Octavian's Undoing (Sons of Judgment) (71 page)

The letter dropped from thin air right on Gideon’s head. It bounced once then landed noiselessly on the table between them.

“What the hell?” Gideon cried, rubbed his head and looked up at the ceiling. “Bloody angels. Next they’ll be sending anvils.”

Their mother snatched it up before Gideon could stab the letter with his fork in retribution.

“It’s from the Summit,” she read.

In Octavian’s lap, Riley stiffened. He tightened his arms around her and lightly rubbed her back until she relaxed back against him.

“It says they must regretfully decline our request in regards to one, Riley Masters, on the account that laws can be changed by no man. We hereby have a week to pass judgment or Guardians will be sent to accomplish the task for us. With deepest regret, Seraph Abraham.”

“That skeezy little—”

“Gideon!” their mother hissed. “That is an angel you are about to bad mouth.”

“He’s a little worm,” Gideon replied.

“So they declined to let me live?” Riley asked.

His mother nodded sympathetically. “I’m sorry, darling.”

“I guess I’m not surprised,” she murmured. “We knew they would. I just… I always thought angels were good and kind.”

“Maybe to mortals, but welcome to the other side of the table,” Gideon said.

“Hey.” Octavian rubbed her thigh to get her attention. “Don’t think about it. They can’t do anything anymore. Mom’ll send them a letter telling them the matter has been resolved.”

His mother nodded. “I’ll sort it out.”

Riley smiled, the first real smile he’d seen on her in days. “So it’s over?” She peered into his eyes. “We can finally be together?”

He slipped his hand up the hem of her sweater to press his palm against the skin of her waist. “I told you nothing was going to stop me from keeping you.”

She kissed him soundly. “I will never doubt you again.”

“Not to break up this very touching moment, but am I the only one wondering about this impending war? Will it really happen?”

“I believe it will,” their father said. “But the question is, who will win and will they be worse than the angels?”

Gideon snorted. “What could be worse than angels? I mean honestly.”

The diner doors blew open and a stunning figure clad entirely in soft leather stomped in on boots that could crush a man’s skull. Heavily darkened eyes tore through the room, narrowed and filled with blue fire as they settled on their mark.

“Gideon Maxwell!”

Gideon gulped as he sunk slowly beneath the table. “I take that back.”

“Is it done?”

Baron turned to the hulking figure looming over him. The stench of blood wove off him in waves so powerful that it made him nauseous and he was a demon that thrived on blood and suffering.

“It is done,” he told the figure. “The north has readily agreed to join our cause.”

The man leered, his twisted pleasure reflecting in his cold, blue eyes. “So it has begun. The age of the Angel will soon end and we shall rule supreme.”

Baron smirked. “It won’t be hard once we have all four corners on our side.”

“Be sure of it, Demon,” the man warned him. “We cannot afford errors, not when we are so close to regaining what is rightfully ours.”

Temper crackled through him. “I don’t need to be told my job, Mortlock. Was I not the one who delivered the north to you? Was I not the one who found Octavian Maxwell’s weakness? And was I not the one who mastered the plan? It was all me. I was the one who made certain they had nowhere to go but to me to save her. It was because of me that we are well on our way to completing the mission. Soon, we will have all four elemental houses on our side and the gates will be ours to tear down, unleashing Hell on earth.”

Mortlock leered, exposing fangs. “Excellent. Be sure that you do not fail, or your blood will be the first to spill by my hands.”

Never one to take threats sitting down, Baron straightened to his full height, still coming short, but not allowing that to deter him. “I will do my part, Strigoi. Make sure you do your part and kill the brothers when it is time.”

“And the girl?”

Baron thought of Riley Masters and something stirred deep inside him. “Bring her to me. I have other plans for her.”

Sons of Judgment, book #2

Coming 2014

Airicka Phoenix is the Best-Selling author of
The Touch Saga
and
Games of Fire,
with short stories in
the
Whispered Beginnings: A Clever Fiction Anthology
and two in the
Midnight Surrender Anthology
.

For more about Airicka, also on how to win giveaways, read author interviews and reviews, visit her website at
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http://airickaphoenix.com/Author/