“I thought Jacen didn’t like being called prince?” I asked as we headed back to the manor house.
“He doesn’t,” she said. “But I’ve been a vampire for over fifty years, and it’s tough to break old habits. Plus, the fact that he doesn’t like being a prince doesn’t make him less of one.”
“Oh,” I said, having a sudden realization. “Should I be calling you Princess Darra?”
I’d been addressing her by her first name all day. Hopefully I hadn’t been offending her. But she’d introduced herself using only her first name, so I’d assumed that was what she wanted me to call her.
“Darra is fine,” she said. “Or Master Darra. Take your pick.” From the way she smirked, I could tell she was kidding.
“Good,” I said. “I messed up enough on my first day. I’m glad I wasn’t addressing you incorrectly on top of everything else.”
“You didn’t do as badly as you think,” she said with a smile. “Now, go upstairs and shower. Because I promise you don’t want to smell the way you do right now when you see your mate at dinner.”
31
Raven
Seeing Noah when I entered the dining hall was like a breath of fresh air. He’d grabbed a seat at the end of the long table near the windows, and I ran into his arms the moment I saw him.
Jessica had made some friends while she was training during the day, so I didn’t have to worry about looking out for her at dinner. In fact, one of her new “friends” was a very attractive lion shifter around her age. She didn’t seem sad to sit with him and his pack instead of with me.
So dinner got to be just Noah and me. I was glad for it—I didn’t have the energy for anything else.
“First day was that hard, huh?” Noah asked once I pulled out of the hug.
“You have no idea,” I took the seat next to him, since across from him was too far away.
“I have a bit of an idea,” he said. “I can feel your exhaustion through the imprint bond.”
“Ugh.” I buried my face in my hands. “You should have seen everything I have to do. I have to train to run a marathon—a literal marathon. I have to do all these different types of interval trainings. And I have to complete the crazy big obstacle course that looks like it’s built for Olympians.”
“I saw the course,” he said. “It’ll be hard. But you’ll be able to do it.”
I could tell by the easy way he’d said it that he truly believed it.
“Thanks,” I said as we helped ourselves to some of the mana in the center of the table. “So, what’d you do today? I’m sure it was better than my awful day.”
“Watch this.” He smiled, produced a pen from his pocket, and started writing on the napkin at his place setting.
The letters were big and shaky, but when he was done, he’d written his name.
“I know it’s not much,” he said before I had a chance to say anything. “But my teacher said my progress is impressive in comparison to the other shifters who came here knowing nothing.”
“Of course it is,” I said. “You’re smart. I wouldn’t love you if you weren’t.” I gave my best wink afterward, but it was true. Yes, Noah had been raised in a pack so far removed from society that they didn’t know how to read and write. But that certainly didn’t make him stupid. “You can’t control where you start out in life,” I continued. “But you can control where you go from there. You’re one of the most determined people I know—other that myself, of course.” I smiled to show that I was kidding… partly. “You’ve got this. You’ll be reading Shakespeare before you know it.”
“Thanks.” He glanced down, as if embarrassed. “You have no idea how hard it was to get by in America without knowing how to read and write. It was a good thing I stumbled upon Sage. I would have been lost otherwise…” He trailed off, and we both were silent for a few seconds at the mention of Sage.
God, I was worried for her.
“She’s going to be okay,” I said, both for Noah’s benefit and for mine. “I’m going to complete this grueling training and become a Nephilim. Darra’s an amazing trainer—she won’t let me fail. And once I’m a Nephilim, then Sage, my mom, and everyone else affected by the demons… they’re all going to be okay.”
I’d been saying it since arriving on the island. But it had mostly been for everyone else’s benefit, since deep down, I’d doubted myself.
Now I’d survived my first day of training. It had pushed me to limits I hadn’t known existed, but I’d done it.
And I finally, truly believed I could be the champion that Avalon—and the entire world—needed.
32
Skylar
I barely slept for the rest of the day. All I could think about was Kara. Her brother had just died, and I’d been forced to condemn her to a fate as a vampire.
The guilt was eating me away inside. I had to tell her I hadn’t sold her out by choice.
As usual, my breakfast glass of blood and shot of complacent potion was delivered by Lavinia after sunset.
“I’d like to go see Kara,” I told Lavinia once she’d finished dosing me with the potion. “Azazel said she was also staying in the guest house.”
“She is.” Lavinia nodded and put the empty needle in a safety container. “But she’s being kept safe by Azazel’s guards. No vampire is allowed to be in the same room as her. We can’t risk any of your kind losing control and feeding on her.” She looked at me with disgust, as if she hated what I was.
A part of me couldn’t blame her. I hated what I was, too.
But Lavinia was so much worse. Because she was choosing to work with Azazel and help him do whatever his plan was with the gifted humans.
I had no say in the matter.
“I won’t harm her,” I said. “I just want to talk to her.”
“No.” Lavinia stuck her nose in the air. “And I don’t recommend trying. Unless you want to be confined to your room again.”
