Ascended (Fallen Guardian Saga #2)

by Debra Ann Miller

She smiled wickedly at him and whispered in his ear, “Hello Jeremy. Did you miss me?” She moved even closer and started to nibble his ear. Her actions quickly intensified as she began to bite and lick his ear wildly, much to Jeremy’s confusion.

  He struggled to gather his resolve as he pushed away from her slightly. “Viv, what have they done to you?” his voice faltered as he looked at the altered shell of the girl he’d once loved.

  His remark seemed to surprise and anger her. She leaned into him as though she were trying to suck the air from his lungs, and pressed her body tight up against his. Again, she licked him, this time on the corner of his mouth, sliding the tip of her tongue across his lips. She flashed a seductive grin as she toyed with him. “Come on, Jer, don’t you want to play with me?” she said, tugging the strap of her dress down her shoulder, the sexual connotation obvious.

  Jeremy grabbed her arms and forced Vivian to look at him; her eyes were filled with desire and her smile was provocative. Jeremy knew she wasn’t the same Vivian he’d said goodbye to such a short time ago, but his heart was aching with the reality of seeing her again.

  He couldn’t help himself; he pulled her in and kissed her hard, giving her everything he had. She thrust herself at him, matching his intensity, lifting her legs to wrap around his waist as her kiss left his lips and moved down his jaw toward his chin.

  Jeremy grabbed onto the back of her thighs to support her hips, lifting her higher, pushing her back firmly against the wall. He grabbed her hands, intertwining his fingers with hers, and pressed them above her head, still holding her against the wall with his body. He continued to kiss her as he moved one hand to her throat in a caress; her eyes widened in surprise and anticipation of pleasure.

  He tightened his grip and noticed the ecstasy in her eyes; she tried to go for his lips again, but he pulled his head back.

  She smiled in enjoyment of the game, not catching on to the change in his demeanor.

  He leaned in closer to her, but this time, his eyes were hard. He spoke through gritted teeth, saying, “I am going to get my Vivian back!”

  Furious at his words, she took control and spun him around, restraining him against the wall with lightning speed and inhuman force.

  Vivian sneered at him and replied with a malicious grin, “That’s a pity, Jeremy. This was your last chance to have what you’ve always wanted: to feel my body against yours!”

  Those were the last words he heard before she smashed his head hard against the wall and watched his body drop like a lump of clay to the floor.

  Back in the chamber, Vie was faced with her own evil demon: Lucian. He was not the beast that Vie remembered seeing at their last meeting, but a man—a dark and extremely beautiful man, well-spoken and alluring.

  Lucian had many gifts: one of them was the power to lure unsuspecting souls with his physical beauty and mysterious charm. But his real purpose was to smash, mutilate, and darken in every way he could. It made no difference whether it was a body or a soul, flesh or ideas, matter or spirit. The aim of Lucian and his Underworld was exactly the same in every case: to destroy. He deceived by lying and counterfeiting, by play-acting and masquerading, by illusion and fantasy. He was powerful and dangerous, and not to be trusted under any circumstances.

  He stood, poised for confrontation, looking straight into her soul.

  Vie showed no fear and she knew he saw that immediately. Bring it on, she thought, staring back at him.

  “Violet, how nice of you to stop by. I’ve missed seeing you. Where have you been hiding these days?” he asked, his tone politely curious, as if they were meeting for a social engagement.

  “Knock it off, Lucian!” Vie shouted forcefully. “I’m not here to play games with you. Where is she?”

  Lucian circled her. “Now to whom might you be referring?” he asked, continuing to toy with her. “I have many souls down here, after all.”

  “You know exactly who I’m talking about, and you’re going to deliver her to me now!” she replied.

  He burst out in maniacal laughter. “Oh, Violet, you really do entertain me,” he continued to laugh in her face, “but you’re forgetting something. I have a pact—an iron clad contract with the young soul you wish to see. I’m afraid I am going to have to deny your request.”

  “Oh, on the contrary, Lucian. You will honor my request. And I’m going to tell you why, too, since you seemed to have overlooked a very important detail about your pact with Vivian.”

