“Ha. Ha. Ha.”
“You want one?”
She rolled her eyes. “Where would I put it?”
“I think it would look great in the Onyx Tower. The whole Council could enjoy it,” I said.
The vendor offered me a deal. “It’s only ten euros, Cassiel. Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” She’d plucked a magnet off the metal display board. “Can you buy me this instead?”
It was a small rectangle with a colorful painting of a canal with a gondolier. “Sure, but I was really hoping you’d pick the David statue’s penis,” I said with a frown.
She leaned in and lowered her voice. “I already have one from Rome.”
I laughed and paid the vendor.
Just beyond the cart was a walk-up gelato window. “Ooo, gelato,” I said, mindlessly taking a few steps toward it. Then I stopped and shook my head.
Cassiel was right behind me. “What’s the matter?”
“I think I’ve been hanging out with Reuel too much. We just ate tiramisu.”
She laughed and tugged on my sleeve. “Come on. You can blame it on me if it makes you feel better.”
A young woman behind the glass half-window was staring at us. My head tilted, and the woman flinched.
I knew that look. She saw me.
I grabbed the back of Cassiel’s shirt to stop her. “Behind the counter,” I whispered.
“What?” She spun toward me.
“Your six o’clock.”
“What does that mean?”
“Turn around and look behind the gelato counter.”
“Why didn’t you just say that?”
She turned and then froze. I nudged her forward. “Come on, we don’t want to freak her out, remember?”
I did a full three-sixty, my eyes peeled for purple smoke. The immediate area was clear. No one else seemed to be working the small counter with her. She was exactly the killer’s type. Her eyes were blue and brown.
Cassiel reached back, fumbling for my hand. I locked my fingers with hers as she inched forward. The woman cowered back as far as she could toward the far wall. She was visibly shaking.
Cassiel said something to her in Italian, but instead of the woman being comforted, a small cry slipped out. I squeezed Cassiel’s hand. “She knows you’re not supposed to speak Italian.”
“Oh no.”
It was probably the wrong time to point out again that the language rule of the angels was stupid.
She pointed to the gelato case and spoke to the woman again. Cassiel put her hands up in defense and said something else. Finally, the woman crept forward and reached for the gelato scoop.
“What flavor do you want?” Cassiel asked me.
I peeked around her shoulder at the case. “Cookies and cream.”
When I spoke, the woman jumped back again, holding the scoop like a weapon.
“Warren, maybe you should go outside,” Cassiel said.
“Not a bad idea.” I reached into my wallet and handed her a stack of euros. “I’ll see you out there.”
Outside, I found a bench still in view of the gelato shop. After thoroughly scoping out the square, I sat down. Several minutes later, Cassiel walked out carrying two white bowls of gelato. Mine, cookies and cream. And Cassiel’s, mint chocolate chip.
“How’d it go?” I asked as she handed me mine.
She sat down beside me. “That girl is terrified.”
“Clearly.”
“Her name is Bettina.”
“She told you that?” I asked, surprised.
“No. I read it on her name tag. She did, finally, talk to me a little, and I think I convinced her we weren’t dangerous. She knows someone in the area is killing people with the sight. Two of the victims were friends of hers. There seems to be a small community of those with the sight.”
“What do you think we should do?” I asked, picking up my spoon.
“I think we need to make sure she gets home safely. We can hang out here until she gets off work. As much as I hate to say it, this is probably the most likely place for Saez to show up.”
My spoon stopped halfway to my mouth. I groaned. “Now it feels an awful lot like we’re using her as bait.”
Cassiel didn’t respond. She didn’t strike me as the type that would be sorrowful about using humans for anything she deemed a greater purpose.
A man with a dog on a leash approached us to sit down. But when he neared the bench, he spun on his heel and walked in the other direction.
“Force field,” I muttered.
“What?”
“People run when I’m near.”
She pulled on the tail of my shirt. “Scoot closer. It will help.”
“When Sloan and I were together, she thought our powers balanced each other out somehow. Like her presence made me more approachable. Was that true?”
“Yes. Probably even more so with Sloan because she was an Angel of Life.”
I slid next to her. Then I sighed as the stress left my body. I looked down at our thighs pressed together. “This helps me too,” I admitted.
She smiled and lifted a spoonful of green gelato to her mouth. “I’m glad.”
For once, I believed her. Had we not been hunting a brutal killer, our time together in Venice might have actually been pleasant.
My eyes scanned the area again. No purple smoke. Then I turned back to my dessert. “Why do you suppose our powers work like that here?”
“It’s pretty simple. Missing Eden leaves your spirit with a void. And that’s true of angels and humans alike. Humans try to fill it in all sorts of ways, much like how we spoke of the hunger pangs yesterday.”
I smiled. “Right.”
“But the power in us is straight from Eden’s core. You and I lessen the sting of that void for each other, simply by our proximity.”
“You feel it too then?”
She swallowed another bite. “Does that surprise you?”
“Honestly, yeah. I’ve always assumed you were superior to me.”
“I am,” she said with a laugh.
