Page 52 of Good Vampires Go to Heaven

None of that mattered. What did matter was the expression of barely suppressed fury on his handsome face. In fact, the glow . . . rather full-body halo . . . seemed to shimmer. His posture said relaxed, his demeanor said, “The you-know-what is going to fly.”

Zeb appeared to be stunned. In awe. As he should be. Regina wasn’t sure, but this might be the first time he’d ever met Michael, in person. No, he had to have met him a few years back when Michael offered Zeb a deal he couldn’t refuse: act as a double agent for fifty years and then maybe he’d let him become a vangel. Even if Zeb had met Michael before, being in the presence of an archangel was always . . . well, awesome.

He did not invite them to sit. Not a good sign, not that they’d been expecting happy greetings. Thus, the three of them just stood, edgy and nervous, the way Michael wanted them.

“You first, Vikar. A captain is responsible for a sinking ship.”

Does he consider this a sinking ship? Another bad sign.

“I blame you for this debacle, Vikar. For this sin, I give you a thousand more years as a vangel.”

Vikar’s eyes went wide, but he bowed his head and said, “As you say. And I apologize for not being a better leader.”

“As to that, I considered demoting you and raising another of the VIK to rule the vangels. But there is no time for that with all the evil that Jasper is stirring in the world. So, thou wilt remain as leader, but consider thyself on probation.”

“As you wish,” Vikar said, his face flushed with high emotion. Vikar was a prideful man, and Michael’s opinion of him had to cut deeply.

“Or I could send you back to the Norselands as a human to continue thy life as a ninth-century Viking and see if thou hast learned anything from all your vangel years. A second chance to correct your mistakes, in person. Like Cnut was given.” Last year, Cnut somehow traveled back in time to his old estate in the midst of a famine, and he was able to correct some of his earlier human sins. Not many people were given a chance for do-overs like that. In fact, none that she knew of, other than Cnut.

“But . . . but what about Alex and the children?” Vikar asked.

“They would stay here to live out their natural lives.”

Without hesitation, Vikar said, “I choose probation as leader of the VIK, provided I have the choice.”

Michael nodded.

But whoa, whoa, whoa, Regina thought. Vangel punishments usually ranged in the hundreds, never a thousand years. And that business about sending Vikar back in time, separating him from his family, that was harsh.

Regina and Zeb exchanged a quick look. This was not at all what they’d expected. Vikar taking the brunt of the blame? It didn’t seem fair, but as Michael always said, “Who says life must be fair.”

The “penance” levied against Vikar raised a whole lot of other questions, other than the injustice of him paying for her crime. Like:

—If Vikar got a thousand years, would she get two thousand? Or more? What if she got banished? Where did banished vangels go anyhow? It had never happened before.

—Would there still be vangels in a thousand, or two thousand years?

—If Michael dealt so harshly with Vikar, one of the good guys, how would he treat Zeb, a demon, whom she’d forced on him with her unauthorized rescue? And, holy clouds! Who knew he’d been a demon for so long?

—Should she step up and express her regret for her actions, sort of a preemptive defensive move? The only thing was, she wasn’t sorry, not for the end result.

“Regina Dorasdottir,” Michael called out then.

She jumped. He hadn’t shouted, but to her ears it sounded like he’d used a bullhorn.

“Your servant,” she said, bowing her head in deference.

She thought Michael made a scoffing sound. But then, he demanded, “What dost thou have to say for thyself, witch?”

Okay, addressing me as “witch” and not my name is another bad sign. “I saw a need, and felt that I could do the job.” That sounded arrogant even to her own ears.

“Didst think thou could do the job better than anyone else? Better than Vikar, for example?”

Vikar’s head shot up at that, and he glared at her.

“Not necessarily better. But no one else was stepping up.”

Vikar glared some more.