Ascended (Fallen Guardian Saga #2)

by Debra Ann Miller

  “As a matter of fact, I can.” She made a gesture in the air with her hand, instructing one of the demons to enter the room.

  In they walked with a prisoner. He was tied up and had a burlap sack over his head, and as soon as they reached the middle of the room, they forced him to kneel. Vie couldn’t see the face behind the sack, but she looked down and saw the prisoner’s boots and knew whose feet were attached to them.

  Lucian saw the recognition in her eyes. He instructed the guard to lift the sack from the man’s head and smiled at the horror on Vie’s face when she saw a beaten Jeremy kneeling before them.

  Vie shouted, “Jeremy!” and tried to run to him, but Lucian stopped her.

  “Not so fast, dear sister. I believe the negotiating table is open,” Lucian said, back in charge and loving every minute of it. He walked over to his throne and sat down, pleased with the latest turn of events.

  “Fine,” Vie said, ready to negotiate her terms. “First, I want you to destroy the pact you have with Vivian. We both know I have the power to terminate it, and I am using that power. Second, you will release Jeremy, unharmed, immediately. And third, you will leave Devils Tower and never return.”

  “Ha! Oh, Violet, you do make me laugh,” he said. “You have quite a long list of demands, don’t you think?”

  “No, I don’t. Actually, Lucian, I didn’t forget my bargaining power,” she said, holding up the black Angel Blade.

  His eyes widened as he looked at the blade. Vie did indeed have something he wanted, something he needed very badly.

  “Don’t let her place demands on you, Lucian! Finish her now!” Odessa shouted, angry about the control Vie seemed to have over her son.

  “Silence, Mother!” he shouted. Lucian paused as he considered Vie’s deal, glaring at the magnificent blade in her hand. Power had made him greedy for even more of it; he would have done just about anything for that blade and wasn’t about to let anyone stand in his way.

  Vie was counting on it.

  “Deal,” he said, entranced by the blade.

  Lucian instructed the demons to bring Jeremy to her, and Odessa glided back over to Vie to make the exchange.

  Vie held tight to her bargaining chip until Jeremy was safely in place behind her. She saw Odessa staring at her with a strange look of satisfaction on her face.

  She had studied the facts about Odessa, too, while back at the Gates, and knew she was a very powerful creature in her own right. She was said to be Dimorte’s wife, but was not the one who lived in his soul. It was said that Odessa was well aware of his lust for another, and it haunted every second of her existence. Her soul fed off her anger, which made her a very dangerous and impressive adversary.

  “And the contract, Lucian?” Vie reminded him. She wanted to make sure she saw it destroyed.

  He nodded his head to Odessa and she held up the pact.

  Vie opened the scroll, making sure there were no tricks up his sleeve. Satisfied with the contents, she nodded back to him and instantly Vivian’s contract disintegrated before her eyes. That’s one down, Vie thought.

  Back in the tunnels, Gabriel was restlessly feeling his way through the darkness. Just when he thought he would have to turn back, he saw a light at the end of the tunnel, literally.

  He entered a long hallway lined with torches that lit up the corridor. He heard footsteps coming his way, but there was nowhere to hide, so he ran to the end of the hallway and peered around the corner to see what he was up against. There were demons scrambling around the halls, agitatedly looking for something or someone. There was only one explanation for the chaos: someone had been exposed, and he feared it was Carter.

  What Gabriel didn’t know was that Carter had managed to stay safely out of sight, watching Vie and waiting to see how her own deal the devil would play out. Since he was separated from the others, he couldn’t risk allowing himself to be seen just yet, so he waited patiently. He was positioned to pounce on Lucian, and would do so in a heartbeat if he put one finger on Vie. Gabriel had taught him well; patience was a virtue, and he was counting on that patience being a benefit to his plan.

  Meanwhile, Fallon and the other Guardians had circled around the catacombs and had met back in the chamber as discussed. None of them had had any success in finding Carter—or anyone else, for that matter.

  As they saw the shadow of an approaching figure, Camulus motioned to them to step back quickly.

