“If I have a later,” he mumbled, not wanting to speak the words too loudly. He hoped he and Gabby would make it through all of this somehow.
He directed his attention back to the hole, more specifically to whatever it was he’d hit. Alternating between his hands and the shovel, he finally was able to bring up a box. He studied it for a few seconds, wiping dirt from it as he did. The box was made out of wood. It didn’t look like much. He wondered how old it was and why the book in it was so important. More importantly, he wondered why it needed to be buried in order to keep it out of someone’s, or something’s, possession?
Lucas placed the box on the ground. He raised the spade, bringing it down just above the lock. It didn’t break. He was surprised by its resolve, considering the decaying timber it was attached to. He raised the shovel again, and with this attempt, he dredged up as much strength, anger, and frustration as he could and struck it again. It surrendered, along with most of the front panel. A gust of cold wind pushed around him. Lucas crouched down and tried to look into what remained of the book’s coffin. He could see a deep red cloth but nothing else. He reached into the box, moving the remaining pieces of wood that continued to keep it in its confines.
When he pulled it out, he was amazed at how heavy it was. He’d thought the weight was the result of the box, but it was the book. It didn’t appear to be big, maybe the size of a small paperback. And even though it must have been in the ground for a long time, it looked as if it had just been placed inside. The fabric was unfaded, clean, and completely dry. As he unwrapped the book, it seemed to get heavier and bigger. By the time it was entirely lit by moonlight, it was the size of a coffee table book and at least four inches thick. The cover was made from leather, embossed with a symbol of a sword with a snake coiling up its blade. Raised lettering made out of some kind of metal was attached. Lucas ran his fingers over the cover.
A foggy image of a man dressed in clothes from long ago, sobbing over a body, flashed in his mind—the faint scream of a woman and children crying for their father accompanied the vision. Lucas shook his head, trying to clear his mind. The image and sounds disappeared.
What was that?
Lucas didn’t have time to dwell on it. He angled the book to catch more of the light, wanting to read the title.
“The Book of Barabbadon.”
Lucas felt another movement in the air, this time from directly above him. It pushed down around his body. He froze, not sure of what to do. He closed his eyes and said a quick prayer and began to wrap the Book back in the cloth. He felt its size and weight change. This time, in reverse, larger and heavier to lighter and smaller. He would’ve studied it more carefully out of sheer curiosity if it weren’t for feeling he was being scrutinized by a growing number of eyes. He really didn’t want to stay around and find out what had just disturbed the air above him, either.
Once he had it wrapped and secured again, he turned and started back, all the while feeling eyes boring into him.
At one point, he was sure he heard his name called from above, but there was no chance he was going to look up and chitchat with something flying silently over him. He almost did, thinking it might be an angel who would help him, but he decided his luck hadn’t been the best lately and continued to make his way back to Gabby. As soon as he turned the corner to where he’d left her, his heart skipped a beat. Gabby stood between Mara and Javan but was still in need of support. Javan had his arm around her back and waist. Her head rested on his shoulder, and her eyes were still closed.
But she was alive.
Lucas didn’t know how much longer she could have those bindings around her before it was too late, and he wondered how long it would be before she would be strong enough for the two of them to get back home.
If that moment ever came.
As he approached, Javan’s stony face split into a true smile of self-gratification. He’d gotten what he wanted. Lucas stopped about fifteen feet from where the three stood. Someone was missing.
Cecily was nowhere to be seen.
Then, she dropped out of the sky beside Javan and gracefully landed next to him, leaning to whisper something to him.
Javan’s smile broadened. “You have the Book.” Javan put his hand out to Lucas.
“I have it. But I want you to send Gabby over to me without the bindings.”
Lucas tried his best to look stern while he struggled to keep from losing the contents of his stomach. The corners of Javan’s mouth dropped; his eyes seemed to grow an even murkier shade of black.
He raised Gabby’s head and whispered something in her ear, then unbound her—letting the bindings drop to the ground. They immediately lost their glow and looked like a length of ordinary thick rope you’d get from any hardware store.
Gabrielle opened her eyes briefly and looked at Lucas. “Lucas.”
She barely got his name out. She was weak.
“I’m right here, Gabby. It’s almost over.”
Lucas didn’t know how over it was about to be, whether this nightmare was about to be over or if their lives would be. He didn’t want to alarm her, though. For once, he actually did feel as if he might be able to save her—something he never thought he’d be able to experience.
“I’m going to walk a few steps with her until she steadies herself enough to come the rest of the way to you.” Javan said.
Lucas nodded and watched as Gabby stumbled slightly with her first step, then seemed to get a little more sure-footed as she took a few more toward him.
Javan let go of her and stepped back again; his smug smile returned.
Gabby made it almost all the way to him, then Lucas closed the gap between them as she began to stumble. He caught her with his free arm and pulled her tightly to his chest. He took a deep breath, feeling it was the first one to enter his lungs since he’d seen her in the backseat of Javan’s car. He bent his head to hers and whispered to her without taking his eyes off Javan, Mara, and Cecily.
