Redemption (18 page)

“What about Ian?” She hiccuped then held her breath.

“We’ve searched the entire place. He’s not here. We will send a team back to do a sweep, but we need to get you out of here now.”

Becca nodded and Abe swept her up in his arms.

They all rushed out of the building to a safe distance then transported themselves back to Leatherby Manor.

They were greeted by Jefferson and Renee as they rushed into the front parlor. Ryan laid Lily on the couch and knelt down next to her.

“What’s next? How do we fix her?” Ryan pleaded with Sam for answers.

“We need Peter.” Abe stood stock still. His arms rigid at his sides, his head tilted slightly back, eyes clenched shut in concentration. A slight blue glow surrounded him as his concentration increased.

“You rang.” Peter appeared out of nowhere standing beside the couch.

“Fix her!” Ryan screamed.

Peter took one look at Lily’s broken body and knew what had happened.

“I knew that chip would bite us in the ass one day, but there is a way to reverse it. Blood.”

Ryan began to pull up his sleeve to slash his wrist.

“No.” Peter grabbed his forearm. “An angel’s blood is too potent and a human’s blood isn’t enough.”

“A Nephilim.” Sam whispered.

“Yes. They might just have the right balance to bring her back. All of the injuries are internal, so the blood should be able to heal her from the inside out.”

“But where...?” A cry tore from Ryan’s chest as he sat on the couch, pulling Lily into his arms.

Peter turned his gaze to Becca where she was held tightly in Abe’s arms.

“Me?” Becca questioned. “But I'm not-”

Peter cut her off, looking directly into her eyes. “Your father is an angel, Rebecca.”

“Is?”

Peter turned his gaze to Sam. Shock and disbelief contorted his brow. “But Anne said I wasn’t…”

Peter let out a soft laugh. “She lied.”

Sam shook his head in disbelief before turning his eyes to meet Becca’s. The instant they connected, he knew it to be true.

“Rebecca,” Sam whispered. “I didn’t know.”

Becca let a soft smile cross her lips before she took a deep breath. She removed herself from Abe’s embrace then laid a soft, chaste kiss on his lips. She turned to Peter with a sudden look of determination. “What do I need to do?”

Peter motioned for her to sit on the couch. He moved Lily’s head to rest in Becca’s lap while Ryan sat at Lily’s feet.

“Her venom can’t be transferred while she’s in this state. Just let the blood flow down her throat.” Peter took Becca’s wrist and made an incision with his finger. He pressed the wound to Lily’s mouth and let the blood flow down her throat.

After a few moments, Becca’s head fell to the back of the couch from the blood loss.

Abe rushed to Becca’s side. He laid soft kisses on her forehead and eyelids as he sat on the arm of the couch. “How much longer?” Abe turned to Peter.

Peter looked down to Lily’s body. There were no breaths being taken like a human would, but the essence of life was slowly returning to her body. Her back slightly arched as her fingers trembled.

“It’s working. I can feel her muscles moving.” Ryan smiled as he brought Lily’s hand to his lips.

Becca’s head fell to the side as her body went limp.

“We need to stop.” Sam knelt down before Becca. “She’s fading too fast.”

Peter took one last look over Lily and made the decision. He took Becca’s wrist from Lily’s mouth and sealed her wound.

“Get Becca to the nearest hospital. She is going to need a massive transfusion, soon.” Peter waved his left hand above his right palm and a stack of papers appeared. “Just present these at Emergency and they will get her in immediately.”

Sam took the papers as Abe gathered Becca in his arms before they both disappeared with her only a second later.

“Take Lily to bed. She will come around, but it might take hours. Maybe days.” Ryan nodded before giving Lily a kiss and bringing her into his arms.

“What about Ian?”

“I’m heading off with a team from Manchester now. We’ll find him.”

Ryan nodded and was off up the stairs with his wife.

Jefferson held Renee as they stood back in shock at what had just transpired.

“Jefferson, I’m so sorry we had to meet again under these circumstances. Renee…”

“I guess you’re not really her brother then, huh?” Renee asked.

Peter let out a soft chuckle as he shook his head back and forth. “No, but I wish I were at times.” He went over to Jefferson and rested his hand on his shoulder. “Take care of things for me and I’ll be in touch.”

Jefferson nodded in acknowledgement as he held Renee tighter. Barely a second later, Peter was gone.

After what seemed like hours, Ian was on the brink of desperation. He had no idea when or even
if
Becca would be back. Liam made his innuendos, but Ian knew he could not trust him with his life. That brought him back to that fucking door.

He sat on the floor with his back resting up against the foot of the bed staring at the door, more importantly, the lock.

Becca had not explained what the Tersuline lock did, only that her last encounter with one had been disastrous. Even though he had been inundated with information about angels, demons, vampires, and all kinds of other worldly beings over recent days, he had no idea what to do with a magical lock that had managed to scare even Becca into staying put.

He looked around the room to see if there was anything that would remotely be of any use. Some food, empty water bottles, bed linens, and pillows were about it. He picked up a plastic water bottle and approached the lock just above the door handle.

He touched the bottle to the lock. Nothing. No melting or instantly bursting into flames like he had imagined might happen. Still, he didn’t trust the powers at work to touch it with his bare hands. He went to the bed and removed a pillow from its case. He slipped his arm in and wrapped it around his arm up to his elbow. With trepidation, he reached for the handle. It was cool through the thin material of the pillowcase. He ventured forth to grip the handle and attempt a turn and was more than a little surprised when the handle gave and turned as he twisted it. He could feel the vibrations in the handle turning the gears of the lock as they slowly allowed the door to open. The handle was fully turned. He could feel himself pull the door open when he was overtaken by the incredible urge to scratch his forearm.

