Marked, Soul Guardians Book 1

by Kim Richardson

  A warm breeze brushed her face as Kara rushed through the throng of mortals who crowded the elaborate maze of streets. She tried her best to follow the English bulldog that ran at her side, staying close to the buildings and out of the thickest of the commotion. The smells ran from foul to fragrant. There was a faint mist of exhaust fumes with a hint of blossoms. She slid past men in suits arguing loudly on their cell phones, women balancing large shopping bags while they tried to hang on to their children, and teens huddled together as they laughed excitedly about something on their smart phones. Kara ignored the beautiful lush park and the sweet aroma of the summer blooms. She didn’t even glance at the Golden Retriever puppies in the window of the pet shop.

  She didn’t have time to stop.

  “How far is it till we get there?” whispered Kara as she sidled around a large woman sucking a soda drink through a straw. “The mortals are giving me looks.”

  Thor dove under the legs of an elderly man with a walking stick and kept his eyes on the street. “Not far. Just after the next block.”

  Kara accidentally rammed her shoulder into a man. He glowered at her. “I’m so sorry, excuse me. I didn’t see you there. I said I was sorry.” She twisted around him and ran to catch up to Thor.

  “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” she blurted out loudly to the dog. She disregarded the confused looks that the passing mortals gave her. It seemed only fair to her that she should know what was going on.

  Thor halted and turned. His gray tongue hung out the side of his jaw and grazed the sidewalk in a sloppy mess. “You’ll see when we get there. Then you’ll understand. I just can’t talk about it right now—especially here.” His big brown eyes looked about uneasily. He lifted his snout and sniffed the air. With a bounce in his step, he turned and scurried down the street.

  Pressure weighed on Kara’s chest, and she pressed on. She had been on an unauthorized excursion to a Boston coffee shop with Jenny when Thor had suddenly appeared. There had been an attack on the Sensitives. If Thor had known where she was, that meant that the legion also knew.

  Leaving Jenny to her own devices, Kara had followed Thor out of the shop.

  She wasn’t sorry she had lied about a possible rift to the Counter Demon Division. In fact, she would do it again to see that smile on Jenny’s face when she hooked her up with that handsome teen. Jenny had nearly died in the netherworld, and she deserved a break and a little fun. Perhaps guardian angels were good at hiding their emotions, but it didn’t mean they didn’t have feelings. Kara wanted to do something meaningful for her friend, even if she undoubtedly knew she was breaking some sacred law. She was aware her actions would probably cost her a demotion in the legion or worse—a trip to Tartarus, the angel prison, her favorite of all places. But it seemed that the recent attacks on the Sensitives had saved her the trip.

  And right now, it appeared Tartarus was the least of her problems.

  Kara’s knees buckled at the thought of those evil Seirs slaughtering the Sensitives in a merciless attack. A chill rolled up her back as she remembered the wicked grins painted on the hideous faces of the Seirs. The horrifying tattooed eyes on the back of their heads seemed to follow her wherever she went. Their long black leather coats and death blades haunted her. Although they had once been Sensitives, gifted with the ability to see the supernatural, the Seirs had turned evil and had sworn an allegiance to the netherworld. Now they had become enemies that the guardian angels couldn’t fight or kill. Like all guardian angels, Kara had sworn an oath to protect all mortals, and although the Seirs were the most sinister of all, they were still mortals and were not to be touched. The Seirs were off limits.

  Kara glowered and clenched her jaw, resolving that somehow she would find a way to stop them. Someone had to, and she might as well be that someone.

  She remembered the kind faces and the confident gleam in the eyes of the Sensitives who had saved her and her friends from the Seirs in the warehouse a week ago. They had been so elegant in their suits and fedora hats, like the gangsters from the old movies she loved to watch with her grandmother. But if the Sensitives had been so skilled with their gleaming swords and so well trained in the martial arts, how had the Seirs defeated them in these recent attacks? Was Lilith behind these assaults?

  Somehow, Kara had the nasty feeling that she was.

  The Seirs followed Lilith’s commands like obedient dogs. They had been promised power and immortality, and in return they did Lilith’s bidding. When Kara had rescued Jenny from their clutches, Lilith had promised that she would avenge her father’s death. It appeared as though Lilith’s revenge had already begun.

