Beyond Beta's Rejection

Elias

“A cult!” Harper exclaimed, “like an actual cult, not a coven?” We had been sitting in the cafe with Brianna for about thirty minutes. The majority of the time was spent helping the poor girl calm down. The fear was coming off her in waves to begin with and not only my wolf but also the demon, had been very attracted to the scent. They saw the girl as prey which wasn’t ideal since we were trying to put her at ease.

After her boss had brought her a mug of hot chocolate and announced that he was going to close up, and to take our time, Brianna had started to relax. Harper had coaxed her to start talking after telling us that Brianna thought we were here to kill her.

“Yep,” Brianna said as she hugged the steaming mug with her hands. “I mean they said it was a coven, but it ran like a cult. They were obsessed with The Order and bringing in the next Divine Warrior.” she sneered as she said the last part. Then looked at Harper apologetically.

“I mean,” she said, “I’m sure it’s not all bad, but when you are raised from birth, being told that one of you is this amazing being, and with the stuff they plan to…” she trailed off, lost in thought for a minute before she focused back in the present.

“I ran away,” she finally said. “I watched as they killed one girl after the other, each one just died and then put in the tombs.” A single tear slid down her face and she looked up at Harper. “They took my sister two years before,” she said, “and my cousin the year before. Yet neither of them came back. My parents were excited when it was announced that it would be my turn next.” Harper reached out with one of the napkins as more tears fell. Brianna took one from her with a slight smile that didn’t reach her eyes. She glanced around as her boss hurried in and out of the kitchen.

“My father said that he was sure that I was the one, because of how Adam was with me.” She looked back up at Harper, “I mean who does that? Who willingly gives their daughters to be sacrificed over and over, and is excited about it?” Harper shook her head and took Brianna’s hand.

“I just didn’t wanna die,” Brianna said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I can’t believe it,” Harper said. She was furious. I could tell by the fire in her eyes.

“Was it not the same for you?” Brianna asked, and Harper shook her head.

“I had no idea about the Order, or who I was until about six months ago,” she said and Brianna’s eyes widened. “I mean my uncle is a guardian and he and my parents knew, as well as some others. But I was kept in the dark.”

“Why?” Brianna asked.

“My grandfather was banished and my father chose to step away from the Divine Order. My uncle kept going but I guess my father told him that he couldn’t tell us. Then something happened, and I left town for a while.” Harper looked up at Katie, who grimaced in return.

“So you ran away too?” Brianna asked.

“Yeah, but not for the same reason.” Harper shrugged.

“Who’s Adam?” Marcus asked. I glanced over at him and he shrugged his shoulders. “You mentioned your dad said that he thought you were the Warrior because of Adam?” Brianna’s face cleared up at the clarification.

“Oh yes,” she said. “Adam was Lomas’s son, our priest. He was also next in line to become the coven priest too. Whoever came back from the ritual trials as the Divine Warrior would bond with Adam and they would be the Priest and Priestess of the coven.”

“And he showed an interest in you?” Harper asked, “How did that make a difference?”

“Well, his family line was a detector of sorts, they recognised the power of the Divine order, apparently. I just assumed that Adam was sweet on me. We dated and fooled around a bit and he said more than once that I felt special. But I just assumed that was to get into my panties.” She shrugged again, but Harper gave me another look.

“Circle?” she asked, and I nodded my head.

“I would have to check my files and cross match it with the location of the coven, but yeah I would put big money on it.” I said. It made me begin to wonder if all the Divine Warriors had Circle members close to them without realising. I would have to talk to Drake when we got back to the Order.

“What’s that?” Brianna asked.

“The Circle are an organisation of supernaturals who are infused with the b***d of these four demons. They each have their own demon line and use certain supernatural to be on earth, and spread corruption, and all that good stuff.” Harper replied. Brianna’s eyes widened in horror.

“On earth, from where?” she asked.

“From Hell,” Harper said, “That’s their plan, corrupt earth and break the seals so they can come to earth in their natural form and rule.”

“Oh my goddess,” Brianna whispered. “Are you sure?” Harper nodded, and Brianna’s face paled.

