Revenant (26 page)

“As you can see, he’s alive and willing to squeal in exchange for his life.” His life, however, was already forfeit. Harvester was just waiting for the go-ahead.

“How?” Raphael rasped. “How did you find him?”

“I wish I could take credit, but Azagoth did all the footwork. We’ll handle the wet work.” Reaver shook his head. “You should have known better than to mess with the Grim Reaper’s mate.”

“It wasn’t me! It was Stamtiel —”

Reaver punched the archangel in his lying mouth, relishing the sound of knuckles striking flesh. Too bad Raphael healed instantly, the blood from his split lip vanishing almost before it formed full droplets.

“You gave the order,” Reaver snarled. “It’s time. It’s time you paid for every heinous act you’ve committed. But do you want to know what act truly secured your place at the top of my revenge list?”

Reaver moved toward the archangel slowly, using every step to ratchet up the fear in the bastard’s eyes. Raphael tried to flash out of there, but Reaver had already placed a restrictive shield over the residence. Raphael wasn’t going anywhere.

“Please,” Raphael begged. “Everything I’ve done was for the good of the realm —”

“The realm? Seriously? Was it good for the realm when you stole my daughter’s unborn baby and tried to implant it in Gethel’s womb?”

“I gave the baby back,” Raphael protested, his voice degenerating into a pathetic whine that only pissed Reaver off more.

“Only because Harvester agreed to sleep with you in exchange.” Reaver caught the archangel by the throat and lifted him into the air. “I’d kill you now, but I have other plans.”

“Please —”

“Shut up. It’s time that you paid for your evil deeds. You, Raphael, are going to reap what you have sown.”

Blaspheme paced around the cafeteria table that had become her temporary office, her mind spitting out a million different ideas to end the hospital siege, get Satan and Raphael off her back, and still be able to keep Revenant. Most of her ideas could solve one of the issues, a few could solve two, but not one touched on all three.

There had to be a way. She couldn’t give up Revenant. She didn’t care if she had to be on the run for the rest of her life. But she couldn’t put him at risk for Satan’s wrath, either.

Revenant materialized a few feet away, and she immediately ran to him. “What happened? Where’s Reaver?”

Revenant drew her into his arms and held her tight, but the sensation of rightness and comfort shifted to tension when she felt the taut lines of his body. Something was wrong.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” he whispered into her hair.

His chest muffled her voice. “Revenant, you’re scaring me.”

“Listen to me,” he said, pulling back so he could look her in the eye. “Raphael is no longer going to be a problem for you or your mother, and the angels outside are already dispersing. But I need you to go through with the Pruosi spell.”

“Dammit, what’s going on?”

He framed her face in his warm hands with such care that she could hardly believe this was once the infamous male known as The Destroyer. “I’m going to make sure that Satan never bothers you again.”

Her stomach churned, and she wondered if her lunch was going to be making a second appearance. “I really don’t like the sound of this.”

“This is important,” he said gravely, which did nothing to ease the nauseated tumble in her belly. “If I don’t return, Reaver will make sure you’re safe. Just promise me you’ll perform the spell.”

Her pulse went all erratic, as if it were tapping out Morse code for
Oh, shit
against the walls of her arteries.

“If you don’t return?” She gripped his biceps, digging her nails into his jacket as if trying to muscle him into staying. “Revenant, no. Whatever it is you have planned, you can’t do it.”

“I have to. I need you to be safe.” He stroked his knuckles along her jaw so gently she wanted to weep. “And it’s been a long time coming. I’ve never believed in fate before, but this feels… right.”

“Please don’t,” she begged, not caring that her pride was in the toilet. “You can’t. You can’t come into my life, make me fall for you, and then leave me!”

“You fell for me?” One side of his mouth ruffled in a cocky smile.

“How can you not know that,” she whispered.

Dipping his head, he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her sweetly. Reverently. “Thank you. I’ve lived more in the last week than I lived in my entire life. You
are
a butterfly, Blaspheme. Your beauty transforms everything around you.”

He stepped back, and panic seized her. “No.” She reached for him, but he sidestepped and nodded to someone behind her. Too late she realized what was happening. Eidolon’s strong arms folded around her, caging her against his broad chest and rendering her unable to get to Revenant no matter how hard she struggled. “No!” she screamed. “Don’t do this.”

For a torturous, fleeting second, she swore she saw tears in Revenant’s eyes. And then he was gone. She stared at the empty air where Revenant had once stood, and when her brain caught up with her eyes, she collapsed against Eidolon and sobbed.

Sobbed until there was nothing left.

 

 

Revenant was still reeling from his good-bye with Blaspheme when he flashed to Gethel’s residence. By some miracle, Blaspheme had fallen for him, which made leaving her even worse. Especially because he’d fallen for her, too, and the very real possibility that he might not ever see her again made his heart clench.

