He kept low, afraid that if he dared to fly too high and his wings gave out that he would end up injured. He was already weak, and was steadily growing weaker, the darkness slowly draining all of his strength. If he injured himself, well, it didn’t bear thinking about. He wasn’t sure he would have the strength to save Asteria.
He wasn’t sure that he had it now.
The black mountains were rough and jagged beneath him as he followed them up, remaining only a few feet from the ground. He definitely didn’t want to fall on those rocks. An injury like that would be game over for him. He could sense demons everywhere and knew they could probably sense him. If he was injured to the extent he couldn’t fly, it would be a matter of minutes before the demons located him.
And dealt with him.
He reached the peak of the mountain and started down the other side, but when his eyes lit on the towering black fortress ahead of him, his descent slowed, wariness settling over him. He landed halfway down the mountain and surveyed the huge bastion, surrounded by seven circular courtyards set in a concentric pattern. All but the one where the castle stood contained smaller buildings, and even outside the walls in the valley there were settlements.
And where there were buildings, there were demons.
There had to be hundreds of them. Thousands.
He watched them moving around each courtyard, scouring them for Asteria.
All the instincts that said to form a plan of attack before moving any closer to the citadel were overthrown when he spotted Asteria in the courtyard of the fortress.
The two burly demon males dragged her between them, pulling her towards the entrance where golden light spilled from the castle.
Rey kicked off, beat his wings as hard as he could manage and shot towards her.
When he reached the wall of the courtyard surrounding the castle, she spotted him and her eyes went wide. She was still for a moment and then she started struggling, fighting the demons’ holds on her. The two males looked down at her and then slowly turned towards him.
They weren’t alone.
There were at least a dozen male demons in the courtyard, all of them armed and watching him.
He supposed it wasn’t every day that an angel had the stupidity to wander into their territory.
He had to be here though. He couldn’t let anything happen to Asteria.
He loved her, and no matter what she had told him, he knew she loved him too.
She had said those things to him to drive him away in some noble attempt to spare him, and he loved her all the more for that, but nothing she could have said would have stopped him from following her right into the heart of Hell. He would follow her anywhere, wouldn’t stop pursuing her until she gave into him and gave him what he needed from her.
Her heart.
Her love.
He landed without staggering too much, somehow managed to remain upright despite his legs wanting to give out, and readied his blade.
The usual surge in power and strength didn’t come.
If anything, he felt weaker as the sword drained him, using his power to fuel its light in this dark realm.
Asteria lashed out with her legs and managed to pierce the demon holding her right arm with her heel, stabbing it deep into the unprotected back of his right knee.
He grabbed her by the nape of her neck with his left hand, dragged her before him and struck her hard with his right fist, sending her head snapping to the right.
“Leave her alone,” Rey barked and ran at the bastard.
The big demon male slowly looked his way, eyed him as if he was a mere inconvenience rather than a potential threat, and tossed Asteria onto the black ground, sending her tumbling across the polished flagstones.
Rey swept his sword up in a fast arc, and a huge broadsword appeared in the demon’s right hand. His blade struck the broadsword and vibrations rang along its length, numbing his hands. He gritted his teeth and pushed on, fury rolling through him, driving him to cut the male down. He went to strike again, but the demon blocked with the metal vambrace that protected his forearm and shoved forwards, knocking Rey’s sword aside.
Leaving him wide open.
Stars exploded across his eyes as the demon’s left fist slammed into his stomach, lifting him off the ground and denting his armour. He landed hard metres from the brute, his wings twisted painfully beneath him and lungs burning as he tried to breathe. The damaged armour pressed down on his ribs and stomach, squeezing his insides.
Rey grunted and ripped at it, tore the metal plates away and breathed a sigh of relief when the pressure subsided.
He went to get back onto his feet.
The demon helped him by grabbing him by the front of his throat and hauling him off the ground. The world flew past him in a blur of black and orange and pain splintered across his back, fierce white-hot agony that stole his breath again as he struck a wall. He slumped onto the ground, shook his head to clear it, but didn’t have a chance to get his bearings.
Another demon pulled him onto his feet, grinned at him as his black horns flared forwards and black eyes looked into his, their golden pupils thin slits in their centres.
The male spoke in the demonic tongue and Rey couldn’t bite back the bellow that tore from his throat as those words pierced his mind, driving flaming needles into his skull. He dropped his blade and rushed to cover his ears, but his hands refused to lift, his muscles trembling beneath his skin.
He hung from the demon’s meaty hand, vision wavering as he fought the agony rolling through him.
Was this really how it was going to end?
He had wanted to save Asteria.
He looked across at her, sought her but she was no longer where she had been on the flagstones.
A sharp war cry reached his buzzing ears and he couldn’t breathe as his eyes darted to the source of it.
Asteria fought just metres from him, a majestic and formidable female in her full armour, her black leathery wings out and her broadsword hacking at the males blocking her path to him.
