by Kelly Hall
“When was the last time you fed or soaked?” asked Ignis.
“She could try the west tower,” said Canter.
“I’ll take her there,” Delilah said.
“I’m not going anywhere without Aziel. He doesn’t know any of you.”
“I’m Delilah,” she said to the angel. “We’re best friends, you and me. Since training camp. Do you remember anything?”
He shook his head. “No, but I wish I did. What kind of training camp was it?”
Canter couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “You’re an angel. Surely, you didn’t forget that.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know my name until Tula told me.” He was serious and sincere, and Canter could tell that something was horribly wrong by the look in his eyes.
“Ignis,” said Canter. “This is bad.”
“You’re telling me. I think he’s fallen.” Ignis whispered the word. “He smells human.”
“We have a smell?”
“Yeah,” said Ignis. “Don’t I?”
“Is there anything Rebekah could do?” asked Delilah, still looking up at him with a woeful expression.
“She’ll have to call down Michael and see.”
“Michael?” The name made Aziel blink a few times. Then he had a sharp pain in his head. “Ah, that hurts.” He swayed on his feet. “I think I should lie down.”
“You can have my room. It’s upstairs. I’ll lead you to it.”
“I’m staying with him,” said Tula, giving Delilah a hard look. “There had better be room for three.”
“Um, no, I stay with Jarreth.” She made a face and then glanced at Canter, who still had daggers for the former angel.
“I’ll show them up,” said Ignis. He whispered close to Del’s ear. “Talk to him. He’s got that look in his eyes.”
“I can hear you,” said Canter.
As Ignis shrugged and walked off, Delilah’s shoulders sank like all the life had gone out of her. She looked over to see Frankie, Timms, and Lulu welcoming the guests, and Mace, who had been standing with Hemp, turned around and headed inside behind them, leaving the rogues to follow.
“What the hell is going on?” asked Delilah, knowing it needed to be said. “This is like a bad dream.”
Canter sneered. “I don’t know what is going on, but it serves him right.”
“Canter, you can’t mean that. Look at the guy. He’s lost. He’s scared. We have to help him, try to get him to remember.”
“Well, maybe we could take him to the south tower and relive the moment when he took my Katie.”
“She was already gone. If anything, you should be thanking him. He took her to Etherean. She wouldn’t want you angry with him for that. Would you want her dead and stuck here?”
“I guess you’re right. I’ve just been shuffling the blame, and he was next on my list. I don’t want to have these feelings for anyone, Del. I don’t want to hate.”
“I know,” she said, embracing her friend. Canter put his arms around her and closed his eyes. With her height being the same as his Katie’s, hugging Delilah was just like hugging her. Suddenly, the pain of knowing he’d never have that again broke him down, and he wept, fat tears rolling down his cheeks.
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
“It’s not your fault. Never be sorry. You just remind me of her.”
“Two shortest Huntresses in the entire academy, and the hottest and the toughest.” Delilah felt a tear come to her eye and quickly wiped it away. “Hey, don’t be mad at Aziel.”
“I’ll try. I know it’s not his fault. I guess part of me is jealous. Whatever happened to him, here he is. And Liam, he got another chance too. Hell, why can’t I just see her? Just one more time. I could settle for her being a stranger, you know? For her to not even remember me if she could only come back.”
“I wish that were possible too.”
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go inside. Maybe we can figure out what happened to him and when.”
“Hey,” she said. “It’s going to be okay, you know? It’s just going to take time.”
“I know, Del. Thanks for being here for me.”
“No problem, and you can come and hug me anytime.” She wrapped her arms around the young man and was so glad to have him in her life.
Now, she had to figure out what had happened to Aziel. If she had a chance to get one friend back, she was going to do all she could.
And she wasn’t going to let some spoiled naiad get in her way.
Chapter 27
Back at Arcadius, Rebekah was in the fight of her life as the guards kept coming, one after the other. To say they were surprised to fight her was an understatement, and she had already taken a few of them off guard, one of which dropped to his knees and begged for mercy.
“Huntress,” he said, staring at Stella’s blade. “I had no idea.”
“Get away, you fool. Fight for me or against me. Either way, you’re likely to die.”
She turned her blade away from him and stabbed a guard who had swung on them both. The man turned and began to fight his own men, and soon enough, he was lying on the floor.
Rebekah had hoped to get to the door, but she and Jarreth were being pushed farther into the prison, past the hall they’d taken below, and to the one on the other side, the one that she knew connected to another exit she’d seen on the plans.
So far, her men were holding their own, and then the fight took another direction as a large wolf darted from nowhere to help Trillion, who was facing down two men.
“Shit,” said Jarreth, passing her the book. “Get to the other exit.”
More poured in from all sides, and then suddenly, the lights went out, and the small security flashers kicked on.
“Woo! Disco, baby!” Crest gave her a wink before jumping back in. He was having the time of his life, and she rolled her eyes.
Finding herself unchallenged, though her original exit was blocked with dead bodies and more of her enemy, she hurried to the next exit to see if it was clear.
