“The woman. If you save her, she will provide the path for you to be pure in heart.”
My brows snapped together. I couldn’t believe it. After all I’d done. I still had to do more.
I wasn’t sure what to believe or think.
“Is this some trick to get me to help?”
“You may have fallen prey to human ways of thinking, and matters of the flesh, but dear brother you know I cannot lie. And I have no desire to.” He smiled at me. “Only the pure of heart can find Kolai. You will not be that until you save the girl.”
“How will she make me pure of heart?”
He looked uncomfortable again. “There are some things we shouldn’t know, but maybe this will help. The woman wasn’t just a charge. She was also your soul mate.”
“What? That makes no sense. We don’t have soul mates. There’s nothing like that for us.”
“I know, this was however a special case. You should have met her before you died in the human realm. The magic her ancestors casted messed with that happening. Her blood line became unpredictable. That was why she was born in this time.”
I looked at him in complete disbelief. I’d never heard anything like that before.
I couldn’t even conceive the idea of me having a soul mate let alone this whole bloodline thing.
“How did we not know about something like that, and why would her ancestors do that?”
“I know I’m beginning to sound like a broken record but we don’t know. We think her ancestors had something to hide.”
“Witches.” I hissed. They always had something to hide, but this was a bitch of a thing to hide.
“We traced her to the Mage Clan of the Woodland Realm.”
I frowned. Aurora was part of that clan. We had a lot of dealings with the mages. I wonder how in the hell they’d forgotten to tell me my soul mate was part of their clan.
“They don’t know.” Malachi said. He’d read my mind. “This is old magic. Something only their Elders would know more about.”
“Elders who can keep things from the host of heaven.”
“Unfortunately it appears that there are many like that. We never saw this thing with Razul coming. If he escapes everything will be a loss. Game over.”
“I don’t know how I’m supposed to do this. It normally takes a whole host of sentinels to fight a sorceress. I’m ...” I didn’t know if I was powerful enough to do it.
But, like hell I was interested to try.
“Dante. It doesn’t matter what happened to you. You’re a sentinel. There is no one like you. A normal angel would have turned into a wraith well before now. You are the only one strong enough to stop whoever is trying to release Razul. Go to the Mages. They will know more.”
I blinked several times, trying to process that.
“That woman...she’s no mere witch.” Balmora wouldn’t have gone after a mere witch.
“I think there’s more at work here. But I simply don’t know what. Now please, you have to find her, and follow the path she needs to take.” His eyes blazed with fire. “Find her and maybe you can save us all. But, above all else you must keep her safe. Think of the end result if you’re successful.”
The end result.
Not becoming a wraith demon. Wasn’t that what I’d wanted all these long years?
Find the girl, my soul mate, and she’d show me the path to being pure of heart...
“What’s her name?”
“Alyssa.”
Chapter 2
Alyssa
Happy birthday to me.
Last birthday I was in The Dominican Republic sunbathing on the beach. That glorious white sand was perfect and I Iay on it all day. Doing nothing.
It was a gift from my father.
This year I was here. At work.
Nope, not because my family hadn’t insisted on giving me a great gift, but because I was a damn workaholic.
I’d become a loser. The kind who wouldn’t even take the day off for her birthday. I was all of twenty eight years old today and instead of going out partying with my friends –at least – I thought it would be more fun to hang out with a few stacks of books at the grand law library at Georgetown University.
I’d also gone ahead and done the very lame thing of rescheduling my birthday dinner with my best friends.
Lame, lame, laaaame.
At least I’d bought myself a slice of Victoria sponge cake today at lunch and I’d ordered some Chinese take away earlier when it looked like I was going to be here all night. Again.
I swear everyday this damn job got harder.
Every, single, day. It wasn’t supposed to be hard. It just was. All I had to do was catalogue the new books and make sure the old ones that were borrowed were put back to where they’d come from.
Simple.
Not.
Nope, not when the catalogue references for the returned books were missing and I had no idea where the books came from. So that would give me the task of locating the title on the university library database. Again, probably a simple task if the computers didn’t crash every fifteen minutes.
I hated it here. This was supposed to be my cushion job.
I was no librarian, but I knew how to work in a library. I’d worked at the British Library when I lived with my father in England, and the Smithsonian Museum when I came back to the states. That was me making use of the history minor I’d taken alongside my marketing degree.
I should have just stayed at the Smithsonian. Instead I decided that taking a part-time job at Georgetown would be best. For the hours.
The irony in that was the whole part-time was a farce, a label to lure in someone like me and make them work longer than full time hours.
That was my boss’ doing. An attempt to save money. He was a prick but what was worse were the students.
Georgetown, home of aspiring students who wanted to take over the world with their talents and in the process drive the administrative staff crazy.
They may have been intelligent and aspiring when it came to what they were studying, but they were all evil creatures in my eyes.
