Destroyed by Onyx (A Dance with Destiny Book 4) (17 page)

Turning to the approaching shadow, a smile slowly crossed her face. Drostan followed her gaze, yet he saw nothing. He studied her face, concentrating on her watching eyes, noting how she was obviously following the movements of something he could not see.

As her transfixed gaze neared him, Drostan’s sword went up, fear controlling his jerky movements. She was staring at the
unknown
, right in front of him. When his blade sliced through the air, it made contact with nothing.

Angelic whispers filled his mind, entrancing him.
Return to your Queen. She has need of your… ministrations. Leave the pale one. She is no longer important. She is not a demon. You have no need to harm her. Forget about her. Your lovely Silver Queen no longer wishes to meet her. Valencia needs only for you to return, Drostan. She is desperate for your help, for your sword, and for your heart.

Without so much as giving Jenevier another glance, Drostan sheathed his sword, retrieved his cloak, and walked away.

The vaporous shadow drifted closer to her, passing over the smoldering fire, leaving the glowing little embers black in its wake—cold as stones. Not even a tiny puff of smoke rose to mark the place where warmth had just lived. It was beyond eerie, an unnerving sight, to be sure.

Jenevier’s claws immediately retracted when breathtakingly beautiful silver eyes materialized before hers. They caused her breath to hitch. Her pulse quickened.

“Ahh, there you are, my love. I have missed you more than words can convey. I’ve been lost without your smile, cold minus your lovely pink eyes. Tell me. What has befallen my colorful little Angel? Tell your dear friend what foul creature removed your perfect essence. Who stole your glory and then hid you from me?”

“Vybius…”

Her unbelieving whisper had barely touched the air when his arms slid around her, his lips falling hard upon hers.

His kiss was desperate, possessive. The coldness of his mouth, of his tongue, clashed violently with the internal heat her raging inferno of blood-filled anger had ignited within her.

She clasped the nape of his neck, pulling his mouth from hers, tilting his perfect face toward the skies.

The soul-eating dark Angel groaned with pleasure, his eyes flitting closed, unbidden.

“I remember not the whole of it,” she said. “But when I look at you, there’s a great pain within me… a cancerous hole I cannot fill.
You
put it there. I know not why. But… you hurt me. Hurt me in a way that can never heal. Why did you do that?” She licked one side of his neck, up to his ear. “You were as family, my blood. You stood as my protector, Vybius, my dearest friend. Then you betrayed me.” She licked the other side of his neck. He shuddered. “I cannot recall how, but you betrayed me. I feel it gnawing at my heart. Why did you do such a thing, Brother? And what have you done to me… only just now?”

Jenevier watched as a wicked smile crossed his flawless upturned face. His arms tightened around her, pulling her closer, melting her against his form.

Vybius slowly opened his eyes, looking back down at her ravenously. The remarkable combination of deep amethyst and haunting silver was mesmerizing. They bored into her, looked past all her pain and confusion. Prying through the muck, they saw clean through her shell, right down to her tiny, quivering spirit. Her breath hitched when she felt him claim control. He seized her will, caused her muscles to tense, ache. She was his prisoner, his delighted, willing prisoner.

“What have I done?” His smile grew. “I have given you the gift you longed for. The treasure you sought so diligently. The thing you once desired above all.”

She remembered this feeling, the way he locked her in place with those gorgeous, magical eyes. She struggled against his smothering embrace, gasping for air, for freedom.

“Vybius… it’s not your name anymore, is it?”

As it was the first time she met this formidable creature, this demon in Angel’s clothing, her jaw became unhinged and her thoughts spilled out into words.

“Was it ever your name? Or did you lie to me from our first moments together?”

“It was not my name, no. Never had I been called thus. Not until you.” He leaned in closer, nuzzling his nose in her curls. “It’s from you. You named me, my love. When your eyes beheld me there, Vybius was the name screaming in your mind. I loved it. Loved the way it sounded in your thoughts. So… no, I did not lie to you, little sister. I only told you what you needed to hear. No harm was intended.”

“It still hurts so bad… so horribly bad,” she whispered.

He heard her sniff and pulled back, looking upon her tear-stained face.

“Please don’t cry,” he said softly. “I cannot bear your tears, Milady. Yours are the only ones I never wish to see. I love your smile too much. Tell me what I can do to fix your heart.” He kissed each cheek, erasing her cold tears with his gentle lips. “You did love me. I know you did. I can taste the bitter pain of that truth spilling down your face. Forgive me, Jenevier. Let me make it up to you. Let me heal the harm I wrought within you.”

