Iniquity (The Premonition, #5)(75)

Emil careens forward suddenly. “I want something as well,” Emil growls like a petulant child.

“Ah, it always wants something,” Byzantyne shoots Emil a look of censure.

“As your champion, when I win, I want Simone to cease to be. She doesn’t get to survive in Sheol as your favored pet. I want the ability to erase her soul from existence.”

Byzantyne scowls at him. “You cannot annihilate a soul. It is imposs—”

Atwater’s eyes become milky white once more. When his fit of shaking ends, he faces Emil and says, “Heaven accepts your terms with one stipulation.”

“Which is?’ Emil asks.

“There must be a balance. If you are given the ability to destroy her soul, than she will have the ability to end yours as well.”

Before Byzantyne has a chance to interfere, Emil replies, “As champion, I accept all the terms.” And just like that, the game is on.

“You set this up!” Byzantyne turns on me accusingly, narrowing his eyes at me. “This is what you wanted all along. What did you ask Heaven for in exchange for agreeing to attempt to erase Emil from existence?”

“Love.”

“For Xavier?” Byzantyne asks in rage. I’m being snatched out of his grasp. Either way, if I lose or if I win, he doesn’t get me. That fact isn’t sitting well with him. He looks as if he’s ready to drag me off to Sheol himself.

“What other reason could there be?” I ask.

Atwater gets between Byzantyne and me once more. “It is done. The terms are set. We will each return to our sides and negotiate the finer points of the agreement—time and place, arsenals, abilities—”

“I know the rules.” Byzantyne fumes, trying to rein in his emotions. “Alfred.”

Alfred jumps, startled at being addressed. His iridescent dragonfly wings buzz loudly. “Reap this traitor! Get him out of my sight!”

Alfred turns a wicked grin on Emil. With his golden scythe, he whirls it through the air, cutting a slash in the very fabric of this world. A small hole rends and gapes. Using his booted foot, Alfred kicks Emil, knocking him through the hole where Emil disappears from sight. He seals the gap back up using the same scythe.

Byzantyne notices the look of pleasure in Alfred’s shiny eyes. “Reapers are such worthless maggots. Soon, when every last soul falls to us, there will be no use for them.” he says with a look of disdain. “You will wait for me outside, Alfred.”

Alfred ducks his head. His shoulders round as he slinks off to the door amid growls from the other angels in the room. He slips out into the darkness and downpour. I almost feel sorry for him for having to deal with such a maniacal leader…almost.

“I want all of theses angels’ memories erased, Atwater,” Byzantyne orders. “They will not remember what occurred here.”

“So let it be,” Atwater says. He raises his arms. An invisible force begins to retract the Thrones and Cherubim upward, through the holes in the ceiling out and into the night sky. It only takes moments for Xavier to disappear into the air. When Atwater lowers his arms, the only angels still with Atwater, Byzantyne, and me are the ones holding Reed.

Byzantyne’s eyes fall on Reed. He wants to tear the Power angel apart. The feeling is definitely mutual because Reed studies Byzantyne as if he’s finding out all of his weaknesses. Reed said he was hunting Byzantyne for a while. Once a Power has selected a target, he almost never wavers from it. If he were to let Byzantyne go, it would be a failed mission. By the looks of Reed, I’d say he’s never failed in his entire life.

Byzantyne’s expression grows more and more intolerant the longer Reed stares at him. “Why is this Power still here?” he asks Atwater. “Blind his memory and return him to the hole from which he crawled.”

“You aren’t in charge here, Byzantyne,” I reply. His eyes narrow at me. He’s not used to waiting for vengeance. He exacts pain from whomever he wants whenever he wants. I look past Byzantyne to the angels holding Reed. “It’s done. You have to let him go.” Atwater nods in agreement to what I’ve just said. The angels turn Reed loose. As they do, Heaven draws the Cherubim soldiers from the carriage house, ascending them into the sky.

Freed, Reed flies between the scary monster and me. “You can go now,” Reed orders, dismissing Byzantyne. “You will have your chance at her in her next lifetime…except there, I won’t be restrained.”

“I will bury you in blood,” Byzantyne replies. He growls at Atwater, “You are the only divine one here who will remember these events! You may never speak of them. Am I clear?”

“It will be done,” Atwater agrees, “…unless…”

“Unless?”

“Unless one of you speaks of it first.”

“Be clear, Atwater! Byzantyne’s eyes are so narrow he’s squinting.

Atwater shrugs. “We can’t be held to the agreement if someone from your side were to say something that would jog a memory in Simone. If no one speaks of this night from your side, then Simone won’t know, but the moment any of you say anything about what has occurred here...” He shrugs again.

“So a boast from Emil should be sufficient enough to allow you out of the stipulation in his contract with you.”

“It is rather unfortunate for you, given his arrogant nature,” Atwater replies.