Pretty Dark Sacrifice

by Heather L. Reid

  “You knew? All this time, you knew what I was, and you didn’t say anything?”

  “No. It’s more complicated than that.”

  “How can it get any more complicated than you masquerading as a human and lying to me for months?”

  “I didn’t know what I was, Quinn, just as you didn’t know what you were. You have to believe me.”

  “Believe you? You abandoned me. Left me unprotected. You left me at the mercy of those things.”

  “Look, I know you’re angry and confused. I was too, at first, but in Kaemon’s defense, Azrael tricked him. He used Kaemon’s love for you, his wish to become human, to lure him into a trap, to get close to you. Kaemon’s essence was supposed to die along with mine, but something went wrong. Together, we survived.”

  “No, that can’t be … ” Quinn turned away, but Aaron put a hand on her shoulder.

  “Azrael’s been manipulating us both, Quinn. In your heart, you know it. That sword he carries? The blue one? It belonged to Kaemon. That night in the river, he drew it across my throat. He’s the reason I’m trapped in the Underworld.”

  All of Azrael’s actions replayed over and over in her mind. His reluctance to believe Aaron was alive, his aversion to direct questions about her purpose, it all made sense, but he also trained her, protected her. How could that all be a lie?

  “You can’t trust him.” Aaron’s expression darkened as he revealed each manipulative deed Azrael had committed, including Aaron’s death.

  Breaking away, Quinn shook her head, unable to process everything. Kaemon’s betrayal, Azrael’s lies—it seemed to her the angels weren’t any better than the demons. At least with demons, she knew what to expect. Evil was their nature. What was the excuse for the servants of The Light?

  “I don’t know what Azrael’s excuse is, but I can explain Kaemon’s. His essence was drawn to yours the way he was drawn to Eve that night in the garden. You saw for yourself the spark between them. When he was assigned to you, and you wrapped your tiny hand around his finger, he recognized her essence in you, and he thought maybe this was the plan all along, that The Light gave him a chance he could never have with Eve. His desire to be with you condemned him, but it saved me, twice. I can’t believe that was coincidence either. Kaemon did it because he fell in love with Eve, with you. Now I understand why I did too, and Azrael used that love to trick Kaemon. We are meant to be. We’re stronger together. I know you feel it. You have to trust me.”

  Quinn covered her ears and shook her head. She did feel it, the undeniable pull to him. When the tears of Eve have turned to blood and her sins have turned to flesh, the key will fall. For love is bound by the power of the Trinity. She was the Trinity, the Eol Ananael, the essence of Eve, the perfect balance of human, angel, and demon, just as Eve was the moment she’d eaten the apple.

  Memories of herself as Eve standing at the portal as Kaemon closed it to seal her away from Eden flashed before her. Eve loved the fierce warrior angel even then, and if he had asked her to run away with him and leave Adam forever, she would have, but duty came before love. They made their choices and moved on, but neither of them forgot the other.

  Aaron nodded. “I know, it’s confusing, but the one thing I’m certain about is how I feel about you.”

  Quinn stared at her feet.

  “Look at me.” He cupped her cheek, and she felt him open up to her as she stared into his eyes. “Quinn, I’m not Kaemon. I’m still Aaron. What I feel for you goes beyond time and space. It is eternal. This is not Kaemon’s choice; it is mine, Aaron’s. Everything I’ve done, I’ve chosen. And I would do it again, even knowing the outcome.”

  Maybe he was right. The past didn’t matter. Eve, Kaemon, they didn’t exist anymore, not fully. They could make their own decisions as Quinn and Aaron. Destiny was nothing more than a choice. If she wanted, she could turn her back and walk away from it all, or she could decide to follow her heart. The choice was hers and hers alone. But after everything she’d put him through, could he really forgive her?

  “Forgiveness isn’t the same as forgetting, Quinn. It’s not possible to erase the past, but that doesn’t mean we have to live in it. We’ve all made mistakes.” Aaron smiled and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. She reached up, and her hand found his. Pressing his palm to her cheek, she let the tears flow freely.

