Conquer the Dark (23 page)

“Tell him he can come, but it will cost him. But don’t tell him about this.”

“All right,” she said slowly, then accepted the hastily scribbled number and put it away with the pen.

“Everything cool?” Melissa murmured, and slung an arm over Celeste’s shoulders as she walked back to them.

“Yeah, we’re good ta go,” Celeste said, lifting her ponytail off her neck again, feeling even warmer than she had before.

“You look flushed, beloved,” Aziza said, touching Celeste’s forehead with the back of her hand.

“It’s got to be the heat,” Celeste said, feeling something important dancing at the edges of her mind and then flitting away.

Aziza nodded and motioned toward Hakim with her chin as the man nearly stumbled back to his laughing fellow guards and slumped against a column, wiping his brow. “We need to get some water soon. If the heat is affecting them, then you know we’re not used to it.”

Maggie placed a hand on Celeste’s back. “Come on, let’s go break it to the fellas that they’ve gotta pay another unlisted ticket fee to get into an exhibit.”

A
zrael frowned as he
watched the interaction in the distance, and Isda’s and Bath Kol’s teasing wasn’t helping. Gavreel had his arms folded over his chest, and Paschar was two seconds from crossing the large courtyard. Only Isda’s body block prevented it.

“Oh, you haven’t run into this emotion yet, huh, bro?” Isda pushed Paschar back by his shoulders, making Pas-char shrug him away.

“Don’t you know women like men in uniforms, especially ones carrying large weapons?” Bath Kol said, laughing.

Gavreel unfolded his arms and began to cross the yard.

“Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo! Fall back, soldier,” Isda said, leaving Paschar to slow down Gavreel.

“I don’t like what I’m feeling,” Gavreel said, glaring at the guards that were flirting with Maggie.

“Nor do I,” Azrael muttered. “It brings violence into
my spirit in a way that I’m unused to. I don’t like it at all. It is confounding and irrational and yet impossible to immediately shake.”

“Yeah, well, hey—get over it,” Bath Kol said with a wide grin, fishing for a pack of Camels in his pocket. “You want to mess up our only chance to get in there?”

“He did not have to touch her,” Azrael said, feeling the muscles in his arms contract. “Maybe I should go over there to be sure all is well.”

“Man, you
are
violence. The Angel of Death, remember? So don’t act like a little negative energy spike is gonna kill you.” Bath Kol chuckled and glanced in the direction of the women.

“He put his hands on her,” Azrael said, folding his arms. “
That
was unnecessary.”

“And she came away unscathed. Relax, man,” Bath Kol chided.

“Maybe I should go check that he is aware not to do that again.” Azrael set his gaze toward Celeste and lifted his chin, indignant.

“You’re about a foot taller than that dude, mon,” Isda said, laughing harder and pounding Bath Kol’s fist. “Wit dat expression on your face, you might get shot. Chill.”

“Chill?”

“Yes, as in be cool and—”

“I know what the damned expression means,” Azrael said between his teeth.

“Den beee cooool,” Isda said, making Bath Kol laugh harder with him.

Although it only took ten minutes for the women to return, it felt like the better part of an hour. When Celeste
came back, Azrael didn’t like the semivacant expression on her face, but she perked up the moment he put his arm over her shoulder.

“How much do we need to give these guys?” Gavreel glared over his shoulder at them.

“You sound tight, bro,” Bath Kol said, still laughing. “Relax.”

“A lot of money,” Maggie replied to Gavreel. “We told them that Celeste’s boyfriend was rich but didn’t want to marry her and—”

“What!” Fury exploded in Azrael’s system so quickly that it made his ears ring. “That is not true.”

“Whew!” Bath Kol said, walking over to slap Isda five. “Touchy subject.”

Ignoring their antics, Azrael turned to Celeste and slapped the center of his chest. “I’m no
boyfriend
. You and I have an eternity bond. And I never said I didn’t want to go through the human ceremony of marriage—I … I have to ask … find out what the rules are—”

“You’re stuttering, brother,” Isda said, doubling over and laughing so hard that he finally sat on the ground.

“I was not talking to you,” Azrael said, pointing at Isda.

That Celeste swallowed a smile didn’t help. “It was just for theater, dang,” she said, then swallowed another smile.

