Into Hell (The Road to Hell Series, Book 4)

by Brenda K. Davies

  “I bet most of those upper-level demons are from the hundredth seal,” Corson murmured.

  “How did they get here so fast?” Bale asked. “I doubt the angels were giving them rides across the ocean.”

  “There are still two airports open,” Kobal replied.

  “The idea of demons on an airplane is absurd,” Hawk said.

  “More absurd than the idea of demons in the first place?” Erin inquired.

  “Yeah, a little.”

  “The demons behind the hundredth seal wouldn’t turn down helping Lucifer and getting what they feel is a justified revenge, no matter what they had to do to get here,” Magnus stated. “Some of them may have exited the gateway on our side and regrouped here.”

  “Lucifer can telecommunicate,” Raphael said. “He could draw his followers in and let them know where he is.”

  “It doesn’t matter how they got here, they’re here,” Kobal said. “And we are surrounded.”

  “Satan would like to speak with you, dear niece,” Onoskelis called to me. “And he’d really like to kill you,” she said with another smile at Caim, who remained unmoving. “Raphael,” she greeted. “I’d like to say it’s a pleasure to see you again, but that would be a lie.”

  “It would be the same if I were to say it to you, Onoskelis,” Raphael replied.

  “I bet she was a rotten bitch even before her wings turned black,” Magnus said.

  “She was,” Raphael confirmed.

  “It seems some of our ex brothers and sisters have been keeping secrets. Our king is eager to learn all of them. If you’ll follow me,” Onoskelis said and gave a sweeping wave of her hand toward the woods.

  “What do we do?” I whispered.

  At least two dozen angels were on the ground now and shadows continued to swirl across the grass from those still circling overhead. The craetons grouped closer and circled my house until it became a sea of black wings, demon faces, and other Hell creatures around us.

  “We have no choice,” Kobal said. “We can’t allow them to willingly take us to where Lucifer is. That’s playing right into their hands. We have to fight.”

  Bale pulled her sword free of the scabbard on her back, and Corson’s talons extended as the hounds released a howl that echoed over the land.

  CHAPTER 52

  Kobal

  “Stay by my side,” I said to River. “No matter what.”

  “I will.”

  Caim edged closer to us, but Onoskelis tracked him while she tossed her sword handle back and forth between her hands.

  “They outnumber us,” Vargas said.

  “I can help with that,” Magnus said.

  Bowing his head, Magnus spread his hands before him. Seconds later, images of demons and humans flickered to life around us. The figures wouldn’t be a huge distraction, but they would keep the angels and demons guessing as to what was real and what wasn’t. More images of River surrounded her and spread down the porch steps. Then he added in some of me throughout the crowd.

  “Are you going to make yourself look like me again?” River whispered to him, unable to hide her unease over the possibility.

  “If it becomes necessary,” Magnus replied as he lifted his head.

  Realizing that we weren’t going to come willingly, the fallen angels and demons released a battle cry and charged across the open land between this house and the next. Some had weapons at the ready, others attacked with brutal swings of their hands or lethal tails. Gunshots erupted through the clearing as the humans opened fire on those trying to carve them down.

  The hounds leapt forward, their jaws crunching on bones. Their prey screamed when they shook them, before ripping them apart. The hounds spit out the heads they tore free to take down more of their enemies. Within me, Phenex and Crux shifted, begging to be set free, but I kept them caged until the perfect time came for them to leap into the battle.

  An angel landed with a thud on the sagging roof overhead. Wood creaked ominously as it bowed further beneath the weight of the angel walking across it. Hawk, Erin, and Vargas leapt over the banister seconds before the section of roof over their heads gave way with a thunderous crash. Corson, Bale, and Verin dove down the stairs when the rest of the roof creaked and started to crack.

  Lifting River, I pinned her against my chest and leapt over the other banister as the rest of the roof gave way. Raphael’s wings created a breeze against my face when he soared out behind us. Hitting the ground, I kept myself protectively around River as we rolled across the grass.

