Ronnie withdrew further into her head, both to avoid the pain and to finish absorbing Metatron. But she couldn’t grasp the threads. Metatron had blocked her off from her own power again. Ronnie’s icy strength was faint, growing cloudier each moment as Metatron took more and more control.
“Now I take what belongs to me.”
Why wasn’t Metatron talking out loud anymore?
“You’ll die instead of me.”
No.
“I’ll destroy you.”
Why wasn’t Ronnie surprised?
Gabe stabbed her from behind.
A new pain tore through her. She screamed until her throat was raw, and even then couldn’t stop. The walls rattled.
He plunged the spear deeper into her back, between her shoulder blades. He twisted and pushed harder, hitting what she was sure was a lung. A gurgle marred her roar.
Metatron was being stripped from her, unwound from the corners of her mind, being shredded away from aspects of Ronnie she didn’t realize the angel was buried in. Wisps and strands rushed into the obsidian sticking out of Ronnie’s back.
Holy fuck, that hurt. Metatron dug her claws in, wrapping herself around Ronnie. The edges of where Metatron started blurred with Ronnie, until the two of them were no longer distinguishable.
Revelation sank in amid the agony. Ronnie didn’t know if it was a pain-induced idea, or if there was actually any logic to it, but if it didn’t work, it wouldn’t matter in a few seconds anyway. Suddenly, everything Izzy and Ari said to her about claiming a cherub made sense. Ronnie didn’t have to pick which of them survived. Metatron still ran from the spear’s pull, and Ronnie used the distraction to dive into what Metatron locked away. To plunge headfirst into her.
Metatron gained control of Ronnie’s arm, and reached for the spear.
“Sorry, love.” Gabe’s admonishment was distant. His power pinned her arms to her side, and he gave the weapon another shove.
Ronnie arched her back and whimpered, no longer having the voice to scream. Focus. Needed to focus. Finish this. In her mind, she saw Metatron’s core. It was attached to Ronnie’s, woven and braided through each other. Ronnie thrust everything toward it. It didn’t matter how much the spear hurt, or that Gabe crushed her. If she couldn’t finish this internally, she might as well let him do what he wanted.
Metatron recognized Ronnie’s target, but not the ultimate goal. Sharp, black rage enveloped her thoughts, trying to shove Ronnie back, but it was too late. Ronnie saw the individual strands of both of them. She plucked at one, unraveling the threads. Metatron’s internal protests faded as Ronnie absorbed more of her, and the harmony of the two opposing powers mingled and coursed through her veins.
Ronnie followed the fading trails back to the spear, blending with the remainder of Metatron as she went. She formed a shell around the onyx wedged between her shoulder blades. She let out one last scream as she stripped the rest of herself from the spear. Metatron gave a final protest, and something inside snapped. A rush of memories that hadn’t been Ronnie’s, but were now, screamed inside her skull. Images of Michael, Lucifer, Izzy. Things she never lived, but did.
Metatron’s hatred. Her rage, hurt, disappointment, and sense of betrayal at what she was subjected to—forced into without her consent—because one angel wanted her dead and another couldn’t let her go. Her emotions were Ronnie’s now. Not clouded by an extraneous voice. She still whispered, but they were a part of the same whole.
Ronnie’s memories were there, too. A little cherub helping Lucifer tirelessly for decades. Offered a chance to become more. To be something special.
Ronnie let the glory of both of them rise to the surface and rush over her, wrapping her in golden light, as wings spread from her back. There was no one or the other. A simple shove, and Gabe’s hold on her shattered. Power crackled and faded around them. The last of the pain vanished, and Ronnie straightened up with a smile.
Gabe growled and lunged. She knew how to avoid him. Metatron’s knowledge of how to fight filled her head. With a whisper of a command, his spear tore itself from her back and vanished. Now that she knew how an original summoned their weapon, it was simple enough to see the source of Gabe’s and make it disappear. He could summon it again, but she wasn’t planning on giving him a chance. She shifted to quasi-mortal enough to eliminate the gaping hole in her back.
Gabe stopped a few feet away, wary. His smile looked forced. “Welcome back, love. I’m glad you figured it out before it was too late.”
