Chaos Rises: A Veil World Urban Fantasy

by Pippa Dacosta

  Her laugh was a sudden, bright, ringing chime through the fog. “Oh, Allard, you foolish thing. It’s what got you banished, you know. You never did know when to stop.”

  Allard’s element rattled nearby stones. A few tumbled down the rock face and scattered around the parked cars. He leaned in and said something to Vanessa, but all I heard was a deep rumbling undertone.

  She patted his arm fondly and stepped back. “Very well. Take the coronam.” She clicked her fingers. The snap cracked through the air, and after a few silent moments, a demon emerged from behind her, slinking through the fog, no larger than a child and wingless, marking him as little more than a lesser. His eyes glowed bright and fearful.

  Torrent’s element tightened around my ankle, but nothing of his unease showed on the outside.

  The little demon held out the coronam. Vanessa snatched the stone from his hand and clutched it to her chest. She dismissed the demon with a sweep of her hand. When he turned, pale scars stood out against his earthy skin—scars like Torrent’s.

  Torrent’s touch squeezed tighter. I was about to sneak my own touch around him, hoping to distract him from whatever was playing in his head, but Vanessa’s next words yanked my head up.

  “Does she know?” She rubbed her thumb over the coronam, her eyes all for Allard. “Your pet? Does she know what she’s for?”

  Allard held out his hand. “Give me the coronam.”

  “I know you won’t return Torrent, Allard. You don’t have another water elemental. You need Torrent.”

  What?

  Torrent’s element crackled.

  “I have other water elementals.” Allard dismissed her words. He didn’t, at least none that I knew of. “Give me the coronam, Vanth.”

  She blinked. “No. You don’t have others.”

  A small, obscenely delicious chuckle escaped Allard. He lowered his hand, evidently giving up the charade of a trade. “I have all the pieces I need.”

  Vanessa lifted the coronam. Heat shifted beneath my feet and blasted through the air like a desert wind. “Not if I melt this.”

  The ground shifted, sliding a few inches sideways, setting off all the car alarms, and sending a thunderous crack through the cliff face beside us. Allard was done with screwing around.

  “Do not push me, Vanth,” he growled. His vessel rippled.

  “Does your pet know you have her brother too?”

  “What?” The word leapt out of me, and my element would have too had I not snatched at my control.

  “He hasn’t told you, half blood, has he?” She laughed at what must have been a mix of horror and rage on my face. “You’re all his pawns. Why do you think he keeps you?”

  Allard backhanded her, simultaneously dropping his human vessel. A ripple of chaos energies burst outward, blasting us with dust and grit. I staggered and shielded my eyes, my heart leaping into my throat and my element surging in defense. But Allard wasn’t targeting me. The fog swirled, and the dust settled, revealing Allard in all of his marble-white, demon glory. Silvery veins of power throbbed along angled, viciously sharp wings, wings he spread wide. His powerful back muscles rolled and quivered, supporting the weight of his massive wingspan.

  Vanessa picked herself up off the dirt, dripping flame. She wrenched her element up against her in a blast of furnace-like heat, lifted her claw-tipped hands, and flung the wave of heat at Allard. He hunched down, shielding himself with one wing, and let her heat roll right on over him. The blast lasted only a few seconds. His proud head came up. His broad shoulders flexed, throwing his wings out, and he stalked Vanessa.

  My heart thumped hard in my throat. He has my brother.

  She could have been lying. She was demon. They liked their games. But I believed her. She’d said the words I’d feared all along. Allard had my brother.

  I glared at Allard’s marble-smooth back, at the proud arches of his wings. What if my moment was now? What if I encased him in ice while his back was turned? I couldn’t fight him fair, but like this, while he was distracted…

  I pushed my hands down and spread my fingers, feeling for any cool spots within reach. There weren’t many, not enough for me to form any kind of prison. We were surrounded by cliffs, earth, by Allard’s element. And it showed.

  Vanessa tried again, whisking her fire into a whirl around her. The earth rumbled, groaned, and split open behind her. Her foot slipped, and in a blink, she was gone.

  Torrent burst forward. Whether it was instinct or loyalty, it didn’t matter. Allard whirled, spreading his wings and expanding his chest, presenting himself like something straight out of biblical nightmares. Torrent skidded, his foot slipping as he recoiled from Allard’s towering mass. He trembled, holding his element and himself back, and finally, he dropped his gaze then awkwardly dropped to a knee.

