“No.”
“No!” I roared. I’d never raised my voice at Michael before; I think he was just as shocked as me. He leaned back in the chair, his eyes wide with amusement.
“And now you see why. Your emotions blind you.”
“I am perfectly fine.”
Michael rose from his seat and approached me. “You will put yourself, as well as the woman you love, in grave danger, if you are the one to make the extraction. I’ll allow you to accompany the teams. After all, she will want to see you after her experience in Sheol, but I am sending another into the Darkness.”
I almost didn’t want to know. I swallowed my bitterness before asking, “Who?”
“Seth.”
“He’s Fallen,” I stated dumbly.
“He is,” Michael agreed. “He’s also very powerful and very much needs to be needed. I believe this will be a good task for him. He has been in this human form for a very long time, experienced things that no angel should ever have to experience. He is cursed with the life of a half-breed, but he is also the only one we can send in who will not be affected by the dark.”
“But he is affected.” I clenched my fist again and rolled my eyes. “You should have seen him on Denali! He almost killed her!”
“That was the influence of Thanatus. Seth was confused, and he is much stronger now that he knows who he is.”
“Oh, great.” I let out a bitter laugh. “So now that he’s found himself, you think you can trust him?”
“I know I can trust him.”
“And if he falls prey to Thanatus again?”
“He won’t.”
Michael seemed so certain. I wanted to cause him physical harm, which was a little amusing, considering he’d kill me in an instant. I paced in front of him, clenching and unclenching my fists in turn at my sides. “I don’t like it.”
“Hmm…” Michael grabbed me by the shoulders and turned me toward him. “What are you so afraid of?”
Losing her. Losing her to him. Now that he was Fallen, he was cursed with being partially human; he was just like a Nephilim, only he had cooler party tricks than the Seekers and black wings to show off when he wanted pity from the opposite sex.
Michael studied me for a minute. “I see.”
“I know.” I shook my head. “I’m sorry. And you’re right.”
“I know.”
“You don’t have to be so smug about it.” I folded my arms across my chest and exhaled loudly. “I’m blinded by her.”
“It will be better this way, you’ll see.” Michael walked me to the door. “Prepare yourself as you must, Adonis. This battle will not be a pleasant one.”
“How many?” I paused at the door, my back facing Michael.
“At least a hundred thousand, maybe more.”
“I’ll be ready.”
“See that you are,” he called out as the door shut behind me. I walked purposefully toward the main hallway and elevator, where Janus stood waiting. I would be ready and I wouldn’t let her down.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The wet Seattle air whipped at the back of my neck as I walked toward the private jet. Most of the Seekers were traveling by plane, though some of them were actually lucky enough to be taking the train. We all had different arrival times to not raise suspicion.
I preferred driving or maybe even walking. Being confined in a small space with Seth, Atlas, and Alexander was not what I would call fun. For one thing, I had to sit there and pretend to like Seth, when really all I wanted to do was rip his face off, considering he had a thing for Athena.
He thought he hid it well.
He didn’t.
In fact, it was so irritating I had trouble looking at him at all. Just imagining Seth’s hands anywhere near her body filled me with rage, reminding me again that my emotions were quickly taking over my common sense and logic.
Atlas wasn’t so bad, except he was just as good looking as Seth and already admitted to liking Athena. So what? I wanted to kill every being who even looked at her. Clearly, I was exhausted and needed to take some time away from the job. But time was not on my side.
Alexander wasn’t too bad, except for the fact that he drank blood in order to gain information from people. It also didn’t help that his race, the Twelve, were easily the most arrogant of El’s creations. They had enough problems of their own, so it really was shocking to see them involving themselves in our business. After all, Alexander was only weeks away from taking the throne and trying to restore peace to the original Twelve.
As if he heard me, Alexander smirked in my direction, his blue eyes mocking me as he pushed his long dark hair away from his face.
“Ready?” Atlas called back. Why was I cursed to have to fly in a plane twice in one week with the man?
“You plan on crashing us into a mountain this time?” I called to him as I climbed into the small plane.
Atlas grinned and shrugged. “I sure hope not.”