THE TRAGIC + DIVINE Page 25

  “He didn’t convince me—” Skye tried to defend herself.

  “He did. You’re part of the quill lovers who were dumb enough to come here on your own will. And for what? Love?” Ruby narrowed her eyes at Skye. I could feel the hostility between the two girls. A short glance at Skye told me Ruby was telling the truth. Skye bent her posture as she stared at her food, her nostrils flared a little.

  “What about you, new girl?” Ruby asked me. “What’s your story? Which angel did you stupidly fall in love with?”

  “I was taken from my house in front of…in front of my mother,” I said my throat dry. I opened the water bottle and took a long sip like I hadn’t drank in days.

  “Damn. That’s pretty balsey of the angels. You must have tried their patience if they just took you. Kidnapping is not their thing. It ruins their reputation, even though they have done it before. They don’t like the parents sniffing around looking for their daughters. That’s why they make us call home once a month to check-in.” Ruby took one bite of her biscuit.

  I lifted my eyebrows. Priscilla was here.

  “So, which angel was it?” Ruby asked again.

  “Uh, Scarlet and—”

  “No.” She cut me off. “Which angel pursued you?”

  My eyes dropped. I always wondered Milo’s motive the entire time he pursued me. What could a handsome angel like Milo find so damn interesting about a seventeen-year-old high school girl? And now that I knew the reason, it shattered my spirit even more. Everything Milo told me was a lie.

  My eyes watered, I turned away unwilling to continue any further with the conversation. I thought about telling Ruby his name, but I was afraid of the answer. I didn’t want to hear about the other girls he lured. Ruby exhaled, a look of pity in her eyes as she continued with information.

  “It’s what they do. They groom you. They lie and tell you, you are the most beautiful girl that’s ever lived…treat you like a princess”—a tear escaped my eye, but I quickly wiped it away—“buy you lavish gifts. Once you’re hooked, they ask you to run away. Then they bring you here.”

  I kept my face hidden from Ruby and the others. I couldn’t let them see me cry.

  “They also have recruiters; young girls who swear allegiance to them.”

  Savannah.

  “That’s enough, Ruby,” Skye said.

  “What?” Ruby said in a defensive tone. “You don’t think she has a right to know?”

  “Do you want her to kill herself?” Sky asked then turned to me. “Ruby likes to stir shit. Last month two new girls committed suicide because of her. They couldn’t handle the truth.”

  “It’s not my fault they were weak,” Ruby said flicking a piece of biscuit bread off the table. “Weak little sheep.”

  I didn’t want to hear the truth either, but I felt compelled to hear more. “I can handle it,” I said with a nod of approval for Ruby to continue.

  “The angels target girls who come from a strictly religious upbringing. They like to shake their family’s faith and put a thorn in their belief system. I was in Catholic school all my life. Wasn’t allowed to talk to any boys or touch my private parts because it was a sin. Cosmo magazine was forbidden in my house. I didn’t lose my virginity until I was twenty-two to the angel bastard who took me. Today, I’m the best lay any John has ever had. Ironic, isn’t it?”

  Up until that moment, everything Ruby told me made sense, except the religious part. Yes, Milo definitely groomed me, he told me I was beautiful, bought me lavish gifts, but what didn’t make sense—my family wasn’t religious. We went to church to keep up appearances, but behind closed doors, my mother practiced witchcraft. Maybe Milo got confused?

  “What are you forced to do?” I asked once my tears dried.

  “Anything a John wants,” Ruby answered. “How experienced are you?”

  “Experienced?”

  Ruby’s eyes narrowed then widened. “You’re a virgin?”

  “Ruby just stop,” Skye warned her again.

  Ruby cackled like a psychopath. In that moment, I decided I hated Ruby. “They sell virgins around here to high bidders.”

  “What?” I shuddered.

  My body grew rigid with panic. I was going to be sold like cattle? There was no way in hell I was going to allow them. I had to figure out a way to escape.

  Once I calmed down, I asked, “Where are we?”

  “One-thousand feet beneath Stone Mountain. The only way in and out of here is one elevator,” Ruby replied raising one finger.

