Beauty Awakened (Angels of the Dark)

by Gena Showalter

  “Don’t worry about anything. Stay calm.”

  “And sow joy,” she said with a sigh. “I know the drill.”

  He didn’t bother telling her to stay within the bounds of his property. The cloud would ensure that she did.

  Without another word, Koldo flashed to the garden of Germanus’s temple. As many times as he’d been here throughout the centuries, he knew the area by heart. Two rivers flowed out of the alabaster columns in front and wound through the flowers, cascading over the sides of the cliff in the clouds to shower the stars. For the first time, however, the entire expanse was covered with Sent Ones. Hundreds of males and females surrounded him, the noise level utterly out of control.

  Koldo flashed here, and he flashed there, searching for the soldiers belonging to Zacharel. He found them at the far left, in front of the alabaster steps and ivy-rich columns that led to the towering double doors of the temple.

  Charlotte and Ronen winked and waved at him.

  Elandra turned her back on him.

  Malak was too busy staring at Bjorn to notice him.

  Bjorn was too busy talking to Thane and Xerxes to notice Malak.

  Jamila spotted him and frowned. She shoved her way over and said, “Things are going down at Estellä. Sirena has it out for your girl. Hates her, in fact. The things she does and says when Nicola’s back is turned...” She shuddered.

  The news surprised him. How could anyone find fault with such a gentle human? “I’ll deal with her.” Whoever—whatever—she was. “Do you know what Sirena is?”

  “Yes. Evil.”

  “So you aren’t sure?”

  “No,” she grumbled.

  Monday, when he flashed Nicola to work, he would find a way to question this Sirena. She wasn’t Nefas, and she wasn’t demon. But she was something. And if she hated Nicola, she could be working for his father.

  At this point, Koldo had to suspect everyone.

  Axel sidled up to his side and patted him on the shoulder. “Glad you could leave Chesticles long enough to make an appearance.”

  “Call her that again, and I’ll cut your heart from your chest and give it to her as a trophy.” As he spoke, he spotted Malcolm and Magnus.

  The two looked to be of Asian descent. Malcolm had dark hair dyed green at the ends, the strands sticking out in a single spike along the center of his head. He had eyes so pale they were almost white, and bones tattooed on his neck.

  Magnus was as serious and clean-cut as any human businessman. Well, if “any” were six foot eight and three hundred pounds of muscle.

  Axel waved the threat away. “May I recommend you peel my skin from my body, too?”

  What could you say to a male like this?

  His gaze landed on Thane. The warrior nodded a greeting.

  Bjorn and Xerxes frowned as they looked up, up the steps at...Zacharel, who was walking onto the dais alongside the six other members of the Elite.

  There were four males and three females, each representing one of Germanus’s armies. Though they possessed the same wings of solid gold, that was their only similarity.

  The blond and dark-eyed Lysander stepped forward, held up his hands, and the crowd instantly quieted. Expression serious, he said without any hint of emotion, “It pains me to be the bearer of bad news, but the time has come. You need to know the truth. You need to know that our king...our king is dead.”

  * * *

  KOLDO REELED. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed since Lysander had made his pronouncement, he only knew that time had indeed passed. Shouts of denial and despair had resounded, and, emotions high, chaos had ensued. Fights had broken out, Sent One against maniacal Sent One. Tears had been shed and the future of their kind had been bemoaned. Eventually, things had calmed enough for the meeting to continue. To end. Then, one by one, the armies had flown away. All but Zacharel’s.

  Zacharel had commanded them to stay, and so they had stayed.

  Koldo paced back and forth, his body moving of its own accord. His leader was...their king was...Germanus was...dead. Dead.

  Gone.

  He never should have allowed his anger to override his affection for the male and keep him away from the temple. And not just his anger, but regret. He’d known Germanus would disapprove of his plans for his mother, and he hadn’t wanted to give the male a chance to express his displeasure, to warn Koldo against his actions.

  Now he would never again have the opportunity to sit with the Sent One who had fostered and nurtured him and soak in his many words of wisdom.

