The Seer: Chronicles of the Fallen, Book 2

by Brenda Huber

  She had to help them. But how? She frantically searched for a weapon of some kind. If she could only get her hands on something—

  A particularly loud explosion rent the night. She craned her neck to see the house better. The back door of the house burst open and Xander rushed out, dragging a massive, limp demonic form behind him, blasting plasma balls over his shoulder. Was that Gideon? In demonic form? Gideon’s shirt was charred and smoking. And beneath, his flesh sported gruesome claw marks and livid burns. He was gushing blood. She couldn’t tell if he was conscious or not. But he wasn’t making any move to help Xander, so she assumed not.

  She grabbed the iron handle, but Xander glanced her way and jerked his head sharply. She drew her hand back, the warning look on Xander’s face imprinted on her mind. One more crackle and hiss, and then silence filled the air as Xander and Gideon vanished. Shaking, Carly tiptoed to the back corner of the shed, slowly sank to the ground, and wrapped her arms around her drawn-up knees.

  They would come back for her, she told herself. They hadn’t abandoned her. They just hadn’t dared lead the other demons to her hiding place. Gideon had been injured. Xander had to see him to safety first. Then he’d come back.

  It didn’t matter that he didn’t like her. He’d still come back for her.

  He will.

  Oh, Gideon! Please, let him be all right. He’d become such a dear friend, going out of his way to keep her entertained, to be a shoulder when she needed one. She thought of his endearing grin, and the way he called her “darlin’” in that wonderfully Southern drawl of his. His penchant for sitcoms. And the raw, fragile hope he placed in an ancient amulet and the possibility of someday. A tear escaped her. Dashing it away, she dropped her forehead to her knees.

  Please, let Gideon be okay. Tears clogged her throat. Death was no friend of hers, and yet it had visited her all too often.

  Please, don’t take Gideon. Don’t punish him for being my friend.

  No, she couldn’t think like that. Couldn’t give in to the terror.

  She also couldn’t cower in the corner like some frightened child, even if that was what she felt like. Xander and Gideon had been convinced that they might be able to learn something important by coming here. Obviously, something big was happening tonight. They’d been forced to leave. But she was still here. Maybe, if she was really careful, she could figure out a way to help.

  She crawled to the door and peered out into the night. Biting down on a knuckle to keep herself from crying out in fright, she watched through a gap in the planks near the door as a cluster of demons crossed the yard and entered the house. Nine. All in hideous demonic forms. Petrifying.

  Two left. Three more arrived. Five left. Six arrived. The farmhouse began to look like it had a revolving door. But she diligently wiped her eyes and kept tally. Until Xander came back for her, she’d just sit right there and count and listen. Just in case.

  And she would not fall apart.

  Niklas. Oh God, Niklas, I need you!

  “Carly!” Her name left his lips as soon as he materialized in the kitchen at the farm. Panic balled in his chest like a block of ice. He didn’t know why. “Carly!”

  Even as he raced into the living room, he knew she wasn’t there. He’d shimmered there out of habit. After all, this was where she was supposed to be.

  But she wasn’t.

  He should have just used the bond and shimmered directly to her side.

  Stupid. Stupid.

  But the pull of the guard stones he’d given her confused him. They were there, somewhere. And yet she wasn’t.

  Just as he prepared to shimmer to her, the air near the fireplace distorted. Xander shimmered into the room, his arm wrapped around Gideon’s waist. Gideon hung at his side, limp and unresponsive, his arm thrown over Xander’s shoulders. Gideon looked as if he’d gone up against a legion of Lucifer’s best and lost.

  “Where the hell did you take her?” He flew across the room and grabbed Xander by the front of his shirt. “Goddamn it, what did you do with her?”

  “At the nest, in the shed.” Xander grimaced, shaking him off before lowering Gideon to the floor.

  The air distorted again and Sebastian appeared in the room.

  “What the hell, Seer?” He threw a bag on the floor at his feet. “You think Asher is gonna keep feeding us information like this—good, solid leads, I might add—if you keep flaking out like that?” He broke off as soon as he got a good look at the scenario unfolding before him. “What’s going on?”

