“Just him. I see any of the other warriors here, Jenna dies.”
He held her cell phone next to her ear. Dagan had given her all the warriors’ numbers the night they’d gone to trap Luka. The call was answered on the first ring. “Shae?”
“M-Michael?” her voice cracked.
“Where are you?” His tone was quiet, reassuring. But she had so little hope left. Even her stupid abilities had deserted her.
“At my old home…you have to come alone, or he’ll kill my mother.”
“I will. Where is it?”
She gave him the address. Then Samael snatched the cell away. “Good girl. Now we wait.”
Shae barely heard him, her burning gaze fixed on her mother shuddering on the damp ground. She didn’t want to think of what she must have endured for six months at the hands of this coldhearted bastard—couldn’t bear it—and she broke.
An agonized cry tore free. The heat inside her exploded. Her shields crashed. The cuffs snapped from her wrists and fell to the ground with a clinking of metal.
Caught in a cyclone of power, Shae leaped up. Her obsidian dagger taking form in her hand, she pivoted and slashed the demon closest to her across the throat. His head fell to the ground and rolled away to the jittery demon horde standing on the fringes of the yard.
Several of the scourges rushed her. A cacophony of sounds erupted as she dodged and ducked between them, evading attacks, leaping up and slicing. Blood gushed as heads rolled, bodies piling…
With a shudder, Shae came into herself, breathing hard. She stood alone in the violent, blood-drenched grounds. Red sprayed her clothes, her skin sticky with gore, her hair stuck to her face. The bodies had all disappeared, leaving only the grisly front yard behind.
Samael sighed, an expression of utter delight on his face. “Oh, my dear, you’ve been keeping secrets. You are a weapon of beauty.”
She flung out her hands. Power sizzled out of her fingers like lightning, striking Samael in the chest. He lurched back a step. His face twisted into a terrifying, hollowed-out skeleton, then smoothed back again into the lean features of her uncle. “Utterly perfect. Now shield that power and come to me, dear girl…” he coaxed softly, holding out his hand.
Her heart shuddered in pain. No, he’s not real.
“Come, Shae. You know me. We’ve spent so many years together. You know I won’t hurt you.” His mind stroked hers, calming, soothing.
Her powers eased, receding back into her body. Her thoughts a smoky haze, she stumbled closer. “Uncle Lem?”
“Yes, child.” He grasped her wrist, his thumb stroking her skin.
She looked down at her hands. Lem would never use this compelling voice on her. Never do this. With a desperate tug, she tried to break free, her fingers squeezing her dagger. “No, you’re not my uncle.”
Laughing, he held her with terrifying ease. “You cannot kill me with any weapon, Shae, because we are one. Six months ago, I bound you to me when I realized you’d begun to drift away after the incident with your mama. I couldn’t have that.”
“What did you do to me, you rotten heap of angel shit?”
His features morphed back to the chillingly handsome visage of Samael. “Dextrose, dear Shae. It was so easy to get you to eat it for your little health problem.”
“You poisoned it!”
“It’s been spelled, I’m afraid. Just a little precaution I had to take with you always going off somewhere for that silly job of yours. It keeps our binding nice and strong. You were always such a good little girl,” he crooned. “You took the candies every day.”
He let her go. Shae stared blankly at him. Her body still immobilized and held prisoner by his power, but her mind was hers again. Hatred and rage tore through her.
Samael strolled across the blood-drenched grass and stared down at her unconscious mother. “Pity. I didn’t like hurting her. She’s a fighter, like you. Aza needed his little mating mark to keep track of you, but I always knew where you were.” He frowned, looked around. “Where is he?” Then he shook his head. “No matter. He’ll be back for you.”
Samael glanced back. “Do you know why he wants you? It’s because you were a little psychic. He likes the extreme in his sexual encounters—sex with near asphyxiation. Before his usual place, Club Illudo, burned down a year ago, he killed several human women in his quest for the perfect partner. Being who you are, you’d probably survive suffocation. So you see, my dear, why I’m better?”
Havta kill him—havta!
