by Diem, J. C.
“It is my turn to escort Violet on a patrol,” Nathan said when Leo called a halt to our training session a couple of hours later.
Sophia had returned with the groceries and was in the kitchen making lunch for me. She paused what she was doing when Brie automatically protested. “It is too dangerous for you two to be alone together.” The look she sent me was bordering on contemptuous. Upstairs, I could hear the TV going. Sam was no doubt glued to the screen in fascination. I wished he was here to back me up rather than watching one of his beloved shows.
“What do you think I’m going to do?” I demanded. “Drag Nathan off to a hotel to have my way with him and steal his grace in the process?” Having my way with him sounded pretty good, but stealing his essence, not so much.
“For all we know, that is exactly what you will do.”
“We will leave once you have finished your lunch,” Nathan said to me, ignoring the teen completely. She sent him a furious look, but Leo shook his head at her in warning. Nathan had made up his mind and he wasn’t going to be dissuaded by anyone.
To be honest, I was dreading spending time alone with my guardian. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to control myself if I was wounded and he had to heal me again.
Sophia entered the room carrying a tray with a sandwich for me and tea for both of us. “I have been thinking,” she said as she took her seat. Leo handed me the plate and cup of tea. “I believe the only reason you drained so much of Nathan’s grace was because of the wound that the Wraith Warrior inflicted on you.”
Intrigued by her theory, I paused before I could take a bite out of my sandwich. “What do you mean?”
“I think that your body was trying to undo the new type of evil that had invaded you. You didn’t ingest a soul that you could simply absorb this time. He infected you with something far worse than that. If Nathan had not given his grace to you, I am certain that you would have died.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “That’s pretty much what Morax said.”
Nathan’s brows rose to hear that news. “What did the Demon Lord say to you, exactly?”
“I can’t remember his exact words,” I replied. “It was something along the lines of I should have died immediately and he was surprised that I was still alive.”
Even Brie looked unsettled by this. “Did he say anything else?” she asked.
“Only that the evil is going to spread through me, rotting me from the inside, but I’m sure that doesn’t bother you at all.”
A gasp came from the doorway and I looked up to see Sam’s stricken face. “Tell me that there is a way we can save you,” he pleaded.
I hated to hurt him, but I didn’t want to give him any false hope. I was already starting to feel the effects of the toxin. My face was paler than usual and my hair had lost some of its luster. “That’s doubtful. He said that the Demon Prince who sent the Wraith Warrior after me is the only one who might be able to stop this. Since they all want me dead, getting him to reverse the spell would be wishful thinking.”
Sam looked at Nathan, who was now as stricken as the imp. “My grace can heal you,” he said.
I shook my head at his desperate offer. “You saved my life when you gave me so much of your grace, but it didn’t cure me.” The room went bleak and silent when I added, “I’m pretty sure nothing will be able to fix this.”
“You cannot give up so easily,” Brie said harshly. “The world needs you.”
“I haven’t given up,” I corrected her. “I’m just telling you what I know.” I bit into my sandwich and it didn’t taste as good as usual.
“You are being awfully calm about this,” Leo observed.
Swallowing down the bite, I shrugged one shoulder. “Gnashing my teeth and wailing in anguish won’t change anything. I’d rather save my energy for taking down the spawn of hell.”
Brie was staring at me as if she’d never seen me before. “You will still continue on your mission even though your death warrant has almost assuredly been signed?”
“Killing the Demon Princes and their master is what I’m destined to do. I’ll wipe out as many of them as I can before I die.”
It was hard to say whether Nathan or Sam were more affected by my calm statement. They shared a look that wordlessly conveyed their pain at the thought of losing me.
“We will not allow you to perish,” Sophia said firmly, as if she could somehow reverse what had been done to me. “We will find a way to save you.”
As if it would be that easy. “Good luck with that.” I softened the sarcasm with a weak smile and concentrated on eating.
When I’d finished my meal, I retreated upstairs to the bathroom. I took the opportunity to check my cell phone for messages when I was done. Zach hadn’t contacted me yet and I didn’t want to look too clingy and text him first. My phone was always either on silent or set to vibrate when a message came through. I didn’t want the others to know that I had it. I wasn’t ready for them to find out that I had a boyfriend yet.
Based on Hagith’s and Orifiel’s reactions to the fact that I was spending time with Zach, I was pretty sure my friends wouldn’t be pleased to learn about him either. I could only imagine how badly Brie would take it.
My boots and coat were downstairs, so I trudged down to collect them. Nathan was waiting for me, wearing similar clothes. He didn’t open the door and instead took my arm and teleported us to another location.
Patrolling for demons wasn’t the only reason we searched the streets. It was our hope that I’d be able to spy another portal to the shadowlands. So far, that plan wasn’t working. My faith that Fate was guiding my path was beginning to wither. Now that I knew I was doomed to rot from the inside, I wondered if she’d given up on me. Maybe she’d arranged for me to die so she could choose another champion.
