“And exactly what are you going to be doing?” Marcus asked again.
“We cannot be in two places at once,” Dante explained. “If anarchy continues to rain in the Infernos, it will eventually bleed over into the mortal realm.”
“It sounds like it already is,” Falcon snarled slapping his own hand on the table. “The souls bound for the Infernos will be trapped on this plane.”
“Answer me one more question, Dante,” Marcus said interrupting Falcon. Dante leveled him with a black cold stare. “How do we kill Calliope?”
The slight figure at Dante’s side stepped forward throwing off its cloak. A beautiful red haired woman in blood red leathers unsheathed a Sword as long as her arm and as black a pitch. “With this.” She stabbed into the oak table.
Everyone scrambled away from the table. Chaos reigned for several minutes as chairs were tipped over and the inhabitants of the room, excluding the Reapers, moved as far as the four walls containing them would allow.
“That was to have been destroyed,” Falcon bellowed glaring at the Sword.
“Yes, well, something’s should never be destroyed,” Dante said calmly.
“And what exactly is holding the Sword?” Kyra asked nearly hissing the words. Then she directed her next statement at the woman. “What are you?”
Dante placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “This is to never leave this room.”
Marcus and several of the Trackers snorted in disbelief, after everything Dante had said to them he was now asking them for their confidence?
“You’re asking for favors now?” Lykar barked. “I know you’re the ruler of the Infernos, but you must have the largest set of balls on any plane.”
Nobody spoke for a long moment. “She is my daughter, Celeste.”
Kyra snorted. “Heaven sent? Are you kidding me? Her name means heaven sent?” she turned to Ryder, as if he would understand the irony of that. “Can you smell it? She’s a Demon.”
“Just Reaper enough to hold the Sword, and just Demon enough to not let it take her soul.” Skylar shook his head, and glared at Celeste “Bitch, you’re trouble, that’s what you are.”
Dante held up his hands. “Celeste will be partnered with Marcus in order to find the Guarded Touched. Calliope will go after them after finding the Dagger. Kill the Touched yourselves if you have to, but do not allow Calliope to get ahold of them.”
“I will not kill innocent mortals,” Marcus demanded. “There has to be another way. And how can that be all you are worried about, he is out there right now trying to find a dagger that could very well kill you and your telling us to kill innocent mortals to keep the Infernos safe?”
Dante shrugged casually making Marcus itch to shake him. “I care little for how the situation is handled when it comes to the Touched. Those souls belong to me regardless. Calliope cannot have them,” Dante said with no feeling at all. “Celeste will ensure that Calliope pays for his deeds.” He exchanged a look with Celeste, and she nodded slightly.
“I don’t want her,” Marcus balked. The last thing he needed was to have to deal with a female Demon/Reaper mix.
Dante sneered at Marcus. “That Sword is the only thing that will kill Calliope, unless you have another blessed Sword?”
“We shouldn’t have this one,” Marcus snarled. There was something about the small Demon/Reaper that just had his hackles up. Some recognition flickered in the back of his mind that he couldn’t place.
“And just what happens to the rest of us if we happen to come up against Calliope?” Falcon asked. “If that Sword is the only thing that will kill it, then the rest of us will be sitting ducks. Especially if he as the Dagger.”
“You must find and protect the Touched,” Dante explained.
“You said yourself there are hundreds of Touched,” Falcon shouted. “How do you expect us to find and protect hundreds of Touched?”
Dante glared at the Tracker. “Hundreds of Touched, but only six that I have Touched and that the Arch has guarded. Find them that is who Calliope will be going after. Besides, you are Trackers. You are able to sniff out the Touched. Then the Elements will be able to hide them.”
“And then what?” Marcus asked. “No one can touch that Sword but her.” He glared at the small woman. He would have bet money a strong wind would blow her over, she was so tiny. He wasn’t even sure how she was holding the large broad Sword up by herself.
