The Angel of Death (The Soul Summoner Book 3) (17 page)

12.

My mouth was gaping as his words sank in. Then I burst out laughing again, this time in his face. I doubled over, resting my forehead against Azrael’s hands that still covered my own. “What the hell?” My voice was an octave higher than normal. I straightened and looked at him. “Do you hear yourself? Oh, geez. Maybe we’re both delusional.” I quickly sobered as a rational thought occurred to me. I grasped his massive forearms. “Maybe this is another one of my crazy dreams!”

Azrael sank back onto the floor and stared at me with a clear mix of confusion and frustration. “You’re not dreaming.”

I pushed myself up out of my seat and stepped over him. “Oh, Azrael. I’d better be dreaming, or this world is in trouble.”

He got up and followed me to the kitchen. Since I couldn’t drink alcohol, I reached into the freezer for a carton of ice cream. As I retrieved a spoon from the drawer, Azrael grabbed me by the arm and spun me around. His eyes were pleading. “Sloan, I know this is a lot to process, but you have to understand the seriousness of what I’m saying.”

Dad and Nathan walked in behind him. My father looked like he had been punched in the stomach.
 

Nathan put his hand on my shoulder. “I don’t think he’s lying to you.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re buying into this now too,” I whined.

Nathan stepped closer in front of me as I shoveled a spoonful of mint chocolate chip into my mouth. “Think about all you can do now, Sloan.”

Azrael nodded his head. “You possess and can use the power of the Vitamorte.”

Everyone was quiet for a moment.

Dad pointed at me. “Then doesn’t that make Sloan the most powerful angel in history?”

I sucked a chocolate chip down my windpipe and erupted into a fit of coughing. Nathan took the ice cream carton from me as Azrael thumped his large hand on my back. I leaned against the counter and gasped for air. Dad was ready to perform the Heimlich…or CPR.

When the coughing subsided, reality settled on me like the fallout from a nuclear warhead. My demon mother’s final words echoed in my mind. “
This is what you were born for.”

Huge tears spilled out onto my cheeks. My hands were trembling so much I dropped my spoon, and it clanged against the kitchen floor. I felt my knees give way underneath me, and I would have fallen if Azrael hadn’t caught me.
 

The buzz of his energy was consuming, and immediately, my nerves settled. “Now you know why I’ve come,” he said quietly in my ear. “And I will not leave you.”

My father wedged himself between me and the angel who held me. Protectively, he curled his arm around my shoulders and guided me back to the sofa. Tears were still streaming down my face. As we sat down, I was shaking my head and quietly chanting, “I can’t do this.”

Nathan and Azrael followed us, and Nathan sat on the coffee table in front of me. He looked up at Azrael. “Why can’t you find Kasyade and kill her?”

“Even I do not have the power to destroy another angel.” Azrael reclaimed his spot on the loveseat. “And Kasyade is but a cog in a larger wheel. For thousands of years, Kasyade has kept close counsel with two other Angels of Life, Ysha and Phenex. I’m sure they’re as much involved with this as she is.”

“Involved how?” Dad asked.

Azrael laced his fingers together. “Have you seen the red-haired woman?”

“Yes!” Nathan answered.

Dad was shaking his head, but I straightened in my seat, anxious to hear Azrael’s commentary.

Nathan was sitting on the edge of his seat. “Who is she? And what does she have to do with all this?”

Azrael pointed at me. “She’s Sloan, or a different version of her, rather.”

“Excuse me?” Nathan asked.

“As I said earlier,” Azrael began, “I believe this child was planned before Sloan was ever born.”

I didn’t like where the conversation was headed.

“My son is unique,” he said. “Never before has a Seramorta born of an Angel of Death ever existed.”

“Warren’s the only one?” I asked.

Azrael nodded. “The only one in history.”

“So?” Nathan asked.

 
“When Warren was born, I believe Kasyade, Ysha, and Phenex saw it as their opportunity to create a weapon. The red-haired woman confirms to me they each created a daughter.” He was watching me, like he was waiting for a light-bulb in my mind to flicker on. When it did, I suddenly felt nauseated.
 

“Kasyade said she created me for a purpose. She gave birth to me so I would someday breed this super angel.” My voice sounded small and pathetic even to me.

