Sins of the Lost (11 page)

Chapter 26

Michael.

Shock ricocheted through Alex’s body. Flat-out antagonism followed. Before she could do more than open her mouth, however, Michael cut her off, directing a pointed look at Aramael.

“Leave us,” he ordered.

The storm brewing in Aramael’s expression seethed with a new level of turbulence, and for a moment, Alex thought he might refuse. Then he stalked across the street to the car and leaned against the front fender, hands shoved into his pockets. His wings, half unfurled, twitched with an irritation echoing her own.

She scowled at the Archangel towering over her. “Are you always this overbearing?”

He ignored her. “Have you reconsidered my request?”

“No. I told you—”

“Fine. I will speak to Seth. But not about this.” He jerked his chin toward Aramael. “And I don’t want you to mention it, either.”

“Excuse me?”

“If Seth knows Aramael has returned, it will skew his judgment. I need him to consider my request with a clear head, not one filled by unnecessary emotion.”

“First of all, you don’t get to tell me what to do. And second, I don’t keep secrets from the
man
I love.” Her emphasis on
man
was deliberate, a reminder to Michael of Seth’s mortality, the choice he had already made. It went unnoticed.

“Have you told him about me?”

“Not yet, but—”

“Then you do keep secrets.”

“I haven’t had the chance to tell him,” she growled.

“The chance or the courage?”

Alex bit back a
go to hell
. No matter how much she detested him and his high-handedness, he was still an Archangel. And he was right.

“Both,” she said with quiet dignity. “I’m not going to pretend it will be an easy conversation, Michael. Not after what he’s been through. But while I might not be looking forward to it, I will do it. And I will make it clear to him—just as I am to you right now—that I am and always will be on his side. That means no secrets. Not about you, and not about Aramael.”

She drew herself up. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”

Michael’s hand caught her arm as she turned away.

“He’s will destroy your world, Naphil.”

His words made her hesitate, but only for a single heartbeat. Whatever he meant, it didn’t matter. Seth had saved her life, had chosen her over himself. She would not—could not—betray his trust. Not for a Heaven that had already betrayed hers. She pulled away from his hold.

“Before or after Lucifer does?” she asked.

Leaving Michael on the sidewalk, she crossed the street to join Aramael by the car. She opened the door and leaned in to rummage through the glove compartment for a spare notebook and pen. She slammed the door shut and rested the notebook on the sedan’s roof. Aramael glanced between her and Michael as she jotted down a series of questions.

“May I ask what that was about?”

“No.” She slapped the notebook against his chest, holding it there until he raised a hand to take it. “The questions you need to ask are on the first page. Make sure you note the address of everyone you speak to, and keep a list of the houses where no one is home.”

“I thought you didn’t want my help.”

“I changed my mind.” She looked across the street to Michael. Met, without flinching, the hard green eyes. Knew he monitored her words. She turned her back on him.

“I want to finish this canvass,” she told Aramael, her voice clear and steady, “and then I want to go home. I have things I need to tell Seth.”

Chapter 27

As much as Alex tried to tell herself otherwise, the conversation with Michael had rattled her. Deeply. By the time she finished with the last house backing onto the park, she was footsore, frustrated, and had never been more ready to pack in a canvass. She’d also been unable to stop the Archangel’s parting words from replaying in her head with every single step she’d taken.

“He will destroy your world,”
he’d said—and still she’d walked away. She’d failed to demand an explanation because she’d let her own feelings get in the way. Across the street, Aramael descended from a porch and walked toward her. Her gut twisted into the special knot reserved for him. She scowled. She knew better—
was
better—than that. And if she was going to get the answers she needed to save even a portion of humanity, this knee-jerk reaction to all things angelic had to stop. Now.

Stepping onto the sidewalk, Aramael handed the notebook to her. She flipped it open. His notes filled the pages in an impatient scrawl. Legible, but only just. She scanned them. At least he appeared to have asked all the questions and kept a list of addresses they’d need to return to.

“What now?” he asked.

“We write up the file in the office, and then we—
I
—go home.”

“To tell Seth about me.”

“And Michael. Yes.”

“You really care enough about him to risk your own world.”

