Divine wrath, p.22
Divine Wrath, page 22
He hunkered beside Megan, bending his body to shield his actions from Lorin’s view. She is fading. I will revive her. He placed a hand on her chest, just below her neck. A faint shimmer surrounded his palm.
Megan opened her eyes. Drew a startled breath. And screamed.
Lorin’s laughter transcended the shrill sound. “You see, Nephil? Silver obeys me. Wait until you hear what I tell him to do to you.”
Grace’s mind raced. Lorin thought he was killing Megan, but the girl was just frightened. An idea formed.
Megan. He won’t hurt you. Play dead.
Wha...? Despite her troubled response, Megan immediately fell silent and limp.
Silver’s brow furrowed. I have injured her.
No! She’s just... sleeping. Grace suspected Silver wouldn’t understand the concept of a ruse. She’ll be all right now.
“Get that one on its feet.”
Grace met Silver’s troubled gaze. Do what she says.
Silver stood. He circled Megan, and pulled Grace upright.
I will not harm you.
I know.
“Good.” Lorin offered a triumphant smirk. “Keep it up, Silver, and I may go easy on you. Now break its arm.”
“No.”
“What did you say?”
“I will not.”
“Insolent pest!” she hissed. “You will, and you’ll do it now!”
“No.” Silver stepped in front of Grace. “I am... stronger than you. Be... better. Than. You.” He struggled to speak the words. “And I do not wish to kill. I will not kill again.”
Lorin’s eyes narrowed. She raised her arms, turned her palms upward. A series of sharp, splintering cracks echoed through the ravine. “Abomination,” she whispered. “I will send you to oblivion!”
Two long, thick tree limbs with fractured ends flew through the air and settled in Lorin’s hands. She gripped them together, and drew back as though she were about to swing at a baseball.
Silver whirled and shoved Grace away. The branches met his back with a massive, sickening thud. He hit the ground face-first. Moving with inhuman speed, Lorin dropped one of the limbs and drove the other between his shoulder blades, through his body, into the ground. His blood spurted from the wound and splashed his skin. Within seconds, more seeped from beneath him. Lorin snagged the remaining branch and plunged it into the small of his back.
“You!” Teeth bared, Lorin straightened and advanced toward Grace. “How dare you speak to him? And put such ideas in his head? Stupid, filthy, ignorant Nephil!” She paused to drive a foot into Silver’s side. “He has no thoughts of his own. He can’t. Do you know what he might do, if he were allowed to think for himself?”
Grace swallowed the fear rising in her throat. “He might live, you horrid bitch. How could you do this to your own child?”
“Child!” Bitter laughter spilled from Lorin’s lips. “Silver is no child. He’s a monster. But he is mine. My instrument, to do with as I please.” She glanced down at his motionless form, and approached Grace again. “Once you’re gone, he’ll obey me again. So I’ll simply destroy you myself.”
Grace stumbled back, and sat hard on the ground. Lorin lunged. Grace closed her eyes, grateful that at least Lorin was too furious to draw out her death. It would be quick.
A rush of air caressed her face, as though Lorin had lashed out and missed. Grace risked a glance. Lorin stood scant feet from her, wide-eyed and unmoving.
Silver loomed behind her, still impaled by the branches. He gripped her neck with one hand, his fingers pressed into her flesh like claws. A thin stream of bright red blood drizzled from beneath his thumb.
He forced Lorin to her knees and rested a palm flat between her shoulders. Her mouth opened in a silent scream. Streaks of light formed and pulsed beneath her skin, spreading and intensifying until a golden glow engulfed her body. Beneath the shimmering aura, her flesh shriveled and darkened, became brittle black leather. The glow coalesced at the base of her throat. Her head fell back, and a thick stream of light flooded from her lips to ascend skyward. The remaining husk shattered into a pile of ash.
Silver met Grace’s eyes for an instant, and collapsed.
Chapter 57
Megan let out a piercing shriek. She sprang to her feet and ran to Grace. “What the hell happened? Did he... is she...”