“I’ve got you, love.”
He could feel how cold she was even through their clothes and wondered how much longer she would’ve been able to withstand whatever those bindings were doing to her.
“The Book, Lucas,” Javan prompted as he held out his hand again.
“I’ll bring it to you,” Gabby said.
Lucas stiffened. It couldn’t have been her.
As he was about to look down at his angel, he felt her rise strong and steady. He looked at her, stunned, and she smiled at him.
Gabby backed away from him and took the Book out of his hand. He didn’t try to stop her. He wasn’t sure he had the strength in him at that moment to even move his mouth. He felt as if the life had just been sucked out of him.
Gabby turned and walked back to Javan.
“Gabby?” Lucas was amazed that he was actually able to make his mouth and throat cooperate enough to say her name, but he couldn’t seem to make any other words come out. There was so much he wanted to say—so many questions he needed to ask.
She turned and smiled but never stopped walking. When she reached Javan, she handed him the Book. Javan looked at her and smiled, then snatched her to him, kissing her almost ravenously. What was worse, Gabby put her hands into his hair and forced his lips harder into hers, kissing him back just as greedily.
Watching her in Javan’s embrace, Lucas had too many thoughts and feelings to know what to do with. Anger, jealousy, sadness, betrayal, disbelief—all tried to claim the forefront in his mind. None of them could withstand the swirl of commotion in his head, though. Lucas felt his world begin to spin, and he could no longer keep the bile in his stomach from surfacing. He bent over, retching for what seemed to be forever. With every purge, he heard them laughing at him and heard more laughter coming from others he guessed were the ones he felt had been watching him. With every lur
ch of his stomach, anger became increasingly rooted in his emotion. Finally, he had something to focus on, and he began to regain control of not only his body but his thoughts.
When he stood back up, he couldn’t bring himself to look at Gabby, focusing on Javan instead. Now that he had Gabby happily draped on one side of his body, he wore the look of superiority even more than before.
“I tried to tell you, Lucas. You could never have held her interest or retained her love. She’s loved me for thousands of years. Did you really think a couple of months would have even a minuscule chance of comparing to what we’ve had together?”
Lucas felt the words cut through him, and he finally looked at Gabby, hoping to see some sign in her eyes that told him to just play along—that somehow, this was part of her plan. But the look he wanted to see wasn’t there. He only saw the eyes of the angel he loved coldly looking back at him. He saw no feeling for him in them at all, not even remorse for what she’d done—was doing—to him.
He’d only been a pawn to her. She had never been in danger. He looked down at the ground by her feet where the once glowing rope still rested. That’s all they were—plain ropes. Nothing damaging to an angel at all. They probably wouldn’t even give her skin a rope burn.
He couldn’t find the words to answer Javan. What was he supposed to say, anyway? He just wished they’d leave. Javan had what he wanted, and apparently, so did Gabby. All he wanted was to be away from the eyes on him. The ones across from him and the ones he knew were waiting in the shadows.
A strong wind came from above again. Javan looked up and didn’t seem to like what he saw. He looked back to Lucas, then to his left to address Cecily.
“We have to be going, so if there is anything left that you want to do here, I suggest you get on with it. Otherwise, I’ll take care of him.”
Lucas saw her smile, showing the sharp white teeth he’d seen in his nightmares; then she slammed into his body. He felt himself lift high off the ground as her teeth plunged into his neck.
His eyes were wide with fear and pain. He couldn’t seem to focus on anything until he was finally able to see the ground ahead and below him where he saw Mara getting into Javan’s car. He shifted his eyes to find Gabby and found her being led to the car by Javan.
“Gabby,” Lucas whispered, unable to say her name any louder as Cecily drank heartily.
Gabby seemed to hear him, though, and looked up to where Cecily had him suspended a dozen feet off the ground. The last thing he remembered seeing was her smirk at him as she disappeared into the car—then he closed his eyes.
He wanted death to come.
He didn’t know how he could live anyway.
Cecily removed her mouth from his neck abruptly; then he heard her hiss before feeling her release her grip. His body met the ground again.
Hard.
He heard Javan’s voice and maybe Gabby’s, but all the while, he continued to hear Cecily hiss, and now he thought she might be growling, too. She sounded like she was in pain, but he wasn’t sure.
He didn’t care.
He let himself drift away into the quiet and darkness that was consuming him. Hoping it would take him to a place where he would no longer have to feel his heart that felt as if it had just been crushed in his mortal chest. As his life faded away, so did the voices—so did the pain in his body. But what he was most happy to feel leaving him, what death was sparing him from feeling any longer, was the pain in his mind and heart.
Wherever this darkness was taking him, he hoped he would never have to feel anything again.
Chapter Seventy-seven
Gabrielle ~ Into the Underworld
Gabrielle hoped she was overreacting, and that since she’d been expecting the worst, her imagination was getting the best of her. But if she was, why did she feel like time was running out to save Lucas?