Again with the world thing. She closed the notebook Aramael had given her and slid it into her pocket along with her own. “Explain.”

“If he doesn’t take back his powers, the imbalance he caused could destroy the entire—” Aramael stopped. “You didn’t know.”

She shook her head, partly in answer, partly in denial. Tiny crystals of ice formed in her veins, invaded her heart. “There must be some mistake.”

Aramael’s gaze held hers, the same flat gray as Lake Ontario on a sullen day. “You’ve seen the news. The increase in earthquakes and storms—”

“That’s
Seth
?”

“The energy he released in giving up his powers.”

No. There had to be a mistake. They had to be wrong. Alex realized her head continued to move from side to side. Through sheer force of will, she held it still and made herself face Aramael’s words. Their truth.

“That’s what Michael wanted to tell me.”

“It’s why he came to you for help, yes.”

Dear God . . .

The cell phone at her waist vibrated. Fingers shaking, she fumbled it from its clip.

“Jarvis.”

Even to her own ears, her voice sounded strangled. It was no wonder Henderson picked up on it instantly.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Her throat closed.
Everything,
she wanted to say.
Everything in my whole goddamn world is wrong.

But she couldn’t. Couldn’t tell him. Not about this. Not before she’d talked to Seth and sorted out her own head. Not before she figured out what she was going to do. She cleared her throat.

“Just a case I caught this morning. Two pregnant women, stoned to death.”

“I saw something about that on the news. You okay?”

“Fine.”

“Of course.” His voice was dry. “How could I think otherwise?”

Alex bit back an invitation for him to piss off and sought instead for words to distract him. Normal words that didn’t reflect the agony that had taken up residence in her very soul. “Anything exciting at your end?”

“A whole lot of overtime. The demand for DNA testing is through the roof. Every pregnant woman in the city wants a test, regardless of how far along she is, and we’ve had multiple threats against labs that have refused. Some of them have hired armed guards to protect their staff, so we’ve had to step up patrols to keep tabs on things. Half our detectives are back in uniform to meet the demand. You can imagine how busy that makes the rest of us.”

“And Father Marcus?”

“Not a word. I think we can count on the Church to keep him and the scrolls under pretty tight wraps until they figure out what to do with their information. Worst case scenario, they go to governments with it—they’re not interested in creating a worldwide panic.”

Which is exactly what would happen if the general public learned of the scrolls’ existence. And their content. Alex held back a shudder at the thought of the world’s reaction to knowing the reality of Heaven and Hell.

“I hope you’re right. I just wish we could have confirmation on that.”

“Hey, as long as it stays off the Internet and out of the hands of the nutcases, I’m happy. Which reminds me, I’ve had a look at the list of what the tech guys are monitoring for. It’s pretty focused on end of the world and wrath of God stuff. I think we need to expand it to include”—his voice dropped to a murmur—“you know, the other.”

“You mean angels?”

“And their offspring.”

“You want to put the Nephilim on a list of watch words? You’re a brave man. Have you decided how you’ll explain where you came up with the idea?”

“I was hoping you might take care of that at your end. Your boss is a little more . . . tolerant of these ideas than mine.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

“So how’s the other stuff going? Any give from your other half with regard to helping us out?”

Alex’s grip on the phone tightened until pain radiated from her knuckles through her wrist. “Some. He’s looking into the babies that are disappearing. Trying to find out where they’re being taken.”

“The ones that haven’t been taken by various governments, you mean.” Henderson grunted. “It’s about bloody time he came around. Those superpowers of his would come in handy right now, wouldn’t they?”

She choked on her inhale. “I should go. I’m still canvassing the neighborhood, and I’d like to finish before midnight.”

Silence. Then, suspiciously, “What aren’t you telling me, Jarvis?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit. Spill.”

A thousand demons hammered at the inside of her skull—a metaphor far too close to actuality for peace of mind. “I have a new partner. Well, a new
old
partner. Aramael is back. One of the Fallen has been watching me.”

“What the hell, Jarvis?” Henderson growled. “I thought you were done.”

“Trust me, so did I.”

“When?”

“This morning.”

“Does Seth know?”

