Sacred

by Long, Samantha

  "But it will hurt a hell of a lot."

  Cabariel's arrogance slipped just a little. Sophie watched him, wondering if she was brave enough to read him. To voluntarily go inside his mind after what he’d done to Morgan. Seeing that would break her.

  "Jackson, pin him down." Demetri stepped aside, and Jackson came forward. With another wave of his hand, he pushed Cabariel against the wall and held him there.

  Cabariel sucked in a breath when Jackson tightened his mental hold.

  "Where is Lilli?" Demetri lowered the gun, holstered it.

  Cabariel remained silent. His hate-filled glare roamed over them.

  "Aidan.” Demetri nodded toward him.

  Aidan's twisted smile terrified Sophie. He stepped forward, and Cabariel started to struggle. Jackson tightened his hold some more.

  Aidan placed a hand on Cabariel's arm. "This is only a small part of what I owe you." His flames catalyzed.

  The smell of burnt flesh and scales thickened in the air. Sophie resisted the urge to cover her mouth. She didn't want to show the demon any kind of weakness.

  Tristan didn’t move, keeping his gaze on Cabariel for any sign of movement.

  Cabariel jerked against the pain. He made no sound, but the hate in his gaze intensified.

  "You only have so many extremities for Aidan to burn off." Demetri waited a few seconds for Cabariel to speak. When he didn't, Demetri motioned for Aidan to continue.

  He grabbed Cabariel's other arm. The smell worsened and Cabariel jerked roughly. A small moan escaped him.

  "We can do this all day. Aidan is angry, but I think you can tell that," Demetri said. "Where is Lilli?"

  It took a second for Cabariel to speak. "I can't tell you. She'll kill me," he moaned.

  "I'm going to kill you," Aidan whispered fiercely, leaning close to the demon. Cabariel didn't seem to notice that there were bloody stumps where his arms used to be.

  "You are pathetic, Guardian." Cabariel spat at him. "You think you scare me? You are nothing compared to the Demoness. She is powerful beyond the six of you. No, you do not scare me. Whatever torture you deal out, hers will be worse."

  "That's a lovely speech, but you don't know us very well." Demetri nodded at Aidan again.

  Aidan put his hands on each of Cabariel's wings. Sophie saw real fear widening the demon's eyes. A few moments later, the wings were nothing but ashes floating to the ground like darkened feathers. Cabariel's screams reverberated through the room.

  His scaled chest heaved, and he tried to control his moaning.

  Sophie wanted to pity him but instead wondered why she couldn’t. Did that make her as bad as him?

  Demetri called for Aidan to move back. "Now. Tell us what we need to know."

  Cabariel’s head rose. His blood red eyes stared hazily at them. "I don't know where she is," he whispered.

  Aidan took a step forward and Cabariel spoke fast, "If I give you the name of the Betrayer, will you stop?"

  Sophie sucked in a breath and thought she heard someone else do the same. "How do you know about that?"

  Cabariel's eyes settled on her as he struggled to breathe. "Ah, the succulent psychic."

  Tristan moved closer to her and his furry arm brushed hers. She had to crane her head all the way back to glance at his jade eyes.

  "Your mate is the werewolf?" Cabariel smiled weakly at Sophie's blush. "I do not think I want to anger him."

  A growl rumbled deep in Tristan's chest in answer.

  "Do you want the name?" Cabariel's gaze drifted over the group, lingering on Seline's body, lust flaring in his eyes.

  She sneered at him. "Are we really going to believe this piece of shit? What does he really have to gain from this? Aren't we looking for Lilli?" She aimed her gun at his head.

  "She's right." Aidan's flames flared brighter. "We should just kill him for what he did to Morgan."

  Sophie hated to agree, but she wanted Cabariel to die. His hatred and glee at violence was as strong as the smell of burnt flesh.

  "Let's hear what he has to say." Demetri gestured with the gun he'd pulled out of its holster.

  Seline's face turned red. Sophie guessed she wasn’t the type to like getting admonished in public. "Fine."

  Demetri ignored her. "Well?"