  She’d pushed everyone away for so long that she didn’t know how to trust anyone else. For the first time, she realized she didn’t just want Aaron, she needed him, not to rescue her or love her, but as someone she could share her life with. They were stronger together. All the reassurance she needed was her own heart, beating in time with his. This was Aaron, the boy who saved her more times than she could count. He would not abandon her, and she could never desert him either. The past was unchangeable, but the future was yet unwritten, and this time she would do whatever it took to keep him safe.

  “When did you get to be so wise?” she asked.

  “Finding out you’re part angel ages a person.” Aaron moved closer until his soul pressed against hers.

  Essence to essence, the electric energy between them hummed in perfect tune. His hand cupped her neck, and he tilted her face upward. Eyes tinged with sadness gazed into her own. Calm hummed through him, and she felt his heart slow to match hers. She was afraid to move, afraid the bubble that held them would burst, and he would disappear. Neither of them knew how much time they had together in this realm. Seconds, minutes, it didn’t matter. This moment belonged to them alone, and she wouldn’t waste it wondering.

  “Quinn,” he murmured. She thought her name never sounded so beautiful. “I love you. I’ve always loved you. Don’t you know that?” Hands stroked her hair, his touch so gentle it sent shivers down her spine.

  Quinn pressed closer, brushing her lips against his. His mouth opened to hers as she kissed him, soft and slow. He tasted of sunlight and summer, heat pulsing from his skin and into hers, melting all the fear and regret she’d carried for so many months.

  Arms pulled his hips to hers, and he let out a soft moan. Aaron deepened the kiss, his nails digging into her waist, and she pulled him down with her until they were both on their knees. She let him guide her to the ground, her back pressed against the golden grass as he used his power to paint the perfect scene. With nothing but a thought, their field sprang to life around them, complete with starry sky. Aaron hovered above her, arms holding him inches away.

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  In answer, she cupped the back of his neck to bring his lips to hers once more. Love and relief washed over them both in waves, and she felt his desire as strong as her own. When she was with him there was no room for darkness, nowhere to hide in the light of his love. For the first time, she didn’t want to hold back anything from him. Emotions transcended words; there were no secrets between them. He saw all of her, the dark and the light, and he loved her anyway, and she him.

  When Aaron pulled away, desolation crept between them as stark reality bound them like a heavy iron chain. None of this was permanent. They were both nothing more than energy connecting on an alternate plane.

  “What is it?” Quinn asked.

  Aaron put a finger to his lips and cocked his head. Then she heard it too—the sound of hooves pounding on stone approaching.

  “She’s found me. I’m out of time.” He rushed to his feet, pulling her with him. They both stared at the wall of fog that devoured the horizon. Through the thin veil separating the seam from the Underworld, Quinn could make out an army of demons, weapons drawn, and at the front, a silver stallion, legs made of twisting shadows. On the horse sat a woman with raven-black hair. Lilith.

  “You have to leave, Quinn. Now. No telling what she’ll do if she finds you here.” Aaron pushed at her essence, begging her to return to her own realm, but she shook her head.

  “You must get back to your body. Flee to Arcadia,” he argued. “Tell The Light what you know about Lilith�
�s plan. Let Azrael think he’s still your Sentinel, and whatever you do, don’t come to the Underworld. She can’t open the box without you, and she can’t cross the veil to get it. You are the key, Quinn. Without you, she has nothing.”

  “No, I won’t let you go. Not now.” Quinn had made up her mind. She wanted him with her as her partner. “We’re stronger together. You need me. Let me help you.”

  “No, don’t even think about it.” Panic fluttered through Aaron’s heart and into hers.

  “But she’ll kill you if I don’t give her what she wants.”

  “It’s too late for me. I’m already dead.”

  And there it was. The thing they both tried to ignore made real in words. Quinn shook her head and dragged her fingers through her hair.

  “Deep down, you knew this was only a moment, one that couldn’t last.” Aaron’s sad smile broke her heart into a million pieces. “I can never come back. My human body is gone, my essence has become something more. I’m trapped here in the Underworld, bound to her realm. There is no way out for me, I can’t cross the veil.”

  “There must be a way, and I will find it. I won’t leave you here. I won’t let you risk everything for me.”

