Soul Surrender (26 page)

“O
h, God, no . . .” Damien whispered, clamping his eyes shut and shaking his head. “No, no, no. Adrienne is not a part of this.”

“I didn't call for
you
to be here,” Ink said, raising his gaze to meet hers. He stayed on his knees in a bowed position. “I called to speak with—”

“Yeah, yeah. He'll be here shortly,” Adrienne said, her voice saccharine. “They sent me to keep you company until then. In the meantime, can I help with anything?”

Grayson inhaled deeply, then finished the breath with several small inhalations. “I think . . . yes—I think I smell him. Lucien.” He darted a glance to me, and I shivered as those glowing, yellow eyes connected with mine. “I need to get closer, but I think he's here. The scent is stronger than when we were here earlier.”

I twirled to Damien. “Can you get a salt circle started?” He continued staring at Adrienne, a sad, lost look in his eyes. “Damien!” I whispered more urgently, and he snapped his gaze to me. “We don't know that she's a part of this yet. Can you build the circle?”

He nodded. “I forgot—I need something of Lucien's to put in the circle. Otherwise, I'll just be summoning any demon.”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the medallion Buckley had given me. “Here. Don't let anyone else have this.” I dropped it into his palm.

“Can I help?” Drew asked.

After a tense moment of holding each other's stares, Damien nodded. “Yeah. Grab a rock and draw me a circle.”

Grayson and I pressed forward, careful to walk as silently as we could.

“I'm not supposed to talk about this with anyone else,” Ink said, glaring at Adrienne.

She shrugged, dropping herself to a seated position on one of the larger rocks. “Very well. Have it your way. Can I at least help you look for whatever it is you're digging for up here?”

“No,” Ink grumbled, and tucked his flashlight under an arm. The ray of light caught the silver cross Adrienne had around her neck, and it gleamed across the valley.

Grayson's breath cracked, and he clasped my wrist. “It's the necklace,” he said. “I'm almost certain.”

“Grayson, I don't think she had anything to do with this. Ink made a call to someone, but his request was for others higher up. . . .”

I cleared my throat and straightened at full height, walking directly to Adrienne and Ink.

“Monica!” Grayson whispered, grasping to catch my arm.

“Son of a bitch,” he said, then finally stood as well, following me into the middle of the scene.

“Hey, Adrienne,” I said, putting my hands to my hips.

“What's up, girl?”

“Monica?” She shaded her eyes from the bright flashlight beam directed right at her face, and Ink scrambled to his feet. “Monica—is that you?”

“I hope to hell you know what you're doing,” Grayson whispered, but it came out more like a pant.

“What are you guys doing out here?” I asked casually. As though it was perfectly normal that I was also in front of a mine a few hours before dawn.

“Us?” Ink growled, the predatory edge tangible in his voice. “What the fuck are
you
doing out here?”

“Now, now,” I chastised. “I asked first.”

“We're just having a meeting.” Adrienne answered. “You know . . . angel stuff.”

I cocked a head. “You're telling me this guy is angelic?” I shot him an exaggeratedly sweet smile. “I bet Mia would love to hear all about that.”

“Monica, really.” Adrienne rolled her eyes and brushed a hand through her side-swept bangs.

“Where'd you get your necklace?” From the corner of my eye, I swore I saw Ink stiffen.

Adrienne fingered the cross, pinching it between two fingers. “My boss gave it to me.”

Panic flooded my chest. “Julian?” I whispered.

Her brows creased. “No. San Michel.”

My exhale was audible in the silent Nevada night. “We're going to need that cross, Adrienne.”

“What?” She flattened a palm to her chest and drew back. “Why?”

“Because,” Grayson said, “I'm certain that's where Lucien is trapped.”

“What? You guys are ridiculous.”

“Yeah? Then let us see the necklace. We'll give it right back. I promise.”

Grayson stepped forward with an outstretched hand. Adrienne shrugged and rolled her eyes. Reaching behind her neck, she undid the clasp and held the necklace above Grayson's hand.

“No!” Ink shouted, and lunged for the necklace.

“Now, Damien! Now!” I screamed, and turned. The fiery circle blazed in the night.

