“Just stay calm,” Tristan said, his gaze locked on the man ahead of him.
They continued forward until they were about fifteen feet from him, then they stopped, trying their hardest to look non-threatening. The farmer’s gaze ran over each of them for a minute, and she saw his jaw lock.
“What can I do for you three?”
“We have need of your help.” Tristan’s words were carefully chosen and screaming of caution.
“What sort of help?”
In the field behind him, white-winged angels appeared. Surcy took a step back, her fingers itching to call her blade. The six angels were dressed in the clothes of hard-working farmers, and their glamours made them appear human.
Are they working for the farmer?
She racked her brain, trying to figure out why. With each Immortal they had found, Caine had trapped them in their own personal hell. He planned to break them down slowly until he could finally steal their powers and become the most powerful being in existence.
So what hell were these angels creating for the farmer by working for him?
Tristan didn’t react to the angels, never moving his eyes from the farmer. “Our car broke down on the road.”
Some of the suspicion died from the farmer's tanned-face. “What’s wrong with it?”
“The battery.”
He regarded the three of them for a few more seconds. “I can jump you; just give me a minute to get my car.”
One of the angels came up behind the farmer and patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Clarence, we’ll stay here and keep an eye on the wife and kids.”
The farmer nodded. “Thanks.”
She clenched her fists. Clarence might not understand what the angel meant, but she and her demons knew. The angels were threatening them. If they took off with Clarence, his wife and kids would pay.
Now what?
“Actually,” Surcy rushed out. “I’m feeling a bit overheated from the sun and walking so far. Would you mind if I get a glass of water?”
The farmer stared at her.
Think, Surcy, think!
She forced a smile. “Some women get morning sickness. Not me! I stay sick all day.”
His gaze moved to her belly and he relaxed a little bit more. “My wife was the same way. Come on, then, I’m sure she’d be glad for the company.”
The angel walked beside the farmer, explaining to him some problem with the chickens. She and her demons followed slowly behind, tense as they felt the other angels sliding through the cornfield, keeping pace with them. Their odds were a hell of a lot worse without Mark.
Before, we had a chance against all these angels, but now? Not at all.
Her eyes stung, and she was glad she didn’t have to talk, because she thought she’d start crying if she did, which was stupid as hell. She was supposed to be alert and ready for anything, but instead, her mind kept slipping back to Mark.
If she couldn’t focus, she might make a mistake. She couldn’t make a single mistake, not with the stakes this high.
By the time they walked past the broken down farm equipment and fenced-in animals, she was feeling less emotional, but even more nervous. Glancing behind her, she saw the angels glaring near the farm equipment.
Creepy fuckers.
The farmer went into the house and came back out a minute later, a woman and two children behind him. His wife was tall and thin, with long blonde hair, and bright blue eyes. She wore a smart-looking blouse and ironed slacks. When her gaze met Surcy’s, she smiled.
“Welcome, I’m Beth. You want to join me inside for coffee while the boys jump-start your car?”
“Surcy,” Daniel was suddenly at Surcy’s side, his grip tight on her arm. “We shouldn’t split up.”
I know I agreed this would be fast, just in and out, but I can’t leave this woman and her children behind. I just can’t. I’m sorry.
She plastered on a smile. “Let go and act normal.”
He released her arm, but she could sense his frustration.
“That sounds just perfect!” She moved up the porch, nodding at the farmer, and coming to stand beside his wife.
“We’ll see you soon!” she called, waving to her demons.
Both men looked like they’d swallowed glass, but Tristan nodded in a casual way she knew was forced.
The farmer and her demons squeezed into his truck together, and Surcy looked back at them as she followed the woman into her house. Five angels used a glamour to conceal themselves, stretched their wings, and took off into the air. But a few angels remained, staring directly at her, a challenge in their gazes.
Swallowing hard, she closed the door behind her. Now what?
Chapter Five
In the kitchen, Surcy sat at the little table. The house could only be described as a disaster. Toys and clothes were thrown everywhere, yogurt dripped off one wall, and pencils were stuck in the ceiling. Surcy glanced around the kitchen and out into the living room in shock.
“No kids yet?” Beth asked, smiling.
Surcy felt her cheeks blush and looked at the two little ones who had dragged coloring books onto the cluttered table beside her. “No, not yet.”
“But Clarence said you were pregnant.”
Surcy nodded.
“Then, just you wait, all this chaos... it’s perfectly normal.”
Something twisted in her heart. Being an angel meant she’d never have children, and she’d never had any in her human life either. For the first time, that seemed strangely sad.
“I never thought I’d have children,” Surcy admitted softly, her gaze constantly sliding around the house, looking for danger.
The woman laughed, putting ground coffee beans into a fancy looking coffee-maker. “Why not?”
Surcy shrugged. “I guess... I thought I wouldn’t have the chance.”
Beth nodded, as if that made perfect sense. “It was kind of an adjustment for me. I work in marketing, so I didn’t want to give up the money, the perks, or my freedom.”
“But it was all worth it.”
