Page 76 of Revelations

Olivier gulped back his drink, as Kael nodded and sipped his own. Greylyn, feeling ill at all this suspense, ignored the glass in her own hand and absentmindedly curled the platinum chain with the metal band around her neck with the fingers from her other hand.

The motion did not go unnoticed by their host. “Darling, Greylyn. Please drink up. I will be offended if you do not.”

Just as Olivier’s servants practically threw Thomas into the room, she knocked back the warm scotch and amaretto. Seeing the condition that Thomas was in, she choked and spit it out. He had been severely beaten by his guards. His nose, contorted at a funny angle, was obviously broken. One eye was swollen shut; bruises covered his face. Blood drizzled from his left ear, down his neck.

“What the hell?” She threw the glass to the ground and ran over to help her injured friend.

All else vanished from her sight, as Greylyn turned all her focus on Thomas. Voices were raised in anger behind her, but she shut out their words.

“Thomas, are you okay? Come on, talk to me,” she pleaded.

Moaning, he lifted his head and spat blood out onto the rocky floor. “Never better. You should see the other guy.” His failed attempt at humor only caused him to cough and sputter up more blood.

Furious, Greylyn rounded on her captor. Kael was already in his face, screaming. Hurdling past Kael and shoving him out of the way, her fist slammed into Olivier’s jaw. It was solid like a steel door. Pain ricocheted from her knuckles, up her arm, all the way to her spine. However, a grin spread across her face as dark blood flew out of the corner of his mouth and he lurched sideways.

The brute didn’t fall, though. That was a letdown, but the sheer shock on his face made the blow worth it. It even earned her an admiring glance from Kael, as his eyebrows raised, and the corners of his mouth curled up.

Wrath burned from Olivier’s eyes. “Guards!” he yelled, although they were standing right behind him.

The heinous beasts charged, but Kael jumped in front of her. His fists flew out, and grisly gray goo splattered the rocky floor. Greylyn caught sight of more guards racing into the room to attack. Their stench filled her nostrils as their growls filled in the chamber.

In the melee, she lost sight of Olivier. No matter how many creatures she and Kael beat back, more came. Two grabbed her from behind, jerking her backward. Greylyn kicked with all of her might into another’s throat. The beast fell back against two more of his comrades and they splayed prone on the ground. A smile quirked her lips, replaced by blinding pain as another yanked her ponytail, ripping several strands of ebony hair from her scalp, and nearly snapping her neck at the spine.

Out of the corner of her eye, Olivier smugly watched, just outside of the field of battle while his minions did their worst. Considering the sheer number of monsters against them, Greylyn knew that they didn’t stand a chance, but she refused to go down.

An attempt to head-butt one of her assailants backfired, as her skull collided with its sharp, bird-like beak. Thick blood oozed down her scalp and matted in her hair. Shaking her head to clear her vision, Greylyn wrenched herself free of one creature. She twisted her entire body like a coil, then swept out with her foot, knocking its feet from underneath it and then lowering her shoulder to ram into the other’s face. Her skin tore from the force of the blow from its beak, but it was just enough to gain the advantage, so she could escape their jagged claws.

She couldn’t see Kael anymore, but heard his roar of anguish a few yards away. Greylyn glimpsed the fallen archangel over the tops of their heads. His cool smirk taunted her.

His voice boomed above the raucous, “Maimed, not dead.”

Well, that’s comforting. The bastard doesn’t want to kill us.

The beasts crushed in on her, but Greylyn still struggled. Breaking through the throng of heinous monsters, excruciating agony ripped through her abdomen as one succeeded in crushing her ribcage with a well-placed punch to the gut. She doubled over and fell to the ground at Olivier’s feet. His laughter echoed throughout the cavernous room, so deafening that everything immediately stopped.

As Olivier’s laugh died away, an eerie silence filled the space. Kael’s still form was thrown to the floor beside her. Greylyn involuntarily reached out to him. Blood ran down her arm and dripped off her fingers onto the cold solid rock ground. It pooled with the blood that was coursing out of his neck from a nasty, deep gash.

Before the darkness claimed her, she whispered, “Kael.”

***

A hardened crust of blood caked her lashes together, making it difficult to open her eyes. Squinting, there was a deep umber glow in the center of the room that riveted her attention. The walls and floor shone like smooth fire obsidian with an iridescent blue-gold sheen.

Her body was vertical, but she wasn’t standing, not exactly. Her feet did not touch the ground,anyway. Thick leather bindings held her in place to the wall—her legs, arms, and neck, with several tight restraints across her midsection. Greylyn couldn’t even wiggle enough to look around the room.

She reflected inwardly to assess her injuries. No pain plagued her, despite the vast number of cuts, hits, and kicks that she had endured. Her lungs no longer struggled for air from the broken ribs that had pierced through them. However, a dry, stifling heat burned down her nose and throat. Breathing inside a tank in the middle of the Iraqi Desert was easier than this hell. What she suspected had been more than one broken leg bone, no longer throbbed.

Her body seemed completely intact. Sore, but nothing that a couple hours in an Epsom salt bath would not cure.

“Hello,” she croaked, her throat raw. “Anyone there?”

Nothing.

No sounds were heard, other thana subtle hissing of steam.

This had all been a trap for Kael, and he had fallen for it. Right now he was probably hanging by meat hooks somewhere being tortured for the next couple decades at least, or worse. She would not allow herself to think of that.

Why had Olivier doubted Kael’s sincerity in the first place? His loyalty? He had put Kael in charge of “guardian angel watch” duty in the first place, right? The dark guardian had followed her around for centuries on Olivier’s orders. Why now did he question his minion’s intentions? Was the oversized master of Hell becoming paranoid?

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