Pick your battles.
I didn’t pick my battles. I was the rightful king of Hell. I spoke and others obeyed. She was the only one who challenged my decisions. The only one who had the courage to do so.
“I’ll agree to it if you agree to do what I tell you if something happens,” I said.
A smile lit her face. Apparently, compromising was the better way to go as she fairly bounced on her toes while she squeezed my hand. “I will.”
I lifted my head to find Corson biting on his lip, trying not to laugh. My glower caused him to turn away, but his shoulders shook with laughter as he walked. The new, dangling blue feathers hanging from his ears were begging to be torn free. River hurried to the back of the truck and pulled out the katana she’d stashed there. She slid it over her shoulder and adjusted it before looking toward me expectantly.
“Let’s go!” I barked.
River fell into step beside me as the vehicles began their descent toward the remains of the destroyed city below. Her arm brushed against mine as we walked next to the pickup and into the city. Her right hand rested on one of the handguns strapped to her side.
She’d become extremely adept at using the weapons over the past couple of months, but it was the life energy she could draw on and wield that would be her most lethal weapon. If she learned how to use it better. Bale and Corson had both said she’d made some improvement with it, but her ability was nowhere near as developed as I would have liked it to be. I had faith her powers would grow the more she used them, and I didn’t doubt she would have to use them a few times before we arrived at the unnatural gateway.
We couldn’t have delayed our timeline for leaving the wall. The longer we waited, the more seals Lucifer could break open and the more disastrous life would become on earth. It had taken him thirteen years to figure out how to break the first seal, but now they were falling quickly, and there was no way of knowing if more than the first three seals had already been broken.
The humans had weapons that were effective against us, but they wouldn’t be able to stop the creatures spilling out of Hell if all those seals fell. Nothing could. The balance between Heaven, Earth, and Hell had kept the humans safe and held steady for hundreds of thousands of years. Then, Lucifer had been cast from Heaven six thousand years ago, and instead of dying as the angels had intended, he’d somehow figured out a way to enter Hell.
His desire to take over the underworld had led to numerous battles and wars that my ancestors had led and died in. I was the first varcolac to have fought him numerous times and survived. Thirteen years ago, our battles within Hell had been thrust into the human realm when the humans had torn open an unnatural gateway into Hell. It had been the first gateway that I couldn’t close on my own, and it had effectively ended the division between our two worlds.
When the gateway had first been torn open and demons had spilled into their realm, the humans had panicked and tried to destroy us. They soon realized that their guns could slow us, and their bombs could kill us, sometimes. Other times they just pissed us off more.
Mac had been wise enough not to try to bomb me when I’d first encountered him and his small struggling army a year after the humans had ripped Hell open. We were the best help the humans would ever get against fighting Lucifer and keeping him from walking this land again.
Tilting my head back, I studied the clear sky and the midmorning sun already baking the landscape around us. The heat of the sun was nothing compared to the fires of Hell. I had barely broken a sweat, but many of the humans around me were trying desperately to hide in what little shade they could find. River was sweating more than I was, but I’d noticed the heat had less of an effect on her than it did her fellow humans.
Another demon trait. Another sign she might be able to withstand Hell enough to enter it if she’s unable to close the gate and we are unable to draw Lucifer out.
It was bad enough I was taking her this close to Lucifer and the pit of Hell, but I still held out hope that she’d never have to know what it was like to walk in there. It was my home. It’s where I had been forged from the Fires of Creation themselves, and it was no place for her. If I succeeded in claiming my throne, I would spend a lot of my time on Earth with her afterward.
Beside me, the truck creaked as it bounced over the pitted road. Green grass had taken over the base of the buildings surrounding us. Ivy climbed high to consume their dilapidated façades.
Despite the new growth, signs of war and devastation were still visible throughout. I knew River spotted the skeletal remains near the base of a fountain when she took a step closer to me. Everywhere I looked, more piles of bones could be seen laying in and among the new vegetation.
“So many lives lost,” River whispered.
When we passed another building, crows bellowed caws of annoyance as their wings beat against the air. More birds soared into the sky from a crumbling building with a red maple tree growing up through its empty center. Beneath the rubble, I spotted more remains of the dead, trapped and forgotten forever in the destruction.
“Did anyone survive what happened out here in these states?” she asked.
“Some did. Mac did.”
“He did?” she squeaked.
“Yes. Mac was in Chicago when the boundaries between our dimensions were ripped apart. He was part of the military there and was ordered to pull out almost immediately. Your government tried to evacuate as many people as possible when the gateway was opened, but when the horde spilled out from Hell, they panicked. So did the countries on the other side of the world. They all bombed in the hopes of stopping the flow and saving the rest of their people.”
“But it didn’t stop the demons?”
“It killed some of them if they took a direct hit. It helped to stem the flow by making them warier of humans. Radiation has no effect on us, but dropping a bomb on us can kill us. The human leaders were smart enough to realize they couldn’t continuously try to destroy us though.”
“And why is that?”
“Because I would have slaughtered them all before I allowed such a thing to continue. Lucifer’s followers, the Craetons, have to be stopped, but I would not stand by and watch the humans destroy my entire species because they screwed up. Badly.”
