Pure Redemption (Tainted Legacy)

by Amity Hope

  “Are you sure Rafe wasn’t there?”

  “He wasn’t. I did a quick search of the house, even the cellar, but I didn’t find anything. I would’ve spent more time looking around but I started to worry about you coming home alone. Obviously, I shouldn’t have even taken as long as I did,” he admitted.

  “I’m fine but what about Molly and Julia? If he doesn’t have them there, then where are they?” Ava whimpered as she collapsed onto the couch.

  Gabe sighed. “They could be anywhere. Rafe could walk into any house, command the owners to leave and have the perfect hiding spot.”

  “That makes it sound so hopeless,” Ava said in a wobbly voice. “Julia must be so terrified. I mean, Molly too, but at least she has some idea of what’s going on.”

  “I’m sure Julia’s figured it out by now,” Gabe said resignedly. “My guess is she no longer has Cam on a pedestal.”

  “That’s something else that’s bothering me. Where the hell did he come from?” Ava demanded, knowing that Gabe didn’t have an answer to that. “You told me that there were other Nephilim but that you’d never met them. But now Rafe’s got one under his thumb? Where did he find him at? How did he find him? Unless you really did know of others and you—,” she startled herself with her words and she cut them off abruptly.

  “Lied?” he guessed. “You think I lied to you?”

  She shook her head and sighed. “No. I don’t know. Maybe. I thought all of the lying was behind us by then. Maybe you kept it from me because you didn’t want me to worry. Or maybe you really didn’t know any others. I have no idea. Or it’s possible that Rafe knew others and you didn’t because I think it was pretty common for them to keep things from you. I just, I don’t understand how he fits into this.”

  “I think Rafe just wants back up. He’s obviously the type that wants to put as little effort into things as possible. How much does Molly know?” Gabe asked, clearly wondering what Cam would be able to glean from her thoughts. “What did you tell her?”

  She grimaced. “She knows that you have no intention of helping Rafe. And that you would really rather stop him. I’m sorry!” she blurted out. “I shouldn’t have told her anything!”

  “No, it’s okay. I’m sure Rafe already knew that. On some level, he had to have known that. I’m sure that’s why he’s doing this. You were telling her to try to protect her. And now, it’s clear they are coming after you to get to me.” He was standing with his arms folded across his chest, an unyielding look on his face. “This is what’s going to happen and you are not going to argue because we’re just wasting time. I’m bringing you back to your parents’ house. Ideally, I’d like the three of you to go to the church and stay there. This cabin has the sigils for protection but they’ll probably expect you to be here. The church won’t stop them but you know the, uh,” he paused, trying to find an acceptable word, “the atmosphere of the church is less than accommodating for them. If they even think to look there.”

  “No.”

  “Ava,” Gabe said tensely. “Please don’t fight me on this.”

  She was on her feet again standing directly in front of him. Her fists were dug defiantly into her hips. “And what exactly is it that you think you’re going to do?”

  “I’m going back to the house to wait for Rafe. My guess is that he’ll have Cam watch over your friends. I don’t think Rafe would want to bother himself with something so tedious.”

  “You wait for him and…?”

  Gabe sighed and it was clear to Ava he was having a mental debate.

  “What? What aren’t you telling me?” she demanded. “You think that he’ll tell you where they are just because you say ‘please’?”

  “No. I think he’ll tell me because I’ll make him tell me,” Gabe said coldly. Knowing that Ava’s next question would be how, he pulled the gun from his pocket. “This ought to hurry things along.”

  Ava stared at it for a moment and then turned her grim face toward Gabe. “Where did you get that?”

  “It was in my nightstand.”

  “Do you know how to use it?”

  “Yes,” he said with no trace of doubt in his tone. His body had gone rigid. It felt like granite as Ava ran her palm over his arm. “He threatened you,” he grated out in a voice so thick with hatred she barely recognized it. “He is not going to get away with that.”

  “Gabe,” she began, startled by the harshness of his tone. His body felt unyielding under her hand. His expression was uncompromising.

