by Lexi Blake
Okay, we were talking about the big dude. “Why don’t you give him a call? Because we could seriously use some help here.”
“Well, he isn’t mine,” Winter said with a snarl, completely ignoring me. “And you should know that if I had a way to destroy you, prophet, I would take it.”
Jacob shrugged off the threat. “Explanations. Mr. Bellamy, if you don’t mind. Your bosses seem to want to avoid the truth. You can give me the explanation I require or I can pull it from your human brain. You won’t like my fingers in your brain.”
Bellamy went a nice shade of white. “Okay, that’s awful. Uhm, Winter’s been working on this for a long time. And the other scary demon guy.”
Gray’s father had a flask in his hand. He stepped up. “I’ll explain. It must be difficult for someone who sees and knows everything to be left in the dark.”
“I don’t like the sensation, but I couldn’t possibly have seen this coming. What you’re trying to create is an abomination,” Jacob explained.
Gray shook his head. “I have prophecy powers. I’m not a prophet. I don’t even have particularly strong powers of prophecy.”
“Yes, you do, but you won’t use them,” his father complained. “You could be as powerful a seer as Jacob given time and proper training.”
“There are no dark prophets. None. There have never been any.” Jacob’s eyes narrowed. “It was not a power the dark ones were meant to have. You’ve bred it into some of your halflings, but a true prophet is divine.”
“Your father, as you call him, is an amazing chemist,” Winter said with a smile. “Humans have managed to emulate many of his so-called miracles. Once I figured out the formula, all it took was an accelerant. You are a prophet by your chemistry, Jacob. In the same way that we’re demons and vampires are vampires. In the end, it’s a simple thing. It’s all in the code.”
Gray’s father held up the flask. “We have to get enough of this inside Gray and his chemistry will change. It’s a plan we’ve had in place for years, but we needed the right subject.”
“You needed a royal halfling.” Jacob frowned. “With angelic blood. You raped an angel?”
“My mother was a witch,” Gray said.
“Your mother was also a companion. One the vampires hadn’t found. A strong one.” Fangs gleamed from his father’s mouth. “I purchased her soul from her father and when she was of age to have a child, I took what was mine. You have enough angelic blood inside you that this will work. Look at my son now, prophet. Look at the roads that stem from my son and tell me what you see.”
Jacob seemed to turn inward, his eyes glazing over to that odd white again. The room went silent. “I see war. I see death. Endless death and agony.”
Winter’s lips curled up. “Then all is right with my world. Force it down his throat.”
It was time for me to start kicking a little ass.
Jacob held a hand out. “Forcing it down his throat won’t work. That’s where you’re going to fail. You can’t win. Grayson Sloane has to open himself. He has to accept the transition for it to occur. It’s what you didn’t count on. He can fight it off. He already did once tonight.”
I felt a smile cross my face. We were good. There was zero chance of Gray giving in to their evil plans. Gray would fight and they could pour it down his throat all night long because it wouldn’t mean a damn thing.
Never get comfortable. If I had to write a book for up-and-coming Hunters, that would be my first piece of advice. You get a shit-eating grin on your face because you think you have the bad guys right where you want them and all their superstinky plans for the apocalypse are going to add up to a big fat zero, and that’s when everything falls apart, kiddos. So don’t get arrogant. Don’t let your guard down and whatever you do, keep your eyes on the dude with the semiautomatic weapon.
Yeah, that was when I noticed Matthew, in his brand spanking new butler body, pointing his gun at my head.
“Brother, I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist. Father, did you bring the chains?” Mathew asked.
Bellamy was so helpful. “No need. I have brand new handcuffs. They’re super high tech. They go on the market in a couple of months. They were originally made for supernatural creatures on another plane. I assume they’ll take care of whatever the hell she is.”
“Don’t,” Matthew warned as Gray stared at him. “One move her way and I’ll fire. She’s strong, but no one survives a bullet to the head. Neither Father nor I wish to kill your promised bride, but we will if we’re forced to.”
