Her Black Heart (The Dark Amulet Series Book 2) (23 page)

CHAPTER

FIFTY-EIGHT

Ra’zael

“So you
didn’t
see Maurice,” Raz said. “Did you imagine—”

“No. I
didn’t
imagine him. I smelled him,” Julia said.

“Oh, I see. It’s weird when I smell someone, but it’s okay for you, is that it?”

“Shut. Up. I’ve had a bad day.”

“What’s he smell like?”

“I don’t know. Stand out in the hallway and take a whiff.”

He looked at the ceiling. “You just said you smelled him and now you don’t know.” The angel slumped his shoulders like her.

“Like cologne you and I can’t afford even an ounce of and wouldn’t want to.”

“Could you be any more vague please? I dare you.” He mumbled, “Females,” under his breath. Raz peered around the door jamb. To the left, the hallway was empty. On the right, a man rounded the corner. Their eyes locked.
Shit
. The human whose ass he’d kicked in Detroit was headed for him. “Julia, you’ll want to hide.”

The white feathered angel flapped his wings as he sprinted toward the burly man. Raz’s feet left the floor as he twisted into a torpedo, spinning head and fists first into the human’s torso. The guy yelped and went down. He tried to roll away but Raz was right there with a chokehold. He beat his wings to lift him and his opponent off the carpet. Being no match for Raz, the man was easily dragged back to the room.

He deposited the weak human at the foot of the bed. The angel made his wings visible and the man’s eyes went saucer wide. The dude scooted backward on his ass until he trapped himself between Raz and the corner next to the desk.

The man’s eyes left the angel to gape at Julia and his face paled. “Wha-wha-what is this?” he gasped. “You’re? Am I? Who?”

“You’re the latest puppet, huh?” The Frankenstein monster blinked and his eyes returned to their impossibly wide stare. “What’s your name, anyway?”

“You’re…”

“Yeah, I know, Bryant killed me,” Julia said testily. “What’s your name?”

He swallowed and looked back and forth between her and Raz.

“Hey, focus, she asked you a question.” Raz poked the guy’s forehead a couple of times then snapped his fingers in front of his face.

“S-Shane. My name’s Shane.”

Julia cocked her head. “Maurice is here.”

“No-no.” Shane shook his head.

“That wasn’t a question,” Julia said. “What room’s he in?”

“Like I’m going to tell—”

Raz punched him in the center of his face. Blood spewed, and Shane’s head knocked against the wall.

He grunted and clutched his nose. “Fuck.”

“What room?” Julia asked again. Raz smiled. He was going to remind her they could teleport to Maurice but he enjoyed messing with the idiot too much. Besides you never knew what you might run into and it was best to have all the information you could before an ambush.

Shane chuckled without humor. Raz slammed his head back. “All right. All right.” He splayed his hands up. “Twelve oh eight.”

“You lying to me, Shane?”

“No.”

Julia narrowed her eyes at him. “You’ve been very helpful, but you haven’t been nice to me.”

Raz grinned. “Yes. So how would you like to die?”

Shane gulped loudly.

“You know what? I think he’s probably earned his ticket into Hell. What do you think?” Julia said.

Raz shrugged. “Most likely.”

She put an index finger up to her lips. “Hmm, I don’t want to be accused of being vindictive.”

“So-so don’t,” Shane sputtered.

“What do you have in mind, female?”

“Quick death, and let those shadow demons take him.”

“Shadow demons?” Shane trembled.

“Quick death it is.” Raz grabbed Shane by his neck, lifted him up, and got ready to body-slam Shane on the floor.

“Wait!” Julia yelled.

Raz paused mid-slam. “What’s wrong?” He tried not to look like he sagged in relief. Thank, Deus, she didn’t want him to go through with it. He would have, but Julia was supposed to learn from her past and make better choices.

“Is this a good idea? What about all that crap in the woods about my soul? I was supposed to learn something from all this.”

“Like what?”

Come on, Julia. You got this.

“Maybe I should learn to let things go. Killing him won’t change anything, I’m still dead. I’ve made so many mistakes in life. God. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but let him go.”

“You sure?” New feathers sprouted on her wings—growing and lengthening before his eyes.

