"What is that supposed to mean?" I said.

"That I can do you a great deal of good," she said. "I have the knowledge and memory of two thousand years of life upon this world, and infinite thousands outside it. I know many things that could be of use to you. I can advise you. Teach you secrets of your craft never known to mortalkind. Show you sights no human has ever seen. Share with you memory and image beyond anything you could imagine."

"By any chance does all of this knowledge and power and good advice come for only three easy installments of nineteen ninety-five plus shipping and handling?"

The fallen angel arched a golden brow at me.

"Or maybe it comes with a bonus set of knives tough enough to saw through a nail, yet still cut tomatoes like this."

She regarded me steadily and said, "You aren't nearly as funny as you think you are."

"I had to come up with some kind of response to your offer to corrupt and enslave me. Bad jokes seemed perfectly appropriate, because I can only assume that you've got to be kidding."

Lasciel pursed her lips, a thoughtful expression. It made me start thinking about how soft her mouth looked, for example. "Is that what you think I want? A slave?"

"I got a look at how you guys work," I said.

"You're referring to Ursiel's previous host, yes?"

"Yes. He was insane. Broken. I'm not eager to give it a whirl for myself."

Lasciel rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Ursiel is a mindless thug. He doesn't care what happens to the holder of his coin, provided he gets to taste blood as often as possible. I don't operate that way."

"Sure you don't."

She shrugged. "Your derision will not unmake the truth. Some of my kindred prefer domination in their relationships with mortals. The wiser among us, though, find a mutual partnership to be much more practical, and beneficial for both parties. You saw something of how Nicodemus functions with Anduriel, did you not?"

"No offense, but I would shove a sharpened length of rebar into one ear and out the other if I thought I was going to turn into anything like Nicodemus."

Her expression registered surprise. "Why?"

"Because he's a monster," I said.

Lasciel shook her head. "Perhaps from your perspective. But you know very little of him and his goals."

"I know he did his damnedest, literally, to kill me and two of my friends, and God knows how many innocent people with that plague. And he did kill another friend."

"What is your point?" Lasciel asked. She seemed genuinely confused.

"The point is that he crossed the line, and I'm never going to play on his team. He doesn't get understanding or sympathy anymore. Not from me. He's got payback coming."

"You wish to destroy him?"