My silence screams the truth of his words.
“I know you’ve enjoyed this life,” Azza says as a smile forms in his eyes. “Found pleasure in killing the way you do.”
“At one time. Maybe.”
“Absolutely.”
I turn away and try to pretend that I was never his apprentice, never wanted the life he offered. But I did at one time.
I did choose this.
“What’s changed, Aydan? The girl?”
Nesy. A picture of her blond hair and haunting eyes flits across my thoughts. It awakens the Beast. And my heart. I want to consume her power. Protect her soul. The opposing feelings battle inside, stealing my breath.
Azza watches, a cold fury seething in his expression. “You would sacrifice everything with me for her? A worthless human girl?”
“I thought you said she was more than human.”
“She is. But that is not the point.”
“Then what is?”
“You. Are you willing to risk everything for her? Would you give yourself over to my demons, be consumed by them as you scream for their mercy? Would you do that for her? Because I promise you, she won’t do the same for you. She’ll kill you if she gets the chance. I hear it in her thoughts. See it in her eyes.”
I turn away, unwilling to accept the truth I know.
“If she is what you crave, take her. Enjoy every inch of her. And when her lust and fear has fed your soul, kill her. Consume her body. Her power.”
I contemplate my master’s words. He’s never been wrong about our enemies. Not once. But is she really my enemy?
The Beast screams the answer, leaving only one solution.
An image of myself drinking her soul fills my vision. I feel her power flowing into me. Feel her death. Bile coats my throat. My eyes begin to water. And my heart feels as though it’s being carved from my body.
I can’t do this. I don’t know why, but I know I will never be able to do this.
Not to her.
Uninvited feelings permeate my mind. Loyalty. Fealty. Devotion.
To someone other than my master. To a stupid human girl.
Azza’s thoughts become my own. He demands my allegiance, regardless of my feelings on the matter. Or perhaps, because of them.
I stretch my neck, willing the visions to stop. Azza is right; my allegiance belongs to him and him alone. I made that choice centuries ago.
I face my master, asking the question I fear. “You’ve picked her, haven’t you?”
Azza’s laugh brings no relief. “Oh no, you’re not strong enough. Whatever she is, there’s a power you can’t yet face. She will be yours after you have fed.”
Not Nesy.
“But, you will kill her. Soon.”
A boiling rage surges with his threat.
His eyes narrow. “Tonight I have a smaller prize in mind. One that will not resist you. Her death will prove your loyalty for now.”
No! forms in my thoughts. But the Beast pulls on me, stifling my voice and urging me to fulfill my oath to my master, regardless of the cost.
“Nesy’s death guarantees your fealty later.”
“Who?” It sounds more like a growl than an actual word.
Azza nods forward. I follow his gaze to the bar adjacent to the booth.
A familiar girl. Alone and unaware.
Not Nesy.
I can’t control the Beast. I must feed before a frenzy starts and I lose all control. I walk to my prey and sit next to her.
Don’t do this, part of me says. But my need for sustenance is overwhelming and will not abate. Whispering in her ear, I prepare my meal. “You attend East Side, don’t you? Mandy is it?”
A smile glints in the girl's large brown eyes as she tosses her chestnut brown strands over her shoulder. “Yeah.”
“Here on a Monday? I’m surprised. I thought girls like you avoided this place during the week. What would your parents say?”
“My mother couldn’t care less. She probably doesn’t even realize I’m gone.” Mandy leans in. “Besides, being here is a lot more fun than staying home. Especially with you around.”
I feel my hunger cover the contours of my face, feel the Beast growl. “Well Mandy, you’re just full of surprises tonight, aren't you?”
“I guess I am.”
Every word she speaks, each toss of her hair and pout of her lips explodes my appetite. I can’t resist the Beast’s pull. Not with such an easy kill.
There are no strange memories to confuse me this time. No longings for a girl long dead. No feelings of my heart being ripped to shreds.
Just the familiar satisfaction as her soul feeds the Beast.
Why resist what I am?
“So, want to get out of here?” I ask.
“I would, but I’m here with a friend. I think you know her. Lori. She’s warned me all about you.”
That’s the second time that girl has interfered with my plans.
“And what do you think?” I ask as I brush my finger across her throat. “Are her warnings justified?”
Mandy takes a deep breath. I see her pulse throb in her neck, feel the erratic beat of her heart against her chest. “Definitely.” She moves closer to me.
I smile and push into her thoughts, showing her everything she wants. “Leave with me.”
A sexy pout covers her lips as she stands. “Let’s go.”
Very easy prey.
I place my hand on the small of her back and guide her out the door. Azza follows, unseen to all but me. Dark shadows dance along the edges of the alley behind the club. Azza’s creatures wait, watching the hunt. Their beaks and claws clack in anticipation.
I push my body against the girl, rubbing my hands across her arms. She shudders in response.
For a moment Nesy floods my vision. Stop this. Stop. Her voice taunts me and I pull back, hesitate.
But the Beast won’t stop.
