Imperfect Divine--A Shade of Mind--Book 4
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Imperfect Divine - A Shade of Mind - Book 4
D.N. Leo
Contents
Imperfect Divine
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Exclusive Invitation
The Multiverse Collection
I. QUEEN
Untitled
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Afterword
About the Author
Imperfect Divine
Synopsis
* * *
Ciaran and Madeline haven’t chosen power. Power comes with great responsibility. They’d rather fight for happiness. And Eudaiz is the universe that offers them just that. Happiness.
But to be in Eudaiz and save the lives of millions, they must pass the Daimon Gate tests—the most stringent tests of bravery and worthiness. Tests they might not survive to see the light of happiness they long for.
This final installment in an urban fantasy thriller series, filled with romance and science fiction twists and turns, will take you to the heart of those who dare to embrace the dark side of human mind.
Prologue
Her high heels clicked on the hard cold cobblestones of the dark alley. The unpleasant sound echoed back and forth between the narrow stone fences along the sides of the road. Fog crept up from the ground and brushed her long legs that the thermal stockings didn’t give much warmth to.
She regretted taking this shortcut already.
But at the other end of this alley, a surprise birthday party was waiting for her. Well, not really much of a surprise since she knew about it. Her best friend had tipped her off by asking her to wear something nice for their girls’ night out.
She smiled to herself and tried to ignore the eerie ambiance surrounding her. She was turning eighteen.
Soon.
She heard the sound of flapping wings. This area was notorious for bats—one of those animals she didn’t care much for. It had to be an enormous bat by the sound of it. She looked up but saw nothing but the dark sky.
She put her head down and kept walking, pulling out her cell phone to call her friends. No signal. “I’m in the middle of the town, for God’s sake!” she cursed to no one in particular and picked up her pace.
Her footsteps echoed louder and louder in the dark alley. Or maybe it was just in her head.
But she wasn’t hearing her footsteps now. She was hearing someone else’s. She turned around, but there was nothing but a long, dark alley. Reaching the other end where she could see a dim light would be faster than going back.
She could see traffic and pedestrians in the distance. Seeing people made her feel a lot better. She kept walking.
Suddenly, the metallic stench of blood engulfed her. It was so overwhelming she had to gasp to draw in air. The shadow of a man stepped out in front of her, from . . . nowhere. He cast a glance at her with his flaming red eyes. And he smirked.
It was a smirk of victory and satisfaction as if he had just found a long lost treasure.
She froze. She wasn’t scared. She didn’t pass out. She just couldn’t move.
Then a cold blast of air invaded her. It felt like ants crawling all over her body. Her mind was numb. Something was clawing at her soul, seeping into every cell of her body, ripping the dignity out of her.
Every thought she had in her mind. All of her secrets. All aspects of her life. Everything was exposed.
All of her memories of her sweet childhood, of her friends, of her family were leaving her. Bit by bit. The pain in her heart was unbearable.
She was fully awake, lying on the cold cobblestones and watching the last drop of her innocence leaving her. She blinked. And then she saw it. In front and on top of her was the perfect picture of evil.
Chapter 1
The sound of Jo’s voice echoing through the intercom sent Ciaran and Madeline charging up the stairs. They stormed into Tadgh’s room, finding him lying flat on the floor, unconscious.
Ciaran took Tadgh’s pulse. Steady, he mused. His brother was clinically alive and well.
But something was missing inside Tadgh. Something profound. Fundamental. Something that, as a scientist, he didn’t care to speak of or even theorize.
Tadgh’s soul is gone.
Ciaran shook his head. He couldn’t believe he’d let that thought cross his mind. He had no idea how to explain this. Fear clawed at him.
He could cure his little brother of any earthly problem that could be scientifically explained. He had even manufactured the perfect level of sugar in Tadgh’s blood—a minor issue Tadgh had when he was a kid.
Ciaran could even help with anything physiological or emotional his little brother might encounter. But the only thing he couldn’t help Tadgh with was his mind.
That was the most scientific he could make it. Calling it the mind.
When it came to something as metaphysical as a soul, Ciaran didn’t even know where to begin.
“How could this happen? One minute we were talking, and the next, he fell to the carpet!” Jo exclaimed.
“He’s all right, Jo.”
“He doesn’t look all right, Ciaran. Is he traveling into another dimension like you did the day before yesterday?”
Ciaran shook his head. “Let’s put him on the bed.”
Madeline nodded. As soon as she grabbed Tadgh’s arm to help, she yelped and released it. A tear rolled down her face.
“What is it, Madeline?” Ciaran asked.