She scrunched up her face and shimmied her shoulders. “Yes.” She reached behind her and scratched a wing. “If he’s destined for Hell then anything we do couldn’t possibly be any worse than that.”

“You’re probably right. I really want to kill him though.” He sent his fist flying into Shane’s face again. Lights out for the bastard. “Probably shouldn’t use your nails to scratch like that.”

Julia shook her head. “Why did you do that? I have more questions.” Raz’s eyelids lowered and a grin spread across his face. “And why are you looking at me like—my feathers are coming in, aren’t they?”

He nodded, sitting back on his heels to watch.

“I have more questions. Are you listening to me?” Julia snapped her fingers in Raz’s face.

“Uh huh,” he blinked when she waved a hand in front of him. “Oh sorry, like what?”

“Like what is Maurice doing here and more importantly, does he have m—the amulet?”

Raz smiled. “You almost said ‘my’ didn’t you?”

“Be quiet. I caught myself. Old habits die hard. Sheesh. Wake him up.” She backed into the wall and rubbed her wings. A purr left her throat. “What?” she said at Raz’s odd look. “It’s itchy.”

“Wake him up? Oh, okay. I have a magic wand,” Raz said.

“Then use it,” she said. He stood and stared cross-eyed at her. “Oh, you were trying to be
funny
.”

He smirked. “Did you think I was serious?”

“Well, no. I don’t
know
. This whole angel thing is weird.” Shane groaned and they glanced down. “I think he’s waking up. Hey, asshole?”

“Wha-what?”

“Why’s your boss still here?” Julia asked. Shane shrugged but looked like he knew more than he was letting on.

“I still want to kill you though, so don’t make it easy for me,” Raz said.

Julia held a hand up so he backed off. She paced a bit before speaking. “Now, here’s your chance at a little redemption. I’d take it if I were you. I hear Hell is something to fear. Why is Maurice still here? And answer truthfully. I wouldn’t want to summon the Demon Ruler.”

Raz hid a snort in his hand. Scary part was, she
could
conjure the asshat. “Oh, I’d believe her if I were you,” he said to Shane. “See, my wings are white, but hers?” He tsked and sucked air in between his teeth. “Hers are black, which can’t be good.”

It was a total bluff. Black feathers didn’t make her any worse than him. She’d simply obtained her wings a different way. Shane wouldn’t know that though.

“There’s a problem. That’s all I know,” Shane said.

Julia rubbed her jawline. “Uh huh, right. I’m not an idiot. Redemption here. Focus. What happened?”

Shane sat mutely.

Raz tipped his head back. “Arghh! I don’t have time for this!” He cupped his hand and a set of handcuffs appeared. He placed one on Shane’s wrist and dragged him by the arm toward the bathroom. He met with some resistance. The man grabbed onto the leg of the bed with his free hand. Julia pried his fingers off and followed them into the bathroom.

CHAPTER

FIFTY-NINE

Julia

“What are you doing? Thought you weren’t going to kill him,” Julia asked while Raz turned on the tub faucet.

“I’m not,” he snapped.

Shane thrashed his legs and loose arm around, sweeping Julia’s feet out from underneath her. Her shoulder and hip slammed onto the tile. “Ow!”

“Help me with this asshole,” Raz said. “You’re stronger than you know. Come on.”

“I’m trying.” She scrambled away from Shane’s reach, kicking at him. Raz wrapped his bicep around the guy’s neck and yanked his cuffed wrist behind his back. Julia sat on his legs. He tried throwing her off balance. “Quit struggling, will you? You’re only making this harder.” She squeezed her thighs around him.

Raz folded the guy in half with his upper body, then
wrenched Shane’s other hand behind his back, clicking the handcuffs closed.

“Fuck! You!” Shane barked. He resisted several more times before finally settling.

Julia took a deep breath but didn’t relax, even though there wasn’t whole lot of movement the asshole was capable of now.

The water from the tub overflowed, spilling onto the tile. Julia twisted her torso and reached over to shut off the water. She gasped when some splashed on her, it was cold!

Raz met her eyes for a moment. He mouthed,
one…two…three
. In one smooth motion, like they’d practiced the move a hundred times, they lifted Shane off the floor and shoved him under the water.

“No—” His scream was cut short.

“How long are we going to leave him under for?”