“I think the larger discussion is for another time or place,” Aziza said in an amused tone. “But I got an offer, too.”

Bath Kol sobered a little but tried to keep up the banter. “Now everybody’s a comedian, sheesh.”

“What is that supposed to mean, BK?” Aziza placed her hands on her hips, and Isda whooped and jumped up to jog away a few paces.

“Oh, man, ’Ziza, you know what I meant.”

“Make it good, mon,” Isda said, wiping his eyes. “You done inserted your big foot in your mouth!”

Aziza lifted her chin, seeming both hurt and indignant. “He said Celeste was young and beautiful, but that I was beautiful and wise—
for your information
.”

“You are,” Bath Kol said, not looking at Aziza but glaring at the group of guards that seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the argument their group was having. “Did you tell that horny bastard that you were not only beautiful and wise but also very well protected?”

“No,” she said, smiling. “I failed to mention that. Didn’t think it really mattered that much anymore.”

“Yeah, well, it does.” Bath Kol spit in the dust. “And I’ll make sure I deliver the message when I kick his ass.”

“Okay—back up,” Isda said, smiling wide and pushing Bath Kol to a halt. “I don’t know what’s gotten into the group but we are losing focus.”

“Yes, well, let me focus on giving this man his entrance fee along with a piece of my mind,” Azrael said, and began walking.

But Celeste rounded him. “If you go over there like that, you are gonna really mess up our delicate negotiation.”

“Yeah,” Melissa said, helping Celeste to body-block Azrael.

Celeste held out her hand. “Empty your pockets if you want in.”

“That so didn’t sound right,” Maggie said, then burst out laughing.

“Don’t say a word,” Azrael said in a deep rumble to Isda as he gave Celeste a thick roll of bills.

“Let
us
go over there first,” Celeste warned with emphasis, “then we’ll call you guys over. But like Isda and BK said, be cool.”

Azrael folded his arms over his chest and his brothers followed suit. As always, the waiting was the hard part. But after a few more moments of flirting, Celeste waved them over. The guards gave them bemused glances as they passed, and every hair on the nape of Azrael’s neck bristled as he passed the leader. It felt as if a hundred tiny spiders had just run up the back of his neck, and fight adrenaline was raging within him so strongly that it took deep concentration not to whirl on the human.

The odd sensations fractured his concentration for a moment, and he jogged to catch up to Celeste, grabbing her by the arm.

“What did he say to you?”

“Huh? Are you serious?”

“Absolutely serious,” Azrael replied, completely annoyed when she blew him off and began walking deeper into the courtyard.

“Tell me you’re not jealous?”

“No, I’m not!”

“Really, well, you could have fooled me.” She walked harder and faster away from him, and he had to widen his strides to keep pace with her. “That emotion doesn’t become you, Az—and I for one am not dealing with that shit after all the crap I had to take from Brandon!”

“What?” Azrael said, much louder than intended. “You have compared me to that demon-infested bastard? An ex-lover?”

“Can we look for what we came here for, people? Or is it just me?” Bath Kol caught up to Azrael and Celeste, looking between them and then focusing on Azrael. “Man, if you don’t chill out, you’re going to block whatever ability to see that she has. I know how the gift works. It’s in my province, remember?”

Azrael stopped walking and rubbed his palms down his face, allowing Celeste to continue forward. Bath Kol held him by both biceps as the rest of their group passed them.

“You okay, man—for real?”

“I honestly cannot say that I am.” Azrael looked at Bath Kol and then at the human guard. “I suddenly felt murderous, irrationally so.”

“Okay, later you and I need to have a very long conversation over some more very cold beer, because if a few of the other things that just happened between you guys isn’t enough to get you blasted with white lightning, trust me, smoking a human in a jealous rage about pure bullshit will get you more than banished.”

“Forgive me, brother, I literally do not know what just came over me.”

“I told you before that I’ve got your six. And I know I run off the rails a lot, do lots of shit I’m not supposed to down here. But on the fundamentals of
the Law
I’m real clear.
Crystal clear
. Don’t get sloppy. You of all of us should know better.”

Bath Kol cuffed Azrael’s shoulder hard, then grabbed
his forearm in the timeless warrior’s embrace. “You good?”

Azrael nodded. “I’m good.”

