Dirty Angel (Sainted Sinners #1)

by Vivian Wood

  Between Rhys and Pere Mal were at least a dozen of Pere Mal’s men. Even as Rhys grappled with the closest dark-suited henchman, Pere Mal moved closer to Echo and positioned the dagger close to her neck, watching the Guardians with an expression of indolent curiosity.

  Rhys pulled his sword and dispatched two of Pere Mal’s men in less than a minute, growing distracted when Pere Mal sliced Echo’s hand with the ceremonial knife. Pere Mal let her blood drip onto the knife and flung some of it onto the mirror at their feet, leaning close to whisper something to her.

  Rhys grunted and lunged at another suited bad guy, watching as Echo shook her head, growing pale. Pere Mal pointed his wand directly at Rhys, giving Rhys just enough time to drop and roll, narrowly avoiding a nasty hex. The spell hit the henchman instead and the man crumpled to the ground, clawing at his throat and choking violently.

  “Echo, don’t give him what he wants!” Rhys said, scrambling to his feet. He tossed his sword at another man, catching him clean in the middle.

  Another approached with a gun, and Rhys crouched to shift into his bear form. Gabriel seemed to have had the same idea, because moments later there were two massive, raging bears in the clearing, and only four henchmen left. Two of Pere Mal’s guys turned and fled into the maze, so Rhys and Gabriel took down the other two.

  Behind them, Aeric pulled the dagger from its cloth bed and held it aloft, catching Pere Mal’s attention.

  “Where did you get that?” Pere Mal hissed, his shoulders hunching. He backed toward the maze’s exit, pointing his wand at Echo all the while. “I’ll kill her if you come any closer.”

  Rhys dropped back on his haunches and let out a deafening roar. No way was this bastard getting away. He jerked his head at Gabriel, who moved between Pere Mal and Echo, blocking the man’s ability to spell her.

  With that, Rhys and Aeric charged. Rhys lunged, trying to keep Pere Mal away from the exit and move him toward Aeric. Aeric edged forward, forcing their prey to choose between facing a deadly, spelled dagger and a very pissed off werebear. In the end, Pere Mal gave Rhys his back as he used his wand to fling a spell at Aeric.

  Aeric somehow used the dagger to deflect the spell, spinning it off into the maze. While he was distracted, Pere Mal turned for the exit. Rhys rushed him with a roar, catching him in a heartbeat.

  Just as Rhys was prepared to sink his jaws into Pere Mal’s flesh, Pere Mal surprised him by turning and moving toward Rhys. There was a flash of metal above Rhys’s head, and a sudden flood of pain.

  Rhys looked down to see that Pere Mal had driven the ceremonial dagger into Rhys’s chest. Rhys growled and swatted at Pere Mal. To his surprise, Pere Mal danced backward and avoided Rhys’s blow.

  Rhys was surprised again when he felt himself falter, his muscles trembling and locking up. He’d taken many wounds in his bear form, usually shaking them off without a problem. This time was different, though.

  The pain began to radiate through his chest and torso, then into his arms and legs. His muscles twitched and convulsed, his lungs contracted. His vision swam with bright spots, then flickered.

  It wasn’t until Rhys collapsed onto the ground that he understood.

  He was dying.

  15

  Chapter Fifteen

  Echo

  “Rhys, NO!”

  The scream ripped from Echo’s throat as Gabriel lumbered up to her in his bear form, using his sharp claws to cut away the ropes binding her wrists and chest. Echo saw Aeric vanish back into the maze, chasing Pere Mal.

  Gabriel began to shift back to his human form, startling Echo a bit with the violence of the change to his body. She ripped her gaze away as she ran to kneel beside Rhys, her heart in her throat as she saw the bloody wound on his furred chest.

  “Shit, shit, shit,” she whispered, groaning with effort as she rolled him over.

  “Here, let me help,” Gabriel said, appearing beside her. They managed to get Rhys’s bear turned onto his back.

