My body bristled with rage as I took in the bruises and cuts all over her face. “What the fuck did you do to her?” I shouted as I pushed forward between Trace and Gabriel.
“That wasn’t my doing, angel. The twins got a little carried away.”
My gaze darted to the two bald-headed morons looming over my sister’s body. “You’re both going to pay for that.”
“If I were you, I would think twice before you do something stupid,” said Pricilla, drawing my glowering eyes back to her. “You’re in no position to make threats, Slayer.”
“If I were you, I would look into getting a new outfit,” I shot back, being that she was literally wearing the same clichéd leather outfit as the first day I met her.
Laughter twittered out of her. “You’re going to school me on fashion?” she asked, her gaze flicking down my persons as her lips puckered like she’d just eaten a lemon. “Wearing that?”
At her mention of my outfit, Dominic’s gaze moved over me appreciatively as he took a long sip of his drink.
Seeing an opening to ruffle her feathers, I stared back at him and smiled, making sure Pricilla saw what I was doing. And what he was looking at. “What do you think, Dominic? You think I look cute?” I asked as I slowly turned around, letting him have himself a good, hard look.
A growl sounded at the back of Pricilla’s throat as she took an aggressive step toward me.
I responded with laughter, knowing I had gotten under her skin.
“I wouldn’t wake the beast, angel,” warned Dominic, swirling his drink around his glass. “Her claws are much sharper than they look.”
“Thanks for the tip. Now here a little tidbit for you,” I said as I narrowed my eyes at him. “Call dumbledee and dumble dum off my sister and let her go before I actually get mad.”
He smirked. “Does that mean you’re ready to give up the Amulet?”
“No.”
“Then what’s in it for me, angel lips?”
“Oh, I don’t know. The chance to leave town in one piece,” I offered as Gabriel took a step toward Tessa. We both knew he wasn’t going to go for it, but it was worth a try.
“Now, why would I want to do that, hm? Think of how boring it will be around here without me. Just you and Amnesia Boy living a lie together,” he said as Ben and Trace also shifted forward. “For goodness sake, angel. He couldn’t even remember who you were or what you did to him.”
“Shut the hell up, Dominic.”
“Ah.” He looked at me knowingly and then smirked at Trace. “She still hasn’t told you, has she?”
“Told me what?” asked Trace as he stepped up beside me.
“Nothing,” I said and then glared at Dominic. If he even so much as opened his mouth, I was going to gouge his eyeballs out of his head and then feed them to him.
“That you were Lucifer’s vessel and she killed you because of it,” blurted Pricilla. Her red lips twisted into a vicious grin, and my vision bled red with her blood.
All of the rage and hatred and resentment I had for her busted out of me like a bomb as I kicked off the ground and launched at her, smashing her back into the mantel and then twisting her around to slam her down against the floor.
Ben shifted beside us and went for one of the vampire twins as Gabriel lunged for the other. I didn’t need to look behind me to know that Trace and Dominic were pounding their fists into each other’s faces.
Pricilla’s fangs clicked out as she smashed her bony fist into my face. Blood splattered from my mouth, shooting sideways as the impact rocked my head to the side. Before I could recover, she threw another fist at me, though I threw out my hand and blocked it, sure that it would have shattered my nose had she landed the hit.
Clutching her head, I lifted it off the ground and then slammed it back down against the unforgiving marble, reveling in the sound of her crunching skull.
A yelping howl grabbed my attention and held it as Ben’s wolf rolled onto its back and then jumped back to his feet. With his teeth barred, he pounced against the vampire, sinking his razor-sharp teeth into the vampires leg and knocking him down on his ass.
Seeing an opening, Pricilla, swung her leg up and knocked me off of her before pinning me down under her body. Her fist came down hard against my face, though I barely felt the pain through my adrenaline. Another blow smacked against my cheek as I reached up grabbed her throat, squeezing until I heard the sound of her windpipe shattering.
Her hands flew up to her neck as her eyes widened in horror, giving me time to throw her off me and scramble back up to my feet, though she was right there behind me, grabbing me by the collar of my shirt as she tried to yank me back down to the ground.
Pulling at the front of my shirt, I twisted out of her hold and spun on her as something cold and metallic slid off my neck and down my body. Panic seized my insides as I realized I’d accidently snapped the chain around my neck. The one that had kept the Amulet so close to my heart for all these months. Horror seeped into my eyes as I watched the Amulet tumble to the ground and then shatter into a hundred little unmendable pieces.
The Amulet—my Amulet was gone. The one thing that had kept me alive all these months, and it was gone. Ripped out of existence by a slip of the hand.
Trace froze, his horrified gaze bouncing between me and the shattered Amulet, allowing Dominic to regain the upper hand as he crashed his fist into Trace’s already swollen cheek.
I winced as blood splattered from his face, but I didn’t have any time to sit with it before Pricilla charged me again, knocking me back several feet onto the ground. My gaze darted to Gabriel who was rushing over to Tessa while his opponent lay lifelessly a messy pool of his own blood.
