“What? Why?” A lump began to form in her throat. Something here was off. Way off.
“After Sissy sent him away, mom got real scared and tried to lock her in the basement.”
Eva grabbed the controller in his hand and yanked it from his grip. “What do you mean, sent him away?” He was now forced to look at her.
“Sissy said he had to go. He didn’t like the fact we were special and tried to tell Mom she had to send us to a place for crazy people.”
Before Eva could question him further, the glass french doors to her left shattered, and the girl from outside stepped through. “I thought I told you to leave,” she growled. “I tried to be good, but now you are going to force me to do bad things.” The girl moved closer.
Eva jumped to her feet and threw a protective shield around herself and the boy. She opened her mind and tried to reach for Seph, anyone, but her connections were gone.
The girl laughed. “You can’t reach them.” Then her brows dipped down and her eyes darkened to black. “You can’t have my brother either. Fredrick belongs with me.” A burst of power broke past Eva’s barrier and sent shock waves slamming into her, jarring every bone in her body. Eva fell backward; her head hit the floor. The room went out of focus, and she wondered how this could be happening. Who were these children? The girl’s face came into view as she bent over Eva.
“You’re a pretty angel. It’s a shame I have to mark you.”
Blackness narrowed until everything became dark.
Eva? Seph didn’t want to believe what his gut... No. What his soul told him. His mate was gone. Where? He had no idea, but he knew who to ask. Rather than panic, he allowed his anger to bubble to the surface. He stopped outside his home, knowing there was no reason to go inside. Instead, he reopened the portal to Hell and dived in. When he landed, his boots cracked the ground under him. He reached out again. Evangeline?
Only the groans of Hell greeted him.
With a snarl, he summoned his reaper. Rushed the transformation and welcomed his darker side. Once complete, he cut a path of destruction––leaving only blackened ground––straight to Lucifer. When he arrived, he fully expected to find the demon king sitting on a throne, but the room was as he had left it.
The box.
He stormed to the box with every intention of smashing it against the rocks, but when he reached for it, he was knocked backward.
You cannot destroy me, Reaper.
You took my mate. I want her back or I will destroy you.
A cynical laugh. I did no such thing, but I will find out who did and thank them personally. They saved me the trouble.
You’re a fucking liar. Seph felt the tug of another death. Duty called. Not now!
Lucifer laughed again. Perhaps it’s your mate’s soul you’re to collect this time.
Seph curled his bony fingers together and punched the wall next to him. The room shook under his anger and the crystal cracked, but everything held. He went down a checklist of options and found he only had two. Neither of which he liked one fucking bit.
Leave his mate to whatever fate awaited her and stop Lucifer’s plan. Or cave and give Lucifer what he wanted. Trouble was, there was no guarantee Eva would be returned to him. Perhaps he should take a third option and call for reinforcements. Could the Maker find his mate?
Give me what I want, and I promise the safe return of your precious angel.
I thought you didn’t have her?
I don’t. However, I’m certain I know who does. He chuckled again. My daughter is such a bad girl.
Every muscle stiffened. Was it possible his Eva was being held by some Hell child? Your promises are worthless.
Yet you have no choice, do you? You will cut your deal now in hopes of saving your mate.
Seph unleashed his reaper fury. Evil swirled around him in a mini-storm filled with the souls of those he had escorted to Hell. Lucifer was right. He would make his bargain now. Why does your daughter not come to you herself? Surely the spawn of the devil could find her own way home. Especially if she is the daughter of Lucifer and a nephilim. Seph made a mental note to find out who fathered this Jennifer Somners. At least then he would have a better idea of how much power the child might gain.
She was conceived outside of this realm, therefore she is unable to enter on her own the first time. Once here, she will release me.
Something didn’t make sense. Kelana was able to come and go and she had been born demon and angel. Why then couldn’t this Lilly do the same? I will see my mate and know she is well before I give you a fucking thing.
Then we are at a standstill, because I cannot communicate with my children while in this box.
