The beam struck his right shoulder, unbalancing him. Luther planted his feet firmly on the burning ground and called all of his strength, using his Scion power to deflect the destructive force battering him. His right arm blazed hot and fiery needles pierced his shoulder where the light had torn his flesh.
There was no saving him now. He knew that. All he could do was shield Thana until he could no longer withstand the hellish attack, then it would tear through them both.
He’d never wished for strength as much as he did now. With more power, he might have been able to defeat Kagan and save her. He wished he could for her sake. He’d changed nothing by taking her fate upon himself.
He’d failed her.
He should die for her because of that.
He would die for her.
The strength of the light increased again, pushing against him, and as he braced himself.
His focus moved to Thana, huddled behind him, her fear and pain as real to him as his own. He wished he could see her one last time. Wished he could look upon her beautiful face and tell her he was sorry.
Wished he could tell her he loved her.
In his attempt to save her, he’d brought her fate to his doorstep, and there was nothing he could do to stop it now. He wasn’t strong enough to defeat Kagan, not even when he wanted it with all of his heart, so he could keep his promise and protect her.
Another blast of light shattered ripped at his flesh. He bore the pain, pleading for it to end and for Thana to be safe. He had to stand firm and last a little longer, for her sake.
In the midst of the deafening roar and searing pain, Luther found calm.
Kagan stood before him, light surrounding him, so bright Luther couldn’t see anything else. He looked into his Scion brother’s eyes and saw the anguish there, saw the tears streaking his cheeks as he directed the powers of Hades at Luther. He couldn’t hate him for what he’d done. It hadn’t been his choice. He’d been captured, tortured, implanted with this foreign evil by Lucifer. The light faded enough that he could see Mire and the others try to stop Kagan. There was such pain in his fellow Scion warrior’s eyes and Luther was sorry they had to witness this.
He sensed Thana behind him.
He didn’t want to die.
The power ripped through his arms, cutting him to the bone, slashed at his legs.
He didn’t want to leave her even when he knew he must in order to attempt to protect her and the world.
His life was eternal. This wasn’t death. It was only a new beginning.
The last of his strength slipped away.
Nothing could save him now.
A shape broke the light and he blinked his watering eyes to bring it into focus.
Thana. She stood with her back to him, her arms outstretched, shielding him from the wrath of Hell’s power with her fragile body.
“No!” Luther reached for her, pulled her into his arms, and turned his back on Kagan, falling to his knees at the same time.
He held her close as he battled to remain conscious, tears blurring his vision. The heat against his back abated but it wasn’t soon enough. Luther collapsed against her frail form and drifted into the darkness.
He knew what the end of the attack meant.
He’d failed her.
Thana was gone.
15
Pain beat deep in Luther’s chest and throbbed through his bones. He slowly opened his eyes, expecting to see the bright white light of the heavenly realms. Instead, a dull golden glow filled his blurred vision. Fuzzy shapes drifted in and out, growing darker then lighter, and he tried to focus on them. An annoying high-pitched ringing droned in his ears. He frowned and drew a shaky breath, rubbing his eyes. His entire arm burned when he lifted it.
A darker shape appeared above him, and something prickly dug into his bare back, bottom and legs.
He narrowed his eyes and the shape grew clearer.
Sloane.
He wasn’t dead.
“Keep still.” The Scion’s sounded distant and muffled, as though her were underwater. Sloane held down Luther’s bare shoulders, keeping him in place atop the sharp spikes. He grimaced, trying to remember what had happened. He’d been sure he was going to die.
Other voices started to drift through the ringing in his ears. He tilted his head to one side. Across scorched black ground he saw Lin kneeling beside someone, his hands shining brightly as he swept them over her body, light beaming down on her. Luther looked at his hand then his arm. He remembered his flesh burning away under the onslaught of Kagan’s power. It was perfect again now. Not a scratch or a bruise to show for his battle.
His eyes slowly widened as more came back to him and he looked back at Sloane.
Thana.
Mira knelt on the other side of Thana’s body, her eyes closed as she whispered her spells.
Luther shoved Sloane aside when he tried to stop him from getting up. He made it onto his knees then retched, coughing up blood.
“You shouldn’t move.” Sloane tried to take hold of his arm.
He shirked the other Scion’s grip and continued, bringing his right knee up first and setting his foot down, then slowly following it with his left. It took all of his strength to stand and all of his willpower to remain there. His head spun, and hot bile rose in his throat once more, but he swallowed it down, watching intently as Lin and Mira worked to save Thana.
Sloane was speaking behind him, but the words were lost on Luther.
He couldn’t rest. Not now.
Pushing onward, warm air washed over his bare body, the effort of moving causing every inch of him to ache and throb.
Kagan paced a short distance away with Wyck and Chago, both of whom must have arrived at some point during the melee. Kagan’s moves were agitated and even from across the room, Luther could feel the anger burning within him. The ceiling of the apartment was still swirling with heavy, forbidding black clouds and not even the light of the impending sunrise warmed them. They were as dark as Lucifer himself, the one behind all this distress. Hell would pay for what they’d made Kagan do, he was sure, but it wasn’t any consolation.
