The incubus visibly collected himself, shoving a fist in his mouth. He straightened and took a deep, shuddering breath. In a voice laced with pain, he said, “Wanna bet?”
Lina watched the scene unfold in amazement, barely able to believe her eyes when the incubus stumbled out of the circle.
Belpheg lunged forward, screaming, “No!”
A current of wild energy blasted out from the circle, knocking her and Dagan to the ground. She clapped her hands over her ears and protected her head, letting out a yell at the vicious thrum of power slamming through the field. It twisted her insides, wrenching her gut and making her feel like her brain was about to be sucked out through her nostrils.
A low clap of thunder sounded out, and then, with a pop, the world righted itself once more.
Oh my gods.
Panting for breath, Lina lifted her head. She sought Dagan’s gaze out. The wild, oh-shit-I-can’t-believe-it look in his eyes confirmed what she’d already suspected.
Belpheg’s circle of power had just been broken.
…
Belpheg watched in horror as the spirits of the Council members began to dissipate, one by one, their souls harmlessly returning to their bodies.
“No. No!”
Shattered, he could do no more than watch in hopeless fury as the three men responsible for his clan’s decimation disappeared from his view…and his reach.
This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t.
Shaking with fury, Belpheg turned to Maddox. The damned incubus had betrayed him! The urge to strike him down was overwhelming. But if he killed the incubus now, he would have no twelfth, and absolutely no chance of reforming the circle.
He swiveled toward the treacherous vampire instead, but the man was already halfway across the field. Belpheg’s precious scrolls were clutched tightly in Rage’s hand as he raced toward the group of brothers he’d decided to aid.
“No!” He lifted a shaking finger, and a strong burst of energy shot from it—the remnants of the rapidly disintegrating power he’d gathered from the circle. The bolt flew straight toward the vampire’s neck with enough force to sever his head from his body.
At the last moment, one of the women who stood with the Detainors lifted her hand, and an answering bolt of energy stopped his blast.
Damnation. The woman must be one of the succubi who’d destroyed his original twelfth, Asmodeus.
How dare she use the power he’d inadvertently given her against him? This treachery wouldn’t stand. He wouldn’t allow it!
Gritting his teeth, Belpheg turned to Mammon and the remainder of his twelve. Their circle might be broken, his energy wavering, but his twelve still retained the impressive powers they’d gathered over these many months. And for now, he still had control of the zombies.
“Use the corpses as cover,” he ordered his twelve. “Kill them all.”
Belpheg flicked his wrist to propel the zombies toward Mammon’s sons before turning his attention to Maddox. In all the confusion, the incubus had attempted to flee and had almost made it to the edge of the forest.
Nice try, but you fail.
He wound a bubble of energy around the incubus and lifted him in the air, propelling the flailing man toward him. Belpheg might not be willing to kill one of his twelve—not yet, at any rate—but that didn’t mean he couldn’t cause him a great deal of pain.
The man needed to learn the consequences of betraying him…and they were far more agonizing than the mere loss of his soul.
If Maddox wouldn’t agree to rejoin his cause and reform the circle, then he would suffer more than any man in existence had ever suffered.
…
Dagan was still on his knees—still reeling in disbelief that their newly discovered brother had not only not betrayed them, but actually managed to sway one of Belpheg’s twelve minions into leaving the circle—when all hell broke loose.
“Now,” Keegan yelled.
Dagan had no more than a moment to exchange one last meaningful glance with Lina before she grew her wings and flew after Ronin. Right into the thick of the action, despite knowing Belpheg had transformed his minions with an array of superpowers.
Much as it terrified him, it also made her who she was, and he loved her for it.
He took a precious second to let out a brief, desperate prayer.
Please, let her be okay.
A quick glance across the field confirmed that Keegan had joined Ronin and Lina in flight, and they were now engaged in battle with the incubi. Before Dagan’s very eyes, Taeg dissipated into his air form. When one of the incubi aimed a bolt of energy at Keegan, a burst of wind that could only be Taeg knocked him halfway across the field. The image would almost be laughable if their situation wasn’t so dire.
