A strong breeze entered the manor grounds, sweeping up dirt and debris. A cloud drifted over the sun and the skies darkened. A chill ran down my spine and I shivered against the odd feeling. Seth’s eyes narrowed as he stared at me and the pleasant smile melted from his face.
“What have you done?” he snarled. He looked around wildly as the ferals shifted behind him. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
The panic behind Seth’s response made my heart swell with the tiniest bit of pride. We had him now. He was circling the drain of his own plan for world domination. We had to hit him while he was weak. It was time.
“Now!” I screamed, waving my arm.
The Nephilim charged with a great roar, their weapons held high. There was no waiting for the ferals to attack. This time, we were going on the offensive. Explosions rocked the lawn as bombs went off throughout the feral army, spreading silver fragments and showers of holy water. The ferals scattered and lost their formation as the warriors cut through them.
I lost sight of Prince Seth almost instantly. A feral beared down on me, his claws swiping at my chest. I dodged his attack and knocked him to the ground. He was definitely human, if the blood pouring from his nose was any indication. I pulled a silver rope from the back of my belt and quickly tied off his hands, trussing him like a cow in a rodeo. There would be time later to exorcise him. At that moment, I had three more ferals coming my way. I didn’t have time to stop.
I loosed two more grenades and managed to break free from the crowd. Blood splattered my legs, but it didn’t belong to me. The sound of war was all around me. Cries of pain and terror. Grunts of satisfaction and success. To my right, I spotted my friends all fighting together. Ashley had her back up to Raquel’s and was fighting off a tall blonde female. Raquel had guns in each of her hands and was firing them off like mad. Adam skirted around them, taking out the first wave of attackers.
A hand clasped my upper arm. “Lizzy, you alright?”
I looked up to see Noah Brown, a streak of blood across his forehead and sweat soaking his shirt. He looked almost giddy, as if he’d been waiting all his life to fight in a battle like this. I nodded and he dove back into the crowd, quickly disappearing.
A flash of black caught my eye at the rear of the feral pack. I circled the group and closed in, finding Prince Seth, all his composure lost. He was circling madly, looking over his shoulder at the touch of the lightest breeze. His eyes had grown wide and crazy.
I would’ve used that moment to attack if a dark blur hadn’t hit me in my side, knocking the air out of my lungs. Looking up from my position on the ground, I caught a glimpse of familiar gray wispy hair and wrinkled skin. Granny was standing above me, snarling and reaching for my dagger. Not even under possession could she leave me alone.
“Get off,” I yelled, shoving her just enough so I could hop to my feet. She growled and dug her feet into the ground, readying for the charge. “Oh, no you don’t.”
Like a charging bull, she ran full speed, her eyes flashing red. Hatred and rage covered her face in an expression that would’ve given me nightmares as a child. Still, I kept my calm. Sidestepping her advance, I took a knee and swept my other leg underneath her feet. She landed hard on her belly with a grunt. In a flash, I was on top of her, yanking another sliver cord from my back pocket.
“I’ll have you know, you don’t deserve my mercy,” I said through gritted teeth as she struggled in vain under my knees pinning her to the ground. “You gave me a miserable childhood, tried to kill me more than once, and yet I’ve saved your life multiple times. You don’t deserve to live.”
I thought about all the times I’d wanted to get out from under Granny’s crushing thumb. All the rage and anger that had grown in my heart for her over the past year. Still, as I sat on top of her struggling form, I realized all that rage was gone. In its place was a sort of pity. Pity for the woman who’d never found it in herself to love. She’d made herself miserable and those around her. For some reason, she could never find happiness in what she had. In the place of love she’d nurtured hate and destruction. And look at what it got her. All this violence, all this war, were the results of her refusal to love. It made me sad.
“When this is all over, you and I are through,” I said, wrapping the silver rope as tight as I could around her wrists. “I hope one day you realize how miserable you made yourself. We could’ve been happy.”
