Marcus narrowed his gaze and Lysander choked out a noise that sounded positive. He reined in his need to release the full wrath of his power on Lysander. It took long seconds for his fury to abate enough that he could convince himself to loosen his grip, but eventually he eased his fingers away from the young angel’s throat and let him slide down the wall to his feet.
“They’ll kill me for telling you,” Lysander croaked and the fear in his eyes this time wasn’t inspired by Marcus.
Had they threatened the young angel to force him to obey their orders? The things he knew about Heaven now and how far they would go to achieve their goals, he wouldn’t put it past them.
“I will kill you if you don’t tell me. Make your choice.”
Lysander’s gaze slid to one side and Marcus looked there to his right. Another corridor and the sight of this one filled him with dread.
He knew it.
With a roar, he turned and threw Lysander, sending him hurtling down to the other end of the room, close to the courtyard, far enough away that the young angel wouldn’t be able to catch him before he reached the hallway.
Marcus dived to his right, running down the corridor at full pelt, his blade at the ready. He slowed to a jog when he saw the other end of the hallway in the distance. No one was there. Could he have been wrong? He was sure he would find Amelia here, had felt this was the right place, but there were no guards.
Why wouldn’t they guard her?
Marcus skidded to a halt and backtracked when he passed a bright white room. He paused on the threshold, breathing hard, and relief bloomed in his heart when he saw Amelia lying on a raised white marble slab with her eyes closed, her face peaceful in spite of her condition. Heavy chains secured her ankles and held her wrists above her head, tangling with her long silver hair. He quickly scanned over her. No trace of blood.
His heartbeat started to level but he resisted his desire to rush over to her, instead taking calm measured strides into the room, cautious to the last. There were no guards and it played on his mind. They had left Amelia here with only weak little Lysander to protect her. It didn’t make any sense.
They had left her so he could walk right up to her.
His foot slipped into something and he frowned down at the pale marble floor and the grooves on it. They emanated from the altar where Amelia lay, forming an intricate pattern that created a circle around her. There were grooves in the altar too, deep cuts at intervals along the edges and down the sides.
For her blood to run into.
Marcus tightened his grip on his silver blade and stepped forwards.
The moment he set foot inside the circle, white-blue light shone up from it and he fell to his knees. His blade clattered to the floor beside him and he curled up, clutching the sides of his head as pain ripped through his skull and then down his back, burning through him until he was on the verge of passing out.
No.
Marcus screwed his eyes shut and fought the words in his head, refusing to listen to them and acknowledge the order that was being sent to him.
He shouldn’t have come.
He had been a fool to think he was strong enough to refuse his duty.
There was no need to guard Amelia from him when they had wanted him here, in this room with her, within this mark. The power of it flowed through him and tears stung his eyes as he tried to resist the command racing through his blood, pushing him to stand and take up his spear.
He wouldn’t.
He hadn’t come here to kill Amelia.
He had come here to save her.
Apollyon had risked his life for him, to give him this chance, and his friends believed in him. Amelia had believed in him. She had trusted him and he had to prove himself worthy of that trust now. He could be the man she believed him to be. He could be a good man. He could be worthy of her love.
Another wave of power tore through him, stronger this time, and forced him to his feet. He shook his head and fought it, pain beating in his heart at the thought of betraying Amelia. Heaven had used him, deceived him, and it had shattered his world and broken his heart, tearing at his soul. He couldn’t do that to her too. He loved her too much to sacrifice her.
Marcus focused on that feeling and looked at her, using the sight of her to reinforce the strength he gained whenever he thought about her and his love for her. He fought the command to take up his spear from the ground and pierce her heart with it, grasping the side of his head and twisting his black hair into his fingers. He wouldn’t do it. They couldn’t make him.
The command that came this time was so strong that he couldn’t disobey. His limbs moved of their own accord, beyond his control now, and he held his left hand out. His silver blade rose into it and the moment he closed his fingers around the grip, the staff extended.
He didn’t want this.
But neither had Apollyon, and his friend hadn’t been able to stop himself either.
It was inevitable.
It broke his heart.
Amelia’s eyes fluttered open and calmly came to rest on him, all the sorrow in his heart reflected in their silvery irises.
“Have you come to kill me again?” she whispered and Marcus closed his eyes, unable to bear the sight of the hurt in hers. It stabbed deep into his heart until he felt as though he was bleeding inside.
Doomed to failure.
“You will die with me,” she said in a quiet voice and then inhaled shakily. “You have the past three times you have killed me. I have taken you with me into the darkness.”
Those words cleaved at his heart until he couldn’t take any more. Tears slipped from the corners of his eyes and he looked at her, had to see in her eyes that she had remembered the terrible things that he had done to her and that she didn’t hate him. There were tears on her cheeks too, diamond drops that sparkled in the bright light engulfing the room.
