by Tessa Cole
“What are you still doing here, Bane?” Marcus growled.
“Just leaving.” He headed to the stairs. “Don’t get killed, Gideon. You’re not by far my best customer, but you’re the most entertaining.”
“Why do I always want to strangle him every time I see him?” Jacob asked.
Another explosion tore through me, and the pressure contracted even more, making my buzz blaze stronger. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to rise let alone walk, but as much as I wanted Marcus’s arms around me, I also wanted to stand on my own two feet. I needed to prove as much to myself as to Gideon that I could handle this job.
Free me and you’ll have more power than all of them combined.
I don’t want your power. I shoved up to my feet, using the table to keep my balance. “We need to get moving. We can plan in the SUV. Hell, I should probably change in it, too, and not waste time going to wherever my clothes are.” I turned to Jacob. “You can grab my clothes and gear faster than I can.”
Gideon gave a tight nod to Jacob. “Go.”
Jacob ran out of the cafeteria. While he wasn’t nearly as fast as a master vampire, he was still faster than a human.
But you do want power. Ibizual laughed again, and I gritted my teeth against the pain. You’ve accepted you can’t be human, but you’re too weak to be anything else.
“I restocked the locker in the garage and added enough swords for the team,” Marcus said, picking me up while I was distracted by Ibizual and couldn’t argue with him.
“Good.” Gideon pulled his phone from his pocket, dialed a number, and headed toward the steps. “Meet us in the garage.”
You’re weak, Esther.
I’m strong enough. I had to be strong enough. I couldn’t go back to life as normal. Whether I wanted to be or not, I was a super and couldn’t avoid the world of the supernatural any more.
We hurried out of the cafeteria and down the hall to the garage. Amiah rushed out triage’s frosted-glass door and met us just before we left the building. Her attention jumped to me in Marcus’s arms and her expression darkened, then she turned to Gideon.
“She has to go?” she asked.
“Yes.” Gideon’s tone was flat. Whatever emotion he might have been feeling was locked down tight. I couldn’t feel anything from him inside me, and the temperature right now was hot, most likely from Marcus, whose fear seemed to manifest more like hot rage.
“Fine.” She pressed her hand over my heart, and a searing blast of magic sliced through me.
All my muscles contracted, and Marcus’s grip on me tightened. Then it was over in a flash, and I was left trying to pant past the pressure in my chest and think past the buzz.
“Hunh,” she said. “You’re farther along than I would have thought, even with Jacob’s claim.”
Jeez, I just couldn’t catch a break. Yet another thing I was going to have to come up with an explanation for. My eyes, my weird empathy, and now my faster-than-average healing.
They’ll learn the truth, and you’ll be powerless to defend yourself, Ibizual said in my head.
Still not freeing you. The archnephilim had told me that as well, threatened me with my greatest fear. I hadn’t listened then and I wasn’t going to listen now.
“Jacob’s claim is a little stronger than expected,” I said.
Kol rolled his eyes. “You could say that.”
Marcus shot a quick glare at him, the look clear — shut up. And I could fully understand why. The situation was complicated and without a doubt others — chiefly among them Amiah, with her feelings for Marcus — wouldn’t understand or approve of my arrangement with Jacob and Marcus, even if it was the best solution for this mess. The less attention that was brought to our situation, the better.
They won’t understand.
Just shut the fuck up.
“Is she good to go?” Gideon asked.
Amiah shrugged. “Yes.” She didn’t sound happy about that at all.
“Good.” Gideon strode out the door to the garage and we followed.
He headed around the corner to the black metal locker recessed into the wall, and unlocked it with his thumbprint.
Another blast of agony swept through me, drawing a gasp, and Gideon’s eyes narrowed, while Marcus’s grip on me tightened.
Only a matter of time before I’m free.
“Get Officer Shaw in the SUV,” Gideon said, handing me the keys.
