The shapes below moved closer, and Kade scurried down the hill, lost her footing and slid on her butt, the snow soaking her clothes. One of the figures rushed from the darkened tree line, racing across the deadly mine field at full tilt toward Cole. Jet black hair shone like a beacon against the orange flames, giving his identity away. Alex.
Kade screamed.
Cole spun just as Alex plowed into him with an audible growl. They rolled, arms and legs flailing, as punches were thrown.
The other figure eased out of the shadows, and turned on Kade. "Well, who do we have over here?"
Kade backed up.
"Away from your protectors, new girl?" Kyle grinned. “It still looks like you're confused about where your loyalties lie."
Kade's eyes shifted toward Cole, who still rolled across the frozen ground. She had no idea who had the upper the hand, Cole or Alex, and her stomach knotted, knowing Cole still wasn't completely healed from the fight with Kyle.
Kyle, the Shadow. The Nefarius.
Energy zinged through her veins and her gaze shifted back to him. Milky white eyes stared back. Rows of silver teeth jutted outward, and his wide mouth morphed into a grin.
"Afraid?" he asked.
"You wish." Her jaw itched, wings straining to break free of her shoulders.
"I tried to get to you in Crystalline, but I think now is more fitting." His white eyes roved toward Cole. "That way lover boy will remember who has the upper hand in this war."
Electricity hummed down her arms, in her hands, building in her core, and she refused to move, to back up. She might not be trained yet, or know how she'd been doing it all her life, but if she got mad enough, or if anyone hurt Cole, she could wield just as much power as she'd seen him let loose in the past few minutes.
"I tried to warn you," Kyle said. "Remind you of your alliances." Rows of razor teeth showed in the back of his mouth. "Somebody needs to learn a thing or two about ownership."
"Ownership? You might want to recheck what century you're living in because you seem confused," she said. "It's the twenty-first. Equal rights and all that."
"No wonder you like Cole so much. Match made in hell."
She shrugged, heat radiating up her spine, quivering in the air around her. "Or in heaven."
"You don't belong in heaven." Something about the way Kyle said those words scared her like nothing else had.
"What would you know about it?"
"More than you think." He sneered, and took a step toward her.
Kade backed up.
A glimpse of red light gleamed in the darkness.
Cole was on his feet, Alex on his back in the snow. Not moving. Cole wiped his mouth, more blood on his hand. He turned, and his gaze caught Kade's across the field, and shifted toward Kyle. With speed too fast to track, Cole was gone, only a faint red streak showed in his wake, marking his path before two arms blurred in front of Kade's face, and Kyle was lifted off the ground and thrown. Straight toward the fire engulfing the trees.
"Get down!” Cole shouted.
Kade dropped to her knees. Kyle's body slowed in midair, and spun, wisps of shadow breaking away. He landed on his feet, fury contorting his face. His entire body shook, and he transformed into nothing but Shadow, blending into the night.
“Stay down, Kade.” Cole took off. A screeching cry broke over the clearing, and a massive, six foot tall falcon sped like a bullet toward an invisible prey. Kyle's body shifted back and forth, between Shadow and human, flickering in mid-air as if unable to hold one shape. The falcon's talons sunk into his neck. Red energy lit up the sky, and spread through Kyle's body, his veins, lighting him up from the inside out. His body convulsed, but he never made a sound. Only dropped from midair onto his knees in the snow, eyes wide with shock, his spine severed in two, his body charred black.
Kade covered her mouth with her hand, shock rippling through her.
Thickness filled the air, blocking out the cold, and Nefarius filtered through the forest, all along the tree line, everywhere, their wispy forms catching the moonlight, exposing their positions. Hundreds of them.
Cole shifted into his human form across the field. "Get your ass up, Jake!" he shouted, and was next to Kade in less than a second, rolling his neck, flexing his hands. "Remember what you did in the cavern?"
"Yeah." Kade eyed the Shadows, still trembling. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to go. Too many of them.
"You're a good shot," Cole said. "I'm going need you to be a good shot in a minute. Can you do that?"
