Unholy Legacy (Unholy Inc Book 2)

by Misty Dietz

  She had it, but just wasn’t seeing it. Probably due to the toxin. “The Rephaim are using Nephilim blood to poison Guardian Purifiers, right? To do that, they have to kill Nephilim. That doesn’t exactly sit well with the Nephilim.”

  “Okay, but that doesn’t mean Leviathan is involved. This could just be some civil war between the fallen angels.”

  He shook his head. “It doesn’t add up. The Rephaim have nothing to gain by starting a war with the Nephilim. They also have nothing to gain by courting your attention because then you’re up in their business. They’d rather fuck with as many people as they can while you’re busy with demons in your club. Think about it, North. This is going down on your island; therefore, the end game of the Nephilim toxin is your defeat. The Rephaim wouldn’t just decide to do this on their own. So why would they want to take you down? Or more specifically, who’s higher up on the demon food chain ordering them to take you down, and why is that so important?”

  Finally, understanding dawned on her face. To take my relic.

  He nodded slowly as she walked to the wall of windows overlooking the crystalline waters of the Pacific. Her deep sadness hung in the air between them. She’d really wanted to believe Leviathan had benevolent motives. Her desire to believe that the demon was a misunderstood creation reflected her own need to be represented that way.

  He moved to stand behind her, loathe to disappoint her further. She sighed and turned to look up at him. “That could have been Leviathan’s original plan, but I really feel like I was reaching her. Helping her see she could choose to walk a different path.”

  She was more of an optimist than she ever wanted anyone to know. He loved that about her, even more so because she tried to hide it. “It’s the toxin, clouding your judgment.” He took her shoulders, holding her when she tried to wrest from his grasp. “No, don’t get mad. Listen. If Leviathan could somehow miraculously rise above her evil nature, she wouldn’t continue trying to poison us. And even if this was a rare war between two groups of fallen angels, the archdemons wouldn’t get involved. Pepper heard Archdemon Baal and Maeprix, one of the older Nephilim, talk about skewering Leviathan for ordering the Rephaim to brutalize the Nephilim.” Ari hesitated momentarily, letting go of her shoulders. “And Baal wants Leviathan taken out of the equation because she stole something he’d recently ‘acquired.’”

  “Are you serious? A relic?” Kat walked to the windowsill and sank down onto the edge.

  Ari ran a hand through his hair, not wanting to expose her to this ugliness. Especially after that shit she’d relived on the beach.

  “There’s more. I can feel it in you. Just spit it out, Grimm.”

  “You remember Hector Alvarez?” The Guardian was one of Nate’s best friends.

  She held her breath, nodding slowly.

  “A few weeks ago, Baal found Hector’s compound, caught him by surprise, and tore him apart. Then he took possession of his relic.” Ari started pacing, rage resurging at the loss of one of their own.

  “Oh God, the Rod of Moses.”

  Ari nodded and forced himself to stand still. “You know how things have been quiet around here? You thought Leviathan wasn’t like the other archdemons terrorizing your partners’ nightclubs, but in fact she was plying you with lies and orchestrating a coup of a different kind.” He paused and let her fill in the blanks.

  Her face paled. “Leviathan took the Rod of Moses from Baal.”

  Chapter 22

  Total nightmare.

  Katherine gritted her teeth and took down her disheveled hair to repin it into a severe bun. If Leviathan was honestly trying to walk a different path than her evil family, she wouldn’t need to collect holy items. Katherine had believed the demon was minding her own business and staying out of trouble, when in fact, she’d been plotting to steal a holy relic and marshaling the Rephaim army to do her dirty work poisoning Guardian purifiers with Nephilim blood.

  Damn her back to Hell where she came from.

  Katherine had wanted to believe in the archdemon’s redemption so badly. Why?

  Because if a demon can rise above the ugliness of her past and distance herself from the stain of her father’s transgressions, surely I can as well.

  Yes, damn Leviathan for failing.

