Angel Of Fate (Fate Series Book 3)

by Kentowski, L. J.

  “You’re a liar,” I hissed as I clenched the Sword so hard my knuckles were white. It took an ounce of willpower not to stab him in his lying face, cut out his tongue and mount it to wear around my neck. Watching that smug face brought out my primal instincts, like an animal wanting to fulfill nature’s revenge on its enemy. “You sent me there to rot or die. I’m sure it made no difference which.”

  “I can see how you might think that, but that was the whole reason why I couldn’t tell you what I planned. Caleb was too instinctive. He would have easily sensed a trap if you were to merely play the part. It had to be this way, Cassandra.”

  I pursed my lips and shook my head. I’m not sure what I expected from the Holiest of the Holy. As far as I was concerned he was every bit as evil as Caleb and Nergal. Angels and demons were no different. They both used others for their own purpose. Everything was all about power. It’s what they all wanted, what they would kill for regardless of whether they were supposed to be saviors or not.

  “You’re a fool if you expect me to believe anything you say,” I said. “But you’re right, it did have to be this way.” I held up the Sword between us, the blade angled slightly toward Hadraniel.

  The angels all grabbed their weapons and slowly circled me. If they only knew how similar to the demons they really were. Hadraniel merely stared back at me, his glowing green eyes slamming into my blue ones.

  “Cassie,” Braydon called out, coming up beside Hadraniel. His features were panicked. “What are you doing? Stop this. He’s telling the truth. It was all a ploy to bring Caleb out and get Nergal’s body. Just… just hand over the Sword and this will all be over. Like we talked about.”

  I kept my eyes on Hadraniel. One slight and I might be overtaken. “Don’t be so naive, Braydon. Did he tell you that when you came back and told him I had the Sword?” When he didn’t answer, I knew I was right. “Tell me Braydon, you stealing the Sword and hiding it in Hell, was that part of the plan too? How about my family and friends being locked up? And Anael? Where is she? Surely if this were just some elaborate scheme to kill Caleb and get Nergal’s body, she’d be out here right now to assuage my doubts.”

  I stuck the Sword closer to Hadraniel, making sure he didn’t move but chancing a glance at Braydon. He appeared confused, maybe he believed me but didn’t want to accept the truth.

  “He sacrificed me, Braydon, just like he’d sacrifice any of you to get what he wants. He’s no different than Caleb, for chrissakes. Hell, he’s no different than you or me. Halos, horns, it doesn’t matter. Our souls may look different, but they’re all greedy little bastards who will stop at nothing to get what they think they deserve. You, of all people, can’t argue with that. It’s why you stole the Sword and came for me.”

  His eyes narrowed, and his jaw clenched while staring back at me. I knew he didn’t like hearing it, but he couldn’t deny it either.

  When a niggling sensation invaded my skull, trying to get inside of it, I closed my eyes for a second to figure out the source. The second I did, huge pressure bore down on my brain and I hunched over, dropping the Sword to reach my hands up to my head. I heard movement around me and realized the angels were coming after me.

  “No.” I shouted and launched myself back upright, sending shockwaves of mind-numbing energy in all directions. All of the angels went down, grabbing their heads, some in fetal positions on the ground. Hadraniel was the only one left standing, not unlike Caleb amongst his demons. The only difference being Hadraniel couldn’t contain his surprise at my powers the way Caleb had. If I read the expression on his face, he might have even been… scared. Hadraniel… scared. I never thought I’d see the day, but there it was, and I wanted to savor it. The moment was a fleeting, however, because before I had the chance, his eyes swept the ground next to me, and then he lunged.

  I looked down where he was headed and saw the Sword lying there. I kicked him, catching him in the ribs, and then bent to grab the hilt by my feet. He was only able to reach the tip of the blade as I pulled it up and away from him. He cried out in pain and fell back, holding his bloody palms out away from his body.

  Seeing Hadraniel like that, sitting on the ground, defeated and bloody, his face clenched in agony, he seemed smaller than I always knew him to be. In a way, it was sad. Watching someone so big fall so far, while necessary for my advancement, was almost like watching a plane fall out of the sky right before you were about to board.

