The Angel Gift (Dark World: The Angel Trials Book 4)

by Michelle Madow

  “Could have fooled me,” he replied. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have hacked into the bunker security system until we got Sage back home. That would have given you enough incentive to remember she needs our help too. Don’t you think?”

  I jumped up with my arms out, ready to throttle him.

  Someone leaped in front of me and wrapped their hands around my wrists, holding me in place. Bella.

  Witches were generally the most peaceful of the supernaturals. It made it easy to forget that they could hold their own against us. And while I wasn’t actually trying to harm Bella, I was impressed by her strength.

  Cassandra had raced to Thomas’s side, although the vampire prince hadn’t done as much as flinch. The man was like a damned robot. The fact that Sage had fallen in love with and imprinted on him baffled me.

  The two of them couldn’t be more opposite if they tried.

  “We’re all on the same side here,” Bella said, her grip firm around my wrists. “I doubt either Sage or Raven would want the two of you trying to rip each other to shreds when they both need your help.”

  “He wouldn’t have been able to harm me.” Thomas smiled, his teeth glinting even in the low lighting. “But it would have been interesting to see him try.”

  A growl rumbled deep in my throat. I wanted to try.

  But Bella was right. No matter how badly I wanted to wrangle Thomas, I had to focus on helping the girls. We all did.

  And I did have logical reasons for wanting to save Raven first. Yes, I also had personal reasons. But saving her first made sense.

  To get Thomas to understand, I’d have to do it in his language. Facts and logic.

  I could do it. I had to do it. For Raven.

  Bella must have felt my tension ease, because she loosened her hold on my wrists. “You good now?” she asked.

  “Yeah.” I nodded. “I’m good.”

  She let go and stepped to the side, although she looked ready to jump back in front of me in case I launched myself at Thomas again.

  I rubbed my wrists where she’d been holding them. She had a strong grip, which was good. She’d be more of a help in battle than I’d initially realized.

  Thomas examined me coolly. “Don’t try that again,” he warned.

  “Don’t use Raven as a tool to threaten me.” I held my gaze with his to show I wouldn’t back down. There were certain limits I wouldn’t tolerate being crossed.

  Thomas dangling Raven’s safety in front of me like a carrot to get me to do his bidding was one of those limits.

  “I was simply saying what was necessary to ensure you didn’t forget about your so-called best friend, Sage,” he said—as if I needed reminding about her existence.

  “I didn’t forget about Sage.” I sat back down on the couch, although I didn’t get too comfortable. “We’ll get Sage out of there. But Raven asked for our help. She reached out to me through our imprint bond—a feat that should be impossible—and asked us to rescue her. She’s being unwillingly kept in a bunker where she’s likely in mortal danger from the demons.”

  Thomas regarded me with pure disdain. “Are you presuming Sage isn’t in mortal danger from the demons as well?” he asked.

  “Sage appeared to be willingly cooperating with Azazel,” I said. “We don’t have much to go on regarding her red eyes, but it seems like she’s bound to the demons. Why would they harm her further after going through the trouble of binding her to them?”

  “It’s a fair point,” Bella said. “In the book my sisters and I found, there was no mention of the demons harming the shifters who were bound to them. In fact, they protected them. Like family pets.”

  Anger flooded my veins at the thought of anyone treating Sage like a “family pet.”

  “Even more of a reason to get Sage out of there,” Thomas said. “She hates being coddled and told what to do.”

  “She’s also not in mortal danger,” I reminded him. “We need more information about the demon bound, specifically how to break the bond. And we’ll find it. But for now, Raven has asked for immediate rescue. We have the information and manpower to accomplish that. Then, once Raven’s secure, we can put all our resources into freeing Sage and her pack from this bond with the demons. I don’t know how long that’s going to take. But it’s going to take time. Which is why it makes sense to focus on saving Raven first.”

  Thomas pressed his lips together, saying nothing.

  Had my appeal to him worked?

