The Road (The Road to Hell Series, Book 3)

by Brenda K. Davies

  “It’s solid,” he muttered, his other hand absently falling to the head of the hound that rose to stand beside him.

  “What’s behind this seal?” Corson asked.

  “The eightieth seal is the púca,” Kobal said and took a step back. He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Shapeshifters who can take on animal or human form.”

  My eyebrows rose at that, but after everything else we’d seen so far, shapeshifters didn’t seem overly frightening. Kobal dropped his hand away from the wall and turned to pace before it, examining every inch of it before returning to stand before me.

  “And the demons are behind one hundred,” Magnus said. “We can stop this before it gets to them.”

  “What demons?” Hawk asked.

  “Upper-level demons who messed up on Earth and have been locked away ever since,” Kobal replied. “It was determined best to keep the species separated from each other behind the seals, but I am able to add more into an established seal, as were my ancestors. Some of the demons have been locked away for thousands upon thousands of years.”

  “So they’re pissed,” Hawk stated.

  “Just a little,” Corson said. “And they would make strong allies for Lucifer.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “They’ve already proven they want to be on Earth and can’t follow the rules set down for them while amongst the humans,” Kobal replied.

  “Why weren’t they destroyed?” Hawk asked. “It’s not like there weren’t plenty of other demons in Hell, so the balance wouldn’t have been upset if they were gone.”

  “Some may have believed it was kinder to allow them to continue living,” Kobal said.

  “And you?” I asked.

  “To me, death would be the only option, but the laws were established long before I ever came into control.”

  “So the newest seals are toward the end,” I said.

  “Yes,” Kobal confirmed.

  “You told me once before there were a couple hundred seals, but how many are there exactly?”

  “Two hundred and three.”

  My gaze drifted back to the wall before us. “You and your ancestors didn’t lock many away over the past six thousand years.”

  “Things became a bit more chaotic down here. What had once been a ‘punish and keep the balance’ movement by my ancestors, became a seek and destroy mission when Lucifer started trying to take over.”

  “Your ancestors were trying to be benevolent to these demons and creatures,” I murmured as I gazed at the wall.

  “They were afforded that opportunity. I am not.”

  “What do we do now?” I asked.

  “We wait. Whatever is doing this will return.”

  I opened my mouth to say, “Maybe not if we’re here,” but the words died in my throat when a chill crept down my spine. The air around me seemed to plunge a hundred degrees, the cold stealing my breath as I stood frozen in disbelief. None of the others appeared to notice the sudden freeze as they remained mulling about, discussing what could possibly get past the hounds and bring the seals down.

  Goose bumps erupted over my flesh. I’d been nothing but hot since we’d entered this place; now I felt the ice of death sliding over my skin and seeping into my soul. My bones quaked and my teeth chattered as the chill crept into my chest to wrap its icy hand around my heart and lungs. I’d felt this coldness before when Kobal had taken me to feed with him. Wraiths.

  My head tilted slowly back. I expected to see thousands of the twisted spirits above me like I had that night with Kobal, but I saw only one black shadow slithering across the ceiling. How can only one of them be radiating this much cold?

  There had to be others somewhere else, but I had no idea where. The black spirit wasn’t as malformed as the others I’d seen, but there was no denying what it was as it hesitated at the edge of the seal before slipping inside.

  “Kobal, a wraith just went behind the seal,” I managed to get out from my constricted throat and chattering teeth.

  “They do that,” he replied absently.

  “Something isn’t right,” I whispered. “My bones—”

  Kobal’s head turned toward me; his eyes narrowed as he stepped closer and grasped my arms. “You’re freezing.”

  He may have been speaking normally, but it sounded as if his voice came from behind the seal as my heart lumbered to pump blood through my veins.

  “River? River!” He dragged me closer against his chest. His body enveloping me in what would normally be a pleasurable experience now made me cry out as my chilled skin felt abraded by his heat.

  Releasing me, he took a step back. The terror on his face was evident as he gazed at me; he reached for me again before his arms fell helplessly back to his sides. Turning away from him, I awkwardly teetered forward on what felt like toothpicks for legs. I was convinced the bones in my legs would shatter and I would crumple to the ground before I reached the seal.

  Instead, I somehow managed to make it through the prowling hounds who moved hurriedly out of my way. Falling before the seal, I whimpered when the motion sent waves of pain coursing through my brittle body. Tears streaked my frozen face as my hand fell against one of the carvings etched into the wall.

  As power from the wall blasted into my hand, midnight blue light flared to life at the tips of my fingers. This wasn’t my normal ability to draw on life, but waves of power erupted from me and raced toward the ceiling. On the other side of the seal, I felt something working to shatter it.

  Kobal knelt beside me and rested his hands against the wall. “Son of a bitch!” he snarled as he felt the wave of whatever it was on the other side. “River, look at me.”

  I dimly heard him through the racking of my bones and the crackling of the light surrounding my hand. Somehow, I managed to turn my head toward him. His amber eyes gazed back at me. His hand stretched toward me before freezing in midair.

