'Which, of course, you can do,' said Blake. 'After Helel has done what we require of him. I take it you have the book?'
Oscar sniffed long and hard, swallowing down whatever shit he'd been storing inside his nostrils. 'Yeah, I've got it,' he grumbled, thrusting the holdall into Blake's eager hands, before looking down at Ethan, his expression almost apologetic. 'Sorry, lad, I really am, but I told you a long time ago that you couldn't hide from this.'Ethan glared at him, the full weight of his stare feeling like a shroud of ice that chilled my skin, even though it was directed solely at the demon who had double-crossed him.'I should have known,' he said, his tone laced with venom. 'Tell me, Berith, how long did it take you to betray your friends once Blake had wormed his way into your soul? When their bodies were still warm, or did you wait until they had turned to dust?''That hurts, Ethan, that hurts me right here.' Oscar thumped his fist against his chest. ''Wait!' she warned, pulling him closer. 'Be wise, Azazel. Whatever has been done can be undone.''How, Juliette? The Gospel is useless to us without the witch's words.' The muscles in Blake's arm tensed as he wrenched it from her grasp, clearly exerting a great deal of self-control to stop himself from beating Ethan senseless. He thrust his fists into his sides.Juliette flicked through the pages herself, her eyes shrewd as she looked at each page in turn, running her fingers over the now-wordless paper. Pursing her lips, she raised her head to look in Oscar's direction. The rogue Demon, I noticed, had gone very red in the face, which had never been a good sign if you'd had the misfortune to be on the receiving end of his Vesuvius-like temper.'Did you have a hand in this, Berith?' Juliette accused.Oscar's eyes hardened. 'You fucking what? I brought that book to you myself. Do you honestly think I'd hand it over if I knew it had been tampered with?''Then h
Snowflakes were falling onto my face.The chill of each minute crystal felt good on my skin, like dancing in a brief, downpour of rain after enduring the sticky heat of a scorching summers day. I tilted my head back, so I could catch more of the snow on my face, eyes closed and smiling as it caressed my lids with the gentlest of icy kisses.'You feel better now?' Mr. Tumnus said, close by.I nodded, my eyes still closed. 'Yes. Thank you, Mr. Tumnus. I feel much better indeed. There's something so wonderful about the snowfall, don't you think?'Mr. Tumnus said nothing for a moment, and when he did, there was such a sad inflection to his tone, that it made me open my eyes and search him out, because I hated to think of Tumnus feeling sad.'I have grown accustomed to the harsh bite of winter, daughter of Eve,' he said. 'But I do so long for the summer. I think I would very much like to feel the softness of grass under my hooves, and dance in the warm glow of th
Ethan wrinkled his nose, as if the memory had conjured up a bitter taste on his tongue. 'Money. She wanted money. She came from a dirt-poor family and grew up in a rural town in Romania. They had nothing. Literally nothing. She claimed she wanted the money to send to them, you know, help them escape the shit-stinking poverty they lived in.'I frowned. 'But, that's a good thing, surely? I mean, I'm not excusing her for betraying you like that, but if she wanted to help them...'He laughed, the grin widening. 'It was a lie. She had no intention of helping them. They freaked out when they found out she was a maledicti and accused her of being in league with the Devil. Old Romania was steeped in a superstitious fear of witchcraft and spirits back then, it still is in a lot of places. She couldn't actually do all the things they thought a witch could do, but she still burnt her family home down anyway before running away. She killed her grandmother, her aunt and her baby brothe
The darkened corridor stretched ahead on an incline that grew steeper the further we walked. It was as wide and as tall as the great doors of the hall we'd left behind us, befitting the size of Kong and making me feel small and mouse-like, particularly when flanked by Blake and his two Demon guards. The smooth walls and ceiling were curved and segmented, like we were walking inside the belly of some huge worm-like beast and not a corridor at all. Dull lights moved under the surface, like fireflies bobbing under the skin, illuminating the strange walkway just enough for me to still see the hard lines of Blake's face as he walked alongside me.The growing heat was sticky and uncomfortable, like the sudden rush of a bad pill, and perspiration itched the skin on the back of my neck. I longed to reach up and wipe it away, almost as much as I longed to grab Blake's wrists and make him burn.No one had said a word since Blake had told me Addi was looking forward to seeing me, but
I stopped just in front of him, raising my bound hands to his face and gently wiping at his mouth.'Baby-girl,' he croaked. He looked sickly-pale, his skin peppered with sweat. Pressing his lips together, he swallowed, closing his eyes for a second. 'You best not be looking down south, you know,' he said, when he opened them again. There he was. My Addison .I rested my forehead against his, doing my best to stifle the sob that was building with a weak-as-fuck smile. 'Like I haven't seen that before,' I said, rolling my eyes when his own widened. 'Skinny-dipping at Aguas Blancas, remember? You, me, Davey, that weird girl you picked up in the club. Emma?'Addi chuckled hoarsely. ' Emily ,' he corrected. 'And she wasn't weird. She just wasn't wasted like us.''Oh, well in Ibiza, that is weird.''True,' he said, sniffing as he glanced over my shoulder. 'Not as weird as this though.''I'm not sure weird is the word for it, Ads,' I said, my voice cracking as
The Fallen Angel he actually was.I swallowed down the thought of that, let it scald my throat.'Then, why, Oscar?' I whispered. 'If everything you say is true and you're trying to protect Ethan, why give them the Gospel?''Because, my darling, I gave them a book that's fucking useless to them, while ingratiating myself with Azazel in the process and making him believe I'm trying to earn my place in this new world he's got such a hard-on for. That useless bundle of paper is only good for wiping their arses on.''Blake doesn't seem to think so,' I protested. 'And Addi just had half his soul sucked out of his body because of that useless bundle of paper.'Oscar's expression faltered – a brief crack in the façade that seemed almost human – when I mentioned Addi's name and his grip on my wrists eased. 'That kid will be okay. Worth his weight in gold that one and a lot fucking stronger than I gave him credit for.'Anger flared hot and expl
I was dying.I don't know what I'd expected to happen. I mean, it had looked just like an ordinary vial of liquid. Blood, yes, but I'd tried not to think about that as I'd swallowed it down. Tried not to think about the strange coppery taste on my tongue. Tried not to think about how it was warm, when it shouldn't have been, because the First had been slain thousands of years before my time. I'd tried not to gag as it hit the back of my throat, because that's what you did when that voice inside you insists you shouldn't be consuming something alien. I even half-expected Oscar to start laughing and call me a stupid cow for falling for it, because of course, this had to be a joke, right? I wasn't drinking the blood of some fabled First creature to have ever existed. I wasn't drinking the blood of the First Angel. I couldn't be, because even just the thought of that was total bloody insanity.I was dying. I had to be.Maybe this was the joke. Maybe this was what Oscar ha
Ethan seemed unconvinced at this, his eyes troubled.Blake glanced down at the witch standing by his side, a strange expression on his face, wary, almost pensive as he directed his gaze back to Ethan. 'I had hoped, with time, Helel, that you would reconsider my offer, that you would realise the error of your ways and understand that there was only ever going to be one outcome to all of this. It's regrettable, truly it is, but you have left me no choice. You must know that?''Regrettable?' Ethan smirked. 'You will live to feel regret, Azazel. Not for long, mind you, but you will feel it. You. Your witch. Every single fucking Shedim in this room will feel it. I'll make sure of that.'Juliette laughed, the sharp trill echoing around the hall. 'Goodness me, Ethan. So many threats. I will do this, I will do that. Once this is done, it is our tune you will be dancing to and I, for one, simply cannot wait to watch you dance. What a sight that will be.' She bit down on her bo