The Lost Soul Trilogy (Primani Book 5) (93 page)

With a rebellious smirk at Michael, Jordan dipped his hand into the font of holy water and slated his thirst until the font was dry. Stepping back, he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and belched disrespectfully. Killian kept a straight face but inside he was stunned. What the hell was that? It couldn’t be good. Only the most powerful demons could touch holy water without getting burned. His fingers twitched on the blade itching to bury it in Jordan’s throat.

Smiling now, Jordan glided away from the empty font and idly flipped the pages of the open Bible lying on the altar. The pages began to blur as he moved them faster and faster until he finally slammed his fist down bringing them to a halt.

In the dead silence that followed, Jordan’s voice rang out.

“
And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
” Jordan’s eyes glowed red in the darkness, his voice guttural, harsh.

Killian tensed, listening.

Jordan continued in a hushed, silky voice that sent a chill down Killian’s back. “Are you familiar with the Seven Seals, Killian?”

“I am.”

Jordan stroked the pages lovingly and began to read. “
And I saw, and behold a white horse; and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering and to conquer.”

The first seal: Conquest

“
And then went out another horse that was red; and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another.”

The second seal: War

“
And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
”

The third seal: Famine

Killian gripped the haft to keep it from shaking as he spoke the words he knew so well. “
And I looked, and behold a pale horse and his name that sat on him was Death and Hell followed him.
”

The fourth seal: Pestilence and Death

“Bravo, you’ve read the scriptures. But then again, you’ve always been a good student. A good little angel…one of Raphael’s favorites. Shall I read the rest of the seals for you?”

“Smallpox, Jordan? That’s your plan?” He pushed away from the wall and slowly approached the altar. “I would’ve expected something more creative, dramatic, like mind control or targeted possession of a few world leaders, but mass execution? That seems extreme, even for you. I thought you wanted to rule? Will you kill off your subjects?”

“Humans are more susceptible when they’re terrified. The silly creatures will panic and immediately search for someone to blame, leading to war and all its lovely atrocities. After they get done butchering each other, they will wonder what happened to their God’s mercy. “Oh, how did this happen?” they’ll cry. It’s a simple matter of killing their faith in their ridiculous, complacent God.”

He paused and stared into Killian’s eyes. Measuring him...gauging his usefulness. 

“It’s not too late for you to join me. Your power would be useful. I would make you a leader, not a servant as Michael has done.”

Refusing to take the bait, Killian appeared to study Michael’s image before responding. “I have all the power I need. I’m a simple man with simple needs.”

Jordan’s jaw tightened as he tried to reel in his irritation. Killian was supposed to fall in line and join him. All in due time, he thought. He’ll come around. He won’t have a choice.

He said simply, “We shall see.”

Dismissing the conversation as over, Jordan laid his hand on the pages of the Bible and the edges began to curl and smoke. Killian stared and stayed put. Jordan selected a page, tore it out and held it up as though considering its words. The page burst into flame and he smiled with satisfaction.

The stench of evil grew stronger as the pages burned.

Burning hair, burning flesh.

Overwhelming.

Killian’s senses went into hyper-drive leaving him taut and breathless.

Jordan’s face was a solid mask of evil, the devil incarnate. As Killian watched, the air around Jordan was disturbed by an odd shimmering. The smell grew stronger.

Things weren’t as they seemed.

His gut screamed a warning but it was too late now.

Clutching the altar, he felt the flame in his eyes. His face was hard and cold as the stained glass, his voice echoing in the rafters, “
And there was a war in Heaven: Michael and his angels fought the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not.
”

His eyes burned cobalt as he looked into the empty soul that once was Jordan. “You cannot win this fight. You
will
not win this fight. We know how the story ends.”

Jordan raised himself to his full height shouting in a voice that was not his own, “
I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last!
”

Shocked, Killian grabbed him by the front of his robes and roared, “You dare compare yourself to Christ?”