  My claws extended as I leapt to my feet. I released River to slice my nails across the throat of the lower-level demon running at me. His head flopped back and blood spurted out to spray my face. Grabbing his head, I tore it the rest of the way off and threw it at an upper-level demon charging toward me.

  The wave of fire I unleashed on the demon sent him spiraling back, screaming as the flames melted his flesh and consumed his hair. River rested her fingers on my back. Her ability crackled against my flesh before she unleashed a ball of energy that took out the barta stalking her.

  From the other side, a wave of white light erupted. Raphael stood with his legs apart and both hands raised as he aimed the wave at the fallen angels creeping closer to him. Most dashed to the side to avoid it, but one of them ran into it. Screeching, the angel was flung backward and hit the ground with a thump. The angel lay unmoving, his chest torn open and the top of his head a bloody, gaping hole from where the energy had coursed through his chest and exploded out his head. His wings flopped to the sides of his dead form.

  Raphael released another pure white ball of energy, but the next angel managed to catch it. The glow of the energy filled the angel’s palm as awe radiated over her face. Violet color shimmered to life in her eyes. Then, the violet faded and the black returned. Loathing filled her eyes when she lifted her head to glare at Raphael.

  With a flick of her wrist, she flung the ball back at him. Raphael flew to the side to avoid it. I yanked River out of its way and folded myself protectively over her. The ball of energy hit a human. The man’s scream ended as soon as it started, cut off by the foot-wide hole torn through the center of his chest.

  On the other side of the hole in the man, I saw Hawk’s stunned face before he ducked to avoid the ball that hit the tree behind him. The man crumpled to the ground. From behind Hawk, an ominous creaking sound filled the air. Hawk’s hands clawed at the ground as he scrambled to get out of the way of the large tree tipping toward him. Wood cracked and splintered; Hawk dove and rolled to the side as the tree swung down. The ground shook when the tree bounced off it before settling into the dent it had created.

  The flap of wings sounded over me. I released River seconds before the angel crashed onto my back. The weight of its body staggered me forward. Hands smashed into my skull and clawed at my hair. Reaching over my shoulder, I discharged a wall of fire that caused the angel to scream. Its wings flapped as it tried to rise away from me, but I grabbed its hand and pulled it over the top of my back.

  I drove my hand through the angel’s chest and wrapped it around his heart. The organ pulsed in my hand when I tore it out and tossed it aside. The angel clawed and beat at me as I seized his head next. Twisting it to the side, I wrenched it from his shoulders. Like demons, the angels could regenerate everything except for their heads.

  Lifting my head, I watched as River pushed back the lower-level demons stalking her with bursts of fire. The skin on the face of one melted off. She flung a ball of energy at two others, taking them both out. Magnus, Bale, Corson, and Verin fell into a V formation ten feet in front of her. They worked to beat back the encroaching threat as she continued to take out some of the others. I stayed in front of her, my back facing hers, as we were pushed into the forest by the numerous craetons.

  At some point in the battle, Caim had taken flight. Flattening his wings against his back, he plunged out of the sky to slam into the side of a manticore swooping in from the trees. The manticore
trumpeted a roar as it went spiraling into a tree. The snap of its back could be heard over the continued gunfire.

  “Is everything that escaped the seals going to come for us?” Hawk panted from beside me.

  “No,” I replied. “The jinn, erinyes, wood nymphs, and other more sophisticated demons will most likely stay out of this. They’ll prefer to stake out their own place on Earth, secure it, and use it to unleash their particular form of brutality on anyone unfortunate enough to stumble across them.”

  “Like the canagh demons did.” Hawk swung out with a knife to slice the throat of a demon. Leaping on the demon, he sawed its head the rest of the way off in two quick slashes before jumping back to his feet.

  “Yes,” I replied when he fell in beside me again. “Earth is a new playground for them, and they’re going to enjoy it. Most of them won’t be following anyone other than whoever they deem to be their leader. Some of them may be here with Lucifer, but I doubt it. The hundredth seal demons are a different story. They’re seeking vengeance.”

