by Ciara Graves
Do Unto Others
Reign of Shadows
Ciara Graves
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 1
Afterword
Do Unto Others
Reign Of Shadows Book Three
Seraphim, lords of hell, angels, demons, corrupted mortals, hell spawn, and the dark creatures of nightmares.
The battle of the realms continues!
Lela’s a warrior of light. As a warrior of light her mission is to protect the world from the legions of demons, corrupted mortals, hell spawn, and the dark creatures of nightmares.
Cracks in the veil have opened up the war of shadows and brought it to the mortal plane, opening up the seals to the realms of angels and hell.
Lela’s latest orders are to close the rift near a rundown human settlement. Ambushed by demons during her mission, she finds herself squaring off against a massive demon covered in tribal tattoos.
Tonamech—known as Mech— a tat-covered demon is one of the elite fighters under one of the nine Lords of Hell. HIs mission is to capture souls and return them to hell and fight off angel attacks.
Mech could do without angels. Any of them. Now he’s fighting an angel bearing a very specific branding mark on her shoulder signifying her high rank. He takes her captive. She could provide valuable intel.
Lela’s hope is to build up a burst of holy light to help her escape the demonhold. She didn’t count on Mech’s tenacity.
Warning: Unputdownable action-packed fantasy, with a touch of romance which features seraphim, lords of hell, angels, demons, corrupted mortals, hell spawn, and the dark creatures of nightmares.
Chapter 1
Mech
I thought I knew what pain was. Damn, was I wrong. Every inch of me screamed. I opened my mouth to snarl and rage, but all that came out was a hoarse grunt. Images of the battle slammed into me. Seeing Hadariel morph into Zeraxin. Realizing we’d walked into a trap.
What of my father, Koreth? Had he lived? Had Remiel? Some of the fight was missing from my memory. Black voids blocked those moments from my mind. I needed to open my eyes and figure out where I was. Vaguely, I remembered hearing Lela shouting my name. I pictured her at the falls, but knew that had to be a dream. She couldn’t have been there. No one would let her leave Dakota. Was I dead? No, the pain was too intense. I wondered if I’d been captured, but when my eyes finally fluttered open, my brow wrinkled in confusion.
“Where—” I coughed on the next words, unable to force them out. A lump formed in my throat, and the more I hacked, the worse it became. My chest was in agony. Then someone was sitting me upright. I growled at the tearing in my wounds that seemed to stretch from my neck to my ankle. A glass was pressed to my lips. Cold water was poured a little at a time into my mouth.
“Easy, Mech,” a voice that was clearly not Zeraxin’s said. “Easy. You’ve been out for a few days.”
“Days?” I sputtered, shoving the glass away. The room slowly came into focus, but I had to be wrong. Why was I in Koreth’s bedchamber? Bobby stood beside me, keeping one arm around my shoulders. The only thing keeping me sitting up. “How…” I swallowed with a grimace, hating how weak I was. The rest of the words were trapped behind more coughing that left me dizzy.
“Just rest, alright? You've not finished healing. Going to take a while.”
I grabbed for him, tugging him closer. “Lela.”
“She’s safe, Mech, and she’ll be pissed if she knows you’re pushing yourself. Lay back down and sleep.”
I had to get to her. Something wasn’t right. She’d been there at the ravine. Had she been in the fight? Was she hurt? I attempted to swing my legs over the edge of the bed, but Bobby blocked me. Usually, he wouldn’t have been able to stop me. I was hurt worse than I first thought.
“Keep your ass in bed,” Bobby ordered. “We’ve got it under control.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant, but then I was lying back, my eyes closed.
I tumbled back into darkness.
When I awoke, soft light flickered around the chamber. Koreth’s chamber. I still had no idea why I was in my father’s rooms instead of my own. Or the infirmary. I remembered seeing Bobby’s face, but maybe that had all been a dream. A hand held mine and when I glanced to my left spotted a familiar head of hair. Lela. From the steady rise and fall of her back, she was sound asleep, clutching my hand in hers as if afraid to let me go. Her face was hidden by a swath of hair that had fallen from her messy bun. I brought my hand over to move it, but the motion tugged at my side.
Pain.
A growl rumbled through my chest.
Lela shot upright. “Mech?”
I attempted to smile, but my lips wouldn’t cooperate. “Hey.”
She leaned into my open palm, eyes shining with tears of relief. She stood and kissed me. “I was worried you weren’t going to wake up again.”
My head was still a bit fuzzy, and when I glanced around, worry gripped me. “You’re in Hell.”
“You think I’d let you stay down here alone?”
“Lela, you can’t,” I argued, but she placed her hand gently over my mouth.
“I’ve been coming down in shifts, don’t worry, alright? You just need to focus on healing.”
She pulled her hands from mine and began checking over the bandages that were loosely laid over my whole right side. When she reached my hip where the blanket was, her cheeks reddened, and that time I did grin until she tugged the blanket aside enough to reveal my hip and thigh.
