Page 38 of Till Death

My pulse continued to pound as I waited for an answer that may never come. Eli always said how he knew me better than anyone else. How he’d been made to be my perfect partner, and took every opportunity to remind me of the countless lifetimes we’d spent together.

So he should already know exactly what I planned to do and why.

Instead of getting out, we stood in the middle of an epic stare down. I wondered who would come out the winner.

“You leave him alone,” I warned. “Not a hair on his head, Eli. You have to promise me.”

The Guardian slash newly appointed head of Heaven gawked at me for another long moment. I saw the thoughts racing through his head. Every single one of them, from his disbelief of what I asked him to do to admiration of, yet again, my dogged determination.

“You should put him out of his misery,” Eli finally said. The spear disappeared from his side.

My throat tightened but I managed to get out, “It’s not for you to make the choice.”

My counter held little weight but the magic I still prepared to throw? That did.

“I can do it if you want. You wouldn’t have any part in it. He’s beyond redemption,” Eli replied hesitantly.

I guess a part of me knew that, because I’d heard it too many times to ignore.

“No,” I whispered. Anxiety surged. “You leave him alone.”

What surprised me more than anything? The way they all stared at me. Eli, Lisa,andTamara. They all looked at me with shock coloring their expressions. As though I were out of my mind.

Tamara especially surprised me, because she’d sent me down here in the first place knowing exactly what I intended to do. Or not do, in this case, because I couldn’t kill Cole, not when he was still in there somewhere.

I knew what they thought. I was choosing sides.

In a way, I suppose, I was. My side. Cole’s side.

And I refused to let anyone stop me.

CHAPTERELEVEN

After about three breathtaking seconds where I waited to see what might happen, Eli stood down. At least, I noticed a loosening of his shoulders, a narrowing of his eyes.

“Jade, you have to see reason. He’s a liability to all of us, especially you, because as long as he is here, your judgment is clouded.”

Eli never screamed at me. He never got mad enough to yell, to foam at the mouth, anything outside of his unflappable good-guy personality. He did what he needed to do for duty, and I got it.

Trust me, I got it.

But when it came right down to things, I guess my feelings for Cole made me irrational. At least, they made me irrational to Eli’s way of thinking about being.

I didn’t care.

Nothing in this universe could sway me from trying to save him.

“Your word,” I repeated. “I want your word that you won’t touch a hair on him.”

Eli began to shake his head. “I can’t give it to you.”

His gaze landed hard on me and I stiffened. Froze. Oh, shit.

“You have to give it to me. Because I’m not taking a step out of this room unless I have it. Which can pose a pretty big problem to what you came here to accomplish. Am I right?” I lifted a brow, waiting for him to answer.

I would never be scared of Eli. Not after he’d had my back time and again. No, I was scared for Cole. Eyeing Eli, rage radiated off him, although he did his best to disguise the emotion.

“If you think this is about jealousy, you’d be wrong,” Eli said. He purposely softened his words, trying not to upset me. Well, too damn late, buddy. I lived there these days. And I saw what he didn’t want anyone else to notice. I saw the emotions beneath his skin. “This isn’t about jealousy. This is about the end of the world! We need to move forward. We need to keep our objective in focus. We can’t afford to go off on any more wild goose chases.”

---