Page 30 of Till Death

What good was I?

Andwhyhad I been put in this position in the first place?

No, Amon inclined his head as though giving me the point for the match. “My brother and I have not always seen eye to eye, as you can imagine, but we came to a basic understanding eons ago. We were built from the same cloth, different sides of the same coin, and meant to rule the two sides of the veil with the living world as the buffer between us, right in the middle. The arrangement has worked thus far for us.”

“Convenient,” I snapped out.

“Not as convenient as you may think, Jade. We made a deal that neither one of us could interfere with the world of the living, but we knew eventually the time would come when we’d be forced to build our armies to fight for total dominance. It was only inevitable. One of those eventualities that come to pass no matter how one tries to avoid it.”

“Why?” Was I the only one having a hard time wrapping my head around this? “Why would you even need to fight for total domination if you had your own sides? Your parents never taught you about sharing?”

Or playing fair, for that matter.

Amon only shrugged once again. He stared down at his nails and inspected the cuticles of his left thumb with more interest than he showed Cole. “Why does anyone do anything? We want it all for ourselves. Our progeny. We deserve more than the tiny slices carved out for us. The mortal realm is full of life and love, the good and the bad. Why should I not have that too? I deserve it as much as anyone else.”

“And God? I mean, Hank?” I asked. “He wants it all for himself too? Seems a little selfish if you ask me. That kind of crap from you, yeah, I get it. But not from the Almighty benevolent big guy upstairs…” I trailed off.

Another shudder racked through Cole and I wanted to wrap my arms around him no matter the consequences. He could bite my head off in a second and I didn’t entirely trust him not to, but tell that to my urges.

Amon stared at me with a single eyebrow raised. “There’s more to each being in this universe than you can imagine. Are you not proof?”

Okay, this whole thing was worse than I imagined. It meant the end to everything I’d ever thought about Heaven and Hell, God versus the devil, right and wrong, etc. Talk about a rude awakening.

I couldn’t help feeling like Hank had misled me, and somehow I’d gotten sucked into a part of a family squabble that could ultimately end all of existence. Hank once told me that he didn’t want to meddle in the affairs of the living world because people made their own choices. He had nothing to do with it. But I was having a hard time believing this war came about on its own, especially with Amon telling me the whole point of the “dividing of goods,” so to speak, was leading to an all-out war between him and his brother.

And yet Hank wanted me to fix it all? On my own?

Just another Tuesday afternoon, I thought with no small measure of bitterness.

“It doesn’t matter if I’m proof or not. Does it? What matters is finding a way to stop this war before everything goes to shit.” I shook my head at him. “There’s no coming back from shit.”

“History and books have always taught humans to think in black and white. It is all or nothing. When, rather, each of the worlds are made up of so many shades of gray. Take my son, for example.” Amon held his hand out to Cole. “He is a mercenary. A killer. He has done things that would make a normal man’s head spin. And yet he has earned the love of an Archangel. Some would call it impossible.”

“Some would also tell you exactly where you can stick your head,” I said with a sweet smile.

The smile did nothing to hold the seething rage I felt growing inside of me.

I’d beenplayed.

In the worst kind of way, because Hank had told me it was up to me to restore the balance, when really, I had nothing to do with it being out of whack in the first place. I was just the pawn. The unsuspecting victim along with every other person out there, living and dead. He’d thrown me out to the front lines without any sort of inclination on what to do to stop this; not to mention being entirely too cryptic for his own good.

“You have a wonderful sense of humor. It really has been a pleasure to watch you get to this point. You’ve come so far.” He shifted closer and I had a gut feeling those hazel eyes saw more than I wanted them to see. “There have been many who underestimated you, Jade Blackwell.”

“And a few who wanted to have my babies.” I sent him a pointed look. Wondering if he saw the statement for the dig against his kind that I’d meant it to be.

His own smile went wide. “You’re assuming I want the same thing as Mamon, yes?”

“I’d say it’s a pretty good assumption.”

“Well, can you blame any demon for wanting you? A child of your blood would be another potent weapon in the war. One who may actually help my side win,” he replied.

Oh, sure, like I planned to become a breeding farm to help Hell come out the victor. “You’ve got a better chance of—” I cut myself off. Yeah, that old saying didn’t seem appropriate now.

Oddly enough, Amon finished it for me. “Seeing God?” Much to my surprise, he blew a raspberry. “Sorry, I’d rather not. We don’t exactly get along when we’re in the same world together, let alone the same room. Can you imagine the two of us having a friendly little sit down?”

He found the statement terribly funny and burst out into a loud howl of laughter. The sound caught Cole’s attention and he began to growl louder before it cut off on a grunt of pain. His muscles bulged, contracting and growing as I watched.

Amon couldn’t care less.

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