Seph growled. Where do I find this bitch child of yours?
Tsk, tsk, Reaper. Such hatred toward an innocent child will eat at your soul. Lucifer laughed. You will find her in a warm climate. She is at the age where I am sure she has begun creating havoc on society. Just follow the path of destruction.
There are warm places all over the human world. Can you be more specific?
Her mother lived in the Americas. You might start there.
Does this mother have a name? He pretended not to know to gauge Lucifer’s reaction. There was no way he was letting the demon king know they had the book.
I choose them to bear my child. I care not what their fucking names are. She’s probably dead by now anyway.
So he lied. Seph played along. “Fucking wonderful.” I will find this daughter of yours and contain her. Then, we will talk again about the whereabouts of my mate. Be warned. If Eva has even one tiny spot on her or has been tormented in any fashion, I will tear your love child’s head from her body and mount it on a spike. It will serve as a reminder of what I am really capable of.
Careful, Reaper. Your darkness is showing.
“Fuck off.” Seph exited the room, his swirling torment trailing behind him. Without regard, he stormed his way through Lulerain, allowing his anger to cut its own swath of destruction as he went. Even the most violent of demons gave wide berth when they saw him coming. It wasn’t often a reaper hung out in Hell. It tended to alter their mood. Made them pissy and no one wanted a pissy reaper.
After he’d finally made his way back to the human realm, he’d calmed slightly and resumed his human form. Probably a good thing, otherwise he’d scare the shit out of everyone he encountered. His gut told him to begin his search in the Florida Keys and work his way up the coast. He tried to sense Eva, connect with her telepathically, but so far he’d had no luck. This wasn’t improving his mood one damn bit.
Eva tried to move but a sharp pain shot through her temples. “What on earth?” She opened her eyes and blinked until things came back into focus. She lay on a sizable round blue cushion. White bars surrounded her, and when she tried to move again, the entire room swayed. Or, maybe it was her head spinning, she couldn’t really tell.
“Angel. Aaangelll, are you awake?” A small boy’s singsong voice called out. Eva recognized it as Freddie’s.
“Freddie?” She crawled closer to the bars, and the room swayed again. When she wrapped her fingers around the cold metal, she nearly retched. Her prison hung in the air, poised over a room full of furniture. Cartoons played on the TV. It finally sunk in. She was in a giant cage.
“Angel?” his soft voice called once more, and Eva looked back between the bars and down at the little boy who smiled up at her. He waved. “Hello.”
She offered a smile. “Hello, Freddie.”
Freddie reached for a switch on the wall and flipped it. Suddenly her cage began to lower to the floor, and soon she was almost eye level with the boy. Hope sprang inside that he was going to let her go. Instead he opened a small door on her cage, picked up a plate and glass then pushed them at her.
“Peanut butter and jelly.” He smiled. “I hope you like grape, that’s all we had.”
“I’m not hungry.” Once again, her stomach threatened to tighten and hurl as she scanned the room. It wasn’t the same one s
he’d been in earlier, and it was darker, indicating she was in a basement. An open door was to her right. Probably led to the upstairs. Her power was gone and she felt weak. She surmised the cage had some sort of dampening ability.
“You need to eat for the baby. I hope he likes peanut butter and jelly.” Freddie jerked her out of her thoughts.
“Baby?”
He nodded. “The one in your tummy.”
Eva looked down at her stomach and studied it, expecting... What? She’d not sensed she was with child. Was it possible she had been too wrapped up in her own thoughts to notice yet? She tried to scan herself but came up empty. “How do you know about the baby?” Maybe the boy was mistaken.
“I can sense him.” He pushed the sandwich and glass of milk at her and she finally relented.
She took a bite and realized she was starving. I am with child?
In her world, these things happened without warning. A couple was suddenly blessed to be the next to bring an angel into the world. She touched her belly. Fear mingled with delight. “How can you sense him?” she questioned between bites.
He shrugged. “I dunno. Sissy says my powers are growing.”