“All right then. Let’s go find some history.”

As they entered the main round, sandstone-and-granite temple, the thing that bothered Azrael the most was that he’d spent some of his irrational rage toward Celeste in a way that had made her displeased with him. He had never before done such a thing and had no frame of reference for how to resolve the blunder. Yet, as sure as he was standing, he’d felt something that had flooded his system with the desire to fight. Was this the human condition—part of being in a body and being controlled by irrational, territorial instincts? Was this, like the other emotions he’d experienced here, just a part of the package of being in the flesh … and was one of the temptations of that state the rush of the fight, of battle, of violence?

Deeply disturbed that he didn’t know, and finding that pride was also a part of him now, he didn’t want to explore it further with BK or Isda and add to their teasing. Instead he gave Celeste wide berth and studied the walls and floors, trying to see if there was a secret chamber that had been dug out.

“Here,” Celeste said quietly as she touched the altar stone and closed her eyes. “This moves.”

Immediately the group rushed over, and Azrael and Bath Kol took up the opposite ends of a large granite slab atop a heavy base. Gavreel, Isda, and Paschar added leverage along each side of the length of it.

“It’s all one piece,” Bath Kol said, straining. “The top doesn’t come off.”

“But the bottom is over something,” Celeste insisted.

Finally the structure gave way and they were able to swing it to the side by a foot. They all stopped and stared at the exposed footprint of the slab, which included a square depression in the sand, one that had been dug to fit something rectangular that was roughly two feet long by a foot wide and several inches thick. But the hole was empty.

“They got it?” Bath Kol walked away and slapped a wall. “Damn!”

“We need to put this back,” Isda warned. “Before da guards come, mon.”

Azrael nodded, defeated, and walked back to the granite altar to move it back into place with Gavreel and Paschar.

“But even if the dark side has it now, if Daoud was human, as was Father Krespy, how could they have lifted something this heavy?” Gavreel glanced around the group, waiting for an answer.

“Monks could have moved this to place the tablet here originally,” Azrael noted. “And they would have sealed it with a prayer.”

“But when it was time for Daoud to move it, those old monks from Krespy’s time wouldn’t have the strength, and in a country that’s ninety percent Muslim, the Christian clerics would have to collaborate with whoever was available and reach across faiths to get the job done quickly. But Daoud wouldn’t. Maybe he got Muslim clerics to assist?” Aziza offered.

“Or the dark side got a couple of guys just like we did, once they knew the location, and lifted it,” Isda said in a weary tone.

“But wouldn’t you have felt some bad jolt of energy if the dark side took the tablet out of its hiding place here?” Celeste glanced around the group and her line of vision settled on Azrael’s. “And you also said that monks had consecrated this ground, which was already a holy site. Even if they sent in humans to move the slab, wouldn’t you guys feel it if dirty energy had entered here?”

Azrael nodded and held her gaze. He liked it so much better when she looked at him as an ally. “Yes, Celeste. You are right. I felt nothing when I opened the small vault.”

“Neither did I,” Gavreel chimed in.

“Nor I,” said Paschar.

“Not a t’ing,” Isda said, raking his locks.

Bath Kol shook his head and then looked at Aziza.

“It was here, just as our sister said. But I’m not sensing that distress wrenched it from its resting place. It was purposefully moved.” Aziza moved to the altar and allowed her fingertips to gently graze it. “No, it wasn’t robbed from here, it was definitely moved.”

Celeste placed her hands on top of her head. “Okay, if Daoud moved it, then a couple things. One, he had to have help, benign help. And two, some of those guys who helped him move the stone might still be around.”

“If he had help,” Azrael said, “that means someone other than him knew that something valuable was stashed here.”

“To get in here at night with a bribe means you had to know the local way,” Isda said. “People here don’t trust foreigners for really big requests, but if you have a brother,
cousin … you know. And if you say, ‘I found an artifact and need to hide it—here’s some money to forget that,’ because it’s blood involved and you were paid well, not to mention it’s a high crime that could make you do life in prison for antiquity-black-market dealing—they don’t play that shit here, mon … then, you would help your family and forget what you knew.”

“Especially if that family member suddenly went missing,” Bath Kol said. “It would make you afraid, and you definitely wouldn’t return to the scene of the crime.”