Los Angeles

by Tiffany Aaron

  There was no magic in the world to bring those whose soul had died back to life.

  “No. You should rejoice in being out in nature. You should be skyclad like the rest of us to worship our Mother.”

  Cassandra shook her head. “Sorry. This is as ‘skyclad’ as I’m going to get.”

  A phone rang and she laughed. “Great getting back to nature and the Goddess, guys. She doesn’t like phones.”

  Of course, she never saw the slap coming. “You won’t mock her. Your punishment will come soon enough.”

  Cassandra shook her head. “There is no punishment that can compare to what I’ve already gone through. You can do whatever you want to me. I’ve been through the worst pain imaginable. Torture means nothing to me.”

  “Losing your sight isn’t a punishment. It’s merely an obstacle to see how you react to it. If you’re strong, you go on. If you’re weak, you curl up and die.” An older female voice hissed at her.

  She laughed at them. “It’s not my eyesight that was the pain. I had already lost heaven and my wings. The very meaning of my existence. What was eye sight to compare with that?”

  “Heaven and wings? Are you trying to tell us you’re an angel?” It was the one who’d been in her bedroom. Since he was there, she assumed his silent partner was as well.

  “Yes, I’m a fallen angel.” The point wasn’t to get them to believe her or not. It was to buy time for Nevan to find her. She hoped Lucifer helped him and didn’t try being a dick about things. “I was one of those foolish enough to rebel against God and because of my hubris, he banished me from heaven.”

  “Then whatever happens to you next is what you deserve,” Leader said.

  “Maybe, but to be honest, I’d rather take my chances on God’s punishment than let you decide how I should be punished.” She smirked.

  “Sir, it’s for you. It’s Detective Largent.”

  So far, she’d determined there were at last five people there. Yet Patrick had been sure there were thirteen altogether in the cult. Cassandra would go on the assumption that all thirteen were there, waiting for the ritual to begin.

  “Detective Largent, we have her and she’s fine. Maybe a little cold, but it kind of chilly up here.” Leader sounded so smug. “I’ll text you directions where to meet one of my men. Remember no one can follow you.”

  Cassandra rested her forehead on her knees, praying for Nevan. It wasn’t the first time she’d asked God to watch over mortals she loved, but it was the first time she knew that if Nevan died, she would be destroyed. Life wouldn’t mean much if he wasn’t there beside her.

  “Is everything else in place? We will have to do the ritual as soon as he arrives. We can’t give him time to rethink his decision. The moon will be at its highest pinnacle then.” Leader’s excitement began to show in his voice.

  It was moments like this when Cassandra did miss her eyesight. If she could see, then she’d be able to make sure she could be a help to Nevan, not a hindrance.

  “Suck it up, Cassandra. You’ve never pitied yourself in all the centuries you’ve lived. You’ve faced your problems proudly and bravely. This is just another obstacle.” Lucifer’s words danced through her mind and she took courage in them. Whether anyone was coming to save her or not, she would find a way to escape.

  She’d give up her own life for Nevan, so if it came down to that, she’d make the sacrifice.

  It being dark and her not sure of where she was helped her lose track of time. She even dozed a little. The commotion of people moving brought her out of the chilly haze she was in.

  “They’re here.”

  “All right. Everyone, take your places in the circle.”

  Nevan stumbled. “You know if you’d take the bag off my head and stop shoving me along, I wouldn’t be slowing us down. This is all your fault.”

  “Shut up.”

  He’d heard that particular order a hundred times since they’d grabbed him at the fountain where his cousin had been taken. He didn’t plan on making it easy for them to deal with him. Whether he died or not, he wasn’t going down without a fight.

  A hard shove in the middle of his back sent him careening forward. Two sets of hands grabbed his arms then the hood was jerked off. He found himself standing in the middle of a stone circle, surrounded by ten naked figures. Only their faces were covered. He hid his horror at seeing some of those bodies. Cassandra was going to owe him big for making him have to see that.

