The battle-strewn chaos came into view, and Emma was forced to push away her lingering thoughts.
“Okay, I’ve got to rough you up a little, but I promise to kiss it better,” Levaroth whispered, flashing her a wink. “You better go help your friends, Muscles, or I’ll have to put you down for real because I’m not kissing you all better.”
Blaze leveled him with a murderous glare, ignoring her completely before slipping into the clashes of metal on metal and the screams of the dying. Emma’s heart sunk further in her chest, feeling the space between them morphing into a gaping chasm.
Levaroth’s face transformed without warning, and he knocked her into the snow. Her arm whacked into a cold, lifeless body and she whimpered.
“Let’s put on a show for them, eh, sunshine?”
His nickname warmed her marginally, and she nodded subtly before leaping to her feet, snarling like a caged animal.
The children of destruction let their powers loose, dropping people to the ground without touching them, making their eyes bleed. Emma sent out a wave of power, coaxing them to lie down and sleep. She tried to keep her focus on Levaroth and the children, but her distraction sent her flying backward when she didn’t block his kick.
He hissed through his teeth, face flashing with an apology before he stalked toward her. She got to her feet, checking to make sure the children had all fallen asleep. The crowd of confused expressions told her they had.
She and Levaroth performed their dance, sometimes drawing blood while they battled toward where the massive glowing beast that was her father fought. His massive blade cut through two or three people in one swipe, and the spray of hot blood made her gag.
Levaroth’s hands wrapped around her neck, but he didn’t squeeze like before. Then he shoved her back, and she whirled.
Her father’s bloodred eyes met hers, and she smiled. She grabbed him, throwing her entire weight onto his exposed skin. It was hot, burning her skin. She smelled it in the air but she held fast.
And all at once her father’s roar filled the sky while his powerful, putrid energy sliced into her. Like the lethal creature that he was, it tore through her, and she sucked out every last bit of his nightmarish essence—an ocean of blood that he had poured out. It was eviler than a million deaths in his name.
“This is for my mom,” she spat.
“You damned bitch!” His voice was hoarse, his eyes bulging. Rivulets of red blood trickled from the corners of his eyes.
Emma felt the shift in her body: nails elongating, turning into claws that matched her father’s. She smiled down at them. They were black, like the ashes of the Prince of Wrath that fell to the snow, inconsequential. Nothing.
Yes, the voice within her purred. More.
Slowly, other sounds began to filter back in, and she heard her name being called.
She turned to face Levaroth. The concern she saw there turned to disbelief before he swiped away all emotion.
“Did you know what I’d become?” she asked without a hint of anger. This was right. Now she looked like the monster that was caged inside her.
After a moment’s hesitation, he answered.“No.”
With a slow smile, she turned, then stalked through the throng, eyes locked on the final prince. The second-to-last piece of her.
She’d be whole soon.
Complete.
Mammon used the Shediem and Spellcasters to do the killing for him. His chiseled jaw was splashed with blood and gore, his regal brocade jacket coated in death, flapping in the wind.
Sensing her, he turned. His eyes met hers before sliding to Levaroth, behind her.“So the faithful dog is back with its rightful master, I see,” the prince sneered in his chilling voice.
“He’s not my dog, Mammon,” Emma replied sweetly. “He’s my angel of death.”
With a snarl, Levaroth lunged for the prince. Mammon dodged away, but not quickly enough. For all his effort, he struggled valiantly, but Levaroth held the prince firm.
Emma clapped her palms to his cheeks hard enough to sting, and giggled at the sound. His energy flowed into her, filling her already heated blood to the point of boiling. It burned, scorching a path through her. Emma didn’t stop.
Hungrily, greedily, she drank it all, and his snakelike skin grew taut before hardening and disintegrating in her hands.
She breathed in deeply. Her skin was tight. There was so much Shediem power flowing within her, it made her head spin. But it was oh, so delicious.
Licking her lips like she’d just consumed the most delicious meal, she straightened.
Buzzing began in her veins, causing her to wince. It grew like thousands of bees stinging inside her. She doubled over, clutching her abdomen.
Levaroth knelt in front of her, trying to get her to meet his eyes.“Emma, push it into me, push it into me.”
No, he just wants it for himself, an angry voice snarled.
“It’s mine!” she shouted. Still, the buzzing worsened, making her veins feel as though they’d explode.
She flung her head back, arms out. And screamed to the sky.
A burst of energy surged from her body, creating a powerful wind that lifted her several feet from the ground. When she looked down, a cold sweep of terror carried away the last of the uncomfortable heat.
Levaroth, blood-streaked hair blown away from his eyes, stared up at her in wonder.
“You’re okay,” she whispered.
He nodded, getting to his feet.
All around them, the fighting had stopped. There wasn’t a Shediem in sight. Either she’d killed them all, or whatever ones had survived had retreated.
He brushed the back of his fingers against her cheek, his touch like ice to her fevered skin.“Your eyes…”
She frowned.“They’re red, I know.”
“No.” The corners of his lips twitched, the amusement faded. “They…changed.”
“How?” she asked.
“Emma!” Blaze hurried to her, stopping just out of arm’s reach. The fear in his gaze turned to ice in an instant.
