The Devil: A Paranormal Vampire Romance Novel (Devil Series Book 4)

by Raven Steele

  "Get ready," Henry said.

  A wide pillar of water shot straight out of the lake at least fifty feet into the air. Riding on its top was Liane, her hair entirely black along with the veins on her face and arms. Someone had juiced her up. I lowered my gaze to the water, hoping Tessa and the other two Lizens were okay.

  Henry swiped his hand to the right. A big section of the water pillar pulled out like a giant Jenga piece and crashed back into the lake. He did this repeatedly, dropping Liane closer to us.

  Meanwhile, a man and woman with matching black hair stepped out from the forest wearing long black robes. Their eyes were entirely white. By the power emanating off them, they were also witches. They slowly lifted their hands, creating a change in the air. It became electric and smelled of burnt hair.

  I raised my hand and mentally took hold of two nearby trees. With a quick tightening of my fist, I knocked them toward the witches. Just before they made impact, the air shimmered red and the trees disappeared. But it hadn’t been the witches who’d made them vanish—this magic felt more powerful, almost unearthly compared to what the witches were summoning. It had to be Erebus. I searched but didn't see him.

  "I really hate witches," May growled and used her good arm to send a spray of fire at the male witch. He turned in her direction, and with just a look stopped the fire's movement mid-air. He blinked once. May collapsed to the ground, unmoving.

  "May!" Llona shook her, but she didn't have time to do anything else.

  The forest spit out more supernaturals, almost twice as many as before. Liam burst back into the air, while Llona jumped to her feet and shot Light at anything that moved.

  Lucien and I turned on the two witches, hitting them with a blast of mental energy, but before it could reach them, we ran into a mental wall. I steadied my breathing and pushed harder, but Liane's laughter drew my attention.

  Henry had sliced through the pillar until Liane was standing on the lake's surface. He swiped one last time, probably hoping to trap her in the lake, but just as he made the motion, his arm snapped. The sound of breaking bones, and his scream of pain made my stomach swim. He will heal, I reminded myself.

  "I've got these two," Lucien said, grunting through the mental exertion he was using to hold off the two witches.

  I glanced toward the water, remembering the deadly claws of the Lizen. “If you don’t have time to kill these bastards, toss them into the lake!”

  As soon as I finished my sentence, I mentally tossed three approaching vampires into the water. They were quickly snagged by Lizens, the monsters of the sea. Liam joined me until the water swirled with blood, ash and bone.

  I whirled around to help Henry but something caught my eye. Standing at the end of the lake, far from the fight, was Hunwald. He snarled at me, revealing long white fangs. A deeply rooted anger coursed through me at a speed that took my breath away. Something drew me to him, a power I couldn't ignore. This wolf must die.

  Before I darted after him, I glanced at Liane and yelled the words, "Comminuet ossa!"

  She cried out as numerous bones in her body shattered, and she collapsed into the water. I gasped at the amount of power that had escaped me to complete that task, but it had been worth it. Henry or Tessa should have an easy enough time taking care of her now.

  I closed my eyes and teleported to where Hunwald had been standing, but he was gone. I took a few precious seconds to rebuild the magic within me before I followed after him.

  "Eve!" Lucien called over his shoulder.

  A low growl rumbled from deep inside the forest.

  I glanced at Lucien, hesitating for a fraction of a second, before I turned back to Hunwald. Too much had happened for me to ignore this beast.

  Into the forest I raced, my feet barely touching the ground, spurred on by pure rage. It was a familiar feeling, one I hadn't felt for a very long time. I would be a liar if I didn't say part of me enjoyed feeling like this, reckless and unbridled.

  Hunwald sprinted in front of me, dodging in and out of the trees. Just when I thought I would catch him, he would teleport to another part of the forest out of my reach. I attempted to use magic to hold him in place, but every time he evaded my mental grip. After a full minute of a vigorous chase, I worried I'd gone too far.

  I stopped and caught my breath, trying to resist the pull toward Hunwald. As much as I wanted him dead, I didn't want to do it at the cost of my friends. I scanned the forest but caught no sight of him. I turned around to go back and came face to face with the salivating wolf who had reappeared just feet behind me.