  After everything Koldo had endured in his childhood, Germanus had been the only one to give him hope for the future. And now his body was dust, his spirit in the heavens with the Most High.

  When could this have possibly...happened? The answer slid into place before the question finished forming. The shaking of Nicola’s office, he thought. At the time, he’d guessed the shaking sprang from some kind of isolated earthquake. But no. A great and powerful being had died, and even the entire world had felt it.

  But Koldo hadn’t known, hadn’t suspected. Had continued on, as if nothing was wrong.

  Zacharel waved the soldiers closer. They stomped forward, and Koldo fought for calm.

  “We had planned to tell the armies this news at the same time, but after such a strong reaction to our first order of business...well.” Zacharel cleared his throat. “I want you to know that the Most High didn’t want us lost, even for a moment, and so He has placed a new king in charge of this realm. His name is Clerici, and in the coming months he will be summoning each of you individually to meet you and reassure you.”

  Clerici. Meaning, the clergy. Koldo had never met the male, but he had heard of him—heard he was fair, just and driven to succeed.

  But he wasn’t Germanus.

  “Z just gets right down to business, doesn’t he?” Axel muttered in his ear. “He’s a man with balls of brass.”

  “We’re warriors, not babies,” Koldo snapped. “We don’t need any coddling.” But oh, all he wanted was to return to Nicola, tug her into his lap and bury his face in her hair. He would sob like the baby he’d just said he wasn’t, mourn for the father figure he’d turned his back on.

  She would wrap her arms around him and tell him the pain of this loss would pass. And he would believe her.

  “Someone’s on their period, isn’t he?” Axel said.

  A growl rose from deep in his chest. “Do you not regret the loss of Germanus?” Was he not torn apart inside?

  “I didn’t know him. Not really.”

  “Then you should regret that.”

  Zacharel continued to talk, but not about what Koldo most wanted to know. “How was he killed?” he finally interjected, able to stand it no longer.

  Zacharel frowned. “That was explained during the—”

  “Explain again!” A call from the depths of his bleeding soul.

  At any other time, Zacharel would have struck him down, he was sure. Instead his jade-green eyes radiated sympathy. “Lucifer decided to make another power play for mankind and sent six of his best soldiers to kill our king. They didn’t kill him right away, but absconded with him and tempted him to evil before delivering the deathblow. These demons are the worst of the worst, and they aren’t through with their plan for destruction.”

  Demons.

  Fury burned his chest. Fury and sorrow. Guilt and remorse.

  “Why didn’t you summon us sooner?” Thane growled, his own restraint bursting. “We could have hunted the attackers. Killed them before they delivered the final blow.”

  “And we would have liked it,” Bjorn snarled.

  Zacharel’s expression was grim. “You know as well as I that the only way the demons were able to reach Germanus was because he allowed it. For whatever reason, he allowed it. There was nothing you could do that we weren’t already doing. But we shall employ your skills now, for the demons are on earth and in hiding. We have reason to believe they’re planning to build armies of po
ssessed humans, making it impossible for us to fight effectively.”

  Because the humans weren’t to be harmed. Because the humans couldn’t be possessed unwillingly. They had to fall to the toxin or welcome the demons with open arms.

  “They must be found,” Zacharel continued, “and they must be stopped before their evil spreads like the disease it is. And you, my soldiers, are the ones charged with this task.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  ZACHAREL DISMISSED EVERYONE except Koldo and Axel.

  Thane, Bjorn and Xerxes flew up and darted west. The females stepped from the cloud and arrowed down, toward the earth. Each person wore a similar expression: a blend of shock and horror, fury and determination.

  Koldo wanted to curse. There was only one reason to keep him here—an assignment that would prevent him from hunting the demons responsible for Germanus’s death.

  “A horde of Nefas and serp demons did some damage to a park in Wichita, Kansas.” Zacharel rattled off the coordinates. “Clerici has asked that I send the two of you to clean the mess and find the culprits, since you each have a personal stake in this.”

