I looked around. No Nephilim were standing guard. They must be on patrol. It was better that way. No one else needed to get hurt.
The prickly feeling on the back of my neck told me that Margaret Thatcher was near. I turned to see her crouching on the ground five feet behind me. She tilted her head and leered at me, displaying her rows of broken teeth.
“Mine.”
Her voice was harsh and barely recognizable as human, but I understood. She had come to claim me as hers.
“No more killing people,” I told her, my voice surprisingly steady considering the nerves bouncing around my stomach. “No one else gets hurt. You can have me.”
A triumphant look crossed her ugly face. Straightening her crooked knees, she stood up tall until we were face to face. Suddenly, she was beside me and I yelped in surprise. That didn’t stop her from taking a sharp talon to my neck, releasing a thin trail of blood that soaked my white t-shirt.
In another instant, she had me swept up in her arms and pressed to her chest. Her teeth clamped down on my shoulder and I suppressed a scream as she sucked on the blood that spilled from the bite mark. Her tongue lapped up the few drops she missed, and then trailed up my neck until she nipped painfully at my jawline.
“Mine,” she said again, more forcefully.
I reached for the dagger in my back pocket. With as little movement as I could muster, I closed my fingers around the hilt and slid it out of the sheath. Gabe had taught me the best places to stab a demon. I could go for her chest or her back. Or better yet, slip the dagger between the ribs under her armpit and pierce the heart. That was my target. With one swift movement, I yanked the dagger from my back and shoved it under Margaret Thatcher’s armpit.
Her unearthly scream nearly burst my eardrums. Dropping me hard to the ground, she backed up a few paces, black blood spilling from her side. Horror filled every part of me as she tore the dagger from her ribs and threw it to the ground. No cloud of smoke appeared. The ground didn’t suck her back to hell. I’d missed her heart. My only chance, and I’d blown it. The only thing to do now was surrender, and let her have me… for as long as I lived.
The steady cadence of hooves against the ground drew both of our attention. Out of the forest emerged a beautiful black horse and his rider. I nearly cried with joy as I recognized Clint and Gabe riding on his back. They galloped into the clearing and charged at the goddess, nearly trampling her before she scurried out of the way.
“Lizzy, hurry!” Gabe pulled Clint my way and stretched out his hand to me. “Let’s go.”
My fingertips skimmed his before something hurdled out of the trees and smashed against Gabe, nearly knocking him to the ground. Stephen and Dirk appeared above him, their faces set with a deadly intent. I ran forward to help, but with a single backhand from Dirk I lay flat on my back and blinking up at the light blue morning sky.
Gabe didn’t waste any time. He pulled the blade from his sheath and with one clean lunge from Clint’s back, drove the steel into Stephen’s heart. Yanking it free, he let Stephen’s body crumple to the ground. A black cloud like the ones I’d seen in the forest poured from Stephen’s mouth and leeched into the ground.
I didn’t need to see the glassy eyes or the bloodless color of his face to know Stephen was dead and the demon gone. The only way to destroy the demon was to kill the human host. Gabe had taught me that.
Dirk screamed beside him and wrenched Gabe off of Clint by his ankle, pinning him to the ground as he wrapped his hands around Gabe’s neck. The blade lay in the dirt, just out of their reach. By the time I got to my feet, Dirk was sitting on top of Gabe and squeezing the life out of him.
“No, stop!” I threw myself at the man who had too often terrorized my days.
It was the first time I moved as swiftly as the demons. The wind whistled in my ears as I hurled my shoulder into Dirk’s ribs. I knew it wasn’t really him, but I still felt an odd satisfaction at the crack of his bones. He rolled to the ground beside me and landed on his knees.
“Oh look, it’s the whore of Hanna.” Dirk’s face morphed into an ugly half-smile. He tilted his head to one side and sighed. “You’re just mad I didn’t get to finish what we started outside your Granny’s gas station. I still have the taste of your mouth on my lips. You wanted me, bad.”