Powers? She recalled the shattering glass and the angry girl. Who were these kids? She had scanned them and they had come back mortal, but now that she thought about it, she had no idea their names. A guardian knew every mortal’s name. She only knew the boy’s because she had heard the sister speak it. “What is your sister’s name?”
“Lilly.”
She took a gulp of milk to wash down the sandwich she’d just finished. “I don’t suppose you are going to let me out now?”
“Can’t. I was told you have to stay with us. Sissy is close to finding a way for us to get home.” He took her plate and glass when she offered it. “You can be my friend.” His mouth turned down. “I don’t know anyone there.”
Her heart began to beat faster in her chest. “Where is home, exactly?”
“I’m not sure but Sissy says our dad is a powerful king.”
She gripped the bars and leaned closer, her throat suddenly growing smaller until she thought she would choke. “King of what, Freddie?”
“King of the demons.”
Her jaw dropped. Oh holy hell.
Chapter Six
Seph tried to remain calm, but it proved more difficult as time ticked by. Never in his life had he been more helpless or more at war with the darkness that swirled inside him. Every step he took was an effort and got him nowhere. It was time for a different tactic. As the sun pelted him in the Florida summer heat, he made a choice that would have humanity wagging their tongues for generations to come and likely end with some kind of punishment from the Maker. He called up his reaper and began to transform. There was nothing anyone could do to him that was worse than the pain he experienced now.
The wind picked up and thick black clouds raced across the sky, crashing together and blotting out the sun. It was forbidden for him to take this form in the human realm unless he was extracting a soul. And he was pretty sure doing so in broad daylight on a busy street corner was at the top of the “do not do”. At the moment, he could give two fucks. His dark side was a much better tracker.
A woman’s scream and crunching metal filled the air. Chaos surrounded him and his reaper fed on it, laughed at it, until suddenly he felt it. The slick oily stain of evil, and like a wolf that had picked up the scent of blood, Seph headed straight for it. Something was going down and he aimed to find out what. Hopefully, it would lead him to his mate, and in his current frame of mind, may the Maker help any who stood in his path.
He continued down the sidewalk. The black clouds above churned into a storm that sent bolts of lightning across the sky to strike nearby. People ran for cover. Some screamed the apocalypse was upon them and begged for forgiveness, but Seph ignored them. Instead, he focused on the thread of evil that tugged at his soul. He was close, only blocks away, so he took to the air, which created even more havoc on the ground. Finally in the distance, he saw it. A thin veil of evil hung over one mansion, and he headed straight for it. His own darkness absorbed the power that punched through the air. When he finally reached the home, he landed on the lawn and carried his storm to the front door. His senses on alert, there was definitely evil coming from inside.
He inhaled the scent like one did a fragrant flower then pushed a burst of power that knocked the front door off its hinges and sent it sailing across the room to smash into a wall. Stepping inside, he determined what he searched for was on the lower level. Wasting no time, he tore the door leading to the stairs off its hinges then descended. The stench grew stronger, and he marched toward it. When he entered a large family room, he spotted a young female. Her black hair flowed away from her face in the wind that swirled around the room. There was no doubt the evil came from her, and she was busy conjuring up something that wasn’t going to be good. Her black gaze met his, and her lips curled into a snarl as the contents of the room began to get sucked into the vortex she created.
This had to be Lilly. Lucifer’s Hell child.
A woman screamed and he turned toward the familiar voice of his mate. His love was locked in an enormous birdcage that hung from the ceiling. Their eyes locked and dawning crossed her features that the ugliness she stared at was her mate. She’d never witnessed his reaper before.
“Seph!” she cried out as her cage began to swing back and forth violently.
“Eva! Hang on.” Seph whipped out a bolt of power in an attempt to stop the cage from breaking free from the ceiling, but he was too late. The birdcage broke free, and before he could react, Eva was swept into the furious vortex. Seph tried to jump in himself but was hit with a blast of power from the girl and knocked across the room. His body broke away plaster and splintered wood. He quickly jumped to his feet, but the winds from the vortex were quickly growing to F1 forces. Windows blew out and walls bowed.
