by Tessa Cole
Kol backed toward me, and I wasn’t going to think too hard about what kind of effect the circle would have on him if he was caught inside it.
Another crash and the wall cracked. More light flashed.
Jacob glanced out the bathroom door but didn’t rush out. He needed to be ready to secure the wraith with the magic containment cuffs as soon as it had solidified.
And I had to get that thing into the circle.
“I said hey!”
Someone roared. Another bone-crunching crash and Marcus smashed through the wall and hit the floor. Now visible through the hole in the wall, Gideon blasted more light at the wraith. It howled and a flurry of tentacles shot toward him. He twisted, trying to dodge the writhing mass of darkness. A dagger of light appeared in his hand, but the room was too small to avoid all the tentacles. There wasn’t anywhere to go. The wraith seized his leg and hurled him at the hole in my wall. He crashed through, the throw so powerful that he flew over Marcus, slammed into the back of my couch, and knocked it over, revealing the spell stone.
Shit.
But the wraith either didn’t care or didn’t notice. It surged through the hole, its smoke smothering Marcus and flattening him to the floor, and shot a tentacle past me and seized Gideon’s throat.
The angel gasped and slashed at it with his light dagger. Kol darted in with his blades, and Marcus thrashed on the floor, suffocating.
The activation word rushed to the tip of my tongue, but the wraith was at the edge of the circle and there was a chance it’d be able to escape.
“Come on.” I hissed the combat spell at top speed and sent a small blast of light at it. My power was nothing compared to Gideon’s but hopefully it was enough to get the wraith’s attention. “Come on.”
The smoke surged toward me and grew, the darkness fully obscuring Marcus. Tentacles seized Kol and Gideon.
It was a little closer, but was it close enough?
It was going to have to be.
“Vade,” I yelled, as Kol was smashed against the ceiling with a sickening crunch and Gideon tossed out the window.
Magic exploded around and in me. The blaze from the brand seared through my body and the buzz kept the pain going as the world spun around me.
The wraith howled and the smoke whirled, caught in a tornado of power.
Marcus gasped and Kol shuddered. Both were prone, their eyes unfocused, but I didn’t know if that was because of the spell or not.
Another surge of power made the two cry out and set my buzz into an inferno. The wraith screeched, and the darkness ripped from around him, revealing an angel with onyx devil’s skin, fully extended black wings, and hellfire burning in its eyes.
Holy shit. It was an angel?
Chapter 11
The wraith-angel jerked toward me. Jacob bolted from the bathroom, the magic containment cuffs in his hand, but the angel managed to yank his wrist up at the last minute and shoot darkness from his palms, like a reverse divine light blast. Jacob twisted out of the way, but the blast clipped his shoulder and sent him tumbling back toward the bathroom.
Marcus staggered to his feet. The wraith-angel sent another blast at him and lunged at me.
I tried to leap out of the way, move, do anything, but my muscles had locked and I could feel, barely, beneath the inferno of the buzz, the brand seizing my body.
The wraith-angel grabbed my arm, shot a blast of darkness above him, cracking the skylight’s heavy glass, and took off. We crashed through the skylight, tearing metal and shattering glass. Something sliced my cheek and my shoulder, ripping my shirt.
We flew past the roof, straight up into the darkness. I twisted against his grip. I had to get him to let go before we were too high and the fall would kill me. I cast a light strike and slapped my free palm against his hand around my biceps.
My light stuttered. Weak. Ineffective. Crap. Was I out of juice? There were only so many times a human — or even an angel, for that matter — could summon divine light before needing to recover.
Panic seized my chest. If I was out of juice. I was dead. Or not dead. God, that thought was worse. I didn’t know what it wanted me for, and I didn’t want to find out.
I clawed at his fingers. A tentacle of darkness swept from his body and wrapped around my chest, squeezing tight while another blocked my nose, forcing me to open my mouth to breathe, then poured down my throat when I did.
Oh shit oh shit oh shit.
