Atonement (Heaven Sent Book 1) Read online

  “I don’t have a lot of time. I need to know which one of you is watching over Sophia Kane?” Marcus asked.

  “I see, so you thought you would come to my house, my bedroom, how did you even know that was my room by the way?”

  Marcus interrupted her. “I didn’t know, not until I saw the décor.”

  Deb stood silent for a moment debating what to say to him.

  He continued, “Light gray walls with lilac laced curtains, it had to be yours, so I waited and then you came in.”

  “How long were you there for?” Deb asked him.

  “Not long. Look, none of that matters right now. I need to know who’s watching over Sophia, is it you Deb?”

  “You don’t get to show up, kidnap me, and then decide what matters. You said you needed my help. I didn’t say I would give it to you.”

  “No, you didn’t, and I shouldn’t have barged in, but it’s urgent. Please, is Sophia your charge?” he pleaded.

  “It’s none of your business who our charges are. You are way out of bounds here Marcus. Why don’t you start answering some questions? Let’s start with how you knew where I lived and since when are you able to cloak?”

  “I will answer all of that and more, but Sophia is in real danger. Whichever one of you is watching over her needs to know she’s being followed by a Roamer Demon. Schlosser is bent on revenge and he thinks he can get it through Sophia.”

  “Revenge for what?” Deb asked.

  “He claims one of you killed him unprovoked. He’s back from Hell for revenge.” Marcus’ quiet confidence did nothing to calm the storm brewing inside her.

  “What? No, we don’t do that. We don’t murder demons unless they attack us, which by the way, they do often. We abide by the Accord, that’s how earth has been able to remain relatively demon free for thousands of years. Hell doesn’t want the compact to remain in place, they want to invade earth, that’s why they do everything they can to cheat and draw us in. How did he even get out of Hell in the first place? Why aren’t you and the rest of your buddies investigating that?” Deb lost her patience and brushed past him. She was heading toward the brick wall that housed the steps to the bridge overhead.

  She felt his hand on her wrist and turned to push him off her, but he was able to pull her into his arms.

  “This isn’t some joke. I need help. I came to you, and you’re treating me like the enemy. I’m not the enemy here Deb,” he chided.

  Marcus released his grip slightly, but she could still feel the warmth of his body against hers. His dark brown eyes held her gaze with passion and she felt her heart speed up, as her hands were balled into fists against her own body. She felt a rush of adrenaline come over her, tingling the hair along the back of her neck. Her body and mind were not aligned, one wanted him, the other wanted to get away from him.

  Why does everything about being in his arms seem scary, yet familiar? she wondered.

  She reached up and knocked his arms away, using his body weight against him she spun him around and threw him hard against the wall. The blow sent small pieces of rocky ledge down around their feet. As he regained his composure, she pushed him back with one hand and left it open against his hardened chest.

  “You’ve made the mistake of underestimating me, you’ve taken my kindness as weakness. Don’t put your hands on me again, Sentinel.” Deb watched the fervor in his eyes fade and turn to defeat.

  A soft glow lit up the area and warmed her back, Frankie had just arrived.

  Marcus had the last word. “Conversations over, I hope you pass along my message. Sophia shouldn’t pay the price for whatever happened between Schlosser and you guys.”

  She watched Marcus teleport away as she felt Frankie approach from the side.

  “You want to talk about it?” her brother asked.

  “No, but I’ll tell you all about it, at breakfast tomorrow.” Deb walked away certain Frankie would allow her the space to work through it on her own.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Gen pushed through the door to the kitchen, despite the brewing coffee, sizzling bacon, and warmth from the hot stove, she shivered. The underbelly of tension was fermenting and the palpable nature of it chilled her. All six of her brothers and both her sisters were in the kitchen. Gen couldn’t remember the last time they came together to share a meal, this was a rarity, then again so was Deb’s encounter with Marcus.

  “Good morning Gen, tea or coffee this morning?” Deb asked cheerfully.