“As long as it takes.”

“Takes for what?”

“Until he starts confessing.”

Shane pushed up, dislodging her hands. Icy water soaked the front of her shirt. “Cold!” Julia gasped and shoved his legs back down.

“Hang on, just a bit longer.” Raz jerked Shane out of the water by the shirt.

The asshole’s gasp was long and drawn out. “Uhhhhhh.”

“Tell us what we want to know,” Raz demanded.

Shane grinned and let spit fly. Raz ducked. Julia didn’t. “Eww
www
.” She wiped at her cheek. “Disgusting. Put him under. Sick.”

Shane managed to take a deep breath before being forced under the surface again. Now they’d have to wait longer. However, she knew a way he’d give up sooner. Julia had witnessed Maurice’s thugs using this tactic to torture people. She braced herself for the frigid water and hopped into the tub. With his hands cuffed and her sitting on him, his mind would feel the absolute terror of drowning. They had to do something more drastic, because he already knew they weren’t going to kill him. Before long, Shane was shaking his head wildly. Bubble streams shot to the surface, garbling his underwater yell.

“I think that’s enough,” she said after thirty seconds. Raz allowed her to pull him up.

Water fell from his mouth and Shane gasped. “Ready, now?” He shook his head. Julia pushed on his chest.

“Wait! Wait! Okay. Okay.” Julia and Raz waited for his breathing to slow. “Maurice went to the museum and then he called and told me to leave the curator’s daughter alone and then started to tell me to come back to the hotel, only then he yelled ‘No’. I can only figure that there’s a problem with the amulet. That’s all I know. I swear.”

“He doesn’t have it.” Julia laughed. “He went to the museum and they gave him the wrong piece. Maybe on purpose or they’re—”

“Idiots,” Raz offered.

“Who cares? He doesn’t have it.” She still had a chance to get the amulet back. “Oh, my God.”

Julia couldn’t believe her luck. Raz’s eyes widened. A black feather floated to the floor.

CHAPTER

SIXTY

Amalya

Amalya lay on the couch in her living room. She rubbed her belly and smoothed the fabric of her dress. Yep, her stomach was still flat, but she felt pressure on one side of her lower abdomen. Perhaps this was her uterus expanding. She had so many questions. Were there prenatal vitamins for angels? Would childbirth hurt? What was she thinking? Of course it would. What was the equivalent of an angel doctor? Max the Healer?

She laid her head back down and closed her eyes. She was home alone with Elliott gone on task and Virgil probably off having sex somewhere with
Dahlia
. Amalya didn’t like her.

“Aw, look at you. Knocked up already.”

Amalya’s eyelids flipped open. She surged up into a seated position. “Oh, it’s just you. Thought you weren’t supposed to be here?”

“Thanks. Nice to see you too,” Joelle replied. “But I’m not here. Not officially anyway.”

She laid back down. “That’s not what I meant. I was hoping you were Max.”

“I have a task for you. Although, it’s unconventional.”

“Oh? Sounds intriguing. I’m listening.” Anything to stop thinking about the baby.

“You’d be doing me a solid.”

“So this would be off the record?” In other words, not an authorized task. She stared into his speckled green eyes.

“There aren’t records kept, sweetheart.”

“Smartass. Do you want me to help you or not?”

“I owe a friend.” He paused and scrunched up one side of his face. “And see, there’s this female…”

She rolled her eyes. “Just tell
me
, Joelle.”

“Okay, you know those amulets?”

Amalya sat up and put her feet on the carpet. “Yes. What about them?”

“Well, I kind of need you to steal one.”

“From where?” she drawled.

“A museum in Chicago.”

“Why can’t you do it?”

“Because—”

“You’re a wussy?”

“Ouch.” He slapped his hand over his chest and grimaced. “Hurt a male, why don’t you. Technically, I can’t have anything to do with it, but you’re a rebel and so I thought this would be fun for you.”

“What about this female you mentioned?”

Joelle took a deep breath. “See I screwed someone over and I want to make it right.”

“Who are we talking about?”

“Ra’zael, and his female’s name is Julia.”

“He has a task?”

“Partly yes, but Julia is the one I’m worried about messing things up. She has a choice to make and she’s struggling to do the right thing. If something drastic doesn’t happen—”

“They’ll both end up in Netherworld.”

