Page 36 of Wicked Savior
“Brennus begged her to save his last child, but when she opened the portal again, there were at least a hundred and she couldn’t tell which one to grab. She told him she needed to help the other families capture the beasts before they killed more people, but that she would come back and figure out a solution. She never returned.” He finishes the story with a sigh.
My mind is trying to wrap itself around the possibilities. “She’s eternal. It’s impossible to kill her. But she never returned to me, either. I searched for two thousand years and never found her. It’s why I’m back here. Someone must know what happened to her.”
“We aren’t sure what happened to her. We thought the angels or beasts had gotten to her, but if she’s eternal, I’m not sure what to tell you,” he admits slowly.
I can tell his brain is working furiously to put the pieces together.
“The seer saw a dark angel speaking to her, but I haven’t found him yet. Maybe he’ll know,” I inform him, straightening my arms to stretch them over my head.
“Could he be holding her somewhere?”
I shrug. “I’m not sure. I know Gabriel’s pretty pissed off about the Druids.”
“Your mother created a race of humans that can kill angels. Trust me, the angels are livid, and they’ve taken out a lot of Druids over the years to reduce our chances of survival. Add that to our insular ways, and it’s the perfect recipe for extinction,” he says, agreeing with me.
“Thanks for telling me all this. I need to return and get John into a holding cell,” I tell him.
He grabs my arm. “Who’s John?” His eyes are wild with anger and concern.
“I’ve been experimenting with Druids and humans, trying to find the source of their powers. I didn’t realize until yesterday that my mother created Druids by giving them her powers through a blood transfusion,” I explain, looking at him in confusion. “Why?”
“It took us a week to change the first time, but it happens faster now.” Fierce emotion burns in his eyes. “Shit… Meri. We need to go,” he snarls, immediately dragging us both through the portal.
When we arrive, the street is eerily quiet. He rushes straight into The Abbey, and I follow. We both come to an abrupt stop when we get inside the doors.
Valerian is lying on the floor, deep claw marks across his body, with shredded pieces of skin hanging off his torso and one of his legs. Arden’s leaning over him, her healing hands hovering over the worst of his injuries. A sword lying by her side.
Astor’s leaning against the wall, hands trembling, the strain on his ashen face evidence of the amount of magic he must have used.
Daire’s checking the fallen bodies and marking the dead ones with an X.
I swallow hard at the number of bodies that already have a red mark on their body, yet he can’t have been doing it for long.
Theron’s walking around releasing people from the ice encasing them.
My eyes move to the far side of the room.
Lucifer is standing there, chest heaving, with a black, shaggy-looking beast at his feet. Dead. His bright blue eyes are blazing with fury. “Care to explain what the fuck is going on and where you’ve been?” His tone is soft and dangerous. Anger coats his every word.
ChapterTwenty
EVREN
Cormal curses. “Where’s Meri?” He spins around and around, his eyes scanning the room. When he doesn’t see her, he rushes to the nearest platinum blond lying on the floor. One hand flips over the body while the other swipes the hair away from her face. When it’s clear it’s not her, he moves to the next one. And the next.
Arden calls out. “She left right after you did.” Her green eyes flash sympathetically at him.
He stops immediately. “Thank the goddess.” Hands drop to his side, and his shoulders sag in relief.
Lucifer strides over and fists his shirt. “Where have you two been?”
I step forward. “Cormal knew my ancestor. He even thought I was her earlier tonight. You can ask Astor. When I realized who he meant, I asked him to tell me what he knew of the Druids. He took me to the village where Brennus lived.”
Lucifer shakes Cormal hard. “She’s here because she needs protection. Did you not think about the possible consequences when you were taking your little trip?”
Cormal looks around at the bodies on the floor. “It’s a good thing we weren’t here. If we had been, John would have gone for her first. The beasts eat anything, but they crave her blood.”
“I’m not Druid,” I remind him, breathlessly inserting Druid instead of Viridian with the wild hope he understands my hint.
