“Don’t you understand? Adam marked you when he first spread his wings. There is no way back now. He is tied to you more fiercely than he ever was before—and that was a lot already.”
“What do you mean—mark?” I didn’t get a word he was telling me.
“When semi-angels spread their wings for the very first time the person who’s the catalyst for it will be marked. It’s like an invisible sign that makes you his. You’re tied to each other.”
My mind blanked in disbelief.
“Demons are wicked creatures. They try to get hold of marked people, torture them to trap the belonging angel. They try to extract the mark from the person and tie the angel to their service with it."
“How does the mark work?”
“Some invisible force ties the souls of the new angel and the catalyst together. The interlaced part of the souls is inseparable, so the angel and the marked person will depend on each other in some way. We don’t know how it works exactly, but demons can use the mark to control the angel or to kill it.”
I flinched.
“I’ve seen people die protecting the mark and the associated angel. And I’ve seen people lose their minds over the loss of their angels, and angels’ unearthly grief at the loss of their marked ones.”
I looked at him with wide eyes and felt like a child listening to some scary story.
“You are his because you carry his mark. He’s tied to you. And if you can’t protect the mark he’ll be enslaved or killed, whatever they find will hurt him more. You will go insane over the loss and I will go insane with you.”
He fell silent and something in his eyes told me he knew exactly what he was talking about. He evaded my gaze and looked away into the darkness.
My eyes followed his gaze to the shadows that danced across the walls in the candlelight and we sat in silence for a while. I had a lot to think about and one thing still didn’t fit into my head.
“How could he send me away when he is tied to me so strongly?” A tear glistened in my eye, threatening to spill onto my cheek. The thought of Adam still hurt—every time—and I couldn’t do anything about it. It was like someone had ripped my heart from my chest.
“You are his true other half.”
I swallowed.
“You are all he ever wanted and all he’ll ever miss if he doesn’t get you back.” He watched me, serious.
My feelings were on a roller coaster. I knew it. I knew Adam was meant for me. It felt even worse as I thought of how hard-hearted he had been when he had sent me away, in spite of the feelings he had for me. I knew we were in grave danger, and all I could do was cry for Adam. No matter how much I loved him, this was not the time to weep over my lost love—this was the time to find a way out of the more pressing predicament of my imprisonment, though I hadn’t seen much of my captors since they had ambushed me.
“What are you thinking?” Jaden scrutinized my expression.
“Nothing,” I was ashamed again as the tears seeped out between my eyelids. Why did I have to be so overemotional and lack self-control like I was a four year old?
“Claire, I feel what you feel anyway—don’t try to hide.”
I had known he could sense my feelings. He was an angel after all—he had to feel what I felt, to know how much I suffered …Did he feel my physical pain too?
I leaned against the cool wall and breathed slowly, in and out and in and out again. It was all I could do to regain control.
“Claire, come on—speak to me.”
I closed my eyes to shut out every external stimulus. A few more breaths and the tears would ebb. The wall was soothingly cold against my back—a good balance to the hot feeling in my chest.
“Your self-control is unbelievable.” Jaden forced me back to the present. I didn’t understand and looked at him questioningly.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re simply unbelievable.” He examined every inch of my face. “How do you bear so much and still hold yourself together like that?”
“I don’t think I do.” I was surprised by his conclusion.
“I think you cope very well—with everything that’s happened in your life—you’re still on your feet, mind healthy and body strong enough to endure all the pain they inflict on you.”
“You think I cope well?” I mocked. “I think you’ve missed the times of my life when I cried myself from minute to minute without knowing if I would make it.”
“I’ve always been around. None of my former fosterlings was as skilled at surviving difficulties, frustration, and pain as you are.”
“Something to be proud of?”
“Indeed.” He looked at me like I was some animal—an extraordinarily interesting species. “How do you do it?”
“What?”
“Handle your emotional state and keep yourself composed that much.”
“You want to tell me there are people who suffer more?” I asked disbelievingly.
“They don’t suffer more—they suffer less bad experiences and pain, but it affects them a lot worse than it affects you.”
“Worse than this?” I reminded him of the situation. “Worse than them? Where are they anyway?”
“What do you remember?”
“How they turned up on my doorstep and you tried to help me. The talked about a mark and about some guy called Alabaster.”
“Nothing else?”
“The dreams. The pain and the dreams—if that’s what they were.”
He shuddered slightly at my words as if trying to shake off a bad memory. “You remember them, too? What did you dream about?”
“Cold voices and pain.” I cringed away from the thought and my chest stung as if to support my words. I didn’t believe in bad dreams anymore at this point. I was positive this was only the beginning.
“I must have done something wrong. You shouldn’t feel anything when I send you to sleep—usually.”
“Usually?” I probed his expression. “Do you do that a lot?”
“Only twice since I’ve been assigned to you. Once when you were a child and you were very ill and you ran a fever that was so dangerous that the doctor wasn’t sure you would live the night.” I immediately knew—I had only been that ill once as a child. “I took away some of the heat, so nobody would notice too much of the difference, but it wasn’t life threatening anymore, and then sent you to sleep. Your mom left your side only for a few seconds and when she came back and you talked about a man in your room she thought you hallucinated.”