“Celeste will hold her own. And no, I would not recommend anyone hold the Sword for any length of time. Any more than a few minutes will blacken your soul, and the Sword will feed on your light. But it cannot be helped,” he said. “It is going to take us all to correct this problem.”
“How in the world am I supposed to get the Elements to agree to hide these Touched?” Kyra asked.
Dante slapped the hard oak table again and pointed a finger at Kyra. “You opened the box.” Kyra stumbled back hugging her arms she screamed in pain.
Ryder caught her as she collapsed. “Hurt her again, and you won’t have to worry about anything but me.” Ryder’s voice was low and deadly. He carried his mate from the room, not turning back.
“Marcus you were charged with finding Calliope, and you are failing miserably,” Dante taunted. “Celeste is the only one I can spare. The only one Calliope is unaware of. The only one that can carry the Sword. If there was any other way, I would take it. She is the perfect weapon against him.”
He swept the rest of the group with a disgusted look. “The rest of you know what is at stake. Either find the Touched and keep them safe, or allow Calliope the means to destroy the Reapers and myself and open the doors and portals around the world to the Infernos. Not to mention the terror and insanity that the left evil souls will cause on the mortal plane.”
Dante made eye contact with each person in the room. “Is this something you are willing to take on?”
The Trackers turned to Falcon. “Our brother’s bonded mate is Touched, and one of our own brothers carriers your mark,” Falcon said to the Trackers then turned to Dante. “We will do this for a price.” Falcon held up his hand as Dante attempted to interrupt. “You must remove the marks on Kyra and Marcus.”
“And if you fail?”
Falcon was forever the calculator. “What would you consider a failure?”
Dante laughed. “All the Touched could die, but if one of their deaths results in Calliope gaining access back into the Infernos, you fail.”
“You care so little for the souls you have marked?” Falcon’s voice dripped with acid.
“Either way, they belong to me,” Dante quipped. “I will remove the mark on Kyra, but Marcus,” Dante’s eyes went to Marcus. “His is nonnegotiable. It was given freely, not taken. Therefore, I have nothing to release, he has the right to, of course ask me to remove it, otherwise it will not be removed.”
Marcus hadn’t said a thing about his mark to the Tracker brothers. And they hadn’t asked, but now he was going to have to give them answers he wasn’t willing to provide.
“You have nothing to bargain with if we fail, Dante,” Marcus said stepping forward.
“If you fail the only answer is hell on earth. Because if you think for one second Calliope won’t throw the gates of hell open, then you are all deluding yourselves. He was a vengeful and cruel Reaper.” Dante stepped back, joining the Reapers that stood at his back. “And his vengeance and anger has only grown in the several millennia he has been trapped in that box.”
Chapter 3
Marcus knocked softly on the door. He wasn’t sure if he was going to be allowed in, but he had to try.
“Go fuck yourself,” Ryder bellowed from behind the door.
Marcus couldn’t help it. He smiled. “I don’t do that anymore. But I would dearly love to make sure Kyra is no longer suffering before leaving.” The Element in Kyra had revolted, and she had gotten sick right after the Reapers had left. Marcus was concerned for her health.
Arguing ensued at his statement. Then, “Thank
you for checking on me, Marcus. I truly appreciate it,” Kyra said appearing in front of Marcus.
More swearing from the room as Marcus stepped aside the door was thrown open, and Ryder stormed out. Coming nose to nose with Kyra, “I said no.”
Kyra rolled her eyes and looked over her mates shoulder to Marcus. “He thinks that’s going to stop me,” Ryder growled.
Marcus directed his next question to Ryder. “What are you going to do to protect her?”
Ryder threw his hands in the air and turned to Marcus. “At this moment I have no idea. She is just as much a part of this as you are. But I will not put her in harm’s way.”
Kyra wrapped her arms around Ryder from behind. He was so broad her hands didn’t touch, but her hug seemed to calm him. “I opened that box, Ryder. I can’t run from it.”
“Where are you headed first?” Ryder asked.
