Vince collapsed, his body convulsing.
“Feel every fear they felt. Feel every pain they felt.” Kalani continued as Milani watched her mother’s back, keeping the Fallen away.
Milani was just as swift and brave as Eli. With her magic, she willed stones, twigs, and leaves off the ground to use them as weapons. One Fallen got mauled by stones and twigs, and then she pushed the rest back by using the dead leaves that reshaped themselves like arrows, sharp and pointy, and though they weren’t hard enough to kill, the fire burning at the tip would no doubt do the job.
I watched in awe. Three beings held their ground against countless demons and Fallen, not to mention Vince and Mortem, but I embraced myself for the inevitable. The terror present on Milani’s face grew and grew, as she covered her eyes with her hands, but parted her fingers to see through. We continued to stare, unable to do anything as horror unfolded.
Past Milani flew into the air, not by choice, her scream evident, and slammed into the tree near where Eli had dashed to help. Something menacing presented itself. There. It moved so fast even my angelic eyes had a difficult time adjusting to the speed. Eli pulled Milani up and covered her body with his.
“Are you okay?” Eli asked. “I need you to focus.”
Milani groaned and touched the back of her head. Blood covered her hand. “I’m fine.”
Demons and Fallen hissed, mocking Eli and Milani, inching closer, as if they could taste impending death. They felt their master’s presence too.
“Hello, little witch,” Cyrus purred behind Kalani, caressing her hair. “You’ve been very naughty hiding from me.”
“No, no, no.” Present Milani’s eyes pooled with tears. “Mama, run. Run. Run. Run. Why didn’t you run?”
Kalani stood frozen but kept her eyes on Vince. No fear showed on her expression, not even a tremble, as she refused to meet Cyrus’s gaze. “I wasn’t hiding from you, Cyrus. I was waiting for you to take me out on a date, but Vince beat you to it. I like my men on their knees begging. As you can see, Vince is obliging me. He’s such a good pet.”
“Release your pet so I can properly punish him,” Cyrus began. “And if you want…” he pushed back Kalani’s hair, exposing her neck. “I can make you just like him. You can be two and not one. I promise…” He leaned closer, brushing his lips feather-lightly to her neck. “It won’t hurt. In fact, it will be the most pleasurable feeling you’ve ever felt. When was the last time you let a man touch you?”
“It’s been too long,” she cooed, leaning her head back, moaning.
Cyrus’s hands on her waist slipped higher. Oh God. What was she doing? Was she under his spell? Then her silver whip twisted around Cyrus, tighter and tighter. His eyes grew surprised at first and then darkened in rage and he dropped to the ground. Eli and Milani rushed to Kalani’s side, holding beast Mortem back.
“Eli, promise me you’ll take care of Milani.”
“Mom?” Milani snapped, her dagger in front.
“Eli?” Kalani demanded.
“Yes. I will. Of course.” Eli jabbed his sword across a demon’s gut, obliterating him to ashes.
“I can’t hold them much longer. Go.”
The silver orbs from both of her hands flickered, like light bulbs soon to be out.
“Hurry. Hurry. Hurry.” With each spoken word, Kalani’s voice weakened, her shoulders drooped. Vince and Cyrus rose to their feet, mad as hell, tugging on the orb, loosening it with their power.
Eli seized Milani, kicking and screaming, fighting him. His eyes bounced from Vince, Mortem, Cyrus, to Milani.
“Mama. No. No. No.” Tears streamed down little Milani’s face.
“You’re the only one who knows where my book is. Don’t let it fall into the wrong hands. Take care of each other and find Sabina’s and Halina’s children. I love you, Milani. I always will. Eli, go!”
“Kalani. I can’t leave you.” Eli whirled his sword, killing demons hissing and attacking them trying to get to their masters.
“I need both of you to be safe or my death will be for nothing. Eli. What are you waiting for? You want Milani to die?”
“No!” he howled, fighting more demons.
Don’t look back. Run! Run! Run!”
Eli’s face contorted in pain and no doubt guilt. Grabbing Milani’s shoulders, he turned into mist to astral travel, but just before he made them disappear, Cyrus’s massive wings burst through the orb and swallowed Kalani whole.
