Sweet Temptation (37 page)

I've pissed off the lot of them. Except perhaps Jezebet, the one female Duke. She looks rather amused. And Alocer is stoic and unmoved, very much like Kopano, his son.

“Brother Pharzuph,” Astaroth begins. I know what he is going to say, and I steel myself. “I'm afraid this is more dire
than we thought. Your son and the traitor's daughter are quite . . .
in love.”

Hm. I like the sound of that. It's the worst possible kick in the balls I can give Father, who looks as if he might vomit. “You jest,” he snarls.

“Not in the least,” Astaroth says. “And they've acted on it. They're
married
.”

The room erupts in loud gasps and sounds of outrage.

Our Nephilim revolt has begun.

The sons of Thamuz are next to disobey their father, although it's under the influence of Anna—she telepathically sends them the order, even as she's being gripped from behind by my father. She rarely uses her unique power of influence unless it's to stop an evil act such as this. Much to their own confusion, the sons of Thamuz put down their guns and won't shoot us.

The twins are next, refusing to move away from my side when Astaroth orders. The Dukes are seething at the audacity of the Nephilim not to obey them.

“Excuse me, Duke Rahab,” calls Marek from the door he guards. “I apologize for the interruption, but I believe Duke Belial approaches.”

Belial enters in his rapper body, sporting a pinstriped suit with a gorgeous Zania at his side, standing tall and strong. Her father, Sonellion, lets out a growl of outrage.

“Traitor! You were behind all of this! You stole my daughter!”

Belial laughs at this notion. Everyone knows Sonellion discarded his daughter. “We got a lot to talk about,” Belial tells
his fellow Dukes. “I know I'm not the only one in this room who knew after the Fall we'd been used like a bunch of fools. Lucifer's the one who did us wrong—”

“How dare you!” Rahab bellows.

Sonellion reaches for his gun, but Belial points a finger straight at me.

“You'd better rethink that, my man. You see my son-in-law over there? He got damn good aim with that knife, as y'all have seen.”

I hold my shiny blade out for them to see. Eyes glow red all around me.

Belial challenges the other Dukes to consider returning to heaven, and they argue fiercely among themselves. I watch Father carefully, waiting for the moment I can extract Anna from his grip. He's loosening his hold as he joins the argument, and has got her only by the wrist now. I'm about to rush the center of the room to make my move when something incredible happens.

The Neph Marek brilliantly pulls something from under the back of his shirt and tosses it to Anna, who snatches it from the air. Father leaps away when he realizes what it is, and I run to Anna's side as the blade brilliantly bursts to life in her hands. She wields the sword, bathing the room in its celestial glow.

It's absolutely beautiful. And so is she. My warrior.

Screams and shouts erupt as the Dukes and whisperers knock into each other, clamoring to distance themselves from the Sword of Righteousness.

Belial, Marek, Blake, the twins, Zania, Kopano, and his
brothers all join me as we stand behind Anna. The Dukes slink back, looking as if they might piss themselves, and the spirits overhead hiss and stir.

I'm still expecting,
hoping
, the angels will come at any moment. How will Anna get rid of the demons on her own? The room holds more than a hundred Neph, but I'm certain not all of them will want to fight. Some are too old, or too young. Some of them are loyal to their fathers and will fight against us.

I bloody hate it that I cannot figure out a strategy. It's beyond me. Anxiousness is threatening to overtake me when something horrendous happens.

It's Patti. They bring her in through the hidden door I'd noticed. They captured poor Patti and dragged her here, to torture her in front of Anna.

I have witnessed my share of heartbreaking events, but none has affected me like this. When Anna sees her earthly mum, her wail is agonizing to my ears. Patti's love blooms out from her body when she hears Anna's voice, and then she's surrounded by an aura of peace. I've always admired this woman, from the day I met her, long before I knew she'd become my mother-in-law. She's the only woman who's ever loved me in a purely motherly way.

My eyes burn. She's been like a mum to me—to
all
of us.

Anna holds the sword in both hands, moving her weight from foot to foot. Tears stream down her face, and the twins are silently crying. I am dizzy with the horror of it all. I hold my knife, keeping my wrist loose.

