Paige screamed again, her body contorting in his lap. “You promised,” she rasped out.
“Promised what? God, what did I promise? Tell me what to do.”
She lifted her head to look at him, her cheeks sunken, her eyes glittering with an evil that made his skin crawl. “You promised to kill me. Do it now, Jed. You promised.”
Oh, Jesus, no.
Thirty-three
Paige’s gaze met Jed’s, and it was pure evil, nothing left of Paige at all. Then her body crumbled in his arms, until he was holding only black ash. Then it whirled away from him, and spread over the ground, and he saw hands burst from the ground through the black coating, then become absorbed into it, watched the thick layer of sludge that used to be Paige grow and solidify.
“What the hell’s that?”
Jed spun around to see Rafi standing to his right, a machine gun aimed at the bubbling blackness of the ground, his eyes a dark brown. No black at all. “Rafi?”
His brother flashed him a brief smile. “Took your advice and sampled Mona. Got rid of the shit the Council and the Men in White did to me.” His smile faded. “I can’t go back to Junior’s hell. I’m not going. He can claim me, but that doesn’t mean I’m going.”
Jed’s brief moment of relief disappeared, consumed by his worry for Paige. “You’re good. Paige turned herself, loves me. Contract satisfied.” He gestured at the bubbling ground. “That’s her.”
Rafi sat down hard on a stone. “I’m free? I’m really free?” He pressed his hands to his face, and his shoulders shook.
Jed felt his own throat tighten, but he shrugged it off. No time. “Give me your gun.”
Rafi lifted his head, and his eyes were bright. “Why?”
“I have to kill Paige.” Oh, God.
Rafi slid the strap off his shoulder and tossed it at Jed as the black sludge began to rise up, solidifying, taking the shape of a human. Jed caught it, then fumbled it and nearly dropped it in the black sludge. His hands were shaking, his chest ached, he felt sick. He lifted the gun and aimed it at the figure taking shape. “I love you,” he whispered, as he slid his finger over the trigger. “I always will.”
“Wait,” Rafi said.
Jed’s finger froze, but he didn’t avert the gun from the figure forming before him. “What?”
“Why are you killing her?”
“Because she’ll destroy the world as a wraith. I promised her I wouldn’t let her do that. I promised I’d kill her first.”
Rafi cursed under his breath. “What about heaven?”
“The moat?”
“Yeah.”
“Too late.” He realized suddenly that the figure was taking the shape of Paige again. Her golden hair appeared, then the curves of her body, the tilt of her lips as if she were about to smile. He dropped the gun in disbelief. “Paige?”
“Look at her eyes,” Rafi said.
He did.
They were bottomless pits of blackness, of raging evil.
He cursed and raised the gun up again, his hands shaking as he sighted for where her heart should be.
For a long moment, neither of them moved. Pull the trigger, Jed. You have to.
But he couldn’t.
He put down the gun and looked at his brother. “I know you owe me nothing, but will you help me?”
Rafi stood up instantly. “What do you need?”
“It might blow up heaven.”
Rafi shrugged. “I’m not a fan of anything related to heaven these days. Count me in. What’s up?”
Jed eyed Paige as she raised her hands skyward and let out an ear-splitting shriek that had them slamming their hands over their ears and cringing as the pain knifed through their heads.
She stopped suddenly and looked at Jed. Or rather, the bottomless pits of hell that used to be her eyes stared at him.
“Holy crap.” Rafi dropped his hands from his ears. “You love that thing?”
“Yeah. I do.” Jed clenched his fists. “We need to get her through the third gate and into the moat.”
Rafi grimaced. “I can’t let her through. I know I won’t be able to.”
“I know. We’ll go up there, and you let me knock you out as we reach the gate, and I’ll take her through.”
“You think you can make yourself do that? Go against your true nature?”
Jed watched Paige as she started to look around, scanning for something—hell only knew what. Then she saw Rafi, and turned toward him, a hiss leaking out of her mouth. He thought of how he’d almost killed her earlier when she’d gotten too close to the gate. “Yeah, I’ll take her through.” I have to.