  “You took her to a nest? Son of a—”

  “She’s hidden,” Xander said. “We got intel—”

  “I don’t give a good goddamn about your intel. You had no business—”

  “She wanted to go. Knew we wouldn’t leave her here unprotected.”

  “You should have told her no. You would never have taken Kyanna someplace like that.”

  Xander shot him a guilty look as that accusation hit its mark. “The nest has close to thirty with more arriving. They’re going to perform a summoning. Tonight. Whatever this is, it’s a hell of a lot bigger than we thought. Ashïek was there. He shimmered before I could take him out.”

  At the mention of Ashïek’s name, Sebastian’s eyes turned black. He clenched his hands at his sides as his nostrils flared.

  Ashïek, a powerful general in Lucifer’s army, was a slippery bastard. He’d gone head to head with Sebastian on more than one occasion. Only Lucifer’s interference had prevented a battle to the death between two of his most powerful generals.

  “I don’t give a flyin’ rat’s ass,” Niklas bellowed.

  Xander heaved an aggravated sigh. “I’ll take you, just—”

  Niklas went still. His focus turned inward. A fresh wave of fear congealed in the pit of his stomach.

  “Take care of Gideon. I don’t need you.”

  “You’ve never been to the nest.”

  “I don’t need you to find my woman,” he exploded, ignoring the bemused glance Sebastian and Xander shared. “We’re bound in blood. Redimio Cruor Ritus.”

  Niklas scowled at Xander, ignoring the dawning look of alarm now passing between Xander and Sebastian, and Gideon’s pained moan. “You’ve done enough damage. Stay here and take care of Gideon.”

  “I got your back, Seer,” Sebastian told him, his eyes still black. “I’ll follow you.”

  Niklas skewered Xander with one last seething looks, and then he turned his focus inward.

  Using the connection he’d forged between them with dark magic, Niklas shimmered directly to Carly. He found her, there in the shadow-filled shed, crouching by the door. Tears rolling down her face as her lips silently moved.

  He dropped to his knees beside her and pulled her into his arms. With a muffled cry, she buried her face against the side of his neck. Murmuring soothing sounds, he smoothed his hand over her hair. “Shhh, it’s okay. I’m here. You’re safe.”

  Relief—so overwhelming at finding her there, unharmed—flooded him, temporarily blocking the urge to light into her for pulling such a ridiculous, dangerous stunt. Cupping her face, he wiped her tears away with his thumbs. His lips found hers, and she stretched up, locking around his neck in a death grip.

  His arms slipped around her as he changed the angle of the kiss. Emotion surged and buffeted him. How could she have put herself at risk like this? Never mind that Gideon and Xander had allowed it. Thank God she was safe. If she’d been discovered, the things that could have happened to her—

  Behind him, Sebastian cleared his throat. Brimming with fury, Niklas released her. He rose and turned to face Sebastian, letting Carly scramble to her feet on her own. He didn’t trust himself to touch her again, not right now. He’d probably strangle her.

  “They’ve begun the ritual,” Sebastian said. “Feel the power in the air surge?”

  Damn
it. They had a narrow window of time there to halt the ritual. And if it was Stolas this nest thought to call forth, then stopping the summoning was crucial. Much as he hated to think about leaving Carly there in this shed, he didn’t see any alternative. It was impossible to tell how far into the ritual they’d already gotten. Seconds mattered now.

  “Stay here,” he barked at Carly.

  “Wait.” She grabbed his arm. “They’ve been going in and out of the house right and left since Xander and Gideon left. I don’t know how many were in there to start with, but so far close to thirty have come, and only a few have left. And I heard a couple of them talking about summoning some prince.”

  Niklas swore again. Upwards of forty demons were still in that house. He wanted so badly to shimmer Carly away from this place. As far away as he could. But if the nest succeeded in bringing Stolas to Earth, there would be no safe place left. The Earth—all of it—would burn.

