Iniquity (The Premonition, #5)(71)

“Maybe you shouldn’t try so hard to stop me. Byzantyne is much more powerful than Xavier.”

“Xavier will crush him one day and you’ll be left all alone to fend for yourself in Sheol.” My words elicit fear in Emil; it comes off of him as black smoke. My attention draws away from him as someone comes through the door below us.

Two figures emerge from the shadows: one is a Cherub and the other is a Seraph. The Cherub’s blond hair plasters to his head. Rainwater and a thick cake of mud soak his British uniform trousers. Robin-egg blue wings spread wide behind him. In his arms is the nearly lifeless body of my guardian angel. Xavier is a mess; cut up and broken, blood pours from a multitude of wounds. The blue-winged angel takes a few steps nearer and nearly collapses. Other Cherubim are upon them, lifting Xavier from him and laying my wounded angel on the ground where they work to save his life. I want to go to him, but I find that I’m unable to move. Fear has me rooted were I am. He cannot die. Not Xavier. Not like this!

“You were saying, Simone?” Emil chuckles. The coldness of his soul reaches out to me, trying to pull some of the heat of my being to him. “I don’t think Byzantyne is too worried about Xavier ever defeating him.”

Byzantyne isn’t paying any attention to either of us. He’s flying toward Reed in the center of the room. The evil Seraph stops right in front of the Power angel, wearing the most ferocious snarl that I’ve ever seen from him. “I will eviscerate you, Power! You have robbed me of the one thing that has meant anything to me!” Normally, he’s unemotional except for an occasional look of disdain. This uncharacteristic display of feeling has me reeling.

Reed tilts his head to the side, studying Byzantyne. “You didn’t get to finish your kill.” Reed gestures to where Xavier lies writhing in agony, his beautiful red wings nearly shredded from him. “You were called away—called here. You couldn’t linger over the Seraph like you wanted—and a quick death was out of the question for him, not after the length of time you’ve been stalking one another. You wanted a sweeter revenge for your prey. You thought you’d be able to come back for him—after you took care of whatever you were being summoned to do.”

Byzantyne’s face turns a startling shade of red. “This is your fault!” Spittle from his mouth flies in every direction as he shouts and points his finger at Reed. “You brought me here!”

Reed is calm. “You couldn’t ignore the summons. You had to come because I killed the malevolent soul you were charged with protecting when you weren’t looking. How does that make you feel…having your prey snatched away from you at the last possible moment?” Reed taunts.

“You will know! I will make you feel every second of torment that I can wring from you!” I’ve never seen Byzantyne so angry in all of my lifetimes. The realization dawns on me that Reed has done more than just spare me pain, he has inadvertently saved Xavier’s life, too.

“You won’t.” I try to control my fear so that no one sees it. “You won’t hurt him.”

Byzantyne swings around, pinning me where I am with a horrible sneer. “Will I not?” How do you propose to stop me? It’s a debt and I intend to exact more than just a pound of flesh!” To the angels holding Reed, he says, “You can leave him to me. I plan to take my time making him cease to be.”

“You can’t kill him.” Serenity eludes me, so I pretend to be calm.

Byzantyne’s hand forms a claw. With his back to me, unwilling as he is to look away from Reed, he pushes his claw out in my direction. “Do not think to interfere, Simone. There’s nothing you can do. His fate is sealed!”

I glance at Reed. He’s watching me. He shakes his head almost unperceptively, warning me not to speak. I ignore him. Instead, my eyes return to look at the back of Byzantyne’s head. I call out in Angel, “CHAMPION!”

Byzantyne, who has been bent toward Reed, slowly straightens. I can’t see his expression until he looks over his shoulder at me. He’s stunned. The entire room quiets. “What did you say?” he growls.

“I challenge you for this angel’s life. I will be his champion.”

A laugh of disbelief escapes from Byzantyne. “You challenge me? For this.” He waves his hand in front of Reed with a scornful look.

“No!” Reed’s jaw clenches as he throws a ferocious look in my direction.

“Yes,” I reply simply.

“You. Challenge. Me?” Byzantyne asks as he turns toward me and stabs his chest with his finger. His exquisite Seraphim wings become almost heart-shaped for a moment.

“That’s right,” I affirm.

Byzantyne’s mood changes, he titters as if he’s heard the best joke of his life, but cannot believe it. He flies toward me. Reed wrenches his arms, attempting to free himself from the Cherubim holding him. They won’t let him go. Right before Byzantyne gets to me, the Cherub who brought Xavier in inserts himself between us. His blue feathers, spattered with mud, move to keep him in stasis in the air. He blocks my view of Byzantyne. Byzantyne growls at him. “I have negotiations with this soul!” he warns the Cherub.

“I will mediate the terms,” the Cherub replies. I peek at Byzantyne from behind the angel.

“And who are you?” Byzantyne looks down his nose at the blue-winged angel.