Chasing Angel (A Divisa Novel, Book 3)

by Weil, J. L.

  He grinned. “Angel, you are a new breed of freak.”

  “Thanks,” I said mundanely. “You helped a ton.”

  “Anytime.”

  I wanted to add, don’t let the door hit you on the way out, but somehow I refrained. Probably because I got a whiff of my hair and realized I was quickly losing precious shower time. Chase was going to be here any minute—any second.

  The hotter than hot spray hit my skin, turning it slightly pink. As I stood, letting the water wash over me, I realized that something was off. Something about me was different. I couldn’t pinpoint it, just a sense. I felt…darker. Mightier. Wicked.

  The shard of blackness on my soul had spread. I didn’t know how or why, but I knew I was unable to stop whatever change was happening to me. The wheels were already in motion, the transformation already complete. There was a pull to the underworld I’d never felt before. I didn’t want to admit it. I didn’t want to believe it. But in all reality, it was undeniably there.

  What was I going to do about it? What did it mean?

  My innocence was tainted, not that it hadn’t been long ago.

  I lingered in the bathroom, not ready to face the problems that awaited me on the other side of the door. He had arrived mere seconds after I’d stepped into the shower, and I was totally stalling. I was a sucky girlfriend. His worry was coming through loud and clear, and here I was dilly-dallying because I was afraid. Afraid that he would somehow be able to see the change. That he would look at me differently.

  Physically I looked the same, but our connection was so much deeper. Surely, if anyone could sense a difference in me, it would be Chase. Then again, maybe this whole change was all in my head and there was nothing to stress about.

  Taking a long drawn-out breath, I turned the handle and was bombarded by a hug that swept me off my feet. I buried my head into his neck and held on. The exquisite scent of him and his love immediately dismissed my uncertainties.

  “How many more times are you going to stop my heart?” he murmured near my ear.

  “Today?” I asked teasingly.

  He pulled me at arm’s length, definitely not in a playful mood, and actually, he looked tired. Knowing Chase, he hadn’t slept at all, while I had been in the opposite state—a deep slumber. “What happened?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “The usual big-bad-nasties. I got some kind of superbug.”

  “I could feel your suffering, could feel the illness consume you with frightening speed. Faster than I could get to you.” He was upset that he hadn’t gotten to me first.

  Hearing him recall the episode in his own words drudged up unpleasant memories. “It’s no common bug I’ve ever had. I was unconscious for almost two days.”

  “I think we can both agree that it wasn’t normal according to human or Divisa standards.”

  “What did Ives have to say?”

  He arched a brow.

  “Travis told me you went to see him,” I supplied.

  He shoved both hands into his pockets. “There is a reason why no one has ever completed the triforce,” he began in a flat voice.

  I wasn’t positive I wanted to know the answer. If his ominous expression was any indicator, I was most definitely not going to like what he had to say. But curious by nature, I asked. “Why hasn’t it ever been done before?”

  His sober eyes held mine and there was just a dash of fear in them. “None of them have lived long enough to complete the third.”

  Cue doom music please—dun, dun, dun.

  I was doomed.

  “What about Ives? Wasn’t he bound to a human?” I was looking for anything to grab onto, any scrap of hope.

  He nodded. “He was. Her name was Merci.” Keyword was, as in not anymore.

  I thought I understood what he was telling me, but my mind didn’t want to compute. So I asked the obvious questions. “What happened to her? To Merci?”

  His jaw set, and he stepped back. “Angel, you need to rest. We can talk about this when you are feeling better.”

  I hoped he was joking. “Umm, I just slept for 48 hours. How much more do you think I can lie here? Tell me what you know,” I demanded, crossing my arms.

  He angled his head and gave me a sad look. Finally he said, “She’s gone.”

  My stomach plummeted. “Define gone, and cut the evasive crap. I am not going to fall apart on you.”

  I could see the reluctance in his eyes. He let out a heavyhearted sigh. “Ives’s sire came for her.” She chose darkness. She chose the demon who sired Ives.”