I rolled my eyes.
She nudged my arm with her elbow. “I feel the void too. Though it might be worse for you since your body is still part of this world.”
The biggest way Cassiel and I were physically different was that my body would continue to age as long as I was on Earth. In Eden, the process stopped, but here, I was subject to cell death and decay just like anyone else.
Cassiel, however, was frozen. Her skin, hair, and organs would always stay as flawless as they’d been for the few centuries since she’d been born.
Using my spoon, I dug around in my ice cream for a hunk of chocolate cookies. “What would happen to me if I stayed on Earth for the entire span of a human life?”
“You’d get old.”
“I know that.” I thought of Yaya and George. “But would my body be reset to my youth like other souls in Eden?”
“You’re the only one of your kind, so I’m not sure. If your body wears out to the point that it dies, it’s possible. Or you might cross over and remain old like Sandalphon and Metatron.”
My eyes widened. “Metatron is old too?”
“Oh yes. Much older than Sandalphon, even. The Father brought him to Eden when he was over seven hundred years old.”
My head tilted. “Seven hundred?”
“Humans lived much longer before the creation of Nulterra. It seems to have poisoned the Earth.”
“Why didn’t the Father shut that shit down a long time ago?” I asked.
She sighed. “We’ve all asked that question many times.”
“Azrael has always said Iliana won’t die on Earth. She’ll be brought to Eden like Metatron and Sandalphon were. So whenever she’s brought over, no matter how old she is, she’ll be frozen at that age?”
“Yes. And I’m sure Metatron would tell you, the younger, the better.”
We were tap dancing very close to the conversation about making Iliana a s
eraph. Thankfully, my cell phone rang. I angled to the side and pulled it out of my pocket. On the screen was a foreign number with a Ukranian country code. “It’s Fury’s guy. I need to take this.”
Cassiel nodded and focused on her ice cream.
I tapped the answer button. “Hello?”
“Is this Warren?” The voice on the other end of the line wasn’t a guy at all. It was a woman.
“It is.”
“This is Chimera.”
My mouth opened, but no sound came out.
“Hello?” she asked.
“Sorry. I expected a man,” I admitted.
“Most men do.”
“My apologies. I meant no offense.”
“None taken. I vetted you through Fury. She says you’re a friend. What can I do for you?”
Fury called me a friend twice in one week? Mind blown.
“Are you familiar with Claymore?”
She laughed on the other end of the line.
“That was a stupid question,” I said.
“Yes, it was. What about Claymore?”
“We’ve had a security breach in one of our top-secret facilities. I need the best of the best to get it back online and make sure it’s secure.”
“What’s so important that Damon is trying to protect? His real identity?” she asked.
Wow. This chick was ballsy. No wonder she and Fury got along so well.
“My daughter, actually.”
Silence. “Oh.”
“Can you help us?”
“Since you are a friend of Fury’s, I will come. But I’m not cheap.”
“I expected as much. Whatever your rate is, I’ll pay it.”
“That’s good to hear. Is it the Claymore property in New Hope, North Carolina?”
“No. It’s on the other side of the state, just outside Asheville.”
“Wolf Gap?”
My head snapped back. “How did you know that? It’s a secure facility.”
She chuckled. “OK.”
I wasn’t sure if that made me feel better or worse. “We can put you on a plane, or whatever you need.”
“I can be there in a few hours.”
“I thought you were in Europe.”
“Sometimes I am, but right now, no one is hunting me.”
I liked this woman already. “Thank you, Chimera.”
“That sounded promising,” Cassiel said when I ended the call. Sitting so close, and with her elevated hearing, she would have been able to listen to our whole conversation.
“She’ll help us.”
I pulled up a blank text message and typed out a message to Azrael, Enzo, and Nathan. Chimera will be at Wolf Gap in a few hours.
“I’m sure that eases your worry some. Will she be able to bring the security system back online?”
“After that conversation, I’m confident that if anyone can, it’s her.”
“The system sounds very sophisticated.”
“It is.” I opened the app on my phone. “If it weren’t offline, I could show you more.”
She leaned closer for a better look. “Can you control the system with the phone?”
“Only some of the features.”
“You need a key card then?” she asked with a teasing grin, pressing her elbow into my ribs.
“It’s a little more complicated than that.”
“If you’re wanting to convince me that Azrael can secure the Morning Star, maybe you should enlighten me on how he handles security.”
Whoa. She was entertaining the idea.
“If the system isn’t on Security Level Alpha, I can get through the front door with a retina scan. If it is on Alpha Alert, the system can only be disarmed from the mainframe computer inside with a unique passphrase.” I held up the phone again. “From the phone, I can check all the cameras in and outside, as well as monitor the atmospheric conditions in the area.”
“May I?” she asked.
I gave it to her.
“I’m amazed by how technologically advanced humans have become,” she said, taking my phone into her hands. “All this power in such a tiny box.”
The phone’s screen lit up with a text message. I saw it was from Nathan. She handed it back to me, and I swiped the screen open.
