The Pull of Destiny (Undying Love, Book 2)

by Felicity Kross

  He continues walking down the throne room, but I don’t follow him right away. I feel confused. Cassius says my black diamond belonged to Leo. When asked if he had made it for someone specifically, Cassius avoided my question, but the black diamond has some sort of connection to Cassius or it wouldn’t give me those feelings for him. Should I ask for the crystal back? I want it. These crystals belong together. But that black diamond also belongs to him.

  I dash forward so I can walk side by side with him. Cassius reaches inside his pocket and holds out his hand to me. I follow his gesture, and he places the black diamond in my palm. It’s gone cold.

  BEING THE FIRST to find a mark and collecting the most targets has never been something I’ve cared about. The only reason I’m on a servant team is because I figure it’s better than being kicked out of Favor. I’ve never been to the depths or any part of the Dregs outside of Favor. It’s not because I haven’t been interested, but there are checkpoints I’d have to get past in order to access the rest of the Dregs. Laverl, my grandfather, says those checkpoints are to protect us while the checkpoint to Zenith is to protect the angels. He says if the demons from the depths were allowed inside Favor, they’d cause a lot of problems. Apparently the angels care enough to keep their obedient pets separate from the rabble.

  Most times I’ve been out on a hunt for human targets the angels have picked for Retribution, I usually end up wandering. The first few times I saw a human city I was quite infatuated. I didn’t do anything I wasn’t supposed to do. I didn’t interact with anyone when it wasn’t necessary or part of the job. I just liked to watch. Besides, I’m rather apathetic toward the angels. I don’t care about their marks. As long as it appears like I’m searching and attempting to do my job, I won’t get into any trouble. Well, it’s not like a little trouble is all that terrifying, but angels have short fuses. When you cross an angel, you had better be prepared to die. Even though I hate them, I have no desire to die.

  Once in a while I need to catch a target to keep my master off my tail. Today is one of those days.

  I stand on top of a small house that has not been taken care of. It’s located in a very poor neighborhood inside Salem, Oregon. I sniff the air. It’s rather putrid here, as far as human standards go, but it’s nothing compared to the Dregs.

  All of the target’s victims wind up in various places of the city, their bodies surrounded by candles on top of a satanic circle near a pond or anything containing water, reflecting the full moon’s face. He always sacrifices young women. He goes for a very specific look. He only kills and sacrifices young girls who are around 16 years old with light skin, blond hair, and blue eyes. A good portion of the girls come from this neighborhood—though not all of them. It’s probably easier for him to get away with kidnapping here than it is anywhere else in the city. That’s why I’ve decided to check this place out first. I believe this is his preferred hunting ground.

  There’s a fair amount of darkness here, so instead of trying to locate the killer himself, I’m taking stock of the young girls in this area. I found a few blondes with blue eyes who are around the age the man likes, but they aren’t his preferred body type. He likes very slim girls with gentle curves that aren’t pronounced. It isn’t until I find the perfect girl matching his criteria that I begin to get serious. Almost as soon as I start tailing her, I feel the darkness that comes only before someone is about to make a kill. I stay perched on rooftops so I have a good view of everything. Now that my target’s darkness is potent, I can easily pick him out.

  He’s farther down the back road the girl is on. He’s keeping just out of sight, glancing around corners as he stalks her. He must have been observing her long before now. It looks like he’s memorized this route she takes. He only moves when he’s certain she won’t see him. I wait patiently until he moves behind a couple of buildings, locked within a small alleyway where no eyes can see him. It’s the perfect place for me to turn him.

  When he’s about to emerge from the tight walkway, I dash in and slam him against a wall. He lets out a startled gasp and looks at me with alarm. However, the alarm on his face quickly turns sinister as his eyes fill with lust.

  “You finally came,” he whispers urgently. “I’ve been calling and calling for a demon. I want your power”

  I press my arm into his throat. “That’s nice,” I say. “Tell me exactly what you’ve been doing.”

