by Dara Kent
“Devon wanted to go to college,” Lily whispered, jolting me from my unwanted introspection.
Monica pulled her into a hug before I had the chance to react. “This life is hard.”
Anger surged, loosening my tongue. “Yeah, it is. And none of us chose this life either. How is it fair that we ended up here?”
Releasing Lily, Monica smiled sadly. “It’s not our place to question the plan of God.”
“Like Hell it isn’t!” I punched the closest wall, earning me a moment of pain. “Because I’m not so sure there is a plan or a God.”
Monica reared back as if slapped. “You—a twice marked—question the existence of God? How can you possibly doubt with everything you’ve seen and know?”
I threw my hands up in the air. “What? What have I seen? Lucifer, demons, death—the cruelty of humanity. Where are the miracles? The redemptions? Proof of any kind of plan at all?”
Monica stared at me a few moments, her head eventually lifting until she focused straight above her. “God is there. But humans are given free will, and a part of that is choosing to have faith or not.”
“After what’s been done to us—we were nineteen and fourteen years old—we did nothing wrong, and yet every day we fight a battle to save our immortal souls.”
Monica leveled her gaze on me. “You were given a choice. You could have let nature take its course. Instead, you made a deal to save your sister’s life, and she made the same deal. If you’d said no to Lucifer, then your souls would be safe.”
My chest heaved as I sucked in ragged breaths. “We’d be dead.”
“All life comes to an end eventually.”
We stared at each other a few moments, silence hanging thick between us until I spoke again. “I was ready to die. I’d accepted my fate. But I couldn’t let Lily, my baby sister, die before her life even got a chance to start.”
It was something neither Lily nor I ever spoke of. We’d forfeited our souls to save each other’s lives. I wasn’t sure why Lily avoided the topic, but I for one didn’t want to dwell on things we couldn’t change. Plus, despite our near-constant bickering at times, we knew we loved each other. There was no question about that.
Monica shook her head with pity. “You tried to play God.”
“No!” The word burst from my lips, loud and raw. “I was a kid, and I was scared. I wasn’t even sure what I saw was real. I didn’t truly comprehend the consequences of my actions.”
“That’s enough.” Lily moved to stand in between us. “We’re friends.”
As a Heaven marked, Monica and I did not share the same opinions on everything, but I did consider her a friend. Only in that moment did I begin to question it though. First, there was her plea to hand over the weapon to the angels if it existed, then there was her holier than thou attitude. Did she consider herself better than us because she was Heaven marked and we were twice marked? Flames sparked around the edges of my vision.
I bared my teeth. “Do you think you’re better than us?”
“No, of course not. I just think you need to stop playing the victim. You were given a choice and you chose poorly. We all make mistakes.” She shrugged in an effort to come off easy-going about the subject, to disarm my anger, but I wasn’t falling for it.
“We were victims.”
“You were given a chance at redemption which is more than any Hell marked gets. It’s because you made a bad choice, but for a selfless reason, for love. If you were truly victims, you wouldn’t get even that much.”
“Just agree to disagree.” Lily pulled on my arm, trying to avert my attention to her. “Please, Riss. You exploding at Monica doesn’t change anything. And we’re all friends here.”
Grinding my teeth, I turned to look into my sister’s guileless eyes, tears shimmering in them. She was never one for conflict and generally stuck her head in the sand whenever possible. Which was one of the reasons the life of a twice marked was not meant for her in any way. The punishment should have been given to me alone.
Shaking her off, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Fine.”
“We’re all on edge,” she persisted.
“I said fine. Now let it go,” I snapped. Rage burned low in my gut, dark and inky, seeking to punish. I needed some distance before I did something I would regret. “I’ll be outside.”
I sprinted through the warehouse housing the torture room, sucking in several deep breaths of humid air when I reached the parking lot. The things I said to Monica weren’t new threads of thought. However, I’d never said them out loud to anyone but Jensen, and not with the accompanying fury.
Dropping my face into my hands, I bit back a scream. I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. I follow the rules, but nothing is guaranteed. What if after everything I can’t protect Lily?
I peeked at the fluffy clouds in the sky, glaring. “But I won’t ever pray again, because look where it got me the last time.” I rubbed my left wrist, tracing my thumb over the two brands marking me for what I was—doubly damned.
Footsteps sounded behind me on the pavement, and I whirled to see Jensen, Lily, and Monica emerging from the warehouse.
“Did you find something?”
Jensen smirked. “You doubt me?”
Blinking away another passing red haze, the knot in my stomach eased just a bit. “Good. Because I’m ready to kick some ass.”
“You drive,” he said, tossing me the car keys I’d sworn were in my pocket. “I’ll need to concentrate to follow the trail.”
Ignoring my sister and Monica, I raced to the car, eager to find a better target for my anger.
18
“This is it.” Jensen peered out the window, gaze resolute.
“Of course it is.” I slowed at the iron gate blocking our path onto the driveway of the gigantic mansion in Belle Meade. “Why does evil always seem to be flush with cash? Maybe once in a while, someone ridiculously rich could turn to demon fighting.” Seriously, the house Jensen led us to was one of those old, plantation-style houses that reeked of old money.
