“I know how much you like to read,” Caleb said as we continued farther into the room. How he knew that was beyond me, but I didn’t bother to ask. “We have tons of books, as you can see, but if there’s something in particular you want, let me know and I’ll have it brought in.”
Sitting back and enjoying a book was not on my agenda. Any delay in getting out of here wasn’t on my radar.
Caleb cleared his throat, and I looked up. His lips were pursed, and the glare on his face indicated he’d read my thoughts.
I’d warned him to stay out of my head. If he didn’t like what he saw there, that was on him.
“Nice room,” I said with a smirk.
“Yes, it is, and eventually, you’ll really believe that.”
“Mmm hmm,” I said to appease him.
“Okay, moving on then,” he said and motioned me out of the room.
I stepped back into the hallway, and he joined me, closing the doors behind us. I hadn’t noticed until then the energy I’d experienced earlier had dissipated when we had entered the study, but it hit me again as I returned to the hallway. With each step, it seemed to gain power over me, and I automatically quickened my footsteps toward the source of it.
“Cassie,” Caleb’s call penetrated my trance, and I realized he’d stopped back at the middle set of doors I’d inadvertently passed. I was already midway to the farthest set on the right side of the hallway. “Are you that eager to see our quarters?” he asked with a smug grin.
“No.” I blurted, glancing back at the door I’d been heading toward. “That’s our… your quarters?”
He sauntered over, cocky grin and all, and positioned himself directly in front of me. “Our quarters, yes.” His voice was low, intimate. “Did you want to see it, Cassie?”
I wanted to slap his face, scream in it that his bedroom was the last place I’d be caught dead in, but oh, my, god. The pull toward that room resembled a delicious aroma of a meal coming from the oven drawing in a starving person. I couldn’t shake the sensation. The closer I got to the room, the harder it became to fight. Whatever the force, it desperately wanted me to connect with it, as much as I urgently needed to find it.
“Ye—” I started, but frantic footsteps on the stairwell caught my attention and stopped me… cold.
Caleb and I both waited at the staircase landing when one of the demons rushed to the top.
“Master, I’m sorry to interrupt you, but he’s here,” he said without coming any closer.
“Is he alone?” Caleb asked him.
My heart rate picked up. Was it possible someone had found us? Could it be Hunter coming to save me? Hope flooded my mind at the thought.
“Excuse me for a moment, Cassie,” Caleb said and approached close to the demon. “Did he bring it?” he asked the demon in a low whisper, obviously not wanting me to overhear their conversation.
That was when it hit me. They were talking about the Sword. Caleb hadn’t been lying. Someone from the Sanctuary had betrayed the angels and brought him the Sword. Who was it?
The Sword. The last piece of ultimate power.
The words echoed around in my head, much the same as they had in the Sanctuary from the mere mention of it. My body heated as if a flame had ignited a furnace from within. Chills ran over my skin, and energy pulsed within me.
Caleb was standing in front of the demon so I couldn’t see his face. I shifted to my left, wanting to see his answer, rather than chance not hearing it, but as I did, a familiar voice penetrated my thoughts.
Cassandra.
It was the same voice from the war room.
I snapped my head back, unsure if it had come from Caleb’s quarters, but the door was still closed. I stared at it, unable to draw my gaze away as if I could see through the wooden doors and find the source of the voice within the room. Trance-like, I walked near it and put my hand on the knob.
The Sword, Cassandra. Find the Sword.
Find the Sword?
“Ahhh, see, Caleb said, causing me to jump. I hadn’t realized he’d walked up behind me. “It’s like we have the same brain.”
Had I said the words aloud?
I turned my head toward him, my fingers still clutching the handle of the door. He was smiling back at me.
“Our guest has arrived, Cassie. Come.” He gently took my hand from the door and held it in his. “Let’s go see what they’ve done with our Sword.”
I allowed him to lead me back down the stairs, oblivious to my surroundings now. My concentration was on one thing: the voice in my head repeating itself over and over again.
