“Lovely day for a pig roast, don’t you think?” He looked over at her and winked as he rotated them over the ever-increasing flames.
“No! Uncle Eddie, no!” She strained against her bindings, unable to endure the scene unfolding before her. “Don’t do this! Please, I’ll do anything you want, just don’t hurt them. Let them go.”
“Anything? Now that does sound intriguing. What could I want from you that could be more attractive than serving up some angels for a snack? Oh, I know.” He cut the cord between him and the evil lariats, yet they remained firmly noosed around his captives. “I want you to drink this.” He stalked up to her and presented the Elixxir flask to her.
“No! Ariana, don’t do it!”
She couldn’t believe what he’d just said. He wanted her to drink the Elixxir of Life, like he had. But why? “I don’t understand. The bottle alone has brought me nothing but pain and misery. Why would you share the contents of it with me?”
“Ah, yes. Your parents’ deaths. An unfortunate by-product of the dangers associated with our business, I’m afraid.”
“That’s all they were to you?” Tears smarted at the corners of her eyes. “An unfortunate by-product? What’s happened to you, Uncle Eddie? Where’s the man I idolized as a child? Where’s the man who sat for hours with me, describing the far-away places those curious objects represented? Where is the man, period?”
“I’m right here.” He opened his arms wide, preening like a peacock. “I’m the improved model. Eternity is a long time to live. I should like you as a companion to join me. I need someone who has been connected to the Elixxir as long as I have, and who would appreciate what it offers to those who possess it.”
“You’re a monster,” she seethed. “How could you kill my parents and destroy my life? How? And now you want me to go through eternity with you as your companion?” She shook her head in amazement and revulsion. “Well, I don’t buy your line for one minute. What’s your angle? What are you really after?”
“I’m after vengeance and glory!” Flames shot higher into the air, threatening to set the Brethren’s wings afire. “I was to have the Elixxir when your father brought it back. It was my money he used to acquire it. Mine. Your father had been looking for a big score. But he had no capital. He had everything tied up in real estate. So he came to me one day with this hot prospect but no money to see it through. I fronted him the money and he came back with the Elixxir and hid it. From me! Of all people. He deserved his vicious end, just like your mother did. Always taunting me about playing second fiddle to your father and flaunting her body at me like such a tease but never following through.”
While he ranted, she stood reeling. Being so young at the time, she was never privy to her parents’ business dealings, but had always thought her father a fair businessman. Now, to hear this inflammatory recounting of what had happened twenty years ago made her ill. She didn’t know what to accept as truth, and it didn’t matter at this point. Here she stood, prisoner of a madman, while the Brethren were being roasted on a spit. She had to do something. His increasingly crazed voice burst through her musings.
“And so, you’re right. I have an ulterior motive here. You will drink this and spend the rest of eternity shackled like a slave at my side, witnessing how I take over the world! Yes, watching and incurring my wrath, day after day, as I think of new ways to humiliate and torture you with no one left in your life to care.”
She couldn’t fathom the idea of eternity or the true implications of what he suggested, but she did see two angels in need of rescuing, and made the only decision that she believed would end the current predicament they were in. “Okay, I’ll drink it. But if you don’t follow through with your end of the bargain and free those two, I will spend the rest of our eternity making it a living hell for you.”
“Ariana! You don’t know what you’re saying. Forget about us. We’ll be fine.” Kemuel’s voice shook with a ferocity she’d never heard in him before.
“I promise to free them once you’ve taken from the flask.” He uncorked the bottle and touched the lip of it to hers, tipping it forward so her head had to lean back. “That’s my girl. Drink! Only a drop.”
“No!”
A scent of citrus hit her nose, but when a drop of the Elixxir fell to her tongue, a bitter taste took over, as though she’d been chewing orange rind mixed with coffee. She gagged but recovered, not wanting to give him an ounce of satisfaction.