Madeline’s eyes were glazed for a short moment, and then they became clear again. “He saw Kyle Wolf. But not via his own eyes,” she whispered.
“So whose eyes did he see the monster through?” Ciaran muttered, more to himself than to Madeline. It a rhetorical question. He didn’t think Madeline knew the answer. But he had a feeling someone did. Ciaran looked at Jo.
The blood drained from Jo’s face. “The eyes of the victim. He could see their emotion and the monster’s emotion. He saw Kyle’s satisfaction when he ripped the innocence out of someone. Like he once did to me,” Jo spoke under her breath.
Ciaran grabbed Madeline’s cold, shaky hands. “Sit down, will you?” He nudged her down onto a chair.
“It’s horrible.” A tear rolled down Madeline’s face.
“Let it calm down. It will pass.” He kissed her lightly. “Okay?” he asked. She nodded.
On the floor, Tadgh stirred, and his eyes fluttered and opened. Ciaran darted over. Tadgh’s eyes were distant, as if he hadn’t yet come back to reality. Then in a brief second, Ciaran knew his brother was back.
“Tadgh, you passed out. You remember anything?” Ciaran reached his hand out to pull him up.
Tadgh glanced around the room. He paused at Jo’s face. Then his eyes hardened. The darkness in his brother’s eyes worried Ciaran. “You can see emotion since you stupidly injected the poison into your body, but it shouldn’t force you to connect with Kyle.”
“No way am I connected with that monster. I don’t have a choice here. I see what I see,” Tadgh muttered. “Fuck this!” Tadgh kicked the chair, the table, and another piece of furniture as he moved across the room. Ciaran let him go for a couple of minutes then tackled him to the floor.
“Let go of me.” Tadgh shoved Ciaran off and stood up.
“Do I have to assign security and keep you chained up, Tadgh? We’re going to Australia tomorrow . . .”
“I’m going with you,” Tadgh snarled.
“Give me a very good reason to allow that, Tadgh.”
“I need to kill the fucking bastard.”
“What did you see?”
“Can’t tell you. And there’s nothing you can do.”
“You can’t be sure of that,” Ciaran countered.
Tadgh stared at Ciaran and said nothing more.
“Very well, you will stay here. I’ll assign security and take away all of your access to transport.” Ciaran strode toward the door of the room.
Tadgh darted after him and grabbed for Ciaran’s shoulder. The momentum of Tadgh’s hand pushed Ciaran, shoving him forward. “Don’t be ridiculous, Ciaran. I can help you.”
Entering the reception room at the end of the corridor, Ciaran turned around. “I said no. You and Jo stay here. I can’t take care of you in Australia.”
“Let me put this another way, big brother. How can you be so sure Kyle wouldn’t try to kill you in Australia?” Tadgh cocked an eyebrow in challenge. “I need to go with you.”
“Then tell me what you just saw.”
“Kyle was doing what he did to Jo to another girl in London,” Tadgh said and glanced at Jo.
“How did you see it? I could feel the vibration of Kyle’s energy when I touched your arm,” Madeline said.
Tadgh shook his head. “I didn’t see much. Just got a glimpse of objects and shapes, and I heard some sounds. The shapes and sounds translate into emotion. That’s what I feel. I extrapolate the action that cause the emotion and the owner of the emotions afterward.”
Tadgh flopped into a reading chair and closed his eyes.
“And you did all that in a few minutes?” Jo asked.
“He’s a walking, talking computer, Jo,” Ciaran said.
“I can tell if Kyle is coming when he’s miles away. Like now. He’s in London. I can’t tell the precise location. But if he takes any action on anyone, I can tell from miles away,” Tadgh said.
“I can’t risk him controlling you. Madeline and Jo saw that happen,” Ciaran explained.
“Madeline knocked me out way before they could even tell if I was able to resist Kyle.”
Ciaran looked at Madeline. She nodded to confirm what Tadgh had just said.
Tadgh grunted and held his head.
“I’ll have to knock you out, Tadgh,” Ciaran said.
Tadgh gestured for Ciaran to stay away. “It wasn’t Kyle. It’s the girl . . .” he grunted again and looked as if he was in excruciating pain. Ciaran approached.
“No, no. I can take this.” Tadgh held his head and closed his eyes. After a while, he opened his eyes and looked at Ciaran. He was as white as a ghost.
“Turn on the news,” Tadgh said numbly.
Ciaran turned on their private channel. As the latest news flashed, the blood drained from all of their faces.