  “Time to go!” yelled one of the guards.

  I walked behind Skye as we exited the room eyeing every inch of the space. There had to be another way out other than the elevator Ruby mentioned. As we passed the angel guard who escorted us, I caught a glimpse of Skye’s exchange with him, she slightly curled her lip, her feelings for him passing over her face; she was in love with him. In return, the angel guard quickly grazed his fingers over hers. Even though it happened so fast no one else noticed, I watched the exchange with great interest and curiosity.

  The guard was the angel who groomed Skye.

  CHAPTER

  28

  I didn’t recognize the girl staring back at me. Her long brown hair had been curled and caked with hairspray, blood red lipstick stained her plump lips, fake lashes canopied her eyes, and the gold flecks in her hazel eyes were now dull, and lifeless.

  Skye applied another layer of blush to my cheeks as I stared at my reflection. A sheer white lace floor-length gown with a nude bathing suit bottom underneath covered my body. And a floral design was embroidered across the chest covering enough to leave little to the imagination. The off-the-shoulder neckline showed more of me than I’d ever revealed in my lifetime. The dress was beautiful; the type you saw on celebrities walking the red carpet. But it wasn’t me. This was the fantasy of whoever was sick enough to bid on an inexperienced underage girl.

  A fire alarm echoed throughout the caverns, the girls in the dressing room lined up. Skye snapped her attention to the noise and pulled me toward the end of the line then we were escorted by two armed angel guards down a cavernous tunnel. We walked until we reached the elevator. I squeezed in the tight space as the girls huddled together. When we reached the top, the doors opened onto a rock platform surrounded by fire torches. The moonlight slightly illuminated the navy sky. It was almost dawn.

  Pine trees circled a field where there were hundreds of angels waiting beneath the platform, laughing and talking. I looked up at the sky where more angels were flying around like crows circling the carcass of an animal before they landed. I recognized this place, only this time there wasn’t a DJ playing music. I was on the foot of Stone Mountain. The angel guards on patrol wore black, they all carried the same obsidian daggers as Milo and Alva, same gloves.

  The guards lined the girls into two rows then led them onto the stone bleachers elevated above the rock platform where all the angels were in view.

  Suddenly the angels grew silent when Zane walked onto the platform carrying a golden chapel monstrance in the shape of a circle with a clear crystal in the middle. The angels genuflect like a slave to its master. Zane bowed his head in return.

  “Brothers and sisters, we gather here tonight to observe the punishment of those who betray us,” Zane spoke in a commanding tone as one angel guard and Dylan dragged another angel onto the platform. He was shirtless, battered, dirty, his wings withered. Like he’d been in confinement for a couple of days.

  “We have among us traitors who rebel for the love of a human.” I heard the disgusted muffled voices of the angels, some calling out for his death. “When you joined the Legion of the Fallen, you pledged your allegiance to our cause in exchange for power and protection.”

  I clenched my hands at my sides, sweat beading on my forehead.

  “When you break your oath, you break our trust. Loyalty is paramount for our survival,” Zane continued. “The rules regarding traitors are clear. A fallen’s refusal to carry out the
duties placed before them is death.”

  Dylan kneed the angel in the gut causing him to fall on his knees in agonizing pain. Zane pulled out a dagger with the same obsidian blade. My eyes were glued on the traitor, thick, heavy knots forming in my stomach. Zane aggressively pulled the traitor’s hair back to show his face. It was the guard who escorted me and Skye, the one she regarded with affection.

  I looked over at Skye who was standing next to me. Her lip quivered, her eyes became glossy, but she didn’t move. The angel guard spit on Zane’s face.

  “All of you will burn for this!” he screamed. “The archangels are out there! Watching! They know what you’re doing.”

  Zane’s eyes grew darker. He wiped the spit off his face in disgust. Then he picked up the blade and began to slice off the angel’s hair. His long dark locks fell to the ground, and his body went ashen. An amber-colored electric charge swept out of his body like he was being drained of energy. The angel guard opened his mouth gasping for air. With a slight nod from Zane, Dylan and the other angel guard ripped the traitor’s wings off. A small cry rose from the traitor’s mouth. Black liquid oozed down his back. With the same knife, Zane stabbed him right in the heart. The traitor’s body turned into rock then crumbled over the platform into white dust. Angel’s Ash.

