“You’re all just in time for the show.”
One of the Council members—a gorgon who appeared ageless and beautiful, but whose hair of long, silvery snakes spoke to her centuries of life experience—started to speak, but her voice was lost in the din created by the advancing zombies. And much as Belpheg tried to pull energy out of them and direct it into Mammon, it wasn’t working as well as he’d hoped.
It appeared the corpses were no longer of any use to him.
He flicked his hand, and the first line of zombies dismantled on a wave of power and electricity, dropping harmlessly to the ground.
Yes. Felt so fucking good to be back in fighting shape.
He had but a moment to relish the look of fear on the Detainors’ faces as they realized the true extent of his power, before he magnified the voices of the Council members, allowing them to be heard.
The gorgon who’d dared speak paused when her amplified voice cut through the field. After taking a moment to compose herself, she began again.
“What’s the meaning of all this? What have you done?”
When the urge to laugh overtook him, he gave into it once again. “As if you don’t know. As if you haven’t all been preparing for this eventuality for the past several months.”
“But we don’t know,” the gorgon responded. “Who are you, and what have we done to you to make you respond in this manner?”
Her shaky but determined tone gave him pause. Could it be possible that not every Council member was involved in the incident leading to the demise of his people?
No, he wouldn’t even consider such a thing. Nothing would prevent him from at last taking the revenge he’d so desperately sought these many years. The revenge he’d tainted his very soul for.
The Council was responsible for his peoples’ deaths. They would pay accordingly.
But since he had a few more minutes until their bodies actually materialized at the scene, he would indulge her questions. For now.
“Allow me to enlighten you, Madame.”
…
Dagan watched in horror while Belpheg broke apart an entire group of zombies with nothing more than a flick of his wrist.
“Fuck me,” he breathed.
“Shit,” Keegan muttered, his tone strangled. “He’s more powerful than I thought.”
“What should we do, bro?” Taeg asked, shifting nervously in his spot. “Should we attack?”
Keegan shook his head. “Wait for my cue.”
The dark fae took a long, pregnant pause before resuming. “Forty years ago, the Council decimated my entire clan while they slept one night…for no other reason than you felt they had become too powerful to live. I, a child of twelve at the time, was the only survivor…saved and hidden away by a demon named Mammon.”
Dagan exchanged a heavy glance with Ronin. Lina had said Belpheg claimed the Council decimated his clan, but they’d dismissed it as the ravings of a lunatic. Could it possibly be true?
“You lie,” the Councilwoman spat, stiffening in clear anger and denial. “The Council serves to protect all species. To preserve life. Not to take it.”
Dagan’s thoughts exactly. Though he knew from firsthand experience that the Council didn’t always make the best decisions—actually, many of them were downright shitty—what Belpheg claimed went against everything the Council stood for.
And Mammon as a savior? Inconceivable.
Still pulling energy from the circle of men surrounding him, including one visibly aged Mammon, Belpheg lifted a hand. Another score of zombies dropped with that one casual gesture.
“Why would I lie about a thing such as this?” he asked, his gaze flicking over each and every one of the Council members’ images. “Why would I dedicate my entire life to destroying you without a justifiable reason?”
Belpheg had a point. No one would do such a thing without cause…nobody in their right mind, at least.
“Perhaps you weren’t personally involved,” Belpheg said to the voice who spoke, “but can you say the same for all of your fellow Council members?”
The Councilwoman’s mouth opened, but after a moment’s hesitation, she snapped it shut. She turned to face the other members, and they began to shift in their spots, uneasily murmuring words Dagan couldn’t quite make out. From the way they stared each other down, he had the impression they might be able to somehow read each others’ emotions.
“Who?” the Councilwoman finally asked, her voice hardening in condemnation. “Who among us would do such a heinous thing?”
The murmur of voices grew louder and louder, taking on a maddening cacophony that sparked an answering chorus in Dagan’s head. Finally, one of the Council members, a demon from the looks of it, dropped to his knees as if an invisible force propelled him. He bowed his head.
