“On it.” Dante stomped up the stairs. The man would probably be grabbing some coffee before he woke Seth up.
“Good morning, Mr. Sanders,” Gabriel crooned. He knelt before the Shem, watching him warily. “I understand you might have some information for me.”
The Shem glared at Gabriel. “I have nothing to say to you.”
Gabriel smiled and put his hand on the Shem’s head.
The Shemyaza howled, an unearthly sound of pain and fury mixed with a heaping dose of despair.
Gabriel lifted his hand. “Mr. Sanders, I’ll ask you again. Is there anything you’d like to tell us?”
Sanders was gasping for air, his face blotched. His eyes were red-rimmed when he opened them. “Fuck. You.”
Gabriel sighed. “You aren’t going to make this easy on yourself, are you?”
Sanders lips were clamped tightly shut.
Dante and Seth entered the room, both of them carrying coffee mugs.
“Dante?” Damien tilted his head as he studied the Shem. “How flammable are Angelus?”
Dante stepped forward, placing his coffee on the table next to Damien’s. “Depends. What part you want flambéed? Wings? Hair?”
The Shem eyed Dante with the same disdain he’d given Gabriel. “Nothing will break me, Nephilim. I stand by my Lord Shemhazai and his vassal, Ivan Romanov. Nothing you do will truly kill me, for my soul will simply be reborn and I will continue to carry out my master’s will.”
Damien looked at Gabriel. “Brainwashed much?”
It wasn’t widely known, but Piotr’s father was Ivan Romanov, the leader of the Shemyaza and a huge fucking thorn in their side. For the longest time, Damien hadn’t trusted Piotr because of that, but Piotr had proven himself over and over, earning Damien’s trust. Hell, even Dante trusted the man now. He’d even introduced Piotr to his beloved mother, Theresa.
And now Sam worked for the man. At least she’d be safe with his brother in arms. Even better, Piotr never picked women who worked for him. He’d never make a move on her, thus making her safe from his hungers. Cambions like Piotr fed off of emotion, especially sexual emotions, which was why he was such a tramp.
Gabriel glared at Damien before returning his attention to Sanders. “You mentioned the name of one of mine. I want his location.”
The Shem smiled, but remained silent.
“I’m asking nicely. Soon, I won’t ask so nicely. For your sake, tell me where he is.” Gabriel’s hand hovered over the Shem’s head.
Damien shook his head. Gabriel would go pretty far to save one of “his children”. He’d descended from Heaven with orders to kill all of the Nephilim, but he’d seen the good in some of them and had decided instead to save those he could. Now they were in a war with Shemhazai, an angel turned demon, and his followers, the Shemyaza. They had been for centuries, perhaps millennia. Gabriel wouldn’t tell them for certain, but Damien had heard rumors that they’d been at war since the time of the Great Flood.
Gabriel would slowly kill the Shem if he didn’t give Gabriel what he wanted. And if he proved particularly stubborn, the Shem would get to see exactly what an archangel looked like in all his glory. He’d die for the privilege, of course.
“I’d give him what he wants.” Damien picked up a water bottle off the table and offered the Shem a drink. “He lights up when he gets testy.”
The Shem turned his head away from Damien and spoke in a language that hurt Damien’s ears. His power still translated it, however, so he knew the Shem said, “I obey my lord and no one else.”
Dante and Seth were retching, a response to the infernal language the Shem had used. Only Damien and Gabriel could withstand the punishment of hearing it.
Damien countered the best way he could, with the language he’d once heard Gabriel speaking. He had no idea what it would do to him, but he’d use it now to harm the Shem who’d just hurt his friends. Hopefully, it wouldn’t hurt him as well. Rafael was worth the risk. “As I obey mine. Now tell us where my brother is.”
The Shem howled, writhing in pain. Gabriel simply smiled, as if he’d known all along Damien could speak that language and had only been waiting for him to use it.
“I have told you before, Damien. Your voice is one of your best weapons against the Shem.” That lilting language sounded so natural coming from Gabriel, whereas Damien felt like a big, fat fraud every time he even thought of using it.
He was pretty sure his accent was atrocious, too.