“You okay?” he yelled over to Maya, who’d converged with Amara and the other succubi to battle the horde of zombies Belpheg had taken command of.
Maya let out a banshee yell and effortlessly hacked a zombie in half before tossing him a quick grin. “Peachy.”
Yeah, she was in her element here. No surprise she seemed to be enjoying herself.
Satisfied the women were more than holding their own, he redirected his gaze toward the battle halfway across the field.
That was when his eyes met the one person he hated most in the world.
Mammon.
His gut clenched, and his jaw tightened at the sight of the man who’d delighted in torturing him for so many years. Who’d made him believe he wasn’t worthy of love.
Mammon had joined two other incubi in battling Keegan, but once their gazes locked, he changed directions, heading straight for Dagan.
Just like my damned father. Always going for the weakest link.
An old, familiar burst of panic threatened to overwhelm Dagan. How many times had he been here before, cowering in terror while his sadistic father advanced?
But then he forcibly shook himself out of it. That was just his father talking, and for some fucking crazy reason, he’d listened to it all these years. He might be the youngest, but he wasn’t the weakest link. He would only be that if he gave into the fears Mammon had beaten into him throughout his childhood.
“Not this time,” he muttered. Not this freaking time.
He was going to make a stand against the monster who’d raised him…if it was the last thing he did. And considering that Mammon had managed to absorb untold abilities through Belpheg’s succubi, Dagan didn’t kid himself. It probably would be the last thing he did. Demons were never stronger than their parents after all…nature’s way of saying “Fuck you,” to demon offspring.
Raising the sword in his hand, he ran toward his father with a loud battle cry. To his immense satisfaction, an expression of surprise—maybe even the slightest bit of alarm—wound through Mammon’s face. He held up his empty hand, however, and an instant later, a sword formed where nothing had been.
Holy shit.
Looked like dear old dad had absorbed the magical skills of a dwarf somewhere along the line. The ability to attract metal objects and instantaneously form them into powerful weapons was certainly nothing to scoff at. He couldn’t help but wonder whether Mammon had called the metal to him from the neighboring, ore-rich mountains, or whether he’d simply divested some unlucky man on the field of his weaponry. He didn’t have much time to ponder that, however, because a moment later Mammon was practically in front of him, his arm raised high to deliver a punishing blow.
Letting out a grunt, Dagan did a quick roll, barely dodging the slice of Mammon’s sword. He pushed to his feet and whirled around with his sword, but Mammon turned, swinging his newly forged weapon to block Dagan’s blow.
“Damn,” Dagan cursed as he stumbled back. His arm ached where it had absorbed the impact of Mammon’s hit. He needed to step up his game. One second sooner, and his sword would have struck.
Mammon pushed him back with a gravelly laugh. “Your skills have certainly improved since I saw you last.”
Figured. The first time in years his father had said anything to him, and it was a snide comment on his fighting ability.
“No thanks to you,” he managed.
Mammon swung at him with another blow, and he barely managed to counter it.
“I’m surprised you’re here at all,” Mammon said conversationally. “I figured you’d be hidden somewhere with your tail between your legs, like you were in Egypt.”
“Bite me,” Dagan growled, slicing his sword around in a move that Mammon easily countered.
The only reason he hadn’t initially joined his brothers in Egypt, the only reason he hadn’t been tortured by Mammon alongside them, was because Keegan had asked him to keep Brynn safe. It was something that ate at him, but at the same time he was proud he’d respected Keegan’s wishes.
“You know nothing of honor,” Dagan spat at the man he was ashamed to call his father.
Mammon gave a hard laugh at that. “And you do?”
“More than you could have ever taught me. I learned from the most honorable men I know.” He leaped to the side to avoid Mammon’s thrust. “My brothers.”
His true fathers, in every sense of the word.
