The Third Throne: Angel of Death

by Tabitha Barret

  Pete’s head snapped back and lolled to the side. He was out cold.

  Alazar quickly searched Pete’s pockets for a key or something useful. Sadly, he didn’t have anything that would get them out of their bonds.

  Dropping Pete on his ass, Alazar shifted his foot to the side and stepped on the butt of the gun, while he shimmied his other foot under the barrel. He carefully lifted the gun until he could grab it with his bound hands.

  “Please tell you have used a shotgun before,” Derick watched Alazar aim at the rope above his arms.

  “Nope. Not my weapon of choice, but my dagger is gone, and I don’t think Pete has a sword shoved up his ass. Hold still and let’s see if I can shoot this thing. You might want to duck your head. I’m seeing two of you and the lights are flickering,” Alazar put the gun between his legs to balance and hold it. Now all he had to do was aim high enough not to kill the kid.

  ∞

  Maraquette couldn’t get over her good fortune. Everything was working out the way she had envisioned. She needed to remember to thank Gabriel for helping her once the Destroyer was dead. She had been spying on him and Raphael, looking for their weak spots so that she could find a way to hurt them. Father would be inconsolable if she killed either of them. Then Gabriel gave her the best gift imaginable, a way to get to the little home wrecker.

  She was following Gabriel when he made an unexpected visit to a school in Tulsa. She had no idea why he was in Tulsa or what kind of business he could possibly have there. Then she saw the boy that Gabriel was speaking to. Within a second, she knew she’d struck gold. The boy, while handsome, had something even more interesting to see. He practically glowed. She could see his aura. Someone powerful had touched the boy. The power was similar to Father’s, and yet edged with darkness. There was only one creature she could think of that held the power of light and darkness that could cause such a mark, one that had ties to Gabriel. Anjali. She had to care deeply for the boy to leave such a mark on his soul. All she had to do was put the boy in danger, sit back, and wait for the Destroyer to come to her. Easy enough.

  Maraquette set herself to the task of finding out everything she could about the mortal. She found out about his show in Tulsa and sought out the Spirit Experts. Mortals who believed in spirits, who went in search of them, typically were searching for answers about loved ones that had died. They were always gullible. She enticed the Spirit Experts with lies of helping them find proof of spirits and broadcasting to a larger audience. They just had to come with her to Romania. After all, who didn’t want to be famous? They had foamed at the mouth to join her, all but Derick. He needed more convincing, so she enlisted the help of his best friend, which was easier than expected.

  Maraquette suddenly realized that Pete hadn’t checked in with her. She could care less if Pete were dead. It would be one more loose end taken care of, but everything would be ruined if Derick and Alazar somehow escaped.

  Disappearing from the house, she appeared in the barn to find Alazar’s chains on the ground and Derick’s ropes frayed. Pete was unconscious on the ground and unfortunately still breathing.

  “Get up! What happened?” Maraquette shrieked as she shook Pete. She rolled him over, but he merely groaned.

  They had broken his nose and stolen his coat. She would make him pay for his stupidity later.

  Murderous, she looked outside the barn for footsteps to indicate which way they had gone. Alazar wouldn’t be able to disappear with the bonds on him, so they had to be close. Unfortunately, the snow had melted the day before and the ground had refrozen so there were no footprints.

  She laughed when she saw the blood stains on the frozen ground from Alazar’s wounds. She followed the blood splatters across a field, frantically searching for her prisoners. She quickly moved through the field, determined to make Alazar suffer. She should have broken both of his legs to make damned well sure that he stayed put, a mistake that she would not make again.

  The trail went cold until she saw the tree line in the distance. She disappeared and reappeared in the middle of the trees. She spun around trying to find their footprints in the moss. Three drops of blood led off to the right toward the denser part of the forest, three more drops were on a rock on the other side of the river and four drops of blood showed them heading upstream. The sun wasn’t low enough in the sky to take to the air, especially with Michael hunting Alazar. She would have to be extra careful in her search. Once nightfall came, she would find them and make sure they were incapable of running again.