  Cabariel's breath hitched. "Very well, it's—"

  A shot rang out and struck the wall next to Cabariel's head. It ricocheted off the wall and sliced Jackson's arm and his control over Cabariel instantly vanished.

  The demon lunged toward Aidan at the same time that Aidan aimed his fire at him.

  Tristan pushed Sophie behind him, and she called out to warn the others that Aidan’s control had snapped.

  "What the hell?" Demetri turned and saw Seline holding out her gun, smoke trailing from the barrel.

  Cabariel lit up like a demon torch. Aidan put all his anger into the fire, which blazed higher. Sophie put up a hand to shield herself from the heat. Visions zoomed through her mind. Faces, people, Cabariel's long and lethal life. Suddenly, a name surfaced.

  Cassius.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  "I DID NOT GIVE YOU the order to shoot!" Demetri stalked over to Seline.

  Her cold voice stung the group as she lowered her gun. "He was about to kill us all."

  "Jackson had him under control." Demetri stepped back from her. "You are suspended from field duty until I say otherwise. You are, as of this moment, confined to quarters." He pivoted away from her. "Tristan, make sure she does it. Stay in werewolf form until she's locked in her room."

  Tristan's white head nodded. He grabbed her by the arm.

  “I’m sorry, Demetri. I was trying to save everyone.” Seline jerked her arm from Tristan’s grip. “I’m sorry to you, too, Guardians. I let my grief over Nolan’s death consume me, but I have my head on straight now. I was trying to protect you!”

  Tristan grabbed her and dragged her from the room.

  Sophie steadied her emotions as Aidan reached for her and pulled her into a hug. "There was so much blood on her, Sophie. She was barely alive."

  "I know." She rubbed circles on his back, trying to soothe him in some way. His emotions were chaotic and bouncing all over the place.

  "That was our lead." Jackson stared down at the demon's ashes, body rigid.

  "No. I caught a name when his memories came to me." Sophie looked at him over Aidan's shoulder.

  "Thank God." Jackson's shoulders slumped, and he glanced at Sophie with hope in his eyes.

  Demetri toed the ashes. "I'll get someone to clean this up. Sophie, you give the name to Ruth, and she'll start the research. I'm going to double the guard at the portal at all times. We don't need to lose it, and we don't want the Betrayer letting anyone in. I want a team of scientists figuring out how the damn thing works."

  They headed to the infirmary. The people they passed on the way shot them sad looks, but they ignored them as they rushed down the hallways and stairs. Ruth met them at the double glass doors.

  "She's alive. Allison has her in surgery," Ruth said as she led them to the waiting room.

  "Cabariel unintentionally sent his memories to me when he died. He gave me a name—Cassius—and Demetri wants you to start research on it." Sophie gripped Aidan's arm when his emotional tide crested her way.

  "I'll start that now. Let me know if there's anything else I can do."

  The wait for Morgan to come out of surgery was endless. All they could do was stare at each other hopelessly. Aidan paced up and down the halls, with Sophie and Jackson trying to reach out and calm him down every once in a while. Trying to get him to eat was hopeless, and his shirt and arms were still stained with some of Cabariel’s blood from when he’d beat on him.

  Sophie thought about her vision. Akeldama had easily defeated them all, just like the first time. Sophie placed the heels of her hands over her eyes, trying not to let it overwhelm her. How were they supposed to kill the Demoness when she was so powerful?

  The bad thing about her v
isions? They were never wrong. She could only pray that they'd do something to change the course of destiny.

  Tristan came in from taking Seline back to her room and put his arms around Sophie's shoulders. The fact that he was here, and alive, pulled her from her thoughts. The vision hadn't happened yet. She could still stop it, she had the others standing with her.

  Two hours later Allison came out, dressed in a pair of clean scrubs.

  "What is it?" Sophie fought back tears. Allison's sadness blanketed Sophie, and she bit her lip.

  Allison sighed, the dark circles that rimmed under her eyes standing out against her pale face. Lena stood behind her, something red in her hands.

  "Just spit it out," Aidan snapped.

  "Maybe you should sit down."

  Slowly, they all sat. Sophie's heart thundered, and she reached for Tristan's hand.