“But you’ll forfeit your destiny.” Rafi sounded incredulous. “By violating the most basic tenet of being a shadow warrior, you’ll be wiped from the tables. Your shadow warrior legacy will be stripped from you and passed on to someone else. You won’t even be immortal. You’ll be cannon fodder when Junior comes calling, all pissed off because he lost us both.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“It’s like suicide. If losing your destiny doesn’t kill you, Junior will. You’d really do that for her?”
“Yeah.” He watched Paige stalk Rafi. “Yeah, I will.”
“Is she still going to want you when you’re not a harbinger of death? I mean, she’s a Rivka. A human male isn’t going to be much of a match for her.”
“Don’t care. I’m doing it anyway.”
“Well, shit, man. It was good knowing you.” Rafi backed up a step as Paige started to head toward him. “So, what’s your grand plan, here?”
“I can’t enter a Rivka without permission, but you can. I’ll merge with you, and you’ll take me inside with you, and then we’ll try to take over her and get her up to the gate.”
“Inside her?”
Jed nodded. “I’m guessing she can’t hurt us if we’re both in shadow form, but I don’t know. She might kill us.” He looked at Rafi. “I’m sorry for screwing up your life, and you don’t owe me this.”
“Damn right. I owe you nothing. Remember that. But you get it anyway, brother.” And then he went shadow.
Jed was momentarily stunned by his brother’s response, then he too went shadow, and he moved next to his brother.
Paige had stopped when Rafi had disappeared, and she was turning her head, searching for him, searching for her victim.
Ready? Jed spoke into his brother’s mind, sharing the link they’d been destined for since birth. Warrior to warrior. He couldn’t believe how right it felt.
Hell, yeah.
Then they moved together, mixing their molecules in the way of shadow warriors of ages past, gaining strength from each other, becoming a force more than twice that of their individual selves. Jed linked himself to Rafi, becoming one with his brother.
Go.
They speared toward Paige and slammed into her body, Rafi bursting through her defenses, dragging Jed with him. Together they attacked her body, her spirit, slicing through the evil that consumed her, matching their own evil with hers, fighting it out. Jed could hear her screaming, felt her deadly fury raging, felt his shadow warrior rise to the challenge, fighting her with Rafi beside him.
Start heading her toward the gate. Jed felt himself beginning to weaken, a numbness starting to build. I don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to hold out.
No shit. This is one nasty bitch.
Anger roared through Jed and he slammed it into the wraith, momentarily stunning it. Don’t call the woman I love a bitch. Jed forced her to turn, to begin climbing the rocks toward the third gate.
This thing we’re inside right now isn’t the woman you love.
Rafi was right. What if there was nothing left of Paige? What if the moat wiped out the wraith, and there was nothing left?
She loves you, bro. That’s still there.
Jed clung to his brother’s words as they forced the wraith up the steps, to the gaping hole in the stone wall, battling death and evil with every step. Never had he been s
o happy to be evil, to be a match for the worst darkness he’d ever encountered.
Rafi stopped just inside the gate. Take me out, now. I can’t let her through.
Thank you. Then he swung hard with all his darkness and knocked out his brother. He felt Rafi drift from Paige’s body, and then he was alone inside her.
Her evil swelled and slammed him hard, and he faltered, momentarily overwhelmed by how powerful she was. Then he pulled himself together and smacked her hard with his own energy. Forget it, sweetheart. This is one battle you aren’t winning. He thrust her through the gate and she stumbled into a Man in White, who screamed and exploded. Jed shoved her forward as Men in White shouted at her, trying to get their machine guns working. Bullets began to spray, and Jed felt them slice through Paige. She jerked with each blow, but didn’t stop. Didn’t falter. Was she literally unstoppable?
Jed could feel her focus, her burning lust to kill, realized she’d stopped fighting him so she could focus on her prey. So he grabbed her by the heart and threw her over the edge of the moat before she could fight back, and they plunged into the cool water.
