He tossed one more shirt into his already over stuffed messenger bag, before tossing the strap over his shoulder. The rest of his things would be flown out with the band. He looked around the room making sure he hadn't forgotten anything and nodded, his mind on everything going wrong at home.
"Come on then," Katie said, shaking her body the way a wet dog might, shedding what looked to Nicky to be a layer of gold glitter.
"What the fuck, Katie?!" Nicky yelped.
"No, not Katie." She shook again and a layer of pale blue leaves peeled away to reveal her face and he gasped. He was staring into a pretty, yet dower face with eyes that were much too large and bright. Her skin was pale, her hair midnight dark and made the hair of his neck stand up. He stared at her, his mouth agape. She smiled; well he assumed it was a smile, either that or a muscle twitch that imitated a smirk.
"What the absolute fuck?!" Nicky said when he was finally able to speak.
"We don't have time for this, we have to go. I was sent to bring you to the Collective. You’ll be safe there," she said, and he stared at her.
"Wait. What? Who are you?" he asked.
“I'm taking you to safety. People are missing and you, being close to the Caelestis and her family could be a target. I was tasked with keeping you safe, just until we find the Caelestis and the shifter. Come now, Nicholas." She crooked a finger and claimed his arm.
"Hold the fuck up!" he yelled, pulling away again and moving across the room, the strap to his messenger bag knotted around his fist until his knuckles had turned white. "Just wait a fucking minute. Who the fuck are you? Where's Katie? I can't go to the Collective, I'm human."
"I," she said with a sigh, "am Atropos, progeny of Nyx, Moirai and seer of what is yet to come. Katie is fine. She is on another level of consciousness and will think you've already left when she wakes. You are allowed entry into the Collective because of special circumstance. We must go."
He looked at her, then narrowed his eyes and tilted his head.
"You're one of the fates?" he asked and she nodded in exasperation. "CeCe said you were all fucking nuts. Where are the other two? And why are you speaking clearly? I thought you spoke in ridiculous riddles."
She shrugged.
"Nuts? Maybe a little. We don't always travel as one. And the riddle thing, I just do that to fuck with people. Makes my life a little more interesting, hold your breath." She wiggled her brow, a truly mischievous smile on her face, making the dower girl look pretty. He stared at her and frowned, ready to ask another question when he was surrounded by swirling mist. He closed his eyes and held his breath, praying that they would get to their final destination in one piece.
***
Lilith paced her bedroom, avoiding the flow of traffic in and out of Arbor's bedroom that clogged the hallway outside of her door. The heat outside was stifling, the wind still, quiet. She'd turned off the television long ago as human news only reported on the impending storm heading into the Gulf. She had seen the news feeds, watched people speak of leaving the area, while others declared their intent to stay. She closed her eyes and tried to think of something else, something pleasant like Remy and the touch of his skin. Or the fact that she had nearly gotten everything she'd wanted.
She poured herself vodka on the rocks at the mini bar in her sitting area, pacing the room trying to think. It was so hot, the ice melted in the cup before she'd finished it. What had she done?
She knew that the end was near for Arbor, there was no coming back from this. She should, she knew, let Remy say good-bye to his mother. But with his strong will, he would blurt out everything as soon as he could; he was a risk. She poured another drink, nixing the ice and downing the vodka in one swallow.
She had straightened her hair and wore it in a high ponytail, a style she had never worn because it seemed too common, too ordinary. Instead of her normal designer clothing, she wore cargo shorts and a plain white tank top she found at Old Navy and plain white low top Converse. She'd done everything she could to make herself more like Celeste, she'd even begun wearing the same shade of lipstick and changed her eye color. She looked at herself long and hard, slowly stripping off the clothes and wiping the lipstick off with the back of her hand. Remy had been correct, she looked ridiculous. A poor, pathetic imitation of the original.