“Ah, finally. The esteemed archangel himself has arrived.”
Michael appeared in a shower of silvery sparks. Those fractured blue eyes swept over Shae and her mother in a swift glide. “Let them go, Samael.”
“Why?” Power hissed out of his palm, hitting Michael straight in the chest, sending him a step back. “You want to save them, then I want something from you. Since you did this to me when you first tried to remove my wings, you will mend me! I know you’ve been gifted with the power of healing by your ancient goddess, Gaia. Perform that task, and you can have them once I leave.”
“You can’t run from justice. Release them,” Michael said, tone calm.
“Justice?” Samael rumbled. “Amazing, archangel, how you continue to serve Him, hunting runaway angels even though you can no longer call the Celestial Realm home.”
Michael’s mouth tightened. “Release them. Now.”
“Your word, archangel?”
A long silence. “Very well.”
Samael narrowed his eyes. “Try anything, and Jenna dies. Shae will remain permanently frozen, like a statue, for the long life she’ll have as a nephilim.”
Nooo. Shae pushed and clawed at the psychic hold Samael had over her.
Samael turned and waited. Shae gaped. Through his shredded white shirt hanging loosely on him where his wings had shot out, red streaks marred the pristine feathers near the base of his left shoulder. The wings were bloodied and slowly disintegrating—they were dying. The plumage close to his skin had almost blackened. Dark, vein-like threads spread over his skin.
A silvery-white healing light left Michael’s hands, coalescing on the damaged extremities. The once deformed wings slowly mended, becoming strong and healthy again.
Samael inhaled a deep breath of relief. Then he stepped back and smiled. “You should never have come after me, knowing what I was created to do. Soon, with a psionic and a nephilim bound to me, I’ll have everything.”
“I’m well aware of what you are…Death.” Michael retied his loosened hair. “Once you are no longer, a new angel will assume the position.” His hand flashed out. A sudden explosion of power, and a blinding light streamed across the night. Shae couldn’t see for several seconds. Samael’s snarl ricocheted through the air, his hold on her loosening. In the distance, swords clanged.
Shae lurched toward her mother. Out of nowhere, Aza appeared, clutching her upper arm. Before he could flash them away, Samael blasted him clear across the yard with a wave of his hand and grabbed Shae around her waist. No!
She tried to latch onto his abilities, drain him, but she hit a wall. His mind guards were too strong, like reinforced armor. A strange heat seeped into her, spiraling through her body…not hers. Frantically, she tried to teleport, but his power was too intense, overwhelming hers. At Samael’s feral expression of delight, understanding pounded through her. He kept her here…he wanted her to kill again.
She coughed, pain ripping through her insides, struggling to hold onto her own splintering shields.
“Go on, Shae, let that beautiful power out. End him. He doesn’t deserve to live,” Samael murmured. “Michael was the one who killed those unfallen angels who mated humans, as well as their offspring…”
Shae shook her head as Michael fought an invisible barrier to get to them.
“He killed your father, too,” a whisper in her ear.
“Nooo!”
“Yesssss.”
The storm inside her gathered force, spi
king higher and higher. She would kill him. Kill them all—
With a blast of her mind, Michael flew through the air, a fiery power haze surrounding him.
“Good girl. Now the others, starting with him.”
Her gaze followed to where Samael pointed. Amidst the rioting demons, under the silvery moon, she saw him.
She angled her head. Her powers churning like a geyser inside her and sparking in her palms, she stared silently as a demon charged him. The tall warrior whipped around, his long hair flying about him then he stumbled. More surrounded him, swords raised.
A blood-curdling scream left her. She threw out her hands, a bolt of power escaped, torpedoing straight to him. He flew back, crashing through the demons, toppling them like dominoes.
“Good girl,” Samael crooned.
Chapter 28
What the hell? The power ensnaring Dagan in the alley finally released him, dumping him in a…warzone?
Grunts and screeches filled the night air. He spun around in the chaos. The looming mountains were a short distance off, so somewhere in the Catskills—there was a farmhouse on the other side of the riot.