I resisted the urge to spit out the sour taste that filled my mouth. The sound of his voice made me want to put on ten giant sweaters and hide under the covers of my bed. I stood and wiped off the dirt on my pants, pretending like he wasn’t getting to me.
“I never wanted you. All I wanted was for you to leave me alone.”
Dirk smiled again. This time, he looked at Gabe, who now stood beside me, and gave him a wink.
“Your girlfriend doesn’t want to tell you this, but she dreams of me at night, touching her in places only I can satisfy. She’s nothing more than a whore.”
Just like when Adam attacked me my first day at the manor, Gabe’s body went stiff. The air began to shimmer and spark around him. A blinding light shone through his skin, piercing the darkness of the early morning. Dirk’s cocky smile melted away into something that resembled fear. He took a step backwards, nearly tripping over a rock jutting from the ground.
With one swift movement, Gabe sped forward and buried the sword in Dirk’s chest all the way up to the hilt. He turned it and then yanked it back, spraying blood on his gray t-shirt. Dirk stumbled and landed face first in a bed of dried pine needles. Black smoke poured from his mouth and saturated the ground until nothing was left but a line of blood trailing from his open lips. I closed my eyes and breathed in, willing my erratic heartbeat to slow.
A rush of air past my face was the only sign we got of the goddess’ swift attack. She tackled Gabe to the ground and sank her teeth into his shoulder. His scream of pain tore at my ears. I watched helplessly as the goddess released him and bared her teeth next to his throat.
From just the small amount of blood she’d taken from me, she already looked more human. The hair was thicker on her scalp, her skin less sallow. Ribs no longer poked out of her skin. Luke was right. With a few more gulps from my open vein, she’d look like Margaret Thatcher once again.
Even with all of my work to avoid any more slaughter, Gabe was going to die. I could see the reality of the situation in the goddess’ dark and murderous eyes. He was the only thing standing between her and her prize. If I didn’t do something now, he would be lost forever.
The silver dagger I’d used to stab her was only a few feet away. I ran for it and snatched it from the ground. Clasping my fingers around the hilt, I did the only thing I could think of at that moment. I drove the blade deep into my stomach and fell to my knees as the pain ricocheted through my body.
An angry screech tore from the goddess’ throat. She crawled to my side in a flash, tearing the blade from my hands. There was no mistaking it. We both knew this was a mortal wound. I’d done too much damage to my organs to survive for much longer. All she had was one last chance to drain me for a temporary fix.
“Take me,” I whispered. It hurt to talk, but I managed to take in another breath. “Take me and leave him. I surrender. Please.”
Her lips curled into a deadly sneer as she peered down at me. Her breath reeked of rotten meat and dirt. Even with the darkness closing in, I could feel the blood from my gut pooling in my hands. If she didn’t hurry, I’d be dead soon.
Ripping my t-shirt open, she dropped her lips to my wound and tasted me. A shudder of ecstasy went through her thin torso and she dropped me unceremoniously to the ground. My head landed on a rock and threw tiny stars in front of my vision. I instantly wished that it had knocked me out, but no, I was going to live my last few moments in agonizing pain.
The goddess stood above me, frozen in place, her face stained red with blood. This was it – the last moment I’d have before she sunk her teeth into me and drained me. I hoped the process was quick. There was no sense in prolonging it.
I watched panic flicker
across Margaret Thatcher’s sunken face and quickly realized something was wrong. The demon screeched and tore at her own face, spraying me with droplets of black blood. I shielded my eyes with a bloody hand as she began to shrivel up.
First her hands and arms, then her chest collapsed. Like a deflating mattress, the skin of Margaret Thatcher fell to the ground beside me in a puff of black smoke that fought against the force pulling it down into nothingness. It wrapped around my ankle and tightened like a vice before being whisked away and sucked into the ground.
I didn’t have time to comprehend what had just happened. The gaping wound in my stomach was still there, making me double over with pain. I felt Gabe run to my side and pick me up. He was talking to me, but I couldn’t hear him over the buzzing in my ears. A cold sensation had begun to settle on my limbs and in my chest. It washed away the pain and made my body limp.
