Undone (The Reaping Chronicles Book 2), page 1
Undone
The Reaping Chronicles Book Two
Teal Haviland
Copyright © 2022 Teal Haviland
Teal Haviland
Undone (The Reaping Chronicles Book Two)
First published October 2022
www.tealhaviland.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2022 by Teal Haviland
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the author is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from this book (other than brief quotations embodied in articles or reviews), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the author at
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No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the Author. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights. For information about this book or the author, please contact the author at authortealhaviland@gmail.com
The author is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the author.
To my readers . . .
Thank You
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one
Chapter Forty-two
Chapter Forty-three
Chapter Forty-four
Chapter Forty-five
Chapter Forty-six
Chapter Forty-seven
Chapter Forty-eight
Chapter Forty-nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-one
Chapter Fifty-two
Chapter Fifty-three
Chapter Fifty-four
Chapter Fifty-five
Chapter Fifty-six
Chapter Fifty-seven
Chapter Fifty-eight
Chapter Fifty-nine
Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty-one
Chapter Sixty-two
Chapter Sixty-three
Acknowledgement
About The Author
Chapter One
Gabrielle ~ Racing Time
‘Go, Gabrielle!’
Gabrielle heard Phalen shouting in her head. She was much too far away for even her to hear Phalen speaking aloud. Gabrielle and Lucas had left the feisty angel that had become one of Gabrielle’s most trusted friends far behind them at the race’s start. It was a cold, sunny December day that made the barren landscape of the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah gleam with such brightness that Gabrielle had wished several times that they’d had this matchup at night. The Salt Flats had become their favored site for over three weeks to have their almost daily contest to see who the fastest runner was. And though Phalen wasn’t part of the race, she was the race starter and would be waiting for them at the finish line.
‘You can’t let that . . . human . . . Qalal . . . whatever he is, beat you! Gabrielle!’ Phalen continued.
‘Phalen . . .’ now, it was Lucas’ voice sounding in her mind, ‘you do remember I can hear what you’re saying, now, don’t you?’
Gabrielle had to laugh at the two of them. Since Lucas had gone through his transformation after being attacked by Cecily six weeks ago, he and Phalen had become some kind of surrogate siblings to each other—bickering and constant competition included.
‘Of course I do, Lucas. It’s an unfortunate byproduct of your newly acquired weirdness that I’ll have to figure out a way around. Hopefully soon.’
‘What’s wrong, Phalen,’ Lucas responded, ‘are you quitting the grape stuff cold turkey, or is this less than encouraging attitude toward me because you’re just jealous of my uniqueness?’
‘HA! Neither. I would just rather have to live in a human body for a decade than see my sister be beaten by a half–Qalal-half–human freak.’
‘You forget I’m far more angel than human now, Phalen.’
‘Well, I have nothing against the angel side of you. So, we’re cool there. But . . . you’re still a freak.’
‘Okay, you two,’ Gabrielle was relieved to hear her own voice in her head for a moment. ‘Don’t make me Hush you both just so I can get a little peace.’
Peeking slightly over her right shoulder, Gabrielle looked to see how far ahead of Lucas she was. Their eyes met and, as was usual most times now that he believed she wasn’t a part of what happened to him in the cemetery on Halloween night, they both smiled.
Gabrielle had thought back on that night many times since then, and her stomach always twisted when she thought about how Lucas had thought she’d betrayed him in such a heinous manner.
The anger she’d felt toward Javan for what he’d done was difficult for her to keep contained, and as much as Lucas wanted him dead because of all he’d done to him and his family, Gabrielle had to admit she’d enjoy a bit of revenge on him, too.
It was bad enough that Javan had tricked Lucas into thinking he’d kidnapped her, and that he had to help him get the Book of Barabbadon in order to save her. But Javan then had to take it further by making Lucas believe Gabrielle had been a willing participant in the ruse and that she’d sat back doing nothing while Cecily was literally sucking the life out of him. Javan managed to pull off the scheme by using one of the Gentry—a female Gabrielle learned was named Shea—to take on Gabrielle’s appearance. That was a huge mistake on Shea’s part, and one Gabrielle intended to make her pay for one day.
‘Think I can beat you, love?’ Lucas asked.
‘Not likely.’
‘One day, you might not be so confident.’
‘One day, you’ll find I’ll always be faster . . . regardless of how hard you try.’
