by Tamar Sloan
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” mutters Reign. “There’s more?”
“More what?” Mac murmurs groggily.
There’s no time for Arielle to feel relief that Mac is coming to. The demons look like rabid dogs waiting for the command to attack.
Reign steps closer to Arielle, talking under his breath. “Give me your gun and get back to your mom.”
She freezes, unsure she just heard him right. No…
“Now, Arielle!” he hisses.
Arielle does the first, slapping the handgun in the hand Reign is holding out. He’s still cradling Mac, and he grips the gun with the arm supporting her head. Mac seems to instinctively understand that he needs help, because she wraps her own arms around his neck, freeing him to point the gun with greater accuracy.
But then Arielle hesitates. She can’t be expected to do the second part of the order. “I can’t leave you.”
Not surrounded by demons. Not holding a barely conscious friend.
“Well, you’re going to,” Reign snaps.
Arielle shakes her head. Her chest feels like it’s splintering. She can’t leave Reign behind. Panic overwhelms her and she hovers on the balls of her feet. What is she supposed to do?
One of the demons launches at them, and Reign spins and shoots, Mac clinging to him. He doesn’t look over his shoulder as he screams. “Go, Arielle! Do not make this all for nothing!”
So, she runs, even as she hates herself, even as she’s not sure if she just made the right choice.
She dashes down the stairs, hoping she can live with what she just did.
41
Reign
The demons growl, their red eyes flaring, now that they’re faced with a weapon that will snuff their lights out. Reign’s pulse is everywhere and nowhere, like he’s terrified of how this will end, and like he’s kind of okay with it.
He did everything he could to save Arielle. To help Sierra. To protect Mac.
That’s the best he could’ve hoped for in this wasted life that he led.
“You can put me down, Reign.”
Reign startles at the sound of Mac’s voice. He looks down and what he sees almost freezes his heart. His whole body short-circuits, and his arms fall to his side.
Mac lands gracefully in a crouch as if she wasn’t just dropped. “Thanks.”
Reign watches as she pushes herself upright, frowning. He’s conscious he’s not breathing, but he’s lost the ability to do anything about that. Every cell in his body is consumed with trying to understand what he’s seeing.
Mac blinks, her eyelids shuttering over the unholy glow that bathes her face.
What. The. Fuck.
Mac’s eyes are the same Hellish red as the demons they’re surrounded by.
“Mac…”
Except the demons have had enough of the intermission. “Attack as one,” screams the first one who enters. Dammit. He’s realized Reign can’t shoot them all at once.
But that won’t stop Reign from taking as many down as he can. Arielle and the others are going to need time to finish this, and the less douches to join the party downstairs, the better.
“You know what?” Mac says beside him. “I’ve had enough of these assholes.”
Reign watches, astounded, as she leaps, and leaps high. The highest he’s ever seen her jump. To a height that should be impossible for a human.
Just as she lands, two black wings explode from her back.
And then Mac is a blur of movement and power. She ploughs her fists into chests, she slams her feet through jaws. Even her wings become weapons, contracting then snapping out to strike. There is nowhere that is safe for the demons, no angle they can get the advantage on her. Something’s been unleashed in Mac, and it’s not the merciful type. The moment she has one down, she shoots it, making sure it won’t be getting up again.
The demons tumble one by one. In fact, the last two are taken out simultaneously. As Mac shoots the first, Reign snaps into action and shoots the second. Mac looks up, her eyebrows high above her red eyes.
Reign shrugs. “This way you can’t say I didn’t help.”
Mac blinks, her face puckering. The glow in her eyes slowly dies out, leaving behind the brown gaze that he’s always known. She frowns and a second later, her wings contract and disappear.
Silence weaves its way through the bodies littered around them, tangled and taut. Reign’s breathing heavily even though it’s not him who just cleaned up an entire room full of soldiers of the devil.
“So,” he says as casually as he can. “You’re a demon, huh?”
