Dread coiled around my heart. If these angels knew I was here, did that mean it was all over? Did they all know? I couldn’t hide from them forever.
I raced through the bowels of the castle, my fingers tracing the damp walls as a guide. At last, the passageway gave way to a wider hall, and the sound of screeching echoed off a high ceiling. I still couldn’t see anything, and my blood began to roar in my ears. It sounded like I’d run into hell itself—and for all I knew, I had.
Air whooshed over my head as something swooped lower. A leathery wing brushed against my forehead. No—not leathery—scaly.
My heart threatened to gallop out of my chest, and the darkness felt as if it were closing in around me. The otherworldly shrieks echoed in my own skull. I pulled the knife from its holster. I’d never wished more for a flashlight, a match, anything.
In the darkness, images began to ignite in my mind—the dragons diving for us on the day the world had ended, their screams rending the air. Hazel, clutched tightly in a demonic talon.
And the one image I couldn’t face—the one I’d been hiding from. Marcus, trying to save us, climbing onto the dragon’s back. I knew what was coming next.
I crouched on the ground, clamping my hands over my ears. “No!” I whispered.
Another scaly wing brushed against me, a scrape of talons against my shoulders. Dragons were going to rip me to shreds, just like they’d done to Marcus.
A sharp, painful certainty coiled through my chest. Adonis had sent me right into my own personal hell, and I couldn’t even see the way out.
I fell deeper, lost in the hell of my own memory. If I let the iron door break open on my memories, they’d consume me. Or else, the dragons would.
A flicker—just a flicker of the blood that had stained the pavement, and I felt as if my mind would rip apart.
I couldn’t save him. I didn’t save him.
When I opened my eyes, my breathing started to slow again. Strangely, light was blooming around me, radiating from my own body over the cave. Apparently, some of the Old Gods’ power had stuck with me since I’d plunged that knife into the silver branch. My terror must have sparked it.
I swallowed hard, staring at the domed, stony cave. It wasn’t some kind of hellish dungeon. It seemed to be a rookery for dragoniles, and they swooped in wide arcs below the ceiling. My breath caught at the beauty of them—stunning shades of violet, gold, and blue, their scales faintly iridescent.
I looked down at my own body, beaming with radiant light, then I gaped at the illuminated ceiling, the dragoniles. They seemed to delight in my light, unleashing cheerful squawks.
“A Bringer of Light.” A deep voice echoed off the ceiling, slicing through the reptilian squawks.
Slowly, I turned around, my pulse racing.
There in the entryway stood an angel, dressed for battle. His sword hung strapped behind his back, and his golden wings spread out behind him. Long, blond hair hung over his powerful shoulders, and a smug smile twisted his lips. “I smelled your magic when you unleashed your light. I smelled the magic of the Old Gods. Animals, the lot of you. I raced here at the speed of the wind so that I might have the honor of putting you to death.”
I tightened my grip on the knife, ancient battle fury pulsing through my blood. I’d have to kill this one before he called the others. “A celestial angel. I’ve heard about your kind. Is it true that if you’re not an archangel, you’re mortal on earth?”
For just a moment, his smile faltered. “Now why would the horseman of death be hiding one of your kind?” He rushed for me, fast as lightning. Just as I began to lift my knife, he pressed his sword against my throat. “Drop your knife. And tell me what you’re doing with Adonis.”
Stall, Ruby. Stall. I swallowed hard. “He’s imprisoned me here. Something about not wanting me to mess up his apocalypse. I don’t know what he’s talking about.”
He pressed the blade harder. “Drop your knife.”
I let go, and it clanged to the floor. One way or another, I needed to get it back. Poison still laced its blade. He’d be dead in seconds. But given the way his sword was pressed against my neck, I’d need one hell of a distraction to get my hands on it again.
The dragoniles screeched above me, their wings beating the air.
The angel stared down at me, his eyes burning with a bright, heavenly fire. “You’re telling me that Adonis is keeping you prisoner? Why wouldn’t he simply kill you? You’re a threat to the entire angelic race.”
Think fast, Ruby.
“He thinks there are more of us.” I needed to keep myself alive, through talking. “Adonis thinks I might know where these Bringers of Light are, just that the memories are buried deep in my subconscious or something. I have no idea what he’s talking about, but he’s definitely not on my side.” I widened my eyes, letting my body tremble a bit. Truth be told—with an angel pressing a blade into your throat, it wasn’t really that hard to fake fear. “He’s awful to me. He keeps torturing me.”
The angel’s eyes flashed brighter, and one of his hands found its way to my waist. That last bit apparently fascinated him. “Torturing you? Tell me.” His lips twitched.
Did I detect a hint of desire in his words, in his eyes? Fae were experts in pleasure, and I do believe I’d found this angel’s weakness. Here on earth, angels were not only mortal, but vulnerable to primal desires—just like the beasts. And this one was a sadistic perv.
I thought I’d found my distraction. I let my lip tremble. “You want me to tell you how he hurt me?”
“Oh yes.”
I swallowed hard. I didn’t have any visible scars, so I’d have to get creative. “He locks me in here, knowing that I’m scared of the dark, that I’m scared of dragons.” I widened my eyes, all innocence. “He uses his mind control on me and forces me to hold my head underwater until my lungs burn, or to contort my body in painful positions for hours. I’ve never felt so helpless. I’ve never felt such excruciating pain.”
The angel licked his lips, his wings spreading out wider behind him. “What else does he make you do?”
“Sick, depraved things that I can’t even speak about. And the pain. The pain. I can’t bear it anymore. Can you get me out of here?”
The angel’s fingers tightened on my waist. Oh, he liked that idea. Sicko. “Tell me more.”
“He uses his angelic mind control powers to make me choke myself until my lungs burn.”
“I want to watch you hurt yourself,” he rasped.
I shot a quick glance at the knife on the floor. Pervy Angel still had a sword at my throat, and I wasn’t able to reach for it. “I’m afraid he’s broken me completely. But it’s no use. I still can’t remember anything about the Old Gods.”
The angel’s eyes burned with desire. He wanted what Adonis had. Right now, he’d give anything for that power of mind control.
He gripped the back of my neck, forcing his blade deeper into my skin. I winced at the sharp pain, and a trickle of blood ran down my throat. He kicked the knife away from me, and it spun across the floor with a scraping noise.