My Sword.
But it wasn’t the voice from the room. This was my voice because it was my Sword.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I interrogated Caleb as we made our way back down to the war room, but he wasn’t talking. All he kept saying was it was a surprise as if this whole scenario he had going was some special bestowal to me. I think the words homecoming gift may have even come out of his mouth.
Unsure how to feel about it, half of me was hopeful, knowing there was an angel here, someone from the good side who should want to help me escape from the hands of evil that bound me here. But the rational side of me bashed that theory to pieces when I thought of how they’d allegedly come to be here. Someone had stolen the Sword for a chance at greater power. The chance to rule with Caleb. I had to remind myself that angels weren’t always good. Hadraniel was living, slimy proof of that.
All demons weren’t evil, either.
Thinking about that made me want to take back all the nasty things I’d said to Hunter in the past few months. Everything he’d done was for me, to keep me safe, to protect me from all of this evil. He might be a demon, but he was more righteous and good than any angel I’d met.
A blast of pain shot through my head and caused me to double over on the spot.
“Cassie?” I heard Caleb say over me.
His hand stroked my back, and I twisted as much as I could to try and fling it off.
“Don’t touch me.” I slowly stood and stepped back. Glaring at him, I said, “I told you to stay the hell out of my head.”
His brows furrowed as he narrowed his eyes at me. “I wasn’t in your head, Cassie.”
“Bullshit. You just sliced my brain in half, you asshole. Don’t lie about it now. If you want me as your queen, that is so not the way to go about it.”
“What did you think before it happened?” he asked.
“Like you don’t know.”
“I don’t. I swear to you, whatever just happened, I had nothing to do with it.”
“I’m not an idiot, Caleb. It was the same thing you did to me when you had me shackled to the bed.”
He studied me for a moment before the corner of his mouth lifted.
Smug asshole.
“I’m not the only one with those powers here,” he said in a low voice, “but you already know that.”
My face contorted with confusion, but deep down I knew who he meant, or at least what he meant. He was referring to the voice. I was starting to get a really bad feeling about who, or what that voice belonged to.
“Come,” he said. “Let’s go get the Sword, and I’ll explain everything. I think you’ll be ready to hear it then.”
Oh, I was ready to hear it the second I woke up in that room, heard that voice, and thought my last reality check had checked out, but the mention of the Sword changed my gears again. Finding it was everything right now. I didn’t know why, but it was a fact.
I didn’t bother agreeing with him, but we walked in the direction we’d been going before my brain was zapped. Caleb caught up to me as I stood in front of the war room door.
“You’re going to make a fine queen, Cassie,” he said with a smile on his face as he opened the door.
I rolled my eyes at the comment, but he didn’t see it since he’d already entered the room.
A small group of demons was milling around inside, some standing near the long table. What
ever discussion they’d been having stopped short when they noticed Caleb and I coming toward them. Each of them bowed their heads once and watched us until we made our way over there. Christ, they really did treat Caleb like a king. I wondered how many he’d managed to convince of that. With enough of them serving him, he just might have the power to overtake the angels, with or without the Sword. It was a scary thought.
“Did you put him where I told you to?” Caleb asked them.
“Yes, Sir,” one of them answered.
“Has he told you where he has the Sword yet?”
“No, Sir,” the same one answered. “He says he has it but won’t tell anyone except you where it is and only after you give him what you promised.”
Caleb made a tsk tsk sound as he shook his head. “Very well,” he sighed. “I guess we have to do this the hard way. You three, guard the second floor while we’re gone. No one goes up those stairs. Have the others ready in case he’s managed to pull one over on us, although, I don’t think he’s bright enough for that. You may go.”
“Yes, Sir.” all three of them said in unison, before bowing again and turning to leave.
One of them looked my way as he passed, his glowing blue gaze meeting mine.
They’d almost reached the door we’d come from when Caleb called out, “Seran, a word before you go.”
