Revelations Coming (The Dark Truth Novel Series) (18 page)

“Do you feel it Lord Arias?” Ivan whispered in his lilted accent.

“Yes, and it speaks of nothing good. There are a group of about fifteen Talmidim towards the back of the warehouse. They have not approached us yet. Perhaps you should take a look at them,” Arias mentioned offhandedly.

His mind was distracted by the feeling of dread and the sense that something terrible was happening. And then he felt her. A power field like no other but his beloved was surging and going out, like a candle being snuffed out. And then it was lit again though much dimmer. His body moved faster toward her presence. The passage ways were dark and there were at least twenty doors down this black hallway. An agonized scream cut through the night and Arias nearly tore the door off the hinges. What he saw when he opened that door brought him to his knees.

Venus struggled to slumber in the dark. Her body wanted her to stay in the peaceful darkness but her mind was scared of the dark. Demons with dagger like teeth and bloody eye sockets chased her, wanting to eat her flesh. Many times they chased her right to consciousness where reality was a far worse thing. Every time she woke she found herself on a new torture device that promised new and terrifying things. She didn’t have to crack open her swollen eyes to feel what she was in for this time. The pressure already was unbearable and she didn’t know how long she had been in this position. Something enormous was wedged inside of her, splitting her wide open. She could smell her blood, it was splashed over the entire room. The freshest blood coated whatever was between her legs. She was straddled precariously on top of it. She could not move. She was high enough that her feet didn’t touch the floor. It was too large for her but the weight of her body had forced it deep inside. A sob escaped her cracked lips.

“Hush little one,” the black angel murmured. “I have a surprise for you.”

He laughed and Venus retched, spilling burning bile from her throat having long ago emptied the contents of her stomach.

“Open your eyes love,” he purred.

She did as she was told because the punishment of not obeying would have been far worse. As soon as she did shame filled her. Sorrow. Panic. Hope. The emotions tore through her as she saw Arias kneeling on the floor. His eyes wide with horror.

God, he was so close if she could but touch him, he would relieve the pain. She opened her lips to talk but no sound came out, her vocal cords too swollen from her countless screams for help that had gone unanswered. She lifted a bruised, bloody, and cut up arm reaching for her love. That movement alone was agony as any slight shift in her body caused her to sink further onto the thing between her legs. She winced and sucked back what would have been a body-shaking sob. Arias roared from his knees, the violence within him straining the tendons of his neck praying for release. His enormous fists clenched so tightly blood dripped from his knuckles where the skin split open. He roared again and threw his body against the wall of glass that separated them. Venus let her arm drop with a gasp of pain, hopelessness swamping her because he would not break through that wall of glass. It was more than a foot thick. Venus turned her head slightly and watched the dark angel find amusement in watching Arias beat himself bloody against the glass.

When he had crashed through the door, a horrifying image filled his sight and it brought him to his knees. His Queen. Naked, dirty, her tiny body bloodied beyond recognition. Her beautiful breasts were scarred and branded with Apollyon’s markings. Two deep cuts running vertically along the length of both forearms seeped so much blood that he could not believe Venus still held onto consciousness. Arias could not see her whole body but there was too much blood in the room for those to be her only wounds. Apollyon had her straddling something horrific and rage pooled in his belly. When she reached out for him, pleaded for him with her eyes Arias snapped. He knew he would not get through the wall but the rage sought destruction and it would be sated even if it was he, himself that was destroyed. Arias did not consider that there may be another way into the room. He was too busy pounding the glass with his forehead and fists creating running rivers of blood. No he was much too preoccupied with his own grief to check and see how Ivan was faring.

“Last one pet,” Apollyon said with a smile as she whimpered when he lifted her from the stone phallus.

He carried her to the cuffs hanging from the ceiling one last time and locked her wrists securely. His hand found the tool he had been waiting all night to use. His favorite cat-o-nine tails. A nasty little whip with sharp silver studs on each length. He cracked the whip once against the floor, the silver studs hitting so hard they sent sparks flying into the air.

A horrified sob escaped Venus’ lips as she caught sight of what she was in for next. Her legs felt like they were still spread wide. Her womb like she was still stuffed too full. She wasn’t sure what the damage was internally to her female parts but all she felt was burning pain and blood dripping continuously out, coating her thighs. She wasn’t prepared for the first lashing. The scream was frozen in her mouth. Those silver studs embedded themselves into her back and when the angel flicked his wrist backward they ripped viciously out of her skin, peeling layers of it away with them. She threw up again, though nothing came out and her stomach kept heaving as if it wished it had something to relieve itself of. The second lash was just as painful as the first. Horrified she looked down as one of the barbed ends wrapped around to her front and she had to watch as her delicate skin was shredded and torn apart in front of her eyes. She sagged against the cuffs, despair swamping her and leaving her with just a shred of life within her.

Venus slipped into the darkness one more time. The demons were gone and in their stead was the dark angel standing before her. He had dropped the darkness that he always covered himself with and Venus saw him as he was as an angel, before he fell from grace. He reminded her of Michael, though to compare the two certainly wasn’t fair. As handsome as Michael was to her, the dark one trumped him a million times over for his was an ethereal beauty. Long, white blonde hair wrapped around his muscular chest. Electric blue eyes pierced hers, shooting straight to her soul. Instead of black downy feathers, his were wings were white and enormous.

“I am Apollyon, your Lord and Master from this day forward. Your destiny is at my side…embrace it. Reject these lesser beings and step into the darkness with me. Let us rule the world together.”

His voice was soft and coaxing, it gelled over her skin like a balm of aloe lotion. It was cool and comforting. He touched her face with his fingertips and coolness wrapped around her body. His wings flapped and wrapped themselves around her, encompassing her body against his enormous frame. She was no longer scared. She was no longer in pain. She looked into his soulless eyes and sought refuge. She buried herself in the darkness he offered.