  “Tea would be great, thanks,” Gen answered. “I didn’t realize we would have a full house this morning.”

  Kelly’s eyebrows rose. “I didn’t either.”

  Deb moved along without missing a beat. “Friday breakfast is a standing invitation; we shouldn’t need to be pushed into attendance.”

  Tom moved artfully around Deb in the kitchen. As she prepared eggs, Tom flipped bacon and stirred batter.

  Without turning around, Tom spoke to them. “Breakfast will be ready in ten guys. Might as well make yourselves useful and set the table.”

  Gen noticed the extension leaves had been added to the table to accommodate the nine of them. Deb’s favorite gray and white pinstriped placemats and matching napkins were already displayed. In the center of the table someone had filled two short vases with fresh lilacs from the small garden behind their house. Kelly carried two glass pitchers from the counter to the table, one with orange juice, the other with ice water.

  Gen walked to the antique hutch in the corner of their kitchen and removed plates and glasses for everyone. The white plates with small gray, purple, and yellow flowers matched perfectly to the rest of the table décor. Dan carried a large handful of silverware and they walked around each other readying the table for breakfast.

  For the next sixty minutes the song and dance of normalcy swirled around them. They ate breakfast together speaking little of anything remotely supernatural. Dan and Tom argued the merits of the role of technology in today’s world. To Gen, Dan was a technical marvel compared to the rest of them. He was the one that kept their papers in order, changing identification when needed and paying all the bills. Though Dan was the IT genius, Tom was the legal mastermind. He handled dealing with lawyers and accountants for the many trusts they had created over the years. Gen thought of all the properties across the country that their trusts had acquired, she knew it made it easier for them to move from one side of the country to the other when they needed to. This house was by far Gen’s favorite, but she knew they wouldn’t be here long.

  We can never stay in one place too long, Michael would never allow it, Gen thought. Memories of life with Gabriel stirred, this was their first house. Her eyes caught sight of a few of the lilac blooms drifting down upon the table, their delicate structure not meant to be jostled around. You planted that lilac tree for me Gabe. It’s still here, you should be here. Gen shook her head slightly as if she could scatter the pain of his loss away.

  Xavier, Frankie, and Greg rehashed a controversial soccer game. Gen never understood why they cared so much for a sport they rarely saw on TV in the states. Though she knew on more than one occasion the three of them had used their powers to watch a game or two live, most of the time they had to get up early to catch the playoff games on TV.

  Deb and Kelly took a deep dive into who had the best pizza in town. Deb was rating the actual pizza, while Kelly was rating the pizza’s accompanying appetizers and dessert. To Kelly the entire meal was part of the calculation, not just the pizza itself. Gen and Michael mostly listened, chiming in only when prompted.

  Stopping to take in the scene playing out in front of her, Gen pictured that to the outside world this was nothing more than a family gathering. Conversation lingered for a while after the food was gone, and with her brothers present, the food truly was gone, there wasn’t a scrap of leftovers to be had. Greg and Frankie began clearing plates. Xavier loaded up the dishwasher. Gen took a calming breath and felt the swell of foreboding wash over her.

  Sto
rm’s coming, she thought. Her mind raced with an overwhelming sense something bad was coming.

  Once the dishwasher was running and the voices quieted, Frankie asked. “This was great Deb, but when are we going to hear about what happened with Marcus last night by the river?”

  The river was a meaningful place for Deb, a place she used to visit often with Dmitri. Gen and her sisters each had sacred places, somewhere they could go to escape the craziness of their world. Deb tended to visit scenic water ways, the riverbank, the beach, a quiet lake. Deb had often told her sisters that the serenity of the water and its natural surroundings calmed her.

  Gen knew that to share that space with someone else would have been a big deal. Years ago, when Deb spent a great deal of time roaming her favorite spots with Dmitri, she and Kelly were convinced Deb had found her soul mate, everything about her and Dmitri fit. In Gen’s eyes, nothing about her and Marcus fit, so hearing that she was at the river with Marcus was somewhat disappointing. Gen felt Marcus was no replacement for Dmitri. Then again, Dmitri was gone, and Marcus was here.

