I squinted, raising a hand to my eyes as if shielding them from the early-morning sun, concentrating on Remy’s lips and hoping nobody else noticed my sudden interest.
Hands free, she was mouthing. Her fingers wiggled slightly behind her back. Hands free. She gestured ever so slightly at Noah. His eyes shone with alertness, and I realized he’d fooled me as much as he had them. A smart trick; he could do more if they thought of him as no threat.
Time to get this show on the road.
“Okay. One halo, coming up.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
I stood in the Temple of the Aten, the sun cresting above my head, a big hole in my torso, and wondered why I’d ever thought this was a good idea.
“Hurry,” came the imperious demand from Queen Nitocris. “Bring me the halo, or your vampire lover will die in excruciating agony.”
Don’t remind me, I thought as I walked through the broken flagstones of the temple.
Seek the heart of the temple, the queen had said. Call him there, and you will find his halo.
I studied the vast emptiness around me. It had been grand at the height of its glory; now there were just a few fake columns and a lot of nothing separating the desert from it.
I took a few tentative steps forward, and froze. Whispers began to fill my mind, soft whispers that spoke in a language that I didn’t understand. The air around me grew cold and the wind began to pick up, whipping my hair around my face. Unnerved, I took a step backward, and the effects lessened. Testing, I took a step to the side. Nothing.
Following the whispers would lead me to the heart of the temple. My heart thudded in my breast. I took a hesitant step forward again, clutching my wild hair against my neck to keep it out of my face. The whispers assailed me again, thicker and more ferocious with each step that I took.
The intensity of the wind increased and the voices in my ears began to form words, soft and hollow and sad.
My heart grows weary. My flesh is weak, as it always was. I was wrong. Save me from this eternal damnation. Forgive me.
Forgive me.
With those words ringing in my ears, I stopped near a series of nearly perfect flagstones, a broken crumble of rock ahead of me that looked like it had once been an altar. I lay a hand on the broken surface and found it to be warm to the touch, pulsing like a heartbeat.
Forgive me, the sad voice intoned. I was weak, foolish. Let me return to Your glory. Oh please, God, forgive me.
“Jackie,” Zane called behind me, a note of frantic worry in his voice. “Jackie! Be careful!”
I barely registered his voice, lost in the sad sighs and endless whispers of the temple.
Call his name, Nitocris had said.
“Joachim,” I called, my voice breaking through the tornado of whispers. “Come to me, Joachim.”
The intensity of the whispers increased, now screaming and shouting their words. The winds around me became gale force, and the rest of the world was drowned out in a sea of sandy wind and shouting, unholy voices.
Forgive me! I was weak and foolish. Heaven above, take me back!
Forgive me!
“Joachim,” I called again.
The intensity of the shouting turned to violent screaming, and I covered my ears. What did he want?
Then it clicked in my mind, and I whispered to the tempest around me.
“I forgive you, Joachim.”
The shrieking died; the wind ceased. My eyes slid open once more. Grit covered everything, and I stared down at my feet, where the sand lay in a perfect circle before me on the flagstones. As I watched, the circle of sand seemed to melt into itself, turning liquid and glowing bright. The circle raised into the air, circling around me, a singing hum replacing the whispers.
“The halo!” the queen cried behind me, rapturous.
It spun above my head, a flashing circle of pulsing light and humming air. I reached one hand up to grab it and the halo fell onto my fingers, pulsing and cool. It felt like smooth glass, glowed like amber, and I could hear Joachim’s sighs of sadness emanating from within. Clutching the halo in my hands filled me with sadness that so much pain and misery was going to be devoured by the queen or Uriel simply for the power it could give them. They didn’t care about the man himself, only what he could do for them.
I wondered if Joachim’s whole mortal life had been like that. It made me sad.
I turned and regarded my distant audience. All eyes were trained on me, from the angel’s lackeys to the vampire goons. The queen was rapt, her hand outstretched as if she could snatch the halo from my hands. Even Uriel seemed dazed by what he was seeing, his mouth hanging open.
I took a few steps forward, the halo clutched tightly in my hands. As I watched all those eyes on me, I wondered-what now? Who do I give it to?
I hesitated, and all hell broke loose.
The queen grabbed Zane and dragged him against her body, her fangs extended a scant inch from his neck. “Give me the halo,” she hissed, “or I will drain your lover dry of every last ounce of blood. His flesh will wither and his soul will become mine to command.”
By the way that Zane blanched, I knew her threat wasn’t idle.
The sound of a gun being cocked brought my attention the other way. I looked over to see Uriel’s gun now aimed directly at Stan. “Bring me the halo, or you will have the murder of this young man on your eternal soul.”
“You can’t kill him,” I bluffed. “You’re an angel.” No way was he going to face eternity stuck down here with the rest of us.
A gun cocked behind him, and I saw one of his crew aim his gun at Stan.
“No,” Uriel agreed. “But one of my disciples will kill him instead.”
“No!” Remy shouted, shaking her head and trying to maneuver herself in front of Stan. “Leave him alone. He knows nothing about this. Take me instead.”
The priest laughed. “Why should I, when I have all the leverage I need?”
“Jackie, give up the halo to Uriel. Let him destroy me-I don’t care.” Noah’s voice was calm as he sat up. Cuts and bruises covered his handsome face, his blond hair was matted against the side of his cheek, but he was still inhumanly beautiful, his chiseled mouth stern as he looked at me. “It’s the only logical thing you can do.”
Compelled by the sound of his voice, I took a few steps toward Uriel. I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t refuse a direct order from my master.
“Do something,” I heard the queen hiss to Zane.
“Jackie, stop,” Zane insisted.
I halted just inches inside the boundaries of the temple. Huh?
“Don’t give it to him,” Zane said, his voice strained. “Give it to the queen.”
I turned and headed away from Uriel, my hand outstretching to give the halo to Queen Nitocris. Damn-he was my-
“Stop, Jackie!”
Noah’s voice caused me to stop again. Frustrated, I turned to stare at him, my mind hazy with the conflicting orders.
“Jackie, bring the halo to me … and the queen,” Zane added at the last moment.
I started forward again.
“Stop!” Noah demanded once more.
I complied, extremely irritated now. “Will the two of you make up your freaking minds?” I shouted.
I heard Remy’s gasp of shock. “Zane-he’s her other master. Her vampire master.”