The Infernal Sacrament (Guardians of Elysium Book 1)

by Nissa Leder

  Two Daeva hover over her like guardians, as four Pey slither against her, dragging their razor-sharp claws across her skin. Another moves its hands violently over her chest, as if it’s trying to dig its way into her soul.

  Ava’s screams are filled with so much anguish, I don’t trust my legs to hold me. As the Lessers continue their frenzied movements, they hiss, whispering obscene suggestions and words of despair.

  And it’s working.

  Ava’s shaking her head from side to side, fighting against the chains, their metal clanking against the stone slab. Her back arches unnaturally, the veins in her throat straining against her skin. Her skin is red, and she’s gasping for breath, as if some invisible force is choking her. That’s when I realize what I’m seeing. A sacrifice. Ava is some kind of sacrifice.

  Without waiting for instructions from Uriah, Claire unleashes the holy fire that bursts from her palms, blasting away the Lessers that stand between her and Ava. Rachel rushes beside her, harnessing her own light to drive the demons into the dark corners of the room. But they can’t touch the demons over Ava. It’s as if they’re somehow protected.

  Tuck sprints across the room to the altar, ignoring the Lessers’ hissed objections. The Daeva guards swoop down at him like bats, but they bounce off of him, as if he has some kind of invisible shield protecting him. When he reaches Ava, Tuck closes his eyes. He places a hand over her heart and begins chanting some kind of prayer or incantation. Ava’s screaming grows louder, her movements more violent, but still, Tuck continues.

  I scan the room, counting the Lessers. Fourteen, including the ones over Ava. They need to go back where they belong.

  As soon as I move to join Uriah, though, he turns and walks toward Claire. He raises his arm, clutching an ornate dagger, his eyes trained on her neck. As if in slow motion, I scream out a warning and rush toward him. With every ounce of strength I possess, I leap forward, tackling him. We both crash to the ground.

  But I’m too late.

  Claire’s scream pierces through the chaos and silences the room.

  Uriah pushes me off of him, and I’m seeing stars from the impact. Claire is holding her arm, blood gushing through her fingers, as she stares at Uriah in shock.

  Suddenly, a small army of Daeva and Pey materialize from the ground and take form until we are surrounded by Lessers. And they’re protecting Uriah. My eyes find Rachel’s across the room. She’s still glowing around the edges, but there are too many of them to fight without Uriah. I know I have to do something. I can drag them all back to hell, but I’ve never done it without help. Rachel nods at me. I know I can do this, but I’ll have to time it perfectly.

  Uriah rises from the ground, still holding the blade, stained red with Claire’s blood. He dusts the dirt from his suit.

  “I am sorry it had to come to this, dear Claire,” he says, “but orders are orders.”

  As he approaches her with the dagger, her eyes burn with fire and she turns her palms up.

  “Ah, ah, ah,” he says. “If you don’t cooperate, you’ll lose more than just your blood. That’s why I have the lovely Ava shackled to our altar. I need your blood now, or it’s only a matter of time before my demons weaken her enough to fully possess her. Then, her soul is lost forever.”

  I scramble to my feet but not quietly enough. Uriah laughs.

  “Oh, Darien, I had almost forgotten about you. The same goes for you, not that you’ll be much of a problem. My Lessers will have a field day with a Hellwalker as green as you. Poetic, is it not? I get the blood of a Nephilim with lines connected to Seraphiel himself, and I get to watch the son of Sean Crain suffer as he watches his innocent childhood friend lose her soul. Your father ruined my life. Now, it’s my turn to ruin yours.”

  He turns and gestures toward the Lessers that surround us. One of them drifts over, carrying a vial. Uriah plucks the glass sphere from its hand and wipes the edge of his blade against the rim. Claire’s blood trickles down the side.

  “Claire, my dear, I regret to inform you that this won’t be enough.”

  She glares defiantly at him. Uriah motions to the demons attacking Ava. She arches, bones popping, and screams so high and so long and so loud, my knees buckle, and I’m afraid I might pass out. Tears stream down Claire’s cheeks.