  “Don’t you know by now that I would jump to save you a million times over? It is my destiny to protect you, and I do it gladly,” Aaron whispered, his voice ragged with emotion. “Please, don’t cry.” He wiped a tear from her cheek. “Everything happens for a reason. Besides, Kaemon and I have a few tricks up our sleeves. She won’t get us that easy.”

  Quinn wished she believed that, but Lilith’s reach was far, her power great. Where could one angel hide in the Underworld? There would be no sanctuary, no allies. They both looked past the swirling fog and into the Underworld. Webs of lightning crackled across the darkened sky. Even in the seam, the ground shook as the demon horde approached.

  “Remember what the garden looked like after the taint? What they will do to the realm of men will be far worse. Reese, Marcus, everyone will be their slaves, food for her children to feed off. Do you want that?”

  “I don’t care. I’m not leaving you. Aaron, please, there must be a way. I can’t do this without … ”

  Lightning struck when his lips pressed against hers, hard and urgent, silencing her mouth and her thoughts. He wound his arms around her waist, drawing her close. Wings caressed her back, brushed against her cheeks. Her fingers twisted through his hair as the heat rose between them. She clung to him, willing him not to leave. Grief mixed with desire seeped from his every pore, filling her with anger. His kiss said the goodbye that his voice couldn’t. She wouldn’t accept it, wouldn’t let him go. But before she could protest, he pulled away and shoved her backward so hard she fell on her backside. With two beats of his wings, he launched upward.

  Stunned and hurt, she watched him circle overhead, just out of reach.

  Don’t do this! Please, Aaron.

  One more circle overhead, and his essence shimmered and blinked out as it returned to his body back in the Underworld, leaving her alone in the seam. She sensed him retreating from her mind too, the intensity of his emotions becoming nothing more than a dull ache. In seconds, Aaron would be nothing more than an impression. He tried to sever their connection, but Quinn refused to let him go.

  Don’t leave me! she begged, fighting to stay joined, to haul him back, to anchor him to her, but his gift was stronger than hers.

  We can figure this out. I’ll fight her, Quinn cried to him through their rapidly disintegrating link, but silence met her pleas.

  Quinn pressed her essence against the thin veil separating the seam from the Underworld. Through the gray mist, Quinn could just make out Aaron’s sun-kissed wings as he zoomed toward the approaching horde, drawing Lilith’s attention away from the astral plane, away from Quinn.

  You can’t do this!

  In response, Aaron sent a burst of power through their link, like a psychic shove, so hard it jarred her essence to the core, and then a wall, thick and dark, slammed between them before she had the chance to retaliate.

  Silence.

  Aaron was gone.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Beyond the veil, Quinn watched as an eclipse of demons took to the sky, black leathery wings tracking Aaron’s golden ones as he led them deeper and deeper into the Underworld and away from her until they were nothing but tiny dots over the horizon.

  Her fists beat against the ethereal barrier, kicking up particles of fog, which danced and swirled around her as she screamed his name.

  Anger and revenge welled up within her, and her power swelled, ready to erupt. No, not helpless, not anymore. Quinn paced in front of the thin wall between the seam and the Underworld. If she could see Lilith through the veil, maybe she could kill her. She was Eol Ananael; she had to try. Hands pressed against the barrier, she centered herself, calling on the light within. Buzzing filled her head, and the wall of fog vibrated beneath her touch.

  Lilith! she called.

  The sound of hoof beats on stone echoed in the distance, turning Quinn’s way. A silver steed, legs enveloped by smoke, raced across the bleak landscape of the Underworld. On it, a woman, cloaked in shadow dragged a body behind her.

  Quinn’s heart hammered against her ribs, and she tried to calm herself with three deep breaths. Aaron, encased in a cocoon of spider webs, thrashed and kicked, the burnished feathers of his wings pushing against his bonds as his body was trailed across sharp rocks.

  I swear, if you hurt him, I will kill you. Do you hear me, Lilith? I will fucking kill you if you so much as scratch him.

  Laughter echoed across the veil. You dare threaten me? Bring the box to me before the eclipse, and I might let you live. As for the boy? His fate is in your hands, Eol Ananael, as his blood is on the hands of your Sentinel. Remind me to thank Azrael for his little gift.

