Page 78 of Wings of Torment
Annoyed, I step toward him and scowl. “We have information that could literally help yousurvive,but seeing as you’re a murderer, I’m starting to wonder if we should even bother. And do you know why, despite every cell in my body telling me not to, we’re offering this to you, Roderick?”
I take another step, feeling the tension rise higher around us.
“Because while I don’t give a flying fuck if you live, the information you can give us might just be enough to save the lives of other angels. So if saving your life also means saving countless others, I’ll do it.”
Silence follows my speech, which kind of bums me out a bit because it was a damn fine one. But something shifts in the air, pulling my attention.
“Do you feel that?” Theo asks, looking around.
“Fuck! We’re running out of time.” In lightning speed, Zeke stands in front of Roderick, one hand fisted in his shirt as he lowers his voice to a deadly decibel. “What does your boss want?”
Roderick must have at least a little self-preservation because he doesn’t waste a second before answering. “He never shared his final plans with me. I just know he has several angels in high places that help him skirt around red tape.”
“Who?” Raphael asks, his grip firm on Roderick’s arm.
“I don’t know for certain.”
Zeke turns, cursing and kicking the roots of a tree.
“I think I’ve narrowed one of them down. The mayor. I think he’s working with the mayor. I don’t know for certain or who the others are. Now I’ve held up my part of the deal. It’s time for you to make good on yours.”
“The Guild,” Theo says, looking toward the mountain where Guild headquarters are.
“No,” Roderick dismisses, but his voice lacks conviction.
“That’s why he wasn’t scared to meet you here,” I add softly.
Zeke sighs. “And I bet whoever he’s working with is the mole we’ve been looking for.”
“Shit! If you’re right, then we’re all fucked. Now tell me what you know that could save my life.”
“Guys …”
At the sound of Raphael’s voice, I turn to look in the same direction he is, and my blood turns to ice. The sky is lighter now, with dawn approaching quickly, but that’s not the only thing heading our way.
Along the skyline, I count at least eight demons flying toward us.
28
“Tell me quickly and then let me fucking go. We made a deal,” Roderick demands, his eyes wide.
“This meeting with your boss was a trap,” Zeke tells him, not bothering to dance around it. “He sent in a squad to bring you back to that house so he could teach you ‘a lesson that very few angels have ever truly learned.’ Whatever that means.”
Roderick lets out a crazed laugh that pierces through the panicked fog. “It seems our trade was all for nothing then. The only place you’ll be taking that information is to your grave.”
“We have to go,” Theo says, his tone brooking no argument. We’re beneath a thick canopy of trees, so it’s not likely that they’ve seen us yet, but as much as that might help us now, it won’t last forever.
“A deal is a deal,” Zeke tells Roderick before nodding to Theo and Raphael for them to let go of his arms.
I brace myself for an attack from the angel we just freed, but it never comes. All he does is stare at the demons like his fate is sealed.
When Zeke turns to me, he notices the blade in my hand and immediately pulls the pack off his back. It takes him no time to reveal five pristine daggers that glint beneath the growing dawn. “Here. Just in case.”
“These would have been helpful at the barn,” Raphael grumbles, but I’m just glad we all have some way to protect ourselves should things go sideways.
I hesitate for a moment before approaching Roderick and holding the dagger out to him, hilt first.
Apprehension fills his gaze, but he snatches it from my grasp and backs away slowly. I might not agree with the things that he’s done, but I’m not heartless. Whatever lesson they intend to teach him will come in pain and blood. At least this way he can fight back.
