by Diem, J. C.
We trooped downstairs to the front room and I was surprised when Sam came with us. “There is nothing good on TV,” he explained when my eyebrows rose.
Sophia brought in a tray and handed tea to me and coffee to Sam. She’d also brought a plate of cookies. I didn’t normally eat after dinner, but I took one anyway. Sam took two. He’d been eating more often lately and was now drinking coffee regularly as well.
Taking a bite of my cookie, I heard the doorknob rattle as someone tried to get in. “They just never give up,” I said, assuming it was an angel.
Instead of going away, they knocked. Even to me, it sounded desperate. Disturbed, Sophia stood and gracefully walked over to the door. She pulled the curtain aside just far enough to peek out and drew in a breath. “Clarice!” she exclaimed. “Wait for just one moment while I get the key.”
She made a shooing motion to us and we scrambled to clear the room. Sam placed our cups on the tray and carried it into the kitchen. I closed the door then dropped to my knees to look through the keyhole. I had a feeling this was going to be interesting. Clarice always made an appointment to see her favorite psychic. She’d never turned up unannounced before.
₪₪₪
Chapter Eight
Sy’s runes made it impossible for intruders to open the doors, or to teleport in or out of our base. Angels and demons were barred from entry. Only my closest friends and I could enter. I’d had to mix their blood in with mine when I’d created the runes. Normal humans could come and go without suffering from debilitating pain, but they wouldn’t be able to open the doors either.
Sophia let her client in and I was shocked to see Mrs. Weller looking so disheveled. She’d been perfectly put together and not a hair had been out of place the last time I’d seen her. This time, her hair was mussed and her mascara was smeared from tears. Her dress was blue, but her purse was black and her shoes were red. It was a sure sign that she was in distress. This was a woman who believed in color coordinating her outfits. Even from across the room, I could see that she was trembling.
“What has happened?” Sophia asked as she ushered her guest to a seat.
“You were right,” Clarice said and uttered a harsh laugh. “I should have listened to you.”
“Your lover abused you?” Sophia guessed.
Clutching her arms tightly, Clarice gave a jerky nod. “It happened a couple of hours ago. Just yesterday, he was as attentive and satisfying as always. Then tonight he was different. He was cold, distant and far too rough in bed. It was like he was a completely different person.” Her expression became fierce. “He said he was tired of me stalling him and that he expected me to start bringing new clients to his bank immediately. No one treats me like that. I told him I would take my business elsewhere.”
Sophia nodded in sympathy. “Mr. Orion did not take that well?”
“No. He did not.” Taking a tissue out of her purse, Clarice held it up and I saw it was spotted with blood. “He slapped me hard enough to make my nose bleed!” Tears welled and she dabbed them away. Her makeup had covered up any bruises that he’d left. “Your vision came true, Sophia. I can’t believe I ever doubted you.”
The clairvoyant had foreseen that their affair would end in blood and tears. She’d warned Clarice that the man she was sleeping with was dangerous. Her client had chosen to ignore her and she’d paid the price. “Will you go to the police?” Sophia asked.
Clarice shook her head. “No. He threatened to kill me if I told anyone that he’d assaulted me and I believed him.” She looked at the psychic beseechingly. “What am I going to do? My daughter is dating that monster’s son.” Her expression turned accusing. “You said they would be a good match. Why didn’t you warn me that Candy could be in danger?”
“You said you wanted her to date someone who would make her happy and who was a good match for her socially,” Sophia reminded her. “Based on that information, I told you what the tealeaves revealed to me.”
Shoulders sagging, Clarice mopped away her tears with a tissue. “You’re right. I have no one to blame for this but myself.” Getting herself together, she straightened up and her face hardened slightly. “I need you to do a new reading for me. I need to know what is going to happen next.”
“I will get the cards,” Sophia said. Her face was drawn when she stood and turned to face the kitchen. She’d known this was going to happen, but she hated to see a long-term client in pain.
We all knew who Clarice was sleeping with and we knew how dangerous he was. I hadn’t met Zach’s dad yet, but I was aware that he had a volatile temper. He occasionally hit Zach and I’d seen the proof of his abuse myself. He was a control freak and everyone was afraid of him because of his wealth and power.
Taking the cards from a shelf behind the counter, Sophia returned to the table and sat down. She hadn’t had time to put the purple cloth on it. Clarice was too distraught to care about the ambience anyway.
Shuffling the cards, the clairvoyant handed them over. She didn’t need to tell her client what to do. Clarice had been coming to her for years and she knew the drill. She chose three cards at random and turned them face up. They would predict her current situation.
Sophia studied them before speaking. “You must tread carefully,” she said almost too quietly for me to hear her. Sam had moved next to me and his ear was pressed up against the door. He was clearly frustrated that his hearing wasn’t as good now. “Your lover is even more volatile than I had realized,” Sophia went on. “One misstep could cause him to go into a dangerous rage, which would result in you being badly injured.”
Clarice went even paler. “Should we leave New York?”