  Ignoring the agony in my body, I grasped hold of his hand. My body reacted as if it had been hit with a lightning bolt. I jerked toward him, and my head tipped back as his power fueled my own. The markings on his arms all turned toward the seal, and that umber glow he’d emitted to open the chamber flowed from his palm onto the wall.

  My heart gave another stuttering beat as his markings slid across his skin toward his fingertips. They flowed out of him to pour over the surface of the seal where they mingled with the inscriptions carved there until his flesh was bare.

  I forgot about the cold as his golden gaze burned into mine, and my deep blue light of life rolled forth to combine with his light and the markings that had been on his body. Our colors swirled together; their radiance spilling over us illuminated the harsh splendor of his face. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from Kobal’s as the seal beneath my hand pulsed with the power flooding it.

  As if attracted by a magnet, Kobal moved closer to me until his chest was pressed against mine. This new, soul-deep connection between us caused my mouth to part. My chest rose and fell against his as he rested his forehead on mine. The cells of our bodies swirled toward each other and combined between our connected flesh. His strength encompassed me at the same time mine surged out to fill him.

  Beneath my fingers, I felt the strengthening of the seal as the flow of life retreated back toward me and my bones steadily warmed once more.

  “That’s better,” I murmured before my hand fell away from the seal.

  Kobal released my hand and pulled me closer against him. He kept his other hand against the seal as he continued to illuminate the wall before us. Drawing me into his lap, he cradled me against him as his lips brushed over my temple and forehead.

  The light from his palm faded away, and the markings on his arms slid from the wall and back to their normal positions on his body as the chill in the air eased completely. I drew my first full breath since seeing the wraith and nestled closer to the heat he emitted.

  “What just happened?” Bale demanded breathlessly.

  I turned my head toward
the others, and for the second time today, the demons looked completely amazed about something as they gawked at us. I gazed up at Kobal’s amber eyes. I wasn’t entirely sure what had happened, but it had been life-changing. The bond had always been strong between us, but now it felt intricately weaved throughout my cells and deep into my soul. I knew a demon’s Chosen made them more powerful, and I had experienced that strengthening before, but never on this level.

  “No wonder Lucifer wants to break us apart,” I whispered.

  Kobal’s breath warmed my flesh as he nuzzled me. “Our bond will only grow deeper,” he said to me. He lifted his head to look at the others again. “Something tried to bring down the seal,” he said to Bale.

  Bale’s lime-colored eyes flicked back and forth between us. Her normally red-hued skin had paled. “Did she help you stop the seal from falling?”

  “She did.”

  Tremors racked my body as warmth continued to seep into my limbs. Stinging pinpricks set into my defrosting extremities. “River?” he murmured against my ear.

  “I’m okay,” I told him. “It’s so cold in here.”

  “I don’t feel any cold,” Magnus said. His platinum hair stood on end as if he’d been running his fingers through it, which was something I was sure the impeccable demon didn’t often do. His black horns were more visible now that his hair didn’t cover them. He appeared almost as rattled as Bale.

  “Are you cold like you were when you went with me to see the wraiths?” Kobal asked of me.

  “I’m warmer now, but this cold was worse than the other time with the wraiths,” I told him.

  His gaze went to the wall. “One wraith alone shouldn’t make you feel like that.”

  “Maybe there are a lot of them back there,” I suggested.

  “No, I would feel them if there were.” All around us the hounds growled and prowled forward once more. Their formidable bodies thrummed with tension as their curved claws clicked against the floor. “Corson, come here,” Kobal commanded.

  Corson moved swiftly through the hounds and knelt beside us; his eyes were troubled as he surveyed me. “I don’t feel many wraiths over there either,” he said.

  “I need you to take her,” Kobal said.

  “Kobal—” I started to protest, but he was already switching me into Corson’s arms.

  “No matter what, don’t let her go,” Kobal said brusquely, which earned him a glowering stare from me.

  I tried to squirm against Corson, but my defrosting body, full of pins and needles firing over my nerve endings, made moving difficult.

  “I need to draw the wraith out and I can’t be worried about what it will do to you if you’re near it,” Kobal said to me.

  I relaxed slightly in Corson’s hold. “Fine, but I’m not leaving here.”

  Kobal bowed his head and turned to look at the wall.

  “You are cold,” Corson said to me.

  “I’m getting warmer,” I replied. “So you can put me down.”

  “Get her away from the seal,” Kobal ordered.

  Completely ignoring my request to be released, Corson turned away from the seal and walked through the hounds that parted to get out of our way. I turned in his arms to watch as Kobal rested his hands against the seal once more. No light emanated from his palms this time, but I felt the current of power he emitted.

  “Corson, put me down,” I said again.

  “You know I can’t. You shouldn’t be close to this anyway.”

  “Close to what?” I demanded.

  He didn’t have to answer me as Kobal’s fingers flexed and his muscles bunched. I watched as through the wall, he drew forth the wraith skulking on the other side. Corson shivered against me when ice crept through my bones once more.

  CHAPTER 39

  Kobal

  The wraith tried to break free of my grasp as I pulled it through the wall, but I kept a firm hold on the squirming soul. I could sense the others moving closer, though Corson remained at the entrance of the broken gobalinus seal with River locked securely in his arms. The idea of anyone else holding her the way he was made me see red, but I couldn’t have her near this soul, not if it affected her in such a strong way.

