His Soul To Keep (Dark Knights of Heaven Book 1)

by Knight, TW

  A roaring boom of thunder shook the bungalow. The lights flickered out. Grumbling, Cassidy turned to ask Rail were she could find a flashlight or candle and screamed. Two shadowy figures appeared in front of her, outlined by the lightning. Grabbing a knife from the counter, she slashed out at the first intruder. Her arm stopped mid-swing, a strong hand around her wrist.

  "It’s okay, sweetheart," Rail said. "It’s Kaz and Bass."

  Cassidy relaxed and dropped the knife, embarrassment heating her cheeks. "I’m so sorry. It’s just, well, I’m still…" She was still fighting the fear that at any moment Lucifer might drag her back to Hell. Flustered, she turned away. "We were about to sit and eat. Do we have time?" The lights flickered back to life. Cassidy gasped at the sight of the two warriors.

  Obviously, they had come straight from the battlefield—bloody and beaten.

  "Oh, my God! Sit down." She grabbed Bass’s arm and guided him to a chair.

  Kaz cleared his throat. "We should get—"

  "No. You are going to sit, eat, and give yourselves a chance to recharge a little."

  All three men looked at each other and then back at Cassidy, who had taken up her all too familiar hands-on-her-hips-I’m-not-giving-in pose.

  "I could eat," Bass answered hopefully, glancing at Kaz.

  With a nod, Cassidy set out extra plates and silverware. Rail reached around her to grab the bowl of fruit. "Rail!" Cassidy shoved him, pointing at the stove. "Forget the fruit and get the fish before it burns."

  A laugh burst from Kaz, startling everyone. When he calmed down, he headed toward the bedroom. "I need to wash before I eat."

  "Yeah, me too." Bass stood with a little wobble, looking at his bloodstained hands.

  "Here." Cassidy turned on the kitchen faucet. "You can wash up here."

  * * *

  With the two Knights somewhat cleaner, the four of them sat down to an eerily quiet meal. The only sounds were the clink of silverware on plates, breathing, and the raging storm.

  "You were right," Kaz said with resignation, setting his fork aside.

  "About what?" Rail refilled his commander's wineglass and topped off the others.

  "There are others out there still fighting."

  "You met them?" Cassidy asked excitedly.

  The big man shook his head. "Unfortunately, no, but we found evidence of their presence. Several times when we reached the reported site, there was nothing left but blood splatters and scorched earth." He turned to Cassidy. "I owe you an apology. Your computer programs not only alerted us early to the scale of the trouble, but also gave us accurate information to many of the locations. Even an idea of what we were looking to run into.” He leaned forward, pinning Cassidy with a glare. “How did you accomplish that last bit?”

  "I linked your databases of demonology to my algorithms, of course. The parameters were set by the damage reports, locations, and any descriptions that had come in." Cassidy smiled brightly. "And thank you for realizing they work. Now if only I could find the other soul-keepers so we can keep them safe."

  "I think," Bass interjected, rubbing his temples and forcing the words out, "that we did. Sort of." Everyone looked at him. "Think about it. How many of the reports led us to skratars? Four, with the largest influx outside Anchorage—where we’d already had a report of bear attacks."

  "Which turned out to actually be a bear attack. Tam saw the bodies," Rail reminded him.

  "Tam saw the recovered bodies," Bass countered. "I think we’ve got an Aktura hiding in Alaska."

  Cassidy burned with pride. She had been right. She’d used the information they did know to find the missing pieces they didn’t. "Well, as soon as you’re ready, let’s head home. I’m itching to start sifting through the data logs."

  * * *

  "I think I found one," Margarite shouted excitedly from her desk.

  The moment they’d returned home, Kaz gave all the Aktura access to the computer lab with his blessing and a few rules. At least the rules were reasonable and everyone promised to follow them. No one was to be alone in the lab, there was to be no unsupervised shopping and no social networking unless it was through one of the many false personas set up strictly for filtering information regarding the other Knights and lost Aktura. The only complaint was from Tucker when Kaz unequivocally said “no” to online gaming.

