It looked so familiar because I had grown up with a refined, feminine version of it. I had seen an exact replica of those eyes nearly every day of my life. I was having trouble breathing. I didn’t want to meet him. I didn’t want to know him. I didn’t care where he’d been or what his excuse was.
He took another step forward. “Caius.”
“Elijah.” Caius’s voice was hard as steel.
“It would seem you have something that is mine,” Elijah said.
Red edged my vision, how dare he act like I belonged to him. Flames licked around the edges of my hands as a tremor of rage ran through me. Rational thought flew out the window. I would burn the whole damn clearing down with him in it. I realized in that moment, despite the past couple weeks of better control, I still wasn’t emotionally stable enough to deal with meeting my long-absent father.
Caius reached back without taking his eyes off Elijah and placed a restraining hand on my arm. I knew he probably thought I should calm down, but that so wasn’t happening. I had over nineteen years of pent-up disappointment and anger to unleash.
“She is not yours.” Though his voice was calm, I could feel the heat rising in his skin as his markings took on a faint glow.
Elijah took another step closer, his hands held in front of him palms out. “Forgive me. I misspoke. I did not intend to insinuate that she belonged to me in any way other than genetics.”
My reflected markings prickled as my anger ratcheted up a notch. Of course, I wasn’t his in any way other than genetics because he’d ditched out before I was born. He was a freaking angel who had abandoned my mother, left her alone to raise two children—one of which wasn’t even hers—left her to die in the mortal world when she could have been saved.
“What is it you want, Elijah?” Caius had shifted out of his stance.
“I merely wanted to meet my daughter.”
One moment, Caius had hold of my arm and the next I’d torn away and launched myself across the clearing. The red haze tunneled my vision until all I could see was Elijah, my target. Flames exploded from me as markings flared across my skin. A rage-filled scream ripped from my throat. Elijah stumbled back, fear flashing in his eyes. He had no demon in him, hellfire would hurt him. I took another step and leaped at him, snarling and spitting like a wild animal when something brought me up short.
“Jo, calm down.” Caius’s arms were like steel bands around my waist.
“Get her out of here,” Malik’s urgent voice reached me.
No! I didn’t want out of there. I wanted to finish what I started. Unable to break free from Caius, I sent the fire rolling down my arms and released a blast in Elijah’s direction as Caius wrenched me away and hauled me back down the trail until the trees obscured the clearing. I fought him every step of the way, unable to shake the rage or see anything other than the red in my vision.
Caius hoisted me in the air and tossed me in the stream. The ice cold water hit me like a smack in the face. In an instant, it cleared my mind, doused the flames, and cooled the markings. I came to the surface gasping. The shock didn’t take the anger away; it just dampened it down to a manageable level.
The stream didn’t move fast where he’d thrown me in and I was able to easily swim to where I could touch bottom. Caius leaned against a tree with his arms folded. “Are you done?”
“Maybe.” I shot him a glare as I sloshed to dry land and began wringing out my hair. “Why did you stop me?”
“Because despite how angry you are, you might actually regret killing Elijah.” I opened my mouth to assure him I wouldn’t regret it, but he continued before I could speak. “I’m not saying you can’t kill him, I’m just saying not yet. How about that?”
I let my breath out in a disgusted sigh. “Fine.”
After stepping behind a tall bush, I stripped out of my wet clothes and deconstructed them then created new ones and pulled them on, using the time to try and get a handle on my anger. When I was dressed and came out from behind the bush, Caius pushed away from the tree. “Do you think you can go back now?”
“Yes.” My teeth ground together.
“Without killing Elijah?”
I sucked in a deep, cleansing breath and let it out slowly. “I’m reasonably sure.”
Caius nodded and led the way back to the meadow. I followed grudgingly. Maybe jumping straight to set-him-on-fire hadn’t been the best idea. The anger attempted to bubble up again. I tamped it down. It didn’t need to rage. I could let it smolder.