“I’ll kill the bitch in a heartbeat.” Winter took a step toward me. “I’ll freeze her where she stands.”
I couldn’t help it. I took a step back, despite the fact that brought my head into direct contact with Matthew’s gun. I would way rather have the bullet than let that man touch me.
Besides, it was past time to let other people dictate this particular battle. I had to get Gray out of here, and it wasn’t like I was some fragile flower. I also played on the fact that Papa Sloane wanted his Hunter grandbaby someday. The dude was seriously into genetics. I brought my head forward and popped it back as quickly as I could. The gun flew out of Matthew’s borrowed hands and his surprise gave me enough time to whirl around and shove the bottom of my palm up with great force. I hit his nose and felt the cartilage break. It was an angled hit and it did what I’d meant it to do. The cartilage shattered and I shoved it upward and into his brain.
The butler’s eyes widened and then he fell to the ground.
He should have found another job. Matthew would likely be back, but Winter would be looking for more help. I had that gun in my hand before anyone could think to come after me.
“Gray, it’s time for us to leave.” I stepped in front of my ex, who was still pale from fighting off his last encounter with the drug. “Stay behind me.”
Papa Sloane stepped forward, his eyes turning a pissed-off shade of red. “Where do you think you’re going, Hunter?”
“You might have mentioned I would be welcoming a Hunter into my home.” Winter came to stand next to him. Two incredibly old, powerful demons.
Gray’s father waved off the worry. “She’s a baby. She’s barely a few months into training. She’s nothing to worry about, but I would greatly prefer she not be damaged. She’s promised to my son. Imagine the child between a dark prophet and a Hunter.”
“I am not your son,” Gray growled behind me. “And I swear if anyone lays a hand on her, I’ll find a way to kill you all. I won’t accept this. I won’t allow that drug to work on me. Find yourself another prophet.”
“Think about this.” His father had his hands out as though not having a weapon made him less threatening. “Grayson, the light has always had their prophets. You would be the first Hell prophet. Do you know what power you would have?”
Gray wasn’t having it. “I don’t want it and I wouldn’t use the power for you. You think you can start a war on this plane and placate Lucifer Morningstar by turning my life inside out. I won’t accept it. You’ll have to kill me first.”
I believed him and was damn straight going to make sure it didn’t happen. Gray would die before he gave in to his father. The entire time I’d known him he’d been trying to break his ties to Hell, not become their holy prophet.
“Gray, back up. We’re going to move out toward the front door.” I kept my eyes on the demons.
Jacob stood in the back, watching. Apparently that was what he did. Helping would have been better, but apparently that went against the prophet code. It looked like we were on our own.
I was kind of hoping once we got to the yard, we could make a run for it. In the freezing cold. And the snow.
Yeah, I hadn’t thought this one out very carefully, but I was kind of committed at this point. I couldn’t let them have Gray. I could tell myself all day long that I didn’t want the bad guys to get such a powerful weapon, but it was far more than that. I couldn’t let them have Gray. I couldn’t let him go.
“Kelsey, get behind me,” Gray ordered in that voice that meant he wasn’t taking no for an answer.
He was going to have to this time. He was still a bit pasty, and it was easy to see he was reeling from being betrayed by his family. I personally thought it should have been one of those self-evident things. When your family rules a special section of the Hell plane, you should probably count on uncomfortable family reunions, but Gray was oddly naïve. I think he always hoped his father cared about him for reasons other than his unique and apparently well-engineered DNA.
I had to give us some time. Once more, I turned to my old friend, the bullet. They wouldn’t kill the bastards, but a few well-placed ones would buy us a couple of seconds.
The sound roared through the room as I put a slug into both the demon’s foreheads. They slammed back, the force of the bullets making them stumble and fall. I would have taken out Bellamy, but he was a smart human. He was hiding and I didn’t have time to play.