The woman laughed. “Well, it isn’t easy. In fact, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Her gaze slid over the chaos again. Is this really what being a parent is all about?
The little girl rose from her seat and carried a picture to her mom. “I drew our family.”
The mom knelt down and swooned over the messy drawing. Which pretty much made Surcy’s heart melt.
And then the girl pointed out some of the people tucked away in the field. “And those are the bad men.”
Her mom stiffened. “Sunshine, we’ve talked about this...”
“They bring death and destruction everywhere they go.” The girl’s voice held absolute certainty.
The boy rose from his seat and moved to the window. A little potted plant was brown and bent in the shadows of the windowsill. He grabbed the pot and looked at Surcy, holding her gaze. She frowned as he touched the little leaf very deliberately, and suddenly, the plant rose tall and green.
Whoa!
“Forest!” His mother’s voice sounded panicked.
The woman hurried over and plucked the plant out of his hand, setting it on the windowsill. The boy didn’t look the least bit concerned. Instead, he was watching Surcy closely. His mother? She whirled on Surcy, pulling the boy closer, panic in her gaze.
Just calm her down. “Uh, sorry, what did you guys say? I was kind of lost in my own thoughts.”
The mother’s shoulders relaxed. “It’s just... Forest and his sister are special. And, it’s hard to parent children who are... unique.”
Surcy nodded. “I can’t even imagine.”
“And the bad men make sure nothing gets better around here,” the girl said.
Her mother started to say something, but Surcy cut her off. “Who are the bad men?”
“The farmers daddy hired,” she explained. “They’re here to hurt us.”
&nb
sp; Beth laughed awkwardly. “Kids have such wild imaginations.”
Fuck it.
“Actually, I think she’s right.”
The mom froze. “Wh—what do you mean?”
Just do it!
“The men I came here with... we’re not here about a car. We’re here because all of you are in danger. Your husband is special. Powerful. And apparently, your kids have some of his powers too.”
“No,” Beth interrupted. “He isn’t like them.”
“He is. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
Silence enveloped them.
“We’re here to take you all someplace safe. Some place they can’t hurt you.”
The woman shook her head. “This is our home.”
“I don’t know why Caine hasn’t ordered them to kill all of you yet, but it’s only a matter of time.”
The woman pulled her children closer. “I don’t know who you are, but I think you need to go.”
“She’s telling the truth,” the boy said. “Caine probably wanted to see if Sunshine and I had powers too, which is why we’ve been so careful around them. But now that the demons have come, the angels won’t risk losing us.”
The mom looked pale. “Honey, who is Caine?"
He glanced up slowly. “He’s the man who kills daddy over and over again.”
She looked like she was going to be sick. “And the demons?”
“The men she came with,” he said, pointing to Surcy.
“Stop,” the mother said. “None of this can be true.”
Surcy rose slowly. “My men and your husband are going to reach the road any minute, and once they do, there’s going to be a fight. The angels they left behind, the bad men, they’re going to attack us.”
“Mommy, I know you’re scared, but you don’t need to be,” Sunshine told her mom.
Surcy moved closer. She needed to take their hands. She needed to teleport them free.
The mother took a step back, clinging to her children.
And then, the door was kicked down, the sound like lightning cracking through the silence. The mom looked to the door. The white-winged angels held out their flaming blue soul-blades.
Surcy leapt forward, grabbed the kids, and willed herself to teleport them all away. She heard the sound of a sword whizzing past, and then someone screaming, before the sound was torn away. Teleporting was harder with so many people, and she was working to erase their teleportation path at the same time. By the time they appeared near the road, she was breathing hard.
“Mom?” The little boy’s voice came soft and scared.
Surcy turned... the mom had a soul-blade pierced through her chest. The children held onto each of her arms as she sagged between them. Surcy knelt down, heart racing. What could she do?
And then, the soul-blade vanished and blood poured from her wound.
“We need to—need to.” But the words wouldn’t leave her lips.
What can I do?
And then, she had an idea. It might not save the woman, but it would give her a chance.
“Can you stay here?” she asked the children.
The woman’s eyes were closed, and her skin was pale, but her chest rose and fell.
“Why?” the girl asked, her voice shaking.
“I’m going to take your mom to get help.”
The girl nodded and took her brother’s hand. Surcy pulled the mother into her arms, looked back at the two frightened children one more time, and teleported away.
She appeared in the middle of the hospital in their town. It was a place she’d been a few times before and could remember well enough to reach.
A nurse glanced up from behind a desk, and her eyes widened.
“She was stabbed!”
Instantly, the nurse grabbed a bed and wheeled it closer. Surcy laid the woman down, staring at her face, praying that the mother would live.
The nurse shouted for a doctor.
With regret swimming in her stomach, Surcy teleported away.
Materializing back by the side of the road, Survey opened her mouth to tell the children the next step, but they were gone. On the ground? She spotted white feathers.
Chapter Six
Surcy ran down the road, searching for any sign of the children. When she spotted people up ahead, hope blossomed in her heart, but it was only Daniel and Tristan with the farmer.