  But it wasn’t over.

  Allard huffed a resigned sound and turned. He reached down into the fissure and hauled Vanessa out of the hole in one easy movement. She let loose a hail of hissing and spitting, but her fire, her snarls, her slashes all rolled off Allard. He tossed her toward us. She rolled, wings flapping open, fire spitting, then sprang off her feet and dashed straight for Allard.

  He has my brother. I’ll kill him.

  Not yet. Not strong enough.

  I had to stay back, keep my eyes down, stay out of this.

  Allard curled a massive hand into a fist and slammed Vanessa into the earth. Something cracked, the ground or her back, I wasn’t sure. He planted a foot between her shoulders and snatched one of her flapping wings. His black-eyed gaze slid over the rest of us, Torrent, his guards, me. The fog lazily swirled about him until the air stilled, and the world held its breath.

  “Don’t!” Torrent gasped.

  In one swift movement, Allard pulled on Vanessa’s wing. Muscle tore, bones splintered, and blood sprayed. Vanessa’s screams rebounded off the cliff face, echoed around us, over and over, on and on, turning into ragged wails that clawed into my skull.

  My heart pounded, my head light.

  Allard ripped her wing off and tossed it aside.

  Bile burned my throat. I couldn’t look away. To do so would mark me as weak, but when he caught her remaining wing in his smooth white hand, my gut heaved. His black eyes met mine. A challenge. I have your brother, that glare said. His gaze scored the others. This is the punishment that awaits any who challenge me.

  He leaned into the arch of Vanessa’s remaining wing, bending it in an unnatural angle, until it snapped. Fire flooded the earth, spilling outward from Vanessa. It licked at Allard’s legs, shimmering blue, but he ignored it. And then, in one vicious twist, he wrenched Vanessa’s wing off and roared like thunder.

  That thunder split the earth. Cracks raced down the rock face and danced across the driveway behind him. The ground rippled, shuddering from deep below, and behind Allard, tiles slid from the house and smashed. One, two, more. A crack danced up the wall. Another snapped in. Brick crumbled, and in one final tremor, the house collapsed, sliding off the cliff and out of sight.

  Allard strode forward. All around, the ground shook and grumbled. He pulled his wings in and began packing his smooth white skin inside the body of a West Coast tanned man. By the time he reached me, he was Clayton Allard again. Just a man.

  He shook his head and craned his neck, cracking joints, acclimatizing to the smaller human form. “Do you have anything to say, Gem?” Some of the demon still sounded in his voice, dragging his deep tone down and turning it gravelly.

  You have my brother. You lied to me. You’re using me. I hate you, Clayton Allard.

  My element stirred. My demon paced inside my head. Not yet—not yet—not yet. I can’t beat him here. I have to be smart, to be quick. This is not the place, not the time—

  I thrust the blade into his chest. I wasn’t aware I’d formed it until it was there, in my hand and plunging into him. Shock dumped ice water in my veins. Allard’s eyes briefly widened, and before I could blink, he clamped an arm around me an
d yanked me close, driving the blade in deeper still until blood bubbled over my fist.

  “You really…shouldn’t have,” he whispered, lips tainted with blood.

  Fear numbed the shock. “I didn’t… I’m...” I couldn’t explain. I didn’t know how it had happened.

  He’d kill me. I hadn’t meant it, but the demon in me had. Warm blood spilled down my arm, dripping at my elbow. And still, he crushed me close, so close I could see how marble-smooth his skin was, how black his eyes were. They would be the last things I saw, and I wished I’d seen my brother again to tell him I was sorry. He’d promised we’d always be together, but I’d made a liar out of him.

  “Haven’t I been kind to you?” Allard sneered, so close his bloodied lips brushed mine. “Haven’t I kept you safe?”

  I tasted his metallic blood on my lips, or perhaps it was my own, and pushed at his chest. Tighter, he pulled. His arm squeezed, compressing my chest against his. Tighter, harder, closer.

  No, no… Not like this. I can’t…

  “My brother…” I growled the words out, only managing broken whispers.

  “Your brother is necessary, Gem.” With his free hand, he swept my hair out of my eyes. “So are you. But I can’t let this stand. You understand?”