Trust the Vancouver detective to get right to the heart of the matter. “Not yet.”

“Are you going to tell him?”

“I have to.” That, and a whole lot more.

“He’s not going to like it.”

“You called him the soulmate you can never have. Is that how you think of him?”

“No,” she said. “No, he’s not. And now I really do have to go, Hugh.”

“All right. But you call me if you need me, Alex. Anytime. I mean it. I don’t care if it’s three in the morning, understand?”

She gave a nod the Vancouver detective couldn’t see and ended the call.

Chapter 28

Seth glowered at the Archangel standing stiffly in the doorway.

“Finally come to finish what you started?”

“To talk.”

“I know what you want. The answer is no.”

“The Naphil told you?” Surprise flickered across Mika’el’s face.

“It’s true, then. You did visit her.”

Mika’el’s eyes narrowed. “She didn’t tell you. Then how do you know?”

“Like the rest of my life, that would be none of your bloody business.” He moved to close the door again, but the Archangel’s hand snaked between it and the frame, pushing back.

“We need your help.”

Seth stared, torn between laughing at him and slamming the other’s hand in the door. “After what you tried to do to me? Are you out of your mind?”

“I did what was necessary.”

“You tried to have me killed, Archangel, and the One—my own mother—went along with you.”

“It wasn’t an easy decision for her. We’d run out of options.”

“Cry me a fucking river.”

A muscle in the Archangel’s jaw twitched. “You’re the one who reneged on his duty in the first place,” he snapped. “None of this would have happened if you had done as you were supposed to do.”

“Bullshit. At best I might have been able to delay the inevitable a little longer, but that was all. Because war is just that—inevitable. Whatever choice I made would have been ignored by both sides. Lucifer wouldn’t have given up—
won’t
give up—until every last mortal is wiped from the face of this planet. You know it, I know it, and
she
knows it. This battle will never end.”

“There won’t
be
a battle if you don’t shut up and listen.”

“I’m not interested.”

Mika’el shoved the door wider. “This isn’t about the One or Lucifer, damn it. It’s about the survival of the mortal race.”

“Not interested in them, either.”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, you
live
with them.”

“I live with Alex.”

“She’s one of them.”

Seth scowled. Samael had used the same words. Sought to make the same distinction that, despite Seth giving up his divinity, Alexandra was mortal in a way he could never be. He jutted out his chin.

“She’s different.”

“Because she’s Nephilim?”

Because she’s mine.
“Maybe.”

“That doesn’t make her any less mortal.”

“And if I take back the power? Will
that
make her any less mortal?”

“You know it won’t.”

“You’re bloody right, it won’t. I also won’t get any more time with her than I have now—in fact, I won’t get any time with her at all, will I? I’ll have to give her up, return to Heaven, and watch her die with the rest of humanity without interfering because my mother’s
rules
won’t permit it. Isn’t that what taking back my power will mean?”

“Damn it, Seth, the entire human race—”

“
Isn’t
it?”

Mika’el said nothing.

“Then fuck the power, and fuck you,” Seth said viciously. “I damn near died—twice!—to get to where I am now, Mika’el. Don’t you get it? I love Alex as I have never loved anything or any
one
before. I will
not
give up what precious little time I have with her for the sake of an already dying world. Now get the Hell out of my life—and hers.”

Chapter 29

“You’re late.”

Alex hesitated for a bare breath of an instant, then secured the dead bolt on the door and turned to face Seth. “I left you a message earlier.”

He leaned against the living room door frame, arms crossed, shoulders stiff. “And I left you three.”

“I’m sorry. I know I said I’d answer, but there was an incident.”

“The stoning? I saw it on the news.”

“It’s these pregnancies. People are terrified.”

“And so they kill innocent pregnant women?”

She lifted her chin at the coldness in his voice—coldness, and a derisive note that made her spine stiffen. “No. A very small minority do things like that. The rest of us try to stay calm and stop things from getting out of hand.”

Seth studied the floor between them. “You really care about them, don’t you? These mortals.”

“Of course I care. I’m one of them.”

“You know I don’t understand why.”

“Give it time. Get to know us better. We’re not all like the ones who killed those women.”

“I’m not interested in getting to know the others.”

