I shook my head and motioned for him to go ahead of me. I held my hands up before me. “I still have these as a weapon. I’m going to torch their asses straight off this road and into that pit.”
Hawk grinned at me before slipping into the little tunnel. I followed behind him, squeezing in between the jagged black rocks lining the tunnel. My head tipped back against the rocks. Sweat trickled down my forehead, but I didn’t wipe it away as I waited for the approaching lanavours.
The flow of life down here was different than what I was used to, but I could feel it brushing against my body as I drew it into me. There was nothing golden about the sparks sliding over my fingers now; they were a deep midnight blue shade. Digging my fingers into the wall, I willed the power back into me before our stalkers could see the light from it.
The lanavours made no sound when they neared, but I could feel the coldness they emanated and the emptiness of their souls as they approached. Then, the first one stepped into view. I didn’t dare move as I watched the hideous creatures floating over the ground not more than five feet away from me.
CHAPTER 12
River
I held my breath as I waited to see what would happen. Maybe the lanavours would all go by us, and we could slip out behind them to return to the top. That was what I hoped for anyway.
I should have known better though as something behind me scraped against the rock. One of the lanavour’s heads turned toward me, and I felt the moment it spotted me. As one, extremely creepy unit, the rest of their heads swiveled in my direction.
Digging into the fear these creatures brought forth in me, I drew on my ability to wield fire. Flames licked over my fingers.
Those hideous stitches pulled and twisted their faces as I swore they laughed at me. Ice crept down my spine again, ensnaring me within its depths as those nightmarish images of my brothers’ broken bodies burst over me. I could once again feel the weight of Bailey’s limp body in my arms.
I bit back a scream when anger at their ability to manipulate my mind in such a way spiked through me. I flipped my hand over and released a ball of fire that barreled into five of them. Wails resonated in my head, making it spin and pound as the burning lanavours stumbled backward and tumbled into the pit of Hell.
The remaining creatures turned toward me, but this time fire didn’t blaze from my hands. Now, the life within the rocks fueled me as deep blue sparks danced across my fingers. The lanavours slipped back, disappearing from view. My teeth grated together, I edged cautiously toward the road as the chill they emanated lessened. Poking my head around the corner, I searched for the hideous monsters, but didn’t see them.
I slid out from between the rocks and lifted my hands, when I spotted the remaining lanavours floating up the hillside. They spread across the path a hundred feet away from us. I glared at them, torn between hunting them and trying to get everyone somewhere safer before something else came along.
In the end, I knew I couldn’t allow these things to lure me away from everyone. They were hovering between us and the entrance to the gateway, but I couldn’t shake the feeling they were trying to bait me or biding their time until something worse came along.
I turned and gestured for the others to come back out of the crevice. Most looked as if they were going to fall over at any second when they funneled past me. Their faces were flushed as sweat poured from them and cleaved their clothes to their bodies. Many clung to whatever weapon they had, but I wasn’t sure they would be able to walk for much longer, never mind fight.
“What do we do?” Erin asked as she brushed a strand of black hair out of one of her ocean-colored eyes.
“We have to keep moving,” I said. Glancing up the hill, my heart sank when I realized the lanavours were creeping closer again. “Now.”
Nudging her in the back, I fell in at the rear of the line. I glanced repeatedly over my shoulder to watch those things floating toward us once more. Hawk and Vargas flanked my sides while Erin led the group. It was only a matter of time before the lanavours caught us, or we stumbled across something nastier.
We were in Hell after all.
I shuddered at the realization. This was where Kobal had been born; this was the place that had forged him into the man he was. Being surrounded by all this rock and barren landscape helped me better understand his coldness and indifference to others.
At the front of the pack, a man stumbled and fell. The woman beside him rested her hand on his shoulder. They couldn’t keep going, not when every step brought more heat from our inhospitable environment. Looking over my shoulder, I realized the lanavours had slowed in their pursuit. I had no idea why, but I had a feeling it wasn’t a good thing. Or maybe they’d decided to wait for us to drop so they could swoop in on the easy pickings like vultures on roadkill.
“Hawk, I’m not sure I can make it.” My gaze went to Sarah as she held her hand out to him. I hadn’t realized she was at the back of the pack with us.
Hawk cursed under his breath, but he took hold of her hand and helped her continue onward when she doubled-over and wrapped her arms around her middle.
“We have to find some place for everyone to hide,” I said. “I’ll lure the lanavours away.”
“You can’t continue on your own,” Vargas said. Despite his words, he swayed on his feet as he spoke.
“You’re not going to be able to continue with me.” I clasped his arm to help steady him. “The heat isn’t affecting me as badly.”
“She’s right,” Hawk said. “We have to find some place for everyone to shelter.”
“You can let me go,” Vargas muttered to me. “I’ll tell Erin and help her to keep an eye out for another hiding place.”
I reluctantly released his arm, but he remained stable on his feet as he slipped through the crowd toward Erin. She turned toward him when he reached her, and they spoke for a few seconds. Her full mouth pursed as her gaze traveled to me before she gave a brisk nod and continued onward with Vargas at her side and most of the people trailing behind.
