Taken (Marked By Angels Book 2)

by KC Bellinger

  “Penn is dead and Rhys is gone,” I said gravely.

  “Silly girl, do you remember what happens when an angel dies?”

  The memory of Penn’s cold lips filled my mind. She was right. When an angel is killed their wings open and they float up to heaven with their golden halo firmly attached. Tresian told me if an angel or demon dies, they return to their realm. Before they can return to earth, there are certain obligations they have to perform. It can be days, years, even millennia before they return.

  “Oh my God,” I cried. “He’s not dead.”

  “Oh, no, he isn’t dead. Not yet.”

  “But I saw you hit him with the quartz spear. That is the missing relic, isn’t it?” I asked. “The one that went missing a long time ago.”

  “Yes, it is. It’s damaged badly, but it still can be fatal. However, after you opened your mouth and spilled your feelings all over the place, I decided not to kill him, yet.”

  I was enveloped in a wave of relief. I had to save Penn. We had to find Rhys and explain to him what happened. Obviously, Rhys had completely forgotten about the soul-splitting thing.

  “So, what’s next?” I asked, getting to my feet.

  “Tell me about the cloak,” Amelia cooed. “What powers does it give you?”

  “You think you are strong enough to wear this?” I snorted.

  “Maybe I’m not, but when you are turned, you will be the most powerful ally I have.” She reached over and stroked the pelt. A small wave of smoky air drifted over her hand and the smell of burnt hair filled my nose. Somehow, the spirit of the bear was not happy about being used. Amelia rubbed her hand, narrowed her eyes, and walked out of the room, locking the door behind her.

  ***

  I leaned back in the chair, trying to take in the smell of my soulmates. The loyalty of the wild bond with Azu and the sweet smell of Penn strengthened me. “What’s next, Neetah? How do I save them, save all of us?” Out of habit, my hands, since they were bound together, played with my necklace. “I wish you were here, Mom, or at least Dustyn. She’d know how to get my sorry butt out of this situation.”

  Then it hit me.

  The locket.

  I could summon Mable; maybe she could help. I opened the locket and dried petals and leaves fell to the cement, but nothing happened. I should have talked to Dustyn about what to do. There was so much I should have listened to, but I didn’t. What am I missing? I closed my eyes, trying to recall Dustyn’s words. Blood or daisy. Since I was fresh out of flowers, I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood and spat on the floor, spraying the herbal debris. Incantation. We’d never called Mable or any spirits. How could I be so foolish? My eyes stung. “Why didn’t I listen?”

  “Don’t be hard on yourself, dear,” the scratchy voice of Mable, the old gardener, filled my head.

  “Mable, are you here?” I searched the room, but I couldn’t see her. “How? I didn’t say the spell,” I wondered out loud.

  “Ah, it is the magic in you—it doesn’t need words. Dustyn doesn’t need any either. Is everything alright, dear? Is she in danger?”

  “Dustyn died long ago, and I’m partially to blame.” I inhaled deeply. “I befriended a demon. He tried to kill her, but I stopped him. The poison he’d inflicted infiltrated her cardiovascular system. Tresian healed her vital wounds, but the poison slowly destroyed her blood cells. She died a few years later.” There, I said it. I couldn’t stop my voice from shaking, nor could I stop my rattling confession. “Now, I am stuck in a basement because of him. They plan on killing angels and then making me some sort of weapon.” I sniffled and dropped my voice, “I’m sorry I called you all the way here. I just don’t know what to do.”

  “Don’t apologize, dear. I will help if I can.”

  I felt lost, but when Mable spoke, she comforted the lost child inside of me.

  “What is that around your neck, and I don’t mean your locket.”

  I felt past the familiar and now well-worn locket. There was another chain that hung lower on my chest. I pulled it up and found the bowl, or whatever it was, Julia and I found in the catacombs. That was what Curtis was doing in the church—he wasn’t groping me, he was searching for the relic. “It’s a bowl. Rhys, my angel, the one who created the Night Hours, told me it was a way to communicate with Heaven.” I twisted the chipped shell in my hand, trying to figure out how it worked.