A strange sensation washed across her body. From her head all the way down to her toes, she could sense each cell splitting, neurons firing, and making new connections. And then, as quickly as it came, it went away. She frowned.
That’s it? Am I immortal now? Can I break free?
She tried, wriggling around, but the bindings were secure.
“Only a drop for now, my dear. We must take it slowly. Two drops and your transformation will be complete.”
“Release them.” She tossed her head to indicate the angels.
He whipped out another lasso and wrapped it tightly around her throat. “Brethren, you’re free. One move toward us, however, and she will suffer greatly. Be on your way. You’ll get nothing from me. Tell your illustrious boss Satan has won today!”
The luminous ribbons that were so tightly wound around the two angels faded and disappeared. Before they could fall into the fiery pit, their wings lifted them up and away. But they didn’t move.
“We’ll not leave her here, Murati.” Hovering in the air, Kemuel turned to her. “We will not leave you!”
“You have no choice. Come closer and she dies a slow, painful death. The one drop is barely enough to add a couple hundred years to her life. I should very much like to suffocate her slowly across those many days.”
“Kemuel, go. Take Yofi, and get out of here.” He flew toward her, pain and guilt etching lines in his face. Suddenly, she couldn’t breathe. A vise cinched about her neck. As she struggled in vain to free herself, she mouthed, “Please.”
Kemuel backed off. She coughed madly as Murati loosened the cord.
“You must be a bit thick in the head, angel. In a few moments she would have become most uncomfortable since there would have been no more air to breathe. Go now.”
“Ariana, we will come back for you. I promise.” She nodded, gasping for much-needed air. Kemuel pointed at the possessed man. “Mark my words, Old Man Forever, we will be back, and if you so much as harm a hair on her head, you will meet with the full fury of the Brethren.”
Eddie, in turn, chuckled. Then his laughter grew into an unearthly cackle and he shook his head.
Kemuel floated to Yofi and tapped him on the arm. As they flew off, she wondered if she’d ever really see them again. Uncle Eddie wouldn’t keep her alive for long. She’d wised up over the years. There were no plans to make her truly immortal, only to make her suffer.
Well, at the very least, I’ve saved two angels. Maybe I’ll see them on my way up to heaven.
Chapter Sixteen
“I sense Evil nearby. The Evil-doers must be vanquished! Let me take them down. Every last one of them.” Nathanael writhed on the bed and fought unsuccessfully against the Brethren shackles binding his hands and feet. Chills wracked his body and his reddish Warrior aura flickered about him. He looked at Emma and Michael standing beside him, and struggled to understand why his team had restrained him. “Why have you done this to me? You’ve turned your backs on me, on our mission. You’ve betrayed the contract. Let me go and we’ll take care of business like before. I’ll forgive you and forget this ever happened.”
He held out his bound wrists, fully expecting compliance. He offered them to Emma, and she shook her head. He moved on to Michael, who stepped back. He roared his displeasure as his eyes burned and slammed his clenched fists against the sheets.
“No, don’t listen to me! The evil is inside me. It’s in all of us. You must kill me, now! Ahh!”
Beads of sweat trickled down his temples, leaving angry, red trails be
hind them. He couldn’t take the war on his soul much longer. Stabbing pains like hot pokers shot through both sides of his brain and heart. Satan wanted acceptance of the Evil he’d planted inside him, or his death, and it was driving him mad in the process.
“Ariana, help me. I need you.” Tears blurred his vision as he sought her out. But she was nowhere to be seen. “Where is she? Where’s Ariana?” He rocked back and forth, sobbing and muttering over and over again, “Where’s my safe place? I need my safe place. Ariana….”
Emma’s voice drizzled into his brain like honey. “Brethren, let’s get to work.”
***
“He hasn’t said anything since the last healing session, Emma. Is that a good sign or a bad one?”
“Don’t know yet, Urie. The Saviors have done all we can to help him. But as with any addict, he must meet us halfway.”
