Samael Read Online Free Page B

docile exterior. But it was no doubt nothing compared to the hidden power broiling within the man standing several feet away.
    “Samael has an archess.” Gregori had apparently decided to ignore everything Az had just said. Az expected no less.
    “I’m aware.”
    Gregori’s brow raised in interest.
    “News travels fast in the shadows,” Az explained.
    Gregori seemed to consider this a moment, then nodded. “It’s imperative that he not unite with her. Once he does, the Culmination will occur.”
    “Ah yes,” said Azrael, lifting his head a touch. “The Culmination.” He’d heard so very much about the Culmination of late. And so very little. He still had absolutely no clue what the hell it was.
    “You have no idea what it is, do you?” Gregori asked.
    He almost laughed at that. Almost. Because it was quite possible Gregori has pulled the lack of knowledge directly from Azrael’s mind, and that wouldn’t be a good thing. The implications were terrifying.
    Without waiting for Az to confirm it, which clearly wasn’t necessary, Gregori turned a little and paced a few feet, lacing his hands behind his back in a demeanor that oozed serene confidence. “Everything you know, everything you do, and everything you hope for this world will be lost. You will be whisked back to the angel realm and any chance you might have once had to right the wrongs you feel the people and animals of Earth need righted will depart along with you.”
    He stopped and turned to face Azrael again.
    “But that’s only the beginning. The rip in time and space that it takes to remove such volatile forces as yourself and your brothers from this realm will wreak havoc on this planet, throwing the people you’ve come to care so much for into total disarray. Who knows how many will die?” He paused, and his expression became one of recollection. “Oh yes, that’s right. You will know, as a point of fact. Because once you return to the angel realm, Azrael, you will again take up your mantle as the Angel of Death. So I’m afraid you’ll be well aware of just how much suffering has been unleashed upon Earth.”
    He waited a moment, as if to allow what he’d just told Azrael to sink in, and then he continued, like a steam train on a one-way track to Hell.
    “As for miss Sophie Bryce and the other archesses? What will happen with them? Are you willing to take the chance that when the Culmination was decreed, their well-being was considered? Has the Old Man ever seemed that benevolent a ruler? Has he ever treated the sexes with what you think of as fairness? Think of what he did to Lilith all those years ago…. Women and what they desire, whether that would be autonomy or freedom from oppression, or even the right to remain with the one they love, have never really been his main concern, have they?”
    Nearby, a foghorn blew, and a fat white cat of fog that had been waiting on the water in the distance began to roll in. The wind changed directions. And the blood in Azrael’s mouth tasted like metal.
    “So do yourself a favor, Az. Whatever your opinion of me might be, at least consider what I have told you. You know it in your heart to be true, and Samael will stop at nothing to attain his mate.” He shook his head. “Absolutely nothing.”
    A moment of silence stretched between them. Their gazes remained locked – fire and ice – and a flock of seagulls lifted from the end of a nearby pier, screaming into the night.
    “What do you have to gain by Samael’s failure?” Az asked. It was obvious Gregori cared nothing for Earth or its inhabitants. So, what was his motive in telling him all of this?
    “I have my reasons.”
    “Revenge.” Az could feel the emotion, and the need for its fruition, like a red tide, rolling off Gregori just like the incoming fog.
    Gregori smiled. He nodded just once in respectful admittance. “Just so,” he said. “The truth is, the Old Man is not in the angel realm, Azrael.”
    Az frowned. What