Yes, yes, he knew this story. “But you wanted her too badly, huh?” Guardians were always closer to falling than most angels. All that time being around humans and seeing the emotions.
Tempting.
“You understand want, don’t you?” Tomas demanded as he slit his eyes back at Seline. “You let the enemy get fucking close.”
“No, he did not just say that to me,” Seline snapped.
Sam smiled. “You must want to die.” Fair enough, he could accommodate the guy.
Sam sliced with the claw. Not deep or hard enough to kill, not yet, but just enough to cut open the skin.
“Save her. ” Tomas wasn’t fighting. Interesting. Tomas was powerful, in his way. “Kill me, fine. I probably got that coming to me. But save her.”
“Rogziel really has her?” Seline demanded, an edge breaking the words.
Tomas nodded, and the move made the slice on his throat widen. “Don’t even know . . . ah . . . jeez, ease up! How he got her, but he’s keeping her at that house until I get back.”
“You’re telling me that Rogziel will hurt an innocent human ?” Sam demanded. Not the way of the punishment angels. At least, not those who still had wings.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying!” Tomas’s stare glittered. “I’m saying he’ll slice her up, he’ll enjoy it, and he won’t give a damn about her being innocent or not.” And his eyes were still on Seline. “Isn’t that right?”
Sam slowly eased his hold on Tomas. He glanced at Seline. She was okay. He’d gotten to her in time. So why did his chest still ache?
Seline swallowed and nodded. “I don’t—I didn’t think angels could do the things he’s done. There was a vampire. Karen.” Her lips trembled. “I did some checking on her. She hadn’t killed anyone, but Rogziel had said Karen knew where his real prey was hiding. He said he’d make Karen talk.” Her eyes squeezed shut. “By the time I got there, there wasn’t a whole lot was left of Karen. All I could do was hold her hand before she died.”
Bastard. “That’s when you decided to get away?” Sam asked.
“That’s when I knew he’d be coming to kill me soon. He said Karen was an abomination. That she deserved his punishment just for existing.” Her smile was broken. “I fell into that abomination category, too.”
The hell she did. His back teeth clenched. Sam gritted out, “And the real prey?”
“Turned out that was you,” she whispered. “But as far as I can tell, you didn’t even know Karen.”
An image clicked in his head then. A young blond vampire, freshly turned. Nervous hands. Wide eyes. The woman had wanted to become human again. She’d been turned by a monster in a dark alley, and she’d just wanted to get her life back.
She hadn’t realized—not until Sam had broken her heart and told her the truth—there was no going back. Not for any of them.
She’d been an innocent, one hurt by the world. One who hadn’t deserved anyone’s punishment. Rogziel, you will beg me to kill you. Beg.
“He doesn’t care about collateral damage,” Tomas growled. “He’ll use anyone, do anything, to get what he wants.” Tomas put his hand to his throat and tried to stop the bleeding. His voice rasped when he said, “What he wants is you, Sammael. Your head on a platter for him.”
An abomination. Sam cupped Seline’s chin in his hand. As long as Rogziel was alive, Seline would never truly be free. Freedom was the one thing she wanted.
He’d give her anything.
Just as he’d give Rogziel what the bastard wanted. “Then take me to him.”
Seline’s eyes widened in horror. “No!”
Sam lifted the bloody claw. “It’s not a mortal weapon.” His lips twisted. “Made from a shifter, by a shifter. With this, I can kill Rogziel.”
Her breath rushed out as Seline looked at him like he was crazy. “Or he can summon a hound to kill you! You can’t just run in there and go up against him.”
“I’m not afraid of Rogziel.” Now he was just insulted. “He fears me.” That was the heart of the matter. The true reason why Rogziel had been jonesing for his death all these years.
He’d seen the taint of madness in Rogziel’s stare so long ago. Not that the powers above would listen to him. Rogziel had still been the “good” angel then.
While Sam had been the one who slaughtered humans.
“You think he’s not going to be ready for you?” She grabbed his arms and actually shook him. “Look, I get it. You’re the all-powerful Fallen who kicks most supernatural ass, but you can’t stop hellhounds!”
