Touch of the Angel (Demons of Infernum, #3)
Page 27
Wielding the sword with both hands, Ronin lifted it over his head and stabbed it into the shield. It penetrated with a tearing sound. He sliced the sword downward in a long arc, then slid the hand with the sword through the rip.
“Hot damn,” Dagan said. “It’s working.”
Taeg grinned. “I love this fucking sword.”
“Come on, Amara.” Ronin turned and held his hand out to her, waiting until she’d taken it before angling the rest of his body through the tear. She followed close behind him.
Although they stood mere steps from where they were before, the space inside the shield had a strange, enclosed feel to it. Almost like they were on the inside of one of those snow globes humans loved to collect.
Keegan, Taeg, and Dagan followed them through the invisible hole.
“So the rest of the shield is still in place?” Maya asked. She didn’t wait for an answer but instead walked to a spot several feet from where Ronin had sliced the hole and pressed forward. Her hand bounced back. “Guess so.”
“This is surreal,” Dagan said.
“Tell me about it.” Taeg motioned to Maya, who stood a few feet away and kept pushing against the barrier. “Come on, slayer, you don’t want to miss the party.”
Maya shrugged and started toward them, then tried to slide through the invisible rip. She bounced back, and frowned. “I could have sworn it was right here.” She readjusted her position and tried again. “I can’t find it.”
“Weird.” Taeg reached for her, but he couldn’t break through the barrier. “Amara, how did you get past this thing when you stayed here?”
“It always let me out before with no problem,” she said.
They all joined in to try to find the hole, but to no avail.
Taeg looked at Ronin. “Do you think the rip closes after a period of time?”
“Good question.” Scowling, Ronin lifted the sword and tore another hole through the barrier. But this time, Maya got no more than her foot inside before it sealed shut again, expelling her with a slight pop. She staggered backward and almost fell, but Bram caught her.
“What the hell?” Taeg said.
Ronin made another hole, but once again Maya didn’t get more than a few inches inside before her body was rejected. His heart thrumming, Ronin turned to survey the area. Something wasn’t right here. Asmodeus must know they were here.
Lina scratched her head. “Maybe if you try leaping into it.”
That turned out to be no better. Maya bounced backward like she’d thrown herself onto a sideways trampoline. Luckily, Reiver caught her before her head hit the ground.
“Stupid...fucking...piece-of-shit shield,” Lina muttered, clearly put out by their inability to enter.
Beside Ronin, Amara watched with growing dejection on her face as they continued trying to get the rest of their crew in. Finally, she threw her hands up. “It’s no use, guys. It’s Asmodeus. He must have placed some sort of reinforcement spell on the shield.”
“Then why did it let some of us through?” Keegan asked.
“Good question.” Ronin knew the answer was probably not a good one.
From the other side of the shield, Maya said, “It’s a trap. It’s gotta be.”
“It could be anything,” Keegan said.
Ronin’s brothers appeared as bewildered as he was. “What the hell do we do now?”
“Push forward,” Keegan said. “It’s the only thing we can do.”
Oh, hell. He had a really bad feeling about this. But Keegan was right—they had to continue.
He’d at least feel better about this whole thing if they could count on Keegan’s ability to breathe fire, a gift he’d inherited from his dragon-shifter mother. But it was a spotty power that he had no real control over.
“We’ll be back, slayer.” Taeg lifted his hand to the barrier.
“This sucks.” Maya placed her hand into the same spot.
“It’ll be fine.” Taeg attempted an easygoing smile. “We’ll be back down before you know it.”
“You’d better. Be careful in there.”
Ronin lifted the sword. “Don’t worry. We have Excalibur. I’d say that gives us pretty good odds against whatever we’re going to face in there.” He hoped. Because the last thing he wanted to do was gamble with Amara’s life.
He pulled her to him. “You’ve got those weapons?”
She nodded, patting the dagger he’d strapped to her stomach. “Got the knives in my boots, too.”
He read the discomfort on her face. Unlike Maya, who was more accustomed to using a knife than to putting on makeup, Amara had never wielded a weapon before. He’d attempted a lesson earlier, but there hadn’t been enough time for her to get comfortable with the notion of using one.
“Don’t take them out unless you absolutely have to. Stay close behind me at all times.”
Fear flickered on her face. “I will.”
Lina called out from behind him. “Xand—Ronin!”
He looked at her. “Yes?”
For a moment, Lina appeared uncertain, but then she set her jaw. “Be careful.”
“I will. I’m coming back this time. Promise.”
She nodded, and Ronin turned to his brothers. “Ready?”
Keegan, Taeg, and Dagan pulled out their daggers.
“Let’s go get this fuck,” Taeg said.
§
The turreted exterior of the townhouse towered above Amara. Absolutely terrifying. Her heart raced and a massive surge of adrenaline made her mouth go dry. She had dreamt about returning to this place every single night since she’d left it.
Not dreams. Nightmares. And she had to say, the reality of it was far more frightening. Every instinct she possessed urged her to flee.
Asmodeus was up to something. Still, as Keegan had said, what were their options? This had to end tonight.