She jumped into the shower, washing her hair and cleaning the sweat and smell of desperation from her body. When she'd finished, she wrapped her alabaster skin in a thick white bathrobe and combed the snarls from her hair and let the blue bleed from her eyes, running her fingers through her hair until thick silky waves rested on her shoulders. Why try to be Celeste when she could be who she truly was?
There was a banging on her door right before it blew open and slammed shut again. She hadn't seen anyone until Karim had his hand on her throat pushing her across the carpet, her feet skipping across the floor as she tried to get her balance.
He tossed her down onto the bed, his skin smoking from the late afternoon sunshine that streamed in through the partially covered windows, but he seemed beyond feeling it.
"Where is she?!" he barked, and she flinched, propping herself up on her elbows.
"Where is who?" she asked, crab walking back across the bed.
"Don't test me, Lilith. Where is Celeste?" She sat up looking at Karim in his paint stained jeans and dark t-shirt. He was fuming, like he had the night he'd attacked her, but he wouldn't kill her. Easing off of the bed, and staying as far away from him as possible, she went to the bar for another drink.
"I don't know where Celeste is. I haven't seen her since the two of you rode off into the moonlight. Besides, I've been busy with her mother on her deathbed and all," she said.
"A deathbed you are responsible for putting her in," he snarled.
She looked at him over the rim of her glass, pausing for a moment before gently, deliberately placing the glass on the bar.
"I love Arbor. I would never do anything to hurt her. She is family now."
"And we know how loving your family is," he snapped. "Don't play games with me."
"I thought you liked games, Karim." She came from around the bar, a smirk on her lips. "But you're right; I am tired of pretending to be the poor broken princess, especially since we already have one of those. She is really good at being the strong, moral but damaged damsel. But would you consider her a damsel? I don't think so. She's too much of a bad ass for that. Is that why you love her? Because she's so tough and still so very, very weak?"
"She's far from weak," he said, his anger giving way to frustrated confusion.
"Let's say I tell you what you want to know, what do I get out of it?" She moved closer, filling the space between them with the strong feral scent of her arousal.
"How about I let you live?" He chuckled. "You may not be as pretty, but you will survive." He looked pleased at the obvious fear he saw in her eyes. He wanted to kill her, she knew that, but he wouldn't. He couldn't. No blood could be shed in the house of the High Regent, she thought looking at him. He seethed, every instinct telling him to kill her, cut her throat and let her bleed out on the carpet like the worthless animal she was.
She straightened and stared at him, her mind reaching out to him. He cringed, pushing the feeling of spiders running across his brain, out and she physically recoiled. Like Remy, he was strong, too strong to let her manipulate his mind. Unlike Remy, though, she couldn't manipulate his body. There was more to this vamp than she realized, more power. She moved closer, trying again to push the mental wall out of her way, to drill through the block. But he batted her away like nothing more than an annoyance. How hadn't she seen it before? Because she had never met one of the Seven before. She had heard of the seven original vampires, the ones who had special powers, abilities that superseded even those of the gods.
How had she not seen it before? Karim, Vampire Prince of House Tyre, the incorruptible. He grasped her, lifting her into the air, and for a moment she thought he was going to throw her across the ro
om. He didn't, he only tightened his grip, his mouth near her neck while crushing the air from her lungs. She could feel her bones, already mending from her father's assault, cracking, her healing wounds re-opening.
"I’ll give you what you want, if you give me something I want," she teased. He tossed her to the floor, her robe falling open slightly. She looked in his eyes and undid her belt, letting him look at her bare body. She ran a hand across her breasts, watching his jaw tighten and his eyes narrow as she licked her lips and stood.
"You play nice," she let her finger moved down the deep v of his t-shirt, ripping it down the middle. "And I will tell you what I know,” she said. He grasped her wrists, twisting, but she made no whimpers of pain. "I know you like it rough. We can get as rough as you like, Karim. All I want is an hour and I will tell you what I know about your precious, Celeste." She pressed her lips to his chest and his stomach churned with sickness.
