Conjuring Wrath (Seven Deadly Book 3)

by Michelle Gross

  “How will you fight with me on your back?” I asked.

  “Listen to the sounds of their screams and you can guess,” he said most annoyingly. “Quick.”

  I didn’t argue any further. I knew what was at stake. Human lives. Innocence.

  With his help, I took my place beneath his cloak. As he began moving, he gripped my legs tightly. I squealed as my stomach quivered and lurched. Whoosh! Wind flapped the cloak. He jumped!? Not being able to see made the fall ten times scarier. The entire six seconds it took for him to land, I envisioned us splattering like bugs on the ground. My feet grazed the ground as he crouched to land. My chin smacked his back from the slight impact, then he was raising up and his muscle constricted underneath my palms. There was a lot of noise around us. Footsteps, doors slamming, and scared and angry shrieks.

  “Reaper!” something squawked.

  Footsteps grew louder like someone was running toward us. I heard the jingle of metal sliding across something. Was someone unsheathing a sword? I tensed. The footfalls halted. There was a nasty crunch and a blood-curdling gurgle. Thump! It sounded an awful lot like a body hitting the pavement. Barron’s hands never left my thighs though.

  Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! So many more footsteps approached.

  “You can’t take this from us!” a male screamed. “This is our right!”

  Zing! The sound was like a whistle right by my ear. Please, don’t tell me that was a weapon. When the sound zipped through the air again, Barron leaned back so unexpectedly that I squeezed his neck to hold on. He tightened his hands on my thighs. I hoped it was for reassurance because I was dangling on his back and it felt like I would lose my grip. Just as quickly, though, it was over and he was raising forward. My head spun with how fast he did it. Crack! Crack! Crack! The hint of copper filled the air before several thuds hit the pavement, then silence. Was it over? Everything was quiet for a second before the feminine whimpers began. Could it be the humans?

  Barron released my legs and removed his cloak from me. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” I slid to the ground, eyes locked on his. Getting lost in those brown pools was scary and a little dangerous, but I didn’t care.

  I peered around and gasped at the four dead bodies lying in the empty street. Where’d everyone go? Did Barron scare them all away? Well, not everyone. I noticed the women hunkered in the corner of a witch shop crying. “How…?” I was about to ask how he killed them until I saw a red chain zipping out of one of their chests. It whizzed through the air back to Barron like it was some sort of pet snake. “Is the chain how you killed them?” He nodded.

  I placed my hands on my hips. “I feel like there was no point in me being hidden. You didn’t even use your hands once.”

  He let his gaze linger over my body, and I felt the impact of it between my legs. Honestly, I just wanted him naked, but then I felt guilty for having lustful thoughts at that moment.

  “I don’t want any of these demons to see you. You were human once. And now you’re mine. Both reasons for them to come after you again. In time for the festival.”

  At the mention of the festival, I let my eyes wander to the humans. They were whimpering, and some were sobbing so hard I didn’t see how they could breathe.

  “Time for your next lesson,” Barron interrupted my thoughts as he strode toward the girls. They stumbled and shoved each other trying to back away as he approached.

  “He will not hurt you,” I blurted as I caught up to Barron. “He just saved you.”

  “Don’t bother,” Barron muttered. “They won’t remember anything. You will erase the last hour of their memory.”

  Reluctantly, I faced the women once more uneasy with my new task.

  Chapter 26

  Barron

  Minutes turned into hours. Time was diminishing and so many humans still missing. Thankfully, we took care of all that popped up on our Reaper radar. Since learning to erase memories earlier, Gwendolyn had been quiet. She didn’t complain when I showed her how to erase their memories. She got it right on her first try. Her shoulders were rigid, eyes slanted, and those kissable lips pursed like the weight of the world rested on her shoulders alone.

  The new current strumming through her was the one that guided all Reapers. Taking her with me was a mistake. Her eyes lacked the same youthful, innocent quality it did before she saw the City of the Dead and all of its demons. Witnessing and learning about the upcoming human festival changed her.