  “All right, all right,” she screams. “Stop hurting her!”

  She holds out her arm to Uriah.

  “Oh, you’ve already healed,” Uriah says, staring at the pink line on her bicep. “What a pity for you.”

  He jabs the point of the blade into the crease at her elbow until a steady stream of blood begins to flow. She inhales sharply as he twists her arm. Claire’s blood drips into the open vial.

  “What happened to you?” Claire hisses. “The Guardians will publicly execute you for this. My father will make you pay.”

  Uriah laughs again. “When’s the last time you saw your father, Claire?”

  “Shut up,” she hisses.

  “How often do you ever see your father?”

  “Enough,” Tuck says. “You have what you came for. Now take the blood and leave us all alone.”

  “Oh, if only it were that simple.”

  “You’re a traitor to your own kind,” I say to him. “You make me sick.”

  “Traitor?” Uriah whispers. “I am the one betrayed by my own kind. Denied the woman with whom I shared a bond. Abandoned by the family who claimed me as their own. Humiliated by your father. The Guardians hailed me as their hero, but really all they made me was a slave. Eventually, I realized if I was going to live in a Hellwalker’s darkness, I might as well enjoy the perks of my true nature.”

  “You make me sick,” I say. I spit at his feet, soiling his Italian loafers.

  He narrows his eyes at me. “I’m going to share my deepest, darkest regret with you, Darien Crain. The only thing I regret more than never burning your grandparent’s house to the ground is the fact that you didn’t die the night I killed your parents.”

  His words sink in. My blood sears through my veins. I meet Rachel’s eyes for a flicker of a moment before the world turns to fire, and I open my mouth in a cry that unleashes every ounce of my anger.

  The world around me blurs and then ignites until I’m no longer standing in the altar room. I’m in hell. Uriah is with me in the dark, fiery pit, but before I can reach out to him, great black wings, leathery like a bat’s, unfurl at his sides. They lift him beyond the fire, the flames licking at his feet without burning him.

  His laughter echoes all around me as he melts into the darkness.

  Hot. Everything inside burns.

  Pain. It spreads through me like lava in my veins. I want to pass out. To shut it all out and never feel again. It would be so easy …

  Another surge of fire explodes inside me. I try to move, but my arms and legs are pinned to something and I can’t escape the agony.

  A loud scream pulls me from the pain.

  Claire. No. She shouldn’t be here. It isn’t safe. I try to warn her to run, but the words remain in my throat.

  The darkness pushes itself closer to my heart.

  Something pierces the skin on my arms and my legs and I can’t stop myself from crying out. My body bends, desperately trying to escape the creatures around me. I can’t see them, but I can hear their whispers growing louder.

  The first tendril of shadow reaches my heart. As it latches on, I scream. My limbs bend in unnatural ways and my bones break.

  Death. It’s coming. I can feel it.

  I can’t fight any more. It hurts too much.

  I hear Claire again. “You’re hurting her.”

  The burning subsides, though the ache in my bones remains.

  The whispers, now louder, speak faster, blocking out everything else around me. I can’t understand their words, but somehow I know they’re urging me to give up.

  I won’t. Not yet.

  Another tendril punctures my heart.

  I’m not sure how much longer I can hol
d on.

  22

  Uriah Donnelly just earned his wings.

  I knew there was something off about that bastard, but I was too busy being in awe of him to realize just how twisted he is. I’d felt it the night we’d had dinner at Gran’s, but I hadn’t been able to pinpoint its source.

  The darkness had been attached to him all along.

  But now, as the leathery black wings unfurl from Uriah’s back, it’s too late for warnings. He has just gone from double agent to Greater Demon. Claire’s blood must have been the final test of his loyalty.

  Uriah grips the vial like a holy relic and beats his wings, which lift him from the floor until he’s hovering over the demons surrounding us, their dark auras smoky in the dim light. There are so many shadows, I’ve lost count. The only certainty is that a new Triad, even one led by an angel halfling, doesn’t stand much of a chance against a small army of Lessers.