“I was against it…initially. But they persuaded me,” he confessed, his tone broken. “They warned me the clan was too powerful. That the consequences of a potential uprising from them were too dire to allow them to live.”
The snakes on the Councilwoman’s head slithered angrily, hissing in wounded indignation. “Who? Who convinced you of this?”
Lifting a shaking hand, the demon Councilman pointed to a tall, majestic gold elf.
“Sevin?” Tenos muttered, his incredulous voice barely carrying to where Dagan stood. “No. No, it cannot be.”
The gold elf’s brows furrowed in denial, and he shook his head wildly. “He lies.”
“I wish I did,” the demon murmured sadly. “Sevin and Codan approached me together and warned me of the clan’s dangerous powers. Since they lived on the same world as the clan, I believed them. It went against my better judgment, but I agreed.”
The Councilwoman scowled, and her gaze went past the gold elf to another Councilman, this one a dark fae whose skin tone wasn’t quite as bluish as Belpheg’s. The fae took one peek at Belpheg’s glowering countenance and took a quivering step back. “I don’t know what—”
“It was Codan’s idea,” Sevin interrupted, apparently deciding it would be wiser to give up his accomplice than continue to deny his guilt. “He told me the clan planned to rise against the Council. Politically, our hands were tied. We couldn’t act against the clan unless they attacked, and yet Codan assured me we wouldn’t survive such an attack.”
“You lie,” Codan yelled, pointing a furious finger at Sevin.
“I only acted in our best interests,” Sevin continued, his voice taking on a pleading tone. “You must believe me.”
His gaze locked on Codan, Belpheg slowly lowered his hands. Energy continued to wind around his circle and into his body, but at a distinctly less frenetic pace. His distress took on a palpable aura that tinged the air. “You would betray your own kind? Your own people?”
Codan drew back, his face growing disgusted. “Your clan was nothing like mine. You were deviants, and your leader was the worst of them. He thought because he had such great power that he was untouchable, but he was wrong, wasn’t he?”
Whoa. Talk about family drama.
Dagan watched the fae Councilman with growing fascination. Could he really have orchestrated the decimation of an entire clan, people of his very own race, simply because he was jealous? Because that was exactly what it sounded like from here.
“They would have destroyed you, I tell you.” Unholy rage flashed in Codan’s eyes as he turned to address his fellow Council members. “I knew their leader personally, so trust me when I say they would have eventually risen up against us. The Council’s hands were tied, so the three of us did what needed to be done to protect us all.”
“No, Codan.” The Councilwoman shook her head, and her snakes hissed ominously as they slithered here and there. “That is not the way. We cannot sanction such an act.”
Codan didn’t respond, though his eyes bespoke his fury.
The Councilwoman turned back to Belpheg. “I’m very sorry for what happened to your clan. Surely you can now see that it was the action of a few misguided
souls, not the entirety of the Council. They acted without permission and will be punished accordingly, but that doesn’t mean you should turn your wrath on the Council itself.”
To Dagan’s amazement, Belpheg’s slashing dark brows furrowed, as if he actually considered her words, and the heavy pulse of power surrounding him eased just a fraction. For one mind-numbing moment, Dagan thought that, just maybe, they had a chance of walking away from this.
But then Belpheg shook his head, his eyes going hard. “No.”
When the Councilwoman made to speak again, he interrupted her. “I’ve come too far to turn back now. Sacrificed too much.”
“But surely you won’t—”
“Silence!” Belpheg’s voice boomed throughout the field, sparking an unnatural quiet as even the wind appeared to stop blowing. “The risks I’ve taken, the lives that have been lost…they won’t be in vain. Whether the Council acted in concert or not, it’s clear that it is no longer fit to govern the people. It has grown too corrupt, and I bear the responsibility to stop it.”
The Councilwoman’s snakes hissed, and the remaining members shifted uneasily in their spots.
