Kingdom of War (Kingdom Journals Book 4) Read online

  “Then you know what I need?” I confronted her. “Who are you? Will you aid us in defeating Sonia?”

  “I am Queen Titania, ruler of Aubren, the Kingdom below this realm.”

  Many questions floated through my head, but I focused on the goal, getting her to agree to lend us soldiers. She listened while I explained our circumstance and how we believed the faerie could aid us in breaching Michael’s coven’s complex.

  “We have experienced the powers of the creatures of deep earth. They try to invade our realm also. Our primary goal is to keep the human realm safe from evil beings. This Sonia appears to be an evil soul that must be stopped.”

  “You’ll help us then?”

  “I can only lend you two hundred soldiers, but there are other kingdoms that may give their support as well. I could go to them on your behalf. You must give me a day to speak with them. Come tomorrow, and I’ll have an answer for you.”

  “Can’t you go now? My time is limited. We must move fast. Coming here took a lot of effort.”

  “I saw you in the forest earlier. You were right to come alone. We are forbidden to commune with soulless creatures. The hybrid girl poses a problem. If the other kingdoms know you are with her, they will not aid you.”

  “So, you believe Alena is soulless?”

  The Queen nodded. “There is not a question of beliefs. She is until she is made full witch.”

  I drew in a large breath, thinking we should ignore Orm and make Alena a full witch at first light. It was too risky for her to not be. She could be possessed like DJ at any moment. Jude had no trouble with the trials. Theron was made a full witch. Alena would be fine.

  Refocusing on the faerie in front of me, I offered her my palm. “I will wait here until you return then.”

  She ignored my outstretched hand. “You will wait here a whole day?”

  “Can I enter your realm, plea the case myself?”

  “No, it shall not be.”

  A male faerie appeared behind her. “Titania, we should go.”

  “You won’t take me, or can’t?”

  “You would not be able to re-enter Earth’s plane.”

  Well, that wasn’t acceptable. “I will come tomorrow night. We can discuss our plan of attack.”

  The two faeries evaporated, transforming to gas and seeping into the ground. Studying the forest floor, I found no hole or portal. I could have flown back to the cabin, but I wanted time to think. Two hundred wouldn’t be enough soldiers. I needed a thousand. I contemplated whether I should share the news with the rest of the team and decided against it. When the faeries and I came to an agreement, then I would tell them.

  Checking my phone for direction, I focused on the path ahead. As the witching hour waned, sounds of the forest grew around me. Birds called and bugs buzzed. Monkeys let out hoots and howls. I walked through a thick patch of trees and the air cooled causing me to shiver. The dark leaves overhead rattled against each other as the wind whipped around me.

  Frozen air hit my face, and a dark figure descended to the ground before me. Black wings spread and folded behind his back. A smile spread across his pale face.

  “Hi, Hunter.”

  “Hello.” I squared my shoulders and bent my knees, ready for whatever might come next.

  “I mean you no harm.” He circled me.

  I swiveled to match his steps. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

  “Don’t you want to know what I want?”

  “First, I’d like to know who you are.”

  “I go by many names.”

  I reached out with my mind, but there was nothing to be read. It seemed as if my magic hit an ice-cold wall, and I prayed my other powers would work against him.

  One side of his mouth bent up. “You’ll have to wait for me to answer your questions.”

  “I don’t like games. What do you want?”

  “I want to help you.”

  “Who are you?”

  “No guesses?” His words transformed to a hiss as he finished the phrase.

  I stared into his black eyes. “None.”

  “Surely you sense that I am and am not like you. But you also fear you are more like me than you prefer. Abaddon, Apollyon, Beelzebub, Leviathan, Serpent of Old.”

  I raised my chin. “Lucifer.”

  “So, you do know who I am.”

  “In theory.”

  “Didn’t think I was real? You have living proof that I am, and still you do not believe?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Alena, her mother Anne, Jude, and even your brother are my descendants. Although if pushed, I may only claim Anne. Such a beautiful child of darkness. Alena would have been but for her tainted blood. If only I had gotten to Anne before that brute of a brother of mine.”

