Unholy Legacy (Unholy Inc Book 2)

by Misty Dietz

  Nothing felt right anymore. All of the pieces were torn, and she didn’t know how to fit them back together. Maybe she could try to take happiness where it came. Would that be so bad? Her heart had been broken before, and she survived.

  A sound reverberated above the thrash of the surf. She focused her auditory senses to the south where the muted noise originated. A woman in distress? Kat pushed to her feet and moved along the beach where the sand broke to rocky outcroppings, keeping well away from the water’s edge. The rising tide surprised her ten yards from the cliff, swallowing her ankles in shocking wetness, shifting the sand around her toes as it retreated. She backpedaled, skin crawling, sweat beading between her breasts. Go back. She turned toward home, but a woman screamed louder this time.

  Kat swallowed and tested the potency of her water element by pushing the tide out further into the ocean, away from her position. The surf foamed, curling back upon itself. She exhaled shakily, knowing she shouldn’t use up her resources like this for long. I’ll just check it out, then go back.

  She climbed the slippery boulders. It wasn’t long before she saw the source of distress. A Rephaim—his back to Katherine and his red body suit pulsating over his musculature—stood over a body on the rocks. Siolazar. She couldn’t tell if his prey was human or demon.

  The being on the rocks screamed once more. A black mist swirled above her, waiting to invade her body. The Rephaim son of a bitch. Why couldn’t he sense her presence? And how dare he help another demon possess someone so close to a Guardian bastion?

  She marshaled her power element, feeling the expansion inside her body, but then…

  She tempered it, frowning.

  If she used her powers now, she might not have the strength to face off with Siolazar and the untethered demon. Siolazar continued to stand with his back to her, holding something in his arms. Something big and lumpy, but she couldn’t make out what it was from this angle.

  A great gust of wind surged around her, lifting her off her feet briefly. Ari. No sooner had his air element tracked her, he was behind her.

  “The next time you want to go for a dawn adventure, nudge me. I profoundly dislike waking without you beside me, North,” he whispered in her ear.

  She looked up at him. “North?”

  He smiled, the stubble on his cheeks shadowy in the glom. “Tell you later.” He looked at Siolazar. “Now, what kind of mischief—”

  Her gaze darted back to the Rephaim at Ari’s arrested words. Siolazar had turned to the side to focus on the ocean, holding a limp creature with a hunched back and a smooth, white bulbous head.

  What the hell? A dead Nephilim?

  The Rephaim and Nephilim were two types of fallen angels who usually avoided one another, gravitating toward very different forms of evil. The Rephaim manifested outward destruction and mass chaos, while the Nephilim went for the host’s mind, seeking its pleasure from crumbling individuals from the inside.

  Ari’s body had gone completely still except for the tensing of his fists. “I don’t sense Leviathan anywhere around here, but this has something to do with her…and what’s going on with you.”

  “How would you know?”

  “The Rephaim and Nephilim have no reason to go to war with each other. In a thousand years, I’ve never seen anything like this.” He bracketed his hands around his mouth. “Let the human go,” he yelled out, “otherwise we’re going to have problems, demon.”

  Siolazar’s attention finally snapped toward them. He smiled as he dumped the Nephilim’s white body to the ground. “Tell me, Guardian, just how useless are you going to be today?”

  The air pressure built around Katherine. What do you want me to do? she asked.

  Ari started to respond until Siolazar grabbed the human woman by her hair and forced her to her knees in front of the crumpled Nephilim.

  “Fy fæn!” Ari materialized his axe, body shifting to lunge.

  “Ari, no, you’re not prepared!” Katherine streamed forward and latched onto his back pocket. Siolazar yanked the woman’s head back, opening her lips in a wide yawn. The black demon mist spun into a long, tall funnel that shot down her mouth while the Rephaim laughed.

  Ari raised an arm to send his axe wheeling through super-charged air manipulated by his element. Siolazar raised his left hand with a snarl and the axe thudded to the ground like a deer slamming into a parked locomotive. Siolazar lowered his red, pulsating arm. “Ah, yes, quite as useless as I suspected. How disappointing.”