“Unless you’ve got a punishment angel on your side,” Tomas muttered, “But they aren’t exactly thick on the ground.”
Seline didn’t look at the other Fallen, and because she was staring straight at him, Sam saw understanding fill her eyes. “You have me,” she whispered.
Sonofabitch.
“I can help you.” Her shoulders straightened, and she gave a firm, little nod. “I will help you because you’re not going anyplace without me.”
No, he wouldn’t leave her. A smile began to curve his lips.
“Oh, no way, no way!” Tomas grabbed Sam’s arm.
He knocked the other Fallen onto his ass.
Tomas shook his head and crawled to his feet. “He said you, just you. If he catches sight of anyone else, Sierra is dead.”
Maybe. Maybe not. “Then I’ll just have to make certain no one catches sight of her.”
Lucky for him, he knew just the witch to use for a job like this. Good thing the devil wasn’t the only one who spent time making deals with the Other.
Rogziel flew through the clouds. The world whipped by beneath him. A blur that he barely saw.
Maybe they changed the fucking locks.
His teeth snapped together as Tomas’s voice rang through his mind. The Fallen was wrong. He could enter heaven, he could slide into hell, and he could walk the earth. He punished the damned, no matter where they were.
He saw the white columns up ahead. Waiting for him. His home.
Perfect. Peaceful.
Open, as it had always been.
Open . . .
“Not this time, Rogziel.” Delia’s cool voice stopped him.
His feet touched down on the marble floor, and she immediately appeared before him. Her wings stretched up high behind her, the way an angel’s wings always did before an attack.
The way his wings were stretching now.
“This isn’t the place for you,” she said in her flat, slightly cool voice.
He stared at her. “I don’t answer to you, child.” And that’s all she was to him. A child. Barely a few centuries old. He didn’t care what Delia wanted. What she said. He was the one with the power.
As far as he knew, Delia had never even ventured into hell. Like many of the others, perhaps she was afraid of what she’d find waiting for her.
“No, you don’t answer to me.” Doors were behind her. Massive white doors that led to paradise. “Just think of me as the messenger.” No expression crossed her face. “This place isn’t for you,” she told him again.
He wanted to rip her apart. Make her scream. Beg.
Burn.
She took a step back. Ah, so she did feel his power.
But she shook her head. “Good-bye, Rogziel.”
He grabbed her arm. “No.” Because a lick of fear had cut into his heart. “I’m an angel. This is where I belong.”
Delia stared back at him. “You will soon be where you belong.”
Those fucking Fallen. He hadn’t done his job. Hadn’t punished them. So now he was being punished. “I’ll take them out! I’ll clear the earth of the abominations . . .”
He spun away from her. He knew what to do. He still had his wings. He wasn’t cast out. He was—
“Not all abominations are on earth,” Delia said softly.
He stilled as her words sank in. The rage bubbled then and raked beneath his skin like claws. “You dare to judge me?”
“No.?
?? Her voice was still quiet. “That’s not my job.”
Sammael. It was the bastard’s fault. He’d shifted the balance. Brought too much evil to the world.
Punish . . .
“The judgment is at hand,” Delia told him. “Be ready.”
Then her wings rustled, and she flew away from paradise.
The instant she vanished, Rogziel charged those heavy white doors, but they wouldn’t open for him. They wouldn’t open. He clawed. He punched. His hands broke, and he bled.
But the doors wouldn’t budge.
“No!” His scream.
I bet they changed the fucking locks.
“Let me in!” he yelled.
No one answered his cry.
The doors stayed shut.
He’d served in heaven. Punished in hell and on earth.
Served . . .
“No!”
His blood stained the doors.
But they wouldn’t open.
Sam knew where to find Mateo. He always did. Find the nearest crossroads, light a match, and whisper a quick incantation, then all he had to do was wait for Mateo to appear.
Mateo wasn’t exactly a witch, no matter how hard he might try to claim otherwise. There was more than just witch blood flowing through his veins.
Mateo was a caller, too—one from a very long and dark line. Summon him at the crossroads, and he had to appear. Bind him, and he had to do your bidding.