  As the offspring of the Dark One, her powers were already more fearsome than either the Rephaim or the Nephilim. But now she had the Rod of Moses. No wonder she controlled Siolazar so effortlessly. And no wonder her entire horde could walk about in broad daylight with such ease.

  The Guardians and the scores of people they protected were screwed. An archdemon in possession of a relic portended carnage on a horrific scale.

  Katherine moved to the sofa and sank down into the soft cushions. Everything seemed hopeless. Like all their efforts were merely delaying the inevitable. And still…every part of her wanted to believe in the demon. Wanted to be near her. It’s the toxin. “This sucks.”

  She leaned forward, rested her elbows on her knees, and put her head in her hands. Think, Katherine. Think.

  A fresh wave of static ran through her mind.

  Ari’s big booted feet came into her line of sight.

  “Get up.”

  His voice held an undercurrent of steel. Katherine blinked at the jute rug, ignoring his boots.

  “I said, get up.”

  Katherine dropped her hands with a loud sigh. “What do you want me to do? I’m trying to think of something, but really, do we have a chance? If Leviathan has a relic, how can we possibly defeat her?”

  Ari pulled her up, frowning fiercely. “So you want to just give up now? Come on, North, give me some of that fire that makes me want to simultaneously tie you to a bed and pitch you into the deepest part of the ocean.”

  “I hate this! I didn’t sign up for this!”

  “Yes, you did. Every one of us Guardians would have been sent to Hell, but when given the choice, we picked this existence. You picked this. Now Guardian-up, water woman.”

  He turned away and stormed to the door. He opened it and walked out without even looking back.

  He never did that. She didn’t like it.

  Not one damn bit.

  She followed him down to the beach, her skin sparking, her body electrified by the friction between them and her proximity to the water’s edge. He used his powers to strip away his boots, socks, and shirt. All that remained on his body was a pair of rolled up white linen pants that he’d materialized to replace his jeans. They hung low on his hips, revealing the deep V of his obliques and the golden hairs trailing from his belly into the waistband of his pants. Thank goodness he hadn’t shave that off. His shoulders and back muscles shifted as he proceeded to enter the ocean, the water pulling at his shins, then his knees.

  She grew more light-headed the further out he went. She spread her stance for balance and cupped her hands around her mouth. “W-what are you doing?” Please come back. “Leviathan could be out here.” Probably was. Watching. Waiting. Biding her time to use the Rod of Moses to unleash a new holocaust.

  How she wanted to hate her. But she just…didn’t.

  And right now her Viking was up to his shaved, but still gorgeous, golden chest in ocean scariness. “Ari, please come out!”

  He turned to face her and held out a hand.

  Yeah, right. He had to be joking. No way in hell was she stepping foot in the water.

  He knew that.

  And that actually made her mad. Why would he do that to her? To make her feel even more like a coward?

  She took a step back when the intense look on his face indicated he wasn’t messing with her. Acid washed up her esophagus.

  “Come. It’s time to overcome your fear, North. I will die protecting you and the relic, but if something happens to me, you need to know how to control all aspects of your element as well as your fear. It’s the only way to best Leviathan.”

  No.

  No!

  Can’t.

  Her hands grew cold, then
warm, then started to shake. The shakiness spread to her thighs. Going to throw up.

  Ari materialized by her side. She could feel the warmth of his body radiating toward her even though she knew the water was cold. He’d always been warm blooded. She loved that about him. Remembered all the times he’d shared his warmth with her. All the times he never minded her cold feet on his legs in bed.

  She blinked up at him, lost in the past. Uncertain of why he was here now, and where they would go from here if they somehow managed to make it out of this alive. I want him. Wanted him even if it was in slivers of time. He would go, but he’d always come back.

  And it would be enough.

  “Don’t make me do this,” she whispered. “If you love me, you won’t make me do this.”

  He began pulling the pins from her hair, dropping them into the sand. The wind whipped her hair into her eyes, and, heavens, it felt scary and exhilarating.

  “I am making you do this because I love you.”