  The hairs shot up along Katherine’s arms. Jesus, now what? They needed to get the woman away from the Rephaim while they could still exorcise her. Katherine took a step away from Ari’s side so she had room to manipulate her water element, but he pulled her back. Wait, something’s not right.

  No shit, Ari.

  We need to bail. Now!

  Wait!

  But he’d already gathered her into his arms as the now-possessed woman shrieked and sunk her teeth into the dead Nephilim’s neck.

  Chapter 14

  Fucked. Up.

  This was so fucked up.

  But at least now he understood why Kat was so sick. And since he knew, he could fix it.

  Please Thor, Freya, Jesus, and whomever other Gods are listening…Help me fix this.

  Ari tore around Kat’s house, warding the windows and exits on hyper-speed after streaming the two of them out of the Rephaim’s presence. He wasn’t one to run from a fight, but watching a newly possessed human cannibalizing a Nephilim corpse was one of those situations that required a clear head in order to figure out how to get that shit squared away.

  Kat grabbed him out of hyper-speed, spinning them head-over-heels to the sofa in her living room. When they landed, her head was at his crotch, her sweet ass inches from his mouth, and just like that he morphed into a horny bastard, imagining her hair in tangles, her head thrown back, her lips wet, open, moaning for him…

  She pawed and swiveled on him, trying to sit up, but only managing to make his dick stiffer than his forged iron sword.

  “North, stop. For the love of Odin, just stop,” he ground out, gripping her arms and rolling her to her feet.

  She placed her hands on her hips. “That’s what I was trying to get you to do, you big oaf. Let me help you set these damn wards.”

  He readjusted himself as much as he was able to without unzipping his pants, then looked up to see her smirk. “I don’t want you using any of your resources. You’re getting sick because of what we saw. Doesn’t it make sense?” But he could see she wasn’t connecting the dots. “When Guardian Purifiers exorcise humans, we draw their entire essence into our bodies, flush out the evil, and then return their souls back intact. Or at least as intact as they were before the possession. Now think about the consequences of exorcising humans who’ve drank Nephilim blood.”

  Her lips parted, eyes widened. “I’ve been mainlining poison.”

  He nodded, beating back the urge to go berserk. “Exactly. I couldn’t understand why you weren’t regenerating. I mean, even without bonding, you should have been able to rejuvenate to moderate levels and then maintain for days.”

  He finished setting the wards, then broadcast a message to all Guardians about their discovery. “The Rephaim are bad ass motherfuckers, but Nephilim are even more pernicious to Purifiers. Usually they’re solitary, but I worked with a group of Guardians to round up several dozen of them during the Thirty Years War in Central Europe in 1647. Made me nauseous just being around that many. None of the other Guardians were affected, but then, none of them were Purifiers. At the time, I thought it was because I was already running on empty being it was close to the end of the conflict. But in light of what we saw just now, and the shitty way I felt after healing that child when I first arrived at AQUA a few days ago…this has to be the problem.”

  All those centuries ago, he’d been brutally ill without actually internalizing Nephilim like Kat had when she exorcised humans who’d likely drank Nephilim blood. How much
sicker was she from repeated exposure to Nephilim toxin? Could it kill her? He sent out an urgent call to Alexios, but the Guardian leader didn’t respond.

  Ari rubbed his chest. He needed to keep calm, for fucks sake. Breathe.

  Kat twisted her hands in front of her. The little tell made him want to hold her. “Back then, how’d you heal when you were so depleted?” she asked.

  “Alexios put me into an ether sleep, then suffered greatly when he channeled my pain.”

  Her lips compressed. “Do you have any lingering effects all these years later?”

  He shook his head, exhaling quietly, trying to slow his heart rate. He pretended to examine a bird figurine from her sofa table while he waited for Alexios to link up telepathically.

  “Why the ‘North’ nickname?” she asked, quietly.

