The Angel of Death (The Soul Summoner Book 3) (34 page)

His mouth fell open a bit. “Kayleigh Neeland.”

“Who?” Azrael asked.

I raked my fingernails back through my hair. “When Nathan and I first met, I helped him rescue a little girl named Kayleigh. She’s five. She told me I was an angel.” I chuckled in awe. “I thought she was being metaphorical.”

Azrael smiled. Even he looked impressed.

“So all of
Azrael’s Twelve
can see angels?” Nathan asked.

Azrael rolled his eyes. “SF-12,” he corrected. “And no. Several of them can.” He pointed around the circle. “Enzo and Kane can.”

Kane pulled off his hat and glasses. His eyes were blue and green as well.

“Cooper and Lex cannot, but they’ve seen enough to know what we’re up against,” Azrael said, gesturing toward the two men. “A couple of the guys in the field can see as well.”

“And NAG, sir,” Enzo said.

Azrael nodded. “Oh yes. NAG, your pilot last night. She can see you as well.”

I blinked. “Her name is NAG?”

Enzo chuckled. “I believe her real name is Mandi. NAG is her call sign. It means
Not A Guy.
”

The rest of us laughed.

Warren rubbed his palms together. “I’m feeling much better about our odds now.” He looked up at Azrael. “Finish explaining the plan.”

Azrael smiled and leaned back over the map. “By my estimation, Ysha and his crew will arrive on foot maybe this time tomorrow.”

I raised my hand. “His crew?”

“I hope Phenex and Kasyade will be with him, but I’m sure he’ll bring others as well.”

“Other demons or humans?” Nathan asked.

“Both,” Azrael answered.

Enzo crossed his arms. “We’ve had no sign of Phenex, sir.”

“We might still get lucky,” Azrael said.
 

“And by our last count, Ysha travels with two humans, one with sight, and two AOPs, Mihan and The Destroyer,” Enzo said.

Warren looked up. “AOPs?”

“Protection, warrior angels,” Azrael said.

I looked at Azrael with alarm. “You’ve mentioned The Destroyer before. You said Samael decides who can cross the spirit line, who must suffer the second death, and who must be turned over to The Destroyer. Are we talking about the same person?”

“The Destroyer is not a person,” Enzo said.

I rolled my eyes. “Is it the same
Destroyer
?”

Azrael nodded. “That is correct.”

My stomach churned. I held up five fingers. “That’s five potential angels, one of which is like the worst tormentor on the planet, and they’re all showing up here tomorrow. And we’ve only got you on our side?”

“And you and Warren.”

I groaned. “Oh my god, whatever.”

“And Reuel,” Enzo added.

Azrael pointed toward the woods. “Reuel, our own AOP, is on the perimeter. Abbadon, The Destroyer, will be his responsibility. Ysha will flank us. He won’t come by the road, and we’ve got every measure possible to slow him down out there,” Azrael said.

“Like what?” I asked.

“Snipers, for starters,” Azrael answered, looking at Warren.

Nathan turned his palms up in question. “What good will guns do us? When we were in Texas, I emptied a clip into Sloan’s demon mom, and I might as well have been pelting her with Cheerios. The bullet holes closed right up.”

Enzo spoke first. “The whole group isn’t immortal. We can certainly pick off the humans and have less bullets flying through the air.”

I nodded. “And Kasyade was different. Not all of them will heal the way she does.” I pointed at Az. “I broke his nose in my kitchen, and then I had to fix it.”

“Correct,” Azrael said. “Ysha is the only one with the power to heal as Kasyade does. Mihan and Abaddon can be injured.”

Kane and Enzo exchanged a glance. “If you can hit them,” Kane said.

Warren looked at the two men. “Where’s the list of stuff we still need?”

Enzo pulled a small pad from the chest pocket on his camouflage jacket. “Got it.”

“Pick up as many packs of tent stakes you can buy. The sharpened metal kind.” Warren held his hands about a foot apart. “Maybe twelve to eighteen inches or so.”

I looked up at him. “Stakes? They’re demons, not vampires.”

Warren smiled. “I’m aware. We’ll dig a trench, and when the demons step into it, their legs will be impaled on the stakes. It might buy us some time.”

“You scare me sometimes,” I said.

He nodded. “Good.”

