Show no fear. Show no fear.
Two guards broke formation and seized Quinn. Wrenching her arms behind her back, they dragged her across the floor and pushed her to kneel in front of their master.
“Is that any way to treat our honored guest?” Lilith tutted. “She has come to set your brethren free. Isn’t that right?” Quinn jerked her arms free as the guards took a step back, their avian eyes constantly shifting and turning in their sockets, and stood tall in front of her enemy.
Lilith descended her throne and paced in a circle around Quinn, scrutinizing every inch of her body. “I don’t see what’s so special about you. An insignificant girl, no more than a child.” She laughed. “Eve was not all she seemed either. I will not make the mistake of underestimating you as I did her. Let’s not waste time. Today is a special day, and I have a very special gift for you.”
Lilith clapped twice, and Quinn’s breath caught in her throat as Aaron stepped from behind a column to stand next to Lilith’s throne. His face looked gaunt and drawn. Dark circles swallowed his eyes. They had taken him, but not without a fight. Blood coated his left wing and matted his sunset feathers into dark red clumps. Scratches covered every inch of him, welts, and bruises too. An armored collar pulsed around his neck. His green eyes stared at her, unfocused, unseeing, and in his hands, he held a mahogany box.
“Aaron?”
He didn’t even blink. She reached out with her essence to touch his, but instead of the familiar warmth, she was greeted with a cold, hard edge. Quinn bit her lip as hard as she could and swallowed the guilt that threatened to drown her.
“He can’t hear you,” Lilith said. “Unless I command he does.”
Quinn’s throat constricted, muscles tensed, calculating how many seconds it would take to wrap her hands around Lilith’s neck, and took a step forward.
“Make one more move, and I promise I will make him suffer.” Lilith draped an arm across Aaron’s shoulders and narrowed her eyes, stopping Quinn in her tracks.
“See, if you’re reasonable, I’m reasonable.” Lilith flipped her shadowed cape and lounged back on her onyx throne. A goblet sat on a table beside it. She swirled the cup and took a drink. This was her show, and she wanted Quinn to know it.
Setting the cup back on the table, she said, “I wasn’t sure you would come, Quinn. For one brief second, I thought you would listen to that Sentinel of yours and run to Arcadia to hide while everyone you loved died. Better if you had, but I was certain you wouldn’t let the boy languish in my keeping. Seems I was right. Where is that traitor, Azrael, anyway?” A wry smile played across her lips. “I didn’t think he would want to miss this.”
“Sorry I’m late to the party, Lilith.” Azrael strode through the doors, fingers caressing the pommels of his swords. Blood smeared his face, splattered his bare chest. Human blood, or demon? Cold dread crept up Quinn’s spine, and it took all her resolve to keep from grabbing Azrael’s sword and stabbing him with it.
Not now. Azrael’s thought was a sharp arrow straight to her mind, but when she tried to reply, she hit a powerful wall. If something happened to Reese, Marcus, or Caleb, she would never forgive him, or herself.
“Ah, Azrael. What a surprise. I hoped you were otherwise engaged.” Lilith sighed and took another sip from her cup, unfazed by his sudden appearance.
“Your distraction was but a trifle,” Azrael said.
Lilith shrugged. “You can hardly blame me for trying, old friend. I’m not sure where your loyalties lie. I couldn’t risk your interference now, could I? I do hope there wasn’t too much bloodshed.” Her words dripped with sarcasm.
“The casualties are none of my concern. I did what was required. I am here for a greater purpose, or did you forget our deal?” He looked at Quinn, golden eyes burning bright, and Lilith’s followed.
Show no weakness. Focus. Lilith wouldn’t hesitate to seize on any little negative thought. Quinn shifted her emotions like Azrael taught her, keeping her mind fluid, never settling on one particular feeling or thought for more than a millisecond. Lilith frowned as if disappointed and turned back to Azrael.
“I already ensured your place as her Sentinel and promised you a seat on my council. What more do you want?” Lilith asked.
“I want the kingdom of Arcadia for myself, and I want Kaemon. He has been a thorn in my side for far too long. Release him to me, and I will help you kill the girl myself.” Azrael shifted slightly, positioning himself beside and a little in front of Quinn.