  He set the figurine down and turned to face the woman he loved beyond life. He walked to her and pulled her into his arms, curling himself around her, wishing he could absorb everything ugly and evil that had touched her soul. “You still mumble in your sleep.”

  She wriggled and shifted to get more comfortable. “Well now, that explains nothing.”

  He tried to smile, pushing fears of her dying aside. “Don’t get your thong in a crevasse.”

  She snorted. “That would be ‘panties in a bunch,’ hotshot. Might I suggest the Urban Dictionary for all your modern slang references?”

  He kissed the top of her head. “Sarcasm’s your degree, not mine. In any case, you say we’re polar opposites. You’re right, but that’s our strength, not a weakness.” He tilted her chin up. “I also finally realize that while we’re different, my needle always points to you. You’ll always be my True North.”

  She froze, then blinked, moisture suddenly floating in her eyes. She spun away to walk to where her phone sat on the kitchen counter. The zipping of her blood echoed the roaring of his emotions. How could he heal her? It had to be in his power.

  Grimm, your distress is disquieting. Have you discovered more dead Nephilim?

  Alexios, thank God. Can you heal, Kat?

  Expunging Nephilim toxin will require more than ether sleep.

  What about using her relic?

  I thought of that, but if she has a preponderance of evil inside her, there is a possibility the relic could kill her instead of healing her if she has contact with it. I would advise that you take over her duties of guarding the Chains of St. Peter.

  Ari pounded the side of his fist against the wall. Kat looked up, her shoulders dropping as she set her phone down carefully. Ari began to pace. What can we do then? She cannot die.

  The Guardian leader remained silent for a few heartbeats, then, I will attempt to consult with Michael, but don’t be surprised if we are left to figure this out on our own. In the meantime, bond with her. It should have been done decades ago. And do not leave her side.

  There was nothing else to say—no encouragement to be found—so Ari closed the mental pathway. He stopped pacing, piercing Kat with his gaze. “You cannot go anywhere near your relic. Alexios thinks it might be a grave danger to you with the infection.”

  “But then how can I protect it?”

  “I will take over the responsibility.”

  “Dammit!”

  They stared at one another a few moments. “Will you not bond with me to save your own life?” he finally asked.

  She moved toward him until there were only inches between their bodies. “Did Alexios say that was the only way I could be cured?”

  He should lie and say yes. “He doesn’t know. He said he’d consult with the archangel. But I know it would help.” It had to. He couldn’t lose her. “Please, Katherine.”

  Her eyes were luminous in the diffused light of the room. “I can’t give myself to you in order to save myself. That would defeat the purpose of the ritual, don’t you see? The sacred joining of souls, by nature, is a loss of self. I cannot come to you—the connection will never truly work—if I’m not whole to begin with.” She laid a hand on the pounding wall of his chest, and his fingers slid into her hair.

  “No.”

  “Yes, Ari. You know I’m right. I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to realize it, but I can’t give myself to you because I’m broken.” Her voice caught. “I’ve been broken so long I don’t know what it feels like to be whole.”

  “Then we’ll fix you.”

  She smiled through her tears and kissed his forearms. “You can’t do it for me. I have to do it myself.”

  She would have pulled away then, but he held on to her. “Then do it. Love yourself like I love you. See yourself through my eyes.”

  “If only it were that easy.”

  “Kat, just tell me what I can do…” God, this helpless feeling...

  She lifted to her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his lips which he deepened until they were both breathless. She broke away first, touching his lips, watching the trail of her fingers. He brushed away her tears. “Kat…”

  She brought her gaze to his. “I will try. But I have to do this on my own. It’s the only way, okay?”

  Everything in him rebelled at the thought, but it was true. She had to learn to love and forgive herself. “Okay, but don’t push me away. Even Alexios said I shouldn’t leave your side.”

  She brushed the remaining wetness from her eyes, then mock glared at him. “Fine, but only if you call me Katherine.”

  A laugh wrung from him, the pressure of his fear relieving slightly. “Deal, but don’t get pissy if I forget from time to time.”