  I gaze into his eyes and he readily gives away his murdering activities as he lets me into his mind. He is indeed the target. I have all the proof I need now to turn him into the creature he so desires to be.

  “I want to become one of you,” he implores.

  “I can do that for you,” I say with a grin. “All you have to do is drink my blood.”

  “I’ve wanted this for so long,” he whimpers.

  I release my hold on my prey, since he’s very willing. I allow my beast’s claws to manifest and slit my right wrist. I hold my wrist to the man’s mouth, and he drinks greedily. I stop him when he’s had enough. All of his enthusiasm fades away as he collapses onto the ground in pain as his body convulses, trying to adjust to the change my blood is causing inside of him.

  I feel the presence of something not well-suited to all of the darkness surrounding me. I tilt my head to the right to see the very same girl this man was stalking. She has a bony hand resting against a building, probably to stabilize herself. Her hair is so ratted and dirty, it almost doesn’t even look like that blond color the target is obsessed with. Almost. How long has she been watching? I sniff the air, but I don’t smell fear on her. I smell something very different: resignation.

  She looks at the man convulsing on the floor in front of me, and then she looks me in the eye and asks, “Are you going to kill me?”

  She says it like she’s expecting me to do to her what I just did to this man. And for some reason that doesn’t appear to scare her. I grin at her, making sure to show my deadly teeth.

  “Not yet,” I say. “But if you want me to come for you sooner, be sure to do something terrible. Better yet, do many terrible things.”

  I give an aggressive growl. She flinches but she doesn’t move, and she doesn’t run away. I still don’t smell fear on her, and suddenly I’m the one feeling uncertain. My target has finally stopped groveling on the floor and is picking himself up, using the back wall of a building for support. His appearance can no longer pass for human. His skin has become a deep red and he has black feathers covering part of his face and what I can see of his arms. Seems I’ve created a tengu. When he spots the girl, he grins and his aura grows into that dark desire to kill.

  “A gift for you,” he tells me. “A virgin girl of the utmost beauty.”

  I don’t take my eyes off the girl. She does look appetizing. She’s young and probably has many years left inside of her. However, I can’t indulge my desires. The angels will kill me if I do. And there’s something else. There’s something not right about her. If she were like the man I just turned, I would understand, but she doesn’t feel anything like him. She doesn’t take her eyes off me. I can’t understand that look in her pale blue eyes. Does she really want me to take her?

  “I’m sure she’ll satisfy you,” the tengu insists.

  I tear my gaze away from the girl and shake my head, grabbing my target by the shoulder.

  “She’s not my type,” I say. “But I applaud your efforts. Now come with me.”

  “I thought for sure… I’m sorry if I offended you.”

  The tengu wriggles his way out of my grasp and prostrates himself on the ground before me, but I’m losing patience now. The girl is still staring at me, as if daring me to take her, too.

  I pick the tengu up off the floor and haul him over my shoulder. I can’t take another moment of this. I dash away into the night, and I don’t look back. I announce with a whistle, a whistle identical to the whistles all members of my team were given, that I caught the target. I try to force the look that girl gave me out of my
mind. I try not to think about the uneasy sensation she made me feel, but her face is burned into my mind—and so is that feeling.

  Everything is so hazy. There’s grit in my mouth. My limbs are heavy, and I’m in the body of my beast. Passing out in my true form is a surefire way to get killed and yet it seems I’m still alive. I reflexively roll my big pink tongue back inside my mouth, taking a bunch of sand in with it. I let out an irritated snort as I force my eyes open and extend my tongue back out of my mouth, brushing at it with my paws. It’s night, so my bleary eyes aren’t as bad as they would be if it was morning. I can feel the power of the full moon. If it wasn’t full, I’m not sure I would be awake right now.

  “And so he lives,” my obnoxious angel partner speaks up, reminding me what’s happening in the present and that my dream was nothing but a distant memory. “I was wondering if you were ever going to wake up.”

