Forbidden (The Preternaturals)

by Zoe Winters

  “Going where?” Angeline asked. She pulled herself free of the scarves and covered up with the bed sheet.

  “Just get dressed. The longer we chat, the longer this takes. I’ll explain to everyone at the same time.”

  Hadrian growled again when they were alone. He couldn’t get out of the demon’s dimension and back to his church fast enough—his own space where no one would try to dictate anything to him. He furiously jerked his clothing on. Angeline still sat wrapped in sheets, looking forlorn.

  “You heard the idiot. We have to get dressed and see what the drama queen demon wants.”

  “But I don’t have a corset to wear.”

  Hadrian dug through the bags of clothing he’d bought for her in Las Vegas and tossed some panties, a pair of dark jeans, and another slinky top like the red one, this one dark green.

  “I know you don’t like it, but just put these on. Just do it for me this once.” He stroked the side of her cheek and placed a tender kiss on her lips.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Angeline stood under the stars in the demon dimension with Hadrian and the others. They were in the desert, far removed from the tents and lights of the marketplace in town.

  She felt as if she were coming out of her skin without her corset. She knew she was far too attached to them, and that the attachment wasn’t particularly healthy, but she felt naked with her breasts free under the slinky top.

  Cain and a few others had raised eyebrows at her nipples poking through the fabric. In an earlier time she might have found the whole thing amusing, but this wasn’t an earlier time.

  She recognized many of the others who had gathered. Anthony, Cole, Jane, Tam, Anna, Dayne, and Greta. Charlee wasn’t with them, and Luc was with the gypsies. Then there was a veritable sea of those she didn’t know. An entire pack of werewolves, several covens of magic users, guardians, vampires, and a lot of Cain’s demons.

  Hadrian slipped his hand in Angeline’s, and something tight inside her unfurled. She wanted to believe he cared for her. All signs pointed to yes. And yet, it was still so hard to see anything real. Heaven had been nothing but artifice. Linus had worn his own masks as well. What if this thing with Hadrian was just more of the same? She wouldn’t be able to take losing him again.

  Hadrian leaned in next to her ear and whispered, “I’ll finish what we started. You can count on it.” He nipped at her throat with flat teeth, and in spite of herself, she smiled.

  The demon leader let out an ear-splitting whistle, and the murmuring crowd settled.

  “The angels know of our plans to do the ritual to sever the link on the full Moon. Just saying it at Anthony’s penthouse once was enough.”

  “I’m sorry,” Tam said.

  “I’m not angry,” Cain said. “I’m just explaining the situation to everyone. Besides, getting Luc back sooner rather than later is my preference, anyway.” Cain turned back to the assembled group. “As many of you know, nobody does surveillance like angels do surveillance. We assumed, perhaps foolishly, that we could meet in the human world and slide under the radar. We should have met here. And that’s my fault.”

  Tam jumped in then. “Myself and my coven will be performing the chant. We have all the ingredients as well as those of you who are directly participating. Each ritual participant will need a human. We’ll take people when we go in.”

  Some members of the group had obvious discomfort with the plan, particularly magic users and therians. The guardians seemed indifferent, and the demons and vampires for the most part seemed excited by the whole thing.

  Angeline glanced at Hadrian to gauge his response, but his face was blank of emotion. If he had an opinion about it, he didn’t let it out. The anger that seemed a constant companion to him had dissipated, replaced with a mixture of contentment and nervous energy. He smiled at her then, and all of her doubts about them and what he wanted or might want tomorrow, disappeared, swallowed up by the new energy.

  Tam continued. “In case you haven’t guessed by now, we are doing the ritual tonight. It’s about ten o’clock at the ritual location, we need to be in place to start by midnight. The angels are expecting us in two days. Going tonight will introduce the element of surprise. They’ll show up because they’ll watch the screens like they always do, but it will buy us precious extra minutes we wouldn’t have if they were all standing around waiting for us.”

  A hand raised from the group.

  “Yes?”

  A member of the werewolf pack said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know a lot about magic, but doesn’t it need to be on the full Moon?”

  “It would be ideal to do it on the full Moon. Magic is boosted by special days and lunar cycles, yes, but the Moon will be waxing. Combined with the ritual knife and the rest of it, it should be enough.”

  Another hand raised. This time one of the magic users.

  “Yes?”

  “How do you know you can do magic this big? It seems unrealistic if you ask me.”

  “One of yours, Dayne?” Tam asked.

  The sorcerer cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Yeah, sorry.”

  Cain interrupted to take the question. “My mate has lived for more than two thousand years in her current form. She wrote the chant for a ritual to create the cyclers, if you remember the drama that ended just a few months ago. She conferred immortality to herself and twelve others, so yes, this is well within her capabilities.”

  The magic user looked suitably impressed.

  Cain continued. “Everyone not in the ritual will fan out in a circle around the perimeter to fight, chant, protect, whatever it is you do for when the angels show up. We need to keep them out of the ritual space so Tam can get this done. Anthony will be leading you. I’m in the ritual with Tam.”

  The vampire king growled, no doubt because Cain kept usurping him, and Angeline knew how Anthony liked to run things. This must be killing him.

