Tentacles creep from the nearest spark of black fire and embed themselves into the ground. The fire flares, exactly as the dozens of other small fires in this circle also do. My felines’ warnings radiate through me. I don’t need their caution. I knew Asa wasn’t going to play fair. Neither will I.
Tossing my tie and shirt over the closest burning fire, I step over the smoldering flames and approach Asa as the seconds until full moon reaches its peak count down with an urgency I feel in my bones. All the while, the tingling along my skin demands my attention. The Kagan spirit is here, and it has picked me just as my goddess chose me. My soul knows this without being told. All I need to do is open myself, and the Kagan spirit’s power will be added to mine.
“The demon possessing Zoe is the one I bound to Vince. I’m the one who called it from Hell. I’m the one who lent it power. I’m the one who gave it a purpose. And it owes me. Tonight, it’ll walk free to do my bidding permanently. And Zoe will take its place in Hell.” Asa steps forward, and his words quicken, rushing out as the pressure around us builds. “In mere seconds, it’ll use the strength I gave it and block you from her. Zoe will meet her fate and so will you—eternity in Hell.”
A shockwave rolls through the earth, heaving the dirt and opening fissures in the ground. Black fire bursts from the slashes marring the ceremonial circle. More fractures open in the area around Zoe. Pillars of black fire shoot into the sky and cut off my view of my true mate. I don’t need to see her to know the danger she’s facing, however.
Her scream echoes in my soul, then cut off, along with our connection.
I stagger with the loss of her, and strong arms band around me, crushing my chest until my ribs snap and my lungs collapse. I whack my head back, the hard thump loosening the squeezing hold, and break free. Pivoting, I drop to a kneeled crouch as the sight of my attacker tears a curse from my lips.
Black fog forms a body larger than life. Red fire burns in its eye sockets. Rows upon rows of pointy teeth fill its gaping mouth. And curled, jagged nails tip its fingers. The hellish being is straight out of my worst nightmare. However, it’s the dozens of similar demonic creatures stepping from the black fires burning around me that chill me.
Without Zoe, I’m not enough to defeat them.
Thirty-Nine
Zoe
Never have I noticed the rise of the full moon or felt its pull, but there’s power here. It’s all around me—air, earth, and heavens. Each has a heartbeat. Each calls to me. Each offers a gift to those who know how to claim it. And each is a force just waiting to be manipulated and unleashed. I have that ability. The knowledge is within me, just as I knew what gibberish to chant the night I saved Josh and my baby—the night I made a deal with my demon.
Vince awakened this part of me. Dr. Fairchild locked it away, along with the knowledge of what I am. But the awareness—the connection to this secret world—has always been here. My soul remembers learning the old ways, practicing the craft, wielding the magic.
I’m a shaman. Have always been a shaman. Will always be a shaman.
“And tonight will be the last you walk this earth.”
My demon’s voice booms through me with a resounding echo that blurs my vision and makes the world spin. My view of the sealed-off ceremonial circle undulates along with those shifters standing near me.
“Look around you, Zoe Jane. Remember your loved ones. Remember the feel of the night air on your skin. Remember what it’s like to live.” My demon’s breath mixes with mine. Her lips brush mine. “For our time is upon us. Mine to walk free. Yours to take my place as a servant of Hell.”
“That was never part of the deal.”
“You never asked.”
“I won’t let you free.”
“You don’t have to let me free. I can walk away all by myself. Asa’s given me access to the power to do so.”
The scraping of nails trailing down my neck and over my chest heaves my gut, but it’s the sensation of my heart being pulled from my body that spreads panic through me. I lift my top, but the pressure, the tugging, the tightness doesn’t ease. It boils over.
“Here, Zoe Jane. Right here. All I have to do is steal it.”
Agony like I’ve never known seizes my body as the warmth of my blood dribbles down my stomach. My scream pierces the night. Trees topple around me. Lightning flashes, and thunder booms. The ground shakes and splinters, deep and wide fissures opening around me, and black fire shoots from the cracks, flaring dozens of feet into the sky and cutting me off from everyone around me.