His mystical tattoo shifted on his bicep, demanding release at the absolute evil surrounding him, but a hilt already rested in his fingers.
His obsidian? What the fuck? He could no longer summon the weapon, which meant…
His heart careened to his throat. Only when she was in absolute danger would the dagger summon him. She was here!
Frantically, he searched the crowd, feeling as if a huge hand were crushing his chest. Shae, he telepathed in a yell, answer me, dammit!
A demon charged him, and he stumbled. Several more circled him, closing in. They lunged, swords arching down as if he were that easy to defeat. Damn fuckers!
A scream tore through the chaos, wrenching his heart. Power slammed him in the sternum, sending him flying back, crashing into several demons. His breath rattled in his chest. And he knew.
Samael. The bastard was somehow controlling Shae.
Mindless with terror, he leaped to his feet. Inhaling harshly, his bruised lungs protesting violently at the action, he flung the demons out of his way with his mind. A path cleared, and he sprinted to the echo of Shae’s scream. There, in the center of the lawn, a fiery glow surrounded her and Samael, who had her in a deadlock. The rogue flung a bolt, and a sizzle of energy thrust Dagan back several steps.
Resist him—lock your mind, Shae, he telepathed to her, praying she could hear him now that he was here. Shut yourself off from him!
A moment passed, then her thin, agonized voice seeped into him. I’m so sorry… She shut her eyes.
“Let her go, Samael!” Michael wrestled through the power storm, trying to get to them.
Dagan cleaved his way to her, feeling as if he were wading through molasses, desperation eating at him. Hold on, baby, I’m going to get you out of this.
Her eyelids snapped open, an eerie, swirling gold eclipsing her gray irises. No, stay back, I don’t want to hurt you again. Her words echoed faintly inside his head.
You think I’m just gonna let you fucking die?
I-I can’t break free of him. Somehow, he bound us together… I’m sorry…
Fear corroding his gut, his heart in his mouth, he pushed through the storm. A strange surge of power shot out of him, startling Dagan, and like lightning, it rammed through the barrier surrounding Shae and the rogue, splintering it apart.
Dagan lunged forward into the thickened haze. Blistering heat scorched his clothes and his skin as he fought to free her from Samael, who smiled like a maniac. A white eddy of light swirled, coalescing into him—as if the bastard was depleting Shae of her very essence.
Did he think he could reap her powers? She would to drain him dry!
Suddenly, Samael’s eyes widened in confusion.
Yeah, the fucker got the message. Only his girl could steal another’s abilities.
Samael started grappling with Shae, trying frantically to free himself. His wings fluttered furiously, his entire being pitching like a flaming wave. The force of energy flung Dagan several meters away.
Pain didn’t deter him, he dashed forward, but Michael grabbed his arm. “Wait—”
“Fucking let go, Arc!” Dagan bared his fangs, close to ripping his leader’s throat out. But the bloody angel didn’t budge. Arms like bulldozers kept him nailed in place. His gaze shot back to Shae and the rogue, then all he could do was watch.
Samael’s feathers caught on fire, flames soaring in a hiss. His roar of pain reverberated like fragmenting glass. Shae held onto him as if in an embrace as his essence flowed into her in a stream of firefly sparks, encompassing them both in a bright light.
Michael let Dagan go, a small ebony disc appearing in his hand. He threw the ring up, and the thing broke apart over Shae and Samael. A net flew out, and as it fell over Samael, a golden light glimmered through the links as if securing him.
“What the hell is that?”
“An angel snare.”
As the flames died out, black bits of charred feathers floated about. The acrid smell of scorched hair hung heavy in the still night. At Samael’s back, only ghostly, skeletal spines remained, like macabre antlers, before they crumbled into ashes. Trapped in the net, Samael’s emaciated form collapsed to the ground in a tangled heap. Next to him, Shae swayed.
Dagan leaped and grabbed her around the waist. He lowered her to the blackened grass, holding her in his arms. The scorching heat emitting from her singed him. He barely noticed.
Her entire body glowed like the sun. Blood seeped from her nose.
