by J. N. Colon
Sand filled my mouth, stealing all the moisture. I should have known this was about him. “Jayson’s going to find me.” I was counting on the brute to feel my terror—because it was way off the charts.
Her peals of laughter echoed through the hollow building. “You’re so naïve.” She pointed to the strange black symbols spotting the walls. “The whole place is warded against heavenly creatures, including your other half. Completely untraceable.”
Icy claws of panic sank through my chest, and it was suddenly hard to breathe. I was really at the mercy of this demon. Soon, Moloch would arrive to steal my soul.
Acid oozed up my esophagus. What did that mean for Jayson? Would he survive?
The creak of metal sliced the chilly air as the door opened. A familiar form slowly slithered inside, that eerie whistle filling up the barn. His black suit blended in with the darkness while his hat obscured part of his face.
Moloch.
“Thank you, for bringing this little piece of heaven to me all tied up in a neat bow,” he said.
Melinda curtsied. “My pleasure.”
The way she said my pleasure sent my stomach rolling.
Moloch tilted his hat up, his eyes flashing red in his pale face. He lifted the hand that Kale had chopped off. Apparently, demons could quickly regenerate body parts. “I’m going to forget that little half-breed piece of trash maimed me since I have you now.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re the piece of trash.” Provoking a demon wasn’t my best decision, but I didn’t have a lot to lose.
He laughed and removed his hat, tossing it on a metal table. “You do have some guts.” He leaned forward, one hand on my shoulder. “After I take your soul, I’m going to play with them.”
That knocked the snark right out of my sails.
Moloch stood, removing his jacket and carefully laying it over the back of another chair. “I’m surprised the boy let you out of his sight so easily. It’s very careless of him to abandon his soul mate so soon after I threatened her.”
“Shut up,” I hissed. This was my fault. Jayson might be an irritating Neanderthal, but he couldn’t be stuck to my side twenty-four seven. We’d tear each other apart.
Moloch licked his thin lips as he grinned. “Touchy, aren’t we?”
Melinda laughed. “She’s so entertaining.”
“Too bad she’ll be dead in a few minutes.” Moloch ran his bony fingers along the bandages on my neck.
I shivered.
“Do you think I can keep this one for a while?” Melinda asked, staring down at her body. “I’d like to take her out of town for some fun.”
His gaze appreciatively ran over her. “Why not? It’ll be your treat for a job well done.”
Her hand laid over her chest. “Thank you, sir. I’m flattered.”
“Don’t be modest.” He turned back to me, crimson bleeding into his irises. “Let’s get this soul business out of the way, shall we?”
Um. No. I’d like to keep my soul. I was very much attached to it.
My pulse spiked as Moloch grabbed my jaw in his iron grasp. “Get the hell off me!” My struggles were useless. The coarse rope burned across my wrists as I tried in vain to escape the demon’s lethal clutches.
Moloch leaned closer, his horrible slitted eyes locking onto mine. A pit of dread opened in my gut. His stare scorched my insides, tearing them into pieces. Sharp, piercing agony grabbed ahold of me.
He was ripping my soul right out of my body.
Would Jayson feel the moment it was gone? Was he going crazy because he couldn’t find me?
Tears spilled onto my cheeks. My mouth remained open in a silent scream. It felt as if my flesh were being flayed off my bones, layer by layer in a slow, torturous death.
Brilliant white light swirled out of my mouth and into Moloch’s opened maw. My soul. And Jayson’s. I felt it leaving my body, turning me colder with every passing second.
Only a few weeks ago I’d lain in the cemetery dying in Jayson’s arms. A lump clogged my throat for all the hell I’d given him. He was callous sometimes, bossy, and annoying. But he’d also been kind to me, gentle even. He’d saved my life even before we were bound.
If I could see Jayson again, I’d apologize for being such a stubborn brat sometimes. I’d thank him for pulling me back from the brink of death and sacrificing his own freedom. It didn’t matter his reasons for doing it. I was still grateful.
I could only hope my death didn’t do irreparable damage to him.
Shadows crept along the edges of my vision. Melinda’s sinister laughter was distant. My limbs were numb, and ice swept through my veins.
I was so cold.
My lids began to drift shut. I didn’t want Moloch’s terrible face to be the last thing I saw.
An explosion suddenly rocked the entire building, yanking me back from the edges of darkness.
Moloch pulled away, snarling at the interruption. I slumped in the seat, my body aching and heavy.
Had Jayson found me? Was he here to rescue me from death once again?