  “I mean it Ava. Whether I use this,” he said as he lifted the gun unapologetically, “or whether I have to rip his heart out myself, he will not hurt you. I won’t let that happen. Taking him out of the picture is the only way to be sure he’s out of our lives. I promised your parents I would take care of you. Now I’m promising you.”

  She nodded slowly.

  “So you’re not going to fight me on this?” he demanded.

  “No. But I’m coming with you. I’ll stay out of the way.”

  “No. This isn’t up for debate Ava.” His tone backed up his statement.

  “What are you going to do, Gabe? Tie me up and drag me to my parents’ house?” she asked in a tone that was full of furious disbelief. “Oh my gosh! You would tie me up and drag me to my parents’ house!” she accused as she took in the immovable look on his face.

  “There’s clothesline in the junk drawer,” he flatly replied, though the thought hadn’t crossed his mind, he realized he wasn’t opposed to her inadvertent suggestion. And her parents may actually thank him for it if it kept her safe. “There’s no way you can come with me. I wouldn’t be able to keep my mind off of you for two seconds. I would end up getting us both killed.”

  “As opposed to just you—”

  Ava’s words were cut off when Gabe startled her by spinning around to the front door. “Someone’s here.”

  “How do you know?” she demanded.

  “The sigils are glowing again.”

  “I hate that I can’t see them!” she said with a scowl, knowing it would’ve been helpful to her when Cam had shown up earlier.

  He started to push her toward the bedroom but she dug her feet in. “I’m not going to hide!”

  “You’re going to stay safe!” he shot back.

  A delicate knock on the door surprised them both. They stared at each other in confusion for a few, tense moments.

  “Ava?” a quiet voice called.

  “Julia?!” Ava cried as she tried to dart around Gabe. He caught her by the waist, lifted her off of her feet and set her back down on the other side of him.

  “She’s not alone! The sigils wouldn’t behave like this if she were alone. They sense evil,” he reminded her. “I’ll get the door. If you won’t go into the bedroom, will you at least promise me you’ll stay back?”

  She nodded and he released her as he cautiously opened the front door. His gun was drawn and at his side.

  Julia crossed the threshold as if nothing was amiss. She smiled at Ava and it was then that she noticed the strained look on her friend’s face. Her eyes looked glazed and her movements were just a bit too stiff.

  “Julia?” Ava said softly.

  Julia ignored her and turned to Gabe. “Your brother has a message for you, he said it’s time to come out and play.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” Gabe said. His face had turned hard. As Ava took a step closer to her friend, he shot his arm out to stop her. “Stay back,” he said as he grabbed her firmly by the wrist this time. She let out a yelp and at first he was worried he’d hurt her but when his gaze swung back around to Julia, he saw that she’d unsheathed a filet knife. The leather case fell to the floor at her feet. “Stay back,” he repeated as he tried shoving Ava behind him. This time, she listened.

  “Something is wrong with her. She’s coated in darkness.”

  “Rafe thought that since Ava likes knives so much that I should have one of my own,” she said in a voice so eerily calm that it reminded
Ava of a bedtime fairly tale gone severely wrong. “Rafe said you’ll definitely play when you find out that Molly’s the prize,” her lips trembled but she continued with the words that were not hers even as her eyes glossed over with tears.

  “Julia, put the knife down,” Gabe quietly commanded.

  She shook her head. “Rafe said I can’t. And he said if you get too close, I’m supposed to use this and then you’ll never be able to ask me how to find Molly.”

  “We don’t just want Molly, we need you to be safe too,” Ava said. “What are we supposed to do?”

  “He wants you to go to his house,” Julia said. Her voice was trembling now and tears filled her eyes but had yet to spill over.

  “Julia,” Gabe said soothingly as he backed up and carefully pushed Ava further into the cabin, “why don’t you come in. Tell us again because I’m not sure I understood.”

  Julia’s face scrunched up in confusion. “He said—”

  “Come over here,” Gabe interrupted as he tried to coax her to the center of the room.

  “Gabe?” Ava questioned quietly.

