The Brightest Embers

by Jeaniene Frost

  CHAPTER FIVE

  I GRABBED THE glowing etching and pulled. More pain shot through me, but I came away with a loop of rope as the ancient tattoo became as real as the danger I was in. I kept pulling, ignoring the increasing pain. By the time I reached the fifth floor, my whole arm throbbed, yet the entire length of the famed sling that David had used to slay the giant Goliath was now a real, tangible weapon.

  A feminine scream caused panic to bolt through me. That sounded like Jasmine. I burst through the door leading to the fifth floor. As I ran down the hallway, I saw a large mirror propped against the wall. It hadn’t been there before, and since demons used mirrors as portals for travel, its presence was ominous.

  In the short moment that I was distracted, a door opened and a guy pushed his room service cart right in front of me. I was running too fast to avoid it, and I hit it hard enough to knock it over. It fell with a crash, yet I barely registered that, or the startled yelp the hotel guest made. Something more important caught my eye.

  The vase on the cart had been filled with decorative glass rocks, and those rocks were now scattered across the floor.

  I snatched up as many as I could, not caring that I slashed my hands on the broken plates in my haste. I stuffed most of the rocks into my pockets, but I put one in the notch on my sling.

  New crashing sounds and fresh screams turned my blood to ice. I ran toward the racket, wincing at how the other tattoo running along the length of my body now felt like it was burning, too. Moses’s staff, the second hallowed weapon that had melded into my flesh, must react to the presence of demons, too, yet I had no idea if it would manifest like the sling did. This was the first time I’d been near demons since I’d wielded it to close the gates between their realm and mine.

  Adrian crashed through the wall about thirty feet ahead, grappling with someone whose long mass of reddish-black hair hid her face. I started to spin my sling. The unknown woman had to be a demon. A human or minion wouldn’t be able to take the punch he slammed into her, let alone to reciprocate with a block that knocked Adrian off his feet. She immediately jumped onto him, and I glimpsed a smile through her wild tangle of hair. Why did the demon look as if she were enjoying his fierce, bucking attempts to dislodge her...?

  “Sonofabitch!” I spat, recognizing her.

  I’d met this particular demon only once, but she was hard to forget, and that had more to do with how she’d been Adrian’s longtime girlfriend than it did with her looks. Some demons looked like normal people. Some appeared animalistic, right down to the cliché horns and hooves, and some, like Obsidiana, were so beautiful that it actually hurt a little to look at them.

  “Get off him, you bitch!” I shouted.

  She finally noticed me, and Obsidiana shot me a single, malevolent glare before jumping off Adrian. He seemed as surprised by her instant compliance as I was, but he leapt up just as fast, going right for her throat. He’d ripped it out the last time they’d fought, yet Obsidiana must’ve remembered that.

  She dodged him with lightning-like swiftness, using his momentum to spin him into the wall. It dented from how hard he hit it, and before I could release the stone from my rapidly spinning sling, she had Adrian in front of her like a shield. Her blood-red nails shot out to the length of knives, and she jabbed them into Adrian’s throat.

  “One more step, Davidian, and I rip out his jugular,” she said in a purr, her distinctive accent the same as Adrian’s.

  I tried not to think about everything else they had in common. She’d been Adrian’s lover for longer than I’d been alive, and I wasn’t too proud to admit that I was ragingly jealous of her. But not enough to risk Adrian’s life. I lowered the sling and didn’t move. Obsidiana raked her topaz-colored gaze over me, taking me in from head to feet.

  “Is this the real you?” she asked, arching a brow.

  “In the flesh,” I said, arching my brow right back at her.

  The other times Obsidiana had seen me, I’d been disguised by Archon glamour. I wasn’t now, and as her expression turned contemptuous, you’d think I had morphed into a dead mouse that some alley cat had dropped at her feet. Well, screw her. As I’d told her once, beauty faded, but Evil Bitch was forever.

  “I can’t believe you left me for that,” she finally said to Adrian. “Honestly, darling, you’re punishing yourself.”