The demon holding him tossed him into the wall, a mere flick of his wrist but he still hit it with the force of a wrecking ball, leaving an impact crater in the smooth black stone. Pain splintered through him again, the taste of blood filling his mouth as he dropped to the ground.
He lay there, dazed and lost, the sound of battle ringing in his ears. A battle he needed to be part of, to get himself up off the floor and hurl himself into, to protect her. She was fighting alone.
Fighting for him.
He opened his bleary eyes and sought her. She was red in his vision, viewed through a veil of blood that suited her as she fought like a warrior, taking on three male demons at once. He willed his body to move, somehow mustered the strength to bring his hands up beside his shoulders and press them into the warm stone.
His head ached, his entire body throbbing as he slowly pushed onto his knees. His mind twirled, sending the world around him spinning for a moment.
When his vision came back, Asteria was no longer fighting.
His heart hitched at the sight of her, fury so strong it robbed him of his breath and burned in his soul blazing through him as the demon who had teleported her to Hell held her in a headlock. She clawed at the male’s forearm, desperately kicking out with her legs as she tried to break free, her eyes growing enormous as the fear he could feel in her took hold of her.
She blinked, her movements weakening as she struggled for air, her wings sagging at her sides.
No.
Rey called his blade to his hand and lumbered onto his feet, locked his knees when his legs threatened to give out and send him crashing back onto the black ground.
She wasn’t going to die.
He wouldn’t lose her.
Not when he had only just found her.
His mate.
His love.
He was too weak in this realm, far weaker than he had anticipated. He couldn’t save her as he was, and he had to sa
ve her because she was everything to him. Everything. He raised his blade and stared into her eyes as she looked back at him. He saw the moment she realised what he intended to do because her eyes widened and her cheeks paled, and she slowly shook her head.
He didn’t hesitate.
He stretched his wings wide and roared as he brought his sword down on the left one. That roar became a strangled cry as the blade struck, cleaving deep into the muscle and bone, and blood sprayed across his shoulders and face. He gritted his teeth and hacked at it, severing muscle and tendon, shattering the thick bone. His stomach turned, bile blazing up his throat, as he took hold of the wing and yanked, felt the flesh and tendons snapping.
He leaned over and threw up the contents of his stomach, his head spinning so fast he feared he would pass out as his heart thundered, the pain so intense that he didn’t know anything other than sheer agony.
He dropped his left wing, vomited again as he looked at it on the black flagstones, covered in blood, surrounded by scattered feathers.
“No!” Asteria screamed and he felt her racing towards him, realised she had broken free of the demon and was coming to stop him.
He couldn’t let her.
He mustered his strength, swapped his bloodied blade into his left hand and began hacking at his other wing. The pain stole his strength, making his blows weaker, drawing out the agony as he cut away at the muscle and struggled to break the bone.
“Rey, no,” Asteria whispered, mere feet from him now, and he looked at her.
Her beautiful blue eyes implored him not to do it.
Hot blood spilled down his back. Pain blazed through him. She kept screaming at him not to do it, but he had to. He needed to do it. For her.
The agony threatened to send him to his knees as he brought his sword down and the bone of his right wing shattered, but he refused to fall, stood tall and bore it for her.
She was worth this pain.
Because it was nothing compared to what he would feel if he lost her.
As the last tendon of his right wing snapped and it fell from his hand, light exploded from him in a shockwave that swept across the land around him. It reached the fortress, shaking the towers, and then it came rushing back at him, as black as night now. He threw his head back and bellowed as it hit him, darkness filling him like a terrible black tide, surging through him. His cry turned inhuman and he arched forwards, threw his arms out at his sides and roared.
Black feathered wings burst from his broken ones, turning his stomach as fresh agony rolled through him.
His voice gave out and the strength and power that had been ricocheting around inside him finally settled, and he lowered his head, fought for breath as he struggled to become accustomed to the change.
He looked down at himself, feeling nothing as he stared at the black metal plates moulded over his entire body and the clawed fingertips of his gauntlets, or the huge black broadsword he now wielded in his left hand.
Feeling numb as darkness swirled around his body, twining around his legs like a living thing, writhing like mist over his chest and caressing his neck between the collar of his armour and his helmet.
“Rey,” Asteria whispered.
Her voice was light in the darkness, drawing him back from the void. Feelings rushed back in, warm and soft, driving back the black numbness and restoring balance in him.
His red eyes sought her.
His reason for falling.
She was beautiful as she kneeled before him, her backdrop a dozen stunned demons the shockwave had knocked onto their backsides. Their faces held fear as they gazed at him, all of them silent and still.
He knew he looked different now, bore the horned armour and shadowy appearance of a fallen angel. He felt different too, uncertain of himself, filled with so much power he wasn’t sure he could control it, far more than he had ever possessed as an angel.
He looked at Asteria.
She wasn’t looking at him any differently.
Her eyes held no fear. No astonishment.
They held only love. Desire. Need.
That was enough for him.