  "The demon did a lot of damage. Most of it I repaired in surgery. Some wounds were superficial, and those will heal in time." Her eyes filled with tears. She looked down at her feet, and then back at them. "He raped her."

  Aidan went still. His eyes shut, and he clenched his fists so hard that the tendons stood out.

  The room spun around Sophie as she tried to digest what had happened to Morgan.

  Jackson gripped the arms of his chair, his knuckles white.

  "Damn it!" Aidan roared. Several of the lights above them caught fire. Lena stepped forward, a fire extinguisher in hand, and used it heavily to dampen the flames.

  "Aidan, I know it's bad. You can't imagine how sorry I am." Allison paled more when she looked into his eyes. "You have to calm down before you see her. She's already distressed; she doesn’t need to see you this way."

  Aidan's jaw ticked, but he took several deep breaths, and the golden glow around him diminished.

  Allison nodded. "Better." She glanced at the others. "I need all of you to do this, as well. Morgan has been through a very traumatic event. I can't allow you to see her if it will hinder her care."

  "We understand." Sophie managed to get the words past the lump in her throat.

  "I want to see her."

  Allison glanced at Aidan. He stood, tense, and waited on her answer. "Okay. You can sit by her bed in recovery. Don't do anything to wake her up."

  "Yeah, Doc. The warning's clear."

  "I only want one person in at a time, and it doesn't look like he'll be giving any of his time up," Allison said with bleak eyes after Aidan walked away. "Morgan is going to be very different when she wakes up. Rape is difficult when under normal conditions. A demon...I'll just say the experience is much harsher. She's going to be angry and feel helpless, probably defeated." Allison sank into a chair and accepted a cup of coffee from Lena, who quickly disappeared.

  Tristan rubbed his hands up and down Sophie's arms. "What can we do to help?"

  "Listen to her. Don't dismiss her feelings or her fears. They'll be well-grounded. She may be more nervous or afraid of males. Men will represent the pain and degradation that she went through. Or she may turn all that hate and humiliation on the demons."

  "What about Aidan? How can we help him?" Jackson stared down the hall toward Morgan's room.

  Allison shrugged. "You're the closest one who can help him. You're missing Lilli. The best thing for you to do is offer him encouragement and someone to vent to."

  "I can do that."

  "I'm going to be close so don't worry. I'll send for you if anything changes. For now, I'm going to keep her asleep until her physical injuries heal a little more. It should only take a few days since the Council has given us something special to use on her.”

  They left the waiting room to go eat breakfast after Allison told them that they’d be waiting a while. Jackson wasn’t hungry and said he was going to the gym. Sophie watched him walk away with a pit of dread in her stomach. She and Tristan were starving, so they ate quickly, and a little while later, they joined Jackson. His punches knocked the punching bag around like a piñata.

  "Jackson?" Tristan crossed to the punching bag and held it still. Sophie trailed along behind, wishing she knew what words to say to make it better for both of the guys.

  "What?" Jackson kept up the rapid beat of his punches.

  Tristan looked helplessly at Sophie.

  The pain Jackson kept buried threatened to erupt. "The punching bag call you a bad name?" Her pathetic attempt at a joke fell flat.

  Jackson stopped, a hard look on his face. He unstrapped his gloves and pulled them off. Sweat ran down his face and darkened his t-shirt. "I can't stop training. Yes, what happened with Morgan was bad, but Lilli is still out there waiting for me to rescue her."

  All that pain that he buried is about to burst out. Sophie directed her thoughts only to Tristan.

  Let me handle him. We've been friends for a long time. Maybe he'll talk to me. Tristan gave her a quick kiss.

  Sophie smiled encouragingly at Jackson before she walked out. When she reached the door, she looked back and watched them for a minute. She worried about Jackson and about how this was affecting Tristan. It had to be hard watching your best friend go through that and not know how to make it better.

  The Manor bustled with activity. People ran back and forth to their jobs, training, or heading out on a mission. She wished she was out searching for Lilli instead of stuck on the island. She could understand Jackson’s frustration at not being out there.

  Foster found her before she headed up the stairs to her room. "The Council w-wants to see you."

  "Thanks, Foster." She turned from the stairs and headed to the Council room. Her thoughts jumbled together. What did they want with her? Did they somehow know that she had predicted the utter destruction of the world?

