Faster than it works with Fallen and Nephilim, my powers erase charred, bloodied skin, cleaning his wounds of debris before sealing them closed.
Joey’s features relax. I take away his pain, and his eyes open seconds later. Familiar brown eyes find mine, and his tentative smile makes me want to cry. “Hey, Ronnie.”
I choke back tears. “What are you doing here?” I hold onto his arm like it’s a lifeline.
“Saving you, of course.”
I’m not given time to respond. A bright flash of red light blinds me. I duck and shield my eyes. Joey winces and covers his face with his forearm. I’ve never seen anything so bright. My eyelids feel like they’re burning.
The light subsides. Vision blurry from tears, I look up and see the Fallen have been just as affected by the light. Several blink and rub their eyes, while others can’t even bring themselves to look up.
My attention is drawn to the center of the room. There, standing directly in front of Zeke and Adrian, is Odette, the sorceress Lukas’ hired to lift the ward which kept me from accessing my angelic powers. Her dark eyes are locked on me, and her ruby red lips part in a bright, white smile.
“Cursed One, we meet again.”
All fighting has ceased. It’s like the sorceress’ arrival neutralized everyone’s ability, or desire, to attack one another. Even Adrian and Zeke have abandoned the barrier separating them from the hoard of demons and beasts. All eyes are on her, and based on her smug expression, that’s what she wants.
I don’t respond to her greeting. I want to act like she’s not talking to me, but I remember her referring to me as both blessed and cursed. Why she couldn’t go with the former title is a mystery to me.
“A sorceress,” Paul’s raspy voice breaks the silence. “I haven’t seen one of your kind in centuries.” Is it just me, or does he sound reverent?
Odette doesn’t look at him. Her attention slides onto my bashertens. “I’m here for the Cursed One.”
Again, does she really need to call me that?
Joey stands. I wonder how he wears pants after shifting from a wolf, but I don’t dwell on the thought. One, he’s my friend. I don’t like thinking about him naked. And two, I’ve got bigger problems. He positions himself slightly in front of me, though he doesn’t look afraid of Odette. In fact, he looks at her expectantly. Did he know she was going to show up?
I observe the demons and other beasts. Like Joey, they watch the sorceress with calm belying their earlier violence. Why are they so at ease? They are still in the Dark Embassy. Shouldn’t they be on their guard? Why do I get the feeling this entire attack has been staged?
“There is no Cursed One here,” Sarah projects with an authority I admired the first time I heard her use it. “You and your minions are not welcome in this embassy. I suggest you leave now, before my sons decimate you.”
Odette laughs. The musical sound would be charming in any other situation. As it is, she sounds deranged… and deranged people shouldn’t be messed with.
I inch closer to Joey’s back, determined to do my best and protect him if something goes down. My friend gives me a look and rolls his eyes. I glare at him.
Odette returns her attention to me. “Come, Veronica. There isn’t time to wait.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
She sighs, sounding exasperated, as if I’m being a stubborn teenager for no good reason. “Darling, Lukas sent me to get you. He is in need of your help.”
My head snaps to The Council, and I cringe as awareness blooms in every council member’s face.
“You are the one the Light Council seeks,” the once friendly female states.
Of course they know about the Light Council’s search. That’s just my luck. I bet Dark Fallen are just as interested in learning how Lukas’ soldiers heal after dealing with The Darkness. Little did they know, I’ve been living under their roof, in easy reach.
Odette’s words have sealed my fate. I cannot stay at the embassy, but how to get out? I’m sure as hell not going with her. Adrian and Zeke maintain their positions, and they are careful not to take their eyes off Odette. Why haven’t they detained her? Didn’t they just hear her say she’s here to take me away? What are they waiting for?
“We cannot let her leave,” Paul speaks to no one in particular. He looks around the room until he spots one of the guards who’d originally been tasked with keeping my soulmates in line. “You there,” he points to the armed Fallen. “Seize the girl. We cannot let her escape.”