  Two large demons in demon form approached then with an angel in tow. It was one of the warrior class.

  “Kurt!” Angeline said, shocked to see him again.

  “Angeline?”

  A thick metal band was locked around his torso, preventing his wings or protective magic from assisting him.

  “It’s enchanted,” Tam whispered. Angeline hadn’t noticed the witch’s approach.

  Kurt looked at Angeline with shocked betrayal, but Angeline couldn’t bring herself to care that much. He’d taken her to the black room. He hadn’t had mercy on her. And all they were doing was sending the angels to Heaven permanently.

  “If you do this, the world will become truly hellish. You have no idea how much the angels protect people from evil,” Kurt said, still struggling against the demons and the metal band that had ensnared him.

  “We’ll take our chances,” Tam said. She took Angeline by the arm and steered her away from the group. “I wanted to show you where I need you to be,” Tam said when they were far enough away from the others to prevent eavesdropping.

  The witch pulled out a sheet of rolled up blueprint paper from her duffel bag. She sat on the sand and invited Angeline to join her as she rolled the paper out. Several places were marked off.

  “This is all happening on a farm. There will be a faded red barn at the north end of the pasture. That’s where the ritual will take place, and I need you and Hadrian to be down here.” She pointed to a marked spot on the map, part of the perimeter she’d drawn. The X was as far from the barn as one could get while still being a part of things. “I’m not sure how sensitive your hearing is, but Hadrian should be able to hear where I am in the ritual. The portal will open next to the barn right before the link severs. It will suck all the angels through it. You should be safe, but if you get much closer than this, there is a small risk. I spoke with Anthony, and he’ll keep his guardians in this area as well.”

  Tam rolled up the blueprint and they went back to join the rest of the group.

  ***

  Hadrian held Angeline’s hand on the way to the
ritual site, still irritated he’d agreed to be part of this. Would their presence make a difference? They weren’t part of the ritual, and it seemed they had plenty of people to guard their precious perimeter.

  He wanted to announce they weren’t going and take Angeline back to their temporary tent housing and claim her. Why had Cain bothered interrupting them in the first place? With the crowd that had been assembled for this fight and the fact that the angels might not even show up before Tam finished the ritual, it all seemed like overkill from his perspective.

  But the anxiety on Angeline’s face was enough to change Hadrian’s mind. She wouldn’t be content until she knew the link had been severed and that Heaven couldn’t reach her. She’d be a basket case waiting in Cain’s dimension for word. She needed to feel useful. He understood that, but at what cost?

  He leaned in. “Are you sure you don’t want to just go back to the tent and sit this one out?”

  “No. I don’t want to sit this one out! Don’t you want to be a part of the group?” she asked.

  “Not really,” he said. Hadrian had never been much of a joiner. But he could see from the look on her face, that Angeline wanted to be included, to have friends. He growled. Even if they made it back to his church in Vegas, this probably wouldn’t be the last he saw of this group.

  Daria showed up then, linking her arm in Angeline’s. The demon wore what could only be described as “Fighter Chic” and was strapped down with enough weapons to win a small battle singlehandedly.

  “I just got started on your corsets because of all this, but I’ll be able to get the first one to you by the end of the week, probably.”

  Daria started chattering at Angeline as Anthony pulled Hadrian away from the group.

  “I need a word,” Anthony said.

  “What?” The two vampires slowed their pace and allowed themselves to fall to the back.

  “I’ve noticed you seem to be getting close to your guardian,” the vampire king said.

  “And?”

  “I hope you don’t intend on claiming her.”

  “And if I did?” Hadrian challenged.

  “If you did, it would become very ugly between us. Guardians are not our equals. They are the help. They are in a lower class, and I absolutely forbid vampires claiming them. It has always been forbidden. There hasn’t been a single king before me who has approved of a vampire/guardian mating, and I won’t be the first.”

  Hadrian stopped walking. “Are you kidding me with this? You claimed a human. If anyone is not our equal, it’s the humans. Weren’t you one of the vampires who competed for king on the humans-are-cattle platform? That’s what I seem to recall.”

  Anthony growled. “You will leave my mate out of this. Claiming a human is rare, but it isn’t forbidden.”

  “And why exactly is that? What is it about a vampire claiming a guardian that so threatens your happy existence? Or is it something about Angeline, specifically? I know you two have some sort of history.” A history Hadrian was sure he didn’t want to know the details of, or he might be forced to assassinate the king.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. It’s nothing personal. Only that she is no longer one of us. They are a servant class to our kind, and it would be shameful to claim one. This is not up for negotiation. If you claim her, there will be consequences.”

  “I’m not your minion,” Hadrian said. “After this is over, I’m taking Angeline back to my church in Vegas. I’m sure neither one of us wants to ever see nor hear from you again.”

  “I could have you executed,” Anthony said. “I don’t even need a reason. You’ve been in my court. You know how I run things. Despite Cain’s enjoyment of running my show when multiple faction leaders get together, you’ve seen first hand the consequences of crossing me.”

  “Whatever you say, Your Majesty.” Hadrian gave a mock bow to the king and ran to catch up with Angeline and the others. He refused to be commanded by any vampire king.

