Last Breath (27 page)

I took a few deep breaths, chewed on an ice cube and struggled to stay awake. Just as I was ready to pop into the storage room for a quick snooze on the boxes of dark roast, the door chimed and I looked up to see a monster. The man shimmered before my eyes, his normal human form melting into a corpse—a corpse that had been burned in a fire.

I blinked, pretty sure I was now hallucinating. “Anna,” I hissed to the redhead. “Do you see that guy over there?”

She shot me an odd look, then peered around the pastry counter at the angel. “Yeah. Why? Did he stiff you last time? Do you know him or something?”

“He’s an ugly monster,” I told her. I probably shouldn’t have said that, but I was relieved that she actually
saw
the man. And, you know, drugs.

Anna pursed her lips, pulling her head back as if she was concerned I might be a rabid animal. Then she leaned around the counter again, this time looking a little bit longer. “Aria, that’s just
mean
. He’s not my type, but it’s not like he’s hideous or anything. Not enough leather for me, you know? I don’t really go for those emo hipster types.”

Did she not see the charred skin melting off his body? I leaned across the counter, too, the realization that we were both staring at this man trickling into my foggy brain.

I blinked a few times, then rubbed my eyes. It was a guy—a college-age boy with skinny jeans and a button-down sky-blue shirt, a leather bag over one shoulder. His blond hair hung low across one eye, the other side practically shaved. Anna was right, she didn’t go for this kinda guy. I didn’t either.

Stupid drugs.

“Does he know we don’t do table service?” I asked Anna. We were both still draped over the counter staring at the man who was scrolling through something on his phone.

“It’s slow,” she replied. “Won’t kill you to do a little customer service and take his order.”

I should have asked Brandi or her to do it, given my current state, but I was curious to get a better look at this guy who I could have sworn was pretty close to a human candle when he came through the door. Pushing myself back from the counter and nearly falling into the stack of cups behind me, I got my balance, smoothed down my shirt, and tried to walk in a straight line as I approached the customer.

He didn’t look up at me, so after a few moments of standing by the table, swaying slightly, I decided to speak. “Uh, hi. Normally customers come up to the counter to order, but we’re kinda slow so I don’t mind… I mean, what can I get for you?”

The guy was really focused on his cell phone, his thumbs moving so fast they were a blur. Although with the way my vision was right now, I was hardly a good judge of motion.

“Coconut milk cap, light foam? You look like a light foam, non-dairy guy. I’ve got gluten-free macaroons, too. Or how about—”

“It’s not what you can do for me, Solaria Angelique Ainsworth, it’s what I can do for you.”

It was like the man spoke inside my head. If Brandi ever offered me painkillers again I was going to say no. Just say no to drugs. Wasn’t that some Regan-era slogan or something?

“I didn’t quite get that.” Oh screw it. “Look, I’m kinda high right now because I took something I thought was aspirin but it wasn’t. Can you cut me a break and just tell me what you want. Speak slowly and look at me while you talk, and maybe I’ll actually get your order right.”

“Did you get my gifts last night? The moment I realized there was a Templar in town, I knew this city had a chance of salvation. Admittedly, you’re not quite what I expected in a Templar Knight, but… mysterious ways and all that.”

I stared at the guy, my mouth hanging open. I think there was some drool involved. Then he turned to look at me, his hands still flying on the cell phone, and I saw his eyes. They were bright blue, like the sky on a clear summer day. Bright blue. Blue not found in nature, blue.

Stupid drugs. I spun around and headed toward the storeroom.

“What does he want?” Anna asked. I paused for a second and looked at her warm brown eyes, just to make sure
they
were a normal color.

“Nothing. He’s probably just cooling off from the heat outside or using our Wi-Fi or something. I need to lay down in the back for a few. Just give me fifteen to get my head on straight, okay?”

Once in the storeroom, my gaze landed on my sword propped up against the lockers in the corner. Feeling like it would be a good idea to cradle a weapon in my arms while under the influence of opiates, I grabbed it and plopped down on a box, leaning my face against the cool metal of the pommel. Slumping back, I rested against the wall, closing my eyes. I had another hour and a half on my shift. How I was going to get through it, I had no idea. I was too busy for this. I’d never been one to take drugs. Booze in moderation, yes. Drugs, no. I felt like my brain was swaddled in cotton.

