Soul Stealer (36 page)

Chapter Thirty-Four

Saleem was driving his loaner vehicle from the Audi dealership. Claudia was next to him. Behind them were two of the weirdest-looking dudes he’d ever met. And he could barely contain his excitement for whatever they were walking into.

It was what he imagined being high would be like; euphoria without questioning why about anything. Where were they going? Wherever Tzaphqiel and Lazai said. Why? Because they said to. This should have been troubling but he was unable to worry. He was a flesh-and-blood robot set on “happy.”

They stood on the sidewalk gazing up at the building. “This is my place,” Claudia said, somewhat delayed.

“That’s right,” said one of the twins. Lazai? He’d lost which one was which again when they shifted around getting out of the vehicle.

“Why are we here?”

Both twins turned to Claudia, taking her by a hand each. “We need to help the people inside. It’s okay. Come on upstairs.”

They followed without concern, climbing to the third floor and walking the entire length of the building. Claudia went to a door to the right, but one of the twins stopped her. “No, we’re going to this one,” while pointing to the door opposite.

Claudia frowned. “That’s Iola’s place.”

“Vinnie’s here,” the other twin chimed in, knocking on the door across from Claudia’s apartment.

The door was opened, and a tall man, skin as dark as night, eyes bright and scary-smart. Saleem didn’t feel fear, just cautious respect. The man admitted the twins without much interest, but his eyes were intense as he took in Saleem and Claudia. He wasn’t being intimidating; on the contrary. He was curious and reverent at the same time.

Saleem felt brotherhood with this man immediately. He couldn’t tell what Claudia thought, likely the same thing he did.

“Come in,” the man said, voice as deep as a tuba and twice as musical. They did as asked.

The living room of the tiny apartment was very full. A few very large men with a lot of presence were standing around and a couple of women who were drop-dead gorgeous, actually. Saleem had never been one to ogle too much; at least he hoped it wasn’t always that obvious. Aside from Claudia, that is. He had found it hard not to stare at her, too. Looking from the two strange women back to Claudia something clicked. She was a lot like those two women, now that he really looked. There was something not quite normal about their beauty. Or essence? He couldn’t put a finger on it.

Claudia, meanwhile, was staring at a terribly tall-dark-and-handsome man that was leaning against the wall next to a set of patio doors. A man who happened to be looking at Claudia too with shock. A lot of surprise.

“What’s going on?” the guy finally asked, turning to another intense-looking man who had a scar running down one side of his face, from eyebrow to jawline.

“Oh, yes. That. I forgot you are acquainted with Claudia.”

Saleem frowned.

“She’s, well …” the man paused. “Voro, have you heard the legends of the
jinn
?”

The man named Voro frowned. “
Jinn
? No. What’s that?”

“The third creation of God.”

Now Saleem was really interested in what the scarred man had to say. This might include him, after all.

“A
jinn
is a being born of mortals who can straddle the line between here and the hereafter. They can be good, evil or indifferent, depending on the situation they are faced with. But their first interest is always to protect humans. Unlike angels, the
jinn
have free will and no one telling them what right and wrong is.”

Saleem and Claudia locked stares. No wonder he’d always felt unrelated to anything and everyone, even in his own family. He was an outsider.

The
jinn
entered the room and Anael was ready to give them a cursory look and then concentrate on what Jehoel had to say. But as she looked the pair over she felt alarm spark her attention, and just for a moment time completely stopped, all sound ceased, and she could only stare at the woman.

Her heart stopped, she was sure of it.

Anael had never seen this beauty before, but something was there, nagging at her. The woman realized she was staring, returned the look, and Anael froze where she was, shocked. Terrified. And ready to weep.

It was impossible, but this woman could have been Onis. The shape of her face, the twist of her upper lip. It was full
and female and her entire coloring was off, but it was there. Her essence, her irresistible charisma. Her shrewd eyes and fearless air.

Anael wanted to weep. It had been eighty years ago, but she was staring at a direct descendant from the living result of the one night she’d had with Onis.

Anael was looking around to see if anyone else had noticed anything; the feeling was so big and immediately she really believed it must have been plain as day. Then she remembered an important fact.

Only Jehoel knew about the child she’d carried and given birth to.

No other serving angel had given birth. It was a secret. She carried the baby as long as she could conceal it. Then Jehoel had sent her on Sin Eater entrapment, when in truth she’d been hidden away at an isolated cabin in the late spring, and when labor had hit a spring snow storm was raging outside the thin walls of her cabin. She’d stoked the fire herself until she couldn’t take the pain anymore and called for Jehoel.

He’d come immediately, and under his care and supervision she gave birth to a daughter they’d both called Aralim surreptitiously. After all, they couldn’t keep her.

She looked completely human and perfect, and for a week they’d cared for her almost like a couple minus any romantic illusions. For Anael it had been bliss; she had never known the kind of love she was capable of until she held that bawling child for the first time.

She dropped her eyes to the floor, not wanting to stare, but her heart was racing and she felt like it must have been painfully obvious that she was undergoing some kind of emotional crisis.

Eyes were on her, and she looked up to catch Jehoel staring at her, knowingly. He felt it too, he knew. He nodded and gave her a sad smile, which she returned.

When he spoke again she resolved to pay attention from here on out. There were bigger issues to worry about right then, and any distractions could end up with her brothers being killed.

Voro was looking for a sign that Jehoel was kidding. Douma, Anael, Gazardiel and the twins whose names he had a hell of a time pronouncing were watching his reaction as well as Claudia and the guy they’d brought in with them.

