Fate, my mind whispered. She could see my future better than Leanne did. I searched and searched, but all that came up were links to nonsense.
Lydia handed a book over my shoulder. “This you’ll find more helpful.”
“Thanks,” I muttered.
The Book of Forgotten Names, Vol. XXVII
BOOM!
The broken doors shook again, and I funneled a bit more of my power to them.
The book was thin and clothbound, the color a washed-out black. I thumbed through the yellow pages and skimmed the table of contents for what I was looking for.
There it was, third chapter. Asiri.
I flipped to it and read the first paragraph: Asiri was an ancient Egyptian name for Osiris, the god of the Underworld. Aside from his proper name, the god was also referred to as “Lord of Love,” “He Who is Permanently Benign and Youthful,” and “Lord of Silence.”
I reared back from the text. “‘Lord of Love’?”
“That is why I remain undecided,” Lydia said quietly.
I glanced up at her.
“There once was virtuousness in him. Apparently, there still is. That he shared this name with you is a good sign. Every time you invoke it, you lend it power, restorative power.”
“What are you getting at?” I tightly clenched the book. Two sentences was all it took to unbalance me completely.
“Even gods are malleable. Bad to good, good to bad, they strengthen and weaken based on our belief in them. And,” she cupped my chin, “your belief in him is especially important because he will rise or fall to it.”
Just like what Morta said all those weeks ago.
I held her gaze for several seconds. “You mean he really is capable of good?”
“Yes.”
“And what happens if he … changes?”
“That is what the world is holding its breath to find out. ‘The future is yours to claim.’”
Chapter 13
Gabrielle
I was so, so troubled.
Leaving a monster, that was one thing, but leaving a being so capable of good he was once considered the Lord of Love? And I might have the power to coax that love out of him?
I’d seen hints of this side of him, I just hadn’t trusted them. Should I trust them now? What would it mean for the world to have a god like Osiris reigning hell?
I ran a hand through my hair and drew in a shuddering breath. I pushed all thoughts of him away as I dropped my spell and the broken doors of Peel’s library collapsed.
Outside, supernaturals were losing their ever-loving shit.
Someone had released the professors I’d pinned to the earth, and since I’d visited Decima, the number of men and women waiting for me had tripled.
Helicopters hovered overhead, circling and circling, their search lights directed on the school’s lawn. The patrol cars and tanks had returned. The Politia was back. Apparently they were gluttons for punishment.
Gingerly, I stepped over the splintered wood.
A spell slammed into me, knocking me back into the doorframe. Another followed on its heels, and another. My eyes fluttered at the onslaughts, and I gripped the doorframe until wood splinted.
I could taste magic in my mouth, bitter and acrid, and feel it sizzle against my skin. They’d upped their game this time, adding spells against me.
I was going down. They’d finally found a way to incapacitate me. I drew in a raspy breath when something changed.
Like flipping a switch, the pain that assaulted my body turned into a current, and the current became power. I clenched my jaw as I pushed myself up, ignoring the sharp burn I felt on the pads of my fingers when I cut myself on a jagged edge of the debris.
Surge after surge of power flowed through me, each one headier than the last. I glared at the swarm of supernaturals pitted against me. They backed up as I stood, some lifting their hands threateningly and others tightening their grips on their weapons.
Spells continued to smash into me, and I braced myself against the force of each. My body greedily sucked up the pain, fueling my power. They were strengthening me. I didn’t understand how or why I could now do this, but I did know that this was decidedly bad for my enemies.
I steadied my breathing and focused on the silence inside myself. All those faces staring back at me, twisted with hate and fear. And beyond them, the faces of students who peered through their dorm windows, watching with horror and curiosity. I wanted to end each and every one of their lives.
I dug deeper within myself, beyond the seductive power that whispered into my ear.
Remember who you are. Hate would never end hate.
My power continued to build inside my veins, and it felt like I was sinking deeper and deeper, the pressure pushing me in from all sides.
Break the cycle.
Closing my eyes, I listened to the air moving in and out of my lungs. I didn’t want them to die. I just wanted to end this.
Inhale.
The power was going to crush me.
Exhale.
Like a damn breaking, it flowed out of me. That howling wind that consumed me back in hell now blew past me, knocking supernaturals over like dominos.
“You will not harm me,” I commanded. My voice projected over the wind, and guns and bare hands lowered. “Now, you will sleep, and you will not wake up for another hour. And once you do, you will realize that I didn’t harm you when I could’ve.”
One by one, their bodies swayed as their eyes closed. Knees crumpled and bodies collapsed onto the soft grass of Peel Academy’s lawn.
I sauntered past them, making a point not to rush. Deep inside the buildings, I could hear students running down the halls, descending down stairs. Probably eager to avenge the adults that protected them.
I waved my hand and barred the doors and windows. I hadn’t put dozens of supernaturals to sleep only to face another wave of them.
Behind me, I heard the flap of wings. I’d forgotten all about cutting myself. While I’d been distracted, another demon had taken form.
