Demon's Daughter: A Cursed Book (26 page)

Somewhere along the way, I was turned around and pressed against Warrick’s chest. I tried to push away, but he wrapped his arms around my back and held me close.

That was when I let it all go. I couldn’t contain it. All the tenacity from years of fighting, struggling, bleeding, and promising I would never let anyone hurt my sister, had disappeared. It was stolen the moment I looked over my shoulder and realized my stupid mistake.

Keep her safe. That was the only thing I had to do right. And I’d failed.

I shook as violent sobs choked out of my throat. My face burned with tears. My screams were muffled against Warrick’s chest. I don’t know how he was able to hold the emotional storm I had become, but somehow he found a way.

He didn’t say anything as my tears soaked into his shirt. Warrick rested his head on top of mine. He made me feel safe, and almost tricked me into thinking everything would be okay.

But my safety and comfort didn’t matter. I had to pull it together, or I would never be able to save Dro. I jerked my head back and shoved Warrick away. This time he let me go. I wiped at my eyes, purposefully avoiding his face. I couldn’t handle whatever I might do if I looked in his eyes.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I mumbled.

“Yes I did,” he said sympathetically. “I’ve been there, Constance. You can’t be indestructible all the time.”

I thought about everything that had happened. Battling for my life and my sister’s life long before we knew what hunted us. Learning what Dro was and how much harder it would be to protect her. Losing a man who mentored me, and getting untrustworthy, supernatural allies. Not understanding how to deal with a man who wanted to keep me away one minute then hold me the next. Failing my sister and almost dying because of it. Feeling a grief that was strong enough to break me in half.

I pushed it all down, hid it away, and drew on all my anger. My rage was stronger than any pain. If anything could hold me together long enough to rescue Dro, that would be it.

When I looked at Warrick again, I let him see how unbreakable I could be. He held his breath.

“Watch me,” I said.

I walked past him and opened the motel door. The angels looked up when I came back in. Something awful must have been on my face because even Rorikel kept his mouth shut.
Thank God for small favors.

I moved past them and sat at the table across from Max. The poor kid looked exhausted and distraught with worry. I didn’t apologize with words, but I gave him a heartfelt look and reached over to clutch his hand. Max squeezed my hand tightly. He must have felt the same remorse and pain that I did.

“Did you find anything?” I asked quietly.

Max sighed and dropped the hand that had been holding up his head. “All I’m seeing is Athens. I can’t really tell what’s happening.”

“Take your time,” I said, pretending to be calm. “Tell me what you see.”

Max blew out a breath and closed his eyes. “I can see the town. No one’s on the streets. There’s rooms filled with demons. There’s a lot of blood, and I hear someone screaming.” Max winced, hurt clear in his gentle, dark eyes.

“It might be Dro.”

We were both silent when he said that. I leashed my emotions so I wouldn’t start screaming and tearing down the wallpaper.

“Then there’s this guy,” Max continued once he was mostly composed. “He’s surrounded by shadow. I can’t make out his face, but he’s powerful, and definitely not human. He may be more powerful than Dro.” He opened his eyes, looking defeated. “It ends after that. I don’t see anything else.”

I kept my hand in his. Max was looking at me for guidance, to stay strong while we searched for Dro. He hadn’t seen the way I’d fallen apart on the balcony with Warrick. That meant I could lie to him as well as myself.

“Must have something to do with those underground tunnels in Athens,” I gave him a weak smile. “That’s good enough for me. Let’s go.”

“We do not know for certain when his vision will occur,” said Rorikel. “His powers are sporadic at best.”

I glared. “This isn’t Max’s fault.”

Rorikel frowned. “He is human. His mind and emotional state are not trustworthy at this time.”

“Dude, I’m right here,” Max said impatiently.

Rorikel ignored him. “For all we know, the things he has seen have happened already.”

“Doesn’t matter,” I argued, my temper rising to a boil. “Dro’s missing. We have to get her back. If Athens is the source of all this power you guys are feeling and that’s where Max’s vision is leading him, then she must be there.”

“Perhaps it is a ruse to bring you into a trap.” He gave me a dark look. “It would not be the first one you fell into.”

