“He went after you?”
“He came after us both. Arrogant fellow, Rey’azikeen. So, we hid in the hell dimension of this realm and discovered that Lucifer was champing at the bit for … what do you call it? Payback? We devised a plan and used the god glass against him. Two and a quarter—Lucifer isn’t the best fighter—against one? I like it best when the odds are in my favor.”
“You ganged up on him.”
“Of course. I’m not stupid. So, we trapped Jehovah’s brother in the very dimension that was made for him. When we got back to hell with him, little Rey’azikeen wasn’t quite his usual self. See, even a few seconds in that hell dimension is like years on this plane. He was so disoriented that by the time he figured out what was happening, Lucifer already had him in the rune. He didn’t stand a chance, really.”
“Why are you, a god, in cahoots with a fallen angel?”
“Boredom, mostly. It’s been fun watching this little feud play out between Jehovah and one of his children. And don’t get me started on the one between Jehovah and the boy. By the way, wherever is your light?”
“I lent it to a friend.”
“Well, he won’t live long.”
“Longer than you.”
He laughed, Kim’s hair falling over her shoulders as her head fell back, and it hit me what he was doing. He was stalling.
I turned a full circle. Was his bestie from Uzan here?
“Why are you in cahoots with Jehovah?”
“I’m not,” I said, watching the skies for another presence. I walked away from him, searching. Scanning.
“He’s using you to do his dirty work. You’re the hired help. And then he erases your memory? I’d find a better lot of friends if I were you.”
Oh yeah. He was stalling. Only a god could kill another god, but maybe it was harder than it sounded. Maybe he needed backup. He’d already proved he fought dirty.
“When he remembers who you are,” he continued, and I wondered if he ever shut up, “he shall not be happy. Rey’azikeen. You did send him to prison, one that your ancestors created. Do you think he will still love you?”
I tried so hard to remember. If I’d known Reyes way back when, maybe I knew this winner. Maybe I knew his name. Club God was bound to have a very small membership. I had to know his name. Then it hit me. Not his name but a plan. I was so good at those.
“You said you escaped with Eidolon,” I said, keeping my gaze toward the heavens. “I thought you were Eidolon.”
“It breaks my heart that you don’t remember me. Not bad. Not like a complete break. More like a hairline fracture.”
“Sorry. I’m horrible with names.”
“I’ll give you a hint.” He took another bite. “It’s bigger than a bread box—”
I swirled around and smiled. “There.”
“Ah. Did it come to you?”
I opened my palm where I’d stashed the god glass. I was worried he’d see it in my jeans so I held on to it. For dear, sweet life.
He stilled instantly, his gaze laser locked onto the locket. The second I opened the glass cover, thunderstorms and lightning bolts shot out around us.
He reacted immediately. He started forward, but I slowed time. He met it and kept coming. I slowed it more, so much so that the people around us didn’t just stop moving, they started moving backwards, sluggish and surreal. I was rewinding time. But again, he met it and charged forward.
The pause was enough, though. Enough for me to press my lips to the top of the glass, the lightning bolts crackling around my face, and whisper, “This is for you, Kim.” I glanced at him from beneath my lashes, and just as he reached me, just as his finger brushed the pendant, I said, “Mae’eldeesahn.”
Rocket had given me the clue in that picture, the shake to rattle my memory. And the blood I got off Kim’s mouth was enough. The god glass just needed a single strand of DNA from the host to capture the being inside.
It worked.
He stumbled back, his face a picture of shock and utter disbelief that he’d been duped. He’d been trapped this time.
I’d seen the god glass work before. I waited for it. Mae’eldeesahn did not. He turned and took off running, but that seemed to make the lightning bolt that shot out after him happy. It curled around him like a lover and ripped him out of Kim’s broken body.
What came out was not what I’d expected. It was more light than anything. More smoke than substance. And it was beautiful. Utterly stunning and absolutely malevolent.
And then it was gone. Sucked into the hell dimension until I called it out. An undertaking that would never happen.
I snapped the locket closed just as I felt another presence. No way could I get away with that twice. I swung around to find Reyes materializing behind me in all his dark glory. Slowly. Lethally, because that boy was the poster child for failed anger management classes.
He glared at me from underneath his lashes, but his concern outshone his anger. He strode up to me, took my shoulders, looked me up and down to make sure I wasn’t injured.
I pocketed the pendant and took his face into my hands. “Reyes—”
“Are you hurt?”
“No, sweetheart, listen—”
“What just happened?” He glanced around, confused.
“Reyes, listen.”
“What was that?”
“Rey’aziel.”
He finally focused on my words.
“Reyes,” I said, and a sudden sadness gripped me so hard I could barely speak.
“What?” he asked, stilling in alarm. Bracing himself. “What?”
“It was one of the gods of Uzan.”
All expression slid away from his face.
“His name was Mae’eldeesahn.”
“Was he—? Did you kill him?”
“No. No, I trapped him. He’s gone.”
Relief softened his features, but only just. He was more confused than anything.
“But he—Reyes, he’d hijacked a human host.”
“That’s what they do.”
“No, it’s—honey, I’m so sorry.” A sob broke my voice. I knew what this was going to do to him. “He took Kim.”
A half smile curved his mouth for a microsecond as he studied me in disbelief.
I stepped to the side and showed him. Kim was lying facedown on the pavement, an arm thrown across her back, the angles all wrong. Her red hair fanned out over her head like a halo.