It also made him angry. He’d lived five thousand years alone, and he’d finally found the female who brought out the angel inside him he hadn’t known existed… and Satan was going to take that away from him.

Anger fueled every step he took in search of Satan’s vile baby mama. He found her in her lush bedroom, wrapped in furs and studying herself in front of the mirror.

“Do you think I’m fat?” Gethel asked, peering at her side profile.

“As a cow.”

“Asshole.” She wheeled around with impressive speed, given that she
was
as big as a cow. A pregnant cow. “Did you bring that doctor bitch again?”

Gods, he was going to love taking her down. “I brought something better.”

Her pale eyes lit up. “What is it?”

“An archangel.”

With the way she flushed and began to pant, he thought she was going to orgasm right then and there. “Who?”

“Raphael. Do you know him?”

Her lips curled back from sharp, pointy teeth. “I despise him.” She looked past him, as if Raphael were standing in the doorway. “Where is he?”

“I had to leave him in the Temple of Gog. See?” In the center of the room, he cast a 3-D image of Raphael, bound and unconscious, next to the statue of Gog that sat along the temple’s back wall. Proof was always a good thing when you were going for deception. “Live angels can’t enter Satan’s territories. I figured I’d let you have a shot at him before I slaughter him and hand his head over to the Dark Lord.”

“Take me,” she said. “I want to feed on his haughty archangel blood.”

So predictable. “I can’t do that. Satan cast a spell on this place so no one can kidnap you.”

“I can leave of my own free will,” she said. “I’ll go myself. You’ll accompany me as protection.”

Her command made him grind his teeth, but accompanying her had been the plan all along. “Take my hand,” he said. “Temple of Gog.”

Grinning, she flashed them to the temple, fashioned from ancient Roman buildings to worship some of the earliest and most powerful demons to exist in Sheoul. As they materialized, Reaver lunged from where he’d been concealed behind a pillar and clamped a Tal around her throat. The glass cuff, made by angels to render fallen angels helpless, shaped itself into an invisible collar, squeezing hard enough to allow only wisps of air to pass through her windpipe.

Best of all, as her eyes bulged and she grasped at the Tal, she couldn’t speak.

“Where’s Raphael?” Rev asked, and Reaver gestured to a shadowed corner, where the archangel lay, unconscious, on his back. “Did you have any trouble?”

Reaver yanked Gethel toward Raphael. “Nope.”

Suddenly, Gethel’s face went exorcist, morphing into something horrible, and the thing in her belly began to push against her skin as if it wanted out.

“Shit,” Reaver snapped. “We need to hurry. Lucifer is strong even in her womb. If he were to be born now…”

He didn’t have to finish. The coming battle was going to be impossible to win as it was. Throwing in Lucifer, whose power was predicted to eclipse the power he’d wielded in his past life, was going to ensure that neither Revenant nor Reaver survived this. And Revenant had no doubt that once Lucifer was grown, he’d make everyone Reaver and Rev loved pay as well.

“I’m out of here. Get ready, Bro, because all hell is going to break loose.”

Literally.

Revenant stood outside the entrance to Satan’s private baths, inhaling deeply. Again. And again. This was it. He was either going to do the impossible… or he was going to die.

He entered without knocking. Steam that reeked of sulphur swirled around him as he walked toward the bubbling pit in the center of the black-tiled room. Satan was in the pool with three females and a male, all different species.

Revenant didn’t wait for Satan to show surprise that he’d entered without an invitation. He blasted the four demons in the pit with a sweet Shadow Angel weapon that disintegrated the fuckers into nonexistence. Not even their souls survived.

“Revenant,” Satan hissed. “What the fuck are you do —”

Revenant attacked, tackling the demon as he rose from the water. They crashed onto the stone deck with a wet thud. Before Satan could even blink, Revenant slammed his fist into his throat.

It was like hitting a steel pipe.

Satan struck back with an uppercut into Rev’s gut, knocking him into the sacrificial table used to drain the blood of victims into the pool. The stone tabletop smashed into a dozen pieces, showering Rev with dust and pebbles.

“What
the fuck
is going on?” Satan’s roar of fury sent the ghastbats in the rafters into an explosion of squeaks and flapping wings.

Revenant pitched to his feet. “I got your damned angel. I’ve proved my loyalty, so you’re going to leave Blaspheme alone.”

Satan laughed. “You stupid bastard. I will have Blaspheme. No angel could be worth what I plan to do to her.”

The smug son of a bitch. “Not even an archangel?”

