The Order Boxed Set (93 page)

“We’re talking about angels here—they’re about as flexible as a lump of granite.”

A knock sounded on the door. Faith peered over her shoulder as it was pushed open and Shera appeared. She glided across to Ash and spoke quietly with him for a few minutes. At one point, Shera’s gaze flicked to her, and Faith wondered what was being said.

Ash rose to his feet. “I have to go.”

“Can’t whatever it is wait?” Christian asked.

Ash rubbed almost absently at his arm “Unfortunately, no. He probably could, but he won’t. I’ll be back and we can finish this.”

“Ah,” Christian said. Obviously, he must have realized whom Ash was meeting.

She thought Ash might stop and say something to her, but he strode past without even glancing her way. She bit her lip and blinked. Shit, she was turning into the sort of woman who burst into tears at every moment. If being in love did that to you, she was glad she’d left it so late in the day.

Had she just thought the word love?

She was in love with a demon.

And she’d thought dying was a bad idea. This had to be way worse.

She sat staring straight ahead, as she considered asking Christian if there was any way she could get the hell out of Hell. But then he’d make her forget, and however bad she felt she didn’t want to forget Ash.

Maybe she could lie and say she would work for them. That way he might let her go. Could she get back to Earth? Or would they have to wait for Ash to come and open one of those portal things and fly her up. Afterward, she could go and tell that nice doctor that she really wasn’t feeling well.

What had he told her to look out for? More spots danced before her eyes and she shut them tight. A sudden pain jabbed her in the back of the skull. She gasped, then clamped her mouth closed as nausea rose in the back of her throat and the sour taste of vomit flooded her mouth.

“Hey, are you all right?”

She opened her eyes to find Ryan crouched in front of her. For a few seconds, she didn’t dare answer.

“Faith?”

She swallowed and forced a nod. But it was a lie. Another shaft of pain buried itself in her brain.

“No, you’re not.”

Taking a deep breath, she licked her lips. “It’s just a headache.”

“Do you still have those painkillers?”

“They’re in my pocket upstairs.”

Shera approached them at that moment. She gave Faith a strange look. “I’m to show you to another room,” she said.

So he’d had enough of her already. Faith knew the thought was unfair. After all, she was the one who had told him she didn’t want a relationship. Ash probably presumed it was what she wanted. “Shera, my clothes are on the floor in the bathroom—”

“They have been taken for cleaning,” Shera interrupted.

“There were some pills—”

“They are in your new room.”

God, the woman was efficient. “Thank you.” She needed to lie down. Trouble was, she didn’t know if she would ever get up again. The pain was constant now and shadows lurked at the edge of her vision. As she pushed herself to her feet, she swayed.

Ryan put out a hand and steadied her. “Come on; let’s get you your room and you can tell me exactly what’s going on.”

She didn’t object when he kept the hand on her arm. Her knees buckled and she almost fell to the floor but strong hands scooped her up. Christian had come up behind her. He must have moved superfast. Now he held her against his chest and frowned. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. Just…” She waved a hand around the room “It’s all a little overwhelming that’s all. I’ll be fine when I’ve had a lie down.”

She caught Ryan giving her a skeptical look and knew he wouldn’t be satisfied with that. And she wanted to tell him. Maybe wanted him to stay with her so she wouldn’t be alone when the darkness came.

“I’ll show you the way,” Shera said.

The room she took her to was actually next to Ryan’s. At least Ash hadn’t put her in the dungeons. Once Christian had laid her on the bed and left them, Ryan found her pills on the dresser and handed her two, then disappeared into the bathroom. He came out a few seconds later with a glass of water.

Faith dragged herself up and rested her back against the headboard. She took the pills and gulped some water clearing her mouth of the sour taste while Ryan pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed.

“Relax for a few minutes while they kick in,” he said. “Afterward, we talk.”

She nodded, but didn’t speak. Resting her head against the pillows, she closed her eyes. She could almost feel the drugs working, the pain fading from her head, though when she opened her eyes, her vision was still shadowed by darkness.