Lily rolled down her window, leaning out to get a better look. “No kidding. We could use Batman on our side.”
I snorted. “Batman is fiction, which is exactly my point.” I tapped the steering wheel. “How do you suppose we get in without getting the cops called on us?” Doing a demon hunting version of smash and grab was not beyond my willingness, but I didn’t want to end up on the wrong side of an interrogation table again.
Monica leaned forward between the two front seats. “Are you sure this is the place, Jensen?”
“You doubting my magical prowess, too?” He placed his hand over his heart. “I thought better of you.”
“If Jensen says this is the place, then this is the place.” I quirked an eyebrow in challenge, still pissed from our unresolved argument.
Pausing, I bit my lip. Since he was already involved, despite my best efforts, we might as well use him to get in, too. At this stage, what was the point not to? Other than my stubbornness, which was outweighed by my impatience. “Can’t you open the gate with magic?”
“Opening things isn’t a specialty of mine.” His baby blues roamed over my curves with heat, suggesting otherwise.
I definitely opened my legs to him often enough. Ew, no. Stop. Just stop.
My heart fluttered with anticipation, my pervy mind tugging me to naughty places, my concentration splintered. I swallowed to return moisture to my throat. Focus. Now is not the time, even if your libido claims the contrary. “I thought you could just—”
“I’m not a witch.”
“Yeah, I’m well aware. But you can work witch magic.”
“I’m clumsy at the witch spells unless I use them often, it’s not like with my innate warlock talents.” He huffed out a breath in familiar agitation. “Warlocks work completely different than witches, even if using the same magic at a particular point in time.”
Interesting. So, he’d never had cause to practice breaking and entering.
It’s something I would use a lot if I were … well, if I came across anything I wanted to open that was locked. I would be everywhere I wasn’t wanted, and I would know so many secrets. I sighed. Alas, I possessed no such magic. “How about—”
“We can pretend we’re here to deliver something,” Lily suggested, ignoring the tension brewing around her.
“Like what?” I continued to tap the steering wheel. “And why does said delivery require four people?”
“I know! A singing gram!”
I held back a laugh. My sister was one of a kind. “Umm … I’m not sure those exist outside of fiction either.”
“It doesn’t matter if they do or not, we just have to convince the people who live here that they do.” She grinned in triumph like she’d solved one of life’s biggest mysteries.
Monica pulled out her cellphone. “I know a Heaven marked in the Nashville PD. I’ll give him a head’s up that we’re about to cause some commotion.”
I swung my head in her direction, narrowing my eyes. “Wait. You’ve known a Heaven marked in the Nashville PD and this is the first I’m hearing about it?” There had been more than one tricky situation that I narrowly avoided jail time because I couldn’t explain the truth of my demon hunting ways.
Lily rested her chin on the back of Jensen’s seat. “Does the Nashville PD even have jurisdiction here? I thought Belle Meade had their own squad.”
Monica scrolled through her contacts, deciding to follow Lily’s lead to ignore any of my potential fight-causing comments. “I’m not sure if Belle Meade does or not, but either way, my friend will be helpful since Belle Meade and Nashville are neighbors.” She tapped the call button and pressed the phone to her ear.
Zoning out, I jumped when Jensen brushed his fingertips along my arm. “You okay?”
“Yeah, sure.” Me and patience weren’t friends on my best days. “I want in there.”
He tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear. “We’ll figure this out.”
None of us knew exactly what we were going to find inside the mansion. Jensen had isolated a human essence at the scene of Devon’s murder. It could be a human servant of a demon or a Hell marked. Either way, the human in question had information we needed, and I was going to get it one way or another.
The scent of ozone crackled through the interior of the car, a naked male popping into existence in the backseat in between Lily and Monica. Screaming, my sister lunged out the open window, falling awkwardly beside the car. Monica produced a small dagger, holding it at the demon’s throat. I brandished one of my own blades, my heart punching against my ribcage.
“Stop!” Jensen commanded. “He’s here to see me.”
My heart rate slowed when recognition hit. It’s the demon from the summoning. Nervous anticipation surged. The demon had news on Pestilence to report. I waved my hand at him. “Well, spill it. Tell us what you found.”
The demon notched his chin up. “I only answer to my master.”
Rolling my eyes, I shoved at Jensen’s shoulder. “Hurry up and command him, master.”
Grumbling under his breath, Jensen turned around, narrowing his eyes at the demon. “Report,” he said, his tone curt.
The demon’s expression softened as if in awe. He bent down, his head on his knees. “Pestilence is dead, Master.”
My chest tightened, all the air sucked from my lungs. The news meant the weapon, whatever it was, actually existed. It was good and bad news simultaneously. The good news was that if we got our hands on it, we could lay waste to demonkind. The bad news was the demons wouldn’t stop searching for it and potentially killing more of our kind. Plus, if they were able to take out Lucifer—that part still questionable—I wasn’t sure what it would mean for our plane of existence. Would a new demon, most likely another fallen, rise to take the crown of Hell? Or would demons simply run amok, causing more trouble than we’d ever witnessed? After all, Lucifer did have some rules, such as which kinds of demons were allowed to interact with humans. My forefather played the game with Heaven, cheating whenever possible, but things weren’t as bad as they could be with him in charge.
