Dark Sonata Page 17

  Bloodlust.

  Krzan’s muscles rippled as he walked closer. “Don’t look so miserable. You will soon see how powerful you will feel. Look at me!” He held out his massive arms and grinned, revealing his sharpened teeth. Krzan appeared more and more like a monster as time passed, his evil ways transforming him drastically.

  “You’ll understand if I disagree,” Ezra whispered as pain seared his insides like scorching metal. He wasn’t aware that he was this close to turning until Krzan walked into the room. How could he have not thought of that? He felt blindsided. He was so damn close … but so far away from getting what he always wanted. Ezra grabbed onto the chair next to him for balance, his breathing hitched for a second. When he found his breath he said quietly, “Why don’t you go and enjoy the party. I find that I would much rather eat shit than be with you.” He forced a smile and sat down, expelling a long breath in the process.

  Krzan growled low in his throat, sounding like a beast rather than a man. “I will leave once you tell me which one is her,” he demanded coldly. “I have the power to speed up your … situation,” he threatened, coming to stand before him. Krzan’s giant body flexed with power, reminding Ezra that he was not getting out of this without a world of hurt.

  “Her?” Ezra grinned up at him. “Back to girls are we? Got tired of making boys bend over?” He knew it was a mistake taunting Krzan, but at that moment he really didn’t care about himself anymore.

  Krzan laughed harshly and kneeled down in front of him. His contorted expression led Ezra to believe that his laugh was a far cry from amused. “If you tell me, then I will spare your pathetic soul. I know how Ezra. I also know how badly you do not want to lose it. Tell me which one is her you little prick! Now!” Spit was dripping from his snarled lips, clearly losing his even temper.

  Ezra gazed at Krzan’s hideous face and forced a smirk, undeterred by his anger. “God, how in the hell did you get to be so damn ugly? You answer me then I will answer you—”

  His face meeting with Krzan’s knee didn’t register at first. He just realized he was ejected backwards, smashing into glass that cut deep into his skin. His vision twisted dangerously as he pulled himself off the ground, the sound of glass falling to the marble floor. He stumbled a little to his left before he violently spat up blood. Ezra’s body was ridding itself of the only purity he had left. Something barren tore inside of him, the feeling of loss was overwhelming.

  God, he didn’t want to die. Not yet.

  “You always were a smart ass,” Krzan hissed as he walked over to him and grabbed Ezra by his bloodied shirt, smashing him to the ground again. Agony ripped through him like he was being gutted alive. “This time stay down until you turn. Once your soul becomes black then you’ll tell me who, and what she is. Your lover girl will be nothing to you then,” he paused and thought, his eyes brightening. “Wait, the whore who was in here earlier … it’s her isn’t it?” He started laughing at his revelation. “Oh yes, I saw that body, I noticed how you looked at her Ezra. After tonight she will be mine, I want to break her will … I will hang her upside down naked while I whip her ruthlessly until she passes out. Then once she awakens I will have my way with her until she begs for mercy …” he trailed off, licking his lips with his snake-like tongue.

  Horror ripped through Ezra. He had to think fast through the pain consuming his body. Krzan could be bluffing, trying to get him to lash out and reveal information. “Her? That’s Cateria, you fucking idiot.” He laughed as more blood seeped out of his mouth making his muscles contract agonizingly. “I-I would never touch a full-blood, not my t-taste.” Biggest lie ever told. Krzan knew of Cateria but didn’t know what she looked like; she was from Moray’s rule, not Krzan’s. He hoped anyway.

  Krzan kicked him hard in the guts, almost making him blackout. He could not take much more of this and hang on to consciousness. A sudden force entered the room making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, the ground vibrated and the room seemed to violently slant.

  “Krzan.” The powerful voice bellowed behind them. “I will have no trouble deporting you,” came the low threat.

