The Seer's Lover (The Seven Archangels Series) (35 page)

“Are you even listening? Seriously, my sister can pick them,” Dean continued. “But then again, apparently so can I. Liza’s last purchase on our credit card was a one-way ticket to Russia.”

Lucas ignored all of his body’s screaming pain. He focused on any information that might help him find Cali. “So it was Ellen that told you to follow Liza’s trail?”

“Yeah,” Dean blabbered on. “It sounds crazy, but Ellen said it’s not crazy, and then after that lady at the airport…”

“What lady again?” Lucas willed ibuprofen and a caffeine-laced beverage to appear in front of him, but nothing happened.

“Ellen gave me a card with a phone number.” Dean produced the white card with numbers typed in the middle. “What do you think? Could Liza really be working for some whack job family in Russia torturing babies? I never saw Liza as someone who’d do that.”

“Yes,” Lucas nodded. “I believe Cali. And Dean…” he said, laying a hand on his shoulder, “…sometimes your eyes only see what you can handle. Now this friend of Ellen’s…”

Dean bobbed his head. “Yeah, so I’m tying my shoes after I got through security, and there was a chick being led away by security after her nether regions kept setting off that metal detector light saber thing.” He waggled his eyebrows and elbowed Lucas in the ribs.

Lucas made a circular motion with his fingers to get him to move the story along. “Dean, c’mon buddy. Ellen’s friend…” He reminded him.

“Oh yeah! Well, I saw your face in a different interrogation room as three guards were leaving. They said they were going to stuff you in an empty suitcase and dump your body in Lake Michigan. I figured I better do something before airport security snuffed my future brother-in-law. That’s when I saw that woman. Dude, she was chiseled perfection. She told me she had many other virtues besides her legs and asked me what I thought we should do.”

Lucas had only seen bursts of light, but Dean kept insisting he was talking to some hot woman who gave him flashes of inspiration.

“So she let you in the room and gave you the dummy passport and airplane tickets? She helped me get all my weapons back on?”

“Yup, and gave me a gun.” Dean patted his coat.

“Good. So what’s my name again on that ticket? Mr. Rut Vie?”

Dean leaned in close. “I think so. Look, I’m telling you, when I hauled you out of there in the wheelchair I found, and the door was shutting her into the room, I
swear…
she sat in the chair you just got out of. And when I looked back as the door closed, she morphed into you, bound and gagged, like I found you…”

“Good old Ellen,” Lucas said.

“That was like a miracle or something.” Dean’s face glazed over in amazement.

“Now if only we’re allowed one more and get Cali and Michael back.”

Lucas woke to Dean snapping his fingers in front of his face to get his attention.

“Hey, you’ve got to give me something here, man. I hoisted you from an airport interrogation room and went through hell to get you on this flight with me. Tell me what’s really going on.”

Lucas wondered if his face appeared much older than it should have. Did young soldiers come back from war with fewer worry lines than him? Could Dean see his congealed mixture of fear, anger, and guilt? Lucas shook his head at Dean and turned to stare back out the window.

A finger flicked his shoulder. “Not. Good. Enough.”

“I can’t tell you,” Lucas sighed. “Isn’t it enough that your sister trusts me?”

“I don’t care. I’m not sure
I
trust you. My sister was in hysterics over her baby being kidnapped. Now she is gone, and I’ve maxed out my credit card for what could be a wild goose chase to Russia!” Dean huffed, ready to burst.

Lucas rubbed his eyes. “Cali and your nephew may have been kidnapped by a person from my past. A very dangerous woman. Ellen might have contacts in Russia that can help us track them, if they’re here. When we land, I think we should separate because I don’t need another person from Cali’s family in danger.”

“What kind of danger?” Dean asked darkly. “What kind of trouble are you in?”

“The worst possible kind,” Lucas answered.

Chapter 34

Abaddon’s Russian orphanage on the outskirts of Yaroslavl, Russia

Calise stood in a dimly lit hallway that branched and spread out before her like a maze in an old psychiatric hospital. Multiple doors stretched out in all directions. Cold seeped into her bones no less here than it did outside. She exhaled and watched her breath dissipate into nothingness.

“How many rooms is this place?” Michael could be anywhere.