“Victor gave us a couple of leads,” Marcus explained. “There is a Guarded Touched in Australia and another in New Orleans. Those are the only two we currently know about. After that we will have to have more information.
Marcus felt helpless. They couldn’t have said no even if they had wanted to, and Dante knew it. It made Marcus want to strangle the deity’s neck.
Marcus pulled a piece of paper from his pocket he and Falcon had made. “There is a family in Wyoming. The women have passed the touch down from generation to generation. Dante is waiting for something to come of it. He also wants to send someone out to look for the Dagger.”
“We can do that,” Kyra said, still behind Ryder. Her excitement obvious as she bounced like a child in a candy store from foot to foot.
“No,” Ryder muttered. But he had a resigned look on his face. “We should set the Enforcers up to find the Dagger, they would have more luck finding an object then we would.”
Kyra huffed a deep breath and threw her hands in the air. “You take all the fun away,” she muttered to her mate who only rolled his eyes.
“Dante is a sick bastard,” Ryder snarled. “His Touched are in danger, and all he wants is his revenge on Calliope.”
“Sick doesn’t begin to encompass who and what he is, although he is correct. If we do nothing, then Calliope will tear the walls down between the mortal realm and the Infernos and ultimately between hell proper and our world.” Marcus shook his head. “Humanity will be destroyed.”
“You need to stay here and coordinate. Get the Druids to bless the house and everything between here and the Haven,” Marcus said to Kyra.
She stomped her foot and both Ryder and Marcus knew that wasn’t a good sign. “I am a fighter, just because I don’t have a—” Ryder covered her mouth with his hand.
“Do you really want to finish that sentence, Blue?”
Her eyes narrowed, but when Ryder moved his hand her mouth was closed. “And what about you?” she asked Marcus.
“I am going to find those Touched with Guardians. They are the ones in the most danger. Guardians are like beacons. If Calliope knows what to look for, then there is no way we will be able to keep the souls from him. He will take them and with the aid of the Dagger he will storm the Infernos.”
“Do you honestly think bringing them all to one place is a good idea?” Ryder asked.
Marcus didn’t have a single idea at the moment which sounded like a good idea or not one was as good and because he honestly thought he was throwing knives in the dark at this point.
“I don’t have any other ideas. Why don’t you come up with something while I’m on my way to Australia?” Marcus said.
“Please tell me you didn’t agree to work with that She Demon?” Kyra asked incredulous.
Marcus sighed. “I wasn’t really given a choice Kyra.”
“Marcus, she is a DEMON. A female Demon and you are a Fallen Angel.”
Ryder snorted. “I think he is aware of all of that, sweetheart.”
Kyra hit Ryder in the chest with the back of her hand. Marcus smiled. “I promise I will not let her drag me to hell.”
“I don’t want you anywhere near her,” Kyra argued.
Both men gave her the same dubious look. Ryder recovered first. “You’re kidding, right?”
Kyra put both hands on her hips. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’re not his mother.” Ryder grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back into the bedroom. “You will keep in contact?”
Marcus nodded. “Yes and you?”
“I agree we need to make Staten and the Haven safe, which is what Kyra and I will work on as the rest of you go in search of Dante’s little prizes. The Enforcers will be in charge of finding the Dagger.” Marcus could hear Kyra starting to argue as Ryder shut the door.
Marcus shook his head. They were meant for each other, but it didn’t stop them from fighting like cats and dogs. He envied their love. It was beautiful.
****
Celeste looked around the rooms on the first floor. Once her father left, she had been left alone. None of the Trackers had even looked at her. She understood why. She was an abomination and they wanted nothing to do with her. But none of that mattered. All that was important to her was that they find the Touched or kill Calliope. She wasn’t going to lose another brother. She stuffed her pain down deep inside of her knowing she would be able to pull from it when she needed to.
As she looked around, she found a beautifully decorated living room. She was amazed at the old world furniture and style. It made her feel as if she had stepped into an English drawing room in the early eighteen hundreds.