I clawed at the smoke on my face, choking on it, my stomach heaving but unable to expel it or my dinner.
Wind whipped my hair, pulling strands loose from my ponytail and stinging my cheeks, and my head spun with the nauseating churn of fear, lack of oxygen, and the buzz.
It was not going to take me. It couldn’t take me. God, don’t let it take me.
The words of the light strike raced in my head over and over again and the buzz exploded from my body.
Blinding white light erupted around me.
The wraith-angel howled. His tentacles burst, releasing me and dissolving from inside me, and his grip on my arm disappeared. Gravity seized me and I plummeted back to earth.
The wraith-angel dove toward me, but a blast of divine light shot past my head and sent it reeling. It glared at me, hellfire burning in its eyes. The brand shot agony through me and I convulsed, a clear reminder that it still possessed me, and it flew away.
Then strong arms caught me, cradling me. The scent of spring wrapped around me, and the stinging wind rushing past me stilled. I twitched and gasped with another convulsion from the brand, and Gideon hugged me closer to his firm chest.
We landed on the roof and the guys came storming out the door.
“You’re never doing that again. Never,” Marcus growled before he’d fully stepped onto the roof. “And I don’t give a fuck what you think. It’s not happening.”
“Was that actually an angel?” Kol gasped, his face tight with pain, hugging himself as if his ribs hurt.
Gideon’s pulse thudded where my ear pressed against his chest and a churning mix of hot and cold flashed over me. I didn’t know what it meant. I couldn’t make my mind focus enough to figure it out.
“I have no idea what that was,” Gideon said, thankfully saying nothing about how powerful my divine blast had been. There was a chance — a slim chance — that the guys inside might not have seen it, but without a doubt Gideon had.
A whisper of a convulsion swept through me.
Marcus snarled. “It sure looked like a fucking angel.”
The hot and cold grew stronger and my stomach churned.
“And a few minutes ago we thought it was a wraith,” Jacob said.
Marcus jerked toward him, his hands fisted. “You guys are supposed to be the font of knowledge of this team. You’re supposed to know what that was.”
“Marcus, take a breath and calm down,” Gideon said.
More hot and cold. More buzz burning my body, and my stomach heaved. “Put me down,” I gasped.
“Calm down!” Marcus growled, claws extending from his fingers. “This is not the time for calm.”
“Now more than ever,” Gideon said, his tone frosty.
I pressed my palms against his chest, trying to get free from his hold, bile burning my throat. “Put me down.”
His frozen gaze dropped to me and the fluctuating temperature made me dizzy. My stomach heaved again and I shoved out of his grip.
“Essie.” Marcus reached for me, but I rushed past him. I had to get to the bathroom, hide until the world had stopped turning and burning. It was bad enough they were seeing me like this. If I couldn’t pull my shit together fast, they’d agree with Marcus and I’d be locked in the Joined Parliament Operations Building until the wraith-angel was caught, or — and this was more likely — until I went insane and died.
I staggered down the stairs, barreled into the bathroom, and slammed the door shut. My stomach clenched and I threw up my measly dinner into the toilet.
Tremors raced
through me and I sagged to the floor. The guys’ nauseating mix of emotions still gave me hot and cold flashes, tears burned my eyes, and the buzz sliced into me stronger than ever before.
Come on, pull it together.
But I couldn’t stop the shaking, or loosen the panic clutching my throat and chest. The tears released, streaming down my cheeks, and I bit back a sob, praying no one heard me.
It had almost had me. God. It had almost taken me. And there’d been nothing I could have done. The guys couldn’t even protect me. There was no way out of this.
Someone knocked tentatively on the door.
“I’m fine. I just need a minute.”
“Essie.” Jacob’s voice rumbled through the door.
“Don’t you dare tell me to come out.” I couldn’t handle that. I wouldn’t be able to resist his command and they’d all believe everything Marcus said about me if I came out looking like I was bawling my eyes out — even if I was.
