“I did not like the look of him,” Zephyr shrugs, checking his sword and the menagerie of knives he has strapped to him. “He was hiding something.”
“Let me skool you, Zee. They’re all hiding something. All of them. No exceptions. Ohhh, we’re so dead! You filleted him,” she says, rubbing her forehead. She then shrugs into her protective clothing, covering her skin from the Gancanagh’s touch.
“He had nothing on those souls. He was stalling. You could see it when he started sweating,” Zephyr counters, donning his armor.
“Sweetie, maybe you staring at him was making him sweaty. You’re kinda scary,” Buns says, catching the bow that Brownie tosses to her with one hand, plucking the tension of the string while narrowing her eyes as she looks through the sight window.
“You think I’m scary?” Zephyr asks, his amazing blue eyes shining.
“Uh huh,” Buns says, nodding her honey-blond head, “Super scary.”
“Alright, save the bedroom talk for later,” Brownie says, rolling her eyes.
“Don’t be a hater,” Zephyr grins at Brownie, before winking at Buns as she slips into her armor. “I can feel the Fallen. They are here—on my island—without my permission. That Reaper was gathering intel. He was a scout, but a very bad one. Why do they employ the tragically lame?” Zephyr asks derisively, looking at Reed. “The pizza man has more game.”
“The Reaper didn’t expect you to be with them, Zee,” Reed counters.
“No, he did not,” he agrees. “I found this on him.” Zephyr tosses a small buttonhole camera to Reed. Reed holds it in the palm of his hand, crushing it into dust and letting it fall to the ground.
“You’re off the hook, Brownie,” he says, sniffing the air. “Zee’s right. Fallen are stalking us.”
“That doesn’t make us off the hook. They don’t care if Sheol is stalking us. No one gets a bye,” Brownie states emphatically, pointing up. “They’ll send Cherubim—a Throne at the very least.”
“Shit’s about to blow up,” Russell breaks in. “You feel that, Red,” he asks quickly.
“Yeah,” I nod, landing on the ground near him and placing my hand on his arm.
“What?” Zephyr sniffs.
“It feels like…a wrinkle in the air…like someone touched the air with his finger and it sent out ripples—like in water,” I try to explain the waves of energy hitting us.
“They’re rampin’ up!” Russell says through his gritted teeth, as the waves become shockwaves pounding us. Then, one huge wave hits us. Lifting us both off our feet, it throws Russell and me back into the far wall, before dropping us to the floor in a heap.
“That completely blows,” Russell gasps, holding his side.
Reed is at my side immediately, having not been affected at all from the magic swirling all around us. “It’s time to pull the plug on you two,” Reed says while his hands rove over my body, checking for injury. “Use your portals now, I’ll follow you soon.”
“No, I’m staying,” I reply stubbornly, trying to stand, but Reed has his hand on my shoulder keeping me down.
“Time’s up, Evie,” Reed orders, while his hand moves to my necklace. I quickly cover his hand with mine as it rests on the onyx moon around my neck.
“Please, let me stay with you,” I plead, tasting blood in my mouth.
“No,” Reed replies grimly. “This whole place is wired. All we need to do is draw them in. They won’t know you’ve gone. Your mission is done. When they come, I’ll incinerate them and join you.” He holds up the detonator that triggers all the C-4 on the island. It will be raining pieces of Gancanagh for days.
“Reed,” Zephyr says in a stiff voice.
Looking up, the sky outside grows dark as swarms of angels gather in the skies above the big house. “Holy. Freakin’. Hell!” Russell says next to me. Windows in other parts of the house begin shattering, announcing the arrival of our evil guests.
“I didn’t know it was my birthday!” Zephyr grins, like the Fallen amassing all around us is a gift to him. “Time for you to go, Buns and Brownie, this is our party,” he says, nodding toward Reed.
“Stay-ing,” Buns replies in a singsong voice.
“Ah, you are so cute, come here,” Zephyr says. Striding to Buns, he takes her in his arms, kissing her. Drawing back, he breathes, “Bye,” as he pulls the portal of her necklace open, while stepping back from her.
