The Angel's Vow: A New Adult Urban Fantasy Series (Bloodcaster Chronicles Book 2)

by R. L. Perez

  My jaw went rigid. I said nothing.

  “When Quentin was only a warlock, he wasn’t a threat to the timeline,” Hector went on, drawing closer to me. “He was merely another pawn in the grand scheme of things. But now . . . it’s different.”

  The light within me resonated with his words. He was right. I’d time traveled to the Demon War myself. I hadn’t been able to change anything. Not even my mother’s disappearance.

  It had been a fixed event.

  Hector and I stared at each other, completely silent. Magic flowed between us as if we were simply conduits for the timeline. And though I wanted to remember this man was a murderer and a tyrant, the powerful presence within me recognized him as a kindred spirit. It was undeniable. So intense that I gasped for breath and tears pricked my eyes. The stunning realization of who I was and what I could do coursed through me like a strong current.

  “You know, don’t you?” Hector’s voice was solemn.

  I didn’t need to ask what he meant—the Call. I knew about the Call.

  I nodded. A tear rolled down my cheek, and I sniffed. “Yes.”

  “So, what will you do?”

  I swallowed. Perhaps this was my way out. This was how I could help my friends and family.

  I wouldn’t be helpless any longer.

  With a deep breath, I said to Hector, “Tell me about the Timekeepers.”

  Hector watched me for a long moment. Something unreadable stirred in his eyes. As I stared at him, I realized it looked an awful lot like . . . regret.

  Before I could make sense of it, he asked, “Are you sure? The path to a Timekeeper is brutal.”

  I paused. I’d regretted my choice to become a Reaper. If I made another big choice like that, I had to be absolutely sure. “Can I keep this safe?” I gestured at the amulet around my neck. I’d given up everything for this task. I couldn’t abandon it just because I was feeling useless.

  Hector nodded. “Becoming a Timekeeper will give you immense power. Enough power for you to absorb that magic without a second thought.” His eyes dropped to the amulet and then lifted to meet mine. “No one can take the magic from you once you claim it. It must be offered freely.”

  My insides froze as I processed his words. If I became a Timekeeper, I could use the Reaper magic—without the risk of Quentin stealing it. And when it was all over, I could just give it back to the Reapers and be done with it.

  It seemed too good to be true. My brow furrowed, but before I could say anything, Hector spoke.

  “There is a price,” he said, his voice grave. “Nothing comes for free, Vince.”

  I licked my lips, trying to steady my racing heart. “What’s the price?”

  Hector’s eyes tightened, and he said nothing.

  My heart sank. “Can’t you answer my questions before I decide?”

  He shook his head. “No. The secrets of the Timekeepers are sacred. Once you open that door, you can’t go back.” Anguish filled his face, so raw and fierce that it made my heart lurch. I’d never seen him look like that before. “I didn’t have a choice. Once I was marked, I was thrust onto this path. There was no mercy for me.”

  Though the words weren’t vengeful or angry, I still flinched. It was my fault. I’d taken that choice away from him. Hector hadn’t asked to become a Timekeeper. But when the timeline came to life inside him, he’d had to respond. It had taken over his brain.

  I clenched my fingers into fists and focused on my breathing. The timeline churned inside me, gaining momentum. Like it could sense it was so close to what it wanted.

  I’d known for a while. I’d known there was something inside me, calling to me, keeping me on track. Something that preserved the laws of time, even before I understood why.

  My jaw ticked back and forth as I considered my options. I could wait here indefinitely with this burdensome magic. Once Luke returned, I was sure he would give me answers.

  But I would be stuck here. Possibly forever. I knew Quentin couldn’t be defeated easily.

  Would I just stand by and let my people die? Mom and Cora? Jocelyn?

  “Will it help me stop him?” I finally asked.

  Hector hesitated. “As I said before, it will grant you more power. And it will allow you to right the wrongs of the timeline. But you cannot change fixed events. If someone you love dies—if it is fixed—you can’t alter it.”

  Despair swelled within me at the thought of Cora or Mom dying and me being unable to stop it. But . . . even if I remained here, I wouldn’t be able to stop it, either.