Instant mood shift. Satan wiped blood from his chin and stood a little straighter. “An archangel, you say.” A smile twitched at the corners of his mouth, and Revenant swore he saw a little drool. The bastard was taking the bait, just as Gethel had. “Is this archangel dead?”

Revenant shook his head. “I figured you’d want him alive, so I didn’t bring him here.” No living angel could enter this region of Sheoul, and if Revenant – or anyone – tried to flash a Heavenly being inside, he or she would materialize dead.

Yeah, Satan was drooling. “Where is he?”

“The Temple of Gog.”

The Prince of Lies nodded in approval. “Nice. His power will be limited there. Not that it matters, of course. I can kill him with my pinky.”

“I’d like to see that, my lord,” Revenant said. He’d
pay
to see that.

Satan narrowed his eyes. “Then why did you attack me?”

“Because,” Revenant said. “You questioned my loyalty. Don’t fucking do that again.”

Now Rev waited. The demon would either respect what Revenant had done… or he’d fry him. Probably literally, given that one of Satan’s favorite torture methods involved a giant iron skillet and rendered Gargantua lard.

Finally, just as Revenant was contemplating the spices that would go best with Shadow Angel stir-fry, Satan’s black eyes locked onto him.

“You have balls made of brimstone, Revenant.” He bared fangs as sharp as blades. “But do it again and I’ll cut those balls off and feed them to Blaspheme. Understood?”

Rev inclined his head in the shallowest nod he could get away with and still appear respectful.

“Good. Now who is this archangel?”

“His name is Raphael.”

A slow, malevolent smile spread across Satan’s face, and his eyes glowed with unholy excitement. “I can’t wait to break him,” he said almost breathlessly. “Let’s go.”

 

 

Revenant and Satan materialized inside the Temple of Gog at the same time. In the next heartbeat, Reaver was there, snapping a Tal around the demon’s throat. Revenant leaped away as Satan roared in fury, his body contorting and expanding, growing taller and wider and fuck, this wasn’t going to be good. Rev hadn’t expected the Tal to work, and sure enough, they might as well have collared the demon with a silk ribbon.

“Now!” he shouted. “Hurry!”

Reaver didn’t have a chance to carry out the next phase of their plan. Satan’s snarl became a physical thing, a wall of hellfire that shot from him in a 360-degree shock wave of pain.

Revenant heard Reaver’s scream of agony even over his own hoarse cry. His skin blistered and peeled, layer upon layer, until he could see his own bones peeking out from charred muscle.

The Dark Lord’s giant fist, now the size of a Volkswagen, swiped Revenant aside as if he were a mere fly. He sailed through the air, striking the Gog statue with a crash of broken bones and marble.

Reaver must have gotten the same treatment, his muffled grunt joining the sound of stone collapsing around them.

Revenant’s body felt as if it were caving in on itself, but somehow he managed to draw in power, taking it from the very air around him. His wounds began to knit together as he sought a bigger, more powerful form.

“You traitor!” Satan’s voice, deep, guttural, was a weapon in itself, shattering Revenant’s eardrums.

The surge of pain triggered a chain reaction inside him. Anger seared him more intensely than Satan’s fire had. This bastard had been the source of all of his pain. All his mother’s pain. He had to pay.

Leaping to his feet, which were now clawed, huge to match the monstrous form he’d shifted into, he blasted Satan with every weapon in his arsenal. All of them. At once.

The demon screamed and fell back, blood, limbs, teeth, horns… it all burst into the air in a gory mist as Satan’s body exploded. The temple, painted in dripping crimson and internal organs, shuddered, as if it knew something terrible had just happened.

And was going to happen again.

“Reaver!”

Revenant’s twin was a mangled, twisted mess, but with Satan out of commission, he could —

“
You fucking cunt!
” Satan materialized in front of Rev with a giant sword of lava in his clawed hand. Oh, fuck —

Revenant dove, rolling as he hit the ground. The edge of the blade caught him in the ribs, opening his chest down to the bone and turning his blood to ash. Pain blurred his vision, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Reaver, nearly regenerated, limping toward the pentagram he’d drawn with Gethel’s blood in the center of the room.

Satan’s head swiveled toward Reaver.

Keep his attention!
 

“Fucker.” Revenant staggered to his feet, resisting the urge to wrap his arm around his rib cage. The bleeding, charred flesh wasn’t healing like it should. “You twisted son of a bitch. Did you really think I’d sit by and let Lucifer take what should be mine?” Throwing out his hand, he sent a focused beam of angelic radiation at the demon, severing the bastard’s left arm at the elbow. The sword clattered to the ground, a hand still wrapped around the hilt.

He paid for that with a fist to the gut. No,
through
the gut. Revenant’s jaw locked in agony as Satan’s fist did a through-and-through, punching out of his back.