  I look at the angel, sitting in the sand. Her yellow-green eyes are glued onto me, watching me with a bemused look on her face.

  “Your clothes are over there,” she informs as she points her finger farther down the beach. “I brought your shirt over, so all your clothes are in one place at least. You’ll probably want them when you change back. It’s rather cold tonight.”

  I would stay in the guise of my beast if I had the option. But I still have to find another demon to kill, and who knows where that’s going to end up taking me. Plus, I don’t know if I can even fly right now.

  Painfully, I get to my feet and wobble. I concentrate and call to my logician. I slowly begin to shift back into my human-like body. I feel each snap of bone and each tear of skin. Switching between my beast and logician like this has never hurt so much. I bite my tongue because I refuse to make a sound even in all this pain. I don’t want to give the angel the satisfaction.

  She’s looking away from me now, because of the ridiculous angel notion of modesty. I brush as much of the sand and sticky blood away from my body as I can manage. If it wasn’t so damn cold out, I’d take a quick dip in the ocean, but I’d rather wear sand and blood than freeze. I’d live, but I wouldn’t enjoy it. And I’m already in enough pain. I’ll find some place to wash up next.

  I lumber over to where my clothes are and slip them on with some effort. By the time I’ve turned back around, Imae’s looking at me. She stands up from her place in the sand and joins me.

  “I’m not sure you’re going to be able to handle killing another demon if you’re this weak,” she jibes. “How on earth were you able to kill Confidant Leo when you had so much trouble with this nobody demon?”

  I’m too tired to fight with her. I’d rather not say anything, but I think the angel will feel she has won if I stay silent.

  I say curtly, “It would appear I’m losing my touch.”

  “You better hope you find it again if you want to see Tasia,” she replies with a glare.

  “This was only a warm up,” I tell her.

  I hate that we both know I’m lying through my teeth. She saw what happened. Nothing I say is going to change that. I’m not much of a demon anymore. I’m only a shadow of what I once was. But the angel did pose an interesting question. Fighting Leo was the hardest thing, the most challenging battle I have ever fought. And yet, there are details of that fight that I’ve never told anyone.

  Angels are liars. They claim they don’t lie. They claim they know only light. But they are twisted, self-righteous bastards, and I hate every last one of them.

  “Looks like I’m going to be the one waiting on you this time,” Imae says as I pick a direction and start walking. “I thought you might take off flying again, but you’re obviously too weak to do that now.”

  “Only for a little while, angel,” I snap. “I’ll be flying again before you know it, and this time you’ll have to give in to your beast if you’re going to keep up with me.”

  “It wouldn’t matter if I give my body over to my beast or not because my beast has no wings,” she remarks.

  “That’s just too damn bad,” I tell her.

  “Too bad for you,” she says. “Unless I witness you kill the next demon, it will be invalid.”

  “Fuck you,” I say in exasperation. “Any other angel in existence would’ve been better to travel with than you.”

  She ignores that statement and says, with a finger pointing to her chin, “Then again, if you wanted to shift, I could always ride on your back. It wouldn’t be ideal or very comfortable, but it would be a rather humbling act for demon.”

  “There’s no way in hell that’s happening.”

  I seethe silently as Imae continues to chatter. She must’ve gotten really bored while I was out.

  “Did you listen to what I just said?” Imae asks.

  “No,” I remark.

  “I said you could call Yuki over and get this done faster,” the angel explains. “I’m sure she’d come running willingly into your arms.”

  I stop, whip around, and shout, “Shut your goddamn mouth if you know what’s good for you!”

  She looks at me seriously and folds her arms. “But what about Tasia?”

  I growl, reach out to grab her, and bring my teeth to her neck. I so badly want to clamp down on her flesh and drink her blood.

  “What about Tasia?” I demand.