  Kara’s last visit to the netherworld had left her feeling troubled. She hadn’t shared the conversations she’d had with Morthdu, the keeper of the netherworld, with anyone—not even with David. It was bad enough to be marked, to be a demon spawn. She couldn’t blame the legion for being suspicious of her—they must have known that they had traitors among them. Kara knew not only that she was Asmodeus’s daughter, but that she also shared a link with Morthdu. It would be a mistake to tell anybody about that.

  The green entity had said, The darkness lives within you...

  Kara shivered at the thought. She knew that she was part of the netherworld and had an unmistakable connection to another conscious level. What the green sun had told her was all true—Kara had the darkness inside her.

  But how did it get there?

  Since her trip to the netherworld she had been obsessed with what Morthdu had told her. She replayed the conversations in her head over and over again. Had she missed something? Had she misheard Morthdu? Kara repeatedly tried to deny it, but in the end she knew she had a darkness in her—she felt it. But she desperately wanted to share it with someone, that way they could tell her it wasn’t true. It ate at her, like a flesh eating disease, like cold hands wrapped around her neck choking the angel life out of her.

  And yet she couldn’t shake off her thrill for that power and for more...

  Kara shuddered. Was that the darkness?

  What’s worse, the more she used her elemental powers, the more she felt drawn to the netherworld. She tried to deny it, but the sensation was intoxicating. Part of her wanted to explore these feelings—and the other part was absolutely terrified at what this meant.

  She wasn’t like her late father or her half-sister Lilith. She was one of the good guys.

  The brick buildings around them cast long shadows, and Kara hurried to catch up to Thor. He tore around the next corner at the end of the block. A wall of brownstone buildings loomed before them. Thor dashed across the street. Kara ignored the loud comments of having her dog off leash by a middle aged couple and galloped behind him. He hurtled up a set of concrete stairs that led to a large black wooden door. Kara was amazed at the agility of the bulldog’s grubby little legs.

  The stone building was a warm brown color, and Kara imagined that the brick was made of chocolate. How she missed the taste of chocolate melting on her tongue! Her mortal days already seemed so far away.

  Vibrant flower boxes with a variety of purple pansies and blood-red geraniums hung below the tall windows of the neighboring buildings, but the flowers hanging from the windows of the chocolate-brown building were dead. A single candle burned in one of the lower windows.

  Thor scrambled onto the side metal railing and pressed a paw on the dagger shaped brass doorbell. After a few seconds, there was a buzzing sound, a click, and the door unlocked. Thor jumped down onto the veranda and pushed open the door with his flat face.

  Kara closed the door behind her. The floorboards creaked as she stepped out of the foyer and followed Thor down a hall. Intricate moldings decorated the walls like icing on a fancy cake. It was like a grand hotel, but on a smaller scale. The sound of Kara’s boots was stifled by lush Persian carpets that ran the length of the hall. The dim lighting from a large chandelier cast a sullen light, and Kara could hear mumbling voices. The air smelled of disi
nfectant and blood.

  Thor disappeared through a doorway at the end of the hall. Kara stepped behind him across the threshold.

  David, Peter, and some Sensitives were already inside. In front of them, the bodies of men and women lay tangled over one another with their limbs twisted hideously. Gaping wounds slashed across their necks, and their empty hands clutched at their throats in a last attempt to keep the blood from pouring out.

  The grisly scene horrified her and yet compelled her to investigate closer. It was like a crime scene from one of the television police shows she loved to watch with her mother. Blood covered the walls as though buckets of red paint had been thrown against them. Kara searched but could find no weapons.

  A young woman with swollen red eyes had begun to wash the blood from the floors. She wiped her wet nose with her sleeve and swabbed a pink cloth on the floorboards. Her long blonde hair fell over her face. She pushed it back and mumbled incomprehensively as she worked vigorously at the dark maroon stains which were seeping into the floorboards.

  David and Peter stood by the far wall next to a large bay window. The soft light cast shadows under their eyes. Peter looked as though he was about to be sick. She shared a look with David before she forced her feelings for him out of her mind. This wasn’t the time or place to be affectionate.

  “Where’s Jenny?” asked David in a low voice. He brushed up against Kara. “I thought she was with you.”