I hit the unlock button on the key fob, and Marcus set me in the SUV then returned to the locker to get his gear. The guys loaded up with sidearms, vests, and swords, while I fought to breathe. The pain wasn’t as bad as when the key had formed, but the pressure was worse and filled with Ibizual’s malicious darkness. That and my buzz was going wild, the bites so forceful they now felt more like miniature explosions under my skin, and I couldn’t hide my twitching.
Jacob rushed through the glass door as the guys were closing up the locker. Marcus tossed a vest and sword into the back for Jacob and handed me a Glock, M4, and vest.
“Keep that on this time,” he said as he climbed into the driver’s seat.
“We both know Logan’s shot would have gone right through the vest.” I checked the magazine in the M4, fighting to keep my hands steady and failing. Full, but no spare. It was just going to have to be enough.
Kol climbed onto the bench beside me, setting his gear on the floor, and took my clothes and duty belt from Jacob, who then climbed into the back.
“Where to this time, Officer Shaw?” Gideon asked, his tone still flat and hard, breaking my heart, as he settled into the front passenger seat, turned on the GPS, and put his com in his ear.
I drew in a steadying breath and tried to concentrate past my emotional hurt and physical agony. This time the pull wasn’t as obvious, and I wasn’t sure if that was because the seal wasn’t fully calling me yet or because of something else. I did, however, sense a slight pull to the back of the garage.
Join me, and I’ll tell you where the seal is manifesting.
Sure, I lied.
Ibizual’s pressure snapped, jerking every muscle taut for an agonizing second. Try again.
Yeah, I hadn’t thought it would work, but I didn’t want to actually commit to my lie for fear he’d be able to control me like the archnephilim had. Sure, the archnephilim had needed a false angelic mating brand on my arm to possess me, but Ibizual, even trapped in a cage, was more powerful.
“Head out of the Quarter,” I told Marcus.
“Swell.” Marcus inserted his com and pulled the SUV out of its parking space.
Kol handed me my jeans, his expression worried, and I leaned back on the seat and pulled them on.
“So you think if we combine our magic, we’ll have enough power to destroy the key?” I asked Gideon.
No, Ibizual hissed. You’re weak.
But just like he could sense I was lying, I could sense he was, too.
“Marcus?” Gideon asked, his attention locked on the road out the front windshield. “You said her blast on Logan was as strong as a blast from a divine light ring.”
“It was,” Marcus said, swerving around a vehicle pulling out of a driveway.
Gideon gave a tight nod. “Then that’s the plan.”
“So we what? Fight who knows how many ferals so you and Essie can get the key away from Logan?” Marcus asked. “That’s a terrible plan.”
Gideon shot him a frozen glare. “If you can think of something better, I’m all ears.”
“I agree it’s a terrible plan,” I gasped, fighting the pressure and pain drowning me.
It’ll never work. My servant will kill you unless you join me.
I ignored Ibizual and shrugged out of the first of the three sleeve holes in the hospital gown, trying to figure out how to pull on my T-shirt without flashing the guys and everyone on the street since I wasn’t wearing a bra. We were nearing the center of town again and on this warm early summer evening, people were on the streets shopping and dining, while the ro
ads had a steady stream of traffic. “But there isn’t any other option.”
And crap. There was no good way to remove the hospital gown without baring my breasts. Well, at this point the only one in the SUV who hadn’t seen them was Gideon, and his attention was rigidly focused on the road as if he were making a point of offering me privacy. As for the street and other motorists… well, maybe if I did it fast enough, not too many would notice.
The pressure jerked me to the left. “Turn left.”
Are you sure? Ibizual asked. Maybe I’m sending you in the wrong direction.
Try again, I said back to him.
Marcus wrenched the wheel to take the next left, throwing me into the door and squealing the tires. Then he gunned it through a just-turned-red light, and swerved around a slower-moving cargo van.
You’ll die this time.
My buzz burned hotter. So be it.
I slipped my arm out of the next armhole and moved to take off the gown completely, when Kol leaned forward. He grabbed the gown by the shoulders and held it up to offer me privacy.
“Any idea how we’re going to deal with Logan?” he asked.