  Fallon didn’t wait for the order; instead, as the lone figure got closer, she grabbed it by the neck and pulled it into the room. Fallon was as surprised as the person she’d grabbed; it was Vivian, and she looked scared to death.

  “Please, don’t hurt me!” she said, petrified.

  Fallon released her immediately. “Vivian, we’re here to help you.”

  Vivian stood up and looked at them, and then jumped into Fallon’s arms, squeezing her tightly as she sobbed on her shoulder.

  Fallon pretended to be annoyed by the human’s emotion, but Camulus smiled, knowing differently. Fallon put up a good front—she had to, as a Guardian—but she was not devoid of feelings, even human ones. Camulus knew Vie had to be with Lucian and making progress because of the way Vivian appeared to them. She looked like her former self.

  They filled Vivian in about what they knew, and asked for her help. She had been down there for some time now and she definitely knew the layout of the Underground.

  “Vivian, have you seen Violet or Jeremy at all?” Camulus inquired.

  “Jeremy is here? How did he get here? And why has he come to this dreadful place?” she asked, concerned about the boy she loved.

  “He’s come to save you,” Camulus replied. “Can you help us find him?”

  Vivian nodded. Suddenly she wasn’t afraid any longer. Jeremy was here. He had come to save her, and all she wanted to do was find him. What Vivian didn’t know was that her sister had just saved her boyfriend and her soul, which was why she was no longer possessed by the evil that had devoured her when she was delivered to the Underworld. The feelings of immorality, lust, temptation, and sin no longer plagued her. She was free at last, thanks to Vie.

  “Come on, I can take you to Lucian,” she said with certainty.

  The Guardians followed her lead. They all raced through the corridors, desperate to get to Lucian before he got to Vie.

  When they arrived at the chamber, Camulus peered in and saw Odessa and Vie in a deadlock, both clenching the Angel Blade in their hands. He saw Jeremy standing protectively behind Vie, and he also saw Lucian, sitting on his throne, almost drooling over the blade he was clearly poised to possess. Camulus couldn’t allow that to happen. He stepped out from the corridor and made his objection known. Loudly.

  “Violet, no!”

  “Camulus?” she looked at him, wide-eyed at the unexpected sound of his voice, completely shocked by his presence.

  “Violet, think about what you’re doing,” he counseled. “You must know the power your blade holds if Lucian is willing to make a deal with you to get his hands on it.”

  Lucian looked at him with disdain, remarking, “Camulus, how nice to finally see you. I’ve heard so much about you from my father, though I have to say you’re not what I imagined you would be.”

  “And you, Lucian, are exactly what I’d imagined: a sad, deplorable soul who manipulates the weak in order to gain power,” Camulus said. “Tell me, Lucian, is your father beaming with pride? Or does he see you as I do: pathetic!”

  Lucian stood up from his throne slowly, not breaking the contemptuous stare he directed at Camulus. The room was quiet, everyone frozen in the moment, like the quiet before a storm.

  Camulus was using telepathy to communicate with the Guardians, Gabriel specifically.

  Gabriel heard his message. He could see, through Camulus’ eyes, where they were, and he raced through the halls to get to him before all hell broke loose.

  Lucian struck his trident on the floor and a portal was exposed. A columnar cyclonic vortex beg
an rotating fiercely, just steps away from them. Lucian summoned his demons and they began marching out from the cyclone, straight from the depths of Hell.

  It’s a funnel of horror, Vie thought, as she watched the evil that was unleashed in the chamber. As she peered into the portal she saw her father’s eyes looking up at her. Dimorte. She could hardly believe she was his child.

  Carter could feel Vie’s terror radiating from her. It’s time, he thought, to get her out of here. He stood up, ready to attack, and just as he started to leap, someone grabbed him.

  He turned around, ready to wage war with the enemy. As he lifted his blade, preparing to decimate his adversary, he remembered Gabriel’s words to him while training so long ago: Do not hesitate. Without so much as a pause, he released his blade forcibly at the target, but then realized the target was not his enemy; it was his friend, Gabriel.