Damien rolled his eyes and spoke English. “I didn’t know if I’d burn out my vocal cords using it.”
“Remember today, then, but also remember your caution. Overuse of the tongue by a mortal could, indeed, burn your vocal cords. However, used properly, it is a weapon of great impact.” Gabriel nodded to the Shem, who was trembling and sweating in the aftermath of the pain Damien had inflicted.
The Shem glared at Damien with renewed hatred. “You will burn for this.”
“You first,” Damien replied.
Dante obligingly lit up, fire racing up and down his arms. “Can I? Please? I haven’t burned a Shem in ages.”
Seth wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. “I vote yes.” Their easygoing brother was staring at the Shem, utterly pissed off. But Seth’s anger rarely lasted long. If Seth thought it possible to save the Shem from himself he would probably try. Seth, out of all of them, had the purest, gentlest heart.
Most Shem were beyond saving. There were stories, rumors of the occasional Shem who’d managed to shake off their hunger and return to the Nephilim fold, but Damien took them for what they were: stories, nothing more. A hope where there really was none, that some of their fallen brethren could be saved from the evil in their souls. After all, in the end, they were all angel-born.
“I’d suggest you listen to my children.” Gabriel’s hand remained over the Shem’s head. “Speak, or lose the right to.”
“You would suck the knowledge from my mind.” The Shem cackled. His humanity was slowly disappearing, the ugly truth revealed in the blackened lips, the blotchy, pale skin, and worst of all, the fangs and claws. This was the vampire of human nightmares, the truth revealed in horrifying color. The hunger all Shem had for the taste of human suffering turned them into monsters. They hid among humans, wearing a human facade, using their ties to their communities to feed at will. Only Damien and his brothers stood between the Shem and their dream of humanity turned into cattle.
“Yes, I would.” Gabriel dropped his hand on the Shem’s head once more.
Rippling agony showed on the Shem’s face as he screamed.
Dante moved until he stood next to Damien. He was still flaming, his eyes burning as he watched the Shem dispassionately. “Two more touches and he’ll break.”
Damien shook his head. “Nah. I give it three. He’s pretty tough.”
Seth stood at Damien’s other side. He’d removed his shirt, his wings showing, his body lit with pale turquoise light. “You’re both wrong. Gabriel will light up before he’ll touch him again.”
“Loser buys lunch,” Dante added.
“Children.” Gabriel’s tone was filled with affectionate amusement as he removed his hand from the Shem’s head.
“He started it.” Both Seth and Damien pointed to Dante.
“These are the famed warriors of the Nephilim?” The Shem wheezed out a mocking laugh. “No wonder your Rafael was so easy to catch.”
Gabriel turned to the three of them and spoke in a gentle tone. “Go upstairs.”
Dante turned off his flame, Seth folded his wings, and Damien… Well, Damien headed up the stairs. He definitely did not want to see what was coming, because it would be the last thing he ever saw. No one except an Oracle could look upon an angel in his true form and not burn out his eyes, just as no one but a Malachi could speak the angelic tongue and not lose the ability to speak forever.
Seth had won the bet. Gabriel was going full-on archangel.
Sure enough, the Shem’s desperate cr
ies escalated as Gabriel lit the basement dungeon up. The angel’s light radiated so brightly that Damien could catch glimpses of it through the hardwood floors.
“Damien’s got a date with Sam.”
His attention was abruptly turned away from Gabriel to Dante. “Fuck.” He wasn’t ready to share his potential relationship with Sam with his brothers, but someone must have tipped Dante off.
“Nope. Save that for your Sammie.” Dante gave him a cheeky grin, but Damien understood the truth. Dante was trying to turn their attention from what was happening below, and Damien was just an easy target.
“She’s not my Sammie.” Not yet, anyway. Damien settled on Gabriel’s couch. He tried his best to ignore the distant screams, the cries in that infernal tongue that made his ears ring painfully. “Besides, this is an apology lunch, not a date.” Lies, but they didn’t need any more ammunition. “How’s Rose?” Seth’s new baby was adorable and the light of his life.