  “Check his pulse,” Echo demanded, examining the gaping wound. Blood poured from the gash, but Echo could see that the bleeding was slowing already. She wasn’t sure if that meant that Rhys was dying or healing.

  “I can’t find it,” Gabriel muttered, cupping the bear’s head and searching along his jawline.

  “You’re one of them!” Echo snapped. “How do you not know?”

  “That’s not what I mean,” Gabriel said. “I mean he doesn’t have a fucking pulse.”

  Echo’s mouth went dry. She held out her shaking hands, lightly pressing them over Rhys’s wound. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on trying to heal him. The magic welled in her and tried to flow out, but it found nowhere to go. Usually it just sort of soaked into a wound, but now it wouldn’t work.

  “No no no,” Echo whispered, tears pricking her eyes. She tried again and again, but to no avail.

  “Echo,” Gabriel said, touching her arm.

  She opened her eyes at looked at him, only now realizing that tears streamed down her face. When she pulled her hands away from Rhys’s skin, his form rippled, shifting back from bear to human. Not a good sign, Echo was pretty sure.

  “Echo, I think… we’re just so close to the Veil, I think he’s crossed over already,” Gabriel said, looking grave. “Or he’s very close.”

  “Start CPR,” Echo said. “Just the chest compressions, okay?”

  Gabriel gave her a look.

  “I mean it,” Echo insisted. “And whatever you do, don’t touch me until I come back. Don’t let anybody touch me.”

  “Come back? Where are you going?” Gabriel asked, but Echo had already put him out of her mind.

  The Veil was indeed very close. She had been acutely aware of it the second she’d stepped into the bolt-hole, finding her way through the maze by letting the Veil draw her closer and closer.

  Closing her eyes, Echo opened her senses. The Veil was not a physical place, not a door to walk through or a bolt-hole to discover. In her mind, it felt like a big, cold wave of thick, damp air. She’d never interacted with it before, but she quickly realized that she would have to imagine herself engaging with the Veil. She would set the stage, and her will would be imposed.

  Echo pictured herself standing before a huge curtain made of glistening gold velvet. In her mind, she parted the curtain in the middle, squinting against the bright light that shone out at her. She swallowed and stepped through, feeling herself sort of suctioned in by the air.

  The spirit realm wanted her, drew at her, so she let it pull her in. In her mind, the other side of the curtain led into a dark, damp cavern. An icy stream trickled past her bare feet; only then did Echo realize that she was dressed in nothing but a few scraps of gauze. The spirit realm had stripped everything else away, even in her own mind.

  Peering into the dim tunnel ahead, Echo tried to make out the path ahead. She took a heavy step forward, gasping as the world darkened by a magnitude. The water at her feet rose by a foot, freezing her shins; it was no mere trickle here, but a swift-moving stream.

  “Rhys?” she called out. Somewhere in the darkness, she thought she could see a near-imperceptible shift.

  Another step forward, and Echo was completely blind. The water rose to her thighs, chilling her to the bone, pushing at the backs of her legs as if urging her deeper into the cave. The thought struck her that she could just let herself fall, let the current carry her on…

  “NO!” Echo said, giving herself a shake. “Don’t be stupid.”

  Another step, the water coming up to her hips. Echo closed her eyes and thought of Rhys, seeking the connection between them. It took her a long moment to find the tether between them and give it a tug. Still, there was a responding pulse of awareness, a certain knowing.

  He was here, and he was close.

  Steeling herself, Echo took another step. In the back of her mind, a little voice wondered just how many steps she should allow herself before giving up on him. Another voice wondered if she could make that distinctio
n, or whether she would let herself be swept away down the river.

  She thought of her mother, suddenly. Her mother had once stood just here, hadn’t she? Waded into this very river, stood in this spot, tried to decide how far to go in, how much she should risk for the man she loved.

  And she’d lost it all, hadn’t she?

  Using her shoulder to wipe the tears from her cheeks, Echo wondered if she should go back. The very idea of leaving Rhys here ripped at her soul, but her body was growing so numb, so heavy. Her heart was pounding, but she was so tired…

  “One more step,” she promised herself, her voice hoarse. “Just one more.”