“If you and Marcus can hold off the ferals, I can deal with Logan,” Jacob said.
They will all die.
The pressure tugged forward and to the right. “We need to head more right.”
I pulled on my T-shirt and Kol shoved the hospital gown under the seat to get it out of the way.
“Did Victoria give you enough power for that?” Gideon asked.
She didn’t. Not to defeat my servant. I’m going to keep you alive long enough to watch them all die.
“Not to kill him,” Jacob said. “With Ibizual’s magic empowering him, I’m not sure even Victoria could kill him. But I have enough to hold out until you destroy the key.”
Ibizual roared with laughter, making the pressure surge, and I fought to gasp in any small amount of air. Kol pressed his hand to my knee. A whisper of sensual heat swept through me, muting some of the pain, pressure, and buzz.
Oh, thank God. I drew in an almost full breath. “Thank you.”
He handed me an earpiece and gave a half shrug, a hint of hellfire dancing in his eyes before he looked away.
I’ll make the demon suffer the most. Slowly rip the life from him, Ibizual snarled.
“Do we know what will happen with Logan once we destroy the key?” I asked through gritted teeth as I shrugged into my vest and buckled on my duty belt. “Stopping him from breaking the seal might not be the end of it.”
There will never be an end for me.
I secured my seatbelt and pulled on my runners.
We sped past Unity Park, and a flash of hot and cold swept through the air with a churning mix of the guys’ emotions.
This time my servant will kill you. Your demon won’t be around to save you.
Promises, promises, I thought at him, feigning bravado more for myself than him since he knew it was an act.
“I hope to God it’s the end of it,” Marcus said.
“We can’t count on that,” Kol said.
You won’t stop me.
The pressure squeezed tighter, drawing a groan. I clutched my chest, not that it would ease anything, and curled forward, unable to help myself. Kol’s magic swelled, turning my pain into sensual, dreamy need, and making Ibizual howl with laughter.
So weak. Powerless.
Gideon twisted in his seat, capturing me with his icy gaze. God, I ached for it to return to its warm summer sky, like it had been when I’d first met him, but that yearning had to be Kol’s magic and the brand influencing me. That, and no matter what I wanted, it was clear that he was going to be forever angry that I was his destined mate.
“If destroying Ibizual’s connection with this realm doesn’t end the unnatural magic that brought Logan back, you get to the SUV and get out of there,” he said to me.
I glared back at him, still bent forward, clutching my chest. “If I still have the M4, I’m staying at a distance and supporting the team.”
“You’re not part of this team.”
“Right now I am. You can’t do this job without me.” The pressure erupted into a blazing, consuming fire. Holy fuck.
I bit back a scream. “Straight ahead,” I gasped. “We’re close. Directly ahead of us.”
Marcus slammed on the brakes, jerking us forward and making the seatbelt dig into my gut. “Are you shitting me?”
I looked out the front windshield. We were at a T-intersection and straight ahead lay a winding road into Union City’s largest cemetery.
The road curved around a small fountain then disappeared over a gentle, grassy rise. Rows upon rows of headstones stretched ahead of us, intermixed with mausoleums and towering trees. Statues of weeping and guardian angels stood sentinel, and off to the left sat the massive memorials for those from Union City and the surrounding area who’d served and died in the war, as well as those who Michael and his nephilim had slaughtered. The two-story twin walls of white marble, facing each other, curved in a symbolic embrace to those who visited.
Come find me, Ibizual taunted with another roaring laugh.
“Stay here. I’ll scout for Logan.” Gideon jumped out of the SUV, his wings sweeping from his back with a blaze of white light. He was the epitome of the perfect, gorgeous angel, fully illuminated with blond hair, blue eyes, and a face and body sculpted by a master. Just looking at him stole my breath and made my heart ache. Then with a sweep of his wings, he took off into the air.
“Be careful,” I said before I could stop myself.
“I’m not going to get shot,” he said, his voice coming through the coms, his tone exasperated.
“You better not,” I said, trying to hide my genuine worry and hurt at his tone, “because I’ve got enough going on without also needing to keep you alive through the brand.”