“Gone.” Grace winced and struggled to view Silver. He lay on his side, his back to the charred remains of his mother. His blood flowed copiously from the massive rips in his body. He didn’t appear to be breathing. “We have to help him.” She started to rise.
“Wait. Let me heal you first.”
“Hurry.”
Nodding, Megan pressed a hand against her. The constant pain in her shoulder, which she’d ceased to notice, flared briefly and ebbed to nothing. Her quivering muscles stilled. Fatigue fell away like shedding skin, allowing her to breathe.
“Thank you.” Grace stood, skirted the pile of ash, and rushed to Silver’s front. She crouched near his head. “Silver?”
So still. Lips slightly parted, lashes lying like dark feathers on his cheeks. Blood pouring from him to saturate the ground.
Please wake up.
Grace reached for the nearest limb, the one protruding from his shattered breastbone. She wrapped both hands around the slick surface, hitched a breath. Pushed. It didn’t move.
“Don’t...”
A broken whisper. His eyes fluttered open. “You do not have... the strength.”
“No.” Grace sobbed her relief. “No, I don’t.”
Silver sat slowly, teeth clenched in a grimace. He glanced down. Gripping the top branch, he pulled it forward, hand over hand. When the opposite end cleared his chest, a startled cry burst from him. He hurled the branch away.
“Holy shit.” Megan hung back, pale and trembling. “There’s a hole straight through him. I think I’m gonna...” She turned away and retched.
Silver repeated the process with the second limb. By the time he tossed it after the first, the upper hole had closed. Ugly wounds remained on his chest, stomach, and back, but the bleeding had stopped.
He shifted and stared at Lorin’s remains. “I destroyed her. My mother.” His voice cracked and wavered.
“Silver,” Grace whispered. “Don’t blame yourself. You had no choice.”
“I could not let her...” Moisture filled his eyes. A tear streaked from one, then the other. “My eyes burn. They are bleeding.”
For a long moment, Grace couldn’t find her voice. Thann kew. His confusion began to make sense. Lorin must have kept him isolated every moment she wasn’t using him. She moved closer to him. “You’re not bleeding,” she said gently. “You’re crying.” She brushed the wetness with her fingertips, to show him.
He flinched at her touch, and her heart broke. “She never touched you without hurting you, did she?”
Silver said nothing. His gaze moved to the mound of ash behind him, and back to Grace.
“We’ll take it slow.” She stood and waited. He joined her.
Megan approached them cautiously. She went around Silver and stuck close to Grace. Is this guy for real?
Seems pretty solid to me. Grace smiled. “We probably shouldn’t stick around here for long. It’s nice and all, but sooner or later we’re going to get hungry. And even though Megan here is a Girl Scout, she isn’t a very good one.”
Silver stared at her, expressionless. “I will build another crypt.”
“You’ll what? Crypt?” Grace looked at the stone structure, currently full of mangled Zane. “Why would you do that?”
“To stay in.” He regarded the burnt pile. “I have no purpose.”
“No. Silver...” Renewed sorrow flooded her. Lorin had crushed him so thoroughly, he wasn’t even aware he had options. “When I said ‘we’, I meant all of us. Megan, me, and you. I’d like you to come and live with us. Wherever we’re going to live.”
“Live?”
“Yes. There’s a whole world out there you haven’t seen. Full of people who are nothing like your mother.”
“I see.” Silver scanned the moonlit ravine slowly, as though committing every rock and bush and blade of grass to memory. At last he said, “We will go and live.”
Grace took his hand. He didn’t flinch this time. “You won’t regret it. Trust me.”
Chapter 58
Once she climbed out of the ravine, Grace regarded the dense forest surrounding them and realized she had no idea where they were.
Megan emerged immediately behind her. Silver trailed at a distance, glancing back occasionally as though he expected to find someone following them. Grace watched him mount the steep incline she and Megan had struggled to climb, and ascend with a languid stroll. He made it look effortless.
“Doesn’t anything tire him out?” Megan stared at the approaching figure. “I don’t know about this, Grace. Are you sure he’s not going to... you know, flip out and kill us?”
“I’m sure.”
“Why are you so convinced?”
