by R. K. Ryals
I felt Monroe at my back, her hand coming to rest on my shoulder. She would always support me.
Lucas moved up, his face a mask of disbelief and anger. And this was only what I could see in my peripheral vision. I didn't want to see his face directly. He was shaking his head.
"You're an Angel, Dayton. You can't stay bound to a demon. Not without repercussions."
I didn't care about the repercussions. I cared about the moment. I cared about how I felt. I cared about Marcas.
There it was. I admitted it. It was that simple. It's why my aunt had always chosen Amber. I would never choose the greater good. I kept my gaze on Marcas but Sophia moved between us.
"It's not natural, Naphil. You would be severing all ties with Heaven. You really want to make that choice?" she asked me calmly.
I saw something flicker in her eyes. Jealousy? It didn't seem possible that she loved him. Her choices would have been different otherwise. Wouldn't they? Did it matter? I looked at her. You really want to make that choice?
Yes. I knew instantly that I did. There was no doubt.
"I've already made my decision," I whispered.
I felt Monroe's hand tighten on my shoulder. I took strength from the squeeze. Conor was silent, but his presence behind me said it all. Whatever decision I made, he was there to support it. Even if he didn't agree.
"You'd never be safe," Lucas pointed out.
I shook my head.
"I'd never be safe anyway."
They knew I was right. I saw Lucas' face tighten from the corner of my eye.
"Why?" he asked.
I looked up at the night sky and then back down again. It gave me a moment to gather my thoughts.
"You think the choice should be an obvious one for me. I see that. But it's not. And it's my decision to make. Leave my reasons to me."
I said it somberly. I was not admitting I was in love with Marcas. Not here. I wouldn't risk my heart in front of everyone.
Sophia took a step closer to me. I felt a pressure along my chin and my face was forced in her direction. Her use of power to control me made me angry. My eyes flashed as they met hers. She gasped.
"You're in love with him!" she exclaimed.
Everyone grew deathly silent. I tried to look away but her power held me firm.
"That isn't enough, you know," she said.
I fought her invisible grip. It was enough. Maybe it hadn't been for her but it was for me. I'd believed once that her choice had been the right one. How could one choose to live a life in constant exile between two worlds at war? Of course the right decision would be to choose the right side. But love strips away sides. It left me with no cause but my own. I let the answer sit unsaid in my eyes. I knew she'd read it in my gaze. Her grip intensified and I gasped without meaning to.
"Release her!"
Marcas' voice was feral. His tone was firm. Dark. Possessive even. I shivered. Sophia's grip didn't ease. If anything, it grew more demanding. I could feel the bruise forming on my chin.
"You can't let her make this choice, Marcas!" Sophia pleaded.
I tried to concentrate, but her grip was becoming unbearable. There was a sudden burst of light and I went down on one knee as the tension on my face released so unexpectedly it was like pulling a rubber band before letting it go. I rubbed my jaw.
"I said release her," Marcas growled.
I felt him move in front of me, and my heart rate picked up. Did he believe I loved him? It was obvious. An open book, Conor once said. I supposed he was right.
"You know what this will mean for her, Marcas? You can't let her do this!" Sophia begged.
Marcas stared at her, his expression even.
"Why, Soph? Because she didn't make your choice?
Sophia looked stunned as I glanced up at her. She may not love him, but she cared about him and it confused her. Her attack on me had been sudden, her strength undeniable, and I hated being on my knee before her. She looked baffled.
"It will get her killed, Marcas."
He didn't reply to that and I knew suddenly, even with his unreadable façade that he was conflicted. I grabbed hold of his jeans and pulled myself up. I was stronger than Sophia. If not in power then in determination. I wouldn't let her take away my choice or demean it.
"Then I'd die knowing I made the right choice for me," I interrupted angrily.
I felt Marcas tense, and I realized I was still gripping his pants. I let go. I was about to step away when he put an arm around me. I almost gasped from the sudden familiarity. He'd never pulled me to him intentionally before. Only in emotional moments and only when we'd been alone.
"It's her choice. And anyone who came after her would also have to deal with me," Marcas warned.
The threat was said as a promise, and I looked up at him. His eyes flashed. It wasn't an "I love you," but it was close enough.
"It's good to hear, brother, that redemption may still be at hand. It already seems you've been quite the busy Demon. I hear we are to be killed."
