Twisting around, Revenant charged his powers and prepared to fry Baldie. This was going to end.
“Do not kill that angel,” Reaver roared, flashing to intercept Rev’s weapon.
“Or what?” This was Revenant’s ticket to security in Sheoul. The only way he could prove to Satan that he was trustworthy.
Yeah, because being the Prince of Lies’s right-hand man was a dream job.
Didn’t matter. He had no choice. Heaven didn’t want him, and if Satan didn’t either, the king of demons would snuff him like a spent cigarette.
“Or you’ll never be welcome in Heaven.”
Revenant laughed. Hard. When he finally sobered, he actually felt pity for his brother. “Truly? You think the archangels would ever, in a million years, embrace me like family? You are delusional.”
“I spoke with them,” he said. “They’re willing to make it right. Everything that happened to you as a child… they want to fix it.”
“Fix it?” Revenant practically sputtered as he got to his feet. “How in the grand realm of fuck can they fix what they put me through? What they put our mother through?”
“They said your blood is tainted by Satan, but that the taint can be removed.”
Hope sparked, but he wasn’t going to get too excited. Hope was for fools. “Bullshit.”
“Listen to me,” Reaver said, his voice almost pleading. “I don’t trust Raphael, but if there’s even a chance that you could be admitted into Heaven without the risk of corrupting anything, you have to take it.”
Revenant didn’t have to do anything. But he couldn’t resist asking, “What’s the catch?”
“You have to prove your loyalty.”
Gee, that sounded familiar, didn’t it? “And how do I do that?”
Reaver’s hands tightened into fists. “Gethel.”
Of course. “Let me guess. You want me to kill her.”
“No. I want you to bring her to me so I can kill her.”
Rev flexed his hands, enjoying the feel of Baldie’s blood drying on his knuckles. “Somehow I doubt the archangels made that part of the bargain.”
“They said they’ll purify your blood when Gethel is in their hands. They didn’t say she had to be alive.” Reaver flared his brilliant gold wings – wings that made him unique among all angels. “Well? What’s it to be?”
“I need to think about it.”
Reaver’s flat stare spoke volumes about what his twin thought of that. “You have to think about it? Seriously? You don’t know if you’d rather serve good or evil?”
“You self-righteous jackass,” Revenant snarled. “It’s so easy for you to judge, isn’t it? You, who grew up in Heaven with a family who loved you. You, who was given every opportunity to achieve greatness, and you still managed to fuck it up. If you’d just listened to me when I came to you at Mount Megiddo all those years ago, if you’d helped me instead of hating me, we could have avoided five thousand fucking years of memory loss and hell!”
“You’re right,” Reaver shot back. “But that was a long time ago. We need to get past that —”
“It was weeks ago!” Not technically, but it was just a couple of weeks ago that the truth had come out and memories had been restored, and Revenant was still sorting through eons of shit. “You got your memories back, along with a mate, children, grandchildren, an aunt, an uncle, and probably a couple of gilded mansions. You know what I got? Threats from both sides. I need to do their bidding or take a hike. So go screw yourself, asshole. I need time to decide which side, good or evil, is going to fuck me over harder.” He started for the door Blaspheme had gone through.
“Rev —”
He whirled back to his brother and jabbed his finger into his sternum. “Don’t. Don’t you dare play nice now. Take your precious angel over there and go back to Heaven where you belong. I’ll give the archangels my decision soon.”
“Revenant,” Reaver said quietly, “there’s an expiration date on this offer. If Gethel gives birth before you deliver her to us, the deal is off.”
Of course it was. Heaven couldn’t possibly offer him sanctuary simply because he was an angel. Nope. There had to be strings attached to something that should have been his by birth.
“Why were you here with Blaspheme, anyway?” Reaver asked.
“What’s it to you?”
“I worked with her for years at Underworld General when I was Unfallen, and I consider her a friend. Don’t hurt her, Revenant, or you’ll answer to me.”
Revenant made a theatrical, sarcastic gesture with his hands. “Ooh, scary.”
“I mean it.”
Whatever. He was sick of this shit. He should just kill the angel who attacked Blaspheme and be done with it. Except that when he looked over at where the bastard had been, he was gone.
Instant, sharp alarm rang through him. Blaspheme could be in trouble.
And God help Baldie if he had her, because this time, Rev wasn’t going to give the fucker the courtesy of dying in the human realm.
Revenant was going to drag that haloed bastard to Sheoul and kill him there.
Where his soul could languish in misery for all eternity.
Fourteen
They were brothers. Brothers. As if it wasn’t shocking enough that Reaver and Revenant were twins, the other revelation had blown Blaspheme away.