"Yeah." She swallowed hard. She would do that. She would do anything to protect Cole.
"Nefarius attack like wolves." Cole edged her behind him with his arm. "They target the weakest one first, and then they converge as one unit."
"Right." Kade wasn't really listening him, she could feel the Shadows moving closer, encircling them, feel the energy building inside of her, the way it always did when she was being threatened. Like a wave about to break; a dam about to burst.
Tiny ripples fluttered on the air as her energy expanded, filtering out of her, and for the first time in her life, she realized she didn't have to hide, didn't have to run, or be worried that she would expose herself. Cole knew what she was. Wanted her in spite of it, and that knowledge filled her with unbridled power.
"Jake. Where the hell are you?" There was no answer.
A scream broke the silence on the other side of the field, and Kade realized the Nefarius had done exactly what Cole said they would do. Taken down the weakest one. Kade had no idea how she recognized the voice, but as another scream ripped through the trees, she knew.
“Alex!" Cole grabbed Kade's hand and they tore across the field.
Thick, hot air brushed the hair off her face and neck, the stickiness of the Shadows wispy forms clinging to her like a fine mist. They were next to Alex in seconds, and Kade bit back the cry that rose up out of her. Alex's body was black, charred like Kyle's had been, as if he'd been electrocuted. Blood stained the white snow underneath his head where his neck had been sliced, and his wide blank eyes stared toward the tree tops.
"Dammit." Cole shut his eyes gently, and wrapped a protective arm around Kade. "Stay next to me. Like glue. Understand?"
She nodded, unable to tear her stare away from Alex.
"I want to feel the tips of your toes on my heels." Cole squeezed her. "You hear me?"
"What if I'm beside you?" she answered without emotion.
"Then your thigh had better be rubbing against mine." His jaw muscles were hard as steel.
She nodded, sweat beading over her brow.
"Okay?"
"Yes. Okay."
Another scream broke the night.
"That stupid son of a bitch." Cole grabbed Kade's hand and took off. “Jake! Goddammit."
They swerved through the trees, limbs cutting across Kade's face, the underbrush tripping her, as she tried stay next to Cole and not hit anything in the dark. She didn't want to find Jake, couldn't bear to see him the same way she'd seen Alex. Her foot hit a frozen patch of ground. Her boot slid out from under her. Her hand tore away from Cole's. Trees whirred by. She put out an arm to stop herself from colliding with anything, and a snake of swirling silver energy caught her sight. A wispy black arm rose into the air, only a few feet away, and silver energy sped through the trees.
“Kadence!"
She tried to stop, or swerve, but she was running too fast, and she couldn't slow down quick enough. Hadn't learned to do that yet. The silver stream of energy clothes-lined her across the neck. She was blasted off her feet, spinning backward through the air like a loaded missile. There was no time to react. Her shoulder hit rock with a sickening crunch. The weight of her body lurched downward, snagging against the jagged face of the mountain, tearing her clothes, her flesh, apart.
“Sparrow!"
A surge, with the power of an atom bomb, shuddered the ground, and red light bloomed and lit up the field. Something warm pooled down her throat, her chest, and she hung
by a taloned claw encircling her neck.
A scream split the night and all the light in the world went out.
***
"Stay where you are, Mr. Spires, I warn you."
Cole stared in shocked horror as Kade's limp body hung from the demon's taloned hand like a rag doll, or a puppet who'd had its strings cut. Her face was white in the dark, and blood stained her throat, her coat, her chest, down her sleeve.
"I swear to the gods, I will kill you."
Dracon laughed. "That, Mr. Spires, I do doubt. I understand you have uncovered one of the secrets of the fusionem crystal. The reason I needed you. Truthfully, I was afraid you might not figure it out. That perhaps Kadence would have to be near death before the connection dawned on you." He glanced at her lifeless body. "Well, she is close now, I suppose. I don't know how it works exactly with devil gods. Do they truly ever die?" Dracon shrugged as if it didn't concern him either way, and he lifted Kade's hand. Red lines traveled over her palm.
A deep rumble rolled from Cole's throat, as he took a step forward, his fists opening and closing.