“Wait, so you are saying that you knew about the Order and worshipped them or whatever?” Katie asked, “But you didn’t know that their purpose was to protect earth from demon bloods?” Brianna shook her head.

“I am guessing that if the Circle was in power in the coven, then they would have been rather selective about what information the Warriors received.” I said and Marcus nodded.

“Yeah, I reckon that the bonding with the Priest’s son would have done the same thing that they wanted to do with that dumbass Stokes and Harper here,” he said and I growled at the mention of Colton Stokes. Marcus just grinned at my reaction, “And what actually happened with you and Harper.” Brianna looked between Marcus and me, and then Harper and me.

“What do you mean what actually happened?” she asked. I threw Marcus an annoyed look, and he winced and mouthed sorry. I didn’t think it was a good time to tell the poor girl that she had a demon sitting with her. Harper shrugged her shoulders.

“It’s kind of why we are here,” she said and then nodded at me. “Elias is my fated mate, but he is also one of these demon bloods I had just mentioned.” Brianna looked at me with fear in her eyes.

“What?” she exclaimed, “So you are evil?” I shook my head and Marcus let out a laugh. Harper rolled her eyes at him before carrying on.

“No, he isn’t evil.” She smiled at me and I couldn’t help but smile back at the love in her eyes, “And his demon isn’t so bad either, when he plays nice.” I felt the demon actually jump a little at Harper’s words.

“See, she likes me too,” he muttered, and I sighed. Harper turned back to Brianna.

“When Elias and I completed the mate bond we also unknowingly broke one of the seals to Hell. If it’s not fixed, then the big boss demon at the source of Elias’ line will be able to break through, which is something nobody wants to happen.”

“Oh my,” Brianna said, “So where do I fit into all this, why are you looking for me now?”

“Because to fix the seal, apparently we need all four Divine Warriors,” Harper said. Brianna nodded as she processed the new information.

I saw the exact moment that realisation crossed her eyes. Her mouth fell open and her eyes almost popped out of her head.

“What? No,” she exclaimed, “You said you weren’t here to kill me.” She looked around the now, mostly dark, cafe as if she was weighing up her possibility for escape.

“We don’t want to kill you,” Harper said. She reached out to Brianna but the young girl flinched away.

“Yes you do,” she accused, “You think I am this Divine Warrior and you want me to do the ritual, don’t you?”

“Yes, but you won’t die, because you are the Divine Warrior,” Harper said. Brianna shook her head.

“No, you don’t know that. You are only guessing. You can’t tell me you know, and then I end up dead and rotting in the tomb with my sister and the other girls.” Brianna’s voice was getting louder as she grew more panicked.

“Brianna, calm down,” Harper said sharply, as she glanced around at the kitchen. I looked over to see Brianna’s boss in the doorway. “Think about it. How did you know who I was?” Brianna stopped looking around for her escape and looked at Harper. She shook her head and furrowed her eyebrows.

“Because you glow,” she said. “Like that man did. He said he was a Divine Warrior and I could tell by his glow. I had to slip away from him and almost moved towns after he came by. But then he and his people just disappeared again.”

“What man?” Marcus asked.

“Tall, vampire, tanned skin, hot as f**k, with an iridescent shimmer and annoyingly charming?” Harper asked and Brianna nodded. Harper grinned and nodded.

“She means Drake,” she said. “Ha, he never said he met you and struck out.” Then she inclined her head. “When did this happen?” she asked.

“Around four years ago,” Brianna answered and Harper grinned.

“I was here then,” she said, and then looked at me, “we were investigating a vampire clan.” Then she sobered up and looked back at Brianna.

“The fact that you see the glow on me, and on Drake is confirmation enough that you are a Divine Warrior,” Harper said, “And I can see it on you, that’s how I knew who you were.” Brianna shook her head.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “How can I trust you?”

“Well, I would say to look inside and feel it in your heart,” Harper said and then screwed her face up, “But I’m more of a feel it in your gut kinda gal. What do you feel Brianna?” Brianna looked like she was considering what Harper was saying.

“And how does the ritual happen? I mean what do I have to do? If I decided to go ahead.” She added the last part on quickly, just so we knew she wasn’t with us just yet. Harper grimaced.

“Well,” she said and winced, “You kinda have to die.”