“Hundreds,” Shane answered.

“Maybe we should split up?”

“Nursery is that way down the basement,” he pointed. “I’ll head to her private quarters. Meet here when you have Michael.” He padded silently away from her until his silhouette melted into the blackness. Moans and creaks assaulted her from every direction. This was more sanitarium than orphanage. The place reeked of urine and feces, a barren environment not suitable for any child. She was revolted even thinking about Michael, or any child, being held here. Her footsteps echoed, sounding to her ears as if a giant clomped down the hall, even though she tried her best to be quiet.

Stifled sobs came from a room on the right. She switched on the flashlight Shane gave her and edged up to the large door to peer through its small Plexiglas window, terrified of what she might find. The inside of the room was pitch black. She tried the doorknob. Locked.

She crept closer and shone the flashlight at the tiny window, then stifled a scream and jumped back. A pair of eyes had looked back at her, then disappeared. Angel eyes.

She shone the flashlight in the window again but kept more distance between the window and herself.

No eyes.

The lights flicked on in the room. She peered inside, two girls in hospital gowns circled a third girl, tied up in the center of the room. She was the source of the sobs. All of the children’s cheeks were sunken in from malnourishment.

“Give us the bread!” One of the two disheveled girls barked at the girl bound with ropes, who rocked on the floor. She shook her head vehemently until the two girls attacked her, slapping and punching her, until they removed the scrap of bread she had been protecting.

Then the two wrestled against each other like two children fighting over the Thanksgiving wishbone until each scurried to a corner to devour her scrap of a feast.

The girl on the floor raised her head and looked right at Calise. “Help us!”

The other two crept to the small window and, realizing Calise wasn’t a demon, chimed in. “Help us! Let us out!” They banged on the door.

She flinched backwards.

What the hell is going on here? Where is my baby?

She tread softly along the long, clammy corridor, unable to bring herself to look into any other rooms. She heard babies crying when she reached an intersection of the hallways. Why were babies kept far away from the other children? She followed the sound. At the end of the hall, she followed a dimly lit stairwell to the basement. The infant cries grew louder and louder with each step.

Her palms slippery with sweat, she feared the flashlight would slip from her hands, despite the cold temperature that had her constantly shivering. She tried to take some deep breaths to slow her heart rate and calm her nerves, but to no avail.

How can I fight Nara?

What angel can I summon here in the middle of nowhere?

The basement appeared more neglected than the first floor, if that was possible. The cracked, concrete floor gave way to patches of earth showing through. The temperature felt ten degrees colder than upstairs. How could an infant survive in this environment?

Double doors at the end of the hallway appeared to open on the nursery. She hugged the wall. The stench of mold and curdled milk grew stronger with each step. She kept the flashlight turned off because besides the necklace, the element of surprise was all she had on Nara. Unless Shane got to her first.

Calise pushed open the door. One rickety crib after another held two or even three infants in varying degrees of health. None properly covered, all obviously malnourished, and most, although awake, never even looked up at her. Her heart broke for every one of these angel babies, none of whom were Michael.

A creak startled her. Someone occupied a rocking chair facing the corner.

Nara?

Calise clenched her necklace tightly and approached the rocking chair. A few feet away, she could hear a woman humming to the child. She dared a glance over her shoulder. A swaddled baby, but not Michael. Wrapped in pink with shining cherry-red eyes, it was a tiny demoness.

The woman spun around and Calise was face to face with her sister-in-law, Liza.

Liza’s expression betrayed her surprise, and she put a finger to her lips to shush Calise. Then she motioned to a door in the corner of the room and mouthed, “I’m sorry.”

Liza was a demon, yes. But she’d changed. Her features were softer and for a moment, Calise believed Shane was right—Liza might actually be on their side.

Liza’s head snapped to the side door, and she whispered to Calise, “Hide!”

Calise crouched between two cribs and slid to the floor when the door opened. Heels clicked across the floor.

“How’s my darling little girl?” Nara’s voice purred. “Daddy’s on his way here, darling. And when he sees you, he’ll be mine forever. Now, Liza dear, give my precious little girl several extra blankets and her own crib. Also, her feeding schedule of every two hours is not to be interrupted,
for anything.
Understand?”