  “Detective Nevan Largent, do you know why you’re here tonight?” The hooded man standing on a rock altar asked him.

  “So you can sacrifice me for some kind of crazy ritual. You’re trying to bring back some druid high priestess that I’m supposed to be related to.” He didn’t see the point in playing dumb. “You already tried it once with my cousin, but he lied and told you he had the gift. Bad for you, he didn’t.”

  The priest frowned.

  “Unlucky for me that I just happened to move here a while back. Should’ve stayed in Chicago, but after getting shot and having to deal with a city being overrun by fallen angels, I figured I’d have better time out here. Turns out California isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” He tried to find Cassandra amidst the shadows and people. “Before you get to bleeding me dry, I need to see Cassandra and make sure you didn’t hurt her.”

  “I told you she wasn’t injured. She’s just cold.” The man gestured towards the side of the altar and Nevan saw her seated at the edge of the stone platform. He could barely tell it was her in the flickering torch light.

  “Man, this is the twenty-first century. Don’t you think you could’ve used electric lanterns instead of torches? It’s a bitch to see anything.” His goal was to talk as much as possible while he worked on formulating a plan to get them out of there.

  Rescue was coming. The idiot who nabbed him hadn’t checked to see if he had a tracker on his clothes or anything, so the GPS device they’d stuck in his pocket was leading the police right to them, but Nevan didn’t know how far out they were.

  “Prepare him,” the priest ordered.

  Nevan fought with everything he could muster, yet odds were against him and soon he found himself stripped naked. They forced him to lie on the cold stone altar then strapped him down. His head hung off the end. To his amazement, he found himself staring into Cassandra’s hazel eyes.

  “Hey, honey,” he whispered.

  She startled, like she hadn’t realised he was right there. “Nevan, why did you come?”

  “I couldn’t let anything happen to you. I told you I’d never let anyone hurt you again.”

  Cassandra smacked him on the back of the head. “Idiot. They can’t kill me.”

  He laughed. “Sure they can. Not even a fallen angel can survive bleeding out, which is what it looks like they’re going to do to me.”

  “I hope you brought back-up,” she spoke softly.

  “In theory, they should be en route. How close they are is an entirely different story.”

  She made a small noise that sounded like a sob.

  “Don’t cry, love. It’ll be okay.”

  “I can’t believe you can still say that while you’re tied to a stone slab about to be sacrificed so some guy can try to bring back his wife who won’t be coming back, no matter how many Largents he kills.” Cassandra shivered.

  Being this close to her, he noticed that she had on the T-shirt that she’d been wearing when he’d put her to bed that morning, and a pair of panties. That was it. “The bastards didn’t even give you a chance to get dressed.”

  “Well, you know, kidnappers are inconsiderate that way. They don’t give you a chance to get dressed, do your hair and make-up. To be honest, as kidnappers, these guys are pretty good.” Her smile was a little wobbly, but he admired her ability to joke in the face of what was about to happen.

  Then what she’d said a few minutes back hit him. “What do you mean, his wife isn’t coming back?”

  “Throughout time since they were drui
ds in pre-Christian Ireland, their souls have been intertwined. When one was reborn, so was the other. They balanced each other and it kept him sane.” Cassandra grimaced. “Unfortunately, something happened either in their last life together or at some point between then and now.”

  “What could’ve happened? Sounds like everything was running smoothly,” he muttered.

  Shrugging, she continued, “I don’t know. He has no memory of it, which means he either wasn’t there when it happened or he chose to forget it. But by not having that memory, he thinks that all he has to do is cast this spell and spill your blood and she’ll come back to him.”

  “Oh man, this sucks. I might die for nothing. It doesn’t get worse than that.”

  The tears trailing down her cheeks gleamed in the torchlight and Nevan knew there wasn’t much he could say to help her. They were stuck having to wait for Tommy and the others. He was tied up and she was blind. “This is quite a predicament, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah.” She hissed through her teeth. “Did you see Lucifer?”

