shadows and steps into the light, towing a chain with her. “Remember these,” Aislin asks, jerking at a chain.
A woman with black hair emerges from the shadows right behind Aislin. She’s wearing a corset top, lace-up leather boots, and sprouting from her back are a pair of wide, black-feathered wings.
“A Black Angel?” I gape at Aislin. “How did you get one of those?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Aislin sneers, tugging on the chain again.
The Black Angel trips forward, a low growl rumbling from her lips as she glares at me. I try not to look her directly in the eyes as I circle the room, my Keeper instincts kicking into high gear.
Aislin lets the chain go and stalks toward Adessa. “Let’s get this over with.” Her palms ignite as she raises her arms above her head.
The Black Angel tracks my movements, snarling at me, so I move to the right, as does it, skittering around and blocking the exit.
I dare a glance at Aislin and see Tesha tackling her while Adessa chants a spell. Aislin claws at her face, and Tesha’s hair lights on fire. She screams, and Adessa’s skin pales. I run for them, but the Black Angel mimics my move and gets in my way. She flaps her wings and the wind howls. I shield my eyes as glass and papers funnel around the room. Then the Black Angel growls again, snapping her teeth, as she races forward and stands before me.
Our gazes collide, and just like that, I’m paralyzed, helpless again, bound to her by a trance. She creeps toward me, dragging the chains behind her, silently whispering for me to free her. My hands raise, my limbs no longer under my own freewill. I fight not to do it, battle to keep control of myself, but I end up reaching for the cuffs around the Black Angel’s wrists.
Using my Keeper strength, I snap the metal into pieces and free her from her imprisonment.
I scream at the top of my lungs, knowing what’s about to happen, and the Black Angel cries with me as papers and glass continue to fly through the air.
Then everything grows really quiet.
My knees buckle, and I collapse to the floor, landing on my side. I lie there for what feels like forever until I can finally move again. Pushing to my feet, I dust myself off, feeling fine.
“I’m okay,” I breathe in relief.
Then I catch sight of Aislin, Adessa, and Tesha. Aislin looks fine, and I notice the mark is no longer on her. I want to celebrate, but the fear in their eyes stops me.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, brushing the pieces of glass out of my hair.
Before anyone can answer, I hear heavy breathing from the side of me. Instinctively, I spin around.
A tall woman wearing a blue dress smiles at me.
“See you in hell, Gemma.” She winks at me then disappears into thin air.
I start to put two and two together, and my gaze drops to my arms. The same symbols that traced Laylen’s arm now trace mine.
I trace my finger along the ink. “The Mark of Immortality.” I gasp, rapidly reaching around behind me. My eyes snap wide as my fingertips brush soft feathers. “Oh, my God. I have wings.”
ALEX
The bargain I just made is going to cost me a lot more than before. More than my life. More than a year working for Draven.
The damn Banshee wants my soul. It’s the reason she led me out here, thinking if she somehow got me alone, she could trick me into handing my soul over to her. When Gemma showed up with me, she saw an even better opportunity. Apparently, when someone sacrifices their own life, their soul is more valuable. So if Gemma had drunk the poison, her soul would belong to her and give her more power.
Thankfully, that never happened, but the Banshee is still convinced she’s going to somehow get my soul. What she stupidly doesn’t realize is that my soul belongs to Gemma. Literally. It’s something I haven’t told Gemma yet, that when we made the forever blood promise, I actually gave her a piece of my soul.
That’s why I can’t make the deal with the Banshee woman, no matter what she tries to bribe me with. It doesn’t mean I am going to give up, though. If she knows where my mom is, I have to get the information out of her. I just need some time to figure out how to do that.