“I cannot even recall the whole of it,” she said. “Only the feeling remains. The memory is hidden.”

“Then let this serve as the beginning of my penitence. I will fill in some of what you have lost, little sister. Some of the beautiful memories only we shared.” He adjusted his arms, tightening his now comforting embrace. “First of all, know this. We never wanted you to leave.
I
never wanted you to leave. Yours was the first light we had seen in eons, the first one to ever stroll into the pits of hell, smiling no less.” He chuckled softly and kissed her forehead.

“So, is that what you do in hell? Crush a soul’s light?” she whispered. “Is that where darkness is made?”

“No, my love.” He touched the tip of his nose to hers. “Darkness isn’t
made
. It’s not a
created
thing. Darkness is simply the absence of light. When all light is gone, hell is the result.” He sighed wearily. “When we chose to turn from Father, chose to fall, chose to leave Him… we left the light as well. He is the light. Once removed, well, we’re the result. And now, the absence of divine light is part of our eternal punishment. The absence of
you
? Well… that tragedy only left us ever darker.” He sort of snorted then and began rubbing her back, comforting her.

Jenevier laid her head against his sculpted chest, listening as his heart fluttered from her tender touch, and waited for his healing words to continue. She balled his tunic up in her tiny fists and closed her eyes, feeding off his support, off his strength.

“Ahh, beautiful Angel, your rare heart romanticized hell,” he said. “It’s not as you think. Not as you saw it. No one wants to be there, my love. Not even us. Not even the dark ones. It’s our punishment, not our reward. Jenevier… do you remember I loved you? Do you remember the words I once whispered to you while I held you against me in the council hall?”

“No. I only remember that
I
loved
you
.” She felt him tremble at her confession. “That’s why it hurt so badly when you did whatever you did to me—why your betrayal was so agonizing.”

“I never meant to betray you, my love. I swear it.” He tried to hold back his burning tears. “It was that damn she-Guardian. She’s the cause of it all. She’s the reason you stumbled into hell. She’s the reason you left it. And she’s the only reason hell spilled forth into the universe. I hate her beyond controlling.” Using one bent finger, he lifted her chin, turned her lovely face back up toward him. “We never got the chance to know each other, Jenevier. Not truly. I want that above all things. I want to get to know you. I want you to get to know me, the whole of me, the
real
me.”

“Tell me what you meant when you said you had gifted me, when you said you had fulfilled my one desire. What did you do to me, Vybius? And… what do you know of my desires?”

“I love to hear your voice, tiny Angel. It stirs me.” He chuckled lightly. “Nothing stirs me. I am absent heart. Well, I was… until you.” He moved his face closer until their lips were nearly touching. “And as for your desires…” He inhaled deeply. “…I read them within you. Remember you not our intimate time together? I was nourished wholly by that deliciously sweet soul of yours. Tell me. Where have you hidden it, my love?”

She swayed slightly, her knees buckling. He only held her closer, tightening his embrace, imparting what strength she lacked.

“No,” she whispered breathlessly. “I don’t remember, not the whole of it. There are but sporadic flashes in my mottled thoughts—tiny pictures of a breath in time. Nothing I can truly hold on to.” She swallowed hard. “Is that why I’m so cold inside, Vybius? Someone hid my soul?”

The gorgeous fallen Angel studied her closely, searching through those empty snowflakes sparkling brightly within cold, black eyes. He glimpsed through the shattered pieces of her essence and gazed at the tiny shards of her fragile, broken heart.

“You were so perfect, so innocent.” He loosened his stifling embrace. “And when you blended with our Prince, your rare beauty stole not only my breath, but my wicked heart as well.” He took a small step back but held fast to her tremulous hands. “Yet, as I look upon you now, I finally understand the glory that is your current form. Minus your vibrant color and tender heart, only now are you perfect enough to be our eternal Queen. It is Fate’s doing that I found you here like this—alone, minus your miserable past. This was meant to be, little one.”

She grew colder. Her whole body trembled, inside and out. “Vybius… what have you done? What’s happening to me?”

The gorgeous dark Angel slid one arm around her waist, his other hand still grasping hers. He lifted her off her feet and spun her around once before leading her in an elegant dance through the trees… accompanied by not a single note of music.

“I have already answered you, lovely Princess. I bestowed a rare gift upon you when our lips met.” He smiled as he twirled her again.

“Yes, but what gift?”

“I filled your lovely little form with a delicious anger. All your empty spots are now claimed only by me. Can you not feel it warming the depths where your fragile soul once dwelt?”