  I saw her when she caught Jason too—the fury and despair in her clenched jaw when she relived glimpses of his memories to learn where he was to go. When she tackled him to the ground, I saw the utter disgust and hatred burning in her essence. For his victims. She wept. She felt. She became enraged for all those lives she didn’t know. We’d been several places and rescued a lot of humans over the last few hours. None were hurt. That didn’t matter to her.

  Gwendolyn’s soul was hurting for others. Again. I didn’t sense that much distress from her when she was murdered, but it was different with the strangers. She was a knot of angst and fury. I recognized it because I was used to being the one harboring pent-up emotions.

  Gone was the girl that complained when I tried to teach her something. Gone was the one who had nagged about staying beneath the cloak. After seeing the first group of women, Gwendolyn slipped under it without being told. She helped when I asked. Observed when she could, no doubt listening when she couldn’t see.

  Sullen and dark.

  I wondered if I messed up my chance at seeing her dimples any time soon.

  Later, we met up with August. Seeing him brought my anger to the forefront. That day was constantly feeding my sin. August alone would probably be the finishing blow. The thought upset me. I just wanted a moment with Gwendolyn, but duty called. When it didn’t, Wrath did.

  “Is that lump on your back Gwendolyn?” August goaded. “Probably good that he wants to hide you away, someone might want to bring you into his harem.”

  “August,” I warned as Gwendolyn peeked out from beneath the cloak.

  “You have a harem?” she asked. It was the first actual hint of emotion from her in hours. “That’s appalling. I thought you were a good guy.”

  “Believe me, darling, if they were dissatisfied with their life, I’d be the first to know. If you owe me, in some way or another, I will get what I’m due.” August’s heartless glare must have surprised her because I heard her sharp inhale.

  We all had issues and had no room to judge one another, but because of our sins, we often clashed. Thankfully, we knew deep down we would always be there for each other no matter what. I had to keep that in mind because August’s maliciousness was ripping the hell out of my patience.

  “I should take a picture of your face right now and show it to you,” August said. “Scary.”

  “Something’s different about you today,” Gwendolyn said to August. “You seem darker.”

  “Don’t worry your pretty little head about me.” August tried to step closer, but I blocked him. He pinned me with a sardonic grin. “I’m not a loose cannon like Barron here. I don’t lose my flesh unless I want to, and even then, I know what I’m doing.”

  He was bad today; I thought. I reached for his shirt as he pulled a flask from his suit and took a swig. He must have just come from his casino for him to still be wearing one. “You’re being worse than usual, and that’s saying something,” I clipped out. He was always bad, but he was being ugly. The bleakness in his stare was unsettling as if he couldn’t stop. At that point, he would let his mouth run and run and run. Until I raged.

  “The days and nights have been endless, brother. I’m allowed to de-stress.”

  “Your de-stressing enrages me,” I exclaimed, pulling him by the collar until our noses were inches apart, yellow and red essences clashing. He smirked, and I knew with everything in me that he wanted to provoke me. Naturally, I fell right into his trap.

  “Barron, stop!” yelled Gwendolyn.

  My fury came qu
ickly, but it slowly dissipated as I shoved my brother away. He chuckled. I was still fuming but one look into her green eyes grounded me. All I wanted to do was be alone with her.

  After Gwendolyn saw that she had my undivided attention, she jerked her head toward August. “I think he’s drunk.”

  I watched my brother as he took another swig and then wiped his mouth. He staggered, and that’s when I noticed his hazy eyes and his erratic essence. August reeked of alcohol.

  In all our years, I’d never seen my younger brother plastered. Sure, he drank a lot. Whenever he was at his desk, pouring over paperwork, he always had liquor beside him. But, he’d never been like that.

  The end was wreaking havoc on all of us.