The one who’d caught my eye turned back to face us, and I caught a flash of fear streak through those blue orbs.
“Yes, Sir,” he said as he made his way back to us. His trepidation was obvious even though he walked with a steady stride.
“Look at me, Seran,” Caleb ordered when the demon was standing in front of him, his eyes on the floor.
The guard did as he was told.
“You’d be wise not to look upon my queen again unless you have my permission. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Sir.”
Caleb motioned his head toward the others. “You may go.”
Seran turned and walked away, his pace faster now.
I’d been too shocked to say anything up to that point. Apparently, I’d walked into another era where women were considered prized possessions and men were blinded for stealing a simple sidelong glance at them. I was no possession, and I sure as hell wasn’t Caleb’s.
“That was a bit harsh, don’t you think?” I said.
“On the contrary, he got off lucky, but let’s not dwell on trivial matters. Are you ready?”
“Ready for what?”
Caleb put his arms around my waist and pulled me in close. His mouth was at my ear and he whispered, “To take over the world, my queen.”
He placed a kiss on my cheek, and then my world went black.
***
It was difficult to describe what it felt like to transport. At first, there was nothing for an undetermined amount of time because time didn’t exist, but I still had a presence. No world around. Peaceful in the nothingness, but without time to savor it because everything changed in the blink of an eye as I became full bodied and me again. Realization hit and I was somewhere, and the world was there, happening, moving, being. Although my mind was trying to catch up with my body, without the peace, reality was there too.
And most of the time for me, reality sucks.
We’d transported back to the same room I’d awakened in when Hadraniel had brought me to Caleb. Caleb still had me in his arms, and I pulled away once I became more in control of my body. Looking around the dimly lit room, I noticed the bed was still there, shackle-less and empty. I was about to ask what we were doing back there, almost afraid I would somehow end up back on that bed and helpless, when I heard my name called from the corner of the room behind Caleb.
The voice was familiar, so very familiar, but hearing it there, in this place, changed it. Or maybe I simply wanted it to change. I didn’t want to hear that person in this situation, this location. What else could it mean but not only had the trust of the angels been betrayed but my own?
As I stepped aside to see around Caleb, he turned and granted me full view. All I wanted at that moment was to un-see what was in front of me.
“I believe you two know each other already, so introductions won’t be necessary,” Caleb said, a smile in his voice, so very proud of his latest spin on my world.
“Braydon?” was all I could manage, too shocked to say anything else.
The room had acquired some new additions since I’d been there. A steel cage, about eight feet high and four feet wide, occupied the corner. It was bare, crass, basically an adult-sized crate meant for one purpose. Seeing Braydon in there looking back at me with relief and hope in his eyes reminded me of animals in pet shops longing for a loving family to take them home. My heart hurt to see him caged that way. At least he wasn’t chained or shackled, not that there was much room in there to move around.
But my heart was confused. Braydon was here because he had made a deal with the devil, going against everything he represented… and deceiving us all. I was starting to think no good existed in this universe. And if that were the case, how would I ever fight off the darkness inside of me?
“Cassie, are you all right?” he asked, his hands gripping the bars of the cage as he peered out at me.
“What the hell are you doing, Braydon?” I cried as I approached the cage.
When I was within a few feet, Caleb warned me off. “That’s close enough.”
“I came to get you out.”
A surge of relief flooded through my veins. I had it all wrong. He wasn’t here to help Caleb. He wasn’t betraying us. He was here to save me. This was obviously some elaborate plan to weed out Caleb once and for all. So, why hadn’t I been told? Why, if I was supposed to play such a big role in all of this, wasn’t I in the loop? And what now? Braydon didn’t seem capable of doing much of anything standing in that cage like a prison inmate.