“No. Running would only incite his rage. You must uphold the bargain that you made with him if you wish to survive.”
Her client swallowed and swayed on her chair. “Do I have to keep sleeping with him? I don’t think I’ll be able to fake enjoyment. He repulses me now.”
“You will not have to worry about that,” Sophia reassured her. “He is a man who tires of his conquests easily. He has already moved on to someone else. He will expect you to continue to do business with his bank, as per your agreement. I would advise you to do whatever it is that he asks of you.” After a short pause to let that sink in, she gestured at the cards. “Choose the next three.”
Clarice turned three more cards over then watched the clairvoyant in trepidation. These cards would tell her what would soon come to pass.
“I see you weathering this crisis,” Sophia said and I heard her relief. “You will be under a great deal of stress, but your finances will improve with your association with Mr. Orion.”
Clarice took a shaky breath, but she didn’t look particularly relieved. “At this stage, money isn’t my first concern. I just need to know if my daughter and I will be safe.”
“Draw the final card,” Sophia instructed her. It would foretell her client’s long term future.
Choosing a card, Clarice placed it on the table and they both stared at it in silence. “I’ve never seen a blank card before,” Clarice said at last. “What does it mean?”
“It means that your future is uncertain,” Sophia said. “Something will happen soon that could change everything for you. I cannot determine whether it will be good or bad.”
“He’s going to kill me, isn’t he?” Clarice said and more tears welled up. “My daughter is going to be an orphan because of my pride and stupidity!”
“Nothing is certain,” Sophia said. She left her seat to sit beside the other woman and put her arm over her shoulder. “Do your best to meet his demands and to appease his temper and you may yet survive.”
“What about Candy? Will she be safe? I have to get her away from this mess before she’s dragged into it as well.”
“It is too late for that,” Sophia said almost tonelessly. “She must continue to date Zachariah, or you will risk his father’s displeasure.”
“He’s psychotic,” Clarice said in a choked voice. “I’
ve never seen anyone snap like that before. It’s like he has a split personality.”
“He could very well be schizophrenic. I would have to meet him in person to determine whether this is the case or not.”
“I advise you to stay well away from him,” Clarice said and reached for her purse.
“There is no charge,” Sophia said and put her hand on Clarice’s to stop her from trying to pay. “I only wish that this could have been avoided.”
“It isn’t your fault. I knew there was something off about him and I ignored my instincts.” Standing, Mrs. Weller hugged Sophia then headed for the door. “Thank you for seeing me without an appointment. I’m sorry to intrude on you so late at night.”
“It was no bother,” Sophia said and let her out. “You are welcome here anytime if you feel you are under threat.”
Clarice’s lips trembled again. Then she nodded and climbed into her town car that waited at the curb.
₪₪₪
Chapter Nine
Waiting until Sophia locked the door, I burst into the room. The cards were still sitting on the table. The final one was completely blank. When she’d done a reading for me, my seventh card had been the Devil. It had been magically planted in the deck. “Is this card real?” I asked and pointed at it.
Sophia nodded. “It is part of the pack. I have never seen it appear during a reading before.”
“What’s going to happen to Mrs. Weller?”
“That I do not know. The only reason she could have pulled the blank card is because her future has not been set. It hinges on her interactions with her former lover.”
Mr. Orion was even more unstable than I’d realized, which made me fear for Zach. I wished I could bring him here and get her to do a reading for him. But that was out of the question. We had far too many enemies watching us and I didn’t want to put him in danger.
On impulse, I picked up the cards and shuffled them. Choosing one at random, I turned it over and stared at it. A skeletal figure wearing a black hooded robe and holding a scythe over his shoulder grinned at me slyly. It was the grim reaper.
“What is it?” Sam asked when my face drained of color.
I dropped the card on the table and they all stared at it silently. Sophia was the first to rally herself. “That does not mean anything. You need to draw the cards in their proper order to make anything of them.”
Putting the deck down so it was face up, I saw another grim reaper grinning up at me. Chilled to the bone, I swept my hand across the cards to fan them out. Every single one had changed to depict the same image. “How do you explain that?” I asked. Death was hunting me and it was determined to finish me off.
No one said anything for a moment, then Leo spoke. “Great. Now I will have to paint a new deck of cards for Sophia.”
He met my eyes then we were both sniggering. Sam joined us, but it looked like he was trying to hold back tears.
Putting my hands over my face, I realized my laughter had stopped and I was now sobbing in terror for my future. Nathan came to the rescue once more. He scooped me into his arms and teleported us to my bedroom. Sitting on my bed, he drew me across his lap and tucked my head beneath his chin.
“I don’t want to die,” I sobbed.
“That will not happen,” he vowed softly. He had saved my life many times, but he couldn’t stop the toxin from spreading through me.
Sam and Leo allowed us a few minutes together before they joined us. “We will watch over her,” Leo said and gently extricated me from my guardian’s arms. Nathan nodded sadly. He desperately wanted to stay with me, but it was too dangerous for us to be alone. He left the boys to climb into my narrow bed with me and to offer me their comfort.