  “Let her go.” From somewhere distant, Torrent’s voice sailed through the fog. He was close, but I was far away, somewhere else, somewhere it didn’t hurt.

  I couldn’t think about him. I couldn’t think about anything besides breathing. My vision throbbed in time with my heartbeat, a pounding that seemed to travel all the way down to nothingness, where I was headed if I couldn’t get free.

  I relaxed my hold on my demon, and she came, but it was all so distant. Ice crawled across my skin but came too slowly. And it wasn’t enough. With PC34A in me, it would never be enough to stop Allard.

  “You need us?” Torrent again. Why was he here?

  My head lolled. I tried to keep it up, I really did, but everything was so heavy and hollow. So hollow.

  “You need us!” he said again.

  My cheek and forehead slammed into something sharp and unyielding. I blinked, watching demons scatter and the ground shake. Ah, I was on the ground. Well, that was good, wasn’t it? A few more blinks and needles of pain punched into my skull. Pain. It was real. I was filling my body up again, coming back to myself. I smelled the ocean and tasted salty water on my lips. Torrent.

  A flurry of shimmering wings slammed into a nearby car, shunting the vehicle sideways. Torrent—all demon—collapsed, crumpling to his hands and knees, wings sprawled, scales dulled. He lifted his head, and the undeniable pull of his ocean eyes drew me back from the nothingness.

  What was he doing? He’d get himself killed. This wasn’t the way. We had to be smarter.

  I yanked on my demon, all of her, every last piece of her hungry, angry, vicious self, and poured her into my limbs. My element danced across my flesh, filling me up, making me whole. Wings built, layer upon layer of armored ice, reaching, clawing.

  Survive, that was all I had to do. Survive this now.

  Allard strode toward Torrent, still as a man with the ground shifting at his every step. Allard would tear him to pieces and crush him to dust. I’d seen him kill for less.

  On my feet and forgotten by Allard, I pulled every tiny slither of cold from nearby until there was nothing left to draw from. I had one shot at survival, one chance to get away. Ice built, my wings sang, and I flung it all at Allard. A blast of jagged ice slammed into Allard, ripping through his body. The ice turned red and sailed on, tearing into Allard’s guards.

  For one silent, motionless second, I stood afraid, too afraid to move, to breathe. The mist once again settled, and the ground was still. Blood pooled with melted ice, and the bodies lay motionless against the driveway. Allard was there, skin flayed from his bones. Dead?

  I took a single, steadying breath and bolted, dropping my demon and scooping up Torrent by an arm. “The bike. We gotta go.”

  He staggered, losing his demon in a ripple of power, then shook himself back into the moment and bolted for his bike. I followed. Any second now, Allard would wake. He’d kill us. He wouldn’t be able to stop himself. I mounted the revving bike behind Torrent and clung on, praying to all things that Allard didn’t wake up until we were far, far away.

  He has my brother. I will get you back, Del. I will.

  Torrent’s bike growled and tunneled into the fog. We left the fallen demons in the mist, far behind us.

  Chapter 15

  Torrent pulled the bike into a hotel parking lot. I eased upright, taking a quick look around us at the high-end cars and perfectly manicured garden. “Why are we he—”

  He planted his right leg to stabilize the bike and clutched at his side with a drawn-out hiss. “Have to stop—” He struggled to get the words out around tight, haggard breaths.

  I dismounted and eased his shoulder back so I could get a look at why he’d doubled up. Dark blood soaked through his shirt and seeped between his fingers. He wasn’t going anywhere, except maybe the ER if he lost any more blood. He looked up at me through his lashes. Resilience burned in his gaze, but for how much longer?

  “Do you have cash? I’ll get a room.”

  “Right pocket,” he growled. “Van’s visa card. She won’t notice.”

  With Van’s card in hand, I hurried inside, combing out my hair with my fingers and straightening my clothes. The concierge raised his brow, but the neatly attired guy at reception welcomed me with a polite smile. Vanessa’s card sailed through without a hitch. Getting Torrent to the room unnoticed was a whole lot harder. His big coat hid the blood, and with his collar flicked up, he did a masterful job of placing one foot in front of the other, but by the time we made it to the room, he’d lost all color in his face and clutched at his side like he might fall apart at any second.

