Suddenly, Eden’s full weight dropped against him. This was going to get bad. Very bad. “Hey!” he said. Easing one arm around her waist, he tilted her head back into the crook of the other. “Focus on me.”
Her fingers clawed at her throat, her nail beds going pale and then blue. This wasn’t a mere tickle in her throat that water would fix. What Eden needed was a Sider, to take in their Touch, which would mean four flights down to the front stairs, where they tended to gather. She wasn’t going to make it that far.
He thought of the extra Touch Sullivan had passed him when they’d kissed. “I’m passing to you, okay?”
The little air Eden had left cut short. He heard footsteps beside him, could feel Sullivan’s stare. Did she understand? Did she know that he wasn’t getting off on this, only felt worry? Touch transferred from him to Eden with a tingle, and he pulled away.
“Water?” he said, holding an arm out behind him. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Sullivan as she slipped the cup into his hand. He held it for Eden, watching as she took desperate gulps. Suddenly she knocked the cup aside and wheezed in a lungful of air as his Touch healed her lungs enough to stop more ashes from forming. It was a temporary solution, but it would tide her over until he could convince her to head to the stairs. He helped her down to the floor.
“Why isn’t she better?” Gabriel asked, something frantic in his voice. “I didn’t think she’d be so weak. She should have gotten better when she started sending on the Siders again.”
“Because,” Jarrod spat at Gabriel as he stood. “She didn’t start taking them out again. She didn’t want to get you in trouble!” He moved forward, putting himself in front of Eden and Sullivan. Gabriel was a Bound angel, and the Bound were trying to kill them. It didn’t matter if he had been Eden’s friend once. “You should leave,” Jarrod said.
“No,” Eden croaked from the floor. “The Bound—Az. Holding—he’s not—” A cough racked her as she got to her hands and knees. Black flecked the carpet.
Jarrod looked to Gabriel.
“He resisted becoming Bound once he knew I was cleared. But he’s locked up,” he said. “She thinks she’s going to kill enough Siders to strong-arm them into letting him go.”
Jarrod crossed his arms. “Well, if it gets her taking out the Siders again, I’m all for it.”
“If they’re not stupid, they’ll hand him over,” Sullivan added, slinking into the space beside him. “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
“It’s not Hell she needs to worry about,” Gabriel said. “The Bound aren’t playing games anymore.”
“So where does that leave you?” Jarrod asked.
When he looked at Jarrod, Gabriel’s irises were ringed in yellow, the rest bright purple. Eden had told him once about each color giving away how an angel felt. All Jarrod could remember was that yellow meant fear. Purple. What does purple mean? he thought.
Gabriel gave a subtle shake of his head, held his hands low, as if he wanted Jarrod to know he wasn’t a threat. “You’ve got to keep her safe. They haven’t figured out how to kill normal Siders yet, only those like Eden and Sullivan. They are close, though, Jarrod.”
Loyalty, Jarrod thought suddenly. Purple means loyalty. On the floor, Eden wiped at lips smeared with charcoal.
“You better?” Gabe asked her.
Jarrod glanced down at Eden. “She’s sick as hell,” he answered for her. But sick didn’t really cover it. If Eden didn’t start taking out the Siders again, she wasn’t going to make it. “Her Touch levels are so low anything sets her off.”
“Not an issue anymore,” Eden said with a rasp. “Get me downstairs. If the Bound have a problem with it, I’ll—”
“You’ll what, Eden?” Gabriel snarled, startling them all. “Kill them? Do you know how to kill an angel? Because every one of us knows how to kill you! It’s not going to be a challenge.” For just a moment, Jarrod saw Eden’s anger crack as Gabriel moved methodically closer. “You’ll be so easy to kill. You can’t even fight back. You don’t have the right weapons.”
So there is a weapon that can take out an angel. Was that a slip, or something Gabriel meant to say? Could I kill him if I had to? A quick vision hit him, his hand ripping Gabriel’s head back, a knife digging in, Eden screaming. He shook the image away. He’d do what needed to be done to get them through alive. No matter what.
Sullivan’s hands gripped his shoulder, pulling him back. “Jarrod, look at him.”
Gabriel’s glare hit him full strength, crimson burning.
“Do not threaten me,” he growled. “I don’t want to hurt you.” The veins in his neck stood out, throbbing just under the skin. His arm muscles corded.
“Easy,” Jarrod said. A sheen of sweat broke over his skin as he realized what had set Gabriel off. “It was just a stupid thought. Let’s not get out of control.”
Sullivan pushed past him, heading toward Gabriel. She didn’t look back. What the hell is she doing? Jarrod grabbed for her, missed.
“Gabriel, you remember me, right?” Sullivan’s voice was soothing. He jerked his head in a nod. “Sullivan,” she said anyway. “And I think, if you planned on hurting any of us, you would have done it already. Right?”
“I . . .” Gabriel winced. “I can’t answer.”
Eden whispered his name, sounding shaken. Gabriel’s nonanswer explained his agitation, the careful wording he’d used—“I don’t want to hurt you” instead of “I’m not going to hurt you.” Had the Bound sent him? Was he fighting against orders he’d been given?
Sullivan went on. “You’re not gonna hurt us in the next five minutes then, right?”
His red irises slowly dulled to amber. He nodded. “Right,” he managed.
With the murder Jarrod had seen in Gabe’s eyes, it was hard to believe.
“Okay,” she said. “So we have a guaranteed five minutes. If you need to say something, now’s the time.” She grabbed Eden’s hand and helped her up. “I’m guessing you didn’t just come to catch up?”
“No,” Gabe said, and he looked at Jarrod, speaking to him alone. “I need your help. I want you to track down the territory leaders. Kristen, Madeline, Erin”–his eyes flicked to Sullivan–“Vaughn. I know they were the original Siders. There has to be something that links them.”
“Like a patient zero,” Sullivan said.
“What good is that going to do?” Jarrod asked.
Gabe shrugged, at a loss. “You’re in the bodies you had as mortals. You’re not alive, though blood is still pumping. Your hair grows and you heal, which means your cells regenerate. You’re not dead and you’re not alive. It’s almost like without paths you’re just . . .” He hesitated, his brow wrinkled in concentration. “Paused.”
Jarrod raised an eyebrow. “So what happens when we get unpaused?”
Gabe didn’t answer. “Do you remember anything strange from your last days as a mortal? Times you would have been on Touch and not known it then?”