Cade may have vowed to Chris that I would be unharmed by this little excursion but I had little trust in that. Cade’s sudden urge to curry favour with the man he considered his son, regardless of whose soul inhabited the body, was no comfort as he took me even higher, angling slightly to the north.
I frowned, searching for landmarks. When he’d said he would have to carry me to where the Davilians were being held, in order to ensure I was in my physical body when we arrived at our destination, I had imagined a horizontal journey. Not a vertical one.
‘Where are we going?’ I asked, the wind of our passing whipping the words out of my mouth.
Once again Cade ignored my question, though his arms tightened around me to the verge of being painful.
I squirmed and banged on his forearms. His response was to tighten his grip around my middle. I gasped as the air was forced from my lungs by the pressure. I tried to suck in more air, but he didn’t let up. The dizziness I’d experienced before came back tenfold. I scratched his arms with my nails, digging in as hard as I could, desperate to get him to let go, forgetting all about being hundreds of metres above the Earth. I kicked backwards, finding nothing but empty air.
My vision blurred, darkening around the edges as my lungs screamed for oxygen.
My eyes rolled back. I went limp in Cade’s arms as unconsciousness took me.
I opened my eyes to darkness, head aching, body shaking. Nausea flooded me in constant waves and I fought not to retch. I made an effort to rise, but my body didn’t move. Something heavy pressed me down. I was lying on my back, arms at my sides. I stretched out my fingers, finding a cold, hard lumpy surface beneath me.
I groaned, the nausea worsening as I moved my hands to my chest, seeking to remove whatever was weighing me down. I needed to get up, had to find painkillers to take care of the vice squeezing my head. Hopefully that would dispel the sick feeling bubbling away in my stomach. But all I felt was the material of my shirt, groaning again as my fingers pressed against my body. It felt like bruising covered half my torso, a denser, deeper pain than the one caused by the seatbelt when Sam’s car had been hit.
‘She’s awake,’ said a gruff voice that showed little compassion.
‘Get her up and moving.’
I recognised the second voice.
Cade.
Memory returned with the recognition. He’d tried to kill me, squeeze me to death. Chris was not going to be happy. My doubt at relying on a father’s vow to the man he considered his son was vindicated. Not that being proven right gave me any sense of satisfaction in my current situation.
Rough hands grabbed my arms. I bit back a pained cry when they pulled me upright. I bent over, only their tight grip keeping me on my feet as I retched uncontrollably, emptying the contents of my stomach on the floor where I’d lain. Grim satisfaction filled me when my efforts were rewarded by cries of disgust and curses.
Served them right for hauling me to my feet with no consideration for my physical state.
Satisfaction fled when they wrenched my limp body along, fingers digging painfully into my arms. Faint light appeared up ahead as they dragged me out of wherever I’d been held. I struggled to get my feet under me, determined to meet my fate with as much dignity as I could muster. The man holding me abruptly let go. I stumbled, falling sideways, putting out my hands to stop me tumbling to the ground.
My hands found purchase on a cool rock wall. I took a second to steady my breathing, fighting to keep myself from vomiting again. A hard shove in the middle of my back almost sent me to my knees. Sheer willpower kept me standing. I shuffled forward, the light up ahead getting brighter with every step. My nausea worsened, roiling in my belly and making it difficult to think about anything else other than not throwing up.
It didn’t dawn on me that the sick feeling enveloping me was familiar or that it was coming from outside my body until I reached the source of the light, stepping onto a stone balcony to look out over a blackened and bleak landscape.
A multi-levelled city was spread out below me. A dark mist concealed the lowest levels and only a few sporadic lights lit up the level immediately below the balcony on which I stood. This was the only sign the city was inhabited, at least below me. Forgetting my nausea, the pain, everything, I stepped further out and twisted my neck to look above me.
Instead of more black rock, the levels above me gradually became lighter in turn, until the very top where a gleaming tower shone with a silvery-grey light as it reached high into the sky. The tower was wreathed in aether, pure and beautiful, and it was this that made it shine. I felt a tug deep inside, a desire to go to it, and obviously wasn’t the only one. I could see people with white wings flying in air untainted by the dark mist, sticking close to the silver tower as they flew.
I gulped in air, realising what this meant.
I was in Angellin.
24
The sense of wrongness I’d previously felt while in the astral plane above Easton hit me with staggering force. This was the source, the reason for my nausea. Angellin was diseased, dying, only the upper levels closest to the tower giving off a familiar sense of aether. The pale remnant of the aether Rhonda said had been used to create the Tr’lirians’ home many centuries ago.
I looked below me once more, the reek emanating from the lowest levels bringing tears to my eyes. It was so similar to the debilitating stench that suffused the chasm marking the border between the Underworld and Demania. Uncontrolled nether, it poisoned everything it touched. Soon it would devour the remaining scraps of aether clinging to the tower high above me and this place would become another Hell.
A violent swirl in the dark mist coating the lowest level caught my eye. The sense of wrongness was so strong, I couldn’t stifle a cry of disgust. My cry turned to one of alarm when the stone beneath my feet shifted. I stumbled backwards, seeking safety as a loud rumble came from far below me. This was swiftly followed by the crash and boom as what sounded like huge cracks of lightning came from within the mist, accompanied by large stone chunks tumbling down the side of the city.