The doctor had said the end would be quick once the symptoms came. She was supposed to get herself to hospital, though he’d said they couldn’t do anything for her. Maybe it was simply a more convenient place to die.

“Well?” Ryan asked.

“I’m dying.”

He was silent for a long time, his face expressionless, which was good because she really didn’t need pity right now.

“I had an aneurysm the night I blacked out—a blood vessel burst in my brain. A little one that time. They did some tests and apparently there’s a bigger one in there waiting to go.”

“Can’t they do anything? Operate.”

She shook her head then wished she hadn’t. “No. It’s in a bad place. They can’t get to it.”

“How long?”

“Soon. I think.”

“Soon as in weeks, days…hours?”

“I don’t know.” She looked away over his shoulder not wanting to see his expression. “Hours, I suspect.”

Ryan shoved his chair back and got to his feet. He paced the room a couple of times then punched his fist into the wall.

Faith winced.

When he came back to her, he had his expression under control. “Sorry,” he muttered.

“Don’t be. I feel the same way. I thought I’d come to terms with it, but now it’s here.” She gave a helpless shrug. “I don’t want to die.”

“God, if only Roz was here.”

“Why?”

“She’s a healer. It’s part of what she does and there is absolutely no way to find her. Christ, why the hell couldn’t you have told me earlier?”

He sounded truly angry. “Would you have?”

“Hell no.” He took a deep breath and sank down into the chair, reached out, and took her hand. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Would you stay with me?”

He nodded. “Of course. But don’t you want Ash here? I thought you two had gotten pretty close.” He gave her a look. “You haven’t told him?”

“No. He doesn’t know.”

“And don’t you think he should.”

“We sort of had a fight. I told him I could never care for a demon.”

“And did you mean it?”

She gave a very small shake of her head. “No. But he told me he was starting to care for me, and I thought it was best. It didn’t seem fair, letting him think I was going to be there when I wasn’t. I thought this way, he’d hate me a little, and he wouldn’t be so upset when I…”

“You’re a fucking idiot.”

“I know. But I panicked. It never occurred to me that he would care.”

“No, I wouldn’t have put bets on it either. That’s why he seemed so pissed off just now?”

“I guess.”

“When he comes back, you’ll tell him?”

“Yes.” A weight dropped from her as she said the word. She didn’t want to die with Ash hating her.

“I’ll let Shera know you want to see him as soon as he shows up.”

“Let’s hope he’s quick.”

“Shit.” Ryan ran a hand through his hair, got to his feet, and pulled the rope beside the bed.

A knock sounded on the door almost immediately. Ryan crossed the room and opened it slightly, then spoke in low tones to whoever was on the other side.

He came back, sat, and took her hand again. “Do you have any family?” he asked. “Anyone I should contact?”

“No.”

“Why don’t you lie down and relax. You know, doctors have been known to be wrong before.”

“Of course they have.”

There was something else she needed to tell Ryan, in case she didn’t see Ash.

“Ryan, there’s another thing. Not about me, and I don’t know whether it’s important or even if it’s nothing more than coincidence.”

“What is it?”

“The colonel, my boss at MI13, he told me that there was someone new in charge there. Someone who was shaking the place up, demanding results. His name was Raphael.”

For a moment, Ryan frowned, and then his expression cleared. “You think he might be this angel guy Ash was talking about, the head angel?”

“I don’t know, but I have a hunch, and you always told me never to ignore my hunches. Besides, I hate coincidences.”

“Wouldn’t he be a little noticeable with the white wings and all?”

“I thought that at first, but if Ash can appear human, maybe angels can do the same.”

“I’ll mention it when we get together again.”

At the next meeting, where she would be absent. Well, she’d hardly contributed anything anyway. “Good.”

She slid down the bed and rested her head against the pillow, closed her eyes. She didn’t want to sleep. In case she never woke up. But the shadows were tugging at her mind. The headache was gone now and she could almost pretend that she was all right.

Ash’s face flashed across her mind, the last thing she saw before the darkness dragged her under.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“You wanted to see me?” Ash said not trying to keep the impatience from his voice. If this was some sort of power play, and Luc had called him here because he found it amusing to have Ash within his power, well then he was going to be pissed off.

