Fallen Angel Reclaimed: The Complete Series by Lacey Carter Andersen

5

Mark’s kneesshook as he gripped the ancient relic that hung from around his neck and sent the image he’d seen into Surcy’s mind. She stiffened for an instant as the world swept away around them. For a few precious seconds he couldn’t breathe, and then they were standing in the desert, just outside of a massive city.

“Where are we?” Surcy asked, frowning.

He knew instantly, even though he wasn’t sure how. “Outside of Phoenix.”

“It looks like hell,” Daniel grumbled.

And feels like it.

He didn’t say a word, but he agreed. Already the sun was harsh overhead, and the sand stretching out until it reached the city looked miserable.

“We had better start walking,” Tristan said, his tone neutral.

He’s right. Even though I hate not knowing quite what trouble we’ll find.

They followed Mark’s lead, but instead of walking to the city, he turned and started toward the desert. He felt the indecision of the others, but they followed slowly behind.

Because they know I’m never wrong about where to find the Immortals.

The God Finder was a gift and a curse. It helped him to know where to go, like a man moving through a dream, but it also had consequences. Everything does.

He didn’t tell the others. They knew he was tired, but he couldn’t let them know that each time he used it the artifact took some of his life force. It frightened him, but not as much as the possibility that it could kill him before he saved all the Immortals.

Then, Surcy will never be safe. Nor will Tristan, Daniel, and the other demons.

So, he pushed back the exhaustion and fear he felt each time he used The God Finder and continued forward. Because his life meant nothing when it came to the well-being of the people he loved. And because this is what I was always destined to do.

The desert looked harsh and unforgiving. He skirted around small mountains of rock and strange cacti. Lizards scurried past as they walked, and every few minutes he heard what sounded suspiciously like a rattlesnake. He knew this path would lead him to her.

They walked for hours under the harsh sun before they reached the base of a small mountain. Not far from it, they could see a paved road and a little dirt road that broke off and headed toward the mountain.

“What are these creepy things?” Daniel asked, drawing Mark’s attention.

The demon pointed at little figures carved from stone that encircled the mountain, every ten feet or so. They were covered in layers of dirt and grim, yet stood straight and solid, as if cemented in place.

Tristan touched the feathers and beads that were part of the little figures. “They are art made from these lands.”

“And they contain magic,” Surcy added.

Daniel glanced up at her. “What kind of magic?”

“A shield. When we step through it, we’ll sense the barrier created by the magic. They keep angels and other beings from teleporting in… and probably keep this place hidden from a lot of paranormal creatures.”

“So the person who lives here knows magic?” Mark asked, frowning.

“Someone who lived here did,” she explained. “But these are at least a couple hundred years old. I’m not sure if they put them here, or someone else.”

Weird.

They started forward and instantly felt the tingle that told them a shield was indeed in place. It wasn’t as powerful as the one the druids had erected around the sanctuary for the Immortals, but it would do the trick. Moving up the hill, they passed more cacti and red stone. Eventually they reached a dirt path that curved around the side of mountain, big enough to allow a car to travel up and down.

At the top, an adobe building stood silent near a beat-up car in the driveway. Neither the car nor the house looked as if they’d been used in a long time. And wide windows tinted against the bright sun appeared to watch them like eyes, but Mark sensed no movement.

Since they’d rescued two Immortals, Mark fully expected to find angels guarding every inch of this one’s house.

So why weren’t they?

“Uh, is this it?” Surcy asked.

Mark turned, and it took him a second to form the response. The sunlight was at her back, and it bathed her dark hair in a golden light. Even without her wings, Surcy was an angel, a being more beautiful than any woman he could imagine. And… he missed her.

She’d spent a year away from them, taken by Caine. And now that she was back, he thought that his heart would finally heal from her disappearance and he would feel full again. Instead, seeing her when she didn’t remember him hurt him in an entirely new way. He tried to pretend he didn’t think of her… every second of the day, but he did. Only his mission kept him sane.

“Mark?” she asked, his name holding a concerned note.

He cleared his throat. “This is her home.”

“And she’s a shifter?” Daniel asked frowning.

Mark nodded.

“What… like a lizard shifter? Or does she turn into rocks and dirt?”

Mark shrugged. “I’m not sure. I have all these pictures in my mind, but they don’t fit here. I don’t get it.”

“So what should we do?” Surcy asked.

“I guess,” he turned back to the house. “We knock. And keep an eye out for angels.”