  Kara averted her eyes. “She’s still at the coffee shop. I told her we’d meet up with her later. I didn’t tell her about this. Thor didn’t give me much anyway.”

  David raked his blond disheveled hair with his fingers and sighed. “Not what you expected, huh? Those Seirs are pretty messed up. You have to be seriously psychotic to do this to other mortals. They need to be taught a lesson.” David cracked his knuckles. “I wish the legion could let us revoke our oaths for a few minutes—just enough to kill a few of them.”

  “I wish we could have done something.” With his hands in his pockets, Peter teetered back and forth on the balls of his feet. “I feel so useless.”

  Kara squeezed his shoulder gently. “So do I, Peter. I wish we could have helped in some way. These poor people didn’t deserve to die like this.” Kara sighed loudly. “It’s horrible.”

  The Sensitives huddled together in the center of the room with their heads bent in conversation. Their faces were hidden beneath their black hats.

  Thor crossed the room and sniffed the bodies gingerly. Taking time with each one, he moved with purpose, like a police dog sniffing out drugs from luggage at the airport.

  A Sensitive with gleaming dark eyes watched the dog from under his black fedora. An angry-looking scar marred the left side of his face. He spotted Kara, and after a moment he walked towards her. The tread of his heavy boots cut through the eerie silence. He tipped his hat in a greeting. “Kara. I’m glad you’re here.”

  Kara gave a slight nod and kept her eyes on the scene. “Santo, what happened here?” She kept her voice low, afraid of disrespecting the dead.

  Santo let out a heavy sigh. “A bloodbath.”

  “But...” Kara met Santo’s dark eyes. “But I don’t see any weapons. It’s almost as though they were executed.”

  Santo’s finger stroked the scar on the side of his face. “They were executed—by a group of murderous cowards. I should have been here. I would have ripped out their hearts with my bare hands.” Santo gripped the hilt of his sword until his knuckles turned white.

  “And you’re sure the Seirs did this?” said Kara, in more of a statement than a question. The lifeless eyes of the dead watched her, as if accusing her of the massacre—that somehow this was her fault, that she should have protected them. She suppressed a shiver and looked away.

  “Yes, it’s how they kill. It’s their signature, one slash across the throat. Cowards,” hissed Santo, and his expression darkened. “They weren’t prepared. They never had a fighting chance.” A large vein pulsed on his forehead below the rim of his hat. “I’m going to kill every last one of them. I swear it.”

  “Here! Here!” said David, and he squared his shoulders. “Their days are numbered. You can quote me on that.”

  Kara blinked to clear the fumes of disinfectant from her eyes. The whole situation was worse than she had anticipated. “What will you do with the bodies?”

  Santo shifted his weight and stared at the floor. “We’ll bury them together in our sacred burial site outside the city. We’ll have a ceremony...and then we’ll bury our dead.”

  The other Sensitives were intrigued as Thor pressed his paw on the body of a woman and waited. After a moment, he waddled up to her head and sat beside her. His lips moved and strings of drool dripped onto the woman’s face. Kara cocked her head to the side to try and get a better view of what he was doing. Why was he so interested in a dead mortal?

  “Santo, what about their souls? Were the souls saved?”

  Santo was silent for a while. “We got confirmation that their souls are dead. The Seirs slaughtered them and then destroyed their souls.”

  Kara had witnessed the brilliant tiny crystals detaching themselves from the bodies of dead mortals many times. Most of the time she or another angel was there to take the glowing white ball back to safety. Unless the soul was saved, the mortal spirit would die.

  The legion had lost thousands of angels in the battle against Asmodeus and his demons. Now there weren’t enough guardians to look after all the mortals. The situation was beyond horrendous.

  “And you think the Seirs killed their souls too?” asked Kara. “But that doesn’t make any sense. They’re mortals. Why would the Seirs be interested in their souls?”

  Santo closed his eyes and rubbed his temples with his thumb. “Seirs use mortal souls as payment—it’s part of the deal they’ve made with the netherworld. They help the demons to stay in our world by giving them souls. It’s all part of their plan to become demons themselves one day.”

  Kara dug her fingers into her leg. This had Lilith’s signature all over it. Somehow, she knew her half-sister was involved, and she had to be stopped.