Silence fell upon us as we hurried back into the cabin. Milani rested in Brody’s arm with tears streaming down her face, but she pulled away when we reached the fire. After repeating her mother’s chant, the hand shaped like flame revealed the book.
“Here.” Milani handed it to my father. “Let’s get this over with. I’ll take us back to Rosslyn Chapel now.”
We landed at the exact spot, under the cubes. I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, but Milani seemed more poised, or perhaps determination boosted her confidence in her powers. Whatever it was, her powers had grown to another level since the first time I’d met her. Maybe she’d always had it but was scared to use it or to show us her abilities.
Father opened the book, flipping and flipping, as I took a peek. There were lots of spells, ingredients, and diagrams. Then Father stopped and held it out for us to see. The pictures of the cubes lined up like music notes; sometimes two or three were on the same line.
“That’s it.” Uncle Davin scratched his head. “How do we play it?”
I pointed the staff to the cube with two dots above and under a line. “Maybe I need to push the cubes accordingly.”
Abel flexed his jaw. “What happens when you get to the section with two cubes?”
Harper crossed her arms. “I guess you press both at the same time.”
“Possibly,” Hugo said.
“I don’t know?” Jack leaned closer to the book, studying the notes.
“What do you suppose will happen if we press the wrong one by accident?” Brody threw in.
We froze as I repeated a part of the clue, “But beware, if you are not the heir, for damnation you shall declare, for the false burden you shall bear.”
Abel shrugged. “I think you’ll be fine, Lucia. I think it meant if an evil being tried to open it, then something bad would happen.”
I gulped. “We have no choice.”
“Yes you do.” Milani spoke for the first time since we arrived. Resolve replaced gloom on her face.
Milani placed her palm on the pictured cubes inside the book and chanted, “Blood of fire, blood from my own. May it burn with eternal light. Conceal, never reveal, only for my own flesh and blood. Now sing. Sing. Sing. Sing,” she said over and over, lifting her hand inch by inch. “Sing. Sing. Sing.”
The pictures magically peeled out of the page, one cube at a time, floating to its place. A heavenly note played, the cube glowing then the next, and then the next, until music filled the chapel with grace, serenity, and joy. An orchestra of angel voices. Beautiful. It filled my heart with bliss, sorrow, and emotions I couldn’t explain. As if God blew a kiss to me, my heart expanded and crumbled to the spiritual divine elixir. Then to my surprise, the carved roses on the ceiling illuminated, shining to every space of the temple, as if opening to the soul of the chapel. So bright, they reminded me of angels’ haloes. Then the carving of the angel came alive and played the bagpipe.
“Lucia, now.” Father snapped me out of my bubble of happiness.
I jabbed the rose cube with the staff. Again the gold dust rained down to the open ark I held in my hand, and just as the music stopped, the paper appeared. Everyone tried to reach for it, but they could not. Their hand slid right through it as if it were an illusion. But it held steady for me. After I took a mental picture of it, I tucked it away. A sense of urgency tugged at me and knotted my stomach so tightly I began to panic.
“Later,” I said. “We should go.”
“Milani. Take us home,” Father agreed.
When M
ilani didn’t answer, I knew something was wrong. I felt it to my bones.
Milani’s face paled and whispered two words, “The devil.”
Chapter 27
Lucia
We were surrounded by Cyrus, Mortem, Vince, a few of his followers, Clarissa, and Eli. My heart cried out at the sight of him. He didn’t seem to be mind controlled, but still, seeing him on the other side devastated me. He didn’t meet my eyes, and in fact he gazed nowhere in particular. Maybe he was fighting it. I wished he would look at me, to let me know he was himself.
Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. I tried to speak to his mind, but to no avail.
“I believe you have something I want,” Cyrus said, floating in the middle of the nave with his wings open.
“And I believe you have someone we want,” I blurted out without thinking. “We can trade.” I was an idiot. I had no plan. What was I saying? But my team didn’t disagree.