She moved from one location to another faster than she ever had, but even with speed, she knew she wasn’t going to get to him fast enough. Thoughts of what could have happened while she’d left Lucas alone screamed through her mind. She manifested behind the gym, and as she turned the corner to make her way to the front, her stomach dropped.
Ahead of her, next to the side door of the building, was an ambulance. A body was being tended to by paramedics. As she made her way to the scene, tears began to blur her vision. She tried to blink them away, swallowing hard as she did. She couldn’t let human emotions take control right now, no matter who was on the ground. She closed her eyes and said a prayer before she opened them and looked down. She wasn’t expecting who she saw—Nonie was lying unconscious where she was sure she’d see Lucas.
“Gabrielle!”
She saw Nate stand up from beside Nonie and make his way to her.
“Nate, what happened?”
He took her by the arm and moved away from the crowd around his sister. When he seemed satisfied no one would be able to hear him, he turned to face her.
Gabrielle looked at the concern in his eyes and asked again. “What happened? Where’s Lucas?”
Nate just stared at her and shook his head.
“NATE!” Gabrielle put her hands on his shoulders and shook him a little harder than she meant to, but it seemed to do the trick.
“I don’t know where Lucas is. What happened to you? Are you okay?”
“What. Happened. Nate?”
“The last thing I remember was some guy looking at me and feeling like he was dissecting my mind. Then, I was drenched with water and had half the student body standing over me.” Nate paused, ran his hand half way through his hair, and stopped as he looked up into the night sky. “I came to look for Lucas and Nonie when they weren’t anywhere in the gym. I found Nonie unconscious against the building. She still hasn’t woken up.” He looked back at Gabrielle. “I haven’t been able to find Lucas.”
Gabrielle felt her pulse ratchet up its pace as her mind began to spin. “Nate, what did this guy look like?”
Nate started to pace a short path in front of Gabrielle, one hand on his hip and the other still on top of his head as if it would help him remember something. “Umm, I don’t know … black hair, black eyes, model looks—even with the scar. Evil as hell, from what I could tell. He scared the shit out of me.”
It had to be Javan. “What did he say?”
“The only thing I heard was to Lucas. He said, ‘If you want to save Gabrielle, I suggest you come with me now’. That was it, nothing else … at least not while I was lucid.” He paused and squinted at Gabrielle. “Where were you? I thought you were going to be close in case something happened.”
“I was distracted, apparently on purpose. I don’t have time to explain. How long do you think it’s been since the guy confronted Lucas?”
Nate kept squinting at Gabrielle as he answered her. “Thirty minutes, hour—maybe. It’s hard to say—I was out of it for a while.”
“I have to go.” Gabrielle looked back to Nonie, then back at Nate. “She’s going to be fine, Nate.”
Gabrielle ran as fast as she could with people around until she got to the rear of the building again, then ascended. She didn’t know what Javan was up to or why it would involve Lucas. But she knew she was going to need help finding them.
‘Amaziah. Sheridan. I need your help. Now.’
It was only a moment before they were both with her, and it took only seconds for them to understand what was happening and what Gabrielle needed. They sent the call out to any angels who could be spared to find Lucas and Javan; then they went to search themselves.
It wasn’t going to be easy; Javan would be using his ability to camouflage himself and Lucas. While all of her comrades looked for them above ground, she was going to go below, hoping to see him from there or somehow get one of the Fallen to tell her where Javan was.
It would b
e dangerous for any angel and was particularly so for her even with her exceptional abilities, especially since some who lived in the Shadow World and Underworld could now be somewhat immune to them. She suspected the pendants she’d been seeing some wear were the reason. She didn’t know how many had them—how many could get closer to killing her than any ever had because of them. The thought didn’t make her feel better about what she was about to do, but it didn’t matter. Lucas’s life was at stake, and she believed it was the quickest way to find them. She didn’t think Javan would consider shielding his and Lucas’s energy from below, so below was where she was going.
Into the Underworld.
Time didn’t allow for her to be choosy about where to enter Ramai’s domain, and she wasn’t going to look for an entrance—she would make her own. Descending to the landscape below, she opened the earth and was enveloped by the bleakness that was the Underworld.
When she stopped to get her bearings, she couldn’t help but notice the eyes that turned on her to see who had invaded their domain. Shiny, solid black eyes that glinted in the sparse moonlight filtering in from the rift she had created.
Chapter Seventy-eight
Gabrielle ~ The Battle Begins
A dozen Underworlders approached Gabrielle, and none looked like they were welcoming her to the neighborhood. From the looks of them, they had been below for a long time. Their skin was so pale it almost glowed, and their eyes were larger than they should be.
One seemed to be leading the others as they approached. As he neared, she thought she recognized him. He passed out of the shadows into the moonlight shining into the deep cavern Gabrielle had just created.
“Mylek?” she said, surprised she recognized him.
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