  Margarite was the first volunteer to join when Cassidy asked for help. The former model took to the work like a pro. For the first time, Cassidy saw the young woman come to life. Within two weeks, everyone was working, sorting information, tracking down leads, and taking turns on the monitoring stations. The last meant all of the Knights would be free to go on patrol if there was another worldwide call out, and there would be people available to keep track of things.

  "Who did you find?" Cassidy moved around to her friend's desk to look over her shoulder at the computer screen.

  "I think I found the soul-keeper hiding in Alaska or at least the area they could be in. There’s been another report of an animal in Alaska near where the guys investigated that bear attack."

  The joy in her voice made Cassidy smile more than the news. "Wonderful! How about you draft up a report for Kaz and Rail?"

  "A report?" Margarite asked nervously.

  Cassidy laughed and squeezed her shoulder. "Don’t worry. Just use the template I showed you. It’s as easy as filling in the blanks. Just don’t forget to print out whatever data, like maps and whatnot, the guys will need. It’s all on the check list." She walked away feeling lighter than she had in months.

  "Oh." Margarite looked worriedly at the little journal she’d taken notes in during training. "Cassidy, wait."

  "You can do this," Cassidy playfully twisted a strand of her hair, "but if it will make you feel better, I’ll send Tam down to give you a hand." She winked and smiled at her friend's instant blush.

  "Thank you." Margarite closed the notebook and stood, leaning against the desk. "Cassidy, do you think it’s almost over? I mean, Tam says the barriers have remained closed and this is first substantial report we’ve had in two months. If they hadn’t already been to Alaska…"

  Cassidy let out a long sigh. "I’m afraid it’s just the calm before the storm. Lucifer likes to play games, and I think this is one of them. I can’t picture him sitting back, licking his wounds. We didn’t hurt him that bad. He’s plotting, letting us relax, and waiting for us to let our guard down. We can’t do that. We can’t let him get the upper hand again." She rubbed her arms, a chill crawling over her.

  Maragrite tilted her head, watching her friend. "You’re not very good at this reassuring thing, you know."

  "Sorry. I’m not feeling very reassured myself right now."

  "Did you really go to Hell?" Margarite asked softly. "I’m sorry. I shouldn’t pry, but you’ve never really said what happened to you and Rail."

  Shaking off the miasma of depression that always came on the heels of the memory, Cassidy smiled sadly. "Lucifer is a master manipulator. He tortured me to get at Rail. He killed Rail to get at me," she answered flatly.

  Margarite’s voice remained soft. "How did you get away?"

  Cassidy shrugged, the slightest lift to her shoulders. "Something scared Lucifer, and he let us go. Rail is still trying to figure out what happened. He hopes finding the prophecy will lead us to the answers." Clinging to that hope herself, she left to hunt down Rail in the subterranean library.

  * * *

  Cassidy’s steps echoed back at her as she slowly descended into the depths of the island. She really hated the library. It reminded her too much of Lucifer’s chamber.

  Hopefully, Lucifer wouldn’t be able to pull them into Hell again. Lord knew he had enough of their blood spread over the chamber to make another attempt. Or twenty.

  To lessen the possibility, the Knights thickened and added layers to the barrier around the island. They wove patches into every crack they found. Unfortunately, without knowing the exact blood-summoning spell Lucifer used, it w
as the best they could do. It had taken them days and they were no further ahead. The lack of knowledge sent Zach on the hunt for what he referred to as the First Arcane to find the symbols Rail had seen.

  Cassidy shivered. She’d felt the shifts in the energy surrounding the compound with each change.

  Facing the doors to the library, Cassidy once again wondered if her new sensitivity was a result of her soul bond with Rail or a side effect of what had happened to them in Hell.

  Taking a deep breath and painting a smile on her face, Cassidy pushed through the doors. "Hey, honey. How are things going with the research?" Wincing at the insincerity in her upbeat tone, she strode forward bravely. Standing on her tiptoes, she peered over the wall of books on the table blocking Rail from her view. He didn’t even grunt a hello. "What’s up?"

  Rail had his elbows on the table and his head in his hands, brow furrowed. He studied a piece of aged parchment in front of him. "Huh?" He looked up, bleary eyed.

