Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
W hen Eddie had last stood in the small, dark, and cramped room that housed the wrath seal, she’d been terrified and uncertain. She’d just discovered Wrath was her father and been battling her growing feelings for Shade. On top of that, she’d been trying to process the fact that she was Nephilim, and that meant she had powers she’d never dreamed of.
Just like now, waves of wrath had emanated from the seal and buffeted her. Then, if it hadn’t been for Shade’s steadying presence, she would have run for her life. Now, she breathed deep and reached for her power. It responded to her touch like kindling to a match. She built a quick shield around the seal.
The room breathed a sigh of relief. The dungeon-like room was crowded with three hell princes, two archangels, a seraph, and an upper order demon. All of them looking at her.
She held out her hand to Wrath. “Link with me.”
Wrath stared at her hand. “Are you sure you can do this.”
“Dad.” She loved that he cared enough to try to protect her, but she couldn’t hide from her task in this fuckery.
Heaving a big sigh, he clasped his hand around her wrist. She would need her hands free for the seal. “Okay.”
Eddie lowered the guards around her mind, and her father’s astringent, brusque mental touch brushed against her mind. She allowed him admittance. It still felt like the worst sort of invasion, but she breathed deep and let him seep into her inner being.
“If you will permit me?” Ramiel stood on her other side and held out his hand. “As your sire’s balancing force, I can balance whatever power he is unable to transmute.”
Eddie held out her wrist and he took it.
His mental touch was cool and clinical, the ice to Wrath’s fire, and the temperance to Wrath’s fury. She had a harder time allowing him past her barriers and into her being.
“Haziel?” Ramiel held out his hand to his former second.
Haziel took it, and Eddie admitted a third being. She was warmer than Ramiel, but still on the cooler side. There was a kindness in Haziel that ran through her soul like a muted, silvery light. It drew Eddie to her, and she was comfortable allowing the seraph into herself.
“And me.” Vexia waited for Eddie’s nod before she took Wrath’s free hand.
Why not? Eddie had a bloody convention going on inside herself.
Vexia was more alien than Wrath. The demonic side of her nature dark and mysterious, but also mischievous. She had some of Wrath’s fiery nature, but hers was tempered with a watchful quality and a keen intelligence that made Eddie want to know her better.
“I’m going to lower the shield,” Eddie said.
Ramiel nodded. “Ready.”
“I’ve got you.” Wrath sent a pulse of reassurance through their link.
Four power signatures swelled inside her and mingled with her own power. Eddie dropped the shield.
The seal pulsed unadulterated rage. The merge stretched to absorb the pulse and then resumed its former barrier.
Shade’s hands on her hips steadied her, and his voice in her ear anchored her. “Let’s move closer.”
They all shuffled closer.
The low buzz from the seal increased. As if sensing them and resisting, it sent a stronger pulse into the merge.
Eddie rocked back on her heels.
Shade’s chest connected with her back, holding her in place.
Ramiel winced and Wrath grunted.
Haziel and Vexia had gone paler.
Another step, another stronger wave of fury that almost drove Eddie back a step.
“Fuck,” Wrath murmured.
Ramiel shot him a grim glance. “Quite.”
Sweat broke out over Vexia’s forehead, and Haziel went a mint green.
Eddie waited for the merge to stabilize. It was slower recovering this time.
Then she took another step closer.
As the power blasted her, Shade grunted, struggling to keep her upright.
Wrath’s grip tightened around her wrist, almost cutting off her circulation.
Ramiel was sweating now.
Closer they went. Before she even reached for it, Eddie’s power surged and met the incoming pulse. The two forces met with a violent blast that whipped her hair back and rocked through her frame.
“Hold it.” Shade’s hands tightened on her hips. His strong body behind her kept her standing.
The power blasted into the merge. It took longer for the connection between them to stabilize.
“Almost there.” Eddie panted. She stopped in front of the seal.
Wrath spoke through gritted teeth. “Do it, Eddie.”
“Now,” Ramiel rasped.
And Eddie placed her palms on the seal.