Red eyes bleed into the encircling flames—dozens of eyes, dozens of souls, dozens of demons. They reach out with emaciated arms. Their bony fingers curl and coax, ready to welcome another victim. And I’m pushed into their grasp while my demon claws at my chest—my soul.
“Zoe!”
My name booms—around me and within me. Kade’s voice? Jarah’s? Ezra’s? I can’t tell. I can’t respond. Screeching cries rip from my lips as my demon emerges in a transparent copy of me—a true doppelgänger—and the creature who will damn me to Hell forever.
“And always. Forever and always.”
Her words mock me, and her laughter taunts me. But I can’t respond. I can’t do anything other than scream and watch as this demonic clone pulls away from my body. The farther she gets, the sharper her image becomes. Life fills her and fades from me. And I can’t stop it.
“Zoe!” Kade’s voice fills me, along with his strength and his love. “Fight, my queen. Fight for us.”
“It’s too late, Zoe Jane. It’s too late.” My demon steps back, finally breaking free, while inky-black arms wrap around me and draw me into the black fire. “Your soul belongs to Hell.”
The moonlight wanes, drawing a cloak of darkness around me. The warmth of life withers, spreading an icy chill through my body. My last breath slips past my lips. Silence wraps around me with a quiet calmness that urges me to stop fighting. My eyes close as a sensation of utter failure consumes me, but the featherlight brush of angel’s wings against my ear flutters my eyes and halts my slip into oblivion.
The perception of strong arms cocooning me and holding me and refusing to let me go replace the regret.
“Let me conquer your demon.”
I open my mouth, Kade’s name on my lips. He’s my angel, the only man brave enough to follow me into the darkness.
His scent floods my lungs. His exhale heats my skin. His warmth fills me. “I promised I would lead you out of the darkness, my queen. Let me be your light.”
“And let me slay your enemy.” The vow I’d given becomes a compulsion, a driving force that demands my obedience. A vow given is a vow kept. Nothing, not even Hell, will stop me from fulfilling my promise.
Kade’s counting on me.
I open my eyes. Darkness surrounds me, save for the tiny flickering flame off in the distance. I focus on the light—on Kade’s soul—and force my body to move. Digging my raw fingertips into the blackened abyss, I drag myself up.
Sharpened teeth gnaw at my legs, sending bolts of sharp pain through me to steal my breath, but I open my mouth and share Kade’s air. With every inch I climb, I lose two as demonic hands clutch at my ankles and hold me back, but I open myself to the strength Kade offers and kick at their bony hands. With every demon I beat off, two more grab me. Frustration chokes me, and angry tears blur my view of the flickering light guiding me to heaven, but determination floods me, along with Kade’s love.
He promised me. He won’t fail me.
Hiccupping, I scrub at my gritty eyes and climb higher and higher and never look away from my guiding light. With each inch, Kade’s soul shines brighter. My muscles grow stronger. Hand over hand, I pull myself up until the moon brightens my world as completely as Kade’s soul shines within me. I focus on the light, inside and out, and haul myself over the edge, the black flames snuffing out as I roll over them.
Jarah rushes to my side, but I wave him off. Movement in the woods captures my attention
and directs me. Zeroing in on the woman’s silhouette growing smaller by the moment, I take off.
My demonic twin glances over her shoulder. Her eyes widen. Her mouth opens. Then she turns and flees from me.
Pumping my arms, I run after her, faster than I ever have before. The ground pushes me forward. The wind propels me. Power flows into me. The earth, the heavens, and the air feed me, fueling me and honing my strength.
I grab my doppelgänger’s shoulder and spin her, coming face-to-face with myself. I might not have called her from hell, but I’m the one who drew her from Vince’s body. “And I’m the one who’ll trap you again. Forever.”
“It’s too late for that, little human. I’m free.” She grips my shoulders and throws me aside, then widens her stance. “And I’m never going back.”
“You don’t have to go back there.”
“You’re right, because nobody can make me. Not Asa. Not your soon-to-be-headless mate. And not you.”
