Dark Divinity: A Cursed Book

by Amy Braun

  Sephiel gave me a tired smile. “It is not practical for any warrior to have merely one weapon. We all carry secondary arms in our coats for precautionary measures. Like you, I have a fondness for blades.”

  I smirked and looked at his face. He was still Sephiel, but it was clear he wasn’t the being he once was. His eyes were dim, his shoulders sagging, his skin more weathered. I hadn’t realized how much power his wings must have held until they’d been taken away from him.

  “How’s your back?” I asked.

  “Empty,” Sephiel admitted. “My wings were a connection to Heaven. A source of power and a reminder of what I was. Without them, I feel lost.”

  The smile began to fade from his face.

  “There is little I can do for you now, Constance. I am completely human. I cannot heal or teleport or conjure heavenfire. I can provide knowledge, advice, and an extra sword, but beyond that I am a burden.” He bowed his head. “I pray you shall not see me as such, because I do not know where else to go.”

  I put my hand on Sephiel’s shoulder and gave him a gentle shake. His eyes rose to mine. They were still a brilliant blue, but they didn’t glimmer the way they did when he was an angel.

  “Don’t be an idiot, Seph,” I said. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  He relaxed under my touch, but the seriousness didn’t leave his eyes.

  “I thank you for your generous, if crass, acceptance. But I do not have the heart to be optimistic at this time. We do not know how Lucifer has shielded the Hell Gate. It will not be shown to us as the Heaven Gate was. We cannot rely on angels, either. Rorikel may have helped us at the behest of Gabriel, but if he survived the attack on the Heaven Gate, it does not mean his position has changed. He could remain our enemy. And then there is Michael, who shall not disregard this offence. He will seek revenge as surely as Lucifer will.”

  I took my hand back. “Seph, you’re my friend, and I like you. But I’m not in the mood for bad news.”

  He flinched. “I apologize. I did not mean–”

  I waved it off. “Forget it. You stay on watch for now. Warrick or me will come down and switch with you in a few hours.”

  “Thank you. Sleep would be useless for me, as I fear my mind is not as settled as I wished it to be.”

  I couldn’t tell if he was thinking about his wings, Lucifer, his fallen brothers and sisters, the task ahead, Everiel, or all of the above. And I didn’t ask. I turned and walked up the stairs.

  My original plan was to go straight to the second bedroom where Dro was so I could sleep on the floor, but I hesitated as I passed the living room.

  Despite being constantly frustrated by me, Warrick was still in our group. He’d been a mess since he saw Emma’s illusion, but he still saved me from Mateo. That deserved at least a thank you.

  I stood by the doorframe, watching him inspect the couch and pull it out into a sofa bed. Warrick sensed me and looked up. His hair was a bit messy, there were dark circles under his eyes, a bruise on his cheek, and a cut on his lip. His leather jacket was lying on the floor, and now I could see more dark bruises covering his arms under the edges of his black T-shirt. Warrick’s cell phone started buzzing on the coffee table near the sofa bed. I glanced at it.

  “Not gonna get that?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “It’s just the slayers. I’m torn between throwing it out the window and smashing it under a brick.”

  I grinned. “You can always be thorough and do both.”

  Warrick smiled a little, but it didn’t take the sadness off his face. “I would, if I thought it would keep them from chasing us.”

  I stopped smiling. “You think they will?”

  He nodded grimly. “Carver left a message when I was helping Sephiel. Long story short, he wants to kick me out of the circle, lock up Dro, Seph, and Max for questioning, then turn you in for that Marshal bounty so he can fund his hunts.”

  “Not a quitter, huh?” It wasn’t a question.

  “Not at all,” he replied. “Carver will follow us to the end of the earth to make us pay for disrespecting him, Elle will be right at his heels, and Jackson doesn’t have a choice. The last person I made this mad was Drake.”

  We both went silent at that. The air became uncomfortable very quickly. Coming here might have been a bad idea since Warrick was likely thinking about Drake, and the sister he’d lost to him. I debated on leaving for the bedroom, but the heavy way he sat on the sofa bed and the tiredness of his sigh changed my mind. I walked inside and slid the living room door closed behind me. I sat on the mattress next to Warrick. It was springy and hard. I wasn’t sure I liked it.

  “You sure you’re all right?” I asked, looking at him. “I didn’t see most of your fight with Drake.” Since my ex-boyfriend was trying to cut my head off.

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Warrick said. “Nothing Drake hasn’t done to me already. It isn’t him that I’m upset about.”

