"Good." Demetri moved the dagger, partially uncovered, close to his face. It glistened in the light of the torches and oil lamps. He lowered and rewrapped it.
"Where's Rory?" Ruth peered around Foster.
Foster looked over his shoulder. "He was right behind me."
"Which way did you come from?" Ruth grabbed his arm. "Which way?"
"Th-that w-way." Foster pointed over his shoulder to a hallway on the left. Ruth was gone before he could lower his finger.
"Ruth." Demetri cursed under his breath and then again when Casey and Kendra ran after her. "Take this, Sophie."
She reached out and took the dagger. It pulsed in her palm, and she closed her fingers around it. Her glow emanated into it and it lit up. She felt a oneness that completely freaked her out.
They hurried after Ruth. The first thing Sophie noticed in the ballroom was the staircase she'd descended as Sofrina. She'd been so full of hope then. The second thing she noticed was Ruth. She stood facing a group of impossibly beautiful male vampires, her face twisted with hate and fear.
Rory was on his knees in front of the vamps, blood dripping from his face and head. His eyes stayed on Ruth's. "Don't worry, sis."
Rory was being held on the other side of the room and any time one of her group would make a slight movement to go to him, the vampire holding him would bare his fangs.
"So nice to see everyone again." The angelic voice drifted out from behind the male vamps.
"Cairo." Sophie's Light shone brighter. She now understood why Demetri hated her so much.
"I think I owe you this one. You killed my entire coven," Cairo growled. Her blue eyes flashed red. She yanked Rory's head to the side, exposed his neck.
Ruth snatched the crossbow from Kendra and aimed it at Cairo. "I will kill you."
“You could try. I don’t remember that going so well any time you’ve tried.” Cairo moved so fast they didn't see her until it was too late. Rory cried out when she sunk her fangs into his neck.
"No!" Ruth shot the crossbow wildly.
One of the male vamps took the arrow in the heart. When he burst into flames and dust, Cairo bared her teeth at Ruth.
"We have to go." Demetri ripped the crossbow from Ruth's hands. The crazed look in Ruth's eyes scared Sophie. Ruth was normally so calm. "There is nothing you can do." His voice was harsh, his hands gripped her shoulders. When she didn't respond, he shook her to break through the grief.
Ruth's eyes filled with tears, and Sophie could feel her own eyes burning. Morgan's hand covered her mouth, and Kendra glared across the room, her chest heaving as she held back sobs.
Rory convulsed on the floor at Cairo's feet, a dark red pool forming at his neck and torso. His skin lost color, and Sophie didn’t feel anything from him anymore.
"The other demons are waking up. They know we're here and they're pissed," Sophie said.
"Yes, darling. We are." The sultry voice filled Sophie with dread. She whipped around and saw Akeldama standing in the doorway.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
AKELDAMA'S HEELS CLICKED on the battered ballroom floor. She sashayed to stand in between the Guardians and the vampires. Sophie's skin chilled when Akeldama brushed past her. She slowly tucked the dagger into the back of her pants.
Akeldama faced the vampires for a moment, and her gaze strayed over Rory's now still body.
Demetri pulled the back of Sophie's shirt up and situated it so the dagger didn't show. The metal pulsed against her skin, almost burning her.
Ruth looked anywhere but at Rory's body.
Aidan's hands started to warm up. He glared with so much hatred that Sophie wondered if he would explode.
Demetri shook his head imperceptibly.
Why can't we do something? Rory is dead. We're about to join him if we don't fight her.
Aidan, you have to calm down. She's too powerful for us to just attack her half-cocked, okay? We have to wait and see what her game plan is, Sophie pleaded with him to think straight.
Aidan didn't cool off, but he didn't throw flames either.
"I was wondering how long it would take you to get here. I had my doubts, of course." Akeldama turned back to them, her pale complexion glimmering in the light of the torches. When she walked, the slit in her red dress rose above her knees.
Sophie's insides shook. The power coursing off the Demoness filled the room with a malevolence that crackled in the air. It pressed in on Sophie, threatening to choke her.