Instantly, Buns seems to fold and contort into the small opening of her sun necklace. I pale, knowing that she is being squeezed through space to another destination. I remember what that feels like and I’m not in any hurry to relive the experience. Her necklace falls to the floor, pulling the furniture toward it. Zephyr manages to pick the necklace up, his hand distorting and twisting before he snaps it closed, smashing the necklace into dust, so no one can follow Buns through her portal.
“Oh, you are so dead, Zee,” Brownie says, a smile forming on her lips. “I’m not even gonna help you out on that one. I’m just gonna sit back and watch her tear you apart.”
“Brownie, can you give me a hand,” Russell groans, looking like he’s having trouble standing.
Brownie shifts her gaze from Zephyr to Russell. “Are you okay?” Brownie asks, her eyes going wide while hurrying to Russell’s side and crouching down near him.
“Yeah—sorry,” he says, reaching up and flipping her star necklace open. Brownie folds too, twisting into her necklace as it drops to the ground in what feels like slow motion. Russell deftly closes Brownie’s portal, smashing it in his palm.
I knock Reed’s hand away from my necklace while he is distracted by what Russell just did. “No way,” I say, grasping the moon around my neck in my fist. “I’m staying.”
“Evie,” Reed says in a stern tone, but he can’t argue with me as a voice from behind him distracts us.
“OY! GENEVIEVE! Ye really did it dis time,” Eion says, walking through the gaping hole in the wall that’s no longer being blocked by my magic. “Ye broke his heart, now ye had better fix it, if ye know whah’s good for ye.”
“Eion,” I reply, getting to my feet, “have you ever known me to do what’s good for me?”
“I have na,” he replies, seeing me behind Reed. “Ye are a confusing, delicious craitur, but I do na mind ye, ‘cuz now, I get ta taste ye and ’tis worth all da sleepless nights I’ve spent dreamin’ about ye.”
“Eion, you never sleep...or dream,” I reply coolly, scanning his Gancanagh army and seeing many familiar faces behind him. Brennus is not here, nor are Finn, Faolan or Declan. My heart twists in frustration, knowing Brennus is avoiding our trap. “Where is my king?” I ask, trying to appear calm.
“He could na make it,” Eion replies, allowing Ninian, Eibhear, Goban, Keefe, and Torin to enter the room ahead of him. Russell gets to his feet beside me, pulling out the sword that he had strapped to his back and grasping it casually in his hands. “He sent me instead. Ye’ll be seeing him soon, but only after I taste ye.”
“If any of you make it back to Brennus, give him a message for me,” I announce, ignoring Eion. “Please tell him that he is not my king. He failed to come here himself. That makes him a coward and I bear no allegiance to a coward and neither should any of you,” I add, raising my chin a notch and scanning their faces.
“Maybe ye do na mean as much ta him as ye tink ye do, Genevieve,” Eion replies, a sneer twisting his lips.
“Then, why are you here, Eion?” I ask, tilting my head to the side while blowing a hole in his theory.
The doors behind us swing open admitting a score or more fallen angels with more behind them. Their stench fills the room, making me shudder as my eyes widen. “It is my birthday,” Zephyr breathes, looking elated. He speaks in Angel to the big fallen Power in the front of the pack, drawing the evil one’s eyes from me to him. Watching the angel’s eyes narrow on Zephyr, I can tell that Zephyr is trash talking him, but it sounds like lovely music all the same.
“Go now, Evie,” Reed whispers to me, look
ing calm and relaxed as he does before every conflict.
“I will, I just have to face the Gancanagh. I have to show them that I’m not afraid of them—that I’m not putting up with any of their shen,” I say, raising my axe in Eion’s direction. That is all it takes for the Gancanagh to scatter like roaches, running at the walls and using inertia to scale them.
Launching upward and flying to a position in the center of the room, Russell follows me, taking a position at my back. Ninian springs at me first, trying to grab onto me as he rockets through the air. I grasp him by his wrist, spinning him around in the air to gain momentum and tossing him directly into Goban as he pitches toward me. They collide in midair, falling to the floor beneath us where Reed steps on their necks, slicing off their heads.
A hoard of Fallen engage Reed and Zephyr in a battle below. I can hardly follow them with my eyes, not only because I’m fighting with the Gancanagh, but also because angels are so incredibly fast. There are too many Fallen, even if Reed and Zephyr are the best at what they do, they will soon be overwhelmed.