  I wanted to flip her off with both hands, but I didn’t dare. If Obsidiana had harnessed enough dark energy to curse the ground in order to stay in our realm, she was a lot more powerful than I’d initially given her credit for. That made her even more dangerous to Adrian.

  He didn’t seem to share my concern. He laughed, a low, vicious sound. “I hadn’t met Ivy when I left you, Obsidiana. I did it because I was happier alone than I had been with you.”

  Ooh, burn! I thought, but still said nothing. Hell hath no fury like a demoness scorned. Didn’t Adrian realize that?

  “I remember you being happy,” she said, her voice deepening into a seductive caress. “Many, many times.”

  I stiffened, and from her smirk, she’d caught it even though she acted as if Adrian had her full attention.

  “Too many times to count,” she continued, her other hand starting to play with his hair. “You hurl cruel words at me now, benhoven, but your cruelty only confirms the whispers I’ve heard. The man I love is still inside you. That is why I risked so much to see you. The little Davidian tried to turn you into something you are not, but she failed.” Obsidiana shot another hostile glance my way. “She just doesn’t know how badly she failed yet—”

  Adrian grabbed her wrists, yanking them forward and bending over at the same time. The force he used flipped her over his head as if he were a professional wrestler. I let out a horrified gasp at the instant spurt of blood as her nails tore into his throat. Then I couldn’t see anything through her dark mass of hair and the tangle of limbs as he landed on top of her.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “ADRIAN!” I SHOUTED, running over to them.

  Obsidiana screamed as my sling touched her, but I couldn’t even relish her pain. I was too frantic as a red gush flowed from Adrian’s throat. I tried to stem that flow, but unbelievably, Adrian shoved me away. Obsidiana lunged at me as much as she could while trapped under his body. Her daggerlike nails raked over my stomach, cutting through my clothes and into my flesh, then Adrian grabbed her by the throat and pulled. Hard.

  Her body went limp, but blood didn’t gush out. Her jugular vein wasn’t in her throat. Demon physiology was different. Adrian had just ripped out her version of a heart, yet that would render her only temporarily unconscious. Not kill her the way her attack on his throat might kill him.

  “Adrian, stop!” I cried, flinging myself at him when it was obvious that he intended to keep tearing at Obsidiana.

  He swayed, then looked down at the curtain of red streaming from his neck as if only now realizing that it was there. I kicked Obsidiana’s limp body aside and set down my sling, then covered that gushing wound with my hands. I couldn’t risk touching Adrian with the sling. He was half-demon, so when it was tangible like this, it would hurt him, too, and he was already too injured as it was.

  “Lie back,” I said, panic rising at how much blood he’d lost. “Don’t move—it’ll make it worse. Stay very still.”

  “Oh, shit!” a male voice said, then Costa, our best friend, came out of a nearby hotel room.

  Some part of me was glad to see that Costa was okay, but I was too worried about Adrian to feel any real relief. “Where’s Adrian’s bag?” I said urgently. “He brought it with him, and it has manna in it. Bring it to me. Now!”

  I couldn’t get up to get it. If I didn’t keep pressure on Adrian’s neck, he’d bleed out right in front of me. With all the blood he’d lost, he still might. I tried not to burst into tears as I kept attempting to stem
that horrible, pulsating flow. Don’t die, Adrian, please! I can’t lose you now!

  Costa left, and I was vaguely aware of him cursing and overturning things in the nearby room. I also noticed that the fire safety sprinklers had activated, because water pelted me from seemingly all directions, yet I didn’t move to wipe it away even when it hit me in the eyes. I kept all my attention on Adrian as I tried to close the gaping wound in his throat.

  “You’re going to be okay,” I told him, smiling so he didn’t know that I was terrified. Don’t die. Don’t die. Don’t die! I mentally screamed. You can’t! I love you too much!

  “Ivy!” My sister knelt next to me. “What can I do?”

  As if on autopilot, I answered, “Smash the mirror in the hallway.” Otherwise, more powerful demons could use it to get here.