  Krzan’s massive body tensed and he turned around, hands up. “Michael. It’s been awhile …”

  Ezra’s vision and hearing went then, his body was swimming in a combustion of fire that seemed to last and last. The screaming in his head wouldn’t stop, and dark thoughts crept into his mind’s eye. Evil was now taking residence, infecting him like a lethal virus. His eyes suddenly shot open as freezing water hit him. The water felt shockingly cold, painfully so. It wasn’t just freezing; it was something else that he couldn’t explain … Ezra suddenly screamed in agony as more water was dumped over his burning body, the pain being unreal. Then it occurred to him as his mind shockingly returned.

  God’s teeth.

  Michael was pouring Holy Water over him!

  Ezra! A voice echoed in the haze of his mind. Ezra! There it went again … He sputtered and coughed as more water was poured over him cooling his burning fever. He felt someone pull him to a sitting position and he forced his eyes open, finally able to see again.

  “Ezra, take big, deep breaths,” Michael’s strong voice soothed.

  His instincts took over and he tried to swing at Michael but his arms wouldn’t move properly, missing him completely.

  “Be still!”

  Ezra tried to catch his breath as he gazed up into Michael’s concerned pale blue eyes, confusing him. Why in the hell did it look like Michael cared?! His white blond hair was pulled back into a tie and he was dressed in English finery. Michael must have been patrolling in Dublin after he left. What Ezra was seeing didn’t make sense. “Did you really just pour your damned water over me?!” he asked breathlessly, noticing the pain in his body had halted.

  Michael exhaled. “I was almost too late. If you would have invited me sooner to this ...” he gazed around, “... this ... Demon Fest, then I could of saved you some pain.”

  Ezra closed his burning eyes, thinking that he was hearing things. Michael and the other Masters had been trying to kill him for years upon years. “Are you trying to tell me … that you meant to save me? Or am I fucking delusional? Or maybe you should bash my head in, Krzan must have knocked it loose.”

  “Stand up!”

  Ezra would have told him where to go … but he did hate looking up at people. He stood with the help of Michael, bewildering him even more. “What are you doing?”

  Michael sat him on the couch then leaned up against the wall across from it. “Yes, Ezra, I am saving you.”

  “Why?!”

  “Why not?”

  Ezra scowled at him, wondering what game he was playing. It would have been so easy for Michael to kill him, being in such a weak state that he was. “Why have you not killed me yet? What are you trying to pull Michael?” He laughed, the sound was hoarse, burning his throat. “You must think me naïve?”

  “Why would I kill you?” Michael tilted his head at him making the dim light hit his golden skin. “I saved you once before, and I did it again today. Though, I’d say this time I almost failed,” he said gravely. “I had my men escort Krzan out before he could make off with Assiel’s child, but he won’t stay calm for long. And, I am sensing your father close by, concerning me.”

  Ezra ran a hand down his face, trying to rationalize what was happening. “Back up. You just stopped my transformation … Why?” Ezra looked up at him. “And when did you save me before? Trust me Goldie, I would have remembered. So I’m calling Bullshit. Nice try.” He exhaled, wondering what sort of hell he was in for. No one had even helped him. Ever. It made him cautious, wondering why Michael would claim such a thing to a demon.

  Sighing, Michael looked at him intently. “I remember long ago a green-eyed little boy with long, golden curly hair,” he said quietly.

  Ezra forgot how to breathe for a second, his heart skipping a beat. “What the hell did you just say?” he whispered, feeling his throat dry.

&n
bsp; “I was great friends with your mother, Nora,” he continued when Ezra’s eyes widened. “I remember you as a child. An innocent child, not a murder …” he trailed off.

  Nora …

  Ezra slowly stood, his memories coming back in traumatizing flashes. He had to look away; emotions that were buried so deep were now being raised from the dead. God’s breath, he remembered being a small child, stricken with horror as he stared at his mother’s battered body on the floor. Blood was everywhere, in black pools smearing their stark marble floor. At first he didn’t register what actually happened, his mind refusing to believe what his eyes were seeing.