Although I was sure the demon inhabiting her body could care less about my little speech, she hissed and spat into the dirt. I climbed off her struggling form, dusted off my knees, and reassessed the status of the battle. The ferals had been scattered by the various bombs placed by the Nephilim. The fight was still ongoing, but it seemed that the divide and conquer technique had worked. Bodies littered the field, many of them struggling against their silver rope bonds. The Nephilim had made it a goal today to save as many humans as possible. It looked like they were making good on that promise.
I was about to run back into the fray when an arm wrapped around my neck. It pulled me tight against a hard body and crushed my windpipe. A dark sense of foreboding filled me as a hot breath tickled my neck.
“You think you can defeat me, little girl,” Prince Seth’s raspy voice was inches from my ear. “My brothers won’t be able to return me to Hell if you’re not alive to open the gate for them.”
The crushing pressure on my throat increased and darkness claimed me.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I awoke in a tornado. The wind howled through the trees and nearly swept me away. I clasped my hands over my ears and struggled to stand as leaves and brush whipped around me. From what little I could see, I was laying on the ground of the forest and far from the manor. There were voices in the wind, like screams and war cries. I huddled closer to the ground, begging it to stop.
Suddenly, everything stilled. I braved a sideways glance at some commotion to my right. Prince Seth stood only ten feet away, swaying slightly. His eyes appeared glazed over as if he’d just taken a hard hit to the head. I scrambled away from him, scuttling over the ground until my back hit something solid. I looked behind me and shrieked when I saw a pair of legs with thick bandages that barely covered the oozing wounds. Around me, more legs appeared. The Princes of Hell were all accounted for and the looks on their faces was anything but peaceful.
“You have lost, brother,” Prince Arawn called in his booming voice. “You shall pay for your iniquities in Hell.”
Disgust crossed Prince Seth’s face as he fell to one knee. His arms trembled and he barely managed to hold himself upright. “You won’t stop me,” he growled, closing his eyes. “It’s my destiny.”
“Your destiny is questionable,” Prince Aita hissed. He fingered the hem of his black suit and sent a black glare at his youngest brother. “We shall decide it from now on.”
Despite the fear pulsating through my body at being surrounded by all this evil, I couldn’t help but cheer inwardly at our victory. Prince Seth had been defeated. Hell on Earth was delayed another day. My friends and family were safe.
“Now, key, we require your final assistance,” Prince Arawn said, turning his fierce gaze to me. “Send us home.”
I resisted the urge to shrink and instead pushed myself off the ground. With the battle finished, I could finally see where we were. Once again, I’d been brought to the Hell Gate. Its yawning mouth was on the other side of the clearing. I rushed forward to open it, eager to rid the world of the presence of the Princes of Hell, when my feet stalled. Biting my lower lip, I turned and met Prince Arawn’s impatient gaze.
“What about your other promise?” I asked. They had one more task left to fulfill.
He glared at me, his black eyes burning with emotions I couldn’t read. His lip curled up in a snarl. “The return of a soul?”
“Yes.” My hands shook, so I held them behind my back.
He looked at his brothers and began to laugh. They joined in to create a creepy chorus of laughter.
My jaw hung open as I glanced from face to face. Surely, they were going to follow through. They’d promised. I’d hold Hell captive until they did.
“We shall return the soul,” Prince Arawn said finally in a husky voice. Relief filled me at his words. “But for a soul to be returned, another must go in its place.”
I squinted at him. “But the deal we made...”
“The deal still stands, little girl,” he boomed. “But we don’t make the rules. One life for a life. There are no ways around it.”
Angry tears filled my eyes. Luke had been right. The Princes of Hell knew how to twist a deal. They’d purposely kept that information from me, knowing that I’d never be able to follow through. My conscience would never allow me to trade another life for Gabe’s. Not even Granny’s or the worst of criminals. He wouldn’t want that. And now I’d lost him for good. He would spend eternity in Hell and it was all my fault.