  "You have been down here too long." Cassidy walked around the table. After moving a few books out of the way, she joined him on the bench. "Come upstairs with me and we’ll take a relaxing bath."

  "In a little bit, sweetheart. I want to finish this."

  Frustrated she couldn’t seduce him away from his books, Cassidy huffed and stood. "Fine. I’ll go take a bath by myself then, and you’re not getting the good news until we give a formal report to the group."

  Rail gently grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to him. He rested his head against her shoulder.

  "You can’t keep pushing yourself like this. You haven’t taken a break since we got back."

  With his tone dripping with exhaustion, he rasped, "I’m sorry.” Rolling up the parchment he’d been reading, he set it aside and gave Cassidy his full attention. “You mentioned a report?”

  “Nope. Now, you have to wait.” She gave him a quick peck on the lips and stood. With a playful flip of her hair, she turned to leave. Her glorious exit turned to disaster when her elbow nicked a pile of books precariously perched on the table. The whole mess tumbled in an avalanche of parchment and leather. "Oh, crap. Did I ruin anything?"

  They dove to the floor to catch the tomes. One fragmented in Cassidy’s hands. Rail placed his hands on top of the book and together they moved it back to the tabletop.

  "I think we can save it if we’re careful," he said softly. "Don’t worry."

  "Kaz is going to kill me." Cassidy choked on the lump forming in her throat. She’d just obliterated a priceless piece of history.

  "It was bound to happen sooner or later. Have you seen how Boomer handles them? Hell, yesterday he was playing catch with one of the clay jars."

  "Thanks." She sniffled.

  Rail returned to his knees to retrieve another volume. “For what?"

  "For not yelling at me and letting me know that Boomer is a bigger idiot than I thought."

  They laughed.

  Still chuckling, Rail picked up the last book and handed it to Cassidy. The cover split from the backing, leaving her holding the aged leather while he held the pages. With a gasp, Rail dropped the crumbling paper and snatched the leather from Cassidy’s hands. "We found it!"

  Chapter Fifty

  "Are you telling me we have the prophecy?" Cassidy took a shaky step backward and sat heavily on the bench. "Are you sure?"

  "It’s a copy, but yes, I think it’s the full prophecy and an explanation of how this person came to be in possession of it."

  "Please tell me that book wasn’t bound in human skin." She broke out in a cold sweat at the idea.

  Rail shook his head and joined her on the bench. "No. This is cowhide and much newer, comparatively speaking, than the original piece you saw. Looks like this was written by a monk in the eleventh century. There’s something here about visitations. He was told to put these words down and keep them safe." Grabbing her hand, Rail pulled Cassidy to her feet. "Come on, we need to show Kaz."

  Cassidy kissed him and pulled away. "You stay here, and I’ll get the others. We can tell them together."

  "We can do that upstairs, sweetheart."

  "I’d feel better if we didn’t," she tilted her head toward the iron doors, "for safety's sake."

  Rail slapped his forehead. "I was so excited, I wasn’t thinking."

  Cassidy gave him another quick kiss. "That’s what I love about you. You’re more human than you think." She winked and took off.

  * * *

  By the time Cassidy returned with everyone in tow, Rail had the bookbinding laid out on the table, held down by books, and he’d almost finished the translations.

  "This better be good," Boomer snapped as he sat on the edge of the table and pulled Gina against him. "We were busy."

  "Yeah." Rail smirked. "It’s good. This," he pointed to the sheet of leather in front of him, "was the cover of a book accounting angelic visitations made to various monks during the tenth and eleventh centuries at a monastery in—"

  "Whoo-hoo," Boomer cut him off and received a smack on the back of the head for the interruption.

  "Shut it," Kaz snapped. "Go on."

  Rail smiled. "Doesn’t matter. The monks produced this book for their fellow future brothers only. There are several passages stating they were told by the visiting angel to never let anyone outside the monastery know they had been visited or what they had been told."

  Zach leaned over the table. “What does this mean for us? We all know that angels were occasionally given permission to visit holy people. Even demons have made visitations disguised as angelic messengers to travelers just to fuck things up. What’s so special about these visitations?"

