The scent of wet earth and mildew slammed into her chest like a fist, but not nearly as hard as the low vibration of energy slithering from the dark, sinister and strong. She took several more tentative steps. The blackness reached out to her, tugging her with dusky fingers, and terror overwhelmed her. Her breathing became short, shallow pants, her heart thundering so madly, she half expected the unsteady beat to echo endlessly down the never-ending tunnel of gloom. But it did not. It ended where it began, inside her. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she reached out a hand and felt her fingertips brush against a damp stone wall. She walked, keeping constant contact with the wall for fear she would be absorbed by the void.
With one hand clutching her flashlight like a lifeline and the other skimming the wall, she focused on the faint shaft of light before her. Each step sloped downward, leading her deeper into the cavernous bowels of Agnon’s lair. Overhead the house rumbled as if in protest, trembling as though the area were experiencing aftershocks. She braced herself, stopping for the moment and placing her body flush against the rocky wall. A breeze stirred, gently at first, but Arianna could not imagine where it came from. Then a high-pitched whistle pierced her eardrums before an unearthly din howled past her, resonating through the endless hollow. The sound beat against her skull with such force she thought the bone would crack. Her pulse sped dangerously and her fingernails broke as they dug into grit, readying to hold on as a gale-force gust tried to sweep her away. But the gust never came and the sound dwindled spookily as it grew distant. When she’d plastered herself to the wall, she’d banged the flashlight against it and the light had dimmed. The utter darkness, the strange throb of energy and pounding in her ears from the shrieking disoriented her and destroyed her sense of balance.
Her heart continued to thunder and lightheadedness persisted. But she felt compelled to keep going, pulled by a force larger than her. She frantically shook the flashlight. When her effort did not return light to it right away, she thumped it against the wall a second time and an anemic ray dribbled from it. She continued for what felt like eternity, sliding one foot in front of the other as the ground beneath her gradually sloped downward deeper into the pit of darkness, until her fingers grazed metal. She froze and angled weak light at it and nearly dropped the flashlight.
Medieval iron bars stretched from floor to ceiling, hinged at one side, and formed a gateway to a cell, Desmond’s cell. Beautiful, blond Desmond was shackled, bound at his wrists and ankles, a prisoner. Liquid cerulean eyes locked on hers and her heart leaped to her throat.
“Arianna!” Desmond called to her, his voice a sound that seeped into her chest and wrapped warmly around her heart. For one brief moment, the entire world stood still.
“Desmond,” she breathed.
“How did you find me?” he asked. His voice was rough and strained.
“I-I don’t know. I was...pulled down here,” she said and shivered, still uncertain of exactly what had happened. “What happened?” she asked, the question loaded with more than met the eye.
“Darius,” he answered immediately. “Darius shifted his face, his body, flesh and bone, and transformed into me. I found him here when I found my father dead and,” he tried to continue, but she interrupted him, heartened by the understanding that he, her Desmond, the man she loved with every fiber of her being, had not been the person who’d betrayed her.
“It wasn’t you,” she said. “You didn’t sleep with Amitt.”
“Amitt?” he recoiled as he questioned. “No! Never!” he protested.
“I was so devastated, I thought you’d deceived me,” she said and felt tears burn behind her eyelids.
“Arianna, I would never deceive you,” he said and tried to move. Metal clanked and yanked him back. His face twisted painfully.
Arianna placed one of each of her hands on a metal bar and, focusing her power fully, pulled. The iron popped and sizzled at first, resisting, then crackled with static as its structure surrendered, stretching as if it were made of taffy. She stepped through the opened bars into the cavernous cell. She knelt beside Desmond and felt the vibrant thrum of her energy grow. She gripped the shackles at his wrist and snapped them as easily as she would have had they been made of thin plastic. She repeated the process with the restraints binding his ankles.
“Arianna,” Desmond’s voice swelled with emotion. He wrapped his arms around her and felt them tremble. “You must leave now. As much as I’d love to hold you forever, you must leave.”