The scene bursts into a flurry of action. Adrian and Zeke leap to intercept the guard. The Council resumes their slew of attacks, though Odette has erected a barrier to rival theirs. None of their powers manages to glide by. They collide with the sorceress’ power, sizzle, then disappear into nothing. Joey grabs my hand and pulls me toward the room’s entrance. I follow him without pause, but pull back when I realize we are heading toward the crowd of demons and wolves.
“What are you doing?” I ask in a panic. I try to pull again, but Joey is stronger than I thought. I barely manage to slow us down.
“Come on, Ronnie. We don’t have time for this. Odette can only hold them back for so long.”
“You’re with her?” I renew my efforts to break away.
“I’ll explain everything later,” he tells me. “I promise. Just trust me.”
A month ago, I wouldn’t hesitate to trust my best friend. But things are different now. I’ve experienced too much to blindly trust anyone. I’m even skeptical of my soulmates sometimes, even though I know they would do anything to keep me safe.
“RON!” Zeke shouts. I whirl around, still dragged by Joey, but manage to make eye contact. I’m shocked to see him and Adrian working with Odette to keep The Council at bay. “Go,” he tells me. “Go with them. It’s going to be alright.”
He can’t be serious.
Doubt tickles the back of my head, and it distracts me from my fight with Joey. He draws me closer to my enemies, and we’re surrounded in the blink of an eye. I’m rushed out of the chamber and into an abandoned hallway.
Odette’s form shimmers in front of myself. A bead of sweat trails down her temple. “Finally,” she huffs, a blurry, black cloud forming around her. “Let’s go.”
Joey dives for Odette’s outstretched hand, still holding onto mine, and we are drawn into her portal, leaving the Dark Embassy behind.
Twenty-Six
Odette, Joey, and I exit the portal in the middle of a hedge maze. Vaguely, I note the statues positioned around the perimeter of the area. A fountain sits in the center, spewing water from the middle, eliciting the calming sound of rushing water. If only I could feel calm.
I don’t bother asking Joey or Odette for an explanation. I make a break for it, using Joey’s disorientation from our travel to tear my hand from his. Glad I’d kicked off my fancy shoes in my prison cell, I ignore the stinging in my feet as I run down the cobblestone path, diving between two, tall hedges.
“Ronnie. Wait!”
I ignore Joey. Pumping my arms, my legs fly faster than I’ve ever moved. The hedges blur into a mass of bluish-green. Maybe I’ve finally managed to tap into my angelic speed.
Adrian! Zeke! I shout their names in my mind.
No response.
I don’t dare say their names out loud. I need to get out of this maze and far away from wherever Odette brought me. Zeke might have encouraged me to go with the sorceress, but I tell myself he only did it under duress. He wouldn’t have encouraged me to leave if there was another choice. I had to get away from The Dark Council. Now that I have, I can work on getting away from my second-most pressing enemy of the day.
I take a sharp right and come to a fork in the path. I veer, left. The hedges are adorned with flower buds, some blooming while others are closed tight. I take another right, and I randomly continue turning one direction or another, frantically searching for a way out of the disconcerting maze.
Up ahead, I see a break in the hedges,
and a stark white building is visible through the greenery. I rush toward the exit. I am feet away from the opening when an arm wraps around my waist, robbing me of my escape.
“NO!” I scream, then flail my arms and kick my legs. I am a bucking horse, using all of my strength to dislodge the person holding me back. Despite the effort, I remain contained. I release another guttural scream. I’m tired of this. I refuse to be weak.
Angel Fire illuminates my skin. I don’t center it on any one area of my body, rather I draw it everywhere. I hear the person behind me curse when the heat of my power burns his skin.
“Messenger!” My captor shouts. The exasperation in his voice tells me it’s not the first time he’s said my name.
I keep twisting and kicking, determined to free myself and reach the exit.
“Messenger. STOP! You’re safe. It’s me. It’s Joseph.”
The Angel Fire fades to a dull light, but I don’t dare release it completely.