Fear and confusion leapt in her heart. “But… why? Why would you do such a thing? Why would you change me like that, Vybius? I thought you loved me. Why would you fill me with evil things—with darkness?”

He stopped dancing then and ran a single bent finger down her snowy white cheek. “I did it
because
I love you. Do you not see? I have opened the passageway back to where you belong. Back to the one place you are truly worshipped, as you should be. I love you so much I have seen to your happiness over my own, Princess. I made a way for you to return to your ever loyal dark husband, to the man who owns your delicate heart.”

“Passageway?” She pushed against his chest. “What are you saying, Vybius? Quit playing around with words and just spit them out plainly.”

“Listen, Jenevier, Naga, Gealach, whatever the hell your name happens to be this week. You could never be with Apollyon, your Vindicus, because your soul was too pure and your heart, too full of precious love and light. Your separation was inevitable. You did not belong in hell, never would.” He smiled then. “Now, thanks to me, you do.”

“But… Vybius… I never wished to see Vindicus again.” Tears filled her confused eyes. “He killed Varick.”

“Ahh, so you do recall a trace of your past.” He smiled. “You remember
some
things, retain
some
feelings.”

She nodded her head and sniffed.

“Very well then, rarest Angel. I promise you now. If you do not wish it, you will never have to look upon his face, ever again.” He held her, comforted her, tenderly wiped away her pain-filled tears. “Now, mayhap you will consider taking me up on my previous offer. The one I proposed before you laid me low.” He chuckled. “That day of the final battle? On Jinn? Do you recall my words?”

She stared at him, confused, slowly shaking her head.

He smiled and tapped the tip of her nose. “Run away with me, tiny Angel.”

Chapter 20

Jenevier

(ZHEN-ah-veer)

The castle was already under siege.

Drostan slipped silently through the trees, making his way to the outer cliffs. He climbed down the sheer facing and entered the darkened cave used for waste removal. Carefully picking through by torchlight, he reached the cellars of the Great Hall.

A cacophony of harried sounds—excited horses, creaking weapons carts, soldiers’ battle cries—all met him as he raised the hidden door. Slipping unseen through the castle, he quietly made his way to his Queen’s chambers.

Her wings hung limp, a grimace covering her lovely features. Valencia stood before the looking glass, lightly pressing on a ghastly bruise marking the spot over her cracked ribs. When their eyes met, she audibly released the breath she’d been holding, right along with all the bitter tears she could no longer contain.

He rushed to her side, scooping her up in his arms. She winced from pain, but refused to release him. She was as a little girl, lost and afraid. Her shattered soul was evident in her terrified eyes. It split his once noble heart clean in two.

“I should never have ordered you away.” She sniffed and nuzzled against his neck. “I was so scared, Drostan. I thought you were dead. No matter my future commands, never leave my side. Swear it.”

“I swear it,” he whispered. “Shhh, you’re safe now. I’ve got you.” He kissed the top of her head. “Tell me who did this to you, Milady. Who dared mark your ethereal skin? Give me their name and trust in their death.”

“No,” she sobbed. “No, Drostan. You cannot kill the devil, or his Hand.” She clung to him, trembling. “Take me away from here, Drostan. My mind no longer toys with the thrones of men. I wish now only for blessed peace, sweet solitude. Take what little of me is left and hide me somewhere only you can find me. Be my mighty shield against the universe, Drostan. I don’t care where we go. Just… take me away.”

“I know of no such place, Valencia, my love. There is no place on Val Hal we can hide that Brodder cannot find us. When your wings have healed and your strength returned, we will leave this land. I will go with you anywhere, protect you until my dying breath.” He gently rocked her in his strong arms. “You’ll never know another moment’s fear, Milady. I will treat you like the Queen you truly are.”

“Promise me,” she pleaded. “Swear the words by your heart.”

“I do so swear, Milady.”

Her relieved sobs were cut short by a cold, hair-raising, malevolent laughing sound.

The shocked couple spun to face their intruders. One demon was leaning casually against the stone wall—arms folded over his chest, one booted foot crossed over the other. While the smaller of the maleficent pair sat comfortably upon the only windowsill—tiny feet dangling above the roughhewn floor, heels lazily thumping against the wall.

“What a stirring commitment… such a
rousing
promise of eternal love.” The handsome demon released a low, wicked laugh. “I’m touched. I am truly touched.” He turned to the smaller demon perched nearby. “What about you, tiny Princess? Are you touched by their devoted promises? Do you cheer for their perpetual happiness?”