When we entered the meadow again, the three groups were still facing each other, the tension between them taught as a drawn bowstring. Bethany and James were obviously fuming on my behalf. There appeared to be more demonborn in the second group than I originally thought, maybe close to thirty. Not surprising I hadn’t counted right the first time since my focus had been on my deadbeat dad.
Caius halted next to our group and I stopped with him. Caius folded his arms, his gaze on the sandy-haired man at the forefront of the strange demonborn. “What are you here for, Dominic?”
Dominic nodded toward me. “We come to join you. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Caius didn’t offer Dominic a welcome; instead, he shifted his gaze to the man who had sired me. “What do you want, Elijah? And leave off claiming it is to see Jo; you could have done that at any time since she came to this side of the veil, so the truth would be nice.”
A rather singed Elijah watched me warily. “You are correct, of course. I rightly assumed I would be the last person she would want to see, so I stayed away. However, I cannot continue to stand by. Factions on both sides are starting to decide where they will stand. There are far too many who stand against my daugh—Jo, for me to stand back.”
“You don’t get to call me, Jo.” It came out as a snarl. Yes, I hated my full name, but hearing the shortened version from his mouth seemed to soil it. “To you, I’m Josephine. Only people I care about get to call me Jo.” It hadn’t been that way before, but it was now.
Elijah inclined his head. “As you wish, Josephine.” He glanced at Caius and then back to me. “I guess, since you can throw fire, the rumors are true and you are bound to him.”
“A partial bond,” Caius corrected.
Elijah nodded. “I had heard that too, but was unsure of the reliability of the rumors. Many are convinced you are already fully bound. Others claim that if you had completed it, every immortal everywhere would have felt that much power coming together. While you have been adventuring in Between, things have been changing fast everywhere else.”
“In what way?” Caius’s cold, clipped tone let Elijah know he’d better get on with whatever information he had.
“The different factions of demons and angels are drawing lines in the sand and deciding where they will stand. Sentinels are no longer the only thing you have to worry about. Even the Children in Midtween are a danger to you now.” He gave Caius a wary look and I realized he was afraid of Caius. But then, Elijah was only a soldier angel. With Caius’s heritage, he would have no trouble killing Elijah who continued to speak, unaware that even I was analyzing the best way to kill him. “The majority of factions have decided it is better to have the Morrigan in power, that even asleep she keeps the balance. Without her, it would be chaos. No rules. Some see that as the perfect world, most do not.”
The sandy-haired Dominic scoffed. “As if everyone doesn’t already know that, Fallen.”
Elijah shot him a glare, but Caius cut off whatever it was Elijah had been about to say, “We already know there are a lot of hands against us.” Caius relaxed a little. It dawned on me he hadn’t been tense because Elijah might pull something, he’d been ready to stop me again if need be. I pulled my anger under tighter control as Caius continued, “You don’t bring anything that’s news to us.”
“May I at least travel with you?” Elijah asked, his attention on me. “I understand your misgivings. However, I cannot change the past. And you must understand, I was unaware of your existe
nce until after your mother died.”
“You lie.” Did he think I was an idiot? “I know when you left, it’s not like Mom hid that.”
Elijah’s sigh was the heavy kind that sounded full of regret. “I never knew she was pregnant with you.”
“So?” I folded my arms to keep from closing the distance and attempting to strangle him. “I’m not your only daughter. Or did you completely forget about Victoria who was eight months old when you left? Did you even care?” Without a solid wall to keep it behind, hurt began to well up inside. I reached for anger; it was easier to deal with. “You left my mother to raise two children alone. You left her to die. Why should I care about anything you say?”
“I am not asking for you to care about what I say, to care for me, or to ever forgive me. I am only asking to be your ally in the battle that is to come.” Elijah gave me an almost pleading look. “Please, Josephine.”
Dominic and his companions watched the interplay with interest. “We ask permission to travel with you as allies as well.”