  I jumped back from his snapping jaws and focused on the ground beneath him. A ring of fire appeared and surrounded the wolf. With a flick of my wrist, the entire circle exploded into flames, completely engulfing him and yet, they didn’t touch him. The blaze rose higher and higher, spitting and crackling.

  Hunwald’s enormous shape disappeared within the raging fire. For a moment, I thought he had escaped, but then there was a break in the flames. The figure in the fire changed. His fur had flaked off, and his body straightened, lengthening out as tall as the flames. Long arms and legs developed, followed by a full head of hair. This was no longer a wolf but a human. The flames died down leaving only an ash covered ground and a naked, tall man with wide shoulders, a massive chest, thighs like tree trunks, all covered with thickly chorded muscles.

  I gasped and stumbled back. Standing in front of me was Erebus, blood red eyes burning into mine. He stepped out of the circle. A full suit appeared on him from the bottom up, as if it were being sewn onto him right in front of me.

  "You are Hunwald?" I gaped, my heart beat sounding in my eardrums.

  The corner of his mouth turned up. "Surprise."

  "How? Why?"

  "The wolf gave me the anonymity I needed, and Boaz gave me the rest. One of my greatest gifts is patience. It took a long time to find the perfect supernatural to help me ascend to Earth's throne. It was a shame Boaz had to die."

  "You abandoned him."

  "His usefulness had run out."

  "Did he know? About your true identity?"

  "He did not. I was a wolf around him only when required." Erebus circled around me. His footsteps made no sound on the forest floor. "I believe you have something that belongs to me."

  The necklace in my pocket grew hot to the point where it might burn a hole through the thin material. I needed to get it away from here.

  I closed my eyes to teleport, but my body tightened, sucking the air from my lungs.

  "Not so fast," Erebus said. "I want that necklace."

  I shook my head.

  He laughed, a surprisingly pleasant sound. "You enjoy it, don't you? Fine. You may cling to it a little longer, Eve, but you're going to have to come with me too."

  Chapter 8

  I forced air into my lungs. "I will never go with you."

  "Of course not. That's why I'm taking you by force, but before I do, I want you to see something."

  Erebus made a swirling motion with his fingers. A few feet in front of me, the air parted, creating a sort of window through space. I was suddenly looking at the lake watching all my friends fighting—or more like losing the battle.

  May was on the ground unconscious. Llona fought two supernaturals in hand-to-hand combat but her punches barely connected. Liam was still in the air, plucking whomever he could from the ground and tossing them into the lake, but even his movements seemed sluggish.

  Lucien had turned away from the witches to help Llona. He still fought fiercely, using a combination of magic and physical prowess against anyone that came near him. Henry's arm had healed, but so had Liane somehow. She and the other two witches attacked Henry. He wouldn't be able to last much longer.

  My heart raced, and I inhaled a hitched breath. I had to get back! I closed my eyes to teleport out of there again, using all the magic I could summon, but a heavy pressure enveloped me in a cold cocoon.

  "Let me go!" I demanded, thrashing back and forth.
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  He chuckled. "I have big plans for you."

  I ground my teeth together and slowly lowered my right hand to the hot necklace in my pocket, unzipping it slowly.

  There was a cracking sound from within the window to the lake. A fallen tree, shaped more like a long spear with its branches sheared off, shot toward Henry's back. As if sensing its approach, he turned to stop it, but his body suddenly turned rigid. The pointed end of the tree drove right through his abdomen.

  I clapped my free hand to my mouth; my other hand clutched the necklace tightly, despite the searing heat.

  Lucien yelled and fought hard to get Henry, but with his attention off the supernaturals, he was easily overrun by them. The witches also turned in his direction, while Liane remained focused on Henry, her closed fist lifting into the air. The spear that had impaled Henry followed her motion with him still attached. The limb turned vertically and crashed into the earth, driving its wood at least a couple of feet into the soft shore of the lake. Henry dangled from its middle, his feet unable to touch the ground. He coughed, spraying blood across dirt and fallen leaves.