I turned in time to see it rocket into the sky and head straight for one of the prone supernaturals.
“No,” I commanded, my skin flaring. “They are not to be harmed.”
He hovered in the air. “Everyone not with us is to be harmed,” the creature said, speaking in Demonic.
“If you lay a hand on them, I will kill you and send you back to hell.”
“I take my orders from the Boss,” the demon said, his voice unnaturally low and gravelly. He resumed flying towards the sleeping supernaturals.
Now I did allow myself to relish my fury.
I threw a short burst of energy out. It slammed into him, knocking him off course. Bending down to the nearest officer, I picked up the man’s gun, belatedly noticing the blond hair. I caught sight of the smooth expanse of cheek peeking out beneath the familiar mop of hair.
Oh, Caleb …
We both made our beds, and now we had to lie in them.
The gun that Caleb had trained on me I now trained on the demon. “Last chance,” I warned.
“Fuck off,” the creature said, not scared in the slightest.
He should be.
I aimed and pulled the trigger, and I didn’t stop firing until I’d emptied the entire clip into him.
He screeched, stumbling first to his knees and then to his stomach. I headed over to him, picking up an abandoned knife along the way.
I stood over him, watching him choke on his own fluids.
His spit black blood at my feet. “The Boss won’t be pleased that you stopped me,” he said.
“He won’t be pleased that you didn’t listen to my order.”
The demon gave a thick, choked laugh. “You’re just his consort. Once he gets what he wants from you, he’ll cast you aside. Then you will be at our mercy.”
My tenuous hold on my anger slipped. Quick as lightning, I stepped behind him, grabbed his head, and dragged the knife across his neck.
&n
bsp; I released him and stood up, a grimace on my face. His body turned to smoke and ash, the black blood evaporating away.
“You have made enemies of the minor demons.” Decima’s voice came from far behind me. She stood outside the door the library. “It was kind of you to spare the supernaturals. Kind, and telling. The demons know you are rebelling against your nature. I fear this does not bode well. Not at all.”
Chapter 14
Gabrielle
I left Peel Academy, unnerved by Decima’s final warning.
It shouldn’t have surprised me that a taxi idled a little ways outside the school grounds. Leanne had likely coordinated this too. I walked up to it, and sure enough, the window rolled down and the taxi driver asked, “You the girl that called for a ride to Douglas?”
I nodded.
He eyed my dress and bare feet. He shook his head and said, “Get in.”
Half an hour later he pulled up to Jericho’s Emporium. I got out, realizing then that I didn’t have money to pay for the fare or the driver’s tip. But as soon as I slammed the passenger side door shut, the taxi took off.
I guess Leanne had paid for it too. I’d need to thank her when I saw her next.
The streets of Douglas were utterly abandoned. It was late at night, but in the past there’d always been people milling about. I eyed the streets nervously before I realized that I was the most dangerous thing out here.
I walked up to the store both excited and nervous about what came next. Jericho would have more answers for me, but that was not the only reason I was here. Over fifteen years ago my mother had bought me my salvation in the form of a quill, and she paid for it with her life. I was finally here to collect.
But as soon as my hand curled around the doorknob, power blasted me back. I flew through the air. My teeth clicked together painfully when I crashed into the street. My body skidded along the rough asphalt, tearing open skin like tissue paper. Blood seeped onto the ground, and I heard the telltale sizzle of it burning. In a few short seconds a demon would rise from the ground, a demon who’d know exactly where I was.
If these creatures knew who and what Jericho was, then celestial quill or no, the devil would figure out what I was up to.
I’d need to kill the creatures, but if I did so, it would still look suspicious.
Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.
Just damned. Period.
This needed to be fast. I turned my attention back to the building. Now that I stopped to really pay attention, I could sense the enchantments. The place was steeped with them. I probed them with my power only to be met with ironclad resistance. Unlike the Politia and Peel Academy, these weren’t the kind my magic could break.
“Jericho!” I shouted. “Let me in!”
Nothing stirred. I couldn’t sense the man even now. Perhaps he legitimately wasn’t there. I still needed that quill.
Consort, what are you doing here?
Well, crap.
I could hear the beat of wings in the distance.
What. Are. You. Doing. Here?
I ignored the voice. I didn’t dare think about my plans.
Jericho is the enemy.
So he did know who and what Jericho was, and he knew that he owned this shop.
He’s your enemy, I clarified.
That was the wrong answer, he said ominously, his voice curling itself around me.
I realized then that he hadn’t known that I was here seeking out Jericho’s help. I could’ve been here to destroy him.
But now the devil knew that wasn’t the case.
Double crap.
The wingbeats sounded closer. I glanced above me.
A mistake.
Three demons descended from the sky, heading right for yours truly. Another had just finished forming where I’d last spilled blood.
I turned back to the building. “Jericho!” I shouted. “Let me in!”
Nothing.
“Jericho!” I came all this way, and he wasn’t even here.
Me and my terrible luck.
The demons grabbed me then, their claws digging into my skin. I threw my power out, knocking them off.