  Jasmine ran off, and I heard the sound of glass breaking moments later. Then, so faintly I almost missed it, I heard Adrian’s voice.

  “Have to...kill her, Ivy.”

  I couldn’t believe Adrian could talk with his throat half ripped out, and I tried not to panic at how more blood spurted through my fingers from his efforts.

  “Don’t talk,” I urged him before yelling, “Where’s the fucking manna, Costa?”

  Adrian grabbed my wrist, his grip surprisingly strong. “Kill...’er,” he repeated, jerking his head toward Obsidiana.

  His movement sent another spurt of blood free. Now a strange wind began to blow my hair back, but I paid it no mind as I put more pressure on Adrian’s neck.

  “As soon as you’re healed,” I promised him.

  Adrian grabbed his neck, blood making his hands slick enough to slide beneath mine despite the pressure I’d been applying. With his throat in a tighter grip than I’d dared, he stared at me, his sapphire-colored gaze seeming to burn.

  “Now.”

  Didn’t he know he was inches from death himself? Yes, Obsidiana would wake in an hour or so, but until then, she wasn’t a threat.

  Or was she? She’d been strong enough to survive on this side of the realms when the gateways had sealed. Maybe Adrian knew she’d wake a lot sooner than I expected her to.

  “As soon as you get the manna,” I said. I refused to endanger Adrian’s life by killing Obsidiana now, even if it meant that waiting would endanger mine. I’d take that risk.

  Adrian made a frustrated sound and tried to get up. I pushed him back, gasping, “Don’t!” in horror. He only gestured angrily at Obsidiana. Kill her now! that wave demanded.

  Costa finally came out of the hotel room, a heap of manna in his hand. I was so relieved; I couldn’t tell if I started crying or if it was the water from the sprinklers.

  “Move,” he ordered, pushing me and Adrian’s hands away.

  I watched Costa smear the manna over Adrian’s throat and found myself praying. That odd wind increased, until between that and the sprinklers increasing until they jetted out like fire hydrants, it was getting hard to see. If Adrian’s injury was fatal, the manna would do nothing because it didn’t work on mortal wounds. If he’d lost too much blood while waiting for Costa to find the manna, I’d have to watch him die.

  The clump of manna over his throat immediately turned crimson, the flow of blood turning from paste into freely running liquid. I was shaking so hard, it felt like the whole hotel was shaking along with me.

  “Ivy,” Adrian whispered, his voice fainter as that merciless red flow continued down his throat. “Please...kill her.”

  Adrian couldn’t be dying...but if he was and this was his final wish, I wouldn’t fail him. The last thing he’d see was me killing the bitch who had done this to him.

  I stood up and looked around almost blindly for the sling. Then my shaking hands caused me to miss it twice before I grabbed it. “I love you,” I told Adrian, tears choking my voice.

  I spun the sling as I kicked Obsidiana’s body a safe distance away from Adrian, then I hurled the glass stone it contained at her. Even with my vision blurry and my whole body shaking, the stone hit her right in the chest.

  Her body burst into ashes as if I’d thrown a dozen supernatural grenades at her. The instant cloud of embers was caught by that strong breeze and rolled over us like a fog, coating me, Adrian and Costa in its dark wake.

  For a moment, I stood there, not looking away from the ashes wetly falling to the carpet. I’d faced a realm full of demons and minions determined to kill me, yet I had never been more afraid than I was now. What if I turned around and saw that the manna hadn’t worked? How could I bear it if the last seconds I’d spent with Adrian were the final ones we’d ever get?

  I tried to breathe, but my chest ached too much. The wind picked up and the sprinklers began shooting out as if trying to douse a five-alarm fire. Please don’t let this be the end. Please, please, please!

  “Ivy.”

  A sob escaped me when I heard Adrian’s voice. I whirled, my paralysis vanishing. I fell to my knees next to him, an incoherent sound escaping me as I saw him brush the remains of another clump of manna from his now-healed throat. Then hard arms pulled me to him, his lips found mine and I kissed him until I couldn’t breathe for a different reason this time.