  Quinn swallowed, fighting not to take the bait. Lilith first, then she would deal with Azrael. Putting questions about her Sentinel out of her mind, Quinn focused on the task at hand: to release a killing wish and end Lilith’s life once and for all.

  A few more feet, and Lilith would be at the border, close enough for Quinn’s power to reach. Lilith skidded to a stop before the wall of fog, her horse rearing under her command. Silver eyes, so cold they made her gasp, locked on Quinn’s and wouldn’t let go. It was now or never.

  Power surged from the pit of Quinn’s stomach, hot and angry, but before Quinn could release it, a shockwave of energy rocked her mind, casting her out of the seam and thrusting her back into reality. Colors swirled to life as time resumed, and she was back in her body, arm outstretched, Aaron’s name on her lips.

  “No!” Quinn screamed as the world came rushing back to life. Unfrozen, Reese and Marcus ran over to her, but she pushed them away, intent on one thing and one thing only.

  The power that built up inside needed release, and if she couldn’t have Lilith, she would have the next best thing. Sensing her intent, Azrael’s eyes widened, and he spread his wings to take flight.

  Quinn stretched out her hand and released her command as a bolt of white light from her fingers. Azrael hung in mid-air, a snarl on his face. “You stupid girl,” he hissed.

  “What are you doing?” Reese asked. “Quinn? I thought you said he was your guardian.”

  “Are you, Azrael?” Quinn asked.

  Azrael didn’t even squirm in her grasp. His defiance pricked her essence like thorns, but her strength had grown, and anger fueled her now. She wouldn’t let go until she got answers.

  “You betrayed me. You knew where Aaron was all along.” Quinn gritted her teeth and used her energy to squeeze an invisible hand around his throat. His eyes bulged, and he pawed his neck.

  Marcus patted Quinn on the shoulder and whispered in her ear, “You’re killing him.”

  “Immortals can’t choke to death, but I’m sure it’s uncomfortable to have your essence crushed. There’s only one way to kill an imm
ortal. Give me your blade, Azrael. You know the one I mean, the one you stole from Kaemon when you tricked him into Aaron’s body, the one you used to slit Aaron’s throat after he jumped in to save me.”

  Shock cut Reese and Marcus’ faces.

  “Aaron would have lived if it wasn’t for him,” Quinn said to Marcus.

  “He would have died anyway. I have told you before, it was his destiny.” Spittle flew from Azrael’s mouth.

  “A destiny you chose for him. You could have saved him. Now, give me Kaemon’s blade.” Azrael’s arm shook as he tried to resist her, but in the end, he reached into his scabbard, pulled the Qeres blade from its sheath, and handed it to Quinn.

  Drunk on revenge, Quinn positioned the tip of the blade to the hollow of his throat. “Aaron showed me everything. I can still feel the pain of the poison running through his body. Our bond let me feel the depth of your betrayal, Azrael. Do you know what Qeres really does to an immortal essence?” Quinn pressed the cold star-blade into his skin. “Time to experience it firsthand.”

  Azrael didn’t flinch. He stared at her with his golden eyes. “Go ahead and finish it then. Have your revenge, but I know what you really want. I feel your desire radiating from you like sunlight. It burns hot inside you, this need to bring him back. I might know a way.”

  “Tell me.” Quinn tightened her grip on his essence, and the light beneath his skin flickered in pain.

  “Release me,” Azrael panted. “Let me take you to Arcadia until the solar eclipse has passed, and I will help you rescue the boy.”

  “No, you will take me to the Underworld. Now.”

  “I can’t let you.” Pain etched lines into Azrael’s usually smooth face.

  “Let me? You have no hold over me, Azrael.” She pushed the tip of the blade a little farther into Azrael’s skin, and he flinched.

  “Don’t be foolish. Lilith will kill you. You’ve read the prophecy. You are Eve’s tears and her sin turned to flesh. The Trinity refers to your essence, the perfect balance of human, demon, and angel. If you fall, descend into the Underworld, Lilith will have what she needs to break the lock. You are the sacrifice. We must leave for Arcadia, tonight. There is no other choice.”