“No. It can’t be,” Quinn growled, her hands balling into fists at her sides. “I read you. You swore your loyalty. I felt the truth in your essence.”
“Oh, Quinn, you little fool. I’ve been at this game far longer than you.” He patted her cheek. “Did you really think I would settle for whatever scraps The Light throws at me? I am sick of being a pawn, and sick of your whining. Arcadia has always been my end game.”
Quinn spat in his face, and he wiped saliva from his chin, grinning.
“Very ambitious.” Lilith leaned forward and drummed her fingers on the armrest, silver nails clacking against stone. “King of Arcadia and Kaemon as your slave? I’m sure we can come to some kind of arrangement.”
“No. You can’t!” Quinn took two steps up before Lilith’s guards restrained her, dragging her away from their mistress. She jerked and pulled against them, straining to break free, but they had the strength of ten men, and Quinn was powerless, devoid of magic, a normal girl facing powers beyond her imagination. “Please. You promised. My life for Aaron’s.” Quinn’s voice echoed against the arched ceiling. “I don’t care what happens to Arcadia, or to me, but he is to leave this place unharmed.”
“Ah, and so the sacrifice speaks.” Lilith rose from her seat and descended the stairs until she was eye to eye with Quinn. “I’ve been watching you, Quinn. You don’t seem that surprised by Azrael’s betrayal.” She grabbed Quinn’s jaw and squeezed. “It all seems a little too convenient.”
Fighting the urge to wrench her face away, Quinn took a deep breath and steadied her voice as best she could. “I had my suspicions. Too bad your distraction left him intact,” Quinn spat. “Azrael is a liar and no friend of mine. I hope he rots here.” Her thoughts shifted like the wind, never still. Lilith had to believe that she believed Azrael’s betrayal. Thoughts were wind, were water, were smoke.
Glare to glare, Lilith studied Quinn, then laughed a full belly laugh. “Oh, I like you, Quinn. If only you didn’t have to die. We might have been good friends, you and I, if the circumstances were different. Well, Azrael, looks like your little ward is all grown up and thinking for herself. A convincing little actress indeed, but a master liar can always smell deceit, and her breath reeks of it.”
“She is nothing to me. A spoiled, selfish child.” Azrael spread his wings, chest puffing up in defiance. One hand reached for the Qeres blade, muscles tense as he shifted his weight forward ever so slightly, circling to block Quinn from Lilith’s view.
“I’m sorry, Azrael, but I can’t have you suddenly overcome by your Sentinel duty, now can I? I’ve seen how strong that bond can be. Lack of trust is one of my flaws, you understand, and you are a wild card.” Before Azrael could pull his blade fully from his scabbard, a demon, four feet long with an armored body and a million legs scurried up his leg and over his shoulder to fasten around his neck. Azrael’s shoulders slumped, eyes glazed, just like Aaron.
Lilith grabbed Azrael’s leather sword belt and pulled him close. He didn’t even flinch as she undid the knotted buckle and slid his weapons from his hips and handed them to her guard. “A gift for you, Ikkatat.”
The guard nodded and fastened the belt to his own waist then bowed before his master.
“And feel free to use them if he moves.” She patted Azrael on the shoulder, and Quinn thought she saw his jaw tighten. “Part of me does hope you’ll move, though,” she whispered in his ear, “I do love watching angels’ wings wither and fall, like le
aves from a tree, when struck with Qeres.”
“You have what you wanted.” Hate writhed in Quinn, and she struggled to remain calm. “I am here of my own free will, not because of his tricks or yours. My life for Aaron’s. That’s what was promised.”
Lilith raised her hands to the ceiling and cried, “And the voice of the sacrifice will break the lock! Let it be heard that the voice of the sacrifice has spoken!” The demons pounded their spears against the tile. “Selflessness becomes you, Quinn. My children thank you.” With a wave of Lilith’s hand, ropes of fog wound around Quinn’s ankles and looped around her wrists, binding them in front of her. She didn’t fight it.
“The deal is sealed. You have me, now let Aaron go.” Quinn’s voice boomed, powerful, commanding.
Lilith raised an eyebrow. “Let him go? There is no other place for him, this half-angel, half-human hybrid. His essences are not fit for any other realm. Would you have me toss him out into the seam to wander the void for eternity? And they call me cruel.”