  I glance at Claire to make sure she is okay. The wound in her arm is already gone, thanks to her angel blood. She’s on her knees, glaring up at Uriah, her eyes on fire. I clench my jaw to keep from shuddering when I consider the dark possibilities behind a Greater Demon in possession of Seraphim blood.

  “One day, you’re going to regret me,” Claire hisses. “One day, you won’t be able to close your eyes without my face flashing behind your lids.”

  “Oh, but I do regret you, dear Claire,” Uriah says. “I regret that one as powerful and beautiful as you is blinded by her absurd loyalty to the angels that condemned you to the earth for being Nephilim. No matter what you achieve, you’ll never be more than half in their eyes.”

  He slides his eyes to Darien then, who is leaning over, his hands on his knees, trying to control his rage. At this point, I don’t even think Darien is with us in the room anymore; his body is here, but his mind is on another plane.

  “And Darien,” Uriah says. “Give my regards to your parents when you see them.”

  Darien stares up at him, the blue ring around his icy eyes glowing fluorescent. He won’t be able to control himself much longer. My first instinct is to calm him, but if we are going to survive the night, we’ll need every ounce of his rage.

  Uriah pockets the vial of blood and barks orders at the Lessers hovering over Ava. “Cenam vestram fruimini.”

  Enjoy your meal.

  Oh, my God. He’s giving her to them.

  Then, with the beating of leathery wings, he disappears into the shadows.

  Chaos erupts all around me.

  Claire leaps to her feet, fire raging from her like a human blowtorch. Darien is on his feet, too, the golden aura growing with his rage. He realizes the same thing I do.

  Uriah was never going to let Ava go in the first place. He was never going to let any of us go.

  Ava writhes on the altar, screaming in such agony that I know the sound of it will never leave me. I have to get to her. She doesn’t deserve this. No one could deserve it. She’s still fighting them, but every moment they attack her, she grows weaker. Without help, her resolve will crumble, and they’ll take her.

  The black shadowy auras disperse in all directions, swooping down toward me. I close my eyes, concentrating on the celestial power in my blood. It heats in my veins as it rushes to my heart. Once I feel it gathered there, I spread my arms wide, releasing it into the room.

  When I open my eyes, they’re gone, so I know they’re retreating back to the shadows where Darien will have to fight them.

  As I rush toward Ava, a movement catches my eye. Finn is rushing toward me. I’m about to blast him with light when he launches past me, attacking the shadowy aura that had risen up from behind.

  I never thought I’d be thanking God for a dark halfling, but I’ve never been so happy to see a demon in my life. Hope springs forth in my chest, empowering me, as he fights against his own kind beside Darien and Claire.

  Finally, I reach the altar, projecting my light, but even with Tuck’s chanted prayer, the Lessers are growing stronger. My light bounces against the shadow like there’s something dark and impenetrable that keeps me from reaching them.

  The demons are too strong to fight, so I’ll have to give Ava my strength.

  I rein in my light, feeling the darkness slither over me. Tears pour from my eyes as I take in Ava’s porcelain skin, marred by the deep, bloody scratches left by the demons. Her eyes are frantic, seeing but not seeing. She moans and whimpers, fighting against the evil that tries to penetrate her tormented soul.

  Her skin is like ice, as I take Ava’s hand in both of mine. Tuck continues to chant. I close my eyes and remember my mother. I call forth the peace and love I inherited. When I feel it wash over me, I squeeze Ava’s hand and push the energy from me to her.

  Memories flash through my mind. Ava’s memories.

  Darien, Tuck, and Ava laughing as they climb a tree and jump to the ground from a low-hanging limb.

  Ava sitting at the table with a blonde woman, both of them sketching on thick paper.

  A uniformed Ava smiling at a tall man in khakis and a polo who screams with pride from the stands of a basketball game.

  Claire smacking her in the face with a pillow before they both dissolve into giggles in the floor of a bedroom.

  Darien’s arms wrapped around her while she cries, clutching a letter.

  I smile at her memories, allowing them to swirl around in my mind and blend with the peace that radiates from me. Then, I send them right back to her, praying the power in them will keep her tethered to the human realm.