“And you think you could have gotten to our president and all the leaders around the world in order to kill them?”
“I know I could have. It wouldn’t have been difficult for me to do so.”
Her gaze ran appraisingly over me. “No, I suppose it wouldn’t have. Not for you.”
“Besides, they didn’t know that Hell would absorb most of the nuclear fallout. In the beginning, the only reason they stopped bombing was because they believed if they continued to do so, they would kill all of humanity with radiation exposure. By the time they realized they could drop more bombs, we’d already joined forces with them. We agreed to work together to build the wall, train the volunteers, and take down the Craetons. Then, after Bale’s vision, we worked together to search for you.”
She frowned as she studied a sagging building before turning back to me. “It’s so weird to think you were looking for me for four years before we met.”
“I’ve been looking for you since the moment I first rose from the Fires of Creation.” I hadn’t realized it until meeting her, but now I knew it to be true.
My heart clenched as she gazed at me in what could only be called wonder. This woman, with her demon and angel lineage was far more fragile than me with her mortality, yet she made me feel as weak as a human when she gazed at me like that. If something ever happened to her…
Nothing would, I would not allow it.
“I bet you never expected your Chosen to be a human, much less a descendent of Lucifer,” she said.
I’d come to realize she refused to see herself as Lucifer’s daughter, but she was. I believed it was her way of distancing herself from the bastard who had created her. “You’re also part demon,” I reminded her.
A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “And part angel. Bet you didn’t see that one coming either.”
I leaned closer to her and pressed my mouth against her ear. “But you fuck like a demon.”
She turned red so fast I could feel the heat coming off her flesh. The look she shot me would have made most men cover their balls, but I also heard the increased beat of her heart and the hitch in her breath.
Brushing back a loose strand of her hair that had slipped from the knot on her head, my fingers lingered on her cheek before I stepped away. She was still staring at me as if she couldn’t decide if she wanted to punch me or jump me, when the pure amethyst of her eyes faded to a lighter violet color. She stopped abruptly, and her head tilted back to study the surface of the building behind me. I realized in that second she was having a vision.
I’d learned there was no rousing her when a vision took her over; I despised how vulnerable she became during them. Gripping her arm, I focused on her in the hopes she would drag me into her vision as she had before, so I could see what she was seeing. It didn’t work; her eyes were already returning to their normal hue as she came around seconds later.
“There is something up there,” she breathed. “Hideous, awful.” She pulled her guns from their holsters. “And they’re coming.”
“Stop,” I commanded, slapping my hand on the side of the pickup.
Hawk hit the brakes so forcefully the truck lurched and the tires squeaked. I turned to search the burnt-out building River was focused on as the other vehicles halted on the road. There was no movement from inside the twisted steel beams and piles of broken glass, but I didn’t doubt River’s visions. If she’d seen it, it was coming.
“Get out of the trucks and get your weapons ready!” I called to the others. Hawk pushed the door of the pickup open an inch before I shoved it closed again. “Not you. You have to be ready to get her out of here if I need you to,” I told him. River shot me a look. “You agreed to do what I told you,” I reminded her.
Her jaw clenched, but she gave me a brief nod. My attention returned to the building as I scanned the floors looming high above us. Doors closed around me as the humans exited their trucks and moved in closer. In the stillness following, I heard something flapping in the breeze and spotted the tattered remains of a curtain hitting the side of the building as it blew out of one of the windows.
Corson and Bale moved to flank River. The seconds turned into a full minute before a single ticking sound drew my attention to a broken window higher up. A single, gray claw had appeared to curve around the edge of the steel frame of the window. My gaze fixated on it as the claw tapped against the frame. It was impossible to tell exactly what kind of demon or Hell creature we were facing without seeing its whole body.
Then a head poked over the top of the window. My lips skimmed back, and my fangs lengthened as flames erupted from my fingers and licked toward my shoulders.
“Gargoyles,” Corson growled.
“Are you serious?” a human blurted.
“Yes,” Corson replied.
I watched the creature crawl out from over the top of the broken window. It’s scaled, slate-colored skin cracked and flaked off as it leisurely climbed down the building on all fours. The sticky, glue-like substance on its palms gave it traction as it moved. Its three-foot-long tail flicked back and forth like a bored cat on the hunt, and there was no doubt this monstrosity was on the hunt.
There were few things in life I found truly ugly, gargoyles were one of them. They had pushed in snouts, mustard-colored eyes, and razor-sharp teeth that clacked together when they closed in on their prey. That clacking sound increased in intensity as it continued its descent and its tail twitched faster.
Gray wings unfurled from its back and flapped once. They crashed against a remaining pane of glass, causing jagged fissures across the surface. Startled cries escaped a few of the humans. They had to keep it together, or they would all be slaughtered, and we couldn’t afford to lose them so early in the journey. I needed their extra protection for River.
“Guns ready!” I commanded. “And whatever you do, don’t let them scratch you with their claws!”
“Them?” a soldier asked.
