chuckled and shook his head.

"You
monster!" She was quivering from rage, even though she was so scared she could have puked.

"You want to hurt me, don't you?" Amon
said, his eyes glistening with mirth.

Instead of
answering, she glared at him.

"No response, huh?" Amon placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me," she snapped, brushing his hand aside.

Her words only made Amon grin more.

"Do you want to know my plan?" Amon asked.

"
I don't care about your plan," she snapped. "Gideon is going to stop you."

Amon chuckled at her words but continued
anyway.

"
I'm going to threaten to kill you in order to make Gideon turn away from God," Amon said. "Doing as I tell him will be the only way he can save your life."

Nora
gasped. All she could think about was the dream where Gideon was shackled to a rock.

"
Gideon won't turn away from God," Nora said.

"Oh, we both know he will," Amon said. "Gideon will do anything to save his human lover."

"No." Sickened, she stared down at her feet.

"Yes." Amon's grin only grew wider. "Of course, I can't
actually let Gideon have you, even after he does what I tell him. It will be a false promise."

She snapped to attention.

"What?" she asked.

"I need Gideon to hate again. As long as he's with you,
he won't do that." Amon's eyes narrowed as if the thought of loving someone sickened him. "If Gideon swears off God and the woman he loves dies right before his eyes anyway, his heart will be tarnished forever. It will scar him even more than that blasted earthquake he feels so guilty about. Gideon will be so blinded by grief that he'll never know love or happiness ever again."

Hearing
Amon's plan was enough to make her limbs go limp. Before she could stop herself, she slid to her knees. She cupped her face as tears stung her eyes. Despite the fact Amon was going to kill her, she didn't weep for herself. No, she wept for Gideon.

Somehow, even as distraught as she was, she managed to summon enough strength to speak.

"He'll never return to you," Nora said. "Even if you kill me, he won't."

"You humans are always so simpleminded." Amon grabbed a fistful of
her hair and made her stare into his cold eyes. "I don't need Gideon to return to me."

Even as she writhed
due to her burning scalp, she whimpered, "What?"

"Gideon doesn't need to follow me anymore
. I just need to make him hate again." Amon bent over her so he was breathing in her face. "If love is the power of God, hatred is the power of the Devil. Even if Gideon no longer heeds me, his hatred will eat at him until he becomes so dark that he can never hope to free himself from the Devil's power."

No, that's so evil.

"God won't let that happen," she said. "He won't."

"If God is so omnipresent, then where are his hoards of angels
trying to stop me?" Amon yanked at her hair hard enough to make her cry out. "Face it, Nora. You and your beloved are truly on your own. By the time dawn comes, you'll be dead and Gideon's heart will be consumed by darkness."

Finally, Amon released her hair and stepped back. As she watched him
leave the room, she thought,
No, I'm not on my own. I'm not.
For the first time in years, she bent her head and began to pray.

****

Nora wasn't sure how much time had passed as she lay curled up on the floor. Even now, her thoughts were only on saving Gideon. It didn't matter if Amon succeeded in murdering her. If she was killed, at least she knew that she would go someplace good. But if Gideon swore off God, then he would be tortured in hell for all eternity.

For her, that was a fate worse than death.

As she wrung her hands
, the door banged open. To her horror, she saw Amon heading toward her followed closely by Kali and two other demons.

"It's time." Amon seized her arm and
pulled her against him. "Are you ready to die?"

She spit in his face.

Hushed silence filled the room as Amon wiped the drool from his nose. After he called her a name so awful it made her flinch, he raised his hand to strike her. She shut her eyes, prepared for pain, when she heard a loud thud and a yell.

"Nora!" Gideon yelled from somewhere outside the room.

Even though she wanted to chase Gideon away in order to save him, the sound of his voice still filled her with relief.

"Don't come down here, Gideon," she
cried. "It's a trap."

Unfortunately, that was when Gideon burst through the door.
He looked worse than she'd ever seen him. His hair was mused, his face was pale, and there were dark shadows under his eyes. On top of that, his whole body quaked with rage. She didn't know whether breathing fire was one of his special abilities, but at that moment, she wouldn't have been surprised if flames shot from his mouth.

"I wouldn't recommend coming any closer if I were you," Amon said as he wrapped his hands around her neck. "You know how easy
it is to break a human spine."

Gideon, still
seething, skidded to a stop.

"You wouldn't dare," Gideon said.

"Oh, I would," Amon said.

As Gideon groaned, s
he barely even noticed the cold hands of death on her neck. No, she only cared about the person she loved, desperate to save him.

"
Gideon, don't worry about me," Nora said. "The one Amon wants is you."

At the sound of her voice, Gideon met her eyes. She searched his
face, trying hard not to weep, and attempted to tell him a thousand words through her gaze alone.

"Do you hear that?" Amon tightened his
grip on her neck. "She still wants to save you, even after all she's been through. It just makes this situation worse, doesn't it? She's about to die because of you, after all."

Nora
squirmed, whimpering.

"Let her go," Gideon roared.

"I will," Amon said. "At least, once you do as I say."

"No," Nora
said, panicking.

"What do you want?" Gideon asked, his eyes
never leaving her face.

No, this isn't happening.
Gideon is walking straight into Amon's trap.

"I think
you already know what I want," Amon said. "I want you to swear off God for good. Once that happens, I'll release Nora."

"Don't listen to
him," Nora screamed. "You can't swear off God for me."

Her
words echoed throughout the basement, but Amon appeared amused by what she said.

"She's so selfless, isn't she?" Amon asked. "She's willing to
die for your sake. The question is, do you love her enough to make a sacrifice for her?"

"Let. Me. Go." She kicked and writhed, every
inch of her body straining against his grip.

Even with the blind rage in
Gideon's caramel eyes, Nora could see that he was thinking hard.

"You won't hurt her if I do what you say?" Gideon
asked.

"No,
Amon's going to kill me either way," she said, her skin burning as she attempted to break free. "Don't listen."

"I won't hurt a hair on her
precious head," Amon said, talking over her. "And remember that swearing off God is the only way you and your human can be together. Do you really think that God would let an angel take one of his beloved humans as a bride? Of course not. He'll be furious with you. I have no doubt he'll put a stop to your relationship at once."

"
Amon's lying, Gideon. Can't you see? Even what he just said is untrue. Dmitri was an angel, but God allowed him and Chloe to be together," Nora said. "God isn't merciless. He would never stand in the way of love because
he
is
love
."

"Will you shut up?" Amon hissed.

"Don't you dare talk to her that way," Gideon said.

Judging by the way Amon's hands twitched on her neck,
the urge to kill her was growing. She glared at Amon before turning her attention back toward Gideon.

"Listen to me,
Gideon," Nora said. "You aren't supposed to save me. I'm supposed to save you."

"Nora, no," Gideon
said.

"God loves you. He wants you to go back to him." Nora paused, but only for a second. "And I…I love you too. That's why you have to listen to me.
I only want what's best for you."