Only the Fallen (UnHallowed Series Prequel)

by Tmonique Stephens

  Another moan chased the haze away. He whipped around and his gaze landed on Dina. She’d saved him…again.

  Gideon cut Dina’s restraints and gently lifted her. She lunged into his arms. In pain, he thought until her tongue invaded his mouth. The kiss was mechanical, lacking any passion. Lacking, her. She was on auto pilot and it disturbed him on the deepest level.

  The kiss must’ve been a signal because a cheer went up from those who were left and the sex Olympics kicked off again.

  “My Lord, there is a suite I keep just for the occasion when one of you decide to visit.” Prostrate on the muddy, bloody floor, the Darkling pointed to the second level of the mud hut. Only a few less important parts of him were missing.

  Gideon folded into the shadows and exited the room. He stepped out into a luxurious suite any five-star hotel would be proud to showcase. Gently, he placed her on the king-sized bed. She didn’t even bleed all over the black silk sheets. Her wounds were ragged, and dry. Her pearlescent skin now ash colored and in places, charred. She’d survived this brutality only because he hadn’t taken her last drop of essence.

  If he could call being a mindless sex driven automaton trapped on the second level of Hell, living. She shouldn’t have given him so much of her grace. Damn, she shouldn’t have given him any. He didn’t deserve a single drop.

  And now he had to do this.

  Gideon palmed his knife.

  23

  Gideon stood over Dina. Pain filled him as his gaze touched on each wound marring her body. The body he had kissed, and licked, and loved with all the passion, and reverence he’d always nurtured.

  A gash split one side of her forehead and her cheek. Her right arm bent at an odd angle. Several dime-sized holes perforated her chest. A gash on her thigh and a diagonal gash across her abdomen, added to the horror. A shudder racked her battered frame. She curled into a fetal position, then switched and she rolled onto her stomach.

  Her back was worse than the front. Not only had the cat-o’-nine flayed swaths of skin, but someone had hacked at her wings. He quelled the urge to return downstairs and slaughter everyone present. But this was Hell, where unending agony was the only guarantee and death was a relative term.

  He reached out and brushed a finger over the exposed bone. A groan escaped from her and her head turned his way.

  Gideon knelt next to the bed and brought his face close to Dina’s. He brushed her hair away and stared into her glazed eyes. “I know you hurt. I will take care of you. Fix you,” he whispered, and hoped his words gave her comfort, though they didn’t comfort him.

  There was a way, though the cost…the cost was high. None higher than the purity of her grace which now strengthened him. He glanced at the hand now stroking her temple. He hadn’t felt this strong since the Fall. Her grace mixed with his tainted essence, he knew what he had to do, but not the result.

  Could she live with the result…and not hate him for eternity.

  A grimace twisted her mouth, but then turned into smile. She licked her bottom lip and her hips rose, and fell. The process repeated: lick lips, raise, and lower her hips in a pantomime of sex. She moved in jerky, erratic spasms that were meant to be erotic, not like a porn star marionette.

  Gideon sat on the bed and gathered Dina in his arms. She writhed and it took everything he had to hold her and not hurt her more.

  “Dina, baby, please. I’m trying to help you.” He gripped her forearms to stop her hands from roaming. Her legs wrapped around his waist and she humped him. He squeezed too hard and accidentally snapped the bones in her arms. She sighed in delight and lunged for his lips.

  “No!” He shook her, causing her head to whip back and forth. “Fuck. I’m sorry.” He cupped her face. “So sor—”

  Tears streamed from her glassy eyes. If he had a heart, it would be in tatters. But there was nothing in his chest except a space filled with the grace she’d given him. Still, something inside him shattered.

  Against all reason, all odds, she’d risked everything—Everything!

  Her light, the internal glow nothing could hide, the thing that made her divine—was gone. Though he held her in his arms, Dina was dead. Only an animated porn puppet remained.

  Rage and agony burned through Gideon. Rage at what she’d become. Agony about what he was about to do.