“Not a date, my ass.” Dante sat next to him, while Seth took the chair across from them. Neither man looked ready to let go of his date with Sam. They were both wincing at the faint sounds of the Shem dealing with a full archangel. Whatever Gabriel was doing to him, it sounded painful.
Damien found himself pitying the Shem, but that, too, he tried to ignore. “I’m telling you, I’m not dating Samantha Brody. For fuck’s sake, I fired her. I’m the one who made sure she didn’t get a job anywhere.” And damn if he didn’t feel horrible about that now. “I want to make things up to her.”
More lies. He’d start with friendship and push for more if she’d let him.
“By punching her vagina with your dick?” Dante ducked when Damien threw one of Gabriel’s pillows at him.
“I say you date Sam.” Seth added his two cents, but his voice was off. He, too, was distracted by the sounds coming from the basement as Gabriel’s voice boomed out. “Abby adores her, and so does Beth. She’d make a good addition to our family.”
Damien didn’t tell his brother what the angel said, but to Damien, Gabriel’s voice was as clear as if the angel stood next to him. Gabriel must have pulled his sword, because he was threatening the Shem with holy fire and the wrath of God if he didn’t tell Gabriel what he wanted to know. “Sam deserves better than someone like me.” He tried to keep from wincing as Gabriel described exactly where he planned on shoving his flaming sword of justice.
The two men exchanged a glance. “Look, Damien. If you want Sam, you need to step up your game. Someone is going to see how wonderful she is and snatch her up like that.” Seth snapped his fingers.
Damien sighed. Of course he was aware of that. Sam was a wonderful woman and an amazing friend to those few she let into her life. However, he was aware that he’d hurt her deeply with his accusations and cold behavior. Why would she open herself up to him? She had no reason to, no matter how badly he wanted it. “If I go after Sam now I’m going to get rejected.”
Seth’s eyes went wide, while Dante began laughing his ass off. “Is that what you’re afraid of?”
“Beth already told me Sam has a thing for me.” But Damien was still wary. What if Beth was wrong about Sam? He’d get his heart trampled for sure. He’d been such a fucking dick to Sam he had no idea how she could possibly forgive him.
“Then you should—”
Dante held up his hand, silencing Seth. “Gabriel’s on his way.”
Damien cocked his head. The silence was nearly deafening after listening to Gabriel and the Shem go at it. Had the Shem finally broken? Were they going to find where Rafael was?
Gabriel strode into the room, every hair in place, his body language relaxed. Whatever had happened hadn’t affected him at all—or he was very good at hiding it. “The Shem said only one word before he fell unconscious. Armitage. Does it mean anything to any of you?”
Dante tilted his head. “There’s Richard Armitage, that State Department guy who outed a CIA operative ‘by accident’.” Dante even made little air quotes with his fingers.
“Armitage III-Poly Matrix,” Seth added. “It’s this cyberpunk animated video about a cyborg named Naomi Armitage.”
“Naomi Armitage?” Damien tilted his head.
“I can investigate, see if anyone by that name exists.” Dante made a note on his notepad. “I’ll also look into anyone else in the area named Armitage who might have links to Scott Sanders.”
Damien could have sworn he’d heard the name before, and not in a video game. “Isn’t there an Armitage Computing? I think I might have done business with them before.” Shit. If he’d inadvertently done business with a Shem he’d never forgive himself.
“Can you tell me anything about them?” Gabriel’s tone was soft. There still seemed to be a slight glow to him, and he smiled as if he knew secrets they couldn’t fathom.
“They seemed on the up and up. They delivered roughly on time, the product worked, and I didn’t find anything that would make me think they’d layered in a back door.” He knew what he was talking about when it came to computer programs. “No spyware, no malware, no key loggers, just a working product.”
“Then you work on that investigation.” Dante made another note. “Check into Armitage Computing while I look at living Armitages.”
“And I’ll look pretty.” Seth pretended to fling his hair over his shoulder. “It’s what I do best.”
Damien shot him an oh fuck you look. “You’re going to talk to Piotr and see if he can come up with anything related to Armitage.”
Gabriel frowned for the first time since they’d arrived. “No. Leave Piotr out of this one. He’s working on getting Eli here, but Eli’s current cell leader is refusing to release him. Piotr is using his gifts to try and get something out of Eli’s cell leader, but the man is being stubborn and won’t tell us what Eli is working on, or even where he is.”