  When he finally lifted his head, he was smiling. “I love you, too,” he murmured. “More than you will ever know.”

  “I’m glad I get the chance to find out,” I said, so overcome I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.

  I thought a shadow crossed his features, but it must be remains of the wet ashes. “One day, you might.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ADRIAN KISSED ME AGAIN. I could’ve stayed that way for the rest of the night, but Costa cleared his throat in a manner meant to get our attention. When Adrian and I both ignored him, he tapped us on the arms. Hard.

  “Guys,” Costa said through gritted teeth. “Security’s here, and they look pissed.”

  I looked up to see three uniformed men glaring down at us. Then they looked around in a disbelieving way at the holes in the wall, the dark stains on the sodden carpet, the broken mirror farther down the hallway and, finally, the blood still staining Adrian’s clothes.

  “What in hell happened here?” one of the guards asked in heavily accented English.

  From the other people peeking out of their hotel rooms, they weren’t the only ones who wanted to know that. Adrian got up, bloody droplets accompanying his every move, and reached into his pants pocket.

  “Don’t worry—I’ll pay for all of it,” he said, pulling out a credit card with a ridiculously high charging limit.

  That was one way out of this situation. The security staff no longer looked as if they were about to tackle us, but they were still clearly pissed.

  “You’ll pay on your way out,” one of them growled before giving another disgusted look around. “This flooding will take days to clean up!”

  “Hey, that’s from your sprinklers,” I corrected him.

  “What sprinklers?” the guard snapped.

  I pointed at the ceiling, but the word “Those!” died on my lips. The hallway had several smoke alarms, but unbelievably, I didn’t see any sprinkler heads. Now that I was thinking about it, the water had seemed to come from the sides, not just from the ceiling, and I still had no explanation as to where the strange, strong wind had come from.

  “Don’t say anything else,” Adrian murmured, taking my hand.

  I looked down at our clasped hands. I hadn’t noticed the slingshot melding back into my flesh, but it now once again resembled a tattoo instead of the ancient supernatural weapon that it was. That awful burn running along the right half of my body had stopped, too, so the staff was no longer reacting to the presence of a demon.

  Wait a minute. The staff... “Oh, shit,” I whispered.

  My sister, Jasmine, slicked her wet blond hair back before giv
ing me a supportive, if somewhat pitying, smile. “Guess we now know what your other tattoo can do.”

  Guess we did. Then again, Moses’s staff was famous for supernatural weather events, hence all those plagues against the Egyptians that resulted in the Israelites’ exodus several thousand years ago. Next to that, a little indoor rain and wind was pretty ho-hum.

  “Get the rest of our stuff,” Adrian said to Costa and Jasmine. “We’ll meet you downstairs.” To the guards, he said, “Feel free to escort us to the front desk, if you’re worried about our skipping out on the bill.”

  He received a barrage of Armenian for his reply. I was glad I didn’t know the language, because I was sure I wouldn’t have liked what was said. One of the guards stayed with Costa and Jasmine while the other two took Adrian up on his challenge and escorted us all the way to the front desk.

  Once there, we waited while the manager checked out the fifth floor and returned to chew us out in very good English. When it was all said and done, Adrian paid the hotel an amount that could have also purchased a great used car.

  “Once again, sorry for the mess,” he told the manager. “The wife and I just love to play with Super Soakers.”

  “And paintball guns,” I added, since Adrian’s shirt was still stained with red.

  “You forgot smashing mirrors and putting holes in the walls,” the manager said sourly.

  Adrian flashed a grin at him. For someone who had been inches away from death less than an hour ago, he looked like his usual cocky self now. “What can I say? It’s our honeymoon.”

  The manager gave him an extremely unamused look. “Congratulations. Now, get out.”

  We met Costa and Jasmine at the front of the hotel. They’d brought our bags and were in the process of trying to hail a taxi, but the sight of those smaller sedans made me remember that not all of us were here.

  “Brutus,” I said with a gasp. “I left him on the roof!”