Agone shook his head, sending his long hair swaying on his shoulders. “We need to be practical. Hand to hand first. Then swords.”
Seren frowned and studied her like a bug under a microscope. She fought not to squirm. “She’s too tiny for hand to hand. Mastering a sword allows her to kill at a distance.”
“Possibly. Only if you allow her to wield an empyreal blade.”
They spoke as if she weren’t present. It pissed her off, but the information being spilled was too valuable to stop them.
Seren’s upper lip curled in a snarl. “Only the divine can wield empyreal steel. While she is lovely, she is not divine.”
Ouch. That hurt. A lot. She never claimed to be anything special, but they did barge into her life and claimed she was... special. According to them, an angel and demon infected her. In her book, that counted as special. Damn special.
“Then combat training it is. Starting tomorrow.”
Eventually, they’d tell her why she needed testing and training. First, one question took precedence. “Excuse me. You two forgot one important thing.” She held up a finger for a visual reference.
What? The twin expressions said. Their arrogance shouldn’t astound her when she’d been dealing with it all night.
“Why me? Why the special powers?” Who had decided to turn her life upside down? And how could she get it right side up?
The two shared a look. A glance that exchanged a wealth of knowledge neither wanted to share with her. But this was her life they’d invaded and planned on rearranging. And she wasn’t having it.
Eden lurched from the chair and planted her hands on her hips. “In other words, what the fuck do you want with me?”
Chapter 7
Agone braced for Eden’s wrath.What the fuck do you want with me?she asked. Damn, he loved her spirit.
He’d planned to tell her as little as possible for as long as possible. A smidgen of manipulation. A lot of coercion. And a healthy dose of intimidation. All three would’ve worked if she feared him like she did the first time she lay eyes on him just a few hours ago.
A smile tugged his lips. He couldn’t be angry, not when she’d exceeded all his expectations. Granted, those expectations were sub-basement level. That was before he actually met her, saw her grit and determination, witnessed the fear and bravery even while terrified.
“What do we want with you?” Seren began. Agone’s attention shifted to the angel. He glared at the bastard to shut his fucking mouth. Not because they could keep the truth from her. They couldn’t, not indefinitely. But the truth could be parceled out to allow the bitterness to seep in gently rather than choke on it.
The time had come to tell hermostof everything.Snort. Not even that much because he didn’t knoweverything. Agone knew just enough to fulfill his part of the plan. The task Belial had set forth: Find the girl, train her, protect her, and keep her alive for the endgame.
Belial hadn’t divulged what the endgame was; however, it wasn’t hard to guess when he’d been ordered to work with an angel, the same angel who showed up and attacked instead of having a civilized conversation.
“Well!” she snapped, dragging him out of his head. “One of you better start talking.”
“You’re meant to kill a demon.” Was all Agone would give her, for now.
She looked at Seren for confirmation. Agone’s word wasn’t good enough. He respected that, though he didn’t like it. In fact, he hated it.
Seren blurted. “You’re meant tofightthe demon.”
Too much! Seren had crossed the line. She wasn’t ready for that information. Not yet. Who’s the demon would be the next inevitable question.
“Okay. Who’s the demon?” she asked, clueless.
Instead of answering, Agone released his control on her roommate.
“Eden?” a weak, tentative voice called out, and a thud, followed by a groan, came from the room.
“Harry!” Eden raced for her friend, just as Agone planned.
He took that opportunity to vanish, though he didn’t go far. His calculated retreat took him to the same park across from her apartment, looking up at her third-story window. Through her heat signature, he could see her and the roommate making their way to the kitchen. One leaned on the other until finding a seat at the breakfast bar while the other puttered around the kitchen. Not hard to decipher who was who.
“You evaded her question. Evaded telling her the truth. Why?” Seren demanded. He followed him, as Agone knew he would.