  But it couldn’t happen to me. Not anymore. I had Nergal’s essence and the Sword. I’d single-handedly taken down the three most powerful beings in the universe. Nothing left to stop me.

  “How far you’ve fallen, Cassandra,” Hadraniel croaked out. The irony almost made me laugh when he looked up at me with complete disdain.

  “How far I’ve fallen?” I couldn’t hold it back any longer, and I laughed as I stood over him. “Seems you’re the one down, old man.”

  “Why’d you do it?” he asked. “Why’d you choose to let your darkness take over? You could have been so good, Cassandra. More power is available when the darkness doesn’t shadow over the light of your soul.”

  “What makes you think I had a choice?”

  “Everyone has a choice. You, me. Nergal even had the choice.”

  “Are you trying to tell me you’re any better than he was? You sacrificed me, your own blood, for selfish gain. I’d say that’s as black a heart as any demon in Hell. Don’t pretend to be better than any of us.”

  “You’re wrong, Cassandra. Our motives are quite different. While my means were far from ideal, the end goal was for the greater good. I would do anything to ensure evil does not fall into the wrong hands. At the time, it meant keeping the Sword and Nergal’s corpse out of the hands of those who would use it against the world. I had to prevent that by all means necessary. You were my only leverage, and I’m sorry for the circumstances, but I’m not sorry for what I needed to do. I would do it again if given the chance, but it seems that chance has been taken away. After Nergal had you in Hell, I had my doubts about you, but I must admit I held out hope you’d fight it. Did you even try to fight it, Cassandra? Or did you just take the coward’s way out and let the darkness overtake you before you stole Nergal’s essence?”

  “You’re wrong, Hadraniel. Not all of us have a choice. Some of us have our decisions made for us. I didn’t steal Nergal’s essence. He implanted me with it when he was doing god knows what else to me down in Hell. Seems he had been one step ahead of you. As always, I was simply a pawn in your little chess game of life.”

  “So, his corpse still remains?” he asked, hope sparking from that mere possibility.

  “Oh, no,” I said with a shake of my head. “I made sure no one else would have the chance to overpower me ever again. He’s nothing but a dried up has been now.”

  Hadraniel stared at the ground, his features falling along with his gaze. “What are you going to do?” he asked, his head still bowed. When his head returned level, he looked around at all of the fallen angels, still writhing on the ground around us. “Will you kill them all?”

  I peered around me, at first unfeeling, until my eyes fell on Braydon. He was on his side, hunched over, his face contorted in pain. I had caused that pain. It shouldn’t have bothered me, but it did. Maybe it was because I still had some feelings for him deep down in my blackened heart, but I couldn’t handle seeing him in pain.

  “The light is still within you,” Hadraniel said, breaking my focus on Braydon. “It’s there. I can feel it.”

  “Maybe, but then all I have to do is think of you and what you’ve done, and that light shuts off completely.”

  “Then do what you need to do to me, Cassandra, but don’t punish them,” he said, motioning toward the rest of the angels. “They’ve done nothing but follow orders.”

  “Do you think I’m stupid enough to believe they’ll allow me to waltz away from here after killing you? They’re no match for me, but why deal with that when I can just be done with it all
now?”

  “You’ll never be done with it. There will always be someone looking to take what you have. Don’t you see that? With power comes enemies, Cassandra. Even those you probably wouldn’t even dream could be your adversaries. Nergal wasn’t always mine. For a long, long time, he was my confidante until he began to covet the power I had. Enemies are born from greed, and greed is not a trait found only in demons. It transforms good into evil if left to grow. That’s how darkness was born and how it continues to feed. You’ll never be safe.”

  He was right. I knew he was absolutely correct, but I couldn’t just let them all go. I’d deal with whatever came after, but at least my biggest threat would be gone for the time being.

  Again, I caught Braydon in my peripheral vision, still writhing in pain. I choked up. Dammit, why did it bother me so much? I wasn’t supposed to feel anything. Not for these high-handed pricks.

  But he was different.

  Hadraniel glanced over at Braydon and then back at me again. He knew.