"Can we kill them now? I want the girl of Light for myself." Cairo licked the last drops of blood from her fangs. She walked up beside Akeldama, her movements sensual.
Akeldama's lips turned down at the corners. "You have displeased me, Cairo. You're deviating from the plan."
Cairo's eyes widened with real fear. "Please, forgive me, milady. I did not wish to."
Akeldama dismissed her with a glance. Cairo slunk back behind her male consorts. "I have a better idea." She smiled at Jackson. "I see you found the little blonde." Jackson glared at the Demoness.
"No matter. You managed to escape Cassius' plane. I started that storm." She crossed her arms over her chest and smiled at them, triumph written on her face. "Much like the storm all those lifetimes ago."
The malice coming off of Akeldama shook Sophie’s confidence. The Demoness was sure the Guardians would be dead by morning. It was all a game to her.
Sophie was starting to think the Demoness was right. Small scenes from her visions flashed before her eyes. She saw Tristan, headless again. No one noticed her distress. She thought about Demetri and his team. If they weren't in the vision, did that mean they were dead before it even began?
"I assume you already know why you are here." Akeldama sighed in boredom. "You are standing in my way of getting the Rift open. Therefore, I want to kill you. Eliminate all adversaries so I may free Lucifer and create Hell on earth. With you six gone, it will be easy to do this."
"Maybe it would go faster if you'd stop talking." Smoke rolled off Aidan's shoulders. Morgan shot him a look that said to follow his own advice.
Akeldama laughed and the harsh sound made Sophie jump. "Patience, Aidan. You always were impetuous. What more can I expect from the boy who controls fire? No, I want to play with you before I kill you. It would be no fun if I simply killed you here and now."
Sophie's heart plummeted. Her vision was coming true before her eyes.
"There is an arena in the city. There, I will give you a chance to defeat me—with an audience of my servants, of course." She turned to the vampires. "Go. Alert the others."
Sophie's hair fanned around her when the vampires blurred past them. When she glanced back, Rory’s body was missing. They weren't going to give Lilli a chance to heal him.
"Why, you're all speechless. The last time I had you all in the same room you were lying on the floor, soulless. We will have to see if you end up the same way tonight." Akeldama's eyes glittered when she looked at them. "I will give you a half-hour to get to the arena. Then the battle will start. Don't be late." Akeldama's gaze held Sophie's as she disappeared.
The vision blinded her. The display of blood and death made her stumble backward. Tristan caught her against him. What is it?
Sophie straightened and glanced at her friends, at Demetri and his team. She'd grown to care about all of them, even Kendra and Foster.
Especially Tristan.
She inhaled on a shaky breath. "I need to tell you about a vision I had."
When she was finished, Jackson said, “I have a plan.”
***
Sophie opened her eyes to darkness. She blinked against it and realized that she lay flat on her back on the ground. Haltingly, she raised a hand to her head and felt a knot forming at the base of her skull. The pounding increased when she brushed her fingers over it. When she tried to sit, the darkness spun. Her stomach rolled at the sensation.
Burning pain seared her side and she looked down. An arrow stuck through her hip, but everything about it
seemed wrong. What was she doing here? Wasn't she trying to stop something?
She mentally shook her head. She had to focus. She pulled her hand away from the wound, the blood wet and warm. It came back to her slowly, Jackson telling them the plan, the group splitting up to try and confuse Akeldama.
"Soph?"
Sophie jerked and cursed under her breath. She clenched her teeth against the white-hot pain that shot up her hip and chest.
Morgan appeared and knelt beside her, torch in hand. "Sorry." She winced when she spotted Sophie's wound. "I tried to get here in time, but that demon was too fast. We're going to have to pull it out."
"The arrow?" Sophie groaned.
"We don't have a lot of time. She only gave us half an hour."
"The others?" Sophie gritted her teeth.
"Relax. I'm just looking right now." Morgan leaned over and saw the arrow protruding out of her back. Morgan motioned to the feathered end of the arrow. "I'm going to have to break this part off, then pull it out from the other side." She jabbed the end of the torch into the ground. "Demetri and his team stayed behind with Lilli, as you suggested. He wasn't happy about it."