  The young woman sobbed as she scrubbed the floor.

  Kara looked away and shifted her weight uncomfortably. “I don’t see any children among the dead. Were there any children?” She bit her lip and prayed that the Seirs hadn’t hurt the children.

  Santo clenched his jaw and stared at the bodies. His voice quivered when he spoke. “We think they took the children.”

  “What! Why would they take the children?” Kara leaned forward and searched Santo’s face. A musty smell filled her nostrils.

  Santo turned to face her and scratched his stubble. His mouth was pressed into a hard line. “We don’t know—it’s never happened before. I’ve never heard of Seirs taking children...Sensitive children even less. The elders are dumbfounded. We don’t understand what’s happening.”

  Kara and David shared an uneasy glance.

  She turned her attention back to Santo. “You said they took them, so that means they’re still alive, right? Then there’s still hope that we’ll find them. If they’re alive—we’ll find them. The legion will help you—I’m sure of it. We will find the children.”

  Kara pressed a hand on Santo’s arm. When he didn’t say anything, she continued. “We’re going to find the children, I promise. The Seirs couldn’t have gotten far. My team and I will search the city. We’ll get them back.”

  “It’s not just in this city.” Santo’s thick brows lowered into a scowl. “We have reports of killings and kidnappings all over the globe. All the children are missing. They’ve taken them and vanished. We don’t know how they did it, or how they were able to kill so many and get away. They must have gotten outside help.”

  Kara had an idea of where this help had come from. Stone-faced, she kept her guilt at bay. She didn’t want Santo and the others to get a sense of what she was thinking. If she was right, and Lilith was behind this, it me
ant that Kara was partly to blame because Lilith was out for revenge. She knew how to get under Kara’s skin.

  As Kara tore her eyes away from the dead bodies, she made a promise to herself. She would find the missing children and bring them back. They were innocent. Who knew what horrible things the Seirs were doing to them at this very moment? One thing was for certain, she had to find the children before the Seirs killed them.

  “Kara.” Thor’s big eyes gleamed with urgency. “Quickly, she doesn’t have much longer.”

  Kara followed the dog over to the body he had paid so much attention to earlier. David and Peter followed quickly behind. Strands of black hair were stuck to the woman’s sweaty forehead, and her chest rose and fell with effort. Her face was streaked with blood, and the deep gash on her throat gurgled quietly. Her eyelids fluttered open, and she stared up at the ceiling, unfocused. She blinked slowly and then saw Kara.

  “A—are...you...Kara?” she croaked, each word making her wince.

  “She’s still alive! We need to get her to a hospital . . .”

  Kara’s words caught in her throat. Thor’s expression was solemn. He shook his head slowly and lowered his eyes.

  Kara frowned. She leaned forward and took the woman’s hand in hers. Her touch was icy and Kara squeezed her palm gently. “Yes, I’m Kara. What...what can I do to help you?”

  The woman’s mouth moved. Her bottom lip trembled, and she wheezed and closed her eyes. She opened her eyes after a moment and spoke. “I...have...a...message.”

  Kara looked up and met Santo’s questioning look. The other Sensitives gathered around them.

  “What’s the message? Who gave you this message?” Kara searched the woman’s face.

  The woman’s eyes glazed over as she coughed up blood. Kara cringed at the sound as the woman tried to suck air into her lungs. She wasn’t sure she would be able to give the message.

  “She’s in pain...please, can’t we do anything? She needs a doctor. ” Kara felt a slight squeeze on her hand. The woman stared at her and then opened her eyes wide and spoke with renewed vigor.

  “To my dearest sister, Kara,” said the woman in a new voice—smooth and mocking. “Because of you, I’ve decided to take the mortal world as my own and kill all of these disgusting humans you care so much about. My army of Seirs will annihilate the angels and exterminate the Sensitives who resist us. All free people will be killed or enslaved—and I will bend you to my will, too.

  “You know that I’m doing all of this because of you. You will be to blame for the destruction of the mortal world, sister dear. Ta-ta!”

  A soft breath escaped the woman’s mouth. Her eyes rolled in the back of her head, and her body went limp.

  Chapter 2

  Dirleton Castle, Scotland