  With one hand, he snatched his knife from the mattress. With the other, he clutched her to his torso. Gideon had no reaction to her writhing body. The beautiful being, warrior, angel whom he loved more than anything else in existence, wasn’t whom he held. But he would hold her once more. Kiss her. Love her for the next eternity.

  She lunged for his mouth again, her hands now frenzied all over his body. Gideon fisted her hair and yanked her away. That didn’t stop her from reaching for him. She whimpered. Whether from pain or desire, he couldn’t tell.

  Gideon flung her to the bed and held her there with one hand. He sliced his forearm. Grace—not quite as silvery as it was in Dina’s body—welled. The viscous liquid had the same consistency as mercury. It rolled down his arm in fat beads.

  Dina didn’t struggle as he brought her mouth to the wound. This act would either save her, or end them both.

  Or turn her into something unrecognizable. Something she may not accept. Either way—

  “Please don’t hate me…but I can’t let you go. I won’t.”

  A spark flared in her peridot depths and for a split second, her gaze narrowed and latched onto him. “You’re in there, aren’t you?”

  She blinked and the spark was gone. Her glassy eyes stared right through him. Mocked him. He didn’t buy it. She wasn’t a mindless slave caught in the effects of Hell’s Lusts.

  Gideon switched hands on her chest and brought his wound to the gash on her abdomen. He forced the essence out of his body and into hers. A scream ripped from her throat. She bowed off the bed and thrashed, arms and legs striking out. He pinned one shoulder and kept his forearm to her flesh. Her screams continued, the high pitch shriek peaked as sweat broke out on her skin.

  Angels didn’t sweat. UnHallowed didn’t sweat.

  She wailed, then panted, finally whimpered, and went limp. His muscles trembled, weakening as he continued to return her grace to her body. He didn’t relent. Slowly, the mottle gray color clinging to her skin changed, not to the porcelain he kissed hours ago, but to a dusky pink. She almost looked…human.

  Oh Hell! What have I done?

  24

  Dina blinked, once, twice. On the third blink, the blurry world cleared and showed Gideon’s grim mouth and lowered brows. He was worried. About what? She wondered.

  Her lips were cracked and dry. She licked them and tasted their combined grace and UnHallowed essence. It was sweet, how she imagined candy tasted.

  Gideon leaned closer, concern tightened his brow and thinned his lips. She reached for him.

  And noticed her hand.

  It could have been the lighting, but she didn’t think so. Why? Because it felt different. Actually, her entire arm, shoulder, chest, the alien sensation traveled through all her body.

  And she hurt, on a cellular level, she hurt all the way to her…soul?

  Her hand dropped to her chest. Feeling for a …She froze, listening to the…

  Lub dub. Lub dub. Lub dub.

  Her gaze latched onto Gideon and she inhaled a ragged breath, felt lungs expand in her chest cavity, and wheezed air through her nose. “How is this possible?”

  His mouth opened and closed without a word passing through his lips.

  “Did you do this to me?” She shouted even though she knew the answer. Hysteria had closed in on her. A human trait, she recognized and screamed in panic.

  Gideon gripped her shoulder. “No. How could I?” His pain filled gaze darted away, and then he hung his head. “I don’t know.”

  Dina pushed him away and hauled herself into a seated position. Another cry ripped from her mouth. She jerked around and looked over her shoulder as he said, “Don’t
.”

  It was too late. She’d already seen her nude, bony wings. Memories flickered through her brain, slapping her with their speed and intensity. Dina lunged into his arms and held as tightly as her human arms allowed. “You’re alive. It worked.” She sighed. “We’re alive.”

  Gideon blinked a few times, clearly stunned. It was comical. She’d laugh if everything didn’t hurt so much.

  “You’re not…upset? You do realize you’re human?”

  She swallowed the lump clogging her throat and nodded. “Yes. I know. It’s better than being dead. Then again, we are still in Hell, right?” The opulent room couldn’t hide the stench of the place.

  Gideon nodded.

  “What happened? I remember snatching you from that creature and giving you my grace.” Searching for the memories, she cocked her head to the side, willing them to come. “I tried to fly us out of there.” Pain flared bright and awful in the joints where her wings attached to her back. Tears welled, and she couldn’t stop them. So, human. She reached over her shoulder to feel them.