Mammon jabbed the sword toward his throat, and Dagan ducked to avoid the blow. Whirling around, he managed a hit to Mammon’s right shoulder. Mammon grunted and pulled away, and the sword made a sick slurping sound as it slid from his flesh.
Oh shit, I hit him.
He could hardly believe it. Sure, it wasn’t a death blow by any means, but he’d actually managed a hit.
Feeling suddenly reenergized, he charged Mammon once more. Mammon parried and then swung around unexpectedly, hitting a glancing blow along Dagan’s forearm. Hissing, Dagan pulled back and engaged him again.
He lost track of how long they fought, but to his surprise, with the exception of a few nicks from Mammon’s sword, he was managing to hold his own. His father, it seemed, had truly aged during his time in prison.
But then Mammon did the unexpected. He dropped his sword to the ground.
Dagan’s gaze instinctively followed the weapon. It was only when he saw the glint of metal out of the corner of his eye that he paid attention to Mammon’s hands.
His father had summoned a pair of jagged daggers, and they arced toward his neck in what would surely be a killing blow.
“Dagan!” Lina screamed from her spot across the field.
Acting on pure adrenaline, he let his sword fall to the ground. He caught Mammon’s hands at the last moment, grunting with the effort to tug them further apart.
“You’ve gotten stronger,” Mammon gasped.
But not quite strong enough, it seemed.
Their heads were close together, their hands locked in battle. One way or another, this was going to end here and now.
Taking a breath, Dagan did the one thing he’d never before dared to do. He met his father’s eyes.
Shock stilled them for a moment. Though he’d known it superficially, he’d never before taken the time to actually examine his father’s features. To see just how similar they appeared on the surface. Same eyes, same nose, even the same height.
But so very different on the inside.
“Why are you doing this?” he spat at Mammon. “What can you possibly hope to gain, other than living out the rest of your life as Belpheg’s bitch?”
From the way Mammon’s pupils dilated and his jaw slackened just a fraction, it was clear Dagan had struck a chord. Apparently his father wasn’t as stupid as he’d thought. Mammon had questioned Belpheg’s game plan, had wondered over his final position in it.
“Better to die a free man than to live as a prisoner,” Mammon finally said.
“Even if it destroys everyone and everything you’ve ever known?”
Mammon snorted, and much to Dagan’s surprise, loosened his grip.
Acting on impulse, Dagan wrested one of the daggers away from Mammon. He sliced it toward Mammon’s neck, but his father grasped his wrist at the last moment, stopping him right before the sharp blade connected with the tender flesh.
As if he realized the precariousness of their position, Mammon’s nostrils flared, and his pupils grew larger. “I’ve never known anything worth fighting for, other than ultimate power. I’ve never known love.”
Dagan stilled at those terse words, so completely unexpected coming from Mammon’s mouth. Love? His father didn’t even begin to understand the concept.
“That’s because you’ve never given it,” he said. That was the most important thing Dagan had learned from his brothers. “It would have been as simple as that, Dad. As simple as that.”
Mammon’s eyes went wide with shock. Whether from Dagan’s words or his inadvertent use of the word “dad,” he’d never know, because a moment later, Mammon tightened his grip on the dagger he held to Dagan’s neck and shoved inward with all his might.
Oh, shit.
Using his last bit of strength, Dagan stopped Mammon’s dagger before it could dig too deeply. It was only when he felt his own weapon connect that he realized his father had simultaneously loosened his grip on Dagan’s other wrist.
Letting out a startled grunt, Dagan turned his gaze to the dagger in his hand. Too late to do anything other than watch as the sharp instrument sliced almost entirely through Mammon’s neck.
Whuh…
Wide-eyed, he locked eyes with his father. Absorbed the expression on Mammon’s face. It was almost…accepting. Resigned-looking.
“Why?” he managed to choke out.
Because there was no mistaking it. Mammon had given up control of the dagger. Had let this happen.
“Why?” he repeated again.
Mammon opened his mouth, but nothing came out other than a garbled stream of blood. A moment later, his father’s body collapsed to the ground, and his head lobbed to the side in an oozing ribbon of gore.