“You will become Vampyre this night but you will be something entirely different as well. I have drained you of blood. You are on the brink of death. Do you feel it pet? Death’s clawed hands trying to grab you from me? I have been keeping you alive until he showed up. You will feed from me now before you turn. My blood will run through your veins, it will strengthen you. You will not truly be an Angel but the closest that I can give to you. And he will turn you. You will be part Vampyre, part Angel and Queen of the Underworld. You will remember nothing of your previous life besides what I tell you. Now….let us have our revenge pet.”

He held her like a child, cradling her against his chest as he used a sharp knife and opened the vein at his throat.

“Drink of me, become me. Accept my body and blood as a new covenant born within you. You my Queen are the past, present, and future. Drink of me.”

Apollyon’s voice chanted those haunting ancient words again and this time Venus was drawn to them instead of repulsed. Venus licked a long line where the blood had trickled, from his nipple back up to the slit at his throat. She latched on with ferocity pulling with force. At first Apollyon’s blood tasted toxic to her. She almost gagged on it but he urged her on in gentle tones and soothing touches. She swallowed faster and soon the toxic blood tasted like melted chocolate. Sweet, sinful, decadent. Her blunt teeth buried into his skin further making the blood pour out faster. Apollyon grunted but kept urging her on. He was right. His blood was different. It made her feel different. Her body was electrified, growing hotter and hotter until she thought she would combust into flames. Only then did she pull away, gasping for breath clutching her throat as the inferno raged within her.

“Embrace it,” he called sweetly. “Embrace me. I am within you.”

Every breath she took was a thousand needles down her throat, another breath sandpaper on an open wound. Another breath gasoline on an open flame.

Apollyon sat silent as the war waged within her body. He knew they would find the door to the room eventually. Everything had gone like he planned. Just one more step and he could wage his war. He took his time perusing the little girl in his arms. Of course he had been cruel. Unforgiving. Careless. He had to be. It was his nature. And when she woke as a true new being, she would be the same way. Her features were beautiful, her hair turning black already from the darkness running through her veins. He tortured her mercilessly. It gave him pleasure when she fought him at first. Even when she hurled one of the brands at him with her mind and it sunk into his flesh, he smiled with pleasure. It gave him pleasure to break that strong spirit within her. He shook his head, break is not the right word. Bend. That spirit was still there. It flared momentarily when she saw Arias. But he broke her for himself. She would heed his wishes, he was sure of it. He watched as her body reacted to his immortal blood, knitting together the cuts. Clearing away the bruises. Mending and regenerating the skin that was torn away. The only thing that remained were the brands on her chest. They had turned out perfectly….forever marking her as his. His Chosen One.

Sounds of fighting at the door roused Apollyon from his thoughts. He laid Venus gently on the metal table and hovered over her, waiting for them to break through the door.

Drake finally turned on his phone when he seated himself on the plane. Fifteen messages, Jesus.

“Baby…I’ve been knocking on the door for thirty minutes. Are you even in there?”

Delete.

“Drake, I don’t know why you’re giving me the silent treatment. Please can you talk to me?
Delete. Delete. Delete.

The next message, she was sobbing. “I don’t know what I’ve done. I haven’t seen you for a week Drake. I don’t know if I’m even wanted anymore…did you change your mind about me? I love you…I guess I’ve never told you that. Or told anyone that. I love you Drake.”

Drake lifted his finger to press 9 to delete but saved it instead and went on to the next message.

“Drake, where the fuck are you!” Riken shouted into the phone. “They have taken her, damn it. Pick up you sorry fuck.”

Another one, Riken again. “Listen you selfish bastard. If I would have known this was how you truly felt about her I never would have let you have her.”
The last from Michael. “Drake. Please come back to us. They have her. Lord knows what they are doing to her. Drake? Do you hear me? It’s not Arias who has her…it’s Apollyon. Drake?”

Drake closed his phone silently. The commercial jet too full for him to lose it now. Apollyon…he hadn’t heard that name is centuries. He needed to contact Michael but they were about to take off. Damn it! He cursed silently. He got up out of his seat and rushed towards the plane’s boarding door. The flight attendants were just shutting it tight.

“I need to get out of here,” he growled between his teeth. The flight attendant took one look at his disheveled state and opened the door back up.

Dialing Michael straight away, the angel answered before it even rung.

“Jesus, where the fuck have you been?” the angel admonished. “Look there’s no time for that. Where are you? We need to save her before it’s too late!” the angel continued before Drake could speak.

“I’m in Italy near Florence.”
“Don’t move, we are changing our flight schedule now. Be there shortly.”

As Arias tore through the Talmidim’s throats and rendered them to ashes he searched his memory for ways to kill an Angel. And he remembered Apollyon’s words to him. Only an Angel can kill another Angel. He cursed, not knowing what his next plan was going to be. He had to save Venus though. That was a given. After she was in his arms again, then he would think about the next step. Ivan kicked the door open and froze and Arias followed suit. The Angel had his Queen on the center table, a knife hovering above her heart.

“Ivan, leave us,” Apollyon commanded.

The Talmidim glanced at Arias, for the first time uncertainty flickering across his features.

“Leave us or I’ll end her pathetic existence now.”
“What do you want Apollyon?” Arias roared furious now.

The Angel smirked and lowered the knife slightly.

“Come closer Arias. You will do but one more thing and I will let your precious beauty go.”
Arias stepped closer, hesitantly. He glanced down at his Queen. Though it wasn’t her anymore…at least as he knew her. Her body was blemish free. It was still dirty and smeared with blood. Her hair though…her beautiful golden hair. Black as the angel’s wings in front of him.