  I let out a muffled gasp as I fought back tears. My knees threatened to go out on me, gut-wrenching fear tore at my chest. It felt like I was going to have a heart attack. My thoughts were shaken when Dylan walked toward me—a wicked smile on his face. He reached for my hand as I stood there, my jaw trembling, but instead, he grabbed Skye. Her terrified cries ripped through my ears.

  Skye tried to fight Dylan off, but he was too strong. He dragged her center stage for the angels to see.

  Zane took the monstrance and said, “Let us bow before our true god. The one who enlightens our path, our liberator, our teacher.” Zane raised the monstrance high into the air right as the sun rose. The angels watched in eager anticipation, their eyes inhumanly hungry. A ray of sunlight spilled through the trees flashing right through the crystal of the monstrance. The angels marveled at the sight behind me, reeling in the sunlight reflecting back to them, absorbing the energy from the light.

  I cautiously looked back, wondering what they were staring at. Four points were radiating from the center, each with four waved lines. It was a symbol of the sun projected onto Stone Mountain.

  “Master,” Zane began. “We offer you the girl. A sacrifice for your continued protection.”

  At first, I was confused about why the angels worshipped the sun, then it suddenly dawned on me. The Morning Star.

  “Lucifer,” I let out in rasping breaths.

  When I turned my attention back to the angels, they were reacting to the light of the sun. Their eyes were quickly replaced by feline yellow eyes with a black slit that ran down the middle. Their faces contorted and twisted into monstrous creatures with fangs.

  My blood turned to ice.

  Zane tossed Skye into the hungry crowd, the guards jumped in after her. Skye cried out in agonizing pain as the angels devoured her alive, the sound of ripping flesh ringing at my ears. I tried to scream, but it felt as if something got caught inside my throat. My vision suddenly became blurry, I thought I was going to pass out, but I snapped out of it as panic overtook my body. I broke away from the girls and made a run for the woods.

  My heart raced along with the adrenaline pulsating through my veins. Sunlight streamed through the pine trees lighting my way. I ran as fast as I could, and wove through the trees, dodging fallen trunks, trying my best not to fall. I stopped when I reached the clearing where Savannah swore the oath. Black marks crisscrossed like a symbol. I backed away to get a better view, an upside down pentagram had been burned into the dirt.

  A high-pitched siren sounded in the distance forcing me to run. It didn’t take long before it alerted the angels. They were high in the sky flapping their wings searching for me. Behind me, the sound of dogs barking got closer.

  I skidded to a halt when I reached a large warehouse. Frantic, I ran at full speed toward the building, edging along the wall until I found a door. I entered the dark warehouse warily watching out for angel guards, as I cautiously made my way down an empty hallway until I reached another door. Carefully pushing my way through, I stopped when I saw them. My knees almost buckled from the shock, my mind frantically raced, a nauseating wave of horror washed over me. Underneath the fluorescent lights of the warehouse, there were rows of cages, each cage contained a young girl inside.

  The cages rattled softly as the girls sat up following my movement. I walked down the aisle trying to process the scene. They didn’t say anything. Ask me who I was, or pleaded for help. Their faces were gaunt, their clothes stained and torn. They were lying in their own filth. Many of them with protruding bellies, probably caused by starvation.

  “Who are you?” I asked one of the girls.

  The girl stared at me confused for a moment. “I don’t remember,” she said in a faint whisper almost like it took all of her energy to say the words. She looked sick, and in desperate need of medical attention.

  “I’m getting you out of here,” I said instinct taking over. I rushed over to a wall of lockers where I frantically searched for tools until I found a pair of scissors. I raced back to the young girl and pried the cage door open. But instead of rushing out, she closed the door and cornered herself.

  “What’s wrong with you? Don’t you want to get out of here?”

  “No one gets out of here alive,” she said in a chilling voice.