Jordan shimmered and the robes slipped through Killian’s fingers, sharp as knives, cutting and slicing his hands. His eyes turned black as he hissed, “Jordan is only a vessel.”

“COME ON, LASS! You’re not even trying!” Rivin yelled at me. His freshly-shaved head glistened with sweat as he sucked in a breath and dropped into a crouch across from me.

“Whatever, man. I’m done.” I snatched up my towel and stalked towards the path that led back to the car.

I hate England. I hate the constant drizzle; I hate the constant cold; and I really, really hate the fact that Sean is a lawn ornament.

Rivin caught up with me and whipped me around to face him. His eyes glowed on low, his annoyance clearly etched into his face. “You know, when I met you I thought you’d be tougher than this. Declan used to talk about you like you were some kind of fucking Amazon.”

He dug his fingers into my arm and sneered, “But you’re just a whiny ass, weak little human. There’s nothing special about you. I don’t know what Dec was talking about.” He flung me away in disgust.

Catching my balance, I said, “Whatever. I could care less what you think. You don’t even make the Top 10 of people I give a shit about, so give it a rest.”

“Fuck you, bitch. You’re on my last nerve with this pathetic attitude. You want to help your precious Sean? Why don’t you try getting back in the game so we can kick some demon ass for him? Do you think Killian’s risking his life so you can sit around feeling sorry for yourself?”

A flash of familiar anger rushed through me and I snapped, “Killian does what he needs to. That has nothing to do with me. You don’t like babysitting me? Why don’t you get the fuck out and go play hero somewhere else? I don’t need you here!”

His face lit for just a second as he thought over the offer but then he scowled down at me and snapped, “Get in the car. You know I can’t leave your dumb ass here unprotected.”

Grinding my teeth together, I got in the car and slouched as far from him as I could manage. Glaring twin holes into the side of his ugly bald head, I thought of ways to kill him. Each way more painful than the last…God, would this nightmare never end? Why, why, why did I have to stay with Rivin? He was more than horrible. He was rude, arrogant, and uncouth. He was a pig. He lacked any angelic traits whatsoever. I don’t know how he managed to become Primani in the first place. Since Killian left, Rivin was constantly needling me, trying to get a rise out of me, trying to push me to anger. I’d been mostly numb at first, ignoring him while I worried about Sean, but today he’d struck a nerve.

Dragging Dec into this was sick and twisted. He was my raw spot…I missed him as much today as I did months ago when he died. Time was definitely
not
healing this particular wound. He was the shining light of optimism that I was struggling to find right now. Killian said he gave them balance against the violence that seethed just under their skin. I could see his point, though I wasn’t feeling particularly violent at the moment. Mostly I was tired…I glanced at Rivin’s blunt fingers resting on the gearshift and re-thought that sentiment. Probably I could drum up some violence where he was concerned.

The sound of gravel crunching jerked me out of my thoughts. What the heck? Why are we stopping? We were parked in another part of the park we’d been sparring in a few minutes ago. The parking space was mostly packed gravel and there was a broken trailhead sign leaning in front of the bumper. The sign said the trail was closed and suggested that trespassing was discouraged.

“What are we doing now?”

Without bothering to answer me, Rivin slammed the door and popped the trunk. He lifted out a small backpack and slung it over his shoulder and made like a deer down the trail. Rolling my eyes, I got up and followed him. After crashing through the dead brush for several minutes, we came to clearing. He stopped and pulled out two large knives.

“Catch!” He threw the smaller of the two at my head. He casually palmed the other one.

Ducking out of the way, I stared at him like he’d lost his mind. The knife landed without a sound in the wet leaves behind me.

“Pick up the knife and get over here. You’re going to learn something today if it kills you.”

I was going to argue, but the gleam in his eyes made my abs clench up. He wasn’t kidding. He rocked back on his heels and and I felt my blood chill.

“I said pick it up. Are you fucking deaf?”

