Rage and Ruin(75)
“You don’t want to know about Misha?” he interrupted.
My heart faltered.
“What he told me about you—I wouldn’t do that if I was you,” he said, picking up on Zayne’s quiet advance from behind. “I’m in a charitable mood, Protector. Do not test it.”
“I’m in a murderous mood,” Zayne snarled. “Please do test it.”
“If you force me to kill you, I have a feeling everything will go south quickly.”
“The fact you think you can kill me just proves how far south things have already gone,” Zayne shot back. “You may be a Trueborn, but you touched Trinity, and that alone gives me more than enough strength to shatter every pathetic bone in your body, one by one. I won’t kill you, though.”
“No. You won’t.”
“I’ll just force you onto your shattered kneecaps, so she can deliver the death blow.”
God.
I wanted to kiss Zayne, right here and now.
“Speaking of delivering death blows,” he countered, focusing on me. “Interesting you and I can tick killing our Protectors off on our shared-experiences list.”
“I don’t care what you have to say about Misha,” I said, and I almost believed myself. “I want to know how to break the wards.”
“Jealousy is a terrible thing,” he said instead. “That was Misha’s sin. Envy. He was told he was special, and he was dying to believe that. Literally.”
I stiffened.
“It’s such a human emotion.” He shrugged. “I want you to know my name.”
“I want you to just answer my damn question,” I snapped.
“My name is Sulien—”
“For real?” Zayne cracked. “Sullen? That’s your name?”
He sighed. “Not the way you’re thinking it’s spelled.”
“That’s a fitting name,” I said. “You seem like the kind of guy who strums the guitar, but only knows a few chords and waxes poetic about the girl you loved but who didn’t know you existed. Sullen and moody and cold. A real life of the party. Is that why you want to bring on the end times? Because you’re stuck with the name Sulien?”
“Actually, I’ve never loved anyone. Not even my Protector,” Sulien replied. “And I’m not bringing on the end times. I’m just here for the ride.”
“Uh-huh,” Zayne muttered. “So, Sulien, where’s Bael been hiding?”
“Someplace safe.”
“Safe from what?” he asked.
“Those who wish to do him harm. Like you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You’re protecting a demon?”
Sulien chuckled. “Funny you of all people would ask that, but I’m protecting the plan.”
“What plan?” I demanded.
“The one Misha died for.”
My chest seized.
“Speaking of Misha, he was exactly how you just described me, but you never saw that side of him. That would mean you’d actually thought about him instead of yourself.”
That barb was a direct hit.
“I have a feeling you didn’t know him at all,” Sulien continued. “That he did actually love you at some point.”
“You need to shut up,” Zayne warned.
“But then it all turned to hate,” he went on. “That’s why you were able to kill him. I won’t be that easy, because I don’t hate you, Trinity. I feel nothing regarding you, but you hate me.”
The corners of my vision turned white as golden light powered down my arm, the sword taking shape rapidly. Angry, hissing sparks bit into the air. “You’re right. I do hate you.”
“All that rage...” Sulien sighed as if it pleasured him. “It will be your ruin.”
Zayne lunged toward him, but Sulien dipped and spun away. I charged forward, but he was fast, moving like a streak of lightning. One moment he was between Zayne and I, and then he was on the ledge.
“I can’t break the wards,” he said. “Because I didn’t place them there.”
“Bullshit.” I stalked forward, holding the sword to the side as Zayne rose up, wings stretching out. “I know what you are. You’re the Harbinger.”
Sulien laughed, the sound like ice falling. “I’m the tool of retribution and you’re the weapon of destruction. Those are our labels and the roles we must play.”
“Do you always speak like you’ve lost all touch with reality?” Zayne asked. “Jesus. And I thought demons liked to hear themselves talk.”
He snorted. “I was feeling charitable. You should’ve asked why I’ve collected all those souls. You should’ve asked why I haven’t killed you. You should’ve asked what the final role you play is. But I know I’ll see you again, Trinity, and when I do, it would be wise for you to come alone.”