“For the box to open, I have to sacrifice myself for him. That’s how it works.” Sweat trickled down Quinn’s back, her mouth dry as a bone.
“You have to be willing to sacrifice yourself, which you are. That is all.” Lilith ran a finger across Aaron’s cheek. “Besides, you don’t want to leave me, do you, Kaemon?” A pained expression skirted Aaron’s face as Lilith pressed her lips to his. He pulled her close, hands caressing her spine, fingers entwined in her hair, mouth hungry on hers. Quinn looked away, a tear forming in the corner of her eye. That wasn’t Aaron; neither was he Kaemon, the fierce angel who stole Eve’s heart. They were nothing more than a puppet, a toy Lilith used to hurt Quinn, to rip apart her heart.
“That’s enough now, my love.” Lilith pulled away and patted Aaron’s bare chest. “We have eternity to spend together. No need to be greedy.”
Aaron bowed, awkward and halting, the thing around his neck pulsing at Lilith’s command.
“Let’s get started, shall we? No need to wait any longer.” She took the box from Aaron and placed it next to the cup on the table. From her belt, she drew a long knife, metal singing as it came loose from the scabbard, and placed it in Aaron’s open palm. “You do the honors, my love.”
Aaron’s hands trembled; his face flickered from placid to pained as he descended the three steps of the platform, each step a little more hesitant than the last. He wouldn’t do it, couldn’t, not Aaron. Quinn stood still as the cold tip pressed against her neck. She tried to meet his eyes, to connect, but his gaze edged hers. The blade dug deeper yet didn’t cut. Warm breath, in, out, in, out, unsteady on her cheek.
Trembling, she cupped his chin, and he blinked. A spark ignited between them, and she felt his essence fight to gain control. Hold onto him, hold tight, she reminded herself, and hope surged pure and true.
Aaron. His essence called to her like a beacon. She wasn’t alone. Aaron was in there somewhere, she just had to reach him. He needed her; she needed him. Together they could get out of this. Lilith watched intently, so Quinn kept her expression calm.
Aaron, her essence whispered to his. I love you. Don’t let her do this. Aaron’s hand shook, his jaw tight. The collar around his neck pulsed, and he dragged the blade down until it rested above her hammering heart. A tear slid from his eye and down his cheek, and that’s when Quinn felt the knife enter her flesh.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Aaron couldn’t bear the sick, sucking sound the knife made when he pulled it from Quinn’s body, the way his hand gripped the handle, the way his flesh reacted to Lilith’s every command. Blood bloomed like a wild rose across Quinn’s chest, staining her white T-shirt pink, red. Wide, violet-blue eyes stared into his, and he couldn’t look away. Lilith wanted him to be still and watch, a sentient statue as Quinn’s warm, red life force oozed out onto the tiled floor and pooled around his bare feet.
Crushing weight squeezed Aaron’s lungs, and he wanted to cry, to rip his gaze away from the light dimming in Quinn’s eyes as she stumbled forward, reaching for him. Instinct screamed to catch her, to pull her into his arms and comfort her, but Lilith’s power still constrained him.
“What a fitting end to such a tragic love story.” Lilith descended from her throne, box in hand, and knelt next to Quinn. Pressing one palm into the blood, she coated her skin in crimson gore then smeared the red upon the wooden casket that held her children. Moans and screams rose and fell from within the demons’ prison, the ancient runes blazing to life, gold and blue. A lock appeared where none was before, and with a click, a sliver of smoke slithered from a crack in the lid. Placing the quivering box in the center of the room, Lilith took a step back as Quinn’s sacrifice birthed her children, dark and writhing, into the world.
Quinn swayed against Aaron, lips parted, breath ragged. Her head sagged to her chest as her heart slowed. He could feel it through their bond, its beat counting down the seconds until she lost consciousness. No pain, nothing but a cold numbness spreading outward from her breast, to her torso, her legs.
Inside, Aaron’s essence beat against his useless body, yelled at his feet to move, pleaded with his arms to catch her before she fell, begged his fist to ram the blade into Lilith’s back as she watched the demons emerge from that cursed box, anything but this passive spectating. But the more he squirmed, the tighter Lilith grasped him. Even the tears building up behind his eyes were denied him.