I didn’t remember the so-called hallucination but I remembered my mom sitting by my bed for days until I had been well again.
“And the second time,” he continued. “The day your parents died. You cried all night, and it burnt my insides.”
“I can’t remember that,” I said, stunned. “So, that’s why I am drifting from conscious to unconscious without knowing how? You do it.”
“Usually we are not supposed to interfere with our fosterlings’ lives except for life-threatening situations. Now, I think, the word life-threatening applies exactly to the situation you’ve gotten yourself into. So here I am, sending you to sleep to protect your life and sanity.” He turned and looked at me with piercing eyes. “It is only a matter of time until they will come to torture you again, Claire.”
Icy shudders ran down my spine as he spoke. Torture—that was definitely what it was. I had no chance to react when I was semi-conscious. I wanted to look them in the eyes, the ones who wanted to extract Adam’s mark from me. I wouldn’t give it up without putting up a good fight—if I could fight, anyway. I was bound from head to toe if Jaden made me fall into blackness again.
“We have to get out of here,” I whispered and saw him nod in agreement. “Why do we waste all this time talking—it’s important to save Adam now. I won’t give up his mark and let him be enslaved or killed. Never.”
“Don’t you think I would have gotten you out by now if I had seen a way?”
“But they nev
er check on me. We’ve been talking for hours without seeing anything of them.”
“Do you see any way to escape this? I am alone and there are three of them. I could take on one by myself, but three—”
“What do you suggest we should do?”
“If we find a way—get out of here as soon as possible. But even if we make it—they will come looking for you, and they’ll find you, believe me.” He laughed without humor. “Don’t think they will hesitate to kill you then. They won’t bother a second time, and then they won’t rest until they’ve killed him too.”
I got to my feet and looked around. The windows were closed and had no handles. Apart from the bathroom door, there was another door in this room, it too had no handle.
“What are you looking for?”
“A way out.”
“You think windows or doors are a problem for me?” He mocked. “I can smash them with my bare hands.”
“What are we waiting for then?” I ran towards the closest window. He jumped to his feet and vanished into thin air. I looked around.
Half a second later he reappeared behind me and made me jump.
“Are you crazy?” I half shrieked. “How did you do that?”
He smiled with a hint of pride. “Did you forget?” He pointed at himself. “Angel.”
“Angels know how to teleport?” Shock made my voice sound higher than normal. Adam didn’t, or he hadn’t told me. He nodded at my shoulder and touched me lightly on my arm.
It felt like being pulled through ice-cold water for a second as everything went black. I lost track of time and my orientation; and then I was at the other side of the room, Jaden still at my side.
“What…” I panted. “Why can’t you just get us out of here?”
“I can’t. They have secured the room so I can’t get you out. Neither with raw force, nor with tricks like teleporting. They didn’t expect me to interfere when they captured you, and now they made sure I can’t teleport through the walls. The protection will only break when they remove it willingly—or when the ones who put it up die.”
“Why didn’t they kill you?” I wondered aloud.
He chuckled darkly. “They prefer to see me suffer over your pain.”
He stood very still for a moment, then turned to me again. “They are coming.” And he reached out his hand to touch me, but I pulled my arm away.
“No.”
He eyed me, questioning.
“No way I’m going back to sleep. I feel the pain anyway, I could…”
He shook his head before I could finish my thought.
“I won’t give them a chance to question you awake.” He stiffened and his face hardened. “You wouldn’t survive, and that’s my number one priority as your guardian angel—keep you alive.”
“Don’t you think I get a say in that?” I took a few steps backwards, out of his reach.
“I think you don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into, and I won’t allow you to push your luck any further.” He closed his eyes and before I could read his expression he had vanished and turned up again with his hands on my shoulders. I felt the blackening sensation running through my body, numbing my limbs. Before I could protest again I felt my knees give way and my body sank towards the ground. Two arms caught me before I hit the stone floor.
I didn’t sleep as deeply this time. Maybe there hadn’t been enough time for him to send me into a coma again. I heard and felt everything but I wasn’t able to make my muscles respond to my brain’s requests of movement.
“You—angel,” a deep male voice demanded. “Stand up!” Something moved beside me.
“Keep your filthy demon claws off her.” Jaden’s voice carried through the darkness. It was hostile but still held that golden touch that had carried me through the pain before.
“Prefer if we take you first” the other male voice spoke. I didn’t recognise it.
“Do with me what ever you want.” I heard Jaden speak again. “But leave her alone. She has no idea.” Feet shuffled beside my head—probably Jaden.
The next thing that happened was a loud noise that sounded like shattering glass. Someone whimpered for a moment and then a rush of heat singed my skin. The whimpering didn’t sound like Jaden.