Arianna stiffened then dropped her arms and pushed him so that he was arm’s length from her. “What? Why?” she asked and could not hide the resentment in her voice.
“Beth’s parents are in danger,” he said.
“Beth’s parents?” she asked confusedly. “I don’t understand.”
“Darius is going to their house to look for Dane and Jason. He and his people are going to kill them all.”
Arianna stared and Desmond for a long moment, her brain struggling to process what she’d just heard.
“You need to go. Save them, Sola,” he gripped her shoulders tightly and said.
The magnitude of his words lashed against her, snapping across her skin like a whip. Her friends were in grave danger. She needed to get to them before it was too late. “We need to go,” she said and stood.
Desmond scrambled to his feet and hobbled toward her. “I cannot go,” he said, a pained expression creasing his face. “Darius stole my powers. I’d be useless to you.”
“He took your powers,” she stated more than asked. A thirst for vengeance began to percolate from a dark part of her. “He will pay,” she said quietly.
“Please, Arianna, you need to go now. His people left already.”
“You will come with me,” she said with certainty as an unfamiliar sensation began to spread. Cool ribbons twisted though her, weaving among her cells, filling her with crisp, invigorating energy.
“Arianna, what’s happening?” she heard Desmond ask.
A faint bluish-white glow surrounded her and wind shoved through her body, her power rolling through her in an entirely new way, like a chill tide. She waited for the fiery spark, the familiar burn that flamed like wildfire through dried brush. But it never came. Instead, awareness pervaded every corner of her being. And her path became clear. She knew what she needed to do.
“I need you with me. Come, take my hand,” she said.
Desmond’s eyes widened, wonder rounding them as he watched the cavernous cavity glow the color of a winter sky, the air sizzling with zaps of pure power. He stepped toward her on unsteady legs, locked in a gravitational pull, reaching out to her. His fingertips grazed the exposed flesh of her arm, a feather-light caress. A flicker of emotion ticked at one corner of his mouth, curving it upward. He moved even closer and she felt her energy pop and roll through her.
Suddenly, brilliant blue light burst from her hands and swirled around her in a whirlwind that pulled at her clothing and hair. Power, more than she ever dreamed possible, coursed through her, vivid and untainted. Her essence, the very crux of her earthly existence, resonated, filling the chamber with cobalt luminosity. She placed her hands on Desmond’s chest, felt the sure, steady beat just beneath his skin, and immediately, veins of radiance flowed from them. She channeled it into him, thinking only of filling him with her light, of restoring and replenishing his powers.
As if commanded by her thoughts, a swell surged and the stream of energy funneling intensified. Desmond’s body twitched and convulsed, but he smiled delightedly. “I can feel it!” he cried. “I can feel your power filling me!”
Her energy continued to drift from a source she’d never tapped before and poured into him. Gradually, the azure light haloing her and undulating from her skin paled and dimmed until it was no longer visible. The flow of energy, like the light, waned as well. When finally it trickled to a stop, she did not feel enervated in the least. To the contrary, she felt stronger than ever. And she was not alone. Desmond stood bef
ore her, his new power radiating from him like sunlight.
“We must go,” he said. “But I need something first.”
Arianna watched as he stepped out into the darkened hallway and retrieved his leather scabbard from the damp, stone floor just beyond his cell. His daggers sat beside it, as if left there to taunt him during his imprisonment. He slipped the straps over both shoulders then sheathed his blades.
“Now I am ready. We will end this once and for all,” he said, his voice tolling like a bell and ringing down the infinite passageway.
Desmond opened his arms to her and Arianna stepped into them. He enveloped her immediately and she drew comfort from the robust strength he emanated. The world around them began to disintegrate. Warmth filled her, embracing her with downy wisps of comfort, and they were gone.
Chapter 20
Arianna and Desmond stood at the edge of the Parker’s property amid a battle. Flaming orbs blazed past them, whizzing by so fast, they looked like comets streaking horizontally across the night sky.