As she drew closer, she saw four angels dead at their feet. Daniel’s arm bled, but Tristan wore his gargoyle form, a sword in hand.
The farmer stood between them, holding a dagger of his own. Within seconds, the bodies of the angels disappeared in a flash of light.
At her approach, all of them looked at her.
“Are you hurt?” Tristan asked, stepping forward.
Surcy looked down at the blood covering her jeans and t-shirt. Beth’s blood.
She shook her head, slowly.
Tristan’s emotions disappeared, hidden behind a mask of indifference.
“Then, whose blood is it?” Daniel asked.
A second later, she saw it hit him.
“Where’s my family?” the farmer asked, tension in his voice.
Her entire chest ached. How could she tell him his children had been stolen and his wife was hurt—perhaps dead? She was supposed to keep them safe, and she’d failed in every way.
“We need to get you out of here,” Tristan said, unsettlingly calm.
The farmer stepped back from them. “You said you came here to save us, so why would we leave without them?”
Daniel whirled on him. “We came here to save you. You’re the important one. We wanted to save them too, but if we couldn’t—“
“Not a fucking chance!” Clarence snarled. “I’m not going anywhere without them.”
Surcy struggled to form her explanation. “One of the angels wounded your wife. I teleported her to a hospital.”
“And the kids?” he asked, taking a step closer.
“They—they got them.”
“You mean the bloodthirsty creatures who wanted to kill me have my children?”
She nodded.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
He stared at her for one horrible minute that seemed to last a lifetime. “If they wanted me, they wouldn’t have gone far. I bet they’re back at the farm.”
Her stomach twisted. He was probably right.
“You can’t go back,” Tristan told him. “They’ve had time to gather their forces. We’d have no chance.”
“I don’t care.”
Tristan gave her a nod, so subtle the others didn’t see it.
He wants me to teleport away with him? I can’t just do that to him. I can’t leave the kids here.
She shook her head. “We need to save the kids.”
Tristan’s gaze met hers. “The fate of this world rests on getting all ten Immortals. If a single one dies, we have failed.”
“Tristan...”
“Take us out of here.” He spoke the words in staccato, one after the other, anger and frustration embedded in each one.
Her gut clenched, but she realized that he was right. They couldn’t risk the Immortal. The angels would be waiting to attack. They only had one option.
She took their hands. Tristan grabbed the farmer. Before he could protest, she teleported them away, leaving the children behind.
Chapter Seven
Surcy teleported them to the top of a building, in a city she’d never been to, but that Mark had described in his note. Instantly, the farmer sagged to his knees, his mouth dropped in shock.
“The next Immortal is here,” she said, pulling out Mark’s note from her pocket and handing it to Daniel.
“Where the hell are we?” The farmer shouted. “Where are my kids?”
She looked at her demons, memorizing their faces, her heart in her throat. They were everything to her, everything in this world.
But she couldn’t let those children die.
“Don’t wor
ry,” she told Clarence. “I’ll do everything I can to save them.”
Tristan’s brows drew together.
And, she teleported away.
Heart hammering, she stood in the cornfield just outside the farmhouse. Slowly moving forward she crept closer, gently pushing aside stalks with each step. Everything was far too quiet. Even the wind hardly stirred, and on the air she smelled the plants, the sun, and the sky, like all of it was alive and open to her. Underneath it all, the scent of copper lingered, the mother’s blood still wet and sticky on her clothes.
Up ahead, she heard a child crying. It took everything in her not to sprint forward. If she got killed, it wouldn't help the children get back to their father.
When she reached the edge of the field, she froze, squinting through the leaves of the corn. Inching a little forward, she held back a gasp. No less than fifty angels stood in perfect formation in front of the little house.
On the porch? The children stood before Frink. He clutched them against his chest and held his glowing blade at their throats.
Her heart sank. The blue flames just barely licked at their flesh, but she could see they were in pain and scared.
There was only one way she could think to save them. If she failed, they would all die.
Closing her eyes, she counted to three, feeling sweat run down her back. Feeling how her legs trembled.
“Surcy, let’s stop these games,” Frink said, his voice wasn’t loud, but it carried in the stillness. “Why keep pretending you can be anything but an angel? None of us can choose. We are what Caine assigns us to be, and you are his soldier.”
She said nothing, just watched the blade at the children’s throat. It needed to move, just an inch or two away. That’s all she needed.
Frink laughed. “You know what the best part of all of this is? You truly don’t know that you’re still working for us.”
If she could tune his words out, she would. Instead she sat, waiting for the opportunity to strike, unable to escape his cruel words.
“Did you really think a man as powerful as Caine couldn’t reach you? That your little garden house and three weak demons could keep him away? Think about it, Surcy, ask yourself why you’re still alive.”
She refused to think about it. Frink hated her with a passion. He was trying to distract her, trying to get inside her brain.
Mates of the Realms: The Complete Collection: A Paranormal Reverse Harem Box Set Page 58