The house groaned.
The girl’s fingers stretched out and that’s when Seph noticed the young boy crouched on the floor, fighting against the winds. Seph sensed the vortex was about to collapse and made a snap decision. He leaped for the boy, pulled him into his arms, and rolled across the floor just as the vortex slammed shut with a violent shudder. Suspended objects crashed to the ground, a table hit Seph in the back, and busted into several pieces. The boy stirred underneath him.
“Sissy?”
Seph sat up and inspected the child who appeared unharmed, then he shifted back to his angelic form. The child watched with curiosity rather than fear. “I’m willing to bet your name is Fredrick.”
How she hadn’t managed to suffer a bruise or cut after her flight through the vortex, Eva wasn’t certain. She’d been thrown from one end of the cage to the other. Instinctively, her hand went to her abdomen and worry coursed through her.
Pregnant?
She opened her senses once again and scanned her body. Her power––at least some of it––must be back because she caught the faint beat of a tiny heart.
She swallowed down worry. While she was ecstatic that she and Seph would become parents, for obvious reasons this wasn’t an ideal situation. Babies developed in half the time in the angel world. She had to think survival and protect her unborn child at all costs. Seph had found her, but they had been yanked apart by a force of evil. She had never seen her mate in his reaper form, as it had been something he forbade, fearful that she might become afraid of him. But Eva could never fear Seph. He was her light and joy, and she knew he would never hurt her. She would be more afraid for those who considered harming her and especially now after witnessing what he was capable of. She only hoped he didn’t hurt Freddie. He was only a little boy, no matter who his father was. Children had no control over their family, and Freddie seemed harmless. His sister on the other hand… It was evident she was coming into her power. Would the boy end up like her? Eva was certain if left in Lucifer’s hands, he would become tarnished and it made her sad.
Eva finally took a moment to look around. Her cage had landed in a vast chamber that gave off an eerie red glow. She checked the door on her gilded prison and was both surprised and relieved when it opened. It must have been damaged in transit. Stepping out, her shoes hit a smooth floor, and she was careful not to slip. Eva opened her senses and tried to reach out to anyone, but the lines of communication were silent. She tested her powers and attempted to summon her wings, but they failed to obey. So it seemed she was limited on what she could do. The only option she had was to try and find a way out of wherever she was so she moved carefully. One foot in front of the other, she walked along one moss covered wall, her sight adjusting to the dim pulsing red light that appeared to come from deep inside the rocks. With every step, she prayed no one came for her with the exception of Seph. She was confident that if he could find her once, he would do so again. She only needed to survive until then.
Right. Piece of cake.
Once she reached the other side of the room, she was relieved to find it led to a narrow corridor. She flared out her senses but didn’t detect anything. Her only worry was she couldn’t trust her power. For all she knew, danger lurked around the corner, but she simply couldn’t sense it. If she had to guess, she was in Hell. It seemed the likely place the daughter of Lucifer would go, but then what did she know? Nothing. She was a naive guardian angel who wasn’t even allowed to enter Hell unless escorted by a demon or one of the few angels allowed in. All the horror stories she had ever heard about the place crept into her mind.
“Smart move, Eva, thinking about all of that now,” she muttered under her breath and tried to shove the visions deep into her memories, but it proved difficult with every corner she came to. Fear stopped her in her tracks and she prayed nothing jumped out to devour her. Eva had been a strong-willed person in her human life and even more so when she transformed into an angel. However, she was alone in a foreign place, and willing to admit, frightened as hell. Obviously, the girl had caged her for a reason. Maybe it had been simply out of anger that Eva had not left when Lilly told her to. Hope welled up slightly that since she hadn’t seen Lilly yet, Eva might have been forgotten. If she could make her way out, she would stand a chance.
Unleash The Darkness: (Eternally Mated Novela) Page 4