“Oh my God,” Arianna breathed as she took in the entire scene in horrifically slow motion. The air was thick, laden with tension that shivered with raw volts of power. The entire compound fought, all but the children, of course. Many familiar forms lay on the ground unmoving, slain, their faces etched in everlasting agony. Among them were Beth’s uncle and maternal grandparents.
A sick knot twisted in her stomach. All around her people were dying, always dying.
Her eyes continued to survey the situation as her brain worked to determine her best course of action. As she did, her breath caught in her chest. A hulking, monstrous being fought, amber mane billowing wildly, ruby eyes locked on targets while flailing massive arms that blasted globes of static like a cannon. Trees toppled and clumps of earth rained from overhead. Dane and Jason zigzagged in and out of sight, disappearing and reappearing long enough to launch powerful streams of fire. But even their advanced set of skills seemed lacking against the giant, frightening-looking creature that appeared indefatigable. And the ruby-eyed beast was not alone. Amitt fought as well. She was engaged in battle with MaryAnn and Adam Parker, Beth’s parents. Her lengths of midnight hair glistened and swung like the blade of an ax as she maneuvered dextrously, dodging shafts of energy that lapped at her body like serpentine tongues of fire.
There was one other she did not recognize fighting alongside Amitt and the monster, a warrior built similarly to Dane who whipped bolts of energy like lassos that seared and strangled simultaneously.
“Who are those people in the field?” Arianna asked Desmond, her eyes never leaving the fight.
“Those three, Amitt, Abraxas and Baal, are fiends Darius imported from Gehenna. They kept me prisoner while Darius was away.”
Anger flashed in Desmond’s serene features, uncharacteristic and unlike any she’d ever seen him display before. He reached behind him into his scabbard and unsheathed his blades. As soon as the steel touched his skin, it shimmered and flamed. His eyes widened and he looked as surprised as she felt to see them ablaze. He clutched the handle that did not burn and yelled, “Abraxas!” his voice booming as it thundered through the atmosphere. He then heaved his daggers, sending them careening through the air like shooting stars.
The man he’d called, the man with lariats of lightning named Abraxas, turned just in time to see the blades spinning end over end in a blurred ball before it exploded against his chest and toppled him to the ground. A craterous cleft dented his torso and he barely moved, but Desmond’s daggers returned to him with the obedience of homing pigeons capable of breathing fire. He gripped their hilts and offered Arianna a knowing look before disappearing from her side.
Desmond reappeared in front of Abraxas who’d managed to clumsily spring back onto his feet. She was about to sift and join him in his fight when reams of hair as rich and black as oil slid past her. Images of her, smug and triumphant and straddling who she believed was Desmond, rolled through her brain like ball of barbed wired. Amitt, as if sensing Arianna’s eyes on her, trained her lightless irises on her.
“Bitch!” Amitt spat.
Arianna raised her right hand and fanned her fingers, twirling her wrist. Sapphire sprays of light streamed from her fingertips swirling and twining until they coalesced into a tight ball. Feeling its raw power pulsing from it, she hurled it into the ether. She watched it streak and quickly close the distance between her and Amitt until it blasted against her mocha skin, exploding like a live wire, spitting bits of burning, pastel-blue shrapnel.
The blow sent Amitt reeling before she slammed into a thick tree trunk. She winced almost imperceptibly and her head lolled for several seconds before straightening. Her chin snapped up and ire blistered from her flat, hard, almost black eyes, burning into Arianna with deadly intentions. Despite the vicious threat in her eyes, Amitt’s once-gleaming coffee-colored skin bore a gray pallor.
Arianna’s body shuttered with rampant power. She sifted to Amitt, placing herself before her, and launched a torrent of power so potent it sent her careening back through the air until her body slammed into another tree, a towering elm. The impact felled the tree and Amitt cried out, the shrill caw of a crow that clawed at Arianna’s eardrums.