  “If his power remains unchecked, he will tear apart the realms,” Hector said. “And that will threaten the timeline.”

  I swallowed. “But you defected. You went rogue. You aren’t with the Timekeepers anymore.”

  Hector cocked his head, frowning as he considered this. “Yes and no. I will always be a Timekeeper. Nothing will change that. But not all Timekeepers work together. Some are part of a collective organization, like my former superior. But others . . . act on their own. Once you pass the test, you are free to monitor the timeline as you see fit. The organization might not approve, but . . .” He trailed off with a shrug that told me he didn’t care.

  Something in my chest lifted at his words. Free. As you see fit.

  I’d never had freedom like that before.

  I could operate on my own. Apart from the expectations of anyone else except the power thriving inside me.

  The timeline had already been activated. Whether I liked it or not, it was a part of me. Even if I didn’t become a Timekeeper, that wouldn’t change.

  I lifted my chin. I knew what I wanted to do, but I waited a full minute before speaking. Waited for some instinct within me to stop me. To shout that this was wrong.

  Nothing happened.

  Resolve filled me. “I’ll do it.”

  To my surprise, that same brutal regret struck Hector’s face. He looked at me sadly as if I’d just accepted a death sentence. His voice grim, he said, “Very well.”

  My skin prickled. My heart dropped like a stone as if knowing something terrible was about to happen.

  Then, a force struck my face, carving through my flesh. A bright light consumed me. The pain multiplied as if my head were splitting in two. My face was on fire. The agony tore through me, striking me again and again.

  I screamed, and everything went dark.

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  Sneak Peek

  Cora

  The icy cold bit into my fingers, even as I shoved them into the pockets of my hoodie. The wind stung my eyes, and my face felt numb.

  But we hadn’t eaten in days. I had to venture out into the snowstorm to find us something or we would starve.

  I’d cast a spell around my body to protect myself from the elements, but my magic wasn’t as strong as it once was. It kept me grounded despite the billowing storm around me, but it didn’t do much against the cold.

  My fingers and toes felt like they were about to fall off.

  But the good news was most of the shops were closed, the owners tucked warm and safe in their homes. A perfect opportunity to steal some food.

  My steps were a hasty shuffle against the ice-slicked sidewalk. At long last, I reached the small market—an easier target since they likely didn’t have an alarm system. Not surprisingly, I was the only one outside, so I wouldn’t have to hide my magic. A quick burst of purple magic, and the lock on the door shattered. I strode inside, relishing the shelter from the cold. Sure, there wasn’t a heater running or anything. But at least it blocked the chill.

  I rubbed my hands together and surveyed the area. Shelves of canned goods surrounded me. Perfect.

  I grabbed a paper bag and started loading up on whatever would last. Instant meals, beans, rice, and canned produce. When my bag was full to the brim, I strode back outside to brave the storm.

  By the ti
me I got back to our hideout, my lungs burned and my bones rattled. My steps were disjointed, but luckily, Piper saw me right away and came to my aid. She scooped the bag out of my arms and shot me a grateful smile. “Good haul this time.”

  I barely managed a nod as I followed her inside the abandoned warehouse. We’d been here for a week. It was much nicer than the rusty old barn we’d been in last, but we’d need to find a new place soon.

  I collapsed on the pile of coats we used as pillows and shut my eyes for a moment to rest. Around me, the others rustled around, moaning with delight at the food I’d grabbed.

  “Nice work, Cora,” Finn said with a whoop.

  I said nothing. I was still waiting for the bitter cold to seep out of me. It felt like it had been infused into my bones.

  Soft footsteps approached. A sharp vinegar scent stung my nose. I didn’t need to open my eyes to know Dex stood in front of me.

  “Just give me a minute and then I’ll eat,” I said sleepily. “After that, you can feed from me.”

  Dex was a vampire. He couldn’t eat normal food. To keep him strong, I’d offered myself as a Donor. Part of what kept my body so weak, no doubt. But as coven leader, I could hardly ask any of the others to do it.