Although … taking out Lucifer would free Lily and me from our purgatory. We wouldn’t have to worry about burning in Hell for all of eternity after we died. That little tidbit held massive allure.
“Do you have any more pertinent information?” Jensen demanded. “Like the circumstances surrounding Pestilence’s death?”
The demon shook his head against his knees. “I was not able to find out who killed Pestilence or by what means. All I could uncover were theories.”
My knuckles went white on the hilt of the blade still in my hand. “What theories?”
The demon remained silent. I huffed out a sigh.
“Answer her,” Jensen commanded.
The demon hissed before responding. Guess he wasn’t as big of a fan of me as he was of Jensen. Go figure.
“A hunter—a twice marked most likely—is in possession of a weapon capable of killing even the most powerful among us.”
The muscles in Jensen’s jaw quivered as he ground his teeth together. “Do you have any idea who the hunter could be, or what type of weapon they supposedly wielded?”
“No, master. But many search for those answers as we speak.”
Grunting, Jensen flicked his wrist in the demon’s direction. “You may go. There’s nothing else I need from you at this time.”
The demon disappeared, and I glanced over at Lily who was still outside the car. “I did not expect a naked demon.” She nibbled her bottom lip, the tips of her ears flushing. “Most demons don’t have the power to teleport like that.”
Jensen ran a hand through his hair. “He’s only able to teleport to me. Technically, he’s borrowing my magic in order to fulfill my command. Once completed, the connection is broken.”
Lily opened the back door and scrambled in. “I hope my freak out didn’t draw any unwanted attention to us.” She swung her head around, curls bouncing. “I didn’t think of it before, but places like this usually have security cameras everywhere. Especially at the gate.”
I slammed my fist against the steering wheel. “The weapon is real, and we need to get to it first.” Revving the engine—which would have been much more impressive if we in a muscle car of some sort instead of a Nissan Leaf—I threw our car into drive.
“Don’t you dare!” Lily shrieked, throwing herself into the front seat and landing with her cheek awkwardly pressed against the steering wheel. She turned, giving me one angry eye. “Do not ram the gate with our car!” She blew a curl out of her face. “I happen to like our car.” She reached to her right, patting the dash where the Flower Power sticker was, or close to it.
“We have insurance.”
She pushed herself up, flailing. “I’m pretty sure it won’t cover gate ramming of any kind. Nor is there a demon clause either.”
Monica cleared her throat. “My friend, you know, the one I just called, is on the way. He’ll get us in without any … ramming necessary.”
“How long until he gets here?” I growled. A feeling of desperation had wound its way through me, making it so I was willing to do just about anything to get some answers. Even destroy my main mode of transportation.
Jensen rested his warm palm on my knee. “Calm down. There’s no need to panic.”
I scoffed. “Did no one else hear the naked demon? Pestilence is dead. A hunter managed to do something that is supposed to be impossible. Whatever kind of weapon made it possible can’t fall into the demons’ hands.”
Jensen’s baby blues snagged mine, imploring me to listen. “Getting the information only changes how we move forward. The demons already believed the weapon was real.”
“Right.” I glanced at his hand, wanting to both throw it off of me and revel in its warmth. “But this means there’s a hunter out there that has the information, and he or she let both Tomas and Devon die because of it.” I gnawed on the inside of my cheeks. “They mus
t think it’s a male twice marked, though, because of who they targeted.”
I didn’t know that for sure, but it made sense, some of the tension oozing out of my core. I wanted to keep all of my fellow hunters safe, but when it came down to it, Lily was my top priority. My welfare coming in at a close second.
“Listen.” Monica placed a steadying hand on my shoulder. “I know there’s tension between us right now, but I want you to know that I understand.”
My mind reeled. She understands? What exactly does she think she understands? Nothing about our conversation earlier pointed to that at all. Maybe she was sympathetic, but it wasn’t the same thing as empathy which was about as close to true understanding as she could get under the circumstances.
I dug my nails into my jean-clad thighs, both wanting to reignite our fight and to let it go. I wasn’t going to get anywhere with Monica on the subject of God and free will pertaining to the twice marked. If I kept pushing, I’d lose her as a friend, and when not reminded about our huge differences of opinions, I did consider Monica one of the few friends I had. Plus, she’d just lost Tomas. She was going through shit of her own.
There’s only one way to deal with this, at least for right now. “Let’s just drop it.” Talking about your doubts in God with a Heaven marked ranked right along with talking about vaccines on the Internet. There would be no winners, and no one’s opinion will change. Monica and I could argue until the end of time, and unless she produced irrefutable evidence of The Almighty’s existence, I was going to continue right on doubting.
Monica leaned back, disappointment leaking into her gaze. “Yeah, sure.”
What does she expect? That I’ll accept what she has to say about God without any proof? That I’ll blindly agree with her? My nostrils flared as I bit back a retort. No. Stop. We don’t agree, but that doesn’t make her the enemy. I swung my head forward, staring at the mansion. In there are the enemies. Save it for them.