  Maraquette quickly disappeared and took up shelter in her hideaway to wait out nightfall.

  Derick relaxed when he saw Maraquette disappear from the shoreline of the river.

  He was tucked away in the roots of a tree next to the water’s edge. Waiting a few more minutes to make sure Maraquette was gone, he unfolded himself from the tangle of muddy roots and stood up.

  Looking down into the water, he studied his new traveling companion who was lying face down at the bottom of the river. Alazar had passed out just as they reached the water. He fell in and never came back up. Derick did his best to confuse Maraquette with the blood trail to give Alazar more time to wake up. Thankfully, the fast-moving water concealed Alazar and his pools of blood.

  Derick jumped onto a group of rocks and carefully leaned over to grab Alazar’s shirt. His ribs were still sore and his wrists and shoulders were aching, but he managed to pull the soaking wet angel out of the river and dump him on the ground. He looked more like a vampire with his pale skin and deathly expression than an angel, which was eerie. He braced himself, waiting for Alazar to rise from the dead, but he didn’t move.

  Cursing, he decided to stay close to the river in case they needed to hide again. He would also have to risk drinking the water to avoid dehydration if he had to drag Alazar across the countryside.

  Scanning the sky, he determined that he had a few hours before sunset. The temperature would drop and even Pete’s coat wouldn’t keep him warm enough. He hoped his less than adequate fire building skills could keep them from freezing.

  He picked up Alazar, hoisted him up onto his shoulders into a fireman’s carry. He would only be able to carry Alazar at short intervals before taking a few minutes to rest, but he had to risk it. He couldn’t leave Alazar behind. Personally, he could care less about him, but Anjali needed him. He had to find help as soon as possible.

  After walking for over an hour and a half, Derick was exhausted. He hoped that he was far enough away from Maraquette to take a long rest. It had been slowing going since he tried to avoid as many rocks as he could, though the increasingly heavy angel didn’t seem to notice the bumpy ride, or the three times he had dropped him. He paused when heard what sounded like a waterfall up ahead, and lowered Alazar on to a log so that he could explore the area.

  Derick walked through the trees and came upon a small waterfall beyond the trees that fed into a wide pool. The trees were dense enough to cover the pool and provide some safety if anyone were flying overhead. He had no idea what to expect from an archangel, but he didn’t want to meet this Michael guy any time soon.

  Walking back to his cohort, he jumped when he saw Alazar stalking toward him. Forget Lucifer’s imposing height and black eyes; Alazar was scarier with his white glowing skin and black clothes. He decided that he didn’t want Alazar as an enemy.

  “Good to see you’re finally awake,” Derick hefted out a breath, grateful that he didn’t have to lug him around anymore. He looked better, but the holes in his chest hadn’t healed much. Blood was still seeping down his shirt. It was a wonder that he had any blood left in him.

  “Where are we and why the hell am I wet?” Alazar stopped on top of a boulder and looked around. He was shivering and miserable.

  “Upriver somewhere in the middle of nowhere and you’re wet because you passed out in the river. I tricked Maraquette by using your blood and gave her three possible directions to look for us, while I hid and you took a swim,” Derick
wiped the sweat off his forehead with his shirt. He debated taking off Pete’s red winter coat, but didn’t want to lose any heat before nightfall.

  Alazar chuckled. The kid could have left his carcass for Maraquette to find, but instead he had risked his life to save him. He was impressed with his resourcefulness. “Thanks.”

  “Yeah, well, we aren’t out of the woods yet, literally. We still have to find Anjali and I don’t have a clue how to do that,” Derick walked back toward the pool and found a thick log to lie down on.

  “That’s the problem, kid. I don’t have a clue either. Normally I could summon her or use my power to find her. Right now, I got nothing. I can’t exactly make my way into Hell and Heaven is off limits since they want me dead. I don’t know how to find her,” Alazar grimaced. He didn’t want to burst the kid’s bubble after he’d helped him, but he didn’t want to lie.

  “She’s your Master, which you are going to have to explain to me, so there has to be away,” Derick stared at the sky trying to remember all the clues Anjali had inadvertently given him during their talks.

