The Artifact Reaper Saga Box Set

by Jen L. Grey

Did my magic protect the knife? I have no clue at this point, I'll need to revisit this later.

  "Maybe you've been stuck in Hell too long and your power is waning?" Dax shrugs and resumes his stance.

  "We'll see about that." The angel then reaches back and delivers a punch toward Dax's face.

  Even with his speed, Dax is able to duck, and raises a leg to kick him in the side.

  It hits the angel but falls short of the expected impact. It forces him to take one step to the side. He laughs. "Maybe you need to rethink that statement."

  Shit, I don't know how to help him at this point. The knife was easy to protect, but not him.

  The angel moves so fast and swings his sword to the side hitting him right in the ribs.

  Falling down, Dax grabs his side and screams out.

  "And this is where I'll end you." The dark angel raises his sword again aiming at his neck.

  No, this can't be happening. My power swirls inside me and I let it take over. I don't give a shit about this place so let's cause some chaos. It swirls out of me and a large piece of rock from the ground swings up and hits the angel on the head.

  This makes him stumble back a few feet and breaks his concentration from Dax.

  "Run."

  Yeah that's not happening, and where am I really going to run to?

  Dark black eyes land on me. "How did you do that?"

  Great, not only did I get his attention, I now have his curiosity peaked. "I'm a really good thrower."

  "Do you think I'm stupid?" His nostrils flair and he stalks toward me. "You couldn't have picked that up if your life depended on it."

  Wow, he's a sweet talker. "Well, this is awkward. Because do you remember what just happened?" Maybe I shouldn't be snarky. I used to be able to control my mouth, what has happened to me?

  Without warning, the angel reaches out and smacks me hard against my face. "Don't speak to me that way."

  Pain radiates up my check and into my jaw. This son of a bitch is going down. I push my power toward him, and it slams him against the wall of the tunnel.

  He hits the side hard and falls to his knees. He takes a ragged breath and flies up in the air. "You will pay for that." His large wings flap causing a hot breeze to hit my face and the scent of brimstone to fill my nose.

  Promises, promises. I want this over with. "Bring it."

  Dax yells out as he slides over his knife my way. It lands at my feet.

  I reach and grab it, standing back on my feet. At least I'm not weaponless now. I hadn't realized until now how far up the tunnel goes. It looks like it is open for miles. I watch him fly higher and higher until he's just a black dot in the red sky.

  "You have to let me fight him." Dax groans as he stands and leans against the wall, grabbing at his side. Blood soaks through his fingers from where he was stabbed. "I have to protect you."

  "Oh, please." Doesn't he realize he could bleed out fast if he's not careful. "You could barely kill a fly in your condition right now. Sit back down before you get us both killed."

  Something like a sonic boom fills the air and that black dot in the sky grows quickly in size.

  Shit he's coming at me fast. My power goes crazy and I embrace the swirling blues and browns cascading and surging through me. It has to be the elements working together, because they are the exact shades the artifacts shined prior to absorbing into me.

  His body comes into view and he’s coming down in a circular motion, almost like a screwdriver. Holy crap is he going to cut through me? His wings cling to him and the feathers stick out as if they are small spikes.

  I push my power out, encompassing me, and as he lands on me, he ricochets off and falls to the ground.

  "How are you doing that?" He runs at me, swinging his blade downward, and I block it with the knife.

  He kicks out and hits me square in my stomach, causing me to fall on my ass.

  Pain radiates up my spine, but I jump back to my feet. I have to block it out or Dax and I won't make it out of here. I rush at him and raise my knife swinging down at his right wing.

  Prepared for my attack, he spins around and grabs my arm. "You're a worthier adversary than he was." He grabs me by the neck and lifts me while he squeezes. "But still not a good one."

  My air is being cut off, but I close my eyes and focus inside. The ground shakes underneath his feet and the air begins to swirl.

  "What the hell?" He flaps his wings to fly, but I focus on freezing the air around them so his wings can't gain elevation.