That hope was shattered into a million pieces as a figure slowly materialized through the shadows. His scorching blue eyes were glued to the demon.
Astaroth.
Chapter 27
“Did you really think it was going to be that easy to overthrow me, underling?” A sharp, menacing edge lingered beneath Astaroth’s buttery smooth voice. Chills rolled down my spine.
He wasn’t a heavenly creature. I guess those markings didn’t work on the Fallen.
Moloch’s lips thinned, revealing yellowed teeth. “You were always such an arrogant bastard, Astaroth.”
A disturbing laugh curled out of the dark angel’s mouth as those piercing blue eyes melted to fiery crimson. His pupils remained round instead of slitted like the demon’s. “With reason.” Astaroth’s hand shot out.
Veins began to pop across Moloch’s papery flesh. He frantically scratched at the invisible hold choking him.
Karma’s a bitch.
Melinda scurried away, knocking over the chair holding her master’s jacket. She disappeared through the opened barn door. If Astaroth really wanted that dweller, he’d find her. There was no doubt about it.
White, iridescent smoke began to flow from Moloch’s mouth as his bony fingers continued to claw at his neck.
My soul.
Before I could question what was happening or why, it was thrust back into my mouth. A gasp left me. Warmth filled my core, spilling through my extremities. The ice melted from my veins, and the cold chill was knocked off my skin. The murkiness cleared from the edges of my vision.
Astaroth dropped Moloch to the ground. The demon rolled over, heaving as he tried to catch his breath.
And then the unsettling crimson eyes of the Fallen landed on me. “I told you I’d see you again, little bird. I’m terribly sorry about my employee’s unfortunate oversight. He shouldn’t have taken you.”
I shrank back into the hard metal chair as he took a step toward me.
He tsked, a wry smile pulling at his lips. “Don’t be frightened. I’ve already told you I’m not going to hurt you.” The crimson melted from his eyes, leaving them that startling sky blue.
Why did I have a feeling he left off the word yet at the end of that sentence?
“What do you want with me?” I croaked. Astaroth hadn’t tempted me in hell for no reason.
He bopped me on the nose with the tip of his finger. “You should have taken my offering earlier. Then you’d know everything.”
At what price though?
“I think you’ve had enough for today, little bird.” He laid his hand on my forehead, and a fog quickly filled my brain. Weakness leaked through my limbs again, and I slumped within the binds on the chair.
“What did you do?” I mumbled, fighting to keep my lids open.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head.” He snapped the ropes off as if they were made of paper. Astaroth picked me up, cradling me against his chest.
The barn spun sickeningly, and I had no choice but to cling to him. I cringed in his arms.
The frigid night air rushed over me, cooling my skin. I finally peeked between cracked lids. A field surrounded us. The building was nowhere in sight. Had we flown?
Astaroth laid me on a haystack, tiny pinpricks poking my back. “Don’t worry, little bird.” He brushed the hair from my face, those piercing blue eyes boring into mine. “Son of Nithael will be along soon.”
My brows furrowed. “You’re letting me go?”
He remained silent. A slow smile curled his lips before he disappeared in a gust of wind. I shivered, feeling exposed and vulnerable.
A million stars stretched above me, lighting up a midnight sky. It didn’t take long for that warm tingle to spread down my spine. A salty, ocean scent swirled up my nose, and a warm hand slipped beneath my nape.
“Oh, God. Lena.”
The moment he touched me, the fog Astaroth had me in melted away. “Jayson.”
He lifted me into a sitting position, his chameleon eyes studying me. That steel wall keeping his emotions hidden crumbled into dust. The last time I saw him, he was furious.
There was no anger now. Cold, choking fear drowned him.
“I’m okay.” My voice was still raw. “I’m not hurt.”
He shook his head, every tendon in his jaw clenching. “I felt you fading. I felt you…” He couldn’t even say the word.
Dying.
I was dying. And then a fallen angel saved me.
“What happened?” His massive hands clutching my arms trembled.
My chest ached. I hated seeing him upset. And now I was feeling it. It was a hundred times worse.
I swallowed hard. What I had to tell him wasn’t going to ease his worry though. “Moloch had me. He was sucking my soul out and—” My words cut off as those horrible moments of my soul being ripped apart swarmed me.
Jayson sat on the haystack, his arm winding around my back, keeping me close. His gaze lowered, and lines formed across his brow. He reached forward, drawing something out of my hair. His body stiffened to stone as moonlight glinted on the small onyx feather pinched between his fingers.