Marcus said something, his voice dark, dangerous, but I couldn’t make out what he said so he couldn’t have been standing right outside the door with Jacob.
Gideon said something back.
“Do you need anything?” Jacob asked.
Yeah, for all of this to go away. A sob broke free.
“Essie?”
“A moment. I just need a moment,” I said, my tone harsher than I’d intended. But what I really needed was a time machine so I could go back to this morning and… I don’t know… wake early? Sleep in? Anything to change this horrible day.
Except if that had even been possible — which it wasn’t — that would mean no one would have stopped the robbery and Abe could have been hurt or killed.
I sniffed and wiped at my tears.
So plan A hadn’t worked. That didn’t mean we couldn’t come up with a plan B. We now knew more about the wraith. Knowledge was always good.
I spat a mouthful of bitter spit in the toilet, flushed, and used the edge of the sink to help me stand. My body still burned and shook, but at least my stomach had settled.
I gripped the counter and drew in a ragged breath, fighting to regain some control. The woman staring back at me in the mirror looked more stunned than she had when I’d caught glimpses of myself this afternoon, and I now had an ashen complexion and too-wide, puffy-red eyes. It was going to take more than a few minutes for that to clear up.
At least I could fix my ponytail. Maybe by then the shaking would have eased up enough so I could walk out of the bathroom without staggering.
Oh, wishful thinking.
I tugged the hair elastic from the mess, ran my comb through my dark locks, and retied it into a ponytail. I still looked like a disaster. I splashed water on my face and dried off with my bath towel. Nope, not any better. This was the best I was going to get.
My legs were still shaky, but I reached for the doorknob to leave anyway.
I grabbed for the knob and burning pain sliced through my arm. I gasped and clutched the counter, tears returning to my eyes. The agony seared like the wraith’s brand, except it was now on the inside of my right forearm.
Another sob threatened to escape. It was making its claim on me stronger, adding another brand. It could find me with the first one. God, what would a second one do?
I shoved my sleeve up, revealing a complicated sigil made of delicate gold threads swirling through my skin.
Gideon’s words jumped into my head. The wraith’s brand wasn’t a true mating brand because it wasn’t gold.
My knees gave out and I crumpled to the floor.
Footsteps hurried to the door.
“Essie?” Jacob asked without opening it.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the new brand. It was gold.
Gold. Real. Permanent.
This couldn’t be happening. It was not happening. It was a nightmare. I’d wake up and everything would be back to normal. A real bond permanently tied me to an angel… or it revealed my angelic nature, if I wasn’t bonded to another angel.
“What the—” Gideon said, his voice tight with pain.
Oh, no. Please, no.
“Dude, did you just get a mating brand?” Kol asked.
Not him. Anyone but him. He thinks I’m a monster, an animal, an abomination. God, please. Don’t permanently bind me to him. Please. Another sob broke free.
“Essie,” Jacob said. The doorknob turned and I jerked my sleeve down and hugged myself, my shaking returning with a vengeance. The door opened all the way and Jacob’s gaze dropped to me, his eyes widening in fear, the room’s temperature settling on frigid.
Behind him, Gideon grimaced in pain and held his forearm just below where my mark had manifested. Divine light radiated from his eyes, accentuating his pain and shock.
“You said a real one was gold,” Kol said. “Who is it?”
“I don’t know,” Gideon said with awe. His shifted and I caught a glimpse of his brand. I’d need a better look, but I’d bet it was identical to the one on my arm. Same spot. Same brand.
No, please. Another sob broke free.
Marcus hurried toward me as Jacob knelt to pick me up.
“I’ve got her,” Marcus growled, pushing Jacob aside.
“How could you not know who it is?” Kol asked.
“The bond just happened. It needs to get stronger first. We don’t have that kind of a connection yet, so it could be anyone. It could be Zella.” He frowned, then hope flooded his expression and warmed his gaze into a perfect summer sky.
Heartache twisted in my chest. He thought his mate was Zella. He was going to be shattered when he learned the truth.
