Her eyes met mine, and a smile curved the corners of her luscious mouth, a mouth I’d kissed only minutes ago, and then the golden color reached her lips. She’d be the only smiling statue.
Unable to stop myself, I took a staggering step toward her when the gold took over her eyes, but Raphael pulled me back and lifted his hand. A ball of golden light encompassed his palm before he turned it over and released it.
The light shot across the space between Mytaz and us and crashed into the giant’s back. Time screeched to a halt as the glow spread across Mytaz’s back in golden white fissures that split his skin apart and made him glow from the inside out.
Gold replaced the green of Bale’s eyes before it stopped spreading. Her forehead and some of her fiery hair remained, while gold encased the rest of her.
Hope flared through me; maybe it wasn’t too late to save her. I held my breath while I waited.
Chapter Thirty-One
Bale
I couldn’t look away from Wrath, but I could still see him beyond Mytaz’s shoulder. I was sure my eyes were now frozen too; that all of me was frozen, but I was painfully aware of what was happening around me.
Was I going to be trapped like this and aware of it for the rest of eternity?
A scream swelled inside me, but without the ability to draw breath, I couldn’t release it. Instead, it remained lodged in my head as it echoed endlessly around. I would tear away my skin, shred it from me, and throw it away if it meant escaping this tomb, but I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t do anything but stare at the hope and dread etching Wrath’s face. He radiated sadness as he stepped toward me and stretched out his hand. I’d never expected to see such a powerful demon look so distressed. He was Wrath, a horseman, my enemy, my lover, my Chosen, and he looked broken.
Mytaz grunted, and a golden light burned away his eyes before bursting out of his head. He opened his mouth to scream, but only more golden light emerged until he became blindingly bright, but I couldn’t close my eyes against it.
His hands rose at his sides before he exploded. A brown, mud-like substance splattered my face. I couldn’t see Wrath anymore as the thick coating blinded me. I inwardly screamed in frustration and shouted with joy at Mytaz’s demise.
Suddenly, my vision cleared, and I found myself staring into Wrath’s concerned face as he wiped Mytaz’s remains away from me. I couldn’t feel him until his fingers caressed my forehead, and I inwardly sobbed from that connection.
Was that the only place I’d ever feel his touch again?
They had to destroy me; I couldn’t remain in this semi-frozen state. I’d rather die. They had to kill me, but I had no way to communicate that to them.
That scream rebounded through my head again as a cracking started along the edges of my sanity. How had Wrath survived being trapped like he was? I recalled his comment about hibernating and understood why his mind had retreated from the hopelessness of his situation.
However, as I thought it, my body eased, and suddenly, I blinked. Free from staring straight ahead, my eyes flicked down to the gold covering me. However, when I looked at Wrath again, his mouth was parted, and excitement lit his eyes.
His palms clasped my cheeks, and the heat of them warmed my face. I tried to breathe, but no air entered my lungs. I attempted to speak, but it was impossible. Too scared to hope, I could only sit and stare at him.
“It’s fading,” he assured me. “The gold is going away.”
My mouth parted, and when I tried to breathe again, air flooded my lungs. I cried out, and tears filled my eyes, but I blinked them away. I would not cry. I would not cry.
Feeling returned to my fingers next; the cold of the ground seeped into their tips as they danced across the earth. When I could move enough to do so, I threw my arms around Wrath and clung to him. He was everything I shouldn’t have and the only thing I wanted.
I will not cry.
He tried to pull me closer, but the gold still encompassing my legs made it impossible. He pressed my head into his shoulder as I nuzzled closer to him. Finally, my legs broke free too.
He held me close, and in his embrace, I could almost forget the horribleness of everything that occurred since I first woke in his chamber. But that feeling of being able to forget didn’t last. Leaning back, I looked up at him to discover Mytaz’s remains now covered him too.
I tried to wipe some of it from his cheeks, but I only succeeded in smearing the sludge across his striking face. When the corner of his mouth quirked into a smile, his dimple appeared again. He knew exactly how to get to me.
“Why am I free?” I asked.
“You were never completely frozen,” he replied.
I looked at the other statues. Were they all as aware of what was going on around them as I was? Or was the fact I never completely froze the only reason my mind still worked? Would I have died once the gold completely covered me?
“They might be aware of us,” I whispered. “I was aware. I was screaming inwardly and pleading for death, but was that because I never completely froze?”
“I don’t know.”
“We can’t leave Caim and Fiora like this. If there’s a chance they’re still aware and trapped in that gold, we have to destroy them.”
He glanced over at Caim’s frozen form as Raphael rested his hand on a wing again and righted his brother. “He might not let us.”
“He will when I explain it to him. Even if they despised each other, he would never leave Caim to suffer such a fate.”
“We’ll take care of it then.” He took my hand and helped me rise. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll be a lot better once I’m free of this place and cleaner. I don’t know how you did it.”
“Did what?”
“Stayed sane behind that seal. I wasn’t even completely frozen, and I felt like I was going to lose my mind.”
“I may hate them, but I had others behind the seal with me, a way to communicate, and hope. You had none of those things.”
