Angelfire (18 page)

“Then you're the good kind,” I said, desperate to anchor myself before I freaked out. “Is Nathaniel like you? Is that how he's immortal too?”

“Yes.”

I nodded once, slowly, taking it all in. “So that's how you're able to see the reapers. Is that why you're so strong?”

“Yes,” he said. “This is why I have survived this long. You're mortal, Ellie. My body can take more damage than yours can. We're nearly indestructible and your body is human, frailer, but you have the power of angelfire, and we don't.”

I thought about that for a moment. What he said made sense. My human body was a weakness. But what was his weakness? What could kill him? “Can angelfire kill you?”

“No. Demonfire can kill me or leave scars, but the Enochian protection spell that you tattooed on my arm protects me from that and binds me to you.”

“Were you ever wounded by demonfire before you got the tattoos?”

“No, but I know others who have been,” he said, “and
a well-placed hit to my heart or decapitation can kill me just as easily. I'm not that different from you. Please don't say you hate me. I wanted you to remember it on your own. I don't want you to be afraid of me. You have no reason to fear me.”

“I don't hate you and I'm not afraid of you,” I said gently, but for a moment, I wasn't so sure about the fear part. “If you're a reaper, then why would you kill your own kind?”

“The demonic reapers kill humans to build Lucifer's army in Hell. They are preparing for apocalyptic war, and we have to do everything we can to prevent that.”

“But if you serve the angels, why can't the demonic reapers do the same? Why can't they be good like you?”

He took in a breath. “I was born angelic and the demonic are born the way they are. The demonic don't understand the value of human life and as a result don't respect it. No reapers—demonic or angelic—have ever been mortal, so we've never had to feel ourselves aging, growing weaker, being forced to accept death as something that's inevitable instead of just possible. We only get stronger with time. Because of this, many of us are forever childish and impulsive. With creatures as powerful as all reapers are, that translates into violence and often cruelty. I do know a few of the angelic who are dangerous because of that, but we are taught to cherish human life from birth, because it's fragile and so important. The demonic don't care. From birth they are rewarded for violence. To them the only value in human
life is food and a soul to reap.”

“Does this all just come down to human souls?”

“Not exactly,” he said. “The demonic are reaping souls for Lucifer's army. If that army gets big enough, the Second War against Heaven will occur. The ‘End of Days' Ragnuk mentioned, which I told you about before. That's it. The Apocalypse. Lucifer's army is already countless times more vast than it was originally. If the legions of Hell and Heaven were to clash again, the Earth and the human race wouldn't survive.”

Silence fell between us as I weighed his words. “This is bigger than just me and you, isn't it?”

He nodded. “But we're right here on the front lines. You're our best hope to prevent this from happening. That's why you're here. To protect the human world and Heaven. We, the angelic reapers, are here to serve you and defend you against the demonic.”

I studied the fervor in his gaze. “So you're born, and not
made
what you are?”

He nodded. “Correct. We grow up like normal humans, but as we get older, we age more and more slowly, until we just stop aging altogether. We reach maturity in our late teens or early twenties and time sort of stops for us.”

I eyed him nervously. “Do you…eat people too?”

He gave a soft laugh and shook his head. “No. The angelic don't eat humans. We eat normal food. I like cheeseburgers.”

“Not peopleburgers?” For a moment I wondered about
the truth behind Manwiches.

“Of course not.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “So you grew up like a normal boy?” I asked, trying to understand. “Where are you from?”

“I was born in Scotland. My mother was English, but that's where she was staying at the time. The year was 1392. There's not really much to tell about how I grew up.”

I tried to imagine Will speaking with an accent as hot as James McAvoy's, and it was almost enough to distract me from the seriousness of our conversation. “How can you say that? People who've done nothing at all in ten years can talk for hours about themselves. I can't get more than a sentence out of you.”

“Well, you and I met in London at the beginning of the sixteenth century. I was at court just after the young Henry VIII took the throne, and I was hunting demonic reapers who'd been impersonating nobles.”

I couldn't stand how grim he seemed, and all I wanted him to do was smile. “Okay, now I want you to say all of that again, only in your old accent.”

