Burning Midnight

by Rose Wulf

  Achan grunted and took a shuffled step backward.

  “You’re at our mercy, demon,” Jaelyn declared.

  Achan scoffed. “I don’t cow for the likes of you.”

  “Oh, please,” Knox began, stalking forward until he was only just outside arm’s reach, “don’t cooperate. I’ve been dying for something to beat the crap out of all day.”

  “Go ahead,” Achan replied, leveling a challenging stare at him with another smirk. “Torture me if you think it’ll help. Maybe I’ll even tell you where she is eventually. But she’ll be dead by then. She’s most of the way there already.”

  Knox clenched his fist, reminding himself the bastard was trying to goad him.

  “What did you do to my sister?” Ben cried from behind him. “Let her go! You’ve tortured her enough!”

  “Ben,” Jaelyn called. The sounds of shuffling feet and a struggle drew Knox’s attention, and he glanced behind him.

  Apparently, Ben had attempted to rush forward, but Jaelyn had intercepted him and was holding him back with one arm around his chest and one under his arm in a restrictive hold.

  “Ben, stop. You’ll get hurt.”

  “He has my sister! I don’t care if I get hurt, I can’t do nothing!”

  Knox frowned. They should probably send Ben home now. But doing so would leave him vulnerable to any counterattacks Achan’s little pet might pull.

  “She doesn’t want that, Ben,” Jaelyn pleaded. “Let us handle this. Please.”

  “Dammit, let go of me, Jen!”

  Knox arched a brow at the same time that Ben froze and Jaelyn’s eyes widened. Jen?

  Jaelyn seemed to recover first, her expression falling. “I can’t do that.”

  Some of the fight seemed to leave Ben, though he didn’t entirely relent. “I’m sorry,” he said calmly. “But Gwen … she’s always looked out for me. I have to do the same for her.”

  Achan’s laughter interrupted the scene, redrawing their attention and creating a sickening pit in Knox’s stomach. “Your sister is quite dedicated to you, boy. In fact, it’s that dedication that’s helped me get her where I want her. She’s as good as mine again.”

  “Damn you,” Ben muttered.

  “We already know you threatened him,” Jaelyn said. “It wasn’t hard to deduce.”

  “Oh,” Achan started, “that was just the beginning.”

  “What are you talking about?” Ben demanded.

  Knox flicked another glance at Ben, but they already knew he was fine. Jaelyn had checked after Gwen’s disappearance, and he hadn’t been alone since. Another look at the confident expression on Achan’s face and a whole new possibility occurred to Knox. There were actually a lot of ways to corrupt a human soul. Trix’s obvious penchant for violence and terror tactics had had him focusing on the likelihood of more of the same. Thinking they’d abuse Gwen until she begged them to stop. Or threatened to come after Ben unless she did unspeakable things. But either of those methods would take a while because there was a level of coercion involved. However, if he’d convinced her without her knowing it, to do something bad—well, that was another story.

  “Bastard,” Knox said with a growl before he lunged, wrapping his hands around Achan’s throat in a chokehold and ignoring the burn of the warding. The manacles were already restraining a demon, so they wouldn’t turn on him. He could put up with the pain. “What the hell have you done?”

  “Knox, back away!” Jaelyn shouted.

  Achan choked on air for a moment before managing to reply, “All I did was break her. What happens next is up to her.”

  “Break…?” Ben repeated.

  “I’ll fucking kill you,” Knox promised. All he could see were images of Gwen’s face covered in tears, her body crumpled on the floor of another captor’s cell. Unable to get away. Terrified. It hadn’t affected him like this when he’d found her at the Archangel’s secret dungeon. Now, though, this new twisted memory brought out a fury he barely recognized in himself. He wasn’t about to let Achan get away with hurting her—not a bruise, not a single tear. None of it.

  A solid, restrictive hand landed on his shoulder, snapping Knox back to the moment. But the hand was too strong to be Jaelyn’s. Nor did Knox imagine Jaelyn would earn the mild flicker of discomfort suddenly visible in Achan’s eyes.

  “We need him alive for now.”