  Gideon took her wrist in his hand. He kissed her knuckles and folded her hand in his. Their fingers threaded and he waited as sobs took control of her body. Carefully, he gathered her to his chest and let her be…human.

  It didn’t take long for her tears and sobs to end. She wasn’t a crier. Now that she had a pulse, that wouldn’t change.

  “I still have wings. Must be from the residual grace.” She croaked.

  “They’re too damaged for you to keep.” His lips brushed her forehead. “I’m sorry, baby.”

  “Not your fault.” She pushed away to see his face. “Are we safe?” she asked because that was more important than anything else.

  “For the moment.”

  Good enough. “How did this happen to me?” Her head rested on his chest again.

  He was silent, then, “You gave me your grace. Saved me. I gave it back to you, polluted with my disgrace, to save you. I thought the worst would be you turning into an UnHallowed, like me. Not a lowly human.”

  She shook her head. “Humans are not lowly. Don’t you see, Gideon? This is a gift. I’ve been given a chance to ascend again, as all humans have that chance. Now, so do I.”

  Humans were Father’s most beloved creation. She’d been given a great gift, and she wouldn’t waste it. Dina squared her shoulders. “Rip off what’s left of my wings.”

  He tensed and she pulled away to meet his concerned gaze. “Do it. Do it now. Make it fast. Clean.”

  Dina wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head in his pecs. She bit her lip and anchored herself in the feel of his skin and the strength caged in his hard body. His grip tightened almost painfully around her lower back.

  The first swipe of his blade severed the most damaged wing. Somehow, she managed to not scream. The effort cost her. Pain whipped through her back, into her bones. She sagged in Gideon’s arms.

  He cupped her face and pressed his lips to her forehead. His hand moved to her nape, and then down her back to the other wing.

  She knew what was coming, wanted to say, ‘No! Please don’t! Wait!’ The words stayed in her newly beating heart.

  “Hold onto me,” he said.

  Dina didn’t have the strength.

  The swipe wasn’t clean. His blade got wedged. He yanked it free and—

  She bucked, kicked, scratched, snarled, and bit him.

  —hacked the remaining attachment free.

  Dina’s sorrow couldn’t be contained. It came from her new soul and streamed from every pore. Eventually, she remembered who she was, where she was, and who rocked her in his arms. She pushed away and he eased her onto the bed.

  Back flat on the bed, no wings bunched uncomfortably underneath. She blinked away a fresh round of tears and glanced down at her body.

  A bandage wrapped around her chest and a sheet covered her lower half. She was clean. Not a trace of blood or dirt clung to her skin.

  “The Darkling I let live brought water and linen to bind your wounds.”

  Gideon sat beside her. Chest bare, but also no trace of the carnage he’d caused. She glanced at the fire burning in the hearth. The twigs crackling in the flames…she knew what they were.

  Dina met his gaze and croaked, “Thanks.”

  Now, he looked away and focused on a point on the opposite side of the room. “This is my fault. The minute I saw you in the house, I should’ve fled. If I had–”

  “I wouldn’t be able to finally say, I love you.”

  His head jerked around to her. Grim faced, he leaned over her as an intimidating wall of angry UnHallowed. “You don’t mean that.”

  “Yes, I do. I always have.”

  His voice a rumbled whisper, “I just ripped your fucking wings off.”

  “I know. I was there.”

  “Dina,” he growled.

  And she smiled, weak, but it was a smile. “Don’t try to make me hate you. We both know you never would have, even though you threatened to. There is no blame to lay. It had to be done. And I’m glad you were the one to do it. Thank you, Gideon.”

  Carefully, she eased into a seated position and pressed her lips to his chin. His head dipped and he captured her lips in a tender kiss. “Love you, too.”

  “I know.” She kissed him and, for a moment, forgot the pain.

  “We have to get out of here.” He stood and held out his hand.

  She took it and rose to her unsteady feet. “Not concerned about the lowly human?”