Keegan’s voice sounded out, barely more than a whisper. “Is there a back entrance?”
“He would expect that to be the first place you’d go,” Amara said. “We should enter through the front.”
Keegan nodded and surveyed the building, then pointed up. “There, the third level balcony. Where does that lead?”
“Directly into his main chamber. He spends most of his time there.”
“Good. I’ll approach from there, see if I can catch him off guard. The rest of you go in from the front. If I don’t find him, I’ll make my way down to you. If you don’t see me after five minutes, come up and search for me.”
“Okay,” Ronin said.
Amara recited to Keegan the layout of the room, noting where Asmodeus most often sat in his main chamber. If he was on the third floor, odds were he was at his huge table.
“Got it.”
Dagan moved right next to Keegan. “Take me with you. If he’s on the third level, you’ll need some help fighting him off until everyone else makes it up there.”
“He’s right,” Ronin said. “And you should both be careful.”
“Okay.” With a brace of his shoulders, Keegan sprouted his long, leathery dragon wings from his shoulders.
“Whoa,” Amara breathed.
Ronin’s mouth curved into a brief smile. “I forgot you’d never seen them before.”
“No. I sure haven’t.” They were pretty spectacular, too. So different from Ronin’s, but beautiful in their own way.
Dagan stepped in front of Keegan and presented his back to him. Keegan slid his arms under Dagan’s armpits and propelled them both into the air.
Ronin, Taeg, and Amara crept along the building single-file, trying to avoid being seen on the off chance that Asmodeus didn’t yet know they were here. The street was so quiet, and even though she could see from the windows that there were lights on inside, t
he townhouse gave off a vibe like it was empty. Amara led the way, Ronin and then Taeg behind her. She skirted the delicate iron railing and climbed the steps to the front door.
Ronin nodded to Amara and, steeling herself for what lay inside, she tried the knob. It was locked.
“Do you have a key?” he whispered.
“No. Gofrey always opened the door for me.”
Ronin shrugged and closed his fingers over the knob, squeezing hard. The metal crushed under his fingertips with surprising ease. Amara held her breath as he inched it open, but no alarm sounded. Made sense. Since he had such a superior shield surrounding the entire block of his home, Asmodeus probably wouldn’t think he needed anything else.
They entered the empty foyer. Straight ahead of them was the curved staircase. Beside that, a long hallway led to the rear of the townhouse, where the kitchen, living, and dining rooms were located.
Something swished along the marble floor of the staircase up on the second level, right out of their view. Amara practically shot out of her skin.
Ronin’s fingers tightened on the sword, but then Keegan and Dagan stepped into sight, their daggers also at the ready. Keegan spotted them and relaxed. He rolled his eyes toward the upper levels and shrugged.
Amara waited until they were in front of him before whispering, “Nothing up there?”
“His room was empty,” Keegan said. “We didn’t spot a soul on our way down.”
“What about Solara?” she asked, half afraid to hear the answer. “The second level bedrooms?”
“We haven’t checked any of the bedrooms yet.” Keegan motioned toward the back of the townhouse. “Let’s do this floor first.”
Since she knew the layout, she led the way down the hall, though Ronin insisted on riding her ass the whole way. The passed the living room and dining room. Both were empty. Then into the kitchen. It appeared clean and deserted, like it hadn’t been used in days.
Keegan came to a halt beside the back entrance and scratched his head. “Could he have somehow escaped?”
“Wait. Do you feel that?” Beside her, Ronin tensed. “There are demons here.”
Several seconds later, the feeling hit— the low, pulsing energy that indicated demons were about.
Taeg frowned. “Feels like they’re coming from below us.”
Oh, hell. “The basement.” She’d almost forgotten about it since it was so rarely used.
The throb of energy swelled to a low hum. Amara lifted the dagger Ronin had given her right before the door leading from the basement into the kitchen crashed open. An assortment of demons streamed out. They came too quickly for her to count how many there were, but there had to be at least a dozen of them.
“Behind me,” Ronin yelled, shoving her back right as a vestag demon attacked them. She stifled a shriek when Ronin’s sword sliced through the vestag’s hand, spraying a steady stream of blood across her face. The acrid stench of the davanor demon who battled Dagan assaulted her nose, making her choke on her breath. For all the time she’d lived with Asmodeus, she’d never been in the thick of a battle. This was so out of her element, and every instinct she possessed urged to her get the hell out of here. But she couldn’t leave Ronin. She wouldn’t.
A lone boarg demon charged past the roadblock Ronin and his brothers had set up to protect her. This time Amara couldn’t stop her scream as he lumbered toward her, his piglike snout sniffing around as if he inhaled her fragrance. He grinned, his two long tusks curving out under his lip. She shrunk back when his ham-hock hands closed around her and wiggled out of his grasp.
“Amara!” Ronin whirled to help her, but two demons jumped him, dropping him to the ground.
“Ronin. No!”
The boarg grabbed her from behind, drawing her in toward him and wrapping his arms around her neck. She gasped for air, flailing. It was then that she remembered the dagger in her hand. She blindly rammed it into the boarg’s side. The boarg grunted and released her. She whirled to see him blinking at the weapon in his body, as if he couldn’t believe she’d stabbed him.