"Be careful, young Alpha. Kadence has grown quite fond of you, and as a good father, I do have her best interests at heart."
Cole's stomach hit his feet. He wanted to throw up. “What?”
Dracon smiled, and with a flick of his taloned hand, the Shadows disappeared from the trees. "I believe you are in my daughter's best interest, Mr. Spires. Why do you think I moved her here? You are a bright boy. I am sure you can figure it out."
Kade's eyelids drooped open, and her breath released on a sharp intake, as an expression of fear crossed her face. She kicked out, clawing at the hand around her neck.
"You see?" He glanced at Kadence. "Remarkable creatures, Anamolia. They have a survival instinct I have failed to see in any other life form. It is as though they are hard-wired to survive."
Kade's face began turning blue.
"Let her go." Cole's hands were clenched, aching at his sides. "Let her go, or I swear to the gods, I will hunt you down, and kill you in your sleep."
Kade's eyes widened as she took in Cole, the realization of what was happening settling across her features.
"You didn't believe you simply outran me in the forest the night you 'rescued' Kadence, did you?" Dracon clearly ignored Cole's threat. "And here is the biggest issue with youth, you think you know everything. But you don't. For example, a fusionem crystal is a spectacular stone. Undetectable by both modern and traditional medicine, it leaves no trace upon the user. Miraculous, really, to have that type of untapped power that no one can find a trace of. Besides the small sampling of Devil's blood and red lines that fade...nothing." He shrugged with a giddy grin that warped his monstrous features. "The Ward simply believed Kadence to be a Primeva. Amazing. As I said, the crystal can do a multitude of things. Your father was on the right track with his research. He told me a few of his secrets. Before he died. Did you know that?"
"What do you want?" Cole's eyes were trained on the red talon choking Kade. He knew he could get to her before Dracon could strangle her, but not before he broke her neck. He stood his ground.
"I wanted for you to be with Kadence, of course. I was afraid that Mr. Phillips would have to suffice, but thankfully, that was not the case. He is not nearly as strong as you are. Your power has fused with Kadence's, making her literally unstoppable in the war against the Primordial. I have the underground map I so needed. You have played your part well, Mr. Spires."
Kade's terrified eyes shifted toward the trees.
"Let her go. I know you need her alive."
"Alive, yes, but the condition she is in makes no matter. Do not be foolish. It is best that you let her go. What else can you do with her? She is not one of your own, so you can never truly be with her. We would not want to alert the Warden of what she can do. I believe they have strict rules for those they consider threats. Disposable, is the word they use."
Cole tried to breathe normally, stay in control, but he was slipping. The ground trembled under his feet, tree limbs snapped in the distance, the tidal wave of energy that he was more than capable of producing increasing.
Kade kicked out again, her staggered breaths coming in hits, tears filling her wide, afraid eyes.
"Mr. Spires has done all he can, Kadence," the Draconis said. "You have siphoned his power to use as your own. Fusing you with one of the most powerful Primori in history." He grinned. "The map is on your palm. We do not need him anymore. He would destroy all I have worked for since your birth to accomplish."
"You knew about this?" Cole's tone was venomous, glare centered on Kade, as she kicked out again, her screams muffled.
"No...” The word cut off in her throat. Dracon loosened his grip, as if he wanted her to talk. "My dad is...sick. This isn't...him." Her voice rose in panic, and she grappled to free herself, red energy pouring out of her in waves, but Dracon remained in control.
Cole's chest rose and fell, and he couldn't stop the way he looked at her, like she was something to fear, to hunt, to be rid of. "You lied to me."
“No! Dracon...told me I would...never see my...dad again if I said anything." She kicked again, choking. "I didn't know... he's been...switching back and forth...for a long time. I thought he...was getting...better. Cole." She stared at him. "I swear...I never knew...he would do this. And then you...told me what I could do, and...I wanted to help. I thought it...might free my...dad." Tears rolled down her face. "I swear...this isn't the real him."