Pricilla’s face twisted with revenge and victory as though she already had this in the bag now that I no longer had my Amulet saving me from certain death. Visceral fear—the kind I had not felt in a long time—shot through my veins as she made the final leap toward me; her pupils dilated, fangs extracted and claws ready to tear through flesh and bone.
As if on instinct, my hand flew to the sheath under my skirt and withdraw the Sword of Angelus, spearing her through the chest as she landed on top of me and then stayed there, lifeless and unmoving. Warm liquid pooled against my own chest and I gagged, knowing it was her blood.
Rolling her off me, I scrambled up to my feet and then knelt down over her, pressing my knee against her stomach as I ripped the sword out of her heart and then swung it along the length of her neck. Her head separated from her body, as easy as cutting through butter, and then rolled unceremoniously toward the center of the room. Everyone came to a dead stop and watched as I slowly stood to my full height and faced Dominic, letting him know from the smirk on my face that that one was for him.
Fury darkened his eyes as he pushed Trace off him and scrambled forward to catch her rolling head. He picked it up and then cradled it against his chest, and I all but vomited in my mouth.
“You really shouldn’t have done that,” he said as he rose to his feet, grief skewing his face like a brand-new skin.
I pulled out my wooden stake in response as Trace moved up beside me.
Before either of us could make a move or say anything, Tessa rushed him from behind, throwing her arm around his neck and yanking him backward into a chokehold as she brought her dagger to his neck.
“Tessa, don’t!” I screamed, knowing what she was going to do—that she was going to curse him to the same fate as his Sire. A fate that there was no coming back from.
Tessa paused to meet my eyes as Dominic did nothing but stand there, still holding Pricilla’s head in his hands as he waited to join her. An apology flickered through her eyes as feral scream ripped out of my lungs.
She plunged the knife into his neck, though before she could drag it fully across Dominic’s neck, Trace appeared out of thin air and pulled the knife from her trembling hand. Tessa bucked and screamed against his hold as he hauled her backward and away from Dominic, whispering somethin
g into her ear to calm her.
My gaze bounced from him to the Trace standing beside me and then back to the Trace holding my sister. It took my brain a few tries to realize there were two Trace’s standing in the room with us.
One of which was an Alt who had just saved Dominic’s life.
What the fuck was going on?
Before I could vocalize as much, the Trace holding my sister evaporated into thin air, leaving me stunned and confused. Unwilling to allow my sister another chance at ending Dominic permanently, I gripped my stake with both hands and then plunged it into Dominic’s chest, grabbing his arms as he fell backwards and then nearly landing on top of him as we hit the ground together.
My heart splintered with agony as his face turned ashen and all sign of life left his eyes. I told myself he wasn’t dead, just sleeping temporarily, and with that I pushed the hurt away for the moment and focused on my sister and friends instead.
“Is everyone okay?” I asked as my gaze darted around the room to make sure everyone was in one piece before landing on Ben who had shifted back into human form and was tending to a bloodied shoulder. His opponent lay on the ground beside him with a bowl-sized hole in his chest.
“How bad is it?” I asked, gesturing to his wound.
“Nothing a little magic won’t fix.” He winked.
My gaze shifted to my sister. “Tess?”
“I’m fine,” she said, looking battered and shaken up, but alive.
My eyes jumped to Gabriel who was standing beside her, his arm around her waist as he held her up. He gave me a single nod, letting me know he was still in one piece. “I’ll take her home.”
I nodded and then turned toward Trace, afraid of what I would see when I finally looked him in the eye.
His eyes were swirling with so much emotion, it knocked the air clear out of my lungs. “Is it true?” he asked evenly.
The room fell painfully silent at his question as I struggled to pull in a full breath of air.
How could I answer that? How could I tell him the truth? I wasn’t sure he was ready to hear it, or that the fragile wall around his memories could sustain it. But mostly, I was afraid to tell him because I wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to forgive me once he learned what I had done.
“No,” I lied, swallowing hard against the jagged lump in my throat. “She was just trying to—”
“Don’t fucking lie to me, Jemma,” he said, his jaw ticking furiously as he took a commanding step toward me. “Is it true?” he asked again.
I knew then that he already knew the answer. He just wanted to hear it from my mouth.
Dropping my head, I bit down on my bottom lip to keep the tears that were forming behind my lids from falling. The charade was over, and it was time to come clean and finally let go of the painful secret I had been shouldering for far too long. A secret that could potentially destroy him—and us—beyond repair.
With my heart in my throat, I silently prayed that this would not spell the end of us and then lifted my head to meet his eyes. “Yes. It’s true.”
He stared back at me for a long, grueling moment, his expression completely unflinching, save for the world of emotions swirling in his eyes like a vortex.
“Please say something.”
He lowered his head and shook his head. “All this time…you’ve been lying to me.”