“I should have ripped your wings off and shoved them up your ass a long time ago.” Steam bellowed from Satan’s nostrils, and hate glowed in his crimson eyes as he jerked his bloody hand free of Rev’s body. His mouth stretched into a hideous, sharp-toothed smile as he leaned in close enough for Rev to smell his fetid breath. “But no time like the present. Bend over, you stinking piece of offal.”

In a blur of motion, the demon clamped his hand down on Revenant’s skull and spun him, face-first, into the ground. Revenant screamed as he felt one wing rip away from his shoulders. Fuck, this was going to hurt —

The glint of metal flashed in the torchlit temple. Still pinned to the ground, Revenant caught a glimpse of Reaver slashing his palm with a dagger. The pentagram flared to life, pulsing and glowing as if hungry for the blood that ran down Reaver’s arm in a thick rivulet. Even as Satan roared a curse, Reaver dropped to one knee and slapped his hand in the center of the pentagram.

Suddenly, a screaming vortex of lightning stretched from the ceiling to the floor, coming down on top of the Dark Lord, swallowing him whole.

“Hurry,” Reaver yelled, and yeah, duh. Nothing was going to hold Satan for long. They had thirty seconds at best before the king of demons burst out of the lightning storm and squashed them like flies.

Clenching his teeth against the pain of his wounds, Revenant shoved to his feet to face Raphael and Gethel, both of whom had come free of their bonds during the battle. Raphael was armed with an elemental sword, which harvested nearby elements to form the blade. Lightning made his blade pretty badass, and as he hacked into Gethel’s shoulder, a blast of power knocked her into the electrical tornado. Cool. Two down, one to go.

Raphael turned on Revenant. “Bastard! You and your whore of a mother should have died down here —”

Revenant’s bellow of rage knocked the archangel off his feet. Rev was there before Raphael hit the ground, and in a single, fluid sweep, he hurled the motherfucker into the vortex to join Satan and Gethel.

“I can’t hold it!” Reaver’s shout was barely audible, eaten by thunder and electric snaps and the furious screams of the three assholes inside the funnel.

Rev limped to Reaver, the hole in his midsection and the deep laceration in his chest running with rivers of blood. He wasn’t healing, and Reaver wasn’t in much better shape. The room spun in sickly crimson and gray blurs as he swung around beside Reaver so they were shoulder to shoulder. Reaching deep, all the way to his soul, he drew power from the realm around him, so much power that he buzzed with it, burned with it,
became
it.

In his mind, he chanted, visualizing a giant magma crystal box reinforced with Heavenly currents of power. As the crystal trap formed around the three beings, Reaver transferred his energy into it, infusing the thing with another layer of angelic power to create a prison of good and evil unlike anything ever created. Hastily, he looped a thick length of chain around the cube and anchored one end to Heaven and the other to Sheoul. He wasn’t even sure where the ability or idea to create such a thing came from… instinct, the Pruosi book… he didn’t know. All he knew was that he and Reaver had one shot at this, and Revenant would spare no effort.

The lightning died down, but the wind picked up and began to suck in the malevolent atmosphere that permeated the temple. Inky shadows shrieked as they were pulled into the vortex and sent spinning into oblivion.

The building shook and trembled, the floor bucking beneath their feet. Revenant could barely see through the hair that whipped in his face from the wind that would put an EF5 tornado to shame. Furniture, stones, and who the hell knew what else battered him and Reaver as they tried to hold on to the trap and keep it solid.

“I can feel Satan and Lucifer pushing back from inside the box,” Reaver shouted. “We can’t hold it much longer!”

“I know!” Revenant dug deep for every last drop of strength. “Ready?”

“Go!”

Closing his eyes, Rev attempted to repeat the gathering of energy inside him that took place when he’d lost his shit at the archangel meeting. But instead of blowing himself up, he needed to redirect that same power at the trap.

His body buzzed with energy, filling him with drug-like ecstasy until once more it burned. Threatened to sear him to ash.

Time to let loose.

In a whoosh of fiery agony, power exploded from him, engulfing the whirling trap in a nuclear blast. But as the shock wave blew back and Revenant prepared for another wave of pain, it fizzled. A light breeze caressed his face, all that remained of the detonation.

A light. Fucking. Breeze.

“Revenant! Watch out!”

The energy he’d sent at the trap suddenly rebounded, striking him like a speeding train as it reentered his body. He felt his bones snap like toothpicks, his organs liquefy, and his teeth get torn from his gums. He screamed as the power tore him apart… and then put him back together.

Holy shit. Wielding that kind of power was both heavenly and hellish, wonderful and terrible.

And it hadn’t worked to seal the trap. The box was too strong. Ironically, its strength was protecting those inside it, allowing them to reinforce its walls with their own powers.