The 13th Prophecy (16 page)

I heard her voice before I saw her face, “How long have you had to endure him?” I turned and looked at her face. Jenna Marie didn’t mask her emotions, but I suspected she had a veil like Eric that masked other things. Pity was strewn across her face, plainly visible for anyone to see.

I swallowed, and reached for my throat. When I pressed my fingers to the flesh, I was surprised that it was smooth. My eyes darted to her face. She must have healed me. The wound was too deep to heal on its own. My brows pinched. I didn’t know what to think of Eric. If he could use the stone, I’d be worried. Why the hell did he slash my throat? I hadn’t a clue. Our original plan didn’t look anything like what happened. And right now, if Eric wasn’t depositing Shannon with Collin and coming back for me, I didn’t know what I’d do. I was inside the angel camp. There was no way out. I couldn’t
effonate
. Eric said their wards were powerful. They not only shielded their camp from the insane grackles and Dreanoks, but kept out Valefar and Demons as well. It was a safe house.
Except, I wasn’t safe.

Sitting up slowly, I rubbed my throat and whispered, answering her question, “Long enough.”

“He forced you, didn’t he? I could smell his blood in you, exactly like the girl he took.” She studied me, the way Martis do, but her gaze was gentler and less damning. She wore a pale pink shirt and a pink plaid skirt. Little cute shoes adorned her feet. She changed her clothes since we saw her outside. Her long golden hair was perfect, without a hair out of place. I didn’t know if she already knew what he did to Shannon, or if she was trying to get more information. Either way, I wasn’t helping her.

Staring at her blankly, I asked, “What do you want with me?”

She sat down in a chair across from me. I was sitting on a pristine white table. There were four other tables—all exactly the same—forming a line across the tent. The other three tables were empty. No one else was there. The angel folded her tiny fingers in her lap, and looked sad, “You don’t trust me...”

“I don’t trust anyone.”

“
Mmm
,” she nodded, not believing me. “Did you volunteer to be his blood slave? Or did he force it on you? I’ve been tracking Eric for a while. Watching how the curse twists him. He’s very deceptive. You don’t have to feel badly if he tricked you...” she paused, and muttered, “He’s fooled many of us.”

I looked away, “I don’t want to talk about it.” I was hoping that it came across as shame, but I have no idea what Jenna Marie saw. Before last year, I thought she had Twinkies for brains.
Turns out that she was quite an actress.
An angel.
Al didn’t even know that. She thought Jenna Marie was her teacher—a
Seeyer
Martis—one of the last of her kind. This angel fooled the wise and the foolish.

“As you wish,” she replied. “I don’t want to cause you more pain.” Jenna Marie was quiet, studying me openly. What she really meant was that she didn’t want to cause me more pain than necessary. Warrior angels—angels that fought demons—killed humans, and whatever I was. She’d told Eric that they would kill me. I wondered if she meant the other angels or the Martis. And did they know I was here? Was Eric coming back? Collin couldn’t find this place on his own. The lump in my throat swelled, but terror didn’t grip me. My feelings were a dying ember at the back of my mind, nearly non-existent.

Jenna Marie’s gaze moved over my face before she leaned forward in her chair. Her golden hair fell over her shoulders, as she wrung her hands. “I have a question for you. I’ve been looking for you, because I needed to ask it.” Her eyes met mine. Based on the look on her face, this was a plea, not a question. “Will you take me to Lorren?”

She insisted that I take her to Lorren once before. I didn’t tell her where he was or what happened to him. Only that he was alive. Suddenly, I realized something. Jenna Marie was there both times Satan’s Stone was used. She said she was watching Eric. And she remembered Lorren, because she was there. My lips parted slightly as I gazed at her. She had information I needed. She could help me, if she didn’t kill me first.

I snapped my jaw shut and asked, “Why do they want to kill me?”

Jenna Marie flinched, “Who?
The Martis?
They condemned you to death at the Tribunal. You were there for part of it, as I recall.”

“And the angels?”
I asked
,
making sure the angels had no vendetta against me as well. “Are they trying to destroy me as well?”

A soft smile spread across her lips, as she shook her head. “No, the angels have no issue with you. If you destroy Kreturus, as the prophecy says, then you’re an ally. Some of them are just a little worried that you won’t. But none of them will kill you. Not yet, anyway.”

Confusion twisted my face. “The Martis are your creation. Why do they want me dead, if you want me for an ally? Why didn’t you stop them?”

She laughed lightly, as if this were a merry moment. “You think we didn’t? Our creation was damaged during the first Angel Demon War. The Martis were allowed to survive out of compassion. As long as they were trying, we left them alone. I suppose you already know that having angels around checking up on them was a flag?” I nodded. I’d heard that. If angels were snooping around, then things were very bad. I just had no idea at the time. “You continue to escape by the skin of your teeth. You think that’s luck? Seriously, Ivy, I thought you were smarter than that.” Her last words were scolding, as if I disappointed her.

I was numb again, so my snarky response died in my mouth. She didn’t anger me with her carefree words. It made me wonder if they had been protecting me. I glared at her, “I thought angels didn’t interfere. Saving me goes against that, doesn’t it?”

She shrugged. “I’ve been watching the Martis fall for some time. I’d hoped you would revive them, but they were so bent on your being evil that they couldn’t see the good you had to offer. I tried to give them time.
Time to adjust on their own.
Time to redeem themselves and do the good they were created to do. But their hearts hardened and they were fixated only on killing Valefar. Their purpose perverted to darkness masked in light. The war will end and with it—the Martis.”

