“We’ll judge souls fairly and place them where they should have been all along. Things will be very different, Surcy. Definitely more fair. But I can’t guarantee where you and your loved ones will end up.”
After all we’ve done! After all my demons sacrificed to help these people, they really won’t even give us this? Anger blossomed inside her, but she forced it down. Anger would get her nowhere.
And when her anger faded away, it was replaced with nothing but a painful emptiness in her chest.
“I understand,” she said.
Then both looked at the moon for a long minute, a sadness that seemed soul-deep stretching between them. She wanted to beg him for special treatment. She wanted to tell him, after all they’d done, they should be exempt from judgment. But she couldn’t.
“Love is complicated,” he said. “It goes against all reason. Believe me. Love led me to one of the greatest mistakes I could make. And yet, I don’t regret it.”
Tears pricked her eyes as she imagined the faces of her demons. Goose bumps rose on her flesh, as if they even her skin missed the touch of the men she loved.
“I need you to go to my human-wife and make her drink this.”
She looked at him and then down at the water he held. “Why?”
“It’s from the pool. Going in the water is deadly for any but Immortals, but there’s a legend about the water's ability to heal. If she doesn’t seem to be recovering on her own, I want you to make her drink it.” He held out the vial, but she didn’t take it.
“Are you sure?”
He sighed, noisily. “I know I should be above things like this. I know I shouldn’t care for one human female, but that’s why love is such a weakness. It defies all logic.”
Reaching out, she plucked the vial from his fingers. It wasn’t that she was looking forward to a long night when she’d be battling in the morning; it was that she felt she owed this man. It was her fault his wife was injured. Maybe if the woman lived, she would provide an anchor for him, to help him remember that humans had value.
So he could never end up like Caine.
Rising, she started walking, knowing that it would take a while to reach the edge of the sanctuary. But, his voice stopped her. “Just in case we can’t save your demons’ souls, it might be a good idea to mourn them tonight, so their deaths can’t be used against you.”
She felt every muscle in her body tense. Are these Immortals trying to drive me insane? Can they be saved or not? It felt… terrible not to know.
Without answering him, she kept moving, but tears ran down her cheeks. Maybe a plan like that would work for him. For her, if she didn't have hope, she wouldn’t be able to keep going.
So, she’d hold onto the belief that her demons could be saved, regardless of the odds against her.
The forest was quiet. With each step she took further from the sanctuary, she prayed for clarity. She prayed she would know what to do when the time came. When she finally felt the prickling as she crossed the protective barrier, she inhaled deeply. She prepared herself for the hospital, and for the truth of what happened to the human woman.
The hairs on the back of her neck prickled.
Turning, she stared into the darkness. There was a terrible feeling deep in her soul, a sense that she was being hunted by a bloodthirsty predator. Every instinct begged her to retreat to the sanctuary, but she was rooted in place.
In the shadows between trees, she saw two eyes staring at her. Dark eyes held death, but also something familiar. The creature moved closer into the light.
Daniel! She gasped when she recognized the crouching form. Daniel’s face was as familiar to her as her own. She knew his dark eyes, his blond hair, and his chiseled good looks that hid the vulnerable man inside. This time, however, his expression sent her blood racing.
“Daniel?” she whispered, inching closer. “Is that you?”
He rose from his crouched position, still mostly in shadows.
She longed to touch him, and the urge to throw herself into his arms was a need that burned through her.
“I thought you’d died. I thought I’d lost you.” Her fingers grew sweaty around the vial clenched between them.
And then, his voice came, familiar and yet strange. “I did die. And I was reborn.”
She froze, heart in her throat.
He stepped forward, his dark angel wings spread behind him. “And now, traitor, I’m here to end your life.”
15
Surcy couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. Daniel was an angel? That was impossible. Why would Caine do such a thing? It was dangerous! Stupid!
Before she could even process what had happened, Daniel leapt at her.
They crashed into the forest floor, and he spun on top of her. She tried to fight against him, but he was too strong, and she was confused, unwilling to hurt him.
He pinned her hands above her head with no effort at all. He looked down at her, his faces inches from hers. “Any last words?”
“I love you,” she whispered.
His brows drew together in confusion. “What? You… you seem familiar.”
“He erased your memories.” Somewhere in the back her mind she’d known it, but it finally came together. “He erased your memories and sent you to kill the woman you love.”
He frowned. “No, Caine sent me to kill a traitor. I could never love someone who rebelled against our Judge.”
She laughed and looked to the heavens. “This has to be some kind of joke, or it's a terrible irony.”
He settled more solidly on top of her. “What do you mean?”
Her gaze met his, and she laughed again. “Caine is an asshole. I was an angel, and you guys convinced me to love you. You convinced me to abandon everything for you and