Russell is hacking at the Gancanagh that are lurching at him from the walls. “Russell, we have to go,” I call out, putting my hand out and pushing energy outward to deflect the elf darts that Torin is throwing at Russell and me. The fireballs ricochet off the shield, showering ribbons of sparks and flames down on the heads of the fallen angels hacking at Reed.
“No shit! I’m with you, Red,” Russell calls back, getting pounded by a shadowy nevarache, conjured by Eion. The nevarache’s black, spiky tail snakes around Russell’s body while it tries to dig its sharp, ferocious claws into his neck. I pull energy away from Eion, making his nevarache fade, bleeding away like a falling star.
“EVIE!” Reed shouts, spinning away from the attack from fallen angels on the ground and taking flight near us. “GO NOW!” he orders, catching the arm of a fallen angel who is about to cleave me in two with his axe. Reed struggles with him, forcing him back into the wall and embedding the axe in the fallen’s chest.
Closing my eyes, I pull all the energy in the room to me. I whisper words to myself, before forcing the power from my body. Icicles run the length of the walls, coursing down it and branching out, freezing everything in its path. Missing Zephyr by mere inches, the burgeoning ice flow encompasses many of the fallen angels near the doors, continuing out into the hallway beyond this room. Zephyr swings his sword at a frozen fallen angel, creating long, web-like cracks that rip through the tragic figure, shattering the fallen Power like glass.
Satisfied that I’ve done all I can to help, I reach for my necklace, signaling to Russell that we need to go. My gaze turns to Reed, winking at him as I touch my necklace, feeling the smooth onyx beneath my fingertips. Catching the clasp, the necklace springs open. The expression on Reed’s face changes from relief to wide-eyed horror. An instant later, Eion pounces on me, wrapping his legs around my waist and hugging his body to mine like a serpent. Pressing his cool lips against my neck, his sharp fangs bite into my flesh just as we’re stretched and pulled together into my portal.
CHAPTER 6
Anya
Crashing onto a hard floor in a magnificent bedroom, my mouth opens wide in utter agony before my teeth clench together in pain. Eion is beneath me; his legs are still wrapped around me like a clamp as he continues to tear and suck the rapidly flowing blood from my neck. Struggling to break away from him, my vision slips out of focus as stabbing pain tears through me. It feels like Eion is collapsing a chamber within my heart as he greedily draws more and more blood from me.
Straining, I reach back, clawing at his eyes with my fingernails. He has to pull his teeth out of me to avoid me gouging his eyes out. Panting like he’s run a race, Eion speaks behind me, “Ye are incredible, Genevieve.”
I pick my head up, and then drive it back hard into his face, hearing a crack of cartilage as I break his nose. His legs loosen on my waist and I try to stand, but I fall forward instead. I crawl toward the bedroom door, kicking my feet at Eion who groans and tries to grab me again.
Eion holds my leg, pulling himself up; he bares his teeth again, driving them into my thigh. As he feeds on me again, a scream of agony rips from me. I grasp his hair, pulling out a fistful of it and dislodging him from me. Kicking him in the face, I turn again, crawling again toward the door. Almost gaining my feet, I sway, falling over as dizziness overwhelms me.
“Dis is so much better den da mindless compliance from da wans,” Eion says behind me, referring to the enthralled women who cannot fight back. “’Tis no wonder why he can na live wi’ out ye. ’Tis so sexy when ye struggle…I can taste da fire in yer blood—or maybe dat is whah ye always taste like.”
Standing over me, Eion looks drunk; he sways a little before catching himself against the post of the enormous bed. “I need ta know whah it feels like when ye struggle as I bury meself in ye…can ye do dat for me, aingeal…will ye struggle for me while I make luv ta ye?” he asks, scooping me up off the floor and carrying me towards the bed.
“Eion—don’t,” I say weakly, seeing his intent.
“Struggle for me, Genevieve, and I will share me blood wi’ ye. Ye’ll be me sclábhaí, me slave, and I will kill Brennus for ye,” he promises, kissing my temple.
“You’re insane. He’ll destroy you, Eion,” I counter, feeling the soft mattress beneath me. “My blood is making you drunk—”
“’Tis, Genevieve, and now dat I’ve tasted it, I’ll die before I give ye ta another,” he replies. Wrapping his fist in my hair he brings his face to within mere inches of mine, his brows draw down in a fierce scowl as he says, “Now…struggle!”
