Free Netherworld, Soul Guardians Book 4 by Kim Richardson

head
away.
    Silence. After a moment, Kara slowly
opened her eyes. The warehouse was silent once again. A young woman
a little older than Kara stood where the girl had been moments
before. Her long white hair floated around her like a cape caught
in a breeze. A white suit was wrapped around her slender body and
tied together with a red belt. She was beautiful, with delicate
features and white colored skin with a slight greenish tint, but
her cold black eyes glared at Kara. The hate in them was
unmistakable.
    Kara noticed the seirs didn’t seem at
all surprised at this transformation. What was going on?
    “ So now you know. The veil
has lifted, and I stand now before you, as my true self,” said the
young woman, her voice taking on an older velvety tone.
    Something was wrong. Kara knew
elementals couldn’t morph into other people. She had to be a demon,
or some other creature she hadn’t seen before. It was the only
explanation for the sudden transformation.
    Kara shook her head. “I’m sorry to
disappoint you, but I don’t know anything. I don’t know why you had
us kidnapped and brought here. I don’t know who you are or what you
are. What do you want from us?”
    “ Well, clearly I’m not an
elemental—as you can see.” She threw her hands in the air
theatrically. “I’m so glad that’s over with. I just hated walking
around it that disguise—a pathetic little girl in a white dress—and
it smelled just awful—so very mortal and lame. I’d much rather be
myself. Aren’t you pleased at what you see?”
    The young woman strolled around the
angels. She inspected them one by one. Her icy black eyes taunted
them as she circled them playfully. Bit by bit, she scrutinized
every inch of each of them and picked at their clothes. She took a
great deal of time inspecting Peter and Jenny’s mortal skin. With a
long white finger she reached out and traced the side of Jenny’s
face. She laughed as Jenny recoiled. After she was satisfied with
her inspection, she settled near Kara.
    “ What is the big deal about
angels? I never understood what all the hype was about with angels.
Why do mortals care about you so much? If they saw how pathetic you
look now, I’m sure they’d have doubts. And where are your wings? I
thought angels were supposed to have wings.” The young woman threw
back her head and laughed.
    Kara gritted her teeth. “Stop your
games and tell us what you want.”
    The young woman pressed her hands
against her hips. “Then let me enlighten you, dearest Kara. You
see—you killed someone I loved.”
    Kara stared at her
incredulously. “What? I didn’t kill anyone. Why don’t you stop
playing games and start telling us the real reason we’re here. Tell
us the truth.” Kara caught David’s eye. He mouthed, what the —?
    The young woman pointed a manicured
red nail at Kara’s face. “Oh, this isn’t a game. What I want from
you is simple. You took the only person I held dear to me…and
killed him. And now I’ve brought you here to make you pay for what
you have done.”
    Kara took a step forward and did her
best to sound truthful. “Look, I swear to you. I didn’t kill any
mortal. I couldn’t have. I only just learned that it’s impossible
for angels to do so. There’s no way I could have. Trust me, you’re
wrong—”
    The young woman cut her off, “I’m not
wrong.”
    She glowered angrily at Kara. “—and he
was no mere mortal, you stupid angel. I don’t know how you did it,
but you did. You killed him.”
    “ I didn’t kill anyone, I
swear to you,” pleaded Kara. But something inside her was telling
her differently. She squirmed uneasily on the spot and looked to
David for help. He could only shrug.
    “ You killed him!” she
turned in rage, clenching her fists as she screamed. “He’s gone
because of you!” Her voice thundered and the ground shook. Metal
containers wailed and dust fell from the high ceiling and settled
around them.
    Kara waited for the young woman