“If you just let me explain—” My plea was cut short as he looked up and met my gaze. The pain in his eyes so profound that it sent a shockwave through my heart. My vision blurred as unfallen tears stung the corner of my eyes.
“Trace, please,” I said as I stepped forward to touch him—to connect with him, but he dissipated before I could wrap my arms around him, porting away to some other place in time where he wouldn’t have to look at me anymore.
The tears I’d been holding sprang free as I stared at the spot he’d been standing in, wincing as all signs of his proximity left my body. I felt the agony of his loss right down to my very soul.
“He just needs some time, Jem. He’ll come around,” offered Ben, his voice a comforting promise.
I nodded, though I didn’t fully believe it. Frankly, I wasn’t sure there was enough time in all the clocks of the world to undo the damage I had done. But I refused to abandon all hope. Not yet anyway. As long as I was still breathing, there was still time to make this right again.
“So…is this a bad time to ask if I’m the only one that saw Trace’s Alt port in to save Dominic?” asked Ben, his gaze flicking to each of us for confirmation.
“You’re not the only one. I saw him too,” I answered as everything suddenly clicked together.
For future Trace to port back just as Tessa was about to vanquish Dominic had to mean that she had been successful in doing it, and for some reason unknown to me, Trace ported back in time to stop that from happening, thus altering our Timeline altogether. But why?
Why would Trace save Dominic from certain death?
There were still so many unanswered questions plaguing me—so many things that had yet to make sense. I realized in that moment, that our story wasn’t over yet. Not by a longshot.
Squaring my shoulders, I wiped away the last tear that had fallen and pulled myself together. I would give Trace the space and time he needed to deal with what I had done, and then I would find a way to bring him back to me; to earn his trust back, even if I had to do it one excruciatingly small step at a time.
Filled with purpose, my gaze shifted to Dominic laying on the floor before me as a quiet fire ignited in my belly. I would find a way to bring him back, too. Even if that meant I needed to break his heart wide open to do it.
“You still have those chains at your house?” I asked Ben as a lulling song of redemption started to fill my heart.
He looked at me curiously. “Yeah…why?”
“I’m going to need you to bring them over to my house,” I said as I reached down to grab Dominic by the collar of his shirt and then calmly dragged him out of the room with me.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
Thank you so much for reading Incipient and for staying on this crazy train with me. I hope it was worth the wait and can’t wait to chat it up with you all in my Facebook Reader Group. As always, if you enjoyed the book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. As an indie author, your feedback and support mean everything to me.
Irreverent, The Marked Book 7 is already up for pre-order with the finale coming shortly after that one. To stay updated on my upcoming releases (as well as teasers, bonus content and pictures of my adorable son), follow me on my social media below. Pre-Order Book 7: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Q4GLQYG
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GLOSSARY
ANAKIM
A race of people born with the spirit of man and the blood of angels; Descendants of Nephilim
CASTER
A Descendant of Magi Angels; ability to cast magic, control elements, and manipulate energy
CINDERDUST
Magical powder created by High Casters that sends a Revenant to Sanguinarium
DARK LEGION
Descendants that have turned against the Order; pledged to the dark side/ Lucifer
DAUGHTER OF HADES
Descendant of Lucifer, prophesied to raise Lucifer and bring on the end of days
INVOCATION
An ancient ritual used by the Order to invoke Anakim abilities
LUCIFER
The first Angel to be created and the first to fall; imprisoned in a tomb in Hell
REAPER
A Descendant of Transport Angels; capable of teleporting, time travel, and mind reading
SANGUINARIUM
Real
m of perdition for Revenants that have been vanquished
SEER
A Descendant of Messenger Angels; ability to communicate with the Spirit Realm and predict the future
SHIFTER
A Descendant of Guardian Angels; capable of shifting into animal form, and telepathy
SLAYER
A Descendant of Warrior Angels; possess super strength and ability to sense demons, siren-like blood
THE ORDER OF THE ROSE
A secret organization that oversees all Anakim affairs
ANAKIM INDEX
SLAYERS (Warrior Angel Descendants)
Jemma
Tessa
Gabriel+
Karl*
Thomas*
Jaqueline+
REAPERS (Transport Angel Descendants)
Trace~
Peter *
Linley*
CASTERS (Magi Angel Descendants)
Nikki
Caleb
Carly
SHIFTERS (Guardian Angel Descendants)
Dominic+
Ben
Julian
SEERS (Messenger Angel Descendants)
Morgan
DARK CASTERS (Pledged to the Dark Legion)
Arianna
Annabelle
Anita
Pricilla+*
* Character is deceased
+Character is a Revenant
~ It’s complicated
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to Tricia Simpson for proofing this book as well as talking me off the ledge, yet again. You are seriously the wind beneath my mangled wings, girl. I don’t know what I would do without you. Also, a big thank you again to my cover designer for yet another gorgeous cover.
Incipient: A Dark Paranormal Romance (The Marked Book 6) Page 28