by Jasmine Walt
“Excellent,” Lucas said, his eyes gleaming. “Now lie down and spread your arms and legs.”
“What is this?” I demanded as my body did what it was told. Goose bumps broke out across my skin as it met the lines of black paint on the cold, hard ground. “What are you going to do to me?”
“Nothing much,” Lucas admitted, moving closer. “I’m just going to extract the Infinity Key out of you.”
I froze. “What the hell are you talking about? I don’t have the key!”
“Oh, but you do,” Lucas purred. He slowly began to walk around the circle, his eyes studying me from every angle in a way that made me feel awfully exposed even though I was fully clothed. “It took me a while to figure out how you’d hidden it, but I found the answer in a sacred text in Egypt.” His smile broadened. “The key is both a thing of this world, and not. Therefore, it can assume different forms, and hide itself in places one might not consider. Such as the human soul.”
I gaped at him. “That’s insane. I’m not carrying a key inside my soul. I would have felt it.”
“Your memories were erased,” Lucas pointed out. “How would you know that there was anything different about the way your soul felt? But it’s there, Arabella. I’m sure of it. And I’m about to draw it out of you.”
“What about my mother?” I demanded, my gaze going back to the chair in the corner. My mother was watching with wide, terrified eyes, struggling against her restraints. “You promised you would let her go!”
“I did, didn’t I?” Lucas smiled pleasantly, then turned toward my mother. “Vivian Palladino, you’re free to go.” Another snap of the fingers, and her restraints slid free.
“You let my daughter go!” my mother sobbed as she rose from the chair. “You let her go, you sick monster!”
“No, Mom!” I yelled as she launched herself at Lucas. I knew he wouldn’t have any mercy for her, regardless of her age or gender. But she wasn’t listening—her eyes were wild with rage and fear for me, her only child. And I could only watch in horror as Lucas drew back and punched my mother straight in her delicate face. Her head snapped back from the force of the blow, and she dropped like a stone.
“There now,” Lucas said, catching her before she fell to the ground. “I didn’t want to do that, you know,” he said to me as he lowered her gently to the floor, out of the way. “But I can’t have her interfering in the ritual. It’s a delicate process.”
“How magnanimous of you,” I hissed, my jaw clenched so hard I thought it might shatter.
“You’re quite welcome.” Lucas turned his back on me, heading over to the table full of incense burners. I watched as he poured more incense into the pots, then brought them over one by one and laid each one next to the candles marking the pentagram points. He then used the candles to light them. Soon, the room filled up with the thick, fragrant smoke. It tickled my nose, making me sneeze, and I began to feel a little woozy.
“There we go,” Lucas said, his voice soft. He produced a paper fan, then began to walk around the circle again, wafting the smoke toward me as he chanted in a strange, guttural language. The words washed over me, full of power that made the hair on my arms stand on end, and the woozy feeling increased. It was almost as if I was floating away….
Wait. I was floating away. Panic cut into me as I began to lift up, into the air. What was happening? I lifted my hands, only to find that they were ghostly apparitions, a silver white that I could see straight through. Oh, God. My body was below me, still trapped in the circle. What the hell? Was I dead?
“There it is,” Lucas breathed, his voice full of barely disguised greed. I followed his gaze, and shock rippled through me at the sight of something glowing gold within my soul, somewhere in the vicinity of my abdomen. Lucas chanted something else, and pain ripped through me, like a jagged knife. I screamed as the glowing thing was pulled free—the Infinity Key. Now that it was separated from my soul, the golden glow solidified into a golden key, ornately molded, with rubies set into the handle. Holy shit. It was insane that something so powerful had been hidden inside me this whole time, and I’d had no clue.
“And so it is done.” Lucas flicked his fingers, and the key zoomed straight into his waiting hand. At the same moment, I plummeted back down, and my soul re-entered my body. The moment it did, I cried out in pain—every nerve ending seemed to be on fire, as if I’d been doused in flame. I wanted to thrash around, to do something to alleviate it, but my body was still under Lucas’s command, and I couldn’t move.