She cocked her head to the side, almost mechanically so, and then lifted her tiny hands and slowly, purposefully, clapped three times—a hollow, mordant sound echoing through the room. The tiny creature then laughed by way of response—a heart-stopping laugh, one icy enough to halt breath, caustic enough to very nearly extinguish life.

*****

Munenori drew in a sharp breath. “What just happened? Did you feel that? How is it Naga is now gone? How did she leave this realm without us seeing her?”

“She’s not gone,” Tenshi whispered.

“Of course she’s gone,” Munenori snapped. “All trace of her simply vanished. There’s nothing left of that Angel upon the whole of Val Hal.”

“You’re both right,” Daichi growled. “Her faint essence was snuffed out, yes. Yet her body remains.”

“I dunnae like the sound of that.” Vittorio glared at the sapphire Angel. “Are ye saying she’s been slain?”

“I knew we should’ve joined the battle instead of pissing around up here,” Vareilious growled.

Daichi placed a firm hand on the enraged warrior’s heaving chest as he made to leave the sky. “Hold, Brother. She was nowhere near the castle when last I felt her. Naga was not slain in that battle.”

“Then what’s happened to my little sister? Tell me,” the mighty Guardian demanded.

“Mama didn’t leave,” Tenshi whispered. “…Mama changed.” All color drained from his perfect face. The flawless Angel took on an ashen hue.

“What my brother says is true.” Daichi turned to Munenori. “Tell me again. What were Uriel’s
exact
words?”

The mossy lavender Angel’s eyes grew wide with bitter realization. “She is absent her fire, her heart, and her soul. She is a mighty weapon to be commanded by whoever shall reach her first. All reason and hope and love have been removed from her. All that was Jenevier, the whole of her life, her memories, her enchanting spirit… all of this now resides only within that seraph blade.” He motioned with his head toward Daichi’s waist.

“He was wrong.”

They all turned toward Tenshi when he spoke.

“That’s not possible, little Angel,” Munenori said softly. “Uriel cannot err such as that.”

Tenshi turned only his eyes toward the mossy lavender keeper of the ninth layer. “Tell me, Brother. How many things about my mother have never been seen before? You were continuously shocked by her yourself, were you not? How can you now stand before me, telling me I don’t know and cannot feel my own blessed mother?” His emblazed gaze fell back to the great forest just north of the raging battle. “He was wrong, I tell you. Not in all things. Yet, he erred.”

“My brother speaks true,” Daichi added. “I know not the whole of it. Not yet. I only know… my Naga yet lives.”

“Uriel said she would be filled up by the one who found her first,” Tenshi continued, speaking his thoughts aloud, sorting through the mystery. “If she was completely minus heart, soul, and memory… how is it her essence had grown when Daichi returned?” He shot a sideways glance toward his ethereal twin. “Did you not say it was stronger when we came here than when you left, Brother?”

“Yes.” Daichi nodded. “There was a marked, notable difference.”

“Very well, then,” Tenshi continued. “I do not pretend to understand the workings of this vast universe. But I
do
understand the workings of the heart, especially Mama’s heart.” He sighed as he continued to scan the great forest. “This is what I believe happened, Brothers. I believe Mama was found by a noble person with a chivalrous soul. I also believe she felt a powerful love whilst lost within this realm. Perhaps it was with the one who found her; perhaps he was the rare warrior Daichi came across… the white-haired one who could smell her essence.”

“Yes, this much is true.” Daichi’s growls almost drown out his words. “I hate the man beyond all reason. He looked like a human version of the two of
you
.” He shot a venomous glare toward Vareilious and Vittorio. “And on top of all that, he had lost her. Armed men were gathering together with him. They were mounting horses when I found them, riding out in search of her.”

“Exactly,” Tenshi continued. “Don’t you see? She was thriving, minus whatever may be contained within that blade. And
that
is why I say Uriel erred.” He turned toward Munenori. “Mama was already living. She was already growing and laughing and loving while she remained with the one who found her. Daichi has already attested to this fact. She was
more
when we arrived than when he left…
more
. Is it not obvious to you all?” He met each man with a level glare. “There’s no way her entire essence is contained within that blade. Some of her remained. Some of my mama, an especially precious part, was left within the vessel. Nurtured by the loving heart which found her, and the friends she made whilst here… that precious part blossomed and grew once more.”