  I fought hard to get free from Erebus's mental grip, keeping my eyes focused on the scene playing out before me. Liam swooped downward from the sky one last time. He took hold of May and Llona and carried them away.

  "I'm going to kill Lucien and Henry now," he said. "I tell you this to prepare you. It won't be pretty."

  Panic surged through me. I needed more power! I flexed my muscles and focused all the magic coursing through me into the necklace. I mentally dove deep inside it before it could respond and traveled straight to the land of fog. Lightning cracked and the wind howled much worse than it bad been before. I didn't stop for anything, shoving aside all fears.

  "What are you doing?" Erebus said, his voice distant and shallow.

  I ignored everything and raced to the light-filled well. I reached out to touch the illuminated pillar shooting straight into the sky, and just as Erebus took hold of my arm, bringing me back, my fingers grazed the light. Power beyond anything I had felt before filled my entirety.

  My eyes snapped open, and I mentally shoved Erebus back. His heels dug into the ground as he was dragged several feet away from me. His eyes widened. I surged my consciousness further, and for just a split second, I was in his mind. He had underestimated me, and he knew that I knew it.

  He swirled his hand through the air, breaking my hold on him, but I pushed again, this time knocking him to the ground. I attempted to teleport, but again he prevented it.

  "Stop," he hissed and rose to his feet in one fluid motion.

  "I can hurt you." I smiled and said, "Exacuere!"

  A deep gash appeared on his left cheek. I said the word a few more times. Several more cuts bit into his flesh, the last one slicing into his neck, which is what I had been trying to do all along. I needed more magic.

  He snarled and mentally jerked me from behind until I smashed into a tree. I was pinned there while he stormed toward me. He came within an inch of my face, his open wounds bleeding onto his collared shirt. He looked me up and down, scowling.

  "Maybe I don't need you," he finally said, his hot breath smelling strangely of sagebrush. He turned his head to the side and said to no one I could see, "Take the vampires alive. Leave now."

  My breathing quickened. I glanced to the strange window view of the lake, but it was closed. I leaned forward to rid myself of the invisible pressure holding me against the tree, but his hand snapped up and gripped my throat.

  "You have become useless to me now. Do you remember what happened to the last useless person in my life?"

  While he held me fast, his left hand snaked up and down my body touching every curve. My stomach turned over. I used this revulsion to give me a boost of magical power.

  His hand stopped when he felt the necklace in my pocket. "I believe this belongs to me."

  A growl sounded low in my throat, growing louder the harder I fought to break free. His nostrils flared at the mental exertion it was taking just for him to maintain his hold around my neck.

  My growl transformed into a scream. His hand snapped back, and his fingers bended unnaturally to his forearm. I punched him in the stomach as hard as I could, sending him flying into a sharp limb protruding outward. I had never wanted anyone to die more. Just before he was pierced through the chest, his body shimmered into smoke then swirled to a dot as if he was being sucked into a vortex. Before I could do anything to stop it, he was gone.

  I fell to my knees, exhausted and with a throbbing headache. Then I remembered the necklace. I quickly clawed at my pocket, but it was gone. I looked up toward the lake.

  Lucien!

  I focused my waning power to teleport to the water's edge. Everyone was gone. All that remained were piles of ash and puddles of blood, especially near the shoreline. I stumbled toward the forest and yelled, "Lucien! Henry!"

  There were no sounds, not even a cricket chirping. There had to be someone here. I ran into the woods searching for footprints. There were plenty of them, but all headed toward the lake, none away. I hurried back and slowed when someone came walking out from the water. It was Tessa. She had claw marks all along the side of her face.

  "Are you okay?" I asked. "What happened?"

  Her eyes were wide and empty. She collapsed to the ground, water dripping from her hair. "Everyone just disappeared."

  "Lucien? Henry? Were they—"

  "Alive, but badly hurt. I'm so sorry, but I didn't know how to stop them, so I stayed hidden. The other Lizens, the ones who are left, returned to see if Llona needed additional help."