"That is true, mostly. Except that her father, the man, I am almost free of, thankfully. I much prefer this version of me," Dracon said. "My daughter is an honest girl. Well, where it is important. Her identity has been kept secret. I am quite good at hiding. It is an art, really. I had to wait. To see who the new Alpha would be when Kadence came close to the age of graduation. It was you, Mr. Spires. I could not have asked for better luck. And the fact that you fell in love with her, well, that was simply a bonus."
Kade's shocked gaze flew to Cole, but he remained emotionless, cold, jaw clenched.
Dracon laughed, a deep, bellow that filled the clearing. "We truly must go, my daughter. We are much overdue for our appointment, and I so hate to be tardy."
Kade glanced at Cole again, but he didn't look at her. Couldn't.
"This is how we are going to do this, Mr. Spires," Dracon said. "I know that you have been weakened by the transfer of strength. I believe your altercation with Kyle proved that, and the fact that Kadence is still in my grasp." He grinned. "So, please do not try to fight me, and weaken yourself further. The Nefarius will return on my command, and I will take Kadence. If you or your Ward tries to halt my assault on the Araneum, the girl you love will die by my own hand. There are ways. No one is indestructible. So, there is your choice, Mr. Spires. Your race will die either way, but you alone control whether Kadence lives."
“No! Leave him alone!” Kade kicked fiercely, and Cole knew in that second, she was telling him the truth. Dracon had never told her any of his plans, had never threatened her life, only her father’s.
"I only need her for one purpose," the demon said. "After that, she will be useless, but alive if you see fit. Then again, I am not quite sure how the merging of strength will affect you if the other is killed. Will Kadence survive your death?"
Kade screamed, muffled and drawn.
"I have always liked you, Mr. Spires. That was not a lie. You are a sensible young man, and you would have made an excellent Warden." He nudged Kade forward by the throat.
"No." Kade stared at Cole, sucking in drags of air, while clearly losing her strength, but she didn't move. She held her ground as Dracon tried to yank her.
Fists clenched, Cole knew his expression remained harder than stone. None of the person Kade had fallen for stared back at her, and he hated himself for it, knowing that only the Primori, the falcon, the bird of prey, the predator glared at her. "Can I ask you a question?" He focused on Dracon.
"Of course you may."
"How'd you do it?" Cole glanced at the serpent’s red horned head, the head of a devil, his taloned hands, serpent's tail, and black leathery wings.
"I experimented on myself. I was able to hold to two forms. My human guise and this." He gave a wave of his hand as if his devil form was lovely. "I had to be sure that when I used the fusionem crystal on Kadence as a baby that it would work and not kill her."
Kade's eyes grew wide.
"That, she too, would be able to blend in with society, with all Primordial and humans alike. So many have died in the process of my experiments, so it took much longer than I would have liked, but Kadence was very strong being a true born Primori. The perfect candidate."
Kade heaved a breath, and Cole thought she was going to pass out. His foot lifted an inch off the ground before he placed it back down. Dracon had admitted what he'd done, and that he had done the same thing to others who had died? Changed Kade from a healthy baby, a Primori, who had a full life ahead of her, full of friends, people who cared about her, into a monster. Her own dad? A monster to use for his own needs. Like Frankenstein. The revelation made him sick...and livid.
"Come now, Kadence and stop fighting me, you have already lost the boy you love."
Cole's heart lodged near his throat. Kade took once last glance at him, and Cole knew she believed she'd lost him. Had lost everything she thought for one fleeting glimpse could be her life, a real life where she was happy and safe. He could see it in her eyes. The same fear he'd seen when he'd found her in the snow. As if she was completely lost and alone. "You really didn't know what he was doing?" Cole had to force himself to say the words out loud.
Kade stopped, or she tried to. "No."
"Come along, child. You are only making it more difficult on yourself. There is nothing left for you here."
"Do you love me?" Cole's voice rolled out, and no matter how hard he tried to keep his tone even, it broke.
Their gazes met, and a shiver coursed through Cole's entire body. Kade's eyes closed, tears spilled. She always tried to be so strong, but the word poured out, off her perfect lips. "Yes."
CRYSTALLUM (The Primordial Principles Book 1) Page 32