  “Fill it with water, dear, then see if there’s anything there.”

  I looked around the room. There were small cracks everywhere. I tried hard not to look at my feet. If I showed any sign of fearing the water, I knew Neetah would try to drown me again. I cupped the small bowl against the wall. Drop by drop, the dish filled with saltwater. “I don’t see anything,” I said, tilting the bowl toward me. “No, wait, there is something coming into focus.”

  “What is it, dear?”

  “I don’t know … Oh, my word.” Every drop shook the water inside the cup and though the bottom was as pure as snow, something black appeared in it. Two black eyes appeared. “There is someone there, Mable. Hello?” I called stupidly into the bowl. “Can you hear me?”

  “Whitney, love, is that you?”

  “Penn? Oh, Mable, it’s Penn.” I turned my attention back to the spoon. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m a little sore. Where are you? Who are you with?”

  It was so good to hear his voice. It was a little raspy and distant, but this was an ancient way of communication. “I’m in the room where you and Azu were being held. I have the spirit of a dear friend with me. Penn, I am worried about Rhys. Shit. I left Azu tied up at the church.”

  Penn chuckled. “Azu can save herself. Remember, it’s me who gets into trouble. What’s wrong with Rhys?”

  “He was at the church when you were knocked out by Amelia. I thought you were dead, and well, I kissed you.” I felt my cheeks flush, although no one could see. “He heard me tell you not to go and that I loved you. Do you not remember?”

  “I don’t recall much of anything after I saw that creep with his hands around your neck,” his voice cracked.

  I worried we were losing our connection.

  “Whitney, did you mean it?”

  “Yes, Penn, I do. Listen, I don’t know how much time we have. Where are you?” I asked.

  “I’m in a closet at the Strongs’ house. I can’t see anything because they have me blindfolded and tied, but after spending a decade here, I know the smells. How are you communicating with me? Do you have the bowl?”

  “Yes. Julia and I found it, but I forgot I tied it around my neck till Mable reminded me. Penn, why did I get you instead of someone else? Is it because we are soulmates?”

  “I believe it’s because I am the closest angel to you right now. We are in the same house. What do you mean, soulmates?” Penn asked, his words faint, and his eyes were slowly dissolving back into the water.

  “Penn, can you still hear me?”

  There was no answer.

  I continued anyway, “If you see Rhys before I do, please tell him to remember his soul was split, and I have ties to all three of you now.”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Mable, are you still with me?”

  Neither one of them answered, and for the first time, I felt utterly alone.

  The pit in my stomach growled. I was tired and unnaturally hungry. My ‘night vision’ didn’t work in a stone room buried deep in the earth. I needed to focus and find a way out so I could free Penn and find Rhys. If I helped the other angels as well, I’d consider that a miracle. I didn’t know where they were though, and if what Penn said was true, they weren’t here. So what did the collection and destruction of angels and immortalizing the Hours have to do with demons and Amelia Strong? There were so many things I didn’t understand, but the one thing I knew was I had to get out of here quickly.

  I closed my eyes and let my mind feel its way out into the hall. There wasn’t anyone there, so I stretched further. There were other doors in the pa
ssage, but I couldn’t push through them with my mind. They could have locked Penn behind any of those doors, but where are the others?

  Julia said the angels were in danger. Maybe that’s why they weren’t here. Perhaps with the death of an angel, the immortality of a human or an Hour was attainable.

  Oh, shit. I needed to get out now. I couldn’t stay calm any longer. I stood quickly, and the chair folded in on itself, tumbling to the ground.

  Water splashed, echoing around the room. A sickness stirred inside of me and I felt a panic attack creeping into my gut. “Neetah,” I said calmly to the bear, “it’s okay, we will not drown. We will not die here. I won’t allow it.” I kept telling the spirit repeatedly, but the feeling of dread and fear spun hopelessly in my stomach. “Help me find a way out and we can both be safe,” I pleaded.

  A growl ripped through my throat, and I opened myself up a little more so she could see the truth in my words. I wanted desperately to take the cloak off, but my tied hands made sure that wouldn’t happen.

