I turn away, not wanting to watch her reheat the poker in the flames of her elaborate fireplace.
My gaze lands on the bruised and bloody face of Chris Morgan. She’s chained to a metal platform beside mine. Our capture has been harder on her—she’s been in and out of consciousness for the last three days. That monster is using Chris’s screams as another device to torture me.
Chris’s pain and suffering is my fault. I’m the one who convinced her so many years ago to help us with Madison. I’m the one who talked her into staying on Mortal Ground to protect Madison in a way Guardians never have before. I’m the one who chose the cabin I shared with Damien as the meeting place should Madison ever be in trouble.
And I’m the one who led Reina, the Gatekeeper, to us both.
The poker sizzles, ready for the next round of questioning. With Chris unconscious, this round is for me. I should be used to the pain by now—we’ve been at this almost nonstop since Wednesday morning. No matter what she does to me, I will not give her the information she wants.
I concentrate on the candelabra dangling twenty feet above me. Over a hundred black candles, with flames reaching higher than any natural candle’s flame, blaze in an eerie glow against bone holders. Human bone. I try not to grimace in horror. Instead, I pretend it’s just an oddly beautiful candelabra and the curved and broken bones belong to some animal.
Maybe that’s all I am to her.
My breath catches as the red-hot poker touches the skin under my right ribcage. I try not to scream as layers of my flesh burn away, creating a foul smell.
“Come on, Elizabeth,” Reina coos, “let it out. That has to hurt.”
Reina’s onyx eyes gleam with firelight, and her plum-colored lips smile as she towers over me. She looks just as wild and brazen as the day I met her. I suppose she’d have to be, being the only surviving female Archangel. Black locks, tightly curled, frame her oval face and extend down to her red-leather corset that matches her leather pants. Behind her, black-feathered wings extend high above her head and flow down to meet the ground.
“Just a little scream?” she pleads, running the poker over more of my skin.
It sizzles like bacon on a skillet. I bite my cheeks against the pain.
“Your screams are my favorite part. You can actually feel, which makes this even sweeter. Do you still think it is worth it—the pain, years of lies, death, and exile—all for that abomination?”
For a moment the heat is gone. I release my breath, hoping she’s gotten bored again.
“Yes,” I pant. “And I’d do it all over again—”
Reina jabs the end of the poker into my abdomen, burning me from the inside out. I finally scream and wither against my restraints. The red glowing shackles peel away more skin on my ankles and wrists, causing my scream to deepen.
If I could, I would enter the Great Divide and leave this godless place. I can’t, though. The horrible devices holding me to the metal slab are enchanted so the dead can’t escape from them.
She pulls out the poker again. “You are a fool, Elizabeth.” She smirks. “It will be all the more enjoyable when I finally break you.”
I turn away again and close my eyes, sending out a prayer that Madison is safe.
I wanted to stay long enough to make sure she woke after MJ pulled her from the fire, but then I felt the Gatekeeper’s presence on Mortal Ground. I knew if I lingered, I would only lead Reina to her—after seventeen years of great lengths and sacrifices to keep her safe. So I left her unconscious in MJ’s arms, recovering from the Influencer’s attack, and I fled to our cabin to meet Chris.
I open my eyes. Reina turns her back on me, reheating the poker. Everything inside tightens, anticipating the pain. I will withstand whatever Reina does to me. I must in order to keep Madison safe.
She will save us all.
I turn and stare at Chris again. Her lids flutter as she begins to regain consciousness. That was the longest stretch she’s been unconscious. Her wounds are barely healing anymore. She can’t take this much longer.
Her eyes suddenly open and lock on mine.
I wish Cerebrallink worked in here so I could tell her to stay still and quiet. She needs more time to heal before Reina tortures her again. Instead, I tilt my head toward her, my eyes searching hers, then pretend to sleep for a moment. I hope she will understand I want her to rest and recover her strength.
After a moment, her chin drops slightly in a nod before she closes her eyes again. I take a breath, then return my attention to Reina.
The flames dancing around the poker reflect in her onyx eyes. “I killed you because I thought it would free him,” she says. “I thought it would bring Damien back to me. Of all my lovers, he is my favorite.”
At the sound of his name, hope blossoms in my chest. My gaze flashes to the enormous set of doors on the other side of the room, watching for him to come rushing in to save me.
She tilts her head back and laughs. “That is right. I can say ‘Damien’ as many times as I want, and he will not hear it. My chambers are protected. You can say it too. Give it a try. Cry out for your lover to save you. Your faith in him is pathetic.”
“What’s pathetic,” I spit back, “is lusting after—”
She slaps me with such force, my head smacks against the slab. Her lips curl, and deep loathing pours out of her eyes.