Luther took a heavy step forward, keeping his momentum going as he stumbled across the blackened floor toward Thana. Pain blazed in every muscle and bone, stealing what little strength he had. Mira looked up as he reached them and caught him as he fell to his knees, hitting the ground hard. She muttered something soft against his shoulder as he collapsed. The overwhelming urge to sleep crashed over him but he fought it, pushing away from Mira. Her spells wouldn’t work on him. Not now. Not with so much at stake.
His gaze rested on Thana. Her face and body were still, littered with cuts and patches where the skin had burned away, leaving angry red welts. Her dress was ruined, the remains of the blue fabric doing nothing to cover her.
He leaned closer, running a shaky hand across her cheek and silently begging her to return to him. He’d found love for the first time and it couldn’t be over, not before he’d told her how he felt and asked her to be his.
“There’s nothing I can do,” Lin whispered.
Luther looked at him, struggling to hold back his tears and stop himself from breaking down. “Please. You have to save her.”
“Nothing I do is working. Not even Mira’s magic can revive her.” Lin’s dark gaze held both sorrow and pity, but Luther refused to give up. This wasn’t over. He wouldn’t let her go so easily. There had to be something that he could do.
Kagan looked over at Thana, briefly met Luther’s gaze, then turned his back on them.
Whatever twisted torture Lucifer had done to Kagan to force him to betray his duty, his Scion brethren, was unforgivable. Hades wanted Thana to die, most likely because of the ancient Seal she housed within her DNA, but why? It would do them no good to break the fourth Seal of the Apocalypse when the previous three were still intact and safely housed inside their human hosts. Lucifer had to know that. Which meant there was another reason.
None
of it made any sense.
Mira left his side.
Luther took a deep breath and blinked away his tears, fists clenched.
He’d find the answer. He refused to give up.
Gently, he pulled Thana’s limp body into his arms, cradling her to his bare chest, ignoring the agony tearing through him with each movement. It didn’t matter that he was still healing and incredibly weak from Kagan’s attack. All that mattered was Thana. He kissed the top of her head, inhaling the sweet floral scent of her shampoo. He rocked her slowly, the pain in his heart so strong he couldn’t bear it. She couldn’t be gone. He’d done everything to save her. He was supposed to protect her.
Heaven hadn’t warned him.
Neilar had though.
That Nephilim bastard had known this was going to happen.
If Sloane hadn’t driven him away, he might’ve gotten the answers he’d wanted and discovered Kagan was responsible for carrying out the death sentence on Thana. He slowly lifted his head and glared at his Scion brother, rage burning in his heart, overwhelming all else.
“Don’t you dare blame this on him.” Lin’s tone was as black as the clouds above them and Luther transferred his glare to him, the need for revenge scorching through his bloodstream.
His anger abated, however, when he saw the pain in Lin’s brown eyes and the weariness. He was weak too. He and Sloane and the others had used all their strength as well, trying to save him and Thana. The combined pain of those around him was suffocating. Lin was right. Sloane didn’t deserve his fury, just as Thana hadn’t deserved Kagan’s.
Lucifer was to blame.
Frustrated, Luther growled between clenched teeth and lightning crackled through the dark clouds swirling above, filling the morning with deafening crashes of thunder. He clutched Thana to him and pressed his lips to her forehead, wishing with all his heart that Sloane hadn’t been able to save him either. He didn’t want to live in a universe without her.
Then she shifted in his arms.
At first, he thought he must have imagined it, but then she twitched again.
Luther stared down at her, eyes wide as her body lifted out of his arms. Everyone in the room stopped, watching as Thana’s form floated into the air, her arms and legs hanging limp.
A long, sheer robe appeared, covering her from neck to ankles. She hovered above him, incandescent light sparkling near her shoulder blades. Before his eyes, pure silver feathers sprouted from her mocha skin, knitting together to create wings. Her form righted in the air, her feet pointing downward, until she stood above them.
The lacerations and burns on her skin faded, leaving only smooth unmarked flesh. Her hair seemed to lengthen as well, curling down to the small of her back, streaks of sliver now mixed with the midnight black.
Unable to believe what he was seeing, Luther glanced at his fellow Scion warriors. They too were gaping up at Thana’s transformation. Lin moved in beside him, his precious katana in hand. With great effort, Luther rose to find his clothes materializing on his body, along with his weapons. For the first time since the attack, a sense of calm washed over him.
Thana remained motionless in the air, her eyes closed.
“What’s happening?” Chago asked, his confusion matching Luther’s own. In all of eternity, he’d never witnessed the birth of an angel. Angels had been created by Divinity at the beginning of all, same as the Scion. They were immortal, except in rare instances. Replacements weren’t needed.
The rest of the Scion gathered behind him. Luther’s pulse pounded with uncertainty.
Her eyes slowly opened. She stared back at them.
Luther stepped forward, reaching out his hand toward her. “Thana?”
She looked down at her, her expression cold. “I don’t know that name.”
Luther’s hopes shattered again. Anger blazed through him. He turned and locked eyes with Kagan, drawing his blade. “This is your fault. You did this.”
“Desist!” The sharp female voice stopped him in his tracks.