“Sam?” Seline’s hand was in his. “What are we doing here?”
“Calling a friend,” he told her. “Now stand back.” Things were about to get even uglier than they had been, but he wouldn’t block her out. She’d be there for the end game and the freedom she wanted so badly.
She stepped back. Their fingers slid apart.
Tomas paced nervously near the edge of the road. “No, man, you are not doing a crossroads call. Don’t you know that you can’t trust whatever freak comes when you do this crap? These are monsters! They slipped out of hell, they—”
Sam used a blade to slice over his wrist. Blood dropped right onto the middle of the crossroads. He whispered the summoning chant once more, then, said simply, “Mateo.”
The sky above them darkened. A crack of lightning slammed into the ground, and with a scream, Mateo appeared.
Mateo’s shoulders hunched. His breath wheezed out. Coming to a crossroads was never easy for a caller. A caller had to slip past hell every time the crossroads beckoned. “Fuckin’ asshole . . .” Mateo muttered, raising his head to glare at Sam.
“No! Not him!” Tomas snarled as he recognized Mateo. “He’s working with Rogziel! I told you—aw, man, now we’re dead!”
Sam didn’t look at Tomas. “Guess Rogziel figured out how to summon you, huh?” His mixed blood was Mateo’s closest secret. His mother, Aviana, had been a crossroads spirit. Summon her and she’d grant your wish. Once she granted your wish, she’d make you wish again—only this time, you’d be wishing for death.
Crossroad spirits had no remorse. No guilt. With every life they took, their strength increased.
Once upon a long time ago, a male witch had come to Aviana. He’d wanted a child. He’d gotten one.
One wish granted . . .
Mateo lifted his head. His cheeks were hollowed. His eyes flat and cold. “Rogziel didn’t summon me, not at first. He called her. ”
Sam had no doubt as to the her in question. There was no more powerful crossroad spirit than Mateo’s mother.
“Guess I know what he wished for,” Sam said.
“I don’t!” Seline said, and she rushed forward. “What did he want?”
“A way to trap Fallen.”
Tomas whistled. “You’re a crossroads spirit? Oh, that is bad.”
“He got his wish,” Sam said, studying Mateo in the sunlight. Mateo had always hated what he was. Abomination. Yes, that’s what Rogziel would call him—and it was the way Sam knew Mateo saw himself.
Sam’s teeth snapped together. Mateo wasn’t evil. Not totally, anyway.
“Rogziel did,” Mateo agreed. “He got what he wanted. Aviana brought me to him. Made me show him the spells.” Rage bubbled in his voice. “When Rogziel got his wish, he killed her. Punishment he said, long overdue.” A rough laugh. “So fucking true. The bitch deserved to burn.”
“So does he.” Sam held Mateo’s glittering stare. “And I need you to help make sure that happens.”
But Mateo laughed again. “I saw what’s coming, remember? Rogziel wasn’t the one choking on his own blood.”
Seline gasped at that. Then she shoved right into the middle of the crossroads. Wrong move. Didn’t she realize? The middle of the crossroads was always a bad spot to be standing in. “Sam’s not dying! Do you understand? He’s not—”
A growl shook the air. Sam grabbed Seline and yanked her behind him—and away from that crossroads hot spot. “I told you to stay back.”
The ground buckled beneath them. The crossroads were gateways. Not a link to heaven, but a doorway to hell.
And Seline’s punisher blood was like a magic key to open that door.
Cracks split the dirt.
“Seal it!” Sam ordered Mateo as he kept a tight hold on Seline.
With a wave of his hand, Mateo stilled the earth. Then, slowly, he walked toward Sam and Seline. “She can’t control it.” A fleeting expression of regret swept over his face. “When the time comes, she won’t have the power to help you.”
“I won’t need help.”
Mateo shook his head. “You’re not immortal, no matter what you might think.” Mateo’s gaze darted to Tomas. “So many Fallen . . . do you honestly think you’re at the top of the food chain?”
Sam didn’t respond. Neither did Tomas.