It was fitting that he died with her. Did he go out of choice, because he loved her and couldn’t bear what he had done, or because he paid the price for spilling her deadly blood?
His heart said it was the former. These realms were nothing without her at his side. He could never live knowing what he had done to her. He deserved to die.
The command came again and he struggled against it, gritting his teeth and holding his left wrist, desperate to stop it from moving. It shifted against his will and he battled it, trying to hold it back. He was stronger than this. He couldn’t kill her.
He fought the order, wrestling with his arm and trying to regain control, and cursed Heaven for what they were making him do. His left hand moved and the grip of his right began to loosen. He spat out a curse aimed at himself this time. Fury burned through him, hatred of Heaven filling him with a dark need to tear the realm asunder and destroy it. This wasn’t how his mission was supposed to end. This wasn’t right. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t hurt her. He loved her so much, with all of his heart. It was hers now. He was hers now.
His heart, his soul, his body. All of him. She was his master, the one who ruled him and the one for whom he would do anything.
Marcus’s right hand shifted to grip the staff of his spear and he raised it, unable to stop it from moving. Amelia stared at him with wide fearful eyes and they were grey again, not silvery as they were when she was angelic. Tears stung his eyes and he growled through clenched teeth as he turned his spear so the blade was aimed at her chest. He couldn’t stop himself.
His gaze met hers and a shiver coursed down his back and spread over his limbs.
Amelia.
She smiled at him through her tears.
The smile he had ached to see these past few days.
“I love you, Marcus.”
CHAPTER 25
Amelia flinched away and braced for impact when Marcus brought his spear down. The sound of metal rang out, echoing in her ears until she couldn’t hear and reverberating through her body until her fingertips tingled. She waited for the pain to come, her heart breaking over what
Heaven had put Marcus through, and wished that it hadn’t turned out this way. She loved him so deeply, with all of her, and seeing him suffering because of her had been unbearable, but it was over now.
Wasn’t it?
She cracked an eye open and then screwed them shut when Marcus brought his spear down again with such force that her legs echoed with the vibrations of his powerful blow and her feet tingled.
The chiming brought with it memories she wished that she had never remembered, images of all the times they had done this. She could remember dying in his arms so many times and how he would kiss her goodbye, taking her blood into his body as she drew her final breath and destroying himself in the process. She didn’t want that to happen again. She wanted to live with him, wanted to love him and be with him and escape this endless torture.
His warm fingers closed around her right hand, the cold chains fell away from her, and then she was in his arms.
“We need to get out of here,” he said close to her ear and disbelief crashed over her, swiftly followed by relief so sweet that tears filled her eyes.
She struggled against her desire, afraid that this was all some cruel trick and that things were going to end in bloodshed and pain any moment now, that Heaven was only toying with her by making her believe that she was safe, and then surrendered to it and threw her arms around Marcus’s neck, burrowing her face into his throat.
Marcus’s right arm slid around her back, holding her to him, and she wept against his skin, catching his scent each time she sucked in a sharp breath in an attempt to regain control and not look like a complete weakling. She had been so afraid, had battled those feelings and fought to keep them locked deep in her heart so none would see them, but now they flooded her, carrying her away and stripping her of her strength.
Marcus murmured softly against her hair, whispered words full of warmth and affection and reassurance, and pressed a kiss to it.
He held her a moment longer and then said something that put an end to her tears and reminded her they weren’t out of danger yet.
“Can you fly?”
Amelia thought about it. Since coming to Heaven, her consciousness and that of the other side of her had been slowly merging into one and she felt human again now. She wasn’t sure if she could manage to fly because she wasn’t sure if she remembered how. She had forgotten that she had wings at all.
“No time.” Marcus took hold of her hand, shoved one of his curved silver blades into it, and then slipped his right hand into her left one. He held it tightly as they ran and Amelia struggled to keep up. Her legs tangled in the long flowing white and blue dress and it was hard to lift it out of the way when she was carrying a heavy blade. The thing weighed more than she could handle and she was afraid that she wasn’t going to be much use in a fight.
She would be.
She couldn’t let Marcus do all the fighting. Two swords were better than one, even if she had never swung a blade before. She could help him. They were in this together.
Amelia pulled Marcus to a halt. He started to say something as he turned to face her but stopped when she used her blade to cut through the irritating skirt of her dress. It was a little higher up her thigh than she had aimed for. By the time she had finished tearing the material away, it barely covered her backside and Marcus was staring wide-eyed at her legs.
His pupils dilated, darkening his silver-blue eyes, and she wanted to kiss him when he looked like that, so full of passion and desire for her. She wanted to kiss him for being here with her and coming to her rescue. He had fought his order and had overcome it for her, but she wasn’t going to let her guard down around him. She wasn’t sure if he was free of the compulsion to kill her or whether he was still fighting it.
She nodded and they started running again, side by side, back through the maze of pale corridors.
“What’s the plan?” she puffed, fighting to keep up with him.
