Frosted Torment (Marked Mortals Saga #1)

Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

F irst went his shirt, then he unzipped his pants. His chiseled torso caught my eye, with muscles rippling beneath his skin. I instinctively turned to Lex, shielding my gaze from Baz’s transformation into a powerful beast.

Despite my reluctance, I couldn’t resist sneaking a peek at the stunning display of nature’s power. His skin rippled, and he fell to the ground, quickly transforming into a massive wolf. His dark fur glimmered with shades of silver and blue that danced in the shadows of the fire.

“It’s almost unfair how all of you look like perfect statues,” I remarked with a hint of frustration.

Lex chuckled, his chest rumbling beneath my hand. “Would you rather we look like those pudgy cherubs in the store? No one would take us seriously then,” he joked. “Besides, you’re a strong woman. You can handle it.”

“Creep,” I muttered into his arm, trying to hide my smile.

As Baz padded towards the door on powerful paws, I turned around, mesmerized by the sheer magnificence and primal beauty of him. We stepped outside into the cold afternoon air, and three others from camp greeted us, waiting with backpacks.

One was a hiking pack for Lex and a sling backpack for me. The other was a saddlebag that one of the angels secured to Baz, along with an even bigger neck strap than the one Lex had secured to him last night.

“Did you call for them?” I questioned Baz.

“I did,” he divulged with a grunt as the angel tightened the saddle on him.

I raised my eyebrows as I swapped backpacks with an angel who had tattoos covering her entire body, making sure to keep Vincent’s dagger with me. Her all-seeing eye tattoo glared at me from the middle of her throat. The delicate cherry tree design inked onto her skin extended up to her jawline, adding to its beauty.

“How long are you expecting us to be gone?” I dared to ask, unable to avert my gaze from the angel’s neck.

“Overnight,” Lex confirmed. “It’s better that we’re prepared.”

“Especially with the uncertainty of the wards remaining intact,” added Baz, now lying next to me, his back level with my shoulder.

As I stood next to Lex, waiting for him to finish securing his pack, I slung mine over my shoulder. An unusual sensation ran through my body like a live power line. It was a strange feeling, almost as if something had awakened inside me. Maybe I would be useful and have a shot at fighting off Vincent and Maros since I seemed to have my own enhancements like Ena.

I still felt guilty for shocking Baz, but whether it was the bracelet or Callum’s essence, I was grateful for it. But what did the bracelet fusing to my bones mean? The uncertainty almost made me sick, wondering if it needed the last remaining person from my family who held the secrets to complete the transfer back to the veil.

My thoughts drifted to the inscription on my wrist, the words that had appeared when the bracelet fused to my bones.

The blood forgave. The line remains. The one He loved forever stayed.

They had appeared without explanation, a permanent reminder of something I couldn’t understand. It taunted me every time my skin twitched, and I felt like ripping off the bracelet even though I couldn’t. My thoughts turned back to Vincent and what he might know about this.

He had given the bracelet to Sasha—but why? Was there some deeper meaning behind his actions? Or did he not realize the power it held at all?

Regardless of the circumstances, it was crucial to uncover the truth behind the jewelry that had bonded itself to me. Especially if we had any chance of saving me and everyone else. And as we prepared for our next move, my mind was buzzing with questions and theories about its true nature and purpose.

“Ready to ride?” asked Lex, bringing me back to the present, and Baz nodded for me to climb up onto his back.

I secured Vincent’s dagger inside one of Baz’s saddlebags, then readied myself on top of Baz.

“Are these supposed to be reins?” I laughed as I inspected two additional leather bands attached to the belt around Baz’s neck .

“They’ll work for now,” Baz assured me with a huff. “We’ll get O’Neil and Nakoma to make something more suited to you later.”

“I’ve never ridden a horse, so how the hell do I ride a wolf?” I asked both of them. The inflection in my tone was skeptical as I fiddled with the handles.

“The same way you did last night.” Lex glanced at me with a smirk. “Hold on.”

I rolled my eyes, then slid my hands through the middle of each one and held the straps with my palms. Baz’s powerful legs propelled us forward at an incredible speed, and Lex kept our pace while running alongside us. The wind whipped through my hair as we raced across the terrain, leaving the bunkhouse and the camp behind.

As we emerged from the shelter of the trees, my breath hitched in my throat. Before us lay a vast meadow, filled with lilac bushes in full bloom. The sight was breathtaking and ethereal, as the delicate purple flowers swayed in the gentle breeze.

“Pit stop,” Baz murmured, indicating for me to dismount.

My eyes lit up at the beauty of it all. “How is this possible?” I whispered in surprise. “It’s not even spring yet.”