“So how do we kill them?” Nathan asked.

There was silence all around the group. Finally, Azrael shook his head. “We don’t.” Then he turned toward me. “Sloan does.”

My head snapped toward him. “Excuse me?”

He leaned against the table. “I told you. The Vitamorte has the power to control life and death.” He lowered his voice. “That power is not limited to human life.”

My mouth was gaping. “Are you saying I have the power to destroy angels?”

He just stared at me.

I balanced my elbows on the table and dropped my face into my hands.

His hand rested on my shoulder. “You’re the only one, Sloan.”

Azrael had once told me that my fizzling light ball would work on him if I chose to use it, but I didn’t realize it would do more than just separate him from his human form. If he’d kept that information from me to prevent more tears and vomiting, he’d been smart. My stomach felt queasy and my hands trembled.

His hand tightened around the back of my neck. “Look at me.”

I looked up into his stern face.

“Remember, you were created for this. Even your enemies know how strong you are. They wouldn’t try so hard to break you if they weren’t afraid of what you can do.” He bent so we were eye to eye. “You’re even more powerful than me. Don’t you forget it.”

I sincerely wished that made me feel better. It didn’t.

He lifted my chin. “Faith without doubt isn’t faith at all. Just because you don’t believe it right now doesn’t make it any less true.”

And as if adding a cosmic exclamation point at the end of his sentence, another loud boom of thunder shook the mountains in the east.

* * *

Before Enzo and Kane left to make a run to the store back near the exit we’d taken off the interstate, I added a few more things to their list including clothes, socks, underwear, and a hair dryer. While they were gone, I retreated to the camper to take a nap, but sleep was elusive. Every time I closed my eyes, all I saw was Ysha’s hateful, jeering eyes.

The door creaked open. “You awake?” Warren asked softly.

“Yeah,” I replied.

He walked inside, ducking through the doorway. “Did you sleep at all?”

I laughed sarcastically in response.

The dusty old mattress dipped under his weight as he sat down beside me.

“Where have you been?” I asked, rolling onto my back to look at him.

“Digging trenches.” He slid his hand over my stomach. “Are you feeling OK?”

I smiled. “I’m good, just tired.”

“Can we have that talk now?”

Reluctantly, I held up my hand. “Yeah. Help me up.”

Warren pulled me up, and I slid out of the warm sleeping bag. I groaned, slumping forward and balancing my elbows on my knees. “You know how much I love you, right?” I asked.

There was a deep rumble in his throat. “I don’t like how this is starting out.”

I turned toward him, studied his worried face for a moment, then drew in a deep, brave breath. “Back around Thanksgiving, you know I went to Raleigh for Nathan’s sister’s burial service, right?”
 

He nodded.

“Things were really emotional, as you can imagine.” My hands started to sweat. “I hadn’t told Nathan about the baby—or anyone besides my dad and my doctor, for that matter. Well, after the funeral, he was really upset, and he kissed me, but I stopped it before things went too far and told him I was pregnant.”

Warren’s Adam’s apple bobbed with a strained swallow. He was clenching his jaw. “He kissed you?”

“Yes, but then he told me the whole ‘Nathan and Sloan drama’ had to end and he needed to put some distance between us,” I said.

He relaxed a little. “OK.”

I scrunched up my nose. “Well, that didn’t exactly happen.”

His eyes darkened.

“I started having all these crazy nightmares, like demons trying to choke me in my sleep and stuff.”

“You told me about that.”

“He kind of moved into the guest bedroom after that.” I quickly held up my hands. “But absolutely nothing happened.”

The muscle in his jaw was working again. “OK.”

“Like a week later was the car wreck and from that night on, Azrael lived with us. Then Taiya moved in.”

“Did Nathan leave when Azrael showed up?” he asked.

My head fell to the side. “You know Nathan better than that. He doesn’t completely trust Az.”

Warren crossed his arms. “That’s not why he stayed, and you know it.”

My shoulders dropped. “I know, but that’s beside the point.”

“What is the point?”

“As long as Azrael was with us, I didn’t have any of the crazy dreams, but one night he went out looking for Ysha and Phenex, and I had another nightmare.” I hesitated, then cut my eyes up at him. “I won’t lie to you, all right?”

He held his breath. “All right.”

