“I don’t have a lot of time left. As in, I could be sent back to heaven at any minute.”
When Ari finally spoke, Ronnie jumped and stumbled on an invisible crack in the sidewalk as she processed the words. Despite the warmth of the afternoon sun, a sliver of cold trailed through Ronnie. “Why?”
“Did Gabe offer you a job?”
“Ooh, random. Her tangents and mood swings are almost crazier than those of someone who hears a voice in their head.”
Whatever. Ronnie was curious about the direction of the conversation. “He did, but he was a little vague on the details, and I’m not sure I’m cut out to be a barista.”
Ari’s barked laugh echoed off the nearby buildings. “Really? You’re too naïve for your own good.”
That was the second time she said something like that, and it didn’t sound like a compliment. “So…fill me in?”
“He’s not just running a coffee shop.” Ari kicked a pebble and sent it scurrying down the sidewalk half a block. “And that job was supposed to be mine. But he won’t return my calls, he’s never in when I stop by, and now, today, I find out I don’t work for Ubiquity anymore either. It’s back to ethereal form for me. And all because—” She snapped her mouth shut. “Never mind.”
“What happened?” They turned down another street and into a small park. The sun was bright, the temperature was perfect, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Yet, the entire place was empty. So strange.
Ari dropped onto a nearby bench. “I’m jumping all over the place. I’m sorry. I’ll back up a little. Ubiquity doesn’t do all of their own software development. They outsource a lot of their programming.”
Ronnie stayed on the sidewalk in front of Ari, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. “Like, overseas? How’s that work?”
“No. Like to a different building down the street. That’s what Gabriel does. He heads up these contract developers. In addition, he’s got a very small group of us—sorry, them, I’m not one after all—who seek out the challenges. There are the cherubs the regular Ubiquity staff goes after—the newbies who don’t know how to hide themselves, who give in to every temptation out there. And then there are those like the guy in Israel.”
How did Ari know about him? This encounter sent nervous energy coursing all the way into Ronnie’s fingernails. She was talking to her best friend, her confidant. So where did this doubt come from?
And Ari was implying this other team of Gabriel’s had better algorithms than Ubiquity did. Why weren’t those universal? “I’m still missing something.”
Her laugh made Ronnie’s blood run cold. “You’re still missing so much, I’m surprised it doesn’t make you dizzy. The top performers at Ubiquity? We get the good leads. The hard to spot ones. Think of it like auditioning or proving yourself for a promotion. If we can handle them, we get to move on. Or they do.”
Something triggered in the back of Ronnie’s thoughts, and she grasped it. “You said hard to spot ones. Like… the one in Gabe’s coffee shop? Why don’t you capture all of them?”
“Why didn’t you take the priest in Israel?”
“How do you know about that?” Ronnie knew she didn’t tell Ari about him.
“Gabe asked me to pass him to you. To see what you would do. Your unwitting trial run became another nail in my coffin. Why did you leave him behind?”
“Look at her aura. It was nearly dead when you showed up, and now it’s almost neon. I don’t think a random rabbi is the biggest concern we have.”
Ronnie hadn’t noticed, but now that Metatron pointed it out, it seemed strange. “Because he was already doing more than any angel ever could. Sending him back to heaven or hell wouldn’t help anyone.”
Ari smirked and stood. “Exactly. You, for instance, you don’t deserve what you’ve got. I don’t know where you took it from, or how you don’t know, but you shouldn’t have it.”
Ronnie’s uneasiness scaled from wary to full-blown what-the-fuck in under a second.
Ari’s aura flared. “They found out I kept a cherub and took it away. That’s why they’re sending me back. But if I had whatever it is you’ve got, whatever it is you won’t even touch that makes originals flock to you like you’re the only demon ever to inhabit a female body, they couldn’t take me away from this plane.”
“I’ll kill you where you stand.”
The roar screamed through Ronnie’s skull, but instead of feeling like foreign ribbons, this was familiar and safe. “It’s not yours.”