He pulled himself out of her as the water churned and bubbled around them, turning black, steam rising from it. He sucked in a lungful of water as he took human form, too exhausted to swim, felt himself sinking toward the bottom.
Then hands grabbed him and pulled him out, and dumped him on the shore. He coughed, spewing water, then rolled over, leaning over the edge, smacking away hands that tried to touch him, to pull him back. “Paige! Can you hear me? Paige!” He coughed again, his body aching, his lungs seizing in his chest, his soul trembling from the battle. “Paige! I love you!”
The water rose higher, spilling over the banks, and Jed found himself yanked backward by the Men in White, away from the cascading black liquid, bubbling, steaming, hissing rising into the air until a black cloud shut out all the light and darkness descended. Jed jerked himself free of their grasp and walked forward into the water, letting it swirl around his legs, wincing as it burned his skin. “Paige Darlington, I know you’re in there! I demand you come back to me! I need you, dammit!”
The water slowly stopped bubbling, faded back to a brilliant blue and subsided back within its banks.
But no Paige.
He stood hip deep in water, staring in stunned disbelief at the clear river, flowing gently past. There was nothing left.
“Down here!”
He jerked his head up and saw a Man in White downstream. He was waving his arms as another Man in White emerged from the water, the naked body of a woman draped over his shoulder.
“Paige!” Jed sprinted down the riverbank, sliding in the mud as he raced toward her. He reached the man and pulled Paige off his shoulder, cradling her to his chest as he set her down in the sand. “Paige? Are you there? Sweetheart?”
“Jed?” Her eyelids fluttered, and then her eyes were open.
Blue eyes.
Paige’s blue eyes. No wraith. “You broke your promise,” she whispered.
“Yeah, I did.”
She smiled. “Thanks.”
And suddenly, he couldn’t talk. So he wrapped his arms around her and hauled her against him, and didn’t even try to keep the tears from sliding down his cheeks.
Thirty-four
Rafi was standing at the gate, his hair dark and wild, his body language aggressive and confident as Jed and Paige walked up to the gate. They’d both been given clothes by the Men in White, and looked like a couple of delinquent angels.
Jed stopped in front of his brother, ignoring the sounds of frenzied debate as the Men in White argued over what do with Paige, now that she was no longer the being that had killed the angel. Jerome had finally arrived, and he was leading the Council and the delegates from heaven toward the conclusion that they couldn’t legally hold her responsible for actions done while she’d been possessed by the souls of the most evil beings that had ever existed. Jerome had nodded at Jed as he’d guided Paige out of there, and he knew Jerome would prevail.
Not that he would ever like the guy, but keeping the Men in White off Paige’s tail would start his redemption.
They reached Rafi, and he stopped, but Paige tugged her hand out of Jed’s and threw herself at Rafi. His hands came up to catch her as she thudded against his chest. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” She grabbed his face between her hands and planted a kiss squarely on his mouth. “I don’t care you almost killed me like eighty times. You’re my new favorite person, except of course for Jed.” She kissed him again, then jumped out of Rafi’s arms.
Jed grinned as Paige skipped back to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, wiggling herself up against his side. “She’s a keeper, huh?”
Rafi finally got the stunned look off his face. “A little more appealing than she was an hour ago, yeah.”
Paige beamed at both of them. “That’s too cool that the estranged brothers came together in a time of strife. This is what family is all about, you know? Always there for each other when needed.”
Rafi and Jed exchanged glances, and Jed saw the hesitation on his brother’s face. “She’s right, you know,” Jed said. “About that family bonding stuff.”
Rafi’s gaze darkened. “I helped you, but I can’t forgive—”
Paige grabbed Rafi’s wrist and yanked him over to her and shoved a fireball in his chest. “Hey! Since Jed and I are now bonded for all eternity, you’re my brother now. You must harass me, throw spitballs at me over the Thanksgiving dinner table, hold my hand when Jed’s off chasing down bad guys and I’m worried about him, and you will always be there for me. And for him.” She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him until his face was level with hers. “Do you understand me? I love Jed. I love you. And I expect you to love us both. Got it?”