  There’s no turning back now.

  By saving the Lightbearer, I’ve labeled myself a traitor to my own kind. If Ava and her friends don’t make it out of here alive, I won’t either—unless it’s to be chained up until I can be publicly executed. Not quite the end to my life I’ve dreamed of.

  Even if he wanted to, my father can’t save me now. But I’m no fool. When he learns his own son has helped, he’ll want me to die in the worst way possible.

  And if we do make it out, who knows my fate? Will the group I’m fighting with welcome me into their lives? Or will they pat me on my back on my way out the door?

  A Familiar jumps onto my back and sinks its teeth into my flesh. I curse as I reach around and grab its leg, yanking it off of me and tossing it across the room. Two more attach to my legs. God, these bastards are annoying.

  Claire blazes the Daeva with her holy fire. They shriek as the flames catch them. Her body moves like a cat and I’m glad I never picked a fight against her. She can weaken them, but it’s up to Darien to pull them back to hell.

  A group of Pey attacks him in the room’s outskirts. I can see the panic in his aura, but there’s rage, too, which we’re all going to need if we want to escape here with our lives.

  More Familiars lunge at me. I kick, punch, and throw them, but they keep coming back for more. Unlike the others, the Familiars are the only Lessers that can hurt me. I don’t need the Daeva or Pey to bring out the darkness in me. It’s always there.

  But just as they can’t affect me, I can’t hurt them like the others can. Now that I’ve labeled myself traitor, they won’t follow my commands.

  I glance at Ava. Her aura is nearly gone, replaced by shadow from the Lessers doing everything they can to possess her.

  The Lightbearer and Priest both are kneeled next to her, fighting to keep her from possession. If there were only a few Lessers after her soul, they’d pull them out easily. But they’re both too green to fight off so many at once. Even Triads with years of experience would struggle against these numbers and the help of the pentagram.

  I do all I can to keep the Familiars away from the altar, but two sneak past and jump onto the Lightbearer and Priest’s backs. As they deal with the Lessers, Ava cries out.

  I need to focus. They can’t keep Ava from the darkness if I don’t keep the Familiars away from them. A thought flashes in my mind. The Daeva and Pey are shadow Lessers and won’t listen to me, but the Familiars take orders by blood. E
ven if I’m a traitor, I still have Baal’s blood in my veins. With Uriah gone, I’m the only Greater Demon here.

  At this point, I’ll try anything.

  “Prohibere,” I yell. My Latin is basic at best, but it’s the how all of the Greater Demons order the Lessers.

  The shadow demons continue their onslaught of Claire and Darien, but the Familiars all freeze.

  The Lightbearer and Priest both glance at me, surprise in their eyes.

  Heat spreads through the room. Flames explode around Darien. The new Hellwalker isn’t as helpless as Uriah thought. As his fire engulfs them, they release high-pitched screams. Some scatter to the outside of the room and through the walls, but others are pulled away.

  “We need to leave,” I say, thankful Darien’s fire can’t hurt me.

  “But Ava is almost gone,” the Lightbearer says. “If we rescind, the demon might take her.”

  “If they send in reinforcements, none of us will make it. She will have to fight a little longer.” I rush to the altar and, after pulling the key from my pocket and freeing her from the chains, lift Ava into my arms.

  23

  My blood heats and scorches through my veins.

  The pain is so unreal, I’m afraid the black spots that cloud my vision might remain there forever, holding me in a black rage.

  Uriah Donnelly betrayed us, fed Ava to his pet demons, and admitted killing my parents. Now, we’re surrounded by Lessers, and the guy who trained me turns out to be their Commander in Chief.

  Did. Not. See. That. Coming.

  At least two dozen Daeva swoop down at me, some of them drifting up like smoke from the floor and others bursting from the ceiling like noxious gas. For now, Claire is blasting them away with her badass angel fire and Finn is fighting the Familiars, giving Rachel a window to reach Ava.

  Ava.

  The sight of her bruised and bloody body contorting like a horror movie zombie is enough to make me crazy, but it’s her anguished screams that puncture my heart.