“If you choose to continue your strike against us,” the Councilwoman spat,” we will be forced to act.”
But hell, even Dagan recognized that for the obvious bluff it was.
“In a matter of moments, your bodies will solidify here on the field,” Belpheg replied. “Then we’ll see who the victor is. In the meantime, it’s past time to tend to my audience.”
Audience?
Oh shit, he meant them.
Belpheg cast one glance toward where Dagan and the rest of his group stood before lifting his hands. The zombies he’d so easily dropped minutes before began to rise up, reshaping themselves into gory, grotesque figures.
With a flick of his hand, Belpheg propelled the corpses into motion…straight toward them.
“Kill them all,” he ordered in a dispassionate tone.
Chapter Twenty-Five
As Lina watched in horrified fascination, a horde of zombies rose up. Limbs and heads attached to torsos, and the reanimated corpses headed straight for her and the others.
Too many of them.
No way they’d be able to take them all on.
Holding her daggers at the ready, she yelled at Keegan, “Can Brynn take back control of these guys?”
“Don’t know,” he called back. “I doubt she even knows what’s happened.”
Oh boy, this was not good.
How freaking powerful was this fae, that he could reassemble and command any army of zombies with no more than a single flick of his wrist?
Too powerful, that’s how.
They were so screwed.
“Um…time to do something, Keeg,” Dagan muttered beside her.
For some reason, Lina’s gaze landed on Rage. He scraped his toe toward the circle, and it took her a minute to realize he was trying to get at the scrolls that had fallen to the ground.
“What is he up to?” Lina said, shouldering Dagan and nodding toward Rage.
Before Dagan could respond, Rage succeeded in sliding the vellum sheets toward him, so that an inch or two extended outside the circle. He bent and grabbed them, just as a wave of flame wound through the field, melting the sinew from the first line of corpses headed their way.
She glanced over to see Keegan spraying a long arc of fire from his mouth.
Yes!
Keegan didn’t have full control of his ability to breathe fire, but when he managed to call it forth, it was quite a sight to behold.
Rage straightened with the scrolls in his hand and turned toward the blaze.
“Holy shit.” He let out a whoop of impressed laughter and pumped his fist in the air. “Fucking A!”
O-kay.
Whatever response she might have expected from him, it certainly wasn’t that one. Didn’t he realize he was on the wrong end of the fire? Especially considering he’d done jack-squat to come to their aid. But there he was, hooting and hollering like Keegan’s fire-breathing was the coolest thing he’d ever seen.
Belpheg didn’t seem to share Rage’s sentiment, however. The dark fae scowled and jerked his fingers at the zombies that hadn’t been fried. They launched forward in triple speed.
“Watch out,” Taeg yelled.
Hell ya, it’s go time.
Even though they were in deep shit, Lina couldn’t help the anticipation that built as she leaped to the nearest group of corpses. This was when she felt most empowered, with a knife in her hand. And if she was going to go down, she was going to kick some ass first.
“Come and get it, ass-faces.” She incapacitated one with a vicious spin kick while she slice-and-diced two more until they fell to pieces.
Dagan bounded into place beside her and hacked away at four on-comers. Three others approached, snapping at him with their slimy, gaping maws.
“Watch your back,” Lina called, whirling to help him out.
“Only if you watch yours,” he shot back.
He could take care of himself, no doubt. But she couldn’t help but worry. And that made her fight even harder.
After taking out three more flesh-eaters, she glanced up to see Belpheg aiming two long fingers at Keegan.
“Keegan, look out,” she yelled.
Tenos might have woven a field of protection around them, but something told her Belpheg would be able to bypass that in a hot second.
But before Belpheg could act, Rage stuck the fingers of his free hand in his mouth and let out a shrill whistle that carried halfway across the freaking field. “Yo, Belpheg!”
The dark fae’s gaze slid over to Rage before turning dismissively away. But then he did a double take. His fingers shook, and the horde of zombies he’d called up froze in place.