But they didn’t have to speak, because Mateo said, “No, to them,” he jerked his hand back at the cracked ground, “you’re just tasty prey. The hounds rip you open and drag your soul right off this earth.”
And into hell.
“Then I’ll make sure when they drag me . . .” Sam didn’t feel even a flicker of fear. Not for himself. “That I’ve got one unbreakable hold on Rogziel.” The bastard would go with him to hell. He pointed at Mateo. “I want my wish.”
Mateo blinked. “Wh-what?”
“I summoned you, now I want a wish granted.” He knew how this deal worked. Knew that even if Mateo wanted to refuse, the guy wouldn’t be able to, not at a crossroads. “I want to bind an angel. I need a spell to keep him still.”
“You can’t—” Mateo began with a shake of his head
“This is a bad plan,” Seline said at the same instant. “Very bad.”
Sam turned his head to meet her gaze. “Trust me.”
“I do.” Instant. Not what he’d expected. His gaze narrowed on her, and he realized she was staring at him with eyes that saw too much. Too deep. “I trust you, but I’m not about to let you die.” She glanced back at Mateo. “If I could control the hounds, really control them, we could take Rogziel out, right?”
“You’d have to grow wings and fly first, querida,” Mateo told her, voice rough. “The only ones with true control . . . those are the punishment angels.”
“But my mother was—”
He held up his hand, stopping her. “You’re a half-breed, just like me. Sometimes we get the power, hot enough to burn through the skin, but sometimes, we barely get enough to stir the wind.” His stare bored into her. “When the chips are down, a hellhound won’t hesitate. And if you’re not in total control, the beast can even turn on you. Then you’d be the one it takes to hell.”
An image of those razor-sharp teeth flashed before Sam’s eyes.
“This is all fascinating, but Sierra could be freaking dying,” Tomas spat. “Are we going to stay here, pissing the day away, or are we going to help her?”
Sam glanced at him then back at Seline. “We have to help her,” she said, and the plea in her voice went right past his guard. “She’s a pawn, and Rogziel stopped caring about wha
t happens to pawns long ago.”
Staring at her, Sam knew he could refuse her nothing. So he inclined his head, then focused back on Mateo. “I want the binding spell you gave to Rogziel.”
“Hombre, I told you—”
“My wish,” Sam said with a shrug. “And that’s the deal, right? Whatever I want . . .”
Mateo’s gaze drifted between Seline and Sam. “You’d burn for her?”
Sam knew his grin held a cruel edge. “I’d burn anyone who tried to hurt her.” A much more effective approach. “Rogziel won’t touch her.” He’d make sure of it.
A muscle flexed in Mateo’s jaw as he held his hand out. Sam took the offered hand, and a clap of thunder echoed overhead.
“I’ll give you the spell,” Mateo promised. “Damn you, I’ll get it—but I need some time to get all the elements and ingredients together. It’s not simple, and just so you know, it’s one fucking dark spell.”
To bind an angel, he would expect nothing less. “Get it fast, because we’re going in.”
Mateo’s eyes widened. “No, just wait—”
But it was Tomas who answered. “We wait, and Sierra dies.” His hands were fisted at his sides.
“I’ve got enough innocent blood on me.” Sam let his smile stretch in anticipation. “From now on, I’m ready to balance those scales. Let’s see how fast the blood of the wicked flows.”
He dropped Mateo’s hand. “’Cause I’m betting Rogziel is a bleeder.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Tomas took them to Rogziel’s hideaway. There were guards walking the perimeter of the area. Three men, armed with guns. Seline had never seen them before, but Sam took one look and muttered, “Humans,” and she figured if anyone could make that instant call, it would be him.
Sam’s gaze swept the scene, and he inhaled deeply, then said, “Dammit.”
Seline tilted her head and caught the light scent of flowers. The smell didn’t come from inside the compound. No, instead, that scent seemed to be coming from . . . right behind them.
No!
Seline spun around. But Rogziel wasn’t waiting with his cold eyes. Delia stood behind her. Actually, the angel floated behind her. “Time to make your move,” Delia said, her gaze on Seline. “Rogziel isn’t there. You can get the woman out.”