“The water hid the scent,” Troy snarled at him, equally cool. “Did you ever consider, cousin, that maybe you’re wrong? That your human prophecy is wrong. Maybe Raziel is the spirit protecting the Archon. Maybe the Archon itself is something else entirely.”
“Like what?” He crossed his arms, waiting.
Troy let out a long sigh, flexing her wings. Then she turned from Angela, obviously thinking, but in a Jinn way that dropped her back onto the floor, sitting on her haunches to lick her nails. If she could also smell Nina waiting for them on the lower stairs, she barely showed a sign of it. Instead she lifted her head, catching the next breeze and its various scents, as if they could help her with whatever new decision she was trying to make. Kim watched her cautiously, waving Angela off from approaching any closer. Finally, Troy spoke again, and she actually sounded tired. “She can’t stay. We must get rid of her.”
Angela’s throat went dry. She turned to Kim, trying to get the message across without saying a word. Death wasn’t part of her plans anymore.
He stared at her, apologetic, but inched closer to Troy than was probably wise. Her nails scraped into the stone, like she was holding back her desire to rip out his spine.
“That’s too drastic.”
Troy spun back around, her wings beating the air violently. “Too drastic? And so says the man who would be smart to prolong his search. I’m wondering—what tricks do you have up your sleeve? Why not kill her and wait a thousand more years? This is your Earth, not mine.” Her expression was chillingly indifferent. “And I could care less if it cracks like a hollow bone.”
“I’m not saying that she’s special—”
That’s not what he said the other night. My dreams . . .
“—but it would be stupid to kill her just because she smells different, Troy. One of Lucifel’s chicks has found her—” He stepped nearer. “There has to be a reason—”
Troy’s hair bristled even more frighteningly. “Don’t say that name in my presence—”
“Try this, and I’ll make sure they exorcise you.” His pale face became cold, unreadable.
“Oh, the priests?” Troy was a terrible spectacle now, all sleek rage and beautiful anger. Like a nightmare Angela never wanted to end. Maybe it was those glowing eyes, the way they sucked you into themselves and dismissed you just as easily. “And what then? The minute they send me back, I’ll begin my return, and there will be no second chances for you that time, cousin.” Her tone of voice was promising and hungry. “First, I’ll take them down, one by one—send them to the second death where my relatives await—and then I’ll come after you, and I swear by all the hunger inside of me that my retribution will hurt.”
Silence. Kim breathed heavily, but he said nothing.
“The last thing we need,” Troy whispered, “is a problem on our hands, and no time to fix it. We do the smart thing. She dies. Now.” She composed herself, settling her wings against her back, turning back to Angela at last. “Any final requests? This is going to be quick.”
“Yes, actually I’d like you to change your mind.”
“Not about to happen.” Troy’s upper lip quivered. “You have five minutes to hide somewhere if you want. It would be more entertaining than just walking up and slitting your throat.”
“You’re not doing this.”
Troy’s eyes brightened, her smile deadly. “No? And how do you propose to stop me?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to.”
“Ah, the reluctant victim,” the Jinn said, slipping into the shadows like smoke. “But I doubt you’ll even know what hit you . . .”
Kim’s anger was out in the open now. “You should never have opened your mouth—”
Scrabbling. The soft sound of laughter amid the wind. Troy was above them somewhere.
“What do I do?” Angela said, frantic. “How do I fight her off?”
“You can’t. You can’t do a goddamned thing.”
“Can’t you?” she screamed back at him.
“Do you think it will make a difference?” He gestured wildly at the darkness around them, but made no move to come any closer. When she realized why, it felt like all the life had already drained out of her. He was resigning himself to her death. She could see it in the new and shockingly distant expression on his face. “She’ll just murder you the next second I close my eyes,” he whispered. “It will either end here, or somewhere worse.”
Feathers rustled overhead. Angela looked up, only to see Fury gazing at her sympathetically.