  Carter couldn’t stop the strike; he watched the deadly blade flying with precision straight towards his friend’s head.

  “Nice one,” Gabriel said calmly, looking at the blade that was embedded in the wall just a centimeter from his head. “A little more to the right next time, though, Romeo.” Inwardly, he felt immense relief that Carter’s aim was slightly off.

  “Oh, hey, Gabe. So nice of you to show up,” Carter replied sarcastically.

  Gabe just gave him a look.

  “Okay, Romeo, let’s see what we’re up against.” Gabe looked down into the chamber. He knew Camulus was trying to create a distraction in order to give the Guardians time to assess the situation and formulate a plan. They had an advantage: Lucian was angered easily by his feelings of inadequacy when dealing with his father, and that made him weak.

  Camulus was good. He knew the easiest way to defeat an adversary was to find his weakness, and he was already way ahead of Lucian on that front, so taking him down now should have been a piece of cake. But he’d made a critical error: he’d underestimated the power of a protective mother.

  The Guardians were all on board with the plan they had formed mentally with each other. What they needed to do was to get the blade before Vie handed all her power over to Lucian. Her Angel Blade held her extraordinary omnipotence; if it were given to Lucian, so would the powers go, also.

  Vie, as Dimorte’s daughter, had been born with exceptional abilities possessed by no other. If transferred to Lucian, those abilities would make him unstoppable, even to his father. Gabriel believed Vie was aware of this, and he was sure she was willing to give it all up to save her sister and Jeremy. Although she may have been willing to make such a sacrifice, the Guardians were not. Gabriel was disappointed that Vie had forgotten what he’d taught her: never make a deal with the devil.

  Gabe took off, and Carter followed behind him, charging at the sea of demons as they swarmed out from the portal. On cue, the others joined in battling with the dark warriors one at a time as they stepped out into the chamber.

  Carter charged at Odessa, but not before she’d pulled at Vie’s wrist, freeing the blade from her grasp. As she stepped back in triumph, Carter moved to stand between her and Vie, ready to release his blade if she took even one step toward them.

  Lucian joined Odessa and then commanded his soldiers to halt.

  Gabriel and Camulus couldn’t believe their eyes; they knew their worst fears had been realized as they saw Lucian holding the black blade up above his head, a satisfied smile on his face.

  The Guardians formed a protective circle around the four teens, weapons drawn, faces impassioned. Then Gabriel stepped away from the circle.

  “You don’t think I’m going to let you keep what doesn’t belong to you, do you, Lucian?” he said, his challenge clear.

  “I don’t believe you have the power to stop me, Gabriel. Well, not anymore, that is,” he replied, once again directing his attention to the blade he now had in his possession.

  Vie started to move away from the circle and Carter pulled her back. He looked into her eyes, silently pleading with her to stop.

  She looked down for a moment and then back up to him before she turned and fled from the protective barrier, joining Gabriel.

  “Vie, what you are doing?” Gabe asked, ordering her to go back to the others.

  “No! This is my battle, Gabriel, not yours.” She took his hand and looked him in the eye, trying to communicate with him; she wasn’t like the other Guardians, and she couldn’t use telepathy to send Gabe her message, but she could speak to his soul. The two of them had always been able to communicate with each other, even without telepathy.

  “It’s all right, Gabe,” she said. The way she looked at him when she said it let him know she was up to something; her eyes gave her away.

  “You have what you want from me,” she directed her attention to Lucian. “Now it’s your turn to deliver what you promised.”

  “Oh, sister, didn’t your friend here ever teach you to never make a deal with the devil?” he replied.

  Odessa glided back over to Vie with a smug look on her face and said, “The apple truly does not fall far from the tree. Your mother, Lily, was just like you: weak and pathetic. I have no idea what he ever saw in her. She was undeserving of him, just as you are.”