  “Are you kidding me, August?” I asked. “Have you taken care of the places we gave you today? Lives are at stake!”

  August’s eyes hardened. “Of course I have. I’ve not stopped for a second. When I do…” He grabbed his head and winced.

  “When you do?” I asked.

  “It’s that fucking word!” he snapped.

  I studied him for a moment before my mouth curled up. August ruffled everyone’s feathers. I’d never seen him ruffled by anything.

  Dragging his fingers through his hair, August said, “We’re dealing with some powerful witches. It’s just a matter of time before they blow up another city.” August looked beat. His crinkled suit was unlike him. August's appearance was that of the drunken fool with shadows beneath his eyes and a clenched jaw.

  I sighed. “We know. What we don’t know is how to find Harvest and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

  “Boom.” August snarled. “I hate that fucking word.” He slipped his flask inside his suit and straightened. “But I don’t want to hear any witches uttering it ever again.”

  “What do you mean? A witch is a witch,” I said.

  “I think she’s a proxy.”

  Proxies were rare. Normally, witches and warlocks simply used magic. Then there were those who enacted their powers without hand signals or anything else. If August was right, then it was a proxy who blew up the city. Honestly, it still could have been a witch. All she had to do was point her hand and concentrate and shit would explode. But, to take down an entire city would have required the help of a lot more magic users. Very few proxies were born. They could weave, destroy, create, or implode without doing a thing. They were inherently dangerous because you didn’t know how or when they’d attack.

  Regardless, proxies were tragic souls. As kids they were kidnapped and sold to any demon with greedy intentions. Proxies were powerful beings in the Underworld and most didn’t live past the age of eighteen. If someone’s child was born with the ability, they kept it hidden until the kid could defend itself.

  I shook my head. “I don’t know why you’re still talking about her. Whether or not she was a proxy, she died in the explosion.” Even a proxy couldn’t escape that shit. Dying in the explosion was her fate.

  “Let’s hope,” August muttered. “But we need to make sure there aren’t any others in Harvest’s group.”

  “You’re saying a witch willingly sacrificed herself to destroy New York?” Gwendolyn piped in.

  “Harvest is a cunning and deranged leader. With the right incentive, people will easily sacrifice themselves for another’s goals.”

  I scoffed at August’s words. He would know.

  Disdain flashed in Gwendolyn’s eyes as her nose wrinkled. Her lips parted but no words came forth. Instead, she grabbed her head and grimaced.

  The images hit me. Another disaster. Floods were coming along with something much worse.

  “What was that?” Gwendolyn winced, rubbing her temple.

  “The future,” August answered.

  Chapter 27

  Gwendolyn

  With everything I’d been through, I thought nothing else could stun me. I was wrong.

  Sebastian’s girlfriend who they called Izzie held back the flood with nothing more than a barrier she produced from her hands. Barron left me with her while the other Reapers slipped in and out of houses rescuing people. Deaths rapidly blinked in my skull. I didn’t see how they worked through the turmoil of all these new death dates entering their mind erratically. Something wasn’t normal with those deaths. Each person had two death dates.

  Their moments of deaths were wrong.

  Was it because of the end coming? Suddenly, I understood.

  The Reapers were preventing the end from taking more already so soon.

  Izzie held back a portion of the flood waters and prevent people being trapped in their homes. It was enough to allow us to help those that needed it most. Sweat beaded on her brow but her focus stayed locked on the wall of water in front of us. Behind the wall, stood Joy clutching two little girls to her chest. Their father frantically screamed for them as he broke through a window and entered the house. He had no idea that the girls were on the roof until they screamed. I watched until Joy disappeared. The same thing was happening at another house. Sebastian helped that family.

  Barron must have been able to sober up August because the younger brother didn’t look so wild and crazy. His cloak clung to him as he saved an unconscious woman in a car. He faded with her possibly taking her to her family.