  “Do tell,” he replied, sounding bored.

  “Actually, I’d have thought you would have been a bit more informed about my abilities, especially since you claim to know so much about me,” she said, circling him now. “What you may not know about me, Lucian, is that I have the ability to retain every piece of information that has passed in front of my eyes; it’s called a photographic memory, and it has really come in quite handy for me. Now, while that may seem unimpressive to you at the moment, I can assure you, you’ll feel differently when I’m finished.

  “Remember when you showed me your contract with Vivian?” she asked, stopping directly in front of him. Vie could see his curiosity was growing as he wondered where she was going with her speech. “Well, I remember—every single word of it, in fact,” she said, grinning at him with satisfaction.

  She could see that Lucian had become angered by her audacity the moment she’d begun to speak, and she was enjoying every second of it. It felt good to finally know something Lucian did not, and to be able to use it as a tactical move.

  “I must warn you, Violet: playing with fire is a dangerous game. I would hate to see you get burned,” he said.

  Vie could see the fire in his dark eyes as he threatened her, but she was not backing down.

  “You’re the one who should be worried, Lucian, because as of right now, your contract is null and void. Now go and get Vivian!” she demanded.

  “You have tried my patience for the last time!” his reaction was swift. He called for his servants to take her away.

  Vie pulled out her blade, ready to fight. She took the Dark Ones out one at a time as they came toward her, until the last corpse hit the floor.

  Lucian was thoroughly impressed, but kept his game face on.

  Vie looked at him, barely out of breath and pleased with herself. “Are we through playing games now, Lucian? It’s really quite simple; all I want is Vivian.”

  “Humor me for a moment, Violet. What makes you think I would give you anything?”

  “You have no choice, really, Lucian. You see, as I was trying to tell you before, I’ve read every single word in your pact with Vivian. The contract ‘shall be deemed in full force unless one of royal blood chooses to break its bind. Then and only then shall said soul be released.’” She recited the fine print of the pact verbatim, thanks to her photographic memory.

  “And…,” he prompted.

  “And I am of royal blood, brother!” she dropped her bombshell. “I have the power to release my sister from the hell you’ve trapped her in, and I’m acting on that power. Now, bring me my sister!”

  “Bravo, sister,” he said, clapping. “It’s about time you put together the pieces of your pathetic existence; I basically served it up to you on a silver platter, you know. However, you’re missing an important detail about your so-called ‘royal’ blood. In order to collect your soul, you would have to align yourself as said royalty. Am I to assume you are here to do that?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow, excited by the thought.

  “The contract is not conditional; you’re just grasping at straws now, Lucian,” she tested him.

  Lucian snapped his fingers and a demon appeared at his side. He ordered, “Bring the girl,” and the dark servant left the room. He studied Violet for a long moment and then said, “I will grant your wish, but you will have to give me something in return. I want your blade.”

  Vie had known Lucian would ask for the blade. He needed it; it would give him great power. It was the sole reason she’d had Enapay retri
eve it from Gabriel.

  There was something that had haunted her about Lucian when she’d returned from her mission, so she’d taken every opportunity to go through the history of the Fallen One, Dimorte, studying every detail about the Dark Ones while she was at the Gates. Knowledge was power, and that was the only weapon she needed at the moment.

  Vie nodded her head in agreement and pulled the blade out of her boot. She held it tight, waiting to make the trade when Vivian arrived. She and Lucian glared at one another, locked in an intense standoff.

  Although the situation appeared to be working in her favor, Vie’s internal alarms were going off; it was just too easy.

  In the meantime, the Guardians had followed Carter back to the ranch. They’d gone with him unquestioningly, but once they’d arrived, Fallon spoke up. “What are we doing here at the Stones’ house?”

  Carter’s attitude toward Fallon was downright rude; he was still angry with her for betraying Vie and playing him while merged as Tess.

  “Oh yeah, that’s right. You weren’t on the last mission with us, were you, Tess? Oh, sorry…I mean Fallon,” Carter corrected himself, shooting her a snide look.

