The Death Skull: Relic Defender, Book 2 (41 page)

Poor Tink expected Grace to be the funny student doctor whose touch always made her feel better, but instead she got this mournful, demented echo of her. And Tink looked so hopeful, sitting there with her little face screwed up in concentration, her eyes tightly shut. It wouldn’t do to have her open them and find Dr. Grace sitting there looking nervous—not even
trying
. Grace could at least pretend. So she obediently squeezed her eyes shut once more.

Which was a mistake, because this time the image was more intense. She knew it wasn’t real, but she fought the urge to retreat—and the darkness rolled away from her. She nearly opened her eyes in surprise, but then she caught a sense, a feeling, a hint of bright sweetness—light and innocent—beneath that foulness. Tink. She knew it was Tink. Like sweet sunlight behind the churning black of a storm—a storm that boiled around the edges of Grace’s vision, crowding in, malevolent and possessive. She reached for that sweetness and the smoky stain slunk away again, but then coiled upward over her head, like some noxious living thing.

This was too much like her nightmares, reaching for Pops only to see him swept away by the blackness. But Tink was alive and breathing and real, ready to sprinkle her magic fairy dust on anyone who came within reach.

You just believe, Tink had said. Believe in magic and mountains that sing. Believe in fairy dust. But she couldn’t believe in any of this. She couldn’t
trust
any of this. She was a doctor. A
scientist
. Yet when she looked down, in this strange dream of hers, her hands were full of the sparkling stuff. No. It was impossible.
Impossible.
And half in anger, half in frustration, she flung it at the blackness around her. Shimmering gold cascaded out in a wide arc, dissolving the smoke the way the sun melted away fog on the mountain.

But there was too much of the darkness, boiling away into crevices and cracks, crawling off to hide from the brilliant corrosion. Death and disease and shadow.
This
was what had taken Pops from her, and now it threatened to drain the bright life from Tink. And nothing made a difference. Not science. Not magic. Nothing.

There was a roar in her ears that might have been music, if it weren’t so raw and penetrating. And suddenly it was as if she had
become
light, pouring from somewhere that wasn’t
here
, throbbing with power. She could only aim it at the darkness, scrub at it, obliterate it, and cancel it out. But she could feel her strength starting to fail before the task was finished. She had to hang on until nothing remained but glowing life.

Yet, when she opened her eyes once more, she still sat on the edge of the bed clutching Tink’s hand, and it seemed scarce seconds had passed. Only now Grace was sweaty and dizzy and nauseated, and Tink lay pale and unnaturally still against her pillow.

There was a scream from somewhere, as Tink and the room and the world spun away from Grace into gray smoke.

The Death Skull

Cassiel Knight

Reluctant allies; dangerous lovers.

Fallen angel Marisol Asheni Fell when she unwisely chose to follow Lucifer. Unlike many of her fellow angels, she has no desire for redemption. Instead, she prefers fighting the followers of the Dark when they step over the line. Except, in the deepest part of her soul, she longs for a reason to stop fighting.

Jackson’s only loyalty is to himself and his mother, but even he has boundaries he won’t cross. When his last job threatened the life of a young woman, he tossed aside the lucrative pay, and finds himself fighting evil. He’s attracted to Mari despite her hard, seemingly emotionless edge. And while Mari finds the tall human reluctantly appealing, she has no intention of finding herself in a relationship with a human.

Brought together by the Archangel Michael, they must find and destroy the crystal Mayan Death Skull before the son of Lucifer uses the skull to destroy the world’s leaders and throw the world into chaos to begin Hell on Earth.

Their search for the Death Skull takes them from Chicago to Central America to the lost city of Lubaantun in Belize, the heart of the Mayan civilization, and into a battle for their souls.

Warning: This title contains a kick-ass fallen angel with only one weakness: a man who makes her crazy in the best—and worst—possible ways. The hero? Picture Indiana Jones, even sexier, who isn’t going to let a little hellfire get in his way.

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They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B

Cincinnati OH 45249

The Death Skull

Copyright © 2014 by Cassiel Knight

ISBN: 978-1-60928-868-6

Edited by Holly Atkinson

Cover by Kanaxa

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
electronic publication: May 2014

www.samhainpublishing.com