"I didn't think he would be." Sophie shut her eyes. She didn’t want to stare at the arrow anymore.
"Tristan, Aidan, and Jackson are waiting on the outskirts of the arena. I was able to teleport them there without the demons knowing, I think." Morgan grunted and snapped the end of the arrow off. It slid deeper. Sophie clenched her teeth against the pain.
"Breathe." Morgan placed a hand on Sophie's shoulder. "Now, I'm going to need you to hold on to me. I'll do it as fast as I can."
Sophie nodded with two short jerks of her head. She gripped Morgan's shoulders and held on. Morgan leaned over and grasped the tip of the arrow.
"On three. One..." Morgan wrenched the arrow out.
Sophie couldn't hold back the scream. It echoed off the walls of the alley. "I thought...you said...three." She fought the words out between shallow breaths.
Morgan tossed the arrow over her shoulder. "I figured it would be better if you didn't know it was coming. Can you heal yourself yet?"
Lilli had been barely strong enough to pass on her powers. They'd had to revive her several times to complete the process. Sophie closed her eyes. Deep down inside, she now wielded the gift to heal. After a few seconds, her hands began to glow with a soft golden light. She guided them over the wound and concentrated. Warmth permeated the area and the pain gradually died down.
"Wow." Morgan's scars rippled when she smiled. "It's good to have Lilli back."
Sophie touched the sides of Morgan's face and concentrated. When she finished, the scars had disappeared and Morgan's natural beauty shone through. "There, back to normal."
Morgan's smile could've exterminated vampires with its incandescence.
Sophie stood. She reached behind her back and felt nothing. "Where's the dagger?"
"Right here." Morgan tossed it to her. "You dropped it when you hit the ground."
"Thanks." Sophie caught and uncovered it. It was beautiful in its plainness. It had a silver hilt decorated in a language she couldn't understand, but felt familiar to her.
"C'mon. We only have a few minutes left." Morgan placed a hand on Sophie’s shoulder.
A second later, they stood in front of Tristan, Jackson, and Aidan. The archways to the arena loomed over them, beckoning them to the battle ahead.
Sophie sensed Akeldama ready and waiting. She pushed the fear down, buried it underneath the anger for Lilli, and her brother's death, and slid the dagger into her boot. She faced the others. "Give me your powers. It's the only way we can win."
"I'm giving you my power," Tristan gripped Sophie's chin, "but I'm not leaving you to face her alone."
She jerked her chin from his grasp. "You can't argue about this. I told you what happened." Sophie watched the others stand firm. "You all died. I died."
Aidan smiled sadly. "This may be the end, we know that, but we're a team and that means that we stick together."
Morgan nodded. Jackson frowned. "I didn't come all this way to not help kill the demon that kidnapped Lilli."
Sophie rubbed her forehead. "After you give me your powers, you will be defenseless. She'll kill you. I can’t watch you all die.” She hated that her voice cracked, but she couldn’t see it again.
"You won't. How do you think the Society's warriors have survived all these years? They don't have any powers, yet they hunt demons and vampires. They've done it even before they knew we were reborn." Tristan intertwined her fingers with his. "If we were to turn away, to not fight because we were powerless, it would degrade everything they've fought for."
"Yeah, Sophie. We can't walk away from this." Morgan took Sophie's other hand. "We were born for this."
A sigh shuddered through her. She couldn't believe she was letting them talk her into this, but the selfish truth was that she didn't want to go in there by herself. "Okay. Let's get this done."
Her skin lit up. Jackson, Morgan, and Aidan closed their eyes and placed their palms on Sophie. When their skin met hers, a soft white glow infused them. It wound its way down their arms, around Sophie's, and into her chest.
She then turned to Tristan. None of it seemed hopeless when she looked into his stormy gray eyes. She had to defeat Akeldama, and Sophie couldn't survive without him.
Tristan's arms came around her and pulled her close. He dipped his head and touched his lips to hers. Her heart fractured, and she thought that if she lost him, the pieces would never fit back together.
