Unholy Sundering Read online

  Unholy

  Sundering

  DEANNA BROWNE

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, businesses, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental. All trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, and registered service marks are the property of their respective owners and are used herein for identification purposes only. The publisher does not have any control over or assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their contents.

  UNHOLY SUNDERING

  Copyright © 2018 Celtic Moon Press

  All cover art copyright © 2018

  All Rights Reserved First Publication:

  May 24th, 2018

  ISBN: 978-1-948884-11-2

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

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  Other works by DeAnna Browne

  Dark Rising Trilogy

  Demon Rising

  Evil Etched in Gold (short story)

  Unholy Sundering

  Hard-Wired Trilogy

  Hooked

  Free Ch. 1 Here

  Synched (out fall 2018)

  CHAPTER 1

  B ecca shoved her way through the throng of people, fighting towards the execution platform. It stood tall and withered in the center of the dilapidated town, an effigy to the gods above or, in this case, the devils below. The afternoon sky rumbled its dissent, a storm threatening in the distance.

  “Damn rebel,” a ragged man hollered. “String him up for the devil to devour.”

  City guards, in their green uniforms, hoisted the prisoner up on the stage. The young man strained against his captors as they tied him to a flat board. He couldn’t be older than twenty.

  In the corner perched a black dragon-like demon, long and lithe with an even longer wingspan. Its fangs poked out from beneath massive black lips.

  “Watch it,” a guy shouted at Becca as she passed.

  Someone yanked her backwards by her hair. Pain shot through her scalp as she regained her footing. Her long black hair escaped her ponytail and fell into her face. The hum of magic vibrated in her hands. A thick, rugged man glared down at her, as ugly as he was probably stupid.

  Should she end this fight the fast way, with magic, or the more satisfying way, with her fists? At least this would be one fight she could win. She cocked an arm back, ready to strike, when someone approached from behind.

  “Don’t start this now,” Caleb spoke in her ear. “Not here.”

  “They’re setting him out as dinner for that demon.” Revulsion tasted sour in her mouth.

  “We have other responsibilities.” He took her hand and pulled her away from the stage, levelheaded as always.

  He didn’t have to explain Becca’s other responsibilities. Her gnawing guilt was a constant companion. But he was right: Darion and Liz counted on her to return. She needed answers and couldn’t afford to be sidetracked.

  Caleb and Becca had been on their way to a pawnshop to follow a lead when the crowd for the execution had separated them.

  Cheers erupted from the crowd, and she picked up her pace. Caleb’s hand tightened on hers. The demon on the stage bellowed, piercing the air over the boisterous voices. It had begun.

  They passed a mage on their way out. His pleasant grin and the Soultorn at his side told Becca he must be a member of the city coven. She lowered her eyes and buried her repulsion. Soultorns, demon-possessed humans with pitch-black eyes, were expensive and hard to make. Even harder to unmake. She should know—her sister, Liz, was one of them.

  Once past the magician, they hurried, almost running. Caleb’s clenched jaw and tight shoulders indicated this execution bothered him as much as it did her.

  Several blocks later, the cheers and screams of the execution finally died away. They slowed to a walk on the crumbling asphalt road as they drew closer to the pawnshop. Many of the stores in the strip mall were dark and vacant, like a beggar child with missing teeth. The cheap green lights on the sign that read Pawn $$$ flickered on and off. Heavy bars covered the crumbling stucco.

  Caleb curled his lips in a concerned look.

  “I’ve gone to worse stores,” she told him as they approached.

  Just then, the n in Pawn flashed out. Now it glowed Paw $$$.

  He gave a short laugh. “That’s a great selling point.”

  Becca paused and stared at him. It had been weeks since he’d laughed, since his tanned face lifted in a real smile…since his parents’ death. He’d lost a lot. They all had.

  “What?” He brushed back his dirty blond hair. It had grown, curling a bit at his temple now.

  “Nothing. Let’s go.”

  They pushed through the front door and bells chimed. The shop might have been small, but every inch was crammed full. Floor-to-ceiling shelves held electronics, weapons, and random household items. Hopefully among the clutter of junk were the answers they sought.

  A short man with a thick beard sat behind a glass jewelry counter. He didn’t greet them, but his dark eyes framed by heavy brows watched their every step. His only remarkable characteristic was the fifteen or more gold hoops that lined one ear.

  Becca approached the counter. Incense burned nearby, trying to cover an old, dank smell. “We’re looking for someone,” Becca started.

  They were met with silence.

  “Are you Boone?” she asked, understanding his caution.

  Boone was supposedly a mediocre magician who heard things. They had been searching for a month for a rogue around here, a rogue who kept his or her distance from coven influence. There were rumors now and again, but no one with real answers.

  “We’re looking for someone.” Becca slipped him a small coin, hoping it would help.

  “I am Boone.” The man looked Caleb and Becca over with an experienced eye. His hands carefully tapped the glass counter. Littered below the counter, expensive stones lay in random settings.

  She didn’t even see him pocket the coin. “A friend said you could help us find an older rogue living nearby.”