Distantly she felt a tug of emotion, though she couldn’t place it.
“I felt the blast…” He stared at her eyes, then his attention snagged on her hands. More specifically on the claws still protruding from her fingers, which twitched under his scrutiny.
“ I’m fine.”
“So is he, I see,” Blaze added with no shortage of disdain.
“She had the opportunity to kill me and she kissed me instead,” Levaroth said with a growing smirk. “Let’s face it, I’m just that irresistible.”
Before Blaze could snipe a reply, Emma barked,“Enough.”
Just then, the ground began to shake violently. She grabbed both men to steady herself. Shouts and cries rose all around them, and people tumbled to the ground.
Emma’s chest tightened. She knew what was coming.
She could feel him.
“Finally,” she breathed.
The ground split with a thunderous crack that echoed all around. A wide pillar of light less than a mile away shot into the sky.
Everything stilled. Emma straightened, releasing both guys that were still gripping her.
The pillar was not light.
It was fire.
49
Blaze
H
e knew it was coming. He’d been anticipating it. They all had.
Yet the all-consuming horror and rage still battled inside him at the sight of the king of Sheol coming to Earth. Emma would fight him next. Already, she was different. Colder. More brusque. Not to mention the demon claws and her eyes. They’d changed to a golden green, her pupils now vertical slits.
She looked like a human-beast hybrid. Terrifying, yet— damn him for thinking so—beautiful.
He still couldn’t fathom that she’d willingly kissed the Shediem general, but perhaps she was changing inside just as much as she was on the outside. And where would that leave him? Them?
He had just blinked away
his morose thoughts when Emma took off at a sprint for the funnel of flames rising like a beacon.
“Emma, wait, dammit!” Blaze called after her, taking off too.
Levaroth followed after her, but he didn’t call for her to stop. His expression was set, hard.
The general knew what she had to do. Blaze did too, but he wasn’t ready to say goodbye. He wasn’t ready to lose her.
The three of them raced toward the king—toward certain doom—while cheers rose from the Shediem, praising their king. Challenging the mighty Shediem-Slayer to try to defeat him.
“Emma!”
She stopped abruptly, hardly giving Blaze time to dig his heels in and come to a stop. Throwing her arms around his neck, she whispered,“I have to do this. Only I can. So don’t follow. Go live a good life, William. I’ll miss you.”
She pressed a kiss to his cheek, then nodded to Levaroth, who pulled Blaze’s arms behind his back and held him in place. Then she took off again, running away.
Away from him. Away from his screams of protest.
She’d said goodbye.
She knew she wasn’t coming back.
When she disappeared from sight, lost in the mess of people and beasts, he felt his fractured heart shatter once again, and with her the pieces he needed to put it back together.
50
Adrianna
Adrianna’s heart pounded at the sight of the massive swirling pillar of flames. Her grip on her sword went slack, sweat trickling down her forehead, burning her
eyes while she watched a lone figure running in a blur of motion toward the fire that kissed the heavens. When Nakosh had surfaced, most of the ground had fractured and cracked. Bodies fell into the crevices.
She and Athena had mostly kept to the sky, where she’d battled in favor of the Spellcasters. Tlahaz would have shot her down himself if he’d seen her fighting for the Giborim, whom she had no true loyalty to. But she’d chosen to fight for her own race.
She’d protected her people and other familiars to the point of exhaustion, but until the king had surfaced, she’d forgotten the true reason she was there.
When the blurred figure slowed, approaching the column with more caution, Adrianna spurred Athena on with a gentle kick to her sides.
They flew closer. Adrianna’s breath hitched.
Emma—her best friend—marched fearlessly forward, stopping just outside the roaring tower of fire.
And she, Adrianna, was to bind the ultimate darkness.
Isabella’s light, airy voice filled her mind, her words drowning out every other sound: And when the earth is split by dark and light, there is one—the most powerful magic-wielder, who flies through the air on immortal wings. For if she can bind the ultimate darkness, then the world will not die. But if she cannot condemn the ruler of death, then darkness will swallow the world forever.
She just had to bind Nakosh before he killed Emma. However she did that…
“Faster,Athena!”Adrianna shouted, and her faithful, colorful familiar obliged. Her wings pumped harder, carrying them faster.
“Emma, don’t!”
Emma whipped her head around, searching for the reason behind Adrianna’s warning.
Something hit Athena with a sickening thwack that crunched when it hit bone. Athena shrieked a horrid sound that made Adrianna’s heart stop. Looking to her side, she saw a massive javelin-like weapon careening up to meet her familiar.
Adrianna screamed as Athena fell sideways, but she held tight, funneling her magic into the wyvern to heal the wounds as best she could.
Her familiar gave another gurgling cry before curling her wings in, sending them spinning.
Down.
Down.
Down.
Adrianna lost her grip, screaming. Her heart tore in half for her familiar, mixing with the terror of the ground racing up to meet her.
The bond between her and Athena snapped, and Adrianna felt like every rib in her chest had shattered.
She couldn’t breathe.