Shock reverberated throughout Dagan’s body as he gazed down at his father. His mind refused to process what he knew to be true. That his father—the bane of his existence, the man he hated most in the world—was dead. And that he’d so much as allowed Dagan to kill him.
“Dagan!”
Keegan’s alarmed cry cut through Dagan’s stupor, and he looked up just in time to see one of Belpheg’s incubi headed toward him. Something that looked like a lightning rod was aimed straight at his heart.
Lifting the dagger still hanging limply from his hand, Dagan let out an instinctive battle cry and leaped for the man.
He’d survived Mammon.
Nothing was going to stop him now.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Amara raced to Lina’s side as she engaged the incubus who’d come to a stop in front of her. He took one look at her and sneered, clearly dubious of her fighting ability.
Adopting her very best angelic smile, Lina taunted him. “Wanna play?”
Before he could respond, Amara slapped her hands on the demon’s chest, activating her ability to burn. The demon yelled in pain, his eyes going wide.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Lina jumped him and sliced one of her daggers across his neck, detaching his head from his body. It rolled harmlessly to the side. His headless corpse dropped to the ground, depositing her deftly onto her feet.
Gasping for air, she surveyed the scene around her. Much to her surprise, the field was starting to look free of their enemies. Solara and the other succubi stood beside piles of disassembled corpses. Since they were no longer continuing to reform, Lina guessed Brynn had figured out Belpheg had turned the zombies against them and used her magic to deactivate them.
The others seemed to have taken most of the incubi down. Keegan and Ronin stood back-to-back, fighting off two of them, while Taeg remained in air form to keep the incubi from hitting either of his brothers with their magical bolts of energy or whatever other powers they might have.
Where’s Dagan?
The panic she’d felt since the moment she saw Dagan and his father locked in battle receded w
hen she noticed him dispatching the third and final incubus. At his feet was Mammon’s decapitated body.
What?
“Oh my fucking gods. He did it!”
Dagan had actually defeated his father, the bastard who’d made all their lives a living hell. Part of her couldn’t even believe it!
Amara followed her gaze, and a bubble of shocked laughter escaped her lips. It only lasted for a moment, though, before she tapped Lina on the shoulder. “Belpheg!”
Lina whirled to see the imposing figure of the dark fae standing in front of Rage and the incubus who’d stepped out of the circle.
Both men knelt on the ground, their wrists manacled into the dirt with what appeared to be coils of lightning. Belpheg trailed lazy circles with his fingers, which resulted in strips of flesh being flayed from both the men’s faces and bodies. From the way they screamed and writhed, it must be pure agony. All the more because they wouldn’t die from it. No, they’d simply suffer in endless torment until he decided to end their misery by beheading them.
“Let’s go.” Lina flew toward Belpheg, noting with immense satisfaction that the other members of her party had dispatched their enemies and were also headed toward the dark fae.
Oh, she didn’t kid herself. He was so strong he might be able to kill them all with one simple flick of his wrist. But they weren’t going to abandon anyone who’d helped them.
Not even a brother they hadn’t known existed, or an incubus stranger with questionable ethics.
“Tenos,” Keegan yelled the moment they converged behind Belpheg.
Tenos murmured something incomprehensible, and the air around them hissed with static. Taking note of it, Belpheg abandoned his torture of the two men and turned to face them. Without the slightest bit of concern on his face, he moved his wrist.
A bolt of electricity sizzled from his hand, but it merged with whatever force field Tenos had managed to raise, causing Lina no more than a shuddering twitch when a single bolt of energy ran through her body.
Nice.
She glanced at Tenos with newfound appreciation. That he’d even managed to raise a barrier to hold back a fraction of the dark fae’s power was beyond impressive, especially considering he only had the moon to pull magic from, while in contrast, Belpheg’s entire body reverberated with power.
Call of the Siren (Demons of the Infernum) (Entangled Edge) Page 27