“Out of here, and then upwards.”
“Out the front door?” That didn’t sound like a good idea to her. She really wasn’t much of a fighter and she didn’t want Marcus to get hurt trying to protect her, or to have a chance to lose concentration.
He glanced across at her. The beads of sweat dotting his brow and the pain in his eyes weren’t due to exertion from running.
He was still fighting his orders and it was hurting him.
The sight of him in so much pain, suffering so much, stirred darkness within her, anger she had never felt before. Fury. She wanted to destroy Heaven for what it had made him do and for what it had done to her. She had never raised a hand to anyone but all that was about to change. Heaven would feel her wrath. It would pay.
They broke out into the open white-grassed area in front of the building and Amelia’s fury spiked at the sight of a row of guardian angels blocking their path, their blue and silver armour shining brightly in the golden sunlight.
Marcus moved in front of her, his single blade at the ready, and she sensed his fatigue through where he touched her. It was taking all of his strength to fight his orders. He didn’t have the energy left to fight these angels too.
He released her hand and extended his blade into a spear.
Amelia had had enough.
She wouldn’t let him suffer because of her. Heaven shouldn’t make them suffer.
It should suffer.
Her silver wings unfurled from her back and, without hesitation or an ounce of fear, she beat them, lifting slowly off the ground, anger fuelling her. She dropped Marcus’s blade and opened herself to the feelings colliding inside her, letting the fury flow through her unrestrained. It swept outwards from her heart until it reached the tips of her limbs and then came back in on itself.
She wouldn’t let them hurt Marcus.
The rage inside her bounced back and forth, growing stronger each time it passed itself and with each beat of her wings that lifted her higher into the air. She glared at the scores of angels below her.
Beneath her.
Amelia unleashed her feelings in a cry of sheer fury and swept her hand out, cutting through the air with it. Her eyes widened when an invisible wave of power ripped through the angels in the same path she had cut with her hand, sending them flying in all directions. They tumbled across the white grass, spun high into the air, or smashed into the white walls of Heaven’s fortress, creating impact craters.
A smile curved her lips, drawn by the sense of strength flowing through her.
The angels that had escaped her attack looked up at her, drew their silver blades, and spread their wings.
Time to test the limits of her power. She wasn’t sure how it worked and she wasn’t going to question it. Instinct had controlled her actions just now and she was sure it would be the same this time. She would know how to use her power if she let it flow through her and didn’t think about it too much, just as she knew how to use her wings.
She beat her wings to take her higher and half of the angels took flight and followed her, leaving the eerie white grounds of the fortress. When she was level with the highest tower, she turned and looked down at the dizzying drop below her. Angels filled the space between her and the ground where Marcus still stood, fighting those who had remained with him.
Tears blurred her vision as she watched him, the bitter taste of fury coating her tongue. It shouldn’t have been like this. Marcus shouldn’t have to fight his own kind. It hurt him to do so. She had felt his pain and his struggle when he had been holding her hand.
The feel of that pain still beat in her heart, fuelling her anger with Heaven and controlling her actions. Heaven shouldn’t have treated him this way. Marcus’s duty had been everything to him, his whole world. He had been so loyal to his master, had trusted Heaven and his superiors, and had believed in them. They had taken that loyalty and used it against him, forcing him to do things against his will even when it hurt him. No one should be used and betrayed like that.
Especially not someone as wonderful and kind as Marcus
.
Amelia flung her wings back to stop herself, brought her hands out in front of her and focused on the space between her palms. She brought them closer together as her power flowed into them. Dazzling blue and white sparks skittered over her skin and leapt along her arms.
The sparks jumped from one palm to the other, snapping against her flesh and crackling as they thickened and intensified.
She frowned as the energy leapt and twisted, forming a small orb in the gap between her hands. It glowed bright blue, throwing off beams of light as it spun faster and faster.
Amelia slowly pulled her hands apart again and drew a deep breath, channelling all of her anger and feelings into the sphere of white-blue energy growing between her palms.
When the orb reached a foot across, she focused and brought her hands around behind it, shifted herself upwards with a gentle beat of her wings, and looked down at the angels swarming towards her.
Heaven would pay.
The bluish sphere of light turned to shimmering silver and shot towards the angels coming at her, growing as it headed for them. They tried to evade it but it was growing too swiftly, spreading outwards until it engulfed all of them. It didn’t stop there. It brightened until it blinded her and started growing towards her too, rapidly expanding in size until it was over fifty metres across. Amelia held her hand out towards it, afraid that it was going to suck her into it too.
Blue light danced across its surface as it halted just inches from her palm, and then it collapsed in on itself so quickly that she was pulled down through the air with it. She jerked to a halt and snapped back a few feet. A dazzling flash of light pierced her eyes and then it winked out of existence. Her vision slowly came back.
Her head spun.
Her wings faltered.
Her Guardian Angel Page 28
