CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
I stared over the barrel of the gun at the new face on the scene. A priest held the gun aimed at my chest from twenty feet away. Behind him were several rough locals who seemed familiar, but I didn’t have time-or the interest-to think further on it.
Not a lot of deep thought goes through your mind when you’re face to face with a gun barrel.
Behind me, Nitocris hissed and took a few steps backward. “So you have come at last, Uriel.”
I frowned, examining the priest. He was an old man with thinning gray hair and a bad comb-over. Thick, dirty glasses covered most of his lined face, and he was dressed in the suit and white collar of a priest, just barely buttoned over his gut.
I almost laughed. “Dude, that is
“Possession,” Zane muttered off to my side.
“Huh?”
“Demons can possess a person, and so can angels. They just usually choose not to.”
That didn’t sound too pleasant. I didn’t care if it was for the good guys or not; I didn’t want anyone taking over my body. I eyed the priest with horror.
He simply smiled at me. “Hello, Jacqueline.” His voice sounded hollow, as if it were coming from far away. “It would not be in your best interest to go for the halo at this time, or I would be forced to shoot you.”
The queen spoke up, her voice mocking. “Stop and ask yourself why an angel would defy his superiors and possess a human to chase after a halo, foolish girl.”
“Gee, I give up,” I said. “Why don’t you just go ahead and tell me?”
“Your Uriel,” she spat, “has been waging a war against the Serim ever since they fell from the Heavens. He, above all the angels, despises those who were weak, and he would like nothing more than to destroy every last one of them-starting with your friend Noah.”
Well, at least they weren’t trying to make this hard or anything.
I studied the group Uriel had arrived with, trying to figure out an angle, since it was obvious nobody else was going to help me. Actually, there was something about a few of them that struck me as familiar …
“Slavers,” I said suddenly. “You’ve brought the slavers with you, Uriel? I thought you were one of the good guys!”
One of the priest’s brows quirked. “I do not employ slavers, young woman. These men are my disciples. I instructed them to follow you through the city, so that I might keep an eye on your journey.”
Scowling, I turned to Zane. “They weren’t slavers?”
Zane shrugged, a hint of a grin tugging at his lips. “You bought it, didn’t you?”
“Unbelievable,” I said with disgust. “You are such a creep.” He had lied to me over and over again. It was beyond comprehension. My heart felt frozen in my breast. I couldn’t even trust the guy in love with me.
“Enough of this,” the queen snapped behind me. “Either destroy Uriel’s host, or retrieve the halo for me. I care not which you do.”
I turned to her and thumbed a gesture at Uriel. “In case you hadn’t noticed, he’s holding a gun.”
The queen’s look darkened. “I cannot see him.”
My eyes widened. “He’s right there.” I even pointed helpfully.
The queen shot a scathing look at Zane. “Is this ignorance a game?”
“No, I’m afraid she’s really that ignorant,” Zane said, wry amusement on his face again.
Both of us scowled at him.
Zane explained, “Once you’ve crossed over to one side, Jackie, your vision becomes distorted against the opposition.” He gestured at the priest. “All I see there is a white blur. Likewise, all he can see of the queen is a dark blur. It’s like that part is missing from your vision entirely. It’s to prevent a war of the Heavens.”
“And it’s working so well,” I said sarcastically. “So basically you have to use us peons as pawns to get what you want, because you can’t go after each other directly.”
“In a nutshell, yes.”
I studied the two sides, one on each side of me. Both looked ready to attack, and frankly, I didn’t care if they all destroyed each other. But the bodies of Remy, Stan, and Noah were still in the hot ground in the middle, and I dared not pull anything funny.
Besides-like it or not-I still cared about what happened to Zane. I couldn’t separate sex from emotion yet, it seemed.
Which sucked.
“Well?” The queen snapped, and Uriel’s gun trained on me again.
“Well what?” I snapped back. “You guys need to decide who gets the toys before I make a move.”
“Neither of us can retrieve the halo ourselves, Jacqueline,” Uriel explained, his voice taking on an endlessly annoyed tone. Yep, it was definitely supercilious Uriel. “It is up to you to get it and do what you think is best.”
“So let me get this straight,” I said, putting my hands on my hips. “If I give the halo to Uriel, he’ll bring the war in Heaven down here on earth and destroy all the Serim that fell. But if I give it to the queen”-I turned and pointed at her-“she’ll destroy Heaven and bring the world into total darkness.”
“Something along those lines,” Zane murmured.
I rolled my eyes. “Well, I’m just royally screwed either way, aren’t I?” I glared at Uriel and gestured at his gun. “In the scheme of things, how much do you think that peashooter matters at this point? You don’t have much leverage.”
The gun flared to life, and the next thing I knew, I’d been blown six feet backward and was choking for breath on the floor of the temple ruins. My torso screamed with agony, and waves of surging pain rode through me.
“It still hurts, doesn’t it?” Uriel’s mild voice sneered at me. “You can’t die, but I can make living rather painful for you.”
I propped myself up on my elbows slowly. A crater the size of my fist had been blown straight through my stomach, and blood was pumping everywhere.
Nobody batted an eye. I guess people had holes blown through their middles all the time in their world. I, on the other hand, was not so used to this sort of thing, and I lost it. My hands touched the edge of the gigantic hole in my middle, and pain cascaded through me. Blood ran over my hands, and I could feel the wind whistle against my internal organs.
“You fucking bastard! That hurts like hell!” Pain racked my body and I bent double with it. It was so bad that I wanted to cry, but I didn’t want to give Uriel the satisfaction. How long did it take for our kind to heal?
“Bullets blessed with holy water.” Uriel stroked the gun with his free hand. “One to the head and one to the heart should destroy any vampire here, including your sire.”
The vampires hissed, baring their fangs. Bluff or not, they didn’t like hearing that.
“And once I get rid of your sires, I’m afraid it’s the end of you, as well. Unless you bring me that halo.”
“Joke’s on you. My vamp sire isn’t here.”
“Isn’t he?” Uriel smiled coldly. “Are you certain?”
I stared at the crowd of fanged denizens around me and my gaze settled on Zane. I’d sometimes wondered, but never found, any proof. He shrugged, avoiding eye contact, sending a shiver down my spine. Was he playing me again?
I sat up slowly, pain my new constant friend as I struggled to stand. It was odd to feel the wind whistle through my wound-and rather revolting. My blood was soaking into the sandy desert floor, but between the red lines, I could make out the ancient flagstones.
Uriel had blown me straight into the temple, out of everyone’s reach.
I smiled, an idea forming in my head. “What will you do if I just sit here and wait you all out?”