As Amitt attempted to scramble to her feet, heat began simmering inside Arianna. Her sight wavered, fluctuating between a crimson cloud that teased at the edges of her vision and the pristine clarity she’d experienced since allocating some of her power to Desmond. Her hands began to tremble, the tips of her fingers tingling. Vengeance beckoned, whispering to her as soft and seductive as a lover. She raised her hand and levitated Amitt then lifted her other hand and aimed a concentrated stream of fire her way before releasing her hold and allowing Amitt to bowl into the stone wall of one of the houses on the Parker property. Amitt squawked again, a piercing, awful sound. But Arianna did not allow her body to fall to the ground. She continued to shoot spheres of sizzling energy, drilling her with them relentlessly until her body collapsed in a sagging heap of broken bones.
Arianna tore her eyes from Amitt and scanned the field. Beth’s parents, aunt and grandfather were the last people standing with Dane and Jason against Darius’ beast. The odds would have been stacked against most other opponents setting foot on the compound seeking to hurt its inhabitants, but not the monster currently present. Beth’s family struggled to contain it, despite outnumbering it overwhelmingly.
She searched for Desmond as well, and saw him struggling with Abraxas. She knew she needed to go, to help the others, but a small part of her resisted, thirsting to punish Amitt’s lifeless, ruined body further, to incinerate every inch of her until she was reduced to a mound if ash.
She brought her hand up, ready to summon the force to cremate her when the air was suddenly infused with a strange and sweet perfume. She inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with the verdant scent of sunshine and tender blooms, and then turned her gaze skyward. Moonlight sliced majestically through a bank of clouds. She followed the luminescent shaft and watched as it cut across Desmond’s body in a pearlescent gray streak that highlighted the powerful cords of his muscles. He looked like an earth-bound angel. Swirls of liquid silver and glacial blue snaked atop the blades of Desmond’s ancient daggers as he swung them with righteous fury, fighting for justice, for all of humankind, every creature that roamed the planet. He fought for good.
Inside her, another battled raged. Powers warred, sliding against one another with frictionless force, pushing and pulling. Insurmountable wrath, her dark and ever-present companion, clashed with a more powerful opponent, the new energy that had emerged at Agnon’s lair; the one that had imparted Desmond with strength once again. The energy pulsed from within, beating as naturally as her own heartbeat, as it effervesced through her veins like crystalline fragments of fallen heavens. The voice inside her no longer demanded blood. It no longer whispered through her murderously, seeking to kill in an eye-for-an-eye capacity. It demanded justice, plain and simple.
; She felt the darkness inside her falter before collapsing entirely. Awareness tingled across her skin as realization of what she was, what she was destined to do, swept across her flesh. The prophecy of her existence came to her in razor-sharp clarity.
Beams spilled from the darkened sky, resplendent, glorious, and she found herself bathed in their brilliance. Blue light glowed from within her, seeping from her skin and haloing her, surrounding her, sparkling like freshly fallen snow in sunlight.
She turned from Amitt, infused with celestial radiance, and watched as Desmond moved with deific speed and grace, countering Abraxas’ every move before striking lethally. His flaming blade sliced a glowing arc across Abraxas’ throat, cutting cleanly through his flesh and bone. His head, eyes still staring in shock, tumbled from the stump above his shoulders and fell to the ground with a thud.
“Arianna!” a voice roared behind her, the sound slithering down the length of her spine. “What have you done?”
She spun and saw Darius looming in the distance, moving toward her swiftly.
“I know what you are,” she said, her voice tolling with certainty.
Darius froze momentarily, his expression like that of a person who’d just been slapped. But he regained his composure quickly. “You may think you do,” he smirked mirthlessly. “But I doubt you really do.”
“No, you’re wrong,” she said and squared her shoulders. “You came to fool me, to trick me into your arms and to your side. You thought you could use me.”
“Use you?” Darius threw his head back and laughed, circling her. “You make it sound as if you did not enjoy our time together, our passionate kiss,” he spat the words cruelly, looking directly at Desmond.
The Arrival: Arianna Rose, #4 Page 22
