Retribution (Redemption Series) (7 page)

"The time was right the day mom
died."

An emotion I didn't want to acknowledge
passed through
Bezaliel's
gaze. I waited for his
anger. I was being disrespectful and unkind, but it was Lucas who stepped
forward.

"You are a
Naphil
.
Nephilim
are a breed that has long been destroyed for
their cruelty, their insanity, their evil behavior. You are the first
Naphil
with the disposition of a full-blooded Angel.
Leaving you was Heaven's decision, not your father's."

I shook my head.

"No. It was his. Otherwise, he
would have stayed anyway."

My eyes remained locked on
Bezaliel
. He grinned. The reaction was so startling, so
unexpected, my even facade slipped momentarily. I regained it quickly.

"Day, I never would have left if I
thought you needed me. But, even as a child, you were fiercely independent. I
discovered early on that the best way to teach you was to let you learn on your
own. You had a destiny."

I stared at him.

"I didn't do it on my own," I
said softly. "
He
taught
me."

My father and I both knew I meant
Marcas
.

"He guided you, but you did it on
your own."

A lump formed in my throat.

"You knew what would happen? You
knew?"

I couldn't say the words.
Bezaliel
sighed.

"The Demon,
Marcas
,
was not expected. No one expected Damon to bind you to his brother. Damon was
the only threat we perceived. Once bound, Heaven's objective changed. They
wanted to kill you both. But
Marcas
surprised us.
Instead of using you, he sought ways to unbind you."

"And still you didn't come," I
whispered.

"Would you have let me?"
Bezaliel
asked.

He had a point.

"So it's over?" Amber asked
meekly, her soft voice breaking the tension between
Bezaliel
and me.

She was standing near Monroe now. She looked
small, helpless. She was as thin as I was, and my heart clenched. Out of
everyone in the room, she had suffered the most. She had lost a father that was
replaced by an Angel. She had wanted nothing more than to be loved, and she had
let herself be drawn into a group of
Sethian
descendants possessed by a Demon because she thought they cared about her. She
thought they needed her. And I didn't blame her for that. She had fed a Demon
and had watched Ian James killed.

"I'm sorry," I said.

Amber's head lowered, but her gaze
didn't move from mine. I was the only family she had left.

"I love you," I said easily.

She smiled then, a small smile, but a
smile nonetheless. From now on, I wouldn't hold back the emotions that meant
the most, and I wouldn't withdraw when I was needed. I would only hold back the
emotions that made me weak. Love wasn't one of those.

"The Seal," Sophia said
suddenly, and I let my gaze move back to the door, a smile on my face. My
response was an easy one.

"When Hell freezes over."

Chapter 6

She is beautiful. She is strong. She will rewrite
history.

~
Bezaliel
~

The attack was unexpected, and I was
weak. I went down with the first shot of power.

"The Seal," Sophia growled.

Conor
was suddenly at
my back, his hand on my shoulder, his eyes hard.

"Sophia," Lucas said quietly,
his voice tinged with warning.

Monroe and Amber scurried to the side of
the room with Monroe clutching an amulet she wore around her neck until her
knuckles were white. Her mouth was moving, and I knew by the sudden feel of
power surrounding me that she was muttering a protection spell. It came in
handy having a witch for a best friend. My father didn't move.

"The Seal," Sophia repeated.

I stared at her, pushing myself off of
the floor, my eyes narrowed. If I had still been bound to
Marcas
,
my pupils would have been red. There's this funny thing about broken hearts. A
shattered heart can't feel fear. One corner of my mouth lifted, and my fist
tightened.

"No."

It was one word. It was simple. It was
complicated.

Sophia growled. "Do you realize
what you are doing?"

I looked down at the Seal, the memory of
Marcas
' fading face etched clearly in its jeweled
surface.

"I honestly have no idea, but
that's the point isn't it?"

"Dayton,"
Conor
said gently. I ignored him.

"Sophia's been ordered to take the
ring. By refusing her, you become a traitor to Heaven," Lucas interjected
quietly.

I looked at him.

"It's no different than what
Marcas
did for me. He's a traitor to Hell."

Lucas laughed, but it was humorless.
Cold, dark, and humorless.

"Hell isn't Heaven. You'd be
sentencing yourself to death.
Careful, Dayton.
The
decision you make now will cost you your life."

"Heaven, Hell, no to this, no to
that . . . either way I'm screwed. I'm sick of the 'it's my way or the highway'
mentality. Screw it. The Seal remains with me."

Lucas held up his hands and looked
briefly at my father.
Bezaliel
did nothing more than
nod his head, his eyes on me.

"Then none of us have the right to
stop Sophia. The Seal is her mission. The punishment is hers."

There was a moment of betrayal, the
fleeting feeling sweeping over me as I avoided my father's gaze. Sophia smiled.
It wasn't a friendly smile, but it wasn't hateful either. It was sad.

The protection spell surrounding me
never lessened and
Conor
never moved away. I looked
at Monroe.

"I'm Wiccan. I don't think the
rules apply to me," she said with a shrug, her gaze moving to Sophia.

I glanced over my shoulder at
Conor
.
 
His brow
rose.

"I'm a gargoyle in exile. I don't
think I can damage my reputation more than I already have."

The two of them weren't thinking. They
were being foolish. I loved them for it.
Conor's
"exile" comment threw me a little, but I let it go for now. I turned
to Sophia.

"I won't give up the Seal."