The expression on Lucas’ face changed into a playful smirk.
‘One day, you might be the one to find something out.’
‘Doubt it . . .’
Gabrielle shot Lucas a smirk of her own and turned to face the direction she was running again. At the same time, she put slightly more effort into her pace. It was more than enough to make her point clear without showing all she could do. She still wasn’t comfortable with Lucas’ new abilities and didn’t want him to know the extent of what she was capable of. There was—according to the prophecy about him having to choose whether or not he’d be the one to use the Book and become the Destroyer—still a very good chance he was going to become her worst enemy,
She cleared the finish line a good thirty feet in front of Lucas while Phalen jumped up and down, rubbing it in that Lucas had lost—very loudly for all the world to hear, now.
“Woohoo! That’s right, Lucas! You got whooped again!” Phalen yelled.
When Gabrielle came to a stop, Lucas came to his own slightly past her. She watched him as he bent over, breathing only with slight exertion, with a hand on each knee and playfully sizing up Phalen.
“How ‘bout you and I have a go of it, Phalen? Let’s see who celebrates at the end of our matchup.”
Gabrielle continued to observe Lucas as he recovered. He wasn’t what he was before the change, part human, part angel—a Nephilim—but he was still mildly affected by the strain on his body from running hard. She, on the other hand, wasn’t showing any signs of the five-mile sprint they’d just completed.
She watched Lucas intently, studying his muscles and form—his back’s rise and fall with each breath he brought in and out of his body. Even with the pace he’d just kept, he didn’t get close to what a normal human’s resting breathing pace would be. It was just as it had been since Halloween night—far too slow to be able to keep a person alive . . . to, in fact, be normal. She found herself wondering, as she did so often now, how different he would end up when this change was complete. And then, always ended that thought with the o
“Anytime, freak . . . anytime,” she retorted playfully. Phalen now kept the same body instead of being in a different one every time she incarnated to help Gabrielle. At least she kept it whenever she was around Lucas or any humans who should know her. Otherwise, she was still in constant flux when it came to her appearance. The body Lucas and the Daniels family always saw was the same one from the day on the beach when she and Phalen went to test how long it would take for her to be recognized by the Fallen—at Amaziah’s request, of course. She had shoulder length, platinum blond hair cut in a sharp bob and ivory skin, and both lent themselves to making her bright blue eyes the focal point of her face.
“I knew you’d beat him, sister,” Phalen said as she winked at Lucas, then blew a gigantic bubble. A bubble that Phalen should have known would be too hard for Lucas to resist popping. Sure enough, his finger found its way to the grape–colored mass and Phalen had gum covering her entire face. Gabrielle and Lucas burst into laughter.
Through the slight muffle of gum, Phalen leveled a warning at Lucas. “Just wait ‘til I get this off me, Lucas. You might want to consider taking this opportunity to get a good head start.”
After regaining his composure, which he almost lost again as soon as he looked back up at Phalen as she was trying to get gum out of her eyelashes, he responded.
“Hey, you look like that bubble just gave birth to you.”
“Hey . . . you look like my next victim,” Phalen responded before the two of them took off on a mock chase, both laughing and causing a smile to stretch across Gabrielle’s face.
At least until the vision began.
Gabrielle sucked air in sharply as she saw the events play out in her mind. Events that she would have to live with in silence due to what they were. Normally, she would at least speak with Amaziah about them, but lately she seemed to want to keep more to herself. Maybe she thought it would make things worse if she spoke about them—like it would make them more likely to become a reality if she let the words pass her lips.
This wasn’t knowledge she enjoyed keeping to herself, though. It was a great burden for her to bear and not have someone to share it with. However, too many of those she would tell would make her return to Heaven if they knew what she was being shown. She’d be forced back to the safety of her eternal home with zero chance to change Amaziah’s or Yahuwah’s mind.
But how long will even Heaven itself remain safe, especially now that Javan was in possession of The Book of Barabbadon? That book was the key to waging the most important and dangerous battle the world would ever know, and now that Gabrielle had failed to keep it out of Javan’s hands, she’d have to try to figure out how to keep him from using it. And that was something she had no clue how to do and Amaziah couldn’t seem to help her find the answer, either.
Lately, Gabrielle felt Amaziah was keeping information from her. More and more often she couldn’t even explain why he felt that way because that’s all it was that she had to go on . . . a feeling.