“True.” Still, I admired that he hadn’t walked out of his imprisonment completely stark raving mad. He was pissed, yes, and who wouldn’t be? “But I still don’t know how you did it.”
“There’s nothing most of us won’t do to survive.”
With those words, he bent and lifted my golden sword from the ground. His eyes met and held mine before he handed the sword out to me. I opened my mouth to say something, but words failed me. Instead, I smiled as I took the sword from him and started toward Raphael. The angel’s face was stony when he turned toward us.
“I’ll be better once we get some clothes back on you,” Wrath said.
I shot him a look. “I didn’t take you as someone who would enjoy clothes.”
“I enjoy some of them and tolerate others, but I much prefer when you’re in them.”
“And I would have thought you’d like me more out of them.”
Despite the awfulness of this situation, I couldn’t stop myself from playfully bumping his hip with mine. I’d nearly died, but here I was, walking, talking, and moving again. I had to celebrate that because soon I would have to destroy my friend and sister.
Wrath grinned at me, and his eyes twinkled with amusement. Wrath, a horseman, had twinkling eyes.
Oh shit, I thought when my heart did an odd little flip-flop. I’d assumed things were bad before, but I suspected they were about to get worse. It was one thing not to be able to resist him because he was my Chosen; it was another to fall for him.
“You’re right, I do prefer you out of them. However, I much prefer you in them when we’re around others,” he said and glanced at Raphael.
“He doesn’t know I’m a woman.”
“Oh, he knows; he just hides it better than most.”
I didn’t think that was true, but I wasn’t going to argue with him about it when we were so close to Raphael… and Caim.
Raphael finished righting Caim, but because of the way Caim froze, Raphael had to prop him again
st another statue to keep him upright. He rested a hand on Caim’s outstretched wing and bowed his head.
“I am sorry, my brother,” Raphael said.
So was I. The fallen angel made me nuts; he knew how to get under someone’s skin better than anyone else I knew. He’d been an enemy, then a necessary evil to use against Lucifer, and after a time, I started to consider him an ally. Then, somewhere along the way, without realizing it happened, I began to think of him as a friend. I was going to miss the annoying asshole.
And I dreaded what was to come with him and Fiora. What if destroying them was the wrong choice to make? What if keeping them alive was worse?
“I’m sorry, my friend,” I said as I rested my hand on Caim’s head and gulped back the lump forming in my throat.
From the corner of my eye, I caught a flash of movement. Lifting my sword, I spun to face the new threat but froze when I spotted one of the hellhounds stepping away from the palace and shaking bits of gold from its thick coat.
Then my eyes crossed as they focused on my blade. The flecks of gold breaking away and falling to the ground revealed the silver blade beneath. I lowered my sword as hands clawed out of a statue twenty feet away. An arm stretched high as the rising sun caught and reflected off black claws.
The hound caught in midleap broke free and jumped ten feet into the air before coming down. Its head swung back and forth while the other hound paced in front of the palace and eyed the emerging demons with its hackles raised.
“What the…?” Wrath’s voice trailed off as more demons broke free of their golden tombs.
I lifted my sword higher as I eyed the demons. We had no idea how many of them were enemies or friends.
“Shit,” Wrath hissed as he stepped closer to me.
Suddenly, Caim shuddered, and his wing shot higher into the air. He stretched his neck and released a caw that rebounded off the mountains, also coming to life beneath the disintegrating gold. It would now be possible to climb out of this place.
Caim’s back arched as he transformed himself from a raven and back into a man. He wheezed in a breath before pushing himself to his feet and glowering at the emerging demons. The demons didn’t look as confused as they should have if they’d been unaware of their surroundings.
My shock faded as a new realization hit me like a brick between the eyes. “Fiora!”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Bale
Caim’s back hunched up as he rubbed his neck. “That was horrible.”
“Brother.” Raphael rested his hand on Caim’s back. “It is good to see you.”
Caim’s eyes swirled with confusion and love as he stared at Raphael with a parted mouth and the eager look of a puppy. These were words he’d never expected to hear again from an angel, but there they were. I wanted to let them have their reunion, but more and more demons were coming alive around us. We couldn’t stay here, and I had to know what had become of Fiora.
“Caim, Raphael, we have to go above,” I said. They both looked at me like they’d forgotten I existed. “We fell through a hole and into this level of Eldorata. We have to go back there.”
“It’s good to see you too, Bale,” Caim quipped. “Why no, it wasn’t odd at all to become a statue.”
I grasped his hand in both of mine and squeezed. “My sister is a statue up there. I have to get to her.”
Wrath rested his hand on top of my wrist and, with a gentle squeeze, pulled me away from Caim when I started jerking on him.
“Easy,” he murmured.
“Then we will get you above,” Caim assured me. “Shall I carry you, or would you prefer Raphael to do it?”
“I’ll carry her,” Wrath growled.
“My dear boy, we’re powerful immortal beings blessed with stunningly good looks, but I’m not carrying two of you at once,” Caim said.
Raphael rolled his eyes, and I wondered if he regretted revealing his distress over Caim’s frozen status. Wrath scowled at Caim as his power crackled against my skin, and Caim’s eyes narrowed.
