“Jose.”
Killian’s ears perked. A balding gentleman, no more than five-foot-five, approached them, arms extended. He narrowed his eyes. If the giant belly he sported was anything to go by, Killian would bet gluttony had got the better of him.
“Hola, Carlos. Como estamos?” Jose greeted the man and shook hands with him. He then grasped Pru’s elbow and introduced her. Killian scowled. Bald guy was practically tripping over his feet to engage her in conversation even though her broken Spanish hardly helped her communicate. A second man joined the conversation. Pru laughed, seemingly at ease. Jealousy burned in Killian’s throat.
Stop it. Focus. She’s working and so should you.
Taking a deep breath, Killian quickly reassessed the perimeter. He spotted Max at the bottom of the staircase, ogling a woman. Recognition hit him and Killian smiled. Eva.
He checked his watch. Time was ticking. They were already late as it was and it wasn’t getting any earlier. He had to speak to Max and remind him to leave soon.
“Hawk moving,” he whispered into his headpiece. “Diamond in place. Keep an eye on her.”
When he received the all-clear, Killian headed in his friend’s direction. He stood behind him.
“You should close your mouth, or are you trying to catch flies? Don’t move,” he warned. He didn’t want people to think they were related in any way. He was certain other Guardians recognized Max, but he hoped they merely thought he was part of the team.
“Where the fuck have you been?” Max whispered.
His friend chuckled.
“My charge took longer than expected to get ready.”
“The woman? She looks familiar, not to mention she stinks of magic. A Spell Caster? Here?”
“It’s none of your business, Max. Concern yourself with getting out of here before one. Shit’s gonna hit the fan.”
“Yeah, I know. Thanks, Killian.”
“Don’t mention it. You’d do the same for me.” He paused. Pru had shifted her position. She toyed with her ring and pretended to listen to the Spaniard but her gaze was traveling over his head. Her unease made him uncomfortable. He had to go back.
“Be careful, Max. You’re not at your best,” Killian said.
He took one last look at his friend. Max appeared slightly on edge, and although the bruises on his neck and the cuts on his face were gone, the wound on his chest was still healing. He probably shouldn’t be here tonight, but he couldn’t let him go on a blind chase for his mate when he knew where to find her. He knew how painful it was to be far from your mate.
Without another word, Killian returned to Pru’s side. Sensing him coming, she turned to look at him. Her smile lasted an infinite second before it disappeared, turning into a disapproving glare. Killian shook his head and inched closer to her. She could pretend all she liked, but there was something between them. Lightly, he skimmed his fingertips across her lower back. She leaned toward him.
“You look radiant. Don’t ever stop smiling,” he whispered.
She frowned. “Business, Killian.”
“I’m on it. As we speak, my men are giving the area final clearance. I’m waiting to hear from them and then we’re good to go.”
Prudence gave him a brief nod and focused her attention on the party once more, mingling with Jose and the infested guests. Killian stood a few feet behind her, surveilling the area and waiting to hear from his team. A few minutes later, his headpiece crackled.
“Hawk, we’ve got an issue at six o’clock. Do we intervene?”
He turned around. A man was trying to punch Max.
“No, stand back,” he replied. “Give him a moment.” Killian clenched his jaw and glanced at his watch. It was almost one. Come on, Max. Moments later, Max and his mate left and the stranger drunkenly staggered back to his crowd. Killian caught Pru’s attention.
“When you give the command, I’ll send word and we’ll start.”
“You’ve got your stones?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Everyone who was involved in the mission had been given a magical stone which would protect them from the sleeping spell.
“Then, let’s begin.”
Time to get the party started.
Chapter Nine
Prudence finished her drink and set it down. The lights flickered and she bit back a smile. Kalliope and Aggie, the other Spell Casters joining the mission, must have arrived. Magic was rife in the air, working its way throughout the room, spreading its wings like an eagle taking to the sky. The Inferum started to flee in earnest, trampling over each other in their haste. Luckily, the minions trapped in human bodies had nowhere to run. If they left their host, then they’d lose the soul they so eagerly wanted to claim, and they would only encounter the same fate as those running away: eventual death.
She glanced at Killian. He stood a few feet to the side, observing everything. She caught his gaze and he winked at her, causing the butterflies in her stomach to soar. Damn man. Couldn’t he stop flirting for a second? Granted, he was probably doing it to ease her nerves.
“Don’t know what’s wrong with those lights, but as I was saying, so, you have not been to Barcelona?” The minister of something she couldn’t remember asked her for what must have been the hundredth time. She refocused her attention on him.
“No,” Pru replied. “Es mi, first, er, primera vez in Spain.”
“Si, si, entiendo. Pero tienes que ir. You should really go. There is a, what do you call it in English, a church, no, basilica, the Sagrada Familia. It’s breathtaking. Gothic architecture at its height. Definitely worth a visit, especially if you are interested in—” The man didn’t finish his sentence, his eyelids shutting and his mouth falling slack.