That’s excellent news. Ahab is still dark. I’m out running errands and getting takeout.
I didn’t respond.
“You two are still close friends. That’s interesting given your twisted love triangle with Sloan.”
“Nathan fell for Sloan before I ever met her. It was always clear that had I not shown up, the two of them would have been together from the beginning.”
“I imagine there wasn’t much he could do to compete once you were in Sloan’s life.”
“There wasn’t. Sloan and I were like magnets. Our attraction was out of anyone’s control.”
“And yet, Nathan still allows you to come around.”
I held up my phone. “Well, he does control a serious system to keep me out.”
“He controls it?”
“Nathan runs everything at Echo-5.”
“Sounds like a lot of responsibility. Is he up to it?”
I nodded. “More than any other human on Earth.”
“But he is human. What does he think about all of us? Especially you, now that you’re the Archangel?” she asked with a smile.
“As you can probably guess from the Angelo Suave on my passport, he doesn’t take me very seriously.” I glanced down at my phone. “Lately, he’s been calling me his Area 51 Reject.”
She laughed. “That’s hilarious.”
My phone buzzed again. This time, it was a text from Chimera. Be there by 6pm. Tell Claymore I want to meet him.
“I need to call Az.”
Azrael answered quickly. “Hello.”
“Hey. I talked to Chimera, who is a woman, by the way. She’ll be at Wolf Gap by six tonight. And she wants to meet you.”
“Me? Why?”
“Probably to rub your nose in the fact that you’re asking for her help.”
“Probably,” he said with a grumble.
“Be nice to her, and pay her whatever she wants.”
He sighed. “I will. I’ll stay here at the guardhouse until we figure this shit out.”
“What about Adrianne?”
“Adrianne’s gone on a baby-furniture shopping trip to Hickory with her mother. They left today.”
My brow raised. I doubted her timely departure was a coincidence.
“Iliana and Sloan are still safe?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“How’s the search going in Venice?”
“We still haven’t found the killer, but if he follows his MO, he’s overdue for a victim.”
“Every day almost.”
“Correct. And no one died last night.”
“Think you scared him off?”
I’d been wondering the same thing. “I hope not. We’re exploring a lead now, but if he doesn’t turn up soon, we’ll go to Eden and have Metatron summon him to Samael.”
“That sounds like a more reliable plan anyway. Too bad Sloan can’t access her powers.”
“Trust me. That was my first thought.”
“Good luck, son.”
“Thanks. I’ll be in touch.”
We stayed in the immediate vicinity until well after dark. The gelato shop closed at ten o’clock. Bettina locked the shop behind her and looked very carefully around. She saw us, and Cassiel waved.
After a moment’s hesitation, Bettina power walked in the opposite direction. We got up and followed her at a distance. She must have sensed it because she zigzagged in and around different alleyways, like she was trying to lose us.
She didn’t.
We watched from an alley corner as she entered a building just off the Calle dei Morti. It was tucked back away from the busy streets, far away from where passersby might notice anything sinister. Cassiel and I were not random passersby, and
we both immediately sensed danger. Close.
We exchanged a worried glance just as my keen hearing heard it…a piercing scream.
Chapter Eighteen
I didn’t bother with a clean entry. Using my power, I ripped the door off its hinges. It flew out toward me and Cassiel, and I batted it out of our way. It landed on the stone street with a loud clatter.
Inside, we took the steps two at a time toward the sounds of shouting. I turned left when we reached the landing into a bedroom.
A naked body was strapped to the bed. And a man swirling with purple smoke had Bettina pinned against the wall. A knife was to her throat. “Let her go!” I bellowed, extending my hand toward him.
The man turned, a dripping snarl on his face, as I twisted the knife out of his ashen hand. I flung the knife so it embedded itself in the wall.
Cassiel grabbed my arm. “Don’t kill him. We need him alive.”
It was a good thing she stopped me because I was ready to obliterate his soul. He released Bettina, and she fell to her knees. Cassiel rushed toward her as the man squared off with me.
“Vito Saez?” I asked.
I had no idea what Vito Saez looked like. This guy was of Italian descent with short black haircut. His skin, however, had lost its classic golden undertones. He was almost gray.
“You’re not Azrael.” The man was speaking Katavukai, though I understood him in English.
I kept my killing power ready at my fingertips. “That won’t help you any. Who are you?”
“You know who I am,” he hissed.
Behind him, Cassiel was inching toward the bed. The girl bound to it wasn’t yet missing her head. She was still alive, but only just.
“How did you get here?”
“I walked.”
“Bettina!” Cassiel screamed something else about a paramedico and Bettina scrambled off the floor. “Warren, you need to get out of here. You’re killing this girl faster!”
“Warren? You’re the new Archangel everyone is talking about.” His eyes narrowed. “How’s the baby girl?”
I closed the space between us in one stride, extinguishing my power and slamming my fist into his face. With a satisfying crunch, Saez crumpled to the floor. My hand closed around his throat, and I lifted him off the ground.
The Soul Destroyer: The Soul Summoner Series Book 7 Page 22