Iniquity (The Premonition, #5)(72)

“My name is Atwater.”

“Move aside, Atwater. You interfere.”

Atwater holds his ground. His wingspan widens to keep Byzantyne from seeing me. “There are no promises made from Paradise without me to mediate them. You either exact your vengeance on the Power or you allow me to agree to terms on behalf of Heaven. There are no other options. Choose.”

“You would not last a moment in Sheol,” Byzantyne snarls.

“We’re not in Sheol,” Atwater replies.

“Let us discuss terms then. We can bury you in the weeds later.”

“Excellent choice,” Atwater says. He moves so that he’s beside me. His blue wings flap effortlessly, keeping him beside me as if we were standing on the ground.

Byzantyne has managed to squelch all emotion now. He’s every inch the horrifying, unfeeling monster that I remember from my past deaths. He’s always nearby when I’m killed—waiting, hoping that this time I’ll be his. Face to face with this ancient Seraph, I begin to doubt my every decision. What I’ve done hits me like a slow-moving bullet. I try to hide my growing terror at the cunning gleam in Byzantyne’s brown eyes as they devour me. He’s warming to the idea of having me at his mercy. He’ll enjoy this much more than destroying an anonymous Power angel. If there was ever a time to attack, it’s now. I have to set my trap just right. I need him to agree to every point I make. He needs to believe I’m caught up in his web.

“So you’re offering your soul for his life?” Byzantyne’s low, menacing voice jolts me out of my thoughts. He indicates Reed with a gesture over his shoulder.

My eyes lift to Reed’s green ones. He struggles to get loose from the Cherubim. “Do not do this! I am prepared to die!” Reed orders. His regal charcoal-colored wings flail with effort. He is maybe the most beautiful angel I’ve ever seen. Elegant and passionate in a way that Power angels almost never are. They’re normally robotic precision. Ready to do their duty—obsessed with killing—anxious to destroy anything they deem evil—drone-like, but not this one. He’s a knight.

My attention turns back to Byzantyne. “Yes, I’ll champion this angel.”

“You believe you’ll win!” Byzantyne’s eyes glisten with hunger. “Still so na?ve, even after all of this time. You can’t possibly defeat me!” His enormous chest puffs as he hits his fist against it. The sound is a drumbeat.

I raise my glowing chin. “Then you don’t mind if I ask for whatever I want should I win?”

His eyebrows lower, settling at an arrogant angle. “Not at all. I’ll enjoy hearing what would make you do this, aside from ridiculous naiveté, I might add.”

“Well, then…first, when I win, Reed will ascend to Paradise. He gets to go home.”

Byzantyne’s eyes widen. He looks back at Reed. He did not see that coming. “I can only erase his debt. I cannot give you his ascension,” Byzantyne replies.

“No, you can’t, but he can.” I look at Atwater next to me.

“It will be done,” Atwater agrees immediately—maybe too quickly. I would step on his foot if I had a body and we weren’t hovering above the ground. I try not to look at Atwater. His easy response will make Byzantyne counter.

Byzantine peers at me thoughtfully. “But if you lose, the Power ceases to be.”

I want to dispute this, but it will only make the wicked Seraph dig in harder for it. Byzantyne looks baffled by my first point. I need to keep him unbalanced.

“Second, I don’t ever want to have to return here to fight Emil.” I gesture toward him, watching his handsomely ugly face twist with rage once more. “He never gets to come back for any more lifetimes. He has to stay buried in Sheol.”

“She can’t do that!” Emil lurches forward.

Byzantyne holds up his palm and stops Emil in midair with the gesture. “CEASE!” he orders. Emil slinks back, but his eyes betray his venom.

Byzantyne returns his attention to me. “You don’t enjoy meeting your inescapable in every lifetime? You could surrender—accept no other missions.”

“I cannot ask another soul to endure his cruelty in my stead.”

“Always the little fixer, aren’t you? You would deny him a chance at redemption?” Byzantyne’s lips twist into a wicked grin at the very thought of Emil attempting to gain redemption.

“If it means saving future souls who would fall because of his influence, then yes, I would.”

“Isn’t that heresy, Simone? Aren’t you all worthy of redemption?”

“Are we?” I ask, knowing he doesn’t think so. I am giving him something he wants. I hope he doesn’t see through it.

“There is one small problem in your plan. You’re challenging me. I cannot kill a human. If I did, I would find myself in the same situation as that Power over there. How would I fight against you?”

“That Power over there has a name. It’s Reed.”

“I don’t care what his name is. How do we solve our conundrum?”

“What if I’m not human when I return?”

Byzantyne laughs with derision. “What else could you be? You’re a soul!”

“If I had a different body—not human? Would that work for you?” I’d be holding my breath if I had a body.