I glanced at Caius, then to Rowen. They wore identical noncommittal expressions. They were leaving it up to me and trying not to sway my decision either way. It would be better if they did. I wasn’t sure the best way to decide. No desire to connect with Elijah existed in my being. But, I was going to need allies. Turning them away over personal issues wasn’t exactly smart. I didn’t trust Elijah at all, and the new demonborn only a bit more, but eventually we would need more numbers. “Fine. Whatever.”
***
“I couldn’t let her kill her father. Despite what she may think, it would be an act she would forever regret and not just because he was her father.” ~Caius.
Chapter 23
My agreement seemed to unfreeze everyone. Elijah introduced everyone to the two men and two women with him. Apparently, they too were fallen angels. I didn’t care and I didn’t take part in the introductions. If they wanted to be allies that was fine, but not all alliances were friendly and this one certainly wasn’t.
The new demonborn were already known to Caius and his siblings. Dominic and his sisters Adeline and Gianna, seemed okay, as did their brother Lucas. The rest of them didn’t bother to directly interact with me and that was okay.
Caius took the lead again as we headed out of the meadow, continuing down the path that would lead us to the next portal. I walked beside him, lost in thought. The fact I’d almost killed Elijah disturbed me. That I’d continued to contemplate it, even after the initial rage dissipated, made me wonder at what I was becoming. Never before in my life had I considered killing another person. Low-level hell-spawn and eaters were one thing. But a person? Maybe I would have killed Bryson had I been able to. There had certainly been no sorrow within me at seeing Caius drain him of blood and rip his soul out.
The prophecy claimed I would wage a war, be responsible for not only the deaths of others, but possibly even that of the Morrigan. When I had first heard it, I couldn’t see how I could do any of those things. Now, after everything that had happened, I saw changes in myself, in my attitude. It wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Even with all of that, I still wasn’t sure I would be able to participate in actively killing people or directly ordering them to be killed.
The trail continued to lead upward into the hills. In good shape, I might have been, but walking up the winding path was wearing thin. My legs burned and ached by evening and I was ready to fall down and go straight to sleep. Not that I got to of course. No, not even exhaustion was an excuse to leave off my “lessons” even for one night.
I dragged myself up off the ground that evening and glared at Lilly. I’d picked myself up several times already and we’d only been going at it for about ten minutes. There were blind people who had mastered martial arts. If they could do it without seeing, I wondered if I could find a way to do it while sleeping. People sleepwalked; maybe I could train my brain to do a form of that. Blind, sleepwalking marital arts.
A kick from Lilly sent me into the dirt again. I really did need sleep.
Lilly folded her arms and glared at me as I got back to my feet. Again, I was struck by how similar her expressions were to her older brother’s. “What in the nine hells is wrong with you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I snapped back.
“You are better than this. Or at least you were before you decided to be a lazy, unfocused, waste of my time.” Tattoos flared across Lilly’s skin. “Perhaps you need more motivation.”
“Did it ever occur to you that I’m freaking tired? Just because your heritage gives you an extra boost doesn’t mean we all have that. ” I snarled back at her.
“Yes, you do have it. You’re half angel. Almost half Morrigan. Stop behaving like a limp dishrag and act like it!”
“At least I’m not a total bitch all the time. Behaving like your mother much?” Okay, so I was a bit cranky. Bite me.
“Excuse me?” Lilly took a step forward.
“You heard me.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You’re like a yappy little dog. Dishing out the words, but can you dish out the action?”
Out the corner of my eye, I caught the worried looks my friends were sending me. I didn’t have time to reassure them I was fine. In fact, with the flush of temper had come the adrenaline rush I needed. Focus came and I zeroed in on Lilly even as Caius moved closer along with Rowen and Malik.