He huffed and soared up into the darkening sky until I could only see him because I was watching him go.
“Gideon is right,” Marcus said. “If destroying the key doesn’t end Logan, you get out of here. Completely. No hanging back.” He pulled out his com, muffling it in his fist, and looked past me to Jacob. “We’re agreed?”
“Agreed,” Jacob said, his voice low.
So much for being competent enough to be on the team. But I couldn’t voice that thought out loud without alerting Gideon that the guys were having a conversation without him.
Kol gave a tight nod.
Jeez, you, too?
They know you’re weak. Ibizual laughed, and I shook with the swelling pressure. They think they can protect you, but they can’t. And when they learn what you really are, they’ll turn on you, kill you like they killed our kin.
I’m not your kin.
Marcus slid the earpiece back into his ear. “What’s the word, Gideon?”
Accept the truth, Esther. Ibizual’s darkness surged inside me.
My buzz flared, burning some of it away, but not all.
“There’s a flicker of magic forming in the center of the large fountain on the other side of the hill,” Gideon said. “I don’t see any ferals, but there’s a significant area with trees beyond the rise. They could be hiding there.”
Accept it, Ibizual snarled. Accept the truth that you’re kin.
I’m a nephilim. That’s the truth. I gritted my teeth against the pain. A naturally born nephilim.
“Do you see Logan?” Jacob scanned the surrounding buildings. We were in a mostly residential area with single detached homes and a few three-story low-rises, which thankfully meant there weren’t a lot of good perches for a sniper to lie in wait for someone to approach the seal manifesting beyond the rise. In fact, the best shots from the surrounding buildings were for right there, and I had no doubt Logan would have tried to pick at least one of us off while we’d been sitting there if he’d been lying in wait.
“I don’t— No, he’s— Marcus, go. Straight ahead,” Gideon said. “Logan is making a beeline for the fountai
n.”
“Hang on,” Marcus said and gunned the SUV into the cemetery, throwing us back into our seats.
Last chance to join me, Ibizual said.
“Never,” I hissed.
“Essie?” Kol asked.
Shit. I’d said that out loud.
Join me.
The SUV screeched around the small fountain just inside the gates. The passenger-side wheels hit grass, jerking and bumping us, then hit asphalt again.
White light shot from the sky ahead of us down to the ground somewhere beyond the rise, and I caught a glimpse of Gideon, pulling his wings back and diving down after it.
“Gideon, we need you alive to end this,” Jacob said. “Don’t fight Logan.”
“We won’t be able to do anything if he breaks the seal,” Gideon said. Another blast of light exploded behind the rise.
We careened up the road, hit the top of the rise, and I gasped in horror.
Sickly red magic seeped from the ground in pulsing thick strands. “Holy shit.”
“Jesus,” Kol said beside me.
“What?” Marcus asked.
“What do you mean what? The ground— The magic—” Perhaps this was just something that happened all the time on this job and Marcus was used to seeing massive amounts of magic, but Kol had sounded as surprised as I had.
“It’s demonic,” Kol said. “He can’t see it yet, not until it gets more powerful.”
“More powerful?” I could already feel the massive power pulsing from it.
“Can I avoid it?” Marcus asked as we hurtled down the road.
“No,” I said. “It’s everywhere.” The whole ground all the way into the group of trees on the left and where the rise dropped away to the right was filled with magic. And it grew brighter and thicker the closer it got to the fountain straight ahead of us.
Agony and seething darkness exploded inside me as we drove into it. Red tendrils rushed into the SUV right through the floor, twisting around my legs and burning my skin. Kol groaned, the magic flooding into his body and not just wrapping around him, while Jacob hissed and clenched his jaw.
My buzz blazed through me, devouring the darkness, burning so hot it radiated from my skin and consumed the magic around me.
Ahead, Gideon jerked into the air to avoid Logan’s grasp and shot another light strike at him. They’d drawn even closer to the fountain and the blazing sphere of the seal’s manifesting magic.
