Azza flashes pictures through my thoughts.
Nesy dying at Azza’s hands
—I’ll kill you first.
Dark creatures ending my life
—not before I hurt you, Azza. Remember that.
The Beast again reminds me of my oath, the bind that locks me to my master, whether I want it or not.
Refuse the Beast, refuse Azza, and Nesy dies a certain death.
Finish this, take my oath and bear the marks, and maybe there will be a way to keep her safe. One chance at ending this.
Maybe.
“Okay. Fine. I’ll do it.” The words stick in my throat as I choke on every syllable. The Beast awakens, as it will for an eternity.
An ominous glint flecks in Azza’s eyes. “I knew you would,” he hisses. “To start, you must feed. You are far too weak to go into battle. The Sentinals have alerted Mikayel by now. He will come and make his stand. He was never one to resist a fight.
“So I will brand you. And tempt him.” A smile curls his lips.
Chills ripple across my skin as I taste my acrid rage.
Mikayel will come. He’ll end this. End me.
Perfect.
“Tonight we will crush the Sentinals once and for all.” Azza grows manic with every word.
“You promised Nesy wouldn’t be hurt.”
“I promised I would not hurt her.”
His threat lingers in the air. “I will not let anyone hurt her. Not now. Not ever.”
“And you cannot break your vows,” Azza snaps. “But to ensure your loyalty, and guarantee your power, you will seal our deal with a blood oath.”
“What? I’ve never had to—”
“You’ve never crossed me before. We have no trust between us. Not since you’ve decided that your love for a Sentinal means more than your vow to me. You will take a blood oath and bind yourself to your word or there is no deal and I will end Nesy’s existence now.”
Every muscle contracts with rage. My ragged breath feels like sandpaper against my throat. “Who?”
“You must make amends for the one you refused.”
“Lori,” I whisper.
“Yes. The Seer.” A sadistic smile forms on Azza’s face, moving from his lips to his eyes. “First you will taste her blood. Then you will drink her soul.”
Chapter 33 - Liar
Aydan
I loved watching Elle and Lorelei together. It was the only time I saw Elle smile other than with me. They ran through the fields playing games or collecting flowers for their hair. More than once, I caught Lorelei hiding in the tall grass of the meadows while Elle and I kissed.
I knew Elle would never really leave her sister for me. No matter what she said she wanted so many years ago. Their bond was just too strong.
And now, I’m going to rip them apart. Permanently.
Nesy will never forgive this. Never understand why it has to be this way.
Maybe that’s a good thing in the end.
Maybe her anger with me will keep her safe and enable her to do what she must.
I watch the auburn-haired girl sip her coffee, so alone and unaware. Where are the Guardians now? Why do they leave her unguarded?
Why do they make it so easy?
“Prove your words to me,” Azza snarls, his feral gaze glued to Lori. “Bleed her.”
I’m not ready for this.
“Here? No.” I look around the crowded streets and turn to Azza. “I'll do what you demand, but not in the middle of the day. And definitely not in the middle of Chelsea.”
“Fine. Then we'll take her back to the club.”
“She won't go with us, not without a fight. And that would attract a lot of unwanted attention.”
Azza faces me, his expression wild. “She hates me, not you. Not after your last visit with her. Not after you showed compassion. After you confessed your love for her sister.” He spit the words at me, each one a dagger piercing my heart.
Lori's words that night replay in my mind. She knew my heart, saw the soul that still lives inside—the part worthy of Nesy.
“Of course,” Azza says, interrupting my thoughts. “I could just take care of everything myself. Lori. You. Nesy.” Azza’s sadistic tone fuels my rage. “But then, our deal would be meaningless. As would my promises.”
I release a frustrated sigh. “I get it. You don’t have to threaten me. I know what you expect.”
“And?”
“And I am prepared to do what you ask. I assume you’ll hold up your end of our deal.”
Satisfaction washes over Azza’s features. “Of course,” he says, the glacier tones chilling my dead soul.
Lori sits at a small table in the back of the corner coffee shop. I straddle a chair across from her, taking her by surprise. Her eyes widen and dart around the shop.
“Azza isn’t here. It’s only me.” The lie rolls easily off of my tongue, as they always do.
“What do you want?” Panic fills her voice. I want to tell her everything is okay. Comfort her.
But that’s one lie I won’t say.
“Where’s Nesy?” she asks. “Is she okay?”
Patrons walk around us, their chatter muting my thoughts. I focus on my story, choking on the details.
Fast. I have to say this fast. Get it over with before I can really grasp what I’m doing. Before I change my mind. “She’s at the club. There was an accident. She asked me to find you.” The words spill out, reeling her further into my web.
Every word poisons my soul, sealing my fate.
“The club? She wouldn’t go there.” Her lip quivers. I taste her fear. “Unless...Azza. She went after Azza.”