He laughed and I felt so much better. “What? No, I can't. It's been a long time. It's not natural for me anymore.”

“I'm sure if you
tried
…”

“I've learned so many languages over the last few centuries that they all sort of blend together after a while.”

“But tell me something about your life from back then. I want to know more about you.”

He let out a tired breath. “What's there to tell? The food was horrible and our clothes were too thick and hot in the summer. Humans died a lot. People got sick. Every few decades a plague claimed tens of thousands of lives. It wasn't really a fun time.”

I hadn't thought about that. “Yuck.”

“Yeah. You learn about it in school, but they don't exactly have color photos from those days in your textbooks.” His look was very serious. “Be thankful.”

I made a face. “Okay, stop telling me depressing stuff from back then.”

“You lived then too. And long before. It's not like you missed out.”

“I'll tell you what I
am
thankful for. My amnesia has conveniently erased any memories of the Black Plague. God truly works in mysterious ways.”

His laugh was soft again and his gaze fell. That quiet pensiveness returned to his eyes. “That He does.”

“But I don't want you to tell me about general things from the fourteenth century that I can find in any history book.” I looked down at the chain of the crucifix tucked into his shirt. “Tell me about your mom.”

He hesitated before answering, and the patch of silence made me feel guilty for probing him.

“What do you want to know?” He spoke slowly, his words forced.

I was very sure he wasn't keen on divulging the secrets of his childhood, but maybe it would help him to talk about his mother. “What was she like?”

“An angelic vir like myself. Female reapers can have a child only once or twice every century, so births are rare occurrences. Whether a vir is angelic or demonic is determined by the mother's heritage.”

“Is your mother still alive?”

“I don't think so. I haven't seen her since I was young.”

“I'm sorry,” I said.

“It's all right. I've had a long time to accept it. I barely remember her face. It happened when I was so young.”

If his mother's death didn't bother him much, then he wouldn't still wear the cross she'd given him, and I'd never seen him without it. “What was her name?”

“Madeleine.”

I repeated her name in my head. I tried to put a face to her name, and I imagined she had Will's rich dark chocolate hair and emerald eyes. She must have been as beautiful as he was. “Why do you think she's dead?”

“I left home when I got foolish and decided to hunt the demonic. I went home a decade or so after I'd left, and she was gone. Nathaniel took me in. He's always been like a big brother to me. Anyway, there hasn't been a trace of her since.
It's likely she was killed by another reaper.”

That struck me deeply. I imagined coming home one day to find my mom gone forever, and I couldn't take it. My eyes grew hot and tight. “I'm so sorry.”

“It's fine, really. I've had a long time to get over it. A lot of people I've loved have died over the centuries. That's just the world we live in. It's dark and gritty and dangerous.”

“Do you know your father?”

He shook his head. “No. I don't know anything at all about him. My mother never talked about him. I think she loved him, but she wasn't proud of it, or something like that. I don't think their relationship lasted very long.”

I leaned back on my hands and stared at nothing. Emotions stirred deep within me—mostly uncertainty and a little bit of fear—as I tried to focus my thoughts. Will was a good reaper who fought alongside me against the bad reapers. If the only thing that made him good was his heritage, then what was enough to make him go bad? What really was the difference between Will and the reapers I hunted? Was there a chance for the demonic reapers to redeem themselves? Was there a chance they could live alongside humans peacefully? The car-size ursids and lupines probably wouldn't be easily accepted into society—I doubted anyone would want to adopt one from the pound—but was it possible for them to coexist without killing people and dragging their souls to Hell?

He reached forward to cup my cheek, the touch surprising me. “Please understand that no matter what I am or what has happened in the past, I am yours. I am devoted to you above all else, including my own life.”

I exhaled after holding my breath for what felt like forever. “That's pretty heavy, Will.”

His expression was impassioned, and the backs of his fingers brushed the side of my neck. “It is a burden I am glad to carry.”

He held his hand there for another moment before he pulled back and looked away. I felt an urge to reach for him but suppressed it. His face was so vulnerable then, and I realized how much I cared about him. I could only remember meeting him recently, but I also knew he'd been my friend for centuries. That was something I couldn't remember, but I felt it in my bones. My eyes might have been unused to his face, but my soul knew him better than it knew anything else in the world.