“I’ll go with Raphael,” I said and rested my hand on Wrath’s chest. “I have to see my sister. I have to know if she’s awake too.”
I couldn’t consider the possibility she was still frozen, not while there was a bubble of hope building inside me. If we got back above and she was still frozen, it would be like losing her all over again, and I couldn’t handle that.
Wrath started to protest, but whatever he saw on my face caused his mouth to close, and he gave a brisk nod.
“It’s this way,” he said, and as demons continued to come alive around us, he led the way into the tunnel that would bring us out of this place.
Following Wrath into the tunnel, I ran with him past the countless statues as they broke apart and demons emerged from them. There were as many lower-level as upper-level demons.
I didn’t know if these demons were palitons or craetons; I didn’t know if they were aware they were on an entirely different plane. It was highly unlikely, but they would soon learn how much their lives had changed. They would also choose a side. These demons could be enemies or allies, but that was something to deal with later, after they eventually escaped this place.
When we became engulfed by darkness, flames rose to encircle Wrath’s hands. Those flames were the only source of illumination in the dark tunnel. My heart thundered with every footstep as I sprinted faster and faster through the awakening and disoriented demons. Many of them staggered around in search of a way out, some of them were getting their bearings, and some were fighting.
I ignored all of them as questions raced through my mind. What if Fiora didn’t wake up? What if the demons waking up now were the ones who hadn’t been under Mytaz’s spell for too long, like Caim? What if she remained frozen?
I didn’t know what I’d do if that happened. I hadn’t held out any hope of reuniting with her, but hope now thundered through my veins. I couldn’t lose her again.
Raphael and Caim flew ahead of us before doubling back and circling behind. Some of the statues we passed were still frozen, and the demons showed no signs of breaking free. Maybe Mytaz’s statues didn’t die right away, but after time, they were unable to survive in their frozen state.
Please let Fiora be free. Please let Fiora be free, I begged with every step I took.
When Caim flew overhead again, I tilted my head back to look at him. “Did the others make it out of the forest?”
Caim flapped his wings as he hovered above us. “We lost some humans and demons, but Corson, Wren, Shax, Hawk, Aisling, Magnus, Amalia, and Lix all survived along with the hounds. We’ve been searching for you.”
I sighed in relief. I might lose Fiora again, but I still had my friends.
“What about the nuckals?” I asked.
“The calamuts took care of those beasts.”
“Good.”
Up ahead, I spotted the pile of debris we created when we broke through the tunnel. War’s body remained sprawled across the ground.
“There!” I exclaimed and pointed at the hole. “Up there!”
“Bale—”
Whatever Wrath was about to say was lost to me as Raphael’s hands slipped under my arms and lifted me into the air. The tunnel faded away; wind tugged at my hair, and my feet dangled over the ground as we soared up to the hole. Raphael folded his wings against his back and turned to fit us through the opening.
Once we were back in the tunnel, he set me down and flew a few feet away before landing nearby. Without Wrath’s flames, the tunnel was completely dark, but I knew which direction to go to find Fiora.
However, I was too scared to move toward where I last saw my sister. When Caim arrived with Wrath, I turned to him as Caim set him on the ground beside me. His black eyes were filled with concern when they met mine, and his flames flickered over the walls and statues.
Parts of the ceiling had caved in during his fight with War and now littered the floor. A giant fissure ran down the center of the ground and between
my feet. Though it didn’t look like it was going to split open and devour us, I studied it until I realized I was only putting off the inevitable; I had to see Fiora.
I started forward, but Wrath gripped my forearm to stop me. “Wait.”
“But—”
“Death and Pride could have returned.”
My hand tightened on my sword as I glanced around.
“Stay close to me,” he said.
“Would you know if they’re here? Can you sense them?”
“No.”
I scanned the tunnel and the golden statues, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. All the figures remained the same as the last time we were here. My heart sank, but I refused to give up hope.
The others were coming alive; Fiora would too. She had to.
Cautiously, we made our way down the tunnel together. Wrath didn’t release my arm as we walked. I didn’t think it was because he was trying to keep me with him, but because he also required the comfort that came with touching each other.
I searched all the golden statues as we walked but saw no hint of life returning to any of them. Whereas the tunnels below were coming alive with sound and movement, the only sound here was the crunch of our feet on the debris and the occasional rustle of an angel’s wing.
Mytaz’s broken spell hasn’t made it this far. They’ll come alive, I repeatedly told myself, but the message wasn’t getting through as my chest constricted and a lump wedged in my throat.
Before I knew it, I was standing in front of Fiora again, staring at her bowed head, and trying not to give in to the sobs choking the air from me. I’d already cried in front of Wrath; I would not do it in front of the angels. They were my friends, but I couldn’t let them see me fall apart.
I stepped forward and cradled Fiora’s cheek with my palm. I yearned to feel her warmth again and to hear her laughter ringing out like the call of a bird on a dew-kissed morning. My doused hope clawed at me like a hideous monster burrowing its way beneath my skin and trying to tear out of my chest.
Edge of the Darkness (Hell on Earth Book 4) Page 18