She let herself fall, letting grief crush her as surely as the ground soon would. Her body impacted with another, sending them both to the ground. Her arm hit hardest, the bones snapping in two, and she gasped from the pain.
Too much pain.
Tlahaz’s familiar golden eyes stared down at her, his hands roving over her, searching for injury.
Tears spilled out of her, soaking her cheeks. “Athena.” The word was choked. Hoarse.
Too much pain.
His ruggedly handsome face reflected the pain she felt.
No words were needed. She felt his answer without needing to ask: Athena was dead.
A fresh wave of tears fell, accompanied with a small sob that she swallowed down.
Emma. She needed to save Emma.
Looking over Tlahaz’s shoulder at his black feathered wings, she whispered,“Need to get over there…Emma…”
With her eyes she pleaded to Tlahaz’s true face. He was not human, but still she cared for him. Had fallen in love with him, no matter how wrong it was. What she was asking was for him to defy his king, but he’d already vowed to help her when the time came.
Tlahaz nodded, his expression set with determination. He cradled her to his warm chest, letting his wings expand before shooting up into the sky, and carried her to where Emma had disappeared inside the wall of fire.
51
Emma
Emma followed the smooth, velvety voice beckoning her inside. She wielded fire herself; she wasn’t afraid of it as she stepped into the licking, crackling heat.
Inside the cyclone of spinning flames, Nakosh stood. Looking at the king of Sheol without his cloak of shadows— perhaps they feared the fire—made her brows crease. He looked like a man. An achingly beautiful man with long, straight black hair, cutting silver eyes, angular jaw, and full lips that smiled at her. He had a lean, muscular frame clothed in a simple black suit. Leave it to the King of Hell to show up to a war in a suit with not a single weapon in sight.
Though he was dangerous, and she’d do well to remember that.
The only difference from how she’d seen him in the past were the charred skeletal wings protruding from his shoulder blades. They looked like they’d been burned off.
“Welcome, darling Emma,” Nakosh purred.“My, my, you’re really coming into your own, aren’t you?”
She ignored his comment in favor of finishing what she started. Not to mention that his power was all around her, driving her hunger to the point that her hands began to tremble. “You know how this ends, don’t you?”
His smile held a thousand secrets. “Oh dearest,” he sighed. “I know it in far greater clarity than you do.” He put his hands in his pockets, looking perfectly at ease. Stalking toward her he said, “I see all. The future.” He cocked his head to the side and looked her up and down, his gaze lingering on her eyes. “You will too.” Those words were soft, more for himself than for her.
The dip between her brows deepened.“What do you mean?”
“Once you kill me, you’ll take my place as ruler of Sheol. All Shediem will be in your command. You’ll have more power than your tiny body can contain, and you’ll be able to see the future.” Her thoughts kicked into a million different directions, but he continued. “It’ll take you a few millennia to get used to the power, I reckon, but you’ll adjust.”
Emma’s lips parted, but no words came out.Was he seriously giving up? He wasn’t going to fight her?
“What if I don’t want to rule Sheol? I’ve instructed my friends to kill me once I’ve killed you.”
His laugh was shrill. Unhinged.
She took an uneasy step back.
His smile didn’t fade, but his laughter did.“If I could die, I’d have done it long ago.”
Emma’s breath caught in her throat. She’d be immortal?
He stopped in front of her.“I’ve been waiting for you for so long.” Finally the smile turned to something like contentment. “I’m ready, Shediem-Sl
ayer. Free me at last.”
Emma’s heart hammered in her ears. With uncertainty, she lifted her hands to either side of his face, hovering over his skin.
Touch him.
Touch him!
TOUCH HIM!
KILL HIM!
TAKE HIS POWER!
With that, her skin fluttered against his and a scream tore from her throat.
52
Levaroth
Her scream cleaved through his chest, through the mountain, and into the sky. He and the Giborim were running before either of them could think. In the air,
he spied Tlahaz’s dark wings, and his panic ratcheted up. He caught a glimpse of the Spellcaster in his arms and heard her calling Emma’s name.
He knew of the prophecy. Were they too late? He couldn’t sense Emma like he could before, but still he didn’t think she was dead.
The ground shook and heaved open further. One jagged gap began to crumble, and he leapt over it, feeling the soil under his boots falling away just before he scrambled to his feet. He kept running. The blasted Giborim was at his side, both of them drawn toward the girl inside the cyclone of flames. It swirled faster and faster, the wind being sucked in to feed the flames.
It was becoming unstable. The ground, too, seemed to be heaving like a living thing. Fire spread in vicious streaks, consuming everyone and everything in its path. If things didn’t calm, the whole mountain would crumble and cause innumerable deaths.
He and the Giborim dodged the fingers of destruction that stretched for them.At last they approached as close as they could to the storm of fire and wind. Above, the Spellcaster Adrianna began to work, trying to contain the chaos.
A single dark, lean figure stood in the eye of the fire. It glided closer, but he still couldn’t make it out.
The dark outline of wings at their back made his knees go weak.
She’s dead.
Nakosh killed her.
Emma is dead.
His breaths came faster, turning to pants until he couldn’t breathe at all.
The Throne of Broken Bones (Weapon of Fire and Ash Book 3) Page 37