A light came on in the room that made my eyelids pink. “Go away.” Whoever it was, they needed to turn the storeroom lights off and leave me in peace to drool on my sword.

“I cannot. Not until I avenge the human’s death. She entrusted her soul to me and I failed her. I cannot leave until those who hurt her and stole her soul pay for their evil.”

I opened up my eyes and squinted at hipster boy in his skinny jeans. “You’re not an employee. Get out of the storeroom. Or fill out an application so we can hire you.”

He smiled sadly, his blue eyes glowing. “I didn’t want to scare your fellow employees, or risk their blindness and possible insanity. But you, as a Templar, should be able to see me in my true form.”

Blinding light hit my eyes. Even closed it slammed into my skull with the strength of a hammer. I raised my arm to shield them and squinted. Hipster guy looked like he’d walked through a nuclear bomb and had a very over-exposed picture taken.

That was his true form? What was with the creepy corpse thing I’d seen earlier? Okay, maybe it wasn’t the drugs, especially since my head seemed less foggy. Actually my head now hurt, along with my back. I gripped my sword tighter and shut my eyes again. “Got it. Turn off the glow, sunshine. Go back to the skinny jeans and the cell phone.”

He complied. The storeroom seemed dark as a windowless cellar at midnight after his impressive display. I blinked, trying to clear the stars from my eyes and get my pupils back to normal.

Humility. I wasn’t sure if I’d already insulted him or not, but it was time to back pedal and start laying the respect on thick. Although he’d come to me. He seemed to think I was a step above the other humans. If he was God’s messenger, then I was… I don’t know, God’s muscle or something.

“Araziel. I’m honored. I’ve never been graced with the presence of an angel. I apologize if I offended you earlier. Like I said, I accidently took some drugs and didn’t trust that what I was seeing or hearing was real.”

He inclined his head, those eyes of his still that disturbing shade of blue. Or were they? I blinked and squinted, wondering what the flash of orange was. If only I weren’t high right now.

“When I sensed your presence, I knew our purposes were aligned. After I have delivered justice for the human’s soul, I’ll stay to help you rid the city of evil and create a shining home for the faithful. Baltimore will be a heaven on earth, a sanctuary for all who walk the true path. Together we can create the next Garden of Eden.”

Araziel was scaring me. His words sounded wonderful… actually, no they didn’t. I had a sudden vision of justice at the point of the sword with no room for repentance, no area of gray between the black and white. What he called evil might be a stumbling pilgrim to me. And I wasn’t sure the citizens of Baltimore would be on board with his type of clean-sweep programs.

“Like those two junkies at Old Town Mall? You can’t just go killing people. Humans make mistakes. They were given free will. Our purpose isn’t to murder anyone who strays from the path.”

Only God should judge. It had been a Templar mantra ever since the Crusades when we’d discovered that good and evil are sometimes in the eye of the beholder. I was a bit conflicted about the whole justice thing, but I knew I couldn’t take the heavy-handed approach this angel was proposing.

“Those two were dying and their souls were tarnished by theft and deceit as well as their weakness of will. I simply assisted them.” He tilted his head, as if I were a child in need of instruction into the ways of the righteous.

“
You
think they were damned, but how do you know? They might have been saved. Humans have made amazing advances in medical technology. What if those two had lived, cleaned-up, repented, and went on to do wondrous things for humanity? What if they had turned toward a righteous path and spent their lives helping others? You took their souls before they were dead.”

The angel squinted, shaking his head slowly. “You know much, Templar. I see that I made a good choice in seeking you out. Together we will avenge the lost souls and rid the city of evil. With you to guide me, I will not make such a mistake again.”

I squirmed at the words of flattery. There seemed something almost oily about them, as if he were herding me in the direction he wanted me to go. But I was high, I’d never dealt with an angel before, and I was unused to this sort of praise. Maybe I was just being paranoid. “We can’t kill humans. We Templars did that once with terrible consequences. Our goals now are to protect the Pilgrims on the Path. The human justice system is in place to deliver punishment, not us.”