  Knox released a breath and dropped the older demon. Kai was right. Dammit.

  Achan hit his ass, unable to catch himself with his ankles shackled, but managed to keep most of his smug attitude when he looked back up. “I’m honored by your presence. I suppose.”

  Knox took a reluctant step back, turning enough to watch as Kai drew his sword.

  “You made a mistake kidnapping the woman,” Kai declared. “That’ll be the first piece of information I carve out of you.”

  “Technically,” Achan said, managing to shift to his knees and awkwardly push back to his feet, “it’s your fault in the first place. Well, yours and that Nephilim’s. I’m just resetting the score.”

  Instead of replying verbally, Kai drew his sword up as the blade burst into blue flame. The cuffs immediately lit to match, burning for several seconds, before Kai lowered his sword and the flame snuffed out. Achan cried out this time, as the jolt Kai had delivered was undoubtedly sharper than the warning Jaelyn had issued earlier. When the flames receded, Achan was left panting, sucking in ragged gasps of air.

  “Remember, angel,” he said. “If I die, the information dies with me.”

  “Don’t worry,” Kai said, his voice cold enough to remind Knox of exactly why he made an effort to stay on the angel’s good side. “I have ways of keeping you alive.”

  “What about mind reading or something?” Ben asked suddenly.

  Knox, and even Kai, looked over to him. Jaelyn had released him at some point, apparently determining Ben’s self-control had returned, because he was standing several paces forward now.

  Ben looked among them all before settling his gaze on Kai. “Isn’t there some way of pulling the information out of him? We can’t wait for him to get around to sharing with us!”

  “The human is correct,” Achan declared. “You really can’t be waiting around.”

  Knox ground his teeth. “I know a spell,” he said. “I might be able to read it off him.”

  Achan laughed again. “Don’t be so presumptuous,” he said. “If you crawl into my head, I’ll simply possess you.”

  Kai looked over to Knox. “What’s the risk?”

  “The risk is it kills me before I succeed,” Knox replied. “Then you’re back to torturing the answers out of him.” He didn’t feel like thinking about how high that risk really was. To attempt that spell on a demon older and more experienced than himself fell into the category of Stupid Ways to Die. So he’d just have to try extra hard not to die.

  “No way,” Ben said. “Isn’t there a solution that only involves him dying?” He pointed at Achan for good measure, just in case any of them were in doubt as to who he meant.

  “There’s no time,” Knox said as he formed a sharp dagger with some dark energy. For this to work, he’d need his own blood. And a little of Achan’s, too. That wasn’t something he had a problem with.

  “Knox,” Kai called. When Knox looked him in the eye, Kai asked, “Can you do it?”

  For a strange half-second, it almost seemed as if Kai cared. But the flicker passed and Knox dismissed it as his own confused emotions. “One way to find out.” He started forward and Kai took a step back to give him room.

  In the heartbeat between Kai’s stepping back and Knox’s stepping up, everything went sideways.

  Angry shadow energy burst from the ground, cracking the hard-packed dirt all around Achan. Focused blasts shot off with a pulsating rhythm, aiming mostly at Ben and Knox. Forcing the angels to play defense. Knox attempted to reach through it, to see what the hell was going on, but the moment his mind touched it, the energy fired back. Preventing him from se
eing through, but not from confirming his first suspicion. This attack was Trix, come no doubt to save her master.

  Ben cried out and Knox glanced in his direction, but Jaelyn had stepped in front of him, her own sword raised and braced with both hands in a defensive posture. She and her sword glowed green, forcing the dark power to go around, effectively shielding Ben.

  Crackling blue flame drew Knox’s attention next. With Jaelyn shielding Ben, Kai seemed to have decided to move to offense. Knox turned his gaze forward and, as Kai slashed through another streak of dark energy, an outside possibility occurred to him. Without moving from where he knelt, Knox closed his eyes and reached again for the shadow energy Trix was pouring out to cover her rescue attempt. Instead of trying to grab it, however, he traced it backward.

  And found exactly what he was looking for.

