Judgment (Tattooed Angels Trilogy 2)

Chapter 1: Present Day - Die Trying

I fear I have failed my brother.

The start of my inability to protect him was a slow fall from grace before I plummeted into the endless pit of despair.

The day they fell under his reincarnation spell, I should have known something wasn't right with Hotan. He had carried a distant look in his deep green eyes; kept secrets from me. Ignoring it was a dire mistake that would endanger all of us, even the innocent people of the world. I was their watcher, protector. I don't know exactly what created this chaos which surrounds us now. So much has been destroyed for our sins it makes me sick with guilt.

Decades ago I decided I could no longer allow myself to watch without intervening. My dreams are forever haunted by the faces of my fellow Levites; seeing them reborn only to die again. My memories are filled with centuries of disasters and horrific wars. Many of these I have seen and experienced firsthand in my efforts to track the others as promised. It took centuries for me to realize that idly watching their lives was not enough. This was my mistake.

I am troubled by my brother's hidden sins. It's time I set things right, atone for my own failures by doing what my brother could not. But, life was complicated in the beginning. I trusted Hotan, but at some point along the way he lost trust in himself. Am I not remembering some important clues from so long ago? So many gaps in my mind where memories should be... have I lived too long? Is this the cost for remaining awake during the passing of time unlike the rest?

With a gasp, Talib snapped out of his darkening thoughts. A wave of power echoed through his soul with an icy sensation stinging and pulling at him. He had associated this power with his brother in the past, but with the old Hotan dead, it meant this was another entity. One which sought out his brother and now the new Hotan. The power tugged at him to look north toward the unseen beacon. Silence fell over him from where he stood sheltered within the cathedral. A cold sweat slithered across his temple, his jaw tightening; this power easily matched his own, no, it was stronger.

Swallowing back the choking sensation of fear, he whispered, "The power that haunted my brother has returned."

"What has returned? What are you talking about?" Lucius turned away from the candles by the holy water fountain to the paling gentlemen behind him. "Talib, what on earth is going on?"

"There's no time to explain." He began running down the aisle way between the rows of pews, jerking off his white suit jacket in hopes of freeing himself of any physical restrictions. "It is coming for Hotan!"

With amazing agility he slid across the black hood of an Audi A8, his silver hair flashing in the sunlight. He rolled himself upright and jerked the driver door open. There was no time to worry about the consequences of what he was about to do. The tires screamed as he floored the gas pedal. He needed to reach the source of the terrible power before it found its target. Gripping the steering wheel tighter, his palms were clammy and his jaw ached as he clenched his teeth. Every muscle in his body was growing tighter under the pressure of the battle he knew would be unavoidable.

The power being released shared a presence similar to Rebirth, but took on a more negative tone. Instead of an exertion of power and life, this one consumed it; a black hole void of compassion. He could safely concur this was the element of Death. A coldness struck deep into his core, the grip of it making breathing painful and rattled his nerves. There was no other explanation, this was an immortal who became the embodiment of a terrible element, the one element none of them truly possessed. Whether Death realized Hotan was not the same entity it had chased in the past was unknown.