Closing my eyes, I said a short prayer of thanks. Dying was so much better than being locked away forever by the demon. Whatever force had intervened on my behalf, I was forever grateful. I could leave this Earth happy to have escaped that fate.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I woke up in a stark white room that instantly reminded me of a hospital. White bed sheets covered my legs, the smell of antiseptic tickled my nose, and a roll of bandages lay on the table next to my bed. For a paralyzing moment, I couldn’t remember why I was there, what had happened, or even my own name. But the scene with the goddess in the forest came rushing back to me, along with my memories of the last several weeks.
Pulling up the thin blue hospital gown, I stared at my stomach. The fragile skin across my belly had been stitched back together over the two-inch gap. It was hard to believe that this little wound almost claimed my life. And yet, here I was, still alive.
“If you’d been human, that wound would’ve killed you.” Luke stood peering in the doorway on the right. I’d never seen him look so ungroomed. A thick layer of scruff lined his chin and jaws. His hair lay flat on one side and stuck up on the other. Even his eyes were bloodshot, as if he hadn’t slept in days. “But I’m glad to see you’re finally awake.”
“How long was I out?”
He entered the room and ran a hand over his scruffy beard. “Four days. Our healers had to pull out all their tricks to save you. One of the medicines they used put you in a deep sleep to help the healing process.”
I looked back down at the tiny black stitches. All that fuss for that tiny scar. They may be four days I’ll never get back, but I didn’t mind. Somehow, I’d survived.
“What happened out there? The goddess… she drank my blood and then she just…”
I couldn’t even describe it. All I could think of was the Wicked Witch of the West and the way she’d melted in The Wizard of Oz. But this wasn’t fiction, this was real life. How did she die?
Luke sat in the antique wooden chair next to my bed and rubbed his eyes.
“Gabe told me you sacrificed yourself to the goddess to save him. Is that right?”
I nodded sheepishly. Stabbing myself hadn’t exactly been the most brilliant idea, but it was the best I could come up with at the moment. And it had worked. Gabe was still alive.
“As you know, I’ve been researching the lore surrounding the demon sacrifice and what it meant for you.” Luke pulled a book the size of his palm out of his pocket and opened it, thumbing through the pages. “This book is one of the oldest in my collection. It’s the journal of an elder by the name of Arsaces from 300 BC. In it, he briefly mentions a demon sacrifice that went wrong, much like your own. A small village was decimated by the vengeful demon for losing its prize.”
Just like what happened to Hanna. The goddess would’ve killed everyone to get to me. The idea of using me to keep her body replenished was too overpowering.
“Arsaces talks about how the human sacrifice wanted to save his children from the demon’s wrath,” Luke continued. “So, he gave himself up to the demon, and in that moment, the power of the sacrifice turned. Instead of being restorative to the demon, it became toxic. His personal sacrifice saved his life and that of his children.”
I sat straight up and winced at the pain in my gut. “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”
“Because it seemed like nothing more than a myth.” He slammed the book shut and glared at me. “And because I already knew you had your mother’s stubborn streak and you’d see it through, even if it meant your death.”
A guilty smile spread across my face. “I guess that’s another reason you wouldn’t let me attend the board meetings?”
“Yes.” He glowered at the book in his hands. “And because there are some board members who were only too willing to take a chance with your life. I wouldn’t hear of it.”
I had a feeling I knew which board member that was. “Let me guess… Ariana?”
He didn’t say anything, but the spark of anger in his eyes told me everything I needed to know.
“It all worked out, though.” Reaching for his hand, I laid mine over his. “I’m sorry I scared you.”
It wasn’t fair of me to put him through a pain like that again. I may have saved the rest of the citizens of Hanna, but I’d hurt Luke to accomplish it. My goal for the next few months would be to make it up to him in every way possible.
