Gates of Death - Rae Foxx Page 0,41

a draining spell. It began siphoning my powers immediately. I threw a layer of protection over me, which slowed the process considerably. Now the spell was only able to take a trickle, not a flood. Ignoring the Throne, I walked through the house, looking for Lucifer. I found him on the sofa, unrestrained, but so weak he was nearly passed out. His head lolled back, and his jaw was slack, though his eyes fluttered open and shut.

Turning to the weak angel, I glared. "Stop the spell now."

He grinned, looking triumphant. "Like you can stop me." Chuckling, he walked forward. "By now, your powers are a fraction of what they should be, and you're no more powerful than I am. Some great and powerful leader you are," he snarled. "One simple spell has you cowering in fear. "

I arched one eyebrow and looked around the room. "Who is cowering? Am I cowering?" Looking down at myself, I made a comical show of turning in a circle. "Nope. No cowering here."

My powers were diminished, sure, and wearing by the minute, but they were leaving me far slower than this putz realized.

I split the flow of my energy, leaving half of it to keep me protected. I used part of the other half to lift the tall man into the air. "My power is fine," I said in a low, even voice. "And I can't help but wonder if killing you will stop the spell and release my husband."

"No," he whispered. "He promised me if I got you here, you'd both be weak. He told me to keep you here."

This wasn't someone on the list we already had. This asshole was someone new. I didn't waste the energy to read his aura. It could safely be assumed he was vile.

Snaking a thread of power up his arm so he could feel it, I let it wrap around his neck several times like a constrictor. "Do you want to release the spell? Or should I test my killing you theory?" I asked.

He gulped. "I can't. If you don't kill me, he will."

My coil of magic tightened around his neck. "He's not here. I am." I cocked my head at him. "Last chance." Squeezing harder, I smiled as he gasped.

"Okay," he whispered through the tightness in his throat. "I'll break the spell."

I released his throat but kept the rest of him tightly bound in my power. "Do it."

"It's not an incantation. It's a spell in the necklace around my neck."

Striding forward, I grabbed the gold chain around his neck and pulled a large purple gem out from under his shirt. Closing my fist around it, I fought the surge of power from it, trying to suck my magic away. With a yank, the chain broke, and the stone rested in my hand.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Crush it," he said.

I considered his words. He could've been leading me into a trap. Crushing it could make it explode or something, but I didn't see how I had much choice. More and more of my magic slipped away every second, and Lucifer didn't look good. He'd slipped into full unconsciousness.

Dropping the stone onto the hardwood floor, I stomped it with my hiking boot. A real stone never would've crumbled without considerably more pressure, but this one did. My magic slammed into me, and Lucifer opened his eyes with a gasping breath.

Jumping to his feet, he surged forward, and I was shocked to realize he was full of power.

But it felt all wrong. "Luc," I whispered as he lashed out at the bound angel.

The man's head separated from his body as Lucifer roared his anger. I watched the wretch's soul separate from his ruined body and sighed as I wrapped it in my power to hold until we could deal with it. We'd never get any information from him now. "Why'd you do that?"

Luc grunted and held out his arms, fully flexed. He cried out again, a low, guttural sound. As fast as he'd filled with power, it disappeared. "It wasn't my power," he said when it was gone. "Whoever's power he stole in that gem is returning to them now. I just borrowed it for a second."

"Why'd you kill him?" I asked. "Now we can't question him."

"Because Raphael and Mark, the one I killed, underestimated what a human could endure. They warned me I'd pass out as soon as we entered the house. I nearly did, too, and my eyes closed. But I didn't go out. They thought I