When our gazes met again, I noticed the slightest flicker of brightness in that terrifying green before the color dulled again. The flash was so quick, I had to blink, but it did not return.

“I'll leave now,” he said, and stood up, pulling away from me.

I wanted to jump forward and tug him back to me, but I didn't. “See you tomorrow?”

“Of course,” he agreed, smiling. “I'll let you enjoy your
day with Kate until it's time for the party. You'll see me then.”

“Okay,” I said. “Good night. Thank you for saving my life tonight.”

“You saved mine, too. You were brilliant.”

“Thanks.” My cheeks grew hot.

“You're coming back to me.” He smiled widely—that excruciatingly beautiful smile—and then he was gone.

AS THE WEEKS WORE ON INTO OCTOBER, WE HEARD very little from the dark side. Bastian's thugs were lying low, but all that did was make me worry about what they might be up to. My car was beyond repair, but I was really happy to get a replacement almost identical to the one I had lost. I decided to name him Marshmallow II in honor of Ragnuk's victim.

The colder the weather got, the more I found myself lying and keeping things from the people I loved. I snuck in and out of my house through the back door easily, but it was hard seeing my mom's face every night and leading her to believe that I was only going to bed. I felt like I was missing out on a great deal with my friends, since I was bailing on our weekend plans more often than ever. I was worried I'd lose them for good. I wished I could just be honest with everyone
and go about my life as I normally had, but it wasn't like the world was going to wait for me to learn how to be a superhero. I wasn't sure how much longer I could stand it all, especially since I lied to the faces of my parents and friends every day.

Two weeks before Halloween, Kate, Rachel, and I were in a costume shop trying on various outfits. The boys, of course, planned to wear hideous or vulgar costumes. Will, I suspected, was going as himself. He could be scary enough. With a bloody sword and a little bit of glow to his already electric green eyes, he'd have even the toughest UFC fighter shaking in his spandex.

The party we were all attending was Josie Newport's annual Halloween bash. It was true that we weren't good friends or anything, but since we had all been in seventh grade together, it was understood that my group always went to her Halloween party—and I was
so
pumped.

“Try this on,” Kate ordered as she shoved a nurse costume in my face.

I scowled at it. “That might exceed my skank limit.”

“You'll look hot in it with your gorgeous hair,” she said. “Now try it on.”

Grudgingly, I took it from her and stood in line at the dressing room. Rachel was still inside trying on a costume. Kate had chosen a very revealing devil outfit that was mostly a red minidress and hooker boots.

“You're so bossy,” I told Kate.

She grinned and adjusted the glittery devil-horns headband
in her hair. “You like it. Anytime you want, I'll bust out my whip and furry handcuffs. Only for you, boo.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh baby, oh baby.”

Finally Rachel emerged. The pink and blue in her costume looked really cute with her brown hair, even if the hat was too big on her and sat a bit low. She smiled sweetly and gave a little turn to show off the outfit. The skirt was a tad long and she had had to pull the white petticoat underneath lower over her hips so it could be seen.

“What do you think?” she asked shyly.

“You're so pretty,” I said.

Kate reached forward, picked Rachel's hair up off her shoulders and twisted it into an updo, then tugged the fluffy sleeves down so that more skin showed. Kate stepped back to admire her handiwork. “Huge improvement. Get this costume and wear your hair up. Evan will love it.”

“Think so?” Rachel looked down and smoothed out her skirt.

“Definitely,” I offered. “He won't be able to keep his hands off you.”

Kate shoved me toward the dressing room. “Now it's your turn. If you're a sexy nurse, then
Will
won't be able to keep his hands off
you
.”

“That is not what I'm going for!” I closed the curtain behind me.

“Liar!” Kate called from outside the dressing room.

I squeezed into the tight dress and wished I were wearing
something fluffier like Rachel's costume so I wouldn't feel so exposed. My boobs were kind of spilling out, but the sheath shape of the dress made my hips and legs look as if I
had
hips and legs. I pulled back the curtain when I was ready, and Kate loosed a long whistle.

