A cold chill blows over my skin. The type of chill I get whenever I travel through the void with Raziel.
“Do you feel that?” I turn to ask Erazel. He’s silently holding a black candle that looks melted down. His dark blue eyes look from the candle up to me, and immediately I know something is wrong.
“We have to go. Now.”
Before he can make it to me, a man steps from the hallway. My mother is right behind him.
“Well, you made this too easy,” the man sneers.
The next few things happen too quickly to react. A weapon appears out of the blue. It’s shaped like a cross, but each end has a sharp blade on it.
Erazel shouts for me to get down as the new guy tosses the weird blade at me. My instincts aren’t nearly that fast. I shut my eyes and think of Raziel.
I wait for the pain, but strong arms wrap around me. When I open my eyes, Erazel is standing in front of me. His brow is pinched as if he’s in pain, and his mouth is open on a silent yell.
Suddenly, his body goes slack against mine, and he falls. I try to hold him up, but he’s too heavy. I fall to the ground with him.
“Era,” I call out his name.
His gaze slips to me. He tries to speak, but nothing comes out. Thick black lines form under his skin. Slowly, the black lines spread until everything on him is black. His body hardens and turns to ash before crumbling in my hands.
My chest hurts. The giant demon had become my friend. And oh my goodness, poor Tanisha.
“He took my weapon with him, so I’ll have to do this the long way.” The guy grabs me off the floor and backhands me across the face so hard I crash into the wall behind me. He then yanks me off the ground and hits me again. This time he splits my lip, causing me to bleed.
“Hurry,” my mother says. “The angel said you had to kill her in order for me to get Romeo back.”
Lifting my head off the ground, I glare at my mother.
“It was you.”
When Raziel first told me about the death mark and how a human needed to order it, it never crossed my mind that it was my mother. Even hearing her say she never wanted me would never have made me believe she would do something like this.
“Yes, mother dearest wants you dead,” the man sneers. He grabs my hair and yanks me to my feet.
“But not as much as I want your mate’s head.” He wraps his hand around my neck and chokes me.
My breathing is immediately cut off. I gasp for air, but none comes. Everything grows blurry. However, when I look over the man’s shoulder, I can see the glee in my mother’s eyes. Witnessing how much my mother hated me will be the last thing I see before I die.
Suddenly, the man loosens his hold, but instead of letting me go, he brings me to his chest, holding me hostage. Raziel appears in his true form. Wings spread out, dark charred skin on display, those large, clawed feet, and his prominent horns. He looks mesmerizing and pissed the fuck off.
“Rojun,” he growls.
The man holding me chuckles. “Well, if it isn’t the former dominus. Come to claim your mate?” His hand around my neck expands, and a sharp talon digs into my flesh, breaking the skin. I whimper.
Raziel’s eyes flash to mine before going back to Rojun.
“Let her go,” he demands. “You’ve got me. Let her go.”
Again, Rojun chuckles. “Now why would I do that? We both know killing your mate would do more harm than killing you.”
That claw in my neck digs a little deeper. I grit my teeth but remain quiet.
“Isn’t this about me?” Raziel asks, keeping his attention on Rojun. “All the plotting to ruin my portals. Sending in your little mate spy to monitor me? Clearly, you wanted my downfall.” He holds out his hands at his sides. “You have your opportunity.”
A low growl comes from the man behind me. “It won’t be that quick.” He sneers.
“Why?” Razzy asks. “Why go through all this? What did I do to you?”
