Inception (The Reaping Chronicles, 1)

by Haviland, Teal

  As Gabrielle advanced, she cracked the third Sundering Whip above the demons’ heads and then sent it gunning toward them. It found one target’s neck, removing his head, then immediately the other’s, ending the lives of the Fallen in front of her. The light of the Dither Swords being used by Phalen and the demons increased as their fight intensified, illuminating their surroundings more and reflecting off identical pendants—exactly like the one Ka’awa had tried to keep her from getting a good look at—lying on the ground next to the demon’s headless bodies.

  An angel’s shrill scream caused Gabrielle to turn. Phalen was battling three demons on her own, trying to protect Grayson and Rissie who were on the ground behind her, badly injured. The sight in front of Gabrielle caused a reaction she’d never had before. She’d been angry in battle, but the anger that coursed through her now could not be contained. It caused the ground to tremble and trees to shudder. Rocks and boulders lost their grip on the mountain-side and began to cascade to the earth below. Her Divine light turned crimson, making the air look as though it was bleeding.

  All of this was enough to get the remaining demons’ attention. They all stopped what they were doing and glared incredulously.

  Grayson was on his side, turned away from Gabrielle. She couldn’t see how badly he was injured, but she could hear his heart beating weakly.

  He’s still alive.

  Rissie pulled herself across the ground to get to him, her left leg useless. Phalen was next to him, turning him gently onto his back, her own blood falling from her arm onto the rocks.

  The shock was quickly wearing off the Fallen. Two attackers began to flee, but the remaining four advanced on Gabrielle and her friends.

  Power she was unaware she possessed surged through her body. The rocky earth trembled again, so hard that trees lost their roots and fell, and a crack began to split the mountain top. Gabrielle was evoking the energy of the Earth, and she was ready to unleash that energy on the unholy creatures that had caused her friends pain.

  “Now the pain will be yours.” She spoke with such ferocity that the demons stopped abruptly.

  She opened her mouth and screamed—the battle cry of one of the most powerful angels ever created. For the first time in Gabrielle’s existence, she wanted every creature that could see her to bear full witness to her abilities. The power of that scream caused a concussion that forced the remaining demons to meet the ground hard with their backs. Gabrielle wasted no time as she called her weapons and beheaded all four of them with two cracks of the Sundering Whips. She allowed the other two to flee to tell the tale of what they had seen. The Fallen needed to know she was more powerful than they knew—more than even she had known. But more than that, she wanted to get to her friends.

  “Phalen, move aside,” Gabrielle said as she neared her friends. She looked down at Grayson as she knelt next to him. Putting a hand on each side of his face, she began to murmur in Enochian as her tears fell onto his face. She closed her eyes.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Rissie asked. “Is he going to be okay?”

  Gabrielle heard Phalen move to Rissie, then speak quietly. “Gabrielle is calling on Yahuwah to help him.”

  Gabrielle continued to speak, begging the Creator to help her friend. Grayson was badly wounded. Her chest tightened from the thought of him dying. “Please live, Grayson … please live.” That was the only break she took from her pleas to Yahuwah. As she prayed, she listened to the conversation taking place on the other side of Grayson. Rissie asked questions so fast it was difficult to keep up.

  “She’s asking Yahuwah to save Grayson? It’s that bad? Is he going to make it? Is Yahuwah going to help him?”

  “Yes, Rissie, that’s what she’s doing. And yes, if she’s asking for His help … it is that bad.”

  “Will He help Grayson?”

  “I don’t know. We’ll have to wait for Gabrielle to finish and ask her.”

  The conversation ended when Gabrielle’s prayers stopped, replaced with her quiet sobs as she rocked Grayson in her arms. She removed her hands from his face so she could shift her legs under his upper body. She hugged and rocked him for several minutes as she spoke in words that Rissie could understand, assuring her that Grayson was going to make it.

  “Thank you, thank you. Thank you, Yahuwah.”