  I sucked in a sharp breath. “Holy bajesus.” I could not fathom how anyone in my position would chose to go to Hell versus a life linked to someone you loved. The bond did not work without a strong desire like love, so I assumed she was in love with Ives. Then why in God’s name would you give up love for a demon? For burning eternally in the afterlife?

  There was nothing short of me losing my marbles that would make me pick Alastair over Chase. There was no comparison. Hot, drool-worthy boyfriend with a bangin’ bod or pasty, skin-crawling demon with a dire need for an attitude adjustment? Umm, please. Duh! It was a crystal clear choice.

  The sweet corners of his lips lifted. “My thoughts exactly.” But he wasn’t done, not by a longshot. “When his sire took Merci it severed the bond she had to Ives. She was lost to him forever.” His long lashes lowered.

  It might sound overly dramatic, but when I thought about losing this link I cursed so much, I knew I would rather die. The idea was like losing an arm or a leg. I would be incomplete without it.

  Leaning into him, I rested my forehead on his chest. His hands wound around my waist, looping together. For a few minutes, I listened to the melody of his heartbeat, basking in the warmth we poured into each other. Then he brought up the one thing I had been avoiding. The darkness I didn’t want to admit. All this talk about Merci and Ives and I’d forgotten.

  He framed my face, eyes roaming over me. “Something has changed.”

  I stiffened. A moment later, I tipped back my head. “I feel it inside me. The darkness…it is spreading on my soul.” I watched his expression turn to uneasiness. “What does it mean?” I asked, looking to him for an explanation.

  He pulled away, walking around the room. The longer the silence stretched, the more the nervousness grew. “I don’t know,” he finally said. “But Alastair will come for you—soon.” He flashed to me. “Ives told me that the blemish of darkness on your soul could possibly grow. No one really knows the consequences of each bond, but there is talk that with each tie the shadow grows. And that shadow on your soul brings you closer and closer to Hell and farther from me, which is precisely what Alastair wants. It is rumored that there is a slim chance to stop the darkness—by completing the triforce.”

  Hot flash. But this one had nothing to do with being sick and everything to do with the mention of the last link—bodybond. My eyes were captured with his. “We don’t have a choice now. We have to do it, Chase.” No pun intended.

  He stuffed his hands into his hair. “I know. If there is even the slightest chance it will stop Hell from claiming you, we have to try.”

  I never thought I would be talking about losing my v-card in a strategic manner. Not precisely romantic or dreamy, but then again, nothing about our relationship had been textbook. My soul teetered on the edge of wholly binding myself to Chase or being at the mercy of a higher-demon.

  It was a no-brainer.

  But the time clock was ticking. I felt the pressure. Waiting until college was out of the question. A lot of crap could happen between finishing senior year and summer vacation. Heck, I might not even make it to college.

  And, as if to reinforce that gloomy thought, hellhounds howled in the distance. My entire body went ridged.

  Our time had just run out.

  Hell was coming.

  Chapter 19

  Son of a bit—

  Another round of tortured howls echoed from behind the house. They were coming from the
woods. I jumped, and my eyes widened with fear. Chase’s entire face darkened as he secured an arm around me. “He’s coming for you.”

  This cannot be happening. I only just sort of figured out what was happening to me and now a slew of hellish things waited for me just outside the walls of the Winters’ house. I doubted Helms Deep would have kept them out. “I hate uninvited guests,” I grumbled, trying not to freak out, when in actuality I was quaking inside. Time to put Emma’s training to the test.

  Travis burst through the door, giving me my second heart attack. Anymore unexpected surprises and my poor heart was going to give out on me. “We have company,” he announced. A touch of topaz speckled the center of his irises.

  No shit, Sherlock.

  “Do you feeling like entertaining tonight, cuz?” Chase asked, meeting Travis’s gaze over his shoulder.

  Travis cracked his knuckles. “I think it’s time we send out the welcoming party.”

  A stiff smile formed on Chase’s lips. “Let’s go wipe the ground with demon blood.”

  The two of them were so strange.