  “Look, Neetah, we’re okay, but Penn needs our help.”

  The bear did not stir.

  “Azu, your true mistress, is also in danger.” I wasn’t one hundred percent sure of that, but I flashed the image I had of her tied behind the altar with Father Bucheli. “Help them, Neetah.”

  The hunger in me kicked again, a steak sounded delicious—uncooked, running in a herd with other steaks. Neetah had to be rolling my mind, trying to find the truth or coaxing me to do something, but I couldn’t understand her.

  “Tell me, Neetah. What can I do?” The words were a snarl and when they reached my ears, I barely recognized them. In my mind, the door was a boulder.

  “We can move that,” Neetah told me. “We’ve moved heavier barriers. Run, run at the door!”

  My feet, no longer under my command, sprinted toward the door. The metal knocked me back, but there was a large dent in it.

  “Do it again,” Neetah commanded.

  Again I ran into the door and again I put another dent, but it still would not open.

  “Again. You need to do it again.”

  I sat on the floor, stunned. Reluctantly, I got up then ran into it again only to get the same result. I leaned against the door, trying to catch my breath. It was no use. I’d have to wait till they returned for me.

  “And risk losing our angels?” Neetah retaliated in my head.

  What else was there to do?

  “Again!”

  “No, Neetah. I can’t.” I put my hands on the hard cement floor to push myself up, but my hands sank into an inch of water. Panic filled my lungs and I couldn’t breathe. I was choking on water that wasn’t in my throat. “Neetah, it’s only my hands in the water. My face is exposed to the air. Let me breathe!”

  “Again. Do it again, before we both drown. Again!”

  I opened my mind and let the bear’s spirit fill me completely. I was an animal and wild. Nothing would get in my way. I roared then ran.

  Chapter 24

  I ran through the door. The metal twisted easily away from my body and I hunkered outside the door, trying to pry the bear away from my mind.

  “No, again.”

  My eyes found another door, and though there were torches to light the white stone hallway, I didn’t need them. I formed a fist and knocked on the closest door. It looked like the same room I had just escaped from, but there seemed to be no one inside.

  “Again.”

  Door after door, I bent and ripped them away from their hinges, but there was no one in any of the rooms.

  There was only one more door left to pull apart when footsteps came from the matching stone staircase ahead.

  “What the Hell?” Locke’s small but chiseled frame stood staring at me. “How did you get out?” Although his words were menacing, he was backing up the stairs. His red demon eyes widened as I bared my teeth at him.

  “Again. This time, rip him apart.”

  The speed of the shocked demon was no match for the sprint of an angry, hungry bear. I grabbed him by the waist as he shook violently in my arms.

  “So hungry …”

  My tongue licked across his jugular, and then I bit him and tore at his throat. His screams were a pleasure. I bit him repeatedly just to hear him beg me to stop.

  “Stop, Neetah,” I pleaded and pushed at the bear in my head. “We have to find the others.”

  “I am still so hungry,” Neetah cried inside my head.

  “Neetah, let me take control for a while till we find the others, and then I promise you can snack on as many demons as you want. We don’t want to accidentally eat the good guys, do we?”

  She must have agreed, because she parted from my mind, leaving me gasping for air and spitting chunks of flesh from my mouth. I was so disgusted with myself as I saw Locke’s body stiff and bleeding at my feet.

  “Before you go, we have one more door,” I told the bear. The nausea I felt from munching on the demon turned into a need to devour him. I licked my lips and moaned. I punched through the last door to find Penn bound and gagged. “Leave, Neetah, now!” I fought against the hunger for the taste of angel as my hands clawed away at the metal door.

  “Penn,“ I cried. I took off the blindfold and mouth gag and though my hands were still bound, I threw them over his head and around his neck. A new hunger bit into me as my lips found his. Penn pulled away after a brief kiss. He looked confused and sad.

  “You look like a wild animal, love,” Penn said as his eyes searched my face.

  I gulped and turned away from him. I was embarrassed because I tasted like a demon.

