‘Child,’ he spoke softly, and the ground vibrated beneath her like a plucked string, ‘I am not here to herald God’s return.’ It was almost as if he were reading her mind.
She turned her head as he pointed through the trees. They were almost at the edge of the tree line and in the distance, she could hear the lap of water and see a house seated on the shore of a lake.
‘Where am I?’
‘Someplace safe,’ he rumbled, and the ground once again shook.
If that was what happened every time he opened his mouth, no wonder he used his words sparingly.
‘Why did you save me?’ she wondered aloud. ‘You’re Metatron, the right hand of God, no one has seen you in thousands of years. Why come back now if God is not returning? Why save me?’
For a moment it seemed as if he wasn’t going to answer her, as if he were somehow weighing her question.
‘You are necessary,’ he replied simply
‘Necessary?’ she repeated in confusion.
He said nothing more, he merely glanced in the direction of the house.
‘You want me to go there?’ Scarlett let out an exhausted breath, ‘to the house? Why? Who lives there?’
‘She will protect you,’ he told her firmly, ‘do not leave her side.’
‘But…’
Her breath was wasted, he was gone. She was alone in the cold night air, lying on the damp woodland ground, her body battered, damaged beyond reason, her spirit broken. She lay back on the ground and stared up at the few stars glinting brightly in the indigo sky between the thick canopy of leaves.
She had no strength to move. If he’d wanted her at the damn house, he should have dropped her on their doorstep. There was no way she could cross the distance, not by herself.
Suddenly she felt warm fur nudging the side of her face, long thin whiskers tickling her skin. She opened her eye once again to find the white cat licking her cheek. It gave her another nudge and with a tremendous amount of effort, she rolled the dead weight of her body over onto her stomach, letting out a cry of agony as every broken bone in her wings was wrenched painfully.
Her ears buzzed and her head swam, the pain was too much. She was going to pass out again.
She didn’t know how long she was out for, but when the blackness passed and she came too, she found herself being dragged along the damp muddy ground. A pair of sharp feline teeth were wrapped tightly around the back strap of her bra and she was being dragged toward the brightly lit house. The strap pulled tight, stretched beyond its limit it gave way with an audible snap and her heavy body dropped to the floor. The jolt of pain knocked the breath from her lungs, robbing her of any voice with which to cry out.
The soft warm furry face nudged her again, trying to get her moving. She lay breathing heavily. She had to do this, she had to get out of the open before they realized she was gone and started searching for her.
She looked up; the house was much closer. The strange feline had managed to drag her at least part of the way.
If she didn’t try, she was going to die out there alone in the woods. Pressing her hands into the soft earth she pushed herself up. Her arms shook and bowed beneath her, she barely made it to her knees before she collapsed again, her face pressed into the ground, panting through the pain.
She felt another nudge and this time when she looked across, she saw the black cat had joined its mate and was nudging her forward with his blunt nose.
Drawing in a deep breath she pushed herself to her knees. Before she could fall forward again the white cat ducked down in front of her, taking her weight and allowing her to lean forward, draping her arms over its side.
Leaning her weight onto the cat’s side she pushed up on shaky legs until she was standing. Her head swam dizzily, and her legs threatened to fold uselessly beneath her, but she fixed her eyes on the house just a short distance away.
‘Are you brave enough…’
The words echoed in her mind. She recognized the voice but was in too much pain to place it, but she held on to it. She was brave enough; she wasn’t going to die like this. She wasn’t going to give Thomas and Azariel the satisfaction. She was going to make them pay for what they’d done to her, for what they’d done to her mother. The fury was the only thing keeping her moving through the intense agony of her body.
Placing one foot in front of the other, most of her weight held by the cats flanking her, she focused on the light in the distance, even as the world tilted dangerously and swayed around her.
Her feet dragged along the ground. No longer able to even pick them up properly she swayed again. Her center of balance was all wrong, her wings dragging in the dirt behind her, limp and useless.
