Forbidden (The Preternaturals)

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Forbidden (The Preternaturals) Page 17

by Zoe Winters


  “Innocents?” Cole asked.

  Tam looked at the table, “Yes.”

  “What happens to them?” the werewolf asked.

  “They’ll go to the judgment room like normal. It’s not that no being will ever be able to go to Heaven, it’s that no one from Heaven will be able to get here directly like they’re walking across the street. They’ll be able to reincarnate, but Heaven won’t be able to throw any more demons or guardians down. And angels will be banned from crossing into this dimension.”

  “W-what are the consequences?” Angeline asked.

  Everyone stopped and looked at her. It was the first thing she’d said since the meeting started.

  “M-magic has consequences. T-there is a price,” she said.

  “Besides us killing some people?” Tam said. “Anyone who is a true immortal: demons, guardians, and demon mates won’t be affected. Anything that can die, if you do die, you’ll be very screwed when you get to Heaven. I imagine there will be serious retribution. So if you can die, you might want to think about not volunteering to be in the ritual.”

  “I can’t die,” Cole said. “I’m tied to Jane.” Jane was a human, turned werewolf’s mate, turned demon. The werewolf mate part had tied Cole to her in a more immortal way when she’d died and been made into a demon. It was complicated.

  “But vampires can die,” Tam said, glancing at Anthony.

  “I’ll keep it in mind,” the vampire king said. “Anything else?”

  “If we successfully sever the dimensions, any actual help that was making the world a better place from the angels, won’t be here anymore. Demons and guardians will be able to get into churches. And crosses and holy water won’t make any difference to vampires. Any magic user whose magic is anchored in angelic power or the church will lose their ability to do magic. So the exorcism ritual that priests use, for example, will no longer have any effect. We’re talking about large-scale changes, and even if we think we understand the consequences, I can promise you that we don’t. And some of them won’t work in our favor.”

  Tam should know. She’d once been involved in a ritual to make herself immortal that had taken on some rather unpleasant consequences before she’d become Cain’s mate. Hadrian noticed when Cain reached over and squeezed her hand. She didn’t want to do this, but if what Anthony said was true, they didn’t have a choice. If they couldn’t eliminate the angels, they would lose, without question.

  “Any objections, impassioned pleas, moral outrage?” Anthony asked.

  “I don’t like it,” Dayne said. The sorcerer and his werecat had remained quiet during the meeting, merely taking everything in.

  “Me either,” Greta said. She always stood by her man.

  “I’m not a great fan,” Cole added. “It sounds dark and messed up.”

  “I k-know you don’t know me and d-don’t care what I think, but you need to do it,” Angeline said.

  “And why is that?” Anthony asked. He seemed genuinely curious.

  “B-because I know what they do up there. I know what they’ll do to anyone who doesn’t do exactly what they say at all times. They’ll turn this place into a nightmare, but it will be a pretty and bright nightmare. And they’ll torture anybody who doesn’t fall in line until it stops amusing them. They will show no mercy even though they’ll give lip service to it as if it defines them. Whatever the cost, you don’t want that.”

  “Maybe we can fight and win. What are the angel weaknesses?” Cole asked.

  “We… I mean they get weaker if they haven’t been exposed to light in a while, but Heaven is made of light. You wouldn’t be able to isolate them away from it long enough to get an upper hand. Beyond that, there are no weaknesses. You can’t fight them. You won’t win. The ritual to separate us is the only chance.”

  Jane had been uncharacteristically quiet as well. “I agree with the recovering angel. I was up there. It was a white cotton candy nightmare.” She turned to her mate. “Cole, I know you make jokes about it, but it really is terrible. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”

  “All in favor?” Anthony asked.

  Hadrian knew the vampire king didn’t care about who was on board and who wasn’t. He only made a nod to caring about democracy. Angeline raised her hand, as did Cain and Tam and Jane. Reluctantly the werewolf raised his hand. Dayne and Greta didn’t raise their hands and looked down at the table.

  “Hadrian?” Anthony asked. “What about you?”