I took Gray’s hand. Those bad boys would be up and on their feet following us in seconds. “Time to go.”
We had to get back to Ether. The king had to know about the plan and we had to get Gray into protective custody and pray he was the only one bred to take on this ability.
Gray followed, keeping up with me. His hand tightened around mine as we made it to the door. No time to figure out where the coatroom was and bundle up. As he opened the door, I swore the next time someone insisted I wear open-toed four-inch heels, I was giving them a smackdown they wouldn’t forget.
Cold wind blasted through me. I had to hold on to Gray’s hand so I didn’t fly back into the house.
“Don’t let go,” Gray shouted, pulling me out. He put a hand up to ward off the crazy wind. He jogged out into the sudden blizzard.
I could barely see. It wasn’t that it was dark. The amount of snow and ice coming at me almost made it too white. The moon was shining down, reflecting off the snow. Where there had been a modest dusting only twenty minutes before, now my feet sank ankle deep into the powder.
So cold. I felt that chill in my bones. This wasn’t a mere snowstorm. This was pure killing winter. This was the element undiluted, and this was part of Abbas Hiberna. He was calling the shots now.
Gray pulled me close as we moved past the frozen fountain. “I don’t know that I can find the car. I think we should make a run for Jamie. We don’t have much time. I don’t suppose I can get you to leave me?”
He’d learned much from our previous encounters. “Not on your life. Can you see enough to tell which way to go?”
The wind was picking up and everything appeared white to me. I tried to orient myself. Panic threatened because I couldn’t see anything. The minute we moved away from the fountain, it disappeared in a blanket of snow. My feet were starting to go numb, but I forced myself to move. We had to find shelter.
Gray held a hand over his eyes as though he could peer through the pelting snow and ice that contained us. But it wouldn’t be eyes that saved us. This was nature at its most primal and nothing so logical as eyesight would win out.
Instinct was the only thing that might save us.
I carry a wolf inside me. The demons had created Gray as the perfect vessel for their sacrilege. They’d spent hundreds of years searching for the perfect bloodlines to pervert.
I was natural, the end product of a lone wolf and his one love. My father’s instincts lay in my DNA, and I called on them when I had nothing left.
I stopped and breathed in the air around me. I don’t smell like a wolf. They can pick out a single scent from a landfill. I don’t have that power. What I have is instinct. I’m not sure why, but I turned to my left and began walking. “Jamie’s this way.”
“How can you be sure?” Gray asked.
“I just know.” Jamie is my brother. We might not share a biological father, but Jamie is in my pack. When I close down the human parts of myself and let the she-wolf have a little sway, I can find my pack.
“Kelsey, your skin.” He was staring down at my exposed forearm.
Yep, I was getting used to frostbite. “It’ll heal once we get inside.”
I’d taken a nice cocktail right before going to Gray’s. Donovan had insisted. I will state now and forever that royal blood is a trip, and I was absolutely certain it would heal the damage once I got somewhere I wasn’t being bombarded by ice shards.
We tried to run, but the wind picked up. Naturally it was coming in from the very direction we needed to go. Gray pressed on, his demonic strength pushing us through.
I was almost sure we were to the end of the drive when I was pulled back. I screamed out as something infinitely cold wrapped itself around my ankle and pulled. When I looked down, I saw a creature dragging me back.
Snowmen. The bastard had sent crazy, creepy fucking snowmen after us. I was so never telling my niece about this.
“Kelsey!” Gray screamed.
I glanced behind me and could see Gray struggling in the arms of some kind of big-ass white creature. It was at least seven feet tall but it could have been bigger. It blended in with the snow, meshing with it until I almost couldn’t tell where it ended and the storm began.
I shot at my snowman.
The bullet went through and he simply kept pulling me back toward the house.
I tried kicking and clawing. Nothing. He was solid ice and nothing worked on him. I wished I’d thought to bring a blowtorch with me.