“That won’t be happening,” Caleb said. I didn’t know if he’d read my thoughts or if he was merely addressing Braydon’s statement. “You see, Cassie, your admirer, Braydon here, made me a deal. I’d give him you, and he’d give me the Sword. But as I understand it, he’s not holding up his end of the bargain. I’m wondering now if he even had the balls to bring it.”
“I have it,” Braydon said. “I just don’t trust you. I’ll take you to it, but Cassie comes with and then we leave. No army. Just us three.”
“Do you think I’m a fool? I’ve not gotten this far, this powerful, by being so naive as to walk into some trap set by a worthless angel. No. You will give me the location of the Sword if you really did accomplish stealing it, and I’ll send some of my men to retrieve it. Then, and only then, will I let you go.”
“No way,” Braydon said, shaking his head. “I’m no fool either.”
“Then you’ll sit,” Caleb said with a shrug of his shoulders as if he couldn’t care one way or another. “Come along, Cassie.” He put his arm around my waist, reaching to turn me to him. “We’ll continue with that tour. I have so much more to show you.”
“Wait,” I said pulling away from him. I was not going to let my chance at freedom slip away. Not without a fight. “What are you afraid of, Caleb? A bunch of angels lurking in the shadows? You mean to tell me with all those fancy new powers you wouldn’t be able to pick up on them the minute they poofed into the location? I thought you were almighty and invincible?”
“Two things,” Caleb said. “One: I am. Two: Be careful what you’re fighting for, Cassie. You’re under the illusion he’s come to be your hero.”
When I started to argue, he cut me off.
“Don’t try and deny it, I heard your thoughts moments ago. What you don’t know, and what I have great pleasure in telling you, is that loverboy is here for his own selfish purposes. He won’t be setting you free, silly girl. He’s hoping to move you from my little corner of nowhere to his.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked. I glanced over at Braydon, and he quickly turned away. That wasn’t a good sign. The ba
ck of my neck tensed and my skin prickled.
“He wants to run away with you, Cassie. Somewhere where no one will ever find you two. You know, like our place here. I told him I’d help him find a nice, comfy, remote home for the both of you to live happily ever after. That was the deal. I get the Sword, and he gets you… for himself.”
My jaw hung open of its own accord, unable to believe what I was hearing. Braydon wouldn’t do that. Yeah, he had a thing for me, that was no secret, but what Caleb was talking about was some stalker type shit. He wasn’t that far gone.
I narrowed my eyes at Caleb. “You’re lying.”
I didn’t want to look at Braydon. I couldn’t because I was too afraid of what I might see in his eyes; too afraid Caleb might be telling the truth… for once.
“Nope,” Caleb said nonchalantly. “I have no reason to lie about it. Isn’t his silence proof enough? Ask him yourself, if you want. He can’t lie. He’ll never get out of that cage otherwise.”
I turned to Braydon, and the way he slowly, almost timidly met my gaze was answer enough, but I demanded to know anyway. “Braydon, tell me that’s not true. Tell me you weren’t planning to keep me captive somewhere else like this demented animal.”
“Hey, now,” Caleb chuckled.
“Cassie, it’s not like that,” Braydon pleaded. “You wouldn’t be my captive. We were meant to be together, away from all the things and people holding us back from expressing our love for each other. You’d be happy. I’d make you happy.”
Oh, fucking hell. What was it with me and obsessed, psychotic men? Did I give off some kind of scent? Was there a huge sign somewhere above my head telling the world I took in stray psychos? Seriously. I was done. Done. These crazy cats needed to find another scratching post.
I couldn’t help but look at Braydon with disgust. He was as bad as Caleb. Maybe he didn’t want to conquer the universe, but he was just as dirty, using people, lying, stealing, all for his own selfish desires. It seemed greed was a sin that crossed all walks of life, good and evil. No prejudice there. Straight across the board. Anyone was fair game. Once it latched on, it ate away at your soul until you were left an empty shell trying desperately to fill a void, creating a vicious circle of insatiability.
Angel Of Fate (Fate Series Book 3) Page 17