Shae, go to the place inside you and lock your power down, bring your shields up, baby. C’mon—c’mon, do it!”
I…can’t. So…tired.
Yes, you can, he ground out in desperation.
“Let me.” Nik crouched. Dagan stared blankly at him. Only then did he become aware that the other warriors were there, too. The demons had been destroyed. Nik grabbed hold of both of Shae’s hands and let his power loose. Ice crystalized the very air around them as he infused his own freezing abilities into her, trying to cool her down. But the heat radiating off her just sizzled through, melting the ice, steam hissing into the night.
“Dammit!” Nik sat back on the grass, breathing hard. “I’m sorry, D-man. Whatever this is, my abilities can’t stop it.”
Dagan, help me—her cry a faint, anguished plea seeped through his mind. Her body shuddered as if convulsing. It hurts so much…I’m burning inside. Her obsidian dagger appeared, hovering between them. The yellow halo surrounding her body glowed even brighter. End it, please, I beg you…
Her words convulsed his heart like a power blast. I cannot, don’t ask me!
Michael grabbed the airborne obsidian blade and plunged the deadly dagger into Shae’s chest.
Her body jolted. Her mouth opened in a soundless cry.
“No!” Dagan slammed Michael aside with his mind and yanked the blade out, flinging it away. And watched in horror as her eyelids closed, her heaving chest slowed.
“Shae, no! Please!” he cried, willing his own life force into her.
Her body wavered, slipped his grasp, becoming luminous as she rose higher and higher…she was dying the way angels did.
Grief slid like a sword between his ribs, gouging out his shattering heart. His tortured cry rang out through the trees. And like a wounded animal, he dove for Michael, taking him down, a red haze saturating his thoughts. They both rolled on the ground. Curses erupted, hands tried to pull him off. With his mind, he flung them aside.
“Dammit, Dagan,” Michael grunted, trying to hold him off. “It had to be done—”
“It wasn’t your fucking choice to make!” His fist smashed into Michael abs. Bones cracked. He didn’t care the archangel wasn’t fighting back.
Michael growled. “Listen to me, you insane son of a bitch—” Dagan plowed his fist into the Arc’s face, cutting off his words. Blood flowed from his split lip.
“You took her away—took her away from me.” He punched Michael again, anguish tearing at his gut. “Didn’t…give…her…a…chance.” Each word accompanied another blow. “Only she made sense in this fucking messed up life of mine. Now she’s gone—”
Michael shoved him off with a bolt of power, sending him crashing into a tree. “It was so she can live again!”
“Bullshit!” Dagan snarled, leaping to his feet.
“She’s nephilim. It was the only way,” Michael rasped, pressing a hand to his ribs. “Think, man, think about it. You’re still standing here, aren’t you? Damn, your fucking fists should come with a warning sign!”
No, he was still standing because their fucking soul-joining was too weak.
“Shae!” Jenna’s voice broke through the deadness inside him. Dagan’s head snapped up. Shae’s body hovered several feet above them in the air. His heart lurched. She hadn’t gone up to the heavens yet?
Jenna broke free of Hedori’s grip. She darted past Dagan, her terrified gaze pinned on her daughter. He barely registered that the female was different, more responsive.
“I’m going to anchor her—bring her down.” Michael shot up into the air, reaching for Shae. A wave of power like an inferno exploded out of her, flinging him some distance away—the sheer heat burning the tops of the fir and oak trees nearby.
Her body encased in a white light, swallowed her whole, giving her a ghostly form. Shae’s eyes remained closed. Her head slumped to her chest, her hair floated about her in the swirling power as if she were underwater. Dagan leaped up, fighting through the heat wave singeing his skin and his hair and grabbed her. Another explosion of energy. He flew back, skidded across the ground, scoring the earth like a boulder crashing, jarring every bone in his body.
Dagan lay there, staring helplessly at the pulsing white sphere engulfing her, tears blurring his sight. Don’t leave me, Shae-cat. I cannot survive in a world without you.
Guardian Unraveled Page 32