  Then she leaned in and whispered in Vie’s ear, “It gave me great pleasure to watch her beg for her life.” She watched as Vie’s eyes widened in surprise and rage. “Yes, Violet, I was there watching your pitiful excuse for a mother fighting to hold on, begging me to let her live. You should have seen her. So tragic…I had to put her out of her misery…”

  Immediately Gabriel saw a gold aura begin to glow around Vie, the same one that had presented itself months earlier at the Thorne home. It was as if she were illuminated by a light from above. What he didn’t expect was what came next.

  Vie screamed, an inarticulate noise that sounded like someone in agony. Her sonic screams caused immediate and unbearable physical pain to all the Dark Ones in the chamber and beyond.

  The Guardians were amazed at the highly destructive and deafening sounds emanating from her vocal chords. Flames began shooting up from the cyclone in every direction, and the chamber floor began to crack, separating Vie and Carter from the Guardians. Her voice, always thought of by others as a true gift, was now recognized as a dangerous weapon, too.

  Watching her, Gabriel realized Vie was entirely unaware of the ability that had been bestowed upon her in the moment; she was distraught and charging like a bull at Odessa with a force he’d never witnessed before. He had no idea what Odessa had just said to Vie, but within seconds, he and the other Guardians followed her into action.

  Bodies were flying; Gabriel shouted to Eli, “Take Vivian and Jeremy and get them out of here!”

  Camulus and Gabriel fought together to get through the sea of warriors protecting Lucian before he got away with the blade.

  Carter went to Vie, who had Odessa on the floor and at her mercy.

  “Give me your blade,” she said, putting her hand out.

  “Vie, we need to get out of here,” he said, feeling the Tower’s rumbling.

  “She killed my mother, Carter. Give me your blade,” she demanded.

  Carter took his blood-covered blade and put it in the palm of her hand.

  “Revenge? Is that what you want? Vie, the best revenge is to be unlike the one who inflicted the injury. Do you want to be like her?” he asked, looking in disgust at Odessa.

  Just then, a flame burst from the cyclone pit, striking like an arrow straight into Carter’s back. Vie saw the agony on his face as she rushed to catch him before he fell. “Carter!” she cried out in distress.

  Gabriel heard her cry for help and spread his wings to fly across the break in the ground. He picked up Carter and commanded Vie to leave with him now.

  She looked back to where Odessa had been, but she was already gone. She put her arms around Gabriel’s neck as he carried them to safety.

  Once back on the ground, they ran fast and hard, dodging the arrows of fire shooting out from ever
y direction within the Underground. As Vie ran past the cyclone, she saw Dimorte’s eyes again, looking up at her. She grabbed Gabriel’s hand and continued to run faster than ever before, hoping to erase the image from her mind. They hit the passageway where Vie had originally entered the Tower, and Gabe laid Carter on the ground.

  “I’m so sorry, Carter,” she said, applying pressure to his wound.

  Gabriel placed his hand on the back of Carter’s shoulder where the flame had burned through him, healing his laceration with a touch.

  “You two should go,” he said, starting back in the direction from which they’d just come.

  “What are you doing?” Vie asked.

  “Vie, I need to go back to get your blade. Without it, your powers will be gone. You’ll be defenseless against Lucian,” he explained.

  Carter stood up, now whole again. “I’ll go back with Gabe.”

  Vie just looked at them, wondering what she’d ever done to deserve either one of them.

  Then she gave a wicked smile, which prompted them both to look at each other in confusion.

  She reached around behind her, underneath her jacket, and replied with a huge smile, “You mean this blade?” She held the Angel Blade in her hand.

  “How did you—?” Gabriel started to speak.

  “Easy,” she cut him off. “I did my homework. I knew Lucian would trade anything for the power my blade held. So the Chief and I used a little Indian war paint to disguise one of your blades to make it look exactly like mine, and voilà.

  “You didn’t really think I would trust Lucian, did you? Come on, Gabe, give me a little credit. After all, I learned from the best,” she said, giving him the credit he deserved.

  “You’re a genius, Vie,” Gabe said, picking her up and swinging her around.

  “Umm, guys, if you’re all done here…” Carter said, pointing to the walls that were about to cave in.

  “GO!” Gabriel shouted, and they ran for their lives.