“Clever.” A torrent of hatred snaked through her, and she entertained the idea of killing him. Getting used to those moments when her memories and feelings contradicted themselves would be interesting. Vengeance wasn’t her place.
Concern bled into his voice. “I was so worried you might not survive. I didn’t want to do that to you, but I didn’t know any other way to separate the two of you.”
“I’m sure you only ever had my welfare in mind.”
She would give Gabe what he wanted. Or at least, what he thought he wanted. She’d leave him to rule his lonely little corner of heaven and keep him from going anywhere else for a while. She couldn’t help one more power play. That part of Metatron demanded she do more than just slap him on the back of the hand and then let him roam free again. She stepped toward him, hands clasped behind her back.
“Uriel?” He backed way.
She smiled, stopping less than an inch from him, coiled and ready to spring out of reach if he lunged. She stood on tiptoe, looking him in the eye, and chewing on her bottom lip. “For a while there, I almost thought you cared about what happened to me.”
“I did. I do.” His insistence came too quickly.
“I bet.” She pressed her lips to his, consciously drawing on his power and funneling it through her body. She didn’t need it, and it wouldn’t kill him, but she wanted him to be without it for a while. She took more than he ever fed her before. The kiss lasted less than a second, but it was enough. She drained him for the moment.
He broke away with a snarl, face pinched, and hands shaking.
The energy filling her was foreign, almost uncomfortable. Did she really take that much? Good, maybe that would keep him from fucking with her for a little while. He’d be back. His agenda was pretty straightforward, and all three of the other originals were back, preventing him from being the one and only.
“You manipulated the system.” She liked knowing every word was her own. “You tried to destroy a balance that exists for a reason. We won’t let it happen again. Michael and I know the truth about what you did to me. Lucifer will as well. When you recover—and I know you will, I’m not stupid—things won’t be the same.”
Everything had changed. There was too much knowledge on the table now. And as much as it still ached deep inside that Michael left, she understood his reasons better than she wanted to. She didn’t agree, but Metatron gave her insight she didn’t have before.
Back then, in Metatron’s original incarnation, he and she would have surrendered eternity for each other. Given it all up to experience mortality. Doing that now determined more fates than their own. If Gabriel was willing to throw Earth into chaos for control, all four of them needed to exist as immortals to maintain balance. Besides, Ronnie liked her immortality too much to surrender it.
Gabe opened his mouth.
She wasn’t interested in hearing anything he had to say. She vanished from his basement, leaving him alone and at least temporarily unable to cause trouble.
Chapter Thirty
Gabe’s coffee shop didn’t have the same haunting darkness Ronnie remembered. She gave Claire a weak smile as she walked out the front door. For the first time in months, Ronnie’s destination was unknown on purpose, and not because she was confused. The power singing inside her was fantastic. Different from Gabriel, or Michael, or the inky ribbons. She and Metatron were one and the same now. Something told Ronnie she was wicked powerful, but she wasn’t in the mood to try it out.
&n
bsp; The silence in her head was incredible. Cars slogged by, pockets of people shouted and laughed on their way to late dinners or movies, and cicadas blended with the city’s music. And it all happened outside her skull. She walked without direction and delved into the memories. So many vivid colors, thoughts, and emotions from both of them.
She wasn’t sure how long she wandered, but the sidewalks gave way to parking lots and rows of lights, dotting the landscape like upside-down stars.
The hospital where Izzy was staying.
Ronnie’s gut clenched, and a phantom pain echoed inside. Images of his unconscious form flashed through her head. She didn’t want to see him like that again.
But she did want to see him. She grabbed an elevator up to his floor. She paused in front of his room then forced herself to knock.
“‘S open.” His cheerful voice chased away her hesitation.
He sat on the bed, color returned to his skin, and circles fading from under his eyes. Lucifer was in the chair next to him. Ronnie all but flew across the room, and wrapped her arms around Izzy. “I’m so glad you’re okay. You are okay, right?”
“I’ve been better, but I’ve definitely been worse.” Izzy nudged her back with his good arm. “What about you? Done moping?”
“What happened?” Lucifer’s voice didn’t hold the same levity.
Izzy scooted over, and she sat on the edge of the bed next to him, so she could see both of them. “You first. What happened to he might not make it?”