Adrienne stood there stunned. “Is that Damien? And . . . and
Drew?
”

I only had a second's glance, but I saw Drew on the phone and Kayce and George charging us at supernatural speed. George was on top of Ink in a heartbeat, tearing him off of the wolf with a force I rarely saw him unleash. Ink thrashed around beneath George's grasp, and a scream echoed in the mine as George fell backward, clutching his neck. The smell of singed flesh permeated the air, and when Ink scrambled to his feet he held the cross out as though the mere sight of it would keep us off of him.

“Keep back,” he panted. “I warn you!”

Kayce snickered. “Or what? You think we can't handle a little burn?”

From his back pocket, Ink pulled out a vial of water. He bit the cap off. “Or I will drop your friend into this holy water. You think it's painful being trapped in a holy relic? Try drowning in it. I doubt he'd survive it. . . .”

We all froze. Even Adrienne stilled.

“San Michel's behind this, isn't he?” I finally asked, and Ink panted, eyes darting from person to person. He was a caged animal with no way out. Caged creatures had a greater tendency to be deadly.

“Y-yeah. I-I wasn't really a part of it. I swear to you.”

George rubbed the burned skin on his neck. “Yeah, right.”

“Okay, fine. I did the summonings part. B-but that was only because I was looking for redemption. From some stupid dark magic in my past.”

“And the ArchAngel agreed that if you captured me, you'd be redeemed?”

Ink nodded, his hand trembling above the holy water. “Yeah, but then Lucien went and fucked it all up. Lenny told me you all were going to the show. Buckley had told his ensemble women he was going to pull you up for that trick. Lenny watched from the audience and texted me at the right moment to summon you. Only—it wasn't you that appeared in the circle.”

I smirked. “How pissed at you were the angels?” From the corner of my eye I could barely make out Damien's fire circle growing in size, and so I paced around Ink, turning him so that his back was to the summoning.

“He wasn't happy. But said he could use this, too. That Lucien had it coming, and if I could find the sunstone, he would offer me redemption.”

“But they still want to kill me?” I narrowed my gaze, and my voice grew so brittle that with one little change it could break any moment.

Ink swallowed and nodded.

“Why?” I shouted. “Because some stupid mistake Lucien made when he didn't corrupt me years ago? Who cares!?”

Ink's eyebrows lowered in confusion. “What? No . . . you have a gift. One that they never saw in a demon before.” Ink licked his lips and glanced nervously around.

I looked to Adrienne, who simply shrugged. “Don't look at me. This is all news. All I know is I got the necklace as a gift from Michel a few days ago and that I've been the liaison between Ink and San Michel.” She held up two hands. “That's it. I swear.”

“I have . . . a power?” I thought back to Genevieve. To Elliot. A power to give life.

Ink nodded. “That's all I know.” He opened his mouth to add something just as the cross started swinging in circles in his hand. It trembled, and he looked down at the idol. It gave us just enough time to jump him; I slammed my body into his massive wall of muscle. Grayson did the same, pawing at the necklace, and Ink went spiraling to the ground, landing with a thud.

He struggled against my hold, but I was too strong for him. Wind picked up all around us, and from the left I heard a
crack
. Then another and another; in the confusion, several people showed up at once.

The necklace finally stilled in Grayson's hand, and when I looked over, lying in a heap in the middle of the summoning circle was Lucien.

Unmoving, blistered, and bloody.

“O
h, Lucien.” Tears flooded my eyes and my throat tightened as I swallowed them down, running to his side. I fell to my knees beside him, the red clay dirt staining my pants. “Are you okay?” I asked, and immediately regretted it upon looking his body up and down. He was certainly
not
okay. “Someone get him water!” I shouted into the night. Within moments, Kayce was beside me, running her hand along Lucien's leg.

“Here,” she said, gently handing him a bottle. He drank the entire contents, then finally managed to prop himself onto his elbows.

“Thank you.” He held Kayce's eyes for a moment, a heated exchange passing between the two.

A sheen of moisture flashed across Kayce's almond eyes, and she pressed a knuckle to hold back the tears. Giving Lucien a light tap on the leg, the tears were gone in a blink. “Don't disappear like that again. I'll kick the shit out of you.”

Lucien's chuckle was raspy. He licked his dry, cracked lips and nodded. “I'd never dream of leaving you again.” His head turned back to me, and he squeezed my hand with what little strength he had left. “Thanks for finding me.”

I nodded. “I never would have stopped.” Then, leaning in, my lips tugged into a smile. “There's still hope for you, Lucien.”