Voro ignored the jealous flare he felt, because the two of them looked gorgeous together, really. His skin was darker than hers, even though Claudia would never be classified as pale. Their glow was incredibly bright. If he concentrated, the two of them together were almost as bright as the angels in the room. They both had large, dark eyes, dark hair, and were like bloody magazine models, even if Claudia was in pajama pants and a man’s T-shirt.

What the –

“Were you sleeping with him?” Voro asked suddenly, bringing everyone’s attention to him. He didn’t care and tried to play it casual, but it was too late. He came off like an ass anyway.

Claudia frowned. “I beg your pardon?” She was annoyed, not embarrassed.

“Voro -” this from Jehoel.

Voro tried to keep it together and rolled over his voice. “Forget it. Never mind.”

“The
jinn
only come around once in a while,” Jehoel continued. “It’s been a few centuries. They are usually descended from, well, demigods.”

Voro balked a bit. “What  - what do you mean by demigods?”

Jehoel gave him A Look that basically reminded him that important things were about to happen and maybe history class was going to have to wait a while.

“So you got us all together. Now what?” Voro wanted to get the attention off his own illogical reaction.

The angels all moved towards each other, holding out their hands and joining them as they formed a circle. They didn’t take Voro’s hand, but Claudia and the new guy were absorbed into their formation.

A hum began. It shook the floor they stood on, a slight vibration, not unlike a heating vent underfoot going really, really full blast. It brought the hair on Voro’s arms and the back of his neck to attention, shaking and quivering. It was electric vapor; when he inhaled he could feel the jolt of it tickle down the back of his throat, into his very gut. If he’d still been a Sin Eater he would have run for the hills. This feeling was pure, positive and clean metaphysical energy. If Voro had been human he likely would have been weeping.

They stood in a circle, heads down, eyes closed. He didn’t think they were praying, just concentrating. Claudia was looking at him, though. He caught her gaze, and as he returned it tears started rolling down her cheeks. He set his jaw, not liking that sight. She took a deep breath, brows drawn together. Then she was breathing through her mouth and shaking.

Voro wanted to go to her, but the guy next to her was eyeing him down, and Voro stayed right where he was. Whatever the hell the
jinn
were, Voro was getting the idea they worked in pairs. He was hers and she was his; Voro could see it plain as day. With their hands joined they were halogen floodlights pointed right at him.

He had no right to lay a hand on her at all.

That realization hurt a lot, actually. He liked Claudia. He missed her. That was a strange sensation for him; an emotional bond with a human that he wasn’t programmed to stick to like flypaper. He was going to worry about her always, he knew. But the guy next to her had the same look about him.

The energy zinging through the room was rising to a higher pitch, and Voro’s ears were ringing. All the cherubs were doing was standing in a circle thinking. If they started singing campfire songs he was leaving.

The humming broke suddenly, the following silence so intense he could hear his ears trying to adjust, the sound of his own heartbeat pushing blood around like it was trying to fill a very noisy void. The angels all dropped hands, sharing a look. Claudia and her new guy kept their hands linked, and he saw she had stopped crying. She was not looking at him, either.

“Now what?” Voro asked. He seemed to be the only one reading the Chinese version of the owner’s manual at the moment.

“We have sent a beacon,” Douma said, his voice rumbling the room almost like their combined energies had. “Now this Psionic Vampire has no choice but to come after us.”

“Then you must slay him while we attempt to create a trap, here in this room.” Jehoel said, turning to Voro. “Claudia and Saleem will assist you. If they are wielding earthly metals they can kill him, too.” He pulled two wicked, curved blade knives out of hidden sheaths in the back of his vest. They weren’t long, easy for anyone to do some serious damage with, but knowing Jehoel they had some fancy purpose.

“What are those?”

“Janbiyas,” Douma supplied. “They really are just steel knives, but wielded by the right people they will be deadly, even to Praesul.”

Jehoel handed the knives over, one to each of them. Voro didn’t get it; they just looked like knives.

Then again, his weak-ass crossbow just looked like a crossbow, but as he took it both hands right then he felt something run through his hands and up his arms. Nothing was as cut and dried as he thought.

The handle was wrapped in leather. It was darkened around the centre as though many hands had held it and used it, working sweat deep into the skin to make a nearly solid sleeve around the metal. Claudia’s palm felt right at home. Actually, she was sure she’d used this knife before, hadn’t she? That was ridiculous – this wasn’t made for cutting steak for Christ’s sake.

The energy of joining hands was still coursing through her. She could feel the power in the room, like a pulsing mass of thick air inside of their circle. If she put her hand out, she imagined her hand would feel the resistance just a little bit.

She looked back to Damien, or whatever the other guy with the serious scar had called him, and saw that he was holding a crossbow, dressed head to toe in black, not unlike her SWAT riot gear. He looked fantastically lethal, actually. His hair was loose, wavy and falling in his face. His eyes were fiercely focused on her.

They were all here to kill something, and no one was telling her quite what it was. But as long as the twin men in the room, the other wickedly attractive people, not to mention Damien, were all telling her that this was what they had to do, she believed it.

The force in the air sharpened suddenly, bringing her head up. Everyone else in the room had the same dog-sniffing-the-air expression she likely had. Someone was at the door and it didn’t feel like danger.

Damien was the one to leave the room, walking right past her without making eye contact. She made her hands stay at her sides but she wanted to touch him and tell him to be careful.

The apartment door opened and mumbled voices trailed in to the living room. One of the twins said for everyone’s benefit, “It’s Raphael.”