“I don’t know.”
“Great. That isn’t very reassuring.”
“True. But it’s all I’ve got. Sorry.” Grace gave a tired smile. “Without that bitch around, he isn’t going to hurt anyone. I know he won’t.”
Megan shook her head. “I hope you’re right. I mean, he just killed two angels, and... Christ, look at him. He’s...”
Beautiful.
“I was gonna say huge, but yeah. That, too.”
Silver had nearly reached them. Grace returned her attention to the unfamiliar landscape. “Hey, Megan. Any idea which way is home?”
“None. I was hoping you knew.”
Grace sighed. “Well, I guess I could try...”
“Nephil, what do you seek?”
Silver’s voice jolted her. He stood at the edge of the ravine, watching her, his features blank. “Er. I’m looking for... you know, maybe we should introduce ourselves, so you don’t have to keep calling me Nephil. My name is Grace.”
“Grace.” He seemed to taste the word, a new delicacy.
“Yes. And this is—”
“Megan,” he said.
“Right.” Grace smiled. “Okay. I’m looking for home. Lor... I’m not sure which way we came here.” Mentioning Lorin right now probably wouldn’t be a good idea.
Silver pointed beyond her. “This direction. What is home?”
“Home is where we live.” Fresh sorrow filled her. So many little things he wasn’t familiar with, had no idea existed. “Do you know how far away we are?”
“Yes.”
Grace waited. He didn’t elaborate.
“So, how far is it?”
“It is there.”
“Uh...”
Silver extended an arm to each of them. “I will shift you to home.”
“Shift?” Grace glanced at Megan. The girl shrugged. “Okay,” Grace said. She took his hand, and Megan did the same.
No sooner had Megan made contact with Silver, than they stood before the camp house in the glow of the porch light.
“Whoa.” Megan grinned. “He’s way better than you at this, Grace.”
Grace laughed. “I think he’s had more practice. Come on, let’s go inside.”
“Wait a minute.” Megan stared at the front door. “Are they even here? I mean, we have no idea what happened after we left. And that angel guy had a gun! What if he...” She glanced at Grace, paled, and ran up the steps.
“Megan, they’re okay. Silver—”
The door opened just before Megan reached it. Michael stood inside, drawn and haggard, a flashlight in one hand and Zane’s gun in the other. “Megan! What happened? I was going out to look for you. Is Grace with you?”
“Yes, she’s right here. We’re fine. Is everyone here all right?”
“We are, oddly enough.” Distress clouded his face. “After you two and that crazy redhead disappeared, Zane came after me, and he just stopped. Like he couldn’t get to me. And then he vanished.” He set the flashlight down and patted Megan’s arm. “I’m going to call a couple of cabs and get us out of here before he comes back. Why don’t you...” His eyes widened. He pushed past Megan and lifted the gun. “Let her go, damn you!”
“Michael, no!” Grace moved in front of Silver. “He’s not... I brought him here.”
“You what? Have you lost your mind?” The gun shook in his hand. “Jesus. He’s controlling you. Grace, please, come here. Come up here with us.”
“He’s not controlling me.”
“Megan, get inside.” Michael approached the steps slowly, his gaze and his gun locked on Silver. “Let her go. I’ll kill you, I swear to God I will. I know what you are.” Grace, get away from him.
No! Michael, please listen to me. He’s not dangerous. It was his—
Michael jumped to the ground and shoved Grace aside. She sprawled in the grass with a startled grunt. He pressed the gun into Silver’s throat and fired.
Silver stumbled back. He remained on his feet, staring wordlessly at Michael. His gleaming blood flowed from the wound. Splashes and droplets stained Michael’s arm and face.
“What the hell?” Michael shook his head and pulled the trigger again. A mercurial spray erupted from Silver’s shoulder.
“Stop it!”
A shriek from the porch drowned Grace’s cry. Megan ran at Michael and jumped on his back. She scrabbled for the gun, pushed down on Michael’s arm.
Grace struggled to her feet. Tears blurred her vision. She moved in front of Silver, her back to Michael. “Are you okay?” she whispered. “Can you heal?”
