The Blood Bracelets #4 - Hell Raised

Chapter Twelve

The silence that followed Fury's departure was as jarring as a gunshot, and the empty space which opened in front of Kael where she had been standing was as large as a chasm. He felt a crackle of electricity at his fingertips but he turned sharply, facing Eljae, who instantly raised her hands in a plea of innocence.

'I had no idea what Taryn was planning, I swear,' Eljae added.

'Kael—' Ace started.

'Do not destroy anything in my home,' Drake cut in, shoving a hand into Kael's shoulder.

Kael stumbled back, but it snapped him out of the sudden rage that had grasped him – the same rage that Wrath had twisted – and he dispelled the energy sparking at his fingertips like shaking water from his hands.

'I wasn't going to destroy anything,' Kael muttered, and Drake gave him a dubious look. 'You really didn't know?' he asked Eljae.

'I didn't,' said Eljae, frowning. 'Fury was supposed to switch back with Taryn as soon as we returned. She promised me when we were making this plan that they could avoid being tracked back to Drake's if they switched fast enough.'

When Eljae had explained the plan to Kael and Ace, Kael had had his concerns. Fury was undetectable so long as Taryn stayed in control of her body, and the diluted amount of angelic energy that Taryn had was easily masked with the right wards, but having Fury in control of Taryn's body had been deliberate for this plan so they could draw out Gabriel who would, in turn, destroy Lust and create enough of a distraction at Eden's home for everyone to escape unscathed.

But if Taryn had lied to Eljae, then she and Fury had planned to confront Gabriel on their own all along. That alone was enough to frustrate Kael, but more so than that he couldn't help but feel as if Taryn was starting to rely more on Fury, and confide more in Fury, than with him. He knew Fury was on their side and could, more or less, be trusted to help them against Lucifer and the Angels, but he was wary of Taryn becoming too reliant on her.

Kael remembered the argument he had overheard between Seth and Taryn after she woke up in the Immortal Halls, which had inadvertently revealed to him that Taryn had made a deal with Fury in exchange for her cooperation. Kael meant what he said to Taryn that day; he trusted her enough not to question her decision to make a deal with Fury, but cooperating with Fury and relying on her were two different things.

The others were still watching Kael expectantly, so he let out a long breath in a display of calm and said, 'We just have to trust that Taryn and Fury know what they're doing.'

'At least the plan worked,' Ace added. 'We got rid of another Incarnation.'

'I hope this is affecting Lucifer though,' Eljae said, sounding doubtful. 'What if we're going to all this effort and it's worthless against him?'

'Let's not think like that,' said Ace with a wince. 'How many Incarnations are left?'

Drake made a show of counting on his fingers. 'Two? Wrath and Sloth.'

'Well we know what Wrath looks like and that Kael can't be trusted around him,' Ace quipped, earning a scowl from Kael, 'but we don't know anything about Sloth.'

'I think I saw it,' Eljae said, her brow furrowed in contemplation. 'When I was with Greed he had a demon with him that looked like a lioness. It had the same smell as the other Incarnations, at least.'

'Can't be that hard to find a giant demonic jungle cat in Melbourne, surely?' Ace quipped.

Kael looked over to Drake, who met his gaze with a look of resignation. Without Kael needing to say anything, Drake let out a sigh and said, 'I'll send my pack out for any leads.'