  “Because we fought the serp scum a few days ago,” Axel said, a statement rather than a question.

  Zacharel’s piercing green gaze locked on Koldo. “That’s one of the reasons, yes.”

  He didn’t know. He couldn’t know. Not even Germanus had known about Koldo’s origins. Zacharel had to be referring to the fact that Nicola was involved. “I’ll take care of this. Alone.” His father’s people had done the damage, and so Koldo would be the one to fight the battle—and finally wipe out the entire clan. “And then I’ll hunt the demons responsible for this travesty.”

  Zacharel arched a brow, amused rather than irritated. “Actually, you’ll do it together. I’ve decided to make your partnership permanent. And no, you won’t be hunting the demons responsible for the king’s demise. You’re too busy guarding the human.”

  “I can do both.”

  “But you won’t. You singled her out, and I allowed you to bring her into our world because I wanted to see you happy. I know how drastically love can change your—”

  “I don’t love her,” he said in a rush. He couldn’t.

  Zacharel patted him on the shoulder. “You agreed to look after her, and you cannot do that if you’re never with her.”

  Bottom line: he had to choose between helping Nicola and avenging his dearest friend. “If your men haven’t found the demons by the time Nicola is healed and able to defend herself, I’ll take over the hunt.”

  “Take over? No. One day, however, I might allow you to join the hunt. One thing you need to learn, Koldo,” Zacharel said tightly. “You can’t do everything on your own. Sometimes you have to accept help. It’s a lesson I had to learn, as well.” With that, the Sent One flared his golden wings and shot straight into the night.

  “Should we get rings to seal this deal, life partner?” Axel asked, stroking his chin.

  “One day I’ll probably remove your head,” Koldo replied, and flashed to the park in Wichita.

  The change in time zones brought him to a sun-drenched paradise. Humans strolled through the grass and along the cobbled walkway. Mothers pushed strollers, men walked their dogs. Trees stretched high, casting shadows. He knew this was where Nicola and Laila had spotted his father, but where was the mess Zacharel had mentioned?

  He dug the phone out of his pocket and dialed Nicola’s number. After three rings, she picked up.

  “Hello?”

  The sound of her voice soothed the roughest edges of his emotions—and the knowledge irritated him. “Where did you see the bald man?”

  “Oh.” She described the area.

  “Thank you.” A pause. “I’ll be late.”

  “No worries.”

  He cleared his throat. “Are you wearing the pajamas I got you?”

  “I am. But, Koldo—is everything okay? You sound upset.”

  Do you care? he wanted to ask.

  Axel landed beside him, wings snapping into place at his back.

  “I must go,” Koldo said, shifting from one booted foot to another. “I’ll speak to you soon.” He closed the phone and stuffed it back in his pocket.

  “So...no rings?” Axel asked, as if their conversation had never lagged.

  Koldo picked up where he’d left off, as well. “One day might be today.” He walked until he reached the location Nicola had described. There! Tracks. He pounded forward and crouched in front of a pair of footprints. The soles of the boots had been spiked with serp venom, leaving the grass singed. It was a pattern he knew well. His father or one of his men had stood in this very spot and—

  He sniffed. And infected the bark of the tree, as well. Frowning, Koldo studied the trunk. Several areas had been scraped and left jagged by sharpened claws. The sulfur-scented black smoke the Nefas projected covered the wood. There appeared to be hundreds of tiny bugs crawling from the damage.

  Already the tree bore signs of impending death. The leaves were withering. The grass around it had yellowed. Several dead birds lay in its shade. A nearby dog had attempted to mark the tree but was now hopping around next to its owner and whimpering, its paws probably burning.

  “What’s the damage?” Axel asked, stepping up beside him.

  “Have you ever been exposed to Nefas smoke?”

  “Well, yeah. Who hasn’t?”

  Almost everyone still breathing. But all right. Axel knew what to expect if he allowed himself to so much as brush against the stuff. “Check all the other trees. Any bearing the taint will have to be uprooted, the entire area cleansed.”

  “So you plan to be the boss in our little partnership?” Axel asked casually.