It was enough to make him bear the weight of what he had done for her. For them.
They could be together now.
Because nothing could stand in his way.
Not even the Devil himself.
Rey slowly shifted his focus to the male standing ten metres behind Asteria, pinned red eyes on him and readied his blade.
The seven-foot male smiled slowly, a spark of amusement lighting his red eyes, and ran his black-claw-tipped fingers through his onyx hair, pushing the long lengths back from his handsome face.
Huge black feathered wings framed him as they arched high above his head, furled against his bare back, the tips brushing the gold-edged black armour he wore on his lower half.
Power radiated from him.
Visibly affected the demons around him.
Didn’t bother Rey at all.
He stared the male down, aware of who he was challenging, and strode towards Asteria where she had remained kneeling on the black flagstones between them. Her eyes were enormous now, her skin pale as she shook, fear flowing from her to curl around him.
He looked down at her as he passed and silently vowed that nothing would happen to her.
When he stopped just behind her, placing himself between the Devil and her, she surprised him by taking hold of his shin, her pale fingers clutching the black metal plate that protected it.
Rey stooped, carefully curled his arm around her beneath hers, and lifted her onto her feet, never taking his eyes off the Devil.
“You… intrigue me,” the Devil said, deep voice resonating across the land, and his lips twitched into a wider smile. “You are the first to choose to fall. Hundreds of angels have been in your position, and not one had the courage to do it. I commend you.”
Commend?
Rey snorted at that. His blade twitched in his left hand.
The Devil sighed.
“I am not interested in a war with you, but your decision has caused a problem for me. Asteria owes me a debt and—”
“She won’t be paying it,” Rey interjected.
Every demon in the vicinity tensed.
Every demon except Asteria.
She gazed up at him and he looked down at her, caught the worry in her eyes mingled with love, and held her closer to him.
The Devil moved a step towards them.
The inside of Rey’s right wrist burned, and he frowned, released Asteria and pulled his vambrace back to reveal it. His Echelon mark was still there, the power of it still flowing through him. His eyes slowly widened.
Flowing through him and making him stronger.
“You are right, and she shall not be paying it, but you will,” the Devil said with a broad smile.
If he meant to attack, Rey was ready to show him just how powerful he was now. He was new to these abilities that flowed beneath his skin, the darkness that burned inside him, but he would become accustomed to them in the heat of battle if it meant protecting Asteria and keeping her safe from harm.
Safe from the Devil.
The dark-haired fallen angel eyed him, the amusement still shining brightly in his crimson gaze.
Amusement that Rey was beginning to feel wasn’t related to him at all. It was related to whatever the Devil wanted him to do in order to spare Asteria.
“Name your price for leaving us alone.” Rey lowered his black broadsword and tucked his right wing around Asteria, sheltering her with it as she stood tall beside him, her fear flowing through him.
Because he was her mate.
He could feel it now that he had fallen, was deeply aware of it as she stood close to him. His, but not in the way he needed it. Not yet anyway.
“War is coming… and when it falls on this realm… I expect you to answer my call.”
War.
The Devil turned away, his black feathered wings stretching before settling against
his back, and raised his hand. The demons around them rose onto their feet, cast black looks Rey and Asteria’s way, and then moved off, scattering into the darkness. Obeying their master.
Rey’s gaze tracked him as he strode back into the castle and then fell to his right wrist as the burning dulled, and knew in his heart it was the only reason he was alive now. The Devil knew he was stronger than normal fallen angels, that he wielded a power on par with his own. A power he was going to have to learn to use if he was going to fight when the Devil called upon him.
He tipped his head back and looked up at the black sky of Hell.
War was coming, and Rey knew what that meant.
He would be fighting an angel incursion.
Let them come. Heaven was no longer his home. Hell wasn’t it either.
He lowered his gaze to Asteria as she moved in front of him, drank in her beauty and the love that shone in her blue eyes.
She was his home now.
CHAPTER 14
Rey raised his hands, gently caught Asteria’s cheeks and kissed her softly. She tiptoed and leaned into it, sought more from him that he gladly gave to her. He didn’t deny her when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, hopped up and looped her legs around his waist. He surrendered to her instead, teleporting them away from the castle and back into the mountains, to a quiet cave he had noticed when flying up to the peak.
His eyes slipped shut as his boots hit the smooth floor of the secluded cave and he kissed her harder, desperate for more of her as his fear finally crashed over him now that the time to fight had passed. Fear that he might have lost her. Fear that he might have been forced to live without her. Fear that he would never see her again.
He clutched her close to his chest, listened to her ragged breaths and her heart pounding hard, its frantic rhythm calling to him.
She was his home.
His love.
His everything.
He pulled back and looked down at her, taking a moment to make that sink in as everything that had happened in the past few days collided in his head, a fast and twisting journey that had changed his world entirely.
Change their worlds.
He had once needed a duty to fulfil, a side to serve, and a place to call home.
Awakened by a Demoness Page 13