As if on cue, at least fifteen more gargoyles emerged from inside to perch on the broken edges of the building. They sat as still as their stone counterparts in the human realm. Humans had come so close to recreating things they’d glimpsed through the veil that had once separated our worlds; gargoyles may have been one of the closest.
The gargoyle’s stillness and their ability to remain unmoving for years on end was well known by the demon world. They often entered a hibernation state when they were unable to kill and feed. Kept separate from all demons in Hell, behind the second seal, gargoyles were often reserved to punish demons who tried to launch an uprising and failed, or for the worst souls who entered Hell. Their claws contained a paralyzing agent they used on their prey. When their victim was paralyzed, the gargoyles would peel the skin from their victims, one strip at a time, and leisurely eat it in front of them.
Once there was nothing but muscle and bone left, the creatures would wait until the skin regenerated before starting the whole process all over again. I’d witnessed it once, and though I’d appreciated the brutality and torment of the act, I’d never gone back to watch it again.
They all fluttered their three-foot-wide wings at once, causing a breeze to blow down the building and over all those gathered below. A wailing cry escaped them before they launched simultaneously into flight. Gunfire exploded in the air as they swooped down on us.
CHAPTER 10
River
The flames licking over Kobal’s skin warmed my body as the grotesque gargoyles launched themselves into the sky. Their wings whistled as they cut through the air and dove toward us. The flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz had frightened me as a child. These monsters made them look cute.
Gunfire erupted around us. I lifted my Glock and took aim at the one honing in on Kobal. What was inside of me was far more lethal than any bullet, and I’d been getting better at using my abilities, but there was no guarantee I’d be able to control them. I couldn’t take the chance that I might mess up somehow and take out one of the buildings, or worse, one of the demons or humans.
I fired, hitting the gargoyle in one of its gnarled wings. All that succeeded in doing was causing black goo to shoot into the air and pissing it off. Its roar vibrated the earth beneath my feet as it continued to swoop toward us.
Kobal released a stream of fire from his hand that knocked it off its course. He wrapped his arm around my waist, jerking me against him and spinning toward the side as one I hadn’t seen dove at us. It folded its wings against its back as it came at us with the speed and accuracy of a missile.
Kobal dragged me beneath him, pressing me into the ground and rolling with me. His body covered mine, keeping it completely shielded as another gargoyle swept by us. Somehow, he managed to turn over and release another wave of fire. The flames smashed into the creature and licked over its skin. The gargoyle screeched as it flew backward, its body a spiraling ball of fire tumbling through the air before crashing against a stone fountain.
Gunfire continued to erupt around us, but the hideous creatures dove in and out, dodging the bullets with preternatural grace. Those that were hit showed no sign of slowing down as they continued their attack.
The flames licking over Kobal increased until his entire upper body was consumed by the fire. I didn’t know why they didn’t sear my skin from my body, but I could feel their growing heat.
Surrounded by screams of terror and panic, I focused on bringing the fire within me to life. Fear was the biggest motivator for my fire, and right now, my heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest. I had enough adrenaline coursing through me to fuel the fire for a day.
Flames spread over my fingers and up to my wrist. Leaping to his feet, Kobal spun as gunshots burst through the air and more people screame
d. Lifting my flaming hand in front of me, I slid under the truck and rolled to the other side, keeping it away from my clothes.
Kobal could protect the people on that side, but there were others over here who needed help. I stuck my hands and head out on the other side just as piranha-like fangs snapped in my face. The motion blew my hair straight back and covered me in a blanket of hot, rancid breath.
I ducked back beneath the vehicle, trying not to vomit as the strips of flesh caught between the creature’s teeth waved back and forth. The gargoyle shoved its snout beneath the truck. Its talons clicked over the broken asphalt as it hunted beneath the truck for me.
I glanced at the gas tank behind me then the fire encircling my hand as one of those claws came within a centimeter of my arm. It was only a matter of time before it got me. I could go back, retreat to Kobal’s side, but I wasn’t ready to give into this monster, not yet.
Timing its snapping jaws, I waited until its mouth was closed before grasping its snout. Bits of flaky skin broke off beneath my hand, and scales abraded my palms from its sandpaper-like flesh. Before it could open its mouth again, fire flared hotter from my hand and seared across its snout.
The creature released a howl before recoiling from beneath the truck. A breeze drifted over my cheeks when its wings fanned the air. It launched itself backward into the sky and out of view. My gaze lifted to the undercarriage above me; thankfully, it wasn’t on fire.
I remained still for a minute, trying to get control of my galloping heart before rolling out from beneath the truck. Fire crackled over my palms as I released a blast into the air. It was nowhere near the inferno of flames Kobal could emit, but it caught one gargoyle in the belly and sent it screeching backward.
Leaping to my feet, I braced my legs apart as the fire swirled up to my elbows. Another gargoyle turned and dove toward me as more of them flew out of the building across the way. They were everywhere at once, filling the air with their compact bodies. Shadows danced over the asphalt from the creatures circling above before diving at us again. The screams from the people surrounding me grew as the gargoyles continued to attack them.
Carved (The Road to Hell Series, Book 2) Page 7