Luther looked over his shoulder at Thana. She descended to the scorched ground.
“Why do you fight?” Her voice sounded distant, nothing like the Thana he’d loved.
The Thana he’d lost.
Luther lowered his blade and forced his tense shoulders to relax. His head spun, and he clenched his jaw against the weakness sweeping through him, battling to remain upright. His pulse raced, driven by both his lust for vengeance and the pain beating fiercely in his heart.
“You don’t know me,” he whispered.
The look in her obsidian dark eyes softened briefly before turning cold again.
“I know you all.” She regarded each of them in turn. “You are the Scion—guardians, warriors, mediators, destroyers. There are always seven of you.”
“She might remember more in time,” Chago said softly as though she wasn’t standing there. His words didn’t seem to register with Thana. She continued to watch them in eerie silence. “The loss of her memories might be temporary.”
Wind beat against Luther as Thana landed beside him, close enough for him to catch her familiar sweet fragrance, a torture he couldn’t endure. He wanted to lash out, wanted to tear Lucifer to pieces to release the pent-up fury locked deep in his heart. He couldn’t live like this, seeing her and interacting with her, but knowing it wasn’t his Thana. She was gone.
Then she surprised him by gently laying her hand on his cheek. Concern warmed her eyes and her touch soothed him, pouring life back into his tired body from the palm of her small hand.
“My knight.” She ran her fingers over his scalp. “My guardian.”
“Do you know me?” His voice cracked with pain. He couldn’t bear it if she said she didn’t, not when she was beginning to look as though she did.
Her smile warmed his heart. He’d fought for that smile. He’d come close to dying for it. But now it didn’t seem real. It wasn’t the same smile he’d wanted to see one last time. It was given to him by the same lips but not the same heart.
“I’d know my brave Scion warrior anywhere.”
“Do you remember me?”
She frowned. “No… but I know you.” Her hand lowered to touch the spot over his heart. “I know you in here… beyond conscious memory… I remember you but not in that way.”
He’d wait centuries for her to remember him. He’d wait forever, if that’s what it took.
Thana knew him in her heart. That eased his pain and gave him the strength to continue. His duty wasn’t done. Whatever this mission was, it wasn’t over. He could feel it. Divinity hadn’t released him and Xander hadn’t called him back to the heavenly realms for debriefing, which mean he had to stay by her side and continue to protect her.
He wanted blood for what Hell had taken from him, and it was hard to remain here when he wanted to head straight to Hades and demand an explanation from Lucifer, but such a rash reaction would only place Thana in danger. Not only Thana. There was no way he could defeat all the forces of Hell should they choose to fight him. He wasn’t strong enough, even with the rest of the Scion at his back.
As much as he hated it, as much as he needed to find out why Lucifer had killed the woman he loved and what they thought such a deed would accomplish. He had to bide his time. Hades, and the Nephilim, would reappear eventually.
He just had to be patient and he would have his answers.
“We should leave this place,” Lin said, sheathing his katana once more. “The humans are bound to come looking to see what happened here.”
“We should report to Divinity and Xan and see what they have to say about this event.” Chago said, stepping forward. Luther hadn’t seen his old friend in many years and was a bit taken aback by his country-western garb and black cowboy hat.
“Maybe we should take a moment to assess the situation before trusting anyone,” Sloane said, gaining a dark look from Chago.
“We know that it was Lucifer and his torture that made Kagan kill Thana. He would have
destroyed me too.” Luther moved away from Thana, though she continued to track his every move. “Neilar was right. Hades knew what was happening. They wanted her dead.”
Kagan sighed, the sound drawing everyone’s eyes to him. Mira stood at his side, holding his hand. “I hate what those bastards made me do against my will. But confronting them now, without all the information as to why they did it won’t help anyone.”
“Desist!” Thana said again, regaining everyone’s attention. “No one leaves. I’ll destroy any who tries.”
Luther frowned. Thana stood tall and strong, her silver wings outstretched and bright in the darkness, and then she wavered. He rushed forward, despite the agony of such quick movements, and caught her before she hit the ground. Her wings vanished. Without them, she looked like the old Thana and he could easily fool himself into thinking she was alive again. The silver streaks in her hair made it impossible though. It shone like starlight, otherworldly.
“I’m with Sloane and Kagan,” Luther whispered, then raised his head. “What about the rest of you?”
“There is something off about what happened,” Lin said. “We should bide our time before deciding who to trust. Much as I detest the Nephilim, Neilar wanted to stop Thana from dying. There had to be a reason for that.”
“Plus, she transformed into an angel. That’s beyond rare.” Wyck pointed at Thana lying in Luther’s arms. “In all my research, I’ve never read of that happening before.”
“That’s because it doesn’t.” Chago scowled.
“You don’t think she’s an angel?” Luther asked.
“I don’t know.” Chago stared down at her still form. “And what happened to the Seal she hosted? Upon death, it usually transfers from one mortal to the next.”
“True.” Luther tucked her closer to his chest. “But the Seal is still within her. I can feel it.” He could too, the Seal’s power connecting with his inner Scion. “Perhaps Divinity needed her to transform in order to keep her Seal intact.”
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