“But you don’t love him.” He caressed her throat, tracing the line of her pulse. “You love the dead man burning in Hell.”
“He’s not in Hell,” she insisted, fighting not to flinch. “You don’t know anything about it.”
“You think I don’t know who’s in Hell?” he said. “Asher wants so much to keep you safe. He wants sooo much for you to love him. But bless your sweet heart, you just can’t.” His face was barely inches from hers. “He’ll keep trying and trying and failing and failing. And all the time, I’ll be there, making sure you’re always in danger, giving him something to worry about.” He turned her face to his. “And eventually he’ll be just like me.”
“No!” She lunged for him, barely knowing what she meant to do. He was still wearing the gun, a silver revolver strapped to his side in a shoulder holster. She grabbed it tight in both hands. “Shut up!” she shouted, pointing it at his face.
“What are you gonna do, honey?” he said. “Are you going to shoot me?” She was shaking; the gun was still trained on his face, Jake’s face, Jake who she loved more than anybody she had ever known. He grinned as if he’d read her thoughts. “I promise it will hurt you way more than it will hurt me.”
“Leave him alone!” She was screaming like a child, tears pouring down her face. “Leave Asher alone, and let Jake out of Hell! And my mama, too!” She clicked the safety off.
“That kind of stuff’s not up to me, Kelsey.” She saw something in his eyes that looked almost like pity, but he grinned. “I’m just the innkeeper; somebody else does the bookings.”
“You’re lying.” The gun was shaking, useless. “You have to be lying.”
“Kelsey!” The door crashed open, cracking back against the wall. Asher grabbed the demon Jake and flung him hard against the wall. He hit the television mounted there, and it exploded in a shower of sparks as he slumped to the floor. “Get away from her,” he roared, so loud the whole room seemed to shake. He sounded different; his voice was deeper and rougher. His golden wings were ashy black, and his arms and chest were bathed in blood.
The demon was laughing before he hit the floor. “Oh my goodness, look at you,” he said, rolling to his back to look up at Asher. “Brother, what have you done?”
“Kelsey, come away from him,” the angel ordered. “Get out.”
Kelsey looked down at the gun in her hands, then at the blood on Asher. When he’d fought the demons in the street, their blood had barely touched him; he had stayed clean. But now he was dirty, and his wings were black. “You’re falling.” She put the gun to her own head. “You said that, when you showed me what you were. You said you were falling.”
“Kelsey, stop it.” He took a step toward her, and she stumbled back, the gun bouncing painfully against her temple, her hand slick with sweat. Asher froze, holding out his bloody hands as if to steady her. “Wait!” He had the same heartbreaking expression she had painted when she had thought he was a figment of her own broken mind. “What he said to you was a lie.”
“You said you were falling, that it was so easy to fall.” She was crying so much she could barely see; her heart felt twisted in a knot with pain. “You knew then….and it’s my fault.”
“She’s as smart as she is pretty, Asher,” the demon said. “You lucky dog.”
“Shut up!” she screamed at him. “And Jake.” She could barely speak, but she tightened her grip on the gun. “He says you lied, that Jake’s in Hell, and my mama is, too.”
“He’s lying,” Asher said. “Kelsey, please, you’re going to hurt yourself.”
“I deserve to hurt myself,” she said. “It’s all my fault. All of it.” She let out an animal howl, closing her eyes, and he lunged for her again. Again, she stepped back, the gun barely waving, freezing him again.
“Kelsey, please,” he begged.
“I could have saved them both.” Horror was drying her tears; she hated herself too much to grieve. “But I didn’t.” She glanced over at the demon that still looked like Jake. “They belong to him now.”
“Kelsey, he’s a liar.”
“Is he lying now?” she asked, looking straight into Asher’s eyes. “He would know, wouldn’t he?” The pain she saw there made her feel sick. “If they went to Hell, wouldn’t he know it?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. He was crying.
“One was an atheist, the other one a suicide,” the demon said. “Why don’t you give her the odds?”
“It’s my fault,” she said again, her eyes clouding over. “I did it.”
“Kelsey, you did not,” Asher protested.
“I don’t deserve to live.” It all seemed so clear to her now. If she was gone, the demon couldn’t use her to torment Asher any more. Asher didn’t have to fall. And she could be with Jake and her mama forever.
“Kelsey, don’t try it,” Asher warned. “I’ll stop you.”
“You can’t,” the demon said, climbing to his feet, blue flames dancing in his eyes. “Free will, remember? I can’t make her do it, and you, my brother, can’t stop her.”
“Kelsey, please,” Asher begged. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”