‘You are safe enough up here, for the moment.’
I spun around at Cade’s cold words.
He glared down at me. ‘But with the earthquakes becoming more frequent and the damage to the lower levels more severe I fear my city has little time left.’
I stared at him, sure my horror was reflected in my eyes. ‘What have you done?’
He stiffened. ‘You think I did this? That I would destroy my home? Render my people homeless?’
I shook my head, struggling to understand what the scraps of aether were telling me and translate it into words. ‘You and Almorthanos, with your hatred and your anger, you poisoned Angellin. All the killing, the need to destroy each other no matter the cost. Your home is dying because of you.’
‘How dare you.’ Cade loomed over me, jaw clenched, gaze furious. ‘It is the taint of your kind that has destroyed my city. Davilians, with their filth and their lies, corrupted the heart of Angellin and they shall reap a just reward for their treachery.’
I gasped at his use of the word “reap”. ‘You’re going to kill them all.’ If he hadn’t already.
‘I am no murderer,’ he said, appearing oblivious to the lie he was spouting, as if threatening to execute Rebecca if she continued to defy him did not count. ‘No, the city itself will decide their fate.’
He gave me a cool smile. ‘Come, it is time for you to join your brethren.’
Before I could question him further he strode forward and grabbed me around the middle, lifting me off my feet. His tight grip squeezed the breath from my lungs as he kept walking.
I had no air left to scream when he launched us both off the balcony, the snap of his wings unfurling giving me little comfort as we dropped in the darkened sky, heading straight for the dark mist obscuring the lower levels.
The nether mist in the void, controlled by the Grim Reaper, was cold and deadly. This mist, formed of uncontrolled
nether, slid across my skin like sludge, ripping a shudder from my body. I closed my eyes and shut my mouth, racked with an overwhelming nausea. Sweat broke out all over my body and my shudders grew in intensity until I was sure I was going to shake right out of Cade’s arms.
I was too far away from the tower to use the remnants of aether wreathing it to create a barricade to keep the nether away from me. The stench was so strong it forced me to the edge of consciousness, my body shutting down as a defence mechanism against what assailed it.
In desperation, I called on the aether existing inside me, draining as much of my energy as I dared to form a thin blanket to cloak myself with. Immediately the emanations from the wild nether were reduced, though I still had a foul taste at the back of my throat which made me long for a glass of cool water to wash it down. I felt wrung out, drenched in sweat that made my skin cold and clammy even with the wind of flight pressing against me.
I didn’t open my eyes until we landed and Cade released me. Even then I was reluctant to look at where we were now considering we had to be surrounded by the mist coating the lower levels. But I knew from experience that pretending the bad stuff wasn’t there did not make it go away.
I moved away from Cade and lifted my head to take my first look at my surroundings. A number of Cade’s men stood in a semi-circle in front of me, holding lanterns that did little to push back the darkness. Shadows covered every surface I could see, giving off a disturbing gleam. I didn’t need to touch anything to know the dark mist had coated everything in a thick, black sludge. I was grateful I was wearing closed in shoes. Bad enough to know it was on my skin, let alone squelching around in it while wearing sandals or in bare feet.
I pushed thoughts of the residue left by the dark mist aside, more interested in what stood behind the Tr’lirians. An enormous building made up of thousands of gleaming black bricks stood before me. Each brick was at least one metre high and two across, with elaborate patterns carved into them. A silvery metallic substance had been poured into the carvings, and not even the nether could obscure the glittering array of fanciful creatures that flickered in the light of the lanterns.
‘Before the city began to fail, the temple shone brighter than the sun.’
I jumped, and tried to cover it by smoothing my clothes, not realising Cade was standing right behind me.
‘Temple?’ I frowned. The carvings and the gleaming black bricks were certainly striking, but not what I expected a temple to be made of. Then again, I’d never imagined a race of winged beings, reportedly Earth’s first inhabitants, lived in the sky above Easton. But other than the carvings, the building was plain, rectangular in shape with a wide row of stone steps leading to a large opening.
‘Initially constructed to house those who were tasked with building the city, it was abandoned once my ancestors created more comfortable lodgings for themselves in the higher levels. After lying vacant for centuries, during my childhood my father decreed it should be restored as a reminder of our more humble beginnings.’
‘Humble?’ I had yet to meet a Tr’lirian who didn’t act as if they were worthy of worship.
‘This was early on in our interaction with your kind,’ he said, a sneer visible in his voice. ‘Father did not believe it seemly for us to lord our superiority over those doomed to a life without wings. He felt it wise to remind us of the distant past, when our ancestors believed in the existence of mythical creatures.’ He waved a hand at the carved bricks.
‘In our youth, we were required to descend to this level to take instruction in the temple on the proper way to interact with lesser beings. After a time, as the number of young born to our womenfolk dwindled, the practice was stopped and the temple closed once more. Until I found another use for it.’ This time his smile was predatory.