  The sorrow was back in his eyes. I understood that pain. It was the same, awful ache I felt when I saw my parents in the Heaven Gate. A pain that only got worse when Dro showed me it was an illusion, and reminded me that they were still dead.

  I grabbed Warrick’s hand without thinking. He didn’t react at first and I wondered if touching him was a mistake. Then he twined his fingers through mine. His skin was warm and callused from years of fighting, just like mine. We both had scars and pain we didn’t want to carry anymore. We also had the strength to push it aside and keep fighting.

  “You did the right thing,” he told me gently. “Closing the Heaven Gate with Dro.”

  I laughed through my teeth. “Is that why I feel like shit?” My humor didn’t last. “Dro says she felt the angels’ pain. I would give anything to take that from her. All I feel is numb. Sick. I don’t know if I did the right thing or not, and it’s too late to take it back. God might forgive, but angels don’t.”

  Warrick looked at me for a long time. I didn’t meet his eyes. “Lucifer was there, Constance. He was right behind us, about to go into Heaven and destroy it. He was going to take it over and corrupt all of humanity, after he killed all the angels. The people you saved might not see it that way for a long time, but we will. None of us will blame you or Dro for what you did.”

  I wanted to believe him, but the gravity of what I’d done was still sinking in. My soul was filled with darkness from the brutal way I’d lived it, yet this was different. I annihilated something that I knew should have been left alone. I felt like a hunter who just killed the last of an endangered species, and was starting to realize that there would be no more hunts after this.

  Warrick gave up on looking at me. He turned his face to the floor.

  “I tried to be mad at your sister, you know,” he said suddenly.

  That took my mind off the burden in my heart and got me looking at him. “For taking away the vision of Emma,” he explained. “I wanted to be furious. I almost wanted to hate her. I really thought I had my sister again, and if she hadn’t shown me it was a lie, I would have stayed there.

  “But then I understood that Dro did it to protect me from myself, and I couldn’t hate her for that. Not when I think about how hard it must have been for her.”

  “It was,” I clarified. “But that’s my sister for you. Always taking the hard road.”

  “Something tells me she got that from you,” he smirked, nearly looking like himself again.

  I stifled a laugh. “Yeah, I know, I’m a terrible role model.”

  Warrick’s smile was gentle, his eyes wonderfully bright. “No you’re not. You’re just a good sister.”

  That was all it took for me to start falling again. Sitting here with his hand in mine, it felt like we were the only two people in the world. All the problems were outside the door. In here, nothing seemed wrong. I let Warrick’s presence calm my mind and fill my heart. He was relaxed and considerate when he needed to be, but tough and uncompromising when he was ready to fight. Someone this good shouldn’t have been around
me. I was a recipe for pain and disaster.

  “I’m sorry,” I blurted.

  He tilted his head curiously. “For what?”

  “For all of this,” I said. The words started tumbling out before I could stop them. “Dragging you into this shit. Maybe you should have stayed with the demon slayers.”

  “No,” he told me without hesitation. “I never wanted to stay with them. I made my choice to stick with you and your sister, and I would make it again.”

  Warrick turned on the bed so he could face me directly. His free hand came up to cup my cheek. I let his thumb slide along my skin, just under my eye. Every movement caused my stomach to flutter and my pulse to pound.

  “You did what you had to do, which is exactly what you’re going to keep doing, even when you know it’s only going to get harder. I don’t know many people who can do that, especially with this situation. But you will.”

  Warrick took a deep breath. “It’s one of the things I love most about you.”

  The world stopped. I was ready for anything but that. He didn’t officially say that he loved me, but he might as well have. It wasn’t like his eyes were hiding what he felt.

  My heart swelled, and I let all my fear fall away. Warrick wasn’t Mateo. He wouldn’t hurt me. He would never betray my sister or my friends. He had countless chances to turn back, but he never did. Even when I pushed him away, he came back. He never gave up. Warrick saw some spark in me that I couldn’t see. He was convinced it was there, and he was going to show it to me. I was finally ready to let him.

  I pushed forward and kissed him.

  Warrick seemed a bit surprised at first, but then his hand slid to the back of my neck. He stayed there and let me kiss him, never pushing or asking for more.

  Except that more was exactly what I wanted.

  I kissed him deeper, turning so I could push him down on the bed. I slipped my tongue between Warrick’s lips. His fingers left mine and trailed around my waist, gently tracing the skin of my lower back where my shirt had ridden up. He felt me shiver, and pulled away. He held me up there, torn between kissing me again and keeping me back.

  “I thought I was hurting you,” he whispered.

  “I changed my mind,” I teased.

  I leaned down again, but he tilted his head so I couldn’t touch his lips. He sighed.