“He’s a drama queen,” Izzy said. “Apparently, princess charming came and woke me up with a kiss.”
Heat and realization flooded her. The tiny bursts of power she sent through him actually did something. “Lucky bastard.”
He shook his head. “Not really. No offense, Ronnie. You’re cute as a button. But send a prince next time?”
“Prince of darkness, right there.” Ronnie nodded at Lucifer, whose eyes grew wide.
Izzy laughed. “Not my type. Why is he studying you like a bug under a microscope?”
She met Lucifer’s gaze again. “I chose.”
“I see it in your aura. You figured out how to keep both of you.” Lucifer asked.
“Yes.”
Lucifer reached out to squeeze her fingers. “I missed you, sis.”
A tiny smirk played on Izzy’s face, but he didn’t say anything. She wanted to call him on it, but wasn’t done with Lucifer. “You’re an asshole, by the way. Saddling me with that when you didn’t know what you were doing.”
“It worked out. I knew it would.”
Ronnie snorted. “Whatever. You had your doubts.”
Lucifer’s expression softened. “I’m glad I was wrong. What now?”
“If I had a choice? Ubiquity would be on the bottom of the list.” With all the events of past few days, Ronnie couldn’t get behind what they were doing there.
“Technically, you do have a choice.”
“Because I’m half Uriel and half Metatron, making me both demon and angel, so I don’t work for either side?”
“Sounds like an overdone TV plot. Because you’re Metatron. Originals only answer to Him.”
She liked the sound of not answering to her peers. “So I can spend the rest of eternity on a beach.”
Lucifer scowled.
She raised her hands. “Joking. That sounds so dull. Or, you know, it might after a couple of years of nothing but relaxing sun and laziness.”
“Things are changing at Ubiquity. It’s why I’m there. It’s your choice, but if you’re interested in helping to define the company’s direction…”
“I’ll think about it.” Not just because it sounded like a bad mission statement, defining angelic direction, but because it would take more than little tweaks to fix the system, and she’d have to speak up if she thought something bigger needed to happen.
“I wanted to give you this when you were here earlier. I’m glad I waited.” Lucifer pried her hand open and dropped a key ring into it. “This is for you.”
The sinking feeling returned to her gut, but she wasn’t sure why. “What are they?”
“Keys.”
“Smart ass.” She would have smacked him, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the real answer.
“Michael’s. His condo. His car. He asked me to give them to you. Said it was all yours, until you got established. He’s not using any of it right now.”
She was right. She didn’t want to hear anymore. She accepted his leaving and understood his reasons, thanks to Metatron’s perspective. She didn’t agree. She was happy with her immortality and didn’t understand why he felt he had to surrender his in order to live. It wasn’t her decision to make, though. Hearing he was really gone made something crumble inside. She bit the inside of her cheek, but the emotion and longing surged regardless, made stronger by the memories of two pasts, both falling for him.
A heavy silence sank into the room.
“Can I ask another favor, princess charming?” Izzy’s cheer was forced, but it was a nice way to crack the emptiness.
“Sure. Anything at all.”
He nudged her to her feet. “I don’t need anything that extravagant. But I’m dying for some ice cream.”
She laughed at the simplicity of the request. It didn’t take away the ambivalence over the keys she dropped into her purse, but it helped her feel better. “Absolutely. I’ll be right back.”
She phased out of the room and returned minutes later with three pints of ice cream and spoons. They made themselves comfortable and dug in. She could get used to this. As long as she learned to ignore the hollow ache in her chest that shouldn’t be there. It was best this way.
THE END
~*~
If you enjoyed Uriel’s Descent, the remaining Ubiquity books are coming later in 2016.
~*~
In the meantime, if you’re looking for more cubicle dwellers to with both heart and brain, check out the Love Hashtagged contemporary romance series, starting with The #5Star Affair.
~*~
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Allyson Lindt is a full-time geek and a fuller-time contemporary romance author. She prefers that her geeky heroes come with the alpha expansion pack and adores a heroine who can hold her own in a boardroom. She loves a sexy happily-ever-after and helping deserving cubicle dwellers find their futures together.
Uriel's Descent (Ubiquity #1) Page 25