Rafi stared at her, and Jed saw the damage in his brother’s eyes. The rage. And he knew that despite the fact his brother had shaken off some of the effects of the Men in White’s experiment, Rafi was still extremely dangerous and volatile. After decades of being unable to fight back, he was now unshackled and brimming with rage and the effects of years of abuse. And who knew what the Men in White had done to him. Jed had no idea what his brother was capable of anymore, and he didn’t think Rafi knew either.
“Rafi?” Paige pushed at his chest, completely ignoring the dangerous vibes coming off his brother, and Jed almost wanted to grab her and pull her back from him.
But Paige could handle it, and maybe, just maybe, her sunshine could help Rafi too. She tapped his chin. “Raphael! You got it, or what?”
Rafi gave a visible shudder, then he focused on Paige; his torment was hidden behind a mask once again. “Yeah, I got it,” Rafi finally said. “But I’m still pissed at Jed.”
She smiled and patted his cheek. “Of course you are. You should be. You’re brothers. You should have issues. I expect you and I to develop issues as well, that will, of course, be fully subordinated to our deep familial bond, right?”
Jed laughed as Rafi shot him a look. “Might as well agree, Rafi. She’s pretty high on the whole concept of family. You’re stuck with her now.”
“I’m sure I can drive her away.” The edge was back in Rafi’s voice again.
“Not a chance, dear brother.” Paige reached up and straightened his shirt, then brushed some dirt off it. “But you’re welcome to try.”
“But not right now.” Jed pulled her back into his arms and anchored her against his chest. “I’m taking her with me now. Got some things to discuss.”
Rafi caught his tone. “You haven’t told her?”
“No. Not yet.”
“Told me what?” She pulled out of Jed’s arms to face him. “We’ve been married for like ten minutes, and you’re already holding out on me?”
Jed raised his brows. “We’re married?”
“Well, of course. I mean, if you opening a gate for me and me turning myself into a wraith for you isn’t enough to join us for all eternity, then I don
’t know what is.” She narrowed her eyes. “Why? You backing out now? After finally teaching me how to truly love?” She threw her hands onto her hips and lifted her chin, giving him her haughtiest look. “And before you answer that, remember that you devirginized me. In many civilizations, you’d be forced to the altar at gunpoint.” She flared up a fireball and threw it so it hovered at his throat. “I’m not above using force to get what I want. And I want you. For eternity. Got it?”
Jed tensed and slowly eased back from the fireball. “Be careful with that, sweetheart. I’m not the man I used to be.”
She stared at him, and slowly, her face began to get worried. “Jed? What’s wrong? What happened?”
Shit. He hadn’t wanted to tell her yet. He’d wanted more time, so he could convince her to love him as he was.
“Jed?” Her voice was shaky now, and she extinguished the fireball as she marched up to him. She grabbed his upper arms, her fingers digging in. “What’s going on?”
“Just tell her,” Rafi said. “She needs to know before she accidentally kills you.”
She didn’t take her gaze off his face. “Tell me!”
He peeled her hands off his shoulders and entwined her fingers with his, gripping her tighter than he meant to. “When I took you across the gate, I broke the number one rule of a shadow warrior.”
She frowned. “So you want a thank you? I appreciate it, but I thought you already knew that—”
“No, you don’t understand.” He pulled his hands free and clasped them behind his head. “I lost my shadow warrior status.”
She smiled with relief. “That’s it? That’s great. You didn’t want to be one anyway. Did those soul remnants leave your body too?”
He hesitated, suddenly realizing his chest was empty, for the first time in decades. He was the only one in there. Him, and Paige, because he could still feel her in there from their merge. “Yes, but I lost it all. I’m an ordinary human now. I’ll get old, I’ll die in fifty years—”
“If he’s lucky. More likely, Junior will kill him first. He’s a bad loser.”
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