  He tried to stop the rush of memories but couldn’t, he had to grab onto the chair next to him. He remembered walking up to his mother and calling her name, and when no answer came he knelt down and shook her lifeless body. It was like a rag doll. Denial numbed his brain as he sat next to her and stared into what seemed an eternal void.

  It was a ripple in time, a deep scar.

  Ezra remembered how utterly alone he felt, the absolute calamity. The heart breaks soon after the screaming in the mind stops, then the defining moment happens. It happens quickly, like a thief in the night. Mother Nature takes a deep breath, then everything in life pauses for one … last … heartbeat. The eyes glaze over and your emotions, your senses retreat back into a dark place.

  Ezra squeezed his eyes shut, not welcoming the flood of emotions that were rushing in. He had not thought about his mother in ages … Long ago, his world had been torn apart in one forlorn night. The night that sentenced him into darkness.

  A dark man appeared in the doorway. Ezra clenched his fist when he remembered seeing Moray for the first time. He came to him and claimed to be his father. Ezra remembered calling him a liar, screaming and yelling at the top of his lungs. There was no way he was a half-breed … His mother would have told him so.

  To this day he had always wondered why she never told him. She said his father had died in battle, a war hero. Not this, not this evil creature. Ezra was a full-blood Liorian, not a demon. Moray continued to taunt him, proving to him that he was in fact his child. They shared the same birthmark; Liorians will always share their father’s mark. A mark that could never be removed or covered, for his was the mark of the raven. The same raven that marred Moray’s skin.

  Being in the presence of his father made him transform, his dark soul coming out for the first time. His hair instantly changed along with his eye color, appearing just like Moray rather than his mother. Ezra was left alone then, in the mists of transforming, withering on the ground in pain. Liorian authorities arrived soon after Moray fled, leaving Ezra with his mother’s corpse. When they found him by Nora’s body, they knew. They saw Ezra’s glowing red eyes as he transformed and the look on their faces he’d never forget, for it was branded into his memory. He was accused of murder, sentenced to a brutal death.

  His soul died that day.

  They beat him so ruthlessly that he could see his own bones. God he wanted to die, praying for mercy, for someone to end this torture they were putting him through. Then, in the middle of his suffering, a hand was outstretched to him. Ezra remembered looking up into a kind face bathed in white light …

  The face was Michael’s.

  God’s teeth Michael did save him, all those years ago and he didn’t realize it. Ezra opened his eyes to gaze at him, wracked with unwanted emotions. “Why the fuck did you save me? I was a worthless demon who killed my mother,” he hissed, the torment of his past overwhelming him.

  “No, you were an innocent boy,” Michael disagreed, calmly.

  “It matters not if I did or didn’t, it still does not explain why you’re helping me.” Ezra peered at him, wanting answers now. “Your men have been trying to kill me since that day you saved me, almost succeeding a few times.”

  “But, you’re alive, are you not?”

  Ezra frowned, his fist clenching. “I escaped with my life! I was imprisoned for ten years with no food or water, tortured by Liorian guards. I was hung upside down, naked for three fucking years while they drenched by body with frigid water every hour!” Ezra bellowed, not wanting to think about the horrors of his miserable life.

  Michael eyed him intently. “My job is to keep everything going to plan. Everything that has happened in your past needed to happen or you would not be here now. If I do not do my job correctly then humanity will perish, and we will feel the wrath of God. I go to drastic measures to make sure things are where they should be,” he said in a low voice.

  Ezra walked closer to him, his leg strength slowly returning. “Wait, are you trying to say you know the future? What plan?” Ezra asked carefully, trying to keep his temper in check. Michael had always been mysterious, too secretive. No one really knew what he was capable of.

  Michael’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “If I told you it would ruin everything, believe me when I said this. The down side is just this, knowing that everything doesn’t always go the way it should; that’s why I’m here. To make sure it does. From the moment I touched your hand as a little boy, I absolutely knew that you could not die.” He continued, “What I say now will not make sense to you. But, you will find out later and understand my meaning.”

  Ezra struggled to know what to say to that. “If you know so much, then you should know what I want. You should already recognize why I took Assiel’s child.”