  I stared at her, my mind numb. Lucien was gone. My breathing hitched, then came in and out rapidly over and over again. My lips began to tingle and the whole world spun. I couldn't lose Lucien, not after all this!

  "Hey," Tessa said and pushed herself onto her feet. "You need to breathe."

  I placed my hands on my knees and puffed air from my mouth. I needed to calm down. There wasn't time to dwell on what happened. I just needed to find Lucien and Henry and bring them back. Slowly, my breathing returned to normal, and my mind cleared itself of all fear. Those were emotions I could deal with later.

  "Are you okay?" Tessa asked, the vacant look in her eyes had disappeared. "Liam, Llona and May are probably at Lucent. I am going to go check on them. Do you want to come?"

  "I'd like that."

  "It's this way."

  "Wait," I said and took her arm. "I know a faster way."

  Closing my eyes, I focused on the magic that was already surging through me. I let it spread across to Tessa, and then we were gone.

  We reappeared inside Chadni Hall's lobby.

  Tessa's feet buckled beneath her, and she almost fell. "I think I'm going to be sick."

  I kept a steady hand on her back until her dizziness past. "Better?"

  She nodded.

  "The wounds on your face," I said, "I can heal them. It's the least I could do, seeing how it's practically my fault you got hurt."

  "I'll heal soon enough. And it wasn't your fault." She pointed down the hall. "Infirmary is to your left and around the corner. Llona and the others should be in there."

  I was about to hurry away, but stopped and said, "You did the right thing, you know. Hiding. Your life is important."

  She smiled. "Thanks, and tell Llona I'll be there shortly."

  "Will do." I turned around and jogged down the hall.

  As soon as I turned the corner, I saw Liam. He was holding Llona to his chest, the whole side of his face bruised and swollen. He was a quick healer so he must have been really injured. Guilt pained my heart.

  I slowed when he motioned for Llona to look in my direction. As soon as our eyes met, her pained expression turned to relief. She hurried over and threw her arms around me in a tight hug. "I've been so worried! What happened?"

  "I'll explain later. Where's May?"

  She let go of me and pointed to a door. I walked to an elongated wi
ndow at the top of a door and peered in. May lay on a table. Three Auras surrounded her, their glowing hands hovering over her body.

  "Are they healing her?" I asked Llona.

  "Trying to. She's had some kind of spell cast on her."

  "Will they be able to remove it?"

  Llona twisted her hands together. "I hope so."

  "If for any reason they can't, please let me know. I may be able to help."

  "Thanks." She inhaled quickly. "Lucien? Henry? Did they make it?"

  I averted my gaze. "They were taken shortly after I chased after Hunwald—the wolf I told you about, remember?"

  She nodded. Liam moved closer to us, his expression darkening.

  "I chased him through the woods, and I thought I had him, but then Hunwald wasn't Hunwald anymore. He was Erebus. He's been the wolf all along."

  "Erebus was there?" she gaped.

  "We fought. He said he was going to take me and kill everyone else, but when he couldn't overpower me, he changed his mind and took Henry and Lucien instead." I looked into each of their eyes. "Why would he need them? Or even me?"

  "Did he get the necklace?" Liam asked, his voice low.

  "He took it from me.”

  Liam glanced away, his hands curling into fists.

  "Eve!" a voice called from down the hall.

  Dr. Han rushed toward me, moving faster than I expected for his age. He didn't slow when he reached me. Instead, he took me by the arm and said, "Hurry. We might still catch them if we're quick."

  I lengthened my strides to keep up with him. Llona and Liam fell into place behind us.

  "What's going on?" I asked.

  He didn't say anything until he had taken us into an empty classroom nearby. He closed the door. "I just spoke to Tessa. She told me about Lucien and Henry being taken. I think we can get them back if we act now."

  "How?"

  "Their magical imprint. I doubt Erebus will have masked them this quickly."

  Llona grew excited. "Like how I found Eve! Except this time will be easier since I already know what their magical imprints feel like." She hurried to the side of the classroom wall and pulled down a world map. She spread it across a teacher's desk.