  Her eyes crinkled. “Oh, I’ll get pissy all right.” She kissed him quickly once more, but pushed him away before things escalated. “So what are we going to do for the possessed if we can’t heal them in the normal fashion?”

  He stared at her, trying to bring his emotions into stasis. She said she’d try, so he needed to trust her. “I believe in you.”

  She blushed, and tried to scowl at him. “Enough with the mushy stuff. We have work to do. I’ve asked Nate to send us his rockstar exorcist, Father Angus. He’s in the field right now, but as soon as Nate makes contact with him, he’ll let me know. Hopefully my team will bring in a few more priests we trust from various islands. In the mean time, though, what ideas do you have for healing the possessed?”

  “You have to stay away from the relic, but I could use it. I did that once with great success.”

  “No way. The Chains should never leave the reliquary. The wards protecting it are some of the most layered I’ve ever woven. I don’t know if I’d be able to recreate one that complex again, even if I were at full strength. I’m afraid to even bring them out of the sanctorum.”

  “I can add my wards to yours. Playing it safe sometimes prevents living fully and without regrets.”

  She frowned. “I’ve lived with regrets for so long I wouldn’t know how to live otherwise.”

  Anger flushed through him. “That’s a total cop-out. Is this the toxin speaking or have you become a coward in the years I’ve been away?”

  She stiffened, eyes flashing. “Know what, Ari?”

  He continued to glare as he leaned toward her. He held his breath, uncertain what she would say, but eager to spar, to release some of this awful tension that had sprung up between them.

  He watched her lips as her mouth opened. What came out…

  “Whatever.”

  Oh, hell no. He hooked his finger in the waistband of her yoga pants when she started walking away. “Not whatever,” he bellowed. “Say what you want to say, goddammit. Don’t hold back from me. That’s the worst thing you can do.”

  She shimmied out of his hold. “Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor, Viking. A concept your forebears didn’t comprehend.”

  “As much as you enjoy it, insulting me isn’t productive.”

  She blew out a heavy breath. “I’m trying to concentrate on the immediate problem, not the mountain of issues between us. The fact remains that we’re still very different, and I’m not enti
rely convinced that if you stay with me you won’t end up feeling trapped and grow to resent me. Concentrating on that makes me angry, and I’m afraid it might come out in the most insignificant ways. Like being mad because you have chest hair or something else absurd like that. So yes, discretion and focus are pretty important right now.”

  He was speechless for a moment. She didn’t like his chest hair? “I’m not that hairy.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I know. It was just an example, but surely you get my point.”

  He wasn’t sure, but admitting that would probably upset her more, and he certainly didn’t want to keep going down that road. So…appeasement. “Okay, so we’ll keep the Chains in the reliquary.”

  Her stance relaxed slightly. “Do you think the Rephaim are more powerful than the Nephilim? I mean, how else are they killing them without a big show? And how are we going to stop the possessed humans from cannibalizing the Nephilim?”

  “The only thing we need to worry about is stopping Leviathan. Once we take care of her, everything goes back to normal.”

  Her brow furrowed. “You want to blame everything on her, but I’m not convinced. She saved us from the Rephaim.”

  “Probably to buy herself time to do the double-cross. Come on, you can’t be serious about giving her the benefit of the doubt.” He went to the refrigerator and withdrew items to make sandwiches. The action calmed him. When he glanced up from his task, she was chewing on her bottom lip.

  She’d never done that before.

  “Maybe there’s an unknown relic out there powering up the Rephaim. One that a Guardian’s never been responsible for. Siolazar wouldn’t be able to touch it, but he could command it, right?” At his raised eyebrows, she continued, “Don’t look at me like that. I don’t hear you sharing any hypotheses.”

  “Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, there haven’t been enough relics stolen by archdemons to know how they interact with holy relics.”

  “But religious medallions, holy water, and crucifixes burn them. It only makes sense that they wouldn’t be able to touch a holy relic.”