  She listened to his heart beat steady and strong as tears continued to fall slowly down her face. Tears from the fear that she would lose him, joy that she wouldn’t, and guilt because it was her fault he was there. When she finally looked at Phalen and Rissie, her remorse multiplied. It crushed in on her, her stomach threatening once more to let loose as she looked upon her friends and their wounds.

  While there was little blood on Grayson except for a bad gash over his right eye, blood flowed from deep wounds on Phalen’s arm and face, and Rissie’s leg was broken badly enough that the bone had pierced her skin.

  Fresh tears blurred Gabrielle’s vision, making Phalen and Rissie look as if they were the wavy creations of an impressionist’s painting. She blinked to see more clearly, and when she could, she noticed Phalen had moved in front of her.

  Phalen looked at her with concern. “Gabrielle, isn’t Grayson going to be okay?”

  It took several seconds for Gabrielle to answer her as she looked at Phalen and Rissie’s wounds. “Yahuwah has helped him, but he will need time to heal and recover completely. He was bleeding internally.” She placed her hand on Phalen’s arm near her wound. “You’re badly hurt. You should ascend and see our healers.”

  Phalen looked at her arm as if she hadn’t noticed she was injured at all. “What, this little thing? I’ve been left with worse from sparring sessions. Don’t worry about it.” She studied Gabrielle for a moment. “Look, I’m going to be fine.” She looked at Rissie’s leg, then back at Gabrielle. “So is Rissie. And you just said that Grayson will make it, too. We’re all okay.”

  Gabrielle used the hand that had been on Phalen’s arm to dry her tears. She wasn’t going to continue to put her friends in danger for something she may never find—that may not even exist. She would look for it by herself from now on. At least as long as she could before Amaziah found out.

  “Phalen.” Gabrielle moved her legs out from under Grayson and picked him up off the ground. “I need you to help me get Rissie and Grayson back to Corstorphine so they can be tended to.” Phalen nodded as she picked Rissie up off the ground. Rissie flinched when she did, sending fresh waves of sorrow through Gabrielle. “I want you to stay there for a while and make sure they are recovering. You can report back to me every day about their progress.”

  “Okay … if that’s what you want,” Phalen said in a reserved manner. “What about the Book?”

  Gabrielle sighed. “I’m not going to need any more help looking for the Book right now.”

  “Why? We have to find it first, if it exists.”

  “I will keep trying to find out what I can through my sources and allies and follow the leads I think are promising. I want … I need you to be in Corstorphine to take care of Grayson and Rissie. I can’t do it myself, or I would. I have to finish what I came here to do, and I’m running out of time to do it in. But I know you’ll take good care of them, Phalen. I want you there in my stead.” Gabrielle tried to smile. She was sure it looked as half-hearted as it felt.

  Phalen watched Gabrielle a little longer, and just when Gabrielle was sure that she was about to say something in protest, Phalen simply nodded and smiled.

  “Good,” Gabrielle said. “Then that’s settled.”

  Grayson lay unconscious in Gabrielle’s arms. She felt the weight of what could have happened settle on her. She could have lost three close allies, two who were more than comrades to her. She wondered how the Fallen could take the punishment of the Holy Fire Arrows as though they were no more than mortal weapons—those s
ting, but Divine weapons kill. It might have something to do with what she now felt sure were amulets that they and Ka’awa wore.

  The Fallen have to be getting assistance from someone. Probably the Gentry.

  Things were changing. Too many things. And demons were more powerful than they had ever been before.

  And more dangerous.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Lucas ~ Dark Family

  “Yo!” Lucas called out as he walked into the Daniels’ home. “Where’s my breakfast?”

  “We’re in here, Lucas,” Nonie called from the kitchen.