“I believe so,” Azrael said. “They planned for one of the daughters they created to have a child with my son.”

Nathan scratched his head. “Why? So they can start another war?”

Azrael shook his head. “No. Their war with God is finished, but they’re still subject to the law of Heaven. Think of this place as their prison. It’s their goal to cut off the warden. The Vitamorte will have the power to destroy the spirit line, forever separating this world from my world, and they’ll be free of the restrictions set forth to protect humanity.”

“They’ll rule the Earth,” I added.

Azrael bowed his head slightly in confirmation. “And eventually wipe out the human race altogether.”

Nathan bent forward, resting his elbows on his knees and pressing his palms against his eye sockets. He groaned. “I keep waiting for a movie director to walk in and yell ‘Cut!’ at any moment.”

My stomach was churning. “I’m going to be sick.” Covering my mouth with my hand, I ran up the stairs to the guest bathroom and barely made it to the toilet before losing the last remnants of my prime rib dinner.

Somehow I managed to flush before melting into a puddle of tears on the cold floor.
 

My father came in to find me sobbing in the fetal position. He sank down next to me and gathered me into his arms.

Nathan appeared in the doorway. “What can I do for you?” he asked.

I wiped my eyes. “I don’t want any of this.”

Dad squeezed the back of my neck gently.

Nathan knelt down beside my knees, a teasing smile on his lips. “Sloan, we all know, if I had any control over this situation whatsoever,
this
”
—
he gestured to my stomach—“would have never happened to begin with.”

Through my tears, I chuckled.

“On a more practical level, what else do you need?” he asked.

“A toothbrush,” I whimpered.

“That, we can manage.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s really late. Maybe you should brush your teeth and go on to bed. I think you’ve had enough excitement for tonight.”

“Or a lifetime,” Dad added.

“That’s the truth,” Nathan agreed.

The two of them hoisted me to my feet. Dad’s arm around my waist steadied me as they escorted me to my bedroom. Nathan stopped at the door, and Dad helped me across the room. “What about Azrael?” I asked, sitting down on the edge of my bed.

Nathan waved his hand. “I’ll grab blankets and a pillow for him or something, or who knows? Maybe he sleeps in a coffin in your backyard. Whatever. Don’t worry about him.”

Dad bent to look me in the eye. “Angel and demon nonsense aside, are you feeling all right? Your body went through quite an ordeal today.”

“Yeah, I’m all right,” I lied.

“I’m going to make a bed on the floor by the fire—”

I waved my hand to cut him off. “No, you’re not. Go home and sleep in your bed. I’ll be fine, Dad. Really. I won’t sleep at all knowing you’re on the floor.”

It was clear from my father’s pained expression he was torn. “Well, I’ll call and check on you first thing tomorrow.” He pressed a long, lingering kiss to my forehead. “I love you, Sloan.”

I gripped his arm. “I love you too, Dad.”

Dabbing his eyes with the cuff of his sleeve, he straightened and walked toward Nathan. They shook hands. “You’ll stay with her?” Dad asked.

“I wouldn’t dream of leaving,” Nathan replied.

My father looked pleased. “Call me at any time if something happens.”

“I will, sir.”

When my dad was gone, Nathan pointed to the bathroom. “Do you need help getting ready for bed?”

I shook my head.
 

“OK. I’ll deal with Azrael, then I’ll come back and make sure you’re squared away,” he said.

“Thank you.”

A little while later, when I finally climbed under my covers, it was Azrael who knocked on my door instead of Nathan. “May I come in?”

I didn’t sit up, but I nodded.

Slowly, he crossed the room to my bedside and sat next to me. “I am truly sorry to be the bearer of such news, Sloan.”

I didn’t respond.

“But I am here, and I will not let anything harm you or the child,” he said.

“The nightmares,” I whispered. “They were real, weren’t they?”

“In a sense,” he said. “The veil between what is seen and what is unseen becomes thin when your mind isn’t alert. The dreams were designed to torment you, to break you. If they can break you, they can control you.”

“So last night, the thunder…that was you?”

He nodded.

“And the figure I saw in my room?”

“It was very real.” He put his hand on my shoulder.

I blinked up at him. “And you got rid of it?”

“While I stand guard, no evil shall befall you. Now rest.”