My jaw dropped opened, “What are you saying? The Martis that survive the war will be exterminated by angels as their reward?” That was disgusting. How could she even suggest it?

She laughed, a perky bubbly laugh, “You make it sound so simple. As if this decision costs us nothing. As if it didn’t bring pain to all of us. Satan’s Stone was used once, and then twice. The seed of destruction was planted, and the Martis grew into a twisted version of what they were meant to be.” She saw the disgust on my face and asked, “Name one good Martis. I’ll save every single one you can name, and I know you’ve met many. Tell me the names of the ones who guarded you. Tell me the names of the ones who sought mercy before judgment. Tell me, Ivy, and I’ll set them aside from the angels’ wrath.”

My mouth flew open, but the only names I had were the names of the dead. Al. Eric. There was no one else. No one I’d met. Not here. Not in Rome. Not anywhere. My voice was soft, questioning, “There were two... And if I met two, there have to be more.” Surely there were more Martis who were good. Good the way Al was. Good the way Eric had been, before I changed him.

“You have the heart of an angel, pleading to save a race of beings that don’t deserve it.” The corners of her mouth didn’t lift. There was no upbeat pitch to her voice. She shook her head, making her blonde hair shift at her shoulders, “I’m sorry, but the decision has been made, and I alone cannot change it. If the Martis redeem themselves, they will survive. But if they do not, their days are numbered.”

Silence filled the room. I stared into space, no longer afraid she would kill me. When I glanced up at her, I asked, “Are there more of you in this camp?”

She nodded.
“Two more.
 
We usually travel in pairs. As I told you before, I thought that my pairing—Lorren - was destroyed ages ago.” She stared into space, remembering something that I didn’t want to know. Pain seeped across her face, painting years of grief and loss. But I felt nothing for her. No compassion. No empathy. Normally I wouldn’t have been able to watch her, but this time I could. When she looked up, she asked again, “Will you take me to him?”

The question flew out of my mouth before I had time to decide where it came from. “Will you hurt him? Lorren has had a horrifying life. I can’t let...” I stuttered, “I can’t bring you there if it’ll cause him more pain.”

Tears were in Jenna Marie’s eyes. A hand covered her mouth as she swallowed a happy sob. Then she moved out of her chair, and walked to the table where I sat with my feet hanging over the side. They had dressed me in new clothes—pink clothes. She fell at my feet, wrapping her hands around mine, “I love him, Ivy. I thought he died. All this time, I thought that he was destroyed. Do you know how wonderful it is to find out that your true love survived?” Actually, I did. She pressed her lips together, eagerly asking, “Where is he?”

“Sit,” I said. She did as I said, and slid onto the table next to me. I glanced at the door to the tent. “I’ll take you to him. But I want to tell you what happened before you see him. You need to know …
  
” Why was I being protective of Lorren? I didn’t know. I had treated him harshly all this time, but I wasn’t sure why anymore. All I knew was that if I was trapped down there, I would want someone to bring me Collin if he asked. But, Lorren thought he was deformed. I didn’t want her crying over his wings, so I told her, “The stone took its price. It ripped his wings off his back, and trapped him in the Lorren. He’s stuck inside the tomb he created in the Underworld.”

Her hands covered her mouth, shaking. Her pink nails, pink clothes, and bubbly personality stood in stark contrast to Lorren, and his dark mood and black clothing. Everything about them was opposite. It was as if they were paired for that reason. I couldn’t imagine a stranger couple.

Jenna Marie grasped my hand, excitement on her face. As she opened her mouth to speak a shriek echoed through the camp. Jenna Marie jumped off the table, panic in her eyes. “Oh my God. The wards have been broken,” her voice was barely a whisper. “Leave. Ivy, leave now!”

I raced after her, following her to the edge of the tent. I started the
effonation
, and felt heat searing through me. I held it until I saw between the flaps of the fabric. Eight large Dreanoks walked through the camp, headed directly toward us. The one in the front tore open the tent like it was a tissue. The fabric ripped apart, as screams filled the night. The other Dreanoks used their razor sharp beaks to impale Martis. Jenna Marie’s voice pounded against my ears, her screams piercing the night as the Dreanok slashed at her just as she opened the flap. Its lethal golden claws flashed as the beast’s leg swatted her out of the way.

The
effonation
continued building within me as I ran for Jenna Marie, trying to dart around the creature. It shrieked as its demonic arms reached for me. I narrowly missed its grasp. I could feel the flames building in my belly, and spreading into my limbs. It was only a second, but I had to save her. I threw myself, hurling my body through the air. I would have saved her. I would have
effonated
away with the both of us. Instead, she lay on the frozen earth with her golden hair covering her face, and an expanding puddle of red soaking the ground beneath her. Before I could reach her, the Dreanok, plucked me from the air.
 
He grabbed me right before the
effonation
took effect. The beast’s touch was like ice, cooling the burn of the
effonation
. I should have
effonated
. I should have been free of the creature, but I felt his grip tighten on me. My power didn’t work. I was trapped.

I screamed, kicking and biting the beast, but he acted like I wasn’t there. Seven creatures cried out and flew off into the night.

And they took me with them.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The wind ripped through my hair as we soared across the night sky. Anger coursed inside of me. They were taking me to Kreturus. There was no other explanation. These things were from the Underworld, which meant the Demon King controlled them. I swallowed hard, and pressed my eyes closed. I tried to summon my magic but every time I tried, it felt like my power was sucked away. Something was draining me. I could feel my power slide away as soon as I summoned it. It had to be the beasts.