Page 40 of A Spark Of Revenge

“His normal prickish self. I’m pretty sure he keeps a mirror by his bed so that the first thing he sees each morning is himself,” I murmur, taking a step closer, wanting to help him with his emotions but knowing he will not appreciate it if I do. He nods and takes a deep breath, crouching down, resting his hands on his knees before reaching out and running his fingertips over the enormous lid of a sarcophagus sitting askew from the giant box it should have been resting on.

“And Arch? Where is he? I can't imagine Razar is easy to control without him here. Did Father need him to stay and help out at home?” Valen asks in such a calm and serene voice that it literally breaks my heart. A lump forms in my throat, and I tear my eyes away from Valen as he studies his prison. This isn't the place for me to tell him about Arch. He’s already in enough pain. “Lennox?”

I look back up when Valen whispers my name, his hand falling from the lid at his feet as he stands, eyes narrowing on me as I clear my throat. “I-uh. Maybe we should go back to the castle,” I suggest, looking around the single-room church. It’s empty. No human or Hunter inside, meaning there is nothing here to save. Valen stares at me for a moment, then closes his eyes, his head drooping. He knows something is wrong. “Valen,” I whisper, stepping to his side and reaching a hand out to clasp his shoulder.

“Is he gone?” my brother whispers, his lashes fluttering on his pale cheeks but never opening, refusing to face the horror my words are about to cause. I have to take a moment, my throat too tight, the pain too much to bear, before I finally jerk a nod, tightening my hold on my brother.

“Yes,” I rasp out, then curse as Valen's colorless eyes suddenly fly open, locking with my own. The gentle green eyes are gone, replaced by those of his Shade, and I let my hand fall from his shoulder but refuse to move.

“How?” Valen grinds out, the sorrow and pain that had been radiating from him only moments ago replaced by unbridled anger.

“Valen,” I say in a soft voice, trying to talk him out of his Shade form and back to my sensible-thinking older brother. “Take a breath, man,” I instruct, using my own magic to link with Valen's emotions, bending them ever so slightly while soothing the pain he has buried deep inside. Only his eyes have changed, his skin and hair still hold some color, but then the black web-like veins begin to spread around his eyes as his pupils dilate. I should be able to calm him down if he allows it. “Calm down. Now,” I order, letting a bit of magic filter into the command. Demanding his obedience.

Valen flinches back, stumbling away from me like my words are a physical blow, catching himself on the sarcophagus behind him. In the next moment, his eyes begin to lighten, the gray tone brightening to green, the black veins around his eyes creeping back into his still large pupils. Sighing, I look down, allowing my brother a moment to collect himself, knowing how much he hates when he loses control in front of others.

“Sorry,” he rasps, and I look back up and nod.

“Better?” I ask, then grimace when Valen looks at me like I’m a fool. “Yeah. I know, stupid question. I’ve had a year to come to terms with this, and I’m still not okay. It was an impulse,” I admit, and Valen nods.

“Yeah. But.. how? When?” he rasps, and I swallow hard, not wanting to tell him. Knowing Valen, he will blame himself for Archer's death since we had come to this side of the Veil to save him. But it was the Hunter's fault… their choices that caused Arch’s death.

“On our way up to the Castle,” I explain slowly, watching his expression shutter into one of controlled rage. “We planned to overtake a group of Hunters who were coming to help Axford. They were real pricks; they supported the sex rings in Siberia and were actively promoting the capture and deaths of humans in order to further their own gain. We intercepted their group at the base of the mountain near the gatehouse and were able to take out the majority of the group, but we had only planned on encountering twenty-three men in total.” I pause a moment and clear my throat, trying not to picture the events of that day. “Unfortunately, there were fifty-four Hunters instead, and we were outnumbered. Razar had lost a lot of blood, and I had taken a few arrows. One hit my spine, and I was trying to heal myself when a Hunter sliced my throat.”

Reaching up, I touch the thin scar I hadn't been able to heal fast enough. “Archer and Creed were the only ones fighting, and there were still twenty men left. Creed ran to help Razar when he was cornered and saved his life, but… Arch was left by himself and took an onyx blade to the ribs. I was unconscious by that point from blood loss, but Creed said he sent Archer back to Versipellis with the two surviving Wraiths in a desperate attempt to save his life. But it was too late. He died before Father could get to him.”