“And you get that she has to be the one to…Raz is…is, well…”

Amalya smiled. “I get it. You’re in love with him.”

“
No
.” He pretended to look offended with the accusation. Amalya knew better.

“Sure about that?”

Joelle stared at the carpet and didn’t deny anything.

“I’ll tell you what, I’ll do it. But then you owe me
big
time.”

His face brightened. “Agreed.”

***

Amalya was more than dimly aware this wasn’t a good idea. At. All. Joelle had filled her in with all the details he knew. The amulet was located at the Field Museum in the curator, Tomas Koebel’s office for now. He didn’t know why exactly, and it didn’t matter anyway. Someone named Maurice wanted the dark amulet for himself and already had several people murdered in the process, including Julia. Ra’zael the Guardian was given the task with helping the dead girl find the Tainted trinket. What was Amalya supposed to do with the amulet after she retrieved it? Destroy it?
Hm
. Nothing was ever that simple. Julia’s soul was in jeopardy. Amalya had to find her, fast, and figure out how to force her hand into doing the right thing. She had a terrible plan in mind but it might just work. Ra’zael couldn’t interfere with Julia’s decision to save herself, which was what Joelle was afraid of him doing. And if she failed they both failed.

Teleporting was so much fun. Usually, other than the brief disorientation upon landing and the buzzing in the ears, it was like free falling—a weightlessness that was better than the thrill of a rollercoaster. She appeared in a hallway that looked dated, but she had no time to worry about if she had somehow transported through time. Her esophagus had a spasm and her lunch landed on the teeny tiles.

“Blech.” She smacked her lips at the bad taste. A saliva string connected her to the pile. She spat until the thing separated.

A stainless steel drinking fountain was mounted to the wall. She slurped water, alternating between spattering the bowl and rinsing her mouth out. The door opened behind her. She glanced at the man in the doorway. He moved toward her with a limp. “Are you all right?” Amalya asked.

“I should ask you the same question. Is there something I can do?”

She spat in the fountain again. “No. I’m fine. Just pregnant.”

The man stopped. “Oh. Well, I—”

“Don’t worry about it. Are you Tomas?”

“I am Mr. Koebel.”

Oh, man.

Amalya suppressed the need to roll her eyes.

“May I have a word with you? In your office?” She didn’t wait for his response and walked into his office. Tomas hesitated for a second then followed her inside, limping. The man obviously was already having a violent, confusing day. Things were about to get worse. Amalya wasn’t in the mood. She closed and locked the door behind him. “Please have a seat, Mr. Koebel.” She humored him this once.

“Okay, what can I help you—”

“Let’s cut the crap. You have an amulet in your possession with markings that could be mistaken as Druidic. They’re not. Believe me. And you’re going to give it to me. Now. Please.”

He leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands over his belly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Bull. Shit.” Amalya smiled.

“Excuse me, lady, you—”

“My name isn’t
lady
.”

“Sorry, ma’am, but I don’t have what you’re looking for.”

She laughed without humor. “Let me remind you what it looks like. Metal, triangles, surrounded by swirls.”

“The only jewelry items we have are square or oblong shaped not round—”

She grabbed him by his shirt. “Hand it over, or you’ll walk out of here with more than a limp. Got it?” She made her wings visible and spread them for added effect. “They’re real,” she said.

“Holy…s-s-shit.”

“You know what black wings mean don’t you?”

“N-no. W-What?”

“Push me and find out.”

“I don’t have it.” His eyes darted to the desk drawer. She released him by shoving him and the chair into the wall behind him. Tomas’ head hit hard. He blinked and his mouth hung open. “Wow,” he said while his head bobbed.

Amalya yanked the drawer open. Right on top of some museum stationary and mixed in with a container of paperclips was the dirty little bastard. She took a couple of tissues from the top of the desk, picked the amulet up, and wrapped it. No way was her skin going to come into contact with the thing.

She wheeled Tomas forward and placed his hands on the plotter. He continued to act dazed. Amalya stalked to the door and pivoted. She raised her right palm and erased his memory of the last few minutes. The last thing he’d remember was opening his door because he heard barfing sounds in the hallway.

Poof.