I picked up the knife and approached him warily. The strong urge to smack him was overridden by common sense. Hitting him out of anger wasn’t a good idea. For one thing, he’d probably hit me back and that would hurt. For another, I was trying to keep my emotions from dictating my actions. Killian had warned me that I would have to learn this sooner rather than later. Playing nice with others was encouraged by the angels. So unless I wanted to scatter him, I’d need to keep a leash on my emotions. Blowing him up wasn’t really an option anyway; there would be hell to pay for killing a Primani…not to mention my karma would nosedive into a death spiral.

But still…he was such an asshole. Did he really need
all
of his body parts?

Big, looooong, mental sigh.

My senses were twitching back to life and I gauged his mood. Waves of annoyance and frustration drifted towards me, but no animosity. Not completely reassured that he wasn’t going to kill me, I hovered just out of arms’ reach.

He lifted one eyebrow and sneered, “Better. Now watch.”

He balanced the blade and threw it gracefully at a tree across from us. It flew straight as an arrow and landed with a meaty thunk in the side of the tree. The impact rang like a bell. He gestured with his hand and the blade flew back to him.

“Your turn,” he ordered.

Okaaay…whatever. I’ll play your silly little games. I stared at the tree and lobbed the knife at it. The knife tumbled end over end and bounced off the ground about ten feet from the tree. Cringing at the results, I went to pick up the knife and turned around to see Rivin shaking his head.

He pointed to a spot next to him and said, “You suck. Come here.”

Count to ten. Count to ten.

“If you don’t dial down your shitty attitude, I’m going to stab you with this thing. I get it; you’re irritated with me. Fine. You’ve got my attention.”

“I don’t think I do.” With that, he grabbed me around the chest with one arm and dragged my head back to expose my neck with the other. The cold bite of steel pressed against my bare throat and I completely froze.

Growling against my ear, he said tightly, “Unacceptable. You are now dead.” Tossing the knife to the grass, he squeezed me harder and said, “You better wake up, baby doll. Your life expectancy is getting shorter every day.”

I twisted around to get free but he only tightened his grip. His heart beat steadily under my shoulder and he was as immovable as stone and hot as a kiln. Even though my breath was still coming in puffs of white, I started to sweat through my t-shirt. Holding me easily, he waited for me to come to a decision.

“Rivin, let me go. I get it. You’re right. I’m not focused and I need to be.”

He didn’t let me go, but chuckled in a yeah-right kind of way and said, “Uh-huh. You’ve had a sudden change of heart? Sure, love. I’ll buy that. I’m going to let you go. But here’s the rules. From now on, you will focus on training like your life depends on it. You will practice
everything
that you’ve learned from Sean until you can kill in your sleep. And, you will damn well learn how to throw a bloody knife so you can save my ass the next time I’ve got a demon stuck on my chest like a bloody fucking hood ornament. Now, is that all clear to you?”

As I stood there thinking about his words, Mother Nature unleashed more cold rain. It poured down on us, sending wisps of steam off of his arms. My hair hung in my eyes and I blinked the freezing water away. I looked around at the dead foliage of late fall. How had I lost track of time so completely? Somehow time had marched on, even though I’d checked out. I’d spent so much time staring off into space and searching for answers that I’d missed an entire month. It was time to get my shit together and get back on track. We had things to do and I knew the clock was ticking.

There was only so much time in a day.

Eventually, well, you just ran out of time.

Later that night, Rivin interrupted my attempt to make a proper English steak and kidney (minus the kidney ‘cuz that’s just gross) pie. I was studying the recipe on the laptop and savoring a Guinness when he barged into the closet-sized kitchen. His massive shoulders touched the doorframe and he turned to come into the room.

“What are you doing to that poor hunk of cow?” He reached over and drained the rest of my Guinness.

“I’m
trying
to make dinner, but the cow’s defeating me. I’d rather just drink another Guinness and eat some popcorn. Sadly, we’re out of popcorn.”