  In her haste to rescue her master, Trix had made a sloppy mistake. She’d left her portal open. Possibly with the thought of making a quick escape, but that hardly mattered. She wouldn’t be able to transport Achan until she pried off those warded manacles. That would stall her more than long enough.

  Knox lurched forward without a word, sprinting past Kai and diving straight into the darkness.

  Chapter Twelve

  Knox landed hard on cold, unforgiving stone. The impact forced the air from his lungs and he had no choice but to take a moment to gather himself. He needed to ascertain his surroundings. He seemed to have landed in a wide hall with unlikely architecture. The old stone at his feet built up one wall, almost to the ceiling, but climbed only a couple of inches up the other wall before giving way to plaster and sheetrock. An unusual combination of things to find in one hallway.

  There were two doors near where he’d landed. One on either wall, staggered across from each other.

  Knox put his hand to the closest door, on the stone wall, and closed his eyes. He couldn’t sense any active demonic presence inside, or any other form of life for that matter. Unwilling to take the risk of making the wrong assumption, he grabbed hold of the handle and eased the door open until he could see inside the unlit space. It was tantamount to a large dungeon cell. And thankfully empty, aside from a lingering stench that likely came from untold years of foul activities and poor cleaning. None of which mattered to him currently, so he pulled the door shut and moved to the other.

  He placed his palm on the second door and extended his senses one more time. Here he found heavier, but lingering, traces of demonic energy. An active spell, perhaps, but no demon. Wrapped inside the spell, however, was another life. Human. Gwen!

  The knob to the door was locked and reinforced. The binding curse was good but designed to hold a human in. Not keep a demon out. It took him about twenty seconds to break through it, then the door was swinging open and Knox paused only long enough to be sure there wasn’t a secondary curse waiting to trap anyone who happened to make it through the door. Then he stepped into the space, only at that time registering that this door led to what appeared for all intents and purposes to be a multi-roomed hotel suite. The door had opened into a spacious sitting area, which was empty aside from the furniture. Across the room was a French-door-styled opening, sans doors, leading to the bedroom suite.

  Gwen was curled into the fetal position on the bed, her back to the opening. Shrouded in a spell that, even from the opposite end of the suite, smelled like despondency.

  Cursing under his breath, Knox dashed across the room. He barely noted the cold, seemingly untouched mug of tea on the nightstand beside the bed. Gwen wore a wrinkled blue dress and hadn’t budged from her tightly curled position. She obviously hadn’t noticed his arrival. He took a moment to study the spell surrounding her that he was sure she had no idea she was trapped in. Invisible to mortal eyes, of course, but this close, he could see the swirling of black and gray over her body. Grief and despair wafted off it like wisps from a cloud. His gut clenched. There was no way for him to know the details, of course, but he knew enough.

  A grief curse.

  There wasn’t time to break it before ditching the mock hotel. He couldn’t take the risk that Trix, or another puppet, would get back before Gwen was free. So he’d have to grab her first and unravel the curse later.

  “Gwen,” he called, hoping to at least get her attention.

  She sniffled but otherwise didn’t react.

  Knox put a knee on the mattress, leaned forward, and laid his hand on her shoulder. Her skin was chilled, as if she were cold. His chest tightened. He gave her shoulder a little jostle and tried again. “Gwen. It’s Knox.”

  She drew an unsteady breath, her shoulders shaking. “No,” she moaned. He didn’t have to ask what she meant. Whatever the curse had her believing, she clearly either was hearing him wrong or didn’t think he was real at all.

  There just wasn’t time to do this gently.

  Knox closed his eyes in a silent apology, suspecting she’d be initially upset about this, before adjusting his position to simply scoop her bodily into his arms, princess style.

  That, at least, got a reaction.

  “Wh-what? Stop…” She blinked up at him, her usually captivating hazel eyes dull and red from crying. Tear stains covered her cheeks. “Knox…?” Fresh tears formed in her eyes and she sniffled. “No … not again.” She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pillowed her head in the crook of his neck, and if that wasn’t startling enough, she exclaimed, “I’m so sorry! I am!”