I moved away from him again, only to have the Tr’lirians in front of me step forward and block my way. Cade took my elbow as his men parted, forming two lines for us to walk between. Cade’s grip was tight as he strode down the aisle, giving me no choice but to hurry along to keep up with him. The stone steps leading into the temple were crumbling in places. Now we were closer, I could see cracks in many of the bricks forming the front and presumed they were caused by the earthquakes Cade had said were coming with more frequency.
I forgot about the crumbling exterior of the temple as Cade pulled me inside.
Bars as thick as my wrists formed a wall across the entire front section of the temple, turning what had once been a large open space in the back into a cell.
Crammed into this cell were hundreds, maybe thousands, of people. Most of the ones I could see had dark hair, none of them winged. I stepped closer, the smell of so many unwashed bodies mixed with a heavy hint of blood hit me with a sickening realisation. I’d found the missing Davilians.
‘As you can see, they are unharmed.’
I whirled around at Cade’s smug words, hands clenched into fists. ‘You’ve got them locked up in a giant cage, on a level oozing with uncontrolled nether, and you think that’s not harming them. You’re a monster.’
He shrugged. ‘They are alive, something they should be thankful for. As should you. I vowed on my sister’s grave to not rest until every single Davilian was dead, and yet I have allowed them to live on in Angellin, showing mercy Liren was never given.’
‘What happened to your sister was horrible, and it should never have happened. But to imprison all these people is just as horrible, if not more so. There is no mercy in locking them away like animals.’
His nostrils flared, the muscles in his arms tensing as he shook both fists at me. ‘They are animals, and it is my right to ensure they never see daylight again. They will remain here for the rest of their miserable lives, which will last as long as the city does. Then they will die along with it.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘You’ve seen the city. You said it yourself. It is diseased, the earthquakes that beset us a herald of its impending demise. I had hoped for more time to prepare my people but it is no longer safe for them to remain here. It is time for us to leave.’
‘Where will you go?’ I asked, dreading his answer.
‘Easton, of course. Killian has been preparing for this moment since the day I stripped the wings from his back. The exodus has already begun.’ He pointed up into the sky where I could just make out tiny winged figures as they circled the silver tower.
One by one they disappeared, heading to Easton, and there was nothing I could do to stop them.
25
I shook my head. ‘How do you expect to hide the presence of thousands of Tr’lirians? No matter how much land you’ve brought to house them, they’re going to be discovered sooner or later.’
‘I have no intention of hiding. It is time your precious humans learned they are not the natural rulers of Earth.’ Fervour lit his blue gaze, so eerily like Chris’s. ‘They will all bow before me, starting with the people of Easton. They will be the first to be converted to the worship of Godden.’
‘You’re going to play God?’ I gave a snort. ‘If you knew anything about us humans you’d know we don’t like being told who to worship. Just because you’ve got wings doesn’t mean they’ll automatically fall at your feet.’
His expression brimming with dark menace, he said, ‘Those who do not bow before me will die.’
‘Humans outnumber you by around a million to one. Not the best odds. There are over eighty thousand people in Easton alone, more than enough to make you regret ever announcing your divinity. You’ll be laughed out of town.’
‘Humans are weak, mortal,’ he said, lips screwed into a sneer. ‘Even if they were capable of resisting me, it would do them no good. I own Easton. Land is not the only commodity for sale. People can be bought. The Mayor, the Superintendent of the Easton Police Department, your government officials; they belong to me.’
Disdain evident in the arch of his brow, he said, ‘Where it was not possible to purchase their allegiance they we
re replaced with those I engineered for the purpose of infiltrating every powerful organisation on Earth.’
‘Engineered?’
‘The breeding program I devised has resulted in what you would term sleeper agents. Purpose bred individuals living outwardly normal lives, securing positions of strategic advantage to Clan Godden, waiting for the time when they will be called upon to act. I myself have participated in the program, ensuring my eldest human offspring was born into a position of wealth and power as a Bradbury.’
I sucked in a breath.
‘You seduced Chris Bradbury’s mother on purpose, to get her pregnant?’
He gave a nonchalant shrug. ‘It was hardly a chore. She was a beautiful woman. Wasted on Alan Bradbury. Not that I accorded the same honour to the other women chosen to bear my mortal children.’
‘What the hell?’ I rubbed my temples, unable to believe what I was hearing. It was like I was stuck in one of those weird movies where the human population were replaced by pod people.
‘Many of the rich and powerful in your world discovered their wealth did not guarantee them an heir. When they sought assistance in creating those heirs, it was a simple matter of switching my seed for the father’s. None of them were made aware of the switch, of course. That will change now I am ready to claim what is rightfully mine. My children will be brought to Easton, to fulfil their duty to their clan.’
I threw my hands up in the air. ‘Listen to you. You act as if there is nothing wrong in this insane breeding program of yours. How can you be so callous? These are people’s lives you’re playing with.’
‘Our numbers have declined over the last few generations, fewer children being born each year.’ Cade shrugged, his wings shimmering with the movement. ‘That’s why I commanded those I trusted to father children with human women. It was either that or face the extinction of our race, which I will not allow to happen.’
Silver Reaper (Reaper Series Book 3) Page 14