Vittorio’s gaze remained locked with Tenshi’s. “Aye, but the one who stole her away, the one who has her now…
that
one possesses a dark an’ ravenous soul.
He’s
the one now filling her precious vessel, snuffing oot her lovely light. My wee lass is fast becoming a spawn of evil, is she nae?”

Tenshi only nodded at the worried Guardian his mama loved so true.

“We must find her,” Daichi roared. “We must help her break these shackles of darkness and heal her wounds from the past.”

“Yes,” Vareilious whispered. “Before Jenevier is but a fleeting memory… fading away like the night mists at dawn.”

Tenshi scanned the forest again. “I won’t let that happen, Brothers. I know Mama… was… somewhere… over…”

“Aye, wee Angel boy, point me in the direction ye last felt her.” Vittorio’s pulse quickened as he expanded his glorious wings, concentrating on nothing but her. “I cannae stand idle a moment more. Point me the way an’ let hell just try an’ stop me.”

“There!” Both Guardian and Angel spoke in unison.

Without another word, Tenshi and Vittorio dove into the trees.

The sound of heavenly wings was deafening, as the others immediately gave chase.

*****

A single stone rolled across the cave floor, stopping near Daichi’s foot. His steel blue eyes followed the rock’s lonesome path, coming to rest upon his brother’s slumped form.

“Her blood is here.” Tenshi choked his hoarse words out with great effort. “My mama bled on these stones, the crimson puddle has not yet dried in the middle.”

“Here. Tenshi, Daichi, come here.”

The sapphire twins approached Munenori as he squatted near the doused campfire. “She sat here.” He pointed as he spoke. “See where her claws tore the ground, just there?”

“Aye, an’ I can smell her clearly for aboot twenty feet, in that direction.” Vittorio tilted his head. “Then her scent grows weaker, dramatically so, an’ just vanishes altogether. I cannae explain it, Brother.”

Everyone looked up as Vareilious yelled down from the skies above them. “The castle lies just south of here. From what you say, looks like she was heading straight towards it.”

“Or was being led, more like,” Daichi grumbled.

Munenori stood then, inhaling the slight breeze as it swirled through the trees and passed over them.

He gasped. “By all that’s holy…” Obvious fear washed over him. “She may have stood a chance, if it were anyone but
him
.”

At the mossy lavender Angel’s declaration, Tenshi tasted the wind as well. “Who is that? I’ve never come across one such as him.”

“You should thank your stars for that, little Angel,” Munenori said.

“Dammit, Angel. Just spill it,” Daichi roared.

“He is fallen. A dark Angel with incredible talents… one of the first to leave heaven.” Munenori locked glares with the sapphire Blessing before him. “He is Hand to Apollyon, Sage of the Underworld, and the only being who could pull Naga back from the darkness.”

“You mean the soul-eater?” Tenshi asked. “The one who met Mama at hell’s gate? The one who took care of her?”

“Yes, that’s the one,” Munenori whispered. “I knew he was here, felt him with our arrival. We could have defeated him… but not now, not with her at his side.” He visibly shuddered.

“But I thought he loved Mama.”

Munenori only cut his eyes toward her questioning blue son. He did not speak.

“Dammit to hell,” Daichi growled. “Yes, Tenshi. Ahriman loves her. Almost as much as your forever-damned father does.”

“At least as much,” Munenori added. “I have warned you time and again.
This
is her life, Daichi. Wherever those pink curls go… black wings soon follow.”

Daichi glared at the Guardian Angel of Jinn for several heartbeats. “Just… shut it, Munenori,” he grumbled as he walked off.

*****

“Who… Who are you?”

The smaller demon hopped down from her window perch, smiling coolly at the battered Silver Queen. “Who am
I
?” Her voice was icy, wintry as death’s cold kiss. “Or… who is
he
?” She jabbed her thumb toward her now silent partner.

“Who are
you
?” Valencia repeated.

Drostan tucked his Queen behind him, placing himself between the two women.

“Me?” Jenevier tilted her head to the side. “You mean… you don’t recognize
me
?” She turned to Ahriman and snorted out a laugh before her vicious gaze went back to the trembling woman. “Why don’t you take a guess, sweet sister? Perhaps I will come to mind if you but try.”

“My Queen knows you not, Demoness,” Drostan spat. “She’s not like you.” He searched for strength he did not truly possess. “Your Highness, these two creatures are so devoid of hope and love and good, there’s nothing left in them but pain and misery. A wretched, debilitating pain they now wish to bestow upon others. A well-deserved misery they wish only to inflict upon the unsuspecting innocents, inflict upon you, my Queen.”