Part 20 (2/2)
”I'm Mossad,” Noah said, as if that were explanation enough.
”You're Salamancan,” Jenn corrected him.
”He's not. If he were, he wouldn't try to kill his teammate,” Holgar argued.
Jenn thought of Jamie's two guns, the one with silver bullets and the one with wooden ones. How many times had she feared that he would try to kill Holgar and Antonio both?
”Listen to me,” Noah barked. ”I know you care about Antonio de la Cruz. Jenn, I know you love him. But he's going to die either way. Sherman said the virus would be ready soon.”
”No,” Jenn choked out, and Noah slowly pivoted and looked straight at her.
”You can't let a monster live, no matter how much it costs you personally.” A strange look crossed his face. ”I think I know what my wife said to me,” he said slowly, half to himself.
”I know about your wife. Chayna,” Father Juan said. ”I know what happened, Noah.”
Noah stiffened, but kept his gaze trained on Jenn.
”She died in your arms,” Father Juan said.
”I killed her,” Noah said flatly, still looking at Jenn.
Jenn gasped. Holgar reached forward and pulled her back toward himself, farther away from Noah.
”She was mesmerized,” Father Juan said.
”And so are all of you,” Noah retorted. ”You want so badly to be the good guys that you harbor a murdering demon in your midst. You risk everyone's life so that you can pat yourselves on the back.” He pointed at Jenn. ”You've seen her neck. Tell me, Jenn, did he stop himself from killing you? Or did someone else stop him? Did you put up a fight? I don't think so.”
Jenn wanted to say that Antonio had been about to stop himself when Holgar had burst into the room. But she had been barely conscious. She really didn't know what had happened.
I didn't resist. I couldn't. Her cheeks went hot.
”I have my answer,” Noah said. He shrugged, and a dozen Uzis pointed straight at him. Holgar brought Jenn against his chest.
”No,” she said. ”No.”
”Noah, we need you, too,” Father Juan said. ”What else did you find out? What else do you know?”
”Nothing,” Noah said. ”So now . . . you don't need me.”
”Don't be an idiot,” Jenn said sharply, trying her hardest to regain command of the situation. But she was barely keeping it together. ”You saw me kick Jamie's a.s.s.”
Noah smiled. ”I saw you kick a lot of a.s.s.”
”And you swore to follow me as your leader.”
Noah fell silent. Jenn could feel Holgar's heart pounding against the back of her head. She heard him growl very low in his throat. His arm pressed tightly across her collarbone. Loyal Holgar.
”I want you to swear again. And I want you to swear that you won't kill Antonio.” His lips parted, and she narrowed her eyes. ”Swear it, Noah.”
He knit his brows. ”All right. Unless-”
”No conditions,” she said.
Resigned, Noah dipped his head. ”Agreed.”
THE MONASTERY OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF ST. ANDREW.
ANTONIO AND SADE.
Antonio watched.
Back and forth, back and forth, in time to the incessant chanting of monks, hidden away behind a prayer screen. Back and forth, sitting cross-legged away from Antonio, Sade rocked. It made it just a little more difficult to catch every word of the confrontation upstairs, but Antonio could hear it well enough. Noah wanted to kill him for biting Jenn. A virus was about to be unleashed on all vampires everywhere, including him.
Then it will be over, Antonio thought. And except for the mop-up, we'll have won.
Just . . . he wouldn't be there to see it. A tide of emotions surged through him-a mixture of deep fear and sorrow. Although he believed in heaven, he didn't know if he would be welcome there. And like any of the faithful-even like Christ, who had begged to be spared-he was afraid to die. His own priest had told him that the instinct for survival was the strongest driving force of the human animal. G.o.d had made it so.
His sorrow at the thought of leaving Jenn was nearly overwhelming. He could feel the ache in his unbeating heart. The thought of never seeing her again- You told G.o.d Himself that you would die for her.
She will be safe from all vampires, including you.
The voice in his head was like someone else's voice. Someone who understood. Someone who would be there, at the end.
And hearing it, Antonio found peace.
”It's a fair trade, Sade, don't you agree?” he said aloud.
Sade just kept rocking.
Silently.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.
SOLOMON.
”So now we come to who opposes you,” Katalin told Solomon. ”That will be the obstacle in your path to achieving your ambitions.”
Solomon sat across the table in Katalin's pretty little hideaway in his private quarters and watched her freeze as she put down the next card in his tarot reading. He glanced down at the image of a winged, horned demon crowned with an inverted pentagram and a naked man and woman chained to a pedestal beneath him.
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