  When they got that glint of anticipation in their eyes, I felt dread. I wish I could have shared their enthusiasm, but I wasn’t ready for a war. There was so much still I hadn’t learned. So I could throw a few punches and swing a dagger, but I wasn’t a ninja, that was for sure. “They are going to attack the house, aren’t they?” Demons didn’t normally expose themselves, but I guess when you lived in the middle of nowhere, it didn’t matter. There was no one around to see.

  “I would say yes,” Travis answered with two feet already in motion.

  I glanced down at my outfit, which was not exactly battle-ready. Borrowed sweats, a t-shirt, and I was barefoot. “Guess I don’t have time to go home and get my armor,” I muttered.

  “What do you need armor for? You have me as your shield.”

  I couldn’t suppress the drool look. “Well, last time didn’t go so well.”

  He grabbed my chin with a far steadier hand than mine. “You are not going anywhere. Do you hear me?”

  I nodded. When he said it like that, who wouldn’t believe him?

  He seared his lips to mine in a bruising kiss. It was quick but still very much earthshattering. Slipping his fingers together with mine, we headed downstairs. I still couldn’t fathom that there was about to be a showdown in my front yard.

  Downstairs, my little group of warriors were prepping for battle.

  Travis was stuffing his face with a sandwich that was the size of his head. “Got to keep up my strength,” he mumbled, chomping on a wad of bread.

  Emma was strapping weapons to every inch of her body. That was encouraging.

  And then I glanced at Lexi, who was blow-drying her freshly painted nails. “If one of them messes up my manicure, I am going to go postal,” she said, waving a hand in the air.

  What struck me the most was not one of them seemed the least bit concerned that Hell was knocking on the door, figuratively speaking. I, on the other hand, was a tight ball of bundled nerves. Something told me that I was about to experience a supernatural phenomenon. Call it intuition.

  Emma sauntered up to me and placed a small wicked-looking dagger into my hand. “Think you can handle this?”

  I leaned on the banister for support. “Do I have a choice?” But I clasped the familiar weapon in my hand.

  A long twisted yowl detonated just outside the front door. Emma’s mouth thinned. “Nope. Not really.” Her eyes turned to hard cuts of emeralds. “Here is your first field lesson Morgan. Don’t end up dead.”

  It was a darn good thing she was on our side again. Emma was a machine. Dread pitted in my stomach. “Encouraging. Thanks.” I looked for a place to store the weapon safely on my person and came to the conclusion that there wasn’t one.

  Our exchange didn’t go unnoticed. “Emma, you are a braver soul than I, giving her that,” Chase said, as he peaked under the blinds. “Looks like we got a full house of fun out there.” His yellow eyes glinted off the glass.

  Travis wiped the breadcrumbs from his mouth with a dimple sparkling on either side of his smirk and declared, “Time to tango.”

  I wasn’t in the mood to dance; that was for sure.

  The five of us crouched around the front door. Three half-demons with glowing eyes, one hunter with a burning hatred, and…I don’t know what I was classified as. It sucked being the weakest link.

  Before I had a chance to really comprehend that this was happening, that the five of us were about to go deadlocked with Hell’s soldiers, the front door was ripped off its hinges. Slinters of wood flew through the air, piercing flesh. Chase reacted, shielding me in his arms. He spun us around so the brunt of the force hit his back. When I glanced up, Travis had Emma in a similar hold.

  Lexi stood in the wake of destruction, dust settling around her, and jerked a shard of wood from her forearm. “I think it’s time we give our guest a proper greeting,” she sneered.

  “Devin is going to have a conniption when he sees this,” Travis said, eyeing the gaping hole where the entrance used to be.

  “Let’s hope he has a house to come home to,” Chase added snidely.

  Outside the lawn was littered with the most stomach-dropping sight. My insides turned cold. Snarling hellhounds, their paws digging into the snow, callous eyes large and crimson, teeth bared as pointy as razors. Poisonous saliva sizzled as it hit the ground, melting the pure white snow at their feet. And they weren’t alone. Lower-demons, in every shape, size, and color stood intermixed with the hounds. Their sickly skin, ranging from grey to pasty-white, hissed in anticipation. There were too many to count, and there wasn’t time to try.