My heart leapt into my throat when she slipped around a corner and out of view with Vargas. I hated not being able to see them, but I couldn’t be everywhere at once. I had to resist giving them the finger when I glanced over my shoulder at the hovering lanavours. They would probably only find it amusing if I flipped them off.
Two of the humans helped to lift the man who had fallen as a woman stumbled and fell a few feet away from them. I realized with a sinking sensation that if we didn’t find some place to hide them soon, they would all die.
We could try and make a stand against the lanavours; maybe I would be able to hold them off. But what if something happened to me? Everyone here would be far more vulnerable then. We outnumbered the lanavours, but there was little fight left in the humans. It would be like lambs to the slaughter.
Rounding another corner, I came to a halt when I discovered that they had found a new hiding spot as the large group was funneling into another crevice. Erin and Vargas had stepped back to direct everyone into the small tunnel. I stopped near the entrance of the crevice and glanced over my shoulder at where I’d last seen the lanavours. They were still out of sight, but every second that passed was one they neared.
My foot tapped as I glanced between where the lanavours would be coming from and where the others were hiding. I didn’t draw an easy breath until most of the people faded from sight, and the glow of their small penlights shut off.
“Stay in here,” I said to Vargas, Hawk, and Erin as they stood with me at the opening to the hiding spot. I took the small light Erin held from her. “I’ll keep them following me. When they go by, head back to the top. Get out of here as quickly as you can.”
“What about you?” Erin demanded.
“I’ll be fine. Just go as soon as you can.”
“We will,” Vargas said and squeezed my hand.
“I’m coming with you,” Hawk volunteered.
“The heat—” I started.
“I’m doing better tha
n the others.”
I studied his indigo eyes and the strained expression on his face. He wasn’t sweating as badly, and his eyes didn’t hold the glazed look of impending collapse as many of the others did. Lines etched the corners of his eyes, but I thought the strain on his face had more to do with the fact he also realized it was odd that he was far less affected by the heat than the other humans.
What did Lilitu’s blood really do to him? I kept the question to myself. It was something better discussed when we weren’t standing in Hell, hoping to lure away lanavours. Besides, right now it didn’t matter; two sets of eyes in this place were far better than one.
“Okay,” I agreed.
“Wait, you can’t go!” Sarah cried. She burst out of the entrance of the crevice and launched herself at Hawk. Catching him around the waist, she hung on for dear life. She shot me a look that clearly said she’d prefer me dead.
“Shut up!” Erin spat.
Hawk worked to untangle himself from the girl, but she stubbornly clung to him like glue. “You have to let go,” he hissed at her. “Before you get us all killed.”
“But you can’t leave me! We’re—”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Erin drove the butt of her gun into Sarah’s temple. Sarah’s eyes rolled up in her head, and she collapsed like a ton of bricks.
“That’s one way to do it,” Vargas said approvingly.
“Hope I didn’t kill her,” Erin murmured as she stared at the crumpled body by her feet.
“She’s alive,” Hawk said when Sarah’s chest rose with her next breath. “I might have to keep you around when we get back above.”
“You might have to keep your dick in your pants from now on,” Erin retorted as she bent to lift Sarah’s shoulders. “Vargas help me.”
I stepped forward as the two of them maneuvered Sarah into the small crevice. Erin turned back to me once they were settled inside. “We’ll be fine,” she assured me. “Go. And be careful.”
“We will.” I squeezed her forearm before moving away from her.
As if I were taking a leisurely stroll over the roadway, I continued until the lanavours came into view once more. Hawk slipped around the corner, making it appear as if he was still behind the group. I made sure the lanavours trailed us before following him. I prayed the lanavours would assume the group was still ahead of us. But then, they may not even stop for the others if they realized I was still going.
I poked my head back around the corner and sighed in relief when the lanavours floated past where the others were hiding. Ducking back around, I dashed forward, but I barely breathed as I waited to hear the screams of my friends. Thankfully, the screams never came and the pit remained silent as we continued deeper into a place that was a tomb for countless souls.
I wanted to draw the lanavours further away before attempting to set their asses on fire or shoot them with a bolt of life in case something went wrong. I couldn’t have them turning and fleeing only to come across everyone else. My fingernails dug into my palms as I resisted the impulse to attack.
“How are you doing?” I asked Hawk when we walked around another turn.
“Fine,” he replied.
My brow furrowed as I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. He was sweating less than me.
How is that possible? Not now, not here, but I couldn’t shake the incessant unease niggling at the back of my brain.
“Hawk—”
“I know it’s not normal, River, but I’m still standing here and we can’t exactly sit down to try to figure it out. We have to keep going.”
A glance over my shoulder revealed the lanavours were still on our asses as we descended deeper and deeper into the place I was becoming increasingly convinced we’d never escape.
CHAPTER 13
Kobal
Everything flashed by me in a blur as I raced deeper and deeper into Hell. The longer she’s in here…
I broke the thought off. She couldn’t be that far ahead of me, and she was strong enough to give anything in here a run for its money, including Lucifer. The heat of my home enfolded me, brushing over my skin as the familiar scents of fire and brimstone assailed me. They were scents I could never forget; I bore them on my skin and in my genetic makeup.