She scratches her head. “Apparently so.”
They stare at each other, and Reign can sense her hesitation. Mac’s worried this is going to matter.
He raises a single eyebrow. “I’m still going to fight you for the good bedroom at the hangout,” he states flatly.
Mac lets out a breath. “You’re a douche,” she says, her lips tipping up at the edges.
They both turn toward the trap door, a silent understanding that they’ll have to discuss this later, when a scream echoes up the stone stairs.
A high-pitched, pain-filled scream.
Reign practically flies down the stairs, Mac close enough to be his shadow behind them. They burst into the altar room, seeing that Gabby’s collapsed on the floor on the other side.
And Kane is stalking toward her like a predator.
A bloodied and bruised Colt runs at him, but Kane swipes him away like an insect. Although it was one sweep of Kane’s arm, Colt flies through the air and slams into one of the altars. Stone explodes with the impact. Colt pushes himself up through the cloud of dust, his powerful body looking battered and broken. He’s just got to his feet when his legs give out and he collapses among the shattered pieces of stone.
Kane looks away in disgust, clearly deciding Colt is no longer a threat. Two steps forward and he grips Gabby by the throat. He lifts her using that one point of contact until her feet are no longer touching the floor.
“One flick of my wrist and your neck will snap,” he states coldly.
Gabby gargles as her head lolls.
Reign glances around frantically. Kane is showing superhuman strength, even for a demon. He sees Arielle by her mother, sobbing as she holds her in arms. Sierra is no longer bound to the altar, but she’s also not awake.
The scepter is on the ground beside them. Reign leaps toward it, knowing it’s a long shot, but also knowing they have little else.
He picks up the gilt rod and swings it in a wide arc like a bat. The red orb smashes into the altar, shards of glass exploding with the impact. The pulsing red energy sinks, only to evaporate like it never existed.
“No!” screams Kane.
Gabby drops to the ground like she just became too heavy.
Kane spins around and pins his gaze on Reign. Behind him, Colt crawls to Gabby and they clasp each other.
Reign doesn’t break Kane’s glare as he says to Mac, “Protect Arielle and Sierra.”
“But, I’m a—”
“You can back me up if I need it,” he snaps. He and Kane have a score to settle.
“Fine,” Mac huffs. “But you’re gonna need it.”
Kane adjusts his shoulders then stretches his neck as he steps into the center of the room. “Yes, you will,” he snarls. “Even without the energy of the seven descendants, I’m a demon who trained with the Knights of Hell. I have thousands of years of fighting experience.”
Reign clenches his fists. “The way I see it, that just makes you old.”
Kane runs at him, the hunger for violence, for Reign’s death, twisting his features. Reign propels forward, too. He tucks his head and prepares himself for pain.
Bring. It. On.
Kane swings the moment he’s close enough and Reign ducks. He tries for an uppercut but Kane sidesteps it, following through with a volley of strikes. Reign blocks the first and the second, he leaps over a kick and ducks a furious swing at his head. With ea
ch movement, he realizes he’s already on the defense. He needs to—
A fist that feels the size of a battering ram slams into his cheek, making his head snap to the side. Reign groans as agony tidal waves through his skull. It’s as if Kane’s hands are molded from cement.
Reign staggers left, expecting for the second blow to come in quick succession. When it doesn’t arrive, he looks back, the room taking a second to catch up. Kane has taken a step backward, his face no longer warped with fury.
He looks…shocked.
Reign shoots out with his fist, trying to take advantage of the weird lapse. Kane’s reflexes are instantaneous, and he catches Reign’s clenched hand mid-strike. Reign tries to jerk it back, but the grip is vice-like. Kane’s eyes flare with victory as he squeezes.
Pain rockets up Reign’s arm as his hand is crushed. The agony amplifies as the pressure does. There’s a hoarse cry and he wonders how it slipped past his gritted teeth. Then he realizes it wasn’t his.