“It should be.” Ari spun in a blur, foot sweeping to the side, kicking Ronnie’s legs from beneath her and knocking her to the ground. Ari straddled her, one hand on Ronnie’s upper arm, and the other resting on her neck.
Ronnie struggled against the weight on her chest. The edges of her vision flickered and dimmed, sliding into black. Being strangled wouldn’t kill her, but it wouldn’t be pleasant either. She needed to shift to her ethereal form, so Ari couldn’t incapacitate her physical one.
“We need to destroy her.”
“Don’t you dare.” Ari’s sneer cut through Ronnie’s fading consciousness before she could phase away her flesh.
A new level of pain rocked through Ronnie’s body as if every inch of her was being torn in different directions simultaneously. It dragged back the unpleasant memories of the spear in Gabe’s basement.
“It’s funny you showed up today. I was trying to figure out how to get you to talk to me again without looking suspicious, and you didn’t even know enough to realize you should be upset with me. You never realized I meant to take this from you at the club.” Ari’s taunt swam through the agony. “We’re not doing things the easy way this time.”
“No. No we’re not.”
Ronnie agreed one-hundred and ten percent. An itch rolled through her palms, and before the realization fully formed, she knew what it was. She didn’t want the swords yet but soon. She closed her eyes and focused inward, driving past the pain to grab hold of the inky ribbons she so frequently tried to get rid of.
This time, Ronnie slid into them instead. Diving into the power the same way she would if she were touching Gabriel. As she opened her eyes to the world, a snarl escaped her throat. She rolled from underneath Ari, knocking her back.
Ari stumbled but landed on her feet, moving into a defensive posture in a flash—hands up, legs spaced for stability. “You won’t keep this from me.”
She aimed a kick at Ronnie’s head. Ronnie ducked and rolled. She didn’t know any of this fighting stuff, she wasn’t even sure how she was doing it, but she was. It was as if she’d been fighting for centuries.
“It feels good to let loose after so long.”
Ronnie didn’t know or care who the thought belonged to. This time, she didn’t stop the blades from appearing in her hands—a long one in the right and a dagger-length one in her left. Different from Metatron’s in the chapel and far more comfortable.
Ari narrowed her eyes. “You can’t do that. No one but an original can.”
“I’m a special little snowflake.” Ronnie advanced slowly, Ari taking a step back for each step she took forward, until Ari’s back was to a nearby tree. This was her best friend. The one person Ronnie shared everything with. Now Ari wanted to kill her for something inside her head she didn’t even understand. Betrayal and fury throbbed in Ronnie. There really wasn’t anyone she could trust.
“Except Michael.”
“Maybe.”
Ronnie raised the tip of her blade to Ari’s throat. As far as Ronnie knew, she didn’t have the power to kill her, but she could send her back to heaven early.
“You could do to her what her boyfriend did to us.”
Gabriel. Ronnie was heading there next. Spoon feeding her power and convincing her it was lust—or more? He was definitely next. Fury poured through her, and she reveled in it. Vengeance tasted better than she thought it would.
Orange glowed in Ari’s hands, and before Ronnie could react, a ball of flame slammed
into her chest and sent her stumbling back. Ari smirked. “We don’t use swords anymore, because projectiles are far more effective.”
Ronnie found her footing and adopted a defensive posture. “Or because you don’t have the focus to summon a real weapon.”
Ari snorted. “You sound like you were trained eons ago. You need to get that fucker out of your head and hand it over to me before you start believing you and it are the same.”
“Too late.”
Ronnie ignored the taunts and lunged again. Irritation and rage filled her. Lying, sadistic, pretending-to-be-her-friend-to-steal-from-her bitch. Time to fix that.
Ronnie backed Ari into another tree, but apparently she expected it this time. She ducked under one blade, drove a shoulder enveloped in ethereal flame into Ronnie’s abdomen, and then rolled aside. A dull throb spilled through Ronnie, and she doubled over. Pushing the pain aside, she whirled and faltered.