“Go after her!” she heard them shout. Then she looked back to see she had two more of her hunters, guards for the Church, on her ass. They were joined by a third as she rounded the next corner.
The elders had turned them against her. She couldn’t think about that, though, and as she ran, she hoped Jarreth and Brock, along with the others, would soon be behind her. She had to find the door and make sure it was their way out. Otherwise, there would be no clear path until they’d taken on every guard at the prison.
“I’m going to get you, you fang-banging bitch,” called one of the traitors.
She passed an open door, and suddenly, someone grabbed her, pulling her inside of it. She was thrown to the floor, and before she could get up, there was a chorus of screams from the hallway. She glanced out and saw that the men were losing their heads, all three of them, one by one, as if they were soda bottles losing their caps. The blood spewed up as they dropped. Rebekah had never seen anything like it, and then she saw a blur coming toward her.
Being pushed back into the room, she screamed but couldn’t fight him off. He slammed the door, closing them inside the small custodian’s closet.
“Are you out of your mind?” she asked.
“You’re injured,” said Kayne. He reached down and ripped the bottom of her shirt as she looked at her arm.
She hated him for showing up again. Like she was some kind of fucking damsel who always needed help. She jerked her shirttail away from him, but it was too late. “Do you have to rip my clothes?”
“Do you want to explain to your crew why you’re wearing mine as a bandage?” He put it on her arm, holding pressure to her wound.
“Good point. You know I heal fast, right?” She got to her feet. “What are you doing? Don’t you have a bunch of bratty children to look after?”
“Don’t sass me. I came to help you. You’re insane, coming here. I hope it was worth it because now the Church is onto you. They’ll have
more ammunition.”
“Don’t act like you’re concerned. And it was worth it, I think. I found a book.” She held it out, and Kayne recoiled. “It might help me with the stigmata problem.”
“That’s a holy book,” said Kayne with a look of distaste as he recoiled from it and her.
“Scared of a little book?” she teased, hoping he’d go away. She opened it. “Maybe you’ll know what this is?”
“I do. It’s an ancient Etherean language. That book once belonged to an angel. You’ll need one to translate it.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve been around a lot longer than you have. That’s how.” He looked down at her arm. “Looks like you’re going to be okay. I should probably make another pass, take down a few more of your men.”
“You’re not as charming as you think,” she said. “And I’m still angry with you.”
“Don’t my actions prove anything?” He could hear someone approaching and knew it was time to bail. Without a goodbye, he vanished.
Rebekah slapped at the air. “Asshole!” She opened the door and looked both ways, finding Jarreth coming into the hall with his injured father beside him as both of their eyes widened.
“Wow, what the fuck did you do to them?” Jarreth asked.
She shrugged. She hated to take the credit, knowing how much of a kick Kayne would probably get out of it, although he’d never show it, but she didn’t have much choice. “One of them called me a fang-banging bitch.”
The two looked at each other. “Did you find the exit?”
“It’s that way. It should be clear.” She hoped it would be, but she was ready to keep fighting if that was what it took. “How are the men?”
“The wolf is dead, and Trillion killed the man who did it. I think Crest is injured, but he’s still on his feet. I didn’t see Jones.” Brock’s expression was grim.
“I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, me too. With any luck, he’ll turn up. Maybe one of the others knows what happened to him.”
Rebekah walked over and let Brock lean some of his weight on her. “What’s wrong with you? Aside from the cut on your leg.”
“A few broken ribs. I’m pretty sure I’ll be good before we get back to the castle. I just hope we all make it back.”
Suddenly, there was a commotion behind them. “Hey, come back this way,” yelled Crest. “There’s no one else alive.”
“Jones?” asked Brock as Jarreth and Rebekah turned him around and headed back in the original direction of exit.
Crest’s head bowed. “He’s dead. Trillion is recovering the body. We’re not leaving him here.”
“How’d you guys manage?” asked Jarreth. “I barely made it back here.”
“It was the weirdest thing,” said Crest. “They just started dropping like flies. Maybe they hate disco lights.”
“It must have been some kind of magic,” said Trillion as they walked out into the hallway, stepping over bodies. “Maybe one of the men below was a mage?” He shrugged, dragging out Jones’s dead, limp body. The blood trailed behind him until Trillion picked him up. Then it oozed out on him.
“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” said Crest. “Let’s get the fuck out of here while we can.”
“Maybe it was the book,” said Rebekah, holding it tightly under her arm. “I think it’s an ancient holy book from Etherean.”
Jarreth growled. “Just when we need Aziel, he’s flown the coop. I knew that angel was useless.”
“I may know someone I can ask, assuming they answer when I call.” She stepped out of the back door when Jarreth gave the signal, and with only the dead remaining out of those involved, there would be no proof that she’d ever been there.
“Do you think we’ve killed them all? The guards, I mean?” Jarreth looked up toward the prison.
“That was just one wing. I’m sure there are others.”
They walked through the hills and made it to the water, where they would find their rental van waiting. “We’re going to leave this thing in a lot worse shape than we found it,” said Crest. “I hope you got the insurance.”