  “Anne stands for everything that is good about their species.”

  “Perhaps, but she will protect the species above all. If pushed, she will not hesitate to kill for her own.”

  “Your descendants are being kidnapped by Sonia. Is that why you are here? Why not go to Anne? And how can you help me if you too are soulless?”

  “I am not a soulless creature, nor are my followers. Our souls were cut off from their life force, so we cannot pass along that life force in another being, thus the soullessness of the vampire line. Maurice’s sword has given Sonia and Michael’s coven the upper hand. The power has shifted out of balance.”

  “Looks to me like it’s shifted towards evil. I would think that would be your thing.”

  “Let us not quip about semantics. The faeries will not be able to deliver you the power you need.”

  I chuckled. “And I’m thinking you can, and that you want something in return.”

  He clapped his hands together. “That was not hard to guess. But my price is not steep. We want the same thing—Sonia dead.”

  “Don’t you have the power to kill her?”

  “I do not have that power in this realm.”

  I took a step back from him. “So, she is immortal. No one can kill her. Do you fear her?”

  “Fear is not an emotion I’m familiar with. But I am aware of threats to my power. Sonia, like her mother, houses a strong soul. She will not be content to be subservient to anyone. She, Thanatos, and Theron must die. Once the sword of St. Maurice is destroyed, she will no longer draw power from Sheol.”

  “All three of them? You just said Sonia before.”

  “They will be faithful to her.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  One of his eyebrows arched. “You don’t know they won’t?”

  “Who is Sonia’s mother?”

  “Lilith. She lay also with the angels of light. I’ve worked hard to keep her soul in Sheol, away from my realm. If she and her daughter are reunited, they will gain power.”

  “I don’t plan on killing anyone. I only want to destroy the sword.”

  Winding round me, he shook his head. “But you wouldn’t really be killing anyone, just placing their soul in the sword for safekeeping.”

  “You’re mincing words. Why don’t you do it yourself?”

  “I cannot bear the sword. Only someone of this plane may yield it.”

  It felt like my head might explode with the complexity of the situation. I slumped onto a tree stump behind me. He offered what I needed, enough force to get into Sonia’s compound, right?

  “What powers do you and your army have here?”

  “Again, very smart question.”

  My mind went black. I could see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing. Then, a blinding, piercing shot of pain jolted through my body. I curled up in a ball, praying for my life. The next second I saw him, Lucifer, standing before me like nothing happened.

  “We may not be able to cause physical harm, but we can make anyone believe anything at any time.”

  I summoned my powers and put a up a shield. “Try again.”

  Seeing the darkness, the nothingness, hovering in front of me, I pushe
d it back, keeping it at arm’s length.

  “You are a powerful witch. I have not seen one stave off my attack before. Sonia’s army won’t have their senses about them. They are souls in foreign bodies. We will render them useless, and you and your friends can slip into the compound, find Sonia, and take the sword.”

  “You sound very confident. You know she is there, with the sword?”

  “I can sense the souls that sustain her as well as the sword.”

  Lucifer represented everything we needed—knowledge, an army—all right at my fingertips. “What if I can’t get the sword or we’re not able to capture her soul? What if they elude us?”

  “I will make sure she is delivered to you. All you have to do is pierce the sword through her heart and then destroy the sword.” Lucifer started to circle me again.

  “You are giving something before my part is done. What is the penalty for me failing?”

  “There is no failure. I help you and you do the deed, or you and yours will be forever cursed to be haunted by my kind. Most afflicted take their own life within weeks.”

  Looking to the sky, I took a deep breath. “I need some time to confer with my team.”

  “You’re going to tell them? You were keeping the meeting with the faeries from them. Why not this?”

  “I think they will notice when an army of black-winged angels appear.”

  His mouth rose on one side. “Yes. Anne’s daughter is pure like her father. She will not tolerate deceit.”

