by JP Epperson
He was right and I knew it. I looked down, almost ashamed of myself. So many human traits had started rubbing off on me without me even realizing it. It was just not the way of angels—and especially not the way of warriors—to carry the guilt of another’s death. Earth seemed to be humanizing me against my will. Not only against my will but without my knowledge, and that was so much worse.
I lifted my chin to look at him. I would not say sorry. That wasn’t our way either, but I would acknowledge the truth in his words with a look. I would pay better attention to the things I did and said. The idea that I had been softening had me seething on the inside. I turned my attention to Finders, whom we’d kept in our line of sight during our little talk. The rage building up inside me once more was happy to have a target.
“Where are we and why am I here?” I asked in a threatening voice. Before she could answer, I took out a holy-water arrow with my right hand and whipped it around, stopping just a breath away from her throat.
“If you would but remove your tip from my neck, I would gladly answer.” She leaned back to answer safely. She tried to answer mockingly, but I could hear a touch of something else she was unable to hide—possibly fear. I liked that . . . I liked it a lot.
There were many horrific stories that FindersKeepers boasted of themselves. The humans don’t come up with their horror movies from sheer imagination. It would almost be more comforting if all the evil in the world came from demons, but a lot of the time it really is just human evil. Sometimes I don’t understand why we keep sacrificing ourselves for mankind, but it is not a soldier’s place to question orders. As it is not my place to doubt the Lord’s plan—I just have to have faith.
I would eventually strike down FindersKeepers, but not yet. Right now, Finders was more useful to me alive. Keepers might very well meet her death the moment I saw her, depending on what shape Evangelina was in. I’m coming for you, Evange. I could not imagine her suffering at the hands of anyone. I shoved the image to the back of my mind. I needed to focus. They needed me and Theodore for something, and I needed to know what their end game was. I needed to find Theodore, Anselma, and Evangelina and in order to do all of that, I needed to play this smart.
I pulled my arrow back slightly, enough for Finders to talk without risking death, but I refused to lower it altogether. At the moment, she was of use to me, but that didn’t mean I would hesitate to split her in two if she made one wrong move.
“I see my death in your eyes, Dark Queen,” Finders said, and again her mask of insanity was gone. “If I had not heard the prophecy myself, we would duel to the death here and now. As it is, I am at your service. I am not permitted to speak the prophecy to you. Our master wants that privilege for himself. I will say this, though. You may fight the prophecy all you want, but it is a battle you will not win. No matter which path you choose, the destination is always the same. Every path, every decision you make, leads to the same fate.”
Colton and Nicholai looked at me, and though they tried to conceal it, I could see the flash of fear in their eyes. I locked up my emotions, put my blank face back in place, and turned to Finders once more. There was no doubt in my mind that the prophecy everyone spoke of was real. Whether it was the entire prophecy, I had no way of knowing. I did know that they would not have gone through all the trouble of bringing me here on the basis of a rumor.
“I will return shortly,” Finders said, walking toward the only exit I could see. “I must see if they are ready for you.”
As she walked away, the pungent smell of sulfur burned my nose, and I knew we were in Hell. Nicholai sniffed and I knew he and Colton had come to the same realization I had. I had been here once before, and we barely made it out then. That was without everyone knowing I was there. This time, not only did they know I was here, but they brought me here. I looked at Nich then at Colton. We each saw our fate in each other’s eyes. We were not going to make it out of here alive this time.
There was fear in my core, but knowing that we were not going to live through this actually helped to calm my nerves. I knew I would do whatever I could to help the others escape. The thoughts in my head were spinning too fast for me to process them. My mind was coming to a conclusion, but I was having trouble forming it . . .
Oh.
I knew what had to be done. They thought they had me because of some prophecy, but there was always another option. I did not know exactly what the prophecy entailed, but I had enough information to make an educated guess.
“You know what you have to do.” I turned to Nicholai.
“No,” Colton yelled. “No way. Hell no. It’s not coming to that, you hear me? You hear me, dammit!”
“I do, and I will do as I must. I vow it, my friend,” Nich answered.
His voice was soft but I knew I could depend on him to do what I needed.
“When the time comes, I will kill you.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“I won’t allow it.” Colton’s eyes were wild. He moved as if to shield me from Nicholai. “I’ll kill anyone who comes near you, Belleeza. Even you, Nich . . .” There was a threat in his voice, but it didn’t completely mask the undertones of fear.
Nicholai looked down as a tear fell down his cheek but he didn’t look away. There was nothing to say.
“Colton.” I went to him. “It is the only way to stop the prophecy. I have to . . .” My voice wavered. “I have to die. You know as well as I do that there is no other option . . .” I ran my fingers along his cheek.
He grabbed my hand and held it against his face. “No,” he whispered with glossy eyes.
“Yes, Colton.” There were tears in my own eyes. “Say yes.”
With a single tear that fell from his eye to my palm, he whispered, “Yes.”
In that moment, every barrier I had kept between us came crashing down. That one word caused him so much pain, but he said it to appease me.