Kane practically throws Reign’s hand back at him, his face tight with pain. “What is going on?”
Before Reign can answer, Kane strikes him again. He drives his cement-coated fist into Reign’s gut. Reign doubles over, this groan most definitely his own.
Except the groan is echoed from the demon who just threw the punch. Kane doubles over, too, as if it was him who just had his insides pulverized.
He staggers back, clutching his midriff. “What spell is this?”
Reign takes shallow breaths as he waits for the pain to subside. He has no idea what’s going on. “I think it might be called karma.”
Kane wipes his mouth. “I’ll find out what magic you’re wielding.” He straightens as he takes several steps back. “Not that it matters.”
“What are you talking about?” Reign demands. He doesn’t like the smug look on the demon’s face. Not when Kane just backed off.
“While you were here, play fighting, I instructed my man to kill the Innocent.” Kane laughs as gasps echo off the stone walls. “It’s only a matter of time before the first Gate of Hell is opened.”
“You bastard!” Reign runs at Kane, figuring he’ll use whatever this pain power is to his advantage. “Tell me where the Innocent is!”
Kane grins, his eyes flashing red a moment before he disappears. Reign stops in his tracks. The space that was occupied by the asshat is now empty, as if he was never there.
As if his terrible prediction wasn’t said.
“Coward!” Reign shouts, breathing heavily.
Except the pain still crawling through Reign’s gut and skull tells him Kane was most definitely here. And the demon’s words feel like they were carved into the air.
I instructed my man to kill the Innocent.
It’s only a matter of time before the first Gate of Hell is opened.
“Arielle?” asks a soft voice Reign’s never heard before.
He turns to find Sierra sitting up on her altar. She lifts her arms, her face scrunched with the bittersweet joy only a mother can feel as she is reunited with her daughter.
42
Arielle
Seeing her mother alive is the most beautiful thing Arielle has ever seen. It makes her knees go weak as she rushes into her arms, her steps wobbly and uncoordinated. “Mom…”
When her mother clasps her to her, though, it’s the most heart clenching moment so far. Arielle wasn’t sure she’d ever feel this sweet heaven again.
They made it in time. A part of her, a part that was steadily growing as it was fed by fear, was starting to believe she'd never feel her mother’s warm touch again.
Her mother draws back, her gaze roaming over Arielle’s face. “How did you find me?”
“That’s a long story. I found the septagram in the board game and it kind of went from there.” A fresh flood of tears tumbles down Arielle’s cheeks. “We were almost too late.”
Her mother brushes a strand of hair from Arielle’s face, the motion so familiar it stings Arielle’s eyes. “But you weren’t.” She frowns. “What do you know?”
Gabby steps forward with Colt, and Arielle’s not sure who is holding up who. “We know about the obelisks and the Innocents and the Gates of Hell.”
Colt nods. “And we know about Kane’s plan to resurrect someone.”
Arielle’s mother’s eyes widen. “Where is he?”
“The detective?” Arielle asks.
“That’s the facade he uses. Kane is none other than Cain himself, the son of Adam and Eve.” Her mother frowns. “The first murderer.”
Shock has Arielle’s breath dissolving. No wonder Cain was so confident he could fight. He’s the oldest living being walking this earth.
Her mother slips off the altar, and Arielle quickly grabs her as her legs buckle. Her mom’s face turns fierce as she grips the stone. “And this—” she glances around the altar room—“plan was secondary.”
Arielle braces herself, not liking the weight that seems to have just settled on her mother’s shoulders. She’s pretty sure they’ve reached their quota of revelations for the day.
“I discovered who the Innocent is,” she says heavily. “I was on my way to tell her when I was abducted.”
Arielle gasps, the sound immediately echoed by Gabby. Reign blanches as he and Mac glance at each other. They’ve all realized who the Innocent is.
Arielle’s aunt.
Gabby’s mother.
Sierra pushes away from the altar. “Shell is the Innocent. And we need to find her.”