It never has.
Do this! The pull of all that I am is too strong. I push against my urgings, clinging to my feelings of guilt and shame. The Beast consumes them, leaving me no way to resist.
I focus on the girl who offers her soul to me. Leaning in, I taste her lips.
“I shouldn’t do this,” she whispers.
“I know you want to.” My voice weaves around her, casting my spell. She melts into my arms, her breath nothing more than short, shallow wisps.
I feel her quiver as I again taste her neck, her jaw. “I came for you.”
Her aroma, a mixture of sweet peas and the life coursing through her veins, sends me into a frenzy. My body shakes. There’s no turning back now.
She arches her back, giving herself to me.
“Do you want me?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
“Yes,” she whispers.
I pull her into a hungry kiss. She releases herself to me and I take her air.
Her life.
Her eyes spring open as I drink her soul, extracting it from every cell. She screams into me, pounds my chest, writhes against my hold.
I tighten my grip and deepen the kiss that will end her life.
The girl continues to beat on my chest, her strength growing weaker. And weaker. Her soul flows freely into me as her color begins to pale and her movements slow.
I drain every last drop of her soul from her.
Her body drops from my grasp as her life force coats every crevice, filling a need too deep to ignore. Satisfaction and disgust buffet against me.
“Feel better now?” Azza emerges from the shadows, pride glinting in his eyes. Pride and satisfaction.
He owns me.
Azza leans into me, whispering into my ear. “The next time you displease me, I will choose a closer victim. One I know will bring you great pain to kill.”
I clench my jaw, fighting back the rage born from his words.
Nesy.
Screeches and howls fill the night as Azza’s creatures pour forth from the shadows and feed on the dead girl. I watch them s
hred her body, eat her flesh. My knees wobble as I spit out the bile filling my mouth. Lightheaded and dizzy, I am forced to face the truth. This is who I am now—nothing more than the Beast. Destined to serve Azza and rule the dark creatures. Destined to kill.
I don’t know which feeling to experience first. Anguish. Guilt. Shame. They meld together and crest over me. I face my master, one thought on my mind—
Better to die, than to be his servant.
In a single heartbeat, I prepare to attack. Azza will pay for the centuries I’ve served, for every act I’ve committed at his bidding.
A sudden blast of wind streaks through the dark alley, stopping me cold. Bursts of emerald, indigo and golden light fill the space as three angels emerge from the center of the brilliance, swords drawn.
I hear Azza’s howl as he steps back from me and disappears into shadow. The angels run to the half-eaten carcass strewn across the concrete, their wings unfurled behind them. They toss aside the demons, slamming them into the stone wall of the buildings that line the narrow corridor.
“Cass, Zane, trap them,” the golden angel orders as she turns to face me, poised to strike.
Two angels chant and bursts of light erupt from their hands. A cage forms around Azza’s creatures. They howl and gnaw at their prison.
The Beast surges through me, releasing a feral growl. “You have no purpose here, angel.” I push out of my host body, sending it crashing to the ground. My wings extend to their full expanse, as I steady myself for the attack.
“You are my purpose, UnHoly.” The golden angel’s voice echoes through my skin, resonating in my soul. “It is time for you to meet your end. Feel the eternal flames of the Abyss.”
She lunges towards me. But I anticipate her move and duck. I grab for my weapon, the short sword of the UnHoly. Forged of black metal it bears the creed of the Beast, of Azzaziel’s realm. Meus tripudium est prognatus ex tuae tormentum et poena. From your torment, my joy is forged.
I may not want to serve Azza, but I will not be taken out by some angel with a sword. The Beast won’t allow it. “I will never submit to you, Sentinal.” I slash at her, coming up empty.
She moves too fast and each blow catches only air.
Not good.
“You cannot beat me, UnHoly,” she taunts. “The Abyss waits for you.”
Each word infuriates me, baiting the monster inside. I hack the space around her, fueled by my newly found power—a power supplied through Mandy’s death.
The angel parries each blow, countering with force. “Your time here is finished,” she yells as her blade pierces my side.
The blade sends a wave of pain across my vision. The Beast screams and rage floods my senses. Black blood leaks from the wound, splattering on the pavement. I suck in a breath, ignoring the searing anguish.
Lunging forward, I rake my sword across her arm. The cut slices through her armored skin. She sucks in a breath, her eyes wide with shock. She counters my attack, slicing the air around us. Metal screeches against metal as our fury collides.
A soft white light empties into the alley. The strange girl, Lori, spills out of the club, screaming “No!”
Impossible. She shouldn’t be able to see any of this. The golden angel is as surprised as I. Finally, my chance.
I barrel into the angel, pinning her against the wall. Wrapping my clawed hands around her throat, I squeeze, ready to end this once and for all.
“Let go of her,” Lori yells.
Azza, emerges from the shadows, cloaked in his humanity. “Ah, our Seer.” He says as he grabs the not-so-human girl. “At last.”