“I love you, Colton.”
I always have.
I grabbed his face and kissed him angrily. Angry because I loved him, then I lost him, and now that I finally had him back, I was going to truly lose him. I pulled away and Nich walked toward us.
“We end this tonight,” he said. There was a hint of something in his eyes that I couldn’t decipher. “Together!” He hugged us closely and laid his head against ours.
Knowing how this was all going to end brought with it a sense of relief that calmed me to my core. I felt as if I had been holding my breath since the beginning of this case, but now I could finally breathe again. My body, heart, and soul were trying to give me warnings all along. Now it was as if the world sighed and I could see clearly for the first time since Colton came back into my life. I never wanted to put him in this position. It killed me to know he was hurting.
“When do I get to hear the full prophecy?” I asked Finders as she returned. “And what does any of this have to do with Theodore?”
“All in due time, Dark Queen,” Finders answered.
She was treating me like an elder still and I did not like it at all. It made the rage begin to bubble deep inside me. I tried to calm that part of me; it would do me no good right now. If she wanted to treat me as her queen, I would try to use it to my advantage when the time came.
“Now you have to dress for the occasion. I will send for clothing for the other warriors as well.”
I started to interrupt her to let her know that there was no way I was changing for her or anyone else, but she cut me off quickly.
“You have a few different choices, so pick something. You do not move forward from this room until you are dressed—it is our master’s demand. You are all, of course, permitted to keep your weapons. You will need them. The journey you will take to meet our master and hear the prophecy will be a long and trying one. There are three challenges ahead of you. Each was designed for you and you alone, Belleeza . . .”
“What kind of challenges?” There was a coldness in the pit of my stomach as I looked at Colton and N
icholai . . .
“I can say no more. You are warned. They will not be easy for you, nor your men, to endure . . .”
She walked past the sitting area through an open doorway that led to an enormous bedroom. The colors of this room and bathroom coordinated with the sitting room we emerged into. She walked past the bathroom and bed and opened a set of double doors that I could only assume led to a closet. Nicholai kept her in his sights, so I felt secure enough to look around. She disappeared for a moment, and again I noticed how the décor matched my own taste. Suddenly I found myself curious as to whether or not I was in Finders’ personal room. As if she read my mind, she walked out the closet, hands full, and answered the question I had not asked.
“These are your personal quarters,” she said. “We’ve been gathering personal information about you for some time. It was said you prefer your personal space to be soothing and peaceful and these are your favorite colors for that.” She gestured to the décor.
I focused on my facial expression to make sure it was blank. I wanted to be sure she could not see the way that little bit of news shook me to my core. I was disturbed, outraged, and beneath that was fear—a true blood-chilling fear. The fear grew not from learning that I had been followed. In truth, that was somewhat normal for me. Instead, the fear stemmed from depth of the information they had on me. I felt sick.
The tiny details about me and my preferences went deeper than just personal information. They were things that only a handful—no, less than a handful—of people knew about me. How could they know I like my home to be soothing and that the colors that represented that to me were blue and silver? How could they know the simple way I like my personal space to be furnished? I prefer classy and modest over lavish and elegant. Like the vase with the white flowers; that was so much more tasteful to me than an outlandish bouquet of exotic plants. Who could have learned these things about me that seem so trivial but reveal so much?
I thought about who knew me so well and it was not hard to do. There were only three people on that list: Colton, Evangelina, and Nicholai. Oh and Lorileigh, of course, but obviously it couldn’t have been her. None of them would ever betray me like that. A week ago I would have been quick to accuse Colton, but not anymore. I knew now that he would never hurt me that way. Maybe I still didn’t know all the details about the things that lead to his falling, but it didn’t matter anymore. He loved me. He always had and he would never hurt me on purpose. And that is all that matters.
I took a deep breath. I didn’t know how they got their information, but it wasn’t from anyone I loved or trusted. Maybe that was the plan all along . . . to plant a seed of doubt in my heart. Doubt always grows into mistrust, and mistrust always leads to resentment. It never takes long for resentment to fester and become something much worse, much more damaging. If their intentions were to turn me against my own side, I wasn’t going to help them by making it so easy. No, I knew where my loyalties lay, and I knew who could count on and trust.
Finders continued grabbing things from the closet, and I realized as I thought about my small list of those I trusted, that somehow my list had grown since the case that led me here first started. I looked back and realized that I now included Liam, Olivia, and even Talon as not just warriors or allies but as trustworthy friends. I could count on them in any way, and I knew they would always have my back and I theirs.
I felt something inside me change the moment I decided they were now on my list of people I trusted. There was a numbing tingle in my soul and I recognized it immediately. I knew that I was now linked to Talon, Liam, and Olivia. I could now feel them along with Colton, Evangelina, and Nicholai. For our souls to link meant the trust and loyalty between was all was mutual.