  “I can’t even feel her with these lovely blue glowing manacles on. They cut off all ties to my world. They are supposed to make you miss everyone and everything you once held dear, including your abilities. Aside from Hell Fire, it’s the worst punishments we have. It also makes me cold, thirsty, and hungry, which I’m not used to feeling,” Alazar said as he tried not to stumble over the rocky bank of the pond. He wasn’t made for trudging through the forest. Rayan would certainly laugh at him, or punch him; either way, it would make his day to see Alazar in pain, weakened, and bleeding. Maybe he should send him a photo for his mantle as a peace offering.

  Alazar sat down across from Derick. The pain was back in full force. His body had started going numb before he passed out, which was both good and bad. The last thing he remembered was tumbling through a field and tripping over a log. Maraquette had been smart to wound him. His chest was burning, which made it hard to breathe.

  “Alazar, you don’t understand. Not only are we in trouble, but so is Anjali. Lucifer is going to confront her about our relationship. He has a history of hurting her. It might be a long time before she is able to look for us. I don’t know what to do. All I did was fall in love with the perfect girl, a girl that I thought was human, and now I’m sitting in the middle of the woods hiding from a crazed angel and a hit squad with death incarnate. As impossible as this is, I refuse to give up this time,” Derick sat up and rubbed his face.

  Alazar stared at the boy. It was evident why Anjali liked him. Even with a death warrant on Derick’s head, he was still thinking about helping her. He was the kind of person that she should have by her side. If anything happened to the boy, she would hold him directly responsible. Alazar had to do what he could to keep the boy safe.

  Looking at Derick’s expression, something struck him. He said he refused to give up this time. It implied that he had given up before. The mix of desperation and fear on Derick’s face was familiar. Son of a bitch. The kid had tried to kill himself. He was seriously losing his touch with the bonds on him. Normally, he would have seen the whole tragic scenario the moment he looked into the kid’s eyes.

  “Why did you try to kill yourself? Forgive me for asking, I can’t it see for myself,” Alazar held up the bonds as an explanation for his lack of insight.

  Derick stopped breathing. Shit. Of course, the Angel of Death would know about that.

  Alazar raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer. “I need to know what kind of person you are. You are obviously involved with my Master. I have to know that you are worthy of her. You have done a spectacular job of putting her security above your own, but I need to know that you won’t fall apart when things gets real. Suiciders are all too eager to run away from the harsh realities of this world. I want to know that you won’t run when faced with an impossible situation. Even if she tosses you aside, I want to know it wasn’t because you gave up on her,” Alazar’s eyes burned into Derick’s, willing him to reveal his secrets, but couldn’t even scratch the surface. It frustrated him to no end.

  Derick thought about Annie. If he had to pass Death’s test to be with her, then so be it. “I lost both of my parents. I was short on friends. School was a nightmare. I knew no one would miss me. I grabbed some pills. The pain and loneliness were too much to take. I was mad. I was mad at everyone and myself. I took the pills without thinking. Figuring it would take time, I lay down on my bed, waiting. My mind was blank, until…,” Derick stopped. He couldn’t go on.

  “What? What did you see? Did your life flash before your eyes? Did you regret your decisions?” Alazar was frantically trying to picture Derick’s pathetic life.

  “I never told anyone, not even my uncle, but I saw a woman. She was crying. She looked straight at me and said why? I don’t know who she was, but it was enough to get my attention. I started thinking about the future and how I might find this woman someday. It gave me hope that things would change. Even if no one else cared, this woman would be upset that I was gone. I called 911 and told them what I had done. I spent the next few days in the hospital. Once I got out, I focused on the future. I knew I had a second chance and I wasn’t going to waste it. The funny thing is, when I met Annie, she didn’t look like the woman, but somehow she felt familiar. So aside from trying to kill myself, I’m also delusional,” Derick got up and walked around the shore, kicking rocks, afraid to look at Alazar.