Not yet.
“Joseph?”
That’s when I sense his emotions. He’s concerned and a little irritated. Remembering his injury during the banquet, I search for any lingering signs of pain. There are none.
My fight seeps out of my muscles, and I release all my power, letting it coil back into my core to rest until I call on it again.
Sensing my body relax, Joseph removes the arm from around my waist. I turn and look up into comforting blue eyes. “Y-you’re here?”
In the maze.
With a sorceress.
I snap out of the daze.
Grabbing Joseph’s hand, I pull him toward the exit. “Come on. We have to get out of here.” His steps are slow, and I tug harder. Now that he’s here, I know I can get away from Odette. I’ll come back for Joey later. He seems to trust her, so hopefully she won’t hurt him.
“Messenger, relax. You aren’t in any danger.”
He doesn’t know what’s happened.
“The Dark Embassy was attacked again,” I tell him, continuing to pull him along even if it means dislocating my shoulder. He doesn’t know the danger we’re in. If he did, he’d be using his powers to transport us out of here. “Odette arrived and she kidnapped me. She’s somewhere behind us. We’ve got to move.”
Joseph stops walking, and I am yanked to a stop with him. I prepare for another round of trying to convince him when he says, “Adrian and Zeke told us about your arrest.”
I hesitate. My forehead furrows. “What?”
“Gabe and I know about your arrest. Wherever Lukas is, he heard as well. He sent Odette to tell us that they planned on breaking you out.”
“Wait a second.” I drop his arm, planting my hands on my hips. “Odette works for Lukas?” I knew the sorceress had helped him by removing the block on my powers, but I hadn’t gotten the impression they were friends.
“Yes,” Joseph nods and continues, “Lukas’ spies marked Master Nate as a co-conspirator with The Darkness. He’s been watching him for some time, waiting to figure out what mission he had at the embassy. When he learned about Master Nate’s interest in you, and him turning you over to The Dark Council, Lukas knew he had to get you out of there before it was too late.”
My mind spins. “Too late?”
“Before Master Nate convinced Dark Fallen to keep you as their weapon. We think he was planning to stage your abduction, pretending it was The Darkness, only to hand you over to the entity himself.”
“But why would he do that?”
“Because we believe he knows who you really are.” Gabe rounds the corner, trailing behind his voice. I smile and instinctively take a step his direction but freeze when I see Odette and Joey turn the corner behind him. I move back beside Joseph.
“It’s alright, Veronica.” Gabe gives me his characteristic, easy-going grin. “They’re friends.”
I look from my soulmate to Odette to Joey. I focus on Gabe. “You think Master Nate knows my parents?” I don’t say I’m dual-blood. I have no idea what Odette and Joey know.
“We think he knows your parents are Light and Dark Fallen, yes,” Joseph answers, exposing my secret with no hesitation.
I gape at him, then back to the sorceress I’d considered my enemy. She doesn’t look surprised. Now, I’m not sure what to think.
“But she fought with demons,” I point out, glancing at Joey, “and wolves. They attacked the embassy.”
“All so we could get you out of there,” Joey speaks up. He steps closer, and it takes all my strength not to back away.
He’s your friend, I remind myself. Even if he can turn into a hairy beast, you trust him.
“Will someone please explain?” I look between them, overwhelmed and confused.
My best friend obliges. “We’re part of The Alliance,” Joey explains, “a group of supernaturals, demons and Fallen who work to keep The Darkness at bay.”
“An alliance?” I can hardly believe what I’m hearing. “Supernaturals? Like… humans who can turn into wolves?”
Joey grins, and the expression is so familiar it makes me relax. “Yeah, werewolves. And vampires, sorcerers, and other Earth demons.”
“Earth demons?”
“Demons who aren’t evil like the yancor demons who attacked us on your birthday.”
I gasp. “You remember that?”
“Not at first,” Joey shoots my soulmates a glare, “but after my brother lifted the concealment, yeah. I remembered.”