The students were disorganized and expected to be spoon-fed with everything. They couldn’t even return a book in the condition they got it in.
It was the kind of behavior I expected from children. Not adults.
I was the librarian’s assistant. But, I definitely did more than assist.
At least at the Smithsonian there was a sort of respect people showed. It made the job easier. Easier than this.
One more year and I would be out of this joint.
I had an advertising company which had just secured a few contracts. Contracts that would help my business climb the ladder of success.
When that happened, I’d leave.
It was the reason why I left the Smithsonian last year, but I left too soon. It was the wrong time, and I didn’t have enough experience. I got one good contract with a new designer label and thought I’d made it big. I thought it would put me on the map, but I didn’t realize how fierce competition could be.
A year from now would be when I knew I’d be ready to spread my wings and really fly. Soar into the clouds of success.
So, I might have been lame today on my special day but it was for a good cause. That was what I would hold on to.
Next year’s birthday would be even more special and hopefully I would have accomplished all my goals.
Maybe next year I could frolic on the beach of somewhere amazing like Brazil, or The Seychelles.
Anywhere like that would do just fine. Until then I would eat more cake and suck up this year. Put it on the shelf of one of those things I had to do to get to where I wanted to be.
“Hey pretty lady.” Cooed a voice I knew all too well.
I turned around in my chair to see Darius leaning over the counter, looking at me. His hair had that just got out of bed look I liked. I would never tell him that though, nor would I tell him I thought he was uber gorgeous.
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It would just make his head swell and probably fall off.
“Can I do something for you?” I smiled and tried not to blush when he looked back at me with seduction oozing from his bright green eyes.
“You certainly can.”
He was a TA to Professor Weinburg, the head of the legal department. He was also the persistent man who’d been trying his hardest to get me to go out with him. For the last six months.
“Are there some books you need?” I straightened up.
“Nope, but if there’s any books you think I need, I’d be happy to discuss that over dinner.”
I laughed. He was still persistent.
“I can’t.” That had always been my answer.
“Why?”
I shook my head. “I’m busy and I think it would be best if I didn’t go to dinner with you.”
“Same answer as always.” He pretended to pout.
I laughed again. “Same as always.”
“Okay, I will go away and change my tactics. Maybe you’ll say yes then.”
It wasn’t that I didn’t like him. He was absolutely of the likeable variety. One of the GQ types my friends and I swooned over.
But that was all it was.
I wanted more than looks. I got with Corry for his looks three years ago and that ended in a disaster. The man cheated on me every chance he got and broke my heart. Then, because he didn’t think I was broken enough, he went and broke my bank account too.
He stole everything, and even tried to steal my business. Claiming it was his idea.
Asshole. Thank God I knew the right people. My cousin, Preston, was a lawyer and he stopped him right in his tracks.
Taught me a lesson though. One I’d never, ever forget.
One that showed people with beautiful faces could have ugly hearts.
Not that I judged all men with the same caution. I was just more careful.
“Is that what you came here for tonight?” I raised a brow.
“No, that part was me trying to get lucky. I saw the lights on and wished for luck, but also, I wanted to check you were okay getting home. Your car still in the garage?”
I nodded. The dreadful thing had given up on me last week. The whole engine needed to be pulled apart because there was a slow oil leak and a blockage that caused the car to overheat.
It was so strange. The car got so hot I thought it was going to blow up. Then the heat busted the electronics and I couldn’t control it. I ended up crashing the car in a park. It ran off road and down the green and headed straight for a tree. Except, it just came to a vapid stop before it crashed into the tree. Like someone held it back.
Crazy. Maybe the heat got to me and made me imagine it all. I didn’t know.
“It’ll be in for the rest of the week.”
“Sounds like it’s going to cost a bomb.”
“Yes, it probably will with my luck.”
“Well, I know a guy if you need to buy a new car at some point. My car’s also on offer if you need it.”
Okay, that was sweet. Definitely sweet.
“And what will you do?”
“Use my motorcycle.” He laughed. “It’s the very least I could do for you on your birthday.”
I’d been careful not to tell anyone it was my birthday because I didn’t like the fuss. Particularly, since I couldn’t celebrate like I wanted to.
“How did you find out?” I smiled.
“That part’s a secret. Happy birthday Alyssa.”
“Thank you.”
“If you’re ready to go I can take you home now,” he offered. “If you don’t want dinner, we could get some birthday ice cream.”
It was eight. I should have left three hours ago, but most nights saw me hanging back here to get the work done. I hated doing that. It meant my personal work suffered.
Also, it wasn’t appreciated. But if I didn’t do what I was doing I’d end up with triple the work tomorrow. The new scientific journals were also coming tomorrow so I’d have that to deal with too.
Better to stay.
“I have to stay, at least for another couple of hours.”
He frowned. “Alyssa, it’s not good to keep doing that. They’ll expect it and it’ll stop them from hiring more help.”