Four demons coming for me not even a minute after I spoke with the devil? That wasn’t a coincidence. This was the devil’s doing.
The four regrouped and began circling me. Before I could so much as devise a strategy to take them out, I heard the slick sound of swords unsheathing.
I rotated just as the demon at my back shrieked. Twin blades glinted in the moonlight. Then they were gone, and the demon’s body slid apart. A second later it dissolved completely.
I’d barely made sense of this first death when I heard the growls and shrieks of the others. Their attacker’s form was a blur, but I didn’t need to make out his shape to know just who it was.
The last of the demons melted away to smoke, and behind them Andre stood, breathing heavily.
He lowered his swords to his sides. “Soulmate,” he said, “I’m fine chasing you, but you have to let me catch you a time or two.” He said this all playfully enough, but the hardness in his eyes told a different story.
“How did you find me?” I asked.
Shit, shit, shit.
He shouldn’t be here, and I shouldn’t be talking with him. Dangerous enough to be two-timing the devil. But to be near him at all after the devil’s warning …
In one smooth movement Andre slid his swords back into their sheaths. “Leanne told me you’d be here.” He sauntered forward. “She also told me you were avoiding me.”
That narc.
“Are you, soulmate?” He peered down at me.
I couldn’t lie to him. “Yes,” I said softly, the word catching in my throat.
“Christo.” He looked away, running an agitated hand through his hair. “Why?” he asked, glancing back at me. He tried to mask the hurt in his voice, and had we not once shared a bond, I might’ve missed it. But I knew him almost as well as he knew himself. Andre was having a rare moment of insecurity.
My throat worked. It took several seconds to gain control of my emotions enough to speak. “Because the devil threatened to kill you.”
Andre’s eyes softened. “Soulmate, he does not have the power to do so himself, and no creature on this planet has both the balls and the ability to face me down.”
He came forward, and I backed up. At the action, he frowned. It wasn’t often that I moved away from him.
The softness fled from his eyes, and something hard and scary entered them. Something a whole lot like determination.
“You insist on protecting me, but you won’t let me protect you,” I said.
“This is not protecting me,” he said, indicating the space between us. “This is destroying us from the inside out. You think you do me any favors by staying away?” he asked, his voice dropping dangerously low.
“Of course I do.”
“No, my love,” he shook his head. “You’re putting distance and apathy between us.”
“Andre, I need to protect you while I try to get myself out of this situation. And if I can’t …”
“If you can’t, then you’re planning on resigning yourself to an eternity by the devil’s side instead of mine,” he answered for me.
Had that been my plan?
He nodded to himself. “I suppose you think that I’m going to be hurt enough to leave you here alone with your guilt and despair.”
“Stop it,” I whispered. He knew me too well.
He took a step closer, our chests brushing, and cupped the side of my face. “I am not some fair weather lover,” he said. “You gave me your body, and you gave me your heart.” His eyes gleamed as he spoke, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say he was trying to captivate me.
“What’s more,” he tipped up my head. “I gave you mine.”
He shook me gently. “We do this, over and over and over. You push me away when you need me the most. You fight my overprotectiveness—and I get that it’s an issue. I’m worki
ng on it.” He flashed me a rueful smile. “But this cycle? It ends tonight. Right now. This time, you and I are going to do things differently.”
“But the devil—”
“The devil has wanted my soul and all those connected to me for a very long time, and I’m still here. He’s had seven hundred years to claim it, yet he hasn’t. Don’t be fooled by any pretty lies he’s spun, soulmate.”
Damnit, he had a point.
“The worst has already happened,” he continued. “You’re trapped in hell for half of every day, and it’s breaking you.”
I opened my mouth, but he spoke over me.
“It is,” he said. “I can see it on your face, I watched it play out on the news, I can hear it in your voice, I can even smell it in your lies and your guilt. The person we need to worry about most is you.”
He took my hands in his. “Now, this is what’s going to happen: You are going to stop running from me and stop protecting me. You’re going to yell at me when I infuriate you and I’m going to rage. And then we’re going to make up and continue on because that’s what soulmates do. We’re going to figure this out together. And so long as you love me, you are going to greedily—selfishly—accept my love. Even if that means putting me in the devil’s line of fire.”
I pinched my eyes shut. I wanted to protect him—desperately so. But I was also trying to protect my heart from something so powerful that if I lost it, I might never recover.
Before I could object, his lips were on mine.
It wasn’t a question whether or not I was going to kiss him back. My mouth moved against his, and he pulled me against him, clutching me tightly. I almost cried out my relief. I had resigned myself to not having him so long as I was the devil’s, and I’d felt the ache of his absence every hour since.
Clearly our bond wasn’t everything; it hadn’t stopped either of us from trying to protect the other. My bones ached from his absence inside of me. Having him at my side was a close alternative.
“I’m not giving you up, soulmate,” he said when the kiss ended. He still held me in his arms. “I will never give up on you. I’m just hoping that one of these days you’ll realize that I am more stubborn than you are.”
The Damned (The Unearthly Book 5) Page 12