  Strange you would agree to meet him there, Gen thought as she waited for Deb to answer Frankie’s question.

  Deb went to the counter and refilled her cup with tea. As she walked around the island she stopped and stood facing the table. Quietly, they awaited her response.

  Gen held her breath and had to force herself to release it.

  Clearing her throat Deb’s first words lit the powder keg inside the room. “Last night, I opened my bedroom door to find Marcus standing in my room. He pulled me right out of the house and down to the river.”

  The idea that Marcus had invaded their home and dragged Deb out scared Gen. Her head swam with emotion, the clanging sound of panic disoriented her. Gen struggled to process what Deb was telling them and knew her siblings were doing the same.

  How is Marcus that powerful? Gen grappled with the revelation.

  Gen caught site of Michael who was the only person in the room that appeared unfazed by the revelation of Marcus’ ability. In his typical business-like manner, he asked questions that Gen knew would lead the group down a rabbit hole.

  “How did he know where you lived? Has he ever been here before?” Michael asked.

  Deb’s face fell. She was clearly disappointed that Michael would think she would ever tell anyone that kind of information. “I don’t know how he knew where we lived. As far as I know he’s never been here. At least, I never brought him here.”

  Frankie was next. “You know we have to ask the questions, Deb. Without them we can’t unravel how this happened or what he actually is.”

  “What do you mean, what he is?” Deb uttered. “He’s a Sentinel, everyone knows that. Are you suggesting he somehow isn’t?”

  “That’s exactly what Frankie’s suggesting,” Kelly said. “That power is not an attribute a Sentinel would have, so the natural assumption is that perhaps he isn’t who he says he is.”

  “That’s ridiculous!” Deb shot back. “Guardians aren’t typically immune to Hell Fighter venom either, but you are.” Deb paused before making her point. “Doesn’t make you something else, Kell.”

  “Everything is on the table when we don’t know all the facts.” Tom’s soft tone attempted to calm Deb’s defensive stance. “Deb, what happened when you got to the river? Frankie says he came to assist you when he felt your fear. Why were you afraid?”

  Deb reached behind her and pulled a bar stool out to sit on. “I was confused, whatever power he used to mask his arrival at the house fogged my mind and threw me off balance. I had a literal physical reaction to it. It was an unnerving situation, I think at the river I was still trying to clear my head.”

  “I can only imagine,” Gen told her. “Why didn’t you call out to us when Marcus was in your room? Kell and I were just feet away.”

  Deb shook her head before responding. “It all happened so fast and at first, as crazy as it sounds, I wasn’t worried. I figured he’d tell me why he was there and then leave. It wasn’t until my feet hit the grass that I became anxious.”

  “You need to be more vigilant, all three of you actually.” Michael barked his response. “You should have called out, it should have been the first thing you did, it should have been instinctive.”

  “I think that’s a bit much, Michael,” Kelly replied dryly.

  A flash of impatience crossed Michael’s face. “No, it’s not. You know what’s a bit much? The three of you running around without a care in the world as if something isn’t out there trying to harm you.” Michael’s temper bled through his words. “Finish the damn story, what did he want?”

  Gen was distracted by Michael’s eyes as he held fast to Deb’s position, she watched them darken with anger.

  “Fine,” Deb responded. “He wanted to know which one of us was watching over a charge by the name of Sophia Kane. He said a demon was following her, which I already knew, because I was in her house when said demon showed up. The demon didn’t attempt to harm her, he just rummaged through her things and then Marcus showed up and chased him away.”

  The weight of silence returned as Gen and her brothers tried to calculate what this all meant. Deb had just told them a Sentinel powerful enough to drag a Guardian from one location to another, chased off a demon.

  What the heck is going on? Gen asked herself.

  Deb continued, “It gets better. Marcus told me that the demon had just fought his way out of Hell, back for revenge.”