  Fallon charged at him and Gabriel stepped between them.

  “No sparring today, guys. I’m afraid your childish antics will need to wait until after we save Vie,” he spoke evenly, reminding them they were all on the same side.

  “Sorry,” Carter and Fallon both uttered in unison, embarrassed by their actions.

  Gabriel knew from the last mission that Carter and Jeremy had entered the Tower through the secret tunnels in his and Sarah’s hidden adventure spot. Though they had sealed the concrete walls after Carter broke through them, he hoped it was a spot unprotected by Lucian’s impenetrable force shield.

  “Good work, Carter!” Gabriel said as they headed down the property line to Sarah’s secret place.

  They all worked together, pulling out the debris in the effort to get to the wall.

  Carter had thoroughly secured that once-majestic hideaway from anyone who tried to enter. It was a place filled with horrific memories of a day he’d tried so hard to forget: the day he’d lost Vie.

  Camulus approached, moved the Guardians and Carter gently aside, and spread his arms wide. He looked up at the sky and seemed to commune with something, or someone, up above. Everything blocking their path disappeared instantly, and an entrance to the Tower suddenly appeared.

  No one questioned his power; they just excitedly moved through the dark, musty tunnel one at a time. The passageway seemed to be a maze, and Carter tried hard to remember which way he had gone before, but he couldn’t think clearly. Anxiety was taking hold of him again.

  “Carter, look at me,” Gabriel said to him. He could barely see into Gabriel’s eyes because of the tunnel’s blackness.

  Gabriel put his hand on Carter’s forehead and said, “Where is Vie, Carter?”

  Carter realized he could feel Gabe’s energy, and he could see Vie’s light.

  Carter looked at the fork in the tunnel and said with absolute certainty, “This way.”

  They all followed him blindly and confidently through the passageways. Then Carter saw a dim light up ahead, an opening leading into a corridor.

  He was thrilled and shouted back with relief to the Guardians, “I see a light up ahead! Gabe, can you see it? Gabe?”

  Nothing but silence came from behind him. Carter turned around and realized he was completely alone.

  Chapter Twenty

  Walls Closing In

  Fallon saw a dim light up ahead and moved quickly along through the tunnel to exit. “Carter, I see a light,” she yelled to him, still believing he was ahead of them.

  The Guardians entered the room one by one, each of them looking at one another, waiting for someone to explain what in the world happened to Carter. Gabriel was the last to exit and immediately noticed that Carter was not among them.

  “Where is he?” Gabriel shouted to Fallon, who had been directly behind Carter in the tunnels.

  “I don’t know! I thought he was ahead of me,” she replied, baffled by his disappearance.

  Gabriel took charge, telling them to split up and search for him. The tunnels were dark and wound around like a maze, so Gabriel decided to go back the way they’d come to try and locate Carter. He knew somewhere in there was a turn that would lead him straight to Carter, and he hoped he would find him before he got himself into any trouble. Keeping track of Vie and Carter had become a full time job for Gabriel; one he felt he was failing at miserably right now. Where are you Carter? he said to himself as he veered back through the maze.

  Carter, on the other hand, only had one mission on his mind, and it was not to find the Guardians. Although he believed in the ‘safety in numbers’ theory, his only goal was to find Vie, even if that meant he would have to do it alone.

  Instead of going back into the tunnels, he made the decision to go it alone. He rounded the corner that led to the dungeon where he had been once before, and walked slowly past the cages, hoping and praying he would find Vie; but there was no trace of her. He continued down the long hallway, approaching the last cage. He looked inside but all he saw was a pool of blood on the floor.

  Without warning, an arm reached through the bars and grabbed Carter’s neck, pulling him in close to the cage. His eyes locked in surprise with the cage’s occupant as their heads collided into the bars of the cage, and Carter was released immediately from his grip.

  The person in the cage was Jeremy, and for the first time, Carter was actually happy to see him.

  “Carter?” Jeremy shouted, excited to see him.

  “Shhhhh,” he whispered back while looking around. “Where is Vie?”