Prudence stiffened. It was eerily quiet. The musicians had long stopped playing, each of them frozen like statues made in an ode to music. The party guests were equally immobile, reminding her of a perfect picture depicting a lost moment in time. Her skin crawled. It was not the case. Within almost every human being standing around her, there was a creature of pure evil raging, slamming against the confines of the useless body it was now trapped in. It could not flee and it could not act until they united the dimensions and drew them out.
“Prudence.” Killian tapped her on the shoulder. “Everyone is asleep,” he said. “If you’re ready, we’ll move into position.”
“Perfect. Send for Kalliope and Aggie.”
Killian spoke into his headpiece while she kicked off her heels and walked to the center of the room, right beneath the largest chandelier. Jose and another man whose name she didn’t know cleared the space for her.
“Do you really need to stand right in the middle?” Killian murmured, returning to her side.
“The magic will flow better from here,” she replied. “We need to create a web which expands throughout this room. Don’t worry.” She gave his arm a quick squeeze. “We’ll be fine. We have the best military force in the universe to protect us.”
Killian gave her a lopsided grin, his eyes filling with warmth. He placed his arms on her shoulders and touched his forehead to hers.
“And just so you know, I’m not leaving your side. I’ll be behind you at all times.”
She rolled in her bottom lip and nodded. Her stomach churned. “Thanks. Is this sensation of being sick normal?”
“It is.”
“Prudence,” a familiar voice called out her name and she peered behind Killian, who released her.
Kalliope and Aggie emerged from the kitchen, followed by a team of Guardians, of which Killian took charge.
“Girls,” Prudence said.
“Pru.” Aggie gave her a quick hug. “We should get the Council to get rid of robes. These jens are so comfortable.”
“You mean jeans.” Kalliope lifted her eyebrows and gave her a squeeze.
“Whatever. Robes suck compared to this.”
Prudence laughed.
“Try wearing a ballroom gown and then speak to me abo
ut robes. I’ll choose them over this any day.”
“Nonsense,” Aggie said.
“I agree with Pru. Give me something with which I can move, which allows my magic to flow. This rigid material doesn’t do the trick.”
“But it’s what we’ve got and to fit in to the human realm, it was what we had to do,” Prudence replied. “All for the sake of the balance. It’s why we’re here. Magic will come.”
“Whenever you want, Pru.”
Killian positioned himself behind her. He’d taken off his shirt and stood with his weapon of choice, a maul hammer, at the ready.
It was time.
Taking a deep breath, she nodded to her colleagues. Grasping each other’s hands, they formed a triangle. Prudence shut her eyes.
“Virtue,” she said.
“Virtue,” Kalliope and Aggie echoed.
“We call you Virtues to come to our aid. Release these people’s hearts and souls and free them of your enemy. Sing the song of truth. Sing the song of love. Patience. Kindness. Virtue. Virtue.”
Louder and louder, they spoke until their voice became a harmonious chant. Prudence let go of all her emotions, focusing on the ball of energy deep within her. Deeper and deeper she went searching for the light which she knew would bring forth the magic necessary to lure the demons out of the humans’ bodies. Their voices united, becoming a single unity, and warmth traveled through her limbs. Her eyes burst open. White sparks flew out of her fingers, intertwining with her colleagues’ and creating an amalgam of colors.
“Demonae,” she said. “Demonae. ostende te.”
A blast of air swept around her, making her gown billow behind her.
“Demonae, ostende te.”
The hairs on the back of her neck stood and goosebumps sprouted all over her flesh. The vibrations in the room shifted, a red haze spreading throughout.
“Demonae, show yourself,” she repeated one final time.
Everything stilled. The room darkened, becoming pitch black. Then, the red light reappeared, stronger than before, and it expanded, crackling like the sky before a thunderstorm. The humans crumpled to the floor and little by little, shapes began to crawl out of them. They were little more than the size of a pencil. Repulsive creatures with webbed feet, sharp teeth, and sunken eyes. Shadows of the humans they themselves had once been. They crept forward, growing in stature, ridding their hosts of their presence. Aggie’s gaze found hers and in turn, she searched for Kalliope’s green eyes.
“Vince Malum,” they screamed in unison, their voices ringing across the room like a battle horn.
“Charge,” Killian shouted.
As one, the soldiers moved forth, their voices loud and proud as they cried out the Guardians’ motto.
All hell broke loose. Soldiers and Inferum clashed in battle. Prudence shut her eyes, unable to take the chaos around her. She zeroed in on the magic flowing through her. Currents of pleasure traveled across her veins, matching the rhythmic pumping of her heart. She had been born for this. A channel between the Virtues and the mundane. Heat embraced her, licking every inch of her soul. Her faith was unwavering. They would obliterate the demons and the Sins. It was their mission and obligation.
Suddenly, something grabbed her hair and pulled hard. She shrieked.
“Prudence!” Kalliope screamed.
Everything happened in an instant. She lost her footing and crashed to the floor. The connection with her sisters broke and the net of magic above them wavered and cracked into a million fragments. The Inferum cheered, groaning moans whirling around her.
“Killian,” she yelled.
“Pru.”