“Of course, Nara. She is my number one priority. Where did that new baby come from? Should I make room for him somewhere in here?”

Michael.

“Soon enough. I just need to castrate him and scar up his face a little. Then I don’t give a shit what happens to him. You are not to feed or hold the new one under any circumstances. Let him die slowly, starving for attention and food.” Nara laughed.

Calise could barely contain herself under the cribs but knew her clumsy appearance right now would be disastrous. The element of surprise and the possibility of Liza and Shane’s help were all she had.

“Send Shane to see me the moment he arrives. On second thought, take my baby upstairs and let her sleep with me where it’s warmer. Go on, move it!” Nara snapped.

Liza’s hopeless look returned. As she gathered her belongings, she dropped several keys on the floor near Calise. “Sorry, Nara. I’m so clumsy sometimes.”

Liza kicked a key under the crib where Calise hid before she left with the demoness. Nara’s heels clicked past Calise once again, heading toward the door at the back of the nursery.

Calise stayed low as she made her way to the door. Crouching, she put the key in the door and turned the handle, then cracked the door open. And stifled a gasp of horror.

Nara was standing over Michael with a knife pointed right at his midsection.

****

“I see you found us.” Nara kept her back turned. She set the knife down and picked Michael up by one leg as he screamed. The room was a makeshift kitchen attached to the nursery. Everything was stainless steel with raw edges and hard lines.

“Put him down!” Calise took a step closer and reached for her necklace. “Now.”

“Or you’ll what?” Nara beckoned with two fingers for Calise to approach her. “Use that?”

Calise felt something pulling her tight around the back of her neck and involuntarily, she stepped forward. The necklace from Lucas stuck straight out in front of her, pulling her toward Nara. She grabbed the back of her neck in vain as the necklace snapped off, flew to the ground and skidded toward Nara. The demon caught it with her foot and smashed the glass with her heel to reveal the shard of wood. Her blood red eyes rolled back in her head. “Let the fires of hell consume you!” she hissed, then opened her mouth and heaved out a stream of flames.

Her dragon breath destroyed the artifact.

Calise watched in horror as the only thing she had to fight Nara with was a pile of ashes at her feet.

“Did you really think that trinket of wood would protect you? You have no one to help you. You’re alone. Are you ready to watch your son die?” Nara lifted up the knife she’d laid on the stainless steel kitchen island.

“Wait, Nara. Take me. Don’t hurt him. He hasn’t done anything to you. It’s me you want.” Calise edged closer and closer.

Nara’s steely eyes watched her every move.

“His daddy killed my mom. Tit for tat, bitch.” Nara’s lip curled. “But, if you’re willing to make a deal, I have an offer.”

Calise panicked. She wanted Nara’s soul to burn in hell for an eternity. Nara eased Michael down on the cold silver island. He whimpered and Calise ached that she was so close but couldn’t hold him, comfort him, and tell him mommy would fix everything. “What do you want?”

Nara’s aura pulsed in vertigo-inducing black waves making the tension between them palatable. “You have something that I want.” Nara’s voice was icy.

“What’s that?”

Nara smiled at her. “Shane’s heart. Break it.”

“What are you saying? Break it how?” Calise held her ground.

“I know he brought you here. I know he wants you back. I want you to make him fall. Completely.”

So Nara wanted Shane to be a demon, like her. “How am I supposed to do that?”

“Figure it out or watch your son die before I kill you.” Nara scooped Michael up and in a blur, they were gone.

All the adrenaline left Calise’s system, and she dropped to her knees, feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of her.
Make Shane fall?
How could she do that to him? Yet how could she refuse? She was powerless without the necklace. And the hell if she’d let Nara hurt Michael. Maybe if Shane was a demon, then Nara would finally leave Calise and Lucas alone.

I’m an idiot.
Demons lie. Calise would make Shane fall and Nara would still kill her. But there was another baby here, Shane and Nara’s—she’d seen her. Nara wanted her family together as much as Calise did. They did have that one thing in common. If Nara killed Calise, Shane would never forgive her.

Something crashed in the nursery. She ran out to see Shane pushing past each crib and looking inside. “Shane!”