She was so close, she could see the steps leading up to the porch, almost reach out and touch the wooden handrail. Suddenly the door opened spilling warm golden light out into the darkness. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she crumpled to the ground.
‘THEO!’ Olivia yelled to her husband as she flew down the steps and caught Scarlett as she folded.
Unable to hold her weight up Olivia sank to the ground with Scarlett cradled gently in her arms.
Theo rushed out of the door seeing the Gata prowling in front of the house and his wife kneeling on the ground with something in her arms. He jumped the last few steps, kneeling in the dirt as his eyes landed on the dirty, bloodied, almost naked woman lying unconscious in Olivia’s arms.
‘My God,’ he breathed heavily, ‘it’s her!’
‘Theo,’ Olivia glanced up at him her eyes wide with worry, ‘what have they done to her?’
She was a mess. Olivia swallowed deeply; she didn’t even want to guess how many broken bones she had. Her fingers were bloodied and mangled, missing fingernails, but her wings… pieces of bone protruded from the flesh, feathers were missing, and they were wrenched at an awkward, painful angle.
‘She must be in so much pain,’ Theo whispered in horror.
Olivia looked up and scanned the tree line warily.
‘We need to get her inside now,’ she told him urgently.
Nodding in agreement, Theo lifted her as gently as he could and headed up the stairs to the door. Olivia stood and reached out to the two giant cats, stroking them both lovingly and allowing them to nuzzle their furry heads against her face.
‘Thank you for bringing her to me Lois,’ she kissed the white one’s face, ‘thank you Clark,’ she kissed the black one before once again looking up at the tree line in concern. ‘They may come for her,’ she told them seriously. ‘Don’t let them cross the line.’
The black one snarled in response and both of them turned and ran, streaking across the open grass and disappearing once more amongst the trees.
Olivia lifted her hands. Manny shot out of the house and came bounding down the steps. He leapt agilely, landing on her shoulder as her hands burst into multicolored flames. His body rippled and shook, flaring up and bursting into fearsome flames to match those she held in her hands.
A misty, sphere-like dome flickered and appeared around the house and the surrounding land, then it rippled, as if waking up.
Manny snorted, his claws kneading Olivia’s shoulder restlessly as he spread his wings. He launched himself up into the sky, growing in size as he spread his wings. He banked sharply as he approached the edge of the wards, skimming the surface as if he were skimming the surface of a lake. The shield flared red and gold, then cool silver, vibrant blue edged in black, to purple, finally it shimmered deep green. It throbbed a few times like a heartbeat before fading and disappearing.
Manny gave one final sweeping arc in the air and plunged towards the ground, flaring his wings at the last moment and landing softly once again on Olivia’s shoulder. She turned toward the house, glancing over her shoulder one last time, a small smile curving her lip.
‘Try getting through that,’ she muttered.
She moved quickly back into the house, locking the door firmly behind her. Hurrying up the stairs, she found
Theo laying the woman carefully on the bed in one of their spare rooms. With some careful maneuvering they laid her on her side to accommodate her damaged wings, but no matter what they did, the truth was, she was going to be in an extraordinary amount of pain when she finally regained consciousness.
‘I’ll call Louisa,’ Theo stood slowly.
‘No,’ Olivia shook her head, frowning thoughtfully, ‘let’s not involve any one else just yet. Look at the state of her. Until we know what’s going on, the fewer people involved the better. Besides I’m not sure there’s much that Louisa will be able to do for her anyway.’
‘You’re going to try and heal her?’
‘I’ll do what I can,’ Olivia tied her hair back and pushed up her sleeves as she rounded the bed. ‘The problem is, I’m not a healer. I can fix the worst of the damage, but I’m afraid unless we can come up with an alternative, she’s going to have to heal a lot of these wounds the old-fashioned way.’