“I’m just glad you’re alright.” He patted my hand and tucked the book back in his pocket. “And I will be back to visit later because…” I began to object but he held up a finger, “there’s someone else who wants to see you. He’s been worried sick about you since he carried you to the healers himself.”
Gabe. My heart did a little flip just thinking about him.
Luke stood from his chair. “Oh, and go easy on the boy. It was my fault for the tension between you.”
I raised my eyebrows at him. He would have to explain if he wanted me to believe him.
“I knew you guys were getting close, but I was a stupid, foolish old man,” Luke continued. “After I found out you were my daughter, I asked Gabe to take a step back so I could get to know you before any distractions got in our way. I should’ve known better than to get in the way of love.”
My mouth fell open as I took in what he was saying. No wonder Gabe had nearly thrown me out of his room that night Adam and Luke had caught us together. He’d been caught red-handed, disobeying the man he considered a father figure.
“Already jumping on the protective dad bandwagon?” I asked him with a smile.
He grinned, the sparkle returning to his blue eyes. “Yes, and failing miserably.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that.” If this was failing miserably for him, then I could handle it. “I suppose I could forgive you if you agreed to let Gabe off the hook.”
“Agreed.” He kissed my forehead and left the room.
I didn’t have to wait long for company. Seconds later, my favorite pair of green eyes came strolling through the door. It wasn’t fair that I hadn’t showered in days and wore a paper thin hospital gown, while he got to look so sexy in a navy blue t-shirt and rugged jeans. He looked at me with an intensity I'd never seen before and instantly, all my insecurities were replaced by a warmth that radiated from my stomach into every limb.
“Hi, handsome.” I pushed myself up a little further in the bed and smiled.
He didn’t sit in the wooden chair like I thought he would. Striding past the chair, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a kiss. It was soft and sweet with a hint of desperation. Unlike the impatient kisses we’d shared in his bedroom, this kiss lingered on my lips like sugar. When he pulled away, I could still feel the tingling sensation of his mouth on mine.
“I nearly lost you,” he said, cupping my chin in his hand. “Again. How many times do I have to save your life?”
I blinked back the happy tears that sprung to my eyes. “Do I have to remind you that I’ve saved your life more than a few times too?”
He grinned, flashing his perfect teeth. “That’s what partners are for.”
I leaned back against the bed, but kept his hand between mine. “And apparently, partners are good at withholding the truth. You didn’t share that little piece of information with me about sacrifices and how to turn my blood toxic.”
A flush crept in his cheeks and he laughed nervously. “Yeah, I guess I didn’t.”
“And Luke told me about his little request for you to take a step back.”
The red in his cheeks grew brighter. “About that…”
I held a finger up to his mouth to keep him from speaking. Maybe, nearly dying had given me a sort of high, but I felt brazen.
“I am a grown woman. Not even my long-lost father gets to dictate who I see. No more playing with my feelings; no more hot and cold treatments. Either you’re all the way in or you’re out.” With a deep breath in, I dropped my hand from his lips and fixed him with a deadly serious stare. “Just answer me this. Do you want to be with me?”
I maintained a steady face, but inside, my nerves bounced around and threatened to give me away. If he turned me down, it would destroy me. But sending mixed signals was no longer acceptable. Life was too short, even for the Nephilim. We had to settle this here and now.
Gabe’s eyes smoldered as he shut his mouth. For a terrifying second, I thought he was going to leave, but he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine.
“Yes, more than anything,” he said.
A thrill went through my body, erasing all the little pains that still remained from my near death experience. I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him closer, kissing him again. He responded in kind, running his hands over my back and down to my waist. A shiver ran through me. I’d never been so happy.
“Just in time for another show.”
Adam’s sarcastic voice in the doorway made me pull back reluctantly from Gabe. He, Ashley, and Raquel were standing just inside the room. Raquel had an I told you so expression on her face as Gabe took my hand in his and sat on the edge of the bed. I rolled my eyes and smiled at her. This would surely earn me a thousand questions from her later tonight, but it was worth it.
Heart of a Demon: A New Adult Paranormal Romance Page 17