  “I don’t know,” Jeremy said. “I haven’t seen her, but I saw Vivian. She was here!” He sounded saddened, rather than thrilled, by his encounter with Vivian. “Well, it wasn’t Vivian, exactly.”

  “We don’t have time to talk, Jer. Let’s get you out of here,” Carter said, placing his hands on the bars, ready to separate them.

  Suddenly, they heard footsteps. Carter whispered, “Someone’s coming,” and motioned to Jeremy to step back from the cage.

  Carter darted behind the side of the wall in the corner, out of sight, waiting to see who was coming and what he was up against. He heard voices talking in the halls but couldn’t see anyone.

  Jeremy tried to see where Carter had gone, afraid he had left him there. “Carter?” he whispered, but he received no reply.

  Back in the chamber, Vie and Lucian were having a private standoff while waiting for his henchman to return with Vivian. His dark eyes, filled with contempt, fixed on her. Vie had no idea how or why he had become so consumed by her existence, but it was clear that he was. She got an eerie feeling that Lucian was ready to strike, and her guard went up instantly.

  The servant arrived empty-handed and asked to speak with Lucian privately.

  Vie was alarmed and asked Lucian, “Is there some sort of problem?”

  He was angered by her suggestion that all was not running smoothly, and ordered the servant to step forward and speak freely. The quivering demon moved reluctantly closer to him, afraid to deliver his news.

  “What is it?” Lucian asked impatiently.

  “It’s the girl, my lord,” he replied nervously.

  “Go on,” he pressed him.

  “She’s gone!” he said, bowing his head in shame and terror.

  Lucian immediately looked at Vie, his mouth forming a snide grin, and then spoke to the demon. “I believe we have some unwelcome visitors…FIND THEM!” he ordered. Then he looked back to Vie and said, “You should have told me you brought company.”

  “I didn’t,” she said honestly, not knowing who was there with her.

  “No worries, Violet. We do enjoy the occasional guest. Hopefully your friends will decide to stay awhile; there’s always room here at my inn,” he said, still grinning at her.

  They waited for what
seemed like hours for someone to return with Vivian. Then Odessa walked in and shook her head at Lucian, and Vie knew that Vivian was gone.

  Odessa moved closer, gliding over to where Vie stood. She looked her up and down, like she was sizing up the competition, and then stopped directly in front of her. She had the same cold look in her eyes that Lucian did. Her hair was long and black as night, and her face lacked any expression. She was a soulless being with a powerful energy that Vie could feel as she stood before her.

  “So this is she…really? This pathetic little creature?” She started to laugh, looking back toward Lucian while pointing her finger at Vie.

  “Violet, I’m so sorry,” he said. “Where are my manners? I’m being terrible rude. Allow me to introduce you to Odessa.”

  Vie knew who she was as soon as he said her name: Odessa was Lucian’s mother and Dimorte’s wife. She exuded evil in her demeanor and yet was beautiful in a very dark and intimidating way. Vie knew she had to be fierce or be doomed.

  “Interesting,” Vie said, walking around Odessa, as if evaluating her.

  This angered the older woman immediately. She’d wanted to inspire fear in Vie—and believed that she had, at first—but now this girl was sizing her up, and Odessa wasn’t having it.

  “I’m sorry, but your sister seems to be detained at the moment. She was getting reacquainted with an old flame and I didn’t want to disturb her. She seemed to really be enjoying his company, if you know what I mean,” Odessa said, with a nasty smile.

  “If anything happens to Vivian, I’ll—”

  “You’ll what?” she shouted at Vie, her mouth inches from her face.

  Vie had had enough. She hadn’t come here to have words with Odessa; all she wanted was Vivian. She turned her back on Odessa, speaking only to Lucian.

  “This game is over, Lucian! You obviously don’t have my sister anymore; I can see it in your eyes. Perhaps my friends have found her…maybe I should check with them,” she said, her voice shrewd.

  “Perhaps they have. Hmm, Mother, can you think of anything else Violet might need from us before she goes?” he asked Odessa while combing through his beard with his fingers.