The white glow surrounded them before it seeped into her body. When she stepped back, she glanced at her friends. They stood proud and ready to fight. Would they still be this way after the battle?
Sophie took a deep breath. It was time.
They approached the archways to the arena. It was exactly the same as the one in her vision. Several archways made up the circle of the building, and giant cracks ran through the stone walls.
Her friends’ strides never faltered. She was touched by their courage, their determination to destroy Akeldama.
She stopped at the edge of the arena and raw fear shot through her. Demons of all shapes and sizes, including vampires, crowded the stands that rose high above her. The cheers for the Demoness surrounded Sophie.
The metal of the dagger pulsed against her calf. It calmed her, readied her. Sophie lifted her chin and, with two steps, she was in the circular arena, kicking up dust. Her friends were right behind her.
Akeldama waited in red battle armor over a black-and-red tunic. A sword, swaying at Akeldama's side, caught Sophie's gaze. She swallowed against the grief that speared through her at the sight of it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
"YOU MADE IT ON TIME. How delightful." Akeldama looked pointedly over Sophie's shoulder. "I see you've brought reinforcements."
Sophie remained silent, although her heartbeat pounded in her ears. Everything she’d worked for since finding out about the demon coalesced in front of her, every workout, every sleepless night. All for this moment.
"I shall have to even the battlefield." Akeldama clapped her hands. Four vampires prowled out from the shadows behind her. "Pets, keep the others away from us."
The Demoness moved slow and sinuously, like a snake. The sword's scabbard drew a line in the dirt as they circled each other. Sophie watched her closely, waiting for the moment Akeldama would strike.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her friends advance on the vampires. A flash of them bleeding in the dirt from her vision blinded her, and she forced the sight from her mind. She had to focus. She had to be prepared.
The crowd of demons hushed. Anticipation shimmered in the air as everyone in the arena stilled.
Akeldama lunged, swiping with her claws instead of the sword. Sophie turned her torso, and the tips of the claws passed next to her shoulder, barely missing her. She planted her feet and kept her gaze on the way Akeldama moved, trying to use the training Dem
etri gave her. It was hard to remember any of the details when her adrenaline was crashing through her. Akeldama smiled, the confidence in it winding like poison through Sophie’s veins.
The Demoness was evil, had connived for centuries to win this battle, the entire war, and Sophie and the others had only had months. She didn’t feel like the past life they lived really helped out since she was only able to dream about them once in a while.
The tension built in Sophie as she waited for Akeldama to make her next move. It didn’t take long, and Akeldama ran at her.
Sophie shut her eyes, drawing on the one time she’d teleported with Morgan. She focused on the sucking sensation, the feeling of being cold and warm at the same time. It built, and when Sophie opened her eyes, she was behind Akeldama. She reached for the dagger. Before she could touch it, Akeldama pivoted to face her, eyes black with anger. The back of her hand connected with Sophie's face, and Sophie stumbled back. Her ears buzzed as the pain subsided and she sucked in a sharp breath, moving to dodge a swipe from Akeldama's sword, which came inches from her chest. She couldn’t move fast enough to catch up with Akeldama’s moves.
Sophie stood and wiped the blood from her mouth. Around the arena's circle, her friends battled with the vampires. She couldn't tell how they were doing because she didn't want to take her eyes or senses off of Akeldama. This time Sophie took the offensive, hitting Akeldama in the jaw, snapping her head to the side. She didn’t stop, moving quickly, kicking and punching, praying that she could weaken her opponent enough to use the dagger.
It didn’t last long. Akeldama used her elbow to knock the wind out of Sophie, moving behind her while Sophie tried to suck in oxygen.
Akeldama's face hardened as she wrapped her fingers around Sophie's ponytail and jerked.
The crowd roared, but Sophie heard Morgan cry out over the noise. She tried to look for her, but Akeldama laughed and jerked harder. With her fury, a different kind of heat infused Sophie's body. It climbed hotter and hotter, almost too hot for her to stand, and then her hands were on fire.
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