I flinched when her fingers gently prodded the wounds. Suddenly, I was back in the ravine as Zeraxin’s claws tore into me. I dug my fingers into the mattress fighting to stay in the moment with Lela and not go back to that dark place.
She was saying my name, but the room spun around me. She called for Bailey, and the healer was at her side a second later. They were talking, but the words couldn’t penetrate the sound of my pulse thundering away in my ears.
Then Bailey was pouring something down my throat.
I fought against it, knowing it was a sedative. I didn’t want to go back to sleep, not now. Lela rested her forehead to mine, her eyes studying me. Having her here calmed me, and I let myself relax. She smoothed her fingers through my hair as I shut my eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep…
Koreth stood in front of me. Blood Falls were at his back. I knew what came next but had to stop it. I rushed forward as bony hands shot from the ground and trapped my feet. I shouted for Koreth to run, get out of there only he didn’t seem to hear me.
Zeraxin towered over Koreth, and then his fist was punched through my father’s chest. Blood spurted on my face as I bellowed furiously, trying to get free.
Zeraxin hefted Koreth’s body into the air and flung my father aside as if he was a piece of trash. Zeraxin stalked toward me, his arm drenched in blood. He grinned revealing rows of sharp teeth.
“Your turn,” he said with a sneer.
My hands were bound at my sides by invisible ropes. His fist plunged through my chest—
A yell shattered the silence in my chambers. I smashed a hand to my chest, expecting to find a massive hole. But there was nothing. The bandages Lela had tended to were gone. Only faint scars remained on my skin, cutting through the tribal tattoos that marked my body.
I threw back the blanket and studied the path of scarred flesh to my ankle. The stab wound on my left thigh ha
d also healed enough to have the coverings removed. Warm hellfire flowed to my palms. I was more than healed. I was fully recharged, more than I had been in weeks.
The door opened, and two demon guards in black armor rushed in. “Lord Tonamech?”
I held up a hand to let them know I was alright. “Lela, where is she?”
“Commander Lela had to return to the surface,” the first guard answered. Travis, that was his name. “We were to alert her when you woke again.”
“How long have I been down here?”
The guards exchanged a long look. “Six days, my lord,” Travis replied.
“Stop calling me that.” I rubbed a hand down my face to wipe away the last slivers of my nightmare. “And why am I in Koreth’s chambers? Where is he?”
Travis whispered to the second guard, and he rushed from the room. “My lord,” Travis said quietly, “your father didn’t make it. You are the new Demon Lord of Olem.” He bowed as he said it. “I am sorry.”
It hadn’t been a nightmare then. Koreth had been killed by Zeraxin. So many demons were dead. The realization weighed heavily on my shoulders, and I wanted to fall back into bed, bury my head, and pretend I hadn’t woken up yet. What was I supposed to do now? We had gone to that damned ravine to kill Hadariel and instead we were ambushed by evil.
“Can I get you anything, my… Mech?” Travis corrected himself when I glared.
“Clothes would be nice. And maybe a bath.” I might be healed, but I stunk of battle, even after six days. My hair was tangled, and my muscles were sore. I had no desire to leave my father’s chambers yet, but just the thought of making the trek to the showers in the barracks made me tired.
Eventually, I had to accept it, I supposed. These were my chambers now. Damn it. Why hadn’t I been able to save Koreth? Guilt left me feeling sick to my stomach.
“Right away, Mech.” Thankfully, Travis rushed out of the room. I stood, wrapped the blanket around my hips, then walked slowly around the room.
I’d grown up running into this room to wake my parents. That was before the war when life was happy. I ran my hand over the wooden chest along the far wall and my gut clenched. Koreth was gone from this world. I’d always known I’d one day take his place, but I never expected that day to be so soon.
I was lost in memories of the great Demon Lord of Olem that my father had been when Travis returned with fresh clothes brought from my chambers. A copper tub was set up and filled with steaming, hot water. Once I was alone again, I stepped into it and sank beneath the surface.
The hot water eased my muscles but did little to soothe my churning mind. Slowly and methodically, I used the cloth to wash my body, pausing at every new scar Zeraxin gifted me with. I stayed in the bath as the steam slowly dissipated.
A subtle shift in the air had me opening my eyes.
Someone was here.
Before the door even opened, I knew it was Lela. She said nothing as she approached the tub and ran her fingers through my wet hair around my horns. I reached up and held her hand, squeezing it hard. Neither of us said a word; we didn’t have to. I sensed her worry and pain right at the loss of so many lives.
We stayed like that for a long while until the water began to lose its heat. I released her hand, and she washed my hair. When she finished, she held out a towel for me. I stood and stepped out. The moment I had it wrapped around my hips, she was in my arms.
I breathed her in, her hair smelling of oranges and vanilla. “How did you know?” I finally asked. “I never had a chance to send a message.”
“I’m not sure,” she replied, staring up at me. “I just knew you were in trouble. I had to get to you. Shit, Mech, if I’d been any later, if I hadn’t convinced Bobby to go with me…” She trailed off, standing on her toes to kiss me.
