She was talking in riddles, we weren’t here first. My grandmother had lost the plot. “Humanity will continue to outnumber us, not even you can change that many people.”
She shook her head and smirked. “I don’t need to change the majority, I just need the strong, a selective process which weeds out the weak and converts the strong. If I control those, then everyone else will follow.”
She wanted to build a race of strong people, parameters set by her mind. The scenes my father had shown me flashed through my head. Eloise was a dictator with a god complex, and that didn’t only make her dangerous, it made her terrifying. I pushed from the ground and stood. Damn, everything hurt, from my fingernails to my toes. Indigo was poised to explode from my body, should we become more threatened.
“You’re delusional. We live in a world of freedom, with equal rights. People will fight back.”
“You’re mistaken, we live in a world of illusion. People think they are free, but we force them into the acceptable molds of civilized society. They are told when to eat, when to sleep, when to work. From a young age, we are given rules and boundaries. If I offer them a world without those boundaries, then the strong will flock to me.”
“You are missing an important point,” I said as I glanced at the unfamiliar circle surrounding me. The runes etched into the floor were unlike anything I’d seen before.
“What’s that?”
“The importance of human connection, the power of a bond of love, the desire to help and support those around us.”
“Love makes you weak.”
I shook my head sadly at the woman before me. She had so much knowledge and power, she could change the world for the better, but she was choosing a path of evil.
“Love makes you vulnerable,” she asserted. I used to believe this, but Hudson had shown me a different way.
“Vulnerability is the bridge to belonging. If you open your heart, you can experience joy, love, courage, and hope. These are the things that mark our souls with light. If you can’t be vulnerable, then you will always live in the dark.”
She scoffed. “I see he has you hoodwinked into believing this, Granddaughter. You still believe you will be at his side in the pack? They would never accept you, and sooner or later, he would need to choose. What do you think his decision would be? A strong pack he built from the ground up, or a Nephilim who brings chaos and destruction into his world?”
I smiled sadly. She couldn’t understand because she believed power brought her joy. It didn’t, and it would never be enough. By the time she understood this, it would be too late. I’d never been stronger in my conviction of Hudson and I, and a bitter old woman’s ramblings would not shake the faith I had in us.
“I pity you,” I whispered. “You have a loving and wondrous family at your fingertips. You shape and command the direction of our faction, and yet you are unable to experience the contentment that should bring.”
Her face twisted with rage, then smoothed out as she caught herself. “Enough,” she snapped. “I need you to change so I can access the power your creature holds.”
I laughed. She thought us separate beings, but I could access everything Indigo had and vice versa.
My grandmother sighed. “You won’t like this if we have to do it the hard way. You hold more magic than any other being on earth, and all the demons. The creature has access to the power of heaven, and as far as I can tell, it will replenish your magic with time.”
I kept my mouth closed and folded my arms. Perhaps I did need to keep Indigo locked down, if she truly had a link to the power of Heaven. What this party didn’t need, was the angel of Death making an appearance. There was already enough disappointment being aimed my way.
Her gaze narrowed. “I don’t want to hurt you any more than necessary. If you cooperate, you are much more likely to survive.” Sure, so I can be drained over and over again. I don’t think so, I was calling her bluff. “Fine, hard way it is.”
Glad we established that I was expendable. My heart tugged in my chest at her words. I wanted to believe she would never do anything to truly hurt me.
That belief shattered into a thousand pieces as Michael Glaister emerged from the shadows, his oily magic coiling into the room. Indigo bared her teeth inside me. He would be losing his life before we ended this, even if it was the last thing we did.
Gas began to stream in from the vents in the top of the glass, connected to tubes. I pushed my hand over my nose and mouth as the sickly, sweet scent suffocated the room. My vision blackened at the edges and my limbs became loose, then I fell to the floor as I lost control.
“Now?” Indigo asked.
“No, it’s what they want. If I had to guess, I would say the runes are keyed into you specifically, probably an altered spell to summon our father. Stay down until you absolutely have to.”
A section of glass to my right slid up and Michael stepped inside, holding long lengths of chains and restraints that he let drag dramatically on the floor. I was about to be tortured by the Hound and it took everything I had to not let Indigo take over and shield me from the promise of agony dancing in his eyes.
He hooked the chains to anchors in the four corners then approached me slowly. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t even speak. Whatever they’d pumped into my body had rendered me defenseless. Indigo rumbled her disapproval. Okay, not defenseless, but if we went angel on his ass, and it didn’t work, we had no cards left to play. I had to believe I would survive this, mine and Hudson’s story had only just begun.
“Last chance,” my grandmother cooed as the first heavy manacle wrapped around my wrist. A little of my control returned, and I turned away from the woman who should be protecting me and focused on Michael. At least he never wore a mask; he enjoyed inflicting pain, asserting control, and breaking people. He never hid that from the world.
When my limbs were shackled, he pulled the chains taut. I stuffed the whimper back down my throat. If I started to fold now, it would all be over in ten minutes. Michael smirked as he withdrew a blade from a sheath attached to his belt. I refused to close my eyes and hide from the horror. The psychopathic son of a bitch would have to look me in the eyes as he tortured me, because when I ended his life, I wanted him to return the favor.
The glass slid closed, making me turn my head once more. My grandmother folded her arms. “Pain will heighten the power discharged, but your aim is to get her to shift into the creature. Then we can really begin. Don’t kill her.”
