Seal of Destiny (29 page)

At his nod, two guards stepped up on the platform, dragging a struggling Zoe behind. Chains and manacles hung from the ceiling in true sadistic fashion. The men shackled her wrists, then attached them to a hook hanging nearby. She was gagged and left to dangle on her tiptoes at Mira’s side.

She caught Zoe’s eye and they exchanged a look. Zoe’s psychic channels nudged against her mind and Mira allowed her entrance. Zoe’s relief and frustration flooded her like thin maple syrup.

They’re coming for us. Kagan will get you out. They have a plan.
The words repeated in an endless loop. Maybe things would turn out all right. She pictured Kagan’s face, and warmth spread through her cold stiff limbs. Sure. Things would be fine.

Or not.

The Director stepped next to Mira, looming above her while he reached to stroke her hair. An eerie smile creased his lips. “You should be honored,
Limlal
.”

Mira growled around her gag, hacking him apart with her glare. He caressed her cheek before landing a hard blow to her temple. Through the stars dancing in front of her eyes, Mira saw him motion for the crowd to quiet.

“The time has come.”

Christ, Kagan!
A single, frustrated tear escaped.
Where are you?

• • •

The pounding drums and rhythmic chants grew louder, drawing the warriors. Xander hugged the rocks as he neared the entrance. Gun at the ready, he poked his head around the corner.
Sweet Christ!

Thousands of Nephilim filled the space, their droning tones mirroring the blankness of their expressions. At the center of it all lay a large stone platform. The Director stood beside Mira, Zoe, and a bullet-ravaged corpse.

Something else lurked in the shadows. Xander couldn’t place it yet. Something cold, calculating and gleefully evil.
Lucifer
. Of course, he wouldn’t miss this shindig.

Xander closed his eyes and forced a mental nudge in Zoe’s direction. Her attention snapped toward him, her dark gaze searching. He ran a quick scan and found no permanent damage to her person before pulling away.
Good
. Now he could concentrate on the business at hand. The Nephilim remained unaware of the intruders, earnest in their fanatical fervor.

“What’s going on, Xan?” Kagan asked, straining his neck to peer beyond the shadows. “Is Mira all right?”

“Yes. She’s alive.” Xander edged away from the door. “The room’s crawling with Nephilim, though.”

“I’m ready.” Chago pulled out two wicked-sharp daggers and started toward the entrance.

Xander blocked him. “Wait. Here’s the plan.”

• • •

Kagan paused at the top of the stone stairs. The Director led the chant beneath the flickering torchlight. He stepped into the auditorium, his focus on Mira.
I’m coming
, ti amo.

The moment his foot landed on the ground, all chanting ceased. The Nephilim turned en masse to face him. Kagan flashed an ironic grin and began his descent, his focus squared on the woman he loved while his gaze scanned the bland faces around him. He reached the bottom of the stairs and his attention landed on the Director.

“Welcome, Scion. Join the celebration, won’t you?” The condescension and hate reeking in the Director’s tone made Kagan’s teeth ache. He sneered as the half-breed clenched his hands in front of his swirling black cassock.

“Give me the girl, Jetrel.”

If the man was surprised at Kagan’s use of his given name, his expression gave nothing away. Instead he laughed, a hard sound brimming with insanity. “Oh, Kagan. I’m afraid I can’t do that. We need her to complete the Triumvirate.” He shrugged and gestured to the wall. “Wait a few more minutes, won’t you? Then you can take home what’s left.”

Kagan glanced toward the entrance and nodded.

Xander stepped into the archway. “Mind if we join the fun?” He entered, orange-hued light glinting off the Uzi resting casually against his shoulder.

“We brought party favors,” Chago said, descending from yet another entrance on the opposite side. The blades of his daggers sparkled as he twirled them between his fingers.

The Director smiled, stepping closer to Mira. “The more the merrier.”

Kagan launched forward. The Director motioned to someone at the fringe of the platform and met Kagan’s attack. Their bodies collided in a clash of fists and limbs before they crashed to the floor. Kagan landed several hard punches to the Director’s face and neck before receiving a few brutal blows.

The Scion opened fire, charging the auditorium.

Kagan rolled and the Director’s fist slammed into the stone beside his head. The granite crumbled beneath his opponent’s punch, a sign of the Nephilim’s famed strength in hand-to-hand combat and a remnant of their warrior angel past. He blocked another lightning-fast jab, but he knew his own limitations. He needed to end this quickly.