Baz answered me as he stretched his legs out in front of him. “The lilacs are the land’s way of giving back to us when we lose one of our brothers or sisters.”

I walked forward, my fingers brushing against the silky petals of the flowers. The scent was intoxicating, a sweet perfume that filled the air. For a moment, I let myself get lost in the beauty of it all and forgot about being hell-bound once it was over.

“Is this where you bury the fallen?” I stopped to smell the flowers.

Lex’s tone teemed with honor as he removed his pack. “The valley is on the other side of the fence ahead,” he pointed toward a roped-off part of the fence not too far away, “but our bones and feathers fertilize this field.”

“It’s gorgeous,” I announced.

The aroma of vanilla and roses enveloped me in its lush embrace, and I smiled. But my peaceful contemplation was interrupted when my wrist began to tingle, and the etchings on my skin glowed with intensity.

I raised my arm to show Baz and Lex. “What’s happening?”

Lex’s expression mirrored my confusion, and right as I stepped forward, the sound of beating wings filled the sky.

“Get down!” Baz’s plea echoed in my ears. He bit my jeans and pulled us into the grass below, seeking cover under the lilacs.

I dropped into the bushes, covering my head like a tornado was ready to run us down. In a mere heartbeat, Lex tossed his pack into the field a few feet away. He army crawled to it, keeping as low as possible, unzipped a pocket to remove something, then crawled back toward me and Baz.

Baz growled into my head. “Don’t say a word,” he ordered me, his words laced with urgency.

“Is it Vincent or Maros?” I asked, my wrist burning like it wanted me to fight back. I didn’t expect to hurt Baz, but I didn’t know how to control any of the electricity radiating through my body.

Lex whispered as he lay down next to me, “Maybe both.”

“Noa, please stop talking,” Baz begged me, with a growl coming from his throat.

“We could easily outrun them,” I griped at him, my tone sharp from the pain stinging my skin .

Baz huffed a hot breath of air in my face, his frustration evident about my idea. “The point of hiding is so they don’t find us.”

I lifted my head and made an annoyed face at Baz, then asked, “They can’t touch the ground here, right?”

Lex shook his head no. For the first time, it was he and not Jossy who grabbed a ponytail holder from his pocket. He tied back his auburn hair to see better. Baz nudged me under my arm, and I carefully turned onto my back.

When I looked up, two angels with monstrous black wings hovered like vultures above us. The lilacs and grass in the field provided enough cover from them since they couldn’t get as close as they wanted to scan the area.

Staying close to me, Lex rolled to his side and opened one of the saddlebags attached to Baz, pulling out a small, yet functional, modernized war hammer. The black rubber handle was short enough for throwing if needed. It had a tapered, talon-like blade on one side, and the other side was a round, flat head. Sticking up from the top was a three-leaf spike.

“Hold onto this, Noa,” Lex said, placing the hammer in my hands. “Just in case.”

“What am I supposed to do with this?” I asked, shock obvious in my tone.

“If you need to,” he stated, shaking his head like I’d had years of practice. “Swing. Then swing some more.”

Although the wards did not have full power, they limited the angels’ scope of the area. I gripped the weapon with a firm hold, and a crackling sensation flickered at the tips of my fingers like I was a superhero.

“We need to get out of here, guys. Something isn’t right with this bracelet that has decided to glue itself to me,” I worried, holding the hammer and gesturing for them to look at my hands.

“The wards are down,” Baz stated as he looked up at the sky.

“Yeah, and we need to get to that tree before it’s too late,” I demanded. My heart leaped into my throat before I added, “I’ve been thinking about how Vincent wanted this bracelet. It has to do with Vallen.”

“Why would he do that?” questioned Lex with a puzzled look on his face, inching closer to me. “Isn’t it better for Vincent if Vallen stays locked up?”

“Not if they need him to retrieve the secrets,” I said, and closed my eyes to think.

Wings of the dark fallen beat in the sky with a force that could lull one to sleep under different circumstances. I steadied my heartbeat and searched my mind, feeling the energy of the secrets, Callum, and the bracelet pulsing through my veins.

“I feel you. Come to me,” a raspy voice demanded.

My eyes popped open as goosebumps covered my body as I released a silent scream. “The guy in my head made contact,” I panted. “He knows we’re close.”

Lex’s eyes grew wide, and I could tell he was trying to find a way to get up and leave without us getting caught. Baz noticed too because he looked at Lex and growled, then shook his head.

I squeezed tighter to the handle of the hammer. “Oh my god!” I exclaimed in the quietest voice possible.