“Good plan,” Daniel said, his sarcasm lacing each word.

Mark ignored him and started for the front door. He didn’t know what he’d find inside, probably danger, but this was his best plan. Taking a deep breath, he knocked.

He heard movement inside and sensed someone on the other side of the door. For a long minute no one answered, and then he heard the sound of a chain being pulled. The door opened inch by inch, and the barrel of a shotgun appeared. He held his breath as it swung all the way open, and then, there was the woman from his visions.

Sort of. It’s her… but it’s not.

She was older, with long white hair, and tired eyes. She wore a nightgown and robe, both with seashells on them. And even though there was something sickly about the tone of her skin, her hands on the gun were sure.

“What can I do for you?” she asked, her eyes flashing with a challenge.

Mark held her gaze. “We’re here to see you.”

“Why?” she asked, her eyes running over all of them.

Damn it.Mark hadn’t thought this far ahead. And he really should have.

Daniel shifted closer. “We’re interested in purchasing your land.” He purred the words, a big charming smile on his face.

Mark’s heart raced as he looked between her gun, which was now pointed directly at Daniel’s chest, and Daniel’s grinning face. The fire mage was so damned cocky. Did he really think he could convince her with just a little demon charm?

It helps, but it isn’t fool-proof. He knows that!

The fire mage’s grin widened. “And we aren’t poor chumps. We’re talking about a good offer here. One that will set you up for the rest of your life.”

Her gun lowered. “I’d be interested in hearing what you have to say, but this gun is staying right by my side.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less, ma’am,” he said.

For the first time, she smiled, then gestured for them to come in. “Sorry, the place is a mess. I’ve been sick for a while.”

They entered the room and were surprised by the strong scent of herbs. Everything was fairly neat. On one side of the room, there was a small seating area, with couches with little starfish on them. Bottles with ships and seashells on nearly every surface and a lamp made out of a blowfish continued the nautical theme. Around a slight corner, a kitchen table held different pill bottles and bags of herbs.

“Take a seat,” she said, gesturing toward the couch.

She sat on a big chair, her knitting in a bag next to it, and rested her gun against her leg. Her hand went to a chain around her neck, and as she fiddled with it, he spotted another seashell on the end of it, this one pure white and simple. His feet froze and he stared at it until the others pushed him forward.

They awkwardly shuffled in and squeezed onto the couch, while Tristan remained standing beside them.

“Thanks for hearing us out,” Daniel said, always the smooth talker. “Can you tell us a little more about your land and the history here?”

She laughed. “Well, you’re the straight shooter, aren’t you? Not even a ‘how are you?’ or ‘what’s your name?’”

He smiled. “Sorry, where are my manners? These are my business associates and dear friends, Tristan, Mark, and Surcy. My name is Daniel.”

“I’m Mertal,” she said. “Nice to meet you.”

“What a lovely name,” he complimented, settling back against the couch.

“Thank you. Now, you asked about these lands. Well, they’ve been in my family for generations. And to be honest, they’ve been nothing but a curse.”

“A curse?” Mark asked, his instincts springing to life.

She gave a sad smile. “Every one of us has been born here. And every one of us dies here. Every time we get a chance to leave, something happens and we don’t.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad.” Mark stared at her in confusion.

Was this really the Immortal? She didn’t look the way he imagined, and yet, there was something about her that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

“It is bad when you want to see other things,” she said, a sigh slipping past her lips. “Like the ocean. Have you ever been? I imagine the sand between my toes and the sound of the waves. I even hear them in my sleep.”

Mark winced, and more images flashed through his mind. The ocean. There was something about the ocean. But what? Something wasn’t adding up. Something wasn’t making sense.

“You’re not too far from it, just a few hours,” Daniel said. “Why not just go?”

Her wistful expression faded. “Like I said, something always happens. But now, here you all come wanting to buy my lands, and I got to say, I think it might be just what I need to finally escape this place.”

Mark spoke without thinking. “You believe in curses. Do you also believe there are things in this world most people wouldn’t believe?”

Her gaze swung back to him, and he saw her fingers near her gun twitch. “What kinds of things?”

“Like shifters.” He said the words, then stared, waiting for her response.

She threw back her head and laughed. “Like shiny vampires and werewolves and shit? You got to be kidding me, boy. I’m not some damn teenage girl.”

Daniel joined in on the laughter. “Sorry, my pal here is a joker.”

After a minute, she rubbed at her eyes. “Thanks, son. It’s been a while since I laughed like that.”