Fingers caressed Aaron’s cheek, slid down his neck, and came to rest on the armored control demon wrapped around his throat. It pulsed and squirmed, pumping an unending flow of venom into his system that made it impossible for him to act on his own initiative.
“Hadavar,” Quinn rasped the demon’s name while Lilith was distracted with her brood. A current of light leapt from her hand straight into the demon’s body, and it fell from Aaron’s neck, turning to ash at his feet. Aaron willed his fist to open, and the knife clattered across the hard floor.
He was free.
Quinn smiled at him. The most intense feeling of love he’d ever felt emanated from her essence to his, and then her eyes closed, knees buckling, the last of her energy spent on him. He pressed her limp body to his and lowered her to the floor.
***
A part of Quinn understood as she crumpled to the floor, her life pouring from a gaping wound in her chest, that Lilith used her blood to fulfill the prophecy. No escape from destiny, from fate. Many paths led to the same end. She understood that now as her essence ebbed and faded, the light within winking out, but Quinn didn’t regret her path, her choice. Aaron, Quinn, it didn’t matter whose blood spilled today. Lilith would have opened the box no matter what. A willing sacrifice was all she needed.
Aaron’s anger, white-hot and blinding, reeled against her. His green eyes, wide and frightened, held hers, and she wanted to tell him it would be all right, that she wouldn’t have it any other way. But she couldn’t force the words from her mouth. Freeing him made her happy, and this wasn’t the end, she could see that now. Loopholes within loopholes. Aaron was the key, the linchpin to restoring balance. Eyes, heavy with lead weights, slammed shut. Her legs wouldn’t hold her weight anymore, and she sensed she was falling, powerless to stop herself. Darkness, absolute and unending, spread out before her, and she embraced it as she drifted into unconsciousness.
***
“I told you to stay away,” Aaron whispered in Quinn’s ear as he rocked her, brushing a blond hair from her pale face. “Damn you, Quinn. Why didn’t you listen to me?” Tears coursed down his cheeks, dripped from his nose, all the emotions he’d been forced to hold in racing to the surface. “You’re so stupid, and stubborn, and selfish sometimes. Do you know that?”
Aaron pressed his body against hers, willed her to open her eyes, something, anything, but she didn’t respond. So much blood. Everywhere he looked. Warm and sticky against his chest. It covered his arms, soaked his hands. Clenching his fist his red-stained nails dug into his palms. Quinn�
�s blood on his hands.
Sulfur choked the air. Aaron covered his nose with the tip of a golden wing and looked up. A mushroom cloud, gray and billowing, shot upward from the opened box. It spread across the domed ceiling, rolled down the walls and across the floor. From within the gathering smoke, demons materialized and formed a circle around them.
Restless from a lifetime of imprisonment, the demons snarled and hissed at one another, all seeking the attention of their dark mother. Lilith stood in the center of the rotunda, arms outstretched, face turned to the sky as she chanted. A crack opened above her, the seam between the Underworld and the human realm ripped open, revealing the sun being eaten by the moon, the eclipse well underway.
“Behold, my loves, a feast awaits you!” Lilith cried.
Fights broke out between brethren as they surged forward. A cloven hoof clomped against the side of Quinn’s head, scratching the side of her face. Another clipped her hip as the demons jockeyed for position. Spear butts pounded the ground around them, too close for Aaron’s comfort. Creating a canopy with his wings, Aaron hunched over Quinn and dragged her backward through the stampede of talons and paws, hiding her behind a large pillar and away from the crowd gathering around the open portal. One last look at Quinn’s pale face, and he folded her arms over her chest and kissed her forehead.
“I’ll make them pay, I swear.” Trading grief for anger, he let Kaemon’s full power rise to the surface and consume him in vengeful wildfire. Fireworks of rage exploded in him, and he sprang into a crouch, chest heaving, wings spread wide. They would all pay, each of them torn to pieces, with his bare hands if he had to, for what they’d done to Quinn, to Marcus, to his home.
A murderous battle cry clawed its way from the pit of his stomach and ripped from his lungs as he raced forward, scooped up the discarded knife, and launched himself into the air.
Pretty Dark Sacrifice Page 23