I would never abandon one of my warriors, Fate said into my mind. I halted in shock that she was contacting me directly. Do not lose your faith. Know that I am watching over you and that there is a way to cure you of your affliction. It will not be easy and you will fall into the depths of despair first, but you can survive this. I promise that your suffering will make you stronger in the end.
“What is it?” Nathan asked anxiously.
“Fate just spoke to me,” I said in wonder that was mixed with confusion.
“What did she say?”
“She said that there is a way to cure me and that I shouldn’t give up hope. She didn’t tell me what the cure was, though.” I didn’t tell him about the part where I’d fall into the depths of despair first. He was already suffering enough and I didn’t want to make his anguish any worse.
His smile was beautiful enough to take my breath away. “If Fate has told you this, then there is indeed hope.”
I became lost in his eyes and wasn’t able to form a response. He was just as mesmerized as I was. We didn’t even need to touch each other to fall beneath the spell that had been forged between us.
When hands grabbed hold of me, I snapped out of my daze, but it was already too late to escape. I saw Nathan’s expression turn to alarm then I was whisked away to somewhere else.
₪₪₪
Chapter Seventeen
Bright white light blinded me, so I knew it was angels rather than demons who were responsible for my abduction. My stone bracelet was roughly stripped off my wrist while I was trying to free myself. The hands released me and I spun around to confront my attackers.
I wasn’t at all surprised to see Hagith and Orifiel standing in front of me. Both wore expressions that were a mixture of smug and disapproving. They were beautiful, as all angels appeared to me. Hagith was blond and blue eyed. Orifiel had light brown hair and brown eyes. Their suits were tailored and dark. Hagith wore her hair up in a severe bun that did nothing to diminish her beauty.
“We warned you not to allow yourself to become distracted from your task,” Hag said in an ominous tone.
“Now we will have to punish you for disobeying us,” Orifice added.
“We are not talking about the human boy,” Hagith said in contempt. “Your infraction this time is far worse. You have corrupted a holy being and we find your actions to be unacceptable.”
Guilt flooded through me at her accusation. “I didn’t mean to take so much of Nathan’s grace. It was an accident. If he hadn’t used his essence to heal me, I would have died.”
Orifiel rolled his eyes. “It is so typical of a human to find any excuse to explain your failings.”
“We do not want to hear your pitiful reasons for your selfish actions,” Hagith said in contempt. “We will not allow Nathanael to sully himself with you again.”
They advanced on me and I backed away, searching for escape. We were in an empty room that could have been in any building in the city. My back hit the wall and I had nowhere to go.
They each placed a hand on my head and pain erupted throughout my entire body. White hot holy fire burned me from my head to my toes. No part of me was safe from the invasion. Deep inside my mind, I heard the legion screaming in agony and realized that my voice had joined theirs. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it seemed to go on forever. Then the pain stopped abruptly and the angels stepped away from me.
“Now, perhaps you will do as we say in the future,” Hag said primly. Her expression was grave, but I saw glee dancing in her eyes. She wiped her hand on her skirt, as if trying to rid herself of my evil after touching me.
Orifice was wearing a slight grimace, as if he hadn’t enjoyed the torture as much as his partner had. He took my bracelet out of his pocket and dropped it at my feet. “We will be watching you,” he warned me then they both disappeared.
Panting in the aftermath of sheer agony, my legs lost their strength and I slid to the floor. The screaming inside my head had ceased and my inner demons had subsided back into my subconscious. I hoped Heather hadn’t been caught up in the lesson that I’d just been taught. She’d already been through enough and she didn’t deserve to suffer through further punishment.
I waited for the pounding in my head and for the dizziness to recede before I picked up the bracelet. It took another couple of minutes before I could force myself to stand. Tottering over to the dirt encrusted window, I examined my reflection. My eyes were wide and wounded. Forcing my mind to become calm wasn’t easy, but my expression eventually smoothed out.
Something felt different inside me. Giving in to a hunch, I opened my coat and lifted my t-shirt up to inspect the hideous scar on my stomach. It wasn’t as thick now and the black tendrils of evil had been reduced a little. The punishment that had caused me so much agony had also healed me slightly.
My lips twitched then hysterical laughter spilled out of me. If Hagith and Orifiel had known that their torture would end up helping me, they would probably have used another method to cause me pain.
When I finally got myself back under control, I slipped the bracelet over my wrist. The spell became active again and Nathan appeared moments later. I put up a hand to stop him when he stepped towards me. “I’m fine,” I said. The last thing I needed was for him to touch me. Neither of us seemed to be able to control ourselves when that happened.
“Who took you?” he asked. The abduction had happened so fast that he hadn’t even seen who the culprits were.
“It was Hag and Orifice,” I said with a sour mutter. I didn’t care if they could somehow hear me. After what they’d just done, they’d lost any chance of ever gaining my respect or my trust. I had a firm policy that torture wasn’t the way to win people over to your cause.
His expression darkened. “What did they want?”
“They warned me not to ‘sully’ you again.” I lifted my hands to make the obligatory quotation marks then dropped them again.
“Did they hurt you?”
The pain had faded and I actually felt better, as if they’d recharged my batteries. “They didn’t do anything that I couldn’t handle.” I waved away his concern without resorting to a lie.