With that, she strutted out of my room, leaving me alone with the glass of blood.
I drank it down, savoring the delicious taste. Each time I fed, I was both disgusted at myself for drinking blood, and horrified with myself for enjoying it.
Once finished, I could think clearer.
I wanted to go to Kara’s room to speak with her. But being confined to my room again wouldn’t help me long term. Derrick’s proposition yesterday made sense. I had the best chance of escaping this place if it was part of a team effort. Therefore, I needed to build trust with the others in the compound. Maybe by doing so, I’d also eventually be allowed to see Kara.
For the first time since being brought to the compound, I put effort into my appearance by doing my hair and putting on actual jeans and a blouse that Lavinia had dropped off when I’d first arrived. Looking in the mirror, it was scary how much I could pass as a human.
How many supernaturals walked secretly amongst us every day with us never knowing the difference? The thought was terrifying.
But I pushed all those worries aside as I left my room. I needed to appear confident and strong for the others at the compound to want to talk to me.
The only other person in the hallway was a demon guarding one of the doors on the other end. Like Azazel, he smelled like burnt wood. I looked him over, and he stared me down with those terrifying red eyes. Like he was warning me not to approach.
He must be the demon guarding Kara’s room.
I lowered my head and scurried down the stairs. Now wasn’t the time to get in trouble with the demon guards.
The downstairs area was empty. I smelled Lavinia’s sickly sweet scent coming from one of the rooms, although the door was closed so I couldn’t see what she was doing in there. I walked quickly past that room, heading out of the house and into the center yard.
Unlike mid-afternoon, there were a few people milling about. Most of them sat around in groups, chatting. There was even a young boy playing with action figures on the grass.
All of them distinctly smelled like a
forest—like I was standing in the middle of a huge group of evergreen trees. But there was something off about the scent, too. Like it was rotted. Corrupted.
One of them in particular stood out to me. A girl at a small playground off to the side, sitting by herself on one of the swings. She was just sitting there, not swinging, staring out into nothingness ahead of her. She looked so sad and lonely. Like she was falling apart inside, but no one noticed.
But that wasn’t what stood out about her the most. Because even from this far away, I could make out her features, thanks to my enhanced vampire vision. And I recognized her.
She was the other girl I’d seen in the Chicago vision with Raven. The dark haired girl who had helped the guys fight off and kill the demon—before Azazel had interfered and stopped that future from happening.
From what I’d seen in that vision, she was on my side. I could only assume she wasn’t here of her free will, either.
Most importantly, she might have information about what had happened to Raven.
I started walking toward her. She must have heard me approach, because she looked up, her eyes meeting mine.
Her eyes were red. Demon red. The sight of them stopped me in my tracks.
But her scent… it wasn’t that intense burning smell like Azazel and the guard outside Kara’s room. She wasn’t a demon. Yet she had eyes like them.
Her eyes weren’t like that in the vision I’d seen.
What had happened to her between then and now?
I was determined to find out. So I continued my approach, trying as hard as possible to keep at an even pace. I didn’t want to rush toward her and scare her away.
Much to my relief, she stayed in the swing. She gripped the chains by her sides and stared up at me. Her long dark hair hung nearly to her waist, her red eyes daring me to speak first. She was definitely the same girl from my vision. But it was clear something in her had broken since then.
“Hi,” I said. “Do you mind if I sit?” I motioned to the swing next to hers.
She continued staring, as if sizing me up. “You’re Raven’s mom,” she finally said. Her voice was hollow—empty. Like she’d made the connection of who I was, but didn’t care one way or the other.
My heart leaped at the mention of my daughter, and I plopped myself down onto the swing beside her. “You know Raven?” I asked.
“I did.” She nodded. “We traveled together for a while.”
I leaned forward, wanting to ask her to tell me everything. But I also remembered why I came out here—to build relationships and trust. And this girl looked so broken that it hurt my heart.
She wasn’t going to tell me anything if I didn’t gain her trust. I needed to tread carefully.
“What’s your name?” I asked, wanting her to be as comfortable talking to me as possible.
“Sage,” she answered quickly.
I instantly recognized the name. After Azazel had forced me to tell him my vision, he’d mentioned bringing a Sage back to the Montgomery pack.
He’d clearly succeeded.
“I’m Skylar.” I tried to be as bright and cheerful as I could, given the situation. “It’s nice to meet you, Sage.”
She didn’t say the same in return. She just continued giving me that eerie, dead stare. But she apparently didn’t mind me sitting there, since she didn’t get up and leave. It was like she didn’t care what I said or asked, but she wasn’t going to make any effort to converse, either.
I worried about her mental state. But I could work with this. After all, I’d raised the most stubborn daughter on the planet. I knew a thing or two about getting angsty young adults to open up and talk.
“So.” I smiled, continuing on as if her behavior was completely normal. “How did you meet Raven?”