  “You may be human, but you are still Dina, the warrior I trained. Plus, the last time I checked your wounds, they were almost healed.” He gave her a smug look.

  “My grace?” It couldn’t be anything else.

  “Has to be. Nothing in this place will heal you, unless that is your punishment.” He yanked the sheet off the bed and draped it around her, toga style.

  It’ll do. She winced from the ache radiating across her shoulders and back. Gideon took her hand and pulled her to his side. “What now?” She sighed and prepared for the worst.

  At his behest, shadows crawled from the corners of the room towards them. Gideon sheathed his blades. “Now, we get the hell out of Hell.”

  25

  It took all of Gideon’s concentration to navigate the shadowed conduits. What once came easily, now fought his authority. The mixture of Dina’s grace and his UnHallowed goo strengthened, yet weakened. They needed the shadows. Traversing any level of Hell with a living human—former angel—would bring every Demoni Lord to their location. If they weren’t already on the way.

  Dina leaned against him. Her breast pressed to his side, her shoulders drooped and trembling. She’d never been more vulnerable. A human.

  Gift my ass!

  She had no idea he’d lied. No one escaped Hell. This wasn’t a rescue mission, but a sentence of perpetual torment. He knew this when he entered. She had to know this too. So now they played ‘let’s pretend.’

  A ripple folded the shadows. The Cruor had opened. But that wasn’t what had his senses humming. Someone had just opened the vial of the chancellor’s essence.

  Gideon zeroed in on both, and surprise, surprise…they were in the same area. He didn’t believe in luck.

  “Dina.” He lifted her chin and met her weary gaze. This bit of activity had worn her out. How would she survive what was to come? “The Cruor has opened.”

  Hope flared in her eyes and she smiled.

  “And I sense the vial.”

  Her smile waned. “A trap?”

  He nodded. “Prepare yourself. I’ll try—”

  “We’re closing the Cruor.” Her tone left no room for argument. “We were created for one purpose. A purpose we have both failed, until this moment. No one will know what we do today except us. And that will be enough. Because I love you.”

  “And I you.”

  “We will be what we were created to be, warriors.”

  Gideon nodded, but his attention was snatched away from Dina as
sections of shadows dissipated and spit them out of the conduit. He snatched her from the air and caught her to his chest.

  The hard ground rushed toward them. Gideon wrapped himself around Dina and took the brunt of the crash landing on his back. They bounced once, twice, and skidded to a stop by a crumbling fountain.

  “You okay?” He touched her arms, back, hips, searching for anything broken.

  She answered with a groan. “I knew humans hurt, but never considered how much.”

  She pushed off his chest and gasped. Gideon jumped to his feet. He shoved her behind and faced a Demoni Lord, one he hadn’t previously seen.

  He studied the creature with its shifting features on its lanky frame. It stood on top of a weathered statue in the middle of the dry fountain. What the statue once was, Gideon couldn’t guess.

  “It’s a Spaun.” Dina had shifted next to him.

  Of course. The shifting features were a giveaway. Spaun were doppelgangers of the Demoni Lords. Just as nasty, but with less powers. Though they did have a direct link to their overlord, they couldn’t speak.

  Good chance the Spaun was calling his overlord right now.

  Gideon freed his blades from the sleeves along his pant legs.

  The Spaun jumped down and landed on a decapitated beast from Limbo. It had to be the one Dina killed. A quick glance confirmed the demon was alone—a lie. Those bastards never traveled without an entourage. He couldn’t risk Dina being hurt.

  “Stay,” he whispered to her and tensed to attack the Spaun.

  With a flick of its wrist, the vial appeared in its hand, and Gideon halted. He glanced at Dina. She kept moving.

  What the fuck! Where is she going? Darklings crept at the fringes of the square aimed at Dina. He pivoted to protect her.

  The Spaun uncorked the vial and the unmistakable scent of an Archangel’s grace filled the air. It smelled of sunshine and life and Heaven. Everything that was an anathema to Hell.

  A bone rattling shriek erupted from the Darklings, a cry sure to bring every inhabitant running. Dina slapped her hands to her ears, but she didn’t go down. She pushed forward, to what?