“Where?” asks Arielle, desperation clogging her throat.
Her mother takes a tentative step forward, discovering that her legs are going to hold her weight. “The sacrifice of the Innocent must happen on seven sanctified grounds. The locations are unknown.”
“No…” moans Gabby.
“But I deciphered the clues in the Infernal book. I know where she is.” Arielle’s mother glances around. “Where are we, by the way?”
“Beneath Sinclair Mansion,” says Arielle. “In a secret room beyond a crypt.”
Her mother draws in a sharp breath. “Then we might have time. The site for the ritual is the fountain. The one with the angel.”
Reign breaks into a sprint, despite the injuries he sustained, Mac right behind him. Colt and Gabby limp after them, and Arielle notes that their cuts and bruises are already looking better. Arielle supports her mother as they rush up the stairs last.
It means Reign and Mac get to the fountain first. As Arielle approaches with her mother leaning heavily on her, she notices how still they’re standing. Reign’s outline looks like he’s been carved from stone.
Colt and Gabby are next. The cry that pierces the air slices down Arielle’s spine.
As she and her mother halt beside the others, Arielle sees why. Aunt Shell is lying on her back at the base of the fountain. She’s unmoving. And her eyes are wide open in a silent scream.
Gabby rushes forward and crumples over her mother’s body, sobbing. “Mom!”
But Aunt Shell won’t be moving. She’ll never blink or breathe or beam her beautiful smile again. Gabby draws back, running a trembling finger over the red line that runs down the center of her mother’s chest.
Arielle’s mother sags and Arielle quickly tightens her grip. “They stole her grace,” she chokes out, clinging to Arielle.
Suddenly, Colt drops to his knees. Arielle assumes that he’s going to comfort Gabby but he arches his back, body straining as ripples course through it. Mac follows suit, Reign catching her as she crumples. Her back curves, too, her face angling to the sky as she shudders.
“It’s happening,” Arielle’s mother whispers. “They can feel it.”
Arielle doesn’t ask. In part because she doesn’t want to. In part because she doesn’t need to.
She looks to Reign and sees that he knows it, too. His face is pale, his jungle green eyes stark in his handsome face. The sky above him has turned a thunderous red.
The first Gate of Hell has been
opened.
Ready for the next installment in the Keepers of the Grail series? Check out GATES OF CHAOS!
Gates of Chaos
Reign and Arielle have discovered a hidden agenda neither of them could have fathomed.
One that will force Reign to accept the destiny he doesn’t believe he’s worthy of. One where Arielle will be asked to find an inner-strength she’s not sure she has. One that will have them succumbing to their smoldering attraction, even as they question who or what is influencing their choices.
Because a battle for newfound power has begun, sparked by a drive for absolution that reaches as far back as the origins of man. A war that will wreak havoc in ways humanity has never seen before.
Finding the Grail is even more important. And finding the next Innocent isn’t just about saving a life. This soul is the key to keeping the next Gate of Hell closed and the sin of Greed contained.
But who is the Innocent? And will they find the Grail in time to save them?
Fans of Richelle Mead and Jennifer L. Armentrout will devour the Keepers of the Grail series. Lose yourself in the breath taking paranormal romance, Gates of Chaos, today!
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Gabby and Colt have their own story!
Angels and demons have battled for millennia.
Their inevitable war has begun.
When Gabby arrives at Mercy Academy, she’s never been more excited. This is her chance at normality. But within minutes, she runs into taciturn Colt. Their resulting argument gets her on the Dean’s radar, but she can’t explain the unease about the mysterious guy.
Then, unusual things start to happen. Memory lapses. Mysterious murders. Beings with red eyes skulking in the shadows. And it turns out Colt is one of them. A demon.
When she’s attacked, Gabby’s forced to face the truth. She’s an angel. One who’s far more powerful than she could have imagined. And the academy is the battleground for the festering hostility between angels and demons, one that blurs the line between good and evil.