Iniquity (The Premonition, #5)(57)

“The ring on your finger,” he indicates it with a flick of his hand. “I thought at first that it was a random act of misguidedness on her part. It belonged to Jim, her uncle. She loved Jim more than anyone—her surrogate father. The ring was divinely made, given to him in a covert way to protect him from magic and evil. He was human; it was necessary. When I learned that she gave it to you, I believed she was attempting to transfer her love for Jim onto you.”

“What made you change your mind about that?”

“Phaedrus,” Tau says, indicating the Virtue angel standing nearby, silently watching our exchange. His black eyes are missing nothing. “He convinced me otherwise. He explained some of the pieces of information to me that I’ve been missing. You work alone—a Prostat Power. You’ve occasionally made strategic partnerships over the millennia—bands of hunter-killers. Anytime you come across evil, you don’t hesitate to annihilate it, or at the very least, send it running back to Sheol. You prefer to work alone. Why is that?”

“Killing is personal.” A Power angel appears with clothes in his outstretched arms. I ignore him. Tau indicates that he can leave the clothes on the table near us. After the Power does so, Tau waves him away with a small gesture.

“Yes, every angel has his or her own style. You prefer to make death quick; you don’t linger over prey—most times, they never see it coming. One doesn’t usually find that type of killing in a group of Power angels. Groups of Powers tend to be more vicious. They want to judge—berate—exact vengeance.”

“Avenge God.”

“Avenge,” he agrees. “And Zephyr? Does he avenge?”

“He’s more like me. We do our jobs—stalk and kill. We’re efficient. We work together when it’s warranted.”

“And you have a bond.” It’s a statement. I neither agree nor disagree. I don’t know how he’ll use the information, so answering would be unwise. In this instance, Tau understands me better than I’d like. “Zephyr is your closest ally. He probably saved your life more than once, and you, his. You’ve both grown close. I daresay it’s a bond of brotherhood.”

Again I don’t answer.

“It’s rare, a bond like that,” Tau continues. “We’re not made for such emotions—angels. But it’s different when one is around Evie, isn’t it? She changes us. We can’t help but feel everything.”

“Do you find a bond of brotherhood a weakness?”

“It could be,” he replies. “All emotional attachments are costly in their own way. It can sometimes blind one to the truth.”

“You speak as if you have some experience.”

“I’ve experienced it, only my bond of brotherhood is with Xavier. We grew close while taking care of Evie.”

“Has that relationship blinded you?”

“Perhaps. You didn’t kill Evie when you discovered her in your territory. By your very admission, you kill swiftly and decisively.”

“I kill fallen angels. She’s not one of them.”

“You kill a myriad of evil.”

“She’s not evil.”

“How many Power angels would’ve hesitated to find that out?”

I shrug. I know it’s not many. “You’re making a point. I’m just not clear what it is.”

Phaedrus retracts his wings and sits down. He looks expectantly at Tau. Tau gets the message. He retracts his blood-colored wings and sits as well in a high-backed chair. He offers me a seat with a gesture of his hand. I retract my wings, sinking into a similar chair. Tau continues, “I know Evie’s history with Xavier. I know she’s aware that he’s our most resourceful fighter; he’s extremely well-suited to be her champion.”

I want to kill him where he sits. “You’re saying that because he wasn’t here, she chose me in his absence?”

Tau holds up his palm. “No. I’m not saying that, but it could be true. What I’m suggesting is that she chose you before all this began.”

“You mean before she ever came here to this mission—she chose me as champion prior to this lifetime?” I clarify.

“It’s a theory.”

“Why would she do that? We didn’t know one another.”

“There could be several reasons for her to do so. The simplest one I can think of is she didn’t want to allow for the chance that she’d lose Xavier.”

It’s a logical theory, but that possibility has my stomach clenching again as if he has struck a blow there. “What makes you think this?”

“The attraction between you both is divinely made. You have to find out why she chose you as her champion.”

Champion, I think. Is that all I’m meant to be to her? “You want to know ‘why me’?”

“It could be that she chose you for your skill set. You nearly killed me. That’s no easy feat.” Tau rubs his neck where I’d slashed it. “But if there were another reason…” He stares at me as he contemplates the question, and then he asks, “Did you know her before this lifetime? Had you ever had the occasion to meet her? She would’ve looked different. She may not have been female.”

“It’s possible.”

“I’d say it’s probable.”