“After all this time, the key is finally mine,” Lucas murmured, stroking the gold metal with his fingers. His blue eyes were alight with glee as he lifted the key, and terror filled me as I realized what was about to happen. “Now I can finally summon the demon—”
“Oh no ye don’t!” Brodie cried, appearing in a flash of light. I cried out in joy and relief as he tackled Lucas before he could use the Infinity Key to open the gate. The two men rolled across the cement, punching each other, but Brodie had a good fifty pounds of muscle on Lucas, and the other man was no match for him. Brodie pinned him easily to the ground, then reached for the knife at his belt to finish him off.
“You think this is going to be that easy?” Lucas sneered. He shouted something in that strange language. To my horror, four Possessed stepped out of the walls. These were different from Lucas’s normal minions—they had black skin and yellow eyes, and there was something strange about them, as if they were shadows brought to life.
“Bloody hell!” Brodie snarled, rolling away as one of the demons lunged at him. He back-flipped to his feet and summoned that glowing green magic to his hands. Shouting in Gaelic, he made some complicated gesture, then blasted the demons with wind, as I’d seen him do before. But this time, the wind seemed to pass straight through the demons, as if they weren’t even standing there.
“Shadow demons are unaffected by Druid magic,” Lucas said, smirking as he got to his feet. The key was in his hands once more, and his blue eyes glowed with bloodlust as the demons advanced on a now-retreating Brodie. “Unless you can summon fire, you’re not going to be able to do anything about them.”
“Fine. Then I’ll just do this the old-fashioned way.” Grimacing, Brodie shrugged off his jacket, revealing several more knives strapped to his body. He drew two wicked-looking daggers as the demons charged, then began slashing and dodging with lightning speed. But these shadow demons were fast, nearly as fast as Brodie, and they outnumbered him. Before long, he was trapped, two of them holding him by the upper arms. He struggled against their grip, and they pulled back so tight that I heard his shoulders dislocate with a sickening pop. Brodie’s roar of pain made my heart squeeze with agony, but that was nothing compared to the pain and horror I felt when the third demon came up and sank his fangs into Brodie’s neck.
“No!” I cried, tears streaming down my face as Brodie screamed with pain. He thrashed against his captors despite his shoulders, using his powerful legs to kick the demon away. But it was too late. The poison was already flowing through his veins, turning his golden skin ashen.
“Let him go,” Lucas ordered. “He can suffer a slow death while he watches me finally complete my plan.”
“You bastard,” I sobbed as Brodie was tossed unceremoniously to the ground. He was shaking like a leaf, and I knew it was only a matter of time before those blackened veins spread across his skin. “How could you?”
“It’s simply a means to an end, Arabella,” Lucas said dispassionately as he lifted the key. He pinned me with a cold stare, then added, “Just like you are.”
He made a twisting motion with the key, and the ground trembled. I gasped as the cement below me grew incredibly hot, and then a blast of hot air hit me. Suddenly, I was hovering over a giant pit, glowing red as hot lava frothed and bubbled only a hundred yards below. Oh, God. This had to be Brodie’s vision. Was I really going to die?
“Here we go,” Lucas murmured, drawing a golden chain from his pocket. It was similar
to the one he wore around his neck, except the stone hanging from it was pitch black. He held it over the chasm, then began to chant, eyes closed. The lava below began to bubble faster, and I screamed, squeezing my eyes shut against the heat searing my skin. I was going to burn alive at this rate!
Arabella! a musical voice shouted in my head, and my eyes popped open. Arabella, call my name!
“Who are you?” I demanded, looking around. I didn’t see anyone… but the stone beneath Lucas’s shirt, the amulet that I strongly suspected was holding my angel, had begun to glow.
You know it already, my angel said, her voice filled with urgency. Lucas made a huge mistake by touching the Infinity Key. I was able to grasp a bit of its power, and I think I can free myself from this infernal stone. But you must summon me, Arabella. You must call my name!