My stomach dropped. I wanted to pretend the last hour of my life never happened, that I’d dreamed it. But Jayson was holding a concrete reminder that it had all been way too real.
“Astaroth saved me from Moloch,” I whispered.
“What?” His jaw snapped shut, and he dropped the feather. It slowly floated beyond my vision, but it’s image was burned into my brain.
“Moloch was trying to use my soul to gain power to overthrow him.” I shook my head, tears burning in my eyes. “Astaroth yanked part of my soul right out of the demon and gave it back to me.”
Tremors rippled through Jayson’s body, and I could feel the swell of hot anger mixing with fear. “He wouldn’t do that unless he had a reason.”
“Maybe I did it out of the kindness of my heart.”
Jayson shot to his feet and whipped his sword out, blocking me from the fallen angel. “You don’t have a heart,” he growled.
Astaroth moved from the shadows, standing several feet away and still too close. “Son of Nithael. It’s always a pleasure seeing you.”
A wall of heat rolled off Jayson. Astaroth wasn’t just some fallen angel. There was history between the two.
My hand reached up, curling in Jayson’s shirt, reminding him of my presence. He stepped back, pressing closer.
Astaroth chuckled. “No need to hide the little bird. I won’t harm her.”
“What do you want with the totems?” Jayson’s voice rumbled, vibrating the haystack I sat on.
A secretive smile curled the Fallen’s lips. “The totems are just the beginning.” Those blue eyes began to flood with crimson as they found me behind the wall of muscles. “This pretty avis will change the world.”
“You won’t touch her.” Jayson raised his sword, pointing it at the fallen angel. “I’ll cut your head off before you have the chance.”
“You can try, and you will fail, son of Nithael.” Wings so dark they were mere shadows crawling behind him stretched out. “Lena cannot resist temptation forever. Something will break her will.”
Astaroth disappeared with a rush of wind, leaving us staring at an empty field as his ominous words descended through the air.
I couldn’t breathe. My skin was like ice. Jayson had been right all along. I was this avis, this crucial element, in Astaroth’s hellish plot.
Jayson spun around and dropped his sword. His hands gripped my shoulders, those eyes molten gold. “I’m not going to let him get you, Lena. No matter what.”
I numbly nodded. I believed he’d try. But Astaroth was a fallen angel. He’d been around since the dawn of time or close to it.
Whatever he had planned, I was at the center. And because we were bound, I feared for this Nephilim’s soul.
Jayson pulled me against his chest, encircling me in his strong, powerful arms. His salty ocean scent swirled around me, making me forget the nightmare that was about to encroach on my life. The fallen angel was coming for me. I’d turned down his temptation in Hell, but he wasn’t finished.
I was Eve in the garden of Eden. And Astaroth was my serpent. What would he offer me next time? Would I risk the punishment?
To be continued…
Will Lena be able to resist what Astaroth offers next? Can Jayson save her from the coming darkness?
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An evil spirit is stalking me. A mysterious guy with a wicked Irish accent wants my heart. And there’s a cage in Hell waiting to trap my soul.
Welcome to my summer vacation in Mystic Hollow…
I’m Cass—not Cassie or Cassandra—and I knew spending two months in some crap town with no friends was going to be torture. And I was right. Literally. Being haunted by a vengeful ghost is serious torment.
Only, this chick is no ghost. She’s much worse.
And Seth McKenna is more trouble than I can handle.
I want nothing to do with the ridiculously hot half-angel. But when I’m nearly killed, Seth decides to become my bodyguard. And I’m finding it difficult to keep my hands to myself.
Now my soul isn’t the only thing on the line. Seth could very well shatter my heart while saving me from an eternity of torment in Hell.
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Read more from J.N. Colon
THE IRON SERIES
Blood In Iron
Badly In Blood
Blood Lies
Torn By Blood
Blood Shattered
HIDDEN CONDUIT SERIES
Voodoo Unleashed
Magic Untamed
Wicked Unveiled
THE VAMPIRE PROPHECY
Dark Fates
Dark Divide
Dark Oblivion
DIVINE DARKNESS
Dark Souls
Dark Sins
Dark Prophecy
Dark Goddess
SECRET SALEM
Stalked
Hunted
Haunted
Tormented
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author J.N. Colon writes young adult and new adult paranormal romance and urban fantasy. She’s a bonified paranormal junkie, getting her fixes from books, television, and movies. Her favorite day of the year is Halloween, and she’s dying to go ghost hunting one day. Stop by her website and learn more about her and her books.
www.jncolon.com
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