  I was perplexed by her answer when the girl next to her groaned in pain. She held her belly tightly with one hand, with the other she held on to the cage for support.

  “What’s happening to her?” I asked.

  “She’s in labor.”

  That’s when I realized the girls were pregnant. The sound of voices getting closer startled me. I ran to the lockers and hid inside one, closing the door just as the voices grew louder. Peeking through an opening, I saw Scarlet walk in with Dylan and two angel guards. They scanned the warehouse.

  “Cover the back. We’ll check here.” Scarlet commanded the guards.

  Scarlet walked toward the lockers when a low moan escaped the pregnant girl. In one blink, Scarlet was next to the girl.

  “What do we have here?” She crouched at eye level with her. “Are you having contractions?” Scarlet asked in a high-pitched tone.

  The girl shook her head afraid. She tried to suppress another moan, but it proved too hard. The girl gripped onto the metal cage even tighter. I kept my eyes glued to the girl, afraid for her.

  “Bring the table,” she commanded Dylan.

  Dylan walked in my direction. I stiffened.

  He rolled a surgeons table toward the girl. When Scarlet opened the cage, the girl remained crouched in the corner. Dylan didn’t struggle to get her, she had no energy left. He yanked her out of the cage forcefully. The young girl, who looked about eighteen, pleaded for her life as she was dragged and propped onto the surgeon’s table. Dylan tied her hands and ankles down with the straps on the side. The girl’s moan grew louder as waves of contractions rolled in.

  Scarlet grabbed a surgeons knife admiring how the blade gleamed under the light before slicing open the girl. I covered my mouth trying to suppress a yelp. Tears dripped down my neck. The girl screamed in pain as blood poured out of her belly. Scarlet pulled out the baby then checked for a pulse.

  With an angry scowl, Scarlet said, “It’s stillborn.”

  “Zane will not be happy,” Dylan growled racking one hand through his hair.

  Provoked by Dylan’s comment, Scarlet stomped to the sickly girl I tried to save and kicked her cage. “It’s your fault! You are all worthless!”

  The girl wrapped her arms around her legs in fear. I silently sobbed as I watched the girl on the table slowly drain of life. How could the angels murder humans without an ounce of compassion? I clenched my fists until t
hey went numb.

  “What are we going to do? None of them survive.”

  “Now we have to find her,” she complained. Scarlet placed her hands on her hips.

  “I don’t think she’s in here,” Dylan told her. He grabbed Scarlet by the elbow and pulled her body into him. “Let the guards find her. She won’t get far.” Dylan leaned into Scarlet’s neck and kissed it. “How about we take a little break.”

  Scarlet pushed him off. “No. We have to keep looking.”

  “What’s up with your obsession with this stupid girl?” Dylan stood there annoyed reeling from her rejection. “Are you seriously pissed Milo won’t screw you anymore? Is that the reason we picked her up? To get her out of the way. So you can have Milo to yourself?” Dylan took out a cigarette and was about to light it up when Scarlet snatched the lighter from his hands and tossed it across the warehouse. It bounced right off the locker where I was hiding with a metallic clink.

  “Have you convinced the blonde yet? What was her name? Dumb?”

  “Dawn,” Dylan corrected. The sound of Dawn’s name boiled my veins with anger.

  “I’ve got her wrapped around my finger. She’ll do anything for me. All I have to do is ask,” Dylan said with confidence.

  “Then focus your attention on the task instead of the little man downstairs,” Scarlet said eyeing the center of his pants. “We’re short-staffed. We need more girls to keep our clients happy.” She whirled around and walked away from him. “Let’s go. And have the guards take care of the mess.”

  Dylan waited a moment, clearly furious, then once Scarlet was out of earshot he said in a cold, bitter voice, “Bitch.”

  When he walked in my direction, I froze. Through the locker louver, I saw Dylan pick up the lighter off the floor. He stared into the locker with curiosity, his nostrils flared as if he caught a scent of something familiar. Reaching for the locker door, Dylan stopped when Scarlet called after him. He frowned then left the warehouse.