  I brushed past him. “I’m done talking with you. Come tomorrow night, and I will have my answer.”

  A blast of cold air pelted my face. I blinked and he was gone. Shaking off the frigid sensation, I checked my phone and started off to the cabin. The forest remained quiet, too still, as if frozen in time, and I began to jog. I wanted no more surprise visitors. There’d been too much magical activity in these woods for one night, and I started to feel like a sitting duck.

  Sounds of the night resumed, and the weight on my shoulders began to lighten. I planned to come clean with Alena and the rest of them. This wasn’t something I would hide. Sonia needed to die anyway, right? But did they need to know the whole story? Alena wouldn’t agree to killing Theron, of that I was sure.

  Beating of wings and a warm pocket of air brought me out of my thoughts. I needed to focus on my surroundings. The sound grew above me, and I craned my neck to see a white-winged being descending in front of me. I recognized the face. I’d seen it before in the painting on the wall in the House of Uriel.

  Fists balled at my side, I waited for him to land. “Uriel.”

  “You know who I am?”

  “Your face matches that in the painting. I didn’t think you appeared to humans.”

  “We both know you aren’t human. I see Lucifer paid you a visit.”

  Holding my sleeve tight over my gold mark, I straightened my spine. “Is that why you’re here?”

  “Whatever he asked, you can’t do it.”

  “You don’t know what he asked.”

  “I can guess that he offered you his army. What is the price?” His eyes bore into mine.

  “Sonia, Thanatos, and Theron. He wants their souls captured in the sword.”

  “He wants you to kill them with the sword. The sword will trap their souls so they won’t enter Sheol.”

  “That’s what he said.”

  “Will you do it?”

  My head pounded. “They must be stopped, for good, but I don’t know that I can kill my father, my brother, no matter what they’ve done. What will happen if Sonia becomes more powerful than Lucifer? What power do these dark angels have?”

  “Good questions. Most may not enter this realm unless you allow it. Many give them this power. Let them into their thoughts.”

  “Can I revoke their power, send them back?”

  “Yes.”

  “And the curse Lucifer spoke of? Can I prevent him from following through on that?”

  Uriel shook his head and paced in front of me.

  “But you don’t think I should take his assistance? How else are we to defeat them? Do you have an army to lend us?”

  “I do not. The Lance of Longinus is the way. You must remain innocent to break the curse.”

  “There’s no other way other than to get the sword of St. Maurice from them. Sonia should die. My father already killed me once.”

  “But your brother?” Uriel’s gaze held mine.

  His eyes looked like ones I saw every day. Alena’s. “What other names do you go by?”

  Uriel turned away. “This is not a conversation for this night.”

  “You are Lucas, Alena’s father, Anne’s husband, the brother that got to Anne before Lucifer? Have you been helping us all along? Was it you that guided Alena’s boat? You are Lucifer’s brother?” I couldn’t stop from asking the questions that pelted my psyche. “Do you know how to defeat Sonia without using his army?”

  Grasping my shoulders, he spoke in whispers. “We are all brothers, Michael, Lucifer, all of us. My name is Uriel Lucas de Genesee. And yes, I am all of those things. But no, I do not know how to get to Sonia. I can’t lend you soldiers.”

  I backed from his grip. “We cannot use the vampires. The witches will not side with us. The faeries don’t have the numbers. What choice do I have but to accept Lucifer’s help?”

  Uriel—or Lucas, I guessed—glanced up at the sky. “I appreciate that you protect my daughter. You are good to do so. I must go.”

  “Just like that? You have to go? I thought you came to help. Won’t you see Alena?”

  His faced dropped. “I can’t see her until the curse is broken. Do not make a deal with Lucifer. You must remain innocent. Orm is right to make Alena wait to be made a witch.” Uriel Lucas de Genesee spread his wings and shot into the sky.

  “How did you know?” I yelled into the night.