Let me wake up, I thought, I want to help. I struggled against the darkness in my head for a few moments. It seemed weaker than before and I pushed further into it until I found a little light ahead. It took some slow breaths and a lot of concentration until I finally managed to open my eyes in spite of the heaviness of my eyelids and the grogginess of my limbs.
A man lay on the floor beneath the closest window, which was shattered and cold night air was streaming in. It felt good.
“How did you do it?” I whispered at Jaden. He didn’t answer. “Jaden?” A little louder this time. Still no answer.
“Claire.” It wasn’t Jaden’s voice as I had expected. It was harsh, and it was fearless and cold. “You’re finally awake princess.” The voice went on. I looked around to make out its source. The man lying by the window twitched slightly. I sucked in a breath as I recognised his golden hair.
The voice came from a shadowy corner. “Come over here like a good girl.” I took a closer look and saw a shadow standing in the darkness. The shadow moved a step towards me and another, until I looked into a pair of light brown eyes which were set in an alabaster face.
I didn’t know him. He was of medium size with a bulky figure and long arms. They seemed to be too long for his height. He held one of them out for me invitingly and gave me a seductive smile. I looked to the ground, evading his eyes. “So Blackbird was right—You are a beautiful little thing.” He walked around me in a small circle and looked down onto my cowering shape while he walked. “Pity you’ll soon be worth nothing.”
His smile was cruel as he lifted his hands over me and murmured into the darkness. I couldn’t understand the words but I instantly felt the effect they had.
The razor-sharp blades seemed to skin me again. My body burned in agony and my mind wanted to cringe into the coma Jaden had wanted me to be in.
And then for a second it stopped. “Tell me where your boyfriend is,” the man demanded. I shook my head an inch and the flames started to lick my inner organs. It was beyond agony.
“Stop it!” I screamed. I knew I didn’t stand a chance—in the end I would tell him—or would I rather die? Pain made it difficult to figure out.
“Give me a reason to,” the man said in his slow manner. It sounded sweet and seductive, as if there was a way out.
I wondered why they couldn’t find out themselves, lure Adam into a trap and destroy him, like they had done with me. The pain seared my bones and made my head spin.
“You didn’t want it any other way.” He smiled at me with cold vicious eyes, and then he held out his hand. A silver sphere started to dance above his palm. It slowly moved towards my chest where it started to sink in. It felt like a knife was cutting open my skin and stabbing into my heart. It pounded unwillingly beneath my ribs as the silver light vanished right into my body.
The sphere slowed down my heart so drastically that I was sure I would black out from lack of oxygen any second. I panted to endure a little longer. My eyes rolled and grayness pulled up from around me. I turned my head to the window with great effort, whispering for help, sure Jaden wouldn’t hear me; he lay there unconscious.
I was even more surprised as the last thing I saw before fading into the dark was a small shift of his shoulders and a white ray that erupted from his hands. My heart slowed further down as the silver sphere kept wandering through my chest, until it wasn’t any more than a low irregular thumping.
I heard something heavy hit the ground somewhere near my head and then the binding feeling in my chest lifted, and I smashed to the ground as well; like a spell was broken and my body was freed.
I panted for air, and oxygen flooded through my brain, waking me up and pushing back the darkness. As I opened my eyes I had to blink sev
eral times. Jaden was standing next to me with his illuminated palms that forced the dark demon down with the white ray that rose from his hands. The creature lay on the ground. Slowly the ray bore through its body, burning a hole that spread in all directions, leaving nothing but gray dust on the ground.
“You killed him.” I was surprised.
“I had to,” he answered.
“What happened?”
“Shhh…” He held his finger to his lips. “Are you okay?”
I shook my head still gasping for air. My body burned like fire and my heart was beating at an unnatural speed, as if it was trying to catch up the lost number of beats.
“Hold very still.” Jaden whispered and looked around. He closed his eyes for a second and vanished on the spot. I turned my head to find him, but he wasn’t in the room.
I jumped and my heart almost stopped beating again as he reappeared behind me a minute later. “The protection is broken. We are free,” he whispered. I had barely grasped the meaning of his words when he scooped me up in his arms and closed his eyes.
My head was spinning and my bones were hurting when I opened my eyes again. I was disoriented. The darkness around me told me it was still nighttime, but I had no idea where I was. As I tried to sit up a pair of arms held me down. I whimpered as they pressed against my sore body.
“Don’t move,” Jaden whispered into my ear.
“Where are we?” I felt icy air wash through my lungs and the hard ground beneath my hips and legs seemed to be frozen.
“A wooded area near Aurora.” His brief answer was interspersed with sharp breaths.
“What happened?”
“The protection broke as I killed the demon. Seems like he had been the one who put it up.” He coughed. “I teleported us out before the others could react.” Another cough.
“Are you alright?” His coughing didn’t sound too healthy.
“Sure—are you?” His grip on me became stronger and he held my chest down with his arm and shifted me towards the closest bush. “Shh—”
A noise nearby made my heart threaten to fail. I had had enough for one night—if not for a lifetime. It came nearer—shuffling feet, at least three pairs.
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