  Echo took another step, gasping with shock as the icy water jumped up to her chest. Her whole body trembled, her legs beyond numb, her fingers turning to ice.

  “Rhys!” she called. “Rhys, please come back to me. I can’t go much further!”

  She dragged her arms up, holding them out before her body. Her fingertips tingled, and something inside her told her she was nearly touching him now. So, so close…

  But could she take the risk? The next step might very well be her last, might sweep her away, drag her into the spirit realm forever.

  Wracked with violent shivers, Echo concentrated on the mating bond once more. She sent out a silent plea, hoping desperately for a response.

  She felt a soft answer at the other end, weaker than before, but it was enough to make her take another step forward.

  The water swelled up to Echo’s mouth, making her heartbeat race even as her body begged her to let go, stop fighting the inevitable. Echo winced and reached out.

  Her fingertips brushed cold, solid flesh.

  Echo’s eyes snapped open, though it was far too dark to see anything.

  Rhys, she thought. I know you’re there.

  After a second, there was another tug at their bond. Rhys was calling to her, searching for her.

  Echo let herself drift just a little closer, let the water rise until it threatened to cover her nose. She felt around and found Rhys’s thick arm, thrilling at the small victory.

  Of course, she’d been so focused on reaching him that she hadn’t considered how she would manage to get him back. She couldn’t do it alone, he would have to help.

  Move, she thought. Please, please move.

  She yanked at Rhys’s arm, and to her shock he came along with her, moving easily. The connection, she thought. As long as we are touching, he can still come back.

  Echo reached down and linked her fingers through his, then turned and began to push back through the icy stream. It was much harder to move out of the stream, the water growing heavier by the moment. Echo’s muscles strained and jumped, her whole body shaking with the effort of it as she led Rhys on and on.

  It felt like the journey hadn’t even begun. It felt as if Echo and Rhys were two tiny specks of dust amongst the cosmos, impossibly small and weak against the forces of the universe. She had been in the river forever. Had she ever known anything else?

  Only the feeling of Rhys’s fingers in her own kept her going. She couldn’t remember why she was going, or where, exactly, but she remembered that she was not alone.

  Echo’s lungs stung as they emerged from the water, somehow growing colder as they left the stream. When the water was at her shins once more, she glanced back. When she saw Rhys’s face gone white as a sheet, lips turned blue, she started to cry in earnest, the heat of her tears burning her cheeks.

  Only the dazzling emerald hue of his eyes gave any indication that he was still alive.

  “S’okay,” Echo mumbled, leading him onward. “S’okay.”

  And then suddenly, impossibly, they were at the Veil. Echo reached out with her free hand, finding the velvet curtain and parting it. She pulled Rhys close and shoved him through first, then launched herself through.

  Echo’s eyes snapped open. She was in the clearing, slumped over Rhys’s body. She was shivering, shaking so hard that she could barely move.

  She looked up to find Aeric and Gabriel standing over her and Rhys.

  “Get… blankets,” Echo wheezed. “Hot water…”

  Aeric vanished, and Gabriel crouched down to take Rhys’s pulse. He snatched his hand back with a curse.

  “He’s freezing!”

  “Shift,” Echo groaned. “Keep… warm…”

  Looking down at Rhys, she saw that his eyes had opened, his green gaze steady on her face. Nothing had ever seemed so beautiful to Echo in her entire life.

  Her eyes drifted closed, and the world went dark.

  16

  Chapter Sixteen

  Echo

  “How many boxes can one person possibly have?” Gabriel groaned as he lugged an armful of cardboard cartons up the Manor’s front steps.

  “Excuse me for having possessions,” Echo retorted, rolling her eyes. She toted a plastic milk crate full of DVDs and a duffel bag of clothing, following Gabriel inside and up the stairs to Rhys’s rooms.

  They passed Aeric on the way, lumbering down the steps to get another load of stuff from the moving van.

  “How much more is there, though, really?” Gabriel asked.

  “I think Aeric is about to get the last two boxes,” Echo informed him.