  How did he know that question weighed so heavily on my mind? Do not make a deal with Lucifer? Give me another option. More vampires were taken by Sonia every day. She had to be stopped and soon. DJ had been hijacked by some random witch soul. Who knew what torture he experienced each second. My chest heaved with anxiety. Was I the only one who knew for a fact Uriel was Alena’s father? No, Lucifer knew, and that was dangerous. But Alena wouldn’t see her father, at least not face to face, until the curse was broken. I had to make sure that happened.

  The summer solstice grew closer, and we had to defeat Sonia before the solstice waned. I felt it in my bones. Alena should be far from the battle when it came. She was strong but too vulnerable. Sonia would shove some soul into her without blinking. If only I could get them apart, separate Theron, Thanatos, and Sonia. But how did I draw them out? Alena could bait Theron. He wanted her to. They’d taken Camille so that the trinity would be kept apart. Why not me? Perhaps they did want me too, or maybe they didn’t think I was strong enough. That they might underestimate me was a good thing.

  The screech of a monkey brought me back to the forest. Eying the trees, my mind searched for answers. I could use my powers to command the animals, other witches, people. No, that wasn’t the way. I wouldn’t be lured by the darkness. Thinking of Lucifer, I knew what I had to do. I must tell Alena and Camille everything, even about the faeries and Lucas. But, the one thing I would not bend on was that Alena should be nowhere near the sword of St. Maurice.

  I shot into the air to just above the trees and took flight to the cabin. This time I didn’t cloak my presence but marched right up to the front door. Alena appeared before I could engage the lock.

  “Why were you out? Where did you go?” She scanned the forest behind me, her nose twitched. “Hunter, who were you with?”

  Kissing her cheek, I squeezed her hand. “Come with me. I have a lot to tell you.”

  Leading her down the hall to my room, I shut the door. I hated that I had to tell her I saw her father. It seemed the cruelest of news. I started with the story of Titania, then described Lucifer’s visit, and finally h
ow Uriel Lucas appeared.

  “You just said Uriel Lucas?” She grasped my arm, clenching it so hard it became white. “As in Lucas, as in my father? My father is Archangel Uriel?”

  “Are you really surprised?”

  “No, I think I knew all along. He came to see you and not me?”

  I explained to her what he told me about trusting Lucifer, the sword, her becoming a witch, and when he could see her.

  “He’s just cruel. I hate him.” She stomped across the room.

  “But it won’t be long. We’ll break the curse, and this will all be over. We just have to figure out who to trust. Dang witches are driving me nuts. Why won’t they just side with us?”

  “Mom is scared there’s going to be a war. If the vampires strike, the witches will retaliate, and it won’t be good for anyone.”

  “But if the vampires make a move, the witches might be enticed to side with us against Sonia.”

  “Maybe.” Alena bit her lip. “But we can’t kill Theron. That is unacceptable.”

  “I think we should see what the others think.”

  She slapped me on the head. “That’s for going behind my back to the faeries. Lucifer found you, my dad found you, and Sonia could have found you out there alone.”

  Rubbing my head, I made my way down the hall to round up the others. Once everyone assembled, I described the assistance offered by Titania and Lucifer and the warning from Lucas. With the late hour, no one could decide on which option seemed best, and we tabled it for the next day when we could conference with Anne, Chalondra, and Orm.

  “My mom’s going to freak about my father coming to you. I hate to tell her.” Alena followed me back to my room.

  An idea popped into my head. “Will breaking the curse render Sonia mortal? Isn’t she using the fallen souls to keep her alive? Won’t they be released? She’ll just be a really old witch again.”

  “Lucas said breaking the curse will not release the souls from the vampire bodies, right? Only getting the sword from Sonia will do that. You really won’t let this go for a second, will you? Take a break, get some sleep. We’ll all think better with rest.”

  “I want this to be over, to go home, and get my life back.”

  Alena slid her hand down my arm and took my hand. “Is this such a chore for you? Where did the boy that was inspired to free the witches from this curse go?”