  He slid a warm palm into her hair, grasping her by the hip with his other hand, and brought her into the shelter of his body. His lips settled on hers, confident and soothing, arousing and calming all at once. His tongue rolled against hers, a slow dance mimicking their bodies as they’d slid against one another last night. Her hands climbed up his back, marveling anew at the warmth and velvet power of the muscles beneath his skin. The bulge in his pants pressed insistently against her pelvis. She moaned when his lips trailed hotly downward to press open-mouthed kisses where her shoulder met her neck.

  He lifted one of her legs, pulling her hips tightly against his erection as he rocked into her softness. His blue eyes burned into hers when she lifted her lids. She brushed his blond hair out of his eyes. “Let’s go back inside,” she managed.

  “You think to distract me from what needs to be done, but don’t forget how on-task I can be when your safety is at sake.”

  She shook her head, feeling desperation rise up. “Ari, I—put me down.”

  “If you run, I will catch you.”

  She knew he would. “F-fine.” Bastard.

  When he set her feet on the sand, goose bumps broke out across her arms. Her mind spun with possibilities on how to avoid the unthinkable. Aquaphobia. She hadn’t been in the ocean—or any collective body of water, including a bath tub—since she was eleven years old.

  That was in 1863.

  Sweat rolled between her breasts, and sharp pains shot through her chest.

  “I’d like to relieve Raj and Dorian before dark. Let’s go, North. Dragging your feet like this gives your fear more teeth.”

  There was so much truth to that. Okay, okay.

  Okay.

  But then again, no. “Can you carry me?” she squeaked, mortified at how weak she sounded.

  The first smile since they’d come outside spread across his rugged face. “That would be cheating. You need to walk into the water of your own volition. But I’ll hold your hand.” He brushed another quick kiss against her mouth, then feathered his thumb across her bottom lip before threading his fingers through hers. “I won’t let go.”

  She nodded, then tore her gaze from his to stare at the curling ocean waves. Ari took one step. When she followed, he took another. And another. Soon they were standing on the wet lip of the sand, and it was all Katherine could do not to scream to loosen some of the tremendous pressure in her chest. Her sweaty fingers twined death-grip-tight to Ari’s, her other hand curling around their joined hands, her body turned toward his.

  Maybe if she didn’t look at the water…

  They took another step, and the water lapped at her toes.

  She hopped back, her heart pounding so hard it hurt. “Oh God, I can’t!”

  Ari let go of her hand to grip her head between his palms. “Yes. You. Can. Water is your element. It’s part of the very fabric of your existence. You can direct it. Control it. It’s your gift. Your weapon, you hear me? Fuck this fear, you own the ocean! You own it.”

  She gritted her teeth and nodded rapidly. Don’t think, don’t think.

  Dontthinkdontthinkdontthink…

  She turned, reclaimed her Viking’s fingers, and looked out into the horizon as she did it.

  Then she walked into the water.

  She panted through parted lips as the ocean pulled and sucked at her shins.

  The unfamiliar liquid strength of the waves pulled her off balance, but Ari was at her back, supporting her with his whole body. Something brushed against her feet, raising the hairs all over her skin.

  “It’s only debris,” he said earnestly into her hair. “Pebbles, driftwood, plant material. You’re doing perfect. You’re so strong, North, I love you so much.”

  Tears welled up, sudden and hot. They scalded her cheeks as they fell. She turned around to face her One and Only—she knew that now—with the big scary ocean at her back. Trust, so hard to give—so awfully hard to yield—given.

  Handed over to this one man, come what may. “I love you, too.”

  He groaned and wrapped her in his arms. Their lips met, hot, electric as the waves churned at her knees. She gasped against his lips and pulled back to look down, but he captured her chin, bringing her gaze back to his to smile into her eyes. “The water is translating your energy, North. You win.”

  Her lips quivered only slightly as they curled up. “We win.”

  He laughed freely and grabbed her hand. They waded in further to their hips. The water was…

  Vast, mysterious, alarming…

  Breathtaking! she gushed at him, unable to suppress her wonder.