  Several people glanced her way while she walked. By their sympathetic looks, news of Morgan's attack had spread. She wanted to break into each mind and see if any of them were the Betrayer, but she knew it wasn't that easy.

  The wooden doors to the Council Room appeared in front of her. Sophie licked her lips and rubbed her sweaty palms down the sides of her pants. She'd never been in the presence of all twelve members of the Council alone. What would they have to say?

  "Enter, Sophie." The eerie sound of their blended voices caused the little hairs on the back of her neck to rise. She opened the doors and stepped inside the candlelit room. There was a peaceful feel to the room and Sophie inhaled it greedily. A small pool of water sunk into the white sand of the floor in the middle of the room, an oasis in the Manor.

  "Come, sit." The Council sat on pillows of earthy tones in a straight line on the other side of the pool. Each was barefoot and wore white robes. They watched her, multi-colored eyes solemn, while she removed her boots. She felt no hesitation as she sat on the remaining pillow across from them. It was too peaceful.

  "How is Morgan?" one spoke.

  Sophie swallowed against the misery. "She's not doing so well. Cabariel really hurt her." That was the understatement of the year.

  "Yes, he did."

  Sophie fidgeted even as they didn’t move a muscle. She took a deep breath and made herself sit still, waiting for them to speak again. While she did, she continued to absorb the peace in the room.

  "We want to talk to you about the Light you hold inside. It is a special gift; one you shouldn't ignore."

  "I don't know how to use it."

  "You have used it before in a time of need."

  Sophie's mouth twisted. She didn't remember how she'd triggered the Light when her possessed ex-boyfriend attacked them, and then when Akeldama tried to stop the Guardians from escaping. It had happened so fast; her adrenaline had been pumping. She couldn't say how she made it work. Instead, she tried for honesty. "It scares me."

  The candle flame swayed in the room and then vanished. The Light glowed underneath each Council member's skin.

  Sophie looked down. Warmth invaded her body, her eyes widened, and her skin began to glow. She lifted her hand and waved it in front of her face. Inside, she felt stro
nger. Whole.

  "You are the Light Keeper. Only you can destroy the Dark Priestess and send her back to where she came from. It comes with a price, Sophie. Are you willing to pay it?"

  The glow in her body vanished and so did the peace. "Price?"

  Those eyes stared back at her. "To use the Light in that magnitude, you will have to surrender yourself to it completely."

  "And become like you?" Sophie inwardly winced at the words, but kept talking. "Give up my individuality and join you?"

  "Only the Source of Light would know what your surrender would entail. We are but messengers."

  "I can't believe this. I am not going to become a freak-eyed robot just to kill one demon." She stood and, without looking at the Council, ran from the room.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  THE NEXT MORNING, Sophie finally managed to convince Aidan to eat something real and get some sleep. Jackson hadn't really talked to her after the punching bag incident, and she wondered if he was embarrassed by the way he felt. No one had more of a reason to be impatient than he did. She couldn't blame him.

  She was having doubts about her mission, about her ability to destroy Akeldama. For so long, it had been her only thought besides finding Lilli. She'd become obsessed with it to the point that she pushed everyone away, and now that she had the tools and was told how to kill Akeldama, she was hesitating. How could she surrender herself, her identity, and become a soulless husk?

  She took a seat at Morgan's bedside and watched her chest rise and fall. The meeting with the Council and the vision entwined themselves in her mind. Was the reason Akeldama defeated them so easily because she didn't surrender herself to the Light? Were her friends' deaths her fault?

  Allison stepped up beside the chair. "She’s doing better. Her pulse is settling into a steady rhythm, and her blood count is going back up."

  Sophie's tears spilled onto her cheeks. Bruises were turning yellow all over Morgan's body, but they weren't as bad as the gashes that marred her face, neck, and hands. Not to mention the ghastly scars on her soul. "Did I sacrifice one friend to save another?"

  "What? No, sweetie." Allison wrapped her arms around Sophie. "Sometimes we forget that you are just sixteen and bearing the weight of the world on your shoulders. Morgan wouldn't like it if she wasn't in on the action."