  Xander shimmered inside the shed, right beside Sebastian. Niklas’s fury boiled anew. He didn’t exactly know what he’d been about to tell Xander to go do with himself, but voices just outside the shed drew his attention. He signaled for silence with a raised fist and leaned closer, peering out the doorway.

  “What’s this about?” A deep, layered voice snarled in the ancient demon tongue. Not far away—five feet, maybe. Then they came into view. “I just razed a village near San Juan when Gusion summoned me. I’m missing the best part right now.” The demon ground his fist into his palm. “This better be worth it.”

  “It’s a summoning,” replied another in the same language. “Glasya summoned me from Minneapolis. Wouldn’t tell me who though. Hey, you think it’s the prince?”

  His companion shrugged.

  Damn it!

  Carly pressed against his back. She was shaking like a leaf. He closed his eyes and groaned inwardly, torn between the urge to wrap himself around his woman and shimmer her to safety and righteous duty.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Carly peered around Niklas, feeling safer than she had any right to. All because he was there now. Carly couldn’t understand a word that was being said by the demons passing by, but it wasn’t hard to tell that whatever they said, it wasn’t good. Niklas and the others bristled with aggression. She’d assumed they’d return to the farm as soon as Niklas came for her. It hurt her to think of Gideon. He must be in terrible pain. She wanted to be there for him, her friend, help him in any way she could. She’d heard Xander tell Niklas that Gideon had gone demonic and left—Niklas had explained they heal faster in demonic than in human form—but still, she thought he’d surely come back soon, and he’d feel better if only he weren’t suffering alone.

  Niklas glanced first to Sebastian, then to Xander. “We have to go in now.”

  “Stolas?” Xander rasped.

  Niklas nodded confirmation. Seconds ticked by. Seconds they didn’t have.

  He pressed his lips near her ear. “Stay inside the shed. And, for the love of God, do not follow us inside the house.” Despite the pressing urgency, he dropped a swift kiss to her lips.

  At Xander’s angry hiss, Niklas broke the kiss and rejoined Sebastian and Xander near the door.

  Right before her stunned eyes, the three of them morphed into their demonic forms. Despite herself, Carly pressed herself against the wall, her hand lifted to cover her gaping mouth. She’d seen Niklas in this state once before, but it was still a shock.

  Beside Niklas, Xander transformed into a nightmare. Red-skinned, black horns and claws—much like Ronové, except Xander’s tattoos—Cryptoglyphs, she corrected—were much more extensive, calling to mind Niklas’s explanation about a demon’s legend, their glory being displayed this way. Holy cow! His Cryptoglyphs were…mind-boggling. And everything about Xander was sharper. Pointed horns. Sharper, longer claws. Jagged teeth. Pointed chin and ears. Piercing red eyes.

  And Sebastian—

  My God!

  Sebastian shifted into, perhaps, the most fearsome of all. He grew nearly a head taller than the others, his muscles—everything about him—bulging to twice its normal size. His skin turned dark gray. Thick horns grew from the sides of his head, spiraling up and back. His eyes were black as coal. Monstrous fangs sprouted in his open mouth.

  With chilling purpose, the three of them stepped out into the night. Unable to stop herself, Carly rushed forward and, clutching the doorframe for support, watched them cross the yard. Sebastian flexed his shoulders and shuddered. Massive, black wings unfurled behind him. They glinted in the glow cast by the yard light like some kind of metallic, feather-shaped plates.

  Wings. The wings of Vengeance.

  The three of them crossed the yard, Xander on the right, Niklas in the middle, Sebastian on the left. Unlike earlier when it had been just Xander and Gideon, there was no rushing now, no furtive dash. No, they crossed the yard like generals going off to war. Regal. Determined.

  Deadly.

  A set of demons stepped from the doorway, glancing up in the middle of their conversation. They froze for half a second, their mouths hanging open. Before they could turn and run, before they could raise an alarm, before they could defend themselves, Niklas and Xander let loose a plasma ball each, incinerating the unlucky duo where they stood.