“Amara,” Ronin called. A split-second later another dagger clattered to the floor at her feet. For what seemed like an eternity, she and the boarg stared at each other without moving. Then he lunged for her and she let out an involuntary screech, jumping to the side. She spun around and snatched the dagger, right as the boarg lumbered back to attack her again.
The boarg grunted and slid the dagger out of his side. Disgusting, slimy boarg blood dripped off it. He swung it at her and she hopped to the side. When he advanced again, he tripped over the hand of a felled demon and went down on his knees. The knife dropped out of his hand and he bent to retrieve it, growling at her.
Oh, hell. She knew what she had to do, and she’d probably never have a better opportunity than this. But that didn’t mean she had to like it.
Grasping the weapon in both hands, she prayed for accuracy before swinging it in a wide arc. It was a testament to the dagger’s sharpness that it easily sliced through bone and sinew, severing the boarg’s head from his body.
Only certain way to kill a demon.
She tried not to pay too much attention to the gore on the blade of her dagger as she turned and sought Ronin out. The tightness in her chest eased a fraction when she saw one of the demons who’d attacked him dead on the ground. The other was on his knees, with Ronin looming over him. The injured demon attempted to rake his claws into Ronin’s thigh, but Ronin sidestepped and grabbed the demon by the hair, dispatching him with practiced ease.
A few feet away, Dagan battled three demons. Judging by the wounds in his torso, he was having some difficulty. This time she didn’t dawdle. She leapt on one of the demons from behind, slicing his throat before he could react.
“Thanks,” Dagan grunted once he’d taken care of the other two.
“You’re welc—”
Amara screamed when something sharp pierced her side, sending a firestorm of anguish racing through her body. The burning ache she’d experienced when she’d been drained of her energy had nothing on this. Clenching her teeth against the pain, she crumpled to the ground.
“Amara!”
Dagan leapt over her and onto the demon who’d stabbed her, pulling him away.
Her eyes fluttered as she watched them fight, feeling as if they were getting farther and farther away. When the world went black, she realized her eyes had shut, and she didn’t have the strength to reopen them. Giving up the fight, she surrendered to her loss of consciousness.
Amara didn’t know how much time had passed before she came back to reality. She awoke to see Taeg, Keegan, and Dagan fighting off the last four demons. Ronin crouched next to her.
“Amara,” he breathed, his eyes bloodshot and shiny. He touched her waist, countering the burning pain with a liquid wash of cool sensation. She gasped as torn muscles twitched and knotted themselves back together, causing brief stabs of agony to meld with the wondrous sensation of reforming, healthy flesh. Then, thankfully, the pain was gone.
“Are you okay?” he asked, cupping her cheek.
“Yes. I’m fine.” Amara blinked as she sat up. The floor was littered with the bodies of the demons who’d attacked them. There were more than she’d initially anticipated, yet Ronin and his brothers had fought them all off. “You guys are amazing.”
He chuckled. “You weren’t so bad yourself. I saw you take a couple of them out.”
There was a note of pain in his voice, and no wonder. He bled through several stab wounds in his chest and arms, and his nose appeared to be broken. “What you are you waiting for? I’m fine. Heal yourself!”
“I could use a shot of the good old healing, too,” Dagan muttered. He held his mutilated arm close to his chest.
Keegan dispatched the final demon and straightened. “I can do it.”
“What the fuck?” Taeg said, his words slurred from his effort to move the muscles in his mouth. “I can’t move.”
“Me either,” Keegan said.
“None of you can.”
The deep, melodious tone of Asmodeus’s voice sent a tremor of apprehension through Amara’s body. Her worst nightmares had come true.
They’d walked into a trap.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Amara’s head moved without her willing it to. It turned toward the door to the basement, where Asmodeus stood. He held a glowing silver ball in one hand, and the other was raised toward them. He flickered one finger down, then up, and her head mimicked the action.
“Isn’t this fun? You’re like my own personal puppets.” Asmodeus’s eyes narrowed in on Ronin. “You’re the angel hybrid Amara is so fond of, no?” He clenched his free hand into a fist and Ronin uttered a roar of pure anguish.
“No,” Amara screamed. “Stop!”
He laughed and relaxed his hand. “Wait until you see what I have in store for you, my pet.”
“How are you doing this?” Keegan asked.
Asmodeus waved his hand and they all flew backward, slamming into the wall behind them. “You have Amara to thank. Her and my other whores.”
Amara swallowed back her horrified gasp. It would only please him to hear it, and the last thing she wanted to do was please that sick asshole.
“If it weren’t for Amara’s amazing ability to attract powerful species, I wouldn’t be able to do this.”
Asmodeus clenched and unclenched his fist again, and Amara’s heart tightened as if an invisible fist squeezed it. Her scream matched that of Ronin and his brothers.
He could torture all five of them, with the tiniest bit of movement? He’d become more powerful than she ever could have imagined.
What had she done?
“Energy manipulation,” Keegan said, his voice strangled.