Lilly didn’t hold anything back when she came at me this time. No slower movements or softer hits. She pounced with a growl that would have sent a pride of lions running. In a flash, she sent me across the clearing we were camped in. I smacked the ground hard. My armor absorbed most of the impact; I rolled and came up ready.
I couldn’t beat her physically. I might be mad and fighting for no good reason, but I wasn’t a complete idiot. Then again, I wasn’t planning to fight fair either. I snatched at my powers. They came with an ease I wasn’t accustomed to even with all my progress. All three powers filled me, but the Morrigan burned the brightest and a brief memory floated through my mind of Caius telling me that who your mother was mattered among immortals.
A strange sensation washed over me, almost as if I wasn’t the same person anymore. No, I was the same, I was just more. More than just me. A raven called from somewhere in the trees and I felt my mother’s presence along with another, stronger, ancient one.
My brain managed to process all of that even as I sent a net at Lilly woven through with all three of the different powers I carried. I hadn’t tried that before, but it seemed like a good idea when I did it.
A sword made of indigo shadows appeared in her hand and she swung at the net. It cut through part of it, but the net was infused with more Morrigan powers than the others and landed true. Lilly fought with it, struggling to untangle herself. Managing to free her arms, the indigo sword became a bow and arrow. She sent the missile toward my chest with impressive accuracy. Shocked she could even do that, I barely managed to dodge the attack. It missed the center of my chest but still clipped my shoulder. Again, the armor took the impact although I still went down.
“Lilly.” The warning was clear in Caius’s voice.
“Stay out of this,” I said at the same time Lilly snapped, “Back off Caius.”
I sprang back up as she made it out of my net. Lilly’s eyes blazed molten and she morphed into her demon half. Crap. I might have bitten off more than I could chew. Not that I was being rational enough to really give it much thought.
Vaguely aware the other sparring matches had come to a halt, I pulled at my powers again. I barely heard the heated argument going on; my entire concentration was on Lilly in full demonborn mode.
“Lilly will kill her!” Bethany shrieked in protest of something one of the others said.
“Or they will kill each other,” James said, his tone full of apprehension.
“This is what you call ‘training’?” Elijah demanded, his voice sending a new wave of anger through me.
Aware, as always,
of where Caius was in relation to me, I registered him move closer in a slow circling motion like he planned to referee. “I won’t let them kill each other.”
A growl rose in my throat. I didn’t want him stepping in for me. He had pushed me to learn to defend myself, so he could just go sit the hell down and mind his own business.
My power shifted and flowed down my arm. A round shield, translucent, shimmering green, and covered in glowing runes sprang into my hand. Stunned, I stared at it for a split second. This was the first time I’d made a shield solely from my Morrigan powers. Though unexpected, I didn’t have time to marvel at the new accomplishment.
Lilly leaped at me. I swung at the last moment. The shield smashed into her and slammed her to the ground with surprising force. As if being so connected to my power lent me extra strength that hadn’t been tapped before. The skin on the top of my shoulder prickled like it was being bitten by ants. I didn’t have time to worry about that either. Lilly grabbed my ankle and yanked me off my feet.
With the breath almost knocked out of me and my head aching where it bounced off the ground, I wasn’t ready when she pounced on top of me, legs straddling my stomach and a dagger made of indigo shadows in her hand. “Nice, you finally decide to show me what you have. Looks like you still lost this fight, though. Still a yappy dog, I guess.”
The shield remained my hand; I hadn’t lost it when I went down. My connection to my power was still strong and true. I smacked the shield into the side of her head with everything I had and rolled away as she toppled off me. I was back on my feet almost as fast as she was. The shield morphed with my thoughts and needs, spreading out in a fan shape. My power kept doing more advanced and unexpected things. I dodged to the side just as Lilly bore down on me. Her indigo blade scored my left arm where there was a narrow gap in my armor just as my right came around, the edge of the rune-covered fan sliced neatly through her armor and into her side.
Betrayed (Raven Daughter Book 2) Page 17