Before I could do anything—speak, go for him or take another breath—he tipped backward, falling from the ledge into the night.
34
I shouted as Zayne flew forward and landed on the ledge, wings lifted high. I darted to the edge as my grace retracted.
A laugh rose from the darkness below as I leaped up next to Zayne. Unable to see Sulien, I was able to figure out he’d landed on a balcony a dozen or so feet below. He jumped again, hopscotching from balcony to balcony until he reached the ground. My gaze swept the darkness, spotting lights on the balconies. I prepared to jump.
Zayne’s arm snagged me around the waist. “Don’t.”
“But—”
“We can’t give chase,” Zayne argued. “Not right now. That’s what he wants, and we’re not giving him what he wants.”
“Chasing him is what I want,” I reasoned, grasping his arm.
Zayne turned me from the ledge and then let go. I spun toward him, instinct demanding I knock him aside and go. He must have sensed that, because his wings spread out, an effective obstacle. “Chasing him is what you did before,” he said. “And he led you to that tunnel. We do not let him lead us anywhere again.”
Frustrated because he was right and because knowing that didn’t damper the instinct to give chase, I balled my hands and swallowed a scream. “He’s playing with us.”
“You’re right,” he snarled. “And that’s why we don’t play along. That’s not how we’ll beat him.”
“And how will we beat him, All-Knowing One? We don’t know where he’s staying or have any way of tracking him if we can’t chase him.” I spun away and stalked across the roof. “This whole time we’ve just been waiting for him—”
“That was the plan we agreed to.”
“But we’re not behind the steering wheel here.” I stopped, taking deep breaths of the warm night air. The other Trueborn’s presence was completely gone. “If this is a story, we’re not driving the plot, buddy.”
“This isn’t a story, and even if it was, sometimes forcing things to happen is not only unrealistic but incredibly stupid. So, you know what, we’ll rewrite the story.”
Huh.
I turned around, seeing that he’d followed. “I’m completely lost now in this conversation.”
His wings swept back. “Remember when I said I had an idea? Before Sulien the Douchebag showed up?”
My lips twitched. “You said douchebag. Peanut would be so proud.”
“Glad to know,” he replied. “There is another way, if we can’t take down those wards. Something that will definitely free those trapped there and get rid of the wards.”
“What? Angel Spells Begone?”
“Didn’t know such a thing existed. Wonder if we can order it from Amazon?”
“Ha. Ha. That was my enthusiastic, you-said-something-clever laugh, in case you didn’t know.”
Zayne’s expression was indecipherable, but I sensed his rich amusement. “We can find a way to take down those wards, then find a way to take out the tunnels and that school, if need be.”
I blinked once and then twice. “Are you, a Warden, suggesting we blow up the tunnels and the school?”
“That is exactly what I’m suggesting.”
* * *
Blowing things up was probably—okay, definitely—a felony, so it should be a last resort, but it was a damn good idea. One that now seemed incredibly obvious.
The rest of the evening was spent discussing the logistics of doing so, which was a conversation I was glad we weren’t having over the phone—I was pretty sure it would result in Homeland Security and the FBI showing up on the doorstep.
We didn’t see Sulien again, nor any demons, and by the time we returned to the couchless apartment, we’d decided we would probably have to involve Roth. Hellfire wouldn’t take down angel wards, so we were going to have to go the good ole human method of mass destruction.
Explosive materials.
Surprisingly, the Wardens didn’t have any stashed away, so we figured Roth would be our best off-market bet.
I mean, I’d be disappointed if he didn’t have access to any.
That night wasn’t like the night before, but it also wasn’t like any other night, either. Zayne and I, well, we were together. We were a thing, and even though it felt like we’d known each other for years instead of months, everything was still fresh. I didn’t want to assume he’d sleep with me, both in the literal and figurative sense.