Silver nodded.
“I’m so sorry. He shouldn’t have done this.” Grace whirled to face Michael, who still fought to dislodge Megan and raise the gun. “Damn it, Michael, he saved your life!”
“Yeah, right!” Gasping, Michael threw Megan off and brought his arm up again. “He’s a monster, Grace. Whatever he said, he has to be lying. Get out of the way.”
“He saved your life,” Grace repeated softly. “He stopped Zane from killing you. Because I asked him to.”
“Bullshit.”
“He saved my life. And Megan’s. Michael... Zane is dead. Silver killed him.”
“Silver?” Michael blinked and glanced at the streaks on his arm. “But Zane is an angel.”
“Yes. And Silver is Nephilim. He’s one of us, Michael.” Grace stepped forward and gently pushed his extended arm down. He didn’t resist. She lifted his free hand, touched his fingers to her temple. “Look.”
Michael froze. Memories rushed through her and into him: Silver chained inside the box. Grace releasing him. Silver trapping and skewering Zane, as though the angel had no more power than an angry kitten. Lorin striking him. Lorin pinning Silver to the ground to go after Grace. Silver destroying her. The rush of painful recollection threatened to knock her flat.
At last, Michael pulled free. He regarded Grace for a long moment. “Okay,” he said in hollow tones. “I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
“Then he can stay?”
“What, here? With us?” Michael shook his head. “No. No way.” He can destroy angels. If he decides he wants us gone, we can’t stop him. Nothing can. He’s too powerful.
“Michael, please. He doesn’t have anywhere else to go.” He won’t hurt anyone. I know he won’t.
How do you know?
Ask him.
Michael frowned at Silver. “Hey. Stalker.”
“His name is Silver,” Grace said.
“Fine. What are you going to do if you stay here? Will you kill us, like you did the other Nephilim?”
A shudder passed through Silver. “I do not wish to kill. I will not kill again.”
When Michael didn’t reply, Grace Reached to him. He could have killed you a hundred times now, if he wanted to. Don’t you think he would have when you shot him?
“Grace, I’m sorry. I just don’t think...”
The treehouse. “He can stay in the treehouse. No one uses it anyway, right?”
“Yes, and there’s electricity up there,” Megan chimed in. “If it gets cold, we can bring heaters in. Michael, I think Grace is right. He’s not going to hurt us.”
Michael’s eyes narrowed. “If there’s any sign of trouble, he’s leaving. Anything at all. Understand?”
“Yes.” Thank you.
“Don’t thank me yet. I may change my mind in the morning.” Michael sighed and stuffed the gun in his pocket. “You two are something else, you know that?”
Grace smiled. “We know.”
Chapter 59
Silver stood in the center of the treehouse, displaying no reaction to the place. His sheer size made the ample space and its full-sized furnishings look like a child’s bedroom.
Grace worried he wouldn’t fit on the bed.
His wounds had healed, and Grace had washed the blood from him, but he remained half-dressed. No one had a shirt or shoes big enough for him. The evenings stayed warm for now, but soon he’d need more substantial clothing. Probably. Maybe. Did he even get cold?
He hadn’t spoken a word since Michael addressed him directly. Grace suspected it would take some time for him to start acting instead of reacting. She moved beside him and gestured vaguely. “What do you think? Do you like it?”
He looked at her, uncomprehending.
Damn. Something Lorin had said resurfaced in Grace’s mind: He has no thoughts of his own. The bitch had been proud she hadn’t allowed her son to think for himself. “Okay,” she said after a moment. “We’ll take this one step at a time. First, I want to make sure you’re warm enough. Wait here.”
Silver nodded. Grace entered the screen porch, grabbed a blanket from one of the bunk beds, and returned to drape it around his shoulders. “That should help. I’ll get you some real clothes soon.”
Silver fingered an edge of the blanket. His gaze moved to the porch doorway, and back to Grace. He said nothing.
Grace sighed. “Maybe you should just get some rest for now. Things might look better in the morning. There are beds out here.” She started toward the porch, and stopped when she realized Silver wasn’t following her. She turned to face him.