“You bring people back from near death and they go on to live out the rest of their days just fine. Why should he be any different?”
“Because an addict like me is never truly healed. Isn’t that right, Raphael?” Nathanael wriggled on the bed he’d been laid upon and glanced around. He didn’t remember being taken to Michael’s house.
“The angel arises and speaks!”
“And the angel hears, as well, Cass.” He raised his fists. “Now take these damned things off me.”
Michael stepped forward and released him from all of his bindings. “They were for your safety as much as for ours.”
Although there were no marks, he instinctively rubbed his wrists. “I’ve heard every last word you all had to say since you tore me away from Ariana. I’m damaged goods. I can’t be trusted anymore to fulfill my Brethren duties without going on a rampage. Don’t suppose you have a plan for my replacement.”
“What are you talking about? We never said we didn’t trust you. We’re concerned about your ability to do your job safely. And who’s suggesting E.L. replace you? You may need to be reassigned while you go through the steps of recovery. But we would never replace you. Michael has purged Satan’s threaded connection to you, so there is no threat of you succumbing to Evil any longer. We healed you to a point. But it’s gonna be a daily battle for you to control your endorphin rushes once you’re back on Warrior duty.”
“Couldn’t Satan get ahold of me again, though, Raph?”
“Anything’s possible, but it’s up to you to keep him away. Now, Michael will give you a talisman to help you through these first days and weeks of detox, but we’re gonna want to wean you off of it. You don’t want to become so reliant on it that you forget how to use your own innate powers to fight off Evil.”
“Right. It’s gonna be a long freakin’ road back from Hell. Satan’s been working on me for a long time now.”
“That’s why you have me.” Joe stepped around the goliaths in the room and sat on the bed next to him.
“Joe!” He shook his head. “Man, I fucked up big tonight.”
“Tomorrow’s another day, dude. I’m here for you.”
“Thanks, man.” Maybe Joe could get him through this. With Ariana by his side, he knew he could do it. “So, where’s Ariana? I need to see her.”
The Brethren passed cryptic glances between them. He remembered the stern looks they’d given her as they took him away. Before he had a chance to question them further, Yofi and Kemuel burst into the room.
“We got a situation. Everyone needs to mobilize fast.”
“What’s going on, Kem?”
“Murati’s got her.”
“And the Elixxir,” Yofi chimed in.
Nathanael jumped from the bed and got up in Kemuel’s face, rage instantly hitting him hard. “What the hell are you talking about? And you left her with him? What were you thinking?”
“Whoa, back off, man.” Michael and Urie grabbed him by his arms and provided a protective wall for Kemuel. “Murati’s got Satan in him and he blocked our ability to communicate. He’s got mad powers, more than we’ve seen in a long time. We were roped and trussed in this demonized lasso, and then hung over flames to be roasted like pigs. She begged him to let us go and made a deal with him. He’s got her. Made her drink some of the Elixxir. We tried to contact you but couldn’t until we were on Michael’s property. He doesn’t have anything pleasant planned for her.”
“Shit. He wants her good and dead, Kemuel. That’s his plan.” He looked at the men flanking him. “Let go of me, now. Kemuel, take us to where he’s holding her.”
“You should stay here,” Cassiel said. “We’ll go. This is exactly the kind of scenario you need to stay away from right now.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? That woman is the only thing that’s kept me sane! There’s no way you’re keeping me from going after her.”
“Isn’t she the one who set you off in the first place?”
He turned on him, fuming. “Shut the hell up, Urie. I’d been skirting the edge for hours before I left. She was just a convenient excuse. I understood why she did what she did. I let the anger feed the darkness inside me and take control. Now, who do I have to knock out to let me go?”
No one said a word. “All right, then let’s move out.”