“What is it now?” Lex asked, a look of displeasure covering his face .

Releasing the hammer into the grass, I stared at the sky, my eyes gliding with the angels who searched for me. “It’s a key,” I revealed as I felt the bracelet move with my bones.

Then, as one angel swooped down to get a closer look at the field, it vanished into thin air. A breath caught in my lungs, and I waited for what felt like hours, but in reality, it was a mere second before I jumped to my feet. Our invisible protection had returned.

“The bracelet is a key to Vallen’s prison!” I yelled, handing the hammer back to Lex, then readjusting my crossbody bag. I began pacing back and forth, running through my thoughts out loud. “It has to be here somewhere. There’s no reason Vincent would lie about owning the bracelet and say we couldn’t get to Vallen if this thing wasn’t a key.”

Lex already stood next to me, holstering his pack again, and I looked down at Baz. “Get up! What are you waiting for?” I said, moving my hands in a hurried motion.

I started walking and left Lex to finish securing his pack. Baz trotted beside me at a quicker pace. “You need to think about the fact that Vallen is not without power. If you find him, he could obliterate you.”

“Lights out. I know.” I stopped in my tracks, spinning around to face him with a hand pressed against my forehead. “Vallen won’t let me die. It’s all part of his twisted plan to retrieve the secrets for the veil. And with my soul in his grasp, he thinks he holds all the power.” I raised my hands to the sky in gratitude. “That could be the one thing Vincent didn’t lie about.”

Baz leaned in closer, his voice skeptical as he pressed further. “Which is what, exactly? ”

I swallowed hard before answering, my head spinning with enthusiasm, and I smiled. “The colossal task of getting my soul back.”

Lex caught up to us as excitement rose in me and my thoughts drifted to my mother. A heavy pressure settled in my chest, a constant reminder of her absence. I missed her gentle smile and the way she always knew what to say to make everything better when it wasn’t.

But now, she and Sasha were in hell, getting tortured by demons. Probably by Maros, if he had his way. If I could get their souls back too, they could rest in peace.

“Noa,” Lex said as he studied my face. “We have an inkling of where the tree is. How are we going to find an invisible, not to mention heavily guarded, angel prison?”

I halted at the edge of the field, where twisted ancient trees marked the beginning of the angel burial grounds. Their gnarled branches were like skeletal hands reaching out.

“Well,” I breathed. “I’m pretty sure the angel at the tree will tell us if you guys would quit stopping and avoiding getting there.”

Baz stood next to me, his blue eyes meeting mine as he shifted back into his human form, letting the saddlebags and the belt fall to the ground.

“We’re not avoiding it, Noa,” Baz said, his eyes narrowing at me. “But throwing yourself into a snake den without any clue of how to handle it will kill us all, not only you.”

I couldn’t bring myself to look at his exposed body again. It was too raw and overwhelming. My gaze frantically searched for something—anything—else to fixate on. Hiding my eyes with my hand, I turned to face Lex, then heard Baz digging through his bags.

“Next time, give me a heads-up before you shift,” I snapped through gritted teeth.

“She’s got a point, man,” Lex agreed as his mouth quirked, stifling a laugh.

“Sorry, it’s not intentional,” Baz sighed. “But my emotions get the better of me when Noa starts going off on ideas that will get us all exterminated.” I heard a zipping sound and huffing. “You can turn back around now.”

“Baz,” I pleaded, “What if…what if there’s a way to get their souls back? Not just my mom and Sasha, but everyone taken from my family? They could leave hell.”

“Enough,” he commanded. “Noa, I understand how much you hate Vallen for killing your mother. And stealing your souls, but getting them back is impossible. Your mom... she’s gone. So is Sasha. They all are.”

“Do you even hear yourself?” I challenged, growing frustrated with each of them dismissing my decision. Shoving my wrist in both of their faces, I said, “Looks like I’ve got the upper hand here. And trust me—I can do a lot more than bargain.”

“You can’t bargain with a sociopathic, soul-stealing angel of one of the highest orders,” Lex added with a heavy breath. “We need a solution to keep you alive.”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing.” I proceeded to unhook the rope that separates the lilacs and the Valley of the Fallen, then looked back at both of them. “Y’all coming?”

Baz nodded reluctantly, his gaze locking with mine. “Lead the way,” he commented, still unsure of our decision or what I would do once we found Vallen .

After shouldering his saddlebags and securing the belt to Lex’s hiking pack, Baz stepped onto the pathway we would follow through the valley. With a final glance back at the lilac field, I turned and then crossed a threshold onto ground that shook my body with all the ancient energy it held.