"Get away." He shoved her and turned to walk away. He'd reached the door, his hand on the knob, his anger rolling off of him adding heat to the already stifling room. The smell of her mingled with the scent of his singed flesh gave the entire room a suffocating feel. He felt ill, his chest burning as he opened the door to leave.
"The great incorruptible Prince of Tyre, you leave now and you'll never find out what I know. Your pride is more important than saving her, is it? You're just going to abandon her again? Your one true love?" she said, and he paused, looking back at her. "I promise, it'll be worth it. It won't even hurt. Unless you want it to," she said, smiling at the defeat she saw in his eyes.
He thought of the night Celeste had said the vow to bind them, the night when he had been hurting and had been willing to do whatever she needed to make sure they would be together, to make herself his and his alone. Angry tears burned his eyes as he thought of her out there somewhere, hurt, alone wanting to come back, waiting for him as she had so many centuries ago. She had waited for him and he'd walked away then, leaving her scarred and broken. He couldn't walk away again, no matter what the cost; he had to find her. What else he could do, he wondered. What were his other options?
***
She landed on her knees with a thud on slick cobblestones of a patio in some realm she had never seen before. The sky was white, stark with yellow birds moving across the horizon. She stared at the house just a few feet away; the looming grey stone building looked like something out an old horror movie.
Celeste began getting to her feet when one of the taloned feet of a Harpy pushed her back down. Now that she was on the ground, safe from being dropped into the nothingness between realms, she reached back, grasping the ankle of the creature that touched her and flipped it over her head. It landed on its back, its face stunned by the strength and swiftness of her capture. The other Harpies at Celeste's back began to advance, but she was not in the mood.
Celeste stood, looking at the dark winged creatures, there were five in all. The size and shape of small women, with dark plumage that covered human breasts, torso and legs that transitioned to bird's legs just below the knee. Three toed feet sported thick black talons and made clicking noises on the cobblestone as they shifted in preparation for attack. Their arms were adorned with beautiful wings, their heads capped with soft feathers, framing rather pretty female faces. Faces that were bird like, but lovely nonetheless. They ranged in colors from deep purple to ebony and stared at her with wide eyes.
She moved forward and they stepped back, making soft chirping sounds that reminded her of blue jays, but no human sound came from them.
The one on the ground was struggling to her feet and made a low hissing noise at Celeste's back, revealing her razor sharp teeth. It made a noise at the others and they took off, flying straight up into the colorless sky.
Celeste caught her breath, rubbing her bruised and bleeding shoulders. She was numb and light headed, her chest scalding from the movement between realms. She turned to look at the French doors that led into the gloomy looking house, when movement to her right caught her attention. She turned to see a guard moving toward her. He was tall, dressed in black slacks and a plain black long sleeve shirt, his face was on the stony side and a pale blue. Someone was approaching from the rear, she could hear him moving closer, but she did not turn her head to look at him. Her eyes did dart right to the goblin moving closer, then to her left as another demon, this one a deep purple came toward her. She noted that they were all in black, all in soft soled shoes and all moved with practiced stealth.
"You need to come with us, Caelestis,” the blue man said and Celeste smirked.
"So it takes four - five now,” she pointed over her shoulder to the newcomer, “to escort wittle ol' me into the house that looks like it belongs to the Addams Family? I'm not going anywhere until you tell me where the fuck I am and who the fuck brought me here." She sighed and placed her hands on her hips.
"Just come with us," Blueman said, holding out a hand. She didn't move, only stared at him. A hand clamped down on her still healing shoulder and she winced, and then kicked back. The heel of her foot caught her assailant in the knee; there was a loud pop when the bone broke and a pained grunt when he fell sideways onto the cobblestones. She glanced at him writhing on the ground, holding his shattered knee, but she did not move.
"Well?" she asked planting her feet.