  In the distance, I saw a car smashed against a house with a power line blocking the driver from exiting. Barron, sulking and soaking wet, lifted the pole off of the vehicle, and the man slipped out. Watching the rescue I wondered what all these strange occurrences looked like to the humans. Did he think the flow of water moved the pole? Did the father think his kids climbed out of the window onto the roof? When the women awakened, did she wonder how she was alive?

  Something startling zinged through my mind. I was witnessing how miracles happened and prayers were answered. These cursed siblings were our saving grace.

  ______

  I was wet, cold, and slightly more than exhausted, but I got to help by the time we reached the third city. Not a flood that time but a hurricane.

  Fear turned to adrenaline and gave me the strength and courage to follow Barron. Naturally, he protested, but it was of no use. His complaints would have to wait for another time. There was so much to do, and I had to help. After watching them work in the previous cities, I knew what we needed—save the people while allowing them to do their fair share. They needed us to either get them to higher ground or out of trapped spots. It was something I could do.

  But, it wasn’t easy. In fact, it was extremely terrifying. I was from Kansas, so knew about tornadoes. But hurricanes and water? Those were new. Drowning or being trapped in water was scary, and I didn’t want that to happen to anyone.

  Prudence met up with us. By the wet clothes clinging to her tall frame, I had a feeling she had already done a few rescues some place else. She said, “Our priorities are keeping the places with people inside intact until it’s over!”

  Moving against the roaring wind, splashing water, and torrential rain was difficult. If it weren’t from the additional strength I gained as a Reaper, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.

  Mimicking the others, I jumped. In my mind, I visualized landing on the roofs. When my feet landed on a solid surface, it thrilled me. People must have received some sort of warning since most of the houses were boarded up and empty. When I reached an apartment complex, I heard a cry. It was a newborn.

  Objects catapulted past me in the wind. Dangerous things that might fall and land on them. The roof was blown partially off, part of it dangling precariously over the mother and her child.

  Barrier. They needed a barrier of some sort. I saw Joy and her green essence doing it earlier near a small building. Standing in the parking lot, I held out my palms and thought of a box. I wanted a lot of protection.

  Power.

  Safety.

  The Mother and her newborn needed a shield from the storm. I kept thinking of random images in my head. The woman and her child. Their location. Box! Box them in! Soon enough, r
ed swept over the complex like a boxed rainbow. My jaw dropped.

  Barron’s siblings were right. Their powers were easy. In my case, I was kind of hijacking Barron’s powers, but he didn’t seem to mind. He wanted me to use it.

  Shortly after the barrier was erected, a giant metal pole crashed over it. If it hadn’t been for my actions, it would have gone directly inside their room.

  I was close to tears. I did it. I just saved someone. In the grand scheme of things, they had needed my presence. Tears filled my eyes as I smiled and raindrops fell into my open mouth. It was mind-boggling what I could do.

  Then my smile waned when I saw that the pole was heading in my direction. Eyes bulging, I was too afraid to move and drop my concentration on the apartment. There wasn’t enough time for my body to catch up, anyway. A towering figure stepped in front of me and shattered the pole into a million pieces. Barron turned and accessed me. I began to lower my hands, but he pushed them back into place.

  “Concentrate.”

  His words reminded me of why I was there—the barrier.

  “I see you. You’re safe.” His words invigorated me. “As you get the knack for it, you’ll learn how to pinpoint and direct your attention and power to multiple places instead of just one.”

  I nodded. He called his power mine.

  The wind and the rain slapped against us. Barron touched my wet hair as his gaze swept over me. And then he was gone again.

  I stayed there until the weather calmed. I had no idea how long I stood near that apartment, but my eyes and body were exhausted. I dropped my stiff and achy arms and swayed just as two large hands wrapped around my waist. Effortlessly, he scooped me up.

  “You’re freezing,” Barron said.

  I closed my eyes, resting my head against his chest. “Aren’t you?”

  “I think I know a way of warming you up.”