“Fuck,” Valen whispers, growls, and turns, hammering his fist into the lid of the sarcophagi behind him. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” he screams, pain lacing each of his words as he brings his fist down in rapid succession. I step forward when I scent his blood, catching his fist before he can do more harm to himself. Releasing my magic, I start to heal his busted knuckles as he continues to curse and rage, and then I do the only thing I can. I pull him into an embrace and hold him tight as he breaks down in my arms.

“I should have been there,” Valen rasps after a moment, and I shake my head.

“This isn’t your fault, Valen. You couldn't have been there even if you wanted to be. There is no point in wishing or thinking about what could have been. All we can do is stop the men who did this and take our revenge.” A spark of determination fills Valen's eyes as he nods, wiping at his face as he pulls back to gain some control over his wrecked emotions. “Which one was it?” I ask, looking over the three sarcophagi in front of me. Only the ones on the left and right are empty, the middle one remaining sealed. “This one… right?” I ask, looking at the box he knelt in front of earlier.

Valen nods, and I smile. Stretching my hand out, I pull on my magic, a thick black wave of it erupting from my palm and shooting at the stone box in front of me. I can feel the wards and magic etched into the stone, already weakened from when Meyer released Valen, but still there. It is still usable if the Hunters tried to imprison another Demon. With a roar, I wrap my magic around the wards, crushing them under my power, and then destroying the sarcophagus, rendering it to dust in seconds. With a pleased nod, I step back just as Valen laughs. His low chuckle grows in strength as he watches me eradicate the very prison of his nightmares.

“Thank you,” he finally says, standing back to his full height and stepping closer to the two remaining sarcophagi. I follow him, moving to the one on the left as I look over the sealed one in the middle of the church. I hadn't felt any life within it… so I don't believe there is a human or demon inside, but I want to be sure. Moving over to the box, I frown as I see the carved beast someone took the time to etch into the stone.

“That can’t be right,” I whisper to myself as I reach up and trace my fingers over the familiar wards carved into the perimeter of the… Shit! Black onyx box. Not granite or some other type of stone… but fucking black onyx!

No, no, no. This is bad. Like, tell my father immediately bad!

“Valen!” I shout, my eyes widening as I look down at what could possibly be the worst thing I have seen in my entire life. This can't be right! How the hell do the Hunters have this?

“Nox? I think you need to look at this,” Valen says, ignoring my call to him. I look up, worried the matching box is next to it, but sigh in relief when all I see is an empty gray granite box. Valen is frowning, his hands moving over the lid of the box while shaking his head.

“What? What is it? Because I think I found something I need you to look at,” I grind out, my heart racing as I rush over to him.

“You said Arch was wounded at the base of the mountain? That he was sent back to Versipellis before you came to the castle?” he asks, and I nod, my brows pinching together as I step to his side and lean closer to the open sarcophagus. I watch as Valen trails his finger over the stone in confusion. I don't sense any magic or something out of place, but then I see it. The dark smear of blood in the shape of a hand. Leaning forward, I take a deep breath, inhaling the familiar coppery scent that shouldn't be here.

“Then why is his blood in the box?” Valen asks in a broken voice.

TWENTY

Meyer

“I’m hungry,” I whine under my breath as I duck and spin, evading Jordan's right hook before hooking his ankle with mine and yanking it toward me… or I try to yank it toward me. Freaking giant man over here weighs a ton, and it's me who trips and pitches forward, face-planting into Jordan’s chest while he tries to catch me. My clumsiness takes us both to the floor, and I giggle when Jordan curses, darting a hand out to catch the back of my head before it can connect with the floor. “Oops,” I whisper when he glares at me, unimpressed.

“Oops,” Jordan agrees, his hand reaching around and whacking my stomach, making me huff out a breath when his hand hits a little too hard. “You have muscles here. Use them and keep them tight. Your core muscles are there for a reason, Meyer,” he grumbles before jumping back to his feet like a damn ninja and yanking me up so fast my head spins. “I thought I told you to lose the soft belly,” he adds, and I flip him off.

“That was last week! How does one lose fifteen pounds and tone their stomach in less than seven days? If you can tell me, I’ll do it,” I snark at him, making his lip twitch in response. “Fucker. Stop calling me fat. You're going to give me a damn complex,” I grumble under my breath, whacking his stomach in retaliation and scowling when his hard abs hurt my fingers.

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