The angel’s mouth set in a stubborn line, irritation flashing in those sky-blue eyes. It made me wonder how much grace one of them lost once they’d crossed the veil from heaven into our worldly plane. Stubborn wasn’t a trait I’d ever thought I’d use to describe an angel, but there was no mistaking that expression.

“And from what I have seen of this city, I doubt the human justice system has the ability to adequately punish any evil. Better for me to separate their souls from the bodies, so evil no longer threatens the good. Better for us to judge now than watch innocents die because of our indecision.”

This wasn’t heading in a good direction. “Humans make mistakes. We’re born into a world of sin and spend our lives stumbling along as best as we can. Innocence and goodness untested is weak. Our souls need to be forged in the fire. We need to walk through the evil, stumbling and falling in order for our path to have meaning. Even after a lifetime of evil, a man or woman can reach the gates of heaven by turning a corner at the very end. We are forgiven a lot if our final steps are those on a righteous path.”

His eyes narrowed. “There is such horror in this city. It’s our duty to cleanse it. Those who killed the humans for dark magic, who took their souls for evil, do not have the ability to turn that corner.”

“Don’t they? How do you know that? Perhaps God has a plan for them, too. Let the humans charge them with murder and deliver their worldly punishments. If they end their lives with hearts of evil, then they will see justice in the afterlife, too.” I gripped my sword tightly, holding it upright to form a cross. “You are not an angel of justice, Araziel, and neither am I. Leave justice to the human police and to God.”

He backed away from me, scowling. “The mages killed many innocents, but other innocents in this city die too. I hear their screams of pain. Do
they
not deserve to live? If only we have the courage to take a stand, then they might. How can you have seen what you have the last three days and not agree with me?”

My eyes stung with tears of frustration. “Bliss shouldn’t have died. Those others shouldn’t have died. But killing every human who touches sin isn’t the solution. Let the mages live. Let the human law enforcement deliver justice. They will have time in prison to think on their wrongdoing.”

There was a moment of silence. “What if they escape?”

Escape justice? It happened. Criminals got off on technicalities or were released early for good behavior. Tremelay had said over the phone he had nothing on these people besides circumstantial evidence and hearsay. Even if he found evidence of occult activity in their homes, that was no crime. He needed something to place them at the scene of the murders, something to tie them in with the killings, otherwise they were just guys practicing magic in their basements.

I rubbed a hand over my eyes and wondered again if I
shouldn’t
just let Araziel take care of them. Tremelay would be pissed, but I’d rather face his anger than risk letting these guys wiggle off the hook. It would be so easy to have the angel kill them all. It would be clean and neat. But it wouldn’t be human. It wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be in keeping with what I saw as my duties as a Templar.

“What punishment can humans give mages who are so lost that they will take a soul? How can any human prison hold them?” The angel continued.

He was right about that, too. All it took was a few phone calls and someone would sneak their grimoire in with a box of mystery novels. Guards were so busy searching for weapons and drugs that they wouldn’t think twice about herbs and candles, about salt and chalk. A ruthless mage in prison would soon run the joint. And probably be out on parole after a few years. Even if Tremelay made his best case, there was nothing either the detective or I could do to ensure they actually were punished for their deeds. I could break into their houses, burn their grimoires, but they’d still be able to accumulate spells and materials in short time. The human justice system just wasn’t set up to deal with mages. Or demons, angels, or vampires either. Was death the only answer when it came to certain criminals?

“We have to have faith,” I told him, not quite believing those words myself. Faith seemed to be an elusive concept to me lately. “If the system fails, and these people are once again a threat to others, then I’ll reconsider. Then we might have no choice but to take their lives.”

I felt sick, like I’d just drawn a line in the sand. Could I do it? I’d faced the thought that I might have to kill Russell, to sacrifice one man to save hundreds of vampire lives. I’d been so glad I’d not had to make that decision in the end. But what if this time I had to? It was one thing to kill someone when you were in direct combat and fearing for your life. This would be me judging another and taking their life. Could I do it?