She blinked a few times, as if trying to remember. “It was the night of her birthday,” she finally said. “Azazel needed Raven for something important. He almost was able to get her, but I stopped him. I shouldn’t have done it, but I didn’t know better at the time.” She sounded repentant—as if she’d done something wrong by stopping that monster from taking my daughter.
I didn’t understand. The Sage from my vision had helped kill that demon in Chicago and she’d been happy about it. What she was saying now didn’t line up with what I’d seen.
There was only one logical conclusion. Someone had to be listening to us.
I glanced around, but no one else was near the playground. There were two couples swimming in the pool, cozying up with one another. Another group sat on the patio near the main house, and the boy was still playing with his action figures in the grass. Now that I’d taken note of Sage’s eyes, I noticed they all had red eyes, too. And Sage shared their scent—woodsy, with something rotten seeping from the core.
I would have been able to smell if someone else were nearby.
But Sage had been here longer than me. I had to assume she knew what she was doing.
At least she was giving me information. Her view sounded twisted—like she sided with the demons—but it was still information. I needed to work with whatever she was able to tell me.
“I understand,” I said, even though I didn’t. But the response didn’t upset her, which was good. “Do you know why Azazel needed Raven?”
“No,” she said, still staring out like a zombie. “His Grace doesn’t tell us his grand plan. But whatever he needs the gifted humans for, it will benefit us all. I was foolish by stopping him before. I don’t understand why I did it.”
“We all do things we don’t understand,” I said softly, carefully. “I don’t blame you for it.”
“Neither does Azazel.” She gave a small smile, as if this knowledge truly made her feel better. “It was so generous of him to allow me to return to my pack, despite my past actions.”
If she was faking it, her performance was startlingly believable.
“This is your pack?” I looked around at the others in the yard—the ones that smelled similar to Sage.
“Yes,” she said. “The Montgomery pack. We’re the most powerful shifter pack in the state.”
“And you allow Azazel to live at your compound?”
“Of course,” she said. “We’re honored to have His Grace—and his allies—stay with us.”
I supposed in this situation, she considered me one of Azazel’s “allies.”
Maybe that was why she was putting on this act. She thought I was on Azazel’s side?
But I wasn’t sure. Something about her mannerisms made me feel like she believed what she was saying. So until I had a clearer read on her, I’d continue playing along. And at least she was giving me information. I needed to learn what I could from her about Raven.
“You said you stopped Azazel from taking Raven,” I said, bringing the conversation back to what I wanted to know. “What happened next?”
“Raven wasn’t my concern, so I let her go.” She shrugged. “But at the time, I was helping a friend hunt demons. We were both terribly misguided.” She shook her head, as if she was ashamed of her past actions. “Our hunt led us to your apartment. There, we found Raven again. It was after Azazel had taken you, and she was confused.”
My poor Raven. She’d been attacked by Azazel, escaped, and returned home—likely in a panic—to find me missing. I couldn’t imagine how terrifying that must have been for her.
“What did you do with her from there?” I leaned forward, desperate to know more.
“My hunting partner insisted on bringing her back here.”
“Here?” I looked around the compound in horror. “To Azazel?”
“His Grace wasn’t staying with us yet,” Sage said, as if I were silly for not knowing that. “It was before my pack and I allied with him. Noah brought Raven here because he thought he was helping her.”
Helping her by bringing her to a compound full of shifters who had sided with Azazel. It didn’t make any sense. Sage was clearly giving me a skewed version of the truth.
In m
y vision, it had looked like Sage and Raven were close. But given what I was hearing from Sage now, it was possible she’d been fooling Raven all along.
I hated Sage for it. But this was the closest I’d come to learning what had happened to Raven since Azazel had taken me from the apartment. Sage’s story was twisted, but it was better than nothing.
As long as she was going to talk, I was going to listen.
And so, I asked her more and more questions, learning everything I could about what had happened to my daughter since I’d been taken by Azazel.
33
Skylar
I coaxed Sage to tell me everything, up to when Azazel had taken them in Chicago and dropped Raven off in the bunker.
It wasn’t supposed to have happened that way. The four of them—Sage, Noah, Thomas, and Raven—were supposed to have killed that demon and been on their way.
It had only happened that way because Azazel had forced me to share my vision with him.
I wished I were allowed to do readings for myself. Because something had happened in that bunker that had allowed Harry, Kara, and Keith to escape. I wanted to know what that something was.
To find out, I either needed to get the complacent potion out of my system so I could do a tarot reading for myself, or speak with Kara. But both of those things were impossible right now. Which meant I needed to continue with the plan Derrick had proposed—building trust with those in the Montgomery compound.
I was just glad Raven had Noah on her side. Sage had told me about the two of them imprinting on one another. The thought of Raven with a shifter was a bit of a shock at first. But I was quickly grateful that someone else out there with power cared about her and was fighting for her.
I couldn’t do anything for her in here, so at least she had Noah out there. And from what Sage had said about Noah—that he hadn’t “come to his senses and realized Azazel was trying to help them” yet—I assumed Noah was fighting with the good guys.
The Angel Trials- The Complete Series Page 90