***
Relief mixed with dread as Ariana watched the horizon after the Brethren had gone. How soon could they return with reinforcements? Would they return at all, or cut their losses and wait for another chance to get the Elixxir? And how was Nathanael doing? She missed him so much. He’d been the only one who truly knew her and all the secrets and nightmares she’d lived with, and still he stood by her. Having him torn away from her like that had been a kick to the gut and squeezed her heart so much it literally hurt. The Brethren blamed her for his condition. She could see it in their eyes. And they were right to. Her impulsiveness and lies had screwed up everything and pushed him over the edge.
“So much pain and sorrow in those eyes,” Murati said wistfully as he played with a stray lock of her hair. “Good.” He tossed the strands in her face and turned away.
“Are you going to keep me tied up and standing out here indefinitely?”
“Haven’t decided.” He picked up his glass of scotch, swished it around, and took a sip. “Although I should bring you inside. The neighbors might talk. Oh wait, I have no neighbors. Not for miles. You can stand out here and rot for all I care.”
“Can you please take the rope from around my throat at least?”
He sighed and strolled back over to her, waved his hand, and it disappeared. But then, he grasped her neck with both hands and fiery orbs glared right back at her. “Do you know how easy it would be to kill you right now? Just one quick twist and snap ought to do it. But where’s the fun in that? It’d be over too soon and then you’d be alive again in minutes. Twenty years I’ve searched for you, to kill you. And now that the time is upon us, I find myself awash with emotion and at a loss as to what to do with you.”
“Well, that’s a good sign. Maybe you want to spare me and forget the whole killing-me plan.”
“No, I’m gonna kill you, all right, when your hundred years is up. But I’m thinking torture might be in order first. Yes, that would take a good long while and I should get much pleasure drawing out the pain. Should I go with breaking bones, or lashings?”
She shook her head, refusing to show him the abject terror he’d instilled within her. “You are one very sick man,” she muttered.
“You’d do well not to piss me off, woman!”
Ariana’s heart flipped and leapt to her throat. No, pissing him off was not what she’d intended. He wielded two glowing strands and wrapped them around her wrists. He secured each end to a palm tree on either side of her and pulled them taut.
“Ahh!” Her muscles strained, stretched nearly beyond their capability.
“Shut your trap!” He waved his hand over her face and her voice went silent. “That’s better. Now, today’s punishment shall begin. Would you like to know what it will be? Of course you would. That lashing idea sounds perfect.
One for every year you stole from me. That would be twenty. But don’t worry. It’ll only hurt for a little while. Since you’re not fully immortal yet, I’m not quite sure how long the pain will last. But the best part about this is I can do it to you all over again tomorrow because I’m sure by then you’ll be good as new! Ha!”
He snapped his fingers as he strutted around her, and an orange flame of a whip extended from his palm. She closed her eyes and prayed she could handle his abuse. He grunted and she heard a sharp crack from behind her. Sudden, intense pain traveled down the right side of her back. She tensed and opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Another lash from the whip, this time down her spine, sent her knees buckling and tears spilled onto her cheeks. Her skin burned as raw nerve endings smarted from exposure to the air.
A third strike hit her lower back and curled around her waist. She hung limply from her tethered wrists. Delirium settled in, and she faded in and out of awareness. Unconsciousness couldn’t come soon enough for her. Even death would have been welcome.
What have I done to deserve such a fucked-up life? Whatever have I done?
The fourth blow left her without an answer but sent her into blissful darkness. She had no sense of time, but Uncle Eddie called out each strike of the lash. As she lapsed in and out of consciousness she heard ten and then fifteen.
Where is the blessed twentieth?
***
Yelling.
She heard voices yelling and a crackling like electrical charges all around her. Opening her eyes, she marveled at the sight. There were winged Brethren flying all about, glowing and wielding swords against a sea of lightning bolts emanating from Eddie’s palms. Brilliant flashes of energy charged the air around her, raising the tiny hairs on her skin. Hundreds of craggy ribbons lunged toward each angel, making for a dangerous and frenetic scene. Dozens of after-images burned their marks before her until she could barely see.
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