I stared at him for a long time. Then I let go of Max’s hand and stood up and walked across the room. There was a lamp on the dresser, which I took and threw it at Rorikel’s head.

One more broken piece of furniture wouldn’t matter at this point. The only reason the cops hadn’t strolled in and hauled us out was because of the soundproof warding the angels had set up.

The lamp shattered against the wall, and a few shards of it scratched along Rorikel’s face. He swiped at his cheek, shocked when his fingers came away bloody. He looked furious, but his own temper was nothing compared to mine.

“You dare–”

“
Shut up
,” I snapped. “I am not in the mood to be picked apart by you. My sister is missing, and we can all share the blame for being tricked. So if you don’t have anything useful to contribute in the next five seconds, you can get the fuck out of my way. I’m going to Athens. And you are not strong enough to stop me.”

Maybe he was, but I didn’t care. My limited patience had been used up on Max, and now I was ready to hit anyone who breathed on me wrong.

The angry angel drew himself up to his full height and took a step toward me. Someone moved up to my side. Warrick. I don’t know what the hell he planned to do against an angelic warrior-asshole like Rorikel, but it was nice to have some support.

Then Rorikel stopped abruptly, as if something else had caught his attention. Behind him, Sephiel had the same kind of startled look. Max gasped sharply. I whirled around and saw him clutching his head.

“Max? What’s wrong?”

“Another vision,” he said in a breath. “Damn it, ow–”

“Andromeda has opened her connection to us,” Sephiel said.

Just as I turned to him, Sephiel rushed over and slapped his hand against my forehead. I had one second to breathe before I was taken–

–
to the room where she was being held. Her feet and ankles were chained to the floor, warded with powerful spells to ensure that she couldn’t escape. The skin around the shackles was raw and bloody. She was scared and in pain, her head throbbing from the pounding it had taken in the fight and her capture. She pushed again, trying to get the message out so they could find her.

“Come on, someone please,” she whispered.

The door opened. Dro pushed herself back. A tall, lean woman entered the room with two burly men behind her. One of them was Drake. Dro felt bile rise in her stomach when Drake sneered at her, pure liquid hate for what he’d done to Constance burning in her heart. But then she saw the woman. The bile was replaced with anger, and fear.

Six years had aged her, but she still carried herself regally. Her body was covered in an elegant black cloak that bared her shoulders, her feet cased in heavy leather boots. Her arms were concealed in long silky gloves, her night black hair pulled up in a tight bun at the top of her head. Her dark eyes were surrounded with eye shadow and mascara, but Dro could see the bruised circles of exhaustion under them. Staring at her face was like looking into an endless, black abyss.

“Isabel,” Dro breathed. “You were at the camp.” Her anger was building. “It was all you.”

The witch smiled. “Of course it was. The demons couldn’t break through by themselves, after all. Not even the most powerful ones had access to this plane. I offered my services to them, and was rewarded with enough power to bring them over. To find you.”

Dro grinned wickedly, defiance coming through. “But you failed. I didn’t go with the demons that night. My sister got me free.”

Isabel’s smile faltered, anger flashing through her dark eyes. “An unforeseen circumstance that will not happen twice. Your sister is dead. Drake saw to that himself.”

Drake smiled.

Dro looked between them, hoping to find their lie. But they just kept smiling. Dro started shaking her head.

“No,” she whispered, barely a breath. “No.”

Isabel smiled almost sympathetically, and took another step into the dark room. “Don’t cry, Andromeda. Rejoice. The time is almost upon us. You shall set them free. All the souls condemned to Hell. You will be a savior for the lost.”

“No. I’m not doing anything for you.” Dro’s voice trembled with sorrow and anger. Her power surged. “Because of you, all those people at Owl Creek are dead.” The air became heated and heavy. “Because of you, my parents are dead. Constance is…” She couldn’t say it. She didn’t want to say it. Doing so would make it true.

Isabel’s eyes turned completely black. She held out her hand to Dro and concentrated. A thousand invisible knives stabbed into Dro’s nerves. She screamed as pain consumed her, numbing out her building powers. Dro dropped onto her side and cried out again as Isabel twisted her hand, like she was twisting all the knives at once.