  “He’s a complete jackass. I can’t believe the two of you are friends. I couldn’t get him to give me a straight answer until the last possible minute, then poof. He just disappeared.”

  He noted that the chanting had started and he caught the priest approaching the altar with a very sharp knife in his hand. In a way, he was glad that Cassandra couldn’t see what was coming.

  “That’s Lucifer for you. Listen, if you were blamed for the fall and for every bad thing that ever happened in the world since people started keeping track, wouldn’t you have an attitude?” She shrugged.

  “Kaiser is fine. I think they just gave him some kind of drug.”

  The first slice across his stomach was quick and because the blade was so sharp, he didn’t even realise the priest had done it until the pain hit him like being burned. He whimpered under his breath. He had to go as long as possible before saying anything.

  He didn’t want Cassandra to suffer hearing him begging like a coward, though he had a feeling that was coming.

  “Those scars on your shoulder blades? Was that where your wings used to be?”

  Another cut. This one on his left thigh.

  “Yes. Mika’il cut them from me after I was banished from heaven.” She reached to touch her back. “It’s weird because sometimes even now I can feel them there. I go to touch them and cry when I realise they aren’t there.”

  “Another reason for me not to like Mika’il.” The next cut came across his right thigh.

  She moved closer to him, resting her tied hands on his cheek. “Why wouldn’t you like Mika’il?”

  “Because I had Danielle contact him and tell him I needed his help. He never showed up.”

  “The archangel isn’t at our beck and call, Nevan.” She laughed, but he didn’t hear any humour in it. “He might not have been allowed to come. There are times when I think Mika’il would help us if he could, but his orders are different and he isn’t the kind to go against them.”

  Another cut. It was deeper than the others and across his wrist. He could feel the blood trickle across his skin to drip on the ground. This time he couldn’t swallow the grunt.

  “What’s going on, Nevan?”

  Cassandra lifted her head and he watched as she looked around her. He knew she was filtering through her senses to figure out what was happening. Surging to her feet, she dived at the priest, knocking him from the altar.

  Nevan snorted. Obviously no one had seen that coming. There was chaos as people ran up to help get their priest away from the crazy blind lady who was kicking and scratching him. He didn’t know how long it took them to finally corral her and tie her to the altar right next to his head again.

  She leaned in to kiss him. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help more.”

  “You delayed it another few minutes. That’s all that Tommy needs to get here. I know he’s coming, love.”

  He wasn’t going to lose hope that the police would get there before he bled out. Cassandra kissed him then turned to look at the priest who was being helped to his feet.

  “I want you to know that you can kill all the Largents in the world, but you are never going to get your wife back. She wasn’t reborn in this life because her soul no longer exists.”

  “Shut up. You’re lying.” He slapped her and her head rebounded off the stone.

  Closing her eyes, she seemed to be working through the pain and Nevan swore at the priest. “What kind of man are you that you’re hitting a blind woman? I guess you’re not much of a man, because she beat the shit out of you.”

  The priest glared at him, but Cassandra wasn’t done with him. “What did you do? What kind of deal did you make that took her soul from her, but you got to keep yours? I know how it happens. I know how a soul ceases to exist and I want to know what kind of man bargains with the devil and makes his payment with his wife’s soul.”

  Nevan shuddered. He grew lightheaded because the blood he was losing from all the cuts was adding up. “Come on, Tommy,” he muttered. “You need to get here or we need a miracle of some kind.”

  “I made no such bargain. She is merely held by magic in the other world. We cast this spell and she will be free.” The priest raised the knife, holding the point of the blade against Nevan’s chest right over his heart. “A heart for a heart, and magic for magic.”

  “Seriously? I had hoped Mika’il would be able to come and save you, but apparently Mr High and Mighty has something better to do.”

  Nevan closed his eyes and groaned. If he was going to be saved by an angel, why couldn’t it have been the archangel? He was going to hear about this for the rest of his life. He just knew it.