“I know, but I couldn’t bare the extra stress from Tony.” He was my boss. An asshole of a man who loved to dish out orders. Stress from him was the part I wanted to avoid as much as humanly possible.
It wasn’t worth it, because then he’d put me on some performance management plan for this stupid job.
“You take care of you. I’m going to order a taxi for you in half an hour. You may not want to be my girl, but that won’t stop me from caring.”
God, when he said things like that it was difficult not to give him a chance.
“Thank you.”
“Enjoy the rest of your birthday somewhere that’s not here.” He winked at me then sauntered away.
He was right. I did too much here. I looked at my desk and frowned. There was still a lot to be done. The stacks of books without catalogue references had piled up as the day wore on. I could maybe get through half of them if the computer could hack it, but I didn’t have my hopes up.
A snapping sound caught my attention.
Then footsteps.
I was certain I was alone here. No one else had hung back.
Did Darius come back?
There was a giggle. I was certain that was what I heard, but it made chills run down my spine, and heightened my senses.
Another giggle sounded but it was more of a cackle. The way a witch would laugh in that exaggerated manner movies used for effect.
But was real.
I stood up and walked to where I’d heard the sound. There were more footsteps which echoed across the wooden floor.
I stopped at the base of the stairs and looked up at Tony’s office, the door was open, and someone was inside.
The cackle sounded again.
Was this one of those times when I should just call security?
I figured it had to be a student or someone like that. Maybe one of the other TA’s.
Who would be in Tony’s office laughing?
I walked up the stairs but stopped by the office door when I saw a willowy looking woman, dressed in black, black so dark it looked like smoke. Her long black hair flowed all the way down to her hips and swished as she glided past the shelf with Tony’s family pictures.
“Fat bastard, don’t you think?” she teased. She didn’t look at me, but somehow, I could feel her gaze on me. “Men are such strange creatures. We love them and we hate them. At times it’s as if we can’t live without them. That is our downfall as women. Never let any man know you can’t live without him.”
“I’m sorry, who are you?”
“Sorry? Are you sorry? And why?” Still she didn’t look at me.
“Do you know Tony?” I decided to ignore the strange question.
“In my world I’d feed him to the dogs for supper. He’d make good entertainment. I’d watch until they ate him right up and spat his bones out. For some strange reason though, I can’t get them to eat eyes. So, they’d leave that.”
What kind of crazy had I ran into?
“Look, I’m going to have to call security if you don’t tell me what you want.”
“That is easy. Alyssa, I’m Balmora, and I’m looking for you.”
When she turned to face me, I froze. Froze from the shock of what I saw before me, and from the need to question my sanity.
The woman’s face was covered in scales, like a dragon. Her eyes were black, but then they split into three, and holy fuck she had three pupils in each eye.
I screamed and screamed again when she lunged for me, then stumbled over my own feet and fell backwards.
“Get to the nearest window,” said an urgent voice in my head.
A voice in my head?
I didn’t have time to wonder if I’d heard right, the woman was coming at me
full force.
I screamed and found the strength to get up. Then I ran for all I was worth.
I ran until I got to the end of the corridor and fucking hell, she suddenly appeared at the end of the passageway.
Just like that.
And, she was floating in the air, hair billowing out like it was caught in the wind. So was the dress she wore but it didn’t look like a dress anymore. It looked like smoke. Black smoke, thick and tangible. Tangible enough to touch.
“Fuck, get to the nearest window. Do it.” It was the voice again but this time it was harsher. And it wasn’t mine, or the thoughts that would somehow echo through my mind on a normal basis.
It was a man’s voice. A man’s hard voice, speaking to my mind.
“Come with me Alyssa. This will be so much easier if you just come with me.” Balmora called out.
“Get to the window!” The voice in my head spoke with more insistence.
As the woman floated toward me, I took the only option I felt best. I ran to the foyer. That was where the nearest window was, and it was open. Something sparkled in the night sky. Like a flash of light.
There it was again, and again.
“Alyssa. Go, go to the window.” The voice yelled.
“Get out of her head!!” Balmora screamed, her voice sounded like crashing waves, the tone so hard it hurt my head.
I ran to the window and looked back at her. She wasn’t far, but something was blocking her, stopping her from moving. Stopping her from getting me. Tears streamed down my cheeks and I wished like hell I’d gone with Darius.
None of this shit would have happened to me.
“Come on Alyssa, I can’t help you if you don’t come to me. I won’t be able to hold her back for much longer.” The voice was a little calmer this time. Calm, but still urgent.
“How?” I asked. As to who I was talking to, I didn’t know.
I looked outside at the surroundings and saw the spark of light again. It was like white electricity. Like lightning but without the full punch.
I was fifteen flights up and I didn’t know what I was supposed to do now.
The screeching sounds Balmora made were terrifying, frightful sounds from a nightmare.
“You have to jump.” The man said.
Wings of The Wraith Page 2