  “Do it, Cassandra. Let him go.”

  I jabbed the Sword toward him, so close that when he raised his chin, the blade almost pierced it. “Shut up. Just… shut up.”

  He came for you. Not to use you, only to save you. But he was an angel, my sworn enemy. The argument in my head carried on for long moments before I finally gave up.

  Shit.

  I concentrated on Braydon only and saw his body go limp against the ground. I checked around to make sure none of the other angels had been released. They were all still in obvious pain.

  Braydon slowly turned his head from the ground and looked up at me. “Cassie?” he croaked, confused or surprised. He wasn’t the only one.

  “Go, Braydon. Get out of here before I change my mind,” I said, turning back to face Hadraniel, tightening my grip on the Sword, as if punctuating my intentions were imminent.

  I saw Braydon pull himself into a sitting position out of the corner of my eye.

  “Cassie, please don’t do this. Let them go.”

  “Dammit, Braydon,” I screeched. “Just get the fuck out of here, or I’ll kill you too.” My tone was harsh, monster-like. I barely recognized it. My head hurt from straining so hard keeping all of the rest of the angels down, and my heart raced causing a throbbing in my neck. I didn’t know how long I could keep it together.

  Braydon hadn’t moved. Why wouldn’t he go?

  I turned my head and stared directly into his eyes. My eyes glowed. “Go, Braydon,” I said through clenched teeth.

  He stared back at me, his features sad. “No, Cassie. If you’re going to do this, then you might as well kill me too. If you do this, you’re not the person I thought you were.” He studied me for a few moments before he said, “But I know it’s not you. Fight it, Cassie. Don’t do this.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Who the fuck do you think you are? You think you know me? You don’t know me.” Spittle flew from my mouth with my words because I was so pissed. I was that feral dog, foaming at the mouth, rage-crazed and losing control.

  “No, but I do.”

  That voice caused my skin to prickle and I tensed at the sound of his it behind me—Hunter.

  How had I forgotten about him?

  My heartbeat quickened, but it was different now. It wasn’t the rage-infused drumming, it was nerves and… something else. Maybe fear? I couldn’t think straight. I needed him to go away so I could think. No, so I could complete my mission.

  “You don’t know me anymore either.” My voice sounded way too soft. I didn’t dare look behind me. Keeping my focus on Hadraniel, the Sword still aimed at his head, I said, “No one does.”

  “I know you more now than I ever did. Look at me, Cassandra.”

  God, why did the mere mention of my name from him cause me to tremble inside and out? How could he still have an effect on me? I checked my hands, still clenched around the hilt of the Sword. They appeared steady, but the Sword was growing heavier in my grasp.

  “No,” I said. “You need to leave, Hunter. You can’t stop me.”

  “Look at me, Cassandra.”

  He didn’t raise his voice. It was low and smooth but guttural, dominantly male, and it commanded total compliance. His was the same voice that melted me so many times in the past.

  I wanted to close my eyes and catch my breath, but I couldn’t. If I gave one inch, everything would fall apart. Hunter might not be able to see the weakness since he was at my back, but Hadraniel was staring straight at me, and he would use any slight to overtake me. More pressure built in my head. I was losing control of my hold on the angels. It became harder to keep them down.

  “Don’t make me kill you too,” I said, desperately trying to maintain control.

  My hands trembled, and I almost dropped the Sword when Hunter’s heavy hand grabbed my bicep, and he swung me around. He jumped back when the blade swiped out in front of me. I heard the faint sound of gasps behind me.

  “If you’re going to kill me,” Hunter said, his eyes narrowed but practically iridescent, “you better damn well look me in the eyes when you do it.”

  My chest heaved as I breathed heavily in and out, in and out. Jesus, as dark and raging as I’d become, he was still beautiful to me. So gorgeous, it froze me. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t speak. For all the control I had, I might as well have been a victim in shock after witnessing something horrifying, or having seen something absolutely beautiful beyond words. Like seeing an… angel.

  Hunter couldn’t be here. He had to leave, one way or another. I had plans, and dammit, I was so close. But the love in his eyes when he stared back at me told me I was going to have to kill him before he’d ever let me go through with them.