“Yes. She was trying to protect you. Keep him from hurting you again.” My stomach churns. The Beast grows. “Things went wrong. I managed to get her away from him. But—”
Lori hangs onto every syllable, barely breathing.
“Lori, she needs to see you. She…she may not survive.” The words shred my throat. Tears fill my eyes. Real tears.
Torment over the betrayal I commit.
Rage for the murder I will perpetrate.
Misery for the one whose heart I just crushed.
A muffled scream draws my attention. No one seems to hear it but me. I look over Lori’s shoulder, watching as Azza plunges a sword into a lone Guardian. A gasp escapes and my anguish grows, buffeting against my soul. Azza retreats into the shadows while the angel remains, bleeding on the hard asphalt.
Too much.
My body stiffens. I should run to the dying angel. Summon Raphael. Turn myself in.
I can’t.
Those actions guarantee Nesy’s death.
So, I focus back on Lori. “Will you come?” I ask, touching her arm. “Please? Before it’s too late?” My face screams everything I can’t say, urging her to comply.
“Of course, I’ll come. She’s my sister. I’d do anything for her.”
“Thank you. Nesy said you are the only one who could help her now.” I stare deeply in Lori’s eyes and let her feel every ounce of my agony.
Her expression softens. “You must feel awful, caught in the middle of something so big. Unable to admit your true feelings for her.” She takes my hand in hers. “I was wrong about you, Aydan. You haven’t turned into a monster. Not really. I think you’re more like the angel I met in Germany.”
Her words kill me, stripping me from my hopes and confirming my fears.
I’m worse than a monster.
I am the Beast.
We walk to the club in silence as the sun arcs across the sky. Fifteen hours until Mikayel’s deadline.
Azza’s will come sooner.
Much sooner.
Chapter 34 – Truthful Lie
Nesy
Darkness shrouds me as I twist through space. I’ve never traveled this way as a human. The feeling is unnerving, like I’ve been squeezed through too tight a space. Breathing is hard. Moving, impossible.
“You should’ve let me help him,” I
shout into the pitch black that envelopes me. “You should’ve—”
Cass squeezes my hand, a reminder that I’m not alone. “It’s okay, Nesy.”
“Azryel’s Wings, Cass. It is not okay.”
The portal opens in the middle of my human bedroom. I fall onto my bed, weak. My mind sifts through the last images of Aydan. A sword protruding from his shoulders. Falling.
“I need to get back to Aydan. He is too weak to survive Zaapiel’s attack.”
“We know.” Cass's eyes are gentle and understanding, a sharp contrast to Zane’s ever-present condemnation.
“Then why didn’t you let me protect him?”
“Nes, Azzaziel protects him,” Zane blurts out. “Not you. You are supposed to—”
“Kill Aydan. Yeah, I got that message.”
“Then you should’ve handled it.”
“Zane, I know my job, all right? I tried to vanquish him. I really did.”
“Then what happened? Hormones get in the way again?” The loathing in Zane’s tone slaps across my face.
“Zanethios!” Cass says.
“Stay out of this, Cassiel. So Nes, what was it this time? True love? Attraction? The weather? What?” Anger radiates from his eyes. I’ve never seen him so angry. So disappointed. “I went to bat for you. Guaranteed your allegiance. If anything happens to the other team—”
“I know!” I yell. “Azzaziel got in the way this time. He stopped me before I could pierce Aydan's heart.”
“Oh, Nesy,” Cass says. “I’m so sorry.”
“He trapped me in his own little world and tried to fill my head with lies about Mikayel, stories about him loving some angel. Azza said they were friends. He tried to justify his fall from grace.”
Zane looks down, his features softening. Cass grabs my hand.
Their sympathy is too much.
“He asked me to join him. Offered Aydan’s life in exchange for my loyalty. He said he’d spare more Sentinal lives if I joined him.”
“What did you say?” Zane asks.
I can’t believe he has to ask that question, after everything.
“What do you think?” I can’t hide the anger in my voice. “I said no. And then I stabbed him.”
“Good.” Zane’s relief, his smile, brings me no comfort.
“Look, Azza’s deal isn’t the problem. It’s his plans for Aydan that worries me.”
“Plans?” Zane asks, concerned.
“He going to bind Aydan to him. Brand him.”
“He’s figured out how to make Aydan his equal?” Cass asks.
“Yes.” I fight back the image of Aydan bound to Azza for eternity. Panic creeps into my thoughts as I see my brethren fall at Aydan’s hands. “He plans to do it soon, I think. He talked about waging war with Mikayel.”
“War?” Cass asks. “We need to tell the Council.”
“I know. He said he’s made an army of UnHoly. If he marks Aydan—”
“We need to warn Mikayel,” Zane urges.
“I tried to when I was with Azzaziel. But the other team showed up and, well, I don’t know if Mikayel heard me.”