She snaked a hand through her hair. “I thought we got past this last night,” she said tightly. “When you said you’d try. That you’d help.”

“And you said you’d answer your phone if I called. The lies simply abound, don’t they?”

Struggling with irritation fueled by fatigue, Alex made herself take a deep breath. “I wasn’t lying, but you’re right, I should have made it clear that it’s not always possible to answer right away. I’m sorry.”

“That’s it?”

“What more do you want me to say? We’ve been over this a hundred times, Seth. I’m a cop. This is my job.”

“Fine. Then tell me about that job. About your day. All of it.”

Alex’s heart skidded to a stop. Restarted with a thud that jolted through her.

He knew.

She crossed her arms over herself. Her voice quiet, unlike the blood hammering in her ears, she said, “Michael came to see you.”

The muscle in his jaw went tight again. Fury and hurt glittered in equal measure in his black eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t know how. With all that’s happened, I was afraid you’d be angry. I didn’t want another fight.”

“I am angry, but my fight isn’t with you. Unless . . .”

“Unless what?”

“Unless you agree with them.”

“He’s going to destroy your world.”

“Do you?” Seth asked.

“No. No, of course not. But—” She slumped against the door, shaking her head at the surreality of their conversation. At the two of them, standing in their apartment hallway, calmly discussing the fate of her entire race. “Are they right? About the power you released destroying the world?”

“The war between my parents will destroy the world, Alex. Lucifer’s hatred for humanity will destroy the world. It began with your creation, and it won’t end until every last one of you is wiped from existence.”

“Even if—?”

“Taking back my powers might end an imbalance, but nothing more. The Nephilim will still be born, still become an army, and still annihilate your race. And I will still lose you. Without having had the briefest of lives with you, I will watch you die and then spend eternity living with your memory and the knowledge that, under my mother’s rules for the universe, I could do nothing to save you. Is that what you want for us?”

Her chin jerked up. “That’s not fair. This isn’t about what I
want
, Seth, it’s about what’s right.”

“Is it?”

“Of course it—”

“I know he’s back.”

Her teeth snapped shut. After all that, Michael had told him about Aramael? Without at least warning her?
Son of a bitch.
“I was going to tell you.”

“Of course you were. As soon as you told me about Mika’el.”

She ignored the shot, rubbing a weary hand over her eyes. There was no easy way to do this. “He was waiting for me at the office this morning. He’ll be working with me as my partner again.”

“And you’re okay with that.” Seth delivered the words in a tone so cold that it turned the air between them frigid.

There was no easy way to do this, either.

“Luci—” The name caught in her throat. She rubbed false warmth into her arms and tried another approach. “I’m being watched. By one of the Fallen. Michael thinks I need protection.”

“Your soulmate’s protection.”

“The Fallen One is an Archangel. Aramael is the only one—” She stopped. Telling him that Aramael was the only one who would lay down his life for her would not help matters.

But Seth had already filled in the blanks, his features going so still they might have been carved from marble. Hard, unyielding marble. “The only one who would die to protect you,” he said. “Because that’s how powerful a soulmate connection is. I should have known.”

“It doesn’t change anything, Seth. I made my choice. I love
you
, not him.”

Silence stretched between them, a vast emptiness that widened with every tick of the utilitarian clock on the living room wall. Until, without speaking, Seth walked down the hallway to the bedroom and closed the door. The lock clicked into place with a snap that found an echo the length of her spine. She waited for long seconds and then, with a sigh rooted in her toes, headed for the kitchen and the bottle of ibuprofen. She’d give him time to cool off, get her headache under control, and—

Her steps dragged to a halt. She stared at the dining room table, with its guttering candles and the hardened wax pooled at their bases. The cold, congealed food sitting on the plates. The bottle of wine, a corkscrew beside it. She forced her feet to carry her forward. With stiff, spare movements, she cleared Seth’s dinner efforts, scraping the food into the kitchen garbage can, placing the tepid wine in the fridge, blowing out the candles, putting away the napkins and silverware.

When only the spilled wax remained on the table, she took down the bottle of Scotch from the cabinet beside the stove, collected a glass, and retreated to the living room for the night.