Thamuz cuts Patti across the face, but Belial grabs my arm
before I can throw my knife. His eyes are pained as he shakes his head. How can he stand there and let this happen? I know it's some bloody test of faith for Anna, but this is wrong!

I could ignore Belial and kill Thamuz now. I can see Anna wants to leap forward, wants to run to her, but if she gets herself in the thick of the Dukes she will be overpowered, even if she manages to take out one or two before she goes down.

I understand all of this, but I hate it. Two seconds ago we were gaining an upper hand, and now it's like we're powerless all over again. They've got one of ours for leverage. One of our most beloved.

When Thamuz attacks Patti, stabbing her, I grasp Anna to hold her up. The shrieks from Anna and the twins are the sounds of night terrors. Everything in me feels heavy and hollow.

“Bastards,” I say through gritted teeth.

Thamuz raises the knife again, but I cannot let it happen. This must stop now. Anna mirrors my thoughts: “Stop him, Kai.”

With pleasure.

Thamuz is turned away from us, facing Patti with his arm raised, and I hurl my knife into the back of his thick neck. When his feral spirit heaves itself from its body and comes racing jaggedly toward us, Anna slashes him through. We watch as his spirit evaporates. Disappears. The Dukes back away—watching another from their ranks obliterated seems to stun them. I can see their minds working, though they make no move to fight.

Belial scoops up Patti and brings her to Anna. It's not
good. She's only human. She can't heal from this kind of injury on her own. Patti's eyes move to each of our faces in turn, to say her good-byes. When her eyes meet mine she tries to smile and I'm slammed with angry sorrow. Anna is crying, still clenching the hilt in her hands, and I hold her by the shoulder, wishing I could fix this.

“I'm not scared, honey,” Patti says to Anna. “I'm ready.” We watch, helpless, as she takes her last breath, and her spirit rises gracefully from her body, smaller than an angel, and without wings, but beautiful in its own way. Her guardian angel bows its head over her, gathering her close. It lifts her straight up and out of sight, taking her home. Anna grits her teeth, her face wet and her eyes filled with the shock of loss.

Pandemonium arises as Neph, fed up from years of abuse, stampede toward the Dukes. Other Neph, who're loyal to their fathers, try to shield them, and the fighting begins.

“Work to disarm them!” Belial shouts.

Belial is right. Several of the Dukes have guns. They have to be dealt with first. I stand in front of Anna with Belial at my side, blocking her from any stray bullets as our allies bear down on the Dukes with weapons.

Fighting back, rebelling, is far more exhilarating than I ever expected. The fear is still there, but when it blends with all the other feelings, the need for revenge, for freedom, it adds to the ripe recklessness within. I grasp this feeling, holding tight.

To the left, Duke Kobal tries to aim at Anna, leaning to the side. I instinctually lean as well, shielding her.

“Get Kobal!” I yell, and point at him.

Marna kicks him in the leg just before she's yanked back by the hair by the small but substantial Neph Caterina. Kobal jerks when he's kicked, shooting Duke Jezebet in the arm. She screams. Kobal aims again, but Kopano bursts through the crowd and takes him down. They wrestle on the ground. An enemy Neph runs past me, toward them, but I snatch him by the back of his shirt, spinning him and smashing my fist into his nose with a crunch. Then I shove him aside to deal with his bleeding and I shake out my hand. Blake dives for Kobal's arm, wrenching the gun away and cracking Kobal in the eye with the handle.

I want to dive into the fight, but I refuse to leave Anna unguarded. Belial looks at me and nods his approval. We are her last line of defense.

As spirits swoop down, trying to overpower Anna with their vile whispers, I cast furtive glances back to be sure she's okay. She is slashing the hell out of any who are stupid enough to get within arm's reach.

Our allies work together to take down Dukes and enemy Neph. Marek retrieves my knife from Thamuz's dead body and corners one of the enemy Neph. I can only assume we're rounding up the Dukes in order to fulfill the prophecy, but as the battle rages on I'm beginning to wonder when the hell that's ever going to happen.

In the middle of the fighting I see one of the sons of Thamuz crawling forward, grabbing for a small handgun that's been knocked to the ground.

I shout to one of Kopano's brothers, who's standing closest, and he rushes for the Neph, but it's too late. The son of
Thamuz has made it to his knees and shoots half a second before he's knocked down violently by Kope's brother. Zania cries out as Kopano curls in on himself, shot in the chest, and falls to the ground.