  Increasing my power, I push the brown energy into the ground more, making the ground shake harder under his feet.

  He throws me hard to the ground and kicks me in the stomach. "I don't know how you're doing it but stop it." His jaw is clenched and his nostrils flair.

  I huddle in a ball, playing up my pain. We've got to get the upper hand. Underneath me, I move the knife around in my hand so it's in a striking position.

  "Now you act pathetic. Quit it." He grabs me again and turns me to face him.

  As soon as my body turns into his, I reach and kick him square in the balls. At this point, I'm okay fighting dirty.

  Dropping to a knee, he growls. "Playtime is over."

  "Yeah, it is." With the heel of the knife, I swing as hard as possible and hit him right under his chin, knocking him out cold. When he doesn’t move for a few seconds, I put the knife inside my jeans making sure it won’t cut me.

  "I can't believe you just beat him." Dax is limping toward me, sweat coating his forehead.

  Yeah, me neither. We aren't ready to be down here. I try to locate the flame, but I still can't get the best read on it. We need to go back and get a better game plan than this, especially with Dax injured. "We need to go back. We aren't ready for this. I still can't nail down the flame."

  Loud laughing comes just a few feet away and then five tall black demons turn our direction looking straight at us. One steps out in front of the others. "There they are. Let's get them."

  Chapter Fifteen

  My heart jumps in my throat. How did those demons find us? As far as I could tell, the dark angel never had an opportunity to call on anyone else or even consider to.

  They are about five hundred feet from us but moving fast. Their red, glowing eyes can be seen from here and they are laughing as if this is child's play.

  Dax’s hand is now red with blood and his skin is glistening with sweat.

  There is no way we are going to come out alive if we don't get out of here fast. The longer he bleeds the less likely he'll be able to transport us out anyway. "We gotta get out of here."

  His eyes flutter and he turns to me. "Dammit, I'm trying but it's not working. I don't know what's going on."

  Oh, dear God. Please don't tell me he's past the point of getting us back. "Maybe we need to connect again like we did here. Maybe that's the problem."

  The noise is increasing, and they are almost on us.

  Not even concerned with hurting him, I grab his free hand and pull him hard toward me. "Let's do this or we won't be making it home." I push the image of the last room we were in with Luke project it to Dax with a little magic.

  He lets out a deep guttural groan but soon the ground drops from underneath us. The air around us turns into a blur of swirling wind and we are leaving Hell behind us.

  It's crazy, because even though we left it behind, I can still hear the shrieking laughter of the demons. This just proves I'm losing my damn mind. We just need to hurry back and get Dax mended before it's too late.

  It takes seconds, but it seems like hours until we land back in the mansion we left behind. The air around us begins to settle and I'm surprised to find Luke sitting at the table looking through some papers.

  When our feet hit the floor, Dax crumbles to the ground.

  "What the..." Luke turns and jumps from the chair. "What happened?"

  Loud chuckles surround me. "Did you really think you could escape me?" One of the demons appears in front of me and hovers
. His black shadowy claws stretching out.

  Shit, that's why I heard laughter the entire way here. It somehow caught a ride back with us. At least my sanity is still in check... maybe. I bend down and help Dax to his feet, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "Luke, he needs help. He's severely injured." I move him over to the side, so he won't get in our way.

  When I stand back up, the demon charges me, diggings his claws into my arm. I throw him off me and use some power to slam him into the wall, causing it to crack.

  Dammit that hurt. I'm too tired from the angel to have to fight him, but I have no other choice. Blood drips down my arm, but I ignore it. I've got to get past it.

  I glance over to find Luke hovering over Dax and tying something around his waist to stop the wound from bleeding. Thank goodness. He lost too much blood down there and the heat didn't help.

  Screeching, the demon grabs my leg and pulls me up causing me to fall on my back. It hovers over me and opens its mouth revealing razor like teeth.

  My breath is knocked out of me, but my angel breath's power begins pulsing through me helping me. I can't imagine where I would be if I didn't have these artifacts at my disposal. I gather some of the power and push it out of me toward it.