  “Revenge against who?” Tom asked.

  “What did the demon look like?” Gen’s own voice, barely a whisper, cracked.

  Frankie asked a series of questions delaying Deb’s response to Gen. “Forget about looks, did Marcus know who he was, did you hear a name? You said you witnessed him chasing the demon away, how was Marcus able to do that? And you Deb, you were able to cloak and not be seen or felt by Marcus?”

  Deb answered Tom’s question first. “Apparently, he’s seeking revenge against me, since I’m watching over Sophia. The demon was large, ugly, bald, and stunk like death. I’m able to cloak myself with my shield in small spaces and not for very long.”

  Kelly interjected. “I’m sure you’ll get better at it over time. But Deb, this demon is after you, yet you didn’t recognize him?”

  The siblings’ voices faded, and Gen could feel her powers pulsating. Her head was filled with a thunderous, hammering ache. Her hands trembled as she struggled to steady herself.

  It couldn’t be, could it? Gen lamented internally. It can’t be him, that’s impossible, he wasn’t that strong, was he? Trying to remember back to that day Gen’s racing thoughts swirled for clues, was Deb talking about Schlosser? Was Deb in danger because she killed a Roamer Demon? The thought rushed through her mind nearly debilitating her.

  Gen temporarily lost track of the conversation until Deb’s voiced reeled her back to the present. “I overheard a whole conversation between them. It wasn’t friendly. Marcus accused one of us of killing the demon.” Deb paused. “Oh, his name was—”

  “Schlosser,” Gen interrupted. “His name was Schlosser. He’s a Roamer Demon.”

  “That’s right, how did you know, Gen?” Deb asked.

  “Because I killed him, the night I saved Becky,” Gen confessed.

  Xavier tried to clarify. “It was self-defense though, he attacked you and you defended yourself.”

  Gen didn’t respond.

  “Genevieve O’Mara.” Michael was glaring at her from across the table. “You answer that question truthfully right now. Did you kill that demon unprovoked?”

  Gen shot up nearly knocking her chair to the floor. “Schlosser taunted Becky all night, literally all night. I did everything we were trained to do, and nothing worked. He wanted her blood on his hands, he wanted her unborn baby’s soul!” Gen could feel her face flush with anger while her hands turned to blocks of ice. The unfairness of it enraged her all over again. Gen’s power escaped her hands causing a tremor. The table shook
as she clasped firmly onto the edge.

  Michael stood up. “Did the demon put his hands on your charge or throw a weapon in your direction?”

  Gen paused knowing the crushing weight her answer held. “No.”

  “What?” Xavier exploded out of his seat. “How could you have done that? You know what that means. We’re all in jeopardy now.”

  Michael was quick to respond. “We need to move, we need to get ahead of this. I’m going to find Harry, he needs to know what she’s done.” He doled out marching orders, but Gen didn’t hear them.

  One by one Gen felt her brothers leave the kitchen, none of them saying anything to her. The absence of words carried its own judgement. She had broken trust and though they may forgive her, right now they were angry and presumably disappointed. Their reaction crushed her; she felt like a child scorned and punished.

  Michael looked at her. “From now on there are no secrets, and no one goes out alone.” His voice commanded cooperation. “Do the three of you understand?”

  Kelly answered, “That’s fine, but I personally don’t understand why everyone’s so worked up over this. I have no issue with what Gen did. I’m sure he deserved it, let him come, let him find out what we’ll do for an encore.” Kelly had slid out of her chair and was standing beside Gen facing off against Michael.

  Michael was in combat mode, he had reeled in the brief escape of emotion. “We need to remain calm, the last thing we need is for you to run around starting a war. I’m heading out. Kelly, see if you can reach Antonio, find out if he knows anything more about the demon trailing you guys. We need information: are the demons following you working with Schlosser or not?”

  Kelly rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I can just ring up an Arch Angel.” After a moment she sighed. “I’ll try and get him a message.” Before leaving she squeezed Gen’s arm in a show of support.