She didn’t care to think deeply about how long Heaven would be safe, or about the vision she’d just had because of what it meant. More so, that the vision showed her what could happen to her—that her very existence would be ending. How exactly it was possibly going to happen was unclear, and the vision brought on too many scenarios. It could be at the hands of one of the Fallen, something the Gentry does to help them, one of her brethren who turned on her, or even Lucas. She didn’t know how she’d possibly die if the vision came true, only that each of the scenarios made her stomach lurch and her pulse ratchet.
Shaking the scene and thoughts from her mind, she decided to bring Phalen’s and Lucas’ fun to an end. “Hey, we need to be getting back to the reality of humans if we’re going to make it to dinner on time.”
Lucas was the first to stop running. He turned with a smile on his face and a flush of color to his cheeks from the cold air and jogged back to Gabrielle.
“You can always use that time manipulation thing you do so well, love,” Lucas said as he slowed and came to a stop right in front of her, placing one of his hands on each of her arms when he did, causing her pulse to quicken again. This time, it was for much more pleasant reasons.
“That only works for me, which leaves you and Phalen in a heap of trouble with Emma and Lizzie when you don’t make it in time.”
Just as Gabrielle said the words, several black forms suddenly appeared in the distance. She counted quickly as to not draw the attention of Phalen and Lucas and then glanced away. It was easy to see the ten crows against the shades of white and cream that dominated the salt flats. As quickly as she saw them, they vanished again. Though she knew they were still there, even if she couldn’t see them anymore, because the greasy ball in her stomach continued to churn. If they were really gone, the feeling in her stomach would be too. Her insides became unsettled only moments after they’d arrived, just like every other day they’d come to the flats, and she knew by how strong her body’s reaction was that it wasn’t just any member of the Fallen—it was the most powerful and darkest of them all.
You really are always lurking . . . aren’t you, Ramai?
She wondered if Ramai was simply getting sloppy about his glamour, if he was doing it on purpose, or if she was experiencing a growing ability to see through the veils that those of Darkness can cast to hide themselves. Her instincts told her it was the latter of the three.
Seems as though Lucas isn’t the only one going through changes . . . I have some of my own.
And now, she felt like she was in a race against something far more challenging than Lucas.
Now, she was racing time.
Gabrielle had been noting how her powers, though already so strong, were seemingly growing in intensity every day. She didn’t know why. She didn’t ask Amaziah about it. She knew, also instinctively, that it was as it was simply supposed to be happening. That she was going to be more crucial in the final battle than she’d ever realized before, and that Yahuwah was making sure she would be ready.
I will be. She thought, then remembered the vision she’d just had. As long as I can remain alive and under my own power between now and then.
Chapter Two
Javan ~ Life’s A Scream
“Make it stop! Someone please make it stop!” The cries of agony filtered up from the residence below Javan’s loft and had been for weeks.
Javan had his eyes closed as he rubbed his temples. The noise was cutting through his brain like a dwarf’s battle ax, keeping him from forming any real train of thought.
“Mara,” Javan said through clenched teeth, “either figure out a way to shut Cecily up, or I’ll do it. Only I’ll do it permanently.” He’d been wanting to put Cecily, and himself, out of her misery, but there was something in him that was curious to find out what was happening to her. And the only way to do that was to see what she’d become when she was on the other side of whatever was going on with her. If she lived through it. He was hoping she’d be even more useful to him than she was before if she survived. But there were times, like at that moment when she was in what was apparently excruciating pain, that it was everything he could do to refrain from separating her head from that amazing body of hers.
Mara didn’t respond. She simply stood up from the barstool at the kitchen counter and made her way to the door. Before she closed it behind her, Javan was already reaching for a bottle full of deep amber liquid.
Javan wasn’t the only one who wanted to keep Cecily. Mara did, too. She thought the vampire might know more about the Book of Barabbadon and how to actually call upon its powers than she’d already had told him. It’d been six weeks since she sucked that boy-toy of Gabrielle’s dry—a job she didn’t finish, and something he now knew resulted in Lucas becoming some kind of super-being. Javan poured himself a drink and Som put his own glass on the counter, indicating that he was ready for a refill. Of course, a dwarf was always ready for another drink, though.
He poured them each a drink and walked to the windows to look out into the darkness that had enveloped Nashville as he sipped his bourbon. It was well past midnight, but it was Saturday, so the city was still bustling.
