Page 40 of The Fallen

?He followed her uncle to the end of the hall and stood while he looked around suspiciously.

?“We only have a few seconds to talk. Marie's mind is on her parents, she won't be listening through your thoughts,” her uncle said. Brenton folded his arms, curious. “I read further into the story and it says the only blood that could break the chains is the blood of an angel who has descended from two separate angels. Somewhere down the line two descendants had a child. As you know, this is forbidden, but someone ignored the warning.”

?Brenton flinched, but her uncle didn't notice. He just continued to talk. “I'm not sure why Azazel feels Marie is the answer unless he has an ulterior motive. We both know Marie came from an angel and a mortal.”

?“So what do you think the end game is?” Brenton asked.

?“I don't know, but I have a feeling that when it is all said and done, Marie will give her life if she thinks she has to. You must stop her from doing that. Whatever you do, get her out of there. Renea is well aware of the consequences and is prepared to sacrifice herself to save Marie. If things go wrong and you can't save her parents, I need you to stop everything and get the team back home. You will be the only one who can talk some sense in her and get her out of there. Renea will know what to do after that.”

?Brenton was shocked at what her uncle was saying to him. How would he convince Marie to leave her parents behind? She would never forgive him if something happened to them. But could he live with himself if it were her instead?

?“Promise me, Brenton. Renea can handle herself and Frank, but Marie is more important. Do you understand?”

?Brenton shook his head. “I promise I will get her home safe.”

?“This means you will have to block her from reading your thoughts and knowing your intentions until this is done. Can you do this?”

?“Of course. If it means keeping Marie out of harms way, I will do whatever it takes.”

?They shook hands, “Thank you,” he said and walked away.

?He stood there in a daze. He couldn't let Marie sacrifice herself. His chest started to hurt. He had to pull it together, for Marie. He turned to walk back to her room, but she was standing at the door, watching him.

?He walked up slowly, gauging her mood. Her face was blank.

?“I love you Marie Mitchell,” he said in her mind.

?Her face didn't change. “What are you hiding?”

?Brenton almost told her, but he quickly snapped back. He didn't think he would have to start blocking her so soon, but it was important that he did. He hated that he just started to enjoy being able to share thoughts and now he had to filter them.

?“I just wanted to tell you that I loved you before we left the house as warriors,” he smirked. “I want to have a moment of just being your boyfriend and not the guy that is about to go to war with you. Although, that sounds pretty awesome now that I said it out loud.”

?She smiled and he could breathe easy. That smile made his heart do backflips and ache at the same time. She was so beautiful.

?“I love you, too,” she said and kissed his cheek. “Boyfriend, huh? You're really trying to get us killed.”

?“Well I figured if Azazel takes us out, we have nothing to worry about. On the other hand, if we take him out, we deserve some crowns or something. Maybe they'll be so grateful, they will pay for the wedding,” he said laughing. Marie smiled.

?They walked in the room just in time to see three people appear out of nowhere in front of them. Marie gasped and Brenton instinctively stepped in front of her.

?They looked like a gang of thugs, dressed in chains and fingerless gloves, spiky hair and vengeful faces.

?“It's Azazel's descendants, DeMar and Shaniece. The other one is trying to block me, but I think his name is Eric, he's one of Ezeqeel's, like Rochelle and Micheal,” Brenton said in Marie's thoughts.

?“What are you doing here?” Marie said moving next to Brenton.

?The middle one laughed. He must have been the leader of the group. He had an air of cockiness that Brenton could relate to; plus the others fell into place behind him waiting for instructions.

?DeMar was thicker and taller than Brenton. He stood about six feet tall with arms that had muscles stacked on top of each other. His skin was tanned, he had gray eyes and his hair was a greasy pile of black spikes. He wore camouflaged clothing with combat boots. Chains hung from his front pocket to the back and he had an even bigger one around his neck. Brenton definitely did not like this dude.

?Shaniece stood next to him with her arms folded like a statue and a smirk on her face. She was taller than DeMar which means she towered over Brenton even more. She was light-skinned with green eyes and honey colored hair that was braided down her back. She was dressed similar to DeMar, but she wore it way better than he did.

?“Look Shan, it's the guy with the fire wall,” DeMar said. They both started laughing.

?“And his girl, the bobble-head,” Shaniece said, mimicking Marie while she was unconscious.

?“How did you get in here? The house is covered?” Brenton asked.

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