Iniquitous (The Marked #3)(33)

“Ortum flammae!”

On Annabelle’s incantation, flames sprang up and touched the pitch-black sky, blazing an unholy path to the massive pit that I instinctively knew was meant for my bloody end.

Engel nodded to Baldy beside me and he immediately sprang forward, dragging me forward towards the steps.

I dug my heels into the ground and pushed back as hard as I could.

“There’s no use in fighting this, child. You’re only making it harder on yourself,” beamed Engel from the clearing.

That may have been true, but I fought anyway.

Wrangling me down to the last step, Baldy and another Rev each grabbed an arm and tossed me forward onto the hell-rock. They discarded me as easily as laying a body to rest. Only I wasn’t a body. I was alive and well, and I damn-well intended on staying that way.

The minute they let go of my arms, I kicked off the ground and ran for the steps, but was thwarted by some sort of invisible barrier that smacked me right in the face.

“What the—” I rammed my hands into the open air in front of me and immediately felt the strange pushback.

Something was holding me down there. Something I couldn’t see with my naked, non-witchy eye. Panicking, I bolted to the opposite side to see if I could climb out of the hole, but the same force pushed me back.

My eyes shot up to Dominic as the sisters walked around the pit, readying themselves to start the show, but he still wasn’t moving. He was out cold. On Annabelle’s word, the fire spread down into the pit, lassoing itself around me as it forced me into its tight grip.

This isn’t happening right now!

I was literally about to get fried by a couple of demented witches and Dominic was probably going to sleep through the whole thing.

“Dominic!” I yelled out his name into the open air, desperate to wake him.

Nothing.

Annabelle, Anita, and Arianna took their places around the pit. With their arms outstretched, they joined hands as the hellish flames shot even higher into the sky, taunting the Heaven’s above us with their nefarious intentions.

“Stop! You don’t know what you’re doing!” I shouted up at them. “Stop this while you still can!”

Neither one acknowledged me. Instead, they began chanting softly, singing in ancient tongues I didn’t understand.

The flames danced around me, licking out at my skin as they laughed in the face of my despair. I swung out at them fruitlessly, trying to push the flames away from me, but it only made the fire rage stronger.

“Don’t do this! Please!” I covered my face as the flames lashed out at me. It was as though the fire was alive and it was openly playing for Hell’s team.

My pleas went unanswered.

They continued to sing in unison, their voices blending together into a demonic song from another time and place. A place that was never meant to see the light of day again.

The louder they chanted, the hotter my skin became, burning until it became unbearable. The Amulet lit up against my chest, glowing wildly at their charmed words and searing my skin from its contact.

I wasn’t sure why it was lighting up, but I knew it wasn’t anything good.

It never was.

I reached up and tried to pull the necklace off my neck, but it wouldn’t budge. Every time I grabbed it, the necklace grew hotter, scorching me until it felt as though it were burning a hole right through my flesh.

A flash of thunder exploded in the sky as the rain began falling down on us in sheets. I prayed it would put out the flaming fires around me—prayed it would quell the heat that was now smothering me—but the downpour didn’t even make a dent. Nothing was going to stop them, not even the angry tears of Heaven.

A loud scuffle broke out in the clearing above me and my eyes immediately zipped to Dominic. He had finally come to and was fighting off his captors with a vengeance. His fists were swinging through the air with methodical velocity and his eyes were black with determination.

I felt a glimmer of hope ignite in my heart, but I didn’t let myself own it. Too much had gone wrong already and I couldn’t afford to let in any more disappointment.

“Dominic! Down here!”

Our eyes met for the briefest of seconds. He nodded and then bent forward, pulling Baldy over his shoulder and slamming him down onto the ground. Twisting to his right, he grabbed another Rev and snapped his neck. I’d never seen him look so strong or move so fast. He truly was a Dark Angel.

My Dark Angel.

As soon as he’d eliminated the imminent threats around him, I watched as he shifted into his wolf form and barreled through the last two Revs towards me. He was something to behold; a complicated masterpiece at its finest hour.

Unfortunately, he was a day late and a dollar short.

He slammed into the invisible wall around the pit before tumbling back down onto the ground. Whimpering, he jumped back on his paws as two more Revs immediately rushed him, forcing him to fight for his life again.

My eyes moved to Engel. He wasn’t paying attention to any of it. His focus was on me and the sisters. On making sure the spell was taken to the very end.

“Sanguine!” yelled Annabelle amidst the buzz of incessant chanting.

Engel pulled out a knife and slit his wrist as he rushed down the steps towards me. Stopping at the edge of the fire, he raised his hand and squeezed it into a fist, letting his blood pour from the open wound and into the flames.