She was so engrossed, she didn’t see or hear the attack. One moment she was running her fingers over a wonderfully cross-stitched pillow, and the next she was flying through the air. She hit the wall with a force that would have broken another person in half. Celeste allowed her body to crumple to the floor.
Her attacker came at her like a rabid wolf in female clothing and stilettos. As she closed in, Celeste rolled forward cutting the other woman off at the knees.
Her attacker let out an ear-splitting screech as she somersaulted into the air. The crazed woman landed on her feet and crouched down into an attack position just as Celeste swung the Black Sword stopping as it rested against the crazed woman’s carotid artery.
Celeste narrowed her eyes. “I don’t believe we have been introduced.”
“Demon,” was all the Lycan snarled her eyes feral. She scratched at the antique rug with her long fingernails. Rending the coiled fabric down to the wood floor beneath.
“Lycan,” Celeste returned with just as much fury and rage.
“Get your knife off my throat.”
“You attacked me. Bitch,” Celeste said pressing the point of the Sword into the woman’s throat until a small drop of blood beaded on the edge of the Sword. “So you’ll pardon me if I keep my Sword exactly where it is.”
“You have no idea what bitch is,” the Lycan snarled. She backed away, rolling from the tip of the blade. Celeste matched her speed, but not her cunning and her Sword was knocked out of her hand, and she was tackled with the force of a raging bull.
Celeste threw her palm into the woman’s beautiful face smashing her perfect nose and sending blood spraying across both of them.
The Lycan screeched again bringing up a knee she drove it into Celeste’s midsection. All the air was pressed from her lungs and Celeste stumbled back a step. The Lycan must have sensed she was vulnerable and advanced. However, Celeste was anything but vulnerable and the Lycan stepped right into a round house to the temple and hit the floor like a ton of rocks.
The doors flew open and Marcus was the first one in followed by the Element and several Trackers she didn’t know.
She stood up refusing to show them any weakness. “Someone should keep that bitch on a leash.”
“If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times,” the Element said, shaking her head. Celeste couldn’t believe the Element was taking her side on this and to hide her surprise, she moved and pic
ked up the Sword, swinging it into the scabbard she wore.
“What happened?” Marcus asked.
“She attacked me.” She wasn’t about to admit it had come as a surprise attack.
A man she didn’t recognize stepped forward. “I am Lykar, and I apologize. Marlee often acts first.”
Celeste raised an eyebrow. “Really?” she whipped blood from her face. “I hadn’t noticed.”
“Are you hurt?” Marcus asked. Celeste looked up into green eyes she had seen a hundred times, generally filled with pain and unrecognizing. Something in her screamed for him to remember all the time’s she had been there to clean his wounds wipe his brow.
She saw nothing there, not even real concern. Pushing past those feeling, feelings she should never have allowed herself to feel, she shook her head.
“It’s going to take more than that feral bitch to hurt me.”
“I’ll be happy to try again,” the woman said, being helped to her feet by Lykar.
“Marlee, Celeste is a guest in our home,” Lykar said with false calm.
“The fuck you say?” Marlee said. “When did we start allowing Demons in the house? Cause I didn’t get that memo? What next, Satan’s pygmies?”
Celeste took a step back in utter shock. She had never known a louder or annoying creature in all her life. The Lycan’s voice had taken on the sound of a screeching banshee on helium.
“That’s a misnomer, by the way,” Celeste said more to herself then to anyone else. But Marlee whirled on her.
“Did you have something to say, Demon?” she snarled. At least she wasn’t screeching.
“Satan doesn’t keep pygmies. They run wild in hell, but they aren’t his, they aren’t anyone’s. They are like—” she thought for a moment. “What you would consider a rodent on this plane?”
Marlee threw her hands in the air. “I need a god damn drink.”
She stormed from the room, Celeste cataloged everything the woman did. How she had moved, the sound and smell of her. She wouldn’t be caught off guard by the Lycan again.
“What are you doing?” Marcus asked accusation lacing his words.
Lost In Time: A Fallen Novel Page 4