It was barely a grunt, but she heard it. Two feet away from her, he struggled on the floor to get rid of a ghastly creature. Their eyes locked and fear lodged in her throat. She had to help him. She had to help all of them. She rolled to her knees, the cumbersome dress making it difficult to stand as quickly as she would have liked.
“Need a hand?”
Prudence glanced up. Bile jumped to the back of her throat. The creature before her was vile, little more than a pile of bones with rotten, charred flesh clinging to it, all except for its head. Large horns protruded from the side, curving upward like a deer’s proud antlers, except they were blacker than the darkest pits of the universe. Mmamonár, a race of demons thousands of times worse than Inferum, who were mere minions of the Sins.
“No,” she whispered. “I don’t.”
Frantically, she tried to come up with a spell, but her mind drew blanks. The creature’s grotesque visage contorted, shaping his monstrous jaws into what she could only describe as a smirk. Prudence began to back away.
“Too bad.”
He reached down to grab her and she cried out the first spell which came to mind.
“Fire.” The beast cackled. “Do you really think that’s going to do anything? I was born from flame, priestess.” He reached for her again, grabbing her wrist. “I don’t suggest doing the same in Barcelona.”
Prudence’s scream died in her throat. Barcelona?
Killian came out of nowhere, hurtling into the monster and pushing it away from her.
“Killian, it’s a mmamonár,” she shrieked.
“It can be a Sin himself. No one touches what’s mine.”
She watched in horror as the demon spun around, talons extended. Killian jumped back. He spread his leg into a warrior stance and swung his hammer. The beast was fast, skidding to the left, and it scratched Killian’s arm. With a growl, her mate veered and lunged, hitting him squarely in the face. The demon hissed and took a step back. Pru stared in horror.
Killian. They were going to kill him and I’d never told him I loved him.
“Pru, we need to reset the magical net and separate the dimensions.” Aggie grabbed her elbow and helped her to her feet. “If we don’t, they will be able to bring reinforcements and we’ll be swamped. Look, Inferum are already joining them.”
Prudence glanced to where she pointed. From amongst the shadows, the ghastly servants crept forward.
“I—yes, yes, of course.”
Trembling, she got to her feet. She glanced at Killian, still fighting with the mmamonár. Sweat dripped down the side of his face, loose strands of hair stuck to his skin, and an angry red gash dripped blood across his arms, but there was a fire in his eyes she’d never seen before.
“Pru.” Aggie tugged on her arm.
“We must wait for him.”
Suddenly, Killian moved. It happened in a blur. He thrust forward, impaling the creature’s skull with his hammer. The demon’s eyes widened and his jaw fell slack. Killian pushed harder, the skull cracking with an unpleasant sound. He swung back, retrieving his weapon. The mmamonár doubled over. Killian’s gaze found hers and tears bit the back of her eyes.
“Pru, the dimensions. The humans are beginning to wake up.” Kalliope pointed to a round man moaning in his sleep.
Killian gave her a brief nod. “Do it,” he seemed to say.
“Let’s finish this,” she said.
Chapter Ten
“We need a bath,” Killian said, pulling Prudence into the bathroom with him. They were finally alone in the privacy of their hotel room. Most of the Guardians and Pru’s friends had returned home, but Pru had wanted to remain on Earth. He’d be lying through his teeth if he said he wasn’t glad.
They had won the fight, freeing the Spanish central government of the Sins possessing them. The balance, if only for a few hours or a few days at best, would tip in their favor. It would never end. The battle against evil never did, but tonight, they could rest.
“What?” she asked.
Killian frowned. Since they’d left the party, she seemed disoriented, her mind elsewhere. He hoped it was the shock of her first battle and nothing more. Turning on the hot water, he set the plug in place.
“Turn around, love. Let’s get you out of that dress.”
Killian sucked in his cheeks. She complied without so much as a whisper o
f complaint. He wanted her in the water and in his arms as soon as possible. Her dress slithered to the floor and she stepped out of it.
“Underwear,” he ordered.
She slipped it off and waited at the edge of the tub. Killian rushed to rid himself of his own clothes. His stomach clenched almost painfully.
Please, let her be all right.
Entering the bath, he offered her his hand, which she took.
“Let me sit first, so you can settle between my legs and lie back.”
“Okay.”
Her voice was barely a thread. Killian sat and spread his knees. Prudence accommodated herself in between them. Killian wrapped his arms around her middle and she leaned into his chest, sighing. Tension seeped from her and he exhaled with relief. He shut his eyes, focusing on the sound of their breathing mingling with the dripping water and the warmth blanketing around them. He’d imagined this scene countless times. Prudence in his arms after a bloody battle, grounding him, a vivid reminder of why he fought. In his fantasies, she had never had to endure the hardships of war.
“Killian,” Prudence murmured.
He snapped to attention.
“We need to clear the water.”
“What?” He opened his eyes, balking in horror at the sight around them. They were bathing in a pool of red. The blood of his wounds and his enemies seeping into the water.
“Fuck, Pru. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.” He scrambled to pull the plug. “I changed back into the clean suit and scrubbed my face before coming here, but I didn’t even consider the other wounds. I’m not used to this and—”
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