Kagan snapped a brutal upper cut to the Director’s jaw. The man tumbled over the platform to crash into the rock wall behind. Stone chips scattered. His body slumped to the ground with a thud, his mirrored glasses dangling crookedly from one ear.

Kagan scrambled to his feet and rushed to Mira’s side. Three scarlet-hooded figures headed in their direction. He struggled to loosen the restraints from her wrists. He had one knot undone when an iron grip spun him around.

Fists pummeled his face. A hard strike clipped the side of his head. Blood sprayed from his mouth. He fell to his knees, his hand still clutching Mira’s ankle. Kagan blinked up into the Director’s angry scowl. Mira’s scream echoed through his fuzzy brain.

His nemesis clutched him by the neck and hoisted him high into the air, the alabaster fingers squeezing his trachea shut. Through bloodshot eyes, Kagan glanced to Mira. One hooded figure withdrew a needle from her arm and held up a vial of blood. Two others flipped her over and poised a golden dagger high above the Seal’s mark.
Cazzo!

His oxygen supply reached critical, and his pulse slowed to a halt. His arms refused to move and his muscles cramped. “Time to die, Scion.”

The Director crushed Kagan’s windpipe and hurled him across the room like a bag of rotten onions. He struck the rock wall, only vaguely aware of the sickening crunch of his spine. He slid to the ground amidst a rain of debris. The resulting avalanche buried him beneath its crushing weight, his hand caught mid-reach toward the platform. In his last breath, he called out for Mira.

Xander swiveled in time to see Kagan buried below a pile of rubble.

He made quick work of his three opponents and charged toward the platform. Halfway there, the Director returned to the stage, tucking his now decimated glasses into his pocket.

The bastard grabbed Zoe. Xander’s heart tripped, then plummeted to his toes. Her eyes snapped shut and she twisted against her bonds. His head throbbed as her psychic channels buzzed full tilt. Xander concentrated his dormant powers, swimming against her undercurrent of fear to flood her with reassurance.

The Director placed his hands on either side of her head and forced her gaze to his. Beside her, three scarlet-robed priests ripped off Mira’s shirt to expose the Seal’s mark. Through an oculus cut into the ceiling above, the astrological alignment began. The Director pried Zoe’s eyes open with thumbs and forefingers and chanted, “
Christeos Olpirt
!”

Zoe’s screams pierced the air. Light burst through the ceiling’s opening like a laser on steroids. A molten beam flared directly into Zoe’s unshielded gaze, hijacking her psychic channels to amplify the alignment’s energy. Flares of energy shot out in all directions, striking every object in Zoe’s vicinity.

His adrenaline pumping and his dagger raised high, Xander stormed the platform.

The alignment reached its zenith and the amulet glowed supernova bright against Xander’s chest. He pushed forward, heedless of the power he harnessed. Antares weight burned and throbbed upon his skin, a living entity filled with unlimited potential. With a large leap, Xander tackled the Nephilim leader and forced him away from Zoe. She hung limp from the chains, unconscious, her cheeks streaked with tears and blood.

The sight of Zoe was an accelerant to his burgeoning rage. The Director struggled to rise from the floor. With lethal accuracy, Xander’s blade flashed, slicing deep into the muscles and tendons of the Director’s throat. The Director’s eyes flared blinding white, boring through Xander’s polarized glasses. Xander shielded his face against the glow until the Director fell, his gaze flickering out like a faulty bulb.

Xander snatched the faux Antares from the Director’s neck and shoved it into his pocket, pushing the corpse away with a booted toe. He rushed to release Zoe from her restraints, but Mira’s piercing scream froze him in his tracks.

• • •

Kagan emerged from beneath the rubble and assessed the situation. He spotted Xander on the platform and charged into the attack. Together they decimated the scarlet priests. More Nephilim flooded the platform, but couldn’t stand beneath the Scions’ combined fury. The Nephilim horde fled, useless without their hive leader.

Kagan reached Mira and released her bonds then lifted her motionless body into his arms.

“
Merda
!” He pushed the long mass of Mira’s hair from her shoulder. A gaping wound gurgled in the left side of her chest. The golden blade they’d used to break the Seal’s mark had penetrated straight through to her heart. Xander reached his side and removed the dagger then tossed it over his shoulder. It clattered to the floor beside Argus’s slab. For once, his commander was at a loss for words.