Olivia looked down at the unconscious woman in sympathy. She certainly didn’t envy her the long road to recovery ahead of her, but it wasn’t just the physical scars she’d be left with. Olivia knew exactly how she was going to feel when she came around. It may have been a few years since Olivia had been tortured at the hands of the demon Nathaniel, but she still remembered every cut, every burn, every pin and every single broken bone.
‘You do realize that eventually they’re going to come after her,’ Theo looked up at her quietly.
‘Yes,’ her eyes flashed dangerously, ‘and when they do, they’ll answer to me
8
Sam gingerly pushed himself up, unwrapping the sheets from his body as he swung his legs over the side of the narrow sleeping cot and rubbed his face tiredly. The worst of the pain was gone; his head felt better, clearer than it had and better still he’d regained all of his memories.
He turned his hands over studying them carefully. The puncture marks at his wrists were gone and the deep blue veins which had spanned the length of his arms had also disappeared. His body felt good, better than it had in a long time but he was still weak. Aalia may have healed the worst of the damage but it would still take time before he was operating at full strength again. Something he would need in the coming days.
He pushed himself up, standing slowly, testing his balance as if he were an old man. When the dizziness did not manifest, his mouth curved into a small half smile and he straightened, stretching out the kinks in his spine.
He’d managed to bathe and eat. They’d changed his bedclothes so they, and he, no longer reeked of illness and fever. Just the simple act of eating and washing had robbed him of nearly all his strength, and he’d slept like the dead.
Wondering how long he’d been out for, his thoughts once again turned to Scarlett. He knew his father too well; he knew exactly what Thomas had planned for her. It was why Sam had risked everything to get her out in the first time. He’d devoted two thousand years to keeping her hidden and then she’d handed herself over wrapped in a pretty bow, even knowing what they would do to her. She hadn’t flinched, she’d traded her life for his without a second thought.
His stomach churned with guilt and worry. He had to get her out and quickly.
He searched the room. There was only one door and he tried the handle but found it to be locked, no doubt with guards on the other side. He ran his hands over the smooth wood paneling of the walls, feeling the pulse of power, an undercurrent of energy running beneath the surface. He recognized it instantly, it was a ward to stop anyone from translocating in or more importantly out of the room. He was trapped.
He shouldn’t have expected anything less. He’d faked his own death; made his father believe he was dead and then disappeared. His father wouldn’t be in a rush to trust him again.
He heard voices outside the door, one was unfamiliar, most likely the guard. The other gripped him by the throat, making his eyes harden and his jaw clench tight. That voice he knew only too well; it was the voice he’d both loathed and feared in equal measure as a child.
As an adult that fear and loathing had grown into disgust and resentment, until now, when it had settled into pure hatred.
The door swung open slowly and Sam found himself staring into the cold blue eyes of the one man he’d avoided for centuries, the one man he’d never wanted to see again.
‘Father,’ Sam’s eyes flashed dangerously, even as his voice remained cool and steady.
‘Samuel,’ Thomas stepped into the room closing the door quietly behind him.
For a moment they stood staring at each other, locked in a silent battle of wills, the air between them heavy with tension.
For the longest time Sam had felt so small in the overwhelming presence of his father. As a child all he had known was fear and awe of the man standing before him. There had never been an ounce of affection, only duty and expectation. He’d built up a picture in his mind, this giant of a man, but standing there in that moment, facing his father for the first time in over two millennia he didn’t feel cowed or dwarfed. He felt nothing but disgust.
The man before him was no Titan, and he should know. He’d been to the Underworld and he’d stood in the presence of Gods and Titans. His new unique perspective allowed him, for the first time, to see his father as he truly was. A bully, a small petty man grasping at power. Sam had always known this day would come, that he would have to confront his father. He’d always wondered how he’d feel, how much of the small boy he’d been remained.
Looking into Thomas’s eyes, the fear was gone. He no longer held any power over him, and it was liberating.
‘Where is she?’ Sam asked coldly.
‘Your whore?’ Thomas replied, his lip curling with disdain.
‘My wife,’ Sam held his gaze defiantly.