“You hot bitch,” she said. “Trade costumes with me.”

If my sexy nurse outfit made my boobs look a whole cup size bigger, Kate's devil outfit made her look like a porn star. No way could I pull that off. “No, thanks. You keep yours.”

“You know I'm right, though,” she said slyly. “He won't be able to keep his hands or his eyes off you all night.”

I tried to disguise the smile growing, but I failed. Maybe that was exactly what I wanted. I stepped in front of the mirror and looked at myself from different angles. I did look good, after all. If I was lucky, someone else might notice too.

 

That Saturday Will and I were sparring in our abandoned warehouse, as we usually did on weekend afternoons. When a beam fell and crushed my hand, we were forced to the sidelines while my bones healed. I watched my skin grow back and the bones reshape, but that wasn't the strangest part. My broken hand never really hurt that badly. Sure, it killed for the first few seconds, but the pain dulled quickly, and then there I was, staring at my bones shuddering back into place. It didn't even nauseate me that much anymore. I wasn't sure which was weirder—my broken bones healing in minutes or my not being grossed out by it. A toss-up, really.

“You ought to be used to that by now,” Will said.

I looked up to see him watching me, his own scrapes disappearing from his skin. “I just never noticed my body healing like this before,” I said. “It's weird that it doesn't hurt. In the fourth grade, Kate fell off the monkey bars and broke her arm. She cried so much. I break my bones and it just feels a little tingly after a moment or two. And now I realize…I never really got hurt as a little girl.”

“I'm sure you got hurt,” he noted. “You just didn't pay a lot of attention to your wounds because they healed almost instantly.”

I huffed, a nostalgic little smile forming on my face. “My mom always thought I was just lucky.”

“No normal kid is that lucky.” He crouched and reached out to touch my hand. He lifted it up and examined it. “Good as new.”

“Does it hurt
you
?” I asked, watching him.

“Does what hurt?”

“When something breaks,” I said, and took my hand back.

“Every time.” His green eyes held mine for a moment longer, irresistibly, before he stood up.

“Do you think the Enshi could be one of the Fallen?” I asked, getting up also.

“I hope not.”

“Have you ever seen one of them?”

“No,” he said. “And I never, ever want to. They're the incarnation of everything terrible in this world,” he explained.
“The manifestation of hate, sickness, greed…everything evil you can imagine.”

“If they're so strong, then why don't they come and do their own dirty work? Why do they need demonic reapers?”

“The angels and the Fallen can't fully come into the mortal plane in their corporeal forms. They can wander and influence events, but they can't physically interfere. It takes an incredible amount of energy and strength for their kind to survive long here. A powerful magical relic can help, but they're nearly impossible to find.”

“What is a relic?” I asked.

“Relics are powerful objects with a connection to either the divine or the damned,” he explained. “They are usually cursed or blessed with angelic magic, an Enochian spell. They have a variety of uses during spells, and some have the ability to give corporeal form to an angel or a Fallen in the mortal realm. The most they can do on their own is show up briefly, perhaps to deliver a message, before slipping back into their own realms. If you come up against a Fallen in his corporeal form, then God help us all. I don't know what would happen.”

“Then I'll make a mental note to avoid them,” I said with a nervous laugh. “You're coming with me to Josie's party, right?”

He sighed. Loudly. “You're not really going, are you?”

“I wouldn't miss it, even if I was ambushed by reapers and killed. I'd be reincarnated and still go. This will be the
last one, since I graduate in the spring—if I survive to see myself graduate.”

“Don't joke about that.”

I frowned. “Well, I'm going and I want you to come with me.”

“You should be concentrating on training and on finding the Enshi, not partying.”

“You said yourself that I should relax from time to time. This is a perfect opportunity.”

“It's a perfect opportunity to get ambushed, and even if nothing happens at the party, you blathering on about preparing for it is distracting you.”

“I don't
blather
,” I said, scowling. “What the hell does that even mean?”

“There are far more important things to worry about than finding the perfect Halloween costume.”

“I already found it, for your information.”

“Ellie, seriously. You can't get distracted like this. You need a clear head. It's my job to—”

“Blah, blah, blah, Ellie this, Ellie that.” I reached forward and playfully ruffled his hair with my hand. “Yes,
sensei
, I hear you.”

