Embraced (The Eternal Balance #2)(39)

Sam’s skin grew pale, and I reached for her hand. “What? What am I missing?”

“Something I saw,” she said softly.

This. This was the thing that had her so messed up when I’d found her.

“Yes,” Michael said with a sigh. “To be claimed, the agreement need not be verbal. It simply has to be implied. Taking the bond between you and Jax into consideration, you must be fully aware of the possible outcome of your actions. All of them.”

“What the hell is he talking about?” I whirled on Sam.

She ignored me, still focused on Michael. “That’s why Heckle made the deal he did with Jax. It’s why we can’t be together. Because we could accidentally…”

Again Michael nodded. “I imagine so.”

“Then that would mean he knew.” Around her shoulders, a swirl of red exploded into the air, so dense that it nearly blotted her from my sight entirely. “He made it seem like my coming back activated was a surprise. But it couldn’t have been. Not if he made the deal before it even happened!”

And then I understood what she was saying. Like a bolt of lightning striking me down, so many things made sense. The almost primal need I had for Sam. The nearly uncontrollable, dark desire to possess her any way I could.

“Let me make sure I have this straight,” I said with as much calm as I could muster. Azi stirred in a mix of excitement and fury, and I tamped it down. A spike of jealousy, mixed with the sting of Heckle’s betrayal hung like a noose around my neck. “You’re saying that to claim a Pure, an angel or demon would need to—”

“No, no,” Michael said. “But the intimate relationship, coupled with the intensity of your feelings for each other, could easily allow her to be claimed during…a moment of passion. Azirak could manipulate the situation.”

“Well, then we won’t be crossing that line.” Sam looked like she might throw up. I knew how she felt.

“You must not.” The archangel’s expression was all pity, and I had the urge to wipe it away using the sole of my boot. “Because should either side get hold of you, it would not be long before you consented. Temptation would be their first attempt—which is why your relationship is dangerous. The next step would be far less pleasant. The human mind cannot fathom the depths of torture available to us.”

“If that’s a threat…” I stepped in front of Sam, letting the rest of the sentence linger between us. “In that f*cked up vision quest you just sent Sam and me on, you showed us that you needed someone like Sam to go home. If you think I’m going to let you—”

“Like the demons, some of the angels were cast out as well. I among them.” His lips pulled downward. “Like Lucifer, I started a rebellion, though not to the same extent. I, and about twenty others, were banished from heaven, doomed to walk the earth for ten thousand years.”

“And?”

“And, if you’re asking me if I plan to use Sam to get back into heaven, the answer is no.”

“Why?” she asked. “Not that I’d be a willing volunteer, but if I’m the way for you to get back, then why not do it?”

“I’ve been here a long time. I see that I was wrong in challenging God’s will. I accept my fate and will not fight my punishment. But the others are not quite so resolved. They feel their comeuppance was too severe.”

Sam seemed to think about this for a moment before taking a deep breath. “Okay, so what was the point in showing us all that crap?”

“As I said, you needed to understand certain things in order to make a choice”

“Choice?” Sam said. “What choice?”

“How long do you think it will be before one side or the other finds you? How long do you believe you can keep running?” He took a deep breath. “I can smell the link. It will be your undoing.”

“I’ll protect her,” I said, as Azi flashed an image of me facing off against the armies of heaven and hell to keep Sam safe. Then, in another flash, it stood side by side with the cloaked female demon, each holding a chain wrapped around Sam’s neck. “Just get the damn cuff off so we can be on our way.”

“I’m sorry. That won’t be possible.”

“What?” Sam and I both exclaimed. She looked from him to her arm. “But you said—”

“I said I would help you. And I will. I cannot remove the cuff, but under the right circumstance, one of you can.”

“You bastard!” Sam started forward, but I grabbed her arm and dragged her back.

“I mean you no harm, and I do not wish to see you fail in your quest, but you must understand something. Despite what the bible, Heckle, or anyone else tells you, free will is an illusion. You humans are free, but you’re nothing more than pawns laid out on a chessboard between good and evil. Heaven and hell. You think the moves you make are your own, but really, you’re being nudged and twisted for millions of otherworldly purposes.”

“I don’t believe you,” Sam said, shaking her head slowly.

“No? Heckle is all the proof you need. He tricked you. He knew all along what would happen if he returned the Pure soul to your body.”

“Then why do it?” I challenged. From what I knew of Heckle, it went against everything he stood for. “He said it unbalanced things.”