That belongs to me!
Temptation stormed closer, his chin dipped to his chest with murderous intent. His challenger staggered sideways. His hip caught the edge of the slab, sending the massive, off balance rock crashing the rest of the way to the floor. The impact reverberated through the thick soles of Temptation’s boots and up his calves. The demon met and held Temptation’s gaze. A bloodcurdling smile twisted the demon’s thick lips, giving Temptation a moment of pause. A moment of unease.
His foe began whispering words in a furious rush, his volume growing with every syllable. As the meaning of his words registered, Temptation’s eyes widened in horror. The demon was summoning Hellfire. Temptation lunged forward, hand outstretched. But he wasn’t fast enough. Before he could reach the demon, a blaze erupted in the palm of the demon’s hand. A blaze so hot, so bright, so blinding, Temptation instinctively threw up his arm to shield his face.
He lurched forward once more. Something about that piece of gold and glittering stones was important. He couldn’t remember why, but the power in it drew him with such strength he couldn’t resist.
But he was too late. His challenger had disappeared, his shimmer trail rapidly fading. And on the ground where his foe had stood just a moment before lay a ball of blackened gold and crushed ruby. Melted and deformed. Without a trace of power left. The sight of that melted lump brought clarity. Temptation let go, and Gideon took control once more. In a rush of blinding pain, he morphed back to human form.
Unable to breathe, unable to fully process what had just happened, Gideon fell to his knees. The sword clattered to the floor at his side. His face twisted in shock. Trapped in immutable horror, Gideon scooped up the mangled ball. He held it before him in shaking hands.
Everything he’d hoped and prayed for…gone. He let his hands fall to his lap, his fingers limp, and he watched as the ball thudded to the floor and rolled lopsidedly away.
As the last shreds of hope disintegrated, Gideon dropped his head forward. Despair the likes of which he’d never before experienced rocked him. He was hollow. His guts ripped out. His purpose lost. He was wrecked, beyond destroyed.
Here and now, he could finally admit the truth. Forgiveness was not for the likes of him. He’d never believed he could be redeemed. He’d never again see his Heavenly home. Never again feel the warmth of God’s grace and love. All that had been left for him was the promise of the amulet.
And that was now lost to him.
He had nothing. Not false hope. Not a purpose for existing. Not even the hope of one day feeling the comfort, the warmth, the basic sensation of physical contact without destruction.
No hope.
Tipping his head back, drowning beneath the despair welling up inside him, Gideon released his raw grief in a howl so frightening the jungle for miles around fell utterly still.
Chapter One
Three weeks later
Gideon ripped himself free of the nightmare as his cell phone screeched. He rolled to his back and scrubbed both hands over his clammy face. He was covered in a cold sweat. His ragged breath sawed in and out, burning his lungs. His eyes were gritty. His head throbbed like an abscessed tooth. In short, he felt like something the cat had dragged in. Something that, if it wasn’t already dead, damned sure should be.
So, all in all, about the same as normal.
Xander, Gideon surmised by the ringtone. A ringtone he’d once found amusing, given Xander’s recently whooped status. Now he couldn’t give a shit one way or the other. The phone went silent—thank God—which was a good thing as he’d had no intention of answering it anyway. Unfortunately, Gideon’s ears continued to ring, an insistent accompaniment to the throbbing in his temples.
He glanced first at the heavy watch on his wrist, then at the bright sunlight pouring in through the crack in the drapes, and he stifled a groan. Two in the afternoon. By now he should have been up, should have been back out on the streets. He should have been chasing down those ever-elusive relics. But he hadn’t shimmered home and crawled into bed until…well, he wasn’t even sure what time it had been this morning. At least, he was pretty sure it had been this morning.
Or had it been yesterday?
Ah, hell. What does it matter anymore, anyway?
Gideon rolled to his side and sat up. He braced himself on the edge of the bed as he hung his head. A stifled curse slipped from his mouth as he lifted both hands to clutch at that foreign-feeling appendage attached to his shoulders.