He shooed my hand away and stifled a laugh. “See? Distractions.”

“I think
you
need a distraction more than anyone,” I said. “If you were human, you would so be that guy who randomly
brings an Uzi to work one day and just shoots everybody up. You take yourself
way
too seriously. Lighten up.”

“That's an exaggeration.”

“Admitting that you have a problem is the first step.”

“I don't have a problem.”

“Now you're in the negative steps. Not a good start, Will.”

He sighed. “You drive me crazy sometimes.”

“Ooh, I think that happened
long
before I came along.”

“No, no, I'm quite sure it was you who drove me over the edge.”

“You're so sweet, you're going to give me a cavity, really.”

“Then afterward, I'd be doing you a favor by knocking your teeth out.”

“Ha!” I laughed. “You knocking my teeth out would never happen.”

“Don't be so presumptuous. You seem to have other priorities coming before your training. You can be lazy.”

I wanted to knock
his
teeth out for saying that. “I can still kick your ass.”

He flashed a dark, delicious smile. “Then let's make a wager. We spar again before we're done for tonight. If you land a hit first and score, then I'll go to that party with you. If I score first, then you spend Halloween night training.”

“That's a little brutal, making me train on Halloween,” I grumbled.

“So is making me go to that party.”

I stared at him, watching for any telltale sign that he'd strike first. He really was hot.
Damn it!
I couldn't get distracted. I really wanted to go to Josie's party.

His smile flickered and I swung. He threw his arm up and knocked my fist away so his own could push through, right at my face. I leaned back, and his fist skimmed over my hair. I dipped my head and righted myself out of the path of his next strike. I grabbed his outstretched arm and shot my knee up at his gut, but his free hand shoved my knee back down. With both his hands occupied, I cracked the front of my skull into his forehead and he staggered back with a grunt.

“That counts!” I cried victoriously.

“Best two out of three,” he grumbled, and rubbed his head.

I deflated. “Are you serious?”

“We've got to be fair about this, don't we?”

“I smell desperation.”

“Think you can't win a second time?”

“Desperation!” I repeated with a poke to his chest.

He grinned. “Since I picked the first round, you can decide the terms of this round.”

I stared him down. “All right. If we find the Enshi before the Halloween party, then you have to come with me. And you
have
to wear a costume.”

“Are you sure you want me to take that bet?”

I flicked a brow at him. “Don't doubt me, man.”

“Whatever you say.”

I gave a swift nod. “That's right. Do we have a deal?”

“I guess so. Deal.”

My phone rang. I scrambled for my purse, which I had thrown against the warehouse wall earlier that afternoon. I was surprised to see that the call was from Nathaniel. “Hey,” I said.

“Ellie,” he answered. “I have very good news. Come over to the library as soon as you can.”

I looked up at Will, who was watching me carefully. I knew he could hear our conversation without effort. “How about right now? We're just sparring.”

“Perfect. See you soon.”

I hung up. “This sounds promising.”

I drove us to the library. It was nearly five thirty, and the library would be closing soon. When we got there, it was very empty and the receptionist kindly reminded us that they'd be closing at six. Nathaniel appeared through the doors to the basement and waved us through.

“I have a possible location on the Enshi,” he said excitedly as he led us downstairs.

I brightened and laid a hand on Will's shoulder. “How convenient! Best two out of three. Guess where you're going.”

He groaned.

“You're not going to break a promise to me, are you?”
I asked, simpering up at him.

Nathaniel glanced from me to Will and back. “Did I miss something?”

“Not at all,” Will said. “How did you get this information?”

“A friend of mine in antiques, whom I've worked with on several occasions, informed me that a client of his, a very wealthy local collector, bragged to him about acquiring something with the sign of Azrael on it.” Nathaniel led us into his office.

“Couldn't that be anything?” I asked, skeptical that this mystery object could help us.

Nathaniel shook his head. “This guy apparently sounded beyond thrilled and didn't want to give up much information about the acquisition. He said it's ancient—and if it's got Azrael's seal on it, then I think it is definitely worth checking out.”