  It hits him square in the chest and he flies backward, just on his feet.

  Something needs to give. I don't know how much longer I can do this. Pushing through the pain, I stand and get in the fighting stance. I rear back and punch him on the face. As usual, the coldness encompasses my skin. Why do these things from Hell always feel so dang cold? You'd think they would be hot.

  Crying out, it's head snaps to the side. "You stupid, girl." He attacks me using his claws once again, swiping at my stomach.

  At the last second, I jump back and dodge any physical damage even though my tank top gets ripped. Crap, I've got to be careful. I don't want him to know about my knife yet. I've got to get him in a situation where I can use it and know it'll work.

  I spin around and hit him in the back of the head causing him to move forward and then swipe my feet from underneath, so it falls to the ground. When he lands with a thud, I jump on top and try to ignore the icy coldness between my thighs.

  Not wasting a second, I grab the knife hidden and pull it out and swing it down across his throat. That's the only way I know of to kill a demon. They have no hearts.

  He gurgles and jerks as his existence begins to vanish. Before long, the coldness begins to turn warm and he disappears beneath me.

  My first instinct is to fall forward, but my throbbing arm keeps me somewhat coherent. I take a deep, ragged breathe and stand. I turn to find Dax passed out on the floor, but the sweat has already disappeared from his face.

  Forcing myself not to stumble, I make my way to a chair and sit. I lean back in the chair and find Luke. He's standing at the table watching me with some strange expression on his face.

  "So..." He makes his way to me and stands a few feet away. "How did it go?"

  Yeah, I bet he's dying to know. If his sorry ass came, he'd wouldn't have to ask that. It's kind of funny, I'm important enough to be on the council and can still go, but he's not able to attend this adventure with me. Convenient much. "Not great."

  "Where you able to..." He bites his lips and taps his foot.

  The prick wants to know if I got the artifact. "No, I didn't get the flame. Couldn't find it. Dax thinks I was too tired, and it didn't help we weren't prepared for what was down there." I motion to the room that is now a complete disaster. "We need to regroup and try again."

  His shoulders slump, but he catches them and straightens back up. "Well, you can't go again until Dax is healed. I'm going to call the healer so he'll be seen tonight. So that'll give you time to get rested and for us to come up with a plan."

  At least he had the decency or the smarts not to pretend to be upset. I don't know or care at this point. I'm exhausted, filthy, and hungry. Right now, I want to go home, and hope Charlie is in a forgiving mood, so he'll cuddle with me. "Well, I'm going to head home."

  I close my eyes and picture my apartment and tug myself there, but nothing happens. I try again, then open my eyes. "Why isn't anything happening?"

  "You're too tired." Luke frowns and lets out a deep sigh. "Why don't you stay here? You can stay in the elder room that I showed you earlier."

  No way that's happening. "Thanks, but I want to get home. How long were we gone anyways?"

  "Oh, just a few hours." He laughs and shrugs. "That's one reason I was so surprised you were back so soon."

  Well, at least it wasn't days. That should lessen the blow with Charlie. "I'll call Charlie to come get me."

  "Absolutely not." He stands and heads to the door. "You're one of us now. You can drive one of my cars home. I kept an extra one here anyways for when Margaret would get a wild hair for shopping."

  This feels strange. I don't want to owe him. "No, it's okay."

  "I insist." He walks over to where he was sitting and picks up a key chain. He takes off a key and brings it back over to me. "Here you go. Just bring it back later." He hands it to me.

  You know what, I want to get home, and don't want to wait on Charlie to get here. "Thanks, I'll bring it back soon." I get up, open the door, and walk out. I don't want any other uncomfortable conversations or interruptions.

  When I get to the front door, a butler walks out from another room.

  She smiles at me and walks pass the door. "Hi, I was requested to take you to the garage and show you the vehicle you're to use."

  Okay that would be helpful. I have no clue where what car he's letting me drive. "Thanks."