“I’d rather just drink more Guinness if it’s all the same to you.” Grabbing my hand, he pulled me away from the counter and towed me towards the front door. “Let’s just go out. The bloody walls are closing in on me. I need a diversion.”

Aka ‘a woman.’  TMI. Really, really, TMI.

“Okay, can I put some shoes on first?” I took his hesitation for a yes and bolted upstairs to change into warmer clothes. Snow was falling over the city and shoes were called for.

He whistled at me when I ran back downstairs. Taking in the tight jeans and soft purple sweater, his eyes glowed with lust.

“Stop leering at me! I’m so not sleeping with you.” I pulled on boots and shrugged into my black leather trench coat.

Still leering, he followed me out with his hand on my lower back. Against my better judgment, we took the McLaren. Fresh snow and expensive sports cars don’t mix…Killian was not going to like it if his baby got hurt…

I would totally blame Rivin. Yep, all his fault.

The pub was packed with after-work twenty-something’s. No one paid any attention to me when I slipped inside. I felt a little invisible, but that was a good thing. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with drama. I just wanted a Guinness and warm air. Rivin, on the other hand, knew everyone within earshot and stopped to speak to a dozen people before we ended up at the bar. He was dressed in his usual not-so-baggy jeans and leather biker jacket. His earring was a cross tonight and I knew it matched the one he wore around his neck.

“Here you go, love.” He sat a foamy Guinness in front of me. “Mind if I make me rounds? I’ve got some old friends to see.” His voice was light but his eyes had a strange sadness to them.

Surprising us both, I reached out and laid my hand on his arm. “What’s wrong?”

His eyes immediately changed from sad to lusty. With a forced leer, he laid his palm across my hand and rubbed it suggestively. “Nothing now, sweetheart. Shall we leave?”

I snatched my hand back and shook my head. Idiot. Pig. “Go play. I’m still not sleeping with you.” Geez.

When he left, I sipped the liquid joy in my glass and looked around the pub. Like any typical English pub, it was a homey place to hang out and we’d been coming in at least once a week. I recognized people here and there. One or two even waved at me. With a tight smile that didn’t invite company, I lifted a hand to be polite. After assuring myself that it was demon free, I turned my back on the pub and doodled on a napkin while I let my mind wander, as it always did these days, to Sean.

Yesterday had sucked.

Of course it was freakin’ raining when I woke up at the crack of dawn. Domino took one look at the pouring rain and sighed with her own doggy frustration.

Does it ever stop?

Feeling the same way, I stood in the doorway cursing the endless rain. Later in the morning, it slowed to a few scattered drops so I jumped in the beater and drove to the cemetery, er, Stone Garden. Despite our other mission taskings and daily training, I tried to keep my promise; I tried to come every day. Domino always wanted to go too, so the two of us showed up to keep him company.

The sense of unreality struck me between the eyes every time I came here. The churchyard was identical to the one I’d seen in my dreams. Wrought iron fences surrounded it, and the tiny stone church stirred with an ancient power, though it looked like no one had used it in two centuries. The rose bushes were browning in the chilliness of fall and the leaves had fallen from the huge trees. The lack of softening foliage made the stone angels stand in sharp relief. My heart ached every time I counted them.

Seventeen stone angels…once real angels, living, breathing, warm beings.

They had lived lives like Sean. Maybe they had mates and children some place. Had they ever known love? What were their crimes? What were their stories?

Each day I wandered through the garden, murmuring a prayer for their comfort. I touched the hem of the robes as I passed each one. I don’t know what compelled me to offer the words, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. I stared at their faces and searched their eyes for expression. None of them blinked at me.

They’d been here too long. Even their eyes were stone.

I stopped next to an angel whose plaque stated his name was Gabriel. Waves of sadness shimmered like oil on water. He was one of five who I could sense emotions from. The others were simply stone; their eyes no longer tracking or, thank God, crying.