  The vampire prince turned to Cassandra, who had been quiet throughout all of this. “What do you think?” he asked her. “Will it take as long to figure out what’s going on with the demon bound shifters as the Devereux witches and Noah think?”

  Cassandra looked at me, then at Bella, and finally back to Thomas. “It certainly won’t be simple,” she said. “We barely have any record of demon bound shifters, and we don’t know which dark magic family created the spell. Even if we do figure out the family, I doubt they’ll hand over the details about reversing it willingly.”

  If it can be reversed, I thought, although I didn’t say it out loud. I suspected we were all thinking it.

  There was no need for negativity at a time like this.

  “So you agree with Noah,” Thomas said flatly.

  “Sage’s rescue is going to come with its fair share of complications,” she said. “I don’t think Raven’s will be simple, but it certainly seems more straightforward.”

  “I agree with Noah and Cassandra,” Bella voiced her opinion, even though Thomas hadn’t asked for it. “We’ll rescue Raven first. We’re one kick ass group of supernaturals—we’ve got this. Once Raven’s safe we can put our heads together and figure out how to move forward with Sage and the rest of the Montgomery pack.”

  I hadn’t known her long, but I was getting the impression that Bella was the type of woman who wasn’t afraid to speak her mind.

  She and Raven would get along well. I couldn’t wait for them to meet.

  I looked back over at Thomas, unsure what to say to add to my point. The facts were all out there.

  But I was asking a lot from him, and he didn’t owe me anything.

  “Your gift with technology will be instrumental in saving Raven,” I said, since I needed to say something. “Getting into that bunker will be much harder for us without you. Then, once Raven’s safe, I’ll do everything in my power to help Sage. She risked her life to help me on my demon hunt, and I love her like family. I won’t abandon her. You have my word.”

  Thomas watched me carefully as I spoke, his eyes hard.

  I feared he was about to say no. I sat straighter and clenched my fists, preparing for the worst.

  “If you’d asked me a week ago, I’d have said that the word of the First Prophet meant nothing,” he finally said. “But after the past few days, I believe you’re an honorable man who will follow through on your promise.”

  “So you’re in?” I held my breath, not wanting to get my hopes up before he agreed out loud.

  “Now that I’ve tapped into the bunker’s security system, I can easily connect it to the devices in the Devereux home. We can all watch what’s happening in the bunker from there,” he said. “I’ve set the cameras to record everything. Once we discern a pattern in how the demons are running the place, we can create a plan to break in. I’ve faced far worse challenges in the past. I hardly imagine this one will prove difficult.”

  That was a yes. He was going to help us.

  Elation warmed the imprint bond around my heart, making me feel like Raven was right there with me.

  But I did my best to appear as cool and collected as Thomas. He was doing a lot by helping us. There was no need to rub my happiness into his face.

  “That sounds like a solid plan,” I said. “Then, once Raven’s safe, we’ll focus on Sage. We will break that bond she has with Azazel. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if we didn’t.”

  “That makes two of us.” Thomas stood, wiped invisible lint from the sl
eeve of his suit, and held out his hand to shake mine. “So we have ourselves a deal?”

  I stood as well, reaching for his hand and giving it a firm shake. “Yes,” I said, holding my gaze steady with his. “We do.”

  Thomas

  I’d told the others that I agreed to wait to rescue Sage until breaking Raven out of the bunker.

  I’d lied.

  Now, we were all back in the Devereux mansion. Everyone had retired to their rooms to sleep for the day, so we’d be ready to devise a plan to rescue Raven the next night.

  Not me.

  Well, I’d gone to my room. But I hadn’t gone to sleep.

  Instead, I sat at the desk inside the room, writing Sage a letter.

  I’d already tried calling her, texting her, and sending an email. It had all gone unanswered or unread.

  I assumed she was being cut off from all technological methods of communications. It was likely her brother’s doing. Or Azazel’s.