  It was my responsibility. It was my fault my coven had been reduced to ashes.

  The four of us were the only ones left.

  Dex sighed, and I opened my eyes to look up at him. His skin was more sallow than usual, and his expression was dejected.

  “What?” I asked.

  “How long will we keep going like this?” he asked, his voice a soft murmur.

  “Just another day or two. When the storm settles, we’ll find a new place.”

  “That’s not what I mean.” Dex hesitated. “I mean, how long will we keep running?”

  I clenched my teeth. To be honest, I didn’t know the answer to that. Until Quentin was dead? Until the Reapers finally responded to my distress call? Until Benny magically showed up?

  Until Vince came looking for me?

  But none of those things were certain. I couldn’t rely on slim possibilities anymore.

  “It’s been a month,” Dex went on. “We need to find a coven to join.”

  I shot him a sharp look. We’d discussed this when we first left Hinport. But Quentin had too many allies, and my magic was a dead giveaway. As soon as other demons saw my purple magic, they’d know I was different. And it wouldn’t take long for Quentin to track me down.

  “Give me a week,” I muttered in a low voice. Resignation and grief filled my chest. But I had no other choice. “If no one’s come to our aid in a week, I’ll go on my own. You all can join the coven in New York. They’ll keep you safe.” I thought of my rallying speech right after the battle we’d lost. I’d sworn to my friends we would one day take our city back and have our revenge.

  But we had no plan and no reinforcements. Right now, we were struggling to survive.

  Dex shook his head and crouched on the floor beside me. “We don’t want you to give yourself up, Cora.”

  “I’m the one with the target on my back,” I hissed. “The war was my fault. Quentin wants me. Without me, you three have the best chance of survival. You can stop starving day after day, waiting for me to steal scraps of food like a hobo.” Resentment stung my eyes, and I looked away from Dex. I’d thought my thieving days were over. Before I’d moved to Hinport, I’d been a starving orphan, struggling to survive by stealing off the street.

  Now, I was right back where I started. But I’d fallen so much harder. I’d been coven leader. A feared assassin. A powerful witch. I’d found love. A home. A family.

  That had all been ripped from me.

  “We stood with you in the war,” Dex said. “And we will continue to stand with you.”

  My throat felt hot. “Please let me do this for you,” I whispered, still avoiding his gaze. I knew if I looked at him, I would cry. “It’s the last thing I can do to keep my people safe. Please, Dex.”

  I felt him watching me, and I finally looked up. His red eyes gleamed with sorrow and understanding. He knew how much the death of my people weighed on me. How much that would torment him.

  It was so much worse than turning myself over to Quentin. The raw guilt, the anguish of loss . . . It was all so heavy that sometimes I couldn’t breathe.

  “If it’s truly what you want,” he said softly, “then I will let you go. But . . . I can’t speak for everyone.” His eyes flicked to Piper, who stood only a few feet away. She watched us, her dark eyes narrowing with suspicion.

  Something deflated in my chest. I had no doubt Finn would abandon me in a heartbeat to save his own neck. The only reason he hadn’t already was because he was stronger with three allies on his side. But Piper? We were half-sisters. She felt as responsible for Quentin as I did.

  She wouldn’t let me go off on my own.

  “One week,” I repeated to Dex, who nodded before shuffling away. I felt Piper’s eyes on me, so I reluctantly rose to my feet and sifted through the food bag, eager to avoid a confrontation with her.

  I only postponed the inevitable, though. After eating a can of ravioli and letting Dex drink from me, I sleepily curled up, using my coat as a pillow, when Piper approached. Suppressing a groan, I straightened to face her. I still felt lightheaded from Dex’s feeding. He never took very much from me, since I refused to drink vampire blood in exchange. Ordinarily, Donors drank afterward to restore their strength. Even so, the loss of blood and the numbing sensation of his venom made my head feel foggy.

  “You’re going to run, aren’t you?” Piper asked, dropping to the floor beside me.

  I sighed. “Run where?” But we both knew I understood her meaning.

  “You can’t, Cora.”