  A plasma ball flew from one of the second story windows, aimed directly at Sebastian. His wings curled around him like armor. Carly tensed to scream, fearing she was about to witness the first of them fall, but the plasma ball melted into a puff of harmless embers, fluttering to the ground. Sebastian shook the ash from his wings. Then, with a loud whoosh, those black wings stretched wide. He soared into the night sky. Carly lost track of him for a moment. And in the next instant, the demon sniper in the window screamed as Sebastian plucked him from his perch.

  In midair, his great wings making deep, surprisingly slow thwap-thwap sounds, Sebastian ripped the sniper’s head from his body with his huge, bare hands and claws. Sebastian dropped the sniper to the ground like a broken toddler’s toy, already forgotten. He tore the screen from the frame on the second story window, and, tucking his wings around him, slipped inside the house. Though Carly could have sworn a lifetime passed during that heart-stopping sequence of events, in reality, the whole attack had lasted little more than a handful of seconds.

  First Niklas, then Xander stepped over the glowing piles of ash still smoking on the doorstep. They disappeared inside the house. Explosions rent the air. Fire and smoke began billowing from the windows. The house shook, and the foundation cracked. Too afraid to close her eyes, Carly clutched the doorframe until her fingers went numb.

  Please, please, please let them be okay.

  A demon staggered from the house, screeching, his body engulfed in flames. Two steps across the yard, he burst into a puff of ash. Another leaped from the same second story window Sebastian had entered only moments before. He, too, was lit up like a marshmallow held too close to a campfire.

  Demon after demon began pouring from the house now. Like rats fleeing a fire. Xander stood in a broken-out first floor window and began hurling plasma balls at his fleeing prey. Every plasma ball that left his hand unerringly found its mark. But demons streamed from the front and sides of the house as well. In the distance, they dropped beneath a firestorm in the front yard.

  A dark, sinister sound cascaded through the night, and she glanced up. Sebastian stood on the tallest peak of the roof, flinging plasma balls down on the demons on either side of the house, laughing diabolically as his victims fell, bursting into smoking embers. The sight of him up there—fire-filled palms lifted to the night sky, wings spread, smiling maniacally—almost sent her to her knees.

  Oh my God. Oh my God!

  How could that be Sebastian? The rakishly handsome man who’d sat on the kitchen counter and called Niklas ‘dude’?

  When the last demon had fled the house, and the yard was covered in smoking p
iles of ash, Xander and Niklas exited the house from the rear. Sebastian dropped from the roof. Before they reached the well house, the three of them turned in unison and paused. Holding their arms out to their sides, they conjured plasma balls in their palms. Slowly, they lifted their arms skyward. The plasma balls grew, built, burned white-hot. A dark chant rose on the night wind. Demonic voice. Demonic language. And then they let loose the plasma balls. The house exploded. The ground beneath her feet lurched and shuddered.

  Satisfied, the three of them turned as one, morphing back into human form. As they strode across the yard toward her, backlit by the blazing ruins of the farmhouse, Carly was struck speechless with awe. The three of them. Formidable. Dangerous.

  And God help her, sexy as hell.

  Dashing from the building, she raced toward Niklas, preparing to throw herself into his arms. Fury rolled from him in waves. He caught her by the wrists, stopping in his tracks. Glaring down at her, he shimmered them back to the farmhouse without giving her any warning.

  He released her as soon as they materialized, like one would after picking up a hot frying pan. Niklas stormed to the far side of the kitchen, putting the length of the room between them. She clutched one of the straight-backed chairs at the table for support, gasping for air. The room continued to spin, and so she dropped weakly to the chair and squeezed her eyes closed tight. Blinked. Drew long, deep, steadying breaths.

  A moment later, Sebastian and Xander shimmered into the kitchen. Sebastian glanced from Niklas to Carly. “You okay?” He dropped to one knee beside her, laid his hand on hers as he frowned at her in concern. Niklas growled warning, but Sebastian ignored him. “You’re white as a sheet.” He conjured a glass of water near her elbow on the table. “Drink, Carly,” he urged. “Slowly.”