“What the hell?” Lina lowered her bloody dagger, glancing around in confusion at the sudden quiet that had fallen over the field.
Dagan took his place back beside her, his mouth open and his gaze locked on his long-lost brother.
“What’s he up to?” he murmured.
She shook her head and turned to the dark fae, her body poised to move at the slightest flicker of movement from any of the frozen corpses.
“What are you doing?” Belpheg growled.
“What? With these?” Rage reached into his pocket and drew out a silver-plated lighter. He flicked it on and held the scrolls over it, carelessly rolling the precious—and highly flammable—vellum between his fingers. “They aren’t important, are they?”
“You insolent fool.” Belpheg gave Rage his full attention, his hands dropping to his sides.
Oh shit. Lina exchanged a loaded glance with Dagan.
Rage was onto something here. Apparently he knew something they didn’t about those scrolls.
“I took you into my home, and this is how you repay me?” Belpheg’s face contorted in an anger so fierce that he didn’t even seem to notice the energy surrounding his twelve wind down, freeing the men from their paralyzed comas. “I’ll kill you!”
Rage gave Belpheg a cocky grin. “Not without risking setting your scrolls on fire.”
Belpheg growled, his eyes flashing fiercely in the night. “For this betrayal, I’ll devour your soul!”
“Eh.” He gave a nonchalant shrug. “I wasn’t using it anyway.”
Lina chuckled, despite herself. “Wise-ass.”
“Yeah.” Dagan grinned. “I think I might like him.”
No surprise there. Rage was sort of starting to remind her of Dagan.
“What are you doing, idiot?” Mammon spat.
Grinning widely, Rage turned and took a few steps toward one of the incubi standing in the circle.
“What are you doing?” Rage asked the incubus, his grip tight on the lighter. “This is crazy, and you know it.”
“Wow,” Dagan murmured. “I’m beginning to think our long-lost brother has a few screws loose.”
The incubus shook with unspent power, an
d his brows furrowed. “What?”
“Do you really think it’s fair to destroy a whole group of people just because of the actions of a few?” Rage looked pointedly at the disembodied Council members lining the field. “Wouldn’t that make us just like those three assholes out there?”
“I…” The incubus slowly shook his head. “What can I do? I’ve already traded my soul.”
Ouch. Lina didn’t even dare contemplate what that entailed, or what the consequences would be if he betrayed Belpheg.
“You can make a stand,” Rage said softly. “Isn’t that what you told me you wished you’d done as a child? Stand up for yourself, no matter the consequences? Be brave for once?”
From the way the incubus’ muscles tensed and his eyes shadowed over, Rage’s words had clearly struck a chord.
“I know this doesn’t feel right to you,” Rage continued. “I know you see the wrong in it. Because I sure as hell do.”
Belpheg’s voice was a low, rumbling growl that shot ribbons of energy throughout the vast field. “What sort of game are you playing at, vampire? Maddox has pledged himself to me. You cannot sever that bond. All you’ve done is ensure your death comes sooner and far more painfully than I’d originally intended.”
“Fucking awesome,” Rage drawled sarcastically.
“Yeah,” Lina said drily, “definitely missing a screw or two.”
Now…” Belpheg took an ominous step toward Rage, holding out his hand. “Toss me the scrolls.”
Rage’s hand began to shake, then his entire body. He let out a muffled whimper that made it clear whatever Belpheg was doing to him, it did not feel remotely good. But before he could do or say anything else, the incubus spoke up.
“Don’t do it.”
Startled, Lina turned her gaze back to the incubus.
“You’re right,” the incubus continued, his tone low and resigned. “Some things are worth dying for. Worth even the loss of your soul.”
Her breath caught as he suddenly doubled over, screaming in agony.
What the hell?
Lina exchanged a bewildered glance with Dagan.
“You think you’ll stop me?” Belpheg yelled, his face screwed up in rage. “You can’t stop me!”
Call of the Siren (Demons of the Infernum) (Entangled Edge) Page 26