  Lucas made his way toward the scents of bacon, biscuits, cinnamon rolls, coffee, and eggs and was greeted with good mornings. Gran smiled broadly at him and gave him a peck on the cheek as she made her way to the table with cinnamon rolls. Lizzie also headed that direction with a pitcher of orange juice in one hand and a gallon of milk in the other.

  “Smells great.” Lucas grabbed a bowl of scrambled eggs and a platter that held at least two pounds of bacon. “Looks great, too.”

  “Kissin’ up to the cooks?” Nate asked with a grin.

  Lucas smiled as he replied, “If that’s what it takes to keep getting fed like this.”

  “Well,” Nate continued, “you’re going to need all the help you can get today if you think you’re going to win.”

  “Ahh, Nate, I don’t need help. Just my talent to whip you in anything we do.”

  “In your dreams, Lucas … in your dreams.”

  Lucas was looking forward to today’s game more than usual. This would be the first opportunity to spend any real time with Gabby outside of school. He was lost in thought about her through most of breakfast unless someone addressed him directly. Then, he would give a quick answer so he could get back to his ponderings. He’d never felt a pull to someone like he did to her. It wasn’t just an attraction or a crush—or even lust—though he was more than attracted to her in that way, too. What male wouldn’t be? It was something more.

  Much more.

  After breakfast was over, Lucas passed the time with the twins before picking up Gabby. Nonie and Nate brought out a deck of cards and a bag of coins, and the three of them began to play penny poker.

  As Nate shuffled, Lucas felt his eyes on him and sensed the shift that forewarned that Nate was about to act odd again. When he looked at him, Lucas’s concerns were validated by the darker color of his friend’s eyes. Lucas shivered.

  “What’s with the stare, Nate?”

  Nate continued to shuffle the deck methodically, his eyes remaining fixed on Lucas.

  Lucas shivered again. What gives?

  Nonie adjusted in her seat and leaned forward on her elbows, squinting at Nate. “Yeah, brother … what’s with the visual probe?”

  Nate stopped shuffling and leaned forward to put them in the middle of the table. He slapped the cards down loudly, and Lucas and Nonie jumped. Then he sat back slowly as he looked first at Nonie and then to Lucas. A strange smile pulled up on one side of his mouth.

  “Nate, man, you’re acting a little odd.” Lucas looked at Nonie quizzically. “Is it just me, Nee?” He hadn’t ever voiced his concerns about Nate’s behavior before. But it was occurring so frequently now. This time, it seemed even more intense. He had to know if it was just his imagination or if someone else noticed something wasn’t right, too.

  Nonie didn’t look at Lucas. She had her eyes set steadfast on her brother. Lucas waited for her to answer. When she didn’t, he stood up to leave. He was tired of this mood Nate got into, and he wasn’t about to stay around for a three-way stare down.

  “Where ya goin’, my man?” Nate asked just as Lucas was about to put his hand on the door and escape.

  Lucas let his hand rest on the knob as he half turned to respond. “What’s it look like, Nate? I’m leaving.” He turned back, but Nate spoke again.

  “Why? I thought we were about to have a friendly game of cards.”

  Lucas turned his back to his escape. “Nate, I don’t know what your problem is, especially in the last couple of weeks, but either tell me what it is or cut out this creepy act you keep pulling.” Lucas felt he was boring holes into Nate instead of just waiting for a response. When several moments passed, he added, “Seriously. I’m over it.”

  “Yeah,” Nonie chimed in. “I’ve noticed you’re being a little weird sometimes, too. So it’s not just Lucas seeing it.”

  Lucas glanced at her and noticed her expression still hadn’t changed. He focused his attention back on his friend’s face. Although, he didn’t feel friendship coming from Nate. He felt something else—something cold and dark. Something Lucas didn’t understand.

  Something he didn’t like.

  “Have I?” Nate asked tone of innocence. “Sorry ‘bout that. I guess I’m just a little worried about you.”

  “Worried?” Lucas started back toward the table. “Why?”

  So much for my escape.