“You mentioned being sick,” Surcy asked, her voice soft.

The woman’s gaze moved to Surcy, and she smiled. “Yeah. The doctors can’t find anything wrong with me. But I’m always tired. My body aches. And sometimes I see things that just ain’t right. They keep telling me I’m depressed. I’m not depressed. I’m sick.”

“What kinds of things do you see?” Mark pressed.

She spoke after a quiet minute. “Just things that aren’t right.”

Mark felt that prickling again. It moved down his spine.

“Now, you mentioned an offer?”

Mark stood and moved to her window, staring out at the desert. Daniel’s useless chatter drifted away. He touched The God Finder, and the world began to swim around him. The desert faded away, and he was at an ocean. A beautiful mermaid leapt from the waves and flashed him a smile. He stared at her for a long moment, and then realized why her eyes looked so familiar. Mertal? The old woman and the mermaid blurred together, and it hit him, they were one and the same.

Mertal was the mermaid. She was a goddess. The Goddess of the Sea.

His breathing grew more rapid. Caine didn’t need to torture her with angels. Or imprison her like the vampire. He just needed to keep her away from the water. As a mermaid, she would never be free until she was in the water. She would grow old and die without ever knowing why she didn’t feel right. Why her skin felt too tight.

The blurring magic of The God Finder faded away. And he gripped the edge of the windowsill to keep from falling. It was hard to breathe. Hard to pull air in and out.

At the edge of his vision, he saw shapes in the sky. The angels are coming! How did they know we were here?

“Guys!” he said, turning, he realized he’d stopped the conversation. Swallowing, he tried to keep his voice normal. “Lots of big birds out today.”

Surcy frowned. Tristan just stared, and Daniel gave him a look like he was nuts.

“You don’t see a lot of birds out here,” Mertal commented, giving him a strange look.

Which is when he finally saw it hit the others.

Surcy rose. “We should go.”

“But you just started talking about this offer of yours,” Mertal said, wiping her palms on her gown.

Daniel stood and held out a hand to the older woman. “What she means is that we’d love a tour of your lands?”

His demon-magic swelled in the air. Perhaps it was because Mark had just used The God Finder, and every one of Mark’s sense seemed heightened, but he could feel the coaxing magic sliding over her body, moving inside of her like a smoke with a purpose.

The magic was instinctual, like an angel flying. The angels couldn’t detect when they used it, but they tried not to use it too often. It had the risk of someone realizing that they were doing something they wouldn’t normally do and getting suspicious.

“I guess that makes sense,” the woman said slowly, then grabbed her gun with one hand and took Daniel’s hand with the other. “But there really isn’t much to see.”

She and Daniel led the way.

Surcy dropped back beside him. “I can’t teleport out of here either.”

He nodded. “There’s something strange about this place. But, we can’t worry about that now. We need to get her to the ocean.”

“The ocean?” Surcy frowned. “Which one?”

“Any one.” He picked up his pace, his gut tightening as they opened the front door.

The angels were getting closer. It’d be a race to see who reached the border of the shield first.

“This is my garden,” Mertal laughed. “Well, an Arizona garden anyway.”

She held Daniel’s elbow, and he tugged her toward the path leading down the mountain. “Why don’t you show us down there first?”

A cough exploded from her lips. “Alright. But slowly. The dust makes my cough worse.”

Mark’s tension grew like a ball in his chest. They didn’t have time to hobble down the hill. He counted… eight angels coming right at them. All of them were equipped with weapons, but he wasn’t sure it would be enough. To fight, yes? To get the woman and Surcy out safely, he doubted it.

“Let’s speed up,” Mark said, trying to swallow down his panic. “We have another… eh… appointment soon.”

The older woman made a noise of disapproval. “Young people are always in such rushes.”

Daniel continued to speak to her in a low voice, but their pace picked up. They wove around the hill and finally reached the ground at the same time as the angels. The eight massive men struck the ground, folded their wings and hid them with a glamour, then revealed themselves to the woman.

She cried out. “Where the hell did you come from?”

One of the angels was familiar. Frink. Of course’s it’s fucking Frink. How many times do we have to kill this asshole?

“Well,” the angel began, his long, dark hair falling forward to hide part of his cruel face, “funny seeing all of you here.”

Mark moved to stand in front of Surcy and grabbed the dagger from his side.

“Get out of our way,” Tristan said, pulling his sword from his back. “Or do you wish to die again?”