  I gathered up a stack of towels and dumped them on the bed beside him. He’d managed to work his jacket off. He glared at a spot on the wall, hissing through his teeth. He probably had a few cracked or broken ribs. If he had a punctured lung, there wouldn’t be much I could do.

  “Lie down,” I ordered.

  He levered himself slowly down, wincing around gritted teeth. “You know—what you’re doing?

  “Can you breathe okay?”

  “…just painful.”

  Not a punctured lung then, hopefully. I went to work peeling off his shirt and found his entire right side mottled black and purple. If he had internal bleeding as the bruises suggested, he could die here.

  “It’s bad?”

  I tried to smile, but he’d already seen his answer on my face. “You’ll be fine.” He was lucky to be conscious. At his waist, blood dribbled from a ragged three-inch tear. When Allard threw him against the car, the metal must have buckled and cut into him. Had he been human at the time, Allard could have killed him.

  I set to work cleaning the wound as best as I could, but without a basic trauma kit, there was little I could do. If I called the EMTs in, there was a risk they’d refuse to treat him, and their involvement would probably win Torrent a one-way ticket to the Institute. They would finish Allard’s work for him.

  “Turn demon.” I tossed a bloodied towel aside and used the back of my bloodied-hand to brush my hair off my cheek. “You’ll heal quicker, and it won’t hurt as much.”

  Torrent closed his eyes, probably weighing the risks. “If we were discovered...”

  “That’s not likely. As a human, you’re weak. Turn. There’s nothing more I can do for you.”

  “You just say it as it is, huh...” With a sharp, twisted groan he relaxed his hold, letting the change ride over him. I blinked. When I looked back, his demon self took up the whole bed, and his pearly wings hung limp off the edges. His wound still gaped, but the bleeding had stopped. He’d heal in a few hours. Resilience is what makes half bloods the demons’ favored toys. Humans die too easily.

  I busied myself tidying the used towels awa
y and washed blood from my hands. By the time I’d cleaned up, he breathed slow and steady. Asleep.

  Curling myself into an armchair, I propped my head on my hand and watched Torrent’s scarred chest rise and fall. He’d tackled Allard and nearly gotten himself killed. He shouldn’t have done that. I’d screwed up, but Allard wouldn’t have killed me. Now though? After I’d filled Allard full of icy spears? I’d pay. Sooner or later, he’d make me suffer. He’d asked if I’d understood why he had to hurt me, and I did.

  My eyelids fell as sleep wove dreams through my thoughts, dreams of demons, of black eyes, of ice-daggers, and shimmering wings.

  I might have stayed dreaming had tiny patters of rain not dashed my face. I opened my eyes and tried to make sense of the garbled message from my senses. Hissing sounds of running faucets and burbling sinks. And rain. Wait… Rain? My defenses sprang up, swirling my element close. It was raining inside the hotel room? Blinking water out of my eyes, I scanned the room and found Torrent tucked into a corner. He’d pulled his wings in tight, cocooning himself inside. Water streamed down his wing membranes and shivered over his scales.

  “Torrent?”

  I dashed into the bathroom and twisted off the faucets and shower then returned to Torrent. The carpet squelched under my boots, and rain hissed against my head and shoulders. I blinked up. Sprinklers.

  “Torrent, can you…maybe…turn off the waterworks?”

  He didn’t answer.

  I squelched closer and crouched down beside him. Either he couldn’t hear me or he didn’t want to, but maybe he’d feel me. I stretched out a hand. “Hey…” My fingers skipped across his smooth, wet scales. He flinched. “Hey, it’s okay.” I spread my fingers wide, going slow. His wings were warm and surprisingly soft. “It’s okay. It’s just me.”

  I swallowed and eased my hand up over his wing arch, letting him feel me every inch of the way. “Torrent…” Curling my fingers over the top, I eased his wing open a little. “It’s Gem…” He snatched his wing back and clamped it down. Fear. I knew what it felt like to be driven into a corner, out of your mind with fear. But my hiding place had been a transparent box. There were times I’d pulled on my element too, pulled it so damn hard and wrapped myself up in it, so it felt like I’d turned the world to ice. “You have to stop the water, Torrent. Can you do that?” I hoped that whatever control he had over the water hadn’t alerted the hotel’s security.