Thomas hissed in disgust and lashed out, his fist crunching again Sam’s jaw and snapping his head sharply to the side. It was a testament to Sam’s strength of will that he took the punch and kept his feet, despite his weakened state. He slowly turned his head back to his father, a small trickle of blood staining the corner of his lip.
‘What did you do to her?’ Sam asked slowly, his gaze hard and unwavering.
Thomas’s lips thinned before curving into an oily smirk.
‘Anything I wanted to,’ he whispered with a cruel smile and he leaned in closer to Sam as if imparting a great secret. ‘I made her bleed; you should’ve heard how she screamed.’
Sam’s hand grasped his father’s throat and he squeezed, his jaw clenching as his eyes burned with hate. But it was no good, he still hadn’t fully recovered, and his hands just didn’t own the strength it would take to crush Thomas’s thick corded neck muscles.
Thomas chuckled, a cold infuriating sound that made Sam want to ram a knife into his face, just so he could see his father gurgle and choke on his own blood.
Thomas easily peeled Sam’s fingers from his throat and shoved him back several paces until he hit the wall.
‘You are such a disappointment to me,’ Thomas growled, ‘a traitor, just like that whore you contaminated our bloodline with.’
‘Well,’ Sam replied coolly, ‘I guess that makes two of us then, as you are just as much a disappointment to me. I am ashamed to be your son.’
‘You are no son of mine,’ Thomas’s eyes narrowed. ‘As I said, you are a traitor and you do not deserve to bear my name. You have been stripped of all rank and privilege.’
‘What are you going to do?’ Sam sneered. ‘Brand me? Exile me to earth? Go ahead.’
‘You’d like that, wouldn’t you?’ Thomas replied, ‘but I’m simply not that accommodating. You will be executed as a traitor… eventually.’
‘What do you mean eventually?’ Sam’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
‘It’s clear you do not have the strength and vision to walk in my footsteps; you now only have one use to me.’
‘And that is?’
‘For breeding,’ Thomas ’s mouth curved slightly.
‘
No,’ Sam replied flatly.
‘Yes,’ he retorted. ‘You have been assigned a suitable breeding partner; she is of excellent lineage. You will produce an heir and he will be raised by me. I can see now I allowed you far too many freedoms, tutors, warriors to train you. My grandson will be raised by me and me alone.’
‘That will never happen,’ Sam told him coldly. ‘Your bloodline will die with me; I will never father a child for you.’
‘You will,’ Thomas answered dispassionately, ‘because if you don’t, I will execute every single breeding partner you turn away.’
‘You can’t do that,’ Sam replied in disgust, ‘the others will never condone it.’
‘I am the Principal’ his eyes flashed dangerously. ‘No one tells me what I can and can’t do. The choice is yours Samuel. Provide me with a grandchild, or I will kill every female you refuse to touch, starting with your whore.’
‘I will make you pay for this,’ Sam whispered furiously.
‘No Samuel,’ Thomas replied coolly, ‘you will do as you’re told.’
There was a sudden pounding at the door. It flew open, banging against the wall and setting the goblets on a nearby table wobbling.
Marcus strode into the room purposefully; he barely spared a glance for his nephew but instead headed straight for his brother.
‘What is this intrusion?’ Thomas growled. ‘I gave strict orders I was not to be disturbed.’
‘Forgive me brother but this could not wait.’ He stopped in front of him, his chest heaving, and his eyes filled with a mixture of anger and trepidation. ‘She has escaped.’
‘WHAT?’ Thomas roared.
‘Brother please,’ Marcus held up his hands, ‘she could not have gotten far, especially in her condition.’
Sam’s stomach clenched nauseatingly at the implication of the condition they’d left her in.
‘YOU!’ Thomas turned his fury on his son, grabbing him roughly and pinning him to the wall. ‘HOW DID YOU DO IT? YOU HELPED HER; I KNOW YOU DID!’
The Veritas Page 9