Her face was fierce, determined.

"You will forfeit your life for the
ring then?"

I nodded.

"If you want the Seal, you will
have to kill me for it."

Sophia inclined her head.

"Then so be it."

The attack was vicious, tearing through
Monroe's protection spell with enough force it threw Monroe into the living
room wall. The white magic that flowed through me then was sharp and extremely
painful. My body wasn't physically prepared, and I flew backward into
Conor
. His arms went around my waist, and he turned to
stone, his back to Sophia to protect me from the barrage.

I tugged on the magic in my chest. It
felt different now that
Marcas
' power was gone, but
it came easily, and its strength surprised even me.
Conor
was sagging, and I knew he couldn't hold Sophia off much longer. I looked up
into his stone face, a perfect rendition of the friend I had always known and
loved, and I placed the palm of my hand against his cool cheek. It was
startling to see him this way. It was a part of him I had never known until
recently.

"Let me go," I said softly.

I loved that
Conor
and Monroe wanted to protect me. I'd do the same for them, but this was my
fight. I wouldn't have them killed trying to protect something that didn't have
the same value for them as it did for me. Their gesture of loyalty was enough.

Conor's
stone eyes
stared back at me, the gaze eerily frozen before the front of his face suddenly
transformed. It was flesh again, and his gaze was soft.

"Let me go," I repeated.

"She could kill you,"
Conor
said.

"It's my choice."

My resolve must have been obvious
because he simply nodded once before ducking away. I was ready for his absence,
and my power bubbled out around me, a shield against the magic being thrown my
way by Sophia. She didn't hold back.

I concentrated on the light in my chest,
calling to it before finally shoving it toward Sophia. She didn't even stumble.
She was an ancient Angel. I was a beginner. But I had a cause. It had to be
enough.

A stream of light slammed into my
bubble, and I felt it slide through. My back was against the wall before I even
had a chance to blink. Sheet rock crumbled around me. I felt my power scramble
for possible injuries, healing quickly as I pushed away from the debris now
surrounding me.

"There's time," Sophia said through
gritted teeth, and my eyes met hers.

Though minute, there was compassion in
her gaze. I stood carefully, forcing my legs still despite my weakness. As a
Naphil
, my body didn't necessarily need food and water to
survive even though it helped. It wasn't dehydration causing me to falter. It
was the pain I had endured having
Marcas
' power
ripped from my system. I hadn't realized how much I had come to depend on it,
how much I had begun depending on him.

"Did you ever truly love him?"
I asked Sophia quietly.

She paused, her hand raised.

"He did what was right. He knows
where he stands. Do you?" she asked.

I laughed.

"You don't get it, do you? You
never even considered him, did you? You loved him, and then you chose the
greater good. You got the best of both sides." Sophia's jaw
tightened,
and I took a step forward, my power building.
"That wasn't love, Sophia. He, on the other hand, offered you everything
he was."

"His alternative was Hell. It isn't
hard to walk away from," she defended.

I could see it in her eyes now. Regret.

"Isn't it? He had power there. He
could have been a ruler."

Sophia sneered.

"And you care so much about our
relationship?"

I shook my head.

"Not yours. Mine. He sacrificed
everything for you. You refused him. Thank you for that, by the way, because
some way, somehow, he chose me next. And I won't make the same mistake. I don't
think I can pass up such an offer. So, do
me
a favor,
would you? Tell me how to get him out of this damn ring!"

The command was loud, controlled. I was proud
of my composure. Sophia lowered her hands.

"A Demon once trapped in the Seal
cannot be released."

I didn't falter.

"I don't believe that."

Sophia's hands lifted again, and I took
another step forward.

"The Seal," Sophia said.

Anger consumed me, and with it, a power
so strong I was instantly drunk with it. My hand was suddenly on fire, and I
looked down at it. The Seal was glowing. The ring didn't like the anger, but it
responded to it. Realization dawned, and I lifted my hand.

"I'm not playing follow the leader
any more. I'm doing this my way."

"Dayton," Lucas warned.

I ignored him.

"Tell me! How do I release
him?"

Sophia's face darkened, and the power
she sent my way was strong enough I knew it was meant to kill. I felt more than
saw
Conor
and Monroe move forward desperately, but I
had the advantage now. The Seal glowed as I turned my palm toward Sophia. I
didn't deflect her power. I absorbed it. I felt it running up and down my body,
the electric tingles as painful as it was thrilling.

"Tell me!" I ordered again,
taking yet another step forward with a confidence born from fearlessness.

Sophia's eyes narrowed.

"I wasn't sent to guard the Seal
because I was weak," Sophia said, her eyes locked on mine.

And that's when I felt it.
Power.
Lots and lots of power.
It
was her power, but it was more than that. I felt other Angels. How she drew on
their power, I had no idea, but I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that it
wasn't just her power coming for me. I fisted my hand, the Seal so bright now,
it was blinding. It was too much power. I wouldn't be able to absorb it, and I
certainly wouldn't be able to deflect it all.

I started to duck, but before I even had
a chance to move, a hand was suddenly wrapped around my fist, and I screamed at
the pain that shot up my arm. It was like liquid fire, hotter than the burn I'd
felt from my anger, and when my gaze moved upward, I was surprised to find my
eyes landing on the scowling, dogged face of Luther Craig,
Marcas
'
arrogantly confident brother. He barely spared me a glance as he lifted my
hand, using the Seal and his power to help deflect Sophia's attack.