  A demon stood at the portal between Cain’s dimension and the ritual site, helping those who weren’t demons to pass through the portal.

  On the other side, he caught up with Angeline to help form the perimeter. Hadrian looked up the hill to see Tam and her coven, along with Cole, a vampire Hadrian didn’t know, and a guardian he didn’t know, and the male warrior angel they’d captured. The witch and her coven were setting up the circle. Five terrified humans were held captive by a few demons off to the side as Tam chanted—in Latin of all things.

  Hadrian still remembered a lot of Latin. He’d continued studying the language even as a vampire. The circle was large to accommodate all the people it had to hold. The bound angel was brought to the center. Around him stood the others, each with a human. Cain held Tam’s hand to anchor her to the physical world. As a demon’s mate, she was incorporeal unless he was touching her, but that would change in time as her powers grew.

  The coven chanted and sprinkled the powdered roots, spices, and some salt around the circle. A green light shot up from the ground where the circle was demarcated.

  “It’ll be funny if nobody shows up to fight us, huh,” said some stupid fledgling vampire Hadrian didn’t know.

  Hadrian rolled his eyes. “Hilarious.” After all, nothing was funnier than being prepared and safe and not nearly dying fighting to stop the apocalypse. Nearly every species at this event was considered by most of the humans to be the “bad guys”. Ironic that it should be the bad guys who were ultimately saving the world.

  The vampire believed what Angeline had said about Heaven and what it was truly like. And if her testimony and experience hadn’t been enough there was the confirmation from the werewolf’s demon mate, Jane.

  Tam raised the ritual knife in both hands high above her head and she and the witches began to chant. A golden light glowed around Tam, and she sliced the angel’s arm with the blade.

  “Owww!” he yelped.

  “Oh, pipe down,” Tam said. “You’re just going back to Heaven. Forever. Don’t you like it there?”

  The angel glared at her as blood pooled at his feet. Tam passed the ritual knife counter-clockwise in the circle, starting with Cain. He sliced his palm and contributed his blood to the angel’s, then it wasn’t clear what he did, but the human woman with him went from being scared to having a blissful look on her face. He seemed to be creating a sexual fantasy in her mind. His hands hovered over her, and he sucked her life energy until she crumpled to the ground.

  “Interesting choice,” Tam said.

  “Don’t read anything into it,” the demon said.

  He passed the blade to Cole. The werewolf took a deep, steadying breath, then sliced his palm and his blood joined the rest. He shifted into wolf form and mauled his human—not as peaceful a death as Cain had delivered.

  The vampire was next. He sliced his palm, added his blood, then drained the woman he’d brought into the circle. With each death, the humans’ fears sprang higher. One of them began to rant and scream. “We knew you all were evil. We knew! This is why we fight!”

  That one was killed by the guardian.

  “Hmmm,” Angeline said. “I had wondered how they’d do that one.”

  Angeline’s hearing wasn’t as good as Hadrian’s, but she could see what was going on from their distance.

  “Pardon me?” Hadrian said.

  “The death. Everyone is killing according to their special magical ability, but guardians aren’t like that.”

  The guardian had allowed his wings to come out, and had created a protective force field with his human inside. Then he’d broken her neck from inside the circle of protection he’d created. That protection only worked against someone outside it, not the one offering the protection.

  Tam sliced her palm and added her blood to the mix, then she raised her arms and chanted, and her human fell dead.

  Then the real work began. The werewolf struggled to reclaim his form. Each of the preternaturals in the circle linked hands, and they, along with the coven, began
to chant again.

  “Angeli eorum ad exsilium, hoc loco nunquam ingredi…”

  That was when the angels arrived. A horde of them, mostly warrior class swooped down out of the sky as if they’d been summoned. The protective circle Tam and the coven had created, diverted the angels to the perimeter where the gathered preternaturals were meant to fight and distract them so they couldn’t break down the shield of protection.

  Angeline’s wings came out. She stayed close to Hadrian, ready to protect him from the angels if necessary, even though her abilities would break down in a fight against the warrior class eventually.

  Even with all of the fighters and magic users they’d assembled, the angels had already started to overtake them. Countless vampires lay dead farther up the hill, and those who weren’t dead were deserting. Cowards.

  Magic users chanted to bind the angels with mixed success. The demons threw fireballs, and went incorporeal when the angels tried to fight back. The werewolves were in wolf form, growling and biting anything that moved that wasn’t on their team.

  The chanting in the circle grew louder and faster. Hadrian jumped on a nearby angel, his fangs embedded in her throat while she was too distracted to protect herself.

  “Hadrian!”

  He turned to find an angel had grabbed Angeline and was dragging her up the hillside to the circle. Hadrian released the angel he’d been feeding from and ran after them up the hill.

  “Rodolfo, no!” Angeline shouted trying to pull from his grasp.

  “Yes. If they take us, you’re coming with me. I’ll separate you from that foul vampire once and for all, and when I’m tired of punishing you, I’ll destroy you.” The angel whispered something in Angeline’s ear that Hadrian couldn’t hear. Her eyes widened in response and she struggled harder.