Page 69 of Grave Revelations (Prophecies of Angels and Demons #3)

Chapter 68

Sophia

Sophia opened her eyes, and a soft moan escaped her lips. After eight nights suspended in the same position, the pain was becoming unbearable.

“Pythia, we’ve docked. I believe we’re in America.”

She glanced left, her vision blurry after so many days of no food, water, or essence. A deep ache had settled in her stomach, and her head throbbed. She would give anything to be in Sheol with the Naphil rather than here in the mortal realm.

“Has anyone been down here?” she croaked.

“Only Maria,” Helena said. “She said we would debark at nightfall. I hope they come soon.”

Sophia licked her dry lips. Her mind was foggy, a gnawing ache riding front seat as she tried to focus on anything other than Helena’s thrumming vein. Helena was in real danger if they released her.

Footsteps sounded far to her left. “They’re coming.”

Helena twisted to stare at the door. “How many?”

“Six. No—seven. And they’re dragging something with them.”

The handle outside their door twisted open, and several night creatures Sophia didn’t recognize stepped in. The final two brought a large enclosure resembling a birdcage with them .

Elizabeth came last, smiling up at Sophia. “Good morning, rat. Are you ready to be a good pet and do as I ask, or will we string you from the ceiling of your cage for a few more days?”

She narrowed her eyes at the small monster, imagining all the ways she would tear her head from her shoulders if she were free. “I’ll cooperate.”

“Very well. Monica, take the cage up. We may yet need it.”

A tall creature with short-cropped hair and permanent scowl lines picked up the cage, carrying it away as if it weighed nothing; to their kind, it did.

Elizabeth whispered the words in Latin that would release Sophia’s bonds and spit in her hand, running it over iron chains. They fell away, and Sophia collapsed into a heap on the floor. She repeated the action for Helena.

Helena crawled toward Sophia, resting her hands over the joints at Sophia’s shoulders, and a soft light bloomed under her touch. The pulsing vein in her neck called to Sophia, screaming for her attention, but she wrestled the wild beast inside her, fighting for control.

“Get her up,” Elizabeth barked, and two night-creatures pulled Helena to her feet, taking her healing energy with her.

That small reprieve had been heavenly, but it did nothing to quell the blinding hunger burning in Sophia’s belly. She rose unsteadily and leaned into the wall.

“Come, rat,” Elizabeth said. “We have a stop to make on our way.”

Sophia blinked, surprised to find they were not in North Carolina—in fact, they were nowhere near there. As she peered up at the Statue of Liberty, hand outstretched as a sign of peace, she wondered why they had come to New York.

Dozens upon dozens of creatures marched alongside her as they stepped off the docks. Elizabeth barked orders, and they moved quickly, scurrying in different directions to do her bidding.

Sophia strained to hear her orders and catalog every detail; when she found her opportunity to escape, she could bring that information to Rebecca. But her stomach dropped when a mane of golden-brown hair streaked with silver, the same shade as her own, bobbed into the crowd, followed by the rest of her coven.

Her mother.

She stepped around the women flanking her and moved up.

“Mama,” she whispered urgently. The guards followed her, shoving her between them, and her lip curled, but she said nothing, watching her mother move silently down the sidewalk.

Her mother hadn’t flinched, hadn’t batted an eye at Sophia. She was just as she had been in the cave in Demre—a vessel devoid of her life force.

Sophia’s gaze fell on each of the members of her coven, and she found they were all equally emotionless. All but one.

“Cassia,” she whispered.

The witch jerked her head in her direction and moved through the group to stride beside her.

One of the night-creatures hissed at Cassia, but she bared her teeth, and the other woman stepped back.

“I knew you’d make it,” she said, bumping Sophia’s arm.

“What are you doing here, working for Elizabeth?”

Cassia’s nose wrinkled. “Same as you, keeping the coven safe.”

“Why didn’t you help me in Demre? Why did you leave me?”

Pain ghosted over Cassia’s face before she schooled her features into neutrality. “You aren’t the only one with people to look after. She has my papa and sister. As long as I follow orders, she keeps them safe.”

Sophia scoffed. “We could free them. Why do this?”

Cassia’s gaze swiveled to Sophia. “I don’t know where you’ve been, but the world is ending, Pythia, just like you promised. The only way to keep my family and our coven safe is to work with the enemy.”

She pushed a creature in front of her aside roughly and moved away from Sophia, leaving her gaping after Cassia. The world must indeed be at its end if even her sisters had turned on her .

The crowd thinned considerably as they moved, creatures darting off in different directions. Sophia stopped, staring up at a massive skyscraper stretching into the night sky. From here, she couldn’t read the letters glittering high overhead.

Her bodyguards pressed close, wrapping their hands around her arms. “Don’t think of running, or your mother will be the first we end,” one said in her ear.

She bit back a reply that would only cause her trouble. Instead, she asked, “What are we doing now?”

“Elizabeth wants us to pick up a special guest. He should be down any moment.”

Reflective glass doors slid wide just a few feet ahead of her as a hospital bed wheeled out into the night, pushed by another of Elizabeth’s creatures.

Simon’s dull amber-brown eyes met hers.

“Simon,” Sophia gasped. “You died.”

He shook his head, glancing around at the night-beings surrounding them. “Not yet.”

Sophia felt it coming a moment before the beast inside her overrode her senses, and she darted forward, sinking her teeth into Simon’s arm. He thrashed, swearing as he tried to shake her loose. Fingers like steel dug into her shoulders, prying her off him.

Her mind cleared as his life-giving essence bled through her. Deep inside, Simon’s essence had filled in some of what was missing, and she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, staring in horror at the thin trickle of blood running down his arm.

Simon wrapped his hand around the wound, glaring daggers at her, and a cold stone settled in her stomach. She’d never liked him but wouldn’t have intentionally bitten him. What was wrong with her? No one else seemed to have such a lack of control.

The crowd parted as a blond head bobbed among them, stopping before the pair.

“A reunion!” Elizabeth cried, clapping her hands together. “The last time the three of us were in the same place at one time, Simon, well, I believe you were helping Rebecca destroy my children. Come to think of it, Sophia,” she shook her head as if scolding a child, “you were also helping my sister.”

Sophia and Simon exchanged glances.

“Never mind. Water under the bridge,” Elizabeth continued. “I’m sure you’ve both realized the error in siding with that traitor.”

Sophia’s gaze slid to Simon, whose teeth ground together so loudly that she was sure everyone could hear it.

Elizabeth tsked, patting Simon’s arm. “Come now, you can’t still want anything to do with the woman who chose a demon over you.”

Simon’s jaw popped as the grinding increased. “She didn’t choose him. He is keeping her captive, and I mean to set her free.”

“Oh,” Elizabeth looked genuinely shocked for a moment. “You must be right. Good thing I found you. We can all go get her.” Elizabeth stepped back, nodding at the creature standing behind his hospital bed. “Load him onto the ship headed for Bath. I’ll meet you there.” She turned her focus to Sophia. “Come, pet. You and I have work to do.”