  I shuddered at the thought of the greater demon, and how Sage had beamed at both him and his demonic daughter as she’d officiated his daughter’s mating ceremony to Flint.

  There was no way Sage wanted to be there. Yes, she was bound to the demons, but I knew Sage. She was too strong to give in that easily.

  Which was why I was writing her this letter.

  No one should have to go through what she was going through alone. Our imprint bond might be dulled, but it was still there. If I couldn’t communicate with her through the imprint bond, and I couldn’t communicate with her through technology, then I’d resort to old school methods.

  Good old pen and paper.

  In the letter, I told her how much I loved her, and that I’d do anything to help her escape the Montgomery compound and break the demon bond. I let her know I was in LA, and asked her to sneak out to meet me at a specific place and time the next day.

  Sage would figure out a way to sneak out. She’d sneaked out of the Bettencourt enough times as a teen that I trusted her ability to be stealthy. Of course, I’d known she was sneaking out back then because of all the cameras in the hotel, and I’d had her followed to ensure she was safe.

  She’d rise up to the challenge. I knew she would.

  Once I signed the letter, I gathered the supplies I’d need for my outing into a large backpack. One of the drones that had been given the soundless spell, plus a vial of invisibility potion and its antidote that I’d taken from my stash before leaving the Bettencourt.

  No one had blinked an eye when I’d taken the drone up to my room when we’d returned, under the claim that I might want to tinker with it more to make improvements. They hadn’t noticed that I’d taken the backpack it had arrived in, either.

  Since I had no choice but to do this in the daytime, I dressed to cover as much of my skin as possible. It was a myth that vampires combusted into flames in the sun. We couldn’t be killed that easily. But the sun did sap our energy. It also gave us sunburn, and while we healed from it quickly, it was still painful. That was why we kept a nocturnal schedule.

  Going out in the sun would be draining no matter what. But keeping my skin from getting hit with direct rays would reduce its effects.

  Next was the trickiest part of the plan—because it was the only part that relied on anything other than technology and myself.

  As quietly as possible, I left my room and walked down the hall. Once I reached Cassandra’s room, I opened the door and let myself inside.

  As suspected, the lights were off and Cassandra was fast asleep. Her long brown hair was a mess on her pillow, and she didn’t wake when I entered. She’d always been a heavy sleeper.

  I clicked the door quietly in place and walked over to her bed, placing a hand lightly on her shoulder to wake her. She remained sleeping. So I nudged her a bit harder—hopefully not so hard as to frighten her.

  Her eyes popped open and met mine in question.

  She opened her lips to speak, but before she had a chance, I held my phone out in front of her. On it, I’d already written a message.

  Put up a sound barrier spell so we can speak freely.

  She nodded, sat up, and muttered a repetition of words under her breath in Latin.

  “Let me guess,” she said once the spell was complete. “You’re not waiting to help Sage until after Raven is rescued?”

  “You know me too well.” I smiled wickedly. While all of my immediate family was dead and could obviously never be replaced, Cassandra had always felt like a sister to me. I wasn’t surprised she knew what I was up to before I had a chance to tell her.

  “What’s the plan?” she asked, the question quickly followed up by a yawn.

  It was a good thing the plan didn’t depend on her being able to stay awake, because then she’d definitely fail.

  I told her everything I was going to do, and she listened, not looking surprised in the slightest.

  “Here’s where you come into play,” I said once I’d given her the gist of it all. “I can easily get past the technology of this house to sneak back inside. But I can’t get past the magical barrier.”

  “So you’ll need someone on the inside to get you through,” she finished.

  “You got it,” I said. “Think you can handle it?”

  “As long as you call me to wake me up when you’re heading back,” she said. “Because I’m way too tired to stay awake waiting.”

  “Consider it done.” I’d expected as much, since Cassandra made it no secret that she couldn’t function without at least eight hours of sleep a night.