  “There are many rogues. They’re killing one this morning.” He spread a hand along the counter. “How about some jewelry? This man here could buy you a pretty ring. Show his affection.”

  “No thanks.” Becca stifled her impatience. They didn’t need to get into that right now.

  “Just answers.” Standing a good foot taller than her with shoulders to match, Caleb’s intimidating presence often helped encourage cooperation, despite his lack of magic. They’d been best friends for years, and she relied on him to watch her back. Which, as the only Mundane in their group, he did surprisingly well.

  Despite their protests, Boone bent down to open the cabinet. Caleb looked over his shoulder at the front door, his gaze skittering around the room. He never did like magicians−he made an exception for Becca though.

  Boone brought out a large ring, with an amber stone.

  “Look, if you want money, we’ll get you some.” Becca placed both of her hands down on the glass in frustration. “I don’t want jewelry, just information.”

  Without hesitation, the man gripped Becca’s hand, something cold pressed around her finger, and a searing pain shot up her arm.

  Caleb had a knife at the man’s throat. “Let go.”

  “If you kil
l me, your girl dies.” Boone spoke to Caleb, but his eyes remained locked on Becca.

  Becca fought back the pain while focusing on her magic. She was stupid not to be more prepared for an attack, but this man was supposed to be weak.

  “Becca? You okay?”

  Not trusting her voice, she shook her head. The pain in her hand traveled up her arm then down into her gut, twisting into a pit of agony.

  Caleb pressed the knife a little farther, a thin red line beading at the blade’s edge. “If she dies, you will too.”

  “I’m not going to kill her,” Boone scoffed. “I just want to borrow something from her.”

  He slipped the metal ring farther up her finger, and the pain intensified all the way to her core, to where her magic lay deep inside her. The magical sensation paralyzed her body.

  “No!” Her voice grated. “Not that.”

  A few months ago when she first learned about her magic, she might have gladly gotten rid of it, but now his parasitic touch invaded her very soul, seeking to take what wasn’t his. She remembered her defenses, the magical barriers Darion had taught her. But every wall she put up, Boone easily knocked down.

  His grip tightened, and he lowered his face to Becca’s, ignoring Caleb’s knife and the blood trickling down his neck. “I felt your power when you first stepped into the store. So strong and fragrant.” He inhaled deeply as if smelling a bouquet.

  “Kill him!” Becca screamed.

  “Then you’ll die too.” The man’s dark eyes bore deep as if seeing beyond physical layers. “Your choice, but then you’ll never get to see your rogue. So close, too.”

  Caleb ran to one of the nearby shelves, knocking things aside. Boone yanked her closer again. He pushed the ring farther up her finger, and Becca’s legs crumpled underneath her. Somehow, though, he kept her up and connected to that ring.

  Her magic, which was usually a low humming sensation she found deep within, now screamed out, pain lighting every nerve ending on fire.

  Caleb returned with something large in his hands. Then, with a loud crash, the cabinet shattered underneath them, and Becca tumbled to the floor. The pain vanished, replaced by aching exhaustion. Boone’s howls of pain filled the store.

  Caleb reached down to lift her up. “You okay?”

  She ripped the ring off of her finger, her hand still shaking. She glanced back and quickly wished she hadn’t. Boone sat on the floor cradling a bloody stump where his hand used to be.

  Bile rose in her throat, and she hurried out the door. Caleb stayed at her side since her steps were unsteady. She focused her energy on a defensive spell for both of them and cursed herself for not being more prepared in the first place. As they walked by a large dumpster, Becca dumped the ring, grateful to be rid of such a foul object.

  “Did you really chop off that guy’s hand?” Becca never imagined Caleb was capable of doing such a thing, but the last month had changed them all.

  “It was the only way to break contact. He seemed only able to hurt you when he touched you with that ring.” Caleb spoke in a rush, his gaze darting around the passing streets and the people littering the storefronts.

  Becca tried to shake the nightmare of that man’s touch, and walked faster now that she trusted her legs. “Thank you.”

  “There is one good thing about today.”

  “What?” It was hard to imagine anything good between the execution, and the fiasco in the pawnshop.

  “We now know the rogue is nearby.”

  After Boone’s attack, she’d almost forgotten about the rogue. After weeks of searching, could he be within reach? Hope flared in her chest.

  She flexed her hand, knowledge of what almost had happened sending a cold chill up her arm. She reached for her knife, the heavy metal a comfort in her hand. “Next time, let’s buy the damn jewelry like he wants. Okay?”

  A glimmer of amusement crossed his face. “Sure thing.”

  CHAPTER 2

  N o matter how many times she climbed this mountain, Becca’s legs complained. Caleb led the way up, his pack heavy with their purchased supplies. When the ground leveled out near the cave entrance, she paused to catch her breath. She slipped off her pack and stared out to the water.

  With night fast approaching, the horizon and the water blended together in a dark blue infinity. Cool salt air brushed her face as the waves crashed into the rocky hillside. She would never tire of watching the ocean, an entity in its own accord. Another deep breath and the fear, wound tight in her belly from the incident at the pawnshop, floated out to sea. That had been too close.