  He didn’t take his eyes off of Julia as he motioned her forward. She took a hesitant step, clearly puzzled by his request.

  “You know that Rafe used compulsion on you, don’t you?” he gently asked. She blinked and nodded. “I can see it on you Julia. I can see his blackness coating you. Now what else can you tell us?”

  “Nothing,” she whispered. “I’m not allowed to tell you anything else.”

  “Where’s Molly?” Ava asked.

  “I…I can’t…” Julia said in a tremulous voice. The knife wavered in her hand.

  “None of this is your fault. You know that, right?” Gabe asked. Julia’s mouth opened but she closed it again without saying anything. “This is all going to be over soon. When it is, the three of you should…I don’t know. Go get a massage or something. Maybe some ice-cream? Or is Ava the only one that’s crazy about ice-cream? I know she loves Butter Brickle. I like it too. How about you Julia? What do you like?”

  Julia shook her head in confusion.

  “What are you doing?” Ava whispered.

  “Keeping her busy,” Gabe replied quietly.

  “I don’t have time to talk,” Julia said in a quivering tone. “I’m supposed to tell you to go to Rafe’s house. You need to go. If you don’t go, Molly…”

  “We’ll go,” Gabe assured her. He paused for a minute. “How are you feeling now, Julia? Any better? Do you think maybe you can put the knife down?”

  “No…I…” she stared at the weapon in her hand, an almost curious look on her face. “I’m supposed to…”

  “I think you could put it down now if you really wanted to,” he calmly coaxed. He could feel Ava at his side. He didn’t have to see her face to know that she wanted to demand to know what he was doing. Julia’s hand wavered and Gabe lunged at her.

  Both Julia and Ava screamed. Julia thrust the blade upward, slicing through Gabe’s side. The blood flow was instantaneous. He let out a pained grunt as he caged her wrist in his fist. The knife clattered to the floor and Ava swiped it up.

  “No! No, you can’t…” Julia whimpered as she futilely tried to struggle against him.

  Blood poured down his side but he wrestled Julia around so that her back was to his chest and his arms trapped her body tightly to his. “You’re not going to hurt yourself. You need to calm down,” he said.

  “Gabe,” Ava said in a shaky voice, “you’re bleeding pretty badly.”

  “I know, its fine,” he grated out. Just because he healed fast didn’t mean that he didn’t feel the pain of an injury when he sustained it. He had just gotten accustomed to ignoring it. At the moment, he was more concerned about Julia.

  “Let go of me,” she whimpered as she thrashed in his arms. She jabbed her elbow into his side, causing him to grimace.

  “Julia,” Ava said as calmly as she could, “he’s trying to help you.”

  “I think she’ll be okay. She just needs a few more minutes before I can let her go.” He nodded toward the walls. “The sigils are wearing away at the compulsion. The blackness is almost gone.”

  Julia began to still.

  “Are you okay?” Ava asked her.

  She shook her head and let out a sob. Gabe relaxed his grip little by little, keeping his eye on her the whole time. Ava knew he was watching the blackness fade from her aura. When he seemed satisfied that the effects of Rafe’s compulsion had worn off, he slowly released her. She stumbled into Ava’s arms.

  “I know, I know,” Ava said as Julia began to cry against her shoulder. “You’re okay now,” she said as she smoothed her hair away from her face.

  “It was Cam!” Julia wailed. “He talked me into leaving with him and then later…later he went back for Molly. Something is wrong with him! I don’t think…I don’t think he’s human!”

  “Where are they now?” Gabe demanded. “Julia, I know you’re scared but this is important. Where’s Cam?”

  She looked at him distrustfully. “I heard them talking. You’re just like them, aren’t you?”

  “I’m not like them at all because I’m on your side,” Gabe said. “That’s all you really need to know right now. We’ll explain everything else to you later.”

  “Cam’s at the house,” Julia told Ava as she pulled away from her. “I never saw Molly but Cam told me she’s with Rafe.”