“Lariel!” I shouted, the name coming to me from that strange, empty place in my soul—the place that had been carved out for my angel. It was a summoning, a plea, a prayer—my last hope. The key in Lucas’s hand flared, and he shouted in surprise, his chant momentarily forgotten. The stone around his neck exploded in a flash of light, and he screamed as two golden orbs burst from his chest, filling the room with their light. The demons fell back too, inhuman shrieks echoing off the walls as the holy light touched them, but I hardly noticed because one of the golden orbs rushed straight for me. It disappeared into my chest, and I gasped as it filled me with its heady power. The heat from the hellfire below suddenly ceased to affect me as I was encased in the angel’s glowing, protective glow, and I let out a sigh of relief.
“No!” Lucas howled as I got to my feet, brimming with power. I still couldn’t control my body, but the angel could—she guided my movements, pulling a dagger from my boot as I advanced on Lucas. He began to chant faster, gripping the key tighter, but he was out of time. Before he could finish the chant and summon the demon, my angel threw the dagger. It embedded itself in Lucas’s throat, and he dropped to the ground, clutching at it. Blood gushed from his lips as the key clattered to the ground. Without his will to guide it, the chasm in the floor abruptly closed.
Crisis averted.
“Brodie!” I cried, rushing over to him. He was still crumpled on the floor, and now the black veins had spread over his skin. I rolled him onto his back, and tears spilled down my cheeks at the sight of white froth bubbling from his lips. “Oh, God. Lariel, can we do anything to save him?”
“No,” she said, her musical voice full of sadness. “I could burn the poison out with my angel fire, but there is no guarantee that it would not kill him. Mortal bodies are not meant to withstand such power.”
“Perhaps not, but I think I can help him.”
Startled, Lariel and I turned to see the other angel hovering nearby. “Are… are you Lucas’s angel?” I asked, my voice full of wonder.
“Yes. My name is Xariel,” he said, his musical voice deeper than my own angel’s. “When I saw Lucas going down the dark path, I tried to dissuade him. Instead, he trapped me in that infernal stone so he could use my power against my will. I’ve only had Lariel for company these past two years.” His voice softened at the mention of my angel’s name. “I find that I do not want to be parted from her just yet, and I do not want you to lose your man, either. I will give him the angel’s blessing, and make him a Sentinel. The blessing will drive the demon’s poison out, just this once.”
My mouth dropped open. “But… how? I thought only Watchers could become Sentinels.”
“The blood of the angels flows through this one, by virtue of his father.” The angel drew closer to Brodie, whose convulsions were growing worse. “It will be done.”
What? Brodie was half-Watcher? My mind spun from the implications, but there was no time to ponder them. “Fine.” I gripped Brodie’s hand, as much for my own comfort as his. “Do it, then. Please.”
The angel reformed back into a glowing orb of light and drifted over to Brodie. It hovered above him for just a moment, then disappeared into his chest. Brodie’s back arched, his mouth opening in a silent scream as the golden light engulfed him. I had to squint my eyes against the brilliance to keep from going blind, but I kept hold of his hand, refusing to abandon him. He had stayed with me through thick and thin, despite my bullheaded attitude and the stupid mistakes I’d made. I would do the same for him, no matter how he felt about me. Because I loved him.
After a few moments, the glow finally faded away. I opened my eyes, then sighed in relief. The black veins had disappeared, and Brodie’s skin had returned to its normal, sun-kissed glow.
“Lass?” Brodie opened his eyes, sounding dazed. He blinked a few times, confusion swimming in those gorgeous green orbs. “What happened? Why is my chest burning?”
“It’s a long story,” I said, cupping his face in my hands as joy overflowed in my heart. Tears stung my eyes, blurring Brodie’s face. “You were saved by an angel. We all were. Lucas is dead.” I’d double check, but there was no way he’d survived that knife to the throat. He was gone. Relief and sadness swelled inside my chest all at once, and I took in a shuddering breath to steady myself. God, was it finally over?
“Saved, eh?” Brodie pushed himself into a seated position, a grin spreading across his face. But then he slapped a hand to his chest, grimacing in pain. “Bloody hell, this hurts,” he complained, pulling up his shirt. He froze at the sight of the angel brand on his chest. A pair of silver wings, emblazoned beneath his collarbone. Just like mine.
“What in Gaia’s name is this?” he whispered, sounding horrified.