  Alazar learned two things upon hearing Derick’s confession. He really did jump to conclusions when tempting people, which he had to stop doing, and Derick had a deeper connection to Anjali than he first thought. It explained why the mark was so strong. Derick really did belong to her.

  “I don’t think you’re crazy, but I do think you’re worthy. It’s obvious that you’ve known Anjali before. Some of her power rubbed off on to you, or rather your soul. That’s how Maraquette found you. Even with the bonds on, I can see it clear as day. You’ve known her in other lives,” Alazar said. He stared down at the ground. He was the unworthy one.

  Derick should have been surprised by the revelation that he knew Anjali before, but instead he was happy. The emotions they felt for each other hadn’t been a figment of his imagination. They were real and had existed before he had met her in the parking lot. He no longer had to feel guilty about loving her. He smiled when he realized that he might have loved her before Lucifer did.

  Alazar looked around at the treetops. It was getting darker and soon Maraquette would be able to take to the skies, if she hadn’t already. They were losing time.

  Alazar stood and tried to clear his head. He had to work past the pain ravaging his body. “We have to get back to the city. If we can somehow find transportation, I have a way to get to Anjali. Trust me when I say it won’t be easy. I hate even bringing it up, but there are ancient tunnels that lead into to Hell. They were used back when there were fewer mortals in the world. They were closed off for fear the mortals would find them. I know of a tunnel entrance not far from the city. The tunnel is laden with traps, but it’s the only way to get into Hell. Once there, I might be able to find someone who can get these bracelets off me. You might have to knock someone out for me, but it’s the only plan I have. We just have to avoid seeing Lucifer, who will kill me on sight,” Alazar didn’t want to drag Derick down to Hell, but he didn’t have many options.

  “I’m not worried about Lucifer. I don’t think he’ll want to kick my ass again,” Derick hoped that his luck hadn’t run out.

  Alazar’s mind crashed. The kid knew Lucifer and had survived a beating from the Angel of Darkness. It was obvious that he wasn’t officially Anjali’s servant, since he didn’t know how to summon her, but how did he know Lucifer?

  “What are you talking about?” Alazar stared at the boy, dumbfounded. He couldn’t get over the kid’s knowledge of his world. He was a constant surprise.

  Derick quickly explained how he had met Annie and how she turned out to be the
Bringer of the Apocalypse. Then he detailed all of his observations about Annie. Finally, he told Alazar about running into the devil in the parking lot and almost losing his life.

  Alazar nearly had a heart attack. This kid had faced the devil and had walked away to tell the tale. He was really starting to admire him.

  Pondering Derick’s theory on why Lucifer hadn’t killed him, he doubted that Anjali would threaten Lucifer, but was intrigued by the idea. “Tell me about Lucifer’s reaction. Did he look scared?” Alazar couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Lucifer being too fearful to harm a mortal because of Anjali’s wrath. It meant that Lucifer wasn’t as stupid or mindless as he had believed. If Lucifer understood her power and had seen it firsthand, then perhaps she could hold her own again the devil. This was promising. His Master should make the devil quake in his boots.

  “Yes, he was scared enough to leave me in an empty lot, breathing. He was going to kill me. I have no doubt that he would have if Radek hadn’t spoken up,” Derick grimaced.

  Alazar relished the thought of Lucifer afraid. It made his meaningless life a little bit brighter. He knew he was being petty, but after everything he had suffered, it was nice to know that even Lucifer had limitations.

  Alazar stood up. “We should keep moving. I shouldn’t black out as fast this time, but let’s not press our luck. We need to cover as much ground as possible.”

  Derick could see that Alazar was struggling, but was grateful that he didn’t have to carry him.

  Derick nodded his head in agreement. He stretched his aching legs and side, willing his hungry and tired body to keep going.

  “Why haven’t you left me to fend for myself?” Alazar asked quietly as they lumbered across the larger rocks around the waterfall. He couldn’t help but ask the obvious question. He was dead weight and the last person Derick needed to be seen with.

  “Because Anjali would be mad if I left her angel like this,” Derick helped to steady Alazar and continued up the embankment.