A scant “no” escapes her lips before Azza cups his hand over her mouth. “Now, Aydan. It’s time.”
I watch Lori and Azza disappear into the shadows, my claws still around the angel’s throat.
“Unhand me,” she snarls, her voice hoarse. She thrashes against my hold, unable to move out of my grasp.
Blurs of indigo and emerald light run towards me.
“No, stay back. Guard the others,” the golden angel commands, still pushing against my hands.
My claws dig into her neck and a trickle of silver liquid snakes down her skin. I stare into her fierce eyes, admiring her determination and strength.
My breath catches in my throat as I see her. Really see her. Deep blue eyes that seem to reach into my soul. Chaos simmering under a surface of calm. I furrow my brow, unable to free myself from her glare.
“Nesy?” My claws open and I stumble backwards. “It can’t be,” I whisper.
Released from my grasp, the angel pushes past me. “Lori! Lori!”
“Elle!” Lori’s voice floats through the shadows. “Help me.”
“Lorelei?” The angel says, choking on the word. She opens a portal into the shadow, ripping a hole between the worlds. Her gaze meets mine and for a moment time is suspended.
“Elle?” I whisper, watching the three angels disappear into the void.
Elle.
Chapter 13 – Confessed Emotions
Nesy
I squeeze into the pitch darkness with Cass and Zane, our glowing skin the only thing illuminating the darkness. A breeze drifts through the surrounding mist. The scent of the Dark One, ripe with putrid flesh and death, flows with the wind.
“It sure smells like Azzaziel here. He must have come this way.” I say, wrinkling my nose. Moss covered stones poke up through the ground, looking more like decaying ruins than anything else. Mist floats between the stones and the ground. This place is like nowhere I’ve ever seen, no where I’ve ever been. The space in between the worlds.
Azzaziel’s realm.
Muffled screams fill the air around me. I run towards the sound, desperate. Lori saw me. As an angel. She called me by my human name from so long ago.
Not possible.
“You’re too late,” a voice says, seeming to come from the stones that surround me.
I draw my sword in a single motion and spin in the direction of the sound. “Show yourself,” I command.
Tendrils of black smoke emerge from the stones, forming a face.
Demonic smoke. Great!
“The girl you seek is not here.” The smoke-voice says.
“Where is she?” I growl, frustrated. “Show me.”
“I cannot show what I do not know.” The smoke thins until it disappears entirely, replaced by a suffocating silence.
I really hate demonic smoke. Nothing more than a trickster, you can never really trust it.
“She’s not here,” Cass whispers “I can’t feel her.”
“That’s not possible,” I snap. “Azzaziel was only a second ahead of us. Lori has to be here somewhere. It’s a trick.” I pound the cold stone wall next to me.
Elle…Elle…
Lori’s voice repeats my human name over and over, looping endlessly. For a moment I begin to think she could be my sister.
I shake the wish away, angry. “Blazes!” I yell into the darkness. “We should’ve been faster. We can’t let him hurt her.”
“She is not your assignment.” Zane’s frustration is palpable. “We shouldn’t even be here. Your duty is to—”
“Don’t lecture me about my duty, Zanethios. There is no way I am letting Azzaziel hurt that girl.”
“Then take care of Aydan, as Mikayel ordered you to. The Council will send others to take care of the Dark One.” Zane clenches his jaw.
I’m sick of his anger. His judgments. “And Lori?” I yell. “Who protects her?”
Cass stares at me, a look of shock on her face. Yelling is not exactly Sentinal behavior.
She moves closer and I feel her heart reaching for mine. “Why is she so important to you? What aren’t you telling us?”
I ignore her question, still hoping against hope that Lori and Lorelei are the same person, that my sister lives.
Definitely not Sentinal behavior.
“She called you Elle.” Again Cass pulls forward my emotions.
No. I won’t let
her into my heart; not now, not until I can figure this out.
“She saw you. She saw all of us.” Zane’s voice frays my already frazzled nerves. “How is that possible?”
I pace, unable to think clearly. “Zane, what do you know of the Seers?”
Zane looks surprised at the question. “Seers? Azzaziel killed them off centuries ago. Why? What does this have to do with that girl?” Zane shakes his head, trying to find the answers in my thoughts.
I lock eyes with him, feeling every ounce of pain, every moment of frustration as I shove him from my mind.
“Why did Azzaziel go after them?” I ask, still staring at Zane. “The Seers?”
“He needed their souls. According to the rumors, he was trying to make an army of UnHoly, one that could defeat the Sentinals. An army as strong as Azza, but subservient to him. The Seers were the key to his play. Or at least, that is what the rumors said. Drinking the soul of a Seer could give the UnHoly unmatched strength. The Seer’s soul would awaken the Beast in a way that would make the UnHoly immune to the swords of the Sentinals. They would not be able to kill them. Only Mikayel’s sword could prove fatal. Just like with Azzaziel.” Zane’s expression softens as he speaks. “But that was before.”
Lacrimosa (Requiem Series) Page 6