  “Lucifer, what are you doing here?” Cassandra stared out into the middle of the circle where Lucifer stood, arms crossed and fingers tapping on his biceps. Nevan met Lucifer’s eyes and for the first time, saw seriousness and determination in them. There wasn’t any pain or anger. At least not yet.

  The mortals dropped to their knees. All except for the priest. He still had the blade to Nevan’s chest, though he studied Lucifer.

  “We had a deal,” he said.

  Lucifer nodded. “Yes, we did, but it seems like you’re trying to get back that which you gave away. Just like a mortal. Making deals and breaking promises. You made a deal with me for power and wealth and you paid your debt with your wife’s soul.”

  He took a step towards the altar and Nevan gritted his teeth as the priest started to drive the point of the knife into Nevan’s skin. Lucifer didn’t seem interested in what was going on with Nevan. He stayed focused on the priest.

  “I gave you all that you wanted, but still you want it all. You want the one true and real treasure you had back. Well, it’s too late. She’s mine now and you don’t ever get that kind of love back.” Lucifer took another step and the blade went another inch deeper.

  Cassandra took his hand in hers, and though he knew he might end up breaking it, he held on. The pain radiating from his chest was excruciating. He wasn’t sure how much longer he’d last before he passed out.

  He shot Lucifer a glance, but this time there was rage swirling in those black eyes and disgust on his face.

  “Like so many other mortals, you think you can have everything you want. You have only to ask and it will be given to you.” Lucifer laughed and a woman screamed. “Such foolishness. You are a shining example of why I believed angels were superior to mortals in every way.”

  Another step, this time bigger and Lucifer was right at the edge of the altar. As he reached for him, the priest drove the knife into Nevan’s chest. Fuck being brave. Nevan screamed in agony. As blackness began to take him, he found himself staring into a pair of silver eyes.

  “Come with me for a little while. I’ll return you when it’s time.”

  He felt himself peel away from his physical form. Nevan started to look, but Mika’il touched his shoulder.

  “I suggest you don’t look. It isn’t a pret
ty sight. Never was when Lucifer got angry.”

  “I can’t believe he came to save us.” He was pleasantly surprised, though he understood it was Cassandra, Lucifer was there to save. Saving him was a bonus for Nevan, and it probably didn’t rate on Lucifer’s chart of important things.

  “Do you really think he was there to save you?” Mika’il shook his head. “He was there because the man was trying to take something he’d given Lucifer. Daystar doesn’t give things back. Once he gets it, he keeps it.”

  Nevan strolled into a bright white room then turned to look at Mika’il, who went to sit at a large desk. “You truly don’t believe he’s anything but evil?”

  “A leopard doesn’t change its spots, Nevan. He’s nice to people because it suits his purpose, not because he likes them or cares for them.” Mika’il shuffled a pile of paper. “You can go out for a walk in the garden if you want.”

  “How long will I be here? And why am I here?”

  “Call this your near-death experience and you’ll be here until you’re out of the woods. Now go somewhere. I have work to do.”

  Nevan stalked in the direction Mika’il had pointed. He kind of understood where the archangel was coming from, but he did think that Lucifer had done it because he cared for Cassandra and wanted her happy. He’d always believe that until the day he died a second time.

  * * * *

  Cassandra heard Nevan scream and knew whatever happened wasn’t good. Before she could get free of her ropes, the police descended onto the clearing. Tommy was there, cutting her loose and explaining what was wrong with Nevan.

  While the other law enforcement rounded people up, Cassandra went with Nevan in the Medi flight that took him to Cedar-Sinai in Los Angeles. After changing into scrubs, she sat in the waiting room, hating the fact that no one would tell her anything.

  Finally Eli arrived with Kaiser in tow and her own clothes to wear. She decided maybe she could call Danielle, because Nevan did consider the fallen a friend.

  “Danielle Weston.”