Chapter 2
Kyle smiled to himself. He stood right in front of the small pub where his latest prey was doing whatever he made her do. He frowned. He had to be careful. He needed quite a few more innocent souls before he could crash the Daimon Gate opening in Australia. There was no room for error.
The attempt tonight had been a success, which pleased him a great deal. An eighteen-year-old girl in a dark alley. A weak-willed soul—and to his delight—a virtuous one.
Kyle chuckled and focused his gaze through the pub’s small window to enjoy his victory. Nobody could see him unless he allowed them to. He was invisible to the naked eye. Yet the damage he did to the humans was quite visible.
He could stand right inside the pub, and all would be oblivious to his existence. He would probably enjoy the smoky ambiance where the humans congregated and tried to give one another lung cancer. The stench of fresh blood was pleasant to him. And he would certainly like the sound of metal and glass cutting into flesh. His senses had become a lot more acute these days.
But no. He didn’t want to mix with humans. He was once a Eudaizian, a citizen of a beautiful universe in which he was born—and which he still longed for. He would forever be a Eudaizian in his heart, even though they had exiled him and stripped him of all his rights.
Well, he would take all of those rights back.
Soon.
Chaos in the pub. Screams. Cries. Crashes. Blood splattered onto the windows. People shoved at the heavy oak door and stormed outside.
The young girl grabbed a knife, possibly a steak knife, and slaughtered everyone in her way. She was especially interested in those that holding balloons and banners for the surprise birthday party.
He had heard that thought screaming in the girl’s head when he had raped her soul. After thirty-three years living on this hell hole called Earth, he had learned what birthdays meant to humans. He still couldn’t understand why they celebrated their earthly existence when the soul meant so much more than the body.
Kyle shook his head. Anyway, who cared?
He didn’t care how many people the girl was killing in the pub. Those casualties didn’t count on his score card. The innocent soul of the girl counted, though. She counted as one.
Kyle sighed. He needed more than that. So he needed the girl to hurry up, kill someone, and then kill herself. That was the final tick in the box to ensure that tonight was a success.
Police sirens echoed in the distance. He should help the girl before people talked her out of the final step, the last step in being his score.
Kyle closed his eyes. When he opened them, the girl appeared on the roof of the building. She looked down as if scared. Tears streamed down her face. Her hair flew and tangled in the winter wind. She held onto the chimney.
“Come on, darling. Jump. I’ll catch your soul,” Kyle mumbled to himself.
The girl started to cry, and her legs began to wobble. She hung on tightly and leaned on the chimney so that her knees wouldn’t buckle.
“It’s all right. It won’t be bad at all. Come on, sweetheart. I’ll take you to heaven. Come to me,” Kyle whispered.
The girl cried out loud. Kyle knew too well that she was at the extreme of her conflicting emotions. He couldn’t let her give in to her survival instinct or his attempt would be ruined. He couldn’t let the girl do the opposite of what he wanted her to do.
Kyle Wolf had never been defeated in that way.
He closed his eyes and chanted an ancient spell. This was his last resource. He’d never had to rely on magic before. Ever. Magic was what ruined his Master. But he had no choice now. He cast the spell.
And in no time, the girl’s body landed in front of the cameraman of the news crew who had just arrived on the scene.
Kyle smiled. Success. He turned around to hunt for a few more souls.
Chapter 3
Ciaran’s little hands gripped the ledge outside his room’s window tightly, and he climbed out to the roof. There was no way he was going to be grounded in his room for a week. He was four, and he was entitled to make a case with his father. If Father listened.
Father always encouraged Tadgh to talk. And that was fair enough because his brother was just learning to talk. But Ciaran knew he was able to speak at a level beyond his age. If it wasn�
��t true, would Father have given him books in philosophy last year?
So why had Father just grounded him this time without even listening to his reasons?
Those wild dogs had attacked and killed Dew, his German shepherd. What was wrong with a little retaliation?
And he didn’t do much damage or hurt anyone. He had mixed the explosive, and he’d tested it on the statue of the Goddess of Kindness in the garden. It was only a statue! And he didn’t blow up the whole thing . . . just the head.
So why was father so upset?
Ciaran looked down the slope of the roof. It was quite steep. But that was all right. He had strong grip.
He scooted his bare little feet along the roof tiles, carefully lowered himself down to the gutter, and then dropped down to the ground. He pulled out the slippers he had folded into the pockets of his pajamas, put them on, and strode toward the back garden.
Soon he stood at the hill at the back of Mon Ciel.
The dark hill was covered with bushes, ancient trees, and numerous paths that led to places in the woods where Father would never let him go. Ciaran wasn’t afraid of the dark—or anything else for that matter. He was willing to explore and learn.