Read Phoenix Contract: Part Five (Fallen Angel Watchers) for Free Online

from his belt. He grabbed the front of his shirt and ripped it open, exposing his bare chest to the elements.
    “Just as Shemyaza passed on his Heart to Hath, and Hath to Channah, and Channah to I, so shall I grant this noble inheritance to you, Mariah of Savona,” he recited.
    Seizing her wrist, he transferred the stiletto to Mariah’s hand and forced her numb fingers to close around the hilt. His much larger hand formed a tight prison around hers and prevented her from dropping the blade. Mariah licked her chapped lips, and her entire body trembled with the force of her reaction.
    Mariah’s emotions shifted like quicksilver, from fear to disgust, and then her resentment and hatred of Cassio joined the medley. She had a natural aversion to murder, just as any person of good conscience, but a dark shadow in her heart longed to plunge the knife into his chest.
    Cassio made a gesture toward the center of the pentagram, and a column of fire sprang up in a graceful spiral, defying both gravity and rain. In ancient times they’d have built a pyre of branches and bramble, but old ways gave way to cleaner, more efficient practices.
    With a sudden howl of protest, the wind kicked up and sent a torrent of rain onto the fire which crackled and dimmed, momentarily doused. Then it roared again with renewed life and spewed forth clouds of steam.
    “In you I shall leave a legacy and bestow my power,” Cassio shouted to be heard above the wind even though no one resided within a hundred miles in any direction.
    Cassio dragged Mariah’s arm toward his chest, the tip of the stiletto aimed at his heart. A sharp pain tore at her shoulder, and she realized she’d been resisting and pulling away from him.
    “Mariah, stop. I won’t allow you to deny me!” Cassio hissed as spittle flew from between his clenched teeth. He glared at her, and his fingers bit into her arm with bruising force, punishing her for daring to oppose him.
    Their eyes locked, and in that second, a thousand conflicting thoughts raced through her mind—hopes, hurts, and destroyed dreams. Cassio had taken everything from Mariah that she’d ever wanted or cared about.
    Her memories of him were a series of painful pictures: the fits of rage, the drunken bouts, and the beatings that accompanied both. He’d raped her on their wedding night, and the marital relations that followed had not improved, only grown less violent as she learned to stop fighting, to be silent and still beneath the sweaty, grunting beast.
    When sober, Cassio wounded with his tongue by heaping insults and invective upon her. And when his rage turned inward instead of outward, even those rare moments were full of incessant whining. He’d go on and on for hours about the terrible unfairness of his lot in life. She couldn’t stand the man, and more than once she’d wished him dead!
    “If you can’t do it, then I’ll do it my—” A pained gasp interrupted Cassio’s angry declaration. Startled, he looked down to discover the stiletto buried in his chest just below his sternum. While he watched, Mariah shoved the knife deeper, sawing through flesh and sinew.
    “Thanks, but I’ve got it. I know how to gut a pig.” She shoved with all of the strength in her body, and her entire hand to the wrist disappeared into his torso.
    Cassio laughed, harsh and amused, but remained rock solid still, braced as Mariah carved his heart from his chest. She wasn’t as fast or as clean as she could have been, but finally his heart detached and slid free. The forgotten stiletto dropped to the frozen ground.
    Removed, the organ manifested as a remarkable presence. A living, breathing thing within its own right–the Heart.
    She extracted the fist-sized organ, holding the still beating Heart in both hands. It was wet and warm, pulsating with life and power, and blood gushed continuously from the severed pulmonary and aortic arteries with no reduction in flow.
    She stared at the organ in rapt fascination, flexing