And then horrified when he learned the real truth.
Chapter 12
Marcus pulled me into his arms and stood. “We need to get her back to Operations.”
“It could be Zella,” Gideon said. Now he looked even more stunned.
“Gideon,” Marcus growled.
Gideon’s attention jumped to us. “Right. I… I, ah…” Recognition of the situation flickered through his eyes, but it was like he couldn’t think past the sudden appearance of the brand.
I couldn’t blame him. I couldn’t think past it either. My body shook so hard my teeth chattered with the shock of it. I hadn’t had nearly as strong a reaction to the wraith’s brand, and that only added to my horror that this one was the real deal.
His gaze landed on me, his eyes filled with apology, but it wasn’t for binding my soul with his. It was because he needed to go to Zella, because he thought the brand was with her.
“Go,” Jacob said to him. “We’ve got her.”
“Thank you.” Gideon extended his wings and flew out the shattered skylight.
Marcus growled again and hugged me closer. “You’re freezing.”
“Kol, go get the car,” Jacob said.
“No.” The muscles in Marcus’s jaw twitched. “You’ve got the warmest body temperature. Have your broken ribs healed enough to take her?”
Kol gave a tight nod and Marcus handed me over to him, then hurried out the window to climb down to the SUV parked in the alley.
Kol’s heat seeped into my skin, but my teeth kept chattering and my mind kept whirling. I was Gideon’s destined mate. How the hell was I Gideon’s destined mate?
Jacob and Kol hurried me out of my apartment, down the stairs, and out onto the street. Marcus drove the SUV up to the curb, and Jacob took the front passenger seat while Kol helped me onto the bench behind them, settled in beside me, and pulled me onto his lap.
I pressed my cheek against his shoulder and leaned my forehead against his neck, trying to get closer to him, desperate for more heat. This was a deeper cold than just my empathy. This went bone-deep, and I didn’t know where the cold had come from.
A tear leaked from beneath my closed eyelids. I no longer had any control over my life. I couldn’t even stop myself from crying.
“Hey,” Kol murmured. “We can figure this out. We can fix this.”
But they coul
dn’t. There wasn’t any fixing this.
My forearm ached with Gideon’s brand, and my biceps with the wraith’s. The buzz in my body was like a million bees stinging me over and over again, and I was clean out of emotional strength.
Please let me have seen it wrong. Let it be anyone else but Gideon.
Marcus drove us back to the Supers’ Quarter and pulled up to the glass doors in the Operations Building’s garage. He glanced back at me. “Is she still cold?”
“I can’t get her to warm up,” Kol said.
“We can’t risk this being some kind of reaction to the wraith— angel— whatever the hell it is.” His grip on the steering wheel tightened, turning his knuckles white. “Get her to her room and do whatever it takes to get her body temp up.” He turned to Jacob. “We need a plan. There are wards on this building, but I have no idea if they will stop that thing.”
“Agreed,” Jacob said.
Kol climbed out of the SUV, still holding me, and carried me down the hall to the elevator and up to my room.
“Do you have your keycard?” he asked.
“Back pocket,” I forced out.
He set me on my feet. The hall swayed and I was still shaking so hard I was having trouble standing. I pulled the card from my pocket and handed it over to him. No way was I going to be able to slide it into the reader.
He unlocked the door, carried me inside, and sat me on the bed. “Why don’t I run you a bath,” he said as he flicked on the bedside lamp and headed toward the bathroom, “see if we can’t get your temperature to rise that way.”
A bath? Panic seized me. There was no way he was going to let me bathe alone, not with how unsteady I was, but a bath equaled naked — or at least a lot less clothing. And while a part of me loved the idea of being scantily clothed with a drop-dead gorgeous man, scantily clothed risked revealing the new brand. And I just— I couldn’t—
“No.” I scrambled off the bed to stop him. My legs couldn’t hold me and I dropped to the floor again, proving just how helpless I was right now.
Tears burned in my eyes. God, why couldn’t I stop crying?