Redemption (46 page)
I cringed and crawled back into Marcas. What was this? Marcas’ arm came around me, and I knew he could see her as well.
“Son,” the woman said with a chuckle as she glanced between Marcas and I. She had raven hair with skin as alabaster as the moon. Her lips were as red as blood. She reminded me of the description the Grimm Brothers used to describe Snow White minus the whole child-like, innocent princess persona. Her eyes narrowed and shone red.
“Daughter of Bezaliel, hear my cry. You will die, Naphil. If not tonight, then soon. Our battle isn’t finished. It has just begun,” she warned before fading mist-like into the night. The poison dissipated.
Another sob escaped me. Marcas didn’t have to tell me who the woman was. I knew instantly. Her spider had bitten me. She had sent me a personal message I couldn’t ignore.
“Lilith,” I whispered as I looked toward the moon. It was full tonight. My friends were fighting a battle I’d run from to find a ring I thought could end this war. Or at least manage to pacify most of the Demons and even Angels who might want me dead because of Marcas.
But I’d been wrong.
The ring would only fix one small problem in a huge tapestry of trouble. Even unbound, Lilith would want me dead.
There would still be the SOS to face.
I would still be a Naphil with untrained powers and nowhere to go.
My journey hadn’t even truly started. I closed my ears to the cries that still filled the night and the carpet soared quickly away. I looked up at Marcas and realized he was already staring down at me.
The arm around my waist was tight, possessive even. His eyes met mine and I realized suddenly that I cared about him. I wasn’t sure he gave a damn about me, but he seemed to feel the need to protect me. Possession, Alessandro had said, tended to destroy his relationships. Had this same possessiveness driven Sophia from him? Did he still love her?
“This is just the beginning isn’t it?” I asked Marcas quietly.
He looked up at the stars and then back down at me. He nodded solemnly. His face was so near mine I could see the blue in his midnight eyes. If he had tried to kiss me then I may have let him.
I sighed and looked away. He was what he was and I was what I was. No future in that. His voice suddenly circled me as he drew his jacket close again. I looked back up at the moon.
It almost seemed to frown at me.
“Blainey,” Marcas whispered. “We haven’t even started.”
My tears hit the carpet.
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R. K. Ryals is a scatterbrained mother of three whose passion is reading whatever she can get her hands on. She makes her home in Mississippi with her husband, three daughters, a Shitzsu named Tinkerbell, and a coffeepot she
couldn't
live without. Visit her at http://rkryals.blogspot.com/, or on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100002962212970
Ransom:book two in the Redemption Series coming soon . . .