Azrael laid his massive hand on the top of my head, and the room swirled out of view.

* * *

In the morning, the aroma of sausage and fresh coffee roused me from the deepest slumber I had enjoyed since Warren left town, or maybe ever. Hysteria has some positive side effects, I guess, and having a father-in-law who can induce comas doesn’t hurt either.
 

Part of me wanted to curl into my pillow and doze off again, but the other part—the rumbling in my stomach—urged me out from under the heavy warmth of my down comforter.
 

On the nightstand, the little light on my cell phone was blinking red. I picked up the phone and saw I had a voicemail from my boss, a missed call from Sheriff Davis, and a string of text messages and two missed calls from Adrianne.
 

Did you make it home OK?

You and Nathan are on the front page of the Citizen Times.

You really need to answer me.

Are you dead??

I dialed her number, and she answered on the first ring. “I was about to drive over to your house and kick your ass! Why haven’t you answered the phone?” She was yelling into the receiver.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “It was a really, really messed up night.”

“I would say so! You almost drowned in the river, and I had to read about it in the newspaper!”

“I’m sorry,” I said again. “I was going to call you, but things got weird.”

“Weird?”

“Warren’s dad was at my house when we got home last night,” I said.

She was silent for a second. “Are you kidding me?”

“Nope.” I rubbed my hand over my face. “He’s been following me around in an attempt to protect me.”

“Where is he now?”

“I’m guessing he’s cooking breakfast downstairs.”

“What the hell?”

“I told you things got weird.”

“Does Nathan know?” she asked.

“Oh yes. And my dad,” I said. “We all stayed up half the night talking about angels and demons and a cosmic war between Heaven and Earth. It was thrilling.”

“Sounds like it,” she said.

My stomach growled so loud I could hear it. “I need to go eat. Can I call you later?”

“You’d better,” she said.

“I will.”

I disconnected the call and trudged across the cool hardwood floor to my bathroom. I brushed my teeth and pulled my unruly hair into a knot on the top of my head before following my nose downstairs.

Azrael, who was dressed for the day in black cargo pants and a fitted white thermal shirt, was hunched over a frying pan which belonged to his son. “Good morning, Sloan,” he said, recognizing my presence in the room though his back was turned.

Weird.

I pulled open a cupboard door and retrieved a glass. “Good morning. Did you go to the grocery store?”

“The contents of your refrigerator was quite abysmal.” He flipped an egg over onto its yolk and turned to look at me as I ran tap water into my glass. “There’s orange juice in the refrigerator.”

My heart fluttered. “You bought juice?”

He pointed at the pink sticky note I’d put on the refrigerator door when Nathan and I returned from Raleigh. “The note said ‘buy orange juice’, so I did.”

I dumped the water in the sink, then clapped my hands together with glee as I walked to the fridge. “Yay! Thank you.”

“Did you rest well?”

“I slept like the dead.” I poured my glass full and raised an eyebrow in his direction. “Which is ironic.”

Either he didn’t get the joke, or he didn’t think I was funny. Instead, as if anticipating my next move, he handed me my bottle of prenatal vitamins. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving. Has Nathan come down?” I asked as I dropped a pill into my mouth.

“Yes,” Nathan answered behind me.

When I turned around, he was rubbing sleep from his eyes. He was dressed in similar attire as me, sweatpants and a tank top.

 
“Good morning,” I said.

He yawned. “No, it’s not.”

I poured him a cup of coffee, snuck a sip of it, then handed it to him. “You look like you need this.”

He accepted the cup and carried it over to the table. “How are you feeling this morning?” he asked.

I pulled out a chair next to him and sat down. “I slept better than I have in weeks, so that definitely helps.”

“You’re not sore from the accident?” he asked.

I shook my head. “You?”

“Not even a little bit.”

Azrael put plates piled with sausage, eggs, and biscuits from a can in front of both of us. Nathan looked up in amazement. “Breakfast prepared by the Angel of Death. Do you think his cooking will kill us?”

“I hope not.” Smiling, I scooped up a forkful of eggs. “I’m kinda surprised these aren’t deviled.”

Nathan and I snickered quietly at the table. It felt good to laugh after the severity of the night before. Azrael carried a plate to the seat opposite mine and sat down. He wasn’t amused.