  He eyed him and tilted his head. “I knew what you wanted from the day I touched your hand as a child Ezra. And it is my want for you as well; I need you to attain a complete soul. Though I cannot just give it, it has to be earned according to the Council because only they have the power to give it.” He paused and his expression became intense. “We have to prevent you from turning at all costs. It would ruin everything if you did.”

  “Well then, what are we waiting for? Will the Council except the trade of Assiel’s daughter then?” Ezra asked, still feeling like something wasn’t right.

  “Yes, when you reveal which one is her and only when you take her to the Temple in Lior may you receive your purity. Just remember Ezra, if I wanted you dead I would have done it long ago.” Michael’s blue gaze was steady, like he sensed Krzan’s apprehension. “You can trust me.”

  “I want it in writing.”

  “Already done. Like I said, I already knew what you wanted.” He made a move to the door. “We are running out of time. Krzan grows anxious.”

  “You’re not telling me something Michael,” Ezra hissed, having a gut feeling.

  Michael turned and took a moment. “I did not foresee Krzan interfering tonight, which alarms me greatly. We need to hurry, and retrieve Assiel’s child.”

  Ezra walked up to him, his heart starting to pound. “What the hell did you see? Tell me!”

  Michael rolled up his white sleeve and touched his forearm, his tattoo flickering to life. “We’re going to need some reinforcements.”

  Chapter ten

  Too many things seemed to be taking place at once.

  Dear God in heaven, what is going on?!

  Victoria gasped as her eyes frantically took in her surroundings. Sydonia, a place fit for gods and goddesses, was now something entirely different. She could barely keep the scream from rising up and out of her throat. The stunning marble floors were now a dark stone, cracked and uneven. The giant pillars that made the grand room feel like a Greek temple looked to be putrefying wood, ready to fall at the slightest touch. The towering walls were dark and malevolent seeming to close in and around her, suffocating her. Oh God, and the people were the worst. She raised a shaking hand to her mouth. The beautiful people were now pale, their gaunt features resembling the living dead. Their sparkling fabrics were now tattered and dingy, hanging limply from their bony, lifeless bodies. The smell was one of decay, something wretched.

  She squeezed her eyes shut, praying that when she opened them everything would be as it was moments before. Before they saw Krzan.

  Opening her eyes she let
out a whimper, backing up to the cold wall behind her. Her breathing echoed in her head and her pulse pounded the side of her neck, wanting out! Trying to slow her breathing she scanned her surroundings once more, knowing there must be some rational explanation for this. Could this be an adverse effect of the drink she consumed? She felt the stone floor with her foot and noted that it did not feel smooth and glassy like marble, her foot actually becoming stuck in the fractured surface.

  It felt real, not a delusion of the mind.

  That thought brought on new fears. She didn’t recognize anyone for they all appeared to be just corpses of the people they once were. She didn’t see Perri, Elm, Drake or even Tiny. She almost wanted to run back into the room with Krzan and Ezra, desperately needing to know if they had just changed as well. But something deep inside her told her not to do so.

  Stay calm.

  Victoria looked down at herself and winced. She held out her hands in front of her and they were a shocking green, a deep emerald. Gasping she rubbed her arms but the color did not come off. It was her actual skin color. This is not happening! Victoria looked up and her gaze clashed with dark and evil ones, a man baring his fangs at her. The room darkened further and tilted. Swallowing, she forced herself to glance around and realized she was gaining the attention of the monsters around her.

  Closing her eyes again she rubbed her temples. Please, something make sense to me right now. This is all a bad dream …

  “Victoria?!” came a foreign voice. The voice sounded far off in the distance even though she knew whoever spoke was right next to her. She could feel its presence like she felt the air around her. Her senses were heightened.

  She opened her eyes dreading every second of her existence. A deathly woman was regarding her with deep, searching eyes. Black graveyard eyes, robbed of all warmth. Victoria held up her hand. “Don’t come any closer.”

  The woman frowned, her milky skin creasing on her wide forehead.