“I was supposed to be rid of you. But then you had to save that damn abomination. It had so much power in its puny body and no way of controlling it.”
Right after Reina killed me in that car accident, I saw Madison. Oh, the things she could do. Her very breath, even as a newborn, defied the rules of both Heaven and Hell. I brought Damien to her. We both knew she would never be safe if anyone found out about her. They would either kill her—as Reina has tried to do—or use her abilities to bring great devastation.
Of all the Fallen, he feared Reina the most. Because of her, he has always protected Madison from a distance. He couldn’t get involved unless it is absolutely necessary.
“I followed him, letting him lead me to the child in Seattle. I admit I thought he killed it—he killed so many in that hospital. But then you resurfaced with it in Georgia. Again, I thought he killed it when he burned the foster home. It took me sixteen years to figure out he lied to me.”
In one swift motion she clears the distance between us and shoves the poker into my abdomen again. I bend forward, cringing in pain, unable to scream from how badly it hurts. Tears stream forward, blurring my vision.
“So which one of the remaining four girls is she?”
She twists the poker inside me, trying to draw out my answer.
Through the intense pain, all I can think is, thank God she doesn’t know who Maddy is. Her list only includes the decoys. They were Damien’s idea. I never approved—up until this year.
Slowly, Reina inches the poker out, allowing me to breathe and answer her.
“I don’t . . . know what . . . you’re talking about.”
She shoves the poker back in and leans over me, coming so close I can feel the heat from her skin.
“I will find the abomination.” Each word is felt against my cheek. “And I will destroy her.”
Reina withdraws the poker and points it at Chris—my blood drips off the end. “Who else besides this Guardian is helping you hide her?”
Chris stiffens in fear at the reference. I pray Reina doesn’t notice.
Her eyes narrow at me.
“No one,” I reply.
“Liar!” she growls. “I know you and Damien have others hiding her. That is how you were able to guard the child without leading me to her again. Is there another traitor among us? Or perhaps it is another from your side?”
“There’s no one,” I lie again.
I wasn’t able to send word to Duane the Shadowwalker before Reina caught us. I don’t know if he’s aware of what Maddy went through at the demon’s house. I hope he is. I hope he and the Protector are working together to save her.
“What about the two Protectors who showed up just after the eighth girl died? Are they working with you too?”
I hold my tongue.
She clucks, disappointed, and sets the poker back in its holder. “Well, no matter. I will find out who they are soon enough. Whoever is protecting the abomination, I will end them. I will end them all.”
At that, a blade suddenly appears in her hand. It’s made of bone, curved and broken. Red leather wraps around the handle. She raises it to my cheek. Power—evil power—radiates from it.
Everything inside me tightens.
“This,” she says, “is a present I had created for myself. It destroys lesser beings like you. It cannot kill an Archangel, however—a girl can never be too careful.”
She marches over to Chris—and stabs her in the heart.
Chris’s eyes fly open in horror, and her mouth drops. Before I can scream, she’s gone. Her body vanishes. Forever.
Violent sobs rack my body. This too is my doing. I may not have held the blade myself, but her permanent death is on my hands.
Reina inspects the blade, holding it up for us both to see. There isn’t even any blood on it—no proof she just destroyed Chris. She smiles, satisfied with what she’s done, then the blade disappears.
“I know about your Time Keeper,” she says.
My grief vanishes. “What?”
She points to the right. I strain my neck. Beside her plush velvet couch, I see the white edge of what looks like a fountain.
“How thoughtful of you to create that for me.” She grins.
Fear grips my heart until it’s so small I feel hollow. “What are you going to do with my fountain?” My voice is as empty as my heart.
“Dearest Elizabeth, I have already done it. I used the fountain to link to your pet and suck her soul into the body of the last girl I killed. She felt the flames of death as if it were her own. I will do the same with the remaining girls. For her sake, you should hope she is the next girl.” Her grin widens. “Personally, I hope she is the last.”
She grabs my chin, her long fingernails piercing my skin as she forces me to stare into her soulless onyx eyes.
“I will destroy the abomination—and with it, her ability to make the dead feel. I will be crowned the new ruler of the City of the Damned. Damien will be mine again. And I will spend eternity torturing you for your sins.”
She gives my face a hard shove, then spins away. “Good-bye, Elizabeth. I am off to kill your precious savior.”
“No!” I scream, struggling to break free as she walks away. “Reina, please don’t—”
A massive door slides shut behind me. The motion blows the flames out on the candelabra.
Maddy has no idea what’s coming for her. Damien can’t help her—not yet.
Her life rests in the hands of the Original Protector—though if he knew who and what she really is, he would destroy her too.