  Ava’s fear spiked, cold and fierce as it coursed through her, numbing her to the bone. “Where are they, Julia? Do you know?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know for sure. When Rafe came to…” she swallowed hard, “when he came to talk to me, I heard him with Cam afterwards. He said something about a church. But I don’t know which one. But Ava, he wants you. He said if you don’t show up tonight, none of us will ever see Molly again.”

  Ava and Gabe shared a fearful look over Julia’s head. She was trembling and Ava hated to leave her but she knew she had no choice. “Alright,” she said as she looked at Gabe, “we’d better go.”

  “Ava, if he wants you then that’s the last place you should go!” Gabe fiercely told her. “You should take Julia and go back to your parents’ house, just like we talked about.”

  Ava ignored him, not wanting to waste the time arguing, and turned to her friend. “How did you get here?”

  “I drove,” Julia said. “I have my car. He told me to park at the end of the driveway and walk the rest of the way so you wouldn’t hear the car.”

  “Damn it,” Gabe grumbled. “I heard a car. I just wasn’t paying attention. I should’ve realized it stopped. I wasn’t expecting them to come back and I sure as hell wasn’t expecting you.”

  Ava nodded. The cabin was nestled back in the woods. Her driveway was longer than an average driveway.

  “Are you okay to drive now? Can you make it home?” Ava wanted to know.

  Julia nodded. “You’re not going after them, are you?” she whimpered.

  “We’re going to get Molly out of this mess,” Ava said with more assurance than she felt.

  “I don’t know if you can,” Julia warned between sniffles. “They said something else. I didn’t understand what they were talking about. Something about a blood ritual? They said it had to be done in the church. It sounded like Rafe planned on doing it tonight. That’s why he wanted me to tell you to go to the house. He wanted Cam to distract you. Or detain you, or whatever. But he’s at the church with Molly right now. Maybe he’s already—,” she choked on the rest of her words.

  Ava took in a sharp breath as Gabe let loose a string of expletives that put Ava’s earlier cursing to shame.

  “What is a blood ritual?” Julia whispered. Her eyes were huge and terrified. She was trembling despite her friend’s arms around her. “What does that mean?”

  “It means we had better hurry,” Gabe said. He’d taken off his shirt and had it pressed against his side to staunch the flow of blood from the hideous gash. He pulled it away, satisfied the
bleeding had stopped. He darted into the bedroom for a clean shirt.

  When he came back, Ava was murmuring to Julia and had calmed her considerably.

  They drove Julia the short distance to her car. Gabe walked her to it. He watched the surrounding woods closely and didn’t leave until she was tucked inside and had locked her doors.

  “What do you think he’s up to?” Ava asked as she watched Julia drive away.

  “I think,” Gabe growled, “that he’s found a way to release Azael without my help.”

  Chapter 24

  “Rafe had books piled all over the desk in the office when I walked through the house. I just glanced at them because I was in a hurry to get back to you. They were definitely ritual books. I’m sure he took whichever one of them he needed,” Gabe grimly told Ava.

  “Do you know anything about blood rituals?” Ava asked. Her own knowledge of them was limited. Azael had used his blood to track and retrieve Gabe and the experience had terrified her.

  Gabe was quiet for a moment, his thoughts darting around, trying to grab hold of any knowledge he may have. “I don’t know much. I just know that they’re powerful. Especially if he’s using demon blood. My guess is he saved some of Azael’s blood specifically for this. But I don’t know that for a fact. He may have found another way. I’m sure he’s been planning this from the start, since Azael vanished.”

  Ava was quiet for a while as Gabe drove. Finally, she asked the question she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer to. “What does he need Molly for?”

  Gabe glanced at her and yet again, communicated what he wanted to say without having to actually voice the words. He confirmed her fears. Azael’s blood alone wouldn’t be enough for the ritual.

  “They should be expecting us to go to the house,” Gabe pointed out as he drove. “Hopefully I can get in there, take Rafe by surprise and get Molly the hell out of there. And you,” he said, his voice pleading, “need to stay in the car. As soon as you see us, start the car and be ready to drive.”

  He expected her to argue. She looked like she desperately wanted to but he took advantage of her silence and continued.