She lowered her hand and the torture stopped. Dro’s body convulsed in agony. Tears seeped past her eyelids.

“Know this, halfbreed. Just because your father desires you, does not mean you can’t be harmed.”

Dro twisted her head to look up at Isabel. “How can you know my father? He was human.”

Isabel smiled. “Was he?”

She held out her hand and shot the painful spell at Dro. She screamed as the invisible knives ripped in her body again. The pain was so intense she began to black out–

–
I stepped back from Sephiel, wondering why the room was shaking. Then I realized that it wasn’t the room. It was me.

I replayed the whole scene. Isabel was alive. On the side of the demons. Torturing Dro. Feeling her pain was enough to threaten tears again, but I held them back and looked for the rage. It was easier to find, and didn’t hurt half as much.

I looked over and saw that Rorikel had taken his hand away from Warrick’s head. The demon slayer looked at me with horror, then with pity. I turned my head away from him. I didn’t need pity. I needed to save Dro, and kill Isabel.

“The pull was definitely from Athens,” Max whispered from behind me. He sounded so broken-hearted that I couldn’t look at him. “She’s there. I’m positive.”

“Do you know that woman, Constance?” Sephiel asked. “Isabel?”

Just hearing her name almost sent me over the edge. I put my hand on the hilt of my hatchet and gripped it tightly.

“Yeah, I know her,” I said. “She’s the one who caused the Owl Creek Slaughter.”

The angels may not have been familiar with the slaughter, but Warrick and Max were. They knew the background, what the media had released. But they didn’t know the details as intimately as I did. They didn’t have nightmares of blood and screams. They didn’t wake up with fear at the first smell of smoke.

I moved over to the bed and sat down, taking the hatchet from my hip and turning it in my hands. I sighed, and told them what really happened at Owl Creek…

Dro was turning ten years old. Her birthday was on a weekend, but both Mom and Dad were able to get time off to spend it with us. I was fourteen, so while Dro was inside the camper baking and cooking with Mom, I was helping Dad chop the firewood. He was busy carving Dro’s gift from a leftover piece of wood.

I looked up and glanced around the camp, not really looking for anything or anyone.

Until I saw her.

Isabel.

I’d never seen her here before. That was my first clue that something was wrong. The second was that she wasn’t dressed for camping. No fleece jacket, hiking boots, or jeans. Instead she wore a strapless black cloak, long black gloves, and black boots. I gripped the hatchet tightly.

“Dad,” I said. “Isabel’s here.”

My father was confused until he followed my line of sight. Isabel’s eyes found him. She smiled.

Dad turned to me and gripped my shoulders.

“Go inside with your Mom and your sister.”

I didn’t like the way his voice sounded. “But–”

“Just do it, Constance.”

Dad was more than capable of protecting himself, but the feeling in my gut, the one that told me something awful was about to happen, just wouldn’t leave.

But I listened to him and hurried into the camper, the door slamming shut behind me. Mom and Dro looked up from the kitchenette, confusion and worry on their faces. Dro knew immediately that something was happening. She could read me better than anyone.

“Constance?” Mom said. “What’s going on? Where’s your father?”

Just as I was about to speak, I heard raised voices from outside the camper.

“Stay back, Dro,” I ordered as Mom and I rushed toward the window.

We huddled together and looked outside into the darkness, where my father was facing off with Isabel. He was taller and stronger than she was, but I didn’t think she would stand up against him if she couldn’t fight for herself.

“I don’t give a damn,” my father shouted angrily. “You aren’t taking her.”

Isabel scowled. “You don’t understand the implications of refusing like this.”

“I don’t care. I warned you. She isn’t going anywhere with you.”

Isabel’s eyes changed, turning pitch black. I felt a chill go through my bones. Dad took a step back.

“What the–”

“Return the child to me, mortal,” commanded Isabel. In two voices.

One was hers, but another one layered over it. A deep, imposing voice. The voice a monster might have. “Or you and yours shall suffer greatly.”