“Do not kill that angel,” Reaver roared, flashing to intercept Rev’s weapon.
“Or what?” This was Revenant’s ticket to security in Sheoul. The only way he could prove to Satan that he was trustworthy.
Yeah, because being the Prince of Lies’s right-hand man was a dream job.
Didn’t matter. He had no choice. Heaven didn’t want him, and if Satan didn’t either, the king of demons would snuff him like a spent cigarette.
“Or you’ll never be welcome in Heaven.”
Revenant laughed. Hard. When he finally sobered, he actually felt pity for his brother. “Truly? You think the archangels would ever, in a million years, embrace me like family? You are delusional.”
“I spoke with them,” he said. “They’re willing to make it right. Everything that happened to you as a child… they want to fix it.”
“Fix it?” Revenant practically sputtered as he got to his feet. “How in the grand realm of fuck can they fix what they put me through? What they put our mother through?”
“They said your blood is tainted by Satan, but that the taint can be removed.”
Hope sparked, but he wasn’t going to get too excited. Hope was for fools. “Bullshit.”
“Listen to me,” Reaver said, his voice almost pleading. “I don’t trust Raphael, but if there’s even a chance that you could be admitted into Heaven without the risk of corrupting anything, you have to take it.”
Revenant didn’t have to do anything. But he couldn’t resist asking, “What’s the catch?”
“You have to prove your loyalty.”
Gee, that sounded familiar, didn’t it? “And how do I do that?”
Reaver’s hands tightened into fists. “Gethel.”
Of course. “Let me guess. You want me to kill her.”
“No. I want you to bring her to me so I can kill her.”
Rev flexed his hands, enjoying the feel of Baldie’s blood drying on his knuckles. “Somehow I doubt the archangels made that part of the bargain.”
“They said they’ll purify your blood when Gethel is in their hands. They didn’t say she had to be alive.” Reaver flared his brilliant gold wings – wings that made him unique among all angels. “Well? What’s it to be?”
“I need to think about it.”
Reaver’s flat stare spoke volumes about what his twin thought of that. “You have to think about it? Seriously? You don’t know if you’d rather serve good or evil?”
“You self-righteous jackass,” Revenant snarled. “It’s so easy for you to judge, isn’t it? You, who grew up in Heaven with a family who loved you. You, who was given every opportunity to achieve greatness, and you still managed to fuck it up. If you’d just listened to me when I came to you at Mount Megiddo all those years ago, if you’d helped me instead of hating me, we could have avoided five thousand fucking years of memory loss and hell!”
“You’re right,” Reaver shot back. “But that was a long time ago. We need to get past that —”
“It was weeks ago!” Not technically, but it was just a couple of weeks ago that the truth had come out and memories had been restored, and Revenant was still sorting through eons of shit. “You got your memories back, along with a mate, children, grandchildren, an aunt, an uncle, and probably a couple of gilded mansions. You know what I got? Threats from both sides. I need to do their bidding or take a hike. So go screw yourself, asshole. I need time to decide which side, good or evil, is going to fuck me over harder.” He started for the door Blaspheme had gone through.
“Rev —”
He whirled back to his brother and jabbed his finger into his sternum. “Don’t. Don’t you dare play nice now. Take your precious angel over there and go back to Heaven where you belong. I’ll give the archangels my decision soon.”
“Revenant,” Reaver said quietly, “there’s an expiration date on this offer. If Gethel gives birth before you deliver her to us, the deal is off.”
Of course it was. Heaven couldn’t possibly offer him sanctuary simply because he was an angel. Nope. There had to be strings attached to something that should have been his by birth.
“Why were you here with Blaspheme, anyway?” Reaver asked.
“What’s it to you?”
“I worked with her for years at Underworld General when I was Unfallen, and I consider her a friend. Don’t hurt her, Revenant, or you’ll answer to me.”
Revenant made a theatrical, sarcastic gesture with his hands. “Ooh, scary.”
“I mean it.”
Whatever. He was sick of this shit. He should just kill the angel who attacked Blaspheme and be done with it. Except that when he looked over at where the bastard had been, he was gone.
Instant, sharp alarm rang through him. Blaspheme could be in trouble.
And God help Baldie if he had her, because this time, Rev wasn’t going to give the fucker the courtesy of dying in the human realm.
Revenant was going to drag that haloed bastard to Sheoul and kill him there.
Where his soul could languish in misery for all eternity.
Fourteen
They were brothers. Brothers. As if it wasn’t shocking enough that Reaver and Revenant were twins, the other revelation had blown Blaspheme away.