Cyrus smiled wryly. “You should know, a part of him will always belong to me. I control his mind, body, and soul. I would be a fool to think you would hand over the second page for him.” Cyrus gestured at Eli standing below him. “He is my flesh and blood. I will never let him go.”
Milani rounded her fists so tightly the whites of her knuckles showed and a wind began to stir. I understood her pain and rage, especially after having seen her mother murdered by Cyrus again. Did she torture herself like Eli did and astral travel to the past to imagine how she could have helped her mother? Father placed a hand on Milani’s shoulder to calm her and stepped in front.
“Hand over the boy,” Father demanded. “I’m not going to ask again.”
Cyrus glided down, his wings still open. “Did you know your daughter is in love with a demon? Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.” He clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Such a shame. Isn’t there some kind of punishment for your kind for such blasphemy?” He didn’t let Father answer. “Oh, I forgot. You make exceptions. How great thou art to have such powers, who is forgiven and who is not.”
“That’s not true.” Father’s demeanor was calm and collected, surprising me. “I judge no one. Forgiveness is not up to me.”
“No. It isn’t, I suppose, especially when you were once a fallen angel. I suppose being a child of a Divine Elder gave you privileges, just like your children.”
“Is there a reason for this roundabout conversation?” Uncle Davin cocked his brows. “Everyone wants to talk about Michael all the time, but could we get on with the purpose? You’re not going to get the second page, so either back away or fight us for it.”
I couldn’t believe Uncle Davin said those words.
Cyrus glared. “Very well then.” He extended a hand behind him, and as if he had pulled away a curtain, the teens he had locked up in the volcano cages, the ones he’d turned to vampires, emerged. We were outnumbered ten to one. “They’re all yours.”
No one from my team dared move. The vampires’ bloody eyes and fangs out, ready to kill, and their hungry and animalistic roars sent icy chills through every vein, bone, and muscle. They were the missing teens. And they didn’t know what they were doing.
“You’re pathetic,” Abel sneered, his amber eyes glowing. Brody stood by his side huffing in anger. “They are human beings, our neighbors, our peers. Their lives do not belong to you.”
Cyrus narrowed his eyes and then curled his lips up just enough to mock us. “Because I am their God. Your God does it all the time to you. He gives life and then takes it away. I’m merely doing what he does. Why is that fine for him and not me? Hypocrites.” He shook his head scoldingly.
Uncle Davin rolled his eyes. “Duh. I don’t know why you even ask such stupid questions.”
Cyrus’s wings flapped as if straining to take flight.
“Clarissa!” Milani’s sudden outburst quieted Cyrus’s wings. He looked amused.
“Clarissa was once my friend.” Milani’s fire orb twinkled behind her back as she took several steps closer to Clarissa and Eli. “She used to spend the night, and we would practice our powers with each other.” She chuckled lightly. “One time, we had so many colors on our hair, we looked like a rainbow. Do you remember that, Clarissa?”
Clarissa hissed, wrapping her arm around Eli protectively.
“Mine, mine, mine,” she said with venom in her tone.
“When Cyrus killed my mother, you got so scared our friendship fell apart. You didn’t want anything to do with me. Coward!” Her light grew brighter in her hands and began to spin.
Clarissa hissed, apparently her only language.
“Traitor!” Milani accused.
A breeze took form, circling around us.
“Not in here,” Father said.
I knew what he meant. The battle would destroy the chapel.
“Murderer!” Milani hollered.
“No!” Clarissa retorted, stepping farther back. Then she let go of Eli and willed her sword. A challenge.
Milani pointed at Clarissa with daggered eyes. “I should have killed you a long time ago. You’re mine.”
Milani threw her orb at Cyrus and missed, but I realized that was her intention. While Clarissa’s eyes fell upon the orb, Milani threw herself on Clarissa and they vanished.
Chaos erupted inside the temple. Father, Zach, and I whipped out our wings to protect our friends when the teen vampires lunged at us. Some bounced off, and those that clung on, clawed at us, trying to dig through the layers of our feathers to reach us, ripping out our feathers. My feathers would grow back later, but pain warned me to fight back. I had just reached my limit.