“Are you sure about that? I was strong enough to rip you from Vince’s body. I didn’t even know what I was doing then. Now I have the power of the Alexander pride within my grasp. Should we fight and see who wins? Or should we make another deal?” I take a step forward. “And my deal will save you from going back to Hell tonight. Or tomorrow. Or for eternity.”
“We already made a deal.” She flexes her hands, black flames replacing her fingernails, and flicks a burning ember at the ground. Tentacles grow from the smoldering fire, digging into the hard ground and cracking the earth. Black smoke seeps through the fissure. “You’ll take my place. Suffer as I have. Die as I have, a thousand times over.”
Emaciated arms reach out. Bony fingers curl and coax. Whispers drift to me, along with a baby’s wailing cry. If I listen closely enough, I can even hear BJ’s laugh, but none of my demon’s tricks can entrap me any longer, not with Kade sharing my soul.
I lift my arms to the sky and chant. Gibberish falls from my lips. I don’t question the words, wondering what they mean, or curtail my hands as I pull on the air, drawing forth snow from where there was none. My soul remembers what my mind never learned, and my body responds to the power welling within me. I trust myself to be enough.
Wailing wind blows the snow, churning the flakes into a blizzard and blocking out the world around us as completely as the encircling flames had done moments ago. With a flick of my hand snow settles over the black fire my demon lit, filling the fissure and snuffing out the unnatural flames, while an ice-spun cord wraps around my demonic twin, squeezing her as the demonic hands had crushed me.
“No!” She bucks and fights, but the ice spreads, stretching to her neck and feet and encompassing her in ice as the black abyss had me.
“I’ll make a new deal with you.” I approach my demonic twin until the chill of the icy prison locking her in place cools my skin. “And this one will ensure you won’t ever have to return to Hell.”
“We had a deal! You promised I could walk free among humans if I saved your baby and your brother. I did so. I saved them. Now I get to walk free. That means I don’t have to go back. It means I’m free!”
“Yes, we did have a deal. It was a fine deal. A perfect deal.” I offer her a mocking grin, much as she did to me not long ago. “But I never said how long you could walk among humans.”
“You tricked me!”
“As you tried to do to me.”
“I’m not going back! I’m not. I’ll fight you.”
“You did and lost.”
“I’m stronger than—”
I press a finger to my demon’s lips. “Kade makes me more powerful than you will ever be.”
“Kade’s going to die! Asa will make sure his soul is cast to Hell too. He has that power. All alphas have that power.”
With gentle fingers, I caress my demon’s face as the full moon’s peak wanes along with Kade’s strength. Only sheer will keeps him fighting. “And if my soul-bonded mate is sacrificed, we’ll follow him. You and me. I’ll drag you with me. This I vow.”
Color drains from my demon’s face. She shakes her head. “No, no. Let me go. Please, let me go. I don’t want to go back. It’s cold there. Dark. Lonely. I don’t want to go.”
“I’ll make you a deal.”
“Anything.” Her lips quiver. “Anything.”
Smiling, I step closer until the icy vest trapping my demon presses into my chest, then I wrap my arms around her and squeeze. The layer of ice between us melts, then flows around us, locking us together.
Panic flashes across my doppelgänger’s face. “No, no, no! I take it back. I don’t—”
“It’s too late for regrets. We made a deal.” I speak the words against her lips and hug my demon, drawing her inside me until only the cool mist wafts around me.
No evil twin stands before me. No icy prison or snow-packed fissures. No glimpse of Hell.
Green grass spreads out from where I’m standing, even as snow lightly falls on the lush blades. A sense of victory settles over me, knowing I out-tricked my demon, but in the next heartbeat, I turn, leaving this spot behind, and run toward the ceremonial circle while praying to whatever goddess or god will hear me.
I have one more vow to keep tonight.
Forty
Kade
My limbs shake. My knees buckle. Still, I fight. Giving up isn’t an option. Never was. Never will be.