  “I don’t care,” Hadrian said. He wasn’t fond of any plan that Anthony would be involved with, though he was more for this than against it if it would keep Angeline from the reach of Heaven. Claim her. Claim her. Claim her. The demon chanted. Heaven couldn’t do anything, then.

  “What do we need?” Anthony asked the witch.

  Tam pulled out a list she’d jotted down on a piece of notebook paper. “I need a magic user. That will be me. I’m the only strong witch I know that can’t die, so that’s me. A demon…”

  “That’s me,” Cain said. “If you’re sure you don’t mind…”

  “I don’t mind. Like I’d be jealous of a sacrifice. Please.”

  “Don’t mind what?” Hadrian asked.

  “We need one member of each preternatural species’ blood contributed to the spell. We’ll need a human sacrifice for each species. The preternatural must kill the human in the way their kind kills or does magic. For me it will be an incantation. For Cain it’ll be the way he feeds, etc.”

  Ah. That. Cain would have to have sex with some other woman. Hadrian couldn’t imagine most mates being okay with that. Tam didn’t seem bothered, but then she had a point. Why would she be jealous of a corpse? It wasn’t as if Cain and his chosen victim would carry on a meaningful relationship during the course of the ritual.

  “I can’t feed that way anymore,” Cain said. Since he’d taken a mate, Tam had become his only working food source.

  “But you can still kill that way,” she said.

  The demon leader shrugged. “True enough. I just don’t get that bored.”

  “Because I’m wildly exciting,” Tam said.

  Cain smirked. “That’s it.”

  “Are you sure we need sacrifices?” Cole asked, interrupting the banter that was just making the rest of the group uncomfortable.

  The werewolf seriously didn’t like it. He’d forbidden his pack from hunting humans when they were in their wolf form. Once a wolf got the taste of human blood, they could grow vicious and addicted to it. And Cole wasn’t down with moral compromises. He was high road or no road.

  Tam sighed. “Cole, I’m sure. This plane was created by gods and angels. It took powerful creative energy, and it will take equally powerful destructive energy to sever the link. I said this wouldn’t be pretty or easy or moral. We’re in lesser or greater good territory here. How bad will the consequences be to all of our people if we don’t do this?” She continued down the list. “I’ll need a therian of any breed.”

  “I’ll do it,” Cole said.

  Well, that was surprising, considering his general reluctance to the plan.

  “Really?” Jane asked. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m the only immortal therian I know. I won’t put that on someone else who’ll die and have to face punishment for it.”

  “But you’ll get a taste of human blood.”

  He squeezed her hand. “I know. You’ll help me. I’ll be okay, whatever we have to do until it’s out of my system.”

  Jane wisely didn’t say another word about it.

  Tam put a check mark on her list and continued. “And I need a guardian, and an angel, and a vampire. We can use one of Anthony’s guardians. We’ll have to kidnap an angel somehow. That leaves the vampire.”

  “I’ll do it,” Anthony said.

  Charlee had quietly opened the door and returned to the table with the baby, the wolf pup on her heels. “No you won’t.”

  “I’m the leader. It’s my responsibility.”

  If Anthony
was trying to get bonus ‘hey look at me, I’m volunteering… I’m not a total asshole’ points, it might be too late for that.

  “And we have a child,” Charlee said. “No.”

  Anthony growled but sighed and said, “Fine.”

  Charlee, as the human vampire queen walked a fine line sometimes. She usually deferred to her mate so as not to undermine his rule, but there were occasions when she put her foot down.

  Charlee passed the baby to Anthony, and he started making those ridiculous faces at her. The baby cackled and clapped her hands together when he made his eyes glow and fangs come out.

  “Okay,” Tam said, making a note. “I’ll put a question mark there. But we need a vampire and a guardian.”

  “Angeline can be your guardian,” Anthony said, bouncing his daughter on his hip.

  “I’m not comfortable with that,” Tam said. “I don’t really know her, and I’m not comfortable asking her to kill someone. Also, since all guardians are still part angel, I’m worried she’ll get sucked into Stepford Heaven being that close to the ritual.”