The fight went out of my legs. I sunk to the ground and gathered fists full of dirt as my hands clenched. We’d come so far. I didn’t want to give up now. Even if I had to give up my own life for his. I’d do it, in a heartbeat.
My heart fluttered at the thought of an eternity in Hell. Just last summer I’d been horrified to think of a demon using me as a blood bag for the next nine hundred years. But this—this was forever. No going back. Gabe was worth it. But he’d never forgive me for trading places with him. A part of him would hate me for this. I would do it anyway.
I looked up at the Princes of Hell, tears clouding my vision. They were watching me with a sick sort of fascination, as if waiting to see if I’d sacrifice myself for the man I loved. Their coldness irked me and my lips curled back into a snarl.
“I’ll make a trade,” I said.
There was a pounding in-between my eyebrows. It made it hard to see. I rubbed my temples and fought to find my strength to stand.
You’ve lost, a frail voice suddenly sounded inside my head. It sounded a million miles away. You’re all alone. You deserve it.
Anger pooled in my stomach. Mona had no clue what it felt like to lose so much. She’d lived in my head all my life without an attachment to anyone or anything.
Stop, just stop! I was screaming back to her. Why don’t you just leave? I don’t want you here. No one does.
I would if I could, she snapped. Believe me. The first one to jump ship would be me. But we’re stuck with each other, you and me. And I plan on making your life a living Hell. Or, what’s left of it, at least.
She didn’t have long to wait. If the Princes needed a soul for Hell, I’d gladly give them one. I wondered if dying was painful. I’d almost died when Margaret Thatcher tried to take me. That had been painful enough. But maybe, giving up your soul was like going to sleep. Drifting off to a dark place that you could never return from. I could only hope.
At least Mona would finally be in Hell. It was what she’d always wanted. Returned to the homeland of her perverted creator. She could be happy.
If I could release you, I would, I told her wearily. Neither one of us wants this.
Yes, I suppose you’re right, she replied, much to my surprise. Defeat was heavy in her tone. We’re stuck to each other, like two sides of a coin.
Two sides of a coin. I closed my eyes and for once, it felt as if I were in sync with my demon side. We remained in companionable silence for what seemed like an eternity before the sound of a cleared throat brought me back to the present.
“Your trade?” Prince Arawn demanded. Impatience flashed on his face.
“Yes, I will make a trade for Gabe’s soul.” I pushed myself to my feet and swayed before him.
“Who do you have to offer?” he asked. “What soul do you choose to cast in the belly of Hell?”
“I choose...” My precious seconds on Earth were dwindling. My throat constricted at the thought. “I choose...”
A thought came to me in my desperation. A crazy thought that felt too good to be true. Still, a name slipped from my lips unbidden, as if part of me had been screaming for it all along. And when I said it, I couldn’t help but clamp my mouth shut and stare at the Princes wide-eyed and scared.
“Mona. I choose the demon, Mona.”
Prince Arawn cocked his head to one side and watched me with impassive eyes. His brothers stirred around him and twittered with anticipation.
“She’s born of human and demon, so she must have a soul,” I stuttered. “Or, at least some semblance of one.”
I felt a stirring of emotions inside my head that started with shock and then moved toward eagerness. Mona rushed forward, throwing herself at the Princes with excitement.
Yes, take me, take me!
Prince Arawn’s eyes narrowed. He strode toward me and reached out a hand. Somehow, I managed not to flinch, but stood still as he grasped the crown of my head and squeezed. Pain coursed through my body and both Mona and I gasped.
“Two souls, in one vessel,” he muttered, his hand still tight on my skull. “A Nephilim soul and a demon soul. Unusual. Very unusual.”
His brothers began to yell among themselves, but he silenced it with the abrupt slice of his hand. He let my scalp go and marched toward Prince Seth.
“Come, brother. We leave now.”
Seth shrunk away from his brother’s touch, but came willingly. He threw me a look that could’ve seared right through a human, but I stood my ground. I wasn’t going to be intimidated by him. He was finished on this world.