  She stepped into the living area and set her burden down, admiring the massive pyramid of boxes. She’d given away a ton of her stuff when she’d ended the lease at her apartment, her furniture included, but she still owned a lot of stuff.

  She picked up a huge framed photograph, a moving gift from Tee-Elle. Her mother was on the left, arms wrapped around a man who Tee-Elle had pronounced to be Echo’s father. Raymond Caballero, every bit as tall and handsome as Echo could have ever imagined him.

  Where Tee-Elle had gotten the photo, Echo didn’t know, but she was very glad to have it.

  “That’s going to look great on the wall,” Rhys announced, arriving with Aeric and setting down the last box of Echo’s stuff.

  “You think?” Echo asked, turning to give Rhys a measuring glance.

  He’d only just been cleared for active duty by the Guardians’ private doctor, and Echo was still concerned about him. His brush with death had sapped all his strength and energy for over a week, and it had taken him days to regain any meaningful consciousness.

  “I do think,” Rhys said, coming over and dropping a kiss on her neck, the brush of his beard making her shiver.

  “Do you two think you could wait until we get out of here before you start all that?” Gabriel sighed, crossing his arms.

  Echo smirked and flapped a hand at Gabriel and Aeric.

  “Go, then. I think we’re done here,” she said.

  “I thought we were all going to sit down and talk about finding the Second Light,” Gabriel said. “Pere Mal has probably been hunting for her for two weeks already. We are falling behind.”

  “I find myself suddenly tired,” Rhys said. Echo could tell that he was suppressing a grin. “Got to stay rested. Doctor’s orders.”

  Gabriel threw his arms up in the air and looked to Aeric for help, but Aeric merely shrugged.

  “Tomorrow,” Aeric said.

  Gabriel pointed a finger at Echo and Rhys.

  “Tomorrow,” he insisted.

  “Of course,” Echo said with a grin.

  Shaking their heads, Gabriel and Aeric left the room. Echo turned to find Rhys right behind her. He reached out and tugged her up against his body, pressing a heated kiss to her lips. It took her several breathless seconds to pull back and give him a hard look.

  “Are you sure you don’t need to rest?” she asked.

  Rhys didn’t answer. He picked up her left hand and turned it over, admiring the sparkling diamond ring on her finger for a moment before raising it to his lips for a kiss.

  “I’m sure,” he said, grazing the pulse at her wrist with his teeth.

  “You just seem quiet,” Echo said, watching him closely.

  “I’m just hoping that you’re as glad to be here as I am to
have you,” Rhys said.

  Their gazes caught and held, and Echo pushed up on her tiptoes.

  “Kiss me and find out,” she said, quirking a brow.

  Rhys dropped a single kiss to her lips before he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder, landing a big hand on her ass with a resounding slap.

  “Anything for the future Lady Macaulay,” Rhys said.

  Echo giggled, but she didn’t dare protest. She was in her wonderful new home, making herself useful in her new position working for the Guardians, and now the most handsome man in existence was about to take her to bed.

  “You’re not upset that we’re not meeting with the men today, then?” Rhys said, and Echo could hear the amusement in his voice.

  “Tomorrow,” Echo sighed. “Everything else can wait until tomorrow.”

  And wait it would.

  Hear No Evil

  The Gates Of Guinee

  An Entry From Withiel’s Encyclopedia Of Magics, Volume IV

  The Gates of Guinee

  The Gates of Guinee are the entrance to the spiritual way station between this world and the next. Forever shrouded in mystery, the only common knowledge of the Gates is that they lie in New Orleans, Louisiana, likely in some of the city’s hauntingly beautiful cemeteries. The Gates of Guinee are said to be presided over by Vodou Loa Baron Samedi, whose map for accessing the Gates is forever immortalized in an age-old nursery rhyme:

  Seven nights

  Seven moons

  Seven gates

  Seven tombs

  It is said that, for the truly devoted follower, the key to traveling between the realm of flesh and spirit is only a matter of finding the right order and timing.

  Chapter One