  Penn’s eyes followed mine to the floor. “You ate him?”

  I nodded.

  He laughed—it was the sweet and seductive laugh I loved so much. He pulled me as close to his body as he could. “You didn’t taste right; I was worried something about you changed, but I can see Neetah got a little hungry.”

  “You aren’t mad or disgusted?” I couldn’t stand to see the rejection in his eyes.

  “Oh, love, never. It’s just that Amelia wanted to change you. I heard her talking in the hallway. It seems they are going to harvest immortality from one angel and implant it into you.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of.” I sighed. “Do you know where they are keeping them?”

  “They were down here, but by the looks of things, you’ve already searched the rooms.”

  “Yeah,” I felt my face flush. “Locke was down here, and I bet it’s only a matter of time before they realize he’s missing.”

  I untangled my arms from Penn’s neck and surveyed the damage I’d caused. I couldn’t believe I’d been so horrific—tore rooms to shreds and ate a demon without thinking twice.

  Penn reached for me and held me as I shook quietly in his arms. “It’ll be okay, love, you aren’t a monster. They are.” His hands caressed my cheek.

  I looked down to see his soft, reassuring hands slip from my face, I noticed the chain that held them together was different. “Penn, your hands—it’s not the same chain as mine.” It looked like a silver chain and not the rope relic. “See if you can break it. I bet they put it on you because they used the real one on me and they weren’t able to cut any more off without letting me go first. I’m sure that’s why they blindfolded you, so you couldn’t see.”

  “I never thought of that.” Penn snapped his wrists quickly, causing the chain to fall to the ground. With his free hands, he pushed the hood of the cloak off my head and wiped the demon blood from my face. He glanced down at Locke’s crumpled body and shook his head. “His companion is going to be pissed.”

  “Maybe”—I brushed away black locks of hair from his face—“but we’ll never know. I killed Curtis when Amelia attacked you.”

  “Really?” His smile revealed brilliantly white teeth.

  “I thought she killed you. He wouldn’t let me go so I could hold you, so I snapped his neck.” I could feel my face flush again.

  Penn nuzzled m
y neck gently. “I’m here now. Feel free to hold on as long as you like.”

  I took a moment and let my body meld into his. His large hands slipped under the cloak, attempting to pull me closer. I rested my head on his bare chest, feeling his heartbeat beneath my cheek. The need to see his face and feel his lips on mine gripped me. I looked up to find a silent tear slip from his eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” I reached up to wipe away the tear, and he took my hand and tenderly placed a kiss on it.

  “You belong to Rhys, and even if you didn’t …” He removed his hands from my body.

  “Rhys wants nothing to do with me. I’m not sure how much you heard when we were communicating with the bowl, but Rhys saw me kill Curtis to get to you.”

  “Don’t worry, love, Rhys has a nasty temper. Once he cools down, we’ll talk to him. I could only imagine what I would have done if I saw the woman I love kill to hold another.”

  “He left everyone in danger, he left the quartz spear in Amelia and Camille’s hands,” I cried.

  “The quartz spear—the relic quartz spear—the one that can kill anything? He left it there?” Penn said, shocked. “And he left you to perish as well …” There was an anger brewing behind his angelic smile. He started to shake. “No, Whitney, I can’t believe my brother would do that. I can see him leaving me to die, but you and the others?”

  “He said he’d never forgive you, or me.” I touched his arm, feeling the tension in his bicep. “Azu told me how your soul was split, and she believes we are soulmates.”

  “What are you talking about, love? How can one of us be your soulmate, it’s impossible.” He cupped his hand over mine. “Shh. Listen, someone’s coming.”

  I closed my mouth, unable to explain Azu’s theory when I heard laughter fill the hallway.

  “Well, I see someone found the power of the cloak. Come out, come out, wherever you are, Hour.” Arwyn walked by the small closet Penn and I stuffed ourselves into. Her hair was storm–cloud gray.

  “Over here,” I whispered.

  Arwyn turned and briefly glanced at us. “Well, shit, Jaiten. She’s gone, and it looks like the angel is gone too.”