  It is, isn’t it? I love it when you’re breathless, he pushed back at her, his eyes hot, leaving her no question as to what he was fantasizing about. Dip down a little for me, North. I want to see that white T shirt get all wet, your nipples beckoning me to put my mouth on them, sucking...Whoa, fuck yeah, come here.

  As he lunged for her, she released his fingers, laughing, and dove down into the water. The disorienting underwater echoes suddenly brought the panic back full force. Her eyes snapped opened. Her lips gaped in a scream, bringing a rush of salt water into her mouth. She flailed harder when something grabbed her from behind. Mary’s face in the bubbles, raw terror clawing at her chest. Katherine struggled, sputtering and crying as her face broke the surface of the water, which had turned choppy, the skies a baleful gray.

  “You’re safe. You’re in control, North. Command the water to calm. Do it. Do it now.”

  Ari. Ari’s steady voice.

  Water. She was in the water. Oh, God, the water was not steady.

  But she was in Ari’s arms. She shuddered and stopped struggling.

  “Good. Now calm the water.” Ari’s heart beat against her back as he lowered her feet to the sand once more.

  She searched for the quivering thread of power deep within and began to pluck at it. Began to knit it to her essence, weaving her Guardian elemental power with her soul. She dug her toes into the sand, burying them, feeling the ocean around her start to energize in a new and completely different way than she’d ever felt. Like it was gathering toward her.

  Ari’s laugh rang out. “That’s it. I feel it! The water wants to please you.”

  The power built, heady and intoxicating. She raised her arms, and the water split, rising up twenty feet on either side of her and Ari where they stood on instantly dry sand. Ari whooped, clapping his hands. “You did it! You fucking did it, North!”

  Katherine’s heart swelled. She swung to kiss Ari, and in her peripheral vision saw a tsunami building a half mile away. Moving fast. “Ari!” She pointed, heart in her throat, and sent a surge of power to meet the turbulent mass of water. It shattered against the wave in a plume of spray, which gathered into a huge cloud. The sky darkened further, lightning flashed and thunder concussed the sky like a giant shaking a box full of magnets.

  And still the sea swell bore toward them.

  And riding the crest of the waves…

  Leviathan.
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br />   Chapter 23

  Ari’s mind spun with possible solutions. Leviathan had no doubt observed that Kat was overcoming her fear of the water, and was on the cusp of being able to exert the full force of her liquid powers. He was also sure Leviathan knew her time to sway Kat with lies was coming to an end. Which meant she would be more desperate.

  And a desperate archdemon in possession of a holy relic was bad all the way around.

  The best chance they probably had right now was to use relic against relic. Which would either turn out excellent, or it would be catastrophic. If they brought the Chains of St. Peter out of the sanctorum’s reliquary and failed to beat Leviathan, the relic would fall into her keeping.

  Ari stepped closer to Kat, but kept his eyes on the wave Leviathan rode. “Let’s get back to AQUA.”

  “You want to retreat?”

  The disbelief in her voice almost made him reconsider. “We need time to plan, plus I’m not sure what level of power an archdemon has when shot up with holy relic juice. Let’s go.”

  “I don’t want to bring more danger to my staff.”

  “For all we know, she already has the Rephaim beating down the doors while we’re here.”

  Thankfully that was enough motivation to get her to stream with him to the nightclub. When they arrived, Jade was preparing more holy weapons while Maddox, Dorian, and Raj were patrolling the poolside terrace, the roof, and the sidewalk outside the entrance. Kai and Stark were helping the priests with new exorcisms. The club didn’t open for another hour, but human clubbers, mostly Waikiki tourists, were already lining up behind the velvet ropes, chatting animatedly about what an experience tonight promised to be.

  Poor bastards. They had no idea how right they were. He hoped he’d be alive at the evening’s end to wipe the minds of those whose souls survived.

  Dorian, a rookie Guardian from Nate’s club TERRA, was supervising Konani’s etching of a new Devil’s Trap into the ceiling plaster. Ari smiled and waved him over. As he made his way toward them, Kat grabbed a bottle of chrism oil off the back to the bar. “Alexios summoned an eternally-promiscuous, teenage Guardian to look after my relic?”