Sacrifice (34 page)

“So how did you know where to find Jake?”

“Aiden.”

She bit her lip, sickened by this entire game. “All roads lead to Aiden.”

“In this case, they tend to. Aiden helped me take Jake from the Cavallo and hide him in Montana.”

“What happened to the real members of the Cavallo?”

“Aiden used his mind control to get them to let me have Jake and they
forgot
that they wanted him.”

“But not me?”

“No, he told them you were in Minnesota. And in the woods in Colorado, when you got shot. But I didn’t find out until much later. My goal was to use Jake to lure you to me.”

“So you could win?”

“Why does wanting to end centuries’ worth of agony make me a bad person?”

“When it involves destroying innocent lives? Yeah, it totally makes you a bad person.”

Alex shrugged. “I refuse to apologize.”

“For any of it?” she asked, astounded.

He watched her for a moment. “None of it.”

“What an ass. You’re just as bad as him.” Of course he was. These were supernatural creatures that turned the world upside down out of boredom. Over the course of a couple millenniums, how many people had been killed? How many lives destroyed? She was a pawn, perhaps a powerful pawn, but a pawn all the same. “So tell me this: Do I need to worry about the Cavallo?”

“No. I convinced some to forget about you.”

“And the rest?”

“Let’s just say that you don’t need to worry about them. I need you to stay alive and I couldn’t trust them.”

“And the Vinco Potentia?”

“They’ve been hit hard twice now, but they’re scrambling to recover and recapture you. To them, you and your baby are the key to their success.”

“So they don’t know there’s not a baby anymore?”

Alex grinned. “No.”

“And they welcomed you back with open arms after you killed everyone on the compound?”

“They never knew it was me. They suspected it was you when you helped Will escape.” He winked.

She shook her head. Of course. She knew he had a selfish motive for freeing Will—now she had confirmation. “It was all part of your plan. You didn’t help Will for me. You used it to cover your own break-in.” She sighed. “So they’re still out there? Rallying the troops?”

“They’re scared shitless of you. They want you but they’re not sure how to handle you after your mass execution.” He laughed as he stabbed a piece of chicken and looked up at her. “Boy, they weren’t expecting to see you when they showed up to capture Will in Missouri.”

“You sent them?
Why
?”

“You needed real-world practice. I provided it.”

“
Really
?” Why was she so surprised? This was the man who’d callously raped her. Squaring her shoulders, she looked into his eyes. “In your opinion, is Aiden my biggest concern?”

“And Raphael, of course.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “Of course.”

“So, are you ready to join with me now?”

“No.”

“Will you show me the book?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“I’ve been extremely forthcoming, Emma.”

She studied him. “It appears that you have.”

“The book is technically mine. It belonged to the Vinco Potentia and I am their representative.”

“Possession is nine-tenths of the law.” She stood. “I think it’s time for me to be going.”

“Where are you meeting your father to collect Will?”

“Why? Wanting to throw Will a welcome home party?”

“Why are you so cynical and distrustful?”

She laughed. “Oh! Now
that
is hilarious. On that note, I think I’ll be off.”

Alex stood and rested his hand on the back of his chair. It was a relaxed pose but she saw his fingers clench into a light fist. “Emma, I really need to see that book.”

“Your daddy told Will the original is in DC Just look at that one.”

“I can’t. It’s missing.”

“Aiden?”

“Probably. Or maybe Raphael.”

It occurred to her that she could kill him now and be done with it. She’d killed multiple men, what was one more? Deaths in this game were a certainty. The real question was, how many would die? How many countless lives could she save by finishing him off now? She held a power over him, probably making it easy to accomplish. All it would take was one touch and he would be under her control. Just like Raphael. But didn’t that make her just like the demon she had run from? Was she ready to cross that line? “Thanks for lunch.”

Alex scowled as Emma walked backward to the exit, keeping her eyes on him.

“I’m going to get that book back, Emma.”

She pushed open the doors and looked back over her shoulder as she walked out of the room. “Come and get it.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Unsure what to do the rest of the day, Emma went back to the car and got the book out of the duffel bag in the trunk. It had been a risk leaving it behind, but now she was glad she had. With Alex’s words fresh in her head, she was eager to try to read it now. She shook her head at her idiocy. How did she not think of it sooner?

The truth was that using her power didn’t come naturally to her. Sure, blowing things up had become second nature, but the more creative options seemed to be a last resort. And she couldn’t ignore the fact that every time she used her power, it came with a price. With each use, she sacrificed her humanity bit by bit, making her more like the fiends she feared. Still, the hard reality was that she had little choice in the matter. She had to sacrifice her soul to save the people she loved.

Ducking into another coffee shop, she ordered a drink and hid back in the corner. She laid the book on the table, trailing her finger over the embossed letters on the cover. She silently offered up prayers to whatever deity would hear her plea. Anyone but her father.

She took a deep breath, her stomach crunching into a ball. She’d never know unless she tried, but she’d have to uncover her power to do it. Unmasking her power would make her a target, but her options were limited. One, she could try to read it now and hope she found answers to help save Will tonight. Or two, she could wait until she was far from Albuquerque. The latter was unacceptable. She’d take her chances. Opening the cover, she carefully flipped the pages until she came to the questionable text. It scrawled across the page in thick ink, clearly illegible, a mixture of lines and swirls. How did she use her power to read it? Maybe it wasn’t as difficult as she made it out to be.