Turning a corner, I leapt over the charred and mangled remains of a lanavour lying at the edge of the pathway. River. She was still out of their grasp, still moving deeper, or at least she had been five minutes ago judging by the smoke curling off the remains.
I didn’t look back at Corson, Shax, and Bale as we traveled further into the pit. Hell had been my home for over a millennium, the place I’d been created to protect and rule over, yet all I wanted was to find River and drag her from here as fast as I could. This was not my home, not anymore. She was my home, and she was in danger.
I was moving so fast, I nearly crashed into Erin when I turned another corner. Her blue eyes were bloodshot and her face looked sunburned, but she remained standing when many of the other humans were leaning against the wall or each other.
“Where is she?” I demanded.
Erin adjusted her grip on the woman she and Vargas carried before pointing down the hill. “Leading them away,” she croaked out. “Hawk’s with her.”
So she could withstand Hell well enough to keep moving through it, and Hawk could too. Bale and Corson exchanged a pointed look. Shax clutched Erin’s arm when she swayed on her feet.
“We couldn’t keep going,” Erin rasped, sounding as if she’d eaten a pound of dirt.
“Shax, get them out of here,” I commanded. “When you get above, have Morax contact me.”
Shax lifted an eyebrow at this. They all knew I didn’t tolerate anyone else in my mind, but there would be no help for it now. Most of the time, I kept Morax’s ability to communicate telepathically resolutely shut off in my mind, and Morax knew better than to speak with me in such a way without approval or necessity. Otherwise, I’d make him eat his tail. However, this situation definitely qualified as necessary.
Turning away, Shax nudged Erin aside to take hold of the shoulders of the woman I now saw was the one who had become attached to Hawk. A purplish bruise marred her temple. I turned away, not caring what had happened to her, just as the earth beneath my feet trembled.
Small rocks broke free of the walls and rattled down the pathway. I didn’t have time to wonder what had happened before the earth gave a mighty heave and the ground lurched three inches to the side. I took a step forward to balance myself. Screams rent the air as some of the humans were knocked off their feet and others flung themselves against the wall.
“Silence!” I commanded and took a step closer to the edge of the path. A couple more whimpers sounded before they all fell quiet.
Bale, Shax, and Corson stepped closer to the edge with me. Below us, a pinpoint of light emerged where none had been before. My fangs lengthened as the light at the bottom of the pit spread.
***
River
“What was that?” I gasped as I pressed my back and palms flat against the wall behind me. I ignored the stones digging painfully into my flesh. My chest heaved with every one of my breaths as my heart beat wildly in my chest. The ground surged again before settling back into place.
“I don’t know,” Hawk muttered from beside me.
Glancing at him, I noticed he was paler than he had been up until now, but he took a step away from the wall and crept toward the edge of the roadway. “Hawk!” I hissed when he stopped at the edge and leaned over the pit with no railing and no bottom. “It might have been an earthquake,” he said.
“Probably not the best idea to stand so close to the edge then,” I replied.
He didn’t pay me any attention as he stared into the bottomless pit. “There’s light down there.”
“What?”
I peeled myself off the wall and took a cautious step forward. Whether it had been an earthquake or not, I didn’t like the idea of the earth moving beneath my feet one little b
it. I was terrified it was going to happen again, but this time it would fling us both over the edge. Despite common sense, I was still drawn irresistibly forward by my curiosity and the perplexed look on Hawk’s face.
Reaching the edge of the road, I leaned forward to peer into the abyss below. What had only been darkness before now had a growing wave of light emanating from it. Knowing I should move away from the edge, I still found myself gawking at the illumination spreading over the walls and rising steadily toward us.
“What is that?” Hawk muttered.
“I have no idea, but I don’t think it’s anything good.”
Glancing behind me, my stomach dropped when I spotted the lanavours rounding the corner and coming toward us. “We have to go!”
I grabbed Hawk’s wrist, drawing him away from the edge as one of the lanavours bore down on us. At the same time, the world exploded in a wash of light from beneath us. The ground lurched out from beneath my feet again, and I was thrown backward.
***
Kobal
“Get back!” I shouted when light shot up toward us.
Turning, I spread my arms wide to protect as many as I could when the glow increased. I felt no heat against my back, but the world around me was brighter than I’d ever seen it in here. The humans ducked and covered their heads. Dropping the girl, Shax threw himself over Erin, using his body to shield her while Vargas draped himself over a couple of others.
Air rushed up around me, tearing at my ruined clothes and beating against my skin as it battered my body. Screams rang in my ears; it took me a minute to realize they weren’t coming from the humans but from the radiance illuminating the jagged walls around us. Turning my head, I watched as, within the light, winged creatures rushed past me, heading toward the gateway. The flapping wings blew my hair back as they propelled the creatures toward the surface.
Most of the faces going past us were weathered and wrinkled. Their heads were tilted back to look at the world above, but one lowered her head to glare at me while another released a shriek, folded her wings against her side, and dove at me. The air around her tapered body whistled as she came at me like a missile.
The Road (The Road to Hell Series, Book 3) Page 10
