I kept that thought firmly in mind as I continued to do a fighting dance with Corson. I’d been weak and lost when I’d been forced to come here. I’d had no idea why I was different from others or what I could be capable of. Now I was a trained fighter with a better understanding and growing control over the powers that had once ruled me.
I may not have liked the revelation of my heritage, but I now knew why I had these abilities. Instead of being frightened of them, and what would happen if someone else found about them, I’d come to enjoy the fact they were a part of me and I no longer feared discovery.
My world had been completely turned upside down these past couple of months, but in two days, a new journey would begin, and I was ready to face whatever awaited us out there.
The End
Carved, Book 2 in the series, will be releasing 10/11/16 and is available for pre-order now.
Carved on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/j74d4w4
Read on for an exclusive excerpt from Carved.
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Description:
River,
As the perilous journey across a country I’d long thought destroyed begins, I don’t know who I am anymore or what I’m becoming. My abilities grow stronger with each passing day, as does the fear of what comes next. All I know is that I will do anything to avoid becoming like Lucifer, and to protect those I love, even if that means protecting them from me.
Kobal,
No matter what it takes, I will keep River safe, even if my actions end up driving a wedge between us. River is mine to protect, no matter how hard that might be to do now that our journey has begun. I won’t stop until Lucifer is destroyed, won’t stop until I claim my throne, and she will be by my side when I do. It’s all just a matter of keeping her alive until then.
CARVED excerpt:
Doors closed around me as the humans exited their trucks and moved in closer. In the stillness following, I could hear 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 as they closed in on their prey. That clacking sound increased in intensity as it continued its descent and its tail twitched faster.
Slate-colored 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 as 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.
They were a special form of punishment as 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 the air. Gunfire exploded in the air as they swooped down on us.
Carved will be releasing 10/11/16 and is available for pre-order now.
Carved on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/j74d4w4
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Good Intentions (The Road to Hell Series, Book 1) Page 33