  Lucas wanted to hear an explanation, hoping for something that might let him know Nate wasn’t turning into some … dark person.

  That’s what it is.

  Lucas was glad for the few moments of quiet that came after that realization. That was exactly what Lucas saw in his eyes and demeanor when this happened—something sinister and something very unlike the Nate he was used to.

  Nate kinda smiled again, but it still wasn’t particularly friendly. “I just wonder why you’re so wrapped up in Gabrielle. She gave you the brush-off for weeks, you know.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Lucas adopted a similar expression to Nonie’s. “What’s your point?”

  Nate huffed out what was some kind of laugh, then replied, “I don’t think she’s good for you, my man. She’s … I don’t know … different.”

  Lucas let out a similar huff of laughter. What does Nate think of me? I’ve shown more strange quirks than Gabby.

  “Different? And what’s with the my mans?” Nate just smirked. Lucas wanted to pick up the chair his hands rested on and hurl it at Nate for being such a jackass. He felt like that thing that tried to creep out of him a few weeks ago was trying to escape again. He didn’t remember ever feeling this much aggression toward anyone.

  Except for Mara that day with Gran.

  Then, it hit him. That was the first time he’d felt this other side of himself, but he’d brushed it off as just a reaction to Mara hurting Gran. He didn’t want to think of Nate being in the same category as Mara, but he was beginning to think that the two of them were remarkably similar in that way. Like there were two completely different people within their bodies, and you were never sure which one you’re going to get from day to day or even minute to minute.

  He was beginning to wonder about himself a little, too. What bothered Lucas more than that comparison was the look in Nate’s eyes and the smile that spread across his face—like Nate knew that Lucas was thinking about throwing the chair.

  ‘Go ahead , my man… do it. Hit me with the fucking chair.’

  The voice in his head wasn’t his own; it was Nate’s. At least a strange, distorted voice that sounded like his. But it was deeper—more menacing—and it held a hatred he would never expect to hear out of his friend. If Lucas wasn’t paralyzed by the questions racing through his head and the fear that flowed over him like a shower from Hell, he would have bolted out the door.

  He suddenly felt cold, all the way to his bones cold.

  “What are you talking about, Nate?” Nonie asked.

  Lucas was glad she said something because Nate’s gaze diverted to his sister.

  That was so not cool. What the hell just happened? Could I have actually heard someone else’s voice in his head?

  “She’s weird.” Nate focused back on Lucas. “She doesn’t seem to bring out the best in you, my man.
Unless you consider your softer side the best in you.”

  “Really? She’s weird?” Nonie asked, then scrutinized Nate. “Who are you, and what did you do with my brother?”

  Did she actually wonder if this wasn’t Nate?

  He was seriously considering the possibility, himself.

  That just seems crazy.

  As Lucas watched his friend, he saw his eyes slowly shift back to their normal shade. Nate began to look slightly uncomfortable with the two sets of eyes staring at him. They belonged to faces holding expressions like they thought he was nuts. He laughed uncomfortably as though he didn’t really know what to say.

  Or maybe even what had just happened.

  “Oh … forget I even said anything.” Nate picked up the deck of cards and started shuffling them again.

  Suddenly, Lucas felt sorry for him. In an instant, he was back to the Nate he’d known his whole life—only shaken and maybe confused.

  Kinda like Mara had.

  The similarities made his insides turn, like his stomach was trying to make his mind understand something about the situation—something that should be taken more seriously.

  “Okay, Nate. Consider it forgotten.” Lucas tried to give Nate a reassuring smile when he looked up briefly from the deck in his hands.

  “So,” Nate said, “are you two ready for me to whoop you in cards or what?”

  Lucas pulled the seat out and made himself comfortable as Nate began to deal the first hand. His personality seemed to become more his own with every card he tossed in front of them.

  “We’ll see about that, brother,” Nonie said as she settled back in her chair, too. Lucas thought she also sensed the shift in Nate.