Michael stood at the edge of the clearing in his full angelic form, sword drawn. He made Gabe’s glory look like a cheap magic trick. He both blended with the sunlight and exuded it, and his wings were a stunning charcoal.
Fortunately for Ronnie, she wasn’t the only one at a standstill. Ari’s eyes were wide, her gaze locked on Michael. He wasn’t going to distract Ronnie from the fight.
She snarled “Ariel! Are we doing this?”
“What is this?” Michael’s tone matched the aura he radiated.
“I’m so sorry.” His presence drained the fight from Ari. She stepped back, eyes wide and sunken. “I didn’t… I just wanted… I’m sorry.”
Ronnie gave a short laugh. “Don’t you dare. Don’t turn your phony, bullshit, puppy dog eyes on him. You’re only sorry you got caught.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Judgment isn’t your place, Uriel.”
Part of Ronnie wanted to shrink under the glare, and bits of her shriveled at the way that name rolled off his tongue, but she was intent on her goal. She never took her attention from Ari. How dare he interfere? “You don’t know that. What if judgment was my job before this?”
“Don’t forget who the enemy is.”
“If you do this because of a personal vendetta, you won’t be happy with the outcome.” His response shook the trees.
“I’ve lived through worse.”
“Uriel.”
The name made her mind flinch. Why didn’t she like hearing the sound of that? “My name is Ronnie.” She struggled to keep the anger and force in her voice, but her blades sparkled and faded from sight. She stepped closer to Ari. If Ronnie couldn’t finish her off and send her back to her ethereal home, the fight was still going to end on her terms. Ronnie would send her away because she wanted Ari to go, not because Michael ordered it. “Maybe he deserves a little of your worship after all. He just saved your life. Go.”
With the single command, Ronnie made Ari vanish from sight, phasing her back to her apartment, while Ronnie stayed where she was. Neat. It was nice to know she could do that. Ronnie turned on Michael. “Why did you stop me?”
“I told you why.”
She laughed, but his response made her ache inside. Had he really picked Ari over her? “I thought we were in this together. Is this going to be like last time? When I thought you were by my side, and you let Gabriel slaughter me instead?”
Wait. That wasn’t what happened. And how did Ronnie know that?
“It might as well have been.”
Michael reached for her. “No, this isn’t like last time, and that wasn’t you. We are in this together.”
Ronnie stepped away. “Then will you stop me, if I pay Gabriel a visit?”
He exhaled loudly, disappointment shining in his eyes. “Yes.”
Ronnie frowned and turned away. That he would stand in her way hurt more than any sword to the gut. “Then I should be grateful you can’t.” And with that, she left.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ronnie didn’t know what raced through her, but it was exhilarating and maddening and euphoric, all at the same time. Snippets of memories danced at the edge of her thoughts but flitted away before she could grasp them. There was too much rage and vengeance for her to focus on anything else for more than a few seconds.
She should have listened to Michael. It was wrong for her to be here.
“He’s still got his weaknesses. He doesn’t understand this. Do you really think Ari would have let us live? Do you think she cared?”
No. Ronnie knew it in a way that sent daggers of betrayal through her chest. She appeared in front of Gabriel’s coffee shop. He’d give her answers, or she’d draw them out with her blades.
“Stop.” Michael materialized between Ronnie and the door, wings spread and sword drawn.
“Move.” Fire and ice raced across her skin, through her hair, and all around them. Her aura clashed and danced with his.
“No.”
She studied his form—so much ancient power, and so much weaker than he used to be. How did she know that? There were tiny fractures in his aura. As he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, whispers of light snuck through his blade.
“Even if you were serious about stopping me, which you’re not doing a great job of, you’re not strong enough.”
Everything angelic about him faded. His blade sparkled into a pile of glitter and vanished, his wings evaporated, and the lightning radiating from his quasi-mortal form ebbed. “Talk to me.”
She stepped in, shoulder to his, to shove him aside. He moved with her, resting his hand on her cheek and drawing her gaze to his. “Uriel. Please.” His tone dropped in volume, but not strength.