I fell asleep with tears on my face and appeared in the shadowlands of my mind moments later.
All three houses that I’d built had weathered the latest purge of holy fire. The black edifice that I’d created for the legion was a bit scorched, but it was still intact. Heather and Sy’s house was a bit gray, as if it had been bathed in smoke. Raziel’s dwelling was still pristine white. The purge was designed to eradicate evil and it was targeting the demons.
Seeing Raziel waving at me from a window, I zapped myself over to his door. He opened it before I could knock and ushered me inside. I’d furnished his small house with a few items, including a white couch and a plain blond wooden table and four chairs. As far as I knew, he never had guests, but they were there in case he needed them. He’d figured out how to work the radio and classical music was playing softly in the background.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as he shut the door.
“Nothing. I saw that Briathos purged you again and I am just checking on your health.” To them, the holy fire was a blinding white light. “I thought I should check the integrity of the walls that I created to keep the toxins apart,” he added. He’d saved my life after I’d ingested the second toxin. It had been warring with the original poison and they’d been tearing me apart. He’d managed to divide them, but the walls wouldn’t last forever.
“Go ahead,” I said and took a seat at the table.
Raziel stepped up beside me and placed a hand on my head. His gaze went distant as he probed my insides. “The barrier has weakened slightly,” he said with a frown and took his hand away. “How are you feeling?”
“The purge and Nathan’s essence didn’t work as well this time,” I confessed. “The taint is getting stronger.”
He sighed and drew his wings tightly around him. His golden halo hung in the air a few inches above his head and he wore a white robe. His hair and eyes were dark brown and he was gorgeous. “Are you any closer to locating the next portal to hell?” he asked.
I shook my head morosely. “Nope. I haven’t seen any sign of it so far. Maybe Sophia will have a vision this time.”
“We can only hope that this will be the case.”
We didn’t have anything else to talk about, so I left him to his solitude and whisked myself over to Heather’s house. She opened the door when I knocked and let me in. “How are you?” she asked and pulled me in for a hug.
“I’m okay.”
“I saw what those two boys tried to do to you,” she said darkly and led me over to the table. Sy was sitting on the floor in the living room. He looked up for a moment and nodded respectfully then went back to drawing a rune. “Tell Leo and Sam that I’m proud of them for punching those two idiots.”
“I will,” I said with a grin. Most people would think I was crazy having dreams about the souls that I’d ingested. My friends knew they weren’t just figments of my imagination. They’d seen me inhale the souls themselves and knew that they were real.
“I can see why you have the hots for Zach,” she added and gave me a sly grin. “He’s gorgeous.”
My face heated when I realized she’d seen my boyfriend through my eyes. They could sometimes see what I did when my emotions were heightened. “What did you see exactly?” I asked.
“We saw him punch that kid a couple of times and we caught a few glimpses of you making out with him afterwards.”
“Awesome,” I said in mortification. “Do you always see that sort of stuff?”
She struggled to keep her face straight for a moment then giggled. “Pretty much. We see flashes of it every time you make out with Nathan or Zach.”
I could feel the horror on my expression to discover that my private moments with the men I loved weren’t as private as I’d thought. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I wailed.
Her answer was a nonchalant shrug. “There’s nothing you can do about it,” she said philosophically. “Besides, I’m living vicariously through you now that I’m stuck in your head. This is as close as I’ll ever get to kissing a guy again.” My gaze went to Sy and so did hers. We looked at each other and wrinkled our noses. “Never gonna happen,” she declared and we both descended into giggles. Sy was technically male, but he didn’t look human at all. All demons were hideous and she’d never be desper
ate enough to kiss him.
A thought occurred to me and my laughter died. “How can you even think of kissing a guy after what you went through?” She’d been raped to death by the prince of the eighth realm.
Her face became drawn and sad. “I can barely remember any of my captivity in hell now,” she said. “I think you’re leeching the memories away somehow.”
I was startled by that prospect. I hadn’t consciously tried to take the memories away from her and I didn’t even know I could do it. Then again, both angels and demons could alter memories if they chose to. Since I was a hybrid, it should have been possible for me to do the same. My soul might be gone, but I had plenty of others inside me to draw power from. Now that an angel had been added to the mix, maybe it was giving me access to abilities I hadn’t had before.
₪₪₪
Chapter Ten
Since I was in my mental shadowlands, I might as well make the most of it. Sy’s runes always came in handy. It would be a good idea to see if he had anything new that I could use. “Do you have any runes you want to try out, Sy?” I asked.
His head shot up eagerly. “Of course, master!”
We all winced at that. I hated it when he called me that, but his allegiance had switched from Dantanian to me. I was his ruler now and there was nothing I could do to change it. Not unless I could find a way to evict all of the souls from me.
He flipped through his current sketchpad and found the rune he wanted to try. He’d created hundreds of them by now, but he couldn’t test them without me since he didn’t have blood while he was in this form. One sketchpad was dedicated to runes other scribes had created. I’d used some of them to fortify our base.