Kagan stared, unable to process what he was seeing. Mira’s blood gushed with each beat of her weakening heart. A pained groan rose from her and roused him from his daze.
Cristo!
He settled her gently on the slab and pressed his hands tight to her wound, attempting to staunch the flow.

Mira coughed, blood gurgling from her lips. He stroked her cheek and forced himself to remain calm. The light in her eyes dimmed, growing bleak and cold, a look he’d grown all too familiar with during his years on the battlefield.
Oca!
Kagan scanned the exits. No quick escape. Nothing. As long as they were trapped inside the compound, flashing wasn’t an option. Neither was moving her. She was dying, and he was powerless to stop it. He squeezed his eyes shut and issued a silent prayer.
Divinita, please save her.

A Nephilim straggler broke through the Scion barrier, and Kagan slit his throat without a glance. Mira blinked up at him several times and struggled to speak. Kagan gathered her close and cupped the back of her head, lifting her close to his ear. “I-I’m sorry, Kagan.”

His heart shattered. “You have nothing to be sorry for,
piccola
.”

Her gaze bore into his, filled with love and regret.

She gasped then fell limp in his arms.

Kagan’s rational mind died along with her.
Dai! I will not live like this again.

• • •

The ferocious sorrow in Kagan’s roar stunned the stoic Nephilim long enough for the Scion to gain a decisive edge. Xander used Kagan’s pain as a lance for the boil of his anger, unleashing a tide of whoop-ass the likes of which the Nephilim had never experienced. The Scion made quick work of the remaining half-breeds while the others fled in droves.

Xander released Zoe from her restraints, and indulged his craving by keeping her close for a brief moment before handing her limp form off to Wyck and rushing to Kagan’s side. “We’ve got to get to the surface.”

The ground rumbled and the walls shook. Kagan rose with Mira clutched close to his chest. His expression was blank and oddly serene. Xander didn’t buy it for a minute. He’d been down this road before, and he’d be damned if he’d leave Kagan to walk it alone. He signaled to the other warriors to approach.

Xander turned toward Kagan and started to speak. A snarl emanated to his left. The Director lunged, his fingers clutched around his mutilated throat and his eyes sparked white-hot. Xander unsheathed his dagger, but it was too late. Before he could strike, the Director slumped forward once more, the golden hilt of a dagger protruding from his back. Xander glanced over to find a revived Argus grinning like a banshee from his slab. Xander reviewed the past events in his mind, searching for an explanation to the demon’s sudden awakening. Zoe’s energy flares. Had the girl’s power been strong enough to grant resurrection to the dead?

To be safe, Xander pulled out his sword and sliced the Director’s head free before he crouched beside the demon. Argus watched the proceedings with gleeful interest. “Are you seeking redemption now, demon?”

“No, Scion.” Argus snorted, his still oozing chest heaving with the effort. “Justice.”

The sound of slow clapping filled the air. “Magnificent performance, gentleman.”

Lucifer approached from the sidelines, his lounge-singer sleaze working overtime. Wonderful. Exactly what they didn’t need at the moment. Yet the new arrival seemed entirely focused on his bound minion. Xander gave an inner sigh of relief. Kicking Lucifer’s ass, while fun, would not be conducive to solving the current crisis.

Another loud roll of thunder echoed. Archangel security was arriving. Time to go.

Xander gripped Kagan’s arm and led him toward the exit. His second in command appeared dazed, Mira’s body still clutched to his chest. “C’mon, K. Let’s go home.”

• • •

Lucifer stared at Argus’s mangled torso and laughed. “Ah, Argus. You always did have more balls then brains.”

A hazy, cloud-like glow formed on the ceiling. Lucifer shielded his eyes from the increasing glare. “No, Divinity! He chose me!”

She appeared before him, golden light radiating from her being. “Wrong, Lucifer. He’s mine. I need to question him, and several centuries in my prison may improve his attitude.”

Two angels appeared, flanking Divinity. Argus struggled against his divine jailers to no avail, profanity spewing from him like an oil strike. The winged henchmen ignored the demon’s tirade and cuffed him before taking him away. The decaying carcass of Norman McClaine lay strewn across the slab like so much trash.