“It’s… it’s an angel brand.” My stomach plummeted at his reaction. God, I hadn’t thought about how Brodie would feel about this. I’d just been concerned with saving his life. “You were dying, Brodie. It was the only way to save you.”
“By making me into a bleeding Sentinel?” Brodie jumped to his feet and began pacing. His shirt dropped back down, mercifully covering the offending brand. “Lass, how is this even possible?”
“The angel said your father was a Watcher.” Slowly, I rose to my feet. “He said that since you had Sentinel blood in your veins, that he could bless you to drive the poison out of your body.”
Brodie stopped moving, then. He scanned the room, taking in Lucas’s dead body, my mother’s unconscious one, and the pentagram still on the ground. Slowly, he turned back to me. “I’m a bloody fool,” he said, guilt shining in his eyes. “Here I am, all bent out of shape about this, when ye’ve saved my life. I was supposed to protect ye, but ye were the one who ended up protecting me.”
“No,” I said firmly, closing the distance between us. “If you hadn’t come into my life when you did, if you hadn’t knocked sense into me and forced me to confront who I truly was, I never would have been able to defeat Lucas today.” I grabbed Brodie’s face, then pulled him down to me. “I don’t care if you’re a Druid, or a Sentinel, or a goddamn alien, Brodie MacTaggert. You’re my hero.”
I kissed him, finally giving into the hunger, the relentless craving that demanded I claim him. And when Brodie wrapped his arms around me and kissed me back, the last vestiges of horror and grief fell away. There was only him and me, only the sweet burn of love and desire. He swept his tongue inside my mouth, fingers digging into my ass, and I moaned as heat blazed through my veins.
And, of course, that was when the doors flew open, and the reinforcements barged in.
28
Brodie
By the time I made it back to my quarters, I was strung so tightly I was surprised I hadn’t snapped already. I’d been poked, prodded, and questioned so often that I was surprised I hadn’t sprouted whiskers and grown a rat’s tail. This damned angel brand was going to be the death of me, I was sure of it.
And yet, it explained so many things.
Sighing, I laid back on my mattress, my body so heavy with exhaustion I sank straight into it. I had half a mind to close my eyes, but I stared at the ceiling instead, sorting through my thoughts and emotions. Having half-Watcher
blood explained why my connection with Gaia was so much more fraught than it was for the other Druids. It also explained why she’d chosen me to be the lass’s protector, instead of the multitude of Druids who had more power. Gaia saw my path more clearly than I did, and she knew I wasn’t meant to dwell on the border of the Moorlands for the rest of my life. She wanted me to connect with the other half of my heritage, too.
Still, I was conflicted about the angel branding on my chest. It covered up a goodly amount of the chest pieces I’d already had inked there, and I wasn’t sure how it would affect my Druid powers. Would it enhance them, or interfere with them? And just what gift had the angel bestowed upon me? Arabella had told me it was Lucas’s angel, and I didn’t know how to feel about that. It hadn’t spoken to me once, and though I could feel its power humming in my brand, I had no idea how it would manifest.
Arabella’s father had been stunned to learn I was a Sentinel. He’d ordered the doctor to run tests and draw blood, and had questioned me at length about my parentage. But I didn’t have anything to tell him—only that my Druid mother had died in childbirth, and my father had abandoned us. I had always thought he was a disgraced Druid. Indeed, that was what I’d been told. But what if he was still alive and I crossed paths with him again? The commander had said he would inform the council of this event—to see what could be done about tracing my family lineage. But, honestly, it all sounded like a huge bother. A very large part of me wanted to sketch a current circle on the ground and go back to the Moors. To live wild and free in the Highlands with Agnid, and forget all about this.
But that would mean leaving the lass behind, and I couldn’t do that.
I licked my lips as I remembered the way she’d kissed me back in the warehouse. Fierce and hungry, with more joy and passion than a woman ever had for me before. And I’d held her tight against me and kissed her back just as hard. By the goddess, she’d tasted so good, felt so right, her bonny curves molded perfectly against my hard, aching body. I would have taken her right against the wall, heedless of the consequences and surroundings, if her father hadn’t burst in with ten other Sentinels to interrupt us.