Pulling my hair back and making my neck arch up, Eion bites into my neck again, causing unbelievable pain to run like poison through my veins. Reaching down, I pull one of the daggers from my thigh holster. Turning the knife in my hand, I drive it into Eion’s side, twisting it before his teeth come out of me again. His hand covers mine, knocking my hand away from him. Pushing Eion away from me with my foot, I pull the other dagger from my thigh holster, swiping the air between us to make him stay back from me.
I list to the other side of the bed and manage to crawl off it, putting it between Eion and me. Hunger pains gnaw at me as the scent of Eion’s blood, seeping from his side, floats to me.
“Ye smell me, do ye na?” Eion smiles, his fangs still dripping with my blood. “Ye can taste me, Genevieve. I want ye…I’ve always wanted ye. I can na live wi’out ye now. Join me…we’ll conquer dis world.”
“Eion, you repulse me,” I say, but the urge to pounce on him and drink his blood makes me sweat.
“Dat will change. I can make ye want me,” he smiles, using the knife I had left in his side to cut his wrist, letting his blood well up and seep out.
I put one of my arms up to try to cover my nose and mouth from the scent of him. My stomach twists in a knot from hunger as I whimper and clutch my abdomen.
Bright red wings catch my eye then, as Russell skids past me, bouncing and tumbling over the floor with a pale, undead fella attached to him. Russell rises to his feet with Keefe on his back. He ducks down, pulling Keefe over the top of him like a ragdoll. Grasping Keefe’s neck in his hands, Russell snaps his neck with a loud crack before dropping Keefe’s listless body to the floor.
“AHHHH, THAT FREAKY ANIMAL BIT ME!” Russell shouts angrily, looking like a raging bull before whirling and seeing Eion. “WHERE IS SHE?” he shouts at Eion, his wings arching out while striding menacingly toward him. Eion lifts the dagger in his hand to ward off Russell, but Russell lunges at him, taking the dagger right out of Eion’s hand and turning it on him.
“She’s there,” Eion says, pointing in my direction. Looking at me, Russell’s whole face changes from anger to raging insanity. My bloody appearance distracts Russell, allowing Eion the opportunity to sink his fangs into Russell’s arm. He clamps down hard, drawing Russell’s blood from him.
“YOU NASTY PARASITE!” Russell rages, picking Eion up by the thro
at with his other hand and tearing him off of his arm. Russell extends his arm, crushing Eion’s neck with just one hand.
“Russell!” I say breathlessly, watching him drop Eion’s corpse on the floor. “How?” I ask, not understanding how he has come to be here. He is supposed to be with Brownie. Their portals are paired as Zephyr and Buns are paired. Reed is supposed to be with me in this safe house.
“Ahhh, those bites burn! LORD THAT SUCKS!” Russell rants, shaking the arm that Eion preyed upon.
“How many bites do you have?” I ask weakly, leaning against the wall behind me.
“I don’t know,” Russell says, and then he sways on his feet. Dropping his hands and bracing himself against the bed, I can count at least five or six bite marks on his chest that are oozing trails of blood.
“Turn around, Russell,” I murmur. As he turns around I gasp, seeing at least ten more bites covering his back beneath his wings. “What happened?” I ask, adrenaline kicking in so that I’m becoming more alert.
“When Eion grabbed you, Reed tossed the detonator to me, and then he tried to follow you. He activated his portal,” Russell says, looking down.
Gazing around frantically, I stagger toward the bedroom door, searching for where Reed could be in the house. I haven’t heard him. He could need our help on another floor.
“He’s not here, Red,” Russell says, looking guilty.
“Where is he?” I ask, feeling my world spinning around and leaning at odd angles.
“I switched our portals a couple of days ago. I wasn’t just gonna roll over and let Reed take you away from me, so I switched his watch with mine when y’all were swimmin’. When Reed left the fight on the island just now, he went to Brownie’s safe house with my watch,” Russell explains quickly.
“Oh my God, Russell! He’s going to kill you!” I breathe, staggering to a chair by the fireplace. Grasping the back of it, I try to stay on my feet. “What happened next?” I ask, not wanting to think about what Reed will do to Russell when he finds us.
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