Frink smiled. “No need to be rude. Especially when we’ve been kind enough to come here with a warning. This old woman just happens to have a very special curse. If she steps foot off her lands, she’ll die.”

“That can’t be possible,” Mark said. Could it? The woman had to have left her lands at some point in her life.

The older woman raised her gun and pointed it at Frink. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you better head out of here.”

“You’ve left your home, right?” Surcy asked, touching Mark’s arm.

Mertal didn’t look back at her. “I have… just not lately.”

“Because every time she gets sicker and older,” Frink said with a smile. “And one more trip out will cost her her life… or at least weaken her enough for us to take what we want.”

What if he’s right?

“Get out of our way.”

Suddenly, Mertal spun and pointed her gun at them. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’m going to go back to my house, and none of you are going to stop me.”

I have to believe that I wasn’t sent here for nothing. If I’m right, we just need to get her to the water.

“You have to come with us,” Mark insisted.

She pointed her gun at Mark, eyes narrowing.

Daniel swore and stepped in front of Mark, reaching for her weapon.

The sound of her gun going off echoed around them. Mark’s gaze moved to Daniel, and his jaw dropped. She’d shot him, right through the chest.

“I—I,” she stuttered.

Surcy raced to Daniel’s side and caught him as he fell. Blood drenched his chest and stomach. More blood splattered their entire group.

That won’t kill Daniel, but not having his help against the angels might kill all of us.

“He reached for me,” the old woman added, lamely.

Tristan grabbed her gun and tossed it onto the desert floor. “If you wish to live, you will leave with us. If you remain, these men will kill you.”

Mertal paled. “But—“

Daniel fully expected the angels to attack in that moment. But they didn’t. They remained on the other side of the barrier, glaring.

“What are they waiting for?” he whispered to Surcy.

She looked up from where she held Daniel. “I don’t think they can cross the barrier.”

That makes no sense. Surcy could.

The old woman spoke, voice shaking. “My papa always said that it kept out anyone who wished to do us harm. Maybe he wasn’t so crazy.”

Mark looked at the little stone statues encircling her property. Perhaps their magic was stronger than he imagined.

Tristan moved to stand closer to him. “What do we do now?”

“We need to get her to the ocean. But Surcy can’t teleport us out until we get to the other side.”

“So, you and I shall fight them, and she will get Daniel and the woman to safety.”

It was the perfect plan. The angels wanted the Immortal and Surcy. If they could get them to safety, Mark and Tristan could handle the rest.

Mark nodded. “I guess it’s our only choice.”

Tristan slid to Surcy’s side, whispering to her in a low tone.

Frink followed the exchange with narrowed eyes. “You’re making a mistake. You have no idea how bad of one.”

“And of course we trust the word of one of Caine’s thugs,” Mark said, anger rising within him.

Frink smiled, a smile that sent shivers running down his spine. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Help me with him,” Surcy asked the old woman.

Mertel complied, her gaze wide.

They got him standing, braced on their shoulders. His face was pale. His expression grim. Demons might heal from almost anything, but it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hell.

Surcy looked at them and nodded.

Tristan shifted into a fighting stance, and Mark did the same. Then, Tristan transformed. His skin became the color of wet stone, and his stone wings formed on his back. Power flowed from him. Mark’s chest squeezed. He longed for his druid’s staff, but such a thing was nothing more than a dream.

This sword will have to do.

They stared at the angels. Their enemies called their glowing soul-blades into their hands and glared. Tension sung between them.

He and Tristan moved slowly, crossing the barrier a short distance from the angels.

Instantly, they attacked. Tristan stood his ground, striking sword after sword as if he were a titan of old. Mark fought differently, moving, and weaving through them with the grace of a druid. The angels were fast, and strong, but even though two demons could have never survived against them, they were more than just demons. And they wouldn’t go down easily.

Mark was surprised when Surcy teleported away behind them with the old woman and Daniel. None of the angels rushed after them. In fact, none of them seemed to care.

An angel sliced his arm. He swore and rolled, prepared for the next attack. Two angels lifted off the ground. His gaze moved from them to the one who rushed him.

Tristan roared and severed the head from one of the angels. Then, the gargoyle turned to face the next opponent, his expression enraged.

Mark parried one sword and sent his blade through the chest of another angel. As he began to pull his weapon back, a sword went through his chest from behind. His blade slipped from his fingers, and blood spurted from his lips.

An angel’s arm came around his throat.

“We got you,” Frink whispered into his ear.

The world swirled as he was teleported away.