  Koldo ignored the question. “Do you have a cloud?”

  “Is this silly-question day? Of course I have a cloud.”

  “Summon it.”

  Axel nodded, and a split second later, white mist enveloped them.

  “Let the humans see the park,” Axel told the cloud, “but don’t allow them to come near us.”

  As the mist cleared, becoming translucent to the eye and somewhat solid to the touch, forming a bubble around them, Koldo jumped into the necessary work. The venom and smoke wouldn’t kill him, but it would weaken him. Still, he wrapped his arms around the tree trunk and, using all of his strength, ripped the roots from the ground. He tossed the entire thing into an air pocket to be burned later. He also scooped up every grain of dirt bearing the sharp, telltale aroma of the smoke. He picked up every fallen leaf, even the dead birds.

  “There were five others,” Axel said, returning to his side.

  They spent the next few hours on cleanup, Koldo leaving pieces of the cloud around each of the sites, preventing any humans from seeing what had been done. Tonight, when the people were tucked safely in their beds, Axel could remove the barrier. The humans would arrive tomorrow morning and assume what they would about this “travesty.”

  “What do you know about the Nefas?” he asked Axel as they picked up the last of the infected leaves.

  “They like to attack humans, Sent Ones, or anyone, for that matter, and they think rules, compassion and generosity are stupid. Oh, yeah, and they’re as bad as demons.”

  Koldo nodded. “They’re planners. They do little things at first, to see how their opponent will react, as well as to elicit as much fear as possible, since fear confuses, weakens and makes you do things you wouldn’t normally do.”

  “Your mother took your wings, but I’ll take your heart and feed it to the dogs,” his father said. The silver glint of a blade he held waved in the light. “Do you want me to take your heart, boy?”

  Why not? You’ve already broken it. “I want you to die.” He sat in the far corner of his cage, dirty and blood-caked from his many failed attempts to escape.

  A mocking laugh boomed. “Too bad. I’m here to stay. And I’ve given you five days to do what I commanded you to do. Now, you have five seconds to do it. Kill the
human or else. One.”

  “Someday I’ll make you suffer for this.”

  “Three.”

  “Someday soon.”

  “Five.” Hinges squeaked as the door to a cage he could not flash in and out of was thrown open.

  Koldo jumped to shaky feet, stalked over to the trembling human that had been shoved into the cell and struck.

  In the present, he ground his fists into his eyes to disrupt the sickening crimson-soaked images behind them. If he could go back... He so wanted to go back.

  You have to forgive yourself, Nicola had said.

  He doubted she would have uttered those words if she’d known even half of the things he’d done. He should have died rather than cave to his father’s demands. He should have—

  Concentrate. Distraction killed. Right. So. An old war had now been renewed. Strike one, Nox had appeared to Nicola. Strike two, the decimation of this park. The third would happen all too soon—but it would be by Koldo’s hand.

  He would bet his father had left a man behind, someone to watch the area to report Koldo’s every reaction. He gazed around, and sure enough, he spotted a tall male with a bald head and the dark eyes of a predator at the pretzel stand, buying a midday snack and peering at the right area.

  Even though the contact with the smoke had left him a little shaky, Koldo stepped from the protection of the cloud, allowing the Nefas to spot him.

  The male grinned a wide, toothy grin, his fangs gleaming bright white as he approached. The smoke wasn’t seeping from his pores. The bodily function was something all Nefas could control; most days they simply opted not to.

  “We’re doing this, are we?” Axel asked, sounding excited. “Well, okay, then. Good thing I strapped on my big-boy panties today.”

  Anticipation buzzed through Koldo. He met his enemy in the middle, studied him anew. They’d never met before. Either the male was younger than Koldo by several centuries, or his father had stolen him from another Nefas clan.

  He munched on his treat, as if he hadn’t a care in the world, assuming Koldo would do nothing in front of human witnesses. “Took you long enough to gather your courage and show up,” said the Nefas in a too-deep voice. “I have a message for you, Koldo the Terrible.”