When we’d had enough, we pushed out our wings. They churned the air. Demons slammed against the arches, the pillars, and on the ground. Dust poured down. Unharmed, the teens got back up and came at us again.
“Milani is outside.” Just as Brody warned us, loud thunder boomed.
“Behind me. As soon as we’re out, gather around Milani. We’re getting out,” Father ordered. “I don’t want to hurt these kids.”
We had no choice. They pounced and trapped me, ready to rip me to shreds. “Sorry,” I barked and meant it, as I sliced one in half with my sword and shot another with silvery light from my bow. They met death and vanished as if they’d been figments of my imagination.
Harper, Hugo, and Jack stood back to back, inching toward the front door. The Knight Templar sword gave Jack courage, and he swung it as if he’d done it millions of times, as if he were a knight himself. There was something magical in the sword, I felt it and sensed it. The sword made Jack faster, stronger, and more skilled.
Abel and Brody used their strength and tried to punch their way out through the teens surrounding them. Amber eyes met crimson ones. A few of the teens collided against the pews, breaking them in half, and a couple crashed into pillars. A spider line cracked down. Our intentions of not damaging the chapel did not go as hoped.
Mortem came after Father at the same time Vince attacked Uncle Davin. I was left alone with growling teens behind me and Eli in front of me.
“Eli.” I swallowed, observing his eyes grow bloodier and darker.
“Lucia.” There was no love or sweetness in his tone, just pure hatred.
“No,” I whimpered. “Fight it.”
My instinct told me to run, but I couldn’t, especially when he started to circle around me like a predator with prey. I stiffened at the smell of him, all wrong and malicious. From the corner of my eyes, Cyrus floated, gloating, watching us outnumbered as Fallen and demons penetrated through the walls around us. We had been ambushed.
I ducked, but a demon holding a sword sliced a strand of my hair. Kicking that demon in the face, I flipped over and slapped my palm on Eli’s chest, trying to snap him out of it. Eli growled. Obviously it didn’t work. He lunged for me. We tumbled, and then we took flight to the ceiling.
“Wake up.” I punched his face, causing him to somersault in the air.
He stopped the momentum and came at me again, so I flipped over him. I threw a dagger, t
argeting his arm, trying to do anything to wake him up, but he caught it, the blade cutting his palm. Blood dripped down. With calculating eyes, he turned into a mist and appeared behind me. Wrapping his arms around me, he caged me in. Just as his fangs penetrated my neck, my body glowed. My internal defense light, the part of me Father told me not to use unless necessary, took over. Eli soared backward and rammed into the arch. Chunks buried Eli and fell on top of the Fallen.
I dropped down next to Zach, positioned my wings, and twirled like him. The ends of our wings shot out like swords. We spun and spun, slicing the demons and Fallen in our path. When we stopped, black ashes filled the temple.
Through the ashes, Uncle Davin and Vince appeared. Uncle Davin threw a nice blow to his face and knocked him down flat on his back.
“Please, have mercy,” Vince cried out, holding out his hands to Uncle Davin’s sword inches away from his chest.
Uncle Davin snarled. “I’m so sick of you and your kind.”
“Please,” Vince begged. “Angels are forgiving. You have to let me go when I repent.”
Uncle Davin gave him an are-you-kidding-me look. “Not this one. I don’t have to do jack shit,” he said and drove his sword through Vince’s heart. “I’m a warrior angel. I kill. That’s my job.” He turned to us. “What does jack shit mean anyway?” He shrugged. We didn’t have time to debate.
Vince turned pale gray, the color of the stone, and melted to the ground. The Fallen and demons around scattered away.
“Who’s next?” Uncle Davin lowered his sword, daring anyone to come near.
Give me the staff, Lucia. Father spoke into my mind, as his sword clanked against Mortem’s.
I wanted to do as he asked, but he moved so fast I could not follow as he continued to battle Mortem. Mortem flashed in and out of demon mist form, appearing at one place and then next to the other side of the chapel. Father followed right behind him, as the clang of the sword echoed off stone.