  Rail tapped the leather binding. "One of these visitors gave the monks a copy of the prophecy we’ve been searching for."

  "You’re sure?" Kaz looked at him with open disbelief.

  "The monk who bound the book also penned the last entry. He personally took down the words of an elderly monk as he lay in his deathbed. The younger monk was sworn to secrecy and told to never let anyone, not even his brother monks, see what he was taking down. Right here, he writes, ‘Brother Gemlich has told me never to speak of this, a gift granted to him as the eldest among our simple order. This is a record of the last visitation granted to us. The Sister of Light told Brother Gemlich that all would be revealed in time when Dark and Light become one in the service of the most Holy.’ So yes, I’d say it’s what we’ve been looking for." Rail couldn’t keep the grin off his face. "And I’d say that line about Light and Dark becoming one describes mine and Cassidy’s soul-mating."

  "Okay," Boomer drawled. "What else does it say?"

  Rail traced a finger down the lines of handwritten script on the left side until he found the passage he wanted. "’On the twenty-first night of the twelfth month, a new angel did appear—say only to myself. She bid me secrecy and bid me a vow to hold the words she would give until which time The Most Holy should call me home. She gave no name, made no show of power, but made known that she was one of three sisters set to watch over Creation for all time and beyond’—"

  "How do we know this was really an angel and not the Hell Bitch playing games?" Bass laid a dagger on the table and gave it a spin. "You know how those demon spawn like to play games with the faithful."

  "I don’t think that’s the kind of game she plays. She’s given herself to the Darkness. I don’t see her passing the prophecy on to the opposing team," Kaz answered before Rail could.

  "Doesn’t mean she didn’t slip up here and give those monks a false prophecy," Bass offered.

  "Why are you focused on her? There are other Seers, right?" Seraphina moved to Rail’s side. "That monk mentioned three sisters. In our research, I saw lots of references to the number three being sacred." She opened the scroll. "The Three Fates, the Stygian Witches, the Holy Trinity."

  Zach moved to her side. "So?"

  "Maybe the Seers were part of that. Maybe they perpetuated that."

  "Granted, that’s a possibility," Zach
conceded.

  Gina cleared her throat. "Okay, we know that one Seer is in Hell. Where are the other two?" When everyone turned to stare at her, she snapped, "Look, I don’t know much, and I don’t understand half of what you all say, but I do listen when you guys talk. Three women, three sisters, three fates, and I’ve heard you mention the three faces of the Earth Mother."

  She was met with silence.

  Cassidy groaned. "Please don’t tell me it’s that damn compulsion again."

  "No." Rail took her hand. "We just never thought about it. I mean, really, we didn’t care about the Seers. They dealt exclusively with the Hierarchy and a few select humans. But to answer Gina’s question, legend says that one vanished—presumably destroyed by the one who went to Hell—and the last ran away, went into hiding."

  "Bet you the one in hiding is the one who visited those monks," Boomer observed. “You know, like leaving one of those if anything happens to me letters.”

  Gina pushed away from Boomer, her eyes shimmering. She clapped, jumping up and down. "Ooo, ooo, I got it…"

  Boomer's eyebrows arched as though it were the first time Gina had ever spoken. "What?"

  "Seraphina was reading something about balance. Something called universal balance. It was on one of the clay thingies." She motioned to the tablets stacked on one of the tables. "Light and Dark have to be in balance. That would mean one Seer in Hell, one in Heaven, and one here on Earth." She squealed like a game show winner and did a little dance.

  Bass stood and paced around the group. "Okay, say Gina is right. And we presume that the dead Seer isn’t dead. Why wouldn’t one or both of the good Seers come to us? Lucifer has a Seer helping him. To keep the balance, wouldn’t one of the others have to help us?"

  Cassidy shook her head. "I don’t think Lucifer is getting help from the Seer. He asked me for the prophecy as payment for our freedom. He presumed we knew what he was talking about. I don’t think he knows any more than we do." She snapped her fingers and pointed at Rail. "Maybe the Seers can’t actually tell any of you their prophecies. Maybe it has to go through someone like a priest, or monk, or whoever."