  A lump formed in his throat as he stepped away from the bed. “Shh, it’s okay, Gwen. I’ll get you out of here.” I’ll save you. And if it was the last thing he did, he’d make sure Achan paid for whatever it was he’d done to her.

  “T-take me with you,” she pleaded, her voice broken. “Don’t … leave me here.”

  He really, really hoped she didn’t mean that the way he suspected she did.

  Knox took a breath, summoned his power to get them out of there, and quietly promised, “I won’t leave you anywhere.”

  He didn’t take them to her apartment. It was too obvious a place to chase them to, and would quickly become too crowded when news of her rescue spread. That same danger kept him from taking them to her brother’s house, so instead, he transported them somewhere new. Or new to Gwen, at least. Which would have to be good enough for the time being.

  They appeared in a cabin Knox kept, under a false name, for easy retreating in the event of sticky situations. Technically, he kept several hideouts, scattered in almost a dozen locations for that exact reason. This one happened to be conveniently located in the northernmost portion of California. It was only currently stocked with a few non-perishables, but that would be an easy enough thing to remedy. Though it didn’t take precedence over breaking through the curse on Gwen. That had to be his priority, his sole focus before it consumed her any further.

  Goal in mind, Knox moved to the sofa along the main wall in the living space and sat, settling Gwen in his lap. With one arm anchored around her back for support, he lifted her face from his shoulder and wiped her fresh tears from her cheeks. “Gwen, you need to listen to me,” he said gently. Her eyes were glossed over and he doubted she heard him. “Gwen. Look at me.”

  Her brow furrowed a little and she blinked. “You … I never … not for me….”

  Dammit. She wasn’t really aware of the situation. She was deeply ensnared in the curse if she could hardly hear him. Already her gaze was glossing over again. The first thing he needed to do to get through this curse was to clear a path through the haze, even if it was a small one. So if she couldn’t hear him, maybe she could feel him.

  Knox slipped his hand behind her head and covered her mouth with his. She stiffened, slightly, but he didn’t pull away. He swept his tongue into her mouth, being sure to hold her body tightly. He nibbled her lower lip, sucked on her tongue, and groaned involuntarily when she finally started reciprocating. But he didn’t stop, not until she was an active participant in the kiss and had curled her fingers into his shirt. Then he knew he had a
t least a portion of her attention.

  “Gwen,” he murmured, “I’ve got you. It’ll all be okay. You just have to trust me.”

  She looked up at him, her lips parted and a new flicker of light threatening to shine in the depths of her eyes. “Am I … dreaming?”

  Knox brushed her lips with his thumb. “Not the way you mean,” he said. He leaned in and rested his forehead against hers. “Can you feel me, Gwen? Can you hear my voice?”

  Gwen drew a slow breath and nodded without pulling away. “Somehow…”

  He wanted to ask her for details. To explain exactly why she was struggling to accept his very presence, or what it was the curse had her experiencing. But he knew better. Inviting her to dwell on those concepts and the negative emotions they sparked would only reverse any modicum of progress he’d made. He needed to work against it without acknowledging it until her spirit was strong enough to push it out. It would probably go a long way to contact an angel and have them bring her brother. Ben could probably help jolt Gwen back to herself. Knox just didn’t particularly want to lose his moments alone with her yet.

  “Knox,” Gwen whispered, lifting her hands and grabbing hold of his face. “I … I want to feel you. Please, while it seems real.”

  He swallowed heavily. Well, if that was what she wanted. He’d just have to work extra hard to make her feel good. Out loud, though, he said, “I promise, Gwen, you won’t be doubting the reality by the time we’re done.”

  “Convince me,” she whispered, her lips already brushing his.

  Knox felt his heart clench even as he kissed her again. He’d convince her until her every movement reminded her of how real he was. He swallowed her kisses with an inadvertent rumble and stood, keeping her in his arms. Tempted as he was to roll her beneath him on the couch, she deserved better than that. So he stroked his tongue over hers in a promise of things to come as he navigated the short distance to the single bedroom. She was holding tightly to his hair and his shirt collar, kissing him back desperately by the time they hit the mattress.