It was obvious that he didn’t believe me, but there was no point telling him what they’d done. It would only cause a deeper rift to form between them. We needed all the allies we could get, even if their methods were deeply questionable.
“I would very much like to know how they learned about what happened between us,” he said.
Only after he voiced that concern did the same question occur to me. Our eyes met and we read the knowledge in each other’s gazes. It had to be Brie. I was pretty sure that Sophia and Leo wouldn’t have betrayed me like that.
The memory of the reading that Sophia had done for me came to mind, but I was pretty sure this wasn’t the betrayal she’d warned me about. It was someone who was close to me that would stab me in the back. Brie and I were on the same team, but we were far from close. If she truly was responsible for tattling on me, there was zero chance that I’d ever call her my friend now.
“There’s no point in saying anything to the others about this,” I said. “Let’s just take their warning to heart and try to keep our distance from each other from now on.”
Nathan wasn’t happy about it, but he nodded in agreement. “I am sure Briathos did not expect them to cause you pain.” He was convinced that the teen was behind my punishment.
My mouth curved upwards in a mirthless smile. I’d be willing to bet she knew exactly what their plan had been. It was possible that she’d given them the idea to torture me. They were probably with her right now, recounting my screams of agony to her. Pain flared in my palms and I realized my hands were clenched tightly. I relaxed my grip and glanced down to see small bloody wounds in my flesh. Glad I kept my nails short, I gestured at the door. “We should get back to our patrol. You never know, we might actually have some luck and stumble across the next portal.”
“We can only hope,” he said with a strained smile. He touched me long enough to teleport us back to our original position then pulled away again.
We walked side by side in silence, keeping some distance between us. Most of the snow from the storm had been cleared away from the streets now. Manhattan was once again a bustling hive of activity, yet the sidewalks were mostly deserted again. I hadn’t seen it on the news, but the twelve bodies that had once been demons’ vessels must have been found by the police. Our enemies made no effort to hide their slain rivals’ hosts.
The few people who were out and about on foot scurried rather than walked. Their glances were furtive and afraid as they searched the faces of those brave enough to be outside. Unlike me, they couldn’t see the evil that lurked inside the vessels that had been chosen to be the receptacles of evil.
My head turned constantly as I scanned for threats and searched for portals. There was no sign of the raven or demons as Nathan guided us away from the buildings towards a park. As we drew closer I saw we were at the very southern tip of the island. Water from the bay shimmered beneath the weak winter sunlight. As we entered the park, I saw a sign stating that we were entering the Battery.
Pigeons pecked at crumbs on the ground. I eyed them mistrustfully, the bird attack was still fresh in my mind. We skirted around them and walked along a narrow, winding path. Snow had been cleared from the walkway, but it still covered the grassy area. Trees were sparse and leafless, but squirrels were plentiful. They chased each other in an endless game and I envied them their sense of fun.
Spying us, a pair of squirrels raced over. They stopped a couple of feet away to beg for food. “Aw, they’re so cute,” I said. My heart melted at their hopeful brown eyes and bushy tails. “I wish I had some food to give them.”
Nathan pushed something into my hand. I glanced down to see it was one of Sophia’s cookies. “I am sure she will not mind,” he said sheepishly. He wasn’t supposed to use his power for trivial things, but he sometimes made an exception.
“How did you do that?”
“I can retrieve items if I know exactly where they are. I knew the cookies we
re in a jar in the kitchen and simply reached out with my essence and brought one to me.”
“That is so cool,” I said, more than a little jealous of his abilities. I hunkered down and broke off small pieces of the cookie. To my delight, the squirrels reached up with their tiny paws and took the food from me. Stuffing the bounty into their cheeks, they raced off back to their tree.
“You should do that more often,” Nathan said wistfully.
“Do what?” I asked as I stood. “Feed the wildlife?”
“No. You have a beautiful smile. I wish I could see it more frequently.”
I slid him a sidelong look to find him looking down at the ground. We were afraid to make eye contact, fearing what would happen if we lost focus again. “I haven’t had a lot to smile about lately,” I said quietly. “Seeing those little guys so happy brought me some joy, so thanks for that.”
“You are welcome.” I heard a lot more behind his few words. For the sake of us both, it was safer for them to remain unspoken.
₪₪₪
Chapter Eighteen
I stopped every now and then to feed the squirrels as we made our way through the park. I hadn’t had much chance to see the sights. It was nice to be able to just enjoy the city for once.
We kept our distance from the water. The entire island was warded by an invisible demon barrier. If we got too close, we could set it off and bring the hell spawn to investigate. I could see the Statue of Liberty far in the distance and knew I’d never get to see it up close. At least I couldn’t while I remained trapped here.
Wandering past a circular stone building, I marveled at the aged architecture. The structure was in pretty good condition given its age. I glanced inside one of the square windows to see a cannon staring back through a metal grate. A sign said it was Castle Clinton. A few tourists were walking around inside, staring at the sights. Apart from two small roundish buildings, there wasn’t much to see inside. I wasn’t tempted to investigate.