  Hadrian growled. There was no way he’d risk her getting too close and ending up trapped back up there.

  “Pick one of your guardians, Anthony. I know some of them are assassins. And a few you’d like to get rid of,” Tam said.

  “Assassins? Really, Tamara, I have no idea where you get that kind of talk,” Anthony said.

  “Just get one of them. That leaves vampire. If we’re not using Anthony, we’ll still need to figure that one out.”

  All eyes went to Hadrian.

  “I don’t know why you’re all looking at me. I’m not doing it.”

  “Such a team player,” Anthony said. “I thought you’d want to ensure your guardian’s safety.”

  Angeline sat silent with her hands clasped together, watching them as if they fascinated her. In truth, Angeline’s safety was of far greater importance to him than he could articulate. He wasn’t sure if his human side was on board, but the demon side had latched onto her powerful blood and never wanted to let her go. But Hadrian’s demon also refused to risk being parted from her.

  “So if I don’t personally do it, it won’t get done? I find that hard to believe,” Hadrian said.

  Tam rushed to diffuse the situation. “I can use Hadrian and Angeline in another capacity if they’re willing. It won’t involve bringing down Heaven’s wrath on them. When we do this there will naturally be angels trying to stop us as well as some magic users who have joined forces with the non-magical human population. I’ll need fighters for that. If they’re willing.”

  Hadrian looked to Angeline. “Are you okay with that?”

  “I-I can go as your guardian if you want me there.”

  “What about the risk to Angeline with the portal?” Hadrian asked, still not comfortable.

  “We’ll make a big perimeter around the ritual space. It’ll only be a risk to any guardian right next to it.”

  Hadrian nodded and squeezed Angeline’s hand. “Okay,” he said.

  “I’ll be sure to pick one I want to get rid of, then,” Anthony said. “When are we doing this?”

  “I’ve got a few more things to get together, but we need to do it soon, the next full Moon. In three days.” Tam rifled through a duffel bag at her feet and pulled out an old scroll and unrolled it on the table. “We’ll meet here just after sunset.” She pointed at a spot on a map. “It’s about forty miles south of Cary Town and is one of the more well-traveled entry points for angels into this dimension. If we’re severing all links, we need to use a powerful entry point if we want to create a chain reaction.”

  Tam passed around small cards with an address on it. “Here’s the modern address. Put it in your GPS. Everyone bring whoever you have who will fight with us. We’ll be bringing demons and magic users. Anthony, bring all the vampires, guardians, magic users, whatever you’ve got. Cole… we need the wolves for this one. Dayne, if you have any sorcerer buddies who haven’t joined the other side yet, bring them. I’ll finish working on the ritual and meet individually with everybody that will be in the ritual.”

  “So we won’t be meeting here again?” Hadrian said. “Fantastic. After this is over, I’m moving back to my church.” He’d grown to hate everything Our Lady of Mercy stood for, but once the link between Heaven and Earth was severed, it would just be a building with a great basement for rest during the day.

  Chapter Eleven

  Angeline kept close to Hadrian as the meeting dispersed, careful to skirt around Anthony. There had been a time the vampire king and Linus had been thick as thieves. She’d shared a bed with both vampires. Seeing Anthony again was as awkward as she’d feared it would be.

  She was grateful Cain got them out of there and to the demon dimension, electing not to linger after the meeting. Cain’s dimension was street after street of tents and an open-air marketplace. Brilliant stars twinkled overhead as they walked over the cobblestones.

  “You can stay here. It’s private and out of the way. We’ll come get you when it’s time for the ritual.” Cain held open a large tent flap on a green and gold tent. He gave Angeline a heated look that made her shudder. “I know you won’t be needing food during your stay, is there anything else you need?”

  “She needs moonlight to feed,” Hadrian said.

  Cain nodded. “Whenever she’s hungry, she can ask one of my demons to escort her somewhere where it’s night. They’ll take her someplace safe. There is no Moon here.”