  She nods and we walk down a small hallway that leads to another door. When we walk through this door, we enter a large four car garage. There are two vehicles sitting there. One is a white, Audi A8, and the other is Lexus LX.

  "This," she says as she points to the Audi, "will be the car you borrow."

  No flipping way. "Oh ... kay. Thanks."

  "Sure." She hits a button and the garage door opens. "I'll shut it for you when you're out."

  Hitting the unlock button, I make my way over to the vehicle. I open the door and slide. This car is nicer than what my parents even drove. It has dark leather seats and is all high end and automated. I thought old people weren't techy. Who knew?

  I put the car in reverse and back out using the amazing camera. This car could almost freaking drive itself. I pull out of the driveway and head for home.

  Somehow, I make it without falling asleep. I'm not sure how, but at this point I must be working on autopilot.

  When I walk in the door, I find Charlie pacing in my living room. His blond hair is in disarray and his face is lined.

  His head turns my direction and his eyes go to my arm that is injured and my torn shirt. "Are you okay?"

  Shit, I was hoping to clean up before he saw me. "Yeah, I've just had a very long day."

  "So, I've heard." His tone is a little cold, but he takes my arm and inspects it. "Rumor has it that you went to Hell today."

  "Yeah, I'm sorry. It just happened." I don't feel like having this conversation right now. I'm tired and hungry. "Luke sprung it on me."

  "Did Becca help you?" He lets my arm go and walks into the kitchen getting into the pantry. He pulls out a first aid kit and begins looking through it.

  "No, she didn't." I walk into the kitchen with him and wash my hands. "It was someone else." I go the pantry and grab a handful of granola bars.

  He grabs some alcohol swabs and comes over to me. "This is going to burn." He rubs it on me, and he’s right, it does hurt like hell.

  "If it wasn't her, who took you?" He continues working on my arm.

  Ugh, I don't want to be a prick right now, but I don't want to talk about it. "Can we talk about this in the morning? I really just want to take a shower and go to bed. I'm exhausted."

  Silence descends over us for the next few minutes while I finish eating my food and he cleans my scratches. When he's done, I g
rab a bottle of water and drain it. "I'm going to jump in the shower."

  "Okay, I'll go get ready for bed." He walks away toward my bedroom.

  I grab his arm. "Look, I know you're upset with me tonight, so you don't have to stay."

  His eyes meet mine for a moment and he lets out a shaky breath. He reaches out and touches my cheek with the palm of his hand. "There is nowhere else I want to be, even when I'm upset with you. I'm staying. I love you."

  My heart melts and I smile. "I love you too and thank you. I want you here."

  I rush off and take a quick shower and then crawl into bed next to Charlie. Tonight, I avoided a difficult conversation with him, and I have no clue how to get to the flame. I'm just hoping tomorrow brings everything together.

  Chapter Sixteen

  If I had hoped to wake up refreshed with a bunch of answers, I was overly optimistic. My power is still depleted from yesterday and my body hurts from all the Hell I have been put through. I'm unable to hold back my snort at that thought. For once, that is a true statement.

  Charlie turns away from the stove and looks at me with furrowed eyebrows. "Are you okay?"

  That's a fair question. I'm sitting at the table laughing at myself. These are the first words he's spoken to me this morning. It's been chilly between us even after his declaration last night. I have a feeling we are about to have a deep conversation or huge argument. I'm not sure which one, but either way, I'm not looking forward to it. "Yeah, I'm fine."

  "If you say so." He turns back around and focuses on the eggs and sausage he's cooking.

  My stomach grumbles at those smells as well as the yeasty smell coming from the oven. He's making biscuits. I do have to give him credit; despite being angry, he got up to make breakfast for me. I'm not sure I would return the favor if the shoe were on the other foot.

  He pulls plates out of the cabinets, and then gets the biscuits out of the oven. Laying some paper towels on a plate, he places the sausage on it and turns to me. "It's ready. Let's eat up so we can talk."

  If that's not an appetite killer, I don't know what is. "Okay, great." I try to force a smile, but I'm sure it comes off flat. "Thanks for breakfast."