“Show me the words.”

Magically, the lines on the page rearranged themselves, forming a flowing cursive script.

First, the prophecy appeared. The one that Jake recited to Will, and not the Vinco Potentia version in the back of the book.

After that, the title “Joining Words” appeared. Emma felt the walls creep in closer and she looked up, swamped with paranoia. Yet she couldn’t deny thick shadows had formed on the walls, edging toward her.

She slammed the book shut, drawing the attention of a harried mother with an obnoxious toddler at the table next to her. Emma offered a small smile of apology as she gripped the tome protectively.

Could the shadows hurt her? They felt ominous. That night in the forest, Aiden had said that part of his, Alex, and Raphael’s purpose was to rule the creatures that had been banished to live in the shadows. What were the shadows capable of that they needed governing?

She was in a public place. What could happen? Emma couldn’t hold back her laugh at the irony.

The mother cast Emma a questioning glance then picked up her coffee and pastry, rolling her stroller several tables away.

Smoke singed her nose and her vision faded as the voice from her vision and dreams filled her head. “
You are death. You destroy those you love and those who don’t even know you. You are the destruction of the world
.” The blackness just as quickly fell away, leaving Emma shaken and scared. Who the hell was that?

The shadows inched closer and coldness seeped into her bones, beckoning her. She shivered, shaking it off. She was imagining things.

Or was she?

There was no question that the shadows had thickened around her. Did they whisper in her head?

She needed to read those words.

Cracking the book open, she turned it away from the wall at an angle, sure that she looked even more like an escaped mental patient.

The words had gone back to their original language so she repeated her earlier phrase and watched the prophecy form the title “Joining Words.” She held her breath as the letters slowly appeared.

With echoes from the beginning of time

To the last ray of light from the stars at the end

I join my heart with yours

onto an endless path that winds through infinity

and sears our souls and power into an unbreakable bond

Through life and death, and all that lies between

I vow to be yours, forever

As she silently read the words, she felt them etch into her brain, forever available if the need should arise.

One thing was for certain. She’d been correct to presume that the words didn’t represent just a joining of power. It was literally a vow to merge souls—and at least with wedding vows it was till-death-do-us-part. Or divorce. This joined the two together for eternity. Death be damned.

So if one were to vanish into the shadows, would the other go with them?

She read before and after the vows, looking for instructions but finding none. Not that it mattered. She had no plans to use them. Ever. She’d rather be cast into nothingness than be joined for eternity with either of those assholes.

The fake prophecy that Aiden had written was printed in the back pages. There was no doubt it had served its purpose to coerce the Vinco Potentia to look for her and think one of them would be the Chosen One. Emma couldn’t help but wonder how many others Aiden had duped over the years. Groups, families, kingdoms. With Aiden, there were no boundaries.

She found a page that told the story Alex and Raphael had shared. Ancient creatures, bored and drunk, gambled away their power for what they thought to be a relatively short time. Until Aiden tricked them, sending them on a perpetual loop through history, destined to search and attempt to win the key to their victory. Aiden’s daughter. All elemental, fire, air, earth. Water.

Where the hell was Water? After a week of no information, if the book didn’t give her clues to find Water then she was at a dead end. Unless she could use her powers and say she wanted to find him. She suspected, and hoped, that wouldn’t work. Otherwise, Raphael would have found her six days ago.

The text looked old and smudged but underneath was a newer section with a freshly inked prophecy, which was odd, given that the text read as chaos to the normal eye.
This
was why everyone wanted the book.

The battle shall end the fight

When all four unite

Four will fight, two will remain.

And the
—

A wave of energy hit her and she looked up, knowing it was Raphael before he opened the door. He grinned when he saw her, his pleasure filling the waves that lapped at her. She could feel his emotions now.

She pulled the backpack off the floor and stuffed the book inside as he sat in the chair across from her.

“Well, if it isn’t old-home week,” she mocked. “The gang’s all here.”

“You saw Alex, I take it?”

“And you know this…how?”

He crossed his legs and leaned an arm along the back of his chair. “I know things.”

“Then you know I met with Aiden as well?”

His momentary pause before he grinned gave him away. “But of course.”

“Liar.”

“What did Daddy Dearest want?”

“Who said he called me? Maybe I was the one to go to him.”

“No one just drops in on Aiden. He always sets up the meetings.”

She scowled. In this case, it was true. “He told me that I had to get rid of Will.”

He studied her with an intense gaze before he swung his head around. “I don’t see Lazarus around anywhere. Did you cut him loose?”

“You lied to me. You made me believe Will was dead.”

With a heavy sigh, he leaned forward, lowering his head. “I did it for your own good. He’s human and he’s going to hold you back. You can’t join with him, which makes him worthless to you.”

“Wasn’t that for me to decide?”

“No, because you could have gotten yourself killed trying to rescue him. I was thinking about your survival, Emmanuella.”

“I think you’re jealous.”

His lips puckered as he tilted his head with a half shrug. “Perhaps. But the fact remains that he is human.”

She turned her glance out the window. “I can’t help but think that you and Aiden know something you’re not sharing.”

Which raised the question, what did they know? The newer prophecy said that the four would join together.
Four shall fight, two will remain
. Everyone seemed to have their own interpretation of what it meant. But what if it meant the four elements were together again. The four shall unite again. What if it wasn’t referring to Aiden, Alex, Raphael, and Emma? What if it included Water?