  “Do you know anyone who makes corsets?” Hadrian asked.

  Cain smirked as Hadrian spun Angeline around and pulled the top down to reveal the low-backed bodice.

  “Hey, whatever you two are into. I’ll send Daria your way. She loves her fabrics and sewing. She makes almost everything she wears. I’m sure she can handle it.”

  “Thanks.”

  Angeline went into the tent, not wanting to blush in front of the demon leader. He was an incubus; of course he thought everything was about sex. Whatever nudge nudge wink wink went on with the vampire and demon in conversation outside the tent, she wanted to remain ignorant of it.

  She’d never seen, nor been in the demon dimension. As an angel, she wouldn’t have had access to Cain’s dimension, or as they called it in Heaven: The Forbidden Realm. The angels had a flair for over-dramatizing.

  They couldn’t even look into the demon dimension on their screens. It was totally shut off. This knowledge filled Angeline with the first real peace and sense of quiet and privacy she’d had in decades. She’d forgotten what it was like to have a truly private moment where she knew without doubt that no one was watching.

  Though she’d felt inexplicably safe inside Hadrian’s church basement, in the back of her mind she’d known if she got on their radar, they could watch her.

  Hadrian entered the tent and went to a gilded cart with a lot of very expensive alcohol and crystal glassware. He poured himself a drink and tossed it back, then raised the brandy in the air. “Drink?”

  Angeline shook her head. “No, thank you.”

  Inside the tent was an overstuffed sofa, rugs on the sand, and an uncountable number of large pillows. A large round bed stood in one corner with four posts spaced evenly around it and a canopy of sheer gold fabric.

  Hadrian’s expression was intense, trained on her like a cat hunting prey.

  “A-are you hungry?” she asked, pulling her hair away from her throat.

  He put the alcohol down and gave her an intense once-over. Then he dragged his gaze over her again as if the first time hadn’t been quite enough. “You might say that,” he said. “What are you doing to me, Angeline?”

  She took a step back, not sure what to do with this new version of the vampire. He seemed out of control. It wasn’t like him.

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Don’t you? Since the first time you stepped inside my church, you’ve been inside my head, inside my blood. You’re pounding through my pulse right now.
Do you know that?”

  She stood in the middle of the tent, staring at him. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but not this. The idea that there could be any reciprocation to her desire—any unenthralled reciprocation—hadn’t occurred to her. There was always so much anger around him when she was near.

  “Is that why you hate me?”

  He laughed. “Oh, I don’t hate you, little angel. But I want to throw you down on that bed and fuck the hell out of you. Does that scare you?”

  She shook her head. “No.” It thrilled her. It excited her. And yet she was sure she must be dreaming. But hadn’t this almost happened earlier? Before she’d had an attack of guilt and ruined the moment with her tears?

  If that moment had been allowed to continue, it would have been sweet and soft and safe. Tender. This moment was everything that one hadn’t been. This moment was somehow even better.

  He moved closer. He was so far into her personal bubble now that she had to fight the urge to bring her wings out—even though she had no desire to protect herself from him.

  Angeline turned, not allowing Hadrian out of her sight as he prowled around her.

  “No. Stay very still.”

  She froze as he made a second trip around her. She felt the prickle along her spine—her wings asking to come out, the instinct to protect herself so strong. Hadrian placed light kisses down her spine, and the tingling feeling dissipated.

  “I’m going to claim you,” he said.

  Angeline spun to face him, ignoring his earlier demand. “What? No!”

  “No? You know, I can just do it. I don’t need your permission. Wasn’t it your original intention for us to spend eternity together? Second thoughts?”

  “I don’t know why you would claim me given our history…”

  “To protect you. To keep you with me. What if they can’t sever the link between Heaven and the earthly plane? What if one of them tries to hurt you? What if they try to destroy you?”

  Angeline shut her eyes against the dream that of Rodolfo coming at her, his hand glowing with a light that had the power to burn through her soul and extinguish it forever.

 

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