Betrayal (The Divine, Book Two) Read Online Free PDF Page A

She failed.
    “You’re not coming with me,” I said. “You know the stations are dangerous.”  
    I wish I had known how dangerous the stations were when I had asked Obi to meet me at Grand Central that first time. They had only recently re-opened the tracks that had been demolished by my inadvertent expulsion of power.  
    “I can take care of myself,” she argued. It was predictable.  
    There were only a few kinds of demons who could stay in the mortal dimension full-time without a more powerful demon to keep them alive. Vampires, werewolves, and nightstalkers were the most prevalent of the Devil’s children. Then there were the fiends - they had been human once, died and gone to Hell, and had begged to be sent back to continue their dirty deeds.  
    All of them preferred to stay out of the light as much as possible, but the stations were the hunting grounds of the nightstalkers; powerful humanoids that were more often associated with the term ‘zombies’. They weren’t the shuffling, stupid, brain-eating variety. They were the Devil’s first earthly creation, and while they ran more on instinct than intelligence, they were fast, strong, and silent. They would be a threat to me in a large enough group. Sarah had power, but her body was mortal and couldn’t heal.
    “I can Command them,” she said, either reading my mind or getting ahead of my thoughts.  
    “How many?” I asked. Nightstalkers hunted in groups. I didn’t have the power to Command, but I knew that it meant dedicating a piece of the mind to keeping the target under control, like a computer dedicating memory to each running application. There was a limit.
    “I don’t know,” Sarah said, growing frustrated. Her eyes were still streaming tears. “She’s one of my children,” she shouted. “I will come with you.”
    I felt the immense pressure in my head, and I had to close my eyes to fight it. When I opened them, I was angry. I almost didn’t recognize the feeling.
    “I’m sorry, brother,” Sarah said, reading my anger. “Kelsie.” Her voice trailed off.  
    My anger faded at once. “I’ll be back soon,” I said.
    I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around, finding myself face to face with Izak. The vagrant demon had a sword in his other hand.
    “He wants to come with you,” Sarah said. “He wants to be my eyes.”
      I glanced back at Sarah. Another manifestation of the evil part of her nature, or just normal teenage rebellion? I knew she had a connection to the demon, similar to the one shared by fiends and their familiars. Did she Command him, or did he volunteer?
    “Fine,” I said.  
    I didn’t care at all if Izak were killed, but I shouldn’t have been so callous towards the demon. Memories of his kindness to Josette circulated through my consciousness. He had been her single source of true companionship in the year that the angel was held captive by her sibling. At first, he had only been her jailor, a silent observer to Gervais’s nightly visits and their painful results. Over time he had becoming something more, a caretaker of sorts, always there to lend a comforting shoulder to cry on, a kind touch, a calm and peaceful presence to help offset the chaotic violence of the archfiend.  
    The gentle devotion had transferred from mother to daughter, and Izak had been tireless in his efforts to protect Sarah. He deserved respect for that, and at least a small amount of sympathy. Gervais had cut out the fiend’s tongue in fear that he would one day attempt to usurp him.  
    I put my hand on top of his and looked into his eyes. I could feel his desire to help Sarah, but there was something else there too. She had Commanded him. He didn’t want to leave her side, to leave her unguarded. It was hard enough for him when she went topside to live her mortal life. I saw something else there that I wasn’t expecting. Recognition. He saw Josette.
    Sarah and I had never spoken of the events leading up to the change in my