  “Constance, I don’t want you to do this if I’m the one who’ll get hurt.”

  I almost gave up right then. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt Warrick. I didn’t know what I could offer him, but he wanted it. I couldn’t take it from him. Never mind that it was time I started finding more motivation. I’d always fought for my sister. I didn’t need to fight for anyone else. Now I had allies that I could actually call friends. People I was ready to die for. The more I was willing to protect, the harder I was going to fight.

  I put my fingers under his chin and lifted his head to mine. Bright green eyes found me in the darkness. They were too enticing to ignore.

  “I won’t,” I promised. “I’m going to give you at least one dream.”

  All the tension and grief that filled Warrick’s eyes started to fade away. A new light filled them. It was strong and hopeful, and neither one of us was going to let it go out.

  Warrick kissed me so hard he took my breath away. His smell was everywhere. His fingers were tangled in my hair, and then in my shirt. I pulled his off, being careful of his bruises. He was scarred and hurt like me, but he was the most amazing man I’d ever seen. He stripped my shirt from my chest, as lost in desire as I was. Each kiss was hungrier than the last. The tightrope between us was starting to loosen and fall, and it couldn’t come down fast enough.

  It wasn’t long before the rest of our clothes were gone and we were under the sheets. Warrick’s body burned with a heat that I couldn’t get enough of. This was the passion I craved like a drug. He needed it just as badly.

  I wrapped my arms around his back and brought him closer, loving the way he felt wrapped around me. There was nothing I needed to say to him. He knew how to touch me, where to kiss me, when to be rough, and when to be gentle.

  When we were both spent, we couldn’t stop smiling. He pulled me into his arms. His chest was solid and warm. I knew I would sleep well tonight, and would probably end up skipping watch duty.

  Out there in the world, everything seemed to have gone wrong. I was back in the city I hated. Demons were on a rampage with Lucifer. All of the archangels and Heavenly Host were fallen. The human race was about to get a very rude awakening.

  But Sephiel wasn’t alone. Max and Dro were together. I was in Warrick’s arms.

  Obviously we couldn’t stay in this one night of peace and rest. We weren’t going to have many more nights like this. But I was going to hold onto this one for as long as I could.

  And fight to my last breath so I could have another one.

  THE END

  Acknowledgments

  It’s a little crazy for me to think that just a few years ago, I never would have imagined that I would write a full length novel, let alone a sequel. To realize that I’ve managed to do just that is something I’m proud of, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a nerve-wracking journey. After all, how many times have readers found the sequel to be weaker than the predecessor? Writing new adventures and trials for Constance and Co. was a serious challenge. They had to grow and develop, and I wanted to raise the stakes. In the end, I’m very pleased that the crew has come this far. It was worth the nail-biting and second-guessing.

  None of this would have been possible if it weren’t for the support and encouragement I’ve gotten from my family and friends. You guys really don’t know how much you’re helping me by asking about my writing, curious about the progress of a novel, asking what I’m working on next, or telling me about a writing prompt you heard. Hearing those things every once in a while helps me strive to write better.

  To the artists and designers at Deranged Doctor Designs… Thank you. You blew my mind with the cover of Demon’s Daughter, and I knew you would amaze me with the artwork and promo material for Dark Divinity. I was not disappointed.

  More gigantic thanks to my editor Eden Royce. Thank you for pointing out the details and the authenticity of certain character’s actions. It truly is amazing what a writer can miss or not consider, and Eden, you were a huge help in finding those flaws and advising me on how to perfect them.

  Big thank you to the Beta readers who got first dibs on Dark Divinity to tell me what you liked and didn’t like. Hopefully you enjoyed the story the second time around as much as the first.

  And finally, thank you reader. You really have no idea how much it means to know that you picked up this book, read it, and enjoyed it. Hearing your feedback makes all the difference, because it’s your word that helps independent authors achieve their dream. Thank you for reading Dark Divinity. And don’t worry, the final book will be here soon!

  About The Author

  Amy is a Canadian urban fantasy and horror author. Her work revolves around monsters, magic, mythology, and mayhem. She started writing in her early teens, and never stopped. She loves building unique worlds filled with fun characters and intense action. She has been featured on various author blogs and publishing websites, is an active member of the Writing GIAM community, participates in NaNoWriMo, and is the recipient of April Moon Books Editor Award for “author voice, world-building and general bad-assery.” When she isn’t writing, she’s reading, watching movies, taking photos, gaming, and struggling with chocoholism and ice cream addiction.

  Website: literarybraun.blogspot.ca

  Twitter: @amybraunauthor

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/amybraunauthor

 

 

 
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