He placed his foot at the base of the door to keep it propped open and went to remove the pillowcase from his arm. His stomach wretched as thousands of green colored boils began popping up all over his forearm. He rushed to the bucket beside the bed and emptied what little he had in his stomach.

As soon as he had come to what he thought might be a conclusion, he noticed the boils breaking open and an opaque puss oozing from each one. The puss began dripping on to other parts of his body and soon enough his entire body was covered in boils. He writhed in agony for what felt like eternity until the puss dried and crusted up all over his body, making him feel as if he was covered in used sandpaper.

Once his body returned to a state of a dull ache as opposed to searing pain, he attempted to clear his thoughts. He wondered if the boils and puss were the disastrous consequences that Becca had spoken of. He wished to God he had have asked instead of letting it all lie.

Thoughts of Becca brought a tear to his eye. It dripped from the corner of his eye to quickly be absorbed by his new skin. He attempted to move, but his skin held him in place.

He spent hours just letting his thoughts wander to what his life with Becca could become to distract him from his discomfort. He wanted so much for every single thought to become a reality. A small, elegant wedding in the church he was christened in as a child, a romantic honeymoon to somewhere warm and secluded, followed by months of nights filled with trips for ice cream while their child grew within her. He saw himself sitting at the piano with a chubby-fingered little girl teaching her scales. Family picnics, baseball games, swim tournaments, second, third, and even possibly fourth honeymoons… All leading up to a day where they would watch their grandchildren run in the front yard while the neighborhood kids set off fireworks; him holding his loving wife in his arms while thinking of setting off some fireworks of their own.

It all came to a stop as the sound of the lock turned and the door opened. Ian braved the pain and turned his head to see a pair of very expensive hiking boots. His eyes slowly traveled upward to find the man standing in them.

Very tall from Ian’s perspective, but that wasn’t saying much. He could see the sharp jaw line and the shaggy blond hair, but could just barely make out the vibrant blue-gray eyes staring down at him.

“Mr. Holt. I’ve been waiting so long to meet you.”

He circled around Ian’s head and went to grab him underneath his arms. Ian cried out in pain as the man flung him onto the bed.

“It’s too bad you had a little run in with my lock. I hope you will be strong enough to make the trip by this evening.”

“Where are you taking me?” Ian felt the skin at the corners of his mouth tear and tasted the blood as it ran into his mouth.

“So excited, I see.” The man sat down on the bed next to Ian. “I’ll be taking you back to my birthplace.”

Ian gently closed his eyes as he sat in confusion. He had no idea who this man was, but he was positive beyond any doubt that he was Liam’s partner. Ian ventured to question what had happened to Liam.

“And Liam?”

“Liam has served his purpose for now. He got what he needed from Lily and is on his merry way to the path of death and destruction.”

Ian felt like rolling his eyes at the way the man was talking in such riddles and half-truths.

“Becca?”

The man’s eyes lit up like Christmas morning at the mention of her name, and a wave of nausea and guilt swept throughout his entire being.

“My Rebecca will be with us soon. That is what you want?” He lifted his brow as he looked down on Ian.

“Yes.” Ian gulped at the possible implications of his answer.

“I know you love her – It’s hard not to. I’ve loved that woman for so many years. The last time I had her, I made so many mistakes. Not this time. You, my dear boy, will change all that.” A crooked smile crossed the man’s lips before his tongue darted out to wet them.

Ian could hardly handle all of the emotions flowing through his body. He had no idea who this man was or what part he would play in the man’s game. He waited for the man to just hurry up and explain already, but he just sat there in a slight daze. Ian closed his eyes tight, and then asked the question that had to be answered.

“Who are you?”

The man smiled down on him once again before running his hand through the hair on Ian’s brow.

“Gideon.”

His heart raced as the name floated from the man’s lips. The body-stealing, murderer and rapist demon, who had an obsession with Becca, was the one hovering over him and getting ready to make Ian an intrinsic part of his plan to get Becca.

“Why haven’t you just taken me over? It would have been a lot easier.”

“Yes, it would have,” Gideon sighed, before lying down on the bed beside Ian. “There is this little snag about being a demon in human form. My body only lasts about three hundred years, then I have to find a new one to take over my permanent being. I’m sitting at two hundred and ninety-nine and have lost my ability of possession. I thought I would possibly use Abe, but with his abilities and not being of natural human birth, it was not possible. But now that you have come into the picture just in time, I can transfer myself into your body – permanently.”

Ian’s fear took hold of his entire being as he started to shake uncontrollably.

“No, no, don’t worry. It doesn’t hurt. I just take you to my home, we make the transformation, and then you lay this body to rest. Simple.” Gideon words were soft in what Ian thought was an awkward attempt at soothing his fears.

“What happens to me, to my mind and soul?”

Gideon took a deep breath before resting his head back to look towards the ceiling. “I will inherit most of your memories and will most likely take over your life, at least for a while. You will be in there somewhere – I might even be able to hear you on occasion – but you will have no control or say in what I do.”

Gideon sat up from the bed and turned to Ian. “Anyway, we should get going. You should be healed by the time we could make it to the base.”

“Base of what?”

“Hekla.”

Hekla? Hekla
… The name reverberated over and over in his mind as he searched for where he had heard it before. His mind brought him back to a conversation he once had with Lily about all her travels. Iceland had been one she mentioned a time or two. He had asked her why she would want to visit somewhere so cold with so many volcanoes. That is when she explained about Hekla and the belief that it was the gateway to Hell. He thought it silly at the time and had asked her why she believed in such a thing. She replied only that someone had to.

“The gateway to Hell?”

“Exactly.”

“Shit.” Ian squeezed his eyes shut with the realization that his life really was going straight to Hell.