  “Are you this worked up because of Yuki or because of Tasia?” Imae puzzles, unfazed in my grasp. “You got worked up last time I talked about Yuki as well. She must be a very good toy for you to have such strong feelings for her.”

  A forcefully rip myself away from the angel before I can’t hold myself back anymore. I just need one more demon. If I kill one more demon, I’ll be one step closer to Tasia. I’ll be one step closer to ending this.

  EVERYONE IN THE PA Branch of the EEA is called to the lobby at noon by Blade. Angels too. It seems all EEA representatives have arrived, and it’s time for them to pass their judgment. Once inside the lobby, I stand with my fellow angels. I’m the only one that isn’t wearing silver armor, but Confidant Valor hasn’t said I have to and I prefer not to. Blade’s hunters stand opposite of us, standing separate from all angels, so that the representatives can inspect us.

  I watch as the representatives walk up to us angels. They study us with interest, but there is one representative in particular who does not look impressed at all. Though these representatives are all wearing the EEA’s armor, they each have a flag pendant to show which country they are representing. The leading representative from France is the one who’s turning up his nose at us.

  After the representatives have finished gawking, we’re all allowed to sit down. Those wishing to speak need only stand.

  I’m not surprised when the French representative doesn’t bother sitting down at all and immediately says, “These so-called angels look like nothing more than supermodels. They wear fancy silver armor, but can they fight?”

  Blade stands up and says, “They can most definitely fight.” Her voice is low and threatening, the voice she uses when she means business.

  “Then give us proof,” the French representative challenges.

  Confidant Valor stands up, all of her regal beauty and power on full display in her stance. “I would be happy to put you all at ease,” she informs.

  “This is Valor,” Blade introduces. “She’s the angel in charge here.”

  The French representative walks up to the confidant with his nose turned up at her. I don’t know how he can manage to look and act so snide around her. Does her presence hold that little weight for him? He steps all the way around her, analyzing her.

  “You are pretty,” he says. “I’ll give you that.”

  The confidant watches him with a neutral face. She replies, “I’m much more than pretty.”

  The French representative stops in front of her, but he doesn’t stop turning his nose up at her. “I think I speak for all of us when I wonder how you plan on putting an end to this supposed demon problem of ours. None of the rest of us have ever seen demons. It seems a
ll the action’s been reserved for this branch alone. For all we know they’re just playing games.”

  “Yeah, right!” Blade shouts. “We’ve been sending and sharing information just as we always have. There is no joking around in the EEA. You know we’ve been fighting demons.”

  “I know you say you have and that you’ve been having a lot of trouble with monsters recently, but none of the rest of us have had a chance to see any of these demons. Where’s the video? Where’s the proof?”

  “You try taking video while your life is on the line fighting a demon.” Blade spits.

  “That’s enough,” the confidant says with all of her authority; though the French representative has been acting like she has no power over him, even he stops. “These hunters here at the PA Branch of the EEA have been facing a demon problem. Soon enough more and more demons will be showing themselves as your entire organization becomes more powerful, as you become a more dominating presence. We will purify your world by eliminating the demons from your world, and eventually the monsters along with them. Demons are the root of the problem.”

  “The root of the problem?” a representative from Russia asks as they stand up. “The root of monsters and demons is evil. Evil doesn’t end.”

  Murmurs of approval at that statement hiss around the hunters.

  “No talking unless you’re standing,” Blade threatens, and everyone quiets down.

  “You are correct,” Confidant Valor responds. “Evil does not end, but you’re facing evils that should not even exist in your world. These demons and monsters can be exterminated; your world can be reset. You’ll still have to deal with the evil of humans, but this other evil can be stopped.”

  “What are you talking about?” the French representative asks snidely.

  The confidant retains her patience and authority as she replies, “Surely Blade told you. Your monsters were created by demons. Demons are not native to your world. They escaped from the same one I come from. They don’t belong here, but we angels do not have enough presence to exterminate them from your world without your help.”