A whimper rose in her chest—hers, but not. That’s not my name. But it was. She shook her head to get rid of the confusion, and forced indifference through her mind. “Move or I’ll cut you down.”
He dropped his hands at his sides, palms out. “If that’s the only way to do this.”
“No. Make him move. We have to finish Gabe once and for all.”
The mental plea wasn’t enough to make her act. “Let me find Gabriel.”
Finger under her chin, he raised her head. “There are other ways to get answers, and we both know one of them.”
Answers? For us?
“There’s no better way for revenge, though.” Even as half her brain considered Michael’s words, the other half tore on toward obliterating Gabriel.
“He killed us in cold blood. Took away everything. Stuck us in this shitty life. We will make him bleed for eternity.”
The thoughts were so distinct, they might as well have been hers, but the words didn’t feel right when she tried to force them out. He hadn’t done those things to her. He was an insistent bastard about their relationship, but…
“He needs to pay. And then we’ll find Ari. When this is all over, we will have our life back.”
We? They weren’t— Dizziness rocketed through her skull. She cringed and tried to shake it away. “I don’t… I need…” What was I trying to say?
“Stop.” The command was gentler this time. He glided his fingers along her jaw to the back of her neck and dipped his head to brush his lips over hers.
The barely-there kiss chased away some of her fury, and she scrambled to cling to the anger. But why?
“This isn’t fair. Why now?”
He broke away and rested his forehead against hers. “You know why you can’t do this, don’t you? Why it’s not right to hunt down Gabriel and Ariel and exact vengeance on them?”
“No.”
The protest was weak, and no part of her believed it. He was right earlier. Vengeance wasn’t her place.
“No, it’s Gabriel’s, and he deserves to get as good as he gives. He took something from us. Let’s take something from him in return.”
The rage wasn’t there though. It evaporated as rapidly as it set in.
Michael still watched her, waiting for an answer.
“I know,” Ronnie said.
“So we can talk about this?”
“I don’t want to talk.” She heard too much talking as it was. In her head, at work… There were always voices. And she didn’t even know which were hers.
“Okay.” He intertwined his fingers with hers, and the world faded around them. She clung to the emptiness as the seconds dragged on, confusion racing back in as they solidified in front of Izzy’s church.
“What are we doing here?” Not that she minded visiting Izzy, but she wondered what Michael’s reasons were.
He pulled her toward a side door that opened to a flight of stairs. “I told you. Answers.”
She let him lead her, still struggling with the rage that had enveloped her and then vanished as quickly as it appeared. They paused at the top of the stairs, in front of a gray door with so much paint chipping away, she saw the metal underneath. All the confusion tumbled to the back of her mind when the door swung open.
“Izzy.” She threw her arms around his neck. Relief and joy coursed through her at the familiar face.
He gave her a squeeze. “Angel. I shouldn’t have left when you were last here. I’ve been looking for your other half for centuries, and I just hopped on a plane to Fiji instead.”
“She’s not my other half.” She pulled back, studying him with a scowl.
“You haven’t had a chance to fill her in.”
*
Michael nudged Ronnie forward. “It’s been an interesting couple of hours.” He made himself comfortable on the couch.
Izzy shook his head and settled in his favorite chair. “You tell me our mutual friend hosts an original in her head and what came after was interesting?”
Ronnie sank onto the couch next to Michael, and he couldn’t help a smile at her nearness. “Apparently, the world is a more fascinating place than I realized. How do you two know each other?”
“She’s got good taste in coffee and men. We were bound to meet eventually.” His comment teased a smile from Ronnie. He nodded to the books he showed Michael earlier. “To fill you in, angel,” he looked at Ronnie, “It took some cross-referencing to make sense of it, but the gist is there are angels who fall but still find a way to have access to His power. I understand the big guy over here outed me as having done this myself. So I have a little bit of an idea of what you’re going through.”
Uriel's Descent (Ubiquity #1) Page 17