Stumbling to my feet, I wobble forward and grab the throat of another demonic creature, then heave the soulless body against the wall of other red-eyed beings advancing on me. I step to the side, avoiding a head-on attack as I’ve done since Asa called forth his army. The shimmering wall encircling the ceremonial circle stops me.
I’ve been cornered, led here by the puppeteer too cowardly to take me on. “Fight me! Alpha versus alpha. Man versus man.”
“Do you feel the change in the air?” Asa’s voice reaches me over the groaning and moaning of the creatures surrounding me and moving closer. “The full moon’s peak is waning.”
“And if we’re both standing once it fades, we both walk out of here alive.”
“You won’t last that long.”
“My head and my heart are still intact, and your army is weakening.” And the demonic creatures are slowing. Their movements are growing sluggish. “You can’t maintain them, can you?”
Asa moves behind the row of hunched beings. He raises his hands and chants while pulling on the air and rolling his hands. A flash of light centers in his outstretched palm. Black fire leaps from the glowing orb growing there. He slides his thumb and middle finger around the ball, reaching behind him at the same time as he turns his upper body, then hurls the fiery ball at me.
I lurch to the side, and the flaming orb changes path to match mine. Dropping to my knees, I curl forward, protecting my chest as heat sears the air in front of me. A hand reaches through the iridescent wall behind me and shoves me, knocking me out the ball’s path. I hit the ground and push into a crouch, my gaze on the female’s black fingernails digging into the burning orb. Squeezing, she crushes it, and sparks fly, hitting the ground around me.
Where each ember fell, fire burns. Tendrils of inky mist bubble over, hissing and popping and growing into massive warriors, not the soulless beings formed out of black fire Asa conjured. Tattooed males dressed in animal pelts with axes and hammers in their hands and shrunken heads dangling from their belts step forth. Each warrior singles out one of Asa’s demonic creatures, and on a unison howling scream, the males Zoe summoned charge their prey.
And Asa is left standing alone.
Coming to life myself, strength floods my limbs. Power crackles in the air around me. Lighting flashes above me, sparking against the domed ceiling of the ceremonial circle. The top cracks, letting in the fading light of the moon. Mere seconds remain before the walls fall and this month’s full moon ends.
Seconds is all I need.
My tiger bursts free, our forms switching effortlessly. The massive animal hits Asa’s chest as he dr
aws on his lion, but not soon enough to block my tiger’s massive claws from cracking through Asa’s rib cage and piercing his heart. Asa’s big cat staggers. Mine leaps on its back. We open our mouth—my tiger and I—and bite, crushing the spine of our enemy.
Without a thought, my tiger and I switch places, and I grab the head of the limp lion lying beneath me, then rip it free. Blood sprays, blinding me, but the breath of the Yuran’s spirit drifts over me. Around me. I spread my arms and part my lips, welcoming the soul of the first Yuran and all those connected to it into me.
The spirit I freed rushes into me, and torturous agony locks my body as hundreds of glowing tendrils—the tie to all Yurans, living or dead—weave through me.
Head tipped back, I scream, the cry ripped from my soul, but no sound comes out. A flow of energy I can’t stop chokes out my shrieks. I can’t move. I can’t fight. I can’t stop this.
But I can share this power.
I reach for the frayed connection to my dying pride mate and pour this power into Megan. For a moment, I’m there with her as her back arches on a screech to match the one echoing in my soul. Then a tattooed warrior takes her hand, and I’m cast out.
Slamming back into my body, I drop to my knees as the ancient warriors who fought for me fade as if they’d never shared this circle with me.
Zoe rushes forward and throws her arms around me. Jarah moves into my line of sight, a look of pride on his face. Visiting alphas, my pride mates, my allies, and Yuran males who’d once called Asa alpha hover at the edge of the circle.
Finally, a harrowing howl fills the night.
Ilan takes another breath, his chest expanding, and again blows into the bone horn he’d impaled into the ground at the start of the ceremonial challenge, but instead of calling a warrior to his death, the chilling story told by his song speaks of sacrifice and honor and victory.
A male died tonight, but a king rose from his ashes.
Possessed by the Alpha Page 36