  “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Becca glanced at Caleb, who stopped to wait for her.

  “It’s not home,” he replied, a hollowness haunting his voice.

  “Nothing ever will be.” Nothing could ever compete with the comfort of being where you belonged. Unfortunately, the feeling of home was destroyed for Becca before her sixteenth birthday.

  “You coming in?” Caleb adjusted the pack on his back.

  “Yeah, in a sec.”

  Darion emerged from the cave, and headed straight for Becca. His pitch-black hair poked up in every direction, while stubble covered his jaw. Even with those weary eyes, Becca warmed at the sight of him despite her doubts.

  “What happened?” His worried tone held a biting edge.

  “Nothing.” She didn’t want to worry him.

  Earlier, Darion complained about her going to town with Caleb, but left with no other options, he grudgingly agreed to stay behind. Darion had more control over magic and was the only one strong enough to watch over Becca’s sister, Elizabeth.

  For inside Elizabeth resided one of the most lethal demons in this dimension, Bael, the Duke of Hell himself. In an attempt to overthrow the coven leader, Ryma, their uncle bound Bael to Elizabeth. Becca and Darion killed her uncle, but now they struggled to deal with Bael and Ryma’s wrath. Outgunned and outmanned, they’d been searching for answers ever since.

  With magic being relatively new in the world, answers were sometimes hard to come by. Thirty years ago, a wizard named Lazario opened a portal that flooded the earth with magic, which gave him access to another dimension filled with demons. In the takeover, Lazario overthrew the major world governments and replaced them with his followers. He only shared with those loyal to him.

  Becca glanced between the two boys, not sure what to say. A heavy weight settled onto her shoulders. Ever since they’d escaped the coven with her sister, Caleb had been distant. And Darion’s affection didn’t make it any easier.

  Darion found when he was magically connected to her sister, Elizabeth, he could sense Becca’s emotions through the sisters’ shared blood bond. The bond came in handy when they fought their way free from Ryma’s coven. The continued strength of it surprised them both as it drew them closer.

  “I felt something when you were gone. Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” she lied.

  Darion grabbed her shoulders, searching her face. His touch turned the conflicting emotions inside her. She was attracted to him, but with his lies and previous ties to the coven, she was hesitant to trust him. She didn’t need any more complications in her life.

  She struggled with her ties to both men. Caleb would always be her friend, her best friend. Hurting him because she couldn’t determine Darion’s place in her life was not an option.

  Keeping Caleb in sight, she shuffled back a step. It was enough. Darion quickly dropped his hand.

  Becca avoided his eyes as she spoke. “If Boone was your friend, then he isn’t your friend anymore.” Before he could ask more questions, she added, “We did hear that the rogue is nearby, though the source might be questionable.”

  “Really?” He cocked a brow and waited for more. Tired lines etched his face. Controlling the demon inside her sister drained him more than he admitted. “Don’t think you’re getting away with not telling me what happened with Boone.”

  “I’ll talk while you eat.”

  Befor
e she could pick up her pack, he took it from her. He brushed her hand as he slipped it onto his back. A warm sensation traveled up her arm. She told herself it was completely magical. Residual magic from the last fight, that was all.

  Without a word, Caleb headed to the cave.

  “I can carry my own pack. I’m fine. I was careless. There was an execution that set me off my game, so my guards weren’t up when we met Boone.”

  “You should know better,” he said without malice. The anger in his eyes was clearly not directed at her. “Did you kill him?”

  “No.”

  “Then I will.”

  She held up a hand. “Boone got what he deserved. Caleb chopped off his hand.”

  Surprise flitted across his face, and he glanced to where Caleb had been, but he was already inside. “Really?”

  Becca nodded.

  “That Mundane constantly surprises me.”

  “Me too.”

  Darion stepped towards her, but before anything else happened, she started back to the cave. “Let’s eat,” she said.

  “Sure.” His casual response almost sounded like a question, but he followed her back inside.

  At first glance, the cave appeared to be nothing more than a shallow rock overhang. As one explored farther, it opened to a cave, well hidden from below. The usual dank odor hung in the air.

  Caleb was already unpacking, putting supplies in the back. The cave was barely large enough for the four of them, and gave no privacy. Her sister, Elizabeth, lay unconscious on a mat.

  “How has she been doing?” Becca pushed out the nagging guilt in her mind that whispered she’d put her sister here.

  “Bael’s restless,” Darion said.

  “What’s new?” Becca set down her pack and went to her sister. Bael had been restless since day one.

  Kneeling next to her, Becca grabbed the rag hanging in a cup of water and slowly dribbled some into Elizabeth’s mouth. Darion said there was a chance they could remove the demon residing in her, but he wasn’t sure what would be left of Elizabeth. They didn’t know the spell to pull the demon out, and they needed help. Someone not bound to a coven, someone like a rogue. Unfortunately, most magicians weren’t the helpful type.