Finale

Angel. Stay here with me. Forget about Dante and the duel. I won’t let him hurt you. I’ll keep you safe.

Tears burned at the backs of my eyes. Take me away. Like you promised. Take me far away, just the two of us.

“Patch would hate to see you like this,” Vee chided, clearly trying to appeal to my conscience.

I pulled the covers up to form a secret canopy above Patch and me, and giggled in his ear. She doesn’t know you’re here.

Our secret trick, he agreed.

I won’t leave you, Patch.

I won’t let you. In one swift movement, he reversed our positions, pinning me to the mattress. He bent over me. Try and escape now.

I frowned at the glimpse of icy blue that seemed to lurk under the surface of his eyes. I blinked to clear my vision, but when my eyes came into focus, I was very aware of the sizzling blue that ringed his irises.

Swallowing, I said, I need to get a drink of water.

I’ll get it for you, Patch insisted. Don’t move. Stay in the bed.

I’ll only be a second, I argued, trying to wiggle out from beneath him.

Patch seized my wrists. You said you wouldn’t leave.

I’m only getting a drink, I demurred.

I won’t let you leave, Nora. The words resonated like a growl. His features contorted, twisting and morphing, until I saw flashes of another man. Dante’s olive skin, cleft chin, and those hooded eyes that at one time I’d actually believed were handsome appeared before me. I rolled away, but not fast enough. Dante’s fingers dug painfully into my shoulders, shoving me back under him. His breath felt hot on my cheek.

It’s over. Give up. I’ve won.

“Get away from me,” I hissed.

His touch dissolved, his face hovering briefly over mine like a blue haze before it disappeared.

Ice-cold water struck my face, and I bolted upright with a gasp. The dream shattered; Vee stood an arm’s reach away, holding an empty pitcher.

“Time to go,” she said, clutching the pitcher as if preparing to use it as a weapon of defense if she had to.

“I don’t want to,” I croaked, too miserable to get angry over the water. My throat tightened, t tighteand I feared I was going to cry. I only wanted one thing, and he was gone. Patch wasn’t coming back. Nothing I did could change that. The things I’d thought were worth fighting for, the things that burned and raged inside me, even beating Dante and destroying devilcraft, had lost their fire without him.

“And Patch?” Vee demanded. “You’ve given up on yourself, but have you given up on him, too?”

“Patch is gone.” I pressed my fingers into my eyes until I’d ground out the urge to cry.

“Gone, not dead.”

“I can’t do this without Patch,” I said, my breath catching.

“Then find a way to get him back.”

“He’s in hell,” I snapped.

“Better that than in the grave.”

I drew my knees up and bowed my head against them. “I killed Hank Millar, Vee. Patch and I did it together. Dante knows, and he’s going to arrest me at the duel. He’s going to execute me for treason.” My mind conjured up a very real portrait. Dante would make my humiliation as public as possible. As his guards dragged me from the duel, I’d be spit on and called a myriad of vile names. As for the execution, how he would go about ending my life —

He would use his sword. The one Blakely had enhanced with devilcraft to kill me.

“That’s why I can’t go to the duel,” I finished.

Vee’s silence stretched out. “It’s Dante’s word against yours,” she said at last.

“That’s what I’m worried about.”

“You’re still leader of the Nephilim. You’ve got some street cred. If he tries to arrest you, challenge him.” Conviction flashed in her eyes. “Fight him to the end. You can make it easy for him, or you can dig in your heels and make him work for it.”

I sniffled, wiping my nose on the back of my hand. “I’m scared, Vee. So very scared.”

“I know, babe. But I also know that if anyone can do this, it’s you. I don’t tell you this often, and maybe I’ve never told you, but when I grow up, I want to be just like you. Now for the last time, get out of bed before I drench you again. You’re going to the cemetery. And you’re going to give Dante the fight of his life.”

The worst of my burns had healed, but I felt drained and weakened nonetheless. I hadn’t been a Nephil long enough to know the mechanics behind my rapid healing, but I imagined I’d unwittingly expended a lot of energy in the process. I hadn’t checked the mirror before leaving Patch’s place, but I had a pretty good idea of how miserable and downtrodden I looked. One glance at me, and Dante would call his own victory.

As Vee and I pulled into the gravel parking lot overlooking the cemetery, I reviewed my plan. After Dante announced he’d banished fallen angels to hell and won the war, he would most likely accuse me of murdering Hank and proclaim himself as my replacement. At that point, I would not step aside and relinquish my title. Vee was right; I wou right; ld fight. Against all odds, I would fight. Dante would lead the Nephilim over my dead body—literally.

Vee’s hand closed over mine. “Go secure your title. We’ll figure out the rest later.”

I swallowed back a disbelieving laugh. Later? I didn’t care what happened after this. I felt a cold detachment toward my future. I didn’t want to think about an hour from now. I didn’t want to think about tomorrow. With each passing moment, my life veered further away from the path Patch and I had walked together. I didn’t want to press forward. I wanted to go back. Where I could be with Patch again.

“Scott and I will be down there, in the crowd,” Vee stated firmly. “Just . . . be careful, Nora.”

Tears welled in my eyes. Those were Patch’s words. I needed him here now, assuring me I could do this.

The sky was still dark, the moon washing white light over the ghostly landscape. A heavy frost made the grass crunch beneath my feet as I walked slowly downhill to the cemetery, giving Vee a head start. The grave markers seemed to float on the mist, white stone crosses and slender obelisks. An angel with chipped wings stretched two broken arms toward me. A ragged sob clamped in my throat. I shut my eyes, conjuring up Patch’s strong, handsome features. It hurt to picture him, knowing I’d never see him again. Don’t you dare cry now, I berated myself. I looked away, afraid I wouldn’t get through this if I allowed any emotion other than icy determination into my heart.

Hundreds of Nephilim gathered in the cemetery below. The sheer size of their numbers caused my stride to catch. Since Nephilim stopped aging the day they swore fealty, most were young, within ten years of me, but I saw a handful of elderly men and women grouped among them. Their faces were bright with expectation. Children dodged in circles around their parents’ legs, playing tag, before they were wrestled by the shoulders and pinned still. Children. As if this morning’s event were family entertainment: a circus or a ball game.

As I drew closer, I noticed that twelve Nephilim wore ankle-length black robes, hoods drawn up. They had to be the same powerful Nephilim I’d met the morning following Hank’s death. As leader of the Nephilim, I should have known what the robes signified. Lisa Martin and her cohorts should have told me. But they had never welcomed me into their circle. They’d never wanted me in the first place. I was sure the robes signified position and power, but I’d had to figure it out on my own.

One of the Nephilim pushed her hood back. Lisa Martin herself. Her expression was solemn, her eyes tense with anticipation. She handed me a black robe, as though it were more a matter of obligation than a sign of acceptance. The robe was heavier than I expected, made of thick velvet that felt slippery in my hands. “Have you seen Dante?” she asked me in an undertone.

I slipped the robe over my shoulders but didn’t answer.

My eyes fell on Scott and Vee, and my chest loosened. I drew my first deep breath since leaving Patch’s townhouse. Then I saw that they were holding hands, and a strange loneliness washed over me. My own empty