The voice was terrifyingly familiar, and I looked up, my heart filled with dread. And there he stood at the edge of the summit. Damon. Marcas' twin. The reason this whole debacle had begun in the first place.
"There is always more evil in the younger twin," Luther groused, and I knew he was thinking of Lexi. Damon looked at him solemnly.
"No evil here, Luther. I am seeking only salvation."
Damon stood, his legs slightly apart, wearing dark jeans and a dark shirt under a black sports jacket. He had a thing for half casual/half formal wear.
"You're insane," Luther said.
Damon's eyes shone dangerously red.
"Redemption is not insanity."
Marcas' arm tightened on me.
"What do you want, brother?"
Marcas' voice was low, careful.
Damon grinned the kind of grin that only lifted one corner of the mouth. It wasn't meant to be friendly.
"You've had long enough. I've had you watched. I even thought you succeeded in Italy, and now time has run out. Now we're all going to be hunted by Lucifer."
We all knew what he meant. It was a personal discussion that made me blush. Damon wanted a child born from the Angelic daughter of a woman who carried the Sethian bloodline. Watching him now, I could see the insanity in his gaze. He saw me only as a broodmare.
"So you came to do what? Take the girl?"
Marcas' question was asked in a tone I can only describe as deadly.
"You gave me your word that you would return her if you failed."
Damon sounded petulant, sulky even.
"I lied," Marcas said.
Damon grinned, his teeth bared and pointed.
"That makes no difference to me."
His eyes moved to Sophia's wrist, and I saw her flinch as she closed her fist quickly around the ring. But Damon knew she had it and that's all he cared about.
"Mother had it wrong, you know," Damon said softly, his eyes moving to meet Marcas'. "I should have been the son she tried to push power on. But, as she did not, I have plans to reform Hell."
And with those final words, he lifted a hand and closed his fist. Sophia screamed.
Our reaction was swift. Marcas and Luther moved to attack Damon as Lucas went to Sophia. But it was too late. Her hand was mangled, her grip on the ring gone. She held her hand with a panting, wounded whimper as we all searched desperately on the ground for the ring. It was pointless. The ring was gone.
And Damon wore it. He had slipped it on with no fear, and I found myself watching in fascination as he lifted himself into the air, his eyes red with a fury that almost matched Lucifer's.
"Now I take what's mine."
He lifted the hand with the ring, and his whole body began to glow. Neither Marcas nor Luther could approach him. But he wasn't here to fight them. I knew even as my feet began to leave the ground what he was here for, and I cried out. The ring gave the wearer power. Earth, air, water, and fire inscribed with the name of G
od.
I looked down at Marcas as I floated ever closer to Damon's grasp. Marcas' face was full of torment. He couldn't save me. Not now. If Damon trapped him in the ring, he'd be useless to me. He wouldn't risk that.
Our quest for the ring had ended. My journey had caused me to fall in love with the Demon I had been purposely bound to.
In the end, Lucifer had ordered the extinction of Lilith's children with Cain, and I had made the ultimate decision to give up Heaven's protection. All for love. And I didn't regret it.
Maybe I would die eventually, but not now. Damon hadn't come to fight. He had come for me.
Damon's hands closed around my arms. He wasn't gentle about it, and I felt his desperation in his grip. We began to move. He was going to take me home. Back to Lodeston. Back to a house full of women and other sect members who were possessed by him. He was going to find a way to make his dreams of redemption realized.
But I was bound to Marcas now, in more ways than simple blood could define. My heart was invested, and Damon would have to kill me first.
The tear that fell from my eyes as we flew into the night wasn't the same tear that fell on the carpet as we headed out of Italy. That tear had been full of guilt and fear. This tear was full of anger borne from love. This tear fell into a sky touched slightly by an incoming dawn, and somehow I knew it landed on Marcas.
About the Author
R. K. Ryals is a scatterbrained mother of three whose passion is reading whatever she can get her hands on. She makes her home in Mississippi with her husband, three daughters, a Shitzsu named Tinkerbell, and a coffeepot she couldn't live without. Visit her on facebook at her FB Author Page at her Author Blog.
Also available by R.K. Ryals
Redemption Series
Redemption: Redemption Series Book I
Retribution: Redemption Series Book III
The Acropolis Series
The Acropolis: Acropolis Series Book I
The Labyrinth: Acropolis Series Book II
The Scribes of Medeisia
Mark of the Mage: Scribes of Medeisia Book I