A small smile flickered across Lucifer’s face, as if he knew exactly what Ash was thinking.

He hoped the smug bastard would get to the point soon. He wanted to get back to Faith. He wondered how she’d felt when Shera had shown her to her new room. Maybe a little time apart, and she might miss him.

Who was he kidding?

She’d never love a demon.

She’d said so.

But something about her as he’d stalked out of the meeting had tugged at his heart. She’d looked so vulnerable. She was the one who had hurt him.
He
hadn’t said he could never have anything to do with a human because they were inferior beings with minuscule lives.

He’d been angry. That’s why he hadn’t tried to talk to her. He was never at his best when he was angry and would probably have said or done something he’d regret. Like screwing her against the wall. Not that he really regretted that, it had felt too fucking good.

He had to find a way to make her see past the whole demon thing. Show her he was a nice guy underneath.

A long way underneath.

Hell, he was definitely kidding himself now.

He’d never been one of her “good guys.” He wasn’t sure he had it in him. But he’d always followed his own set of rules.

“You seem a little distracted,” Luc murmured. “Am I keeping you from something important?”

“Yes. Get to the fucking point,” he snapped.

Luc laughed. “There is someone who would like a meeting with you.”

“And that would be?”

“Raphael.”

“Great.”

“It appears you were involved in some sort of fracas.”

“So?”

“With your new friends. Against the angels?”

“Maybe.” He couldn’t lie to Luc. Not with Luc’s sigil twined around his arm, marking his debt.

“What have the Order been up to that has brought the wrath of heaven down on them?”

“It’s not really council business. There’s a woman—the angels want her dead.”

“Ah.”

What did “ah” mean? “She’s part fallen angel.” He felt the need to clarify the situation. “You know how they feel about that.”

“So why don’t the Order hand her over?”

“She’s Piers Lamont’s woman.”

“Ah.”

“Stop fucking saying that.”

Luc laughed again. “You know, when I ordered you to join this new committee, I never really thought you would get involved.”

“I’m not involved.”

“You fought beside Christian Roth. I think Raphael believes the Order is getting too powerful. He doesn’t like this new accord between us and the fae.”

Ash thought about it. In a way, it made sense. While an accord between the factions would lead to peace, the angels didn’t like any change to the status quo. Maybe they suspected that an alliance between the fae and the demons would mean the angels were no longer the biggest dicks on the block.

But under the Shadow Accords, they were not allowed to interfere in the workings of the Order. Not allowed to interfere directly with the three worlds. They should be powerless to intervene.

And he was betting that would really piss them off.

“So, Raphael?” he asked.

“He’s awaiting you.” Luc nodded through an archway at the far end of the room.

“He’s here?”

Shit, Raphael must be desperate if he’d come to the Abyss. Usually they would demand a meeting on neutral ground. This was his world and even Raphael could not stand against him here. The angel must be sure that whatever he was going to say, would keep him safe.

For the first time, Ash’s curiosity was aroused.

“Are you joining us?” he asked Luc.

“No. He wanted to speak with you alone. And we don’t really get on.”

No, Luc was the ultimate fallen angel. Though in all truth he hadn’t fallen, he’d jumped.
Better to rule in hell than have to listen to Raphael’s pious outpourings for one more day
, he’d once told Ash.

Ash hoped this wouldn’t take too long. He had to get back. Do something nice. He just wasn’t sure what. The whole idea was an alien concept. Maybe he’d ask Tara for advice. There had definitely been a softening toward him there.

He strolled across the room and through the tall archway into a smaller chamber. Raphael sat on a chair in front of a flickering fire. His light was muted, and he appeared human. He was smiling. That couldn’t be good.

Ash didn’t trust him an inch. Angels were tricky bastards and devious as hell.

Raphael rose to his feet as Ash appeared. “Asmodai.”

“Raphael. What do you want?”

“Blunt as always. To talk to you. To make you an offer. Come sit with me.”

Ash moved farther into the room. “I’d rather stand, thank you.”