“Then we need to go to Celestium. Now.” Cass opens the portal.
“You two go. I need to stay and find out more about this branding. I have a really bad feeling that this may involve Lori, somehow.” I back away from the portal.
“We’ll be right back. Don’t do anything stupid.” Zane glares at me, a mixture of frustration and concern reflected in his eyes.
I wait for my friends to return, fighting back the urge to find my sister and make sure she’s safe. I think of the old stories taught to me in Celestium. Azzaziel is why the Sentinal order exists now, why warriors were once again trained. He’s the reason for angelic deaths. Him and his dark creatures. The story of his fall is required study in my world. They say he used to be one of the most favored of the angels. Until he disobeyed a direct order from the Council and killed a Guardian. A member of the Council. His story is meant as a lesson in obedience. The trial of Azzaziel and his condemnation to the Abyss.
But he didn’t face the eternal flames. He found a way to cheat that fate. He connected himself to the oldest and darkest forms of evil, learning which souls would guarantee his immortality. Learning how to brand himself and become the Beast.
Bearing the marks of the Dark One revived an ancient rivalry with the Council. Mikayel, in particular, hates Azzaziel with a ferocity never before seen in Celestium. No one knows exactly why Mikayel is so enraged. Some believe that it’s personal, that he and Azzaziel had a history. Maybe even a friendship.
Just like Azza said.
I compare Azza’s lies to the stories of old. So similar. But, that’s the way with lies, right? At least, the good ones. The believable ones.
I think of Aydan’s fate to become the Beast and lose the decency I know still lives in his soul.
I can’t let it happen. I won’t.
I need answers, before things get any worse.
I pace the room, still waiting for my friends to come back. What’s taking them so long?
All at once my body begins to shake as incessant thoughts explode inside. Voices, too many voices, all talking at once throughout my head.
One voice rises about the din…Help me Nesy. Please. You have to help me. He’ll kill me. He’ll…
Panic seizes my lungs as Lori continues her screams for help. Azza’s hunting her.
Right now.
I run down the stairs of the brownstone apartment, unable to wait any longer. I search the crowded café-lined streets of Chelsea. Lori would be here. Somewhere. She has to be.
Centering my thoughts, I focus only on Lori, reaching for her. Dread seizes my body as adrenaline races through my veins. Azza will torture her. Kill her.
Not if I can help it.
I grab hold of the frantic emotions threatening me and attempt to forge a plan. Cass and Zane appear in front of me, their care-worn expressions adding to my already fragile state.
“I can’t find Lori,” I say, unable to stand still. “You have to help me. I have a bad feeling about this.”
Zane stops my pacing and swallows hard. “We found her Guardian.”
My mind screeches to a halt. Pain rolls from my friends to me. “What happened?” I ask.
“He was...hurt.”
Azryel’s Wings, not again. “By whom?” I ask.
Zane holds my gaze while Cass grabs my other hand. This is bad. Really really bad.
“We think an UnHoly did it.”
Nononono.
“Aydan?” I force the question out as I detach from the feelings raging through me.
“I don’t think so. Whoever it was struck fast. They pierced the Guardian’s armor.” My world slips away as Zane continues to speak. “They figured out how to injure us, Nes. That’s why Aydan could slice through your skin before. They know how to defeat us.”
“Defeat us?” I can barely process the words. Our armor-skin has always protected us in battle. Made us invincible to their attacks.
“Yes, it’s their blades. They can cut us. Kill us.” Zane’s face is hard, his jaw clenched.
“The Guardian’s injuries were fatal,” Cass says as she squeezes my hand.
My world closes tight around me. I can’t stay here.
Yanking my hands free, I turn away from my friends. Everything is falling apart.
My brothers are dying…all my fault.
My sister is being hunted…I caused this.
Aydan is becoming a monster…because of me.
I have to find a way to make this right. “Did Raphael come for my brethren? Return him to Celestium?”
“Yes,” Cass answers.
“There’s more you need to know,” Zane adds.
“What?”
“We asked the Guardian about the oath. The brand. We know Azzaziel’s plans.”
“Tell me,” I order, afraid that my fears are right.
“He’s going to mark Aydan’s skin,”
Cass whispers.
“I know that part. What else?”
Zane’s shoulders tighten.
Blazes, my fears are right. “Zane, tell me. Now.”
“He has to drink the soul of a Seer. Lori.”
My mind reels out of control. I push past my friends as Zane grabs my arm. “Let me go, Zane. I won’t let them take her. Not Lori. Not my sister.” Tears pour down my face as I try to wrench my hands from Zane’s firm grasp.
“It’s too late, Nes. Azzaziel has her.” Zane watches me closely.
“How do you know?” I manage to ask.
“The Guardian saw. Moments before he was struck.”
Nonononono.
“And Aydan? Was he there?” In my heart, I already know the answer. But the words, I need to hear the words.
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