He laughed again, a bit louder this time, and his eyebrows arched. “I'm not so sure about that. But thank you all the same.”

“Uh, y'all . . .”

“Grayson, not now,” I snapped, not even bothering to look back at him.

“Monica, you're gonna want to deal with this,” he continued, his voice uncharacteristically shaky.

“Fine.” When I looked up, San Michel was standing with one hand fisted around Lenny's one-size-too-small shirt. Lenny squirmed, doing his best to wriggle away from the sheer blast of power the ArchAngel exuded. Adrienne stood a few feet behind them, looking from side to side. And somewhere along the way Mia, Julian, and Buckley had shown up.

“Well.” The word gushed from my mouth on an exhale. “Looks like we've got ourselves a little party here.”

Mia still wore her perfectly fitted suit, and her fiery scarlet hair cascaded in shiny waves down her back. She moved beside me, as did George, Kayce, Damien, and Drew. “You can see you're outnumbered.” Her words were a practiced melody, and if my Queen was the least bit nervous, she certainly didn't show it.

“Are we now?” Michel's eyes glided across my friends, finally landing on me with a cold gaze. His dark skin would have been swallowed by the inky night, except for his glorious luminescent wings, which arched over his towering frame. The lack of humanity in the angel's eyes sent a chill through my body.

“Why do you care about my powers? Great or not, they come nowhere close to anything you possess,” I said.

Julian stood to the side, his head darting back and forth between his ArchAngel and me. When Michel didn't answer, he finally spoke. “San Michel had nothing to do with this. Right?” Jules's voice cracked, and Michel turned to look at Jules slowly.

“Naïveté turns my stomach,” he said. “Only one can give life—and that is our God. No demon, no succubus, not even an angel should be able to interfere in giving back life to a human,” he spat the words, enunciating each syllable.

“What?” Kayce asked. “What are they even talking about. . . .”

Michel's face registered surprise. “You didn't tell them, then?”

I shook my head. “No. I didn't tell anyone—how did you know?”

He smirked. “We've known your potential for some time. You were never meant to be one of us.” Michel tilted his head. “We wanted you out of Heaven—only as soon as we placed you in Buckley's hands, we realized our mistake. Sorcerers always make such a mess out of things.”

A grunt came from behind me, and Buckley glared at the angel, hands fisted at his sides.

“The very fact that you became a succubus instead of a vampire was the result of some botched spell, isn't that right, Buckley?” Michel clung to the letters in his name, overenunciating them purposefully.

Buckley shrugged, the movement itself seemingly casual, but it was done with a tenseness that suggested anything but a relaxed motion. “Magic's tricky sometimes.”

I bit my tongue and somehow managed to hold back a biting retort. After a deep breath, I looked back to San Michel. “So, why now? I've been a succubus for centuries.”

“There was a change in you a couple of years ago. We saw that you were not able to fully control your powers. You would touch people, kiss people, and feel electricity, yes?”

I nodded.

“That was the beginning of the turnover,” Michel continued. “And we knew it was just a matter of time. Then when the sorcerer linked that final spell to you, that's what pushed it over the edge.”

“So naturally you had to kill me? You could smite me down at any moment. Why go through such a process?”

“Well, we tried to keep it under wraps. Such a blatant killing would very likely begin a war between Heaven and Hell.”

Lucien coughed and spat blood onto the ground while pushing himself to his feet. “You son of a bitch,” he grunted. “Nothing changes, huh? You preach about love and forgiveness. And yet you had a soul in need of redemption, and even as an angel you couldn't grant it to her.” He wobbled a bit and steadied himself on George. “And you wonder why the four originals rose up against your regime. It wasn't your God we were against. It was
you
.”

Michel held Lucien's glare. Finally the silence broke as Michel held a hand out to his side. “Bring me the tattooed human.”

Adrienne darted a glance at me, then Jules, before she stepped forward, dragging Ink behind her. Michel grasped his arm, yanking him the rest of the way.

“You and the short human failed. You neither captured Monica nor successfully gathered the sunstone.” Michel placed hands to the tops of Ink's and Lenny's heads. Their shouts echoed through the night as flames shot to the sky. Their bodies were engulfed in one quick flame, leaving nothing but two piles of ash in their wake.

“No!” Julian screamed, and rushed forward, but he was moments too late. He fell to his knees in front of the ash, and ran a hand into the charcoal.

I covered my mouth, suppressing a whimper. Sure, I never loved Lenny. And he and Ink were the reason we were all here tonight. But I didn't wish them dead.

“Now,” Michel continued. “If it's a fight you desire, then a fight you shall have. But while there may be more here on your side, keep in mind an angel's power far outweighs a demon's.”

Jules's head hung slumped. Michel shifted a glance down at him and through clenched teeth ordered, “Get up. Stand beside me, brother.”

Julian slowly rose, head still bowed in thought, or maybe prayer, beside Lenny's ashes. He finally looked up into Michel's eyes. He stood beside his angel brethren, a lost look in his crystal blue eyes.

A tear slipped down my cheek, and I twitched a smile in his direction. “It's okay,” I mouthed to him.

The stones crunched beneath his feet, and Julian walked over to me. He placed a kiss on my forehead, the feel of his cool lips tingling against my skin. His peppermint scent embraced me in the summer evening. Turning, he stood beside me, taking my hand in his. “They are no brothers of mine,” he said.

“Have it your way,” San Michel hissed.

“Adrienne?” Julian held out a hand.

She was quiet a moment, looking down at her hands. Finally, she looked up, meeting Jules's eyes first, then mine. She shook her head, then dropped her gaze once more.

Michel smiled triumphantly. “Come now, Monica. Do you really want to put your friends through this?”

I swallowed and stepped forward. “No,” I whispered. “I don't.”

Voices rose behind me all at once, and I held out a hand to silence them. “Guys—enough.” I walked until I was right in front of Michel, my nose coming just below his chest.

His hand fell to my forehead and I closed my eyes, whispered an incantation. The fire rose from my feet, and I pushed my palms forward as the flames did my bidding and landed on Michel's wings. The feathers sparked, and he screamed as they flared orange and red. Michel was on top of me in seconds, the smell of burned feathers hitting the back of my throat.

“That was a mistake, succubus,” he said coldly.

There was a commotion of feet running toward us. “Do it quickly,” I rasped as his hands closed around my throat.

Mia shoved me aside, and I fell hard to the red clay ground. The flames swallowed my Queen along with her screams. Damien ran full speed at Michel, and the wind picked up around his twirling fists. Adrienne jumped in front of him, and he halted with a gasp. “What're you going to do? You going to kill me?”

A pained expression twisted on her face. “No—but I can't let you hurt my ArchAngel, either.”

Damien moved to pass her, but she followed. He moved the other way, and she blocked him again. Just as Damien moved to jump again, Drew barreled into Adrienne from the side, the two forms morphing together as one. He stood, wobbling, eyes dilated cloudy and white.

Michel smiled at me. “Let's try this once more.”

Before he could get his hands on me, George landed on the angel's shoulders. With one hand at the base of his wings, he tore one off. The cracking sound was worse than any bone breaking. It echoed in the mine along with Michel's screams.

Julian pushed me aside, holding the carved sunstone in his hand. George twisted Michel's arms, bracing them behind his back. The wings, or what was left of them, fluttered behind, and with each brush against George, steam sizzled and rose.

“This is what you were looking for, right?” Julian held the stone up, eye level to Michel. “This is what you wanted? What you were willing to annihilate the only woman I ever loved for?”

Michel swallowed. “Julian, listen to me—it isn't like that. Only God can give life. We can't let an abomination—”

Jules shoved the makeshift knife against the angel's throat, and I could feel everyone still around us. All fighting halted. “One flick of my wrist,” Julian growled. “That's all it would take.”

“Julian, no!” I screamed, lunging for the sunstone. My hands clutched around his; the sharpened edge of the stone sliced into my palm and blood cascaded down my wrist. Shifting wouldn't result in the wound closing—I knew that.

I pried his hands away and Julian fell to the ground, his hands covering his face, blond hair flopping into his eyes. Michel wrestled out of George's grasp, slamming him into one of the giant rocks twenty feet away. He moved faster than I'd ever seen a creature move in my life. Faster than any vampire, succubus, or demon. He darted for me, and I lowered into a crouch, arm extended. I looked to Julian, and though it was all moving so fast, in that instant time slowed to crawl and I held his blue gaze.

“There's no redemption for me,” I whispered. “But there's hope for you.”

With one lunge, I plunged the sunstone into Michel's chest.