“Why? Has he explained it to anyone?” Seth was worried, and that made Damien worried.
“No, and it bothers me that he won’t reply, even to me.” Gabriel sighed. “I was hoping Piotr’s charm would work where my commands did not.”
A Cambion like Piotr could manipulate emotions. They could charm the pants off of anyone, or start a whisper campaign that could destroy a nation. He used emotions like Damien used information, to get what he needed or to take care of business. “If anyone can get my brother sprung, it’s Piotr.” Seth sat back, seemingly unconcerned now that he understood what Piotr was doing and why. “However, if we need a hacking expert, may I suggest we ask Samantha Brody? She’s one of the best out there. Beth has used her a number of times, right, Dante?”
“I’m aware of that,” Damien replied before any of the others could. “And I’ll ask, if it becomes necessary. But only then. I don’t want her anywhere near a Shem, even via the world-wide web.”
Both Dante and Seth seemed to understand, but Gabriel looked like he wanted to say something. Something Damien wasn’t going to like one little bit.
“That may happen sooner than you think,” Gabriel replied softly. “I’d keep a close eye on your Sam for the foreseeable future. If needed, your brothers will watch over her as well.”
Damien grunted. Damn it. He had a really bad feeling about this.
Chapter 7
Sam was still bleary-eyed when the doorbell rang, so she wasn’t surprised that she’d forgotten to lock Precious and Don Pablo up. After her nap she’d let them out, then gone to take a shower when they came back in. The two set up to barking the moment the doorbell rang, but she paid no attention to it as she opened the door for Damien.
“Good afternoon.” Damn, he looked tired. He had dark circles under his eyes, and he was sipping from an extra-large Starbucks cup, the steam rising from the top smelling like coffee and mint. He wore a rust-colored Aviator jacket over jeans and black boots.
“Come in.” She widened the door, accidentally introducing the leg of Damien’s pants to an over-aggressive Chihuahua defending his home. “No, Donny. Let him go.”
; “Donny?” Damien shook his leg, probably trying to dislodge her dog.
“Don Pablo.” She shrugged. “When I met him, he was eating a taco.”
He laughed reluctantly, bending down to allow Donny to sniff his fingers. “Hello, Don Pablo. It’s nice to meet you.”
Donny eyed him for a moment before barking a few more times, but they were far less aggressive than Sam expected.
“Thank you.” Damien straightened, looking over her shoulder with wide eyes. He took a step back, letting Don Pablo onto the front porch. “You have two dogs.”
Oh, thank God, her dog of reason was here. “Yeah, that’s Precious.” She stood back, allowing her pit bull to take a stand next to her.
Unlike Donny, Precious stared at Damien with cool curiosity. Her pitty rarely went crazy on people. Instead, she was the calm to Donny’s storm. Her tongue lolled out the side of her mouth as she gave Damien a wide pitty smile, her tail going a mile a minute. Her whole butt shook with how happy she was to meet a new person who would love her and hug her and just adore her for the wonderful doggy she was.
When Damien gave Precious his fingers to sniff she did so, licking them in welcome. “At least this one likes me.”
Donny took that moment to growl loudly, batting at Precious’s legs as if to tell her not to be so nice to the intruder, traitor.
“Are you ready to go?” Damien was staring at the dogs like he couldn’t quite understand what he was seeing.
Both Donny and Precious perked up, but Sam had no intention of bringing her pooches with her on her lunch date with Damien. “Give me a minute. Precious?”
Precious picked Donny up by the scruff of his neck and carried him off. Donny continued to glare menacingly at Damien, but he kept his growls to himself.
“Okay. Now I’m ready.” She grabbed her purse, threw on her thick winter pea coat and locked the door behind her.
“How did you get her to do that?” Damien led her to his car, holding the passenger door open for her so she could slide in.
She waited to answer until he was in the driver’s seat. “I didn’t. Precious just started doing that on her own, and it works. Donny calms down and Precious gets to nap in peace.”
Speak Thy Name (The Nephilim Book 3) Page 6