Steal the Day (Thieves #2)(15)

“Oliver, please,” she begged.

But Oliver plunged on. His eyes seemed to darken, proof he wasn’t human. “You disgust me. All of you. If it were up to me, I’d send you to the Hell plane myself. You belong there, you perverted animal.” That was said to Neil, who shrugged because he really couldn’t care less what anyone thought of him. Oliver turned back to Daniel. “Blood sucking, junkie low life. You did not wish to be Halfer’s attack dog, but you are the Council’s assassin? How many innocents have you sent to their deaths, but you dare to stand before my glory?” He turned to me. I sighed because I’ve found, when running down a litany of sins, you usually save the best for last. “And you, you’re the worst. The blood that runs through your veins is pure, yet you whore yourself to the demon.”

That was when my gun made an appearance because I was betting this was just his opening salvo, and Daniel was about to blow. I eased the Ruger into my fist, clicking off the safety. I didn’t really care if Daniel killed Oliver Day, but later on he would feel bad about it, so I might have to put an end to this little battle.

Oliver didn’t seem impressed by my firearm. “You could be so much more, but no, you choose a life of crime. You steal from those weaker than you. You can’t even be faithful to your demon husband. You have to whore yourself to another man and your husband stands by. Does he know the things you’ve done with the faery? The things you never let him do to you?”

“Daniel,” I said, knowing as the word left my mouth I could do nothing to stop him.

Daniel closed in on the other man. He didn’t bother with a weapon. He wanted to feel the flesh tear and smell the blood run. Daniel roared as he reached his target, the sound visceral and all encompassing. I nearly closed my eyes because I didn’t want to watch as he killed my only path to success.

Then, just as he was about to tear Oliver Day apart, he went flying backward, hard and fast. I watched helplessly as his body flew past me. He was flung across the sanctuary and smashed into the wall, the wood giving way and cracking under the force of his impact.

“You want to know what I am?” Oliver asked as I started to back away, the gun in my hand forgotten.

I suddenly really didn’t want to know. I had an idea now, and it scared me more than any demon could, but Oliver was no longer playing with us. It was like the air in the room rushed to be around him as his wings unfurled. I had an awful glimpse of righteous wings and monstrous rage. Then there was nothing but the thought that I had to get to Daniel. The light was blinding, and it was starting to fill the church.

Here in this old structure, in the middle of the night, the dawn was coming for him.

Yes, this was the part I’d been waiting for. This was that moment of the evening when we started to run for our lives.





Chapter Five





Daniel was already trying to get to his feet when Neil and I started to sprint toward him. I could see blood running down his forehead, a stark red arrow shooting down his face. It was just sheer luck the wooden panels hadn’t pierced any important parts of him.

Neil was faster, but I did my damnedest to keep up. The light coming from the angel followed us like a tidal wave, threatening to crest. I ran faster to try to get to Daniel before that light did. I wasn’t sure the light wouldn’t hurt me, but I knew damn well it could kill him. Neil hit Daniel and knocked him to the ground where he should have stayed if he had any sense. Given the fact that Daniel had just angered an angel from the Heaven plane, I doubted he had any real sense at all.

I heard Felicity yelling at Oliver to stop, but it didn’t seem like he was in the mood to listen.

Neil rolled with Daniel, who finally seemed to understand the danger he was in and was willingly letting Neil maneuver him toward the relative safety of the pews. It didn’t offer a ton of cover, but we couldn’t make it out the door. I felt the minute that light hit my back. It didn’t hurt per se, but I was filled with it. It scared me more than anything I have felt before. That light was real and had mass and motion. I closed my eyes because they didn’t seem to work anymore and leapt toward Daniel and Neil.

“To your left, Zoey,” Neil screamed because a loud hum had filled the room until it was bursting with the sound.

I twisted as hard as I could to my left and hit Daniel’s big body with a thud. From here, we had a little cover. I could see Neil as he tried to shield Daniel with as much of his body as he could. Though Neil was strong, he was small-framed and Daniel was not. Even as I tried to cover the parts Neil missed, I could feel my husband’s flesh charring, the smell sickening to me. Daniel gritted his teeth and shoved his head into my shoulder in an attempt to keep his eyes.

I covered his head with my hands. I’ve never held onto anything the way I held onto Daniel, but it wasn’t working. That light was finding its way into everything. I could feel him coming apart in my hands, his skin burning beneath me. His face was in my neck, and I had the horrible feeling that this was the way I would lose him. I would hold him so close to my heart, and he would fall apart until there was nothing but ashes in my hands. There was nothing I could do.

“Feed.” Neil looked over Daniel’s body into my eyes. I squinted, trying to see. “He needs to feed. His body will try to heal itself if he can feed!”

I pulled Daniel’s head away, alarmed at how weakly it fell back. Neil was right. It was our only shot. If we could just keep him alive through the onslaught, his body would heal eventually. “Danny, you have to feed. You have to feed now. Do you understand? No bullshit. Don’t you leave me like this.”