  I released another wall of fire that torched a handful of lower-level demons. Beyond the smoke of their bodies, I spotted Lix and the skelleins trying to angle Erin and Vargas toward us. Lopan rode Calah’s shoulders as he lobbed gold balls from his caultin. The balls exploded when they hit the ground, pushing back the demons stalking them and leaving small indents in the earth.

  When the balls hit the demons, they blew off body parts or broke apart to become a liquid that poured up to their face and into their eyes. Once it was inside them, the demons hit their knees and started shredding their faces in an attempt to tear it free of them.

  Whenever one was taken out, more emerged from the shadows to take their place. Three manticores swooped down to snatch humans from the ground and lift them into the air. The humans screamed as they were carried away, but those screams were abruptly silenced by the manticore’s stingers.

  Driven deeper through the trees, it became tougher to fight against those pushing against us. Too much fire would set the entire forest ablaze and possibly trap most of our allies within it. Magnus’s figures were rapidly fading away, and we didn’t have the time it would take for him to cloak us.

  Sweat beaded River’s brow as she drew more life from the ground to use against the demons trying to get at her. As I watched, she lifted both her palms out at her sides. A golden-white ball formed in her right hand while a burst of fire flamed out of her left. She gawked at them for a minute before grinning and flipping her hands over and pushing them away from her. She hurled the energy into a barta demon while the fire set a lower-level demon ablaze.

  “New talent?” I inquired as I brought a demon down beneath me. Using my claws, I sliced his head off. I threw fire at more demons trying to close in on us, pushing some back and setting others on fire.

  “Apparently,” she replied. She lifted her hands, but this time only fire emerged from both her palms. “And sporadic.”

  Raphael’s life force toppled trees left and right, scattering some of the demons and angels, but more fell in to fill the holes. Another ball of Raphael’s energy was caught by an angel who heaved it at Corson. Corson threw himself to the ground and rolled before rising to his feet as a manticore turned sideways to dive through the trees at Erin.

  Planting her feet, Erin fired her handgun at the creature. Blood burst from the holes in its chest and beaded in the center of its forehead, but it kept going with its stinger raised in preparation to strike. River cried out and shot a ball of energy at it. The manticore spun to avoid taking the hit.

  Corson leapt forward. His hand landed on Erin’s shoulder, and he used it to propel him higher into the air. With a single swipe of his talons, he sliced the manticore’s head from its body. The head rolled to the side, but its momentum caused its body to crash into Corson and Erin. They flew five feet through the air before hitting the ground and bouncing across it. The skelleins ignored Corson as they rushed to help Erin to her feet. They clucked worriedly over her while Corson scowled at them.

  Beside me, River released a stream of energy into the bartas encroaching on us. They stood for a second before tearing into their chests to reveal their exploding hearts. My fire took down more of the lower-level demons and three of the trees behind them. The hounds circled us, growing closer and closer as more of my followers fell to the craetons.

  One of the hounds released a screech of pain. Within me, I felt the severing of my bond to a mated male. Its female’s sorrowful howl echoed through the trees. When she howled again, all the hounds took up her cry, but her heartbroken tone remained distinct from the others.

  Then, all at once, the fallen took to the sky. Their sudden absence caused a strange hush to fall over the woods as the humans pointed their guns into the trees. The craetons continued to surround us, but many of them fell back to blend into the shadows. My teeth clenched and my lips skimmed back when I saw what the craetons had herded us toward.

  I turned toward River to stop her from seeing what lay beyond, but it was too late. Tears flooded her eyes as she gazed at the wide-open, blood-drenched field before us. Her hand flew to her mouth, and her skin paled visibly before her knees buckled. Grabbing her arm, I kept her on her feet.