I don’t bother telling Joey my other two soulmates are actually the ones responsible for his mind wipe.
I connect the dots. “So… your entire family are… werewolves?”
“Yes.”
“And they can remove Fallen concealments?”
“Most of us can. Though, the hard part is sensing there’s a concealment in the first place. I’m glad I went to visit California after graduation, otherwise there is no telling how long I might’ve had my head messed up.”
“I am so sorry,” I feel the need to apologize. “Honestly, I thought it would be better if you didn’t remember. I had no idea you were…”
“Like you.” Joey’s grin remains. “Well… not exactly like you. I was so surprised when they told me my best friend was The Cursed One. I’ve known you for years, and I had no idea what you are.”
“That would be thanks to me,” Odette speaks up with a smirk, waggling her fingers in the air.
I frown. “You told Lukas it was another sorcerer.”
“I lied,” she says. “And Lukas knew it.”
“So it was all an act for me? So I wouldn’t know?”
“Bingo.” She winks, as if she didn’t just admit to deceiving me on purpose.
“Wait.” I’m remembering the first time I met Odette, and another thought hits me. “If you enacted the ward on my powers, that means you know my…”
“Parents,” Odette finishes for me. “No. I only know your mother. She is the one who commissioned me for the spell.” I’d really underestimated what the sorceress knows about me. She’d played it so cool when we first met.
The ground tilts beneath me. Joseph reaches out and holds onto my elbow, helping me stay on my feet.
“Who is she?” I whisper, not realizing I’ve been curious about her identity for a while now. In the past, I would push aside any thoughts about my birth parents. Not only because it was hard to consider the fact they left me on my own, but because it also felt like a betrayal to my mom and dad in Texas. Oliver and Janet Messenger raised me as their own, and I felt I owed them my loyalty. It’s only now that I realize my parents would never begrudge me for wanting to know more about my birth parents. It changes nothing about how much I love them, and it doesn’t change the fact they will always be my family.
“Maybe she should tell you herself,” Odette says, losing some of her amusement, recognizing the seriousness of the moment.
“She’s here?” Thank goodness for Joseph’s hand, otherwise my legs would’ve collapsed from under me.
Odette glances h
esitantly at my soulmates. “She leads The Alliance. Lukas is her second in command, though many believe he is the sole leader. Your mother prefers it that way.”
“Why?”
Light footsteps sound against the cobblestone. I already know who I will see before I bother to turn around.
Am I ready for this?
The steps continue their approach.
It doesn’t look like I have a choice.
Slowly, I pivot my feet and face the direction of the exit.
There, with green hedges framing the background, stands a woman with dark ebony hair, and eyes the color of the purest crystal, her irises almost white. She wears dark blue jeans and a flowing floral top, with matching ballet flats. Her style is youthful, matching her flawless complexion.
My soul stirs with recognition, confirming the female is who I think she is.
“Hello, Veronica,” her pastel pink lips part into a lovely smile.
I struggle to speak. It takes me a minute to swallow the lump in my throat. “Hello?”
Her eyes shine in the sunlight. “Do you know who I am?”
Yes. “No.”
Her smile is patient, and I feel an undeniable sense of comfort emanating off of her, wrapping me in its warmth.
“My name is Dina, and I’m your mother. It is nice to finally meet you, my little Curse One.”
TO BE CONTINUED.
About the Author
Samantha Britt is an avid reader and enthusiastic writer of new adult and young adult paranormal and fantasy novels. When not lost in the fictional world, you can find her in Texas. More often than not, she will be busy making memories with her precious family which includes Sam, Dan, and their mini-goldendoodle, Bailey.
To learn more about Samantha’s books, visit:
www.SamanthaBrittBooks.com
[email protected]
Also by Samantha Britt
THE FALLEN HAREM
Claimed by the Fallen
Hunted by the Fallen
Protected by the Fallen
Protected by the Fallen: A Fallen Angel Reverse Harem Novel (The Fallen Harem Book 3) Page 17