Oh, fuck.

“No!” Anna screams. She tries to run, but I grab her arm and yank her back behind me.

Zania is at Kopano's side, trying to stop the bleeding with her hands. From the corner of my eye I see someone rushing our other side and hear Belial yell. I turn just as Belial and Blake are grabbing Duke Sonellion's arms. He thrashes, pushing toward Anna, and Blake swipes his feet out from under him. Anna raises the sword and I get the hell out of the way. She stabs him straight through. His chest arches up, then there's a puff of smoke as his soul is extinguished.

Good riddance, Duke of Hate.

We look back over at Kopano, who's now surrounded by Zania, his brothers, and his father. He's so still. It makes something in my chest twist in agony.

“It's not his time!” Duke Alocer cries out. My eyes are glued to the scene as Alocer's spirit begins to rise from his skin, and his body slumps to the floor.

Anna gasps. “Oh, my gosh . . .”

Alocer, in spirit form, floats above Kope for a mysterious moment, and then sinks, disappearing into Kope's body. My mouth drops. My God . . . his father is possessing him. He's healing him. Saving him. Zania lets out a sob as Kopano's body lurches. When his chest rises and falls in a pattern of regular breathing, his body heaves to dispense the invasive
spirit. Alocer pulls himself from Kope's form and looks down at his son. A few people cheer. Zania looks at his father's spirit with open gratitude. Kope blinks up at him.

I've always known Duke Alocer loved Kopano, but to see it burns my chest with longing. I seek out my father in the mass, and he is watching the interaction with loathing. He can make no move, though. Duke Jezebet, who turned out to be a longtime ally of Belial, stands behind him, pointing a knife at his back.

Zania kisses Kope's forehead, crying with joy, and I nod to myself, huffing out a breath of relief. Anna lets out a laugh. He's going to be okay.

Nearly all of the remaining Dukes and enemy Neph are disarmed and detained, but I'm not sure how long we can hold them. They are still struggling viciously and screaming their anger like savages.

“It's time,” Anna says.

“Yes!” I shout over my shoulder.

Does she know what's to happen next? Does she sense that angels are coming?

And then her voice turns sweet and reverent in the air behind me. . . .

“Father . . . let your will be done.”

She's . . .
praying
? That's not at all the tactic I was expecting, but each word sends a tingle down my spine. I'm not the only one who feels it. Others around us look up.

Through the fighting I see my father again. He's staring at Anna. For a moment I imagine that the look of shock on his face means something different, like perhaps he's having
an epiphany, and I feel a lightness of hope. And then his eyes burn red and he opens his mouth with a war cry. All hope vanishes when I see the bloodlust in his eyes—his hatred of her and what she's trying to do. He backhands Jezebet, who drops the knife and grabs her bleeding nose. Father charges. I raise my arm to stop him, knife up.

Belial rushes from the side and tackles him with a forearm to the throat. His head slams against the floor. Father is large in his new body, but Belial is massive and holds him down while I crouch at his side.

He struggles against Belial, his face furious, and I shake my head. “It's too late, Father. This is your opportunity to make amends.”

It would be stupid to harbor a grain of hope at this point. And yet, I am still disappointed in his response.

“I will not grovel at His feet!”

Belial shakes his head and mumbles, “You gonna be groveling in hell, brother.”

Father tries to spit at him, but it ends up on his own chin. I look up at Anna, nodding for her to continue.

Her voice is clear. “I pray forgiveness, for the souls who once betrayed you and have reconciled. Return them to their rightful home, and let those spirits who still harbor hatred be returned to hell. . . .”

The dark room begins to glow, as if night-lights have been switched on. Whisperers circle and spin above us. Belial grins at me.

“It's working!” I say to Anna. “Keep going!”

Her eyes are closed and her face is luminescent. She stands
with her feet apart, the sword still blazing in her hands, and says the magic words: “Banish all the demons from earth!”

I'm racked with a sudden bout of dizzying vertigo, but when I look around I see I'm not alone. Everyone's eyes have gone round as they're staring at the floor. Blake's eyes lock with mine across the room. I skate my gaze to the twins, Kope, and Z.