"Please, don't make this difficult, Caelestis." Blueman moved closer, a retractable baton in his hand. He flicked his wrist and it extended, his red eyes on Celeste who smiled widely. Behind her someone unsheathed a sword, she could hear the metal sliding against metal even with the ogre lying on the ground moaning behind her. She spared him a look, saw that his damaged knee was pointing in the wrong direction, the thick white bone poking through his slacks. She watched him writhe, then kicked him in the side of the head. He fell silent and she exhaled, her eyes back on blue man who looked as if he were approaching a feral dog.
"Oh, I'm going to make this extremely difficult." She smiled. Blueman charged, swinging the baton at her and she stepped to the right, sticking her foot out to trip him and letting his momentum carry him. He tumbled over the downed ogre and landed with a thud. While Blueman was falling, the demon at her back lunged forward. She shifted, the blade of his broadsword moving past her shoulder, slicing through several strands of hair and knicking the top of her ear. She grasped the hilt of the sword between her flattened palms and pulled. The demon bumped her back and she elbowed him in the stomach, knocking the wind from him. He loosened his grip on the sword and she pulled it free, tilting the handle up, hitting him in the chin. His eyes rolled back in his head and he fell onto his butt, his mouth bloody. She spun, kicking him in the face and he was out for the count, sprawled on his back on the cobblestones.
The purple demon on her left and the goblin on her right ran at her, both like charging rhinos thundering on the stone patio. She stepped back and let them crash into each other, rolling her eyes at their incompetence. Blueman was back on his feet, the baton ready for action. He swung at her knees, striking her shin with the first strike. She cursed and stared at him, her blue eyes fading to silver. He smirked and swung again, this time aiming for her head and damaged shoulders but she blocked each blow with the sword, taking a step back with each advance.
The goblin got to his knees and grasped her around the hips. She leaned back, using him as an anchor, so she could kick the advancing Blueman in the chest. He fell backward, his eyes wide from the power of her strike, and landed hard on his back. She turned the sword in her hands, grasped the handle with both hands and plunged it into something soft and yielding until her hands were slick with thick green black blood. The arms around her hips went slack, and the goblin fell to his side, the sword buried in his chest.
She gave it a tug but it wouldn't budge. Behind her, she heard the shrill cry of the Blueman who charged, swinging the baton. He caught her in the face, slashing across her cheek. She grunted and fell to the ground, her mouth bleeding. He loomed over her, the baton over
his head. She rolled away, springing to her feet. There were only two demons on their feet, Blueman and the strangely pretty purple demon. They charged at once - she leapt into the air, kicking purple in the face and slapping Blueman in the nose with the heel of her palm. Purple fell, dazed while bloody Blueman continued the onslaught of blows. She smiled while easily dodging his increasingly wild swipes, infuriating him even more.
The purple demon got to his feet at her back, his arms encircling her waist, pinning her arms to her sides. She struggled against his grasp, watching Blueman smirk, his teeth startlingly white against deep blue skin and dripping dark red blood pouring from his nose.
Celeste returned his smirk, and kicked him, the toe of her sneaker catching him under the chin. He made no noise as he hit the ground, only a muted thunk, and the baton sailed across the patio and into the bushes. Before Purple could fully grasp what had just happened, she reached down to grab what she hoped were testicles and tugged. He screamed and she knew she'd hit her mark; even if they weren't testicles, she'd hurt him a helluva lot. He let her go and she swung a hard right roundhouse, striking him in the jaw and he too, went down, his head bouncing on the cobblestones.
"You should have just answered my question," she said to Blueman who looked up at her with glazed eyes. She wiped the blood from her mouth and touched the bruise on her cheekbone, wincing. The mark on her neck singing to life as someone approached from the darkness of the interior of the house.
"I must say, that was quite impressive. Those are some of my best men," a woman said behind her.
"Then you are in a world of trouble,” Celeste snarled before turning to see who had brought her to the colorless, airless, soulless place.
Mark of the Fallen: A Fallen Novel Page 26