  “We can’t go on like this forever.” I couldn’t keep the bite out of my voice.

  “If you give yourself up to him, then what? You think he backs off?” Piper shook her head, her expression souring. “He won’t stop until he controls the entire magical world. We will never be safe with him alive.”

  “You lasted your whole life,” I snapped, then immediately regretted my words.

  Piper’s head reared back. Her eyes stirred with darkness and torment. I inwardly cursed myself for dredging up those awful memories.

  “I wouldn’t have wished my life on anyone,” she said in a trembling voice. Her eyes burned with fury. “He manipulated me. Used me. Forced me to do . . . unspeakable things in order to survive.” She shuddered.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

  “It’s fine. I knew what you meant. But Cora, that was different. He was just getting started. If he’d had the same power back then that he has now, I would’ve been in worse trouble. I was lucky because growing up, he was just biding his time. Collecting more and more magic. Now that he’s made his move, he won’t stop until he’s finished.”

  “What exactly does he want?” I asked in a hushed voice. “More power, obviously. But for what?”

  Piper swallowed hard and dropped his gaze. “I think . . . he wants to enslave other casters.”

  Bile crept up my throat. “What?” I gasped in horror.

  “I’m not completely sure, but . . . I remember he once experimented on a few witches using some mind-control elixir. It never worked. But those few failures really rattled him. I avoided him for days after that, worried he would take it out on me.”

  My whole body felt numb. Mind control? I remembered what Piper had told me before—that Quentin had targeted Second Tier Thinkers, or Telepaths. I’d assumed it was because they posed the only threat to his power. The only magic he couldn’t replicate.

  Perhaps it was more than just eliminating a threat, though. Perhaps he’d experimented on these Thinkers, trying to access a specific ability. When it hadn’t worked, he’d cut his losses.

  I glanced around the warehouse, looking from Finn, who snored loudly on the floor, to Dex, who rested his head against the wall across from us. What w
as happening in Hinport right now? Had Quentin already succeeded in enslaving the other demons? What if our tiny band of rebels was Hinport’s only hope?

  And we’d fled . . . leaving those demons at the mercy of Quentin.

  I was no coward. And yet I’d bolted from a fight. I’d never done that before.

  Agony flared in my head, and I closed my eyes, wishing things were different. That Vince were here. That I had more allies.

  A burst of red light filled the warehouse, momentarily blinding me. In an instant, Piper and I were on our feet. Finn yelped and jerked awake, and Dex jumped up as well. My daggers were in my hands, my teeth clenched as I prepared myself for a fight. But as the red glow intensified, revealing a figure, my heart lurched in my throat.

  Red magic was Reaper magic. Could it be . . .?

  Before I could get my hopes up, the figure materialized. The first thing I noticed was that it was a woman. And my heart sank.

  Then, as I made out her features, I staggered backward in shock.

  Standing before me, her black wings stretched wide and her face hard with determination, was Vince’s mother.

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  Acknowledgments

  A huge thank you to all my readers! Thank you for being part of the adventure. I am monumentally grateful for your support and encouragement. Thank you for loving these characters as much as I do!

  A huge thank you to my beta readers: Tori, Ria, Kari, Melanie, Melissa, and Jenni. Thank you for your kind and helpful comments and the time you took out of your busy lives to help me. Your critiques have made me a better writer and have shaped these stories into the best they can be!

  I’m so grateful for my fabulous ARC readers! Devika, Diane, Melinda, Tammy, Nicolina, Ana, Becky, Beba, Jeanine, Leila, Alwin, Dapoet, Erica, Darian, Kirstey, Pamela, Melissa, Scarolet, Robin, Krystal, Lane, Mary, Sarah, Jenny, Samantha, Beth, Anmarie, Allison, Gaby, Charly, Chad, Mel, Darcy, Kristin, Courtney, Kiranna, Alexander, Mary, Brittany, Missy Eybs, Kiandra, Lisa, Bianca, Malischa, Freya, and all my friends on TikTok and Instagram who promoted the book - thank you for always being so eager to read my books, and for your kind reviews. You guys are awesome!