“I dreamed I was crying and Nathan came into my room to console me.” I took a deep breath. “Things got really physical, but then he started choking me to death, and I started clawing at him to get him to stop. When he wouldn’t, I used my power to kill him.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “So, you dream cheated on me?”

I rubbed my palms on my jeans. “Well, I woke up screaming with Nathan and Taiya both shaking me. He had been asleep in the guest room the whole time.” I touched my neck. “But I had bruises on my throat, and he had really bad claw marks down his chest.” For the safety of everyone, I left out the part about my lips being bruised from Nathan’s kisses.

He was staring at me, his expression caught somewhere between hostile and confused.
 

I held my hands out. “I really don’t know what happened that night, Warren. But the next day, Nathan moved out because he didn’t want to take any more chances.”

He frowned. “He moved out because he’s in love with you and couldn’t take it anymore.”

“Well…”

He rubbed his palm down his face. “That’s it?”

I bit down on the insides of my lips till I tasted blood.

He groaned and cursed under his breath. “What else?”

“When he told me he was leaving…” I sucked in a deep breath and closed my eyes. “We kissed. I was fully awake and knew exactly what I was doing, and I kissed him.”

Warren’s head dropped. He didn’t look up at me. “You kissed him?”

“Yes.”

He was silent for a long time, staring at his boots. Finally, he cut his eyes up at me. “I want the truth, Sloan. No lies to protect me. No lies to protect him.”

Hesitantly, I nodded.

He stared at me. “Are you in love with him?”

My heart was pounding so hard I felt dizzy. “Yes.”

He cringed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Are you still in love with me?”

I gripped his arm. “Yes.”

He pushed himself up and walked over to the counter where his guns were spread out and ready to be used. He gripped the tabletop and hung his head. His knuckles went white, and the sound of splintering wood crackled around the camper.
 

I struggled to my feet and cautiously walked over to him. Tears were building in my eyes as I reached to touch his arm. He flinched away from me. “Please talk to me,” I begged.
 

He released the counter and folded his hands over the top of his head.
 

I placed my hands on his sides. “I
choose
you. I
choose
us.”

He blew out a deep breath slowly and turned around. He stared down at me, his black eyes smoldering like hot coals. I had never felt so small standing in front of him.
 

Just then, a fist pounded against the door. “Hey, guys! Enzo and Kane are back from the store and they brought food!” Nathan shouted.

Warren’s eyes widened and shot toward the door. He turned, and before I could grab him, he was across the room and exploding through the door. All I could do was scream.

“Nathan, run!”

* * *

Sheer panic flashed across Nathan’s face before Warren rained down on top of him, tackling him onto the ground. I ran to the door in time to see Warren’s fist come up and slam onto Nathan’s face. My feet couldn’t get down the steps fast enough, and before I jumped onto Warren’s back, he got at least three solid punches into Nathan’s skull.

“Warren, stop!” I shrieked as I pulled on his shoulders with all the strength I had.

My hands slipped, and I stumbled backward till I landed on my butt in the grass behind them. I pushed myself up on my elbows to see Warren’s fist drop to his side. He rolled off Nathan onto the ground and sat there, fuming. Nathan was too stunned to move, or maybe he was unconscious, I wasn’t sure.

Laughter was coming from the campfire. I looked over to see it was Azrael, standing and holding Enzo back to prevent him from intervening.

Covered in dirt and grass stains, I pushed myself up and crawled over to Nathan. He was panting with wide eyes and sweat rolling off his forehead. The side of his jaw was bent at an awkward angle and starting to swell. His cheek bone was bright red, and blood poured from his nose.

Warren sat motionless except for massaging his knuckles.

“I think your jaw is broken,” I said. “Maybe your cheek bone too.”

“He’s lucky it wasn’t his neck,” Warren grumbled.

I leaned over top of Nathan and pressed my hands to both sides of his lower jaw till I felt the bones grind and snap back into place. He winced with pain and swore as tears leaked from the corners of his eyes. When it was over, he opened his mouth and moved his jaw around but didn’t dare speak. I gave him a hand and helped him up till he was sitting.

Warren pulled his knees up and draped his arms over them, staring out into the field beyond the campers.

Nathan rubbed his swollen jaw. “I guess you told him what happened.”

I bit my lower lip.

“Warren, I’m really sorry—” he began.