I wondered what they thought as they felt everything I was processing, but I couldn’t feel their emotions, and I remembered they probably couldn’t feel me since the demons found a way to shut down our link to other angels as they had done in the warehouse I woke up in. I knew we were connected though—it was like knowing the electricity is on but the TV is turned off. I touched my heart, wishing I could tell them how honored I was to have their loyalty. Colton and Nicholai both smiled at me.
“Who would have thought Talon would ever trust Colton?” Nicholai teased.
“Here.” Finders shoved a few outfits from the closet toward me. “These are from the approved selection for this evening. Get dressed while I go find something for your protectors.” She walked away, grinning. I watched her go until I saw the door close behind her.
I turned and directed my attention to the clothes laid out on the bed. I was aware of Nicholai watching me, but neither of us spoke. It was silent but not awkward. There was nothing to say. We were in Hell, preparing to face whatever horrors awaited us outside the very door Finders had just walked through. There was a very likely chance that one or all of us would not be leaving this place.
Scoffing, I tossed a blood-red dress to the other side of the bed. It was sheer material with a wide slit from the cleavage line to just above the pelvis. I tossed the next few dresses without a second glance. I didn’t have time for trying on dresses. I shook my head and walked to the closet. There was no way I was leaving this room in a dress. I needed something I could move in.
There were no jeans so I found the only pair of black-leather pants without any embellishments and reluctantly decided they would have to do. The only shirts I found were corset tops. I found a solid black one that was partially leather and partially some other satiny material and went back to the bedroom where Colton and Nicholai were waiting. I can’t believe I’m going to die in this . . . how humiliating.
I laid my selection on the bed and began removing my weapons. I undressed quickly and quietly, starting with my tank top. My heart was racing again. I was anxious—it would all be over soon. Colton and Nicholai didn’t look away, and I didn’t attempt to cover myself. There was no modesty between us. For one, as warriors we have seen each other naked countless times after injury. All four of us had been injured time and time again and had to have our clothes ripped off so we could be healed. For two, we used to live together. and the four of us were closer than any word could describe. We walked around each other naked, even showered together many a times. No line had ever been crossed. When we find our soulmate, it is like nothing any human could ever imagine. Our souls are, in essence, ripped in half. One half stays with us while the other goes to our soulmate and vice versa. Then the two halves blend together becoming one. That was where the phrase “my other half” originated from.
Colton looked at me with heated eyes as my jeans fell to the floor, leaving me nude but for my panties. His gaze lingered around my supple breasts for a moment before he grinned mischievously.
“Ow, ow,” Nicholai whistled. I rolled my eyes and laughed. I knew what they were doing and it worked. They were trying to lighten the mood before everything got bad . . . like we knew it would. Nicholai laughed joyfully and it was contagious. Colton and I laughed but it was more than just a little chuckle. Once I started laughing we all laughed until we almost cried.
For a moment, just a moment, we were able to forget everything around us . . . where we were, what we were doing there, the friends we left behind that we would likely never see again. For a second, we just got lost in the moment and laughed in the safety of each other’s comforting arms.
When the laughter died down, a somber mood fell on us like an impenetrable net. Nicholai kissed my forehead and Colton squeezed my hand before they both released me so I could resume dressing. Again, we fell into silence. I slid easily into the leather pants, unsure how, considering it looked like I had been poured into them. I pulled the corset top up to my chest, wary about the lack of support it would give my endowed chest. I turned my back to Colton and he obligingly laced up the back with skilled fingers. I was shocked to feel that not only could I move freely, but I was more than supported, despite the minimal amount of material. Everything felt secured.
; Nich took a step back and looked me over. “Nice choice,” he said approvingly as he started handing me my weapons. I rolled my eyes playfully and armed myself again. He handed me my armband and I felt a pang of sadness as I traced the design with my finger. It was a gift from Colton from many years ago. He handmade it for me and poured his love into the intricate design. It was beautiful. I had put it on that morning for the first time since he fell.
I went back into the closet in search for some shoes that would match well. Nearly every pair of shoes in the closet had six-inch stiletto heels. I got lucky, though, just before I was about to give up. There was a pair of knee-length black boots that laced all the way to the top. They were heeled, but it was a thick enough heel that I would have no problem fighting or even running in them.
I glanced at myself in the mirror and despite my reluctance, I had to admit I looked good—deadly, but good. The black against my tan skin and dark hair really made my features pop in all the right places.
“Well, that’s hot,” Finders said, walking in. “How did I know you wouldn’t go for the dresses? Here.” She handed some clothes to Colton and Nicholai. “It was the best I could do under such short notice.”
Neither of them said anything as they took the clothes. They stripped down, and if we had been alone, I would have said something to show them I appreciated their bodies as much they did mine, but since our enemy was present, we kept silent.
Finders seemed to like what she saw as she gawked at Nicholai’s chiseled chest. “Mmm . . .” she said, using the childlike voice again. “The things I could do to that body of yours.” She laughed, and the hunger in her eyes told us she did not mean sexually. Maybe that was in there too, but I had a feeling that what she was implying had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with flesh and blood. I knew the way she worked, and though she meant it, she was mostly just trying to get a rise out of Nicholai.