“Thank you,” I murmured against her lips. “You saved my ass, again.”
“But Koreth. We were too late for him.”
Anger rose within me as I recalled exactly how my father had died. “We should never have gone. Somehow, he knew. Zeraxin, or maybe Hadariel, found out about our plan. It was a damned trap and we waltzed right into it.” I was annoyed that Lela had come after me even though I ordered her to stay behind in Dakota, but that faded quickly. If she hadn’t, I’d probably be dead. “How many did you save?”
“You, Remiel, twenty-three others.”
“That’s it?” I asked alarmed. “What about Kexan?”
“Wounded, but he’s recovering. He’s down here, too. As are all the demons who were wounded.”
At least he survived. I’d lost sight of him so quickly into the fight.
“We brought back over thirty alive, but their injuries were too extensive. The abominations did a number on them. We weren’t sure Remiel was going to make it, but he pulled through the last couple of days.” She pressed her face to my chest, shaking her head. “I thought I lost you.” Then she hauled off and punched me in the arm. “Don’t you do that to me again, got it? Ever. I can’t see you like that. I won’t lose you.”
I tilted her chin up. “Now you know how it feels.”
“That’s not funny.”
“Isn’t meant to be.”
This was going to be our lives until the war ended. We’d constantly be in danger. How many more times would I have to watch her heal from wounds? Or wake up to find her watching over me as I healed from mine? We’d both already almost died too many times, and the war wasn’t going to get better any time soon.
It was just going to keep getting worse until we were dead. Or they were.
“What happened?” she whispered. “Do you remember?”
“I remember everything,” I replied through gritted teeth.
She guided me back to the bed, and we sat down at the foot of it.
“I don’t know how he did it, but Zeraxin had an army waiting for us. He appeared as Hadariel, but then he shifted, and his true form came through. He cut off our hellfire again. Made us nearly defenseless.” She squeezed my hands when the words became lodged in my throat. “Koreth was the first to be attacked. We were heavily outnumbered, and there was no way to get back to Dakota.”
Somehow, that rotten bastard managed to hide an entire army from our scouts. He was powerful, possibly stronger than Hadariel.
“You think he was there on the high general’s orders?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Didn’t get a chance to ask.” I held my face in my hands, a shudder rushing through me as the fight played out again in my mind. There was so much blood and death. I almost expected my hands to be stained with it, but they were clean. “I thought I was dead,” I whispered. “I was sure he killed me.”
“I won’t let him.”
“Lela.” I lifted her onto my lap and, for a while, let myself get lost in her arms. In the back of my mind, all I kept seeing was Zeraxin coming for us both. Lela wouldn’t stand a chance against him. No matter what happened next, I had to keep her out of it. One of us had to survive this war.
She drew back, and her eyes fluttered like she was fighting to stay conscious.
“What’s wrong?”
“Been down here longer than I thought.” She sighed. “I’ll be fine for a few minutes longer.”
“No. I’ll come with you.”
“You’re not leaving Hell until Bailey gives you permission,” she argued. She gave her head a hard shake. “Mech, really, I’ll be alright.”
“You shouldn’t even be coming down here.”
“As if I could stay away. You’re funny, you know that?” she teased and patted my cheek. “Fine, I’m going, but you better keep yourself in Hell. I won’t have you returning to the surface if you’re not prepared for it.”
She started for the door, but I caught her hand, unwilling to let her out of my sight. I knew she had to get back, but my heart tugged at the thought of her leaving. She leapt into my arms. I caught her, and my raw emotions coursed over us both. I’d been too damned close to death this last time, too close to leaving he
r behind to face whatever darkness was still coming. She pulled away too soon and was out the door a second later.
I walked toward the door, telling myself I was strong enough to follow her to the surface. Dizziness came over me, and my knees shook. I staggered to bed and sat down heavily. It took far longer than I liked to get dressed. When the dizziness stopped, I stood again, and this time made it out the door and down the hall until my strength gave out. I slumped against the stone wall, grinding my teeth as I willed myself to stand upright and keep going.
“Mech?”
I glanced up to find Kexan and Bobby hurrying toward me.
“Glad to see you up and moving around,” Kexan commented. His face bore a large gash running down his right cheek, and his hands were bandaged. Otherwise, he looked better than I did.
“Glad to see you’re alive,” I replied.
Kexan laughed, but the sound was far from happy. “Yeah, me too.”
“You had us all worried.” Bobby’s voice was rougher than normal, and he wouldn’t meet my gaze. “Sorry about Koreth, Mech.”
I stopped short and stared down the long stretch of corridor. This was my place in Olem now. A demon lord. I was no longer going to be waiting for orders from Kexan. I would be giving them, which put even more weight on my shoulders. “Where are the others?” I asked stiffly, not willing to give into panic. Yet. “The lords?”
“Waiting to hear word from you,” Kexan told me. “They’re already massing their armies for a counterattack.”
“Against who?” I scoffed. “Zeraxin? We don’t have a way to kill him, not yet.”