The seal lashed back, throwing its force at them like a battering ram. Her ears rang, and her muscles quivered.
“Hold it,” Shade yelled. “All of you hold it.”
The power ran through them like she’d grabbed hold of a live electric cable.
Haziel whimpered but stayed with her.
Vexia’s pain was a palpable presence within Eddie.
Ramiel’s balancing power strained against the overwhelming waves of rage.
She threw her power toward Wrath’s, and it roped into a dark, gleaming pathway. Then wrath shot down their power bond and transmuted into the earth.
“Heaven’s balls.” Ramiel winced. “That fucker is strong.”
Haziel gave a stilted chuckle. “Damn, but I had no idea how bad this would feel.”
“Concentrate, Eddie.” Shade’s voice brought her back to the task at hand. “They’re holding it. Repair the seal.”
Eddie withdrew her power from Wrath’s. There was a breathless moment before the merge stabilized again.
“Steady,” Shade murmured. “Let the merge do its job. Find the cracks, like you did before.”
The dissonance in the seal almost made her vomit, but she submerged into it. A spiderweb of cracks presented itself. The thing was barely holding together, and this was the strongest of the seals. Eddie didn’t know where to start, and she panicked.
“Slow and steady,” Shade whispered. “Like you did before. Pick a place to start and begin there.”
Eddie picked a smaller crack and eased her power into it. The seal was so fragile she dared not go too fast or risk too much power. The crack closed, but a hairline fracture remained.
That was the best she could do for now.
She picked another crack tangentially linked to the first. This one was bigger, and it took her longer to achieve a similar result. On to another.
Sweat streamed down her face, and she was vaguely aware of Shade wiping it away.
Wrath muttered a litany of ever fouler swear words.
The merge was holding, but it was growing slacker like an overextended elastic band.
Eddie moved from crack to crack.
As she worked, there was an infinitesimal easing in the torrent spewing from the seal.
“Thank fuck,” Vexia whispered as Eddie completed the repair on a larger crack.
The merge tightened as the barrage eased.
Yet another crack.
And another.
Eddie kept going, not thinking, working her way across the fragmented surface of the seal.
The repaired cracks looked like scratches on the surface now. Much better, but not healed, and they would weaken quickly.
Exhaustion nagged her to quit, but Eddie kept going. She clung to the steady stream of encouragement coming from Shade.
“You’re doing it, Eddie,” he said. “You’re almost there.”
The final crack sealed, and the seal rung almost true. She took her hands from the seal and her knees gave way.
Too tired to do it gently, Eddie dropped the merge and collapsed against Shade.
Ramiel’s knees hit the floor with a crack. He caught Haziel as she almost fell face first on the stone floor.
Vexia folded in a faint, and Wrath dropped to a crouch. His head hung like it had become too heavy to lift.
Raphael’s concerned face hovered over her. “Eddie, are you okay?”
“I think so,” she croaked.
Lucifer had moved to Vexia and was helping her into a sitting position.
He and Raphael had been unable to help her this time, as it wasn’t their seal, but they were on hand now with water and warm towels.
“How does it feel?” Lucifer draped a warm towel over Wrath’s nape.
Wrath raised his head. A slow grin spread over his face. “It’ll hold.”
With a smile for Eddie, he crawled over to Haziel and pulled her into his arms.
“You did it.” Shade wrapped his arms around her. “You fucking did it.”
“Can I get you anything?” Raphael said from where he was hovering around Ramiel.
“Food.” Eddie was suddenly starving. “And then some sleep.”
“Thank fuck that’s over,” Wrath murmured into Haziel’s hair.
Eddie straightened. “For now,” she said. “Some food and rest, and then I have another two seals to repair.”
Shade opened his mouth to object, but she gave him a quelling look. “We have Raphael here to help with Lucifer’s. Send for Sophia, and we’ll do yours as well.”
“Eddie.” Shade shook his head. “You can’t go through this three times.”
“I have to.” She’d survived this repair, and she would get through the other two. “Three strong seals is a fuck of a lot better than one.”