  I couldn’t help but notice the full moon that flamed behind the field. It was extraordinarily big and blood red, definitely a bad omen.

  Christ. I never expected this. There was a freaking army from the underworld traipsing all over my yard. Panic erupted inside me. A loud crack boomed, causing me to jerk in his arms. Chase’s hold tightened around me, and I let his emotions seep inside of me, filling me with security like a warm fuzzy blanket.

  Travis gave Emma one last glance before flashing his dimples, and then he was gone. Lexi was right on his heels, zigzagging through the crowd. Emma already had her bow poised for aim as she stepped over the debris and onto the porch.

  Chase squeezed my hand. “Stay with Emma. Stab everything. One cut will send them back. Got it?”

  I rolled my eyes. “It’s not rocket science.” I failed to mention that I’d had lessons.

  He nodded. We stared at each other for one last long moment. I didn’t want him to leave me anymore than he wanted to, but if we had any chance at coming out of this fight alive, then Chase needed to do what he did best. Kickass. He was itching to sink his fists into anything from Hell. For me. For Sierra. Hell better watch out.

  I blinked and he disappeared, taking my heart with him.

  Watching in amazement, Emma sunk one arrow after arrow into the wild beasts. She would cover Chase, Travis, and Lexi as they tore through Hell’s minions. Chase never gave them any slack, but just as he sent one packing, two more appeared in its place. And so it went.

  Travis tanked through a pack of hounds that had begun to surround the porch. Deep growls ripped from the bottom of the hounds’ throats. Travis ripped off their heads one by one and their howls turned to screams before they exploded in a burst of grey powder. When the filth settled, Travis stood in the center, unscathed with a grin on his lips.

  Emma shook her head. “Showoff,” she muttered, smiling.

  Chase went ballistic. And I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Flying through the air, he rushed a demon head-on, spiraling until the demon wacked into a tree and promptly blew up into grey glitter. I held my breath the whole time.

  Periodically, his eyes found mine, and I felt his relief each time he saw me unharmed. The same could be said for me. I knew that I would know if he got hurt, but that didn’t stop me from worrying nonstop
. My heart plummeted each time I saw him fight. I hated that he was forced to, that they all were forced to. If anyone else died…I couldn’t take anymore causalities of war.

  Lexi took a direct hit from a demon while she was engaged with another. The force knocked her to the ground and her body jerked. I gasped. When she whipped her head up, her eyes glittered like topaz gems—total demon possession. “Dickhead,” she growled.

  She flickered out of my sight only to reappear behind the one that had struck her and dropkick him to the ground. She dug her ruby heel into his chest, and he disintegrated. Pivoting on her other, she stretched out her leg, and the other bumbling demon ran straight into the lethal red heel.

  Lex even killed with pizzazz.

  I had been so distracted with Lexi and her deadly shoes that I didn’t hear the lower-demons behind me. Not until one already had his hands on me. From the corner of my eye, I saw that Emma had her hands full with a few nasties of her own. I should have been grateful I only had one to attend to, but in reality, I could barely contend with just one.

  The demon latched on to my throat and licked his tar lips. His scolding breath doused my face. I hardly had time to register what he was going to do when he quickly sucked a gulp of my lifesource. “You taste good,” it hissed, his black eyes filled with longing.

  One sip was all he was going to get.

  I flailed in his arms before I remembered the dagger clasped in my fist, and Emma’s voice in my head instructor me to go low. Only way pierce was needed, to send this being to Hell. “I’m not a snack,” I croaked as I drilled the dagger into his side. Sucker. Chase’s eyes flared behind my attacker as he combusted, spraying grey matter all over me. The blade clattered to the floorboards. I could feel the hammering of Chase’s heart in my chest. Fear for me gripped him. “I’m okay,” I reassured him.

  He angled his head. “That was sexy.”

  I bent down and picked up the knife. “Stay tuned. There’s more where that came from.” I killed one demon and I started to get smug.

  His lips were suddenly on mine, kissing me as if his life depended on it. It was short, but surged with love.