They piled in, and Rebekah cracked open the book as they headed back to the plane. Tucked into the first couple of pages was what appeared to be a letter. It had been folded, and because the crease might be brittle, she dared not open it.
Ignis would know what to do to preserve the book and the paper within, and hopefully, they would find someone to translate.
She closed the book, hoping that when she called, Michael would answer.
Chapter 28
The next day, as the sun was rising high in the noon sky, Rebekah and the men returned, weary from battle. Greeted by Ignis, who welcomed her back with a hug, she was glad she’d healed already from her battle wounds.
“I’m so glad you’re back,” he said, taking her hand as she stepped out of the van. “I wish things were as you’d left them.”
“Did you break something?” she teased, giving him a wry smile until he didn’t give one back. “Ignis, what is it? Has there been another attack?”
She thought of Fiona and the trouble she might cause. The vampire had already had the nerve to challenge her. What else was she capable of?
“No, it’s not that. We had some visitors arrive. Old friends of ours.”
“Talia and her sisters?” Rebekah asked.
“Tula, actually. Just Tula, but she brought a friend.” Ignis struggled to tell Rebekah, knowing how upset she’d be.
“Is her friend a twenty-foot alligator?” Rebekah turned to get the book out of the van. Then she shut the door and turned back toward him with a weary look. “Come on. Just tell me.”
“It’s Aziel.”
Her eyes lit with joy. “Really? That’s wonderful!” She pointed at the book. “Maybe he could translate this. It’s a book from Etherean. It’s going to be the key to understanding the stigmata.”
“That’s not going to be possible, Bexy.” Ignis’s look was so grim that Rebekah knew there had to be something wrong.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“He’s got amnesia,” he said, prepared for her disappointment. “He doesn’t remember anything, and Tula brought him here to see if we could trigger his memories. It hasn’t worked, but he does get these headaches that might mean there’s a block.”
“That’s terrible,” she said, covering her mouth. “I wonder what could have happened.”
“That’s not even the worst of it, Bex. His markings are gone, as well as his wings. It was obvious that he was cast down.”
“Cast down? You mean fallen?”
“Not exactly, but I guess. I’ve never seen or heard of anything like it.”
“I haven’t either, but I know who to call about this matter.”
“It’s not as easy as picking up a phone, Rebekah, and I want you to be careful. After seeing what he probably did to one of his own, there’s no telling what he could do to you.”
“I’m not afraid of Michael.”
“Perhaps you should be. I’m serious. If he could throw out someone like Aziel?”
“What could he have done? It would have to be something serious. But I have no choice. I have to call him. I need his help with this book.”
Ignis took it from her and cracked it open. “This isn’t light reading. And I’ve never seen this language. I’ll have to research it, but it could be angelic. Ancient though, for sure.”
“There’s a letter inside. Its paper is brittle, so I didn’t want to open it. I need you to work on this. Put the blood experiments on hold. We found a turned hunter vampire in Arcadius. It’s possible, but for now, I want to know more about the stigmata and how to kill it. After what happened at the prison, I need this victory.”
“Was it bad?”
“We lost Jones.” She glanced over to where the men unloaded their friend’s bagged body. “He’s to be buried in our cemetery. A ceremony will follow at dawn.”
Ignis frowned. �
��I’m sorry to hear that. I’m glad you’re safe and that they didn’t lock you up again. So, what’s this about finding a turned hunter?”
“It was horrible. Doc Spence had brought him in to run tests. They were conducting experiments. I found Rye there too. Both he and Doc didn’t make it either.”
“Well, I can’t say I’m upset about the doctor. I bet he wishes he’d stayed in Nevada.”
“Yeah, apparently the Church offered him more money to do their dirty work. We killed a lot of the guards too. I’m sure the news will spread like wildfire.”
Just then, her phone buzzed in her pocket. “And this damned thing,” she said. “It’s already ringing.” She glanced down. “It’s Hoyt.”
“Good old Dixon, already thick in the gossip. I’m sure he’s calling to verify.”
For a second, Rebekah thought he might be right, but then she remembered the ceremony. “Dammit. Maybe I should take this.” She answered the phone. “Yes, Hoyt?”
“I’m glad you answered. I was afraid I wouldn’t find you in time. I can’t talk long. There have been some changes, and they want to do the ceremony right away. It’s scheduled for tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow night? Shit. That doesn’t give me much time.” She had a feeling that the attack on the prison and the theft of the book was what had moved up their next move at discrediting her.
Ignis whispered, “Ask him if he’s heard anything.”
“Is there any news I should know about?” She didn’t know how else to ask without alarming him. The Church could be keeping what happened at Arcadius hush-hush until the right time.
“No. Should I know something?”
“I’m just curious what caused this,” said Rebekah. “I’m sure they have something up their sleeve. I’ll be there as soon as I can arrange travel.” She would have to start preparing to leave immediately. “I’ll call you back soon.”
She turned toward Ignis. “Let’s get inside. I’ll plan my next move over a hot meal. Please tell me there isn’t any more bad news.”