  Caim landed beside her and folded his wings behind his back. His dismay-filled eyes briefly met mine before they returned to the carnage. Amid the copious amounts of blood were so many human bodies and parts that it was difficult to differentiate one from the other. I’d seen many atrocities in Hell, had rained down my fair share of torture and death, but I had never seen anything like what lay before us.

  We’d found the missing people of River’s town.

  I held her closer as tremors shook her slender frame. Ducking her head, River wiped away her tears as the first one hit the ground. A soft sob escaped her, but I knew I was the only one who heard it as she clamped her lips together and inhaled a shuddery breath.

  When Caim looked back to me, he shook his head. One of the fallen or not, Caim’s humanity was evident in the slump of his shoulders and the way he drew his wings forward as if to hug himself. Not even he had expected something such as this from Lucifer. Truth be told, as much as I hated the bastard, I hadn’t expected it either. I never would have said Lucifer was sane, but he’d always kept a leash on his insanity. That leash had snapped.

  “I have lost my brothers and sisters forever,” Caim murmured.

  “Did you think there was a chance you hadn’t?” I asked.

  The rainbow colors of his eyes were more vivid due to the sheen of water in them. “I had hoped that, if I could retain some semblance of sanity and humanity, that maybe they could too. They were…” He shook his head and gazed out at the field again. “I am a fool.”

  Raphael strode forward to stand beside him. A muscle in his clenched jaw ticked as his purple gaze searched the field.

  “It’s the whole town,” River muttered. “These were my loved ones, my friends. I knew them all. We survived together. We survived because of each other. Why would he do this?”

  “Because he knows who the other angel of your line is,” Caim answered and glowered at Raphael. “I told you, you would have heard his fit all the way through Hell if he’d known Michael fathered a child. Now it’s been heard throughout this town, and possibly the surrounding areas.”

  The sight of the massacre had already leached color from Hawk’s face, but he paled further at Caim’s words. “My family is in the next town over,” he said.

  “Probably not anymore,” Caim replied.

  River lifted her head to look at Hawk. “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “Not your fault,” Hawk said gruffly and blinked away the tears in his eyes.

  My gaze went to the sky as an angel soared low over the treetops to land amid the scattered body parts. In the middle of all that blood, the angel looked like a crow reveling in the glory of all its carrion. Behind me, the lower and upper-level craetons started pushing against us again as they herded us out of th
e woods and into the slaughter.

  CHAPTER 53

  Kobal

  “This is where we came for Volunteer Day,” River said. “It was a day of celebration. There were games and food, music, dancing, and laughter. It was the one day a year when we could forget all our troubles and simply enjoy life.” She pointed to the brick building on the right of me, and her voice hitched. “I went to school there, for a time.”

  “He will never do this again, Mah Kush-la,” I promised. I couldn’t take her anguish from her, or fix this, but I could offer her that bit of solace.

  Another angel landed on the field to her left. Fury twisted her features. The ball of energy she threw at it had the angel rising again, but more angels swooped down to stand amid the bodies. The angels spread out through the carnage until they became black sentinels watching and waiting for us to be maneuvered where they wanted us.

  The stench of blood filled my nose; the faint odor of decay lay beneath it, but these humans had not died that long ago. Some of the bodies looked as if they had been torn limb from limb, while others appeared to have been dropped from great heights as bones protruded from rumpled flesh and dents pockmarked the ground.

  Glancing behind me, I gritted my teeth when I saw more shadows emerging from the trees, but the attack did not resume. There was no reason for it to as hundreds of the craetons slid from the woods. Their numbers alone were enough to push us forward.

  “Any shot some of your brothers and sisters will come help us?” Hawk inquired of Raphael.

  “Not likely,” Raphael replied without a second’s hesitation. “It will take a cataclysmic event for them to intervene.”

  “Fantastic,” Erin murmured.

  “When we reach wherever they’re pushing us, and the battle resumes, I want you to work on keeping the demons behind us held back,” I said to Raphael. “River, funnel your ability into him. The two of you should be able to create a wall that will keep our backs at least partially protected.”