“So, do we have a deal?” I asked, scrambling after them as they descended the hill toward the Hell Gate. Mona echoed the question in my head with as much hope as me.
Prince Arawn grumbled something unintelligible and stopped when he came to the solid wall separating him from Hell. He gestured toward it and I rushed forward to put my hand against it, unsure what was going to happen.
It didn’t take me long this time to create the smallest of holes in the gate. Just a pinprick—enough for our visitors to exit. I looked expectantly at them, waiting for something to happen. Surely, they weren’t going to leave without taking either me or Mona with them. I couldn’t leave Gabe in there. I wouldn’t.
“Goodbye, my child,” Prince Aita murmured, running the tips of his fingers across my arm as he passed through the gate. I shuddered at his touch and my stomach threatened to eject its contents.
His brothers slowly followed him, although none bothered to say anything to me. Finally, only the Princes Seth and Arawn remained. I stepped into their path as they tried to pass me.
“Will you fulfill our deal?” I demanded, feeling less courageous than I sounded. “Or do I have to close the gate?”
Prince Arawn chuckled, his laugh like nails on a chalkboard. He held tight to the collar of his brother’s suit and peered down at me from his towering height. For a moment, I was afraid he was going to strike me dead on the spot. I had no doubt of his ability to do so.
“Be careful making threats to the Princes of Hell,” he said in a grumble. “You might not like the outcome.”
Before I could reply, he shoved me with the palm of his hand. The brief contact caused a pain to go through me unlike anything I’d felt before. It felt as if my very skin was going to explode from the pressure building within. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. My blood was boiling and my bones turned to liquid. Everything inside of me begged for death. It would’ve been kinder than this pain. Still, it seemed to last for a lifetime. When it was finally gone, I didn’t have the strength to pick myself off the ground.
“We are done here,” I heard Prince Arawn say. He shoved something roughly into my hands. “Do not call on the Princes of Hell again. For next time, your reward shall be death.”
I couldn’t be sure that he and his brother had gone. My head spun with the effort just to keep me alive. All I could do was breathe and hope that I’d done the right thing.
And that the war was over.
Chapter Twenty-Five
By the time I was able to lift my head from the ground,
the forest had returned to life. Birds chirped in the trees and insects hummed on the ground. The happy chatter of a squirrel came from somewhere nearby. I hadn’t realized before how dead the forest had become in the presence of the Princes. It was as if it had known that an evil had invaded and it was holding its breath for their exit.
Something inside of me had changed, too. Not just the absence of another being inside my head. It was as if the rot had finally been cut away to reveal new growth. A painful pruning process that had cleared away the thorny branches so that I could finally breathe. I took a deep breath of air and reveled in the simplicity of the action.
Prince Arawn had freed me from my demon. Mona and I had both gotten the happy ending we desired. No matter how conflicted I felt about her very existence, I could feel at peace knowing that she’d found her place and I’d found mine. My body felt lighter. Free. As if I were feeling the sunshine on my skin for the first time.
But not everyone had their happy ending yet. There was one more person waiting for his ending. I looked down between my hands and gazed upon the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. It was Gabe’s soul—a small ball of cool light no bigger than my thumb. It pulsed with an urgency that had me racing to my feet. Gabe needed his soul back. There was no time to waste.
Cradling it softly between my hands, I sprinted back to the manor with all the Nephilim power I had. I’d been fast before, but it was nothing compared to now. Without Mona, I was a brand new creature. An angel warrior without inhibitions. My muscles flexed with new strength and I flew past a herd of deer without even spooking them. My heart soared higher with every mile. The manor was within sight now. Soon, my Gabe would be returned to me.
The battle had been finished. Warriors were busy cleaning up the field, caring for the injured, and wrangling up the demons who’d been trussed and left to struggle against their bonds. I flew past them with hardly a word, too intent on my goal. Many tried to stop me for a word, but with Gabe’s fragile soul in my hands, I needed to get to him first.
Death of a Demon_An Urban Fantasy Romance Page 15