  My head tilted as I studied the wraith before me. It was either a new spirit, or it hadn’t been fed from often judging by the lack of distortion to its face and its obvious vitality. Some wraiths managed to evade discovery by the demons for extended periods of time, but the longest time I’d ever heard of was twenty years. That wraith had been made to pay dearly when it was discovered.

  I could feel power in this creature, more than any other spirit I’d encountered before it. I didn’t know what made this wraith so different, but I would find out as its strength called to me. Hunger seared through my veins; it had been almost a week since I’d last fed. However, I wouldn’t do it with River nearby, not again.

  “It looks to be young,” Bale said.

  “Yes,” I agreed.

  “And very powerful,” Magnus murmured.

  From its fathomless black eyes, I sensed the creature studying us and trying to plot a way to escape me. Even though it had rarely been fed from before, if at all, its features were indistinguishable as a human. Its jaw, nose, and cheeks had all lengthened and darkened into the beginnings of a wraith until they could barely be seen behind its mask of death.

  “Somehow powerful enough to bring down a seal,” I said, and I felt a rumble of what could only be laughter in the wraith’s chest.

  “That’s impossible,” Magnus said.

  “I would have said the same thing too, before,” I replied.

  “Before what?” Bale asked.

  “Before I held it.”

  “How could it possibly be strong enough to break a seal?” Hawk demanded.

  “Some of the stronger spirits can retain parts of their human selves, and there are humans who have their own special abilities,” I answered. “Depending on how much of their human abilities they maintain when they pass into the realm of being a wraith, their power could be significant.”

  “Significant enough to bring down a seal though?” Magnus asked. “That can’t be possible.”

  “Somehow, it can,” I said.

  They all followed my gaze to where Corson had backed further away with River. My jaw locked when I saw his hands running over her arms. He’s only trying to warm her, I told myself, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to break his hands off at the wrist.

  I focused my attention back on the wraith when it tried to jerk free of my hold. My hands tightened on its throat. A sneer curved my lip as I drew it toward me. Around my heels, the hounds circled, snapping at the creature within my grasp, but they didn’t have the means to seize the spirit. If they did, they would have shredded it before it ever could have brought down the first seal. Now their jaws simply snapped together through the black tails flowing behind the wraith.

  “And now we know why the hounds couldn’t stop the seals from coming down,” I murmured.

  My eyes narrowed on the creature; part of my ability slid out to lock into it, but I didn’t start to feed from it, only kept it secured in place. Fear slithered out from the wraith as it realized what I’d done. There would be no way for it to escape me, not without me feasting on it and draining much of its vitality.

  Deep within its soul, I felt pulsating waves of power. “I’ve never felt one this strong before,” I commented.

  Bale, Magnus, and Hawk all moved closer, surrounding the creature in my grasp. “Can they talk?” Hawk inquired.

  “They can, but not in this form,” I told him.

  As I dug deeper within the creature, it released a low wail that caused River to slap her hands over her ears and Hawk to wince in obvious discomfort. The others all remained unmoving, but the hounds circled faster, their excitement building with every step they took. The creature’s head whipped back and forth so fast that none of its features were discernible, but its wraith façade faded away to reveal what lay ben
eath.

  I found myself staring into the face of a handsome man with ebony hair and blue eyes. His full mouth quirked into a smug smile. “There are some questions you never want the answers to,” he said.

  A feeling of dread settled into the pit of my stomach when River gasped. Corson held her close while she squirmed in his grasp. “Put me down!” she ordered.

  Her distress beat against me as she fought to get away from him. “Let her go,” I commanded, and Corson set her on her feet.

  She teetered there for a second before taking a hesitant step forward. “Stay back, River,” I told her.

  The man’s forehead creased at her name. She stopped ten feet away from us with her trembling fingers pressing against her mouth. The color faded from her face so rapidly that Corson grabbed her elbow when she swayed on her feet. The freckles on her nose stood out starkly against the sudden pallor of her skin.

  “Kobal.” Her voice was choked with emotion as her haunted eyes slid toward mine. “That’s my father.”

  My eyes shot back to the creature in my grasp as the man’s smug smile grew.

  ***

  River

  It was taking everything I had to stay on my feet as I stared at the man Kobal held before him. I’d seen his face only once before in a photo my mom had in her closet. I never would have seen it if Gage hadn’t decided to go snooping for Christmas presents when he was six. He’d torn the closet apart, but all he’d found were memories that were better off buried in the junk filling the small space.

  Thankfully, I’d caught him instead of our mother and cleaned up the mess before she returned home. I’d discovered the photo while putting everything back where it came from. Staring at that photo, I’d known immediately who the man in it was. The resemblance had been unmistakable; it still was.

  He bore the masculine version of my nose; my eyes were more his color than my mother’s, and his hair was nearly the same shade of black as mine. I clearly got my height from him as my mother barely stood over five feet tall. He wasn’t nearly as tall as Kobal, but he was pushing six feet.