One crazy fucking snowman became two and then three. They surrounded me, the winds howling when they opened their mouths. One stared down at me. There were hollows where its eyes should be, but it seemed to have no trouble seeing me. When its mouth opened, I saw sharp teeth. Ice as fine as any blade. Those teeth were razors and I wasn’t sure what would kill me first—the cold that was making everything seem to slow down or those murderous teeth.
There was a pop and suddenly one part of me wasn’t cold anymore. My shiny demon arm seemed to have a built-in heater.
The snowman who had been holding my newly red arm howled, and when I looked at him, I saw those cold hands that had held me were melting like the sun was shining down on them.
“They can’t handle demon skin, Gray!” I shouted over the winds as I punched at the snow asshole with all the teeth.
He shattered the instant I touched him.
Snowman number three ran.
I struggled to my feet. There was no chance that I was coaxing my arm back to normal. I didn’t care how freaky I looked. I kind of loved the hell out of that arm. I was warmer than before, stronger. My she-wolf and I worked in tandem as another wave of the things came after us. I wasn’t afraid of them now. Now they might be strong, but I wasn’t helpless against them.
I kicked at one, thrusting him back while I shattered the second with my hand.
Up ahead, I saw Gray in the middle of an army of monsters. His fancy shirt was in tatters and he was trying his hardest, but it was easy to see he was losing.
There were big spots of red on his exposed chest where the blood had frozen on his body as quickly as the wound had opened.
“Gray, you have to change!” I shouted as I shoved my clawed hand into one of the creatures.
It shattered, sending shards of ice exploding through the air. I dropped, covering my abdomen and torso. Anything else I could heal quickly given the king’s blood inside me.
It struck me that once again, the king’s blood was boosting Gray’s. It would be days before Gray’s blood was out of my system and until then, a good dose of Donovan would bolster it, making it super strong.
But we were surrounded. No matter how strong I was, I couldn’t take them all out myself. A mountain of winter surrounded us as I made my way to Gray.
“You have to change,” I insisted, driving back one of the bigger monsters.
“No.” Gray’s eyes were shining violet, a sure sign that his body knew what it needed to do. I could see the beg
innings of his horns blooming through his dark hair, but he was a stubborn man. “I don’t want you to see me like that.”
And vain. He was quite vain.
A blast of cold punched over me and I turned, taking out another monster with a swipe of my arm.
It wasn’t enough. I needed Gray.
“We’re going to die if you don’t change.” While my arm was feeling all toasty and warm, the rest of me was kind of going to shit and fast. My legs had turned a nasty shade of purple. “I’m not going to be able to walk soon, Gray. I have to get somewhere I can heal.”
His eyes closed briefly, and I could practically feel his pain. He didn’t want this. He didn’t want me to see him as a monster.
When he opened them again, his eyes were as dark as obsidians.
He changed quickly, his muscles flowing from human to demon forms with the grace and ease of someone who had done it a thousand times, though I knew damn well Gray hadn’t. This easy shift was another gift of his royal DNA, and it made me wonder what Gray had to do to constantly stay in his human form.
He seemed to change in mass, his body growing larger. The snow around him melted as his spine lengthened, shoulders growing broader. His skin shifted to a shiny red, the companion of my right arm, though even here he was more masculine. Where my scales were seemingly delicate, his formed a rough exterior it looked like nothing could tear through.
When he was done, his clothes were in tatters and I almost didn’t recognize him. I fell to the grass that was now at my feet. The heat of his transition had given us a few feet where the cold couldn’t touch us, and I sighed as I felt the vampire blood in my body begin to heal the frostbite. I hadn’t realized I’d been in so much pain. The absence was almost a weird pleasure and so was looking at Gray.
He stood over me, a dark god. His horns were curved, his body sharper than it had been before. This was Gray, the demon, and surprise, surprise—he was fucking hot as hell. Every muscle of his body was perfectly defined, every inch of him a testament to dark beauty.