  “I’ll do it,” I said, shaking the Sword in front of me. I didn’t know who I was trying to convince, him or me. Somehow, even with my heart as dead as stone, it still beat for him.

  He raised his arms to his sides while his gaze penetrated what was left of my soul, and said, “Then do it, Cassandra. I have no weapon, and even if I did, you’re more powerful than any of us. Do it, because if I mean nothing to you now, I don’t want to live in this world anymore. I told you once before, you are everything to me. I lived for you and only you. And I would still die for you.”

  A battle raged within me, tearing me apart from the inside out. I craved the power like a starved mortal craved food, but to get it, I needed to kill the one thing that had once driven my very life force. I thought it was gone the second I plunged the Sword into Nergal. I thought there was nothing left of my heart to feel, but I was wrong. A tiny speck of light remained, and looking at Hunter, standing there so close, it pulsed with life. The spark was familiar and warm, but at the same time like poison.

  I lunged at him but stopped as the tip of the blade touched his chest. He didn’t move… hadn’t flinched while continuing to hold my entire being with his penetrating gaze.

  A memory flashed back of my dream, a nightmare back then. The time had come. This was my fate. Every single moment of my life had led up to this. My dreams had been glimpses of the destiny that awaited me. For so long, I was the one changing fate for others so they could have life. How ironic I never thought to change my own before it was too late.

  “I know you’re still in there,” Hunter said, breaking me from my thoughts. “The woman I lived for, she’s still there. If she weren’t, you would have already plunged that blade into my chest. I love you, Cassandra.”

  My heart thumped even harder at his words, and my mind slipped, releasing its hold on the angels. I heard them moaning and scuffling around on the ground but didn’t have the energy to try and claim hold of them again. Within a few moments, some of them rose slowly from the ground.

  Hunter held his palms out, warding them off, and to my surprise, they stayed back. I didn’t know whether I was relieved or not. In a way, I wanted them to overtake me so I wouldn’t have to fight anymore, but the craving for power still warred within me.

  “I’m go
ing to give you five seconds,” Hunter said, bringing my full attention back to him. The silence around us made his voice boom. “If you don’t kill me in that time, I’m going to take the Sword from you.”

  “You think you can?”

  “You’re wasting time.”

  His cockiness irked me. I pressed the tip of the blade to penetrate his flesh. At the same time, an image of him lying on the ground, a pool of blood seeping from his chest flashed in my mind, and it was as if a lightning bolt struck my heart. A gasping cry hurt my ears, and I realized it was me. Then, my arms gave out.

  Before I even knew what was happening, Hunter grabbed my wrists and peeled the Sword from my hands. He pulled me in and wrapped me in a steel embrace. I was aware of footsteps all around me, but I couldn’t see anything with my face buried in his chest. Raised voices, angry words, and more commotion were happening behind me, but I didn’t have the energy to do anything but let Hunter hold me.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Hunter’s said, his deep voice vibrating through his chest. “You touch her, you die. The Sword will stay with us until we come to an agreement. Now, back the fuck off.”

  More shouts and commotion. Hunter moved us back, not letting up on his hold of me. “Hadraniel, call them off now. Or I swear to you, I’ll give her back the Sword and let her finish you all off.”

  A voice inside me cheered his words, wanting the Sword back in my hands to do just as he said, but another warned me of what else I’d need to do with it. I was a mess with no idea who or what I was anymore. My resolve and purpose, all seemed to have blurred into a hazy unknown the minute I heard Hunter’s voice. I was lost… no direction, broken.

  Hunter lowered his head against the side of mine and whispered, “I’m going to take you out of here, Cassandra. Everything is going to be all right now. You ready?”

  I was numb, confused, so… lifeless. Was I ready? Yes… no. I had no idea, so I just nodded against his chest.

  “I’m taking her away from here, and the Sword is coming with us,” Hunter announced. “You will not come after us. Once she’s stable, we’ll come back and talk about what we’re all going to do. If I see one halo anywhere near us, all bets are off. Is that understood?”