  “Oh, and Thomas?” she asked as I made my way out. I looked back at her, and she continued, “I’m glad you’re doing this for Sage. I know she’ll be grateful, too.” Then she paused and pressed her lips together, making me nervous.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I just hope you’re prepared that Sage might be different.”

  “Different how?” I asked.

  “I was there with the Devereux witches reading up on the demon bound in their library,” she said. “While there’s not much written about them, it sounded like they were all loyal to their demonic masters.”

  “Sage hates Azazel.” I inwardly reeled at the thought of anything else. “She’d never be loyal to him.”

  “I know.” She hunched over slightly, looking like she regretted saying anything at all. “Just be careful. All right?”

  “You know me,” I said. “I’m always careful.”

  With that, I left her room and headed out of the mansion, eager to get to the Hollywood Hills and get my letter to Sage.

  Mara

  Someone knocked on the door, jolting me out of a deep sleep.

  Flint sat up in the bed beside me. He was instantly alert.

  I stretched and rubbed sleep from my eyes. It was before sunset. Who was awake at this hour? And why were they knocking on our bedroom door?

  Sit up, Flint’s voice echoed in my mind. Now that we were mated, we could communicate telepathically without the strain it had taken when we only had the imprint bond between us. We need to put up a united front.

  Despite the heaviness in my head from being woken so suddenly, I also sat up in bed.

  Who is it? I sent the thought into Flint’s mind instead of speaking aloud. My sense of smell wasn’t as heightened as a shifter’s. I could discern between different supernatural species, but Flint could smell the subtle differences between each member of his pack.

  Likely Sage, he replied. Whoever is on the other side of that door is cloaking his or her scent. Sage is the only one of our pack permitted to wear a cloaking ring right now.

  Right, I thought—to myself and not to Flint. At least the mate bond didn’t let him into my head all the time. He only heard what I wanted him to hear.

  My father had commanded the Montgomery pack members to remove any cloaking talismans, so he’d know where they were at all times. They were quick to comply. The only pack member permitted to remain cloaked was Sage. My father didn’t want anyon
e knowing where she was right now.

  It didn’t make sense. If he wanted those who were looking for her dead, wouldn’t he want them to track her? Then they’d come right to him.

  I’d asked him such. But he’d simply reassured me there was a long-term plan in place and told me to stop asking questions.

  “Come in,” Flint called out, his strong voice bringing me out of my thoughts and back into the present.

  As he’d predicted, Sage walked through the doors. Her red eyes were devoid of emotion, just like Flint’s had been ever since the blood binding ceremony. And she carried a strange creature in her hands. A giant, multi-legged bug made of metal.

  I sucked in a deep breath and widened my eyes, not liking the look of the thing. “What is that?” I kept my eyes locked on it, poising myself to jump up and run in case it attacked.

  “Don’t look so frightened,” Sage said, her voice flat. “It’s a drone. Human-made technology. It’s not going to hurt you.”

  I relaxed, but only slightly. Human-made or not, I still didn’t like the look of it. “What’s it doing here?” I asked.

  Flint spoke before Sage had a chance. “Thomas Bettencourt has something to do with this,” he said. “Doesn’t he?”

  I knew who Thomas was. Flint had told me about him back when he was still himself, before going through with the blood binding ceremony.

  Thomas and Sage had been planning on getting married, but Flint didn’t think the pairing was practical. He wanted Sage to find her true mate.

  So he’d gone to Thomas and voiced his concerns. It turned out Thomas had similar concerns. Flint told Thomas he didn’t support the marriage, and vowed to kick Sage out of the pack if the two of them went through with it.

  Thomas didn’t want to make Sage choose between him and her pack. So he’d broken the engagement and made the decision for her.

  When Flint had first told me the story, it sounded perfectly logical.

  Now, my heart went out to Sage. From what I knew, she and Thomas had truly been in love. What harm was their love causing anyone? Why should she have been forced to choose between her pack and the man she was in love with?