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.
The Dreanoks were giant leeches sucking away my power. The added power made them grow larger, and fly faster. It took two attempts to effonate out of the beasts grip before I realized what happened. After that I knew that I couldn’t use my power while it held me. But the beast didn’t respond when I tried to make it drop me. I punched it, bit it, and ripped my nails into its fleshy arms, but it acted as if it was immune to pain—numb to everything. Like me.
I slumped in its arms as mountains jutted into the sky. Each cascade of rocks grew taller than the last with spires of stone that reached into the heavens. The beast wove between the formations, passing them all, and flew higher and higher. The air had grown frigid and thin. I shivered and looked below. The only thing I could see were my dangling feet suspended in air. There was no sign of land. As far as I could tell, there was nothing but the jagged stone spires surrounding us.
The Dreanok finally slowed, rearing back to slow his approach as we neared one of the stone spires. His wings flapped backward once, then twice before dropping me on a plateau the size of a small bedroom. The rock on top of this spire was smooth, and flat as if it were worn away by the elements. I fell forward onto my hands and knees, staining the pink jeans I was wearing. The rock stung beneath my hands as my palms scraped open when I tried to stop the momentum. Sucking in air, I glanced up to see the beast fly off, backing away as if they were afraid.
His voice cut across the space, “Pink hardly seems appropriate for the Demon Queen. Especially today.” My neck twisted toward the voice. A thick shadow masked the edge of the cliff across from me. I focused on my power, ready to effonate, but his words stopped me, “This place is like my Dreanoks, it devoids one of power.”
I searched within me to see if that was true. Pressing my eyes closed, I tried to call my power, just a little to test his statement. But nothing happened. Swallowing hard, I looked across the seemingly empty space, asking, “Then how are you here?” I looked for the ancient demon, but could not see him. The shadows were so thick that I thought the shadows themselves were his form, but I wasn’t sure.
“